Rationale of the study
It is not an exaggeration to say that English is one of the most popular languages in this era of globalization and international exchange English has become an extremely useful tool for most countries to access the world of modern technology and update latest achievements in many fields of life In Vietnam, since
1971, English teaching and learning have attracted a great deal of attention Hence, the demand of learning English has increased rapidly In recent years, English has proved its important role as the most popular foreign language that is being taught in all educational levels cover countries in the worldwide It is a compulsory subject, which is not only for tertiary institutions, but also for that from primary to high schools in Vietnam
Hanoi University of Industry (hereafter HaUI) has always been proud of being a multidisciplinary training school with great contributions to the technological developments as well as industrialization and modernization process Therefore, along with General English-training course, English for Specific Purposes (hereafter ESP) course such as English for Business, English for Electrical Engineering, etc., that has been received very much attention from students in this university How to teach and learn ESP effectively, however, is not simple
For many students, “reading is by far the most important of the four skills in a second language, particularly in English as a second or foreign language” (Carrel, 1981:1), however, reading comprehension is still considered as one of the least interesting ones for both lecturers and students Though many lecturers of English for Electrical Engineering also try in their best ways in order to make ESP reading lessons more attractive to their students, it seems to be all their efforts that do not capture the desired results
The question of how to deal with English for Electrical Engineering reading more effectively at my university has always been haunted in my mind Although
ESP reading strategies have long been implemented and applied in its programs for ESP-training context at HaUI, up to now, there is no in-depth study to assess the effectiveness of the ESP reading strategies yet Therefore, the researcher have a desire to perform “An evaluation of teaching ESP reading strategies for Electrical Engineering third-year students at Hanoi University of Industry” which aims to offer recommendations to improve the teaching ESP reading strategies in a more efficient way.
Aims and objectives of the study
The study aims to evaluate the teaching ESP reading strategies that is applied for Electrical Engineering third-year students so as to offer recommendations with purpose to enhance the lecturers‟ quality of teaching ESP reading at HaUI
The specific objectives of this study are to identify the strategies employed by lecturers in teaching ESP reading for Electrical Engineering third-year students and benefits that the students gain from these strategies.
Scope of the study
Although the ESP course is designed for all the third-year students at HaUI with eight different majors, it would be impossible for the researcher to get them involved in the study due to obstacles of time, duration and expense Instead, the sample of the study consists of the third-year students at Faculty of Electrical Engineering only Besides, each ESP reading lesson often covers reading and writing skills and translation techniques Nevertheless, the scope of this study aims to evaluate lecturers‟ strategies in teaching ESP reading skill, it does not cover all aspects of writing skill and translation techniques The participants of the study are the Electrical Engineering students at HaUI who have already finished the ESP course in the second term of the third-year.
Significance of the study
This paper wishes to offer a picture of ESP reading strategies employed by lecturers for Electrical Engineering third-year students at HaUI The findings of the study are expected to identify the most appropriate strategies in order to enhance students‟ interests in ESP reading lessons Accordingly, suggestions can be made to improve the third-year students‟ reading skill.
Research methodology
In order to achieve the research aims and objectives, the study is to find out answers to the following research questions:
1 What strategies do the lecturers currently employ in teaching ESP reading for Electrical Engineering third-year students at HaUI?
2 How beneficial are the lecturers’ teaching ESP reading strategies to Electrical Engineering third-year students at HaUI?
To answers the two research questions, the study is conducted by combining both qualitative and quantitative method The researcher used survey questionnaires for ESP lecturers and Electrical Engineering third-year students The detail of the methodology applied in the study is discussed in Chapter 2.
Design of the study
The study consists of three main parts as follow:
Part A, Introduction, presents a brief introduction of the rationale for the study, the aims and objectives, scope, significance, research method as well as design of the study
Part B, Development, includes the following chapters:
Chapter 1 , Literature review, deals with the theoretical background of the study and results from the previous studies for the issues relevant to the field investigated
Chapter 2, Methodology, describes the context and the research methodology of the study
Chapter 3 , Results and Discussions , presents analysis, discussions and evaluation basing on results of the study
Part C, Conclusion, summarizes the main issues of the whole study and indicates limitations of the research as well as suggests for further study In addition, the study also includes sections of References which display the sources of referenced information and Appendices which present the survey questionnaires for students and lecturers.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Theoretical Background
Reading is by far the most important of all four skills in a second language, particularly in English as a second or foreign language (Carrell, Devine, &
Eskey, 1988; Richards & Renandya, 2002) There are different definitions about reading in English depending on each linguist‟s point of view
Goodman (1971: 135) defined reading as “a psycholinguistics process by which the reader, language user, reconstructs, as best as he can, a message which has been encoded by a writer as a graphic display” Williams (1990: 2) shared the same view that “reading is a process whereby one looks at and understands what has been written” In this point of view, in reading process, there are two parallel activities: looking and understanding Thus, readers have to “encode” meanings of a word depending on the context in which it appears
From another view of reading, Rubin and Thompson (1994: 91) pointed out
“reading is active information-seeking process in which readers relate information in the text to what they already know” In this view, the reader‟s knowledge of the world is of importance to their reading success
Moreover, according to the New Criticism, reading is just a process of
„recreating‟ in our mind the mental condition of the authors or the writer (Eagleton, 1996: 41)
Obviously, no definition can capture all the ideas and features of reading All in all, what all the linguists have in common is that reading involves looking, understanding and encoding meanings of a word basing on the context in which appears
To improve students' reading comprehension, teachers should introduce the three reading comprehension processes including the schema of theory, bottom – up and top-down processing As a result, the definition of these concepts will be discussed in this section
In his article entitled Effects on Reading Comprehension of Building Background Knowledge, Johnson (1982: 504) mentions the theory of schema In his opinion, this theory focuses on the learners‟ background knowledge which is the leaners‟ previously acquired knowledge It is also stated that the organization of reader‟s past experiences directly influences the comprehension and retention of materials in a passage Thus, learners understand a text by analyzing the text according to their schema
According to Nuttall (1996: 7), the schema “is a mental structure It is abstract because it does not relate to any particular experience, although it derives from all the particular experiences we have had It is a structure because it is organized; it includes the relationships between its component parts.” The schemata are recognized as a useful concept in understanding how we are able to interpret texts
Nunan (1999: 201) identifies “schema theory is based on the ideas that past experiences result in a mental framework to understand new experiences.”
In brief, in order to comprehend texts, students need to develop new schemata of language, text and interpretation, as well as schemata of alternative cultural practices and values According to this schema theory, comprehending a text is an interactive process This process can be divided into three parts including bottom-up, top-down and interactive processing
1.1.2.2 Bottom – up and Top-down processing
Initially, the bottom-up approach was introduced by Gough (1972) The bottom-up approach emphasizes that reading moves from part to whole Processing the meaning starts from the text and it is text-based In this approach, the text is of great importance Hence, it is necessary to know the meaning of individual words and promote vocabulary learning
Then, according to Nunan (1991), reading is a linear process by which readers decode the text word by word, link the words into phrases and then sentences In the process of meaning interpretation, the language is translated from one form of symbolic representation to another
Three years later, Silberstein (1994) suggests that comprehending text requires the simultaneous interaction of two models of information processing According to this author, readers get the meaning of a text through recognizing letters and words, working out sentence structures and then interpret paragraphs and the whole text
As shown above, it is clear that the theory of bottom-up processing given by Silberstein (1994) is the most detailed one
Goodman (1975) states that the top-down processing focuses on whole text and the role of schemata or background knowledge to interpret the text In this reading model, the readers‟ prior knowledge and past experiences are very important
He also emphasizes on the greatest difference between the top-down processing and the bottom-up one is that readers do not use every piece of information in the text (as cited in Carrell and Eisterhold, 1983) That is to say, the readers select some parts of text according to their current purpose and use them only so as to predict and to confirm the predicted meanings by relating the readers‟ own previously acquired knowledge (Carrell, 1988a)
In brief, there are two ways that readers can use to deal with a text: using the bottom – up processing to get detail understanding of the text and using the top-down to understand main ideas about the text Readers may use one of the two ways to comprehend texts; however, readers usually need both of them to deal with difficult texts As a result, this leads to interactive processing which will be mentioned in the following part
It is known that no single method is the best A successful reader should combine top-down and bottom-up processing, which is called interactive reading
First, Hayes (1991: 7) points out that “in interactive models, different processes are thought to be responsible for providing information that is shared with other processes The information obtained from each type of processing is combined to determine the most appropriate interpretation of the printed pages”
Next, Nuttall (1996: 17) mentions the interactive processing employed by readers in practice A reader continually shifts from one focus to another, now adopting a top-down approach to predict probable meaning, then moving to the bottom-up approach to check whether that is really what the writer says
Previous Studies in the Same Field
This chapter presents the context and the research methodology of the study
The study was conducted at Hanoi University of Industry (HaUI), which is located in Minh Khai Commune, Bac Tu Liem District, Hanoi At HaUI, English subject is taught in the formal setting with two stages: The first stage – the stage for General English and the second one - the stage for English for Specific Purposes (ESP) The first stage often lasts five terms with 405 periods The textbooks employed in the first stage are New Headway Elementary and Intermediate (Liz and John Soars, 2000) Students study four skills namely: listening, speaking, reading and writing during the first stage These textbooks aim at providing students with fundamental knowledge and four language skills of English
The second stage is for an ESP course which students learn in the second semester of the third year This stage only lasts one term with a total of 45 periods
The reading skill accounts for 33 periods while translating, writing and testing are about 12 periods During this stage, students learn ESP related to their major field in order to improve the professional knowledge of English for their future job requirement ESP at HaUI is taught in eight different major fields with the aim of equipping students with reading skills and translation techniques Before entering the ESP course, students have already finished General English stage
For electrical engineering students, they are required to attend three ESP periods every week The ESP course uses the textbook “English for Electrical and Electronics Engineering” which was compiled from various sources of authentic texts by ESP lecturers at HaUI This ESP textbook covers 6 topics in 6 units, each of which lasts from 3 to 9 periods Each reading lesson is taught in 3 periods The aim of the current ESP textbook is to provide an amount of vocabulary relating to the students‟ major field and develop their ability to read and translate technical materials It focuses on language skills: reading, writing, and translation It also puts greater emphasis on knowledge of students‟ specific major rather than language skills However, for most of the Electrical Engineering students, reading is the most
METHODOLOGY
Methodology
The study is to find out the answers to the following questions:
1 What strategies do lecturers employ in teaching ESP reading for Electrical Engineering third-year students at HaUI?
2 How beneficial are lecturers’ teaching ESP reading strategies to Electrical Engineering third-year students at HaUI?
To address the research aims, objectives and research questions, document analysis, students‟ and lecturers‟ survey questionnaires are respectively carried out
Following is the details of the participants, research instruments and data collection procedures
The participants of this study include third-year students at Electrical Engineering faculty and ESP lecturers
The study was carried out with participation of 100 (out of 150) third-year students from all 5 English classes for Electrical Engineering faculty at HaUI in 2014-2015 Academic Year The 100 students were randomly selected in five classes
The researcher chose the odd numbers of electrical engineering classes named Electrical Engineering 1, Electrical Engineering 3 and Electrical Engineering 5 to participate in the study
These students, from different parts of the country, are at the age from 20 to 22; most of them are male, only 20 are female Most of them come from the rural or remote areas where there are no good opportunities for studying English Although they all passed the examinations of General English course, there remains a wide gap in English proficiency among students
There are 5 lecturers teaching English for Electrical Engineering at HaUI (including the researcher), therefore, four of them were invited to join in the study
These lecturers are aged from 25 to 35 The proportion of female teachers to male teacher is prominent, that is three female teachers and only one male teacher Three of them graduated from the English Department, University of Foreign Languages Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi One graduated from the Faculty of English at Hanoi University of Science and Technology They all have MA degrees and have been teaching ESP at HaUI at least for three years
In this study, data was collected with the use of two survey questionnaires, one for students and one for lecturers
In both of students and lecturers‟ survey questionnaires, Questions 1, 3 and 5 explore activities lecturers employ in teaching ESP reading at each stage (including pre-reading, while- reading and post-reading stage) The questions related to frequency of use were used 4-point Likert scale with 1= Never, 2= Rarely, 3Sometimes, 4= Usually In students‟ survey questionnaires, questions 1, 3 and 5 related to benefits for students were used following indexes such as N= Not beneficial, LB= Little beneficial, B= Beneficial, VB= Very beneficial To answer these questions, respondents choose the answer which is the most appropriate to their thoughts
Reasons for choosing survey questionnaires
Generally, it is accepted that the survey questionnaire is the most plausible and the frequently-used tool in doing research According to Nunan (1992), using this instrument is economical and time saving In theory, this method includes using questionnaires to collect the data, as “questionnaires often seem a logical and easy option as a way of collecting of information from people” (Wisker, 2001:32)
Therefore, questionnaires are used in this study to investigate activities which lecturers have employed to teach ESP reading for Electrical Engineering third-year students
The objectives of this survey questionnaire are to identify the strategies which lecturers have employed to teach ESP reading to Electrical Engineering third-year students as well as the students‟ personal expectations about teaching activities to help them improve their reading comprehension (The survey questionnaire is available in Appendix A)
The students‟ survey questionnaire consists of 7 questions The survey questionnaire for students was translated into Vietnamese so that all of students could properly understand the meaning of all the questions Questions 1, 3 and 5 are designed to explore the teaching reading activities their lecturers employ at each stage (including pre-reading, while-reading and post-reading stage) and benefits from those activities to students Questions 2, 4 and 6 focus on investigating how their lecturers organize them to do the activities when teaching an ESP reading lesson at each stage Question 7 attempts to find out the students‟ expectation how teaching would improve their reading comprehension
The objectives of this survey questionnaire are to explore the strategies which lecturers have employed to teach ESP reading to Electrical Engineering third-year students, their difficulties in teaching ESP reading as well as what they suggest to improve their teaching (The survey questionnaire is available in Appendix B)
The survey questionnaire for lecturers includes 8 questions Questions 1, 3 and
5 are to investigate activities that the lecturers employ at each stage including pre- reading, while-reading and post-reading stage Questions 2, 4 and 6 explore how the lecturers organize students to practice activities at each reading stage Question 7 focuses on difficulties the lecturers face with in teaching ESP reading texts from their points of view Question 8 is to collect their personal suggestions to improve teaching ESP reading strategies
The students and lecturers‟ survey questionnaires were conducted by the researcher herself A hundred copies of the survey questionnaire were sent to students at Faculty of Electrical Engineering The researcher went to every class and explained the purpose of the survey questionnaire as well as instructed students how to answer questions in the survey questionnaire before delivering them They were also encouraged to ask if there was something unclear or if they did not understand any survey items The survey questionnaires were collected as soon as students finished them
Four ESP lecturers took part in the survey questionnaires The researcher gave each of the lecturers a survey questionnaire and asked them to return after a day
Though a hundred survey questionnaires were given to students, only 98 were collected However, 3 survey questionnaires were excluded due to a lot of missing information, 95 survey questionnaires were employed for data analysis
Four lecturers‟ survey questionnaires were returned to the researcher on time
Therefore, all these data are taken into analysis.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
Lecturers‟ teaching ESP reading strategies
The term “activities” are used instead of “strategies” for both students and lecturers‟ survey questionnaires because as discussed in Literature Review in chapter
1, each stage of reading is characterized by its own aims and activities
3.1.1 Lecturers’ activities in pre-reading stage
Table 3.1 below reports students‟ points of view about lecturers‟ activities in pre-reading stage
Items Pre-reading stage activities Frequency of use (%)
1 Ask questions relating to the topic of the reading text 0 7.37 29.47 63.16
2 Briefly introduce the topic of the ESP reading text 0 0 26.32 73.68
3 Encourage students to guess the topic of the reading text through the heading(s) 42.11 37.89 8.42 11.58
4 Encourage students to guess the topic of the reading text through the illustration(s) 40 41.05 18.95 0
5 Encourage students to guess the topic of the reading text through the visual aid(s) 84.21 5.26 10.53 0
6 Use language games to introduce the topic of the reading text 57.89 14.74 27.37 0
7 Use music to introduce the topic of the reading text 48.42 42.11 9.47 0
8 Allow students to discuss the topic of the reading text in pairs or in groups 0 0 10.53 89.47
9 Provide the meaning of new terminologies and new structures in the ESP reading text 0 0 31.58 68.42
Show students how to predict the content of the reading text through the title(s) or sub-title(s) or heading(s)
11 Ask students to brainstorm ideas related to the reading content 3.16 14.74 25.26 56.84
Table 3.1: Students’ evaluation of lecturers’ activities in pre-reading stage
As can be seen, among eleven popular reading activities in pre-reading stage, firstly, item 8 is the most frequent activity employed by lecturers (89.47%); secondly, item 2 is also frequently used (73.68%); thirdly, item 9 is employed by two-thirds of lecturers (68.42%); fourthly, item 1 attracts 63.16% of lecturers In addition, in pre- reading stage, 56.84% lecturers apply item 11 Unfortunately, two activities (item 2 and item 9) out of five that lecturers use frequently are not key activities in pre- reading stage according to the linguists (William, Smith, Davies) discussed in chapter 1
On the contrary, the most effective activities for pre-reading stage as suggested by the authors (William, Carrel et al., Smith, and Davies) are rarely and/ or never used by the ESP lecturers including item 10 (100%), item 7 (90.53%), item 5 (89.41%), item 4 (81.05%), item 3 (80%) and item 6 (72.63%)
The findings of frequency of using activities in teaching ESP reading in pre- reading stage from the lecturers‟ points of views are presented in table 3.2 below
Items Lecturers’ activities (in pre-reading stage) Frequency of use (%)
1 Ask questions relating to the topic of the reading text 0 0 50 50
2 Briefly introduce the topic of the ESP reading text 0 0 25 75
3 Encourage students to guess the topic of the reading text through the heading(s) 0 25 50 25
4 Encourage students to guess the topic of the reading text through the illustration(s) 25 25 25 25
5 Encourage students to guess the topic of the reading text through the visual aid(s) 25 25 50 0
6 Use language games to introduce the topic of the reading text 0 75 25 0
7 Use music to introduce the topic of the reading text 0 100 0 0
8 Allow students to discuss the topic of the reading text in pairs or in groups 0 0 0 100
9 Provide the meaning of new terminologies and new structures in the ESP reading text 0 0 25 75
10 Show students how to predict the content of the reading text through the title(s) or sub-title(s) or heading(s) 25 75 0 0
11 Ask students to brainstorm ideas related to the reading content 0 0 50 50
Table 3.2: Lecturers’ self-evaluation of their activities in pre-reading stage
As reported in table 3.2, in pre-reading stage, the most usually used activity is item 8 (100%) Then, item 2 and item 9 are frequently employed by two-thirds of lecturers (75%) Finally, half of the lecturers apply both item 1 and item 11 in pre- reading stage (50%)
On the other hand, table 3.2 reveals that items 7 and 10 are rarely and/ or never employed by all the lecturers (100%) Additionally, the lecturers report that they rarely and/ or never use some activities such as items 6, 4 and 5 (75% and 50% respectively) in pre-reading stage
The findings of frequency of using lecturers‟ pre-reading stage activities that present in both students‟ evaluation and lecturers‟ self-evaluation are relatively similar Although the ESP lecturers sometimes do not follow the activities suggested some linguists (William, Carrel et al., Smith, and Davies), there is no evidence to prove that the activities employed by lecturers are not essential in pre-reading stage
The results in both students and lecturers‟ survey questionnaires explore the lecturers‟ ways of organizing students‟ activities in pre-reading stage The findings of the two survey are displayed in Figure 3.1 and 3.2 below
Figure 3.1: Students’ evaluation of lecturers’ activity organization in pre-reading stage
Working individuallyWorking in pairsWorking in groups
Figure 3.2: Lecturers’ self-evaluation of their activity organization in pre-reading stage
First, as can be seen from figure 3.1 and 3.2 above, the lecturers often ask students to perform pre-reading stage activities in pairs (reported by 45.3% and 75% of the students and lecturers respectively) Second, in pre-reading stage, organizing students to do activities in groups is frequently used by lecturers (38.9% and 50% respectively) These results are quite understandable since asking students to work in pairs or groups ensures increased learner-learner interaction and motivation
3.1.2 Lecturers’ activities in while-reading stage
The responses to question 3 are presented and analyzed in table 3.3 and 3.4 as follows
As shown in table 3.3; first, items 1, 2, 10, 13 and 15 are reported to be the most frequent activities used by all the lecturers (100%) in while-reading stage
Second, item 8 and 9 (94.74%) is also frequently employed by lecturers Third, item
5 and item 4 attract 89.47% and 84.21% of lecturers respectively Fortunately, all activities that lecturers often employ are key activities in while-reading stage in accordance with the authors (Williams, Sheils, Mathews et al and Karakas) discussed in chapter 1
Nevertheless, it can be seen from table 3.3, item 16 and item 3 are rarely and/ or never employed by the majority of the lecturers (78.95% and 73.68% respectively) The results are quite understandable since it takes ESP lecturers much time to design extra exercises Besides, encouraging students to guess the meaning of unfamiliar words by contextual clues is not an easy task because of depending on
Working individuallyWorking in pairsWorking in groups specific subjects and students‟ ability of perceiving
Table 3.3: Students’ evaluation of lecturers’ activities in while-reading stage
Table 3.4 below sums up activities in while-reading stage from lecturers‟ self- evaluation From this table, items 1, 2, 8, 9, 10, 13, 15 have the highest frequency of use by all lecturers in while-reading stage (100%) Next, two-thirds of the lecturers (75%) reveal that items 4, 5 and 11 are also frequently employed
However, as can be seen in table 3.4, two items 3 and 16 are rarely and/ or
Items While-reading stage activities Frequency of use (%)
1 Identify new vocabularies and terminologies in reading text(s) 0 0 0 100
2 Ask students to find out meanings of new vocabularies and terminologies in dictionary 0 0 0 100
3 Encourage students to guess the meaning of unfamiliar words by using contextual clues 0 73.68 26.32 0
4 Translate sentence by sentence in the reading text into Vietnamese 0 0 15.79 84.21
5 Skip new vocabularies and terminologies and continue reading 0 0 10.53 89.47
6 Make students read the reading tasks first, then read the text to find out the answers 0 0 47.37 52.63
7 Ask students to read the text first; then, do all reading tasks 0 0 49.47 50.53
8 Skim to get main ideas 0 0 5.26 94.74
9 Scan to get specific information 0 0 5.26 94.74
10 Read silently to find the main ideas for each paragraph 0 0 0 100
11 Do all the reading tasks below the reading text 0 0 26.32 73.68
12 Do True/ False exercises to check the understanding about facts and ideas in the reading text 0 47.37 52.63 0
13 Use the information in the text for completing tables 0 0 0 100
14 Use the information in the text for completing diagrams 0 0 36.84 63.16
15 Use the information in the text for doing rephrasing task 0 0 0 100
16 Do extra exercises designed by their lecturer 0 78.95 21.05 0
17 Others (Please specify): ……… 0 0 0 0 never employed by two-thirds of the lecturers in while-reading stage (75%)
Items Lecturers’ activities (in while-reading stage) Frequency of use (%)
1 Identify new vocabularies and terminologies in reading text(s) 0 0 0 100
2 Ask students to find out meanings of new vocabularies and terminologies in dictionary 0 0 0 100
3 Encourage students to guess the meaning of unfamiliar words by using contextual clues 0 75 25 0
4 Translate sentence by sentence in the reading text into
5 Skip new vocabularies and terminologies and continue reading 0 0 25 75
6 Make students read the reading tasks first, then read the text to find out the answers 0 0 50 50
7 Ask students to read the text first; then, do all reading tasks 0 0 75 25
8 Skim to get main ideas 0 0 0 100
9 Scan to get specific information 0 0 0 100
10 Read silently to find the main ideas for each paragraph 0 0 0 100
11 Do all the reading tasks below the reading text 0 0 25 75
12 Do True/ False exercises to check the understanding about facts and ideas in the reading text 0 50 50 0
13 Use the information in the text for completing tables 0 0 0 100
14 Use the information in the text for completing diagrams 0 0 75 25
15 Use the information in the text for doing rephrasing task 0 0 0 100
16 Give extra exercises designed by their lecturer 0 75 25 0
Table 3.4: Lecturers’ self-evaluation of their activities in while-reading stage
In brief, there is a relatively corresponding between the results of students‟ evaluation and lecturers‟ self-evaluation which shows frequency of using lecturers‟ while-reading stage activities Nevertheless, according to lecturers‟ self-evaluation, item 11 which is a frequent activity used by 75% lecturers does not mention in students‟ evaluation It can be understood that students might not remember all activities used by lecturers in while-reading stage clearly
The results of the two students and lecturers‟ survey questionnaires in Figure 3.3 and 3.4 below indicate the lecturers‟ ways of organizing students‟ activities in while-reading stage
As can be seen from Figure 3.3 and 3.4 above, among ways to organize students to do activities at while-reading stage, working individually is the most frequently employed (reported by 46.32% and 50% of the students and the lecturers respectively); followed by working in pairs with 33.68% of the students and 50% of the lecturers
Figure 3.3: Students’ evaluation of lecturers’ activity organization in while-reading stage
Figure 3.4: Lecturers’ self-evaluation of their activity organization in while -reading stage
The results also indicate that the lecturers often tend to ask students to work individually so that they can prepare their personal ideas, views or arguments in response to a problem and complete reading tasks the in textbook Additionally, they find it easier to control the class
3.1.3 Lecturers’ activities in post-reading stage
Table 3.5 below indicates students‟ points of view about lecturers‟ activities in while-reading stage
As illustrated in this table; firstly, item 5 is the most frequent activity employed by lecturers (94.74%) Secondly, item 6 is frequently used by 73.68% of the lecturers Finally, over 50% of lecturers apply both item 1 and 3 in post-reading
Working in pairs Working in groups
Working individually Working in pairs Working in groups stage
In contrast, item 4 is rarely and/ or never employed by 100% of the lecturers In addition, in post-reading stage, lecturers rarely and/ or never use item 7 and item 2
Table 3.5: Students’ evaluation of lecturers’ activities in post-reading stage
Table 3.6 below indicates activities in post -reading stage according to lecturers‟ self-evaluation As displayed on this table, 100% of the lecturers report that they often use item 5 in post-reading stage Next, three lectures (75%) reveal that items 1, 3 and 6 are frequently employed
Items Lecturers’ activities (in post-reading stage) Frequency of use (%)
1 Ask students to discuss the content and issues related to the reading text 0 0 25 75
2 Summarize the main ideas in the text 0 75 0 25
3 Do the follow-up activities such as writing about the related topic 0 25 0 75
4 Do the follow-up activities such as listening about the related topic 75 25 0 0
5 Translate the text into Vietnamese 0 0 0 100
Items Post-reading stage activities Frequency of use (%)
1 Ask students to discuss the content and issues related to the reading text 0 31.58 10.52 57.9
2 Summarize the main ideas in the reading text 0 73.68 26.32 0
3 Do the follow-up activities such as writing about the related topic 0 10.52 31.58 57.9
4 Do the follow-up activities such as listening about the related topic 84.21 15.79 0 0
5 Translate the text into Vietnamese 0 0 5.26 94.74
6 Encourage students to seek additional reading texts relating to the topic they have learnt 0 0 26.32 73.68
7 Paraphrase what students have learnt 0 78.95 21.05 0
Items Lecturers’ activities (in post-reading stage) Frequency of use (%)
6 Encourage students to seek additional reading texts relating to the topic they have learnt 0 0 25 75
7 Paraphrase what students have learnt 75 25 0 0
Table 3.6: Lecturers’ self-evaluation of their activities in post-reading stage
The results in this table show that three items 2, 4 and 7 are rarely and/ or never applied by the lecturers (100 % and 75% respectively)
Students‟ perception of the benefits
This part concentrates on how beneficial the students gain from teaching ESP reading strategies employed by the lecturers
3.2.1 Benefits from pre-reading stage activities
To make it easy for the interpretation of the results in table 3.7, the researcher combines data in B and VB together Table 3.7 below presents students‟ views on benefits from pre-reading stage activities
As can be seen table 3.7, item 9 is evaluated to be most beneficial (100%) to students Next, items 6, 10, 1 and 5 are evaluated to be beneficial to students (94.74%, 94% and 92.63% respectively) Then, item 4 is also considered as beneficial activity by 84.21% of the students
Pre-reading stage activities Benefits for students (%)
1 Ask questions relating to the topic of the reading text
2 Briefly introduce the topic of the ESP reading text
3 Encourage students to guess the topic of the 13.68 20 29.47 36.85
Working individuallyWorking in pairsWorking in groups
Pre-reading stage activities Benefits for students (%)
N LB B VB reading text through the heading(s)
4 Encourage students to guess the topic of the reading text through the illustration(s)
5 Encourage students to guess the topic of the reading text through the visual aid(s)
6 Use language games to introduce the topic of the reading text
7 Use music to introduce the topic of the reading text
8 Allow students to discuss the topic of the reading text in pairs or in groups
9 Provide the meaning of new terminologies and new structures in the ESP reading text
10 Show students how to predict the content of the reading text through the title(s) or sub-title(s) or heading(s)
11 Ask students to brainstorm ideas related to the reading content
Table 3.7: Students’ evaluation of benefits from pre-reading stage activities
For the interpretation of the least beneficial items, the researcher combines data from N and LB together Then, it can be seen now 64.21% of the students appreciate that both item 2 and 8 are not beneficial and/ or little beneficial for them
3.2.2 Benefits from while-reading stage activities
The interpretation from table 3.8 is done similarly as it is in table 3.7 The following table 3.8 indicates that students‟ evaluation of benefits from activities in while-reading stage
It can be seen from this table, most activities employed by the lecturers bring many benefits to the students First, 100% of the students evaluate that item 1 is the most beneficial activity Most of the remaining items 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14,
15 and 16 are thought to be very beneficial to the majority of the students
Items While-reading stage activities
1 Identify new vocabularies and terminologies in reading text(s) 0 0 0 100
2 Ask students to find out meanings of new vocabularies and terminologies in dictionary 0 0 5.26 94.74
Items While-reading stage activities
3 Encourage students to guess the meaning of unfamiliar words by using contextual clues 0 68.42 31.58 0
4 Translate sentence by sentence in the reading text into
5 Skip new vocabularies and terminologies and continue reading 0 0 15.79 84.21
6 Make students read the reading tasks first, then read the text to find out the answers 0 10.53 36.84 52.63
7 Ask students to read the text first; then, do all reading tasks 0 0 47.37 52.63
8 Skim to get main ideas 0 0 10.53 89.47
9 Scan to get specific information 0 0 10.53 89.47
10 Read silently to find the main ideas for each paragraph 0 0 5.26 94.74
11 Do all the reading tasks below the reading text 0 21.05 78.95 0
12 Do True/ False exercises to check the understanding about facts and ideas in the reading text 0 73.68 26.32 0
13 Use the information in the text for completing tables 0 0 84.21 15.79
14 Use the information in the text for completing diagrams 0 0 78.95 21.05
15 Use the information in the text for doing rephrasing task 0 0 36.84 63.16
16 Do extra exercises designed by their lecturer 0 0 26.32 73.68
Table 3.8: Students’ evaluation of benefits from while-reading stage activities
For the interpretation of the least beneficial items, the researcher combines data from N and LB together Two only items 12 and 3 are evaluated to be not beneficial and/ or little beneficial for students (73.68% and 68.42% respectively) The analysis result indicates that these activities might be boring and ineffective for the students
Therefore, it is necessary to design more appropriate and exciting activities in teaching ESP reading in order to stimulate students‟ interest
3.2.3 Benefits from post-reading stage activities
The interpretation of the findings in table 3.9 is done similarly as it is in table 3.7 and 3.8 As displayed on this table below, item 5 is evaluated to be the most beneficial activity by 100% of the students Then, items 6, 2 and 1 are admitted to be beneficial activities by 94.73%, 89.47% and 84.21 % of the students respectively
1 Ask students to discuss the content and issues related to the reading text 0 15.79 84.21 0
2 Summarize the main ideas in the text 0 10.53 89.47 0
3 Do the follow-up activities such as writing about the related topic 21.05 73.68 5.27 0
4 Do the follow-up activities such as listening about the related topic 26.32 68.41 5.27 0
5 Translate the text into Vietnamese 0 0 5.27 94.73
6 Encourage students to seek additional reading texts relating to the topic they have learnt 5.27 0 94.73 0
7 Paraphrase what students have learnt 0 91.58 8.42 0
Table 3.9: Students’ evaluation of benefits from post-reading stage activities
The interpretation of the least beneficial items is also combined data from N and LB together by the researcher Over 90% of the students admit that items 3, 4 and 7 are not beneficial and/ or little beneficial for them to improve their ESP reading.
Suggestions for enhancement of students‟ benefits
In order to give the ESP lecturers approriate suggestions, it is nescessary to base on results from students and lecturers‟ survey questionnaires and difficulties the lecturers face with Therefore, the following parts deal with lecturers‟ difficulties in teaching ESP reading texts as well as students‟ expectations and lecturers‟ suggestions
3.3.1 Lecturers’ difficulties in teaching ESP reading texts
1 Lack of background knowledge related to reading text(s) 100
3 Do not understand properly the meanings of terminologies 100
4 Too many unfamiliar terminologies in reading texts 75
5 Summarize the main ideas of the reading texts 0
9 Inappropriate reading exercises in reading texts 75
10 Inappropriate task-based in reading texts 50
11 Lack of knowledge of students‟ major 100
Table 3.10: Lecturers’ difficulties in teaching ESP reading texts
From the table 3.10, it can be seen that 100% of the lecturers suppose that items
1, 3, 6, 7, 11 and 12 are the top difficulties they face with in teaching ESP reading texts These difficulties are rooted from some lecturers‟ limitation of background knowledge related to reading text(s) and students‟ major which makes them have difficulty in properly understanding the meanings of terminologies Furthermore, other difficulties are originated from the students‟ performance and textbook such as lack of class time, uninteresting reading texts and the students‟ laziness
Additionally, 75% of the lecturers agree that items 4, 8 and 9 are considered as difficulties for them when teaching ESP reading texts
3.3.2 Students’ expectations and lecturers’ suggestions
1 Use language games to introduce the topic of the reading text
2 Use music to introduce the topic of the reading text
3 Use visual aid(s) to ask students to guess the topic of the reading text
4 Encourage students to discuss the topic of the reading text in pairs
5 Encourage students to guess the meaning of unfamiliar words by using contextual clues
6 Provide the meaning of new terminologies and new structures in the ESP reading text(s)
7 Give various kinds of exercises to help students exploit the content of the reading text
8 Help students choose appropriate reading strategies for each reading texts
9 Provide extra exercises to remember vocabulary more easily
10 Provide students with various reading activities
11 Omit inappropriate reading exercises in reading texts and replace by suitable ones
12 Create comfortable environment in each ESP reading lesson
By analyzing the two figure 3.7 and 3.8 above, it can be seen that all the lecturers and the students totally agree that items 3 and 10 should be focused on teaching ESP reading lessons They are thought to be the most important strategies to motivate students‟ interest in studying ESP reading Besides, item 12 is always expected by all students (100%) Meanwhile, 100% of the lecturers suggest that items 7, 8 and 11 are useful strategies to improve their teaching ESP reading strategies In addition, items 1, 5, 6 9 and 12 are recommended by 75% of the lecturers More 90% of the students admit that items 1, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11 help them to improve their ESP reading Item 5 and item 4 are the least voted strategies in both surveys with only 42.11% of the students and 25% of the lecturers respectively
These strategies‟ effectiveness is seem to be not reliable in improving students‟ ESP reading ability.
Comparison between survey results and evaluation criteria
As specified in chapter 1 pages 12 – 13, the researcher has identified the eight criteria to evaluate teaching ESP reading strategies
First, 100% of the lecturers claim that the reading texts are uninteresting (item
7, Table 3.10) This means that criterion 1 in teaching reading strategies fails
Second, the lecturers also report that students are lazy and their English language proficiency are not similar (100% and 75% respectively) as in table 3.10 It is hard for students to read efficiently It implies that criterion 2 is not met
Third, all of the lecturers still face with their limitation of background knowledge related to reading text(s) and students‟ major which makes them have difficulty in properly understanding the meanings of terminologies (items 1 and 3, Table 3.10) This means that criterion 3 about “own a rich source of vocabulary” does not obtain
Fourth, according to the lecturers and students‟ survey questionnaire, criterion
4 about employing pair work and group work in the reading interactive process is often used in teaching ESP reading by lecturers Therefore, this criterion is a really good
Fifth, all lecturers always play a role as “an instructor” as discussed in criterion
5 through giving instructions and organizing classroom reading activities It implies that this criterion is met
Sixth, criterion 6 which concerns with providing various “exercise-types” fails
Because 94.74% of the students expect their lecturers to give various kinds of exercises to help them exploit the content of the reading text (Figure 3.7)
Seventh, although students have background knowledge of their major in Vietnamese, their poor English language proficiency and lack of terminologies are of great barriers Hence, it is difficult for them to “contribute meaning to a text” during the reading process as mentioned in criterion 7 As a result, this criterion is not also met
Lastly, in term of “selecting appropriate texts” for students‟ level, the results of lecturers‟ and students‟ survey questionnaire show that this criterion is not good
Therefore, it is necessary to vary some reading activities in the current textbook namely “English for Electrical and Electronics Engineering” at HaUI due to their monotony and repetition In addition, this textbook which lacks of illustrations or pictures does not really stimulate students‟ imagination and eagerness to ESP reading texts
To sum up, among eight evaluation criteria, it seems that criterion 4 and 5 are met
In conclusion, chapter 3 presented the results of students and lecturers‟ survey questionnaires and used the eight criteria to evaluate lecturers‟ teaching ESP reading
Simultaneously, the findings of the study have answered the two research questions and fulfilled the research aims and objectives
This part will present the summary, the recommendations, the limitations of the study, and the suggestions for further studies.
Conclusion
As an integral part in training programs, the evaluation of its effectiveness has always attracted the attention of educational managers, teachers, and leaners For ESP-training context at HaUI, although ESP reading strategies have long been implemented and applied in its programs, up to present, there is no in-depth study to assess the effectiveness of the ESP reading strategies yet Therefore, researcher performed to evaluate the teaching ESP reading strategies that are being applied for Electrical Engineering third-year students at HaUI to offer recommendations with purpose to improve the teaching ESP reading strategies in a more efficient way In order to get this, an available questionnaire was designed to survey Electrical Engineering third-year students and ESP lecturers at HaUI The content of the survey questionnaire was linked with the ESP reading strategies that are divided into three stages, namely; pre-reading stage, while – reading stage, and post- reading stage In each stage, a set of questions was set up, which is connected to activities in each stage of the teaching ESP reading strategies The findings of the study are to identify lecturers‟ teaching ESP reading strategies and to find out the benefits students gain from these strategies In addition, the researcher gives suggestions to enhance the lecturers‟ quality of teaching ESP reading at HaUI As a result, the two research questions have been answered.
Recommendations
From the lecturers‟ difficulties in teaching ESP reading texts as well as students‟ expectations and lecturers‟ suggestions as specified in chapter 3, in order to enhance effectiveness in teaching ESP reading strategies, there are some implications in the study as follows
It cannot be denied that lecturers play a very important role in the students‟ success Therefore, it is necessary to train the ESP lecturers to be well specialized so that they can meet students‟ needs Two most crucial factors for success of training ESP courses are improvement on specialized background knowledge for the ESP lecturers and their teaching methodology
Improvements on specialized background knowledge for the ESP lecturers
As mentioned above, the poor background knowledge of subject matter is one of the most difficulties they often cope with Because most of them are lecturers of General English who have unexpectedly required to teach students with special needs First and foremost, selection is one of the good ways as not every lecturers can be specialized for ESP courses but only who feel that they can do such a thing as well as they are ready to contribute for it Next, lecturers should be provided with some in-service training in ESP in general and English for Electrical Engineering in particular by technical specialists Also, the lecturers should self- study from ESP books written in bilingual (both in English and in Vietnamese) to enrich their basic knowledge on the subject matter as well as achieve necessary vocabulary and terminologies In addition, attending ESP workshops with specialists can help lecturers understand students‟ needs better as well as improve their professional knowledge
Improvements on the ESP lecturers’ teaching methodology
Improving lecturers‟ teaching methodology is the decisive factor which involves all lecturers regardless of which subject they teach ESP lecturers should discuss their lesson plans to find the best activities and to choose the most appropriate supplementary materials for their students‟ levels They should spend much more time to prepare before each reading lesson such as searching visual aids, pictures, music, language games or real objects, etc., which makes the lessons more vivid and effective While the lecturers are creating extra exercises, they can also improve their specialized knowledge and avoid unexpected problems in teaching
ESP teaching material plays a key role in an ESP course which requires its own specificity according to students‟ subject matter and their need Good material should be based on various interesting texts and activities providing a wide range of skill
According to Hutchinson and Waters (1992), materials should also function as a link between already learnt (existing knowledge) and new information The findings from the survey questionnaires above show that it is essential to diversify reading activities in “English for Electrical and Electronics Engineering” textbook instead of repeating the similar forms of tasks which makes students bored The language should be given more realistic exposure by photos or pictures such as catalog cards, etc for students to imagine and define clearly ESP terminologies In addition, some pre-reading questions should be provided for each ESP reading text which will help students more eager and arouse their interest in the reading topic
Providing various ESP reading strategies and creating a comfortable classroom atmosphere
One of students‟ expectations in learning ESP reading are provided effective reading strategies ESP lecturers should teach different reading strategies including skimming, scanning, predicting, interfering… to their students The different strategies should be properly chosen for different texts with clear instructions and various exercises for students to practice their reading ability
What‟s more, students expect to take part in a comfortable and positive learning atmosphere in the classroom, which makes them be motivated as much as possible to enjoy reading activities.
Limitations of the study
The study offered some insightful findings, however, like many other studies, there are still some limitations With regard to sample size, the study is limited in the fact that data collected by the survey questionnaires from 95 Electrical Engineering third-year students and 4 lecturers of English It can be seen that the findings of the study are to the context of Electrical Engineering and therefore, the use of these findings in other contexts need to be considered Besides, teaching and learning ESP reading is large field, therefore, within the scope of this study, it is difficult to cover all aspects in the teaching ESP reading.
Suggestions for further study
Based on some limitations of the study, there are some suggestions for further researches Firstly, this study was carried out only Electrical Engineering third-year students at HaUI Therefore, similar topics can be carried out at other faculties and other universities Then, the study focused on the teaching strategies of lecturers of English at HaUI in ESP reading skill only, other studies might go further into teaching strategies for other skills such as listening, speaking and writing in ESP context Last but not least, ESP textbook is an indispensable part to improve the quality of teaching ESP However, the quality of the current ESP textbook is not really good Therefore, a study on designing a new ESP textbook for Electrical Engineering students should be conducted at HaUI
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APPENDICES APPENDIX A SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS
This survey questionnaire is designed for my research to identify the strategies which lecturers have employed to teach English for Specific Purposes (ESP) reading for Electrical Engineering third-year students at HaUI Based on the findings of the study, suggestions would be made to improve the quality of teaching and learning ESP reading at HaUI All the information you provide will be strictly confidential and used only for the purpose of this study Please answer the following questions in Vietnamese
Please answer the following questions by ticking the most appropriate column (frequency of use and students’ benefits column)
N = Not Beneficial LB = Little Beneficial B= Beneficial VB = Very Beneficial
1/ How often does your lecturer use the activities below to begin a new ESP reading lesson and how beneficial are those activities to you?
Items Activities ( pre-reading stage)
Frequency of use Benefits for students
1 Ask questions relating to the topic of the reading text
2 Briefly introduce the topic of the ESP reading text
3 Encourage students to guess the topic of the reading text through the heading(s)
4 Encourage students to guess the topic of the reading text through the illustration(s)
5 Encourage students to guess the topic of the reading text through the visual aid(s)
6 Use language games to introduce the topic of the reading text reading text
8 Allow students to discuss the topic of the reading text in pairs or in groups
Provide the meaning of new terminologies and new structures in the ESP reading text
Show students how to predict the content of the reading text through the title(s) or sub- title(s) or heading(s)
11 Ask students to brainstorm ideas related to the reading content
2/ How does your lecturer organize students to do those activities? (Tick as many as appropriate)
Work individually Pair work Group work Others (Please specify):
3/ How often does your lecturer use the activities below while teaching an ESP reading lesson and how beneficial are those activities to you?
Frequency of use Benefits for students
1 Identify new vocabularies and terminologies in reading text(s)
2 Ask students to find out meanings of new vocabularies and terminologies in dictionary
3 Encourage students to guess the meaning of unfamiliar words by using contextual clues
4 Translate sentence by sentence in the reading text into Vietnamese
5 Skip new vocabularies and terminologies and continue reading
6 Make students read the reading tasks first, then read the text to find out the answers
7 Ask students to read the text first; then, do all reading tasks
8 Skim to get main ideas
9 Scan to get specific information
10 Read silently to find the main ideas for each paragraph
11 Do all the reading tasks below the reading text
12 Do True/ False exercises to check the understanding about facts and ideas in the reading text
13 Use the information in the text for completing tables
14 Use the information in the text for completing diagrams
15 Use the information in the text for doing rephrasing task
16 Do extra exercises designed by their lecturer
4/ How does your lecturer organize students to do those activities? (Tick as many as appropriate)
Work individually Pair work Group work Others (Please specify):
5/ How often does your lecturer use the activities below in post-reading stage when teaching an ESP reading lesson and how beneficial are those activities to you?
I tems Activities (post-reading stage)
1 Ask students to discuss the content and issues related to the reading text
2 Summarize the main ideas in the reading text
3 Do the follow-up activities such as writing about the related topic
4 Do the follow-up activities such as listening about the related topic
5 Translate the text into Vietnamese
6 Encourage students to seek additional reading texts relating to the topic they have learnt
7 Paraphrase what students have learnt
6/ How does your lecturer organize students to do those activities? (Tick as many as appropriate)
Work individually Pair work Group work Others (Please specify):
7/ What would you like your teacher to do to improve your reading comprehension? (Tick as many as appropriate)
Use language games to introduce the topic of the reading text
Use music to introduce the topic of the reading text
Use visual aid(s) to guess the topic of the reading text
Discuss the topic of the reading text in pairs
Encourage us to guess the meaning of unfamiliar words by using contextual clues
Provide the meaning of new terminologies and new structures in the ESP reading text(s)
Give various kinds of exercises to help us exploit the content of the reading text
Help us choose appropriate reading strategies for each reading texts
Provide extra exercises to remember vocabulary more easily
Omit inappropriate reading exercises in reading texts and replace by suitable ones
Create comfortable environment in each ESP reading lesson
Thank you very much for your cooperation!
PHIẾU KHẢO SÁT DÀNH CHO SINH VIÊN
Bảng câu hỏi khảo sát dưới đây phục vụ đề tài nghiên cứu về các kỹ thuật giảng dạy mà giảng viên sử dụng trong khi dạy kỹ năng đọc Tiếng Anh chuyên ngành nhằm mục đích hỗ trợ và nâng cao chất lượng dạy đọc cho sinh viên năm thứ ba khoa Điện, trường Đại học Công nghiệp Hà Nội Mọi thông tin các em cung cấp chỉ phục vụ cho mục đích nghiên cứu và được giữ bí mật tuyệt đối Các em trả lời bảng khảo sát dưới đây bằng tiếng Việt
Trả lời tất cả các câu hỏi sau bằng cách đánh dấu () vào cột thích hợp nhất (cột tần suất sử dụng và cột lợi ích mang lại cho sinh viên)
1 = Không bao giờ 2 = Hiếm khi 3 = Thỉnh thoảng 4 = Thường xuyên
N = Không có ích LB = Ít có ích B= Có ích VB = Rất có ích
1/ Giảng viên của bạn thường xuyên sử dụng các hoạt động nào dưới đây để bắt đầu dạy một bài đọc tiếng Anh chuyên ngành và những hoạt động đó mang lại lợi ích gì cho bạn?
Số thứ tự Các hoạt động (giai đoạn trước khi đọc)
Lợi ích mang lại cho sinh viên
1 Đặt câu hỏi liên quan đến chủ đề của bài đọc
2 Giới thiệu ngắn gọn chủ đề của bài đọc tiếng Anh chuyên ngành
3 Khuyến khích sinh viên đoán chủ đề của bài đọc thông qua tiêu đề
4 Khuyến khích sinh viên đoán chủ đề của bài đọc thông qua hình ảnh minh họa
5 Khuyến khích sinh viên đoán chủ đề của bài đọc thông qua phương tiện trực quan
6 Sử dụng trò chơi ngôn ngữ để giới thiệu chủ đề của bài đọc
7 Sử dụng âm nhạc để giới thiệu chủ đề của bài đọc
8 Yêu cầu sinh viên thảo luận chủ đề bài đọc theo các cặp hoặc theo các nhóm
9 Cung cấp nghĩa của các thuật ngữ và các cấu trúc mới trong bài khóa tiếng Anh chuyên ngành
10 Hướng dẫn sinh viên cách dự đoán nội dung bài đọc thông qua tiêu đề hoặc phụ đề
11 Yêu cầu sinh viên suy nghĩ các ý tưởng liên quan đến nội dung đọc
12 Ý kiến khác (xin vui lòng ghi rõ):
2/ Giảng viên của bạn thường tổ chức các hoạt động trên theo hình thức nào?
(Đánh dấu ( ) vào các phương án phù hợp)
Cá nhân Theo cặp Theo nhóm Ý kiến khác (xin vui lòng ghi rõ):………
3/ Giảng viên của bạn thường xuyên sử dụng các hoạt động nào dưới đây trong khi dạy một bài đọc tiếng Anh chuyên ngành và những hoạt động đó mang lại lợi ích gì cho bạn?
Các hoạt động (giai đoạn trong khi đọc)
Lợi ích mang lại cho sinh viên
1 Tìm các từ vựng và thuật ngữ mới trong bài đọc
2 Yêu cầu sinh viên tìm nghĩa của các từ mới và thuật ngữ trong từ điển
3 Khuyến khích sinh viên đoán nghĩa của từ dựa theo ngữ cảnh
4 Dịch từng câu trong bài đọc sang tiếng Việt
5 Bỏ qua các từ mới, thuật ngữ và tiếp tục đọc
6 Yêu cầu sinh viên đọc yêu cầu của bài tập trước, sau đó đọc bài khóa để tìm câu trả lời
7 Yêu cầu sinh viên đọc bài khóa trước, sau đó đọc yêu cầu của bài tập đoạn
9 Đọc lướt (skim) để tìm thông tin cụ thể
10 Đọc thầm để tìm ý chính của mỗi đoạn
11 Hoàn thành tất cả các nhiệm vụ ở phía dưới bài đọc
12 Làm các bài tập Đúng / Sai để kiểm tra hiểu biết về các sự kiện và ý tưởng trong bài đọc
13 Sử dụng thông tin trong bài khóa để hoàn thành các bảng
14 Sử dụng thông tin trong bài khóa để hoàn thành các sơ đồ
15 Sử dụng thông tin trong bài khóa để diễn đạt lại thông tin
16 Làm thêm các bài tập do giảng viên thiết kế
17 Ý kiến khác (xin vui lòng ghi rõ):………
4/ Giảng viên của bạn thường tổ chức các hoạt động trên theo hình thức nào?
(Đánh dấu ( ) vào các phương án phù hợp)
Cá nhân Theo cặp Theo nhóm Ý kiến khác (xin vui lòng ghi rõ):………
5/ Giảng viên của bạn thường xuyên sử dụng các hoạt động nào dưới đây ở giai đoạn sau khi đọc khi dạy một bài đọc tiếng Anh chuyên ngành, những hoạt động đó mang lại lợi ích gì cho bạn?
Số thứ tự Các hoạt động (giai đoạn sau khi đọc)
Lợi ích mang lại cho sinh viên
1 Yêu cầu sinh viên thảo luận về nội dung và các vấn đề liên quan đến bài đọc
2 Tóm tắt các ý chính trong bài khóa
3 Luyện tập các hoạt động theo sau như: viết về chủ đề liên quan
4 Thực hiện các hoạt động theo sau như: nghe chủ đề liên quan
5 Dịch bài khóa sang tiếng Việt
6 Khuyến khích sinh viên tìm kiếm các bài đọc thêm liên quan tới chủ đề đã học
7 Diễn giải lại những nội dung sinh viên đã học
8 Ý kiến khác (xin vui lòng ghi rõ):
6/ Giảng viên của bạn thường tổ chức các hoạt động trên theo hình thức nào?
(Đánh dấu ( ) vào các phương án phù hợp.)
Cá nhân Theo cặp Theo nhóm Ý kiến khác (xin vui lòng ghi rõ):………
7/ Bạn mong muốn giảng viên của bạn sẽ làm gì để cải thiện khả năng đọc hiểu của bạn? (Đánh dấu ( ) vào các phương án phù hợp.)
Sử dụng trò chơi ngôn ngữ để giới thiệu chủ đề bài đọc
Sử dụng âm nhạc để giới thiệu chủ đề của bài đọc
Đoán chủ đề của bài đọc thông qua phương tiện trực quan
Thảo luận chủ đề bài đọc theo các cặp
Khuyến khích sinh viên đoán nghĩa của từ dựa theo ngữ cảnh
Cung cấp nghĩa của các thuật ngữ và các cấu trúc mới trong các bài đọc tiếng Anh chuyên ngành
Cung cấp các dạng bài tập khác nhau giúp khai thác nội dung của bài đọc
Giúp sinh viên lựa chọn chiến lược đọc phù hợp cho từng bài đọc
Cung cấp các bài tập thêm giúp ghi nhớ từ vựng dễ dàng hơn
Tạo môi trường thoải mái trong mỗi giờ học đọc tiếng Anh chuyên ngành
Ý kiến khác (xin vui lòng ghi rõ): ………
Chân thành cảm ơn sự hợp tác!
APPENDIX B SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE FOR LECTURERS
This survey questionnaire is designed for my research to identify the strategies which lecturers have employed to teach English for Specific Purposes (ESP) reading for Electrical Engineering third-year students at HaUI Based on the findings of the study, suggestions would be made to improve the quality of teaching and learning ESP reading at HaUI All the information you provide will be strictly confidential and used only for the purpose of this study Please answer the following questions in English
Please answer the following questions by ticking the most appropriate column (frequency of use column)
1/ How often do you use the activities below to begin a new ESP reading lesson?
Items Activities (pre-reading stage) Frequency of use
1 Ask questions relating to the topic of the reading text
2 Briefly introduce the topic of the ESP reading text
3 Encourage students to guess the topic of the reading text through the heading(s)
4 Encourage students to guess the topic of the reading text through the illustration(s)
5 Encourage students to guess the topic of the reading text through the visual aid(s)
6 Use language games or music to introduce the topic of the reading text
7 Use music to introduce the topic of the reading text
8 Allow students to discuss the topic of the reading text in pairs or in groups
9 Provide the meaning of new terminologies and new structures in the ESP reading text text through the titles or sub-titles or headings
11 Ask students to brainstorm ideas related to the reading content
2/ How do you organize your students to do those activities? (Tick as many as appropriate)
Work individually Pair work Group work Others (Please specify): ………
3/ How often do you use the activities below while teaching an ESP reading lesson?
Items Activities (while-reading stage) Frequency of use
Identify new vocabularies and terminologies in reading text(s)
Ask students to find out meanings of new vocabularies and terminologies in dictionary
Encourage students to guess the meaning of unfamiliar words by using contextual clues
Translate sentence by sentence in the reading text into Vietnamese
Skip new vocabularies and terminologies and continue reading
Make students read the reading tasks first, then read the text to find out the answers
Ask students to read the text first; then, do all reading tasks
8 Skim to get main ideas
9 Scan to get specific information
Read silently to find the main ideas for each paragraph
1 Do all the reading tasks below the reading text
Do True/ False exercises to check the understanding about facts and ideas in the reading text
Use the information in the text for completing tables
Use the information in the text for completing diagrams
Use the information in the text for doing rephrasing task
Give extra exercises designed by their lecturer
4/ How do you organize your students to do those activities? (Tick as many as appropriate)
Work individually Pair work Group work Others (Please specify): ………
5/ How often do you use the activities below in post-reading stage when teaching an ESP reading lesson?
Items Activities (post-reading stage) Frequency of use
Ask students to discuss the content and issues related to the reading text
2 Summarize the main ideas in the text
3 Do the follow-up activities such as writing about the related topic
4 Do the follow-up activities such as listening about the related topic
5 Translate the text into Vietnamese
6 Encourage students to seek additional reading texts relating to the topic they have learnt
7 Paraphrase what students have learnt
6/ How do you organize your students to do those activities? (Tick as many as appropriate)
Work individually Pair work Group work Others (Please specify): ………
7/ What are difficulties you face with while teaching ESP reading texts to the third-year electrical engineering students? (You can tick as many as appropriate.)
Lack of background knowledge related to reading text(s) Lack of reading strategies
Do not understand properly the meanings of terminologies Too many unfamiliar terminologies in reading texts
Summarize the main ideas of the reading texts Lack of class time
Uninteresting reading texts Students‟ English language proficiency Inappropriate reading exercises in reading texts Inappropriate task-based in reading texts
Lack of knowledge of students‟ major The students‟ laziness
8/ What should be done to improve teaching ESP reading strategies? (You can tick as many as appropriate.)
Use language games to introduce the topic of the reading text
Use music to introduce the topic of the reading text
Use visual aid(s) to ask students to guess the topic of the reading text
Encourage students to guess the meaning of unfamiliar words by using contextual clues
Provide the meaning of new terminologies and new structures in the ESP reading text(s)
Give various kinds of exercises to help students exploit the content of the reading text
Help students choose appropriate reading strategies for each reading texts
