An evaluation and recommendation of the english syllabus for the finance and accounting students at van lang university in ho chi minh city

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY- HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES -[Ư\ - CAO THỊ HOÀNG YẾN AN EVALUATION AND RECOMMENDATION OF THE ENGLISH SYLLABUS FOR THE FINANCE AND ACCOUNTING STUDENTS AT VAN LANG UNIVERSITY IN HO CHI MINH CITY A THESIS IN TESOL CODE NUMBER: 5.07.02 SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS (TESOL) Supervisor: NGUYỄN HOÀNG TUAÁN, M.A HOCHIMINH CITY, 2005 CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY I certify my authorship of the thesis submitted today entitled: AN EVALUATION AND RECOMMENDATION OF THE ENGLISH SYLLABUS FOR THE FINANCE AND ACCOUNTING STUDENTS AT VAN LANG UNIVERSITY IN HO CHI MINH CITY In terms of the statement of Requirements for Theses in Master’s Programmes issued by the Higher Degree Committee Ho Chi Minh City December 15, 2005 Cao Thị Hoàng Yến RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS I hereby state that I, CAO THI HOANG YEN, being the candidate for the degree of Master of TESOL, accept the requirements of the University relating to the retention and use of Master’s Theses deposited in the Library In terms of these conditions, I agree that the original of my thesis deposited in the Library should be accessible for purposes of study and research, in accordance with the normal conditions established by the Library for the care, loan and reproduction of theses Ho Chi Minh City December 15, 2005 Cao Thị Hoàng Yến ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my deep gratitude to all those who have contributed in different ways to this thesis: To my thesis supervisor, Mr Nguyen Hoang Tuan, for his constant guidance and instruction in the preparation and completion of the thesis To Dr Dang Thi Huong who has carefully read every chapter of my draft version and has given invaluable advice on every possible change for a better version To Mr Nguyen Huynh Dat, Head of the Department of English Linguistics and Literature, Ho Chi Minh City University of Social Sciences and Humanities and all the teaching staff for their devotion during my M.A course To the Board of Directors in the Finance and Accounting Department at Van Lang University for their approval and untiring assistance To the ESP teaching staff, finance and accounting students at Van Lang University and the directors of Giditexco, Van Dat Thanh and Nagakawa companies who heartidly responded to my questionnaires and interviews To Ms Thai Thi Xuan Thuy, Head of the Foreign Languages Department of Ho Chi Minh City University of Economics, Ms Nguyen Thi Thanh Ha, Mr Vo Dinh Phuoc, Mr Stephen Dudzik, my colleagues and my friends for their help and patient support To my family, who with patience and encouragement, kept me going right to the end ABSTRACT This study examines the possibilities of improving the ESP instruction at Van Lang University through syllabus design As required by Ministry of Education and Training, time length as well as teaching method should be readjusted so as to give students more flexibility in their learning Accordingly, a syllabus that can meet those requirements is to be recommended The study takes a critical look at the current syllabus for the students of the Finance and Accounting Department in order: (1) to identify the goals of the university and its students’ needs; (2) to evaluate the syllabus performance by qualitative and quantitative methods employed in the study including questionnaires, interviews and test results and; (3) to recommend the revised syllabus relevant to the needs of the community Through an extended data analysis, conclusions are made as follows: (1) within a time length of 150 periods (in the Vietnamese context, a period is equivalent to a class-contact hour which is forty-five minutes), reading skills form the central core in a teaching program; (2) the syllabus must address communication skills relevant to job interviews and; (3) the content-based syllabus and communicative approach should work together to achieve the syllabus target Extra activities are recommended to motivate students and develop their English competence Evaluation on the implementation of the syllabus is also desirable so as to make adjustment on teaching approaches TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Certificate of originality i Retention and use of the thesis ii Acknowledgements .iii Abstract iv Table of contents v List of Abbreviations ix List of Illustrations x CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 English in the world 1.2 English in Vietnam 1.3 English teaching and learning resources at VLU 1.3.1 Materials and time allocation 1.3.2 The teaching staff 10 1.3.3 Teaching and learning facilities 10 1.4 The analysis of the students’ needs and the faculty’s goals and objectives 11 1.5 The aims of the study 13 1.6 The structure of the study 14 Summary 15 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW Page 2.1 The definitions of the syllabus 16 2.2 The role of the syllabus 18 2.2.1 Syllabus design 20 2.2.2 Types of language syllabus 25 2.3 The skills-centred approach for ESP 28 2.4 Content-based syllabus for ESP 31 2.4.1 Goal and objective setting 31 2.4.2 The role of the content-based syllabus in a skills-centred approach 32 2.4.3 Choosing course content 34 2.5 Communicative language teaching method 40 2.6 Evaluation 42 2.6.1 Purposes of evaluation 42 2.6.2 Different concepts in evaluation system 44 2.6.3 Evaluation procedures 47 Summary 50 CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 3.1 Research questions 51 3.2 Research design 52 3.2.1 The qualitative procedure 52 3.2.2 The quantitative method 52 3.3 Subjects 53 3.3.1 Selection of the subjects 53 3.3.2 Characteristics of the subjects 54 3.4 Instruments: data collection procedure 57 3.4.1 The questionnaires 58 Questionnaire for the students 58 Questionnaire for the teachers 60 3.4.2 The interviews 61 Interviews for the teachers 61 Interviews for the directors 62 3.4.3 Test result evaluation 62 Summary 63 CHAPTER 4: DATA ANALYSIS AND THE FINDINGS 4.1 Data analysis 65 4.1.1 Responses to the questionnaires 65 Students’ responses 65 Teachers’ responses 75 4.1.2 Results of the interviews 77 Teachers’ responses 77 Directors’ responses 79 4.1.3 Test results 80 4.2 The findings 82 4.2.1 The current syllabus 82 Syllabus textbooks 83 Skills syllabus 92 Product-oriented syllabus 95 4.2.2 Evaluation of the current syllabus 96 Purposes of evaluating the current syllabus 96 Time constraint and materials evaluation 97 4.2.3 The revised syllabus 109 Summary 120 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 5.1 Conclusions 121 5.2 Recommendations 124 BIBLIOGRAPHY 128 APPENDICES 135 APPENDIX 1: The Plan of the Textbook “Enterprise Three” 135 APPENDIX 2: The Plan of the Textbook “The Language of Accounting in English” 137 APPENDIX 3: The Plan of the Textbook “Accounting” 138 APPENDIX 4: The Plan of the Textbook “Business Speaking” 139 APPENDIX 5: Test in English 140 APPENDIX 6: Questionnaire (in Vietnamese) 150 APPENDIX 7: Questionnaire (in Vietnamese) 152 APPENDIX 8: Questionnaire (in Vietnamese) 155 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS BA Bachelor of Arts CUP Cambridge University Press EGP English for General Purposes EFL English as a Foreign Language ESL English as a Second Language ESP English for Specific Purposes EMT English as a Mother Tongue FRES Flesch Reading Ease Score GE General English HCMC Ho Chi Minh City MA Master of Arts OUP Oxford University Press TESOL Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages UE The University of Economics US United State VLU Van Lang University organization The management accountant has the problem of allocating these costs to the individual lines being (20) SECTION 2: Choose the best answer.(30 marks) Which of the following statements are not true about overhead? a They include all costs of a business b They exclude those costs that can be directly related to a product’s production c They relate to certain indirect aspects of the business only d They are difficult to relate to individual products of a company Choose the correct statement a Other professions progressed at a similar rate to accounting b Accounting’s problem for a long time was how to record monetary transactions c The problem which accountants faced was an artificial one d Accounting’s method of keeping financial records is based on common sense Accounting term of profits, which have not been paid out is _ a equity b liabilities c assets d reserves Two basic financial statements are and the operations statement a the ledger c the balance sheet b the auditing report d the trial balance Depreciation, as the term used in accounting means: a The systematic write – off of the cost of a nature resource over its productive life b The gradual decline in value of a fixed asset c The physical deterioration of an asset d The decrease in the market value of an asset A method of bookkeeping in which the twofold effect of every entry is recorded is _ a transaction c double – entry b footing and posting d calculation The bookkeeper foots the columns of each account a totals b enters c records d provides _ are things of value that are owned by a company a Liabilities b Capitals c Assets d Credits Intangible assets include patents, copyrights, and goodwill……… a Invisible b Unpayable c Real d Current 10 Other terms often used instead of capital are……… a owners’ equity b networth c proprietorship d all are correct 11 An accountant can interpret the information found in the ledger and use it to construct financial statements This means an accountant can a make financial decisions for the company b allocate capital resources c prepare a balance sheet and income - expense statement after examining the accounts d analyze bookkeeping procedures 12- The best way to explain the difference between bookkeeping and accounting is _ a bookkeeping is done by a bookkeeper but accounting must be done by an accountant b bookkeeping is the daily recording of financial information, but accounting is the design and maintenance of the bookkeeping system c bookkeeping is done in the journal, but accounting is done in the ledger d bookkeeping is more sophisticated than accounting 13- Financial information is regularly transferred from the journal to a book containing all the accounts This means that the figures are _ a entered in the journal c balanced b posted in the ledger d considered as assets 14- Management analyzes the financial statements and uses them as a basis for allocating financial resources This means a all transactions and sales of securities must be considered b the statements help them decide how to invest their capital c the sale of securities can help finance expansion d all of the above 15- The three basic types of businesses in terms of operation are _ a service, merchandising and manufacturing b balance sheet, operations statement , profit and loss statement c public, private and government d individual proprietorship, partnership and corporation 16- Sale of merchandise is an example of a external transaction c typical business transaction b internal transaction d financial transaction 17- Alternative levels of operations are allowed for in a (n) budget a flexible c fixed b combined d altered 18 The cash budget shows the expected and for the period a sales / purchases c cash receipts / cash disbursements b expenses / income d capital / expenditure 19 In a retail business, the _ budget consists of two parts: one for those expenses which are incurred in selling the merchandise, and one for general and administrative expenses a capital – expenditures c sales – administrative b operating – expenditures d general – administrative 20 The time that elapses between ordering and displaying merchandises is called the _ a accounting period c lead time b fiscal year d back – to – school period 21 Which of the following is a liability account? a accounts received c rent expense b withdrawals d accounts payable 22 The stimulus for modern bookkeeping came with the introduction of Arabic, or Hindu - Arabic, numerals and decimal system in the twelfth century A.D a incentive c impetus b encounter d all are right 23 The statement of changes in financial position shows a an increase or decrease in working capital for the year and how this change arose b the change in the cash position c working capital d current assets less current liabilities 24 Labor changes raw materials into finished goods Paper is an example of a finished good The raw material would be a physical work b finished products c wood d land 25 A creditor is a person to whom the business owes money Which of the following is most likely to be a creditor? a an entrepreneur b a banker c an employee d an accountant 26 Businesses provide both goods and services Examples of goods are physical products which customers purchase to take home An example of a service business would be a an oil company b a factory c a store d a bank 27 The ability to earn enough income to attract and hold investment capital is known as a owner’s investments c profitability b owner’s withdrawals d revenues 28 shows what changes have occurred in regard to equity since the previous balance sheet was compiled a balance sheet b operations statement c statement of cash flow d statement of owners’ equity 29 Inventories of are maintained by a manufacturing concern a raw materials c work in process b finished goods d all of these 30 When the overhead is added to the prime cost, the resulting figure is called the a factory cost c indirect cost b direct cost d standard cost SECTION 3: Read the following passage and answer the following questions (30 marks) All businesses need to maintain financial records in order to find out (1) _ These records exist in several forms In daily business operations recordings of business transactions are first made in a journal Once, bookkeeping served as a good method of determining whether or not a company was making profits and (2) Small business owners could keep their own books and make business decisions based on the information found there Nowadays, a more sophisticated system of accounting is needed The design, maintenance and interpretation of the information recorded in accounts is referred to as accounting Accountants use the information _ (3) _ These statements are analyzed by management and used as a basis for business decisions such as allocation of financial resources, development of new products, and expansion of operations The most important financial statements are the balance sheet and the statement of income and expenses These statements are also used _ (4) 1/ Match each number (1-4) with an appropriate letter (a-d) a in accounts to construct financial statements b if they are making a profit c whether or not it owed any taxes d for determining income tax liabilities 2/ Find words in the passage that mean the following a the increase in size of a business activity b companies c distribution among different purposes d the process of determining the meaning of something 3/ Answer the following questions based on the passage a Where are business transactions firstly recorded? b What is the name for the activity of designing, maintaining, and interpreting financial information? 4/ Fill in each blank with ONE suitable word from the passage a Debts owed to creditors are known as b All affect at least two accounts SECTION 4: From the following suggested words and phrases in the given sequences, make all the changes and additions necessary to produce sentences, which together make a complete paragraph (20 marks) If we / discuss ways / reduce / costs / one area / we / think / be /packaging Though / packaging / expensive / it / help / promote / product Good packaging / also / reduce / problems / transit KEY SECTION (20 marks) business quantities 11 payment 16 direct costs production overhead 12 labour 17 development increase directly 13 bonus 18 product decrease amount 14 indirect cost 19 diverse component 10 operation 15 term 20 c–2 d–4 manufactured SECTION (30 marks) a 11 c 21 d b 12 b 22 a d 13 b 23 a c 14 b 24 b b 15 a 25 b c 16 c 26 d a 17 a 27 c c 18 c 28 d a 19 b 29 d 10 d 20 c 30 a SECTION (30 marks) (10 marks) 1/ a –3 b–1 (10 marks) / a – expansion b – businesses c – allocation d – interpretation (10marks) 3/ a – in a journal b – as accounting (5 marks) 4/ a – liabilities b - transactions ( 5marks) SECTION 4: (20 marks) If we discuss ways to reduce costs, one area we should think about is packaging Though packaging is expensive, it can help promote the product Good packaging also reduces problems in transit APPENDIX PHIẾU KHẢO SÁT Dành cho sinh viên bắt đầu chương trình Anh Văn chuyên ngành Đây bảng câu hỏi nhằm thiết kế chương trình Anh Văn chuyên ngành bạn theo học khoa Tài Chính - Kế Toán (TC-KT), trường Đại Học Văn Lang – TP HCM Xin bạn vui lòng trả lời đầy đủ chi tiết câu hỏi sau: Thông tin cá nhân Giới tính: Nam Độ tuổi: 18 – 20 Nữ 20 – 29 30 – 39 Trên 40 Câu hỏi Thời gian bạn học tiếng Anh trước sinh viên Đại Học Văn Lang a chưa b 3-4 naêm b 6-7 naêm c 9-10 naêm Xin bạn tự đánh giá trình độ tiếng Anh sau học ba học kỳ môn Anh Văn? a beginner b elementary c pre-intermediate d intermediate Baïn học môn Anh Văn a Bạn muốn tiếp tục học Cao Học b Gíup bạn thành công phòng vấn việc làm c Bạn muốn đậu kỳ thi tốt nghiệp d Bạn muốn phát triển bốn kỹ Theo bạn tiếng Anh giai đoạn chuyên ngành nhằm giúp cho bạn: a Sử dụng tài liệu chuyên môn b Giao tiếp quan c Phát triển bốn kỹ d Củng cố kiến thức chuyên ngành Bạn thấy kỹ cần thiết cho chương trình Tiếng Anh chuyên ngành a Nghe b Nói c Đọc d Viết Với 240 tiết môn Anh Văn giai đoạn 2, bạn thích nội dung học: a Chuyên sâu lãnh vực TC-KT b Dùng giao tiếp thông thường Phương pháp giảng dạy phù hợp với lớp bạn (có thể chọn nhiều khả năng) a Gíao viên giảng bài, sinh viên ghi chép b Sinh viên nghiên cứu tài liệu nhà, lớp chia nhóm thảo luận c Gíao viên đặt câu hỏi, sinh viên trả lời d Sinh viên thuyết trình lớp Só số sinh viên học môn Anh Văn lớp bạn? a đông b đông b vừa đủ c Số sinh viên lớp chuyên ngành TC-KT nên bao nhiêu? a 20-25 c 30-40 b 25-30 d 40-50 10 Soá tiết giảm 150 tiết giai đọan chuyên ngành, theo bạn: a Hợp lý c Cần tăng tiết b Không hợp lý d Nên giảm thêm Xin chân thành cám ơn APPENDIX PHIẾU KHẢO SÁT Dành cho sinh viên chuẩn bị kết thúc chương trình tiếng Anh chuyên ngành Đây bảng câu hỏi nhằm tìm hiểu hiệu chương trình tiếng Anh chuyên ngành Tài Chính – Kế Toán (TC-KT) bạn theo học trường Đại Học Văn Lang-TP HCM Xin Bạn vui lòng trả lời câu hỏi sau đây: Thông tin cá nhân Giới tính: Nam Độ tuổi: 18 – 20 Nữ 20 – 29 30 – 39 Trên 40 Câu hỏi Bạn học khoa TC-KT do: a Theo nguyện vọng bạn b Theo xếp nhà trường Kỹ sau giúp ích cho công việc tương lai bạn a Nghe b Nói c Đọc d Viết Theo bạn, sách giáo khoa “Enterprise III” a quákhó b khó c trình độ d dễ Hãy điền mục theo mức độ: 1: dễù; 2: khó; 3: vừa phải; 4: khó; 5: khó * Phần thực hành ngôn ngữ (language practice) * Phần đọc hiểu (read and find out) * Phần thực hành nghe (listen and find out) * Phần luyện viết văn (study and write) * Phần thảo luận (discussion) So với trình độ tiếng Anh bạn, sách giáo khoa “The Language of Accounting in English”: a quákhó b khó c trình độ d dễ Hãy điền mục theo mức độ: 1: dễù; 2: khó; 3: vừa phải; 4: khó; 5: khó * Phần thuật ngữ (special terms) * Phần thực hành từ vựng (vocabulary practice) * Phần đọc hiểu (text) * Phần thảo luận (discussion) * Phần ôn tập (review) Theo bạn sách giáo khoa “Accounting” a khó b khó c vừa phải d dễ Hãy điền theo mức độ: 1: dễù; 2: khó; 3: vừa phải; 4: khó; 5: khó * Phần tiền đọc hiểu (pre-reading) * Phần đọc lướt (skim and scan) * Phần đọc hiểu (text) * Phần cấu trúc (text organisation) * Phần nhận thức (comprehension) * Phần từ vựng (vocabulary) Tài liệu “Business Speaking” có phù hợp mục tiêu thực hành kỹ ‘phỏng vấn xin việc làm’ không? a Có b không c chưa đủ d thừa Giáo trình phù hợp với trình độ bạn a Enterprise b Accounting c The Language of Accounting in English d Business English Phương pháp tìm hiểu lớp bạn (có thể chọn nhiều khả năng) a Giáo viên dịch đọc Sinh viên trả lời câu hỏi giáo trình b Chia nhóm thảo luận, dịch tìm hiểu nội dung, giáo viên quan sát, giúp đỡ, giải thích cấu trúc c Giáo viên giải thích, cho định nghóa từ tiếng Anh Sinh viên giải thích đọc trả lời câu hỏi trước lớp tiếng Anh, không dịch đọc hiểu d Sinh viên tự đọc dịch đọc hiểu nhà Trên lớp chia nhóm trình bày phần nội dung, từ chuyên môn, trả lời câu hỏi nhóm khác Khi số tiết học Anh Văn giai đọan chuyên ngành giảm 150 tiết, nên trọng kỹ năng: a nghe b nói c đọc d viết 10 Về thi học kỳ, phần qui định nội dung thi cuối khoá có phù hợp chưa? a Có Xin chân thành cám ơn b phù hợp c không phù hợp APPENDIX PHIẾU KHẢO SÁT Dành cho Giáo Viên Phiếu khảo sát nhằm thu thập thông tin vềù tính hiệu chương trình Anh Văn chuyên ngành giảng cho sinh viên khoa Tài Chính-Kế Toán trường Đại Học Văn Lang-TP HCM Xin quý thầy, cô vui lòng trả lời câu hỏi sau đây: Thông tin cá nhân Giới tính: Nam Nữ Tuổi: Bằng cấp cao nhất: Câu hỏi Thời gian giảng dạy ngoại ngữ: ……………………………………………………………………… Thời gian giảng dạy tiếng Anh khoa TC-KT: ……………………………………… Nhận xét thầy, cô giáo trình “Enterprise III”: a Nội dung phù hợp kiến thức Thương Mại b Cung cấp thuật ngữ cần thiết c Phối hợp phát triển bốn kỹ d Đáp ứng yêu cầu đào tạo Nhận xét thầy, cô giáo trình “The Language of Accounting in English” a Bài đọc phù hợp kiến thức chuyên ngành TC-KT b Cung cấp thuật ngữ cần thiết c Phối hợp phát triển kỹ đọc hiểu viết d Đáp ứng yêu cầu đào tạo Nhận xét thầy, cô giáo trình “Accounting” a Bài đọc phù hợp kiến thức chuyên ngành TC-KT b Cung cấp thuật ngữ cần thiết c Phát triển kỹ nghe đọc hiểu d Đáp ứng yêu cầu đào tạo Nhận xét thầy, cô giáo trình “Business Speaking” a Phần thực hành phù hợp trình độ sinh viên b Giúp sinh viên tự tin vấn xin việc c p dụng thuật ngữ chuyên môn, giúp phát triển kỹ nghe, nói, viết d Đáp ứng yêu cầu đào tạo Giáo trình phù hợp với trình độ chung sinh viên nay: a Enterprise c Accounting b The Language of Accounting in English d Business Speaking Trên lớp thầy, cô trọng vào (có thể chọn nhiều khả năng): a Nội dung đọc hiểu b Phát triển thuật ngữ c Luyện kỹ đọc hiểu d Luyện kỹ viết, nghe, nói Theo thầy, cô việc đánh giá sinh viên qua thi học kỳ nay: a Hợp lý b hợp lý c không hợp lý 10 Ý kiến đóng góp nguyện vọng thầy, cô Khoa Trường chương trình Tiếng Anh chuyên ngành giảng dạy chương trình cải tiến theo 150 tiết: ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… Xin chân thành cảm ơn hợp tác quý thầy, cô