Thái độ của sinh viên không chuyên đối với việc dạy đọc hiểu tiếng Anh chuyên ngành Điện tử tại trường Cao đẳng Kinh tế - Kỹ thuật

LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Students’ Attitude towards English in Electronics at HCET Table 2: Students’ Awareness of the Importance of English in Electronics at HCET Table 3: Students’ Awar

Vietnam national university, Hanoi University of Languages and international studies

faculty of Post-graduate Studies

MA MINOR THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology

Code: 60 14 10

Hanoi, 2010

Vietnam national university, Hanoi University of Languages and international studies

faculty of Post-graduate Studies

MA MINOR THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology

Code: 60 14 10

Cohort: MA 17

Supervisor: Phạm Minh Tâm, (M.Ed.)

Hanoi, 2010

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

HCET: Hai Duong College of Economics and Technology GE: General English

ESP: English for Specific Purposes

EE: English in Electronics

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1: Students’ Attitude towards English in Electronics at HCET

Table 2: Students’ Awareness of the Importance of English in Electronics at HCET

Table 3: Students’ Awareness of Teachers’ roles in EE Reading Teaching at HCET

Table 4: Students’ Evaluations to the Teachers’ Approaches in EE Reading Teaching at HCET Table 5: Students’ Evaluations to the Teachers’ Techniques in EE Pre-reading Teaching at HCET Table 6: Students’ Evaluations to the Teachers’ Techniques in EE While-reading Teaching at HCET Table 7: Students’ Evaluations to the Teachers’ Techniques in EE Post-reading Teaching at HCET

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Declaration……… i

Acknowledgements……… ii

List of Abbreviation……… iii

List of Tables……… iv

Abstract……… v

PART A: INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale……… 1

2 Aims of the Study……… 2

3 Research Questions……… 3

4 Research Methodology……… 3

5 Scope of the Study……… 3

6 Design of the Study……… 3

PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 The Nature of Reading Comprehension……… 5

1.1.1 What is Reading and Reading Comprehension? 5

1.1.1.1 What is Reading? 5

1.1.1.2 What is Reading Comprehension? 6

1.1.2 Reading Comprehension Process……… 6

1.1.2.1 The Schema Theory……… 6

1.1.2.2 Bottom – up and Top-down Processing……… 7

1.1.2.3 Interactive Processing……… 8

1.2 An Overview of English for Specific Purposes ……… 8

1.2.1 What is ESP? 8

1.2.2 English in Electronics……… 9

1.3 Approaches to Teach EE Reading……….………… 10

1.3.1 Grammar – Translation Approach……… 10

1.3.2 Communicative Language Teaching Approach……… 11

1.3.2.1 Content-Based Approach……… 11

1.3.2.2 Task-Based Approach……… 12

1.4 Techniques to Teach EE Reading ……… 12

1.4.1 In Pre-Reading……… 12

1.4.2 In While-Reading……… 13

1.4.3 In Post-Reading……… 13

CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY 2.1 Research Context……… 15

2.1.1 ESP Course and the Objectives of the Teaching of EE Reading at HCET… 15

2.1.2 The Background of the EE Classroom at HCET……… 16

2.1.2.1 The Teachers’ Problems……… 16

2.1.2.2 The Students’ Problems……… 16

2.1.2.3 Materials……… 17

2.2 Research Questions……… 18

2.3 Research Approach……… 19

2.4 Participants……… 19

2.4.1 Population……… 19

2.4.3 Sampling……… 19

2.4.2 Description of Participants……… 19

2.5 The instrument……… 20

2.6 Data Collection Procedure……… 21

2.7 Data Analysis Procedure……… 21

2.8 Conclusive Remarks……… 22

CHAPTER 3: RESULTS AND DICUSSION 3.1 Results and Discussion……… 23

3.1.1 Questionnaire……… 23

3.1.1.1 General Attitudes towards English in Electronics……… 23

3.1.1.2 Awareness of the Importance of EE Reading Comprehension… 24

3.1.1.3 Awareness of the Teachers’ Roles in EE Reading Teaching…… 25

3.1.1.4 The Students’ Evaluations to the Teachers’ Approaches in EE Reading Teaching 26 3.1.1.5 The Students’ Evaluations to the Teachers’ Techniques in EE Reading Teaching 27 3.1.1.6 The students’ Style Preferences for EE Reading Teaching……… 31

3.2 Conclusive Remarks……… 34

CHAPTER 4: IMPLICATIONS FOR EE READING TEACHING 4.1 Summary of the Findings……… 35

4.2 Implications……… 36

4.2.1 Building up Good Basic Background Knowledge……… 36

4.2.2 Improving Learning Environment……… 36

4.2.3 Enhancing Teachers’ Professional Knowledge……… 36

4.2.4 Employing the Blend of Two Approaches……… 37

4.2.5 Using Various Activities in Three Reading Stages……… 38

4.2.6 Developing the Reading Materials……… 38

4.2.7 Recommending a Sample Lesson Plan……… 38

PART C: CONCLUSION 1 Conclusion……… 39

2 Limitations of the Study……… 39

3 Recommendations for further Research……… 39

Reference

Appendices

A Sample Lesson Plan

PART A: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale

With the strong and rapid development of science and technology, more and more inventions are born and applied for daily life demands of human beings The question is that all materials of advanced technology are in English while not all people in the world can use English smoothly, especially English in science and technology Therefore, there is a growing demand for English teaching to meet the needs of learners who want to “gain access to the required knowledge that is available, either exclusively or most readily, in English” (Munby, 1978, p.3) or to serve other specific purposes This leads to English for specific purpose (ESP)

Being aware of the importance of ESP, Hai Duong College of Economics and Technology (HCET) has added ESP teaching for students finishing General English with the aim that ESP can provide students with background knowledge, a system of terms related to the fields which they are studying (economics, electrical engineering and electronics) and more importantly, some approaches as well as techniques of reading ESP materials These will help them develop their own communicative competence and self – study on ESP materials According to Carrell (1981, p.1), “reading is by far the most important of the four macro-skills, particularly in English as a second foreign language” that is true for General English and is extremely true for ESP in general and English in Electronics (EE) in particular Thanks to ESP subject, the non-major English students can make extensive use of academic materials written in English and then increase their professional knowledge in their specialized fields

However, ESP reading teaching in general and EE reading teaching at HCET in particular remains teacher-centered, and for many English language teachers, ESP reading teaching means teaching terminologies This can be rooted in the Vietnamese traditional philosophy of education who views

a knowledge transmission as the ultimate goal of the education process In this process, students are passive and they learn whatever teachers “pour” As a result, not only knowledge but also learning styles are imposed on students by teachers What is more, when they face up with new materials with new terminologies, they do not know how to sort them out A study on the non-major English students’ attitudes towards the teaching of EE reading is the first reason why I chose this topic

Another reason is related to my personal profession Despite being a student who graduated from

Ha Noi University of Technology, Department for English in Science and Technology, I have realized that how to make ESP reading teaching satisfactory to students is really a great challenge facing every teacher of English Since graduation, I have been haunted by the question of how to deal with English in Electronics reading more effectively at my college The answer to this question would be of great help to myself as well as to my colleagues I hope that these following evidences of students’ expectations will help teachers have the best ways of teaching EE reading

2 Aims of the Study

The study aims at:

 To investigate into students’ attitudes towards the teaching of English in Electronics reading at Hai Duong College of Economics and Technology

 To find out in what ways the teacher can make their reading teaching more suitable to the students’ expectations

To achieve the aims of the study, the following specific objectives were established:

 Firstly, to find out how EE reading is approached at HCET as well as the students’ attitudes towards English in Electronics reading This may affect the effectiveness of EE reading

 Secondly, to understand the students’ views on the current teaching of English in Electronics reading at HCET to assert the need to narrow the gap between EE reading teaching and learning

 Thirdly, to offer some suggestions for treating EE reading teaching issues at HCET in order

to heighten the effectiveness of EE reading teaching at HCET

3 Research Questions

To achieve the aims of the thesis, the following research questions were proposed:

1) What are the non-major English students’ attitudes towards the current teaching of English

in Electronics reading at HCET?

2) What are the implications for the teaching of English in Electronics reading at HCET?

4 Research Methodology

In this research, various sources of data were used through one questionnaire, involving the major English students at Hai Duong College of Economics and Technology The questionnaire was designed in such a way that both closed and open-ended questions to ensure deep data The data was analyzed both qualitatively and quantitatively

non-5 Scope of the Study

As it has been stated above, the study is designed to explore the non-major English students’ attitudes towards the teaching of English in Electronics reading in order to make some methodological recommendations for English in Electronics reading teaching This study is, therefore, descriptive by nature The other subjects of the study are the non-major English students

at Hai Duong College of Economics and Technology, the “specific purposes” of the course are confined to “English in Electronics”

6 Design of the Study

This study consists of three parts:

Part A: Introduction This part supplies an overview of the study with specific reference to the

rationale, the aims, the methodology and the design

Part B: Development In this part, four chapters are presented

Chapter 1 deals with an exploration of the theoretical background of the research It is concerned

with the issues relevant to the topic of the research: reading and reading comprehension, an overview of English for Specific Purpose and English in Electronics, approaches and techniques to teach reading EE

Chapter 2 is the methodology which the study is presented This chapter presents the background

information of the subjects of the study, the instrument used to collect the data, the procedure of data collection

Chapter 3 is aimed at describing data analysis in detail and a thorough discussion of the findings

of the study Some explanations and interpretations of the findings are also presented in this chapter

Chapter 4 gives the summary of the findings and some implications which are proposed for

teachers teaching EE reading in particular and ESP reading in general

Part C: Conclusion of the thesis In this part, the limitations and some recommendations for

further research are also explored

The appendices lie on the last part of the study, following the References

PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 The Nature of Reading Comprehension

1.1.1 What is Reading and Reading Comprehension?

1.1.1.1 What is Reading?

Reading is an interactive process that goes on between the reader and the text, resulting in comprehension The text presents letters, words, sentences, and paragraphs that encode meaning The reader uses knowledge, skills, and strategies to determine what that meaning is So far reading has been defined differently by lots of scholars, however no single definition is acceptable to everyone

Goodman (1971, p.135) stated that reading is “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” In his opinion, readers not only learn how to read the text, to master grammatical structures…but also understand the content expressed in the text

Having the same point with Goodman, William, E (1990, p.2) said that “reading is a process whereby one looks at and understands what has been written” According William, in reading process, there are also two parallel activities: looking and understanding Therefore, readers have

to “encode” meanings of a word depend on the context in which it appears

One more definition offered by Harmer (1989, p.153) showed us his opinion and two above authors have a lot of things in common “reading is an exercise dominated by the eyes and the brain The eyes receive messages and the brain then has to work out the significance of these messages” Thus, obviously, definitions of reading have been various in using words and expressions but they all focus on two activities: looking with eyes and understanding with brains in which the latter is more important The most noticeable thing in the latter is that the interaction between readers and authors – readers not only read authors’ words but also read authors’ thought

1.1.1.2 What is Reading Comprehension?

Reading comprehension results in the fact that when readers know which skills and strategies are appropriate for types of texts and understand how to apply them to accomplish reading purpose Swan (1975, p.1) stated that “A student is good at comprehension we mean that he can read accurately and efficiently, so as to get the maximum information of a text with the minimum of understanding” It is obvious that the student can show his understanding only by doing some tasks such as summarizing the text, answering questions, making true or false etc

To sum up, reading becomes meaningless without comprehension since only reading comprehension can appreciate how much readers understand the text Therefore, how to help

students have effective reading comprehension methods is considered to be the most important part

in reading teaching in general and ESP reading teaching in particular

1.1.2 Reading Comprehension Process

The nature of reading comprehension process – how people learn to process textual information – has been researched by cognitive and behavioral scientists for many decades So far reading has sometimes been characterized as “passive” or “receptive” However, it is noticed that reading is an active process as Thorndike (1984) established the notion that reading is an active process related

to problem solving According to Christine Nuttall (1982, p.192), “reading is like an infectious disease It is caught not taught (And you can’t catch it from someone who hasn’t got it…)”

More recently, scholars (notably Goodman, 1967 and Smith, 1971) developed a psycholinguistic perspective of reading, focusing on its active, cognitive processes

1.1.2.1 The Schema Theory

According to Nunan (1999, p.201), “schema theory is based on the notion that experiences lead to the creation of mental frameworks that help us make sense of new experiences.”

The schemata are recognized as a useful concept in understanding how we are able to interpret texts (Nuttall) When a reader reads a text, he must use his own background knowledge, the situational context and the cues provided by the author to interpret the text How much he can understand a text depends on whether his schemata are sufficiently similar to the writer’s That is why many arguments suggest that the concepts which a reader brings to the text are actually more important than the text itself for comprehension Therefore, the more experiences of the world we have, the better we can interpret texts A reader who is rich in background knowledge will comprehend the text more than another whose schemata are poorer In addition, the schemata enable the reader to predict about what he might get from a certain context

To sum up, it is essential for teachers to recognize that the schemata are the basis for comprehending Therefore, in order to comprehend texts in standard English foreign language students need to develop new schemata of language, text and interpretation, as well as schemata of alternative cultural practices and values

1.1.2.2 Bottom – up and Top-down processing

According to Silberstein (1994), “text comprehension requires the simultaneous interaction of two models of information processing”

The bottom – up processing occurs when readers get the meaning of a text through recognizing letters and words, working out sentence structures and then interpreting paragraphs and the whole text According to this view, reading is a linear process by which readers decode the text word by word, linking the words into phrases and then sentences When first reading makes readers confused or they are not really sure of what writers intended, understanding of the meaning a sentence can have on its own will help readers fully grasp what writers conveyed

In the top – down processing, reading is not just extracting meaning from a text but a process of connecting information in the text with the knowledge readers bring to the act of reading Reading,

in this sense, is a dialogue between the reader and the text It is seen as an active cognitive process

in which readers’ background knowledge plays a key role in the creation of meaning (Tierney and Pearson, 1994) This is called knowledge-based or conceptually driven information processing

In short, 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

1.1.2.3 Interactive Processing

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:

“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” Nuttall (1996, p.17)

According to Hayes (1991, p.7),

“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”

In short, the popularity of interactive processing shows that interactive processing can maximize the strengths and minimizes the weaknesses of the bottom-up and top-down processing

1.2 An Overview of ESP

1.2.1 What is ESP?

ESP originates from a famous saying “Tell me what you need English for and I will tell you the English that you need” So far, ESP has been defined differently by different authors According to Hutchinson and Waters (1987, p.19), ESP is “an approach to language teaching in which all decisions as to content and approach are based on the learner’s reason for learning”

Sharing with Hutchinson and Waters, Strevens (1988, p.1) said “ESP is a particular case of the general category of special – purpose language teaching”

However, all the above authors have the same opinions about the ESP’s features:

1) It is purposeful and aimed at the successful performance of occupational or educational roles by

an individual or a group

2) It is based on an analysis of the students’ needs and is tailor-made to meet these needs

3) It may differ from another general language course in its selection of skills, themes, topics, situations, functions, language and approachology

Most of all, according to Munby (1978), one important feature which characterizes ESP as being different from other general language courses, is that “the domains not only relate to distinctive content, but also to discipline-specific lexis, genres and registers.”

1.2.2 English in Electronics

Traditionally, ESP can be classified into two major groups: English for Academic Purposes (EAP) and English for Occupational Purposes (EOP) English for Academic Science and Technology belongs to EAP and English in Electronics is one of branches of English for Academic Science and Technology Therefore, EE has the following characteristics:

1) designed to meet specified needs of the learner in the field of Electronics;

2) related in content (that is in its themes and topics) to Electronic disciplines, occupations and activities;

3) centered on language appropriate to Electronic activities in syntax, lexis discourse, semantics and so on, and analysis of the discourse;

1.3 Approaches to Teach Reading

In fact, there are quite a lot of approaches of teaching GE reading in general and ESP reading in particular However, in this study, I would like to mention about two approaches which are most commonly used in teaching ESP reading: Grammar – Translation approach and Communicative Language Teaching approach

1.3.1 Grammar – Translation Approach

The Grammar Translation Approach is the oldest approach of teaching in the world A number of approaches and techniques have been evolved for the teaching of English and also other foreign languages in the recent past years, yet this approach is still in use in teaching The main principles

on which the Grammar Translation Approach are based are the following:

1 Translation interprets the words and phrases of the foreign languages in the best possible manner

2 The phraseology and the idiom of the target language can best be assimilated in the process

of interpretation

3 The structures of the foreign languages are best learned when compared and contrast with those of mother tongue

Advantages:

1 The phraseology of the target language is quickly explained Translation is the easiest way

of explaining meanings or words and phrases from one language into another

2 Teachers’ labor is saved when they use their mother tongue in teaching and learners will not have much difficulty in responding to questions on the mother tongue

Disadvantages:

1 Exact translation is not possible Translation a language with various customs, traditions and modes of behavior is, indeed, a difficult task and exact translation from one language

to another is not always possible

2 Translation does not give pattern practice It rather attempts to teach language through rules and not by use Researchers in linguistics have proved that to speak any language, whether native or foreign, entirely by rule is quite impossible

1.3.2 Communicative Language Teaching Approach

Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) dated from the late 1960s is perhaps the latest in a long succession of revolutions in language teaching since it presents a fundamental “paradigm shift” – a radically new approach to teaching-learning process (Christina Bratt Paulston, 1984) In terms of ESP reading teaching, CLT is most used with two approaches: Content-Based approach and Task-Based approach

The content-based approach is difficult to apply especially for learners who are low in English competence Furthermore, learners who use this approach to read ESP materials have certain knowledge about that specific field

1.3.2.2 Task-Based approach

According to H.Douglas Brown (2001, p.50), Task-Based approach “puts task at the center of one’s methodological focus It views the learning process as a set of communicative tasks that are directly linked to the curricular goals they serve…”

In reading comprehension, tasks are especially important since they will guide reader in a correct reading procedure and help them have thorough understanding about reading texts

1.4 Techniques to teach EE reading

1.4.1 In Pre-reading

At this important stage, teachers should make sure that students have the relevant schema for understanding the text This is achieved by having students think, write, and discuss every thing

they know about the topic employing the most common techniques such as prediction, semantic

mapping and reconciled reading

Prediction is defined as “the prior elimination of unlikely alternatives” Smith (1994, p 19)

According to him, predictions are questions readers ask the world and comprehension is receiving the answers

Previewing occurs when students look at titles, headings, and pictures, and read the first few

paragraphs and the last paragraph; these activities can then help students understand what texts is

about by activating their formal and content schemata and making them familiar with the topic before they begin reading

Semantic mapping is another pre-reading that Carell, Pharis, and Liberto (1989, p.651) describe as

a useful way to pre-teach vocabulary and to “provide the teacher with an assessment of the students’ prior knowledge or schema availability on the topic” This activity asks students to brainstorm about the reading topic as the information is displayed on a graphic “map”

Reconciled reading lesson reserves the sequence presented by many textbooks where the text is

followed by questions Instead, the teacher develops pre-reading questions from the questions that appear at the end of the reading

1.4.2 In While-reading

This stage requires teachers to guide and monitor the interaction between readers and texts One important skill teachers can impart at this stage is note-taking, which allows students to compile new vocabulary and important information and details, and to summarize information and record their reactions and opinion

Furthermore, during reading, readers’ minds repeatedly engage in a variety of processes, seemingly all at one Using top-down and bottom-up approaches, readers use pre-reading information to make some predictions about the text Using bottom-up approach, readers start by processing information at the sentence level

1.4.3 In Post-reading

This stage offers the chance to evaluate students’ adequacy of interpretation, while bearing in mind that accuracy is relative and that “readership” must be respected as long as the writer’s intentions are addressed (Tierney and Pearson, 1994)

Post-reading aims at extending the understanding obtained from texts the pre-reading and reading stages into writing tasks, such as summarizing, evaluating, synthesizing, commenting and reflecting

while-By engaging students in pre-, while-, post-reading activities, teachers not only support students’ understanding of content, but also provide them with opportunities to hone their comprehension, vocabulary, and study skills without interrupting content learning

CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY 2.1 Research Context

2.1.1 ESP Course and the Objectives of the Teaching of EE Reading at HCET

Hai Duong College of Economics and Technology (HCET) is originated from Hai Duong College

of Finance and Accounting, which dated in 1988 with the principal objective is to train accountants for companies and factories in or out of the province With the turn of society and economy, the college has expanded another field called Technology in order to train technicians for growing industrial zones as well as other technological companies for the past ten years

At Hai Duong College of Economics and Technology, English is not regarded as the main subject However, it is considered as a means to communicate and complete the students’ certain activities

at work in their future career ESP at HCET consists of three different fields such as: English in Economics, English in Electrical Engineering and English in Electronics Before taking part in ESP course, students had experienced General English in the first year and they had been equipped with certain knowledge of their major In the second year, they shifted to English in Electronics, which is set with the following aims:

- To provide the students with some terminologies relating to their Electronics

- To improve the students’ reading skills so as to help them approach ESP materials effectively

For the electronic students, they also set for themselves two goals in learning English in Electronics:

- To get good marks in three tests during the term and in the end-term exams English in Electronics is a rather difficult subject and they are frightened of failing, even re-sitting for the exam

- To meet the society’s demand is to communicate with foreigners or to read materials written in English

2.1.2 The Background of the EE Classroom at HCET

2.1.2.1 The Teachers’ Problems

Department of English at HCET includes 10 teachers aging from 28 to 49, four of whom are in charge of teaching English in Electronics Most of them are the teachers of General English,

excluding one graduated from Ha Hoi University of Technology with Degree of Technology and Science Though they are willing to take up EE teaching, they are shocked at first because of a lot

of difficulties they have to face up with:

- They are lack of professional knowledge, especially they are trained in the environment of socio-economics in stead of technology

- They do not shape appropriate teaching methodologies

- They do not have enough time to get accustomed to EE materials

Therefore, the lack of confidence during teaching is unavoidable However, they must be highly motivated to learn in order to bring the students effective and useful lessons

Another fact relating to the teachers’ problem lies on the approaches used by the teachers at HCET The young teachers tend to apply Communicative Language Teaching whereas the old ones prefer Grammar-Translation and they seem to be hesitant to use CLT, which results in some limitations

in teaching process

2.1.2.2 The Students’ Problems

The electronic students at HCET learn ESP in the second year Therefore, they are assumed to have acquired the basic English language skills at elementary level In fact, their English competence is not equal, partly because they are from different provinces in Vietnam among whom come from the countryside As a result, they are different in cultures, attitudes, learning styles etc

What is more, though they have learnt one subject called Basic Electronics in the first year, their professional knowledge remains so poor that they almost have many difficulties in discussing and understanding topics related to their major

Finally, it can not be denied that the students’ problems are arisen from their leaning habit They usually depend too much on the given course books and the teachers for knowledge That passive learning habit has deeply sculpted in their mind, causing a big challenge in improving their study

2.1.2.3 Materials

In general, the ESP materials are defined by two set of factors:

1) the specific areas in which the language will be used

2) the types of learners who will be learning the language

Materials exist in various forms such as a textbook, a workbook, a cassette, a photocopied handout,

a newspaper, etc In term of teaching and learning ESP, it can be classified into two resources of materials: public materials and in-house materials The current EE material for the non-major English students at HCET belongs to the latter The course book is entitled with the name “English

in Electronics and Telecommunications”, which originated from a book “English in Electronics

and Telecommunications” by a group of Vietnamese editors: Nguyen Cam Thanh, Dang Duc Cuong and Vuong Dao Vy The course book was born thanks to the cooperation of the teachers in Department of Electronics and Telecommunication and Department of English with an expert (also

a supervisor) from Ha Noi University of Technology, Prof Nguyen Lan Trang

The book which is a collection of reading in Electronics and Telecommunications has been in use for the non-major English students in the second year for 7 years The book consists of ten units with texts as well as tasks for comprehension and three units of grammatical points called

“Language Focus” The reason why the teachers choose only ten units is to make the students unstressed and be not pressured in EE lessons In addition, the teachers’ goal is that the students acknowledge a little rather than nothing The contents of the texts are chosen and simplified to adapt the language level of the students Difficult terms are provided with Vietnamese equivalents

in the word lists right below the texts The structure of each unit is organized into 5 parts: Text, Words and Expressions, Comprehension Questions with three tasks, Comprehension Terms with two tasks and Translation with English – Vietnamese translation and vice versa After unit 3, unit 6 and unit 10, there is one unit focusing grammatical points in its previous units so as to consolidate learnt knowledge and skills for the students for three tests during learning At the end of the book

is the appendix of Glossary of Terms and Abbreviations to support them in comprehending the texts

With all above characteristics, the book aims at building up the students’ terms about Electronics and equipping them necessary skills to approach EE materials, especially reading skill However, it remains some limitations for both the teachers and the students:

- The reading texts are still long and difficult for the students at HCET with not very high language competence

- There is no picture or photos illustrating the reading texts, which help the students guess main ideas and motivate them for reading

- The book focuses Grammar – Translations approach with Vietnamese equivalents below the reading texts and the fifth part of Translation at the end of the unit This partly has influence on teaching methodology and learning habit, resulting in ineffective reading

To sum up, in spite of some good points, the course book at HCET, to some extent, fails to satisfy both of the teachers and students

2.2 Research Questions

The study was designed to find out the answers to the following questions:

1) What are the non-major English students’ attitudes towards the current teaching of English

in Electronics reading at HCET?

2) What are the implications for the teaching of English in Electronics reading at HCET? The answers to these questions would serve to reveal insights into the non-major students’ attitudes towards the teaching of English in Electronics reading as well as their preferences for reading teaching

2.3 Research Approach

Survey research was selected since it reflected the attitudes of the non-major students towards the teaching of EE reading at HCET It also resulted from the fact that the purpose of a survey was to learn about characteristics of an entire group of interest (a population) by examining a subset of that group (a sample)

2.4 Participants

2.4.1 Population

The population in this research was all of 225 non-major English students of Department of Electronics and Telecommunication at Hai Duong College of Economics and Technology Most of them lived in Hai Duong province, some came from other provinces They were the second-year students who had one year’s experience of learning English at the college and at least three – year experience at their schools

2.4.2 Sampling

In a survey research, sampling is always to be a crucial methodological issue Since it is usually not feasible to survey the entire group of interest (225 students), a subgroup or a sample with 100 students was selected The sample who affects the conclusions that can be drawn about the results

is similar to the population of interest in important ways

The students in this study were randomly chosen without any previously fixed criteria They were also explained that their answers to the questionnaire were anonymous in order to ensure the honesty and accuracy

2.4.3 Description of the Participants

This study was conducted with the two non-major English classes consisting of 100 second-year students at Hai Duong College of Economics and Technology Each class had 50 students, both male and female with the same two-year course of English

All participants in this research were major in Electronics but English was a compulsory subject Also, they are taught by Vietnamese teachers of English

As I stated in 3.4.1, the participants in this study had at least four-year experience of learning English and they also had certain knowledge about their major, as a result, they were believed to have more to say about EE teaching

2.5 The instrument

Only one instrument was employed to gain data for the study: survey questionnaire (see Appendix

1 and 2)

It is known that one of the most common methods of data collection in second language research is

to use questionnaire of various kinds This is due to its advantages: research time, research effort and financial resources “If the questionnaire is well-constructed, processing the data can also be fast and relatively straightforward.” (Zoltan Dornyei, 2003, p.9) A closed-ended question is used when the answer is factual one and fairly predictable, therefore most questions are closed-ended Furthermore, rating scales are in use because according to Zoltan Dornyei (2003, p.36), “they require the respondent to make evaluative judgment of the target by marking one of a series of categories organized into a scale”

“Where the answers are in terms of opinions or beliefs, an open-ended is better simply because a small range of predetermined answers is less likely to be representative” (Gillham, 2000, p.5) This allows the respondents to feel that they can contribute their individual points of view and detailed information, which closed-ended questions can not do

To obtain data for this study, the questionnaire consisted of eleven questions: the first ten ones (both close-ended and open-ended ones) aimed at getting general information about attitudes towards the teaching of English in Electronics reading and the last question for evaluative information concerning two different ways: Grammar-Translation and Communicative Language Teaching All questions were written in Vietnamese to ensure the students’ accurate understanding

of all questions before answering them and their answers were also written in Vietnamese, which allowed them to express their opinions easily and fully

The questions focused on the following categories:

- Question 1: The students’ general attitudes towards English in Electronics

- Question 2: The students’ awareness of the importance of English in Electronics

- Question 3: The students’ awareness of the teachers’ roles in reading teaching

- Question 4 + 5: The students’ evaluations to the teachers’ approaches in EE reading teaching

- Question 6 + 7 + 8: The students’ evaluations to the teachers’ techniques in EE reading teaching

- Question 9 + 10: The students’ style preferences for EE reading teaching

- Question 11: The students’ attitudes towards Grammar Translating Approach and Communicative Language Approach

2.6 Data Collection Procedure

As stated in the previous part, the questionnaire was given to the students It was asked to do at home because it might take time The research was conducted on the same groups who had experienced both ways of reading teaching: Grammar Translation and Communicative Language Teaching Their interest, the lessons’ difficulty and usefulness were ranged in various intensities

2.7 Data Analysis Procedure

Data collected from only one source were classified into two main points:

- Students’ attitudes towards the teachers’ EE reading teaching

- Students’ style preferences for EE reading teaching

The data were then analyzed both descriptively and interpretively The quantitative data were presented in the form of charts while qualitative data from open-ended questionnaire items

2.8 Conclusive Remarks

This chapter presented the research context, the research questions, research approach, participants and instruments of data collection In this study one instrument was decided to use Furthermore, two lessons were designed to teach reading EE traditionally and communicatively to the questionnaire respondents who were then asked to evaluate both lessons and choose one they would prefer In the chapter four, data analysis and discussion will be presented

CHAPTER 3: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Chapter one presents the rationale, aims and objectives, the research questions and the scope of the study were presented Chapter two reviews the literature review for the study Chapter three presents the chosen research methodology and instruments of data collections In this chapter, I continue to present data analysis both descriptively and interpretively as well as discussion of the findings

3.1 Results and Discussion

3.1.1 Questionnaire

After all the questionnaires had been collected, analysis was conducted The results revealed a lot

of interesting and significant findings which will present here

3.1.1.1 General Attitudes towards English in Electronics

The first question in the questionnaire asked the students whether they liked English in Electronics

or not The results showed that a majority of the students had positive attitudes to English in Electronics at the college (see Table 1)

Don’t like EE at all

(%)

Neither like nor dislike (%)

Table 1 Students’ attitude towards English in Electronics at HCET

Looking at the Table 1, it can be said that the second-year students were interested in English in Electronics They also gave out their own reasons which are typically presented here

 Knowing English in Electronics helps me to find a good job in an industrial zone (a male student – class K8.06.01)

 I think English in Electronics is useful and necessary for my future job relating my major (a male student – class K8.06.02)

 English in Electronics will equip me with an effective approach to EE materials (a female student – class K8.06.01)

 I can exchange with foreign employees about work relating to Electronics when I work for

an Electronic company, therefore I can make promotion (a male student – class K8.06.02)

 I want to enrich my knowledge whenever possible about my favorite field (a female student – class K8.06.01)

Most of students said that they liked English in Electronics because it was interesting and it was closely related to the subjects they had been studying Besides they hoped to discover the materials (instructions, principles, usage, etc) about electronic machines that they were interested

Twelve percent of students expressed they neither liked nor disliked English in Electronics They considered learning this subject as their duty like any other subjects (a male student from K8.06.01) They learned it because they desired to pass term-exams (a female student from K8.06.02)

In terms of the students’ negative attitudes, most of the eighteen percent explained they did not find English in Electronics interesting because of the teachers’ methods “The way the teacher uses does not interest me” (a student from K8.06.01) or “I am bored of English in Electronics lessons” (a students from K8.06.02) Other said that English in Electronics is quite difficult and reading texts contains too many terms

3.1.1.2 Awareness of the Importance of English in Electronics Reading Comprehension

With regard to the importance of English in Electronics (Question 2), it was interesting that almost respondents believed that English in Electronics reading comprehension were important or very important as stated in the Table 2:

Number of

respondents

(N)

Important or very important (%)

Not important (%)

Completely unimportant (%)

Table 2 Students’ awareness of the importance of English in Electronics at HCET

Ninety percent of respondents were aware of the importance of English in Electronics reading comprehension They were mainly the students who liked or liked very much English in Electronics; partly ones who neither liked nor disliked it and even partly one who do not like English in Electronics at all This could result from the fact that informants need to get access to English written materials related to their specific area In other words, reading comprehension helped them expand their knowledge of the world’s science and technology As a result, the students’ awareness of the importance of English in Electronics was supposed to create their motivation to overcome the difficulties in their learning process

However, a few students were not aware of the importance of EE reading comprehension It was raised from their negative attitude to English in Electronics This would have huge influence on effectiveness of reading comprehension lessons

3.1.1.3 Awareness of the Teachers’ Roles in EE Reading Teaching

According to Wright (1987) and other authors supporting a communicative approach to language teaching, teachers were expected to be instructors, managers, counselors, facilitators, organizers, evaluators, curriculum developers, material writers and even friends Though not knowing so many roles of teachers mentioned above, the students at HCET totally agreed that the teachers’ roles were very important hereafter

Number of

respondents

(N)

Important or very important (%)

Little important (%)

Unimportant (%)

Table 3 Students’ awareness of teachers’ roles in EE reading teaching at HCET

However, this might lead to the fact that the students are too dependent on the teachers In other words, they were inactive in their learning process and effectiveness could not be reached

3.1.1.4 The students’ Evaluations to the Teachers’ Approaches in EE Reading Teaching

Question 4 asked the students to evaluate the teachers’ instructions in reading approaches The results are presented in both of the table and the figure below

Thus, not all students who had positive attitudes towards English in Electronics also had good understanding the teachers’ reading instructions This proved that good attitudes do not lead to success

Question 5 continued to ask students about how the students’ reading comprehension was improved after EE reading lessons with the results as followed:

Number of

respondents

Improved or highly improved

Not improved Completely

unimproved

(N) (%) (%) (%)

Table 4 Students’ evaluations to the teachers’ approaches in EE reading teaching at HCET

It was pleasant to find that the informants who believed their EE reading comprehension was improved was higher than those who thought that it was not improved

The percentage of students were satisfied with the EE reading teaching (62%) seems not to correspond with the percentage of the students understood well the teachers’ instructions (73%) This paradox may be rooted from the gap between the theory and the practice In other words, some students who had good understanding the instructions still couldn’t understand the reading texts or guess the meanings of terms This is due to the fact that their background knowledge was not enough to support their understanding

Sadly, up to 38% (31% was not improved and 7% was completely improved) of the students found that their EE comprehension reading was not improved or completely improved The explanation for this focused on the methods the teachers used in teaching EE reading Another explanation originated from ignorance’s students Their English competence was so low that they were always bored with English lessons

3.1.1.5 The Students’ Evaluations to the Teachers’ Techniques in EE Reading Teaching

Questions 4 and 5 asked the students to evaluate the teachers’ approaches in general In this part, questions 6, 7 and 8 touched the students’ evaluation of the teachers’ techniques in particular

effective (%)

Effective (%)

Little effective (%)

Ineffective (%)

1 No pre-reading activities, ask

students to read the reading text

2 Provide meanings of terms in

reading texts

3 Ask students to read titles,

illustrated pictures to guess contents

of reading texts

4 Suggest students to discuss about

topics orienting contents of reading

texts

Table 5 Students’ evaluations to the teachers’ techniques in EE pre-reading teaching at HCET

It was apparent that in a reading lesson, using pre-reading techniques were highly appreciated 100% agreed that no pre-reading activities brought the effectiveness for reading comprehension process In other words, they were aware of the importance of pre-reading activities

Discussion about the topic orienting the content of the reading text (I called activity 1) was reported to be the most favorable (63%) The explanation for this was that the students could exchange freely their knowledge about topics under teachers’ control Their ideas would be supported and supplementary, enabling them to read and understand texts easily Besides, 25% thought that reading titles, illustrated pictures to guess contents of reading texts was very effective The reason for this was that it would be very difficult to guess the content if only basing on the title and pictures, especially students could go wrong with contents of texts This would be meaningless when they entered while-reading

12% still chose the technique: teachers provided the meanings of the terms before reading the text This was a traditional method, named Grammar – Translation which had been in existence for a long time Besides this approach’s advantages, it had its own disadvantages, among of which was that students’ activeness was not motivated

The content of Question 7 is related to the students’ evaluations to while-reading techniques of teachers as indicated below:

effective (%)

Effective (%)

Little effective (%)

Ineffective (%)

1 Translate texts into Vietnamese, and

then ask students to do tasks below

2 Ask students to read aloud, translate

texts and then do tasks below

3 Ask students to read texts again and

again, guess meanings of terms and do

tasks below

4 Ask students to use bottom-up,

top-down and interactive processing to do

tasks and guess meanings of terms and

understand texts

Table 6 Students’ evaluations to the teachers’ techniques in EE while-reading teaching at HCET

It can be seen that one happy fact was that the teacher-centered approach has been shifted to the student-centered approach Nobody chose the technique one in which teachers were the centers of English classrooms

Unfortunately, majority of the students, which accounts for 43%, prefer translating themselves and then do tasks to using bottom-up, top-down and interactive processing to do tasks (26%) This resulted from their old study habits at schools and teachers’ methods The students were accustomed of the reading method in which they translate, and then do tasks Furthermore, the teachers at HCET rarely applied the modern methods like Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) The results proved the fact that CLT seemed not to receive much positive responses from some students (31%) Besides, the activity 3 was also attracted from the students but not much (34%) However, this activity was used when reading texts were short and closely related to their background knowledge

In terms of teachers’ techniques in post-reading, question 8 was delivered and the results were shown in the table below:

Post-reading activities Very

effective (%)

Effective (%)

Little effective (%)

Ineffective (%)

1 Summarize reading texts in

3 Ask students to summarize

reading texts in English

4 Ask students to discuss main

points in reading texts

Table 7 Students’ evaluations to the teachers’ techniques in EE post-reading teaching at HCET

The table 8 presents some commonly used techniques in post-reading by the teachers at HCET and the students’ valuations

100% of the students agreed that discussion after lessons brought the most effectiveness They believed that they could develop their communicative abilities by discussing in pairs or small groups so that they would have thorough comprehension of reading texts