A study on the problem face by students in reading English for business at University of Economics and Business administration-Thai Nguyen University and some i

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES DEPARTMENT OF POST GRADUATE STUDIES ---o0o--- ĐẶNG THỊ NGỌC ANH A STUDY ON THE PROBLEMS FACED BY S

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

DEPARTMENT OF POST GRADUATE STUDIES

Đại học Thái Nguyên và một số giải pháp

M.A Minor Thesis

Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60 14 10

HANOI – 2010

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

DEPARTMENT OF POST GRADUATE STUDIES

-o0o -

ĐẶNG THỊ NGỌC ANH

A STUDY ON THE PROBLEMS FACED BY STUDENTS IN READING ENGLISH FOR BUSINESS AT UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS AND BUSINESS ADMINSTRATION – THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY AND

SOME IMPLICATIONS

Tìm hiểu những khó khăn trong việc đọc hiểu tiếng Anh Thương mại của sinh viên trường Đại học Kinh tế và Quản trị Kinh doanh –

Đại học Thái Nguyên và một số giải pháp

M.A Minor Thesis

Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60 14 10

Supervisor: Phạm Thị Hạnh, MA

HANOI – 2010

TABLES OF CONTENTS

PART ONE: INTRODUCTION 1

1 Rationale 11

2 The significance of the study 12

3 Aims of the study 12

4 Method of the study 12

5 Scope of the study 12

6 Organization of the study 13

Chapter 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 14

1.1 ESP Teaching and Learning 14

1.1.1 Definitions of ESP 14

1.1.2 Types of ESP 15

1.1.3 The differences between General English and ESP 18

1.2 Business English – a type of ESP 20

1.2.1 Introduction of Business English 20

1.2.2 Characteristics of Business English 21

1.2.3 Performance objectives for Business English 22

1.2.4 Content of Business English course 23

1.3 Summary 24

Chapter 2: THE PRESENT SITUATION OF TEACHING AND LEARNING ENGLISH FOR BUSINESS AT THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS AND BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION (TUEBA) 25

2.1 Introduction of Thai Nguyen University of Economics and Business Administration and its students 25

2.2 Objectives of the ESP course at TUEBA 26

2.3 Materials of the ESP course 26

2.4 The problems in teaching and learning ESP at TUEBA 27

2.4.1 Problems on the part of the teachers 27

2.4.2 Problems on the part of the students 27

2.5 Summary 27

Chapter 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 29

3.1 Research questions 29

3.2 Participants 29

3.3 Data collection method 30

3.3.1 Data collection instrument 30

3.3.2 Data collection procedure 30

3.3.3 Data analysis 31

3.4 Summary 31

Chapter 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 32

4.1 Questionnaire Results and Interpretation 32

4.1.1 Student’s purposes of learning English and learning to read English 32

4.1.2 Attitudes towards foreign language skills in the students’ future work and the role of ESP teaching and learning 33

4.1.3 Views on ESP teaching and learning materials 35

4.1.3.1 Students’ favorite reading materials 35

4.1.3.2 Difficult materials to teach and learn 35

4.1.3.3 Attitudes towards the current ESP reading materials 36

4.1.4 Students’ difficulties in dealing with the ESP reading materials 37

4.1.4.1 Vocabulary 37

4.1.4.2 Grammar 39

4.1.4.3 Reading skill 39

4.1.5 The causes 41

4.1.6 Students’ expectations to improve their ESP reading skill 42

4.1.6.1 Materials 42

4.1.6.2 Teaching methodology 43

4.1.6.3 Students’ activities 45

4.2 Discussions 45

4.2.1 The students’ difficulties in dealing with ESP reading texts and materials 46

4.2.2 The causes of the students’ difficulties 46

4.3 Summary 47

Chapter 5: IMPLICATIONS FOR IMPROVING READING SKILLS OF BUSINESS ENGLISH FOR STUDENTS AT TUEBA 47

5.1 For the students 48

5.1.1 Awareness of the importance of reading skill and role of the ESP course 48

5.2.2 Development of reading strategies and techniques 48

5.2.3 Development of extensive reading habits 50

5.2 For the teachers 50

5.2.1 Improvement of background knowledge of Business 50

5.2.2 Enhancement of ESP teaching methodology 51

5.3 For the materials 55

5.3.1 Improvement of reading materials 55

5.2.3 Awareness of the student’s needs in designing the materials 56

5.4 Summary 57

PART THREE: CONCLUSION 58

1 Summary of the study 58

2 Limitations and suggestions for further study 59

REFERENCES 60 APPENDIX

Questionnaire for the students (English version)

Questionnaire for the students (Vietnamese version)

Questionnaire for the teachers (English version)

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

EAP English for Academic Purposes

EBP English for Business Purposes

EFL English as Foreign Language

EGAP English for General Academic Purposes

EGBP English for General Business Purposes

EGP English for General Purposes

ELP English for Legal Purposes

EMP English for Medical Purposes

EOP English for Occupational Purposes

ESP English for Specific Purposes

EST English for Science and Technology

TNUT Thai Nguyen University of Technology

TUAF Thai Nguyen University of Agriculture and Forestry

TUEBA Thai Nguyen University of Economics and Business Administration

TABLE OF FIGURES AND CHARTS

Figure 1: ESP classification by experience (Robinson, 1991: 3-4) 16

Figure 2: ESP classification by professional area (Evans, T D and St John, 1998: 6) 17

Figure 3: Continuum of ELT course types (Dudley-Evans and St John, 1998:9) 18

Chart 1: Student’s purposes of learning English 32

Chart 2: Student’s purposes of learning to read English 33

Chart 3: Attitudes towards foreign language skills in students’ future work 34

Chart 4: Views of the role of ESP course 34

Chart 5: Students’ favorite reading materials 35

Chart 6: Types of difficult texts and materials 36

Chart 7: Attitudes towards current ESP reading materials 37

Chart 8: Students’ difficulties in vocabulary 38

Chart 9: Students’ difficulties in grammar 39

Chart 10: Students’ difficulties in reading skill 40

Chart 11: Causes of students’ difficulties 41

Chart 12: Students’ expectations of ESP reading materials 43

Chart 13: Students’ expectations of teaching methodology 44

Chart 14: Students’ activities to improve their ESP reading skill 45

PART ONE: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale

English for Specific Purpose, or ESP for short, is a pedagogy in which the syllabus, contents and methods are determined according to the needs of learners' specialized subjects (Ping Duan & Weiping Gu, 2004:1) In the past 20 years, the explosion in business and communication technology has revolutionized the field of English language teaching, and has radically shifted the attention of course designers from teaching English for Academic Purposes to teaching English for more specialized purposes ESP can be regarded as an indispensable part of our life, without which a lot of good opportunities may be missed

ESP teaching has become a popular trend in English language teaching in the world in general and in Vietnam in particular, especially since Vietnam joined the international economy Nowadays, ESP is one of the main subjects taught in the curriculum in most universities and colleges in Vietnam The main objective of ESP courses is to prepare thousands of specialists for the language required by the learner’s future work, or overseas studies

English for Business is a novel development of English for Specific Purposes brought about by the demand of society for improving students' abilities in communicating business information At Thai Nguyen University of Economics and Business Administration (TUEBA), the students are trained with their Business profession mostly in their mother tongue After completing General English in the first three semesters, they advance from the first glimpse to more in-depth lessons of English for Business with the aim of acquiring the ability to read and understand their professional knowledge in English and serving their further study as well as future jobs However, the problem is that the students are rarely satisfied with their reading comprehension in reading ESP text and materials despite their efforts They are sometimes blamed for having poor reading skill or not making enough effort Nevertheless, the students are not always at fault Other factors such as materials, teaching methods, the teaching and learning attitude must also be considered

As a matter of fact, it is necessary to have a close look at and find out the reasons for the difficulties students’ encounter at TUEBA in dealing with their materials in English for

Business On identifying the problems, it is hoped that the study will propose some possible suggestions for improving students’ ESP reading skills

2 The significance of the study

The study highlights the difficulties that students at Thai Nguyen University of Economics and Business Administration (TUEBA) encounter when dealing with their specialized materials Basing on these, solutions can be proposed in order to help students to overcome the problems and improve their reading comprehension in English for Business effectively It is hoped that the findings of this study will be useful for both students and teachers of ESP at TUEBA and other institutions as well

3 Aims of the study

The primary purposes of this study are to describe the problems of ESP students in dealing with their reading materials at TUEBA, their causes and how to reduce the difficulties

In particular, the study is designed with the hope to achieve the aims as follows:

 To discover students and teachers’ attitudes towards ESP teaching and learning

4 Method of the study

For the purpose of the study, data is collected through the application of the questionnaire technique The information from the survey will then be paraphrased in order to find out the situation of ESP teaching and learning at TUEBA; students’ problems and their causes As such, descriptive statistics of simple percentages will be used

The instruments used to develop this study are chosen according to the needs of the students such as: pen, paper and questionnaire format

5 Scope of the study

The focus of the study is mainly on investigating some linguistic problems related to ESP reading skills of the students at Thai Nguyen University of Economics and Business

Administration After that, suggestions will be recommended so as to reduce the difficulties and help students learn ESP more effectively

6 Organization of the study

There are three main parts in this study including: Introduction, Development and Conclusion

The Introduction part of the study covers the rationale for the study, the significance, aims, methods, scope as well as the organization of the study

The Development part of the study consists of 5 chapters as follows:

Chapter 1 provides a theoretical framework for the study, including, definitions and types of ESP, ESP related issues, and typical features of English for Business

Chapter 2 discusses the present situation, materials, as well as the objectives of teaching and learning English for Business at TUEBA The main focus is placed on the problems faced by the students when reading English texts and document for Business

Chapter 3 reports the methodology used in the research including research questions, participants, instruments and the procedures for data collection and analysis

Chapter 4 reports and discusses the major findings

Chapter 5, the last part of this section, offers suggestions to reduce difficulties and help the students to effectively improve their ESP reading skills

The Conclusion part summarizes what is addressed in the study, points out the limitations, draws pedagogical implications and provides some suggestions for further study

PART TWO: DEVELOPMENT

Chapter 1: LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter aims at providing a theoretical background to the study For this purpose, the chapter will review the issues most relevant to the focus of the study

1.1 ESP Teaching and Learning

1.1.1 Definitions of ESP

ESP is generally used to refer to the teaching of English for a clearly utilitarian purpose This purpose is usually defined with reference to some occupational requirement, e.g for international operators, civil airline pilots etc., or vocational training programs, e.g for hotel and technical trades etc., or some academic or professional study e.g engineering, medicine, law, etc

Though ESP has had a relatively long time to mature, it is defined differently by many scholars Some ESP scholars described ESP as simply being the teaching of English for any purpose that could be specified Others, however, were more precise, describing it as the teaching of English used in academic studies or the teaching of English for vocational or professional purposes (Anthony, A 1999)

Based on the concepts of Strevens, P (1988), Dudley-Evans and St John (1998) adopted an extended definition of ESP in terms of its ‘absolute’ and ‘variable’ characteristics According to them, in terms of absolute characteristics, ESP (1) is defined to meet specific needs of the learner, (2) makes use of the underlying methodology and activities of the discipline it serves, and (3) is centered on the language (grammar, lexis, register), skills, discourse and genres appropriate to these activities In terms of the variable characteristics, ESP (1) may be related to or designed for specific disciplines, (2) may use, in specific teaching situations, a different methodology from that of general English, (3) is likely to be designed for adult learners, either at a tertiary level institution or in a professional work situation, and could also be for learners at secondary school level, (4) is generally designed for intermediate

or advanced students, (5) assume some basic knowledge of the language system and can be used with beginners

The definition Dudley-Evans offered is clearly influenced by that of Strevens (1988), although he has improved it substantially by removing the absolute characteristic that ESP is

"in contrast with 'General English'" (Johns and Dudley-Evans, 1991: 298), and has revised

and increased the number of variable characteristics The division of ESP into absolute and variable characteristics, in particular, is very helpful in resolving arguments about what is and

is not ESP From the definition, we can see that ESP can be but is not necessarily concerned with a specific discipline, nor does it have to be aimed at a certain age group or ability range ESP should be seen simply as an 'approach' to teaching, or what Dudley-Evans describes as an 'attitude of mind' Such a view echoes that of Hutchinson, T and Waters, A (1987:19) who

stated, "ESP is an approach to language teaching in which all decisions as to content and method are based on the learner's reason for learning"

Along the same lines, Hutchinson, T and Waters, A (1987) proposed a broader definition of ESP They theorized ESP to be an approach to language teaching in which all decisions as to content and method are based on the learner’s reason for learning As for them,

“ESP – is an approach not a product – does not involve a particular kind of language, teaching material or methodology” (Hutchinson, T and Waters, A 1987: 16)

It can be seen from the definitions that ESP courses are purposeful so “the growth of ESP was brought about by a combination of three important factors: the expansion of demand for English to suit particular needs and developments in the field of linguistics and educational psychology” (Hutchinson, T and Waters, A 1987: 8)

Accordingly, ESP teachers should be aware of the matter and should not concentrate

on teaching general English, but focus primarily on satisfying their students’ needs for the language in different fields of specialization in order to use the language linguistically correct

on paper or verbally

1.1.2 Types of ESP

It is a fact that there are many types of ESP, however, the main focus of all the classifications of ESP cover the two main areas such as English for Academic Purposes (EAP) and English for Occupational Purposes (EOP)

The types of ESP will be easily seen in a tree diagram according to different views Firstly, there comes the traditional Robinson’s tree diagram showing a distinction between the two areas

Figure 1: ESP classification by experience (Robinson, 1991: 3-4)

In this ESP tree, EAP involves pre-experience, simultaneous/in-service and experience courses while EOP is for study in a specific discipline (pre-study, in-study, and post-study) or as a school subject (independent or integrated) Pre-experience or pre-study course will omit any specific work related to the actual discipline or work as students will not yet have the needed familiarity with the content; the opportunity for specific or integrated work will be provided during in-service or in-study courses

post-In addition to this, ESP can be divided into EAP and EOP according to discipline or professional area as is shown in the tree provided by Dudley – Evans and St John as follows:

ENGLISH FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSES

English for Academic Purposes English for Occupational Purposes

English for (Academic) Legal Purposes

English for Management Finances and Economics

English for Professional Purposes

English for Vocational Purposes

Figure 2: ESP classification by professional area (Evans, T D and St John, 1998: 6)

As it can be seen from the tree diagram above, a) EAP involves English for (Academic) Science and Technology (EST), English for (Academic) Medical Purposes (EMP), English for (Academic) Legal Purposes (ELP), and English for Management, Finance and Economics; b) EOP includes English for Professional Purposes (English for Medical Purposes, English for Business Purposes – EBP) and English for Vocational Purposes (Pre-vocational English and Vocational English) In EAP, EST has been the main area, but EMP and ELP have always had their place EOP refers to English for professional purposes in administration, medicine, law and business, and vocational purposes for non-professionals in work (language of training for specific trades or occupations) or pre-work situations (concerned with finding a job and interview skills) In this classification, English for Business Purpose (EBP) is a category within EOP

The problem is that the classification of ESP courses creates numerous problems which fail to capture the fluid nature of the various types of ESP teaching and the degree of overlap between “common-core” EAP and EBP and General English For example, Business English can be seen as mediating language between the technicalities of a particular business and the language of the general public (Picket, 1989); then, it can be put in a position between English for General Purposes (EGP) and specialist English

Therefore, Dudley-Evans and St John (1998) considered the whole of ELT should be

on a continuum that runs from General English courses to very specific ESP courses as follow:

1 2 3 4 5

English for Medical Purposes

English for Business Purposes

English Pre- vocational Purposes

English Vocational Purposes

Position 1 Position 2 Position 3 Position 4 Position 5

English for

beginners

Intermediate

to advanced EGP courses with a focus

on particular skills

EGAP/EGBP courses based on common core language and skills not related

to specific disciplines or professions

Courses for broad disciplinary or professional areas, for example Report Writing for Scientists and Engineers, Medical English, Legal English,

Negotiation/Meeting Skills for Business People

1) An ‘Academic support’ course related to a particular academic course 2) One-to-one work with business people

Figure 3: Continuum of ELT course types (Dudley-Evans and St John, 1998:9)

As in the positions 2 and 3, it is only the overall context of the program that decides whether a particular course is classified as ESP or not At position 4, the course is specified in terms of the skills taught It is, at this point, important to choose appropriate skills to focus on

- e.g., some businessmen will need to read some business journals, others will need communication skills to deal with their partners The groups seem not to be homogenous from one discipline or profession (scientists, engineers, lawyers, doctors), so the individual members can need texts dealing with their specific profession Lastly, the course, at position 5, becomes really specific – the key feature of such courses is that teaching is flexible and tailored to individual or group needs

In short, on studying different types of ESP, ESP teachers will have an overall picture

of the groups of learners that he/ she is going to work with This is an initially important step enabling the teacher to succeed in improving ESP reading skill for the learners

1.1.3 The differences between General English and ESP

The question of the differences between ESP and English for General Purposes (EGP) has been widely addressed in literature According to Hutchinson and Waters (1987), there is

no difference between the two in theory; however, there is a great deal of differences in practice In deed, ESP differs from EGP in the sense that the words and sentences learned, the subject matter discussed, all relate to a particular field or discipline The design of syllabuses for ESP is directed towards serving the needs of learners seeking for or developing themselves

in a particular occupation or specializing in a specific academic field ESP courses make use

of vocabulary tasks related to the field such as negotiation skills and effective techniques for oral presentations A balance is created between educational theory and practical considerations ESP also increases learners' skills in using English

In order to find out the differences between ESP and EGP, it is necessary to have a closer look at both EGP and ESP EGP is one of the compulsory subjects in junior and senior high schools in Vietnam Learners are introduced to the sounds and symbols of English, as well as to the lexical/grammatical/rhetorical elements that compose spoken and written discourse There is no particular situation targeted in this kind of language learning Moreover, EGP also focuses on applications in general situations such as appropriate dialogue with restaurant staff, bank tellers, postal clerks, telephone operators, English teachers, and party guests as well as lessons on how to read and write the English typically found in textbooks, newspapers and magazines articles, telephone books, shopping catalogues, application forms, personal letters, e-mail, and home pages Supplementary information about appropriate gestures, cultural conventions, and cultural taboos is also normally included in EGP curriculums EGP conducted in English-speaking countries is typically called ESL, and EGP conducted in non-English-speaking countries is normally called EFL EGP is typically regarded as a level that precedes higher-level instruction in ESP if ESP programs are to yield satisfactory results

In contrast ESP, as it is defined, is to meet specific needs of the learners It is designed

to prepare students or working adults for the English needed in specific disciplines, vocations,

or professions to accomplish specific purposes For this reason, ESP is said to be built on an assessment of purposes and needs and the functions for which English is required ESP concentrates more on language in context than on teaching grammar and language structures

It covers subjects varying from accounting or computer science to tourism and business management The ESP focal point is that English is not taught as a subject separated from the students' real world (or wishes); instead, it is integrated into a subject matter area important to the learners There is no fixed methodology of ESP that can be applied in all situations ESP

makes use of methodology and activities of the discipline it serves, and is centered on the language appropriate to these activities

1.2 Business English – a type of ESP

1.2.1 Introduction of Business English

For the last two or three decades, Business English has attracted increasing interest and awareness, though it is an area which is often neglected by linguistics researchers, who prefer

to work on other-easily defined areas of special English Business English course books and other teaching/learning materials are proliferating, and language schools offering Business English courses are blossoming Several developments may have contributed to the expansion

of Business English, but speaking from the pedagogical point of view, the demand for Business English must have originated from a particular kind of learner, often adults, who already had both grammatical knowledge of English, and also a specific purpose in learning English In short, they were looking for a different approach, one which would provide them with an opportunity to use this knowledge more productively than had been previously possible, and therefore approached Business English courses with heightened expectations

According to Johns and Dudley-Evans (1991), Business English “requires the careful research and design of pedagogical materials and activities for an identifiable group of adult learners within a specific learning content”, moreover, it “is designed to meet specified needs

of the learner” (Strevens, 1988)

As it can be seen from the above-mentioned ESP classification, Business English is an area of ESP, and must be seen in the overall context of ESP, because it relies on and utilizes elements common to all fields of work in ESP, such as needs analysis, syllabus design, selection and development of teaching/learning materials, course design etc Just like other varieties of ESP, BE works with a number of contexts, requires and uses specific language corpora, and lays emphasis on specific kinds of communication

However, as Ellis, M and Johnson, C (1994: 3) stated, “Business English differs from varieties of ESP in that it is often a mix of specific content (relating to a particular job area or industry), and general content (relating to general ability to communicate more effectively, especially in business situations)”

Teaching Business English is believed to be the teaching of English to adults working

in businesses, or preparing to work in the field of business, i.e a needs-directed teaching in which as much as possible must be made job-related, focused on learners’ needs and relevant

to them Successful use of English is seen in terms of a successful outcome to the business transaction Cost-effectiveness is required by both adults paying for themselves, and companies sponsoring their staff, so learners’ bosses and supervisors, or the person setting up the language training in a company may expect reports on learners’ progress on a regular basis Business is competitive, and learners’ attendance can even be tracked, especially if the company is financing the course Courses may be long or short Classes may be taught in-company or in a language school or other rented facilities

1.2.2 Characteristics of Business English

People around the world conduct business meetings in English even though this language may be a foreign language to all those present The language that they use will be neither as rich in vocabulary and expression, nor as culture-bound, as that used by native speakers, but will be based on a core of the most useful and basic structures and vocabulary Businesspeople do not always need to know the full complexities of English grammar and idioms Fine distinctions in meaning may not be important in a business context On the other hand, in a Business English course some structural areas may require more attention than in a conventional course: for example, conditionals in negotiating, or modality for expressing possibility or politeness There is consequently a need for syllabus designers to be selective when addressing the needs of Business English learners

After many years of working with a wide range of pre-experience and especially experienced learners, Ellis, M and Johnson, C (1994) have proposed the three particular characteristics of Business English as sense of purpose, social aspects and clear communication

job-Sense of Purpose

The most important characteristic of exchanges in the context of business meetings, telephone calls, and discussions is a sense of purpose Users of Business English need to speak English primarily so that they can achieve more in their jobs

Much of the language needed by business people (apart from social language) will be transactional: getting what you want and persuading others to agree with the course of action you propose The language will frequently be objective rather than subjective and personal

Social aspects

International business people have a need to make contacts with others whom they have never met before, or know slightly Meetings are often short because business people are always pressed for time There is a need for an internationally accepted way of doing things so that people from different cultures, and with different mother tongues, can quickly feel more comfortable with one other

Clear communication

Information has to be conveyed with minimum risk of misunderstanding, and the time for processing needs to be short Therefore, there is a preference for clear, logical, thought emphasized by the kinds of words that indicate the logical process There is often a need to be concise – particularly when communicating by fax or telephone – and certain familiar concepts may be expressed in word clusters to avoid circumlocution

1.2.3 Performance objectives for Business English

The most obvious objective behind a Business English course is to fulfill students’ work related needs (Donna 2000:3) Moreover, as already stated, one of the main characteristics of Business English is the emphasis on performance – training learners to become operationally effective For people in business, the priority is to be able to understand and get their message across, and for the majority of Business English learners many of the refinements of language are quite simply not relevant

What the majority of business learners need to acquire could be broadly summarized as follows:

 Confidence and fluency in speaking

 Skills for organizing and structuring information

 Sufficient language accuracy to be able to communicate ideas without ambiguity and without stress for the listener

 Strategies for following the main points of fast, complex, and imperfect speech

 Strategies for clarifying and checking unclear information

 Speed of reaction to the utterances of others

 Clear pronunciation and delivery

 An awareness of appropriate language and behavior for the cultures and situations in which they operate

Some learners may also need to develop practical reading and writing skills

In Business English, these performance criteria need to be seen in the context of specific business situations in which the learner will be involved If the requirements of a typical job are analyzed, it can be seen, for example, that the learner has to attend meetings which are conducted in English, and that he or she has to follow what is going on and be able

to make a contribution

1.2.4 Content of Business English course

Since courses are set up for different reasons, the content of individual courses may vary considerably However, the content of any particular Business English course is usually quite specific and should always be determined by the students’ needs and objectives For example: students want to learn business English for instrumental reasons; some are preparing for future jobs in which they will use English, whereas others want to learn it to improve their current job performance in dealing with particular partners or customers As Donna, S (2000)

stated: “the most successful courses are the ones which identify appropriate content and fulfill the students’ needs most completely in the shortest possible time”

Sharing the same view, Ellis, M and Johnson, C (1994: 9) said “the English Business syllabus is likely to be defined primarily in relation to business performance skills such as meetings, presentations, socializing, or report-writing” Within these skill areas, certain

concepts are typically discussed and expressed These concepts can also be broken down into the more linguistically powerful functional areas such as comparing and contrasting, expressing cause an effect, recommending, and agreeing The language defined in the syllabus may include grammatical or lexical items, and elements of spoken or written discourse, including for instance, cohesive devices and stress and intonation patterns, as well as organizational features such as signaling a new topic or turn taking in interactive sequences

In other words, Business English focuses on the language of business that students need in the workplace This can take the form of:

 Everyday language which is used in social situations

 General business language which can be used in a variety of business contexts

 Context specific language used by a particular industry or profession

The precise mix of language taught in courses will depend upon the needs of particular groups of learners

Business English courses also focus on business communication skills, for example, making presentations, taking part in meetings and writing reports Courses tend to give learners the vocabulary and structure to develop these skills and the chance to practice using them (www.teachingenglish.org.uk)

1.3 Summary

It is hoped that most of the related issues to the study have been fully discussed in this chapter As we know, due to the result of current economic and political developments in different parts of the world, Business English is currently undergoing a period of rapid growth Indeed, it is becoming the leading branch of ESP The situation with Business English is in many ways analogous to the situation with English for Science and Technology and English for Academic Purposes in the 1970s and 1980s (Dudley – Evans and St John 1996: 39)

Chapter 2: THE PRESENT SITUATION OF TEACHING AND LEARNING ENGLISH FOR BUSINESS AT THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS AND

BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION (TUEBA)

In order to sense the aim of the thesis, this chapter is expected to give an overall description of factual teaching and learning ESP in the aspects of objectives, materials, teachers and students

2.1 Introduction of Thai Nguyen University of Economics and Business Administration and its students

Thai Nguyen University of Economics and Business Administration (TUEBA) is a newly established member of Thai Nguyen University, and has been operating for 5 years The university is the merger of the Faculty of Agricultural Economics of Thai Nguyen University

of Agriculture and Forestry (TUAF) and the Faculty of Industrial Economics of Thai Nguyen University of Technology (TNUT) One of its foremost important responsibilities is to train highly qualified human resources at under-graduate and graduate levels, and non-degree short-term training TUEBA has been trying to become a centre of high quality training and education in the field of economics and business administration, rural development to support hunger eradication, poverty reduction, and sustainable socioeconomic development in industrialization and modernization process in midland and mountainous provinces of the North of Vietnam

Every year, TUEBA admits students for a course of study of 4 years The number of students admitted is increasing more and more each year After graduating, our students can easily get a job in the economic field They can become officers specialized in accounting, business administration, banking, managing, etc Many of them quickly get a high position in their career field

Students of TUEBA are approximately 19-25 years of age They come from different provinces of the North of Vietnam with different living conditions and knowledge background Some of them come from far and remote regions where lack a lot of good conditions for living and learning Some started learning English at grade 3 whereas some did

not learn English until grade 10 or learned other foreign languages such as French or Russian

at school

2.2 Objectives of the ESP course at TUEBA

The overall aim of the course is to raise the students’ English proficiency in business settings as well as to prepare them for successful communication in their future career because after the graduation they are likely to seek employment in international companies or they may find themselves working in a company where English is widely spoken, or using English as a means of communication with other business people from all over the world

At TUEBA, English is included in the curriculum as a compulsory subject and divided into two stages During the first stage which lasts three semesters, students study General English focusing on developing the four English skills namely listening, reading, speaking and writing In the second stage, students learn ESP that accounts for 45 periods One of the subject’s prerequisites is that students must complete the previous General English courses

By the end of the course, learners are expected to be familiar with business terminologies and write competent English

2.3 Materials of the ESP course

In ESP teaching and learning, there always exist two resources of materials as published materials and in-house materials The former produced by publishers, are assumed

to be qualified Moreover, this kind of material is compiled by those who have a lot of experience in their particular fields The later are usually written by the teachers in training institutions with a view to the teaching situation in their training institution only The aim is to provide students with specialist vocabulary and reading practices in their relevant contexts

At TUEBA, the textbook namely “English for Economics and Business” used in ESP

teaching and learning is the in-house one The book has 7 chapters covering different topics such as Microeconomics and Macroeconomics; Business Management; Finance and Accounting; International Trade; Marketing; Economic Policies and Issues; and Business Communication, which are selected from available updated published books and edited according to the real teaching and learning conditions of the university and to suit the student’s level of both English proficiency and professional knowledge Each chapter contains

three main parts as Vocabulary, Discussion and Reading Comprehension, Grammatical Points, and Assigned Exercises

2.4 The problems in teaching and learning ESP at TUEBA

2.4.1 Problems on the part of the teachers

The English division has 10 teachers, of which, 8 teachers are from 25 to 30 years old and the other two are at the age of fifties Most of them had formal ELT training in different institutions inside Vietnam, whereas one teacher switched from Russian to English language teaching; another holds the second degree in Business Administration Especially, one teacher, who is specialized in teaching ESP, graduated from the Faculty of Business English of Hanoi Foreign Trade University All of the teachers have been to some domestic workshops in foreign language teaching and some to ESP teaching workshops

Five out of the division are teachers of GE and in fact, they were trained to become teachers of GE only but are unexpectedly required to teach ESP that is unfamiliar to them Therefore, they face a lot of difficulties in teaching the new subject in terms of the specialized knowledge and teaching methodology

In this situation, the teachers have no other choice but try to fulfill their job by learning and working harder in order to be up to the expectations of the teaching and learning process

2.4.2 Problems on the part of the students

Most of the students of TUEBA started learning English at their high schools and they have already studied English for three semesters before learning ESP Although many of them have good command of English vocabulary, grammar structures and rules, it is shown that they are not equally competent in English because GE is quite different from ESP

Although the students are taught other professional subjects in Vietnamese at the same time with ESP, their professional knowledge remains poor so they find it difficult to deal with specialized texts and document in English The fact is that they have never been in any particular real business contexts and situations so they are unfamiliar with the business activities in the courses As a result, their ESP learning results are not good as expected

2.5 Summary

The chapter can be regarded as a close look at the factual situation of ESP teaching and learning at TUEBA This lays the foundation for a discussion of methodology and findings in Chapter 3

Chapter 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 3.1 Research questions

As it is stated above, the study is carried out to find out the areas of difficulties the third year students are faced with at Thai Nguyen University of Economics and Business Administration; theirs causes and finally propose possible implications to help students improve their reading skill of ESP

Thus, the key research questions for this study are as follows:

(i) What are the difficulties that students at TUEBA have when reading ESP materials? (iii) What are the causes of these difficulties?

(iii) How to improve reading skills for ESP’s students?

3.2 Participants

For the purpose of the study and to facilitate data collection and analysis, a sample of 5 ESP teachers who are currently teaching English for Business and GE at TUEBA and another sample of 120 students who are the third-year students of TUEBA were selected randomly The reason for this is that TUEBA is the only member of Thai Nguyen University which is specialized in Economics and Business Administration Moreover, the researcher is a member

of the English division, thus it would be very convenient for her to conduct the survey

All of the teachers invited to complete the survey questionnaire have a Diploma in English and at least five years of ESP teaching They are all dedicated teachers and have been

to several domestic workshops and short training courses on GE and ESP teaching Therefore, they are not only qualified in GE but also have some knowledge of the subject matter It is believed that the teachers would give useful information about their ESP teaching and the student’s problems from their points of views

The 120 students surveyed are in their third year of study at Faculties of Economics and Business Administration The way to select the students is based on the cluster random sampling – that is selecting the groups or classes of students randomly instead of selecting individuals randomly (Fraenkel and Wallen, 1996) This approach makes it much easier and convenient for the researcher to observe the participants filling out the survey questionnaires

in classes or groups

The students’ age varies from 20 to 25, of which, half of them are 21 years old 65% of them come from rural areas where there are not enough good conditions to learn English 33%

of the students of the survey started learning English at their primary school whereas 55% of them did not know about English until their grade 6, 8% began at grade 10 and 5 % studied French At TUEBA, they study General English in the first three semesters and then move to ESP courses Their results of General English range mostly from mark 6 to mark 7 out of 10, 22% of them have mark 7 to mark 8 and only 5% have mark 8 to 9 It is apparent that their English is of mixed levels but all of these students have to do the same course of English with the same expectations and requirements This uneven level posed great problems to the teachers because they have to find a suitable way to cater for the different needs of the entire class

3.3 Data collection method

3.3.1 Data collection instrument

A questionnaire, including two parts, was created to collect data as the main instrument for this study The author would like to survey both teachers and students who are currently involving in ESP teaching and the learning process at TUEBA The first part of the questionnaire is intended to collect information about the teachers’ experience of English teaching, and the students’ place of domicile, the experience of English learning and their English proficiency before entering into ESP course The second part including 8 multiple choice questions for the teachers and 14 questions for the students aimed to gather data on the attitudes of students and teachers towards GE and ESP learning, ESP reading, and ESP reading materials; their opinions on the student’s difficulties in reading ESP; the causes and the students’ expectations

Before the survey, the researcher had a group of ten students and two teachers to look through the questionnaire and receive any comments from them This is expected to be an important step in order to make the questionnaire completed and reliable

3.3.2 Data collection procedure

The survey was carried out in class during class time Before answering the questionnaires, the students were explained clearly about the purpose of the study as well as

the questionnaire Then they were instructed how to complete the questionnaire Moreover, the students were allowed to raise any questions needed if there was anything unclear to them

3.3.3 Data analysis

All the questionnaires were analyzed under the view of teachers and students in following segments:

− Attitudes towards ESP teaching and learning

− Views of the ESP course and reading materials

− Difficulties in dealing with ESP texts and materials and their causes

− Expectations for improving ESP reading skills for the students

The data is mainly analyzed through interpretation from the questionnaire and is illustrated by charts

Chapter 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 4.1 Questionnaire Results and Interpretation

4.1.1 Student’s purposes of learning English and learning to read English

The first two questions of the survey questionnaire for the students are meant to find out the students’ purpose for learning English in general and learning to read English in particular from their own point of view It can be said that when the students identify clearly the purposes of learning English and learning to read English, they will devote their time and effort to them

58.3 4.17

41.7 30.8 5.83

A To read English materials

B To study in a foreign country w here English is

w idely spoken

C To communicate and w ork w ith foreigners

D To find a job easily after graduation

E Others

Percentage

(Ref: question 1 in the Appendix I)

Chart 1: Student’s purposes of learning English

It is clear from Chart 1 that students have different purposes for learning English More than half of them want to learn English in order to read English materials Besides, nearly half think English is an important tool for them to deal with foreigners and 30.8% state English would make it easier for them to find a job in the future Only 4.17% want to learn English to study abroad and few of the students learn English just to pass their exam because English is a compulsory subject

50

10

4.17 0

10 20 30 40 50 60

A To improve my specialized know ledge

B To enhance both English competence and specialized know ledge

C To read materials, books, new spapers in English for relax

(Ref: question 2 in the Appendix I)

Chart 2: Student’s purposes of learning to read English

For reading skills, half of the surveyed students think they need to read English to improve their English competence and their specialized knowledge also 35.8% of them learn

to read English to improve their specialized knowledge whereas 10% want to relax with many types of reading resources and 4.17 of them learn to read with other purposes as to do reading comprehension or to make it their personal working skill

To sum up, most of the students are well aware of the purposes of learning English, especially learning to read English Although it is the fact that English is not easy to learn, they try their best to master

4.1.2 Attitudes towards foreign language skills in the students’ future work and the role of ESP teaching and learning

5.83

60 25

9.17

0

20

60 20

(Ref: question 3 in appendix I and 1 in appendix II)

Chart 3: Attitudes towards foreign language skills in students’ future work

It is surprising to find out that the teachers and students have different opinions of the role of foreign language skills in the students’ future work 60 % of the students think speaking is of the most importance as compared to other skills Only 25% of them vote for reading skill and a small number of students highly appreciate listening and writing From a different view, 3 among 5 surveyed teachers consider reading as the most important skill while two of them vote for speaking and writing respectively

Reasons for the difference are still unknown but they may be of the different assumption about the students’ work in the future In the current trend of international integration and globalization as well as socio-economic development, the students hope to work in international organizations or multinational companies, so they would speak English a lot to deal with the foreigners However, the teachers consider that the students would use reading skill most frequently in order to read and understand all the business documents such

as contracts, regulations, laws, etc Only when the students clearly understand the law and working disciplines, do they succeed in dealing with international partners

A Very essential

B Essential C Not very

essential

D Not essential at all

(Ref: question 4 in appendix I and 2 in appendix II)

Chart 4: Views of the role of ESP course

However, most of the students share the same ideas with the teachers of the role of ESP teaching and learning at university 100% of the teachers and 72.5% of the students positively believed that it is very essential to have ESP course This means that the teachers

and students are obviously aware of the important role of ESP course in the students’ future work in which they have to read a lot of specialized document and materials in various sources

4.1.3 Views on ESP teaching and learning materials

4.1.3.1 Students’ favorite reading materials

B Compulsory books of the subject

C Books for entertainment

D Others

(Ref: question 5 in appendix I)

Chart 5: Students’ favorite reading materials

As can be seen from the chart above, over half of the students (62%) place greatest interest in books, newspapers and magazines related to their business major 24% of them find the compulsory materials of the ESP course like course books and reference books very interesting 12% like reading books for entertainment and 2% others like reading English software and computer programs It is important to note that the students pay a lot of attention

to the materials related to their specialization This can be a good way for them to improve and broaden their specialized knowledge Besides, it is understandable that students need to have not only knowledge of their major but also of other fields Therefore, the students of the study enjoy reading both specialized materials and entertainment books in English

4.1.3.2 Difficult materials to teach and learn

A Academic texts in particular fields of Economics and Business

B Journals and analysis in the field of Economics and Business

C Document in business transactions

D There is no difficulty

(Ref: Question 6 in appendix I and 3 in appendix II)

Chart 6: Types of difficult texts and materials

It can be easily seen from chart 6 that both students (48.3%) and teachers (60%) have the biggest challenge when dealing with academic texts in particular field of Economics and Business This is the common problem to almost every ESP teacher because the teachers’ background knowledge is GE not business major

Apart from that, 28.3% and 20% of the students and teachers respectively find it most difficult to deal with journals and analysis in the field of Economics and Business It is apparent that the contents of business journals and analysis are recorded from authentic business activities, which are relatively new to them Therefore, it takes time for the students

to read comprehensively these types of texts

Many kinds of documents in business transactions such as business letters, contracts, press announcements, etc do not cause any problems to all the teachers but 21.7 % of the students find them challenging Interestingly, 1.67% of the students and one teacher do not have any difficulties when working on any types of ESP

4.1.3.3 Attitudes towards the current ESP reading materials