AN EVALUATION OF THE ESP MATERIAL ENGLISH FOR INTERNATIONAL TOURISM FOR STUDENTS OF TOURISM DEPARTMENT AT HANOI UNIVERSITY OF INDUSTRY

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES ------------------- NGUYỄN THỊ THÙY LINH AN EVALUATION OF THE ESP MATERIAL ENGLISH FOR INTERNATIONAL TOURISM FOR STUDENTS OF TOURISM DEPARTMENT AT HANOI UNIVERSITY OF INDUSTRY ĐÁNH GIÁ TÀI LIỆU TIẾNG ANH CHUYÊN NGÀNH “ENGLISH FOR INTERNATIONAL TOURISM” DÀNH CHO SINH VIÊN KHOA DU LỊCH TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC CÔNG NGHIỆP HÀ NỘI M.A. MINOR THESIS FIELD: ENGLISH TEACHING METHODOLOGY CODE: 60 14 01 11 Hanoi, 2015 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES ------------------- NGUYỄN THỊ THÙY LINH AN EVALUATION OF THE ESP MATERIAL “ENGLISH FOR INTERNATIONAL TOURISM” FOR STUDENTS OF TOURISM DEPARTMENT AT HANOI UNIVERSITY OF INDUSTRY ĐÁNH GIÁ TÀI LIỆU TIẾNG ANH CHUYÊN NGÀNH “ENGLISH FOR INTERNATIONAL TOURISM” DÀNH CHO SINH VIÊN KHOA DU LỊCH TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC CÔNG NGHIỆP HÀ NỘI M.A. MINOR THESIS FIELD : ENGLISH TEACHING METHODOLOGY CODE : 60 14 01 11 SUPERVISOR : DR. NGÔ TỰ LẬP Hanoi, 2015 DECLARATION I hereby, certify that the minor thesis entitled “An evaluation of the ESP material ‘English for International Tourism’ for students of Tourism Department at Hanoi University of Industry” is the result of my own research; and that it has not been submitted for a higher degree to any other universities or institutions. I agree that the origin of my paper deposited in the library can be accessible for the purposes of study and research. Hanoi, 2015 Nguyễn Thị Thùy Linh i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am, first of all, greatly indebted to my thesis supervisor, Dr. Ngô Tự Lập, for encouraging me to complete this work. Without his valuable instructions, comments, criticisms and corrections this thesis would be impossible. Special thanks go to my lecturers of Post Graduate Department for their useful lectures. My appreciation and gratitude are also extended to all my colleagues and students who have stimulated and guided my thinking during the time I did this research. Last but not least, I would like to express my deep gratitude to my parents whose love and encouragement have been equally important to my educational endeavors, and especially to my husband and my son who has helped me to ease the burden of the work. ii ABSTRACT Materials evaluation is very important for language teaching and learning since no textbook or set of materials is perfect. This thesis was carried out to evaluate the ESP material which is currently in use for the students in Department of Tourism at HaUI. The research findings are expected to give suggestions for the adaptation of the material in the near future with an ambition to improve the effectiveness of the teaching and the learning English at HaUI. The data collection instruments in this study were questionnaires, interview and the document analysis. The material in use is analyzed according to the criteria listed in Hutchinson and Waters’ objective analysis process. A survey on the teachers' and students' opinions about the extent to which the material meets the requirements of the course in terms of the aims, content and methodology is conducted. Finally, the findings from the analyses and the surveys are discussed. The result of the thesis revealed some strength and weaknesses of the material. It was found that the material basically met the course objectives in terms of aims, content and methodology. Based on the findings, the thesis suggests that adaptation should be made to overcome its weaknesses so that the students can benefit in the future course. iii LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES Figure 1: Types of ESP (Kennedy and Bolitho, 1984) Figure 2: The materials evaluation model proposed by McDonough & Shaw (1993:75) Figure 3: The materials evaluation model proposed by Littlejohn (1998:3) Figure 4: The materials evaluation model proposed by Hutchinson & Waters (1987:98) Table 1: The students' opinions on the aims of the material Table 2: Students' opinions on the difficulty of the material Table 3: Students' opinions on the usefulness of the material Table 4: Tourism teachers' opinions on the material Table 5: English teachers' opinions on methodology Table 6: Students' opinions on the activities iv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ESP: English for Specific Purposes GE: General English ELT: English Language Teaching HaUI: Hanoi University of Industry EOP: English for Occupational Purposes EAP: English for Academic Purposes EST: English for Science and Technology v TABLE OF CONTENT DECLARATION .i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii ABSTRACT .iii LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES iv iv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS .v PART A: INTRODUCTION .1 PART B: DEVELOPMENT .4 Chapter begins with the description of the research method. It then specifies the data collection tools, the subject, and the data collection procedures .18 PART C: CONCLUSION .35 REFERENCES 40 DECLARATION .i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii ABSTRACT .iii LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES iv iv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS .v vi PART A: INTRODUCTION .1 PART B: DEVELOPMENT .4 Chapter begins with the description of the research method. It then specifies the data collection tools, the subject, and the data collection procedures .18 PART C: CONCLUSION .35 REFERENCES 40 vii PART A: INTRODUCTION 1. Rationale Today, English is used in a wide variety of fields such as technology, medicine, education, science, economics, etc, so it is becoming more and more important. In Vietnam, English has been taught as a subject in schools and there are also a large number of English materials being used. In recent years, Vietnam is applying the student-centered approach in language teaching. As a matter of fact, curriculum, materials, teaching methods, and evaluation should all be designed for learners and their needs. As a result, English for Specific Purposes (ESP) materials relating to different fields become more and more popular. Materials determine both learning and teaching, so choosing an appropriate material is very important. However, the more various the ESP materials are, the more difficult it is to choose an appropriate material for the teaching and learning. Different materials have different strengths and weaknesses, so evaluation is a necessary process to help teachers also learners select a good material to follow. Therefore, evaluation plays as a key role in educational research and development. As a matter of fact, English materials used to teach the non- English major students at HaUI have never been evaluated. Although at the beginning of each new school year, there are always some activities for clarifying aims of the textbooks and the target results of teaching and learning, many parts in the lessons not match with HaUI’s teaching and learning condition. Many students complaint that while they expect to improve their four English skills - listening, speaking, reading and writing, English materials used as ESP material for the ESP course of Tourism department at HaUI “ English for International Tourism” focuses much on speaking and listening. In addition, the last year students are required to take TOEIC test (which consists of reading and listening only) and get 450 TOEIC score to graduate from the university. These concerns arising from the researcher’s teaching experience, which encourages the researcher to carry out the following research: “To what extent does the “English for International Tourism (pre-intermediate)” satisfy the requirements of an English language course at HaUI in terms of aims, content and methodology?” 2. Practical background of the research • The English programs of Tourism department at Hanoi University of Industry (HaUI) The English courses for the non-major students at HaUI are divided into four stages: In the first year (the first two semesters), they have to complete 120 forty- items you have learnt before. 3. The reading texts are relevant to your major. 4. The listening sections help you much in developing listening skill. 5.The speaking situations are normally used in tourism. 6.The pronunciation parts help you speak better. Comments: . . . . Part 3. The methodology of the material Please tick the appropriate boxes. 1. very much 2. not very much 3. much 4. not much 5. not at all 1. I like individual tasks presented in the book. 2. I like pair work tasks presented in the book. 3. I like group work tasks presented in the book. 4. I like role-play tasks presented in the book. 6. I like the whole- class tasks presented in the book. Comments: . X . . . Part 4. Suggestions for the material improvement What you think should be done to improve the effectiveness of the material? Your suggestions should focus on the following: Time allocation within each unit . . Content . . Teaching methodology . . Others . . Thank you very much for your cooperation! APPENDIX 3: QUESTIONS FOR THE ENGLISH TEACHER INTERVIEWS Part Aims Do you think that the aim of the material matches the aims stated in the ESP’s syllabus for tourism department? Why (not)? Part Content of the material 1. What you think of the organization of the book and each unit? 2. What you think of the skill presentation in the book? 3. What you think of the topics of the book? Part Methodology of the material 1. Does the material contain a variety of exercises/activities/tasks? 2. Do you think these exercises/activities/ tasks are suitable to your students? XI 3. Are the individual work, pair/group work, discussion or role-play easy to organise with the material? Part Suggestions for the material improvement 1. Do you think the material should be used again? 2. If the material is used again, what changes you think should be made to the material to improve the effectiveness of the material for future use? Thank you very much for your cooperation! APPENDIX 4: QUESTIONS FOR THE TEACHERS OF TOURISM DEPARTMENT Dear Mr./Ms._______________________________________________ In attempt to evaluate the ESP material currently used for students of Tourism Department, we are asking you to give your opinions about the material. Your opinions would be very useful to the improvement of the material for future use. 1. Do you think that the topics presented in the material are related to the students' major? - All in a day’s work - Window seat or aisle - Fly- drive holiday - Business or pleasure - Table for two - The great outdoors - City tours - Winter holidays - Water cities - Land of smiles XII - Cruise ships - Enjoy your stay - Service and safety - Winds of change - East meets West 2. Is the information in the material up-to-date? Thank you very much for your cooperation XIII APPENDIX 5: COURSE SYLLABUS ĐỀ CƯƠNG CHI TIẾT HỌC PHẦN 1. Tên học phần: Tiếng Anh Du Lịch 2. Số đơn vị học trình/tín chỉ: 3. Trình độ: Đại học 4. Phân bố thời gian: Lý thuyết: 35 Thực hành: 40 5.Điều kiện tiên quyết: Tiếng Anh Nâng Cao 6. Mô tả học phần : Học phần nhằm trang bị cho sinh viên kiến thức ngữ pháp từ vựng thường sử dụng lĩnh vực du lịch; phát triển kỹ nghe, nói, đọc, viết tình liên quan đến công việc số kỹ thuật biên dịch tài liệu chuyên ngành Du lịch. 7. Mục tiêu học phần: Sau kết thúc học phần, sinh viên sử dụng kiến thức ngôn ngữ để vận dụng tình giao tiếp lĩnh vực du lịch cung cấp thông tin tour du lịch, trả lời điện thoại, viết thư trả lời khách hàng, lập kế hoạch tour, v.v… 8. Nhiệm vụ sinh viên: Theo Quyết định Số: 1434/QĐ-ĐHCN ngày 09 tháng năm 2008 trường Đại học Công nghiệp Hà Nội ban hành Quy chế đào tạo Đại học Cao đẳng quy theo học chế tín trường Đại học Công nghiệp Hà Nội. 9.Phần tài liệu tham khảo: Tài liệu bắt buộc: [1]. Iwonna Dubicka & Margaret O’Keeffe. English for International Tourism-Preintermediate. Longman. Tài liệu tham khảo: [1]. Miriam Jacob. English for International Tourism. Longman. 10. Tiêu chuẩn đánh giá sinh viên: Đánh giá SV theo Hướng dẫn thực quy chế đào tạo đại học cao đẳng quy theo học chế tín - Trường Đại học Hà Nội. Stt Các loại điểm phận Hệ số Điểm trung bình điểm kỳ Điểm thi cuối kỳ XIV • Điểm trung bình điểm kỳ trung bình cộng điểm kiểm tra thường xuyên, điểm thi học phần điểm chuyên cần theo hệ số loại điểm. Stt Các loại điểm phận Hệ số Điểm kiểm tra thường xuyên Điểm chuyên cần Điểm thi học phần • Điểm trung bình điểm kỳ làm tròn đến chữ số thập phân. Các điểm kì bao gồm: + Điểm kiểm tra thường xuyên: 02 đầu điểm + Điểm chuyên cần: 01 đầu điểm xác định sau: • Giáo viên xác định điểm chuyên cần SV vào ý thức, thái độ học tập SV bảng sau điểm: SV có mặt lớp Điểm KT 91%÷ 100% 81% ÷ 90% 70% ÷80% [...]... LITERATURE REVIEW The first part of this chapter is an overview of the ESP, theories concerning the evaluation of the ESP material In the first part, an overview of the ESP course is introduced The next part defines materials evaluation and discusses reasons for materials evaluation, types of materials evaluation, as well as approaches to materials evaluation The chapter ends with the review of some... description of the subjects of the study, means of data collection and procedure of data collection on formative evaluation The study involves four groups of subjects: (1) the last year students of Tourism department who has used the material; (2) teachers of English, who have been using the material, (3) the teachers of Tourism department and (4) the material itself The questionnaires, interviews and analysis... framework, there are four different stages for material evaluation The first stage is to analyze the target situation and materials The target situation of use is analyzed in terms of the culture context, the institution, the 9 course, the teachers and the learners The materials are analyzed to describe the aspects of design and aspects of publication The next stage is matching and evaluation which helps the. .. and means of evaluation) The teachers The learners Materials analysis From analysis: * What is their explicit nature? * What is required of users? * What is implied by their use? To description: Aspects of design Aspects of publication Match and evaluation How appropriate are the aspects of design and aspects of publication to the target situation of use? Action Adopt the materials Reject the materials... preliminary evaluation, summative (performance evaluation) takes place at the end of the course and addresses the question of whether the materials have been effective Other methods include use of a checklist and use of questionnaires Formative or revision evaluation is conducted while the course is on-going, so that modification can be made to the materials Revision evaluation of language teaching materials... evaluate the book English for International Tourism , the employment of document analysis, questionnaires and interview is used 2.1.1 Document analysis The ESP material being used by students of Tourism department at HaUI, English for International Tourism , will be analyzed based on the defined criteria to give a description of what are there in the material The material includes 15 units and is used for. .. where the researcher provided them with English for International Tourism and a short introduction of the content of the book This was intended to prepare them better for the coming interviews The data from the interviews together with the data collected from the material analysis and the 20 questionnaires was then analyzed and discussed to give a full and detailed evaluation of the material The researcher... materials evaluation which any evaluator should concern: The audience, the aims, the content, the methodology The audience of the materials (the evaluator should check different information about learners to find out whether the materials are suitable to the students age, knowledge of English, interest and so on Aims of the materials (the evaluator has to check if the materials match the aims and objectives... effective they are 7 All in all, although different terms are used to indicate the types of materials evaluation, they are basically similar Of these evaluation types, the formative and summative materials evaluation can only be meaningful determined after a period of classroom use In this study, the researcher uses formative or revision evaluation to evaluate the book English for International Tourism ... and methodology are answered not for the sake of course analysis but for the sake of the material analysis (What exactly are there in the material? What are its actual aims? What are there in its content? What teaching 11 methodology is used in the material) From the answers to these questions, there comes a detailed description of the material In the last step of the process the two analyses are put . LẬP Hanoi, 2015 DECLARATION I hereby, certify that the minor thesis entitled An evaluation of the ESP material English for International Tourism for students of Tourism Department at Hanoi University. LINH AN EVALUATION OF THE ESP MATERIAL ENGLISH FOR INTERNATIONAL TOURISM FOR STUDENTS OF TOURISM DEPARTMENT AT HANOI UNIVERSITY OF INDUSTRY ĐÁNH GIÁ TÀI LIỆU TIẾNG ANH CHUYÊN NGÀNH ENGLISH FOR INTERNATIONAL. VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES NGUYỄN THỊ THÙY LINH AN EVALUATION OF THE ESP MATERIAL ENGLISH FOR INTERNATIONAL