DESIGNING AN ESP READING SYLLABUS FOR THIRD YEAR STUDENTS OF SECURITY INVESTIGATION

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HANOI UNIVERSITY NGUYỄN THỊ THU TRANG DESIGNING AN ESP READING SYLLABUS FOR THIRD-YEAR STUDENTS OF SECURITY INVESTIGATION SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER IN TESOL SUPERVISOR: Assoc Dr NGÔ HỮU HOÀNG Hanoi, 2015 Table of Contents Table of Contents i DECLARATIONS .iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .v ABSTRACT .vi This study entitled “Designing an ESP reading syllabus for third-year students of security investigation”isconcerned withconstructing an ESP reading syllabus for third year students of security investigation of the People’s Security College I and gives recommendations for teachers and students to use the syllabus vi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS vii LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES viii Figure 1: Tree diagram of ESP given by Robinson viii Figure 2: A language-centered approach viii Figure 3: A skill-centered approach viii 2.1.2 Types of ESP 2.1.3 Characteristics of ESP 2.2.4 Needs analysis 13 2.3 An overview of reading 14 2.3.1 Reading redefined .14 2.3.2.Reasons for reading 15 2.3.3 Classification of reading 15 2.4 Reading in ESP 20 3.3.2 Questionnaires(See appendices & 2) 26 3.3.3 Interviews (See appendices 3, 4, & 6) 26 3.5 Data collection procedures 27 CHAPTER .29 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION .29 4.1 Document analysis .29 4.2 Major findingsfrom questionnaires (See appendices & 2) 33 4.3 Major findings from interviews with ex-students (See appendix & 4) 38 i 4.4 Major findings from interviews with English teachers at PSC I (See appendix & 6) 39 4.5 Discussion 41 CHAPTER .44 A PROPOSED SYLLABUS .44 5.1 The chosen syllabus type 44 5.2 The syllabus goals and objectives 44 5.3 The syllabus components 44 5.4 Suggested topics for the syllabus .45 5.5 Reading skills and strategies included in the syllabus 45 5.6 Vocabulary 46 5.7 Grammatical issues 47 5.8 Tasks/activities 47 5.9 Organisation and duration of the syllabus 49 CHAPTER .54 SUGGESTIONS AND CONCLUSION 54 6.1 Suggestions for teaching 54 6.2 Suggestions for learning 55 6.3 Suggestions for assessment and evaluation 55 6.4 Conclusion .56 6.5 Limitations and suggestion for further studies 56 REFERENCES 57 Appendix 61 Appendix 64 Appendix3 67 Appendix 67 Appendix5 68 Appendix 69 Appendix 70 ii iii DECLARATIONS I hereby certify that the thesis “Designing an ESP reading syllabus for third-year students of security investigation” is my own study in the fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts at Hanoi University I have fully provided all documented references to the work of others The material in this research has not been submitted for assessment in any other formal course of study iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This thesis has, in many senses, been accomplished with the help and encouragement of many people Therefore, I hereby wish to send my application to all of them First of all, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Assoc.Dr Ngô Hữu Hoàng for his valuable support, guid ance, and encouragement he gave me during the time I tried to the research This thesis would not be completed without his great help from the beginning when this study was only in its formative stage My sincere thanks also go to all lecturers and staffs of Postgraduate Studies for their valuable lessons and precious help Thanks to their lessons as well as needed help, I could overcome enormous obstacles when doing the research In addition, I am also grateful to my colleagues and my students who helped me collect the necessary data Last but not least, I am greatly indebted to my beloved family whose support and encouragement have always been the great source of inspiration for me in bringing this study to a success v ABSTRACT This study entitled “Designing an ESP reading syllabus for thirdyear students of security investigation”isconcerned withconstructing an ESP reading syllabus for third year students of security investigation of the People’s Security College I and gives recommendations for teachers and students to use the syllabus The study consists of six chapters The first chapter states the problem, aims and research questions and gives an overview of the thesis The second chapter revises literature of ESP, syllabus design and reading to establish theoretical orientation The third chapter shows the methodology and the process of conducting surveys The fourth chapter analyses needs to determine necessary factors for designing an ESP syllabus The fifth chapter demonstrates the final outcome of the research, and a proposed syllabus is introduced The last chapter concludes the whole thesis, states results and limitations as well as suggests further studies A proposed syllabus has been reached on the base of results of need analysis and under theoretical guidance Hopefully, the syllabus meets students and teachers’ needs as well as training objectives vi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS EAP: English for academic purpose EBE: English for Business and Economics EFL: English as foreign language ELT: English language teaching EOP: English for occupational purposes ESL: English as second language ESP: English for specific purpose ESS: English for Social Studies EST: English for Science and Technology GE: General English MOET: Ministry of Education and Training PSC I: People’s Security College I vii LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES Figure 1: Tree diagram of ESP given by Robinson Figure 2: A language-centered approach Figure 3: A skill-centered approach Figure 4: A learning-centered approach to course deign Table 1: ESP syllabus of the People’s Security Academy Table 2: ESP reading syllabus of the People’s Security College II Table 3: Students’ response about their English profile Table 4: Students’belief about the importance of reading skill Table 5: Students’ expectations Table 6: Chosen reading activities by students Table 7: Chosen topics by students Table 8: Chosen terminologies by students Table 9: Chosen types of exercise by students Table 10: Chosen vocabulary in accordance with chosen topics Table 11: Contents of language focus section in accordance with chosen topics viii CHAPTER INTRODUCTION 1.1.Rationale of the research Foreign languages in general and English in particular are indispensable for security officers as transnational crimes take the chance of international assimilation to enter the country and Vietnam cannot solve these problems without international experience sharing and cooperation Being aware of the importance of English in their future career, it is the policy of Vietnam Ministry of Education and Vietnam Ministry of Public Security to require all future security officers to accomplish GE and ESP courses The People’s Security College I (PSC I) is the second largest educational institution training security officers in the North of Vietnam It formerly is a junior college training students in only two years before graduation In 2013, it became a college, and it awards both junior college and college degree by 2016 At its very beginning, college degree has only one major- security investigation and its syllabi are now still under construction and completion Towards English subject, a lot of GE textbooks are accessible on the market and GE syllabus can be based on one of those The ESP syllabus, on the contrary, must be specifically tailored for future security officers According to the college degree’s general curriculum approved by the General Department of Building up Force- Ministry of Public Security, students will attend their ESP course, which length is 30 periods, in the fifth semester That means ESP syllabus is solely for third-year students and it must be completed by May 2015 in order to be used in the 2015-2016 school year In the process of acquiring English as a whole, students must learn the four language skills among which reading plays an important role With future security officers, who are restricted to communicate with foreigners, reading is even more important because it is the main way to learn from the wide world and broaden their knowledge As mentioned above, the ESP course lasts 30 periods, which is too short to acquire all four language skills As a result, reading skill will be focused on As the need for an ESP syllabus is urgent and for being conscious of the importance of reading skill for future security officers, I have chosen the topic “Designing an ESP reading syllabus for third-year students at The People’s Security College I” for my thesis Appendix Questionnaire (English version) (For second-year students at the People Security College I) This questionnaire is designed to investigate learning needs of third-year students at the People Security College I Your information is very useful for designing the ESP reading syllabus Please answer the following questions as honest as possible Thank you for your cooperation How long have you been learning English? □1-3 years □> 3-6 years □> 6-9 years □Other: …………… years How you rate your reading skill? □Poor □Average □Good □Very good How important is reading skill for your future career? □Very important □Important □Not important □Not sure Which topics are you interested in? Choose and/or write five topics in total 64 □Wanted criminals □ Crimes □Vietnamese codes □International cooperation □Criminal investigation □Famous intelligent agents □Famous intelligent agencies □Famous cases □Organisation of Vietnam Ministry of Public security □Bureaucracy □Politics Other: ……………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………………… Terminologies in which fields are you interested in? Choose and/or write more than one □Terminologies about criminals □Terminologies about law □Terminologies used in international cooperation □Terminologies about criminal investigation □Terminologies used by intelligent agencies □Terminologies about ranks in armed forces Other: ……………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………………… Which exercises are you interested in? Choose and/or write more than one □True-False-Not given □Question answering □Sentence reordering □Gap filling □Multiple choice □Text summarizing Other: ……………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………… Which activities are you interested in? More than one choice is possible □Pair work □Group work □Class work □Individual learning What you expect to gain at the end of the ESP reading course? □Building up special terms □Consolidating basic grammatical issues learned in GE courses □Acquiring grammatical structures used in security related texts □Mastering reading skills to be able to comprehend specialist materials in the future □Broadening specialist knowledge □Have good results in exams Other: ……………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………………… Appendix3 Interview (Vietnamese version) (Dành cho giáo viên tiếng Anh trường CĐANND I) Mục đích vấn nhằm thu thập ý kiến giáo viên Tiếng Anh trường Cao đẳng An ninh nhân dân I để thiết kế giáo trình đọc tiếng Anh chuyên ngành cho học viên năm thứ Để giáo trình phù hợp với mục tiêu đào tạo trường đáp ứng nguyện vọng giáo viên học viên, ý kiến ông/bà sở quan trọng để tham khảo Chúng xin trân trọng cảm ơn thông tin quý giá ông/bà cung cấp buổi vấn ngày hôm Ông/bà dạy Tiếng Anh bao lâu? Ông/bà dạy Tiếng Anh chuyên ngành cho học viên hệ trung cấp chưa? Theo ông/bà, đọc chuyên ngành có quan trọng công việc học viên sau không? Có khó khăn giảng dạy đọc chuyên ngành cho học viên trung cấp trường? Có khó khăn học đọc chuyên ngành cho học viên trung cấp trường? Ông/bà làm để vượt qua giúp học viên vượt qua khó khăn đó? Theo ông/bà, học viên cần thành thạo kỹ đọc nào? Ông/bà liệt kê chủ đề phù hợp với mục tiêu đào tạo gây hứng thú học viên Ông/bà có cho khóa học đọc chuyên ngành kéo dài 30 tiết ngắn? 10 Ông/bà có lời khuyên việc ôn tập ngữ pháp trình học đọc chuyên ngành? 11 Những thuật ngữ chuyên ngành nên giảng dạy khóa học? 12 Theo ông/ bà, độ dài khóa phù hợp cho học dài tiết? 13 Hoạt động hoạt động yêu thích ông/bà giảng dạy tiếng anh chuyên ngành? 14 Những dạng tập nên đưa ra? 15 Học viên cần có thái độ học tập để hoàn thành tốt khóa học? 16 Có khó khăn sinh trình dạy học tiếng Anh chuyên ngành cho hệ cao đẳng? 17 Ông/bà gợi ý nguồn để thu thập tài liệu đọc? Ông/bà muốn tài liệu giữ nguyên hay đơn giản hóa? Appendix Interview (English version) (For teachers of English at the People Security College I) The purpose of this interview is to collect ideas of English teachers of the People Security College I to design an appropriate ESP reading syllabus for the third-year students at this institute The syllabus is expected to be appropriate to the training objectives of the College and to meet teachers’ and students’ needs Your valuable information is of great importance to the success of the study Thank you very much for your assistance How long have you been a teacher of English? Have you taught ESP reading to junior college degree students at the People Security College I? In your opinion, is ESP reading important for students’ future career? What are the difficulties in teaching ESP reading to junior college degree students at the People Security College I? What are the difficulties in learning ESP reading of junior college degree students at the People Security College I What have you done to overcome and help your students to overcome these difficulties? In your opinion, what reading sub-skills students need to master? Can you list about five topics that you think are suitable to the training objectives and are of students’ interest? Do you think that a 30-period ESP reading course is quite short? 10 What is your recommendation for consolidating grammar in the ESP course? 11 12 13 14 15 What terminologies should be included? In your opinion, how long a text should be for a three-period lesson? What are your favourite activities in teaching reading ESP? What kind of exercises should be included? Do students need any special attitudes towards the course to fulfill it effectively? 16 Are there any potential difficulties in teaching and learning reading ESP at college degree? 17 Can you suggest sources for reading materials? Do you prefer authentic materials or simplified materials? Appendix5 Interview (Vietnamese version) (Dành cho cựu học viên công tác đơn vị) Chúng dự kiến thiết kế giáo trình đọc tiếng Anh chuyên ngành dành cho học viên năm thứ ba trường Cao đẳng An ninh nhân dân I Những ý kiến đóng góp ông/bà sở để tham khảo, từ xây dựng nội dung giáo trình Chúng xin trân trọng cảm ơn thông tin quý giá ông/bà cung cấp buổi vấn ngày hôm Ông/ bà công tác đơn vị nào? Ông/bà giữ vị trí công tác nào? Ông/bà đảm nhiệm vị trí bao lâu? Ông/bà miêu tả ngắn gọn nhiệm vụ thân vị trí công tác đó? Tại vị trí công tác mình, ông/bà có thường xuyên đọc tài liệu tiếng Anh không? Việc đọc tài liệu có phải nhiệm vụ bắt buộc không? Nếu không bắt buộc, theo ông/bà, việc nghiên cứu tài liệu có quan trọng không? Tại sao? Các loại tài liệu tiếng Anh ông/bà thường đọc? Những tài liệu lấy từ nguồn nào? Nội dung tài liệu thường vấn đề gì? Khi đọc tài liệu tiếng Anh, ông/bà thường gặp khó khăn nào? Theo ông/bà, ông/bà lại gặp khó khăn đó? 10 Ông/bà sử dụng kỹ để giải khó khăn đó? 11 Các đồng ông/bà có đọc tài liệu không? Họ có gặp khó khăn không? 12 Theo ông/bà, chủ đề nên có giáo trình đọc tiếng Anh chuyên ngành dành cho học viên trường Cao đẳng An ninh nhân dân I? 13 Theo ông/bà, thuật ngữ nên đưa giáo trình đọc tiếng Anh chuyên ngành dành cho học viên trường Cao đẳng An ninh nhân dân I? 14 Theo ông/bà, học viên trường Cao đẳng An ninh nhân dân I cần có kỹ đọc để đọc hiệu tài liệu họ gặp vị trí công tác sau này? 15 Theo ông/bà, đọc giáo trình đọc tiếng Anh chuyên ngành dành cho học viên trường Cao đẳng An ninh nhân dân I nên lấy từ nguồn nào? Appendix Interview (English version) (For ex-students working at different deparments) We are designing an ESP reading syllabus for third-year students at PSC I Your information is precious for us Thank you very much for you attention Where you work? What working position are you holding? How long have you hold this position? Can you describe your work in few words? Do you usually read English documents? Is reading English documents a compulsory task? Do you think reading English document important? Why? What type of document you often read? Can you name the sourse of those documents? What are they about? Can you name some difficulties you often encounter in reading English documents? Do you know why you encounter those difficulties? 10 Can you name some reading stratergies that you often use to overcome those difficulties? 11 Do your colleagues read English documents? Do they have any difficulties in reading them? 12 What topics should be included in the ESP reading syllabus for students at PSC I? 13 14 Terminologies of which areas should be included in the syllabus? Can you name reading skills that students at PSC I need to read English document effectively? 15 What source should reading texts be adopted from? Appendix UNIT 5: INTELLIGENCE AGENCIES(Sample unit) A Reading I Pre-reading Look at the pictures Match the organisations and their belonging countries Which organisation was disbanned? Which is still operating? CIA MI6 France Russia MSS DGSE KGB USA China UK II Reading Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) A For more than 60 years, the CIA has been at the forefront of securing the United States by providing America’s policymakers with the intelligence they need to make informed decisions B The history of America’s foreign intelligence gathering reaches back to the days of George Washington But it wasn’t until World War II that the USA’s foreign intelligence activities were coordinated government-wide C The CIA’s forerunner, the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) was created in 1942 The OSS collected and analyzed strategic information and conducted wartime covert actions and counter-intelligence operations However, at the end of World War II, the OSS was disbanned, leaving the nation without an intelligence service D But with the Soviet threat and the cold war heating up, President Harry Truman soon recognized the need for a new intelligence organization So in 1947, he signed The National Security Act, creating the Central Intelligence Agency as an independent, civilian intelligence agency within the executive branch The CIA was charged with coordinating the nation’s intelligence activities and correlating, evaluating, and disseminating intelligence deemed critical to national security E The Act also created a Director of Central Intelligence (DCI), to lead both the CIA and the U.S Intelligence Community The DCI also served as the President’s principal adviser on intelligence matters Over the next fifty years the CIA conducted its intelligence gathering activities alongside other agencies F The role of the DCI changed on December 17, 2004, when President George W Bush signed the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act This new Act restructured the Intelligence Community and created the position of Director of National Intelligence, or DNI The DNI now oversees the 16 intelligence agencies, including the CIA, while serving as the President’s principal intelligence adviser G The Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (D/CIA), now focuses on leading the CIA The D/CIA manages the Agency’s operations, personnel, and budget However, the D/CIA also manages – on behalf of the DNI – human intelligence and open source collection programs across the U.S Intelligence Community H Since its beginnings in 1947, the CIA’s main responsibilities have not changed The CIA does not make policy It informs the leaders who make policy and provides them with essential information The CIA’s mission today, as it has been since 1947, is to collect intelligence, perform all-source analysis, and conduct covert action at the direction of the president I.To accomplish this, CIA officers work in one of four directorates: • the National Clandestine Service, • the Directorate of Intelligence, • the Directorate of Science & Technology, and • the Directorate of Support Choose the correct heading for each paragraph (A - H) i ii iii iv v vi vii viii ix The functions of D/CIA today First steps in foreign intelligence gathering USA’s first intelligence agency Organisation of CIA President’s new principal intelligence adviser CIA’s birth CIA at a glance How DCI was established and its function CIA’s missions in the past and at the moment Are these sentences Yes (Y), No (N) or Not given (NG)? The history of US intelligence began from World War II OSS conducted both intelligence and counter-intelligence operations The DCI advised US President on intelligence matters The DNI has to report the president daily The CIA and other US intelligent agencies make policy Answer the following questions: When were the USA’s foreign intelligence activities coordinated government-wide? Why did President Harry Truman sign The National Security Act? What were the main purposes of Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act? What are the functions of D/CIA? What are the main responsibilities of CIA? Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the text to fill in the blanks America started its ……………… from the days of George Washington The forerunner of CIA ………………… strategic information and was in charge of ……………… …… and …………………… The CIA responsibilities were …………… the nation’s intelligence activities and ………………… intelligence to protect national security The DCI was the …….………… on intelligence matters President George W Bush signed the …………… and ………………… which ………….the Intelligence Community The CIA does not …………… It …………… the leaders who make policy and provides them with ……………… The CIA’s mission is to ……………., perform …………………., and ……………… at the direction of the president B Vocabulary Match the words with their definitions Correlate Disseminat b e a Bring or gather together (a number of things) to judge or determine the significance, worth, or quality of; to assess Neutralise c working or done out of public sight; secret Evaluate d a body/office of director(s) Directorate e Spread (something, especially information) widely Undercove f the act or practice of spying Vital g Make (something) ineffective Operation h Have a mutual relationship or connection Espionage i An organized activity involving a number of people 10 Collect j necessary; indispensable; important; essential r Find the synonyms of the following words Collect Secret Aim Intelligence Undercover Agency Covert/Clandestine Manage Espionage Objective Gather Decorated Concentrate Service Focus Lead Choose suitable words and fill in the blanks foreign collect prevented agents directorate spies vital intelligence agency strategic The General …….1……… for External Security (DGSE) of France was founded in 1982 to …….2……… intelligence from ………3…… sources to help the government in …… 4…….decisions Not as famous as CIA or Mossad, DGSE claims to have …… 5…… more than 15 terrorist attacks in France since 9/11, reports said The …6…… has a network of around 5000 …… 7…… spread across France and the world Also, DGSE is said to have a huge force of voluntary …… 8…… who are not on the rolls but play a ……….9…… role in gathering ………10……… Underline the correct words The National Clandestine Service (NCS) has responsibility for the clandestine/strategic collection of foreign intelligence/reputation, primarily human source intelligence/directorate (HUMINT) The NCS serves as the national authority for collecting/neutralising and evaluating/preventing information from operations/battles across the Intelligence Community/Directorate To gather this important/secret intelligence, CIA operations agents/authorities live and work overseas to establish and maintain networks/properties and personal relationships with foreign “assets” in the field C Language focus: Nominalisation Look at the following sentences What parts of speech are the underlined words? Which sentence is more formal? With the Soviet threat and the cold war heating up, President Harry Truman soon recognized the need for a new intelligence organization President Harry Truman soon recognized that the US needed a new intelligence organization because the Soviet was a threat and the cold war was heating up at that time Academic writing frequently uses nominalisations; that is, the noun forms of verbs.The process of nominalisation turns verbs (actions or events) into nouns (things, concepts or people).The text is now no longer describing actions: it is focused on objects or concepts; for example: Using verbs: We walked for charity Using nouns: The charity walk When a verb is nominalised, it becomes a concept rather than an action As a consequence, the tone of your writing will sound more abstract and also more formal; for example: We walked for charity We raised money for the Leukemia Foundation The charity walk raised money for the Leukemia Foundation Exercise: Changing the underlined verbs into nouns or vice versa and rewrite these following sentences Crime was increasing rapidly and the police were becoming concerned The rapid …………………………………………………………………… Germany invaded Poland in 1939 This was the immediate cause of the Second World War breaking out Germany's …………………………………………………………………………… This information enables us to formulate precise questions This information enables the …………………………………… We analysed the data from the experiment, and it revealed that children react when they have too much sugar The …………………………………………………………………………………… The downturn in the economy caused the company’s problems The downturn in the economy was…………………………………………………… We investigated the case five years ago We undertook The rise of the planet's temperature is a result of global warming The temperature of the planet ……………………………………………………… The indication of the business report that sales figures are down 10% on last month is worrying The business report ………………………………………………………………… The analysis of data by a team of scientists in the lab was undertaken before writing a report A team of scientists ……………………………………………………………… 10 The production of a mathematical formula by mathematics and physics experts has explained the modern phenomena of network science Mathematics and physics experts………………………………………………… Extensive Reading Pham Xuan An, the perfect spy Pham Xuan An, whose code name was Tran Van Trung, or Hai Trung, was a highly decorated journalist for some of the most famous American news magazines But in secret, he was also a senior officer and espionage agent for the Vietnamese Communists and his undercover work was vital to Vietnam’s war strategy As a soldier, Mr An first served with the Communists towards the end of World War II In civilian life, during the 1950s, he worked in customs, and continued spying for Hanoi He was a spy until leaving for California to study journalism Shortly after his return to Saigon he was hired by Reuters and later Time magazine, and from 1960 to 1975 would develop a reputation in South Vietnam that rated him among the best correspondents of his day Covertly, he was winning an equally big name for himself across the border in Hanoi His reports played a very important role in Communist strategy at that time His assessments had a direct impact on the 1963 battle at Ap Bac, the 1968 Tet offensive, the assassination programs that followed under Operation Phoenix, and the final rout of South Vietnamese forces by North Vietnam in 1975 Are these sentences True (T), False (F) or Not Given (NG)? Pham Xuan An’s real name was Nguyen Van Trung? He was a journalist He was from the North of Vietnam He served with the Communists before 1945? He studied journalism in 1960 After studying journalism, he worked as a correspondent and stopped his spy career He was a correspondent of Reuters His assessments played an important role in our victory ... need for an ESP syllabus is urgent and for being conscious of the importance of reading skill for future security officers, I have chosen the topic Designing an ESP reading syllabus for third-year. .. syllabus for third-year students of security investigation isconcerned withconstructing an ESP reading syllabus for third year students of security investigation of the People’s Security College I and... thesis Designing an ESP reading syllabus for third-year students of security investigation is my own study in the fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts at Hanoi University