Using project-based learning approach to improve ESP vocabulary for the second year students at Industrial Economics and Technology College

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES ********************* PHẠM THỊ KHÁNH LINH USING PROJECT-BASED LEARNING APPROACH TO IMPROVE ESP VOCABULARY FOR THE SECOND- YEAR STUDENTS AT INDUSTRIAL ECONOMICS AND TECHNOLOGY COLLEGE Sử dụng phương pháp học theo dự án để trau dồi từ vựng Tiếng Anh chuyên ngành cho sinh viên năm thứ hai trường Cao đẳng Công nghệ Kinh tế Công nghiệp M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS FIELD: ENGLISH TEACHING METHODOLOGY CODE: 60140111 Hanoi, 2015 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES ********************* PHẠM THỊ KHÁNH LINH USING PROJECT-BASED LEARNING APPROACH TO IMPROVE ESP VOCABULARY FOR THE SECOND- YEAR STUDENTS AT INDUSTRIAL ECONOMICS AND TECHNOLOGY COLLEGE Sử dụng phương pháp học theo dự án để trau dồi từ vựng Tiếng Anh chuyên ngành cho sinh viên năm thứ hai trường Cao đẳng Công nghệ Kinh tế Công nghiệp M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS FIELD: ENGLISH TEACHING METHODOLOGY CODE: 60140111 SUPERVISOR: DƯƠNG THU MAI, PhD Hanoi, 2015 DECLARATION I certify that this minor thesis entitled “Using project-based learning approach to improve ESP vocabulary for the second year students at Industrial Economics and Technology College” is the study of my own research and the substance of this research has not been submitted for a degree to any other university or institution Thai Nguyen, September, 2014 Signature Pham Thi Khanh Linh i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my gratitude to all those who have given me great assistance in the completion of my research work In the first place, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor Duong Thu Mai, Ph.D, who has provided me with insightful discussion, helpful comments, valuable support in the preparation and completion of this thesis Without her guidance and help, this work would not have been accomplished Secondly, my sincere thanks also go to all lecturers and staff of the faculty of Post- Graduate studies for their valuable lessons and precious helps Thanks to their lessons as well as needed helps, I could overcome enormous obstacles when doing the study I also wish to acknowledge the cooperation of my colleagues and the secondyear students at Industrial Economics and Technology College in contributing to the data collection presented in this study Last but not least, I would like to express my deepest thanks to my mother for her encouragement and great support during my time of fulfilling this thesis ii ABSTRACT English for specific purposes has been taught in universities and colleges in Vietnam for several years and it partially meets student’s needs However, how to teach and learn vocabulary for English for Specific Purposes well is still a challenge for both teachers and learners Besides, it seems that very little research has been implemented on using project based learning in teaching ESP vocabulary The objective of this study is to investigate the attitudes of students and teachers at IETC about project-based learning in teaching vocabulary in an ESP course Four tools of data collection which were employed in this study are a questionnaire for 70 students, interviews for three teachers, learners’ diaries and document analysis After data was received from the questionnaire, it was analyzed in charts, and the information from the teachers’ interviews was summarized interpretively The results of the study show that both students and teachers at Industrial Economics and Technology College think that PBL is a fairly interesting and effective method in learning and teaching ESP vocabulary This suggests that the use of PBL is recommended to be further applied for ESP courses at IETC iii TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION .i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii ABSTRACT iii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS vii LIST OF FIGURES viii P A R T A : INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale Objectives of the study The scope of the study Research methods Design of the study PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER I LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 English for Specific Purposes 1.1.1 Definitions 1.1.2 Special features of ESP 1.2 Performance-based Assessment and Project-based learning 1.2.1 Performance-based Assessment 1.2.1.1 Performance-based Assessment 1.2.1.2 Approaches of Performance-Based Assessment 1.2.2 Project- based learning 1.2.2.1 Definitions 1.2.2.2 Advantages of Project-Based Learning 10 1.2.2.3 Types of Projects 11 1.2.2.4 Process of project-based work 11 iv 1.2.2.5 Project- based learning in ESP 12 1.3 Vocabulary 14 1.3.2 Aspects of vocabulary teaching 15 1.3.3 Vocabulary acquisition 17 1.3.4 ESP vocabulary teaching 18 1.3.5 Vocabulary projects 18 1.5 Previous studies in the world and in Vietnam 20 CHAPTER II RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 23 2.1 Teaching and learning ESP vocabulary at IETC 23 2.1.1 Teachers 23 2.1.2 Students 23 2.1.3 The textbook 24 2.1.4 The project 24 2.2 Research Design 25 2.2.1 Research Method 25 2.2.2 Participants 26 2.2.3 Data collection 26 2.2.2.1 The questionnaire 27 2.2.2.2 Interviews 28 2.2.2.3 Document Analysis 29 2.3 Data analysis procedures 30 CHAPTER III: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 32 3.1 Students’ general attitude towards using PBL in learning ESP vocabulary (Research Question 1) 32 3.1.1 Students’ attitude towards learning ESP vocabulary through the project 32 3.1.2 Students’ attitude towards teacher’s help in doing the project 34 v 3.1.3 Students’ attitude towards interest and motivation of the project 34 3.1.4 Students’ attitude towards the content of the project 35 3.1.5 Students’ attitude towards the aims of the project 36 3.1.6 Students’ attitude towards group work in doing the project 37 3.1.7 Students’ difficulties in doing the project 38 3.2 Teachers’ attitude toward PBL (Research Question 2) 39 3.3 The extent that the project met the project objectives (Research Question 3) 42 3.4 Discussion 43 PART C: CONCLUSION 45 Recapitulation 45 Main findings 45 Limitations of the study 46 Suggestions for further study 47 REFERENCES 48 APPENDICES I vi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS PBL: Project- Based Learning PBA: Performance- Based Assessment ESP: English for Specific Purposes IETC: Industrial Economics and Technology College vii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 3.1: Students’ attitudes towards PBL improvement Figure 3.2: Students’ attitudes towards the teachers’ help Figure 3.3: Students’ attitudes towards interest and motivation Figure 3.4: Students’ attitudes towards content of the project Figure 3.5: Students’ attitudes towards aims Figure 3.6: Students’ attitudes towards group work Figure 3.7: Students’ difficulties Figure 3.8: Document Analysis of the final products viii Secondly, from the teachers’ interview, it can be seen that PBL is an interesting and quite effective method in teaching ESP vocabulary They found that PBL not only improves students ESP vocabulary (though not very much) but also helps students develop self-study, be active in learning Since this is a project with most after-class activities, they got difficulties in ensuring all the members in groups to participate in the group work They are suggested to pay more attention to group work, decrease work for week 2-7 and make everything clear for students to have better effects Also, it is better if the teachers can give diverse projects, using mini projects instead of long time projects to increase students’ interest Besides, PBL is just one method while teaching process needs the cooperation of different techniques, so it is necessary to use several methods in teaching ESP vocabulary, not only PBL at a time Thirdly, with three objectives “To extend students’ vocabulary, to help them collect knowledge about their subject matter, and to help students develop their summary writing”, the objectives and seems to be met Information from studies and articles that students looked for from different sources provides them a lot of knowledge about their major Therefore, these aims should be kept and developed for other ESP courses In conclusion, it can be said that PBL is a technique that the teachers at IETC can use on ESP courses However, the teachers should design various projects, not only long-time projects but also mini-projects Limitations of the study The study was an action research conducted in the classroom where the teacher is also the researcher with 70 students at IETC, which resulted in a myriad of variables and the sample was not randomized This limitation makes it hard to conclude that PBL is a good teaching method of ESP vocabulary teaching to all students in all schools Therefore, there should be a longitudinal research such as quasi-experimental or 46 experimental research to affirm the effectiveness of PBL approach in teaching ESP vocabulary In addition, the study may not have enough sufficient techniques to get the most reliable data Though the questionnaire delivery was monitored by the teachers, reliability was not guaranteed to some extent Also, there were only three teachers participated in the interview, so there might have been more problems that were not investigated Moreover, attitude is a complex term with different types, so only some aspects were examined in this minor thesis Suggestions for further study The research was conducted at IETC with one small population of students due to the time limitation and the size of the thesis Therefore, the results cannot be generalized It is suggested that a larger and further research should be done with more participants 47 REFERENCES Adderly, K., Ashwin, C, Bradbury, P., Freeman, J., Goodlad, S., Greene, J et al (1975) The project method in higher education London: Society for Research into Higher Education Alan, B., & Stoller, F (2005) Maximizing the benefits of project work in foreign language classrooms English Teaching Forum, 43(4), 10-21 Barcroft, J., Sunderman, G &Schmitt, N (2011) Lexis In J Simpson (Ed.) Routledge Handbook of Applied Linguistics, pp, 571‐583 London: Routledge Blumenfeld, P C., Soloway, E., Marx, R W., Krajcik, J S., Guzdial, M., & Palincsar, A (1991), Motivating project-based learning: sustaining the doing, supporting the learning Educational Psychologist, 26 (3 & 4), 369-398 Bransford, J.D., and B.S.Stein.(1993) The IDEAL Problem Solver (2nd ed.) New York: Freeman Carter, D (1983) 'Some propositions about ESP' In the ESP Journal 2,131-137 Dudley-Evans, T & St John, M (1998): Development in ESP: A multidisciplinary approach Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Ellis, R (1994) The Study of Second Language Acquisition UK: Oxford University Press Haines, S 1989 Projects for the EFL classroom: Resource material for teachers Walton-on-Thames Surrey, U K: Nelson 10 Hewings, M (2004) Pronunciation Practice Activities: A resource book for teaching English pronunciation Cambridge University Press 11 Hibbard, Michael K, et al.(1996) A Teacher's Guide to Performance-Based Learning and Assessment ASCD 12 Hoàng Thị Ngọc Điểm (2012) Making news: A successful example of projectbased learning, Language Education in Asia 48 13 Hornby A.S (1995), Oxford Advanced Learners’ Dictionary of current English, Oxford University Press 14 Hutchinson, T & Waters, A (1987): English for Specific Purpose: A Learningcentered approach Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 15 Hulstijn, J H (2003) Incidental and intentional learning In C Doughty & M H Long (eds) The handbook of second 16 language acquisition (349-381) Oxford: Blackwell 17 Li Ke (2010) Project –based college English: An approach to teaching nonEnglish majors, Chinese journal of Applied Linguistics 18 Liuoliene, A & Metiunien, R (2013), Creativity in building ESP vocabulary in the context of ICT SANTALKA: Filologija, Edukologija 2013, t.21, nr.1.ISSN 19 McTighe, J., & Ferrara, S.(1997) Assessing learning in the classroom Washington, DC: National Education Association 20 Nation, P (Ed) (1994): New ways in teaching vocabulary Alexandria, VA: TESOL 21 Nation, P (2001) Learning vocabulary in Another Language Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 22 Nazary, M (2008) The Role of L1 in L2 Acquisition: Attitudes of Iranian University Students Novitas-ROYAL, 2(2), 138-153 23 Ngơ Hữu Hồng (2014) Some utilization of Project-based learning for Vietnamese University students of English in the course “ Intercultural Communication”, International Journal of English Language Education 24 O’rourke, P Joseph (1974), Toward a Science of Vocabulary Development Netherlands: Mouton (p.26) 25 Richard Sagor (1992) How to conduct collaborative action research, ASCD 49 26 Scdmitt, N (2010) Researching Vocabulary: A vocabulary research manual Palgrave Press 27 Shafaei A, Poorverdi M, Parvizi, B.(2007) Use of Project-Based Learning in Increasing Students' Vocabulary Knowledge & Communicative Ability University Utara Malaysia 28 Shavelson, R.S., Baxter, G.P., & Pine, J.(1991) Performance-based assessment in science Applied measurement in education, 4, 347-362 29 Sheppard, K., & Stoller, F L (1995) Guidelines for the integration of student projects into ESP classrooms English Teaching Forum, 33(2), 10-15 30 Stoller, F (1997) Project work: A means to promote language content In J C Richards & W A Renandya (Eds.), Methodology in language teaching: An anthology of current practice (pp 107-118) Cambridge, NY: Cambridge University Press 31 Streven, P (1988) ESP after twenty years: A re-appraisal In M Tickoo (Ed.), ESP: State of the Art (pp 1-13) Singapore: SEAMEO Regional Centre 32 Tierney, R J., Carter, M., Desai, L (1991) Portfolio assessment in the reading writing classroom Norwood, MA: Christopher Gordon Publishers, Inc 33 Tomei,J., Glick, C & Holst, M (1999) Project work in Japaneses university classroom The language teacher, 23 (3), 5-8 34 Ur, P (1999) A course in language teaching: practice and theory, Cambridge University Press 35 Valencia, S (1990) A portfolio approach to classroom reading assessment: The whys, whats and hows The Reading Teacher, 1, 338–340 36 Wilkin, D (1972): Linguistics in language teaching London: Arnold 37 The Project Based Learning Handbook (2007) developed by the Buck Institute for Education http://www.bie.org/index.php/site/PBL/pbl_handbook 50 APPENDICES APPENDIX A (A questionnaire completed by the students) SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE (for students) I am Pham Thi Khanh Linh This survey questionnaire is designed for my master research “Using project-based learning to improve ESP vocabulary for the second-year students at Industrial Economics and Technology College” Your assistance in completing the survey is highly appreciated All the information provided by you is solely for the study purpose and you can be confident that you will not be identified in any discussion of the data Please use either English or Vietnamese Thank you very much for your cooperation Instruction The questionnaire is in two parts, please put a tick (v) in the appropriate box: circle the letter a, b, c or given short answers in the provided space Please use either English or Vietnamese Rate each of the following questions on a scale of 1-5 Use to indicate that is “strongly disagree”, is “disagree”, is “neutral”, is “agree” and is “disagree” Attitudes to No Questions Vocabulary project-based learning improved your ESP vocabulary PBL helped you recall known words PBL helped you know more new words PBL helped you practice new words PBL helped you learn ESP vocabulary more easily 1 1 Teacher’s help Teacher’s feedback for each week is necessary and helpful The teacher helped you in doing the project 5 I 2 2 3 3 4 4 5 5 Motivation the project makes you interested in learning ESP vocabulary the project gives you motivation in learning ESP, especially vocabulary 5 13 The requirement of the project is suitable to your competence The amount of work for week is appropriate to you The amount of work for week 2, week 3, week, 4, week 5, week 6, week is appropriate to you The amount of work for week 8, is appropriate to you 14 15 16 Aim of the project is suitable to your ability Aim of the project is suitable to your ability Aim of the project is suitable to your ability 5 The collaboration of group’s members in doing the project is effective Content 10 11 12 Aims Groupwork 17 5 5 18 What are the difficulties you have experienced when doing project work? 19 What will you avoid if you the project once more? 20 Do you have any suggestions to help your teacher and classmates in doing projects? II APPENDIX A CÂU HỎI ĐIỀU TRA DÀNH CHO SINH VIÊN Những câu hỏi sau nhằm phục vụ cho Đề tài nghiên cứu “Sử dụng đường hướng dạy theo dự án để nâng cao vốn từ vựng tiếng Anh chuyên ngành (TACN) cho sinh viên năm thứ hai trường Cao Đẳng Công nghệ Kinh tế Công nghiệp.” Xin em vui lòng trả lời câu hỏi sau theo suy nghĩ Chân thành cảm ơn cộng tác em! Hãy khoanh vào ô mà em lựa chọn với số “ hoàn tồn khơng đồng ý”, “ khơng đồng ý”, “ trung lập”, “đồng ý” “hoàn toàn đồng ý” Từ vựng Giáo viên Động lực học tập Nội dung TT Câu hỏi Phương pháp học theo dự án nâng cao vốn từ vựng TACN cho em Phương pháp học theo dự án giúp em nhớ lại từ học Phương pháp học theo dự án giúp em biết thêm từ Phương pháp học theo dự án giúp em luyện tập từ Phương pháp học theo dự án giúp em học từ vựng TACN dễ Phản hồi giáo viên cần thiết hữu ích giáo viên giúp em làm dự án Học theo dự án khiến em thích học từ vựng TACN Học theo dự án tạo cho em động lực học từ vựng TACN 10 11 12 13 Mục đích 14 15 16 Yêu cầu dự án phù hợp với khả em Khối lượng việc phải làm tuần phù hợp với khả em Khối lượng việc phải làm tuần 2-7 phù hợp với khả em Khối lượng việc phải làm tuần 8, phù hợp với khả em Mục tiêu số dự án phù hợp với khả em Mục tiêu số dự án phù hợp với khả em Mục tiêu số dự án phù hợp với khả em III 1 1 2 2 3 3 4 4 5 5 1 1 2 2 3 3 4 4 5 5 5 5 5 Làm ệc theo nhóm 17 Hiệu hợp tác thành viên nhóm 18 Em gặp khó khăn học theo phương pháp này? 19 Em làm làm lại dự án lần nữa? 20 Em có góp ý để giúp giáo viên bạn bè thực phương pháp học theo dự án tốt hơn? IV APPENDIX B Questions for teacher’s interview A Vocabulary How you think project-based learning improve your students’ ESP vocabulary? How much does the project help your students recall known words? How much does the project help your students know more new words? How much does the project help your students practice the new words? How much does the project help your students learn ESP vocabulary more easily? B Teacher’s help Are your students contented to your feedback given by the teacher ? What you think about your help for the students’ project? C Motivation How does it make your students interested in learning ESP vocabulary? Does the project give your students motivation in learning ESP, especially vocabulary? D Content 10 Do you think the requirement is suitable to the students’ ability? 11 Are there any problems when you and your students are in week , week 2-7, and week 8-9? E Aims 12 What you think about the aims of the projects? 13 Do all the members in groups cooperate? 14 What are your difficulties when applying PBL in teaching ESP vocabulary? What are students’ difficulties when doing project work? 15 What will you if you carry out the one like this once more? V Appendix C Criteria for document analysis No Criteria Content accuracy Vocabulary Summary 1.Completely inaccurate somewhat accurate, more than a few inconsistent or errors in information somewhat accurate, a few inconsistent or errors in information mostly accurate, few inconsistent or errors in information completely accurate, all facts are precise and explicit 50 -100 words 101 – 250 words 251-500 words 501- 750 words >750 words 1.choppy and confusing, run-on sentences more than mistakes, handwritten some mistakes