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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii ABSTRACT iii LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES iv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS v PART A: INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale Practical background of the research Aims of the study Research question Scope of the study Methods of the study Organization PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 An overview of ESP 1.1.1 Definitions of ESP 1.1.2 Types of ESP 1.2 Materials evaluation 1.2.1 Definitions of materials evaluation 1.2.2 Reasons for materials evaluation 1.2.3 Types of materials evaluation 1.2.4 Approaches to materials evaluation 1.2.4.1 Cunningsworth’s approach 1.2.4.2 McDonough and Shaw’s approach 1.2.4.3 Littlejohn’s approach 1.2.4.4 Hutchinson and Waters’s approach 10 vi 1.2.5 Summary 12 1.2.6 Criteria for materials evaluation 13 1.3 Previous studies 14 1.4 Summary 16 CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY 18 Chapter begins with the description of the research method It then specifies the data collection tools, the subject, and the data collection procedures 18 2.1 Data collection instruments 18 2.1.1 Document analysis 18 2.1.2 Questionnaires 18 2.1.3 Interview 19 2.1.3.1 Interview questions for English language teachers 19 2.1.3.2 Interview questions for teachers in department of Tourism 19 2.2 Subjects 19 2.3 Data collection process 20 2.4 Summary 21 CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION 22 3.1 The appropriateness of the material to the aims of the course 22 3.1.1 Aims of the course 22 3.1.2 English teachers’ interview results 22 3.1.3 Students’ questionnaire result 22 3.2 The appropriateness of the material to the content requirements of the course 24 3.2.1 Material analysis results 24 3.2.2 The content requirements of the course 25 3.2.3 Teachers’ interview results 25 3.2.4 Students’ questionnaire results 26 3.2.4.1 The difficulty 26 vii 3.2.4.2 The usefulness 27 3.2.5 Tourism teachers’ questionnaire results 29 3.3 The appropriateness of the material to the methodology requirements of the course 29 3.3.1 Methodology implied in the syllabus 29 3.3.2 Methodology implied in the material 30 3.3.3 Teachers’ interview result 30 3.3.4 Students’ questionnaire result 31 3.4 Suggestions for the material improvement 32 3.4.1 Teachers’ interview result 32 3.4.2 Students’ questionnaire result 33 3.5 Summary 33 3.5.1 Strengths 33 3.5.1.1 Good selection of authentic texts of different topics 33 3.5.1.2 Grammatical structures and grammar 34 3.5.1.3 Writing skills 34 3.5.2 Weaknesses 34 3.5.2.1 Language skills 34 3.5.2.2 Supporting materials 35 3.5.2.3 Methodology implied in types of tasks/exercises: 35 PART C: CONCLUSION 36 Summary of the study 36 Recommendations 37 2.1 On the ESP materials 37 2.1.1 Areas for adaptation 37 2.1.2 Techniques for adaptation 37 2.2 On the requirements of the course 38 Limitations and suggestions for further study 38 viii I like individual tasks presented in the book I like pair work tasks presented in the book I like group work tasks presented in the book I like role-play tasks presented in the book I like the whole- class tasks presented in the book Comments: Part 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 XI 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 What you think of the organization of the book and each unit? What you think of the skill presentation in the book? What you think of the topics of the book? Part Methodology of the material Does the material contain a variety of exercises/activities/tasks? Do you think these exercises/activities/ tasks are suitable to your students? Are the individual work, pair/group work, discussion or role-play easy to organise with the material? Part Suggestions for the material improvement Do you think the material should be used again? 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. _ XII 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 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 - Cruise ships - Enjoy your stay - Service and safety - Winds of change - East meets West 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 Tên học phần: Tiếng Anh Du Lịch Số đơn vị học trình/tín chỉ: Trình độ: Đại học Phân bố thời gian: Lý thuyết: 35 Thực hành: 40 5.Điều kiện tiên quyết: Tiếng Anh Nâng Cao 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 Mục tiêu học phần: Sau kết thúc học phần, sinh viên sử dụng kiến thức ngơn 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… 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 Cơng 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 91%÷ 100% 81%  90% 70% 80%