A preliminary evaluation of the english course for academic purposes at the international department, thai nguyen university

VIET NAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES NGUYỄN THỊ THẢO A PRELIMINARY EVALUATION OF THE ENGLISH COURSE FOR ACADEMIC PURPOSES AT THE INTERNATIONAL DEPARTMENT, THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY (ĐÁNH GIÁ SƠ BỘ KHĨA HỌC TIẾNG ANH PHỤC VỤ MỤC ĐÍCH HỌC THUẬT TẠI KHOA QUỐC TẾ, ĐẠI HỌC THÁI NGUYÊN) M.A Minor Programme Thesis Field: English Language Teaching Methodology Code: 601410 Hanoi, 2012 TABLE OF CONTENTS PART A: INTRODUCTION………… …………………………………… Rationale of the study………… …………………………………………… Objectives and significance of the study………… ……………………… Research questions………… ……………………………………………… Scope of the study………… ……………………………………………… Methods of the study………… …………………………………………… Organization of the study………… ……………………………………… PART B: DEVELOPMENT………… ……………………………………… CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW………… ………………………… 1.1 English for Academic Purposes………… ……………………………… 1.1.1 Definition of EAP………… ………………………………………… 1.1.2 The relationship between EGAP and ESAP………… ………………… 1.1.3 English for GBP and English for SBP………… ……………………… 1.2 Course evaluation………… …………………………………………… 1.2.1 Definition of course evaluation………… …………………………… 1.2.2 The importance of course evaluation………… ……………………… 1.2.3 Common features of course evaluation………… ……………………… 1.2.4 Coursebook evaluation………… ………………………………… 1.2.4.1 Definition of coursebook………… ………………………………… 1.2.4.2 The significance of coursebook evaluation ………… …………… 1.2.4.3 Criteria of coursebook evaluation………… ………………………… 1.2.5 Previous studies………… …………………………………………… CHAPTER 2: METHODS OF THE STUDY………… …………………… 2.1 Background of the study………… …………………………………… 2.1.1 The International Department and its teaching and learning conditions… 2.1.2 An overview of the course applied for the 1st year students of IDTNU… 2.2 Methods of the study………… ………………………………………… iv 2.2.1 Restating the research questions………… …………………………… 2.2.2 The subjects………… ……………………………………………… 2.2.3 Data collecting instruments………… ……………………………… 2.2.3.1 Questionnaires………… ………………………………………… 2.2.3.2 Interviews………… …………………………………………… 2.2.4 Procedures………… ………………………………………………… 2.2.4.1 Questionnaire for students………… ………………………………… 2.2.4.2 The interviews………… ………………………………………… CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION…………………… 3.1 Findings of the study………… ………………………………………… 3.1.1 The results of the questionnaire………… ………………………… 3.1.1.1 Students‟ background of learning English………… ……………… 3.1.1.2 Students‟ assessment on time spent for each skill…………………… 3.1.1.3 Students‟ assessment on the teaching materials for each skill……… 3.1.1.4 Students‟ assessment on the sub-skills that they were taught……… 3.1.1.5 Students‟ self-assessment on the skills they have gained…………… 3.1.1.6 The evaluation on teaching performance…………………………… 3.1.2 The results of the interviews………… ……………………………… 3.1.2.1 Answer to textbooks………… ……………………………… … 3.1.2.2 Workload………… ……………………………………………… 3.1.2.3 Students‟ English proficiency………… ………………………… 3.2 Discussions about the study results………… ………………………… 3.3 Summary………… …………………………………………………… PART C: CONCLUSION………… ………………………………………… Summary of the main findings and conclusion…………………………… Pedagogical implications………… …………………………………… Limitations and suggestions for further research…………………………… REFERENCES………… ………………………………………………… APPENDICES………… …………………………………………………… v APPENDIX 1: Questionnaire………… …………………………………… I APPV EN DIX 2: Inter vie ws … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … vi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS IDTNU: International Department, Thai Nguyen University MMU: Manchester Metropolitan University DMU: Demonfort Metropolitan University IB: International Business IBA: International Business and Administration U.K: United Kingdom EAP: English for academic purposes EGAP: English for general academic purposes ESAP: English for specific purposes ELT: English language teaching LIST OF TABLES AND FINGURES Figure 1: The variety of years that students have learnt English before going to university Figure 2: The subjects that students had to study for the entrance exam Figure 3: Students‟ assessment on time spent for each skill Figure 4: Students‟ assessment on the applicability of the textbook into business major Figure 5: Students‟ assessment on the textbooks‟ suitability with students‟ level Table 1: Students‟ opinion about the sub-skills they were taught Table 2: Students‟ self-assessment on the skills they have gained Table 4: students‟ evaluation on teacher A‟s teaching performance Table 5: Students evaluation on Mr B‟s teaching performance Table 6: Students' evaluation on Ms C‟s teaching performance Table 7: Students' evaluation on Mr D‟s teaching performance Figure 6: Comparison of the students‟ satisfying about the English teachers PART A: INTRODUCTION This part is comprised of six sections including the rationale for the study, the objectives and significance of the study, the research questions, the scope of the study, the methods used in the study and the organization of the study Rationale of the study Nowadays, in many countries whose mother tongue is not English, English is not a general subject but a language used to instruct other subjects In recent years in Viet Nam, the development of education has required many universities to import curricula from other countries, whose official language used to teach those subjects is English This raises another challenge for learning and teaching English: how to teach English for Academic Purposes The International Department, a new department under Thai Nguyen University, with the aim of applying imported advanced programs into the school, has implemented an advanced program collaborated with Manchester Metropolitan University In this program, students are going to use English as a medium of listening to lectures in their major Therefore, for the first year of studying, students are taught English in such a way that they can use it for their academic purposes in the later years In fact, the school year of 20112012 is the first year the International Department has implemented the English course for academic purposes so the preliminary evaluation of the course is important for the course designers to get the feedback from students about the program Objectives and significance of the study Firstly, the thesis is carried out to investigate the effectiveness and weakness of the English course for the purpose of preparing study skills in English for the first year students, International Department – Thai Nguyen University Secondly, the aim of the study is to find out what aspects of language skills that students still need to learn so that they can use English as a medium of instruction in their major Last but not least important, some suggestions are given to improve the course of English for academic purposes at the International Department, Thai Nguyen University This study is done in a hope that it will help better the quality of teaching and learning English for academic purposes at IDTNU Thus, it will help enhance students‟ English competence Research questions In order to draw the conclusion, the following research questions are raised: To what extent does the course satisfy students? What the students still need to learn? How can the course be improved? Hopefully, based on its findings, the International Department would bring about the improvements in the course It would also help teachers have a clear view of what aspects of the program that cause difficulties to students and which skills/ activities they should add in their lessons Finally, with regard to researchers, the information in the study would be a reference for other related researches Scope of the study The research limits its scope to the English course for general academic purposes for the first year students at IDTNU The choice of participants is simply a matter of convenience as the researcher is working as a training managing staff for IDTNU Methods of the study To achieve the aims, the qualitative and quantitative approach including survey questionnaires and interview is used to collect the data The method used in this research is formative evaluation In common, the data for the study were obtained through the following instruments: The questionnaires which were delivered to the first year students at IDTNU to discover the students‟ background of learning English, their self-assessment on the course books used during the course, what they were taught and what they gained from the course The interviews were used to get the feedback from the lecturers of the course on the students‟ English proficiency, the course books used as well as the suitability of the workload on each English skill Organization of the study The thesis consists of three main parts: Part A is the introduction, which presents an overview of the study with the rationale for the research, the aims and the research questions of the study It also narrows the scope, presents the research method and outlines the content of the study Part B is the development, which includes three chapters as follows: * Chapter is the literature review This chapter presents all the related theoretical background that precedes and necessitates the information of the research * Chapter describes the research methods used in the study with some necessary components * Chapter is devoted to a detailed description of data analysis and thorough discussion of the findings of the study In this chapter some explanation and interpretations of the findings are explored Part C is the conclusion which presents the study conclusions and teaching implications Besides, it also offers the limitations and suggestions for further study economics, the teacher of business English definitely thought that most of students could this because they practiced that skill a lot during the course, which was quite the same as the ideas obtained from students, with 85% of whom said that they were taught how to an economic project and 76% claimed that they could this task The data collected from the questionnaire showed that many students believed they could perform the skills related to the use of English as a medium of instruction in the academic environment after the course However, the figure of students who thought that they could not gain the language skills was not a small figure counting from 9% to 42% That figure fitted quite well with the teachers‟ ideas about students‟ language proficiency For teaching evaluation, students were quite satisfied with all the English teachers The teacher of Business English was most highly appreciated The secondrank teacher was the teacher of reading and writing However, the teacher of speaking and listening was the least preferable The result of teaching evaluation seems logically when comparing with students‟ evaluation on the applicability of the textbook The teacher who used the most applicable textbook was loved most by students In summary, the English course for academic purposes had its own effectiveness on students‟ language proficiency However, because of many objective and subjective factors, some purposes of the course were not gained 3.3 Summary This chapter has presented the results of the study based on the data collected The analysis and findings including students‟ self-assessment on the workload for each language skill, the course books used and especially the language skills they gained after the course in comparison with the teachers‟ ideas were presented On the whole, the course satisfied partially most of students in terms of the suitability of workload and the sub language skills they were equipped However, many drawbacks regarding to the course books and the 36 necessary language skills students should have gained regarding to using English as a medium in the academic environment were pointed out In the next part, the conclusion, the results will be summarized and taking into consideration for further implications Besides, the limitations and suggestions for further study are also presented 37 PART C: CONCLUSION Summary of the main findings and conclusion The findings revealed aspects of students‟ course evaluation: workload, textbooks, self assessment on their achievement and teaching performance Also, through questionnaire, the researcher had an overview of students‟ background, which was very important for the evaluation as well as the pedagogical implications referred later on Together with the student‟s evaluation, the interviews for the teachers were conducted in order to get their ideas of the students‟ language proficiency The results showed that students were quite satisfied with the workload, especially the time spent for reading and writing skills However, the findings suggested that the workload for speaking skill should be added In addition, one of the English teachers said that one year of English learning was too short for students to get IELTS 4.5 or equivalent so that they could use English as a language to study their major subjects Another teacher agreed on the workload for most language skills but according to him, the students should invest more time in listening skill For the textbooks, except for the book “Market Leader”, Phonics and Reading 2_ Advantage, many students did not highly appreciate the application of the books to their major However, most students agreed on the books‟ suitability to student‟s level In comparison, the two English teachers seemed to have the same ideas as the students For students‟ self assessment on the skills they have gained, most students thought that they could perform well on the skills they were taught However, only 42% students agreed that they could take part in the discussion related to economics in English The reason might be that the teachers, when teaching the first year students, focused much on General English English for General Business Purposes was introduced in the second semester through only one subject “Business English” which used “Market Leader” as the textbook However, according to the teachers‟ 38 ideas, students needed teaching note-taking skill, academic writing and paraphrasing more Regarding to teaching evaluation, in general, most students were satisfied with the English teachers The teacher of Business English was most highly appreciated by the students However, for listening and speaking subject, more than one forth of students were not really satisfied with the teacher Pedagogical implications The main purpose of this study is putting the findings into practice of English teaching and learning in the International Department According to the findings, the researcher has some suggestions as follows: First, because of students‟ background of learning English is different, teachers should be aware of students‟ level at the beginning of the course After that, they can form students in groups in which the good ones help the “weak” ones during the course To that, the training manager should design a placement assessment for all the students before the English course The assessment should include English skills: listening, speaking, writing and reading The teachers need to have the academic records when they get involved in teaching at the department Understanding students well helps teachers know how to give the lectures effectively Second, according to students and teachers‟ ideas, the textbooks‟ applicability was not high Therefore, the English teachers and the managing training staff should have a review of all the textbooks used and select the ones that are both suitable to students‟ level and applicable to their major For students at the beginning level, textbooks are very important because it is the guide for them to improve their English In addition, the syllabus should be more specific, which should be strictly followed by the teachers Third, students should be given much more instruction on such skills as notetaking skill, paraphrasing and academic writing, which are necessary for their study 39 of business subjects in English Especially, the teachers should design more speaking activities and group activities where students can undertake a research project or participate in a discussion related to business areas For English teachers, together with choosing suitable textbooks for the course, they should make students understand well about the purposes of what they are teaching and the learning outcomes of the subjects In addition, English teachers should use various techniques to encourage all the students to take part in the lesson Also, the teachers should be more enthusiastic not only in teaching but also in insulting training managers the way to help students study better All in all, the research “Preliminary evaluation of the English course for academic purposes at the International Department, Thai Nguyen University” has answered three research questions clearly The findings of the study are believed to benefit the teachers, the training managers of the International Department and the other universities which are using English as a medium of instruction 40 References Abrami, P.C.(2001) Improving judgments about teaching effectiveness using teacher rating forms In M.Theall, P.C.Abrami, and L.A.Mets (Eds.) The student ratings debate: Are they valid? How can we best use them? [special issue] New Directions for Teaching and Learning, 109, 59-87 Allwright, D (1981) What we need teaching materials for? ELT Journal, 36(1), 5-18 August, D., & Hakuta, K (Eds.) (1997) Improving schooling for language minority children: A research agenda Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press Beran, T., Violato, C., & Kline, D (2007) What‟s the „use‟ of student ratings of instruction for administrators? One university‟s experience Canadian Journal of Higher Education, 17(1), 27-43 Blue, G (1993) Language, Learning and Success: Studying through English Developments in ELT London: Macmillian, Modern English Teacher and the British Council Breen, M & C Condlin (1987) Which Materials? A Consumer‟s and Designer‟s Brown, H D (1995) The elements of language curriculum: A systematic approach to program development Boston: Heinle & Heinle Publishers Cashin, W.E (1995) Student ratings of teaching: The research revisited (IDEA Paper No 32) Manhattan, KS: Kansas State University Center for Faculty Evaluation and Development Coffey B (1984) ESP-English for specific purposes Language Teaching, 17 (1), pp 2-16 Cunningsworth A (1995) Choosing Your Course Book Oxford: Heinemann Cunningsworth, A (1984) Evaluating and Selecting EFL Teaching Materials Dudley-Evans, T., & St John, M (1998) Developments in ESP Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 41 Evaluation in ELT Textbook and Materials: Problems in Evaluation and Development Modern English Publication in association with the British Council Flowerdew, J &Peacock, M (2001) Issues in E.A.P.: a preliminary perspective In J Flowerdew, & Peacock, (Eds.), Research perspectives on English for Academic Purposes Cambridge: CUP Franklin, J (2001) Interpreting the numbers: using a narrative to help others read students evaluations of your teaching accurately In K.G.Lewis (Ed.), techniques and strategies for interpreting student evaluations [Special issue] New Directions for Teaching and Learning, 87, 85-100 Guide in ELT Textbooks and Materials: Problems in Evaluation and Development Modern English Publication in Association with the British Council Harmer, J (1991) The practice of English language teaching London: Longman Heinemann Educational Books Hitchinson, T & E Torres (1994) The Textbook as Agent of Change ELT Journal 48/4 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Course_evaluation Hutchinson, T & A Waters (1987) ESP: A Learning – centered Approach CUP Hutchinson, T & Torres, E (1994) The textbook as agent of change ELT Journal, 48(4), 315-328 Hutchinson, T (1987) What‟s Underneath? An interactive View of Materials Johns, A.M (1997) Text, role, and context: Developing academic literacies Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Jordan, R R (1997) English for academic purposes: A guide and resource book for teachers Cambridge, U.K: Cambridge University Press K Hyland, L Hamp-Lyons (2002) Journal of English for Academic Purposes Kiely, R 1998 Programme evaluation by teachers: issues of policy and practice In Rea-Dickins and Germaine (Eds.), pp.78-104 42 Kim, Hyun Jung, (1976): A case study of curriculum and material evaluation: Elementary English as a foreign language in South Korea Littlejohn, A (1998) The analysis of language teaching materials: Inside the Trojan Horse In B Tomlinson (Ed.) Materials development in language teaching Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Low, G (1989) Appropriate design: The internal organization of course units In R K Johnson (Ed.), The second language curriculum (pp 136 -154) Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Marsh, H W (1987) Students‟ evaluations of university teaching: Research findings, methodological issues and directions for future research International Journal of Educational Research 11(3): 257-387 Murray, H.G (1987) Acquiring student feedback that improves instruction In Weimer, M.G (Ed.), Teaching large classes well [special issue] New Directions for Teaching and Learning, 32, 85-96 Nunan D (1989) Designing Tasks for the Communicative Classroom Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Nunan, D (2002) Listening in language learning In J.C Richards & W.A Renandya (Eds.), Methodology in language teaching: An anthology of current practice (pp 238 -241) Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press O‟Neil, R.O (1982) Why use textbooks? ELT Journal, 36 (2), 104-111 Scarcella, Robin (2003) Academic English: A Conceptual Framework eScholarship: University of California Sheldon, L.E.(1988) Evaluation ELT Textbook and Materials ELT Jounal 42/4 Ur P (1996) A Course in Language Teaching: Practice and Theory Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 43 APPENDICES APPENDIX 1: QUESTIONNAIRE CÂU HỎI KHẢO SÁT CHO SINH VIÊN Bảng khảo sát nhằm phục vụ đề tài nghiên cứu về: „Đánh giá sơ chương trình tiếng Anh phục vụ mục đích học thuật Khoa Quốc tế, Đại học Thái Nguyên‟ Những câu trả lời em có ý nghĩa lớn đến việc nghiên cứu Xin chân thành cảm ơn em I Thông tin cá nhân Em học tiếng Anh năm? Em thi vào Đại học khối nào? II Tài liệu giảng dạy cho chương trình tiếng Anh năm thứ Khoa Quốc tế - Đại học Thái Nguyên Theo em, thời lượng giảng dạy lớp cho kỹ tiếng Anh có phù hợp khơng? (chọn câu trả lời) Kỹ Nói Nghe Đọc Viết Theo em, học giáo trình nghe, nói (New English File) có giúp em nhiều để học môn chuyên ngành tiếng Anh không? (gạch chân câu trả lời đúng) - Rất nhiều - Nhiều - Không nhiều - Rất I 3.Theo em, học giáo trình tiếng Anh chuyên ngành (Business Market) có giúp em nhiều để học môn chuyên ngành tiếng Anh không? (gạch chân câu trả lời đúng) - Rất nhiều - Nhiều - Khơng nhiều - Rất Theo em, học giáo trình đọc (Read all about it & Reading _ Advantage) có giúp em nhiều để học môn chuyên ngành tiếng Anh không? (gạch chân câu trả lời đúng) - Rất nhiều - Nhiều - Khơng nhiều - Rất Theo em, học giáo trình viết (Write Traits) có giúp em nhiều để học môn chuyên ngành tiếng Anh không? (gạch chân câu trả lời đúng) - Rất nhiều - Nhiều - Khơng nhiều - Rất Theo em, giáo trình sử dụng khóa học có phù hợp với trình độ em khơng? STT II Tên giáo tr New English File Business Market Phonics, a handbook fo Write Traits Read all about it Reading _ Advantage Essential Grammar in Use Understanding & Using English Grammar BI Kỹ trang bị Khi học kỹ nghe hiểu, em trang bị tiểu kỹ sau đây?: (gạch chân vào tiểu kỹ em học) - Nghe lấy thơng tin - Nghe lấy thông tin chi tiết - Ghi lại thông tin cần thiết nghe Khi học kỹ nói, em trang bị tiểu kỹ sau đây?: (gạch chân vào tiểu kỹ em học) - Cách trình bày chủ đề trước tập thể - Cách tham gia vào thảo luận nhóm Khi học kỹ đọc, em trang bị tiểu kỹ sau đây?: (gạch chân vào tiểu kỹ em học) - Đọc lấy ý - Đọc lấy thơng tin chi tiết - Viết tóm tắt lại nội dung đọc Khi học kỹ viết, em trang bị tiểu kỹ sau: (gạch chân vào tiểu kỹ em học) - Viết tiểu luận theo phong cách học thuật - Viết lại đọc ngơn từ khác Em có dạy cách làm dự án nghiên cứu liên quan tới kinh tế khơng (phần nói sau học giáo trình Market Leader)? (gạch chân vào câ trả lời đúng)) - Có III - Khơng IV Kỹ đạt STT Kỹ đạt Em hiểu phần lớn giảng gi viên tiếng Anh Em ghi lại nội dung cần thiết nghe giảng tiếng Anh Em viết tiểu luận tiếng A Em viết tóm tắt báo em đọc tiếng Anh Em viết lại nội dung đọc cách diễn đạt tiếng Anh Em tham gia vào dự án nghiên cứu liên quan đến kinh tế tiếng Anh Em tham gia thảo luận vấn liên quan tới kinh tế tiếng Anh Em trình bày nói lĩnh v kinh tế tiếng Anh V Đánh giá giảng viên Họ tên giảng viên:………………………………………………………………… Tiêu chí Nêu rõ mục tiêu yêu cầu giảng Nội dung giảng tài liệu sử dụng phù IV hợp với mục tiêu môn học Sử dụng hiệu thiết bị giảng dạy (powerpoint, tranh ảnh, video clips…) Sử dụng đa dạng phương pháp giảng dạy để thu hút ý sinh viên Phương pháp giảng dạy khuyến khích sinh viên suy nghĩ sáng tạo độc lập Sinh viên có hội đặt câu hỏi tham gia thảo luận nhóm Những kiến thức kỹ trọng tâm học nhấn mạnh Sử dụng loại câu hỏi đa dạng để đánh giá tiếp thu sinh viên Thái độ cư xử giảng viên với sinh viên 10 Sử dụng ngôn ngữ rõ ràng, dễ hiểu Tổng cộng V APPENDIX 2: INTERVIEW What you think of the students‟ listening comprehension? Do you think that they can understand most of what the lecturers say and they can follow the lessons in English? Why? What you think of the students‟ note-taking skills? Can they take notes while listening to the lectures in English? Why? What you think of students‟ speaking skill? Do you think that they can present well about their favorite topics? Do you think they can take part in group discussion? What you think of the textbook for listening and speaking? Is it suitable? Why? What you think of the time spent on the listening & speaking subject? Is it o.k, too much or too little? Do you think that students can write an academic essay after taking the English course? Do you think that students can paraphrase a selection of what you have read in English? Do you think that students can write a summary of articles that you have read in English? What you think of the textbooks for writing? Is it suitable? Why? What you think of the time spent on the reading subject? Is it o.k, too much or too little? 10 What you think of the time spent on the writing subject? Is it o.k, too much or too little? 11 Do you think that students can undertake research projects in terms of their specialty in English? VI ... result, the course evaluation should include the evaluation of the teaching materials 1.2.4.2 The significance of course book evaluation The importance of course book leads to the importance of course. .. information of the research is presented There are three main parts: English for Academic Purposes and Course Evaluation The first part deals with definition of English for academic purposes, the relationship... educators can choose the most appropriate book Hutchinson (1997) gives an interactive idea of materials evaluation as follows: „…materials evaluation plays such an important role in language teaching