An evaluation of the esp coursebook for second year students at marine engine department vietnam maritime university (vimaru)

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES  LƯƠNG THỊ MINH THU AN EVALUATION OF THE ESP COURSEBOOK FOR SECONDYEAR STUDENTS AT MARINE ENGINE DEPARTMENTVIETNAM MARITIME UNIVERSITY (VIMARU) (Đánh giá giáo trình tiếng Anh chuyên ngành dành cho sinh viên năm thứ hai Khoa Máy Tàu Biển - Trường ĐH Hàng Hải Việt Nam) M A MINOR THESIS MAJOR : ELT METHODOLOGY CODE : 601410 HANOI - 2012 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES  LƯƠNG THỊ MINH THU AN EVALUATION OF THE ESP COURSEBOOK FOR SECONDYEAR STUDENTS AT MARINE ENGINE DEPARTMENTVIETNAM MARITIME UNIVERSITY (VIMARU) (Đánh giá giáo trình tiếng Anh chuyên ngành dành cho sinh viên năm thứ hai Khoa Máy Tàu Biển - Trường ĐH Hàng Hải Việt Nam) M A MINOR THESIS MAJOR : ELT METHODOLOGY SUPERVISOR: PROF DR HOÀNG VĂN VÂN HANOI - 2012 TABLE OF CONTENTS Declaration i Acknowledgements ii Abstract iii List of abbreviations iv List of charts, figures and tables v Table of contents vi PART 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale 1.2 Aims of the study 1.3 Research question 1.4 Scope of the study 1.5 Method of the study 1.6 Design of the study PART 2: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 Introduction 1.2 Textbook, course-book and material 1.2.1 Definitions 1.2.2 Roles of teaching materials in a language program 1.3 Course-book evaluation 1.3.1 Definition of course-book evaluation 1.3.2 Why course-book evaluation 1.3.3 Types of course-book evaluation 1.3.4 Course-book evaluation in ESP 1.3.5 Why students’ evaluation 10 iv 1.3.6 Techniques for course-book evaluation 11 1.3.7 Models for evaluation 12 1.3.8 Criteria for evaluation 14 1.4 Previous studies on materials evaluation 14 1.5 Summary 16 CHAPTER 2: THE STUDY 2.1 Introduction 17 2.2 The context of the study 17 2.2.1 An overview on Vietnam Maritime University and the Marine Engine Department 17 2.2.2 The course 16 2.2.3 The aims of the ESP course 18 2.2.4 The ESP course-book 18 2.2.5 The ESP teachers 19 2.2.6 The students 20 2.3 The study 21 2.3.1 Participants 21 2.3.2 Data collection instruments 21 2.3.2.1 Questionnaire 21 2.3.2.2 Interview 22 2.3.3 Procedure 22 2.4 Summary 22 CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION 3.1 Results and discussion 23 3.1.1 Learners’ attitude towards learning ESP 23 v 3.1.2 Learners’ evaluation of the current ESP course-book 25 3.1.3 Learners’ evaluation of the teachers’ exploitation of ESP materials 33 3.1.4 Students’ suggestions 34 3.1.5 Teachers’ views of ESP course-book 36 3.2 Major findings 37 3.2.1 The suitability of the course-book to the audience 38 3.2.2 The suitability of the course-book to the aims 38 3.2.3 The suitability of the course-book to the content requirements 38 3.2.4 The suitability of the course-book to the methodology 39 3.3 Recommendations 41 3.3.1 Content improvements 41 3.3.2 Layout improvements 42 3.3.3 Methodology improvements 43 3.3.4 Other recommendations 44 PART III: CONCLUSION Summary of the study 45 Limitations of the study 47 Suggestions for further research 47 Conclusion 48 REFERENCE APPENDIX (Students questionnaire in English) APPENDIX (Students questionnaire in Vietnamese) APPENDIX (Teachers’ views as stated in the interview) APPENDIX (Checklist for evaluating ESP materials by Hutchinson and waters) APPENDIX (A sample of an original unit vi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ESP: English for Specific Purposes GE: General English VIMARU: Vietnam Maritime University LIST OF CHARTS, FUGURES, AND TABLES Chart 1: Students’ levels of English Chart 2: The aims of the material Chart 3: The usefulness of tasks and exercises in skill development Figure 1: Stages in the ESP process Figure 2: The material evaluation process Table 1: Students’ time of learning English Table 2: Students’ ranking of their purposes of learning ESP Table 3: Students’ needs met by the ESP course-book Table 4: Students’ attitude towards the content of the ESP course-book Table 5: Students’ attitude towards time allocation for ESP Table 6: Students’ attitude towards vocabulary and grammar Table 7: Students’ attitude towards language skills covered Table 8: Students’ attitude towards tasks and exercises Table 9: Students’ satisfaction towards classroom activities Table 10: Students’ suggestions Table 11: Students’ opinions towards teacher’s use of language and the course-book Table 12: Teachers’ views of content Table 13: Teachers’ perceived limitations of the course-book Table 14: Students’ reactions to the course-book as observed by teachers Table 15: Challenges to the students in using the course-book as observed by teachers Table 16: Teachers’ self-reported challenges in using the course-book PART I: INTRODUCTION 1.1 RATIONALE It goes without saying that English is by far the most popular language of all Since Vietnam began its open-door policy, the English teaching and learning has strongly developed More and more people learn English in order to have a better work opportunity In Maritime field, English has been considered 'the language of the sea' This means English is the only language used by seafarers of all nationalities at sea and this shows how important English is for seafarers Vietnam Maritime University (VIMARU) has been the leading university in maritime section After graduating from VIMARU, the students of Navigation Department and students of Engine Department work not only on board domestic ships but also on board foreign ships sailing around the world Moreover, Vietnam is now a member of WTO, Vietnamese seafarers will have golden opportunities to work on European ships for higher payment if their English is good enough Because of this, the VIMARU leaders always consider English to be a very important subject A ship crew is divided into two departments: Deck department and Engine department When they work on a ship, it means that they live and work in an international environment English becomes their most important communication instrument to carry out their daily communication Especially, engine crews work in the engine room and they need a good English for their marine engine major so that they can operate all machinery on board well In other words, ESP (English for Specific Purposes) plays a fundamental role in the success of the marine-engine students’ future occupation if they are to work on board the ship It can’t be denied that materials in general and ESP materials in particular play an important role in the process of language teaching and learning as appropriate materials can stimulate effective teaching and learning Therefore, in order to have a successful language- teaching program, it is necessary to have good materials, especially in Vietnamese setting The course-book “English for Marine Engine Students and Ship‟s Engineers” was designed for the second-year students at Marine Engine Department _VIMARU with the greatest effort of teachers of English Department This course-book has been used for nearly 15 years, however, no research on the course-book evaluation has been carried out to see how much it meets the students’ needs For these above- mentioned reason, the researcher decided to choose materials evaluation as the theme of this minor thesis titled as: AN EVALUATION OF THE ESP COURSEBOOK FOR SECOND-YEAR STUDENTS AT MARINE ENGINE DEPARTMENT_VIETNAM MARITIME UNIVERSITY (VIMARU) 1.2 AIMS OF THE STUDY The paper aims at evaluating the course-book English for Marine Engine Students and Ship‟s Engineers to see how far it is suitable to the second-year students at the Marine Engine Department, VIMARU The specific aims are:  to evaluate the appropriateness of the material to the course requirements in terms of aims, content, and methodology  to offer some suggestions for further improvement of the course-book which is appropriate to the needs and expectations of the students 1.3 RESEARCH QUESTION The following research question is raised for exploration: To what extent does the ESP course-book English for Marine Engine Students and Ship‟s Engineers at Marine Engine Department-VIMARU meet the course requirements in terms of aims, content, and methodology? 1.4 SCOPE OF THE STUDY The ESP course is only for the second year students at VIMARU, thus the study focuses on the evaluation of the second year students at Marine Engine DepartmentVIMARU on ESP course-book currently used Hutchinson and Waters (1993) and many other language evaluation experts agreed that evaluating a teaching material is a complicated process based on different criteria such as audience, content, physical appearance, cultural bias, needs… However, because of the constraint of this kind of research, the researcher just focuses on three criteria: aims, content, and methodology 1.5 METHOD OF THE STUDY The study follows a quantitative research approach A Survey questionnaire is designed for 162 second-year students at Marine Engine Department, VIMARU, who have worked with two-thirds of the course-book to evaluate the quality of the ESP course-book In addition, interviews are conducted with three ESP teachers who have been using the course-book to teach second-year students at VIMARU to gain additional information about the quality of the course-book 1.6 DESIGN OF THE STUDY There are three main parts in this study: introduction, development, and conclusion The introduction provides the rationale, the aims, the research question, the scope, and design of the thesis The development consists of three chapters: - Chapter 1, Literature Review, provides the relevant theories related to textbook, course-book and material and course-book evaluation - Chapter 2, Methodology, introduces the context of the study and describes the methodology employed in the study, research procedures and the participants, instruments and the research procedures - Chapter 3, Data Analysis and Discussion, presents and discusses the findings that arise from the data collected and recommendations The conclusion provides a brief summary of all the contents studied, draws some conclusions drawn and makes some suggestions for further research APPENDIX STUDENTS SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE This questionnaire is designed to collect students’ information on evaluation of the current- used ESP course-book in Marine Engine Department at Vietnam Maritime University The information collected from this survey will be of great value in improving ESP teaching and learning We are grateful for your goodwill and cooperation in truthfully completing the survey Please be assured that your names as well as the information given will be kept in confidential SECTION I: LEARNERS’ INFORMATION How long have you been learning English?  1-3 years  3-5years  5-7 years  7-9 years  9-11 years  more than 11 At which level is your English?  Elementary  Pre-intermediate  Intermediate  Upper-intermediate How important is each of the following purposes in your learning ESP? Please rank in ascending order 1-4 (from the most important to the least one)  - To improve English basic grammar  - To widen ESP vocabulary  - To read technical documents/ texts in English  - To apply for a job on board foreign ships  - Other purposes (if any):…………………… SECTION II: LEARNERS’ EVALUATION OF THE ESP COURSEBOOK Aims of the course-book Which of the following aims does the course-book contain by ticking the appropriate box (You can tick more than one choice) I a The course-book provided technical terms used in marine engine field b After learning the course-book, your grammar is improved c The course-book mainly focuses on training/enhancing reading and translating skills d In the course-book, reading and translating skills are integrated with other skills f The course-book provides skills for your future job g Others……………………………………………………………………………… Needs met by the course-book To what extent does the course-book meet your needs?  very much Content of the course-book What you think of the topics related to marine engine book?  very practical impractical What you think of the information presented in the cou  very useful Does the course-book give you with update information?  Yes Time allocation of ESP You think 120 periods on ESP course is:  too much periods for each unit is:  too much II Vocabulary and grammar What you think about the number of technical vocabulary in each unit?  too much  much  enough  little  too little What you think of grammar in the course-book?  very difficult  difficult  ok  easy  very easy Skill development 10 How much practice of each language skill did you get through the course? Speaking:  more than enough Listening:  more than enough Reading:  more than enough Writing:  more than enough 11 The tasks and exercises (reading, translating, writing, grammar exercises) in each unit  extremely various and plentiful  various and plentiful  monotonous  extremely monotonous 12 For skill development, how are the exercises?  very useful SECTION III:  useful LEARNERS’  not very useful EVALUATION OF  useless THE TEAHCERS’ EXPLOITATION OF THE ESP COURSEBOOK To what extent are you satisfied with the classroom activities? 100% More All Less than satisfied than 50% right 50 % satisfied  Listening and taking note of new grammar structures and vocabulary III  satisfied   Practising language structures in pairs/ groups Answering teacher’s questions Practising reading skills in pairs or groups Presenting on given topics in English Discussing given topics in English SECTION 4: Learners’ suggestions What changes you suggest to make the course-book better? (Conten vocabulary, grammar, activities, texts, etc) Content:…………………………………………………………………… Lay-out …………………………………………………………………… Vocabulary………………………………………………………………… Grammar…………………………………………………………………… Activities…………………………………………………………………… Time allocation for ESP …………………………………………… Other……………………………………………………………… In your opinion, in classroom the teacher should: use English only use Vietnamese only use both English and Vietnamese use more English than Vietnamese use more Vietnamese than English follow the course-book closely adapt the course-book when necessary IV supplement more relevant reading texts supplement more grammar exercises 10 explain technical terms in Vietnamese Thank you for your cooperation! V APPENDIX Bảng hỏi dành cho sinh viên (Vietnamese version) Bản điều tra dùng để lấy ý kiến đánh giá bạn giáo trình tiếng Anh chuyên ngành “English for Marine Engine Students and Ship’s Engineers” dùng cho sinh viên năm thứ hai- Khoa máy Tàu Biển- Trường Đại học Hàng Hải Việt Nam Tôi vô cảm ơn giúp đỡ nhiệt tình bạn qua việc đưa ý kiến giáo trình Các ý kiến bạn dùng cho nghiên cứu PHẦN I: THÔNG TIN CÁ NHÂN Bạn học tiếng Anh rồi?  1-3 năm  3-5 năm  5-7 năm  7-9 năm  9-11 năm  more than 11 năm Tiếng Anh Bạn trình nào?  Sơ cấp  Tiền Trung Cấp  Trung cấp  Sau trung cấp Mục đích học tiếng Anh chuyên ngành cảu bạn gì? Săp xếp theo trật tự tăng dần 1-4 (từ mức quan trọng đến quan trọng nhất)  - Để nâng cao ngữ pháp Tiếng Anh  - Để nâng cao vốn từ vựng chuyên ngành  - Để đọc văn chuyên ngành tiếng Anh  - Để làm việc tàu nước ngồi  - Những mục đích khác (Nếu có):…………………… PHẦN II: ĐÁNH GIÁ CỦA SINH VIÊN VỀ GIÁO TRÌNH TIẾNG ANH CHUYÊN NGÀNH MÁY TÀU BIỂN ĐANG ĐƯỢC SỬ DỤNG Mục tiêu giáo trình Đánh dấu mục tiêu giáo trình chuyên ngành máy tàu biển sử dụng cho sinh viên năm VI a Giáo trình cung cấp thuật ngữ chuyên ngành máy tàu biển b Ngữ pháp bạn nâng cao sau học giáo trình c Giáo trình chủ yếu tập trung vào việc nâng cao kỹ đọc kỹ dịch d Trong giáo trình, kỹ đọc kỹ dịch tích hợp với kỹ khác f Giáo trình cung cấp kỹ làm việc cần thiết cho công việc tương lai bạn g Những mục tiêu khác……………………………………………………………… Giáo trính đáp ứng nhu cầu sinh viên? Giáo trình đáp ứng nhu cầu bạn mức độ nào?  nhiều  nhiều  đủ    không Nội dung giáo trình Bạn nghĩ chủ đề chuyên ngành máy tài biển giáo trình?  thực tế  thực tế  Được  không thực tế  khơng thực tế Bạn nghĩ thơng tin đưa giáo trình?  hữu ích  hữu ích  khơng hữu ích  vơ ích Giáo trình có cung cấp thong tin cập nhật cho bạn không?  Có  Khơng Thời gian phân bổ cho mơn tiếng anh chuyên ngành Bạn nghĩ 120 tiết cho môn tiếng anh chuyên ngành là:  nhiều  nhiều  đủ   Tám tiết cho học là:  nhiều  nhiều  đủ   Vocabulary and grammar Bạn nghĩ số lượng từ chuyên ngành học? VII  nhiều  nhiều  đủ   Bạn nghĩ ngữ pháp giáo trình?  khó  khó  vừa phải  dễ  dễ Phát triển kỹ 10 Các kỹ ngôn ngữ luyên tập giáo trình? Nói :  nhiều mức đủ Nghe : :  nhiều mức đủ Đọc : :  nhiều mức đủ Viết: :  nhiều mức đủ 11.Các nhiệm vụ tập học là:  vô phong phú đa dạng  phong phú đa dạng  đơn điệu  vô đơn điệu 12 Đối với việc phát triển kỹ năng, nhiệm vụ tâp là:  hữu ích  hữu ích  khơng hữu ích  vơ ích PHẦN III: ĐÁNH GIÁ CỦA SINH VIÊN VỀ VIÊC KHAI THÁC GIÁO TRÌNH CỦA GIÁO VIÊN Bạn hài lòng với hoạt động lớp múc dộ nào? Lắng nghe ghi lại cấu trúc ngữ pháp từ vựng Luyện tập cấu trúc ngơn ngữ theo cặp nhóm Trả lời câu hỏi giáo viên Luyên tập kỹ đọc theo cặp nhóm VIII Thuyết trình chủ để tiếng Anh Thảo luận chủ đề tiếng Anh         PHẦN 4: Ý kiến sinh viên Theo bạn giáo trình cần có thay đổi gì? Nội dung:…………………………………………………………………………… Trình bày …………………………………………………………………………… Từ vựng……………………………………………………………………………… Ngữ pháp…………………………………………………………………………… Các hoạt động……………………………………………………………………… Thời gian…………………………………………………………………………… Các ý kiên khác …………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………… Theo bạn, lớp giáo viên nên: Đồng ý K Chỉ sử dụng tiếng Anh Chỉ sử dụng Tiếng Việt Sử dụng tiếng Anh tiếng Việt Sử dụng tiếng Anh nhiều tiếng Viêt Sử dụng tiếng Việt nhiều tiếng Anh Bám sát sách giáo khoa Điều chỉnh sách giáo khoa cần thiết Cung cấp nhiều đọc Cung cấp nhiều tập ngữ pháp 10 Giải thích thuât ngữ chuyên ngành tiếng Viêt Xin chân thành cảm ơn! IX APPENDIX TEACHERS’ VIEWS AS STATED IN THE INTERVIEWS Table 12: Teachers’ views of content Key:  Topics related to different areas of marine engine are useful to students Vocabulary is suitable, and the amount of technical vocabulary is sufficient Grammar exercises are monotonous Activities are not varied and plentiful Texts are suitable linguistically = mentioned by the teacher = not mentioned by the teacher Table 13: Teachers’ perceived limitations of the course-bo  There is no pronunciation and part of speech for new words at the glossary section There are too many exercises There is no listening section Speaking activity is too little Key: = mentioned by the teacher = not mentioned by the teacher Table 14: Students’ reactions to the course-book as observed by Students are satisfied with technical terms and reading texts in the course-book Students are not interested in speaking and listening activity Key:  = mentioned by the teacher X = not mentioned by the teacher Table 15: Challenges to the students in using the course-book as observed byteachers Students have difficulties in studying vocabulary at the first time Students sometimes cannot understand when the teacher explains difficult issues in English Students find it difficult to speak in group because they are afraid of speaking and feel embarrassed Key:  = mentioned by the teacher = not mentioned by the teacher Table 16: Teachers’ self-reported challenges in using the course-book The number of students in a class is very large Key: The students’ levels are not equal  = mentioned by the teacher = not mentioned by the teacher XI APPENDIX Checklist for evaluating ESP materials by Hutchinson and waters (1993) Subjective analysis (e.g analysis of the course in terms of materials requirements) 1A • • • Study of work specialist • • • 2A Who are your learners? Age Sex Knowledge specialist Educational backgrounds Interests What are the aims of the course? 3A covered? (What structures, vocabulary areas?) 4A What micro-skills are taught? (e.g deducing the meaning of unfamiliar words) 5A micro-skill? Is there integrated work? 6A What micro-skills does the course need? 7A included? 8A What subject matters are required? - What level of knowledge should be assumed (e.g second year/third year college)? XII 9A What kinds of tasks and exercises are needed? 10A techniques are to be used? • • • • • 11A What aids are available for used? • • • • 12A teaching the course will be needed? • • What Lockstep Pair work Group work Students presentation Other kinds Cassette recorders? Overhead projectors? Video? Other? What Statements of aims? List of vocabulary and other language-skills points? Language guidance? Other kinds? • • 13A What kinds of exercises/ tasks are needed? E.g - Guided – free? - Comprehension – production? - Language/skills practice – language/ skills use - One right answer – many possible answers - Whole class –group – individual? -Language – skill based/content based? - Self study? - Some other kinds XIII ... reason, the researcher decided to choose materials evaluation as the theme of this minor thesis titled as: AN EVALUATION OF THE ESP COURSEBOOK FOR SECOND- YEAR STUDENTS AT MARINE ENGINE DEPARTMENT_ VIETNAM. .. content, and methodology? 1.4 SCOPE OF THE STUDY The ESP course is only for the second year students at VIMARU, thus the study focuses on the evaluation of the second year students at Marine Engine DepartmentVIMARU... setting The course-book “English for Marine Engine Students and Ship‟s Engineers” was designed for the second- year students at Marine Engine Department _VIMARU with the greatest effort of teachers of