Designing a competency based english oral communication course for vietnamese undergraduate business administration students (1)

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES NGUYỂN THỊ MINH TRÂM DESIGNING A COMPETENCY-BASED ENGLISH ORAL COMMUNICATION COURSE FOR VIETNAMESE UNDERGRADUATE BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION STUDENTS Thiết kế khoá học giao tiếp nói tiếng Anh dựa đường hướng lực cho sinh viên Quản trị Kinh doanh Việt Nam A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Major: English Language Teaching Methodology Code: 62140111 Supervisors: Assoc Prof Dr Nguyễn Phương Nga Dr Tô Thị Thu Hương HANOI - 2017 STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP I, the undersigned, certify my authority of the dissertation entitled ―Designing a Competency-based English Oral Communication Course for Vietnamese Undergraduate Business Administration Students‖ in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy Except where the reference is indicated, no other person‘s work has been used without due acknowledgement in the text of the dissertation NGUYEN THI MINH TRAM i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This PhD journey is so challenging that I have continuously pushed myself to the limits that I have never imagined I could experience At the same time, I feel blessed to have met amazing people who have inspired me with not just professionalism in research but also such pivotal values as kindness, persistence, and commitment Notably, I would like to give my special thanks to a particular number of professors, participants, my family and friends First and foremost, I would like to express my sincere appreciation and gratitude to my supervisor, Assoc Prof Dr Nguyen Phuong Nga for her valuable guidance and professional advice throughout the process of this research Without her great help as well as insightful comments, this paper cannot be accomplished I am also eternally grateful to my associate supervisor, Dr To Thi Thu Huong for her extensive expertise, guidance as well as inspiration for me to conduct and complete this research She has made my research possible by giving me the chance to implement the proposed course in the investigated university My warm and sincere thanks would also go to Assoc Prof Martha Bigelow, Assoc Prof Le Hung Tien, Prof Nguyen Hoa, Assoc Prof Le Van Canh, Assoc Prof Nguyen Van Trao, Dr Huynh Anh Tuan, and other examiners for their valuable suggestions and assistance I would like to acknowledge a particular debt to all the participants in the investigated organizations and universities, especially in the university where I implemented and evaluated the course Their enthusiastic participation and support with professionalism have been great encouragement and inspiration for me Finally, I am deeply and forever indebted to my beloved parents, my supportive brother for their unconditional love, and my supportive friends, especially my best friend for their precious friendship and strong faith in me through all the ups and downs of this journey and also my entire life ii ABSTRACT The issue that Vietnamese business administration graduates‘ competencies in English communication are inadequate to meet the real workplace requirements has been increasingly urgent to be considered Hence, the study aimed at designing an appropriate competency-based English oral communication course for business administration (BA) undergraduates based on a needs analysis, then verifying, piloting, implementing and evaluating the designed course In terms of research methodology, both quantitative and qualitative data were collected in two main phases of a mixed methods study Phase one of establishing course components comprises three stages namely needs analysis, course verification and pilot study The proposed course was designed from the findings of a thorough needs analysis which started from interviews with stakeholders consisting of 15 employers, BA graduates and 12 teachers from four universities, and then a survey questionnaire with 227 BA undergraduates in a university in Vietnam Next, the course was verified with a survey questionnaire and a follow-up interview with the language teachers; piloted with a group of 12 BA undergraduates with unit self-assessments, reflective journals and with an observation during the pilot In the phase two of course implementation and evaluation, the course was implemented with 32 BA undergraduates, and evaluated during and after the delivery with reflective journals, self-assessments, end-of-course questionnaire, tests, focus group interview, and post-internship survey questionnaires with those who used EOC and their supervisors during internship The results from the analysis of both quantitative and qualitative data revealed the effectiveness of the course in improving the BA undergraduates‘ EOC competencies and also some necessary adjustments to the course design The theoretical implications for using an eclectic framework of complementary theories for designing an effective competency-based EOC course for BA major as well as contextualizing the proposed course design in Vietnamese university ESP courses were provided in the present study Importantly, SCT contributed to build up the competencies and therefore complemented CBE with emphasis on enhancing learners‘ iii opportunities to exchange knowledge and promoted shared learning in the coconstruction of knowledge The practical implication from the present study is creating long-term collaborative partnerships among and between teachers, BA graduates and potential employers in designing an effective EOC course for BA undergraduates The study also offered pedagogical recommendations in applying SCT in teaching practice such as creating a supportive learning environment for learners to interact and coconstruct knowledge with teacher and peers iv TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 1 RATIONALE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY 3 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY 4 SCOPE OF THE STUDY 5 RESEARCH QUESTIONS CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK STRUCTURE OF THE STUDY CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 English oral communication for business administration 1.1.1 English for specific purposes 1.1.2 Business English oral communication 10 1.2 Approach to course design 12 1.2.1 Overview of approaches to course design 12 1.2.2 Competency-based approach 15 1.2.2.1 Overview of competency-based approach 15 1.2.2.2 Process of establishing competencies in ESP 18 1.3 ESP course design 19 1.3.1 Overview of ESP course design 19 1.3.2 Needs analysis 21 1.3.3 Language descriptions 23 1.3.4 Learning theories 24 1.3.4.1 Overview of underlying learning theories 24 1.3.4.2 Socio-cultural learning theory 26 1.4 Framework of course design 30 1.4.1 Review of course design frameworks 30 1.4.2 Wiggins & McTighe‘s backward design 32 1.5 Course components 34 1.5.1 Learning outcomes 34 1.5.2 Assessment 35 1.5.3 Teaching and learning plan 37 v 1.5.3.1 Stages of classroom activities 37 1.5.3.2 Materials and resources 39 1.6 Review of previous ESP course design studies 40 1.6.1 Review of previous studies in other countries 40 1.6.2 Review of previous studies in Vietnam 43 1.7 Chapter summary and theoretical framework conclusions 45 CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY 47 2.1 Introduction 47 2.1.1 Research context 47 2.1.2 Research design 48 2.1.3 Research questions 48 2.2 Phase 1: Establishing course components 51 2.2.1 Needs analysis 51 2.2.1.1 Participants and sampling 51 2.2.1.2 Data collection instruments 52 2.2.1.3 Data collection procedure 55 2.2.1.4 Data analysis 56 2.2.2 Course verification 58 2.2.2.1 Participants and sampling 58 2.2.2.3 Data collection procedure 59 2.2.2.4 Data analysis 59 2.2.3 Pilot study 60 2.2.3.1 Participants and sampling 60 2.2.3.2 Data collection instruments 60 2.2.3.3 Data collection procedure 61 2.2.3.4 Data analysis 61 2.3 Phase 2: Implementing and evaluating the designed EOC course 62 2.3.1 Participants and sampling 62 2.3.2 Data collection instruments 63 2.3.2.1 Tests 63 2.3.2.2 Questionnaires 64 2.3.2.3 Reflective journals 65 2.3.2.4 Focus group interview 67 vi 2.3.3 Data collection procedure 67 2.3.4 Data analysis 68 2.3.4.1 Quantitative data 69 2.3.4.2 Qualitative data 69 2.3.4.3 Integration of qualitative and quantitative data 69 2.4 Chapter summary 70 CHAPTER 3: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 71 3.1 Establishing course components 71 3.1.1 Results from needs analysis 71 3.1.1.1 Results from interview data 71 3.1.1.2 Results from the questionnaire survey data 81 3.1.1.3 Discussion 85 3.1.2 Tentative course components 88 3.1.2.1 Expected learning outcomes 88 3.1.2.2 Assessment 90 3.1.2.3 Teaching and learning plan 94 3.1.3 Results from course verification 101 3.1.4 Results from pilot study 103 3.1.4.1 Results from undergraduates‘ survey questionnaire 103 3.1.4.2 Results from reflective journals 104 3.1.4.3 Results from observation 106 3.1.4.4 Results from oral test administration 107 3.1.4.5 Adjustments after pilot study 107 3.2 Results from course implementation and evaluation 109 3.2.1 Results from course implementation 109 3.2.1.1 Results from unit self-assessments 109 3.2.1.2 Results from unit reflective journals 110 3.2.1.3 Results from tests 119 3.2.1.4 Results from end-of-course survey questionnaire 121 3.2.1.5 Results from undergraduates‘ focus group interviews 123 3.2.1.6 Readjustments after course implementation 125 3.2.2.1 Results from undergraduate survey questionnaire 127 3.2.2.2 Results from undergraduates‘ supervisor survey questionnaire 129 vii 3.2.3 Discussion 130 3.2.3.1 Application of competency-based education: benefits and challenges 130 3.2.3.2 Theoretical implications in adopting backward design to the competencybased course design 133 3.2.3.3 Role of social cultural theory in designing instruction 135 3.2.3.4 Contextualization of the competency-based course design to Vietnamese university ESP courses 137 CONCLUSION 140 Recapitulation of the main findings 140 Implications 142 2.1 Methodological implications 142 2.2 Theoretical implications 143 2.3 Pedagogical implications 144 LIMITATIONS 145 Suggestions for further studies 146 REFERENCES 148 APPENDIX 1: SUMMARY OF THE PREVIOUS STUDIES CLXX APPENDIX 2: UNIVERSITIES THAT TRAIN BA UNDERGRADUATES IN VIETNAM CLXXVI APPENDIX 3: PARTICIPANTS‘ BRIEF PROFILE CLXXVIII APPENDIX 4: GUIDING QUESTIONS FOR SEMI-STRUCTURED INTERVIEWS IN NEEDS ANALYSIS CLXXXI APPENDIX 5: A SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION UNDERGRADUATES CLXXXVII APPENDIX 6: THE METAMATRIX FOR QUALITATIVEDATA ANALYSIS OFINTERVIEWS IN NEEDS ANALYSIS CXCIII APPENDIX 7: EVALUATING THE DESIGNED COURSE CXCIV APPENDIX 8: STUDENTS‘ REFLECTIVE JOURNAL CXCVII APPENDIX 9: PILOT STUDY EVALUATION CC APPENDIX 10: SELF-ASSESSMENT AFTER EACH UNIT .CCII APPENDIX 11: SELF-ASSESSMENT AFTER PRE-TEST CCXIV APPENDIX 12: END-OF-COURSE QUESTIONNAIRE CCXVI APPENDIX 13: POST-INTERNSHIP SURVEY CCXVIII APPENDIX 14: FOCUS GROUP INTERVIEW CCXXIV APPENDIX 15: THE METAMATRIX FOR QUALITATIVE DATA ANALYSIS OF FOCUS GROUP INTERVIEWS AT THE END OF THE COURSE .CCXXV viii intelligible word stress confident CCCLVIII to 11.3 understand standard spoken language in starting and ending a call 11.4 perform and respond to a wide range of language functions in starting and ending a call 11.5 initiate, maintain and end discourse appropriately with effective turn-takings in starting and ending a call 10 Students‘ self Feedback The lesson responded to the needs of the students The lesson was useful The lesson was understandable The materials were appropriate The activities were interesting The speed was appropriate The timing was suitable The teaching methods were appropriate Students had opportunities to exchange knowledge and promoted shared learning 10 Teacher‘s feedback was clear 11 After unit 9, you feel confident to 11.1 have a good command of lexical repertoire in asking for and giving repetition on the phone 11.2 recognize and produce clearly intelligible weak sounds 11.3 understand standard spoken languag in asking for and giving repetition on the phone 11.4 perform and respond to a wide range of language functions in asking for and giving repetition on the phone 11.5 initiate, maintain and end discourse appropriately with effective turn-takings i asking for and giving repetition on the phone 11 Students‘ selfFeedback students The lesson responded to the needs of the The lesson was useful The lesson was understandable The materials were appropriate The activities were interesting The speed was appropriate The timing was suitable The teaching methods were appropriate Students had opportunities to exchange CCCLIX knowledge and promoted shared learning 10 Teacher‘s feedback was clear 11 11.1 have a good command of lexical After unit 10, you feel confiden t to 11 repertoire in leaving and taking telephone messages 11.2 recognize and produce intonation in asking question and sounding polite and friendly 11.3 understand standard spoken language in leaving and taking telephone messages 11.4 perform and respond to a wide range of language functions in leaving and taking telephone messages 11.5 initiate, maintain and end discourse appropriately with effective turn-takings in leaving and taking telephone messages Students‘ self-assessment after Unit 11 Feedback The lesson responded to the needs of the students The lesson was useful The lesson was understandable The materials were appropriate The activities were interesting The speed was appropriate The timing was suitable The teaching methods were appropriate Students had opportunities to exchange knowledge and promoted shared learning 10 Teacher‘s feedback was clear 11 After unit 11, you feel confident to 11.1 have a good command of lexical repertoire in making an appointment 11.2 have a good control of present continuous for future plans 11.3 recognize and produce clearly intelligible chunking 11.4 understand standard spoken language making an appointment on the phone 11.5 be aware of different communication styles, and act appropriately 11.6 perform and respond to a wide range of language functions in talking about times and dates, making suggestions, saying about availability 11.7 initiate, maintain and end discourse appropriately with effective turn-takings in making an appointment CCCLX 12 Students‘ self-assessment after Unit 12 Feedback The lesson responded to the needs of the students The lesson was useful The lesson was understandable The materials were appropriate The activities were interesting The speed was appropriate The timing was suitable The teaching methods were appropriate Students had opportunities to exchange knowledge and promoted shared learning 10 Teacher‘s feedback was clear 11 After unit 12, 11.1 have a good command of lexical repertoire in changing an appointment you feel confident 11.2 recognize and produce clearly to 11.3 understand standard spoken language making an appointment on the phone 11.4 perform and respond to a wide range of language functions in explaining problem, and apologizing 11.5 initiate, maintain and end discourse appropriately with effective turn-takings in changing an appointment intelligible sentence stress CCCLXI APPENDIX 28: RESULTS FROM END OF COURSE QUESTIONNAIRE Feedback The lessons responded to the needs of the students The lessons were useful The lessons were understandable The materials were appropriate The activities were interesting The timing was suitable The teaching methods were appropriate Students had opportunities to exchange knowledge and promoted shared learning The on-going assessment activities were useful The oral tests were clear Overall, you like the course You think that there should be a course like this one offered for you in the university You think that there should be some other sequential or related courses (i.e English written communication course for BA students) that are necessary for working as BA personnel After the course, you are competent in English After the course, you are competent in English oral communication After the course, you are competent to socialize in English After the course, you are competent to handle a business phone call in English CCCLXII APPENDIX 29: THE METAMATRIX FOR QUALITATIVE RESULTS FROM FOCUS GROUP INTERVIEWS AT THE END OF THE COURSE Themes Good features of the course Cases Practical course objectives and topics for BA undergraduates, useful online materials, effective classroom activities, motivating communication games, frequent practice, detailed feedback from teacher especially in pronunciation and mini-talk, online group discussion Course topics essential for BA major, books with practical and interesting contents, useful group discussion, effective communication games and online group discussion, writing reflective report, useful feedback from peers G1 Interesting course contents, practical course book and work book, interesting classroom activities, useful communication games, frequent practice, useful feedback from teacher and peers, useful activity of writing reflective report for mini-talk Realistic course objectives and topics, books with various situations books, various role play situations, group work, useful communication games, useful online group discussion and material sharing, useful feedback from peers Course contents relevant for BA major, useful online materials, effective communication games, frequent practice, useful feedback from peers Course topics essential for BA major, practical materials, effective classroom activities, useful feedback from teacher G2 and peers, effective revision and mini-talk activities, frequent practice Interesting course topics, interesting materials with good CCCLXIII BEOC videos, group work, motivating communication games, detailed feedback from teacher, useful mini-talk activity, effective revision and mini-talk activities, frequent practice Realistic course objectives for BA undergraduates, practical course book and work book, pair work, role play, effective communication games, useful and detailed feedback from teacher and peers Practical course objectives and topics, useful classroom activities, interesting books with practical contents, beneficial pair work, useful communication games, useful mini-talk activity, online group discussion Realistic course objectives, appropriate materials, motivating communication games, useful feedback from teacher, frequent practice, useful revision G3 Course contents relevant for BA major, group work, effective communication games, effective revision and mini-talk activities with writing reflective report, useful feedback from peers Course topics essential for BA major, practical materials, interesting classroom activities, useful communication games, useful feedback from teacher and peers, frequent practice Practical course objectives and topics, practical and interesting course book and work book motivating communication games, useful feedback from peers, useful mini-talk activity and reflective report writing Realistic course objectives for BA undergraduates, frequent practice, detailed feedback from teacher especially minitalk, useful reflective journals Useful materials with a wide range of input language, effective communication games, useful feedback from teacher and peers Books with practical and interesting contents, useful role CCCLXIV play, motivating communication games, detailed feedback from teacher and peers Interesting course topics, useful materials for self-study, useful communication games, effective revision and minitalk activities Practical course topics, interesting materials, pair work, motivating communication games, effective and useful revision and mini-talk activities, online group discussion, useful feedback from peers Useful classroom activities, various and interesting situations and contents in the books, good online sources G4 and videos, role play, effective communication games, useful reflective journals Interesting materials with good BEOC videos, group work, motivating communication games, frequent practice, useful feedback from peers Course contents relevant for BA major, useful materials with a wide range of input language, motivating communication games, useful feedback from teacher and peers and oral tests Interesting course contents, pair work and group work, various role play situations, motivating communication games, useful feedback from teacher and peers, useful pronunciation drills in increasing habits of practicing Practical course objectives and contents for BA undergraduates, useful communication games, effective revision and mini-talk activities, frequent practice G5 Interesting course topics, books with various situations books, effective communication games, useful feedback from teacher and peers, effective and useful revision and mini-talk activities Useful classroom activities, pair work, motivating communication game, detailed feedback from teacher, convenient online group discussion, useful feedback from peers CCCLXV Practical course objectives and contents, various role play situations, useful communication games, useful activity of writing reflective report, useful and detailed feedback from teacher and peers Realistic course objectives, useful online materials, pair work and group work, useful mini-talk activity, online group discussion, useful feedback from peers Interesting course topics for BA undergraduates, effective communication games, effective revision and mini-talk G6 activities, useful online group discussion Practical course objectives and topics, interesting materials, useful communication games, effective online group discussion, frequent practice Realistic course objectives, appropriate materials, useful communication games, effective revision and mini-talk activities, Course contents relevant for BA major, useful materials for self-study, pair work, motivating communication games, online group discussion Interesting classroom activities, course book and work book with practical and interesting contents, effective communication games, useful feedback from peers, CCCLXVI APPENDIX 30: RESULTS FROM BA UNDERGRADUATES‘ POSTINTERNSHIP QUESTIONNAIRE EOC competencies Build relationship with business partners by greeting them appropriately when they pay visit to one‘s countries (n=13) Build relationship with business partners by greeting them appropriately when they pay visit to one‘s office (n=13) Develop a conversation appropriately about one‘s experiences in past or present life (n=12) Develop a conversation appropriately about one‘s career with cross-cultural understanding (n=13) Exchange information about the distintive features of company products and services (n=12) Handle business phone conversations properly from starting to ending a call (n=10) Arrange a business appointment appropriately based on a schedule (n=7) CCCLXVII ... content -based, task -based, objectives -based, standards -based, and needs -based, outcomes -based and competency- based approach are briefly reviewed and compared to provide background for the choice of an... has been increasingly urgent to be considered Hence, the study aimed at designing an appropriate competency- based English oral communication course for business administration (BA) undergraduates... importantly adequate communication training in specialized situations in learning a foreign language besides an appropriate amount of general language content, grammatical functions and acquisition