Designing a task based ESP reading syllabus for the third year students at hai duong central college of pharmacy

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES  VƯƠNG THỊ LIÊN DESIGNING A TASK-BASED ESP READING SYLLABUS FOR THE THIRD-YEAR STUDENTS AT HAI DUONG CENTRAL COLLEGE OF PHARMACY (THIẾT KẾ CHƯƠNG TRÌNH ĐỌC TIẾNG ANH CHUYÊN NGÀNH THEO ĐƯỜNG HƯỚNG GIAO NHIỆM VỤ CHO SINH VIÊN NĂM THỨ TRƯỜNG CAO ĐẲNG DƯỢC TRUNG ƯƠNG HẢI DƯƠNG) M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS FIELD: MET HODOLOGY CODE: 601410 HANOI, 2011 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES  VƯƠNG THỊ LIÊN DESIGNING A TASK-BASED ESP READING SYLLABUS FOR THE THIRD-YEAR STUDENTS AT HAI DUONG CENTRAL COLLEGE OF PHARMACY (THIẾT KẾ CHƯƠNG TRÌNH ĐỌC TIẾNG ANH CHUYÊN NGÀNH THEO ĐƯỜNG HƯỚNG GIAO NHIỆM VỤ CHO SINH VIÊN NĂM THỨ TRƯỜNG CAO ĐẲNG DƯỢC TRUNG ƯƠNG HẢI DƯƠNG) M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS FIELD: METHODOLOGY CODE: 601410 SUPERVISOR: Dr DƯƠNG THỊ NỤ HANOI, 2011 iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Declaration I Acknowledgements II Abstract III Table of contents……………………………………………………… .IV List of Abbreviations PART A: 1.Rationale 2.Aims and objectives of the study 3.Scope of the study 4.Method of the study 5.The structure of the study PART B: CHAPTER ONE: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 An overview on ESP 1.1.1 1.1.2 1.1.3 1.2 An overview on syllabus 1.2.1 1.2.2 1.3 1.3.1 1.3.2 1.3.3 1.3.4 1.3.5 1.3.6 1.3.7 1.3.8 1.3.9 1.4 1.4.1 What is reading? 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Bookmark not defined 1.4.2 1.5 Task-based Language Teaching (TBLT) 1.5.1 1.5.2 1.5.3 1.5.4 CHAPTER TWO: THE STUDY 2.1 2.1.1 2.1.2 2.1.3 2.1.4 2.2 2.2.1 2.2.2 2.2.3 2.3 2.3.1 need of designing a new ESP reading syllabus for the third-year students Bookmark not defined 2.3.2 Bookmark not defined CHAPTER THREE: DESIGNING A TASK-BASED ESP READING SYLLABUS FOR THE THIRD-YEAR STUDENTS AT HAI DUONG CENTRAL COLLEGE OF PHARMACY 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.3.1 Conte 3.3.2.The organization of the syllabus 3.3.3 PART C: REFERENCES APPENDICES Appendix Appendix 2: Questionnaire for the ESP teachers Time CONCL Bookmark not defined Appendix 3: Questionnaire for the third-year students (Phiếu điề Appendix Appendix Appendix Appendix Appendix Appendix 10 Appendix 10 PART A: INTRODUCTION Rationale In recent years, important role of English in our society has been much enhanced by the trends of global integration People without English seem to be difficult to find a good job However, to be successful in careers, only English in general is not enough but English for specific purposes (ESP) is the most important because each field has its own specific characteristics That is the reason why ESP has been widely taught in every University and College in Vietnam and Hai Duong Central College of Pharmacy is not an exception ESP has been taught for middle level students for several years but for college students, it has been taught for only one year It is a compulsory subject for third-year students after they have learnt two semesters of General English with the course books are Lifelines Elementary and Pre-Intermediate by Tom Hutchinson (Oxford University Press, 1997) In the ESP course, reading skill is focused on Through one year of implementation, the recent ESP syllabus reveals many short comings and needs being replaced by a better one It is too long for duration of 30 periods and it is completely a text-based syllabus which seems not to motivate students much in their learning In addition, pharmacy is a field in which changes occur every day, therefore, up-dating new information is very important Students seem not to have chance to update new modern medicines with the recent ESP syllabus because the medicines in it are old ones Thus, designing an appropriate task-based syllabus for the pharmaceutical students at Hai Duong Central College of Pharmacy is of great importance to help motivate students in their learning ESP as well as to prepare for their future job From the above mentioned reasons, I decided to choose “Designing a task-based ESP reading syllabus for the third-year students at Hai Duong Central College of Pharmacy” as the topic of my thesis Aims and objectives of the study This study aims at designing a task-based ESP reading syllabus for the third-year students at the Hai Duong Central College of Pharmacy To achieve this aim, the study sets out to obtain the following specific objectives: To get an overview of the theories related to task-based approach, ESP reading and syllabus design To investigate the needs perceived by the ESP students, the ESP teachers towards an appropriate reading syllabus for the ESP students of Hai Duong Central College of Pharmacy To propose a reading syllabus based on needs analysis Scope of the study This study is carried out with its focus on designing an ESP syllabus for pharmaceutical students at Hai Duong Central College of Pharmacy on the basic of needs analysis Due to the characteristics of the college, only reading skill is covered Within the scope of minor thesis, this study focuses on the designing process itself, only the main theories related to task-based approach; ESP reading and syllabus design are mentioned Methods of the study In this study, both quantitative and qualitative methods are employed The quantitative is used to collect the data by delivered questionnaires and the qualitative is applied when discussing the data The methodology of the study is described as follows: - To gain theoretical background for the study, a careful examination of related literature has been carried out What has been perceived from this examination will be the foundation for the study - The study is carried out with 43 students and teachers at HCCP, which will be presented in great detail in chapter Data about the participants is collected by the form of questionnaires The questionnaire is designed to investigate information about students’ needs, wants, and learning-style preference… The structure of the study This study is divided in three main parts: Part A: Introduction In this part, the rationale for the study, the aims and objectives of the study, the scope of the study, the methodology and the structure of the study are mentioned Part B: Development This is the main part of the study which contains three chapters as the follows: - Chapter reviews the literature concerning ESP, task-based approach, syllabus design, and reading theories - Chapter is served as the central part of the study because it includes the background, subjects, instrument for collecting data as well as the findings of the study - Chapter proposes a task-based reading syllabus for the third-year students at Hai Duong Central College of Pharmacy basing on the findings of the study Part C: Conclusion This part is the summary of the whole study It reveals the limitations of the thesis and some suggestions for further research are given as well PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER ONE: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 An overview on ESP 1.1.1 What is ESP? ESP which stands for English for Specific Purposes has become a familiar concept in English Language Teaching and many scholars have tried to define it in different ways Even today there is a large amount of on-going debate as to how to specify what exactly ESP constitutes (Belcher, 2006, Dudley-Evan & St John, 1998, Anthony, 1997) According to Strevens (1977:57) “ESP concerns the emergence of a number of activities, movements and subjects that are carried out predominantly (though) not exclusively in English across the world)” It looks at the purpose for which the student needs to learn English, i.e for occupational or for study purposes ESP is a term that refers to teaching or studying English for a particular career (like law, medicine) or for business in general The fact that learners know specifically why they are learning a language is a great advantage on both sides of the process The learners are therefore motivated, and this enables the teacher to meet learners’ needs and expectations more easily Learner and the way of learning (“acquiring language”) are considered to be the main factors in the whole process Hutchinson and Waters (1992:19) emphasize ESP to be an approach and not a product which means language learning not language use is highlighted They draw attention to a learning-centred approach “in which all decisions as to content and method are based on the learner´s reason for learning” Coffey (1985:79) observes that ESP is “a quick and economical use of the English language to pursue a course of academic study (EAP) or effectiveness in paid employment (EOP)” Lorenzo (2005:1) reminds us that ESP “concentrates more on language in context than on teaching grammar and language structures” He also points out that as ESP is usually delivered to adult students, frequently in a work related setting (EOP), that motivation to learn is higher than in usual ESL (English as a Second Language) contexts Carter (1983) believes that self-direction is important in the sense that an ESP course is concerned with turning learners into users of the language 1.1.2 Characteristics of ESP We have established the relationship between ESP and ELT Now you will be informed about some characteristics of ESP ESP is seen as an approach by Hutchinson and Waters (1987) They suggest that ESP does not concern a particular language, teaching methodology or material If you want to understand ESP, they suggest that you find out exactly why a person needs to learn a foreign language Your need for learning English can be for study purposes or for work purposes However, it is the definition of needs that is the starting point for decisions which determine the language to be taught Strevens (1988) makes a distinction between absolute characteristics and variable characteristics of ESP The absolute characteristics are that ESP courses are: Designed to meet the specific needs of the learner; Related in content to particular disciplines or occupations; Centred on language specific to those disciplines or occupations; In contrast to General English Be restricted in the skills to be learned; Not be taught according to a particular methodology Robinson (1991) also suggests two absolute criteria for defining ESP courses The first is that ESP programmes are normally goal-oriented The second is that they derive from a needs analysis The needs analysis will state as accurately as possible what the learners will have to when speaking the language Two divisions of the characteristics of ESP are outlined by Dudley-Evans and St John (1998): some absolute and some variable to resolve arguments about what ESP is This followed on from the earlier work by Strevens (1988) These characteristics include: ESP is defined to meet specific needs of the learners ESP makes use of underlying methodology and activities of the discipline it serves ESP is centred on the language appropriate to these activities in terms of grammar, lexis, register, study skills, discourse and genre Variable Characteristics V Appendix 2: Questionnaire for the ESP teachers Questionnaire for the ESP teachers The purpose of this questionnaire is to collect ideas of the teachers of English at HCCP to design a task-based ESP reading syllabus for the third-year students at HCCP The syllabus is expected to be appropriate to the training objectives of HCCP and to fulfill the students’ needs Your assistance in completing the following items makes a great contribution to my study All the information you give will be used for research purposes only Thank you very much for your co-operation! What is your opinion about the current ESP reading syllabus for third – year students at Hai Duong Central College of Pharmacy (HCCP)? a Very appropriate and useful b Appropriate and useful c Not very appropriate and useful d No idea What you think about designing an ESP reading syllabus for third – year students at HCCP? a Very necessary b Necessary c Not very necessary d No idea Please number the following objectives needed to be achieved at the end of the ESP course for the students of HCCP in order of importance from the most important to the least important (from to 6) and add other expectations of your own … … to read and understand prescriptions of medicines in English to build up range of English terms relating to medicines in medical instructions and materials ……… to translate English materials in medicines from English into Vietnamese and vice versa ……… to work for an international pharmaceutical company VI … to communicate with foreigners about medicines in English … to take part in international seminars, workshops on pharmacy In your opinion, what topics are needed to be included in the ESP syllabus for pharmaceutical students at HCCP? Please tick the boxes the topics that you think should be included in the ESP reading course and add more topics of your own if you think they are necessary Items Drugs Natural medicines Right and wrong use of modern medicines Antibiotics: what they are and how to use them Instructions for injections Nutrition: minerals Information on medicines Working in the laboratories Allergies to medicines 10 Use and side effects of medicines 11 Other (specify) In your opinion, what kinds of grammar and structures should be included in the syllabus? Please tick the boxes the types of grammar and structures that you think should be included in the syllabus and add more of your own if necessary VII Items Grammar-structures Uses of tenses (present tenses and past tenses) -ed and –ing adjectives Gerunds Relative clauses Linking words Adverb clauses Model verbs The infinitive and the “ing” form Prepositions and propositional phsases 10 Conditional sentences 11 Passive voice 12 Indirect speech 13 Comparisons of adjectives 14 Plurals 15 Others (specify) ………………………… In your opinion, how many words should students at basic level get after finishing the ESP reading course? a 500 b 1000 c 2000 d No idea In your opinion, within 30 periods, how many lessons should be included? a b c 10 d No idea VIII What kind(s) of text types should be provided to students? a Reading passages b Directions for drugs c Conversations d All of the above What is your opinion about the number of tasks (activities) in a lesson? a Each reading lesson should include many kinds of tasks b Only one kind of tasks should be included in all the lessons c No idea 10 What kind of teaching approach should be adopted? a Communicative b Grammar – translation c Other (specify) ……… ………………………… 11 In your opinion, students should a extra reading assignments at home b reading tasks in the class only c No idea Thank you very much for your cooperation! Appendix 3: Questionnaire for the third-year students (Phiếu điều tra) Questionnaire for the third-year students (Phiếu điều tra) Mục đích phiếu điều tra thu thập ý kiến sinh viên năm thứ ba trường Cao Đẳng Dược Trung ương Hải Dương nhằm xây dựng chương trình dạy đọc tiếng Anh chuyên ngành phù hợp với mục tiêu đào tạo nhà trường đáp ứng nguyện vọng sinh viên Những ý kiến đóng góp bạn quan trọng cho nghiên cứu Xin chân thành cảm ơn hợp tác bạn! Hãy mức độ đồng ý bạn giáo trình Tiếng Anh chuyên ngành Dược mà bạn vừa học cách đánh dấu tick (√) vào ý kiến mà bạn chọn: Ý kiến Khóa học hữu ích cho IX Ý kiến tương lai tơi Chủ đề giáo trình liên quan đến ngành Dược Có nhiều hoạt động tập nâng cao khả giao tiếp giáo trình Các hoạt động tập giáo trình giúp sinh viên nâng cao khả làm việc nhóm Các hoạt động tập giáo trình gây hứng thú cho sinh viên Giáo trình tập trung nhiều vào ngữ pháp cấu trúc câu Một số đọc có nhiều từ Theo bạn, việc thiết kế chương trình đọc Tiếng anh chuyên ngành cho sinh viên năm thứ Trường CĐ Dược TƯ Hải Dương là: a Rất cần thiết b Cần thiết c Khơng cần thiết d Khơng có ý kiến Hãy đánh dấu mục tiêu mà bạn muốn đạt sau học xong khóa học Tiếng Anh chuyên ngành Dược trường CĐ Dược TƯ Hải Dương theo thứ tự từ quan trọng (1) đến quan trọng (6) ……… Đọc hiểu đơn thuốc viết tiếng Anh ……… Xây dựng vốn thuật ngữ tiếng Anh có liên quan đến chuyên ngành Dược hướng dẫn sử dụng thuốc tài liệu thuốc ……… Dịch tài liệu thuốc từ tiếng Anh sang tiếng Việt ngược lại ……… Làm việc cho công ty Dược quốc tế …… Giao tiếp với người nước loại dược phẩm X …………Tham dự hội thảo quốc tế chuyên ngành Dược Hãy đánh dấu tick (√) vào ô tương ứng chủ đề cần có chương trình tiếng Anh chuyên ngành Dược (ghi thêm chủ đề cần có theo ý kiến bạn) TT Chủ đề Các loại thuốc Các loại thuốc tự nhiên Cách sử dụng tân dược sai Thuốc kháng sinh sử dụng nào? Hướng dẫn sử dụng lưu ý sử dụng thuốc tiêm Dinh dưỡng: loại vitamin khống chất Thơng tin loại thuốc Làm việc phịng thí nghiệm Dị ứng thuốc 10 Cơng dụng tác dụng phụ thuốc 11 Các chủ đề khác (nêu rõ) …… Hãy mức độ thường xuyên hoạt động bạn giáo viên hướng dẫn thực có hội thực cách đánh dấu tick (√) vào ô tương ứng đây: TT Hoạt động Đọc, dịch trả lời câu hỏi XI TT Hoạt động Thảo luận theo nhóm Thuyết trình Làm việc theo cặp Các hoạt động sau mà bạn mong muốn thực khóa học Tiếng Anh chuyên ngành Dược trường CĐ Dược TƯ HD (Có thể nhiều lựa chọn): e Làm tập đọc hiểu dựa theo khóa trả lời câu hỏi, chọn Đúng – Sai, v.v… f Tự tìm thơng tin theo nhóm chủ đề định sau thuyết trình g Thảo luận theo nhóm chủ đề định sau báo cáo kết h Sắp xếp thông tin bị xáo trộn theo chủ đề theo cặp / nhóm sau báo cáo kết i Hoạt động khác (nêu rõ): ……………………………………………… Theo bạn, số lượng nhiệm vụ giao cho sinh viên học nên là: a Nhiều nhiệm vụ b Mỗi nên có nhiệm vụ c Khơng có ý kiến Bạn mong muốn đọc loại văn giáo trình Tiếng Anh chun ngành (Có thể nhiều lựa chọn): a Các đọc gồm nhiều đoạn nhỏ b Các hướng dẫn sử dụng thuốc c Các đoạn hội thoại d Tất loại Theo bạn, sinh viên nên: a Làm tập giao thêm nhà b Chỉ hoàn thành nhiệm vụ đọc giao lớp c Khơng có ý kiến Trân trọng cảm ơn giúp đỡ bạn! XII Appendix Table 2: Students’ attitude towards the current ESP course Opinions The course is very useful for my future job There are a lot of activities and exercises to enhance communicative competence in the course book The activities and exercises in the course book help improve students’ team work ability The activities and exercises in the course book interest students a lot The course book focuses too much on grammar and sentence structures Some readings have too many new words Appendix Table 3: Students’ frequency of activities in the class Items Activities Reading, translating and answering questions Discussing in groups Presenting Working in pairs XIII Appendix Table 4: Teachers’ and students’ opinions about objectives Unit: % Items Topics To read and understand prescriptions of medicines in English To build up range of English terms relating to medicines in medical instructions and materials To translate materials in medicines from English into Vietnamese and vice versa To work for an international pharmaceutical company To communicate with foreigners about medicines in English To take part in international seminars, workshops on pharmacy Appendix Table 5: Teachers’ and students’ opinions about interesting topics for a new reading ESP syllabus Unit: % Items Drugs XIV Items Topics Natural medicines Right and wrong use of modern medicines Antibiotics: what how to use them Instructions and precautions for injections Nutrition: vitamins and minerals Information on medicines Working in the laboratories Allergies to medicines Use and side 10 medicines 11 Other (specify) ……………… Appendix Table 6: Teachers’ choice of grammar – structures needed to be used in the syllabus Items Grammar-structures Uses of tenses (present tenses and past tenses) -ed and –ing adjectives Gerunds Relative clauses XV Items Grammar-structures Linking words Adverb clauses Model verbs The infinitive and the “ing” form Prepositions and prepositional phrases 10 Conditional sentences 11 Passive voice 12 Indirect speech 13 Comparisons of adjectives 14 Plurals 15 Others (specify) ………………………… Appendix Table 7: Students’ choice of tasks to carry out in the ESP course Doing comprehension reading basing on a b the questions, choosing True/False senten Listing (listing new vocabulary in a text, XVI Ordering and sorting (ordering the mixed c kinds of drugs, ranking some kinds of dru Comparing (finding the similarities and d d of drugs…) Information gap activity (using informati e chart or table…) 10 Appendix 10 Table 8: Grammar-structures used in the syllabus Uses of tenses (present tenses and past tenses) -ed and –ing adjectives Gerunds Relative clauses Linking words Adverb clauses Model verbs ... designing an appropriate task- based syllabus for the pharmaceutical students at Hai Duong Central College of Pharmacy is of great importance to help motivate students in their learning ESP as well as... Pharmacy? ?? as the topic of my thesis Aims and objectives of the study This study aims at designing a task- based ESP reading syllabus for the third- year students at the Hai Duong Central College of Pharmacy. .. investigate the needs perceived by the ESP students, the ESP teachers towards an appropriate reading syllabus for the ESP students of Hai Duong Central College of Pharmacy To propose a reading syllabus