Using competence based approach in the development of a writing course for engineers at vietnam atomic energy institute

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES PHẠM THỊ THU TRANG USING COMPETENCE-BASED APPROACH IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF A WRITING COURSE FOR ENGINEERS AT VIETNAM ATOMIC ENERGY INSTITUTE (Sử dụng cách tiếp cận dựa lực để phát triển khóa học viết dành cho kỹ sư Viện Năng lượngnguyên tử Việt Nam) M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111 HANOI – 2016 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES PHẠM THỊ THU TRANG USING COMPETENCE-BASED APPROACH IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF A WRITING COURSE FOR ENGINEERS AT VIETNAM ATOMIC ENERGY INSTITUTE (Sử dụng cách tiếp cận dựa lực để phát triển khóa học viết dành cho kỹ sư Viện Năng lượngnguyên tử Việt Nam) M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111 Supervisor: Dr Dương Thu Mai HANOI – 2016 DECLARATION I hereby certify that this thesis is entirely my own work I have provided fully documented references to the others‟ work The material in this thesis has not been submitted for assessment in any other formal course I also accept all the requirements of ULIS relating to the retention and use of M.A Graduation Thesis deposited in the library Hanoi, 2016 Phạm Th Thu Trang i ACKNOWLEDGEMENT This thesis would not be fulfilled without the help of some people, and in some ways, I would like to thank everyone who has taught me, inspired me, challenged me, and supported me throughout the realization of this thesis I would like to express my deepest thanks to my beloved supervisor, Duong Thu Mai, Ph.D, for her whole-hearted assistance, encouragement as well as her profound guidance she gave me while I was doing my research I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to all lecturers in Faculty of Post-graduate Studies, University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi for their interesting lectures which have inspired me to conduct this thesis Besides, I would like to send my gratitute to the teaching experts at Vietnam National University, Hanoi who took part in my interview and gave me orientation to edit the course guide I would also like to express my thanks to the leaders and working learners at Vietnam Atomic Energy Institute for their willingness to participate in the research Without their help, this project could not be fulfilled Last but not least, I am most thankful to my family members who have always inspired and encouraged me to complete this study Hanoi, 2016 Phạm Th Thu Trang ii ABSTRACT Strong needs of working learners, urgent demands of occupation and great expectation of leaders have revealed there is a call for designing a writing course at Vietnam Atomic Energy Institute This course with workplace orientation was developed using competence-based approach so that the learning outcomes can meet future staffing requirements of the nuclear organization In this case, based on understanding of VAEI context, learners‟ needs and employers‟ requirements analysis, the paper is to explore the target genres, determine the specificity of writing competences covered within the course, and then develop course schedules Notably, there have been no attempts in investigating this issue before Hopefully, the paper would investigate needed English written competences for engineers at Vietnam Atomic Energy Institute and provide suggestions for the course components including contents, objectives, teaching methods and assessment to implement the future writing course under the light of Competence-Based Approach iii TABLE OF CONTENTS PART A: INTRODUCTION .1 Rationale Aims of study 3 Research questions Scope of study Methods of study .4 Design of study PART B: LITERATURE REVIEW Chapter 1- An Overview of the Competence-Based Approach 1.1 Definition of Competence and Competency 1.1.1 Definition of Competence 1.1.2 Definition of Competency 1.2 Approaches in course designing 1.2.1 Skill-based approach 1.2.2 Content-based approach 1.2.3 Theme-based approach 1.2.4 Functional-Notional approach 1.2.5 Competence-based Approach .9 1.2.3.1 The application and features of CBA in course designing 1.2.3.2 The application of CBA in English Language Teaching (ELT) .10 1.2.3.3 Course development process according to CBA 12 Chapter 2- Theoretical Issues on Writing Course 15 2.1 Nature of writing 15 2.2 English writing competence in theory and in reality 15 2.2.1 English writing competences in theory 15 2.2.2 Realization of English writing competence 17 2.2.3 Writing teaching approaches 22 2.2.3.1 The Product Approach 22 2.2.3.2 The Process Approach 23 PART C: METHODOLOGY 26 3.1 Context of the study 26 3.2 The study 27 iv 3.2.1.Research questions 27 3.2.2 Participants 28 3.2.3 Data collection instruments 28 3.2.3.1 Survey questionaire 28 3.2.3.2 Semi-structured interviews 30 3.2.4 Data collection procedure 32 3.2.5 Data analysis 34 3.2.5.1 Needs analysis by graphical method and simple percentage analysis .34 3.2.5.2 Content analysis 35 PART D: FINDINGS & DISCUSSIONS 36 4.1 Students’ needs and employers’ requirements analysis 36 4.1.1 Needs from students‟ perspectives 36 4.1.2 Needs from employers‟ perspectives 44 4.2 Interview results of the 1st course draft – Editting the 1st course content 46 4.2.1 Interview results 46 4.2.1.1 The appropriateness of the course objectives to students‟ language proficiency 46 4.2.1.2 The completeness of the course content and materials 47 4.2.1.3 The coherence of course schedule and assessment scheme to the course objectives 48 4.2.1.4 The integration of teaching methods, teachers and students‟ roles 50 4.2.1.5 The success probability of course implementation 50 4.2.2 Decisions on editting the 1st course guide 51 4.2.2.1 Course objectives 51 4.2.2.2 Course content and materials 51 4.2.2.3 Course schedule and assessment scheme 52 PART E: CONCLUSION 53 5.1 Reflection on research process 53 5.2 Recommendations 54 5.3 Limitations and suggestions for further study 55 REFERENCES 57 APPENDICES I v LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND SYMBOLS ADDIE Analysis, design, development, implementation, and evaluation CBA Competence – based approach CBESL Competency – based education in ESL CBLT Competence- based language teaching CBI Content-based instruction CEFR Common European Framework of Reference for Languages CSW Common Scale for Writing ELT English Language Teaching EOP English for Occupational Purposes ESOL English for Speakers of Other Languages ESL English as Second Language ESP English for Specific Purposes ETS Educational Testing Service FNA Functional-Notional approach IELTS International English Language Testing System L2 Second language No Number SBA Skill-based approach TBA Theme-based approach TOEFL Test of English as Foreign Language ULIS University of Languages and International Studies VAEA Vietnam Atomic Energy Agency VAEI Vietnam Atomic Energy Institute VNU Vietnam National University vi - Define the terminology in the title/key words; - Present the problem area/current research focus; - Locate a gap in the research; - Describe the present paper; Con Voc - Familiarise vocabulary for the Introduction; Self study at home 25 Editting and Revising the draft of the Introduction; Preparing for Best Product Project UNIT 12: The Conclusion Section (4 hours) - Locate the study in relation to that research map in the field; - Revisit some aspects of work; 26 - Refine the implications; - Describe the limitations, suggest a specific area to be addressed in future work; The Con XLVIII UNIT 13: The Abstract Section (4 hours) - Provide background factual information - Combine the method, the general aim and the 27 specific aim; - Summarize the methodology; - Indicate the achievement; - Presente the implications; 28 & 29 Self – study at home Completing the Best Product Project – A journal article of nuclear-relevant topic (1000-1500 words) Submission 30 - Portfolio - The Best Product Project WRITING ASSIGNMENT OBJECTIVES of othe XLIX Writing is a skill that is required in occupational context of research and technical support institute such as Vietnam Atomic Energy Institute (VAEI) VAEI expects its engineers‟ writing to reflect a high level of professionalism and the standards for excellence that are generally followed in engineering journals and professional business documents It includes both technical writing and academic writing of working learners, depending on employers and jobs‟ requirements In technical writing there are terms, values, and rules that they must know, accept, and use in order to actively participate in the conversations, or discourse, of the academic community The assignments are designed to help working learners improve their both technical and personal writing skills as their professions and leaders expect them to be able to: • Write clear, well-structured expositions of complex subjects relevant to content areas and well suited to its genre and audience; • Synthesize information and arguments from a number of sources; • Describe technical information clearly and logically and develop an argument systematically with appropriate highlighting of significant points and relevant supporting details; • Expand and support points of view at some length with subsidiary points, reasons and relevant examples; • Visualise infomation by using Tables, charts, graphs, and figures in an accessible and space-efficient format; • Use widely known and accepted formulas for calculations L ASSESSMENT TASKS & WEIGHTING Module PARTICIPATION & ATTENDANCE POLICY Active participation in class activities and homework completion are assessed as follows: • Students should fully attend all lessons In case of being absent for lessons each module, students are NOT allowed to take part in the final exam or hand in the final project • Complete all the assigned homework Incompletion of homework in sessions is considered one time absent LI C – Marking scheme Mark 9-10 Linguistic competence Lexical Resources Grammatica - Uses a variety of Accuracy - Tight struct structures, a range of complex structures/ sentence forms, a very wide range of control; - Hardly any errors; vocabulary for the set - Excellent co task; spelling; - Varies formulation - Lexical accu to avoid repetition; very high; hard incorrect word - Highly accu linking device Meets all expe standard punc conventions; - Uses a wide - Sufficient st variety of structures control & spel to convey precise meanings; a range of complex structures / - Occasional non-systemati and minor flaw sentence forms; sentence struct still occur, but rare; - Uses uncommon lexical items but there may be occasional inaccuracies in - Lexical accu high; occasion word choice and incorrect word cho collocation; does not hind - Occasionally produces errors in spelling and/or communicatio - Accurate use linking device word formation; - Meets almo LII expected standard punctuation - Uses a sufficient conventions; - Uses a variety range of vocabulary complex structure to allow some flexibility and precision; - Uses less common lexical items with some awareness of style & collocation; - Produces frequ error-free senten - Has good cont grammar and punctuation but make a few erro - May produce occasional errors in word choice, spelling and/or word formation - Expresses him / - Uses a mix of herself clearly though and complex sent there may be some forms; signs of restriction; - Any structural - Attempts to use less common vocabulary but with some inaccuracy; - Makes some errors in spelling and/or word formation, but mistakes not mis-understandi - Mistakes in sp occur but not hinder communication; - Lexical accura they not impede reasonably high communication; whole; any inco word choice doe usually hinder communication forms; - Uses a limited - Uses only a lim range of vocabulary, but range of structure - Attempts comp LIII this is minimally sentences but these adequate for the tend to be less task accurate than sim sentences - May make noticeable errors - May make freq in spelling and/or grammatical erro word formation and punctuation; that may cause some difficulty for the reader - May be faulty; errors can cause some difficulty fo the reader; - Occasionally unable to express him / herself clearly; - Limited control of frequent patterns structures; - Errors occur and - Uses a limited structural mistak variety of structures; sometimes cause - Only occasionally misunderstanding; - Noticeable lex uses complex structural influence structures / sentence from other languag - Uses a limited range inaccurate; punc of vocabulary to cope is often faulty; - Good control of forms; - Spelling freque with the set task; elementary vocab - Few attempts to but major errors vary formulation; occur when expre more complex tho - Some lexical - Lexical inaccuracies limitations cause sometimes imped communication; repetition and / or frequent lifting of words from the prompt; - Uses only a very - Attempts sente limited range of words and forms but errors i grammar and expressions with punctuation; LIV very limited control predominate and dist of word formation the meaning; and/or spelling errors may severely distort the message; - Uses an - Cannot use extremely limited sentence forms range of except in vocabulary; memorized phras essentially no control of word formation and/or spelling; - Only write some memorized words/phrases; - Commits plagiarism (50-79%) - Does not submit the writing; - Commits plagiarism (80-100%) LV ... elements, including Analysis-Design -Development- Evaluation, were applied into the process of writing course development using CBA Needs analysis was an initial step to gather data and information about... final noteworthy approach has of late entered the language teaching panorama Wong (2008) stated that CBA emerged in the 1970s in the US At that time, teaching English as a second or foreign language... learners, urgent demands of occupation and great expectation of leaders have revealed there is a call for designing a writing course at Vietnam Atomic Energy Institute This course with workplace