The needs based evaluation of ESP material english course for nursing students for second year students at thanh hoa medical college

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-  GRADUATE STUDIES - - NGUYỄN THỊ VÂN THE NEEDS-BASED EVALUATION OF ESP MATERIAL “ENGLISH COURSE FOR NURSING STUDENTS” FOR SECOND YEAR STUDENTS AT THANH HOA MEDICAL COLLEGE (ĐÁNH GIÁ DỰA THEO NHU CẦU TÀI LIỆU TIẾNG ANH CHUYÊN NGÀNH “ENGLISH COURSE FOR NURSING STUDENTS” DÀNH CHO SINH VIÊN NĂM THỨ HAI TRƯỜNG CAO ĐẲNG Y TẾ THANH HÓA) M.A MINOR THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60.14.10 Hanoi, 2012 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-  GRADUATE STUDIES - - NGUYỄN THỊ VÂN THE NEEDS BASED EVALUATION OF ESP MATERIAL “ENGLISH COURSE FOR NURSING STUDENTS” FOR SECOND YEAR STUDENTS AT THANH HOA MEDICAL COLLEGE (ĐÁNH GIÁ DỰA THEO NHU CẦU TÀI LIỆU TIẾNG ANH CHUYÊN NGÀNH “ENGLISH COURSE FOR NURSING STUDENTS” DÀNH CHO SINH VIÊN NĂM THỨ HAI TRƯỜNG CAO ĐẲNG Y TẾ THANH HÓA) M.A MINOR THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60.14.10 Supervisor : Nguyêñ Bàng, M.A Hanoi, 2012 TABLE OF CONTENTS Certificate of originality of the thesis ……………………………………………… Acknowledgements Abstract Table of contents Abbreviations List of figures List of tables ’ PART I: INTRODUCTION I.1 Rationale I.2 Aims of the study I.3 Scope of the study I.4 Methods of the study 1.5 Organization of the study PART II: DEVELOPMENT Chapter 1: Literature Review 1.1 An Overview of English for Specific Purpose 1.1.1 Definition of ESP 1.1.2 Classification of ESP 1.1.3 Characteristics of ESP Course 1.1.4 Characteristics of English for Medical Purpose…………… 1.2 Material Evaluation 1.2.1 Definition of Material Evaluation 1.2.2 Types of Material Evaluation 1.2.3 Purposes of Material Evaluation 1.2.4 Models for Material Evaluation 1.3 Needs-Based Evaluation 1.3.1 Need Definition 1.3.2 Need Analysis/Assessment Definition ……………………………… iv 1.3.3 Models of Need Assessment 1.3.4 Steps in Need Analysis 1.3.5 Techniques for Need Analysis 1.4 Material Adaptation 1.4.1 Defining Adaptation 1.4.2 Purposes of Adaptation 1.4.3 Areas for Adaptation 1.4.4 Techniques for Adaptation Chapter 2: Research Methodology 2.1 The Current Situation of Teaching and Learning ESP at TMC……… 2.1.1 The Context 2.1.2 The Course Objectives 2.1.3 The Material Description 2.2 The Research Question 2.3 The Participants 2.4 The Data Collection Instruments 2.5 The Procedure Chapter 3: Findings and Discussion 3.1 Objectives 3.2 Contents 3.3 Methodology PART III: CONCLUSION III.1 Conclusion III.2 Recommendations III.2.1 Objective Adjustments III.2.2 Content Improvements III.2.3 Methodology Improvements III.3 Limitations of the Study III.4 Suggestions for Further Research v REFERENCES APPENDIX 1: QUESTIONAIRE FOR TEACHERS APPENDIX APPENDIX 3: QUESTIONAIRE FOR TEACHER INTERVIEW APPENDIX APPENDIX vi ABBREVIATIONS TMC: Thanh Hoa Medical College ESP: English for Specific Purpose EMP: English for Medical Purpose vii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Types of ESP (From Strevens, 1977, Robinson 1991) …………………… Figure 2: Types of ESP (From Hutchinson and Water, 1987) …………………… Figure 3: Four-Step Macro-Evaluation (Hutchinson and water, 1987) ………………… Figure 4: Framework for Material Analysis and Evaluation (Littljohn,1998)…………… 11 Figure 5: Skill Importance Ranking …………………… 43 Figure 6: Skill vs Class-Time Distribution …………………… 43 viii LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Teachers’ views on the appropriateness of the material to the course objectives 21 Table 2: Students’ views on the appropriateness of the material to the course objectives 21 Table 3: Teachers’ views on the appropriateness of the contents of material Table 4: Students’ views on the appropriateness of the contents of material Table 5: Teachers’ views on the methodology of the material Table 6: Students’ views on the methodology of the material ix PART I: INTRODUCTION I.1 Rationale Since the early 1960s, English for specific purposes (ESP) has grown to become one of the most prominent areas of English Language Teaching The growth of ESP has also generated an increasing number of specialized textbooks The importance of the textbook is undeniable since it determines the major part of classroom teaching and student learning Although choosing a textbook is daunting, it has a significant influence on the ability of students to meet their language learning objectives and affects both the process of learning and outcomes Nevertheless, as Swales (1980) states, textbooks, especially course books, exhibit problems and in extreme cases are examples of educational failure Thus, to have a successful language teaching program, it is necessary to have good materials, and to make the most effective use of a textbook, it is necessary for teachers to carefully examine all aspects of the textbook and compare it against an assessment tool The present ESP textbook taught at Thanh Hoa Medical College (TMC) was collected and edited from various sources To some extent, its objectives meet teaching and learning’s goals such as the vocabulary and reading development However for communicative target in learning language it does not meet teaching and learning requirement It includes the texts then the exercises, the exercises are only questions to check reading comprehension and the same kind of questions for all 17 units that gives students a bore There is no tape, no video, no suggested references books or sources presented in the material Also this textbook is used to teach all second year students of different faculties such as: students of nursing, students of mid-wife studying… This material has been used at TMC for several years but no evaluation or consultation has been conducted to check its strengths and weaknesses and to see how well it suited the desired and attainable goals of the course As teachers and students’ recent complaints and dissatisfaction about the textbook, evaluating the textbook based on teachers’ and students’ needs is necessary to decide whether to continue using the material, or to look for a new one, or to adapt orientation Besides, the textbook evaluation helps teachers move beyond impressionistic assessments and it helps them to acquire useful, accurate, systematic, and contextual insights into the overall nature of material, and thus they can respond to the students’ needs and maximize their learning opportunities For those reasons, the topic “The Needs-Based Evaluation of ESP Material “English Course for Nursing Students” for Second Years Students at Thanh Hoa Medical College” was chosen with the intention that it will not only help improve the material’s quality but also enhance the learning efficiency as well as stimulate students’ interest in language learning I.2 Aims of the study The study aims to evaluate the material “English Course for Nursing Students” in terms of appropriateness of its objectives, contents and methodology from both the teacher’s and the student’s perspective The findings will help the teachers to adjust the exploitation of the material so that they can make optimum use of strong points and adapt or substitute weak points from other medical materials I.3 Scope of the study In material evaluation, there has been a great number of criteria that should be taken into consideration such as: the audience, the content, the methodology, the cultural bias, the layout, the authenticity, and so on In this study, the criteria for evaluation were based on Hutchinson and Water’s (1987) with focus on the three following criteria: objectives of the material, contents of the material, and methodology I.4 Methods of the study This study employs survey research with two methods, including survey questionnaires and informal interviews These methods are described in detail in chapter two I.5 Organization of the study The study consists of parts: Part I - Introduction - presents the rationale, aims, scope and methodology of the study Part II - Development - includes chapters: Chapter – Literature review – provides a theoretical basis for the study First, it surveys the literature on the theories of the basic concepts such as English for Specific Purposes and English for Medical Purposes, regarding the definition, classification, and characteristics Second, it reviews material evaluation, need analysis in terms of definition, types, purposes and models The last part of the chapter presents the issues involving material adaptation which serve as a base for the improvements recommended at the end of the study Despite the criticism of the method, teachers were in favour of it They explained that it was the only way to teach ESP in large classes for long lessons with short time To some extent it helped to foster students’ ability of reading comprehension In sum, this chapter has identified both strengths and weaknesses of “English Course for Nursing Students” in terms of objectives, contents and methodology according to the teachers’ and students’ opinions on the aspects of necessity and present condition Adapting problematic aspects of the material is recommended in the following chapter 30 PART III: CONCLUSION A language course and textbook should help students communicate effectively in their everyday encounter, develop all four skills, enhance their ability to solve problems, understand the general features of language, discuss, ask and answer questions related to current topics, write and present summaries, enhance their vocabulary III.1 Conclusion This study evaluated the ESP material “English Course for Nursing Students” in terms of its Objectives, Contents and Methodology As analysis, this material only meets somewhat needed course objectives, besides it has some shortcomings: there is not any practical approach used in teaching; speaking and listening skills are mostly ignored; its activities and tasks are both inadequate and undiversified; it lacks a manual with answer key and teaching instructions Taking everything into account, “English for Nursing Students” should be replaced by other materials which are appropriate for students of different fields It would be the best for students of different faculties to have their own books However if it is unrealizable, adapting and reorganizing it might help to gain more experience, fresh ideas and what is the most important-an environment in which students would be happy to work III.2 Recommendations III.2.1 Objective Adjustments First of all, the course objectives seem to have some minor problems with the degree and condition criteria, i.e how well the behavior must be done and under which conditions the learners could demonstrate their mastery of the objective For example, the objective “describe these organs in terms of structures, location, functions and properties” should be clarified by specifying by oral presentation or in writing Also, “name the organs in the human body” or “give and follow instructions” is too broad If the number of organs or kinds of instructions had been added, they would have become much more concrete to access In addition, as pointed out in the previous section, though the material objectives partly match the course objectives, they not coincide with students’ needs While most 31 of students want to develop their speaking and listening skills along with reading and writing, both the material and course objectives ignore them These skills should be incorporated to a modest extent, the students would be more motivated Thus, to help students achieve the objectives proposed by the course, it is advisable that the faculty should: i reduce the number of the objectives ii replace some objectives if they are too demanding to students iii skip some of the material objectives if they are not in the course objectives iv add supplementary materials to enable students to achieve the course objectives III.2.2 Content Improvements Though the students seem to be generally in favour of the contents of the material, a number of improvements should be made to overcome the shortcomings Firstly, the lessons on midwife, examination, images should be added for students of different faculties to enhance their interests in learning ESP Secondly, the proportions of the four macro skills should be provided an integrated balance Thirdly, the reading texts should be rearranged in the order of increasing level of difficulty so that the students could be able to cope with linguistic problems more easily The short and simple texts should be presented before the longer ones Moreover, the texts with similar contents should be grouped so that vocabulary items can be recycled and stored in students’ long-term memory For the linguistic difficulties of the authentic texts, it would be a good idea to deal with them by adding pre-reading tasks to provide students with the new words and phrases as well as background knowledge Lastly, textbook should be added more types of exercises instead of only one type of exercise Also, students should be tested just what they have been taught during the terms Furthermore, the contents of the test should be practical which means it should have something to with students’ majors To this, it is suggested that there should be different tests for different students of different majors 32 III.2.3 Methodology Improvements It would be challenging and time-consuming to change the methodology of a book However, it would be still acceptable if some appropriate adaptations were made to “English Course for Nursing Students” Apart from the suggestion mentioned in the content improvement section, another way to integrate both productive (speaking and writing) and receptive skills (listening and reading) is through simple task modifications Teachers, thereby, can give all of the directions orally in English, thus causing students to use their listening ability to understand the assignment Besides, the teachers would ask the students to discuss their readings in English, thus employing speaking and listening skills Students should be asked to summarize or analyze reading in written form, thus activating their writing skill In this way, the students have the benefit of practicing all the language skills in an integrated, natural, communicative way, even if reading still remains the main focus of the course Then, it is advisable to add a wider range and larger quantity of activities including pair and group work to drill the skills as well as to promote social interaction Nevertheless, creating these activities must be very careful, as Jacobs and Ball (1996) have pointed out “In some ELT [text]books, group activities appear to have been created merely by putting the words „in groups‟ or „in pairs‟ in front of what were formerly individual activities, without making any changes to encourage learners to cooperate with one another Such instructions may suffice in some situations, but for effective interactions to take place students will generally need more guidance and encouragement.” (p.92) In the case of “English Course for Nursing Students” and in such large classes, creating meaningful pair and group work would present the teachers with practical, logistical, and organizational difficulties due to the text types The possible solution would be adding or replacing some texts with dialogues on the same topic (taken from the “Focus on Medical English” (1997) or other sources) These dialogues can be used for role-play or discussion, for example, taking a history or making a diagnosis etc Through these activities, the students would also involve in the writing process (i.e note-taking) 33 Finally, more activities for reading should be added to make the reading skill the main focus of the course in conformity with the course objectives The activities could be of various types as follows:  Scanning to locate specifically required information (e.g what the following numbers refer to?)  Surveying the text (e.g which of the following are included in the text: symptoms, indication, and treatment?)  Using the title (e.g Look at the title of the following text, ask questions that you hope the text will answer Read the texts and try to answer your questions)  Word meanings from context (e.g what does “dehydration” mean?  Contributing to the main idea (e.g Underline the sentence that does not contribute to the main idea) III.3 Limitations of the Study It should be acknowledged that there are some limitations of this research Firstly, the result and recommendations are suitable for the material “English Course for Nursing Students” and teaching situations in merely Thanh Hoa Medical College It could be unreasonable if they are applied for other documents and other settings Secondly, in material evaluation there are a great number of criteria that should be taken into consideration such as the audience, the contents, the methodology, the cultural bias, the layout, the authenticity… However, due to the limited time, the study only focused on three items (the objectives, the contents, and the methodology) Hence the study does not have a comprehensive view of the material Last but not least, the methodology improvement only concentrated on the teaching and learning techniques, there were no concerns on any approach or method, and as a result there would be no change in methodological framework of the material III.4 Suggestions for Further Research In spite of the above limitations, the research provides a basis for further study on the aspects which were not covered such as the audience, the cultural bias, the layout, approaches… and they would be useful starting points for future researches 34 REFERENCES Allwright, R.L (1981) “What Do We Want Teaching Material For?” ELT Journal, 36(1) Altschuld, J W and Witkin, B R (2000) From Needs Assessment to Action: Transforming Needs into Solution Strategies, Sage Publictions: Thousand Oaks, CA Cunningsworth, A (1984) Evaluating and Selecting EFL Teaching Materials London: Heinemann Cunningsworth, A (1995) Choosing Your Course Book London: Macmillan Dudley-Evans, T., (1998) Developments in ESP: A multi-disciplinary approach Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Gillham, B (2000) Developing A Questionnaire London: Continuum Hutchinson, T., & Water, A (1993) English for Specific Purposes, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Low, G (1987) The need for a Multi-perspective Approach to the Evaluation of Foreign Language Teaching Materials Evaluation and Research in Education Mc Grath, I (2002), Materials Evaluation and Design for Language Teaching, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press 10 McKillip,J (1997) Need Analysis: Tools for the Human Service and Education Applied Social Research Methods Sage Publications: Thousand Oaks, CA 11 McKillip,J.(1998) Need Analysis In Bickman, L and Rog, D.J (Eds) Handbook of Applied Social Research Methods Sage Publications: Thousand Oaks, CA 12 Murphy, D.F (1985), Evaluation in Language Teaching: Assessment, Accountability and Awareness, Alderson 13 Nunan, D (1989) Designing Tasks for the Communicative Classroom Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 14 Nunan, D (1991) Language Teaching Methodology London: Prentice Hall International 15 Richards, J.C (2001), Curriculum Development in Language Teaching, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 16 Rea-Dickins, P., & Germain, K.(1998) Evaluation, Oxford: Oxford University Press 35 17 Reviere, R., Berkowitz,S.,Carter, C.C.,Gergusan, C.G (Eds) (1996) Needs Assessment: A Creative and Practical Guide for Social Scientists Taylor and Francis: Washington, DC 18 Sheldon, L (1988) Evaluating ELT Textbooks and Materials ELT Journal 19 Swales, J (1980) ESP: The Textbook Problem ESP Journal 20 Tomlinson, B (1998), Materials Development in Language Teaching, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 21 Trần Đức (1997) Chủ điểm tiếng Anh Ngành y Hanoi: Publish house of Medicine 22 Williams, D (1983) “Developing Criteria for Textbook Evaluation”, ELT journal 23 Witkin, B R and Altschould, J W (1995) Planning and Conducting Needs Assessments: A practical Guide Sage Publictions: Thousand Oaks, CA 24 Yalden, J (1987), Principles of Course Design for Language Teaching, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 36 APPENDIX 1: QUESTIONAIRE FOR TEACHERS This questionnaire is designed to collect ideas from the teachers of English of the English Department at Thanh Hoa Medical College on the currently-used material “English Course for Nursing Students” Please answer the following questions carefully Your opinions would be valuable to the evaluation research and the improvement of the material Your cooperation is highly appreciated Thank you very much To answer the survey questions below, please assign one of the numbers to the items given in the table NECESSITY: 4: Highly Necessary PRESENT CONDITION: 5: Excellent I Objectives Items The material is appropriate for the curriculum and fits the objectives II Contents Scale Items The contents of the material are relevant to student’s needs as an English language learner(s) The contents of the material are generally realistic The contents of the material are interesting, challenging and motivating The language used in the textbook is authentic The language is used at the right level for student current English ability The progression of grammar points and vocabulary items are appropriate The grammar points presented with brief and easy I examples and explanations The language functions exemplify English that students will be likely to use The material provides an appropriate balance of the four language skills 10 Sub-skills are paid attention (i.e scanning, skimming…) 11 The practice of individual skills is integrated into the practice of other skills III Methodology Scale Items The material follows teaching methodology: CLT (Communicative Language Teaching) The material provides a balance of activities The activities encourage sufficient communicative and meaningful practice The activities incorporate individual, pair and group work The grammar points and vocabulary items are introduced in motivating and realistic contexts The activities promote creative, original and independent responses The material’s activities can be modified or supplemented easily The material includes and focuses on the skills that students need to practice The material highlights and practices natural pronunciation Thank you for your cooperation! II APPENDIX 2: QUESTIONAIRE FOR STUDENTS Bản câu hỏi nhằm lấy ý kiến sinh viên trường Cao đẳng y tế Thanh Hóa tài liệu tiếng Anh sử dụng: English course for nursing students Mong bạn trả lời đầy đủ câu hỏi dựa tình hình thực tế trường Những ý kiến đóng góp bạn có giá trị q trình nghiên cứu đánh giá giáo trình việc sửa đổi giáo trình Xin chân thành cảm ơn Để trả lời câu hỏi đây, bạn đánh dấu vào trống thích hợp và/hoặc điền vào chỗ trống Sự cần thiết: 4: Cần thiết cao Tình trạng thực tế: 5: Rất tốt I Mục tiêu Tiêu chí Giáo trình phù hợp với chương trình mục tiêu đào tạo II Nội dung Mức độ Tiêu chí Nội dung giáo trình phù hợp với nhu cầu người học Chủ điểm giáo trình tương đối thực tế hữu ích cho cơng việc bạn sau Chủ điểm giáo trình thú vị, khó hấp dẫn Từ vựng sử dụng theo ngữ cảnh Từ vựng sử dụng phù hợp với trình độ người học Các chủ điểm ngữ pháp từ vựng xếp theo trình tự hợp lý Các chủ điểm ngữ pháp trình bày với ví dụ giải thích ngắn gọn, dễ hiểu Giáo trình bao gồm chức ngơn ngữ mà III người học muốn sử dụng Giáo trình có đủ bốn kỹ nghe, nói, đọc, viết 10 Giáo trình trọng đến tiểu kỹ (sub-skills), chẳng hạn đọc nhanh tìm ý chính, đọc kỹ tim thơng tin 11 Các kỹ luyện tập xen kẽ III Phương pháp Mức độ Tiêu chí Giáo trình có đầy đủ loại hoạt động Các hoạt động khuyến khích luyện tập với mục đích giao tiếp Các hoạt động bao gồm cách làm việc lớp, nhóm, cặp cá nhân độc lập Ngữ pháp từ vựng đưa vào ngữ cảnh thực tế Các hoạt động khuyến khích sang tạo độc lập Giáo trình tập trung vào kỹ mà người học cần luyện tập Giáo trình tạo hội cho người học luyện tập phát âm cách tự nhiên Xin chân thành cảm ơn! IV APPENDIX 3: QUESTIONAIRE FOR TEACHER INTERVIEW Which of the following objectives does the material contain?  Name the organs in human body, rooms in hospital  Describe these organs in terms of structures, location, functions and properties  Describe a number of diseases, their causes, indications and treatment  Give and follow instructions  Read easy medical documents  Understand diagrams and common medical abbreviations  Define the medical terms and abbreviations presented by memory  Make simple conversation at work (hospital) Which of the following objectives can your students achieve after learning this material?  Name the organs in human body, rooms in hospital  Describe these organs in terms of structures, location, functions and properties  Describe a number of diseases, their causes, indications and treatment  Give and follow instructions  Read easy medical documents  Understand diagrams and common medical abbreviations  Define the medical terms and abbreviations presented by memory  Make simple conversation at work (hospital) Is the material suitable for large, homogeneous classes of college students? ‫ ﬦ‬Yes ‫ ﬦ‬No Would you choose to teach this material again? ‫ ﬦ‬Yes ‫ ﬦ‬No What adjustment should be done to the material? …………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………… Thank you for your cooperation! V APPENDIX 4: QUESTIONAIRE FOR STUDENT INTERVIEW Bạn có thích học tiếng Anh chun ngành? Tại sao? ‫ ﬦ‬Có, lí ‫ ﬦ‬Khơng, lí Bạn có cho sử dụng tiếng Anh công việc sau khơng? ‫ ﬦ‬Có ‫ ﬦ‬Khơng Hãy đánh số thứ tự từ ( quan trọng nhất) đến (không quan trọng) cho kỹ sau đây: đọc -nghe viết nói Theo bạn, phần trăm thời lượng học nên sử dụng cho kỹ năng? đọc % nghe % viết % nói .% Bạn mong muốn học khóa học tiếng Anh chuyên ngành này? Bạn thích học/làm độc lập hay theo cặp nhóm? Bạn có thích dùng giáo trình học khơng? Tại sao? Giáo trình làm tăng hứng thú học tiếng Anh chuyên ngành bạn ‫ ﬦ‬Đúng ‫ ﬦ‬Sai Nếu lựa chọn, bạn có chọn học sách khơng? ‫ﬦ‬ Có, lí ‫ﬦ‬ Khơng, lí 10 Bạn có kiến nghị giáo trình này? Xin chân thành cảm ơn! VI APPENDIX 5: STUDENT NEEDS ANALYSIS RESULTS Figure Skill Importance Ranking Figure Skill vs Class-Time Distribution VII ... 1.2 Material Evaluation 1.2.1 Definition of Material Evaluation 1.2.2 Types of Material Evaluation 1.2.3 Purposes of Material Evaluation 1.2.4 Models for Material Evaluation 1.3 Needs- Based Evaluation. .. the topic ? ?The Needs- Based Evaluation of ESP Material ? ?English Course for Nursing Students? ?? for Second Years Students at Thanh Hoa Medical College? ?? was chosen with the intention that it will... 1.2.2 Types of material evaluation Regarding types of material evaluation, Tomlinson (1988) indicates that for each dimension of evaluation, there are certain types of evaluation These dimensions