designing a task based writing skill syllabus integrated with working skills for the second year english majors of thuong mai university

TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii ABSTRACT iii TABLE OF CONTENTS i TABLE OF FIGURES iv PART 1: INTRODUCTION .1 Rationale .1 Aims and Objectives of the study .3 Scope of the study .3 Research questions Design of the study .4 PART 2: DEVELOPMENT .5 Chapter 1: Literature review 1.1 Approaches to Teaching Writing for Specific PurposeError! Bookmark not defined 1.1.1 Product Oriented Approaches Error! Bookmark not defined 1.1.2 Process Oriented Approaches Error! Bookmark not defined 1.1.3 Genre Approaches Error! Bookmark not defined 1.2 Task-Based Approaches Error! Bookmark not defined 1.2.1 Tasks and types of tasks Error! Bookmark not defined 1.2.1.1 Target Tasks Error! Bookmark not defined 1.2.1.2 Learning Tasks Error! Bookmark not defined 1.2.2 The framework of TBLT applied in teaching writingError! Bookmark not define 1.3 Task-Based syllabus (TBS) Error! Bookmark not defined Chapter 2: Methodology 2.1 Setting of the study 28 2.2 Informants .28 2.3 Data collection instruments 29 2.4 Data collection and data analysis procedure 30 Chapter 3: Findings and Discussion 32 3.1 The situational analysis of the teaching and learning context in TMU .32 3.1.1 The teachers 32 3.1.2 The students 32 3.1.2.1 Background 32 3.1.2.2 Writing competence .32 3.1.2.3 Motivation in learning writing skills 34 3.1.3 The shortcoming of the current writing textbook .34 3.2 Needs Analysis 36 3.2.1 Target tasks and target language focus perceived by the university based on the CEFR 36 3.2.2.Target tasks and learning tasks perceived by teachers and learners 38 3.3 Learning needs analysis .39 Chapter 4: The proposed writing skill syllabus 4.1 Justifications for the choice of task based approach to designing the syllabus 4.2 Course description 4.3 Tasks Selecting and Grading PART 3: CONCLUSION .54 Summary of the study .54 Limitations of the study 55 Suggestions for further studies 56 References I Appendixes III Appendix 1: NEEDS ANALYSIS FRAMEWORK (Hutchinson and Waters, 1987) III Appendix 2: THE STUDENTS’ QUESTIONNAIRES V Appendix 3: THE TEACHERS’ QUESTIONNAIRES VIII Appendix 4: Written test evaluation criteria (Adapted from CEFR (2001)) XI Appendix 5: Sample lesson procedures XIV TABLE OF FIGURES Figure 1: Framework for task based writing teaching Error! Bookmark not defined Figure 2: Framework for task based syllabus design (Ellis 2003: 66)Error! Bookmark not defi Figure 3: Framework for task based syllabus design (Nunan, 2004:25)Error! Bookmark not def Figure 4: Students’ length of time of learning English 32 Figure 5: The estimated writing competence of the students 33 Figure 2: Students’ attitudes toward Writing Skills 34 Figure 7: The target level for the writing skills after the first semester as required by TMU ( Based on CEFR( 2001:61,62, 82) 37 Figure 8: Teachers' and students' preference for the specific writing tasks 39 Figure 9: The familiar vs the expected teaching and learning styles 40 PART 1: INTRODUCTION Rationale Writing is one of the four major language skills that foreign language students have to master It is a common knowledge that writing is very important in language learning as, according to Rames (1983), writing helps learners not only in the ways it reinforces learners to practice certain grammar and vocabulary structures and reflect on why those are used and not others but also in the way it improves the learners’ thinking skills as when students write, they make effort to express ideas with constant use of eyes, hands and brain and discover a real need for finding the right word and the right sentence As writing is of such great importance for language learners, teaching how to write well is the inevitable aim of almost all language courses Yet, teaching writing is challenging for language teachers as ‘writing fluently and expressively is a tough task for all language users regardless of whether the language in use is first, second or foreign language’ (Nunan,1988:3) Whether the journey writing teachers and learners have to go on under their writing course is smooth and whether the learners can reach the destination of the journey depend on a wide variety of factors such as the course syllabus, the teaching methodology, the available resources and the motivation of the students From all these influential factors, the course syllabus is extremely important because if appropriately designed with careful need analysis, the syllabus can act as the guidance for both teachers and learners in terms of aims, the objectives, teaching methodology, material suggestions, time allocation, assessments, and almost all the matters of learning and teaching In fact, a course syllabus can be compared with a helpful travel guidebook or a compass for teachers and learners in their journey to knowledge Especially, a course syllabus plays an absolutely significant role when writing for specific purposes because it requires a lot of skills which can helps students meet the requirements from the employers and be ready for their jobs for their future From early 1960s, English for Specific Purposes (ESP) has grown to become one of the most prominent areas of EFL teaching today and gained a well- Page established position as a component of applied linguistics research (Dudley-Evans & St Johns, 1998) As the word “specific” suggests, the nature of ESP is different from that of general English in a sense that ESP learners learn English for a certain professional or occupational purpose Therefore, teaching/learning ESP includes much more than the teaching of English through specific materials and content In fact, it combines the development of linguistic skills together with the acquisition of specific information Consequently, to ensure the success of ESP learning, the materials should be wisely selected and adapted and learning activities should be carefully designed, and more importantly, an appropriate teaching method should be adopted In the recent years, the ESP movement in Vietnam has been rapidly developing due to the existence of diverse needs of the learners Currently, all university students must learn the ESP that suits their learning branches For example, students at economics universities have to learn English for commerce, while students from the Information Technology universities have to learn English for IT However, a lot of questions have been raised over the quality of ESP teaching and learning at university as many students studying ESP show quite poor performance on four language skills and a lot of graduates cannot use ESP in their work This results in an unsolved problems that ESP teachers are encountering: How to design appropriate syllabus and authentic learning activities to enhance ESP learning? In addition, the fast changing business environment and the ever-growing demand facing professional communicators in the 21st century pose new challenges to language learners and teachers alike Competitive business organizations attempt to recruit employees who have excellent linguistic competence coupled with nonlinguistic competences and skills It is not easy to acquire these additional competences and skills However, most of them are transferable and can be greatly improved if students are provided with adequate teaching materials and appropriate input from the teacher Despite the importance of syllabus in teaching writing for ESP- one of the most difficult language skills, it is not always given adequate attention to This is Page exemplified by the context of teaching writing for ESP in Thuong Mai University (TMU) where the current used syllabus is available but developed out of the syllabus writers’ personal experience and intuition without referring to the situation analysis and learner needs analysis Consequently, when the syllabus for ESP was operated, it showed a lot of pitfalls, the greatest of which being the students’ disinterest in learning writing, the irrelevance of the writing tasks and the teaching methodology This fact gives rise to the need to design a new business writing syllabus for second-year students who have already got basic writing skill in The business Pre-intermediate in the first year and have better knowledge about general business writing as well as see the importance of the business writing for their jobs in the future That syllabus should be based on careful analyses of contextual factors and learner needs as well as educational needs, i.e., the objectives of the foreign language program The ideas above motivate me to design a new writing skills syllabus for the secondyear English majors at TMU Aims and Objectives of the study The study aims at designing a new appropriate writing skills syllabus for the second-year English majors at TMU To achieve this aim, the following objectives are established: (1) To develop a theoretical framework related to writing syllabus design (2) To identify the needs perceived by the university, the teachers, the secondyear English majors toward an appropriate writing syllabus for the target students (3) To propose a writing syllabus based on the relevant theories and the needs analysis Scope of the study The syllabus limits itself to the design of new writing skills syllabus for second-year English majors in TMU Thus, it is not intended for other groups of the students at the University or students from other universities However, once the syllabus has been implemented, and evaluated by the university teachers who implement the Page syllabus, it can serve as a reference for those who are interested in designing a similar syllabus for similar groups of students Research questions What are the students’ learning needs and target needs from the perspective of the students, the teachers and the university? What aims and objectives should be included in the writing skills syllabus for the second-year English majors? What contents and teaching methodology should be included and organized in the writing skills syllabus for the second-year English majors? Design of the study The thesis will be comprised of three parts Part is the introduction, which presents the rationales, the aims, the objectives, the scope, the methods and the design of the study Part is the development which consists of four chapters: o Chapter reviews the literature related to the syllabus design and the theoretical issues on the definition and features of task based language teaching in relation to the teaching of writing skills in EFL context o Chapter reports the research methodology the setting, the informants, the instruments and the data collection and analysis procedure o Chapter presents and discusses the findings from need analysis in light of teaching problems with the current syllabus, the insiders’ attitudes towards writing skills and the current syllabus as well as their expectations of the changes in teaching and learning writing skills In addition, a new task-based syllabus is proposed based on the findings of the research Part is the conclusion that provides a summary, state the limitations of the study and give some suggestions for further research on the topic Page PART 2: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 Approaches to Teaching Writing for Specific Purpose English for Specific Purposes Teaching English for Specific Purposes (ESP) is a prime illustration of the saying “what comes in time, changes over time.” ESP as a term came into language more than 50 years ago The notion of a language for specific job-related purposes appeared in the sixties and the early seventies of the 20th century and was connected with the pioneering research of Halliday, MacIntosh and Strevens (1964) Since its introduction ESP has been changing and developing all the time, and it is expected to change and develop in the future as well Widdowson (1983:10) is of the opinion that “ESP is simply a matter of describing a particular area of language and then using this description as a course specification to impart to learners the necessary restricted competence with this particular area.” Hutchinson and Waters (1987:19) support the idea that ESP must be seen as an approach, rather than a product According to Hutchinson and Waters (1987:5), there were three main reasons for the emergence of all varieties of ESP: the demands of the New World after WW II, a revolution in linguistics, and a focus shift from the teacher to the learner (Hutchinson & Waters, 1987; Dudley-Evans & St Johns, 1998) English became subject to the wants, needs, and demands of people other than language teachers It was the learner who explicitly called for courses tailored to meet their professional needs A significant discovery at that time was that the ways in which we speak a language and write in a language vary The significance of this discovery was that, as a result of these variations in language use, language teaching could be tailored to both spoken and written professional situations In the late 1960s and the early 1970s, there were first attempts to teach English for Science and Technology (EST) It was the first variety of language for specific purposes that received scientific attention Hutchinson and Waters (1987), Swales (1980), and Selinker and Tarone (1981) were among the EST pioneers Page Another significant discovery came from the psychology of learning –the research showed that another focus shift was needed, that from language delivery to language acquisition (Hutchinson & Waters, 1987) Focus on learners’ needs became as important as the methodology of language teaching Designing courses that could best meet these needs was bound to be a success According to the definition given by Hutchinson and Waters (1987:19), “ESP is an approach to language teaching in which all decisions as to content and method are based on the learner’s reason for learning.” It was a real revolution in language teaching – from a teacher-centered approach to a learner-centered and learning-centered approach, a milestone in language teaching that had its repercussions for the decades to come In 1983, Carter distinguished three varieties of ESP: English as a restricted language, English for Academic and Occupational Purposes, and English with specific topics The famous “tree of ELP” (Hutchinson & Waters,1987) shows that ESP was subdivided into English for Science and Technology (EST), English for Business and Economics (EBE), and English for Social Studies (ESS) Each of these three varieties was further subdivided into EAP and EOP Now ESP is an umbrella term which includes English for Science and Technology, English for Academic Purposes, English for Business and Economics, English for Management, English for Medicine, English for Finance and Banking, English for Law, English for Tourism/Engineering/Accounting, etc The number of ESP dictionaries reflects the creation and development of each variety of ESP By analyzing the year of publication, the type and the number of ESP dictionaries on the market, we can make conclusions on the popularity of each ESP variety In the 1980s and 1990s, about 80 new ESP dictionaries (mostly technical) appeared on the Polish market, and during the period 1990–2006 there were more than a hundred new business dictionaries available in Poland It demonstrates the popularity and expansion of ESP Today we can witness that publishers not only offer course-books and online materials for the varieties of ESP presented above but also publish books and materials targeted at a single profession, e.g English for Nurses, English for Job Page Appendix 5: Sample lesson procedures Writing a note of explanations Pre-Task: Students work in groups, read two notes given by the teacher and the learning tasks in order to get input language Task Cycle: Teacher gives students two prompts to write two notes of explanations in the two situations After writing, all the sticky notes are stick to the class wall Students move around in pairs to read and give comments Post Task: Teacher gives feedback and important notes on language use, common mistakes among class Writing a note of making arrangement Pre-Task: Students work in groups, read two notes given by the teacher and the learning tasks in order to get input language Task Cycle: Teacher gives students two prompts to write two notes of arrangement in the two situations After writing, all the sticky notes are stick to the class wall Students move around in pairs to read and give comments Post Task: Teacher gives feedback and important notes on language use, common mistakes among class Writing a short personal advertisement (e.g in employment column or dating sections of a newspaper) Pre-Task: Students in groups read two personal ads given by the teacher and the learning tasks in order to get input language Task Cycle: Teacher gives students two prompts to write two personal ads of arrangement in the two situations After writing, all the personal ads are stick to the class wall Students move around in pairs to read and give comments Post Task: Teacher gives feedback and important notes on language use, common mistakes among class Writing an email to reply a key pal Pre-Task: Students read an email from a key pal and the reply to get to know the format of the email letter Then they use provided information to complete the two emails provided to get input language Task Cycle: Students work in pairs Ask her/his friend for the email address and write an email to inform her/his news and ask some questions about that friend The letters then are exchanged to read and then they write the reply letters to each other Post Task: Teacher gives feedback and important notes on language use, common mistakes among class Writing letters of giving directions Pre-Task: Students work in groups to read a letter of giving instruction with a map together with it and figure out the place Students are also given some pedagogical task to work with language of giving instruction before writing their own instruction Page XIV Task Cycle: Students work in small group to write a letter giving direction based on a map provided by the teacher or the map from the students themselves (They can be asked to prepare in advance or they can draw out the map at class too) Letters after being written should be exchanged to other groups to figure out the ways and the position of the places on the provided maps Post Task: Teacher gives feedback and important notes on language use, common mistakes among class Writing letters of apology Pre-Task: Students read two letters of apology and decide which is more formal They then work in groups to complete the learning task to practice using the informal language and get some input language Task Cycle: Four prompts indicating the situations in which you made some mistakes or irritated someone are given to students Students are supposed to write a letter using appropriate informal styles Students work in groups to write the apology letters The letters after that are read and given feedbacks by other groups and teacher Post Task: Teacher gives feedback and important notes on language use, common mistakes among class Writing thank-you letters Pre-Task: Students read two thank you letters and decide which one is more formal They then work in groups to complete the learning task to practice using the informal language and get some input language Task Cycle: Four prompts are given to students to write a thank you letter using appropriate informal styles Students work in groups to write the thank you letters The letter after that are read and given feedbacks by other groups and teacher Post Task: Teacher gives feedback and important notes on language use, common mistakes among class Writing letters of making inquiries and requests of information Pre-Task: Students read an email requesting information and some learning tasks to practice how to begin and end a formal email Task Cycle: - Students working in groups are given several ads They are supposed to write an email letter to the responsible person to get more information about what they are interested in - The letters then are sent to other groups to get reply Post Task: Teacher gives feedback and important notes on language use, common mistakes among class 10 Writing a resume Pre-Task: Students are given a resume and some exercises in groups to get used to the format and the language of a resume Task Cycle: Students are supposed to write their own resume for the job they applied in the previous lesson Teacher gives back all the letters and the job ad to students to remind them the situation Student write their own resume individually and show the other members of the group the resume Page XV to get feedback Post Task: Teacher gives feedback and important notes on language use, common mistakes among class 11 Writing letters of application Pre-Task: Students are given an job advertisement and an application letter for the job Then they will some exercises in groups to get used to the format and the language of a application letter Task Cycle: Students are given several job advertisements and work in groups to write an application letter for the job they like The letters then are stick on the class wall Every one move around to read and decide who the best candidate is The teacher will collect all the letters that will be used in the next class Post Task: Teacher gives feedback and important notes on language use, common mistakes among class 12 Describing a past event Pre-Task: Students work in group to arrange fill in the missing words to make a story The missing words are hinted by picture Teachers elicit new words and raise students’ awareness of using the past simple and past continuous in narrating an event Task Cycle: Students are supposed to work in group to write a memorable event of their own They work on a set of questions about that event Ask and answer the questions to find out the person who has the most interesting story Students then work together to write up the story After that, all stories are presented in front of the class Post Task: Teacher gives feedback and important notes on language use, common mistakes among class 13 Writing a short text to recommend a film, a book or anything you like to the other people Pre-Task: Students read several recommendations and some exercises in groups to get used to the format and the language Task Cycle: Students are supposed to write a short recommendation to their friend Students work in groups to think of a movie, a book , a restaurant or any thing they like and tell their partners as many detail as possible If they cannot think of any, teacher can give them some pictures in handout 13 to help them They then look back at the format of the recommendation model in Pre-Task and write a recommendation individually or in groups Finally, all the recommendation will be stick on the class wall Every one move around and decide what recommendation is best for them and take one Post Task: Teacher gives feedback and important notes on language use, common mistakes among class - Students raise any questions related to the course to teacher - Teacher introduces the format of the written exam to the students and explain how the papers are evaluated Page XVI Mẫu THUYÊT MINH ĐỀ TÀI KH&CN CẤP CƠ SỞ BỘ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC THƯƠNG MẠI THUYẾT MINH ĐỀ TÀI KHOA HỌC VÀ CÔNG NGHỆ CẤP CƠ SỞ TÊN ĐỀ TÀI: Designing a task-based writing syllabus integrated working skills for the SỐ MÃ students at Hanoi University of Commerce (Thiết kế chương trình dậy kỹ viết theo nhiệm vụ, kết hợp định hướng phát triển nghề nghiệp cho sinh viên Đại học Thương mại.) THỜI GIAN THỰC HIỆN: tháng Từ ngày 30 tháng năm 2016 đến ngày 31 tháng năm2017 CHỦ NHIỆM ĐỀ TÀI Họ tên: Trần Lan Hương Học vị: Thạc sỹ Chức danh khoa học: Năm sinh: 1987 Địa quan: Khoa tiếng Anh Địa nhà riêng: Điện thoại quan: Điện thoại nhà riêng : Di động: 0906 291 387 Email:lanhuong_english@yahoo.com NHỮNG THÀNH VIÊN THAM GIA NGHIÊN CỨU ĐỀ TÀI (Lưu ý: Không người với giảng viên có thâm niên năm) TT Họ tên Trần Lan Hương Đơn vị công tác lĩnh vực chuyên môn Khoa Tiếng Anh Page XVII Nội dung nghiên cứu cụ thể giao Chủ nhiệm đề tài Chữ ký TỔNG QUAN TÌNH HÌNH NGHIÊN CỨU THUỘC LĨNH VỰC CỦA ĐỀ TÀI Ở TRONG VÀ NGOÀI NƯỚC 6.1 Ngồi nước (phân tích, đánh giá tình hình nghiên cứu thuộc lĩnh vực đề tài giới, liệt kê danh mục cơng trình nghiên cứu, tài liệu có liên quan đến đề tài trích dẫn đánh giá tổng quan) Task-based writing is one of the most important and inseparable part of task-based instruction Cabral (2003) asserts that writing is a social act Even when the writers are in the EFL language classroom context, their texts not only show their capability to solve a problem, but also their texts show their awareness of their own communicative goals Thus, TBI/FFI which shows teacher-planned interactions and discussions in class can lead to language learning; consequently, the learners would be able to notice their syntactic errors that cause communication problems It is this noticing that lays an infrastructure for awareness and subsequent language proficiency (Cabral, 2003) Task-based writing, to Tilfarioglu and Basaran (2007), is a good means of integrating the four skills and can enhance effective language learning because the prime purpose is to produce something, reach a conclusion, and create a whole picture of something within a pre-set frame Such activities are multi-faceted; they are done to improve the learners writing skill, and are expected to help to improve the other skills, as well Task-based instruction has been adopted in several English language curricula through Asian countries Nonetheless, according to Foster (2009), empirical support would be illuminating for assumptions about task-based language learning Butler (2011) pinpointed challenges linked with the adoption of task-based language teaching in Asian classrooms notwithstanding its popularity The first challenge refers to conceptual constraints such as misconceptions on task-based language teaching and conflicts with local values The second challenge resides with classroom-level constraints such as teacher-related and student-related factors, availability of resources, and classroom management practices And the last challenge relates to societalinstitutional level constraints including curricula and examination systems Butler’s (2011) research provides pedagogical implications such as utilizing more contextually feasible and flexible interpretations of task-based language teaching and building communities of learning inside as well as outside the classroom Hismanoglu and Hismanoglu (2011) emphasize the role of task-based language Page XVIII teaching as a powerful method to optimize language learning and teaching, explicate benefits and challenges of task-based language teaching as well as teacher and learner roles in task-based language teaching Chun, Zhao, and Wang (2011) reported that learners reacted positively to the online task-based language teaching, which yielded high learning performance of the students at the end of the semester 6.2 Trong nước (phân tích, đánh giá tình hình nghiên cứu thuộc lĩnh vực đề tài Việt Nam, liệt kê danh mục cơng trình nghiên cứu, tài liệu có liên quan đến đề tài trích dẫn đánh giá tổng quan) The newly documented English language curriculum in Vietnamese high schools (Ministry of Education and Training [MOET], 2006) aims to enable school pupils to have basic communicative competence in all four skills, as well as a formal knowledge of English and an appreciation of the cultures of English-speaking countries In addition, this document states that “communicative skills are the goal of the teaching of English at the secondary school while formal knowledge of the language serves as the means to the end” (MOET, 2006) The task-based framework is effectively operationalised in a locally-written set of textbooks, which, according to the authors (Van, Hoa, Loc, Loi, Minh, & Tuan, 2006), adopt communicative learner-centred approaches Teachers are expected to organize classroom activities so that students can engage with each other “actively, creatively and cooperatively” (Van et al, 2006) through individual, pair, and group work in meaningful interaction within a task-based framework However, a number of Vietnamese educators questioned whether the school system and its teachers were ready for such a radical change from more traditional methods and approaches For example, Pham (2000) argued that “modern teaching methods should be applied with a close and careful consideration of the cultural values of Vietnam.” Another applied linguist suggested that a lack of appropriate professional development meant that “teachers are generally incapable of teaching English communicatively within a task-based framework in their real-world classrooms” (Canh, 2002) Bao (2004) conducted a survey with teachers and found that many did not wish to change their methods To a large extent, this unwillingness may be due to the strong wash-back effect of the national examinations, in which the skills of speaking and listening of a task-based framework are not tested and only multiple-choice tests are used to assess grammatical and vocabulary accuracy (Canh, 2009) Page XIX 6.3 Danh mục cơng trình cơng bố thuộc lĩnh vực đề tài chủ nhiệm thành viên tham gia nghiên cứu (họ tên tác giả; báo; ấn phẩm; yếu tố xuất bản) TÍNH CẤP THIẾT CỦA ĐỀ TÀI As writing is of such great importance for language learners, teaching how to write well is the inevitable aim of almost all language courses Yet, teaching writing is challenging for language teachers as ‘writing fluently and expressively is a tough task for all language users regardless of whether the language in use is first, second or foreign language’ (Nunan,1988:3) Despite the importance of syllabus in teaching writing -one of the most difficult language skills, it is not always given adequate attention to This is exemplified by the context of teaching writing at Hanoi university of Commerce where the current used syllabus is available but developed out of the syllabus writers’ personal experience and intuition without referring to the situation analysis, working skills and learner needs analysis Consequently, when the syllabus was operated, it showed a lot of pitfalls, the greatest of which being the students’ disinterest in learning writing, the irrelevance of the writing tasks and the teaching methodology This fact gives rise to the need to design a new writing syllabus for a particular group of students, i.e., beginner students, lowintermediate, intermediate, etc That syllabus should be based on careful analyses of contextual factors and learner needs as well as educational needs, i.e., the objectives of the foreign language program The ideas above motivate me to design a new writing skills syllabus for the elementary students at Hanoi university of Commerce ĐỐI TƯỢNG, PHẠM VI NGHIÊN CỨU 8.1 Đối tượng nghiên cứu 140 first-year English majors students respond to the questionnaires All are Vietnamese aged from 18 to 20 Their levels varying from lower intermediate to intermediate is proven by the fact that they have studied English for at least years and English is their major subject The average size of their class varies from 35 to 40 students “The Business- Preintermediate” is used as their textbook 8.2 Phạm vi nghiên cứu The syllabus limits itself to the design of new writing skills syllabus for the first-year Page XX English majors at Hanoi university of Commerce Thus, it is not intended for other groups of the students at the University or students from other universities However, once the syllabus has been implemented, and evaluated by the university teachers who implement the syllabus, it can serve as a reference for those who are interested in designing a similar syllabus for similar groups of students Page XXI MỤC TIÊU ĐỀ TÀI, ĐỊA CHỈ VÀ SẢN PHẨM ỨNG DỤNG The study aims at designing a new appropriate writing skills syllabus for the first-year English majors at Hanoi university of Commerce To achieve this aim, the following objectives are established: (4) To develop a theoretical framework related to writing syllabus design (5) To identify the needs perceived by the university, the teachers, the first year English majors toward an appropriate writing syllabus for the target students (6) To propose a writing syllabus based on the relevant theories and the needs analysis Research questions: What are the students’ learning needs and target needs from the perspective of the students, the teachers and the university? What aims and objectives should be included in the writing skills syllabus for the elementary English majors What contents and teaching methodology should be included and organized in the writing skills syllabus for the elementary English majors? 10 CÁCH TIẾP CẬN, PHƯƠNG PHÁP NGHIÊN CỨU 10.1 Cách tiếp cận mẫu khảo sát 140 first-year students and 12 teachers of English Department- Hanoi Univeresity of Commerce will be asked for agreement to take part in as the participant of the research 10.2 Phương pháp nghiên cứu: - Qualitative data - Questionnaires and interview - Data analysis: To accomplish the purpose of the study, the following procedures were pursued: First, 62 writing papers written by the student informants as one of their writing class work at the first class of the course were marked and analyzed to assess the learners’ writing competence The papers then were examined and sorted into different levels from A1 to C2 based on the CEFR assessment of written language level (CEFR, 2001) with Page XXII criteria: Overall written production General linguistic range Grammatical accuracy Coherence and cohesion Second, the CEFR common references levels was examined with the view to finding out the expectation of the university about the target objectives for the course What described in the CEFR about the target outcomes of the course was analyzed in comparison with the findings from the students’ writing paper in order to determine the lacks- a gap between the existing proficiency and the target proficiency The four broad domains of language use proposed in the CEFR (2001) including the personal, public, the occupational and the educational is used as basis to develop the questionnaire surveying the teachers and students’ attitudes towards the target tasks (section of the questionnaires) Third, the current syllabus was examined to have an overall evaluation in terms of objectives, learners’ motivation, contents and methodology in order to find out the shortcomings that are expected to be made up in the new syllabus Last, questionnaires were developed for teachers of the English section and the target students based on the need analysis framework in Hutchinson, Tom & Water (1987) At the time they were asked to answer the questionnaire, they had taken 16 hours out of the total 30 hours of the course Writing skills The data obtained from these two questionnaires were imported into the computer and treated in Excel The data were then subjected to some descriptive and inferential statistics For accurate and effective interpretation of data, the author uses frequencies and sorting to find out the percentage that indicates more emphasis given to each item Page XXIII 11 NỘI DUNG NGHIÊN CỨU VÀ TIẾN ĐỘ THỰC HIỆN 11.1 Nội dung nghiên cứu (trình bày dạng đề cương nghiên cứu chi tiết) PART 1: INTRODUCTION 1.Rationale 2.Aims and Objectives of the study 3.Scope of the study 4.Methodology 4.1.Research questions 4.2.Research methods 5.Design of the study PART 2: DEVELOPMENT Chapter 1: Literature Review 1.1 Approaches to Teaching Writing 1.1.1 Product Oriented Approaches 1.1.2 Process Oriented Approaches 1.1.3 Genre Approaches 1.2 Task-Based Approaches 1.2.1 Tasks and types of tasks 1.2.1.1 Target Tasks 1.2.1.2 Learning Tasks 1.2.2 The framework of TBLT applied in teaching writing 1.3 Syllabus Design in Language Teaching 1.3.1 Approaches to Language Syllabus Design ( LSD) 1.3.1.1.Synthetic Approach 1.3.1.2.Analytic Approach 1.3.2 Different Types of Syllabus 1.3.2.1.Product Based Syllabus 1.3.2.1.1.Grammatical syllabus 1.3.2.1.2.Situational syllabus 1.3.2.1.3.Notional/Functional syllabus 1.3.2.2.Process Based Syllabus 1.3.2.2.1.Content based syllabus 1.3.2.2.2.Task-Based syllabus (TBS) 1.3.3 Steps in Task –Based Syllabus Design Page XXIV 1.3.3.1.Needs Analysis (NA) in TBS Design 1.3.3.1.1.1.Target Need Analysis 1.3.3.1.1.2.Learning Need Analysis 1.3.3.1.2.Aims and objectives setting 1.3.3.1.3.Task Selecting and Sequencing Chapter 2: Methodology 2.1 Setting of the study 2.2 Research questions 2.3 Informants 2.4 Data collection instruments 2.5 Data collection and data analysis procedure Chapter 3: Findings and Discussion 3.1.The situational analysis of the teaching and learning context 3.1.1 The teachers analysis 3.1.2 The students analysis 3.1.2.1 Background 3.1.2.2 Writing competence 3.1.2.3 Motivation in learning writing skills 3.1.3 The shortcoming of the current syllabus 3.2.Need Analysis 3.2.1 Target Needs Analysis 3.2.1.1.Target tasks and target language focus perceived by the university based on the CEFR 3.2.2 Target tasks and learning tasks perceived by teachers and learners 3.3 Learning needs analysis Chapter 4: The Proposed Writing Skill Syllabus 4.1 Justifications for the choice of task based approach to designing the syllabus 4.2 Aims and Objectives 4.3 Tasks Selecting and Grading PART 3: CONCLUSION 1.Summary of the study 2.Limitations of the study 3.Suggestions for further studies References Page XXV 11.2 Tiến độ thực Các nội dung, công việc STT Thời gian Sản phẩm (bắt đầu-kết thúc) thực - Người thực Thiết kế câu hỏi Phiếu điều tra, phiếu tiêu quan điều tra phiếu sát phỏng vấn tiêu quan 08-10 sát /2016 (observation sheet) - Phát phiếu điều tra, dự quan sát Trần quan sát phiếu phỏng vấn từ 2016 Lan - Thực phỏng vấn đối tượng nghiên cứu đối tượng nghiên cứu - Thống kê, phân tích, Thu thập phiếu điều tra, phiếu 11-12/ xử lý, đưa kết luận từ số liệu kết nghiên cứu, đưa đề Hương 01-02/ Chương trình dậy viết tích hợp 2017 định hướng nghiệp xuất Page XXVI phát triển nghề 12 SẢN PHẨM 12.1 Sản phẩm khoa học Bài báo đăng tạp chí nước ngồi Bài báo đăng tạp chí nước Bài đăng kỷ yếu hội nghị, hội thảo quốc tế 12.2 Sản phẩm hỗ trợ đào tạo cho Nghiên cứu sinh 12.3 Cao học ĐH, CĐ Các sản phẩm khác Stt Tên sản phẩm Số lượng Yêu cầu khoa học 13 HIỆU QUẢ (giáo dục đào tạo, kinh tế - xã hội) The research can show that the current syllabus fails to meet the needs of both the university and the students in terms of its objectives and contents The new sets of objectives which emphasize the communicative competence of the learners in their desirable target situations can be re-determined in accordance with their needs To best serve the objectives of the course and learning style preferences of the students, task based was chosen as the approach driving the design of the new syllabus in which the target tasks in four main domains: the personal, the public, the occupational and the educational were derived from the target needs analysis and selected to suit the current level of the learners (CEF A1+ -A2) 14 PHƯƠNG THỨC CHUYỂN GIAO KẾT QUẢ NGHIÊN CỨU VÀ ĐỊA CHỈ ỨNG DỤNG This minor thesis is intended to deal with the shortage of an appropriate writing skills syllabus for the first year English majors in Hanoi university of Commerce The thesis, therefore, is aimed at designing a practical, feasible and enjoyable writing skills syllabus for the first year English majors of Hanoi university of Commerce Page XXVII 15 KINH PHÍ THỰC HIỆN ĐỀ TÀI VÀ NGUỒN KINH PHÍ Tổng kinh phí: 10 triệu đồng Dự trù kinh phí theo mục chi (phù hợp với nội dung nghiên cứu): STT Nội dung cơng việc Dự trù kinh phí Xây dựng thuyết minh đề cương chi tiết 2.000.000 đồng Mua tài liệu tham khảo 2.500.000 đồng Viết báo cáo tổng hợp kết nghiên cứu đề tài 2.500.000 đồng Nghiệm thu đề tài 1.000.000 đồng Chi văn phòng phẩm khoản chi khác 2.000.000 đồng Ngày…tháng…năm…… Ngày…tháng…năm…… Xác nhận hội đồng khoa học khoa Chủ nhiệm đề tài (ký, họ tên) Ngày…tháng…năm…… Cơ quan chủ quản duyệt HIỆU TRƯỞNG Page XXVII I ... objectives of the foreign language program The ideas above motivate me to design a new writing skills syllabus for the secondyear English majors at TMU Aims and Objectives of the study The study aims at... propose a writing syllabus based on the relevant theories and the needs analysis Scope of the study The syllabus limits itself to the design of new writing skills syllabus for second-year English majors. .. main approaches to LSD, there are two main types of syllabus: the analytic syllabus and the synthetic syllabus, In fact, this classification is just theoretical because in the real teaching practice,