(Luận văn thạc sĩ) an evaluation of the esp coursebook for second year students at marine engine department vietnam maritime university (vimaru)

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES  LƯƠNG THỊ MINH THU AN EVALUATION OF THE ESP COURSEBOOK FOR SECOND-YEAR STUDENTS AT MARINE ENGINE DEPARTMENT-VIETNAM MARITIME UNIVERSITY (VIMARU) (Đánh giá giáo trình tiếng Anh chuyên ngành dành cho sinh viên năm thứ hai Khoa Máy Tàu Biển - Trường ĐH Hàng Hải Việt Nam) M A MINOR THESIS MAJOR : ELT METHODOLOGY CODE : 60 14 10 HANOI - 2012 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES  LƯƠNG THỊ MINH THU AN EVALUATION OF THE ESP COURSEBOOK FOR SECOND-YEAR STUDENTS AT MARINE ENGINE DEPARTMENT-VIETNAM MARITIME UNIVERSITY (VIMARU) (Đánh giá giáo trình tiếng Anh chuyên ngành dành cho sinh viên năm thứ hai Khoa Máy Tàu Biển - Trường ĐH Hàng Hải Việt Nam) M A MINOR THESIS MAJOR : ELT METHODOLOGY SUPERVISOR: PROF DR HOÀNG VĂN VÂN HANOI - 2012 TABLE OF CONTENTS Declaration i Acknowledgements ii Abstract iii List of abbreviations iv List of charts, figures and tables v Table of contents vi PART 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale 1.2 Aims of the study 1.3 Research question 1.4 Scope of the study 1.5 Method of the study 1.6 Design of the study PART 2: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 Introduction 1.2 Textbook, course-book and material 1.2.1 Definitions 1.2.2 Roles of teaching materials in a language program 1.3 Course-book evaluation 1.3.1 Definition of course-book evaluation 1.3.2 Why course-book evaluation 1.3.3 Types of course-book evaluation 1.3.4 Course-book evaluation in ESP 1.3.5 Why students’ evaluation 10 iv 1.3.6 Techniques for course-book evaluation 11 1.3.7 Models for evaluation 12 1.3.8 Criteria for evaluation 14 1.4 Previous studies on materials evaluation 14 1.5 Summary 16 CHAPTER 2: THE STUDY 2.1 Introduction 17 2.2 The context of the study 17 2.2.1 An overview on Vietnam Maritime University and the Marine Engine Department 17 2.2.2 The course 16 2.2.3 The aims of the ESP course 18 2.2.4 The ESP course-book 18 2.2.5 The ESP teachers 19 2.2.6 The students 20 2.3 The study 21 2.3.1 Participants 21 2.3.2 Data collection instruments 21 2.3.2.1 Questionnaire 21 2.3.2.2 Interview 22 2.3.3 Procedure 22 2.4 Summary 22 CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION 3.1 Results and discussion 23 3.1.1 Learners’ attitude towards learning ESP 23 v 3.1.2 Learners’ evaluation of the current ESP course-book 25 3.1.3 Learners’ evaluation of the teachers’ exploitation of ESP materials 33 3.1.4 Students’ suggestions 34 3.1.5 Teachers’ views of ESP course-book 36 3.2 Major findings 37 3.2.1 The suitability of the course-book to the audience 38 3.2.2 The suitability of the course-book to the aims 38 3.2.3 The suitability of the course-book to the content requirements 38 3.2.4 The suitability of the course-book to the methodology 39 3.3 Recommendations 41 3.3.1 Content improvements 41 3.3.2 Layout improvements 42 3.3.3 Methodology improvements 43 3.3.4 Other recommendations 44 PART III: CONCLUSION Summary of the study 45 Limitations of the study 47 Suggestions for further research 47 Conclusion 48 REFERENCE APPENDIX (Students questionnaire in English) APPENDIX (Students questionnaire in Vietnamese) APPENDIX (Teachers’ views as stated in the interview) APPENDIX (Checklist for evaluating ESP materials by Hutchinson and waters) APPENDIX (A sample of an original unit vi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ESP: English for Specific Purposes GE: General English VIMARU: Vietnam Maritime University LIST OF CHARTS, FUGURES, AND TABLES Chart 1: Students’ levels of English Chart 2: The aims of the material Chart 3: The usefulness of tasks and exercises in skill development Figure 1: Stages in the ESP process Figure 2: The material evaluation process Table 1: Students’ time of learning English Table 2: Students’ ranking of their purposes of learning ESP Table 3: Students’ needs met by the ESP course-book Table 4: Students’ attitude towards the content of the ESP course-book Table 5: Students’ attitude towards time allocation for ESP Table 6: Students’ attitude towards vocabulary and grammar Table 7: Students’ attitude towards language skills covered Table 8: Students’ attitude towards tasks and exercises Table 9: Students’ satisfaction towards classroom activities Table 10: Students’ suggestions Table 11: Students’ opinions towards teacher’s use of language and the course-book Table 12: Teachers’ views of content Table 13: Teachers’ perceived limitations of the course-book Table 14: Students’ reactions to the course-book as observed by teachers Table 15: Challenges to the students in using the course-book as observed by teachers Table 16: Teachers’ self-reported challenges in using the course-book PART I: INTRODUCTION 1.1 RATIONALE It goes without saying that English is by far the most popular language of all Since Vietnam began its open-door policy, the English teaching and learning has strongly developed More and more people learn English in order to have a better work opportunity In Maritime field, English has been considered 'the language of the sea' This means English is the only language used by seafarers of all nationalities at sea and this shows how important English is for seafarers Vietnam Maritime University (VIMARU) has been the leading university in maritime section After graduating from VIMARU, the students of Navigation Department and students of Engine Department work not only on board domestic ships but also on board foreign ships sailing around the world Moreover, Vietnam is now a member of WTO, Vietnamese seafarers will have golden opportunities to work on European ships for higher payment if their English is good enough Because of this, the VIMARU leaders always consider English to be a very important subject A ship crew is divided into two departments: Deck department and Engine department When they work on a ship, it means that they live and work in an international environment English becomes their most important communication instrument to carry out their daily communication Especially, engine crews work in the engine room and they need a good English for their marine engine major so that they can operate all machinery on board well In other words, ESP (English for Specific Purposes) plays a fundamental role in the success of the marine-engine students’ future occupation if they are to work on board the ship It can’t be denied that materials in general and ESP materials in particular play an important role in the process of language teaching and learning as appropriate materials can stimulate effective teaching and learning Therefore, in order to have a successful language- teaching program, it is necessary to have good materials, especially in Vietnamese setting The course-book “English for Marine Engine Students and Ship‟s Engineers” was designed for the second-year students at Marine Engine Department _VIMARU with the greatest effort of teachers of English Department This course-book has been used for nearly 15 years, however, no research on the course-book evaluation has been carried out to see how much it meets the students’ needs For these above- mentioned reason, the researcher decided to choose materials evaluation as the theme of this minor thesis titled as: AN EVALUATION OF THE ESP COURSEBOOK FOR SECOND-YEAR STUDENTS AT MARINE ENGINE DEPARTMENT_VIETNAM MARITIME UNIVERSITY (VIMARU) 1.2 AIMS OF THE STUDY The paper aims at evaluating the course-book English for Marine Engine Students and Ship‟s Engineers to see how far it is suitable to the second-year students at the Marine Engine Department, VIMARU The specific aims are:  to evaluate the appropriateness of the material to the course requirements in terms of aims, content, and methodology  to offer some suggestions for further improvement of the course-book which is appropriate to the needs and expectations of the students 1.3 RESEARCH QUESTION The following research question is raised for exploration: To what extent does the ESP course-book English for Marine Engine Students and Ship‟s Engineers at Marine Engine Department-VIMARU meet the course requirements in terms of aims, content, and methodology? 1.4 SCOPE OF THE STUDY The ESP course is only for the second year students at VIMARU, thus the study focuses on the evaluation of the second year students at Marine Engine DepartmentVIMARU on ESP course-book currently used Hutchinson and Waters (1993) and many other language evaluation experts agreed that evaluating a teaching material is a complicated process based on different criteria such as audience, content, physical appearance, cultural bias, needs… However, because of the constraint of this kind of research, the researcher just focuses on three criteria: aims, content, and methodology 1.5 METHOD OF THE STUDY The study follows a quantitative research approach A Survey questionnaire is designed for 162 second-year students at Marine Engine Department, VIMARU, who have worked with two-thirds of the course-book to evaluate the quality of the ESP course-book In addition, interviews are conducted with three ESP teachers who have been using the course-book to teach second-year students at VIMARU to gain additional information about the quality of the course-book 1.6 DESIGN OF THE STUDY There are three main parts in this study: introduction, development, and conclusion The introduction provides the rationale, the aims, the research question, the scope, and design of the thesis The development consists of three chapters: - Chapter 1, Literature Review, provides the relevant theories related to textbook, course-book and material and course-book evaluation - Chapter 2, Methodology, introduces the context of the study and describes the methodology employed in the study, research procedures and the participants, instruments and the research procedures - Chapter 3, Data Analysis and Discussion, presents and discusses the findings that arise from the data collected and recommendations The conclusion provides a brief summary of all the contents studied, draws some conclusions drawn and makes some suggestions for further research REFERENCES Allwright, R L (1981) What we want teaching material for? ELT journal Volume 36/1 October 1981 Anthony, L (1997) ESP: What does it mean? ON CUE, Retrieved April 6, 2000, from the World Wide Web: http://interserver.miyazaki-med.ac.jp/-cue/pc/anthony,htm Brown J B (1997), The Language Teacher Textbook Evaluation Form Retrieved from the World Wide Web: http://www.jalt-publication.org/tlt/file/97/oct/brown.htm Cunningsworth, A (1995) Choosing your coursebook London: Macmillan Dong Thi Hien (2006), An evaluation of the ESP materials used for the second year students of security major at the People‟s Security Academy Unpublished MA Thesis Hanoi University Dudley-Evans, T and St John, M J (1998) A Multi-Disciplinary Approach: Developments in ESP Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Ellis, R (1997) The Empirical Evaluation of Language Teaching Materials Oxford: Oxford University Express Hedge, T (2000) Teaching and learning in the Language Classroom Oxford” Oxford University Express Hoang Thi Tham (2007) An evaluation of reading material for students of mechanical engineering at Thainguyen University of Technology Unpublished MA Thesis Hanoi University 10 Hutchinson, T and Waters, A (1993) English for Specific Purpose- A Learningcentred Approach Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 11 Littlejohn, A (1998) The Analysis of Language Teaching Materials inside the Trojan House, in Tomlinson, B Material Development in Language Teaching Cambridge:Cambridge University Express 51 12 Lynch, B.K (1996) Language Program Evaluation-Theory and practice Cambridge University Press 13 Mackay, R & Mountford, A (Eds) (1978) English for Specific Purposes London: Longman Group limited 14 McDonough, J., & Shaw, C (1993) Materials and Methods in ELT A teacher s guide Oxford: Blackwell Publishers 15 McGrath, I (2002) Materials Evaluation and Design for Language Teaching Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press 16 Pham Thi Thanh Huyen (2009) An evaluation of the ESP materials for third year students of general medicine at Thaibinh medical university Unpublished MA thesis Hanoi university 17 Pham Thi Thu Huong (2006) An evaluation of the ESP materials for the third year students at the Military Academy of Medicine Unpublished MA Thesis Hanoi University 18 O’Neill R (1982) Why use textbooks? In R Rossner and R Bolitho, (Ed), Currents in language teaching, Oxford University Press 19 Richards, J C (2001), Curriculum Development in Language Teaching Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 20 Robinson, P (1991) ESP today: a Practitioner's Guide Hemel Hemstead: Prentice Hall 21 Tomlinson, B (1998) Materials Development in Language Teaching Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 22 Torres, E (1993) A fish's story: insights from investigating use of a fisheriesbased ESP textbook in classrooms In J Edge & K Richards (eds.) Teachers Develop Teachers Research Oxford: Heinemann 23 Williams D (1983), „Developing Criteria for Textbook Evaluation‟ In ELT Journal Volume 37/3 52 APPENDIX STUDENTS SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE This questionnaire is designed to collect students’ information on evaluation of the current- used ESP course-book in Marine Engine Department at Vietnam Maritime University The information collected from this survey will be of great value in improving ESP teaching and learning We are grateful for your goodwill and cooperation in truthfully completing the survey Please be assured that your names as well as the information given will be kept in confidential SECTION I: LEARNERS’ INFORMATION How long have you been learning English?  1-3 years  3-5years  5-7 years  7-9 years  9-11 years  more than 11 At which level is your English?  Elementary  Pre-intermediate  Intermediate  Upper-intermediate How important is each of the following purposes in your learning ESP? Please rank in ascending order 1-4 (from the most important to the least one)  - To improve English basic grammar Most important  - To widen ESP vocabulary Very important  Important Least important - To read technical documents/ texts in English  - To apply for a job on board foreign ships  - Other purposes (if any):…………………… SECTION II: LEARNERS’ EVALUATION OF THE ESP COURSEBOOK Aims of the course-book Which of the following aims does the course-book contain by ticking the appropriate box (You can tick more than one choice) I a The course-book provided technical terms used in marine engine field  b After learning the course-book, your grammar is improved  c The course-book mainly focuses on training/enhancing reading and translating skills  d In the course-book, reading and translating skills are integrated with other skills  f The course-book provides skills for your future job  g Others……………………………………………………………………………… Needs met by the course-book To what extent does the course-book meet your needs?  very much  much  enough  little  very little  none Content of the course-book What you think of the topics related to marine engine field in the coursebook?  very practical  practical  ok  impractical impractical What you think of the information presented in the course-book?  very useful  useful  not very useful  useless Does the course-book give you with update information?  Yes  No Time allocation of ESP You think 120 periods on ESP course is:  too much  much  enough  little  too little periods for each unit is:  too much  much  enough II  little  too little  very Vocabulary and grammar What you think about the number of technical vocabulary in each unit?  too much  much  enough  little  too little What you think of grammar in the course-book?  very difficult  difficult  ok  easy  very easy Skill development 10 How much practice of each language skill did you get through the course? Speaking:  more than enough  enough  not enough  none Listening:  more than enough  enough  not enough  none Reading:  more than enough  enough  not enough  none  more than enough  enough  not enough  none Writing: 11 The tasks and exercises (reading, translating, writing, grammar exercises) in each unit  extremely various and plentiful  various and plentiful  monotonous  extremely monotonous 12 For skill development, how are the exercises?  very useful SECTION III:  useful LEARNERS’  not very useful EVALUATION OF  useless THE TEAHCERS’ EXPLOITATION OF THE ESP COURSEBOOK To what extent are you satisfied with the classroom activities? 100% More All Less than satisfied than 50% right 50 % satisfied  Listening and taking note of new grammar structures and vocabulary III  satisfied       Answering teacher’s questions     Practising reading skills in pairs or groups     Presenting on given topics in English     Discussing given topics in English     Practising language structures in pairs/ groups SECTION 4: Learners’ suggestions What changes you suggest to make the course-book better? (Content, lay-out, vocabulary, grammar, activities, texts, etc) Content:……………………………………………………………………………… Lay-out ……………………………………………………………………………… Vocabulary…………………………………………………………………………… Grammar…………………………………………………………………………… Activities…………………………………………………………………………… Time allocation for ESP …………………………………………………………… Other……………………………………………………………………………… In your opinion, in classroom the teacher should: Agree use English only use Vietnamese only use both English and Vietnamese use more English than Vietnamese use more Vietnamese than English follow the course-book closely adapt the course-book when necessary IV Disagree supplement more relevant reading texts supplement more grammar exercises 10 explain technical terms in Vietnamese Thank you for your cooperation! V APPENDIX Bảng hỏi dành cho sinh viên (Vietnamese version) Bản điều tra dùng để lấy ý kiến đánh giá bạn giáo trình tiếng Anh chuyên ngành “English for Marine Engine Students and Ship’s Engineers” dùng cho sinh viên năm thứ hai- Khoa máy Tàu Biển- Trường Đại học Hàng Hải Việt Nam Tôi vô cảm ơn giúp đỡ nhiệt tình bạn qua việc đưa ý kiến giáo trình Các ý kiến bạn dùng cho nghiên cứu PHẦN I: THÔNG TIN CÁ NHÂN Bạn học tiếng Anh rồi?  1-3 năm  3-5 năm  5-7 năm  7-9 năm  9-11 năm  more than 11 năm Tiếng Anh Bạn trình nào?  Sơ cấp  Tiền Trung Cấp  Trung cấp  Sau trung cấp Mục đích học tiếng Anh chuyên ngành cảu bạn gì? Săp xếp theo trật tự tăng dần 1-4 (từ mức quan trọng đến quan trọng nhất)  - Để nâng cao ngữ pháp Tiếng Anh Quan trọng  - Để nâng cao vốn từ vựng chuyên ngành Rất quan trọng  - Để đọc văn chuyên ngành tiếng Quan trọng Anh Ít quan trọng  - Để làm việc tàu nước  - Những mục đích khác (Nếu có):…………………… PHẦN II: ĐÁNH GIÁ CỦA SINH VIÊN VỀ GIÁO TRÌNH TIẾNG ANH CHUYÊN NGÀNH MÁY TÀU BIỂN ĐANG ĐƯỢC SỬ DỤNG Mục tiêu giáo trình Đánh dấu mục tiêu giáo trình chuyên ngành máy tàu biển sử dụng cho sinh viên năm VI a Giáo trình cung cấp thuật ngữ chuyên ngành máy tàu biển  b Ngữ pháp bạn nâng cao sau học giáo trình  c Giáo trình chủ yếu tập trung vào việc nâng cao kỹ đọc kỹ dịch  d Trong giáo trình, kỹ đọc kỹ dịch tích hợp với kỹ khác  f Giáo trình cung cấp kỹ làm việc cần thiết cho công việc tương lai bạn  g Những mục tiêu khác……………………………………………………………… Giáo trính đáp ứng nhu cầu sinh viên? Giáo trình đáp ứng nhu cầu bạn mức độ nào?  nhiều  nhiều  đủ    khơng Nội dung giáo trình Bạn nghĩ chủ đề chuyên ngành máy tài biển giáo trình?  thực tế  thực tế  Được  không thực tế  khơng thực tế Bạn nghĩ thơng tin đưa giáo trình?  hữu ích  hữu ích  khơng hữu ích  vơ ích Giáo trình có cung cấp thong tin cập nhật cho bạn khơng?  Có  Không Thời gian phân bổ cho môn tiếng anh chuyên ngành Bạn nghĩ 120 tiết cho môn tiếng anh chuyên ngành là:  nhiều  nhiều  đủ    đủ   Tám tiết cho học là:  nhiều  nhiều Vocabulary and grammar Bạn nghĩ số lượng từ chuyên ngành học? VII  nhiều  nhiều  đủ   q Bạn nghĩ ngữ pháp giáo trình?  khó  vừa phải  khó  dễ  dễ Phát triển kỹ 10 Các kỹ ngôn ngữ lun tập giáo trình? Nói :  nhiều mức đủ  đủ  không đủ  không luyện tập Nghe : :  nhiều mức đủ  đủ  không đủ  không luyện tập Đọc : :  nhiều mức đủ  đủ  không đủ  không luyện tập Viết:  đủ  không đủ  không luyện tập :  nhiều mức đủ 11.Các nhiệm vụ tập học là:  vô phong phú đa dạng  phong phú đa dạng  đơn điệu  vô đơn điệu 12 Đối với việc phát triển kỹ năng, nhiệm vụ tâp là:  hữu ích  hữu ích  khơng hữu ích  vơ ích PHẦN III: ĐÁNH GIÁ CỦA SINH VIÊN VỀ VIÊC KHAI THÁC GIÁO TRÌNH CỦA GIÁO VIÊN Bạn hài lịng với hoạt động lớp múc dộ nào? 100% hài Hơn 50% lòng hài lòng Được