Designing supplementary materials for teaching banking and finance vocabulary in context in preparation courses for toeic

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY- HOCHIMINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES FACULTY OF ENGLISH LINGUISTICS & LITERATURE DESIGNING SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIALS FOR TEACHING BANKING AND FINANCE VOCABULARY IN CONTEXT IN PREPARATION COURSES FOR TOEIC A thesis submitted to the Faculty of English Linguistics and Literature in partial fulfillment of the Master’s degree in TESOL By NGUYEN MINH MAN Supervised by LE HOANG DUNG, Ph.D HO CHI MINH CITY, JULY 2012  STATEMENT OF AUTHORITY I certify my authorship of the thesis submitted today entitled DESIGNING SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIALS FOR TEACHING BANKING AND FINANCE VOCABULARY IN CONTEXT IN PREPARATION COURSES FOR TOEIC in term of the statement of requirements for theses in Master’s Program issued by the Higher Degree Committee The thesis has not previously been submitted for a degree at any other institution Ho Chi Minh City, July 2012 NGUYEN MINH MAN i RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS I hereby state that I, NGUYEN MINH MAN, being the candidate for the degree of Master of Arts in TESOL, accept the requirements of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities relating to the retention and use of the thesis deposited in the University Library In term of these conditions, I agree that the original version of my thesis deposited in the University Library should be accessible for the purpose of study and research, in accordance with the normal conditions established by the Library for care, loan or reproduction of theses Ho Chi Minh City, July 2012 NGUYEN MINH MAN ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my sincere appreciation to my supervisor Dr Lê Hoàng Dũng, who has profound knowledge and his logical way as well as his professional guidance and enthusiasm He has provided his valuable time, experience, patience, sympathy, encouragement and persuasive feedbacks as an academic advisor for my thesis I am greatly indebted to all professors of the master program for their dedication and instructions I am deeply grateful to the organizers of this master course and the staff members because of their assistance throughout this entire process My special thanks go to the teachers and learners of the selected English language centers in Ho Chi Minh City for their cooperation and participation in the study including AIES, CEFALT, VUS, FTUC, EL and IWEP I would like to extend my gratitude regarding the help of teachers and students in Economics University and Banking University of HoChiMinh City as well as the managers and the employees of some branches of banking system in Ho Chi Minh City, including Vietcombank, BIDV and HSBC I wish to express my warm thanks to my lovely friends for their encouragement when I had the difficulties with my thesis I am indebted to my beloved family for their support I thank my parents who have devoted all their time to take care of my baby so that I could concentrate on my thesis I thank my lovely daughter because she is always with me and as fresh as daisy when I am depressed I deeply appreciate my husband’s love that makes me feel peaceful when I am under the pressure It is just their love that has motivated me to lead a beautiful life and pursue my education iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Pages STATEMENT OF AUTHORITY i RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iii TABLE OF CONTENTS iv LIST OF TABLES vi LIST OF FIGURES viii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ix ABSTRACT x CHAPTER INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background and statement of problems 1.2 Rationale of the research 1.2.1 Overview of TOEIC 1.2.2 Why is banking and finance vocabulary chosen in this study? 1.3 Objective of the study 1.4 The research questions 1.5 Scope of the study 1.6 Organization of the thesis CHAPTER LITERATURE REVIEW 11 2.1 Role of vocabulary in preparation courses for TOEIC 11 2.2 Vocabulary and context 12 2.2.1 Overview of vocabulary in teaching and learning English 12 2.2.2 Context and the role of context 13 2.2.3 The relationship of vocabulary and context 14 2.3 Application of strategies and activities to accelerate learners to study vocabulary in the light of Communicative Approach 15 2.4 Teaching and learning materials 16 2.4.1 Overview of materials for teaching and learning TOEIC 16 2.4.2 The importance of supplementary materials 17 2.5 Strategies in designing supplementary materials 19 2.6 Influence of learners’ needs on designing supplementary materials 22 iv 2.7 Conceptual framework 26 CHAPTER METHODOLOGY 29 3.1 Research questions 29 3.2 Research Design 30 3.3 Subjects of the study 32 3.3.1 Student respondents 32 3.3.2 Teacher respondents 33 3.4 Research instruments 34 3.4.1Questionnaire to students 34 3.4.2 Questionnaire to teachers 36 3.5 Data collection procedures 37 3.6 Data coding procedures 38 CHAPTER DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION OF RESULTS 41 4.1 Data analysis 41 4.1.1 Students’ responses to the questionnaire 41 4.1.2 Teachers’ responses to the questionnaires 57 4.2 Discussion of results 69 4.3 Major findings of the study 72 4.3.1 Major findings conducted from teachers and learners’ responses 72 4.3.2 The findings conducted from the focus group interview between the author and employees working in the industry of banking and finance 73 CHAPTER CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 75 5.1 Suggestions 75 5.2 Recommendations of future research 84 REFERENCES 85 APPENDIX QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS 90 APPENDIX QUESTIONNAIRE FOR TEACHERS 95 APPENDIX BRIEF NOTES FROM STUDENTS’ RESPONSES 100 APPENDIX BRIEF NOTES FROM TEACHERS’ RESPONSES 103 v LIST OF TABLES Pages Table 1.1: Summary of the main topics and themes in TOEIC materials Table 2.1: A framework for materials writing 21 Table 2.2: List of needs identified in needs analysis literature 24 Table 3.1: Profile of students respondents 32 Table 3.2: Profile of teacher respondents 33 Table 3.3: Summary of research tools 37 Table 3.4: Coding of the items in the questionnaire 39 Table 4.1: Students’ opinion on the role of TOEIC in their future career 41 Table 4.2: Students’ reasons for participating in a TOEIC course ………………42 Table 4.3: Students’ reasons for improving banking and finance vocabulary 44 Table 4.4: Students’ satisfaction with their current TOEIC materials in learning vocabulary …… 46 Table 4.5: Students’ difficulties in learning banking and finance vocabulary with their current TOEIC materials ……………… 49 Table 4.6: Students’ responses to class-room activities of vocabulary suggested in the supplementary materials 52 Table 4.7: Teachers’ opinion on the role of TOEIC in learners’ future job 57 Table 4.8: Reasons for students to attend a TOEIC preparation course based on teachers’ perspective 58 Table 4.9: Reasons for students to improve their vocabulary in banking and finance in a TOEIC course based on teachers’ perspective 60 Table 4.10: Teachers’ satisfaction with the current TOEIC materials for their students to learn vocabulary 62 Table 4.11: Teachers’ opinion on learners’ difficulties in learning banking and finance vocabulary with the current TOEIC materials 64 Table 4.12: Teachers’ opinion on class-room activities of vocabulary suggested in the supplementary materials 66 Table 4.13: Respondents’ perspective on learners’ needs in vocabulary of banking and finance in preparation courses for TOEIC 69 vi Table 4.14: Respondents’ level of satisfaction with the assessment of the current TOEIC materials 70 Table 4.15: Respondents’ opinion on the class-room activities of vocabulary suggested in the supplementary materials 72 vii LIST OF FIGURES Pages Figure 2.1: Conceptual framework of the study 27 Figure 3.1: Research design 31 Figure 4.1: Students’ opinion on the role of TOEIC in their future career 42 Figure 4.2: Students’ reasons for their vocabulary improvement in banking and finance in a TOEIC preparation course 46 Figure 4.3: Students’ satisfaction with their current TOEIC materials in learning vocabulary 47 Figure 4.4: Students’ difficulties in learning banking and finance vocabulary with their current TOEIC materials 51 Figure 4.5: S tudents’ responses to class-room activities of vocabulary suggested in the supplementary materials 54 Figure 4.6: Teachers’ opinion on the role of TOEIC in their learners’ future job 58 Figure 4.7: Teachers’ responses to the level of satisfaction with the current TOEIC materials for their students to learn vocabulary 63 Figure 4.8: Respondents’ level of satisfaction with the assessment of the current TOEIC materials …………………………………………………………… 71 Figure 5.1: Diagram of word-web exercise………………………………………82 Figure 5.2: Model of word-web………………………………… .83 viii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS TOEIC: Test of English for International Communication KPI: Key Performance Indicator BIDV: Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam HSBC: HongKong and ShangHai Banking Corporation Vietcombank: Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam AIES: Australia International English School CEFALT: Center for Foreign Affairs and Languages VUS: Vietnam – USA Society English Training Service Center FTUC: Foreign Trade University Center EL: Excellent Language School IWEP: Europe – USA International English School ix APPENDIX QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS Dear students, The aim of this questionnaire is to collect data for the thesis “Designing Supplementary Materials for Teaching Banking and Finance Vocabulary in Context in Preparation Courses for TOEIC” Please, take time to complete it Your answers are very important and strongly influence on the success of this study, and they will be used only for my study without exception Thank you for your cooperation I Personal Information Questions   Answers Please indicate your gender Please state your age Male  Female  18 –