Evaluating the textbook “law” a study at faculty of law ho chi minh city university of technology

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY - EVALUATING THE TEXTBOOK “LAW” A STUDY AT FACULTY OF LAW- HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY Submitted to the Faculty of English language in partial fulfillment of the Master’s degree in English language Course code: 1641900 By NGUYEN HUYEN QUANG Supervised by NGUYEN THI KIEU THU, PHD HO CHI MINH CITY, March 2018 CERTIFICATION OF THESIS DEFENSE THE THESIS WAS WRITTEN AT HOCHIMINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY Academic supervisor: Nguyễn Thị Kiều Thu, Ph.D The thesis defense session was conducted at Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology (HUTECH) on 6th April, 2018 The Board of Examiners for the Master’s Thesis Defense TT NAME Lê Thị Thanh, Ph.D Nguyễn Đăng Nguyên, Ph.D Trần Quốc Thao, Ph.D Lê Văn Tuyên, Ph.D Nguyễn Hòa Mai Phương, Ph.D FUNCTION Chair Reader Reader Member Secretary Member On behalf of the Board of Examiners Chair Lê Thị Thanh, Ph.D HCMC UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY POSTGRADUATE INSTITUTE Ho Chi Minh City, April 2018 MASTER’S THESIS TASK REPORT Student name: Nguyen Huyen Quang Sex:Female Date of birth: 30th March, 1988 Place of birth: Binh Dinh Major: English Language Student code: 1641900023 I- Thesis title: Evaluating the textbook “Law”- A study at Faculty of Law, Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology II- Task description and contents: This study focuses on an evaluation of the textbook “Law” that based on the evaluation of students of law at Faculty of Law-HUTECH On the basis of the data collected from a survey based on questionnaire for law students, findings about the suitability of the textbook “Law” for the students’ needs as well as the local needs were drawn out However, a number of aspects of the textbook “Law” were found to be necessarily adjusted and the recommendations were made III- Starting date: 01st August, 2017 IV- Completing date: 18th March, 2018 V- Academic supervisor: Nguyen Thi Kieu Thu, Ph.D SUPERVISOR FACULTY DEAN Nguyen Thi Kieu Thu, Ph.D Nguyen Thi Kieu Thu, Ph.D i CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY I certify my authorship of the thesis submitted today entitled: Evaluating the textbook “Law”- A study at Faculty of Law – Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology In terms of the statement of Requirements for Theses in Master’s Programs issued by the Higher Degree Committee of Faculty of English language, Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology Ho Chi Minh City, March 2018 Nguyễn Huyền Quang ii RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS I hereby state that I, Nguyen Huyen Quang, being the candidate for the degree of Master of Art (English Language), accept the requirements of the University relating to the retention and use of Master’s Theses deposit in the Library In terms of these conditions, I agree that the original of my thesis deposited in the Library should be accessible for purposes of study and research, in accordance with the normal conditions established by the Librarian for the care, loan and reproduction for theses Ho Chi Minh City, March 2018 Signature: Nguyễn Huyền Quang iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My special thanks are due to all those who have made great contributions to the preparation and completion of the thesis First and foremost, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my thesis supervisor, Ms Nguyen Thi Kieu Thu, Ph.D, for her constant guidance and invaluable detailed comments on every chapter of the thesis Without her support and guidance, this thesis would never have been completed I am also very grateful to Mr Nguyen Dang Nguyen, Ph.D, who gave me priceless advice and assistance in the process of doing the research In addition, I would like to thank the Faculty of Law – Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology for organizing the extracurricular activity in teaching Legal English I would like to express my gratitude to the Legal English teachers of University of Law of Ho Chi Minh City, Human Resources Managers and staffs of YKVN, KevinChia, Phuoc& Partners, KPMG, Unilever for their enthusiastic participation in the survey and their permission for the information to be used I am also thankful to the law students, who were joining in the course and were willing to give their own opinions and make useful suggestions for the textbook “Law” Last, but not least, I warmly thank my family for their encouragement and help iv ABSTRACT Legal English is a new branch at Faculty of Law of Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology that has not included in the curriculum of Faculty of Law As a new branch, the textbook “Law” in the series of Career Paths of Express Publishing has been first applied as the extracurricular activity for the Faculty With an aim to improve the quality of the textbook “Law”, this study focuses on an evaluation of the textbook “Law” that based on the evaluation of students of law in terms of aims and approaches, format and organization, illustration, topics, accompanying materials, language contents, language skills and activities contained in this textbook The main method of this research was mixed method design which includes both qualitative and quantitative data On the basis of the data collected from a survey based on questionnaire for law students, findings about the suitability of the textbook “Law” for the students’ needs as well as the local needs were drawn out However, a number of aspects of the textbook “Law” were found to be necessarily adjusted and the recommendations were made Key words: ESP; Textbook; Material evaluation v TABLE OF CONTENTS CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY i RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iii ABSTRACT iv TABLE OF CONTENTS v LIST OF TABLES viii Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background to the study 1.2 Problem statement .2 1.3 Purpose of the study 1.4 Thesis statement 1.5 Scope of the study 1.6 Significance of the study 1.7 Limitations of the study .4 1.8 Organization of the study CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 English for Specific Purposes (ESP) 2.1.1 Overview of English for Specific Purposes 2.1.2 Relationship between General English (GE) and English for Specific Purposes (ESP) 2.1.3 Legal English and its characteristics .9 2.2 Materials 12 2.2.1 Definition of materials 12 2.2.2 Materials evaluation criteria 13 2.2.3 Components of good materials .14 2.2.4 Materials for legal English 17 2.3 Materials evaluation 21 2.3.1 Definition of materials evaluation .21 vi 2.3.2 Purpose of materials evaluation 21 2.3.3 Framework for materials evaluation .22 2.3.4 Conceptual framework for materials evaluation in the current study 26 CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 28 3.1 Research question 28 3.2 Research design .28 3.3 Research site 29 3.4 Description of the textbook “Law” 30 3.5 Sample and sampling procedures 31 3.5.1 Selection of participant 31 3.5.2 Characteristics of participant 32 3.5.3 Research instrument 32 3.6 Data collection procedures 34 3.7 Data analysis procedures .34 CHAPTER 36 RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS 36 4.1 Introduction 36 4.2 Results 36 4.2.1 Aims and approaches (Question 1, 2, 3, 4) .36 4.2.2 Formats and organizations of the textbook (Question 5, 6, 7, 8) 40 4.2.3 Illustrations of the textbook (Question 9, 10) 45 4.2.4 Accompanying materials (Question 11) 47 4.2.5 Topics (Question 12, 13, 14) 47 4.2.6 Language contents (Question 15, 16, 17, 18, 19) 50 4.2.7 Skills (Question 20, 21, 22, 23) 55 4.2.8 Activities (Question 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30) 58 4.2.9 Students’ expectations about the textbook 64 4.3 Discussions on remarkable strengths and weaknesses of the textbook “Law” .66 vii CHAPTER 5: RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSION 75 5.1 Recommendations 75 5.1.1 Recommendations from opinions of law students 75 5.1.2 Recommendations from stakeholders .77 5.1.2.1 Recommendations from Legal English teachers' opinions 77 5.1.2.2 Recommendations from the administrator' opinions .78 5.1.2.3 Recommendations from enterprises' opinions 80 5.1.3 Synthesis of recommendations 81 5.2 Conclusion 82 REFERENCES 84 APPENDIX 1: DESCRIPTION OF 15 UNITS IN THE TEXTBOOK “LAW” APPENDIX 2: SAMPLE LESSON PLAN APPENDIX 3: QUESTIONNAIRE (Vietnamese Version) 13 APPENDIX 4: QUESTIONNAIRE (English Version) 18 APPENDIX 5: 22 REPLACEMENT TEST TO ENTER THE TRIAL LEGAL ENGLISH CLASS22 APPENDIX 6: 27 EXAMPLES ON LATIN TERMS 27 APPENDIX 7: 31 EXAMPLES ON OLD-FASHIONED WORDS 31 ... I- Thesis title: Evaluating the textbook ? ?Law? ??- A study at Faculty of Law, Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology II- Task description and contents: This study focuses on an evaluation of the. .. the textbook ? ?Law? ?? that based on the evaluation of students of law at Faculty of Law- HUTECH On the basis of the data collected from a survey based on questionnaire for law students, findings about... i CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY I certify my authorship of the thesis submitted today entitled: Evaluating the textbook ? ?Law? ??- A study at Faculty of Law – Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology