Challenges faced by ULIS senior students in adapting teaching materials in ESP methodology subject

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONALSTUDIES FACULTY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHER EDUCATION GRADUATION THESIS CHALLENGES FACED BY ULIS SENIOR STUDENTS IN ADAPTING TEACHING MATERIALS IN ESP METHODOLOGY SUBJECT Supervisor: Nguyen Thi Thanh Van M.Ed Student: Nhu Thu Sang Course: QH2017 E6 HA NOI - 2021 ĐẠI HỌC QUỐC GIA HÀ NỘI TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ KHOA SƯ PHẠM TIẾNG ANH KHÓA LUẬN TỐT NGHIỆP KHÓ KHĂN SINH VIÊN NĂM CUỐI TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ GẶP PHẢI TRONG QUÁ TRÌNH THỰC HIỆN ĐIỀU CHỈNH TÀI LIỆU DẠY TRONG MÔN PHƯƠNG PHÁP GIẢNG DẠY TIẾNG ANH CHUYÊN NGÀNH Giáo viên hướng dẫn: Th.s Nguyễn Thị Thanh Vân Sinh viên: Nhữ Thu Sang Khoá: QH2017.F1.E6 HÀ NỘI – NĂM 2021 DECLARATION I herewith formally declare that I myself have written the thesis entitled “Challenges faced by ULIS senior students in adapting teach material in ESP Methodology subject” independently along with the guidance of my supervisor In addition, the contributions of students and lecturers of FELTE, ULIS are involved Other sources of information have been used and acknowledged I also certify that all the data, figures, sources and literature used for the thesis have been fully and properly cited Hanoi, May 2021 Submitted by, Nhu Thu Sang ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS A completed study would not be done without any assistance Therefore, the author who conducted this research gratefully gives acknowledgement to their support and motivation during the time of doing this research as a requirement of completing this graduation thesis Initially, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to a number of people for helping me to make this study My deepest gratitude goes first to Nguyen Thi Thanh Van, M.Ed., my supervisor, who supported and encouraged me generously throughout this study Without her excellent academic guidance and support, my thesis would not have been completed My appreciation also extends to two ESP lecturers and around ninety seniors who have helped me by involving in my collecting data step, which plays an essential role in the research‟s findings Last but not least, I also wish to express my sincere thanks to my family, my best friends and my boyfriend who constantly stayed by my side, encouraged and assisted me in completing the research Their kind help, care and motivation was the source of my inspiration I ABSTRACT This research was conducted to investigate the extrinsic and intrinsic factors impeding senior students when doing the adapting teaching materials assignment of the ESP Methodology subject Also, the deep roots and the solutions for these difficulties were fully presented to provide an overview of the matter The data in the findings section were collected through document analysis, questionnaire and interview with under 100 participants including lecturers and around 80 seniors These instruments were used to gather and analyse the perception and notion of both teachers and students towards these challenges The data analyses indicated that students appeared to confront more intrinsic challenges than extrinsic ones Most of them could individually identify the problems themselves and figured out several feasible solutions Additionally, from the sharing of lecturers, the similarity in the viewpoint between teachers and students could be seen obviously Lastly, on the basis of data analysis and discussion, some practical implications for further studies were also presented in this field II LIST OF TABLES AND FIRGURES Figure 2.1.3: ELT Tree Table 2.2.3: The ways to adapt the material Figure 2.5: Framework of the study Figure 4.1: The importance of materials in teaching an ESP course from the perspective of senior students Figure 4.1: The importance of teachers in preparing the materials for teaching an ESP course Table 4.2.1: Intrinsic and extrinsic challenges of ESP materials adaptation faced up by senior students Table 4.3.1: The causes of these difficulties from the perspectives of ULIS senior students III ABBREVIATIONS English for Academic purposes (EAP) English for General Purposes (EGP) English for Occupational Purposes (EOP) English for Specific Purposes (ESP) English language teaching (ELT) Faculty of English Language Teacher Education (FELTE) General English (GE) SD (standard deviation) University of Languages and International Studies (ULIS) 10 Vietnam National University (VNU) IV TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I ABSTRACT II LIST OF TABLES AND FIRGURES III ABBREVIATION IV TABLE OF CONTENTS V CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background of the study 1.2 Statement of research problems and questions 1.3 Scope of the study 1.4 Significance of the study 1.5 Organization CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 English for specific purposes (ESP) 4 2.1.1 Definition of ESP 2.1.2 Characteristics of ESP 2.1.3 Categories of ESP 2.2 ESP material adaptation 2.2.1 What are materials in ESP? 2.2.2 What is ESP material adaptation? 2.2.3 Methods of ESP material adaptation 10 2.3 Challenges in adapting ESP materials 12 2.4 Challenges faced by senior student when 12 practicing adapting the materials as a task in class 2.5 Framework of the study 13 V CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY 3.1 Context of the study 14 14 3.1.1 Description of ESP Methodology course 14 3.1.2 Description of ESP task 14 3.2 Participants 14 3.2.1 Seniors students of FELTE, ULIS,VNU 14 3.2.2 Lecturers of FELTE, ULIS,VNU 15 3.3 Data collection procedure 15 3.4 Data collection instrument 15 3.4.1 Questionnaire 15 3.4.2 Interview 16 3.4.3 Document 17 3.5 Data analysis procedure 17 CHAPTER FOUR: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 18 4.1 Background of the role of material adaptation in ESP 18 4.2 Question 1: What are the challenges faced by senior 21 students when adapting the materials? 4.2.1 Students‟ questionnaire analysis 21 4.2.2 Students‟ interview analysis 24 4.2.3 Lecturers‟ interview analysis 26 4.3 Question 2: What are the causes of these difficulties 27 from the perspectives of ULIS students and lecturers? 4.3.1 Students‟ questionnaire analysis 27 4.3.2 Students‟ interview analysis 29 4.3.3 Lecturers‟ interview analysis 30 4.4 Question 3: What are some possible solutions for 31 these challenges? 4.4.1 Students‟ interview analysis VI 31 4.4.2 Lecturers‟ interview analysis 32 CHAPTER FIVE: CONCLUSION 34 5.1 Research summary 34 5.2 Recommendations 37 5.2.1 Recommendations for ESP lecturers 39 5.2.2 Recommendations for senior students 39 5.2.3 Recommendation for the ESP Methodology program in ULIS 39 5.3 Limitations of the study 39 5.4 Suggestions for further studies 40 REFERENCE 41 APPENDIX A: Consent form 43 APPENDIX B: Questionnaire 45 APPENDIX C: Interview Protocol 49 VII Finally, with regard to solutions, according to the outcomes of both lecturers and students' interviews, several suggestions and advice have been put forward Generally, the advice from teachers is mostly the same as the solutions of students when confronting the difficulties However, it could be easily seen that lecturers provided more specific and logical-order advice thanks to their considerable experience of ESP teaching Dealing with the difficult knowledge of adaptation skills in the textbook, both teachers and students thought that it was much better to spend more time self- studying or ask for the assistance of teachers Then, at the learners investigation step, while the teachers gave no particular recommendation, the interviewed seniors chose to discover every factor round learners by all means which allowed them to identify the need of learners and the objectives of the courses Coming to material selection, there was a sharing idea from both two types of interviewees when they all agreed that the key solution was to invest enough time and effort, even utilize the useful relations to achieve the set goal And the teacher‟s advice of finding materials in the library or bookshop is also one of the helpful recommendations for students In adapting progress, students are advised to take step by step, from identifying the need and objectives to gradually applying adaptation theories in practicing real adapting skills based on all the requirements of the courses When encountering the high- level occupational knowledge and technical terms, they had better ask for clarification or search for the explanation on the Internet Lastly, related to teamwork matters, when students thought they should try to talk and share their ideas in the groups to avoid the conflicts, the teachers also shared the same view and added that all the groups should have a detailed plan and timeline to ensure the responsibility of all members as well as the quality of outcomes 5.2 Recommendations After analyzing and discussing the problems along with their roots, some implications would be put forward for ESP lecturers, senior students and the ESP Methodology program in ULIS 37 5.2.1 Recommendations for ESP lecturers Generally, according to the findings about the teacher‟s care element in this research, it can be concluded that all the ESP lecturers have completed successfully their roles as supporters for senior students to finish the adaptation assignment Almost all students had no difficulties in asking for teachers‟ assistance However, as the existence of numerous seniors‟ obstacles in this assignment, it is advisable for lecturers to make some necessary adjustments to reduce the challenges for students First, the detailed timeline should be set by the lecturers for the whole class instead of each group individually that assists them to keep track of their students‟ progress more effectively In addition, teachers are suggested to build a close relationship with students, which allows students to ask for help in each step more frequently so that their misunderstanding problem would definitely be solved Second, it is encouraging for all the lecturers to decrease their expectation of students' work, which reduces the pressure on them in this assignment From students‟ perspective, ESP Methodology is one of the hardest courses in the curriculum with a number of difficult assignments Therefore, by decreasing the requirements of the outcomes, it possibly generates and develops students‟ interest in this subject, which gives a positive influence on students‟ performance in class 5.2.2 Recommendation for senior students Due to the found student problems, the following suggestions should be taken under consideration to help the seniors deal with this kind of task successfully in the course and in the long-term teaching process Initially, they should deeply understand all the principles and theories of both ELT and ESP methodology courses so as to obtain a firm knowledge base that allows students to overcome the mission more easily Then, seniors are recommended to widen their relationship especially making friends with people from different aspects By that way, they can have a closer look to future learners‟ needs and broaden their background knowledge Additionally, students even can really experience the working environment of different careers by taking up some part-time jobs As a 38 consequence, it may help them obtain various experiences and assist them a lot when carrying out the need analysis Last but not least, students should strictly follow the timeline, speak up and share their ideas with group members so that the working efficiency would be boosted significantly 5.2.3 Recommendation for the ESP Methodology program in ULIS To begin with, the same as the implication for lectures, the ESP Methodology course is suggested to decrease the requirements on students‟ outcomes with each assignment due to student lack of real experience and background knowledge Furthermore, the instruction of the assignment is recommended to be illustrated more clearly and fully in the textbook in order to avoid the ambiguity Lastly, the course is hoped to add the occasions for students to have experience in a particular ESP class or in the workplace of the target learners (suggested by a lecturer) to delete the difference between theories and practice Therefore, seniors could apply the knowledge more effectively and achieve much better results in all assignments 5.3 Limitations of the study In spite of the time and effort investment of the researcher, there are still several inevitable shortcomings in this research The first limitation is about the participants of the research Initially, the study aimed at getting access and collected data of around 110 senior students from all the classes of FELTE, ULIS, who have experienced the ESP Methodology course in their first semester However, since the harsh condition, the real collected number is only 80 participants for the questionnaire instruments and 10 people for the interview section which somehow affects the reliability of the research findings But on the other hand, this seems to be a good way to create the chances for further deeper studies about this matter 39 The second limitation lies on the methodology of the research It can easily be noticed the obvious inequality in the number of lectures and students in this study (only lecturers were interviewed), which makes the findings mostly depend on the students‟ perception and also reduce the reliability of the results To sum up, the mentioned- above drawbacks should be taken into account by another research which is about similar aspects 5.4 Suggestions for further studies Based on the limitation of this research, further study is hoped to conduct the research with higher numbers of ESP lecturers to enhance the reliability Moreover, other aspects of this assignment could be utilized and developed like assessing the effect of this assignment on teaching ESP careers of seniors after graduation Also, the studies about the challenges of other assignments in ESP Methodology course are feasible to be carried out Expectedly, this research may be of some help in encouraging further ESP studies and contributing to the development and completion of ESP department in ULIS, VNU 40 REFERENCE Anthony, L (1997a) Defining English for Specific Purposes and the Role of the ESP Practitioner Retrieved November 18, 2012 From http://www.antlab.sci.waseda.ac.jp/abstracts/aizukiyo97.pdf Bensafa (2016) ESP Materials Adaptation: Bridging the Gap between Theory and Practice 254-259 Bocanegra-Valle, Ana (2010) Evaluating and designing materials for the ESP classroom 10.1163/9789042029569_011 Cunningsworth, A (1995) Choosing your coursebook Oxford: Macmillan Heinemann Dudley-Evans, T (1998) An Overview of ESP in the 1990s Paper presented at The Japan Conference on English for Specific Purposes, Fukushima Dudley-Evans, T., (Ed.), (1987) Gender analysis ELT Journal, Vol.1, p.1 Giang, T T (2019), Challenges faced by student teachers of FELTE, ULIS, VNU in designing an ESP course syllabus Graves, K (1996) Teachers as course developers Cambridge: CUP Haddam Bouabdallah, F (2015), A Course Design in ESP the Case of Master’s Students in the Department of Biology University of Tlemcen (Thesis) Hutchinson, T & Waters, A (1987 & 1992) English for specific purposes: A learning centered approach Cambridge, Cambridge University Press Hutchinson, T., & Waters, A (1987) What is ESP? In English for Specific Purposes (Cambridge Language Teaching Library, p 5) Cambridge: Cambridge University Press doi:10.1017/CBO9780511733031.003 Hutchinson, T., Waters, A., (1981) Performance and competence in English for specific purposes Applied Linguistics (pp 56-69) Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Johns, A M & Dudley-Evans, T (1991) English for specific purposes: international in scope, specific in purpose TESOL Quarterly 25:2, pp 297314 Master, Peter (2005) Research in English for Specific Purposes 99-115 41 McDonough, J., & Shaw, C (2003) Materials and methods in ELT (2nd edition) Oxford: Blackwell McDonough, J., Shaw, C., & Masuhara, H (2013) Materials and Methods in ELT A Teacher's Guide Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell Pleșca, Galina (2016) The Essence of English for Specific Purposes Quad (2016) RESEARCH TOOLS: INTERVIEWS & QUESTIONNAIRES Rao, Parupalli (2019) THE ROLE OF ENGLISH AS A GLOBAL LANGUAGE pp 65-79 Robinson, P.C 1991 ESP Today: A Practitioner’s Guide Helmet Hempstead: Phonix Sarmento, Simone & Viana, Vander & Bocorny, Ana Eliza (2018) English for Specific Purposes (ESP) Pham, H A & Ta, B T (2016) Developing a theoretical framework for ESP Teacher Training in Vietnam The Asian ESP Journal 12 (1) June 2016 Potocar, M (2002) ESP in Slovenian Secondary Technical and Vocational Education.English for Specific Purposes World, 1,online journal available at: http://www.espworld.info/Articles_1/esp.html Strevens, P (1977) Special purpose language learning: A perspective Language Teaching & Linguistics Abstracts, 10, 145-163 Tomlinson, B (2012) Introduction: Principles and Procedure of Materials Development Maley, A (1998) Squaring the circle – reconciling materials as constraint with materials as empowerment In: Tomlinson, B (1998) Materials Development in Language Teaching Cambridge University Press Wilkinson, D & Birmingham, P (2003) Using research instruments: A guide for researchers London: Taylor & Francis e-Library 42 APPENDIX A: Consent form UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES INTERNATIONAL STUDIES CONSENT TO VOLUNTEER AS A RESEARCH SUBJECT- SHORT FORM Title of Study: Challenges faced by ULIS senior students in adapting teach material in ESP Methodology subject Name of Lead Researcher, Department & Telephone Number: Nhu Thu Sang You are being asked to participate in research Because the informed consent document is not translated into a language you understand, the English form will be translated for you verbally Before you agree, the researcher must tell you about (1) the purposes, procedures, and duration of the research; (2) any procedures which are experimental; (3) any reasonably foreseeable risks, discomforts, and benefits of the research; (4) any potentially beneficial alternative procedures or treatments; and (5) how confidentiality will be maintained Where applicable, the researcher must also tell you about (1) any available compensation or medical treatment if injury occurs; (2) the possibility of unforeseeable risks; (3) circumstances when the investigator may halt your participation; (4) any added costs to you; (5) what happens if you decide to stop participating; (6) when you will be told about new findings which may affect your willingness to participate; and (7) how many people will be in the study If you agree to participate, you will receive a signed copy of this document and a copy of the complete informed consent document in English You may contact the research at phone number ( anytime you have questions about the research ) You may contact the _ at phone number ( ) or by email at _ if you have questions about your rights as a research subject or what to if you are injured You may also call collect at phone number ( ) if you not otherwise have access to a telephone Your participation in this research is voluntary, and you will not be penalized or lose benefits if you refuse to participate or decide to stop Signing this document means that the research study, including the above information, has been described to you orally in a language you understand, you have had a chance to ask any 43 questions that you have about the study, and that you voluntarily agree to participate NAME OF SUBJECT SUBJECT SIGNATURE DATE NAME OF WITNESS WITNESS SIGNATURE DATE 44 APPENDIX B: Questionnaire This questionnaire is a part of my study about analysing the challenges faced by senior students in ULIS when doing the assignment of adapting teaching materials in class You are one of the candidates that satisfy my demand to conduct this kind of survey If this is not the case, please let me know The name of the research: Challenges faced by ULIS senior students in adapting teach material in ESP Methodology subject The researcher: Nhu Thu Sang Personal background: A Your name: _ B Class, Faculty and University: _ C Gender: Male/female/ prefer not to say D Email address: _ The research question: First I would like you to range the importance and necessity of two factors below (1= unimportant; 2= somewhat important; 3= neutral; 4= important; 5= very important) The role of materials in teaching an ESP course 2 The role of teachers in preparing the materials for teaching an ESP course 45 Challenges in adapting teaching materials in ESP Methodology subject This section asks you to rate your level of agreement with statements about adapting teaching material assignment's challenges of ESP Methodology course beliefs Please choose the response that best reflects your opinions The responds ranges from = strongly disagree to = strongly agree In detail: - for "strongly disagree" - for "disagree" - for "neutral" - for "agree" - for "strongly agree" Now fill the following options in the blank of the sentence "When adapting teaching materials, I have difficulty in " to choose the best choices No strongly Challenges disagree neutral agree disagee Finding the original material that the best suits the groups of learner to start adapting Understanding the abstract, complex knowledge, with too much information in the found textbooks Evaluating the original textbooks properly Identifying the problems of original 46 strongly agree 5 5 10 11 12 13 14 15 materials Finding and using the most suitable method to correct the identified problems in the original materials Deciding the unnecessary parts to omit or reduce Self-preparing new tasks, activities or texts to add in the materials or replace the unsuitable ones Rewriting the materials to be more appropriate, more demanding, more accessible to the learners Re-ordering the materials to enhance the quality 5 5 Comprehending the theory of adapting teaching material in ESP Methodology course Applying the learnt theory into practicing with the published materials Ensuring the authenticity of adapted materials 5 Ensuring suitability the adapted materials with learners in terms of age, interest, learning style, level, Well cooperating with the teammates during the assignment Demonstrating the final result in spoken/written form 5 16 Are there any other challenges that you met when doing this assignment? …………………………………………………………………………………………… 47 The causes of these difficulties from the perspectives of ULIS senior students " I could not perform well in this assignment because of the " No strongly Causes disagree neutral agree disagee strongly agree Limitation of online‟s materials 2 5 Difficulty related to copyright matter of the published materials Advanced level of occupational knowledge in founded materials Ambiguity of assignment's instruction 5 Lack of teacher's guidance Noticeable difference between the theory of adaptation and the real practicing Advanced level of language written in the ESP Methodology course book that impedes the students' comprehension of information Lack of skills and experiences of evaluating and adapt a real teaching material Inefficient teamwork 5 5 Lack of language competence to illustrate the final result 10 11 Are there any other reasons for these challenges? …………………………………………………………………………………………… 48 APPENDIX C: Interview Protocol Interview Protocol Community & Location: FELTE/ULIS/VNU Date/time: /3/2021 No of people attending: 10 students and lecturers Researchers conducting session _ My name is Sang and I will be facilitating this focus group interview along with my colleague(s) – University of Languages International Studies The goal of this research is to discover the challenges facing ULIS senior students when doing adapting material assignment in ESP Methodology subject As a new researcher, I value your opinions and insights I also want to know what the roots of these problems are Ultimately this study will enhance the quality of learners in doing this kind of practice and their ability as an ESP teacher in the future The information gleaned from this effort will be shared with a wide variety of community stakeholders throughout the region including elected officials, civic leaders, and economic developers You were selected through a voluntary post-card response to my previously inviting email The interviewee would include groups which are students and lecturers (10-13) And you are one of them 49 Prior to I have an introductory letter and the consent forms which includes the brief description of our research and some question I want to ask you The focus group interviews will take approximately 90 minutes and will follow a designed interview protocol Did each of you bring your consent letter? If not, I have some here for you (copies distributed) Does anyone have any questions? If there are no further questions, let‟s get started with the first question [Note: the researcher will use phrases such as “Tell me more”, “Could you give me an example?”, “Could you explain that?” as prompts to solicit more detailed information when needed.] For students: To get started, let‟s introduce ourselves In your introduction please tell us your name, your job and the aspect of ESP Methodology you are interested in? Have you heard the “adapting teaching material” definition in ESP? Have you try it? If yes, please tell me how you feel after experiencing? Are you successful in this assignment? During the progress, what is the most challenging step/factor you realize? Could you explain more? Are there any other difficulties? What is the causes of these problems? 50 How have you overcome the challenges to complete your assignment? What are some useful advices you can provide the next generation in doing this assignment? For lecturer: To get started, let‟s introduce ourselves In your introduction please tell us your name, your job and the aspect of ESP Methodology you are interested in? As a ESP Methodology teacher, you realize the difficulties of your students in doing the assignment: adapting teaching material? What are some common questions/ challenges student asking for your help? How have you try to helped them? What would be the causes of these difficulties? What are some useful advices you can provide your students in doing this assignment? 51 ... difficulties in preparing, selecting teaching materials and developing the courses 2.4 Challenges faced by senior students when practicing adapting the materials as a task in class For senior students, ... 2.2.3 Methods of ESP material adaptation 10 2.3 Challenges in adapting ESP materials 12 2.4 Challenges faced by senior student when 12 practicing adapting the materials as a task in class 2.5 Framework... aware of considerable challenges facing all of them As a result, the research named ? ?Challenges faced by ULIS senior students in adapting teach material in ESP Methodology subject? ?? is conducted