Problem solution pattern in english online brief news on vietnam=cách đặt vấn đề và cách giải quyết vấn đề trong các tin vắn trực tuyến tiếng anh về việt nam

Vinh University Department of foreign languages Nguyen thi Diem Problem- solution pattern in English online brief news on Vietnam ( cach dat van de va giai quyet van de tin van tieng Anh ve Vietnam) Graduation thesis Field: Discourse Analysis Acknowledgements The thesis could not be completed without the great support from my lecturers, my family and my friends First of all, I would like to express my deepest and special gratitude to my supervisor, Dr, Ngo Dinh Phuong for his readiness at all time to discuss the problems and to give me precious advice, valuable materials and enormous corrections, without which the thesis would have never been completed I should also would like to acknowledge my great gratitude to Mrs Vu Thi Viet Huong(M.A) for giving me great encouragement in the period of doing the thesis My sincere thanks are due to all my lecturers from Department of Foreign Languages, Vinh University for their valuable lectures which help me to orient the topic Finally, I wish to thank my family and friends for their timely support and encouragement they gave me while I was doing this thesis Nguyen Thi Diem Vinh, 2008 table of contents Page Acknowledgements i Table of contents ii List of tables v Part A: introduction 1 Rationale Aims of the study Scope of the study and research questions 3.1 Scope of the study 3.2 Research questions Methods of the study 4.1 Data sources 4.2 Procedures Design of the study Part B: Development Chapter 1: theoretical background 1.1 Discourse and discourse analysis 1.1.1 Definition of discourse 1.1.2 Discourse analysis 1.2 Discourse context 1.2.1 Context 1.2.2 Context vs co- text 1.3 Coherence vs cohesion 1.3.1 Cohesive devices 1.4 Register 1.4.1 What is register? 1.4.2 The parameters of register 1.4.2.1 Field 1.4.2.2 Mode 1.4.2.3 Tenor 10 1.5 Textual patterns 10 1.5.1 Problem- solution pattern 10 1.5.2 Lexical signaling 12 Chapter An analysis of problem- solution pattern manifested in each kind of news 13 2.1 Structure of online brief news 13 2.2 Problem- solution pattern in English economical online brief news on Vietnam 14 2.2.1 Headline 14 2.2.2 Lead 15 2.2.3 Body 16 2.3 Problem- solution pattern in English social online brief news on Vietnam 22 2.3.1 Headline 23 2.3.2 Lead 24 2.3.3 Body 25 Chapter 3: some applications of problem- solution pattern in English teaching and learning 30 3.1 Application of problem- solution pattern in the teaching of speaking skill 31 3.2 Application of problem- solution pattern in the teaching of writing skill 32 3.2.1 Class activities 32 3.2.2 Outside class activities 33 3.3 Some suggested activities for the English teaching and learning of the problem- solution pattern 33 3.3.1 Activity 33 3.3.2 Activity 33 3.3.3 Activity 34 Part c: Conclusion 36 Summary of the major findings 36 Suggestions for further study 38 References Appendix List of tables Page Table 1.1: Types of context Table 1.2: Cohesion and coherence Table 2.1: Signaling vocabulary in the headline 15 Table 2.2: The presence of vocabulary in leads surveyed 16 Table2.3: Statistics of bodies of selected news 16 Table 2.4: The presentation of pattern and signaling vocabulary in news selected 19 Table 2.5: The proportion of signaling vocabulary indicating problem 20 Table 2.6: Proportion of signaling vocabulary indicating solution 21 Table2.7: Presence of signaling vocabulary in the headlines 23 Table 2.8: The presence of vocabulary in leads surveyed 24 Table2.9: Statistics of bodies of selected news 25 Table 2.10: The presentation of pattern and signaling vocabulary in news selected 25 Table 2.11: The proportion of signaling vocabulary indicating problemsolution pattern 28 Part A: introduction Rationale It is obviously that in our daily life, people always have needs of communication However, many people fail to interpret speaker‟s messages Nowadays, presses in general and online press, in specific have become more and more popular means of communication A lot of people search webs to find information and one of their favorite places is online brief news Online brief news is said to be a useful and typical demonstration of text patterns It is where the authors often convey as sufficient information as possible within the limit of news and it is also a place where certain features of language are clearly manifested Text patterns play important roles in organizing a discourse In English discourses, such patterns as problem- solution pattern, general- specific pattern, claim- counter claim pattern, advantage- disadvantage pattern are most usually used in organizing a discourse Among them, the former is the most widely used According to Grimes (cited in Hoey 2001:27): “both plot of fairy tales and the writings of scientists are built on a response pattern The first part gives a problem and the second its solution” The role of problemsolution pattern in creating coherence in discourse is clearly realized Vietnam has become an official member of the World Trade Organization and a non- permanent member of the United Nations Security Council The country has made considerable progress in the world integration as well as economic growth Vietnam has become an attractive investment destination for foreigners Every day, news on Vietnam is posted on internet with different styles Being interested in problem solution pattern with a hope to help foreign language learners to have a wide range knowledge of English words and writing organization, and as being Vietnamese, we concern with Vietnamese affairs very much, especially news about Vietnam presented by foreign news agencies, we decide to choose the topic “Problem- solution pattern in English online brief news on Vietnam” as the theme of the study Aims of the study The study is carried out with the following purposes: - To emphasize the important roles of problem- solution pattern in creating cohesion in text - To analyze economical and social news on Vietnam to see how problem- solution pattern manifested in each kind of news - To help learners of foreign languages improve their ways of organizing a text - To suggest some practical applications of problem- solution pattern in English teaching and learning Scope of the study and research questions 3.1 Scope of the study The study will focus on discovering how problem- solution pattern manifested in English online brief news Online brief news is a large scale, in the limited scope of the study, only English online brief news on Vietnam, more specific; two types of newseconomical and social news are our main focus The data for analysis is taken from online brief news on internet via the website: http://esllearning@vnn.vn, in which several sources are presented such as Reuters, AP, AFP, etc As the title of the study, we will focus to clarify how problem- solution pattern manifested in each kind of news 3.2 Research questions The study will focus on dealing with the following questions: - What is problem- solution pattern? - How is problem- solution pattern manifested in English online brief news on Vietnam? Methods of the study 4.1 Data sources Signaling textual pattern is very important for people to analyze a discourse To interpret a discourse properly, people should pay much attention to its patterns In the world of integration today, online brief news plays an important part in transmitting information It has become a more and more powerful mean of communication; authors usually adopt appropriate ways to indicate information For this reason, we decide to choose this topic to help learners know how to organize a text effectively The data for analysis is taken from internet from the website: http://esllearning@vnn.vn from September to December, 2007 4.2 Procedures The study is carried out basing on the following procedures: The data- English online brief news- are collected General textual analysis and descriptions are made in terms of textual patterns Findings are organized and reported The materials collected are analyzed mainly focusing on problemsolution pattern Design of the study The study comprises of three main parts: Part A: Introduction In this part, the rationale, aims, methods, scope and design of the study are presented Part B: Development This part is structured into three chapters: CHAPTER 1: Theoretical background This part will review theoretical background of the study including theory of discourse analysis, coherence and cohesion in text, register and problem- solution pattern CHAPTER 2: An analysis of problem- solution pattern manifested in English online brief news on Vietnam This chapter is the main focus of the study We will focus on analyzing two types of news: economical and social news to see how problem- solution pattern is manifested in each type of news The statistics of the data analysis are also stated CHAPTER 3: Some applications of problem- solution pattern in English teaching and learning Some implications for English teaching and learning are the main focus of this part Part C: Conclusion In this part, major findings of the study are summarized and some suggestions for further study are also presented This part will be followed by lists of references and appendix 10 - Vocabulary signaling solution - Occurrences of signaling vocabulary: 27 - Nouns: (22.2%) - Verbs: 17 (63%) - Adjectives: (3.7%) - Adverbs: (11 1%) - Social news: + Headlines: 18 occurrences of vocabulary: nouns: 11 (73.3%), verbs: (26.7%), adjectives: (5.6%), adverbs: (5.6%) + Leads: - With vocabulary: 11 (73.3%) - Without vocabulary: (26.7%) + Bodies: - With pattern: 11 (73.3%) - Without pattern: (26.7%) - Vocabulary signaling problem: - Occurrences of vocabulary: 52 - Nouns: 22 (42.3%) - Verbs: 17 (32 7%) - Adjectives: (15.4%) - Adverbs: (9.6%) - Vocabulary signaling solution - Occurrences of vocabulary: 47 - Nouns: 18 (38.3%) - Verbs: 19 (40.4%) - Adjectives: (12.8%) - Adverbs: (8.5%) From the results above we find that nouns and verbs are the most preferable while adverbs are the least usually used And problem- solution pattern is 43 applied in almost English news on Vietnam It can be indicated through structure (pattern) or through signaling vocabulary Paying attention to the pattern and some vocabularies, readers can understand the authors‟ ideas, since then they have a good understanding about the news Being aware of the important role of the pattern, the study also finds that teachers of English can use the problem- solution pattern to teach students And we think that the pattern should be used to teach students and it is possible to teach them since they are in the first year of their course because the pattern helps them to develop their problem- solving thinking Suggestions for further study This research is hoped to provide basic foundation for an initial look into signaling larger patterns in text, specifically problem- solution pattern It is also hoped to benefit to the learners of English in writing and speaking skills During the course of the study, we found some interesting related areas that are worth looking into as follows: - Problem - solution pattern in English online brief news on U.S 2008 presidential election - Problem- solution pattern in Vietnamnet as seen from the EnglishVietnamese cross cultural perspective - Problem- solution pattern in a certain story- under critical discourse analysis perspective 44 References English Brown, G., Yule, G (1983) Discourse Analysis Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Cook, G (1989) Discourse Oxford: Oxford University Press Coulthard, M (1992) On the Importance of Matching Relations, In the Analysis and Translation of Literary Texts Ilha DoDEsterro Crystal, D (1992) Introducing linguistics London: Penguin Dang Huu Phuoc (2006) Reiteration as a Cohesive Devices in NewsIn-Brief on Iraq War in English Press B.A Thesis Vinh University Halliday, M.A.K & Hasan, R (1976) Cohesion in English London: Longman Hoang Dinh Thuy Duong (2005) Some Discourse Features of English Sales contracts B.A Thesis Vinh University Hoey, M (2001) Signaling in Discourse: a functional analysis of a common discourse partner in written and spoken English In Coutlhard, M (ed.2001) Advance in Written Text Analysis Hoey, M (2001) Textual interaction: An Introduction to Written Discourse Analysis London: Routledge 10.McCarthy, M (1991) Discourse Analysis for Language Teachers Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 11.Ngo Dinh Phuong & Nguyen Thi Van Lam (2007) Discourse Analysis Vinh: Vinh University- FLD 12 Nunan, D (1995) Discourse Analysis London: Penguin 13 Rutherford, W (1987) Grammar and Discourse Second Language Grammar: Learning and Teaching: PDF 14.Yule, G (1996) Pragmatics Oxford: Oxford University Press 45 Vietnamese 15 Diep Quang Ban (2004) Ngu Phap Tieng Viet Ha Noi: Nha Xuat Ban Giao Duc Websites 16 Http://esllearning@vnn.vn 17 Http:// en.wikipedia.org/wiki 46 Appendix Vietnam car sales rocket 83 percent in first nine months Vietnamese car sales have rocketed 83 percent in the first nine months of the year, manufacturers said on Saturday Sales have shot up to 49,240 vehicles against 26,934 in the same period last year, the Vietnamese Automobile Manufacturers‟ Association (VAMA) said Passenger car sales between January and September were reported at 10,882 vehicles, a rise of 145 percent The figures were compiled from 16 of VAMA‟s 18 members Data were not available for the other two members Te biggest rise belonged to Japan‟s Honda which sold 2,729 locally assembled vehicles, up 858 percent from last year‟s 285 Next in the list was Vidamco, a joint venture between South Korean GM Daewoo and a Vietnamese company with a 305 percent rise in sales In September alone, VAMA members sold 7,683 units, up by 99 percent against the same month of 2006 (AFP, October 6, 2007) ADB lends Vietnam nearly $1 bln for power plant The Asian Development Bank has agree to lend Vietnam $931 million to build a 1,000- megawatt (MW) coal- fired power plant to meet soaring energy demand, a bank official said on Friday The 35- year loan will help finance 84 percent of the Mong Duong power plant in the northern coal hub province of Quang Ninh The remainder will be invested by dominant utility electricity of Vietnam (EVN), said ADB project officer Anthony Jude in Manila Construction of the plant will begin next year with completion scheduled for 2012, he said A second plant with similar capacity will be built in the second phase of the project in Mong Duong by private investors, ultimately adding 2,200 MW of generating capacity to Vietnam‟s electricity system, the bank said Energy demand is expected to grow about 17- 18 percent annually in Vietnam in the next several years as the economy expands at more than percent 47 Energy experts say Vietnam needs to diversify its energy resources to support its ambitious development plans EVN has said it would need to invest an average $ billion to $4 billion annually in new electricity generation capacity to meet the demand Around 60 percent of Vietnam‟s 12,000 MW capacities come from coal, gas fore and fuel oil while hydro provides about 40 percent The country plans to start building a nuclear power plant in 2015 ADB said a prerequisite of its support for the Mong Duong project was a detailed environment impact study and the plant would use technology aimed at significantly reducing emissions (Reuters 21 September 2007) Vietnam car sales rocket 83 percent in first nine months Vietnamese car sales have rocketed 83 percent in the first nine months of the year, manufacturers said on Saturday Sales have shot up to 49,240 vehicles against 26,934 in the same period last year, the Vietnamese Automobile Manufacturers‟ Association (VAMA) said Passenger car sales between January and September were reported at 10,882 vehicles, a rise of 145 percent The figures were compiled from 16 of VAMA‟s 18 members Data were not available for the other two members Te biggest rise belonged to Japan‟s Honda which sold 2,729 locally assembled vehicles, up 858 percent from last year‟s 285 Next in the list was Vidamco, a joint venture between South Korean GM Daewoo and a Vietnamese company with a 305 percent rise in sales In September alone, VAMA members sold 7,683 units, up by 99 percent against the same month of 2006 (AFP, October 6, 2007) Two hospitals bridge divide between U.S and Vietnam California Pacific Medial Center in San Francisco is teaming up with Hoan My hospital in Ho Cho Minh city, Vietnam, to help combat the deadly toll that hepatitis B (HBV) and other liver disorders are having in Vietnam “The goal of this partnership is to improve assess to care”, say Robert Gish, M.D., medical director of the Liver Disease & Transplant program at California 48 Pacific “By making our expertise and more resources available to our colleagues at Hoan My, we hope to be able to help them combat the devastating impact of hep B” Although relatively rare in the U.S, hepatitis B is endemic in Vietnam and other parts of Asia where hundreds of millions of individuals may be infected HBV is most commonly passed from mother to baby during childbirth; however it can also be transmitted through contact with infected blood or through unprotected sex The disease carries few symptoms in its early stages but left untreated can ultimately lead to cirrhosis or scarring of the liver, liver cancer or even death Hepatitis B is the fourth leading cause of cancer death worldwide The first fruit of this new partnership with California Pacific will be to establish a center at Hoan My Hospital specializing in the care of patients suffering from liver and gastroenterology disorders The center will look to improve screening for HBV, as well as manage patients suffering from liver cancer and those in need of liver transplantation The center will also become home to a group specializing in diagnostic and therapeutic endoscopies, as well as diagnosis and management of other complex GI cases Hoan My hospital will also be able to use these increased resources to help patients in other hospitals throughout Vietnam, including Dalat, Danang and Cantho California Pacific Medical Center is uniquely qualified to team up with Hoan My hospital because of its leading role in helping fight hep B in San Francisco As part of the SF Hep B Free collaborative, California Pacific Medical Center is committed to screening and vaccinating all San Francisco Asian and Islander residents for hepatitis B the Liver Disease & Transplant Program at California Pacific Medical Center has a long and successful history We have performed more than 1,300 liver transplants since the program‟s inception in 1998 Presently we see 1,000 new liver disease patients and perform more than 50 transplants annually (Ascribe Newswire 14 December 2007) S’pore imports of Vietnam foodstuffs jump as it becomes top global supplier 49 (1)VIETNAM has emerged as a leading supplier of food products- from seafood to pepper and coffee- to the world, including Singapore (2)The next time you nibble a cashew nut a home, order a spicy prawn curry at East Coast or sip coffee at a Katong coffee shop, chances are you would be consuming a product from Vietnam.(3) This year, Singapore will import an estimated $85 million worth of seafood from Vietnam, up from $49 million just two years ago (4)In fact, rice imports from Vietnam may more than quadruple to as much as $50 million from $11 million in 2005, and spice imports may triple to $25 million from $7.6 million (5)Vietnam is already the world‟s top exporter of pepper, and the No exporter of seafood and rice (6)It also recently emerged as the world second largest coffee exporter, after Brazil (7)The economy, already among the fastest growing in the world, is export- driven, and this is most evident in the food sector (8)In recent years, exports of Vietnamese food products have surged at annual growth rates of more than 20 percent, much higher than the average percent growth rate of the economy as a whole (9)In the first none months of this years, the United States was the top market, with imports of Vietnamese food products worth US$6.8 billion (US$20.2 billion) (10)It was followed by Japan (US$4 billion), Australia (US$1.8 billion), Singapore (US$1.5 billion) and China (US$1.3 billion) (11)Vietnam‟s fishery exports alone surged 23 percent to US$3.4 billion last year, and it is aiming for growth in that sector of 10 percent for the next fours years.(12) Meanwhile, the rice market is benefiting from good yields and high prices (13)One of Vietnam most respected economists and a former mistrial adviser, Ms Pham Chi Lan, said: „Vietnam food exports are booming because they are not only cheap and tasty, but the quality has improved steadily.(14) But other experts say quality control remains an issue that prevents Vietnam from earning even higher revenue from food exports.(15) The uneven quality of our rice makes it inferior to Thailand‟s, and it tends to have more impurities, „said the head of the Southern Science and Technical Institute, Professor Bui Chi Buu 50 (16)Likewise, until recently, Vietnamese coffee was synonymous with poor quality (17)Even today, there is much room for improvement (18) Although the quality of our food products has improved, it is still not as good as that of Thailand or Brazil‟, conceded Ms Lan (19)However, following the recent media attention given to substandard Chinese exports, the food monitoring authorities in Vietnam have started to crack down on poor quality (20)Agricultures and Rural Development Minister Diep Kinh Tan recently warned seafood exporters to ensure good hygiene because importing countries were starting to scrutinize the goods for contamination (21) Professor Buu said:‟ Vietnam needs to invest heavily in post harvesting technology if it wants to upgrade the quality of its rice and other food products‟ (By Roger Mitton) signs of wrong doings at Vietnam’s bridge collapse Vietnam‟s relevant agencies have defined four signs of wrong doings that led to the collapse of an approach ramp leading to Vietnam‟s Can Tho‟s bridge, according to local media on Tuesday The 90- meter section of the approach ramp in southern Vinh Long province, which is 30 meters above the ground, collapsed on Sept 26, killing 53 people, leaving one missing and 80 others injured The first sign of wrong doing is about execution method, in which technical requirements for casting concrete was not fully met, said Saigon Liberation newspaper The second sign of wrong doing is that the execution‟s surveillance work was not done perfectly The third involves in the use of scaffold systems of poor quality, and the fourth is the untimely action of relevant organization and individuals who received warnings about the presence of cracks on one side of the approach ramp Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has ordered a temporary suspension of the rebuilding of the collapsed ramp to ensure working safety, and asked rescue work to continue to recover the single workers believed still trapped in the debris, said Vietnam News newspaper Dung told the major contractor- a partnership of three 51 Japanese firms Taisei, Kajima and Nippon Steel- that their cooperation would help the national investigation committee‟s work This was to identify the cause of the accident and assess the responsibilities of those involved in its construction He has ordered the committee to report to him within a month Construction of approach ramps and the cable- braced bridge‟s main span over the Hau River, linking Can Tho city and Vinh Long, with total length of nearly 16 km, began in September 2004 The investment of 295 million U.S dollars came from official development assistance of Japan and the Vietnamese government‟s reciprocal capital It is scheduled to be complete in December 2008 (Xinhua October, 9, 2007) Vietnam faces port capacity shortfall INFRASTRUCTURE bottlenecks, including a lack of highway access to a new port complex at Cai Mep, could threaten Vietnam‟s export base, according to a leading manufacturer, writes Keith Wallis Jeff Ross, director of global ocean transportation for sport wear maker Nike, said infrastructure construction on ports, roads, and railways as lagging behind the growth in container volumes He estimated there would be a shortfall in port capacity of 220,000 teu in southern Vietnam this year This is seen as a key concern especially as ports in Hochiminh city handle about 72% of the country‟s container traffic, while Haiphong, near Hanoi, and handle around 22% At the same time, “airfreight capacity continues to bet tight” as Ho Chi Minh City‟s Tan Son Nhat International Airport reaches capacity Mr Ross said the new Long Thanh international airport, which will cover about 5,000 and have four run ways, had been proposed about 65 km from Ho Chi Minh City but it would not open until 2015 Commenting on the state of container ports in southern Vietnam, Mr Ross said Vietnam International Airport Container Terminal could see an increase in berth capacity in the second half of 2008 He said the new port at Hiep Phuoc near Ho Chi Minh City being developed by DP World was due to begin 52 operations in 2009, but this timetable was uncertain because dredging of the approaches had still to be confirmed At Cai Mep, Singapore‟s PSA International and Hutchison Port Holdings have started work on new container terminals which are due to become operational in 2010 But Mr Ross said there was uncertainty about three other terminal joint ventures that would develop facilities at Cai Mep and work had yet to start “Our concern is even as they build the port there is no infrastructure” Creaking road and bridge links in the city dash; the Dongnai Bridge could also collapse at anytime according to officials‟ dash; are also a concern Some schemes such as the Thu Thiem and Phu My bridges and Thu Thiem tunnel, are under way but are not due for completion until 2008 or 2009, while the Bien HAoVan Tau expressway has been proposed but no start date has been agreed Mr Ross was quick not to blame Vietnamese officials for the problems and believed the government had been “caught off guard by the country‟s development” “The government set five 10- year policies and it is difficult to get the numbers changed On the bright side of, local officials understand the concerns and they are taken seriously”, he added (Lloyd‟s list September, 19, 2007) Vietnam must regulate blogs, say officials Vietnam needs to control blogs to prevent the spread of subversive and sexually explicit content, communist government officials said according to a state media report Wednesday Weblogs have exploded in Vietnam in recent years, especially among youths, providing a forum for chatting about mostly societal and lifestyle issues and proving an alternative to the state- controlled media Recent anti- Chinese protests over the disputed Spratly and Paracel islands, which were halted following rebukes from Beijing, were organized and debated on the Internet but almost completely ignored by the official press 53 The ministry responsible for culture and information, which controls traditional media, in July, said it was drafting regulations that would fine bloggers who post subversive and sexually explicit content online Deputy Information and Communication Minister Do Quy Doan this week told a conference on Vietnam‟s press law that “controlling weblogs is about developing them in accordance with the law, not forbidding them „We should provide guidelines that help people know what type of information they can upload online”, Doan said according to a report in the English- language Thanh Nien (Youth Daily) newspapers Bloggers would also be held responsible for information they access, he reportedly said, adding: “Once we have obvious regulations, I think no one will be able to supervise weblogs better than the bloggers themselves” Nguyen The Ky, head of the press management and publishing bureau, said: “It‟s alright some bloggers have recently showed their patriotism, posting opinions about the Paracels- Spratly archipelagos on their weblogs” “But some have sparked protest, causing public disorder and affecting the country‟s foreign affairs It‟s impossible to control the Internet, so I think we should bolster technical security measures in addition to creating regulations” (AFP 30 December 2007) Vietnam says Dec inflation to hit 12.6% Vietnam estimated on Tuesday its consumer prices in December would be 12.63 percent higher than a year earlier, rising at the fastest rate in a decade due to rising cost of housing, food and fuel prices Rising foreign investment in Vietnam a year after the country joined the World Trade Organization also contributed to shooting up consumer prices, economists said The government‟s General Statistics Office estimated consumer prices this year would be on average 8.3 percent higher than last year In December alone, prices were set to rise 2.91 percent from November, accelerating from the 1.2 percent rise between last month and October 54 With economic growth estimated at 8.44 percent this year the government has failed to achieve its target to keep this year‟s price increases below the economic growth Inflation came near the economic growth in 2005 when prices rose 8.4 percent and the Southeast Asian country‟s GDP expanded 8.44 percent Vietnam‟s annual consumer price inflation last reached two digits in October 2004, when it hit 10.3 percent The statistics office estimated food prices this month would jump 15.4 percent from last December Food prices accounts for 42.8 percent of the price basket Vietnam uses to calculate inflation Costs of housing and construction materials this month would rise 17 percent from a year ago, the statistics office said Property prices have been surging as investors used profits from equities investments to buy land and houses, especially in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, stockbrokers say Economists said foreign investment also added to price pressures as the small economy struggled to absorb hefty inflows Planning and Investment Minister Vo Hong Phuc told a recent cabinet meeting that foreign funds must be converted into Vietnamese dong, investment inflows result in high volume of dong cash being pumped into circulation, adding to inflationary pressures, bank experts said Next year Vietnam will aim for economic growth of percent and target inflation below that rate, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung told the cabinet meeting on Monday, the government said (Reuter, 30 December 2007) 10 Vietnam students overloaded with outdated text books (1)A twelfth grader of Ngo Quyen High School reads a book at Nguyen Hue Bookstore in HCMC (2) Many teachers and educators are concerned that the Education Publishing House has sole rights to publish all school textbooks nationwide (3)Teachers and educators have criticized school text books and curriculums, for expecting students to learn too much broad and diverse information (4)As a result of cramming for exams, students did not retain valuable lessons, teachers said (5)For instance, some 55 students forgot important national events because they were being forced to learn huge amounts of out-dated facts and theories from text books (6)The Ministry of Education and Training started to revise text books for students from grade to grade 11 in 2002 (7)But according to some teachers the revised editions were still impractical (8) “It‟s like we‟re asking our children to become experts in everything”, said Professor Pham Phu, who is frequently consulted on the textbook debate (9) “Our students aren‟t [all] going to become literary experts or mathematicians (10)It‟s ironic that a twelfth grader doesn‟t know how to calculate the area of a house (11)They can‟t bring the theories they learn in the classroom into the real world” (12)For example, fourth graders had to study a thousand years of Vietnam history, from the early society of Van Lang, to the period of Chinese domination, to the early independence of Dai Viet (the former name of Vietnam) (13)Many teachers and educators were also concerned that the Education Publishing House had the sole rights to publish all school textbooks nationwide (14)From 2002 to June 30, 2006, the government publisher printed more than 821 million copies, with an average revenue of nearly VND900 billion (US$56 million) a year (15)Due to the monopoly and lack of competition there was little incentive to improve textbook quality (16)“Nearly 80 percent of textbook writers no longer work as teachers”, the Minister of Education and Training, Nguyen Thien Nhan, told the National Assembly at its recent meeting in Hanoi (17)The principal of Duc Tri secondary school Nguyen Thi Phi said students in middle and high schools should be taught real-life lessons about moral values instead of being asked to memorize philosophical ideas (18)The Ministry had tried to reduce course loads by providing study and teaching guidelines to schools, to omit sections of textbooks but the reduction was not adequate, teachers said: (VNB, December 20, 2007) These are only some online brief news among analyzed data They are all available in the website Http://esllearning@vnn.vn We apologize for 56 being unable to display all the news taken into analysis in this study due to the limited size of a graduation thesis 57 ... focus on discovering how problem- solution pattern manifested in English online brief news Online brief news is a large scale, in the limited scope of the study, only English online brief news on. .. questions The study will focus on dealing with the following questions: - What is problem- solution pattern? - How is problem- solution pattern manifested in English online brief news on Vietnam?... news 13 2.1 Structure of online brief news 13 2.2 Problem- solution pattern in English economical online brief news on Vietnam 14 2.2.1 Headline 14 2.2.2 Lead