3.2.1. Teachers and students’ suggestions to improve their knowledge
Figure 3.9: Teachers’ suggestions to improve their knowledge A. Participating in domestic and overseas ESP training courses B. Learning from others’ experience
C. Sharing experience with other teachers
D. Building up an ESP reference source for all teachers
0 20 40 60 80
A B C D E F
66.7 53.3
40 46.6
33.3 26.6
32 E. Dealing with real-life situations F. Others
Of all the interviewees, 66.7% suggested taking part in domestic and overseas ESP training courses to improve their knowledge while 53.3% preferred learning from others’ experience. Sharing teaching experience with other colleagues was chosen by 40% of the interviewees. 46.6% highly recommended that an ESP reference source be built for all teachers. Dealing with real-life situations indicated by 33.3 of the interviewees was also a good way to improve the knowledge.
Figure 3.10: Students’ suggestions to improve their knowledge of the subject A. Interacting more with the teachers
B. Taking part in English clubs
C. Participating in activities and tasks in the class D. Registering for extracurricular classes if necessary
E. Finding more materials to improve vocabulary and reading skills F. Others
To improve their own knowledge of the subject, 66.7% of the students suggested interacting more with the teachers while 56.7% preferred finding more supplementary materials to enhance their vocabulary and reading skills.
46.7% of them were in favour of taking part in English clubs at the academy.
Furthermore, 43.3% would like to participate in activities and tasks given in the class. Also, 40% of them were ready to register for extracurricular classes if necessary.
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
A B C D E F
33
3.2.2. Teachers’ suggestions for class organization
Figure 3.11: Teachers’ suggestions for class organization
To solve the problems of class organization, 26.7% of the interviewees suggested dividing the current classes into smaller one with 15 to 20 students while 26.7% chose to have classes of 20 to 25 students. 33.3% preferred keeping the same organization but dividing them into small groups of students with different levels. The others left that decision upon the academy.
3.2.3. Teachers’ suggestions for teaching methods
Figure 3.12: Teachers’ suggestions for teaching methods A. Updating teaching methods regularly through training courses B. Holding more demonstrations of teaching among teachers
C. Trying some new teaching strategies to find out the most suitable ones D. Communicating effectively with visual aids
E. Changing the regular daily routine F. Others
26.7
26.7 33.3
13.3
Class size should be at 15-20 students Class size should be at 20-25 students
Small classess with students of different levels Others
0 20 40 60 80
A B C D E F
66
40 53
77
33 20
34
To improve the teaching methods, 66.7% approved of updating them regularly through training courses. 40% wanted to hold more teaching demonstrations among the teachers to learn experience. Applying some new teaching strategies to find out the most suitable one was chosen by 53.3% of the interviewees. The most highly recommended solution was communicating effectively with visual aids (73.3%). Meanwhile, 33.3% chose to change their regular daily teaching routine.
3.2.4. Teachers and students’ suggestions to enhance students’ English proficiency
Figure 3.13: Teachers’ suggestions for students’ English proficiency A. Using group work and pair work
B. Creating a supportive learning environment C. Establishing closer relationships with students D. Encouraging students to resolve their difficulties E. Others
It was easily seen that 86.7% of the interviewees suggested using group work and pair work to enhance the students’ English proficiency while 66.7% was in favour of creating a supportive learning environment. 46.7% of them wanted to establish closer relationship with the students. Also, 53.3% preferred encouraging the students to resolve their own difficulties. There was 33.3% of the interviewees provided different solutions.
0 20 40 60 80 100
A B C D E
86.7
66.7
46.7 53.3
33.3
35
Figure 3.14: Students’ suggestions to enhance their English proficiency A. Making a study plan with short-term and long-term goals
B. Practising the 4 core skills: speaking, listening, reading, and writing C. Watching English videos with bilingual subtitles
D. Learning as many words as possible E. Others
The students pointed out some ways to improve their English proficiency.
63.3% would love to watch English videos with bilingual subtitles to learn slangs, intonation, and new words. 60% agreed that they should learn as many words as possible while 53.3% wanted to practise the four core skills including speaking, listening, reading, and writing. 40% voted for making a study plan with short-term and long-term goals.
3.2.5. Teachers and students’ suggestions for time-constraint
Figure 3.15: Teachers’ suggestions for time-constraint
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
A B C D E
40
54 63 60
26.7
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
A B C D E F
40
66.7 60
46.7
73.3
20
36
A. Eliminating some topics from the curriculum B. Adding more periods to the syllabus
C. Opening extracurricular classes
D. Assigning more exercises to students to do at home E. Asking students to prepare the lessons before classes F. Others
To solve the problem of time-constraint, 73.3% of the respondents proposed asking the students to prepare the lessons before classes. Also, adding more periods to the syllabus was essential to 66.7%. Another option chosen by 60% to solve it was opening extracurricular classes. Assigning more exercises to the students (46.7%) and eliminating some topics from the curriculum (40%) were other solutions by choice.
Figure 3.16: Students’ suggestions for time-constraint A. Wanting to focus more on speaking and listening skills B. Reducing grammatical lessons
C. Increasing the number of teaching periods D. Others
With the purpose of solving the time-constraint problem, 76.7% of the interviewed students proposed increasing the number of teaching periods. Also, 63.3% wanted to reduce grammatical lessons in the syllabus. Half of them liked to focus more on speaking and listening skills.
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
A B C D
50
63.3 76.7
30
37
3.2.6. Teachers’ suggestions for using the course book and teaching materials
Figure 3.17: Teachers’ suggestions for using the course book and teaching materials A. Creating an online database system containing all teaching materials for teachers B. Working together on preparing teaching materials
C. Referring frequently to domestic and overseas teaching materials D. Building up more exercises and handouts based on the course book E. Others
Regarding using the course book and teaching materials, 66.7% of the interviewees indicated building up more exercises and handouts based on the course book for students’ use. 60% of them agreed to work together on teaching materials in common use. 53.3% suggested creating an online database system which consists of all the teaching materials. Additionally, 46.7% offered to refer frequently to domestic and oversea teaching materials for references.
3.2.7. Teachers and students’ suggestions to motivate students
Figure 3.18: Teachers’ suggestions to motivate students
0 20 40 60 80
A B C D E
53.3 60
46.7
66.7
26.7
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
A B C D E
53.3
80
60 53.3
26.7
38
A. Using information technology for the lectures B. Using diverse activities in the class
C. Pay more attention to essential topics for students
D. Holding extracurricular activities related to the subject for students E. Others
To motivate the students in the class. 80% agreed to use various activities in the classroom and 60% of them wanted to pay more time and attention to essential topics for students. 53.3% proposed using information technology for the lectures to create a stimulating learning environment and holding extracurricular activities related to the subject for the students.
Figure 3.19: Students’ suggestions to motivate their motivation A. Determining learning objectives
B. Determining real scores, load of exercises to work on daily C. Building a studying team with common purposes
D. Others
For strengthening the studying motivation, 66.7% of the students affirmed that they should determine their learning objectives clearly. Thus, 53.3% of them wanted to set real goals to achieve as well as loads of exercises to work on every day. Half of them proposed building up a studying group with common studying purposes.
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
A B C D
66.7
53.3 50
23.3
39
3.2.8. Students’ suggestions to change their studying habits
Figure 3.20: Students’ suggestions to change their studying habits A. Working out a daily schedule for studying
B. Asking for more exercises and advice from teachers C. Using study group effectively
D. Staying away from temptations E. Others
In order to change the studying habits, 80% of the interviewees asserted that they had to stay away from temptations that distracted them from studying. Im addition, 60% of them pointed out that studying in groups effectively had good impacts on their studying habits. 53.3% thought about working out a daily schedule for studying while 43.3% would love to ask for more exercises and advice from the teachers.