An investigation into the views of former non majored students about ESP teaching and learning: A case study in HCMC University of Education

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The data of this qualitative and quantitative study were collected through the questionnaires and interviews with the former students who used to take ESP courses. From the results, the paper offered some suggestions for improving the effectiveness of the program as well as removing the constraints of the situation.

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AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE VIEWS OF FORMER NON-MAJORED STUDENTS ABOUT ESP TEACHING AND LEARNING: A CASE STUDY IN HCMC UNIVERSITY OF EDUCATION Nguyen Thi Tu, MA Nguyen Hien Doan Trang, MA Nguyen Minh Tam Nguyen Thi Tu took an MA degree in TESOL from HCM University of Social Sciences and Humanities-Vietnam National University in 2005. She is interested in TESOL, Linguistics and Education. She has been a lecturer in HCMC University of Pedagogy for more than 10 years, teaching both General English and ESP. Her research interests involve TESOL, Applied Linguistics and Education Management. Nguyen Hien Doan Trang graduated from English Department, HCMC University of Education in 2007 and taught at Division of Foreign Languages at the same university until 2010. In 2011, she undertook a Masters in Applied Linguistics at The University of Queensland, Australia on a Vietnamese government scholarship. She is again teaching at the University of Education and is interested in teaching methodology and nonverbal channels in teaching. In February, 2012, she attended the 8th Annual CamTESOL Conference on English Language Teaching in Cambodia and received a CamTESOL Regional Innovation Award sponsored by Australian Education International (AEI). Nguyen Minh Tam graduated from Pre-school Department, HCMC University of Education in 2012. She is teaching at National College of Education - Ho Chi Minh City. She has done research since a student. She is now taking the higher education program offered by HCMC University of Education to take M.A degree. Abstract English for Specific Purpose (ESP) is not only an important but also an indispensable aspect in teaching and learning English, especially to the tertiary education. As Johns and Dudley- Evans (1991) state, ESP emerged as "a vigorous and viable movement" and has attracted the attention of many researchers, particularly the ones within the field of TEFL (Teaching 21 | T h e 2 0 1 3 c o n f e r e n c e “ I n n o v a t i o n i n t e a c h i n g a n d l e a r n i n g E S P ”
English as a Foreign Language) for over 30 years (Dung & Anh, 2010). Being aware of the substantial importance of this trend, ESP has been included in the English teaching curriculum of Foreign Language Section, Ho Chi Minh City University of Education since 2000. After 13 years launching, does the teaching program achieve the effectiveness as expected? Does it meet the needs of the learners? These issues are of major concern of both the lecturers and the administrators of the university, as well as the students who are directly involved in ESP learning process, especially in today context of changing from the compulsory program to the credit system. This study aims to provide a general view of the situation as well as investigate the views of former English non-major students about the ESP teaching and learning. The data of this qualitative and quantitative study were collected through the questionnaires and interviews with the former students who used to take ESP courses. From the results, the paper offered some suggestions for improving the effectiveness of the program as well as removing the constraints of the situation. Key words: ESP: English for Specific Purposes Tóm tắt Tiếng Anh chuyên ngành (ESP) là một khía cạnh quan trọng và không thể tách rời trong việc học và dạy tiếng Anh, nhất là đối với bậc đại học. Như Johns và Dudley-Evans (1991) từng nhận định, tiếng Anh chuyên ngành ra đời như một nhu cầu tất yếu và là một xu hướng phát triển mạnh mẽ. Hay như Thạc Sỹ Đỗ Thị Xuân Dung và Cái Ngọc Duy Anh (2010) phát biểu trong bài nghiên cứu về việc dạy và học tiếng Anh chuyên ngành (TACN) rằng đây là một lĩnh vực đã thu hút sự quan tâm của rất nhiều nhà nghiên cứu trong suốt ba mươi năm qua. Nhận thấy tầm quan trọng của lĩnh vực này cũng như để bắt kịp với xu thế phát triển chung, Tổ Ngoại ngữ trường Đại Học Sư Phạm Hồ Chí Minh đã đưa TACN vào chương trình giảng dạy cho sinh viên không chuyên ngữ kể từ năm 2000. Sau mười ba năm áp dụng, liệu chương trình có đạt được hiệu quả như mong muốn? Người học đánh giá như thế nào về chương trình dạy và học TACN? Đây là những mối quan tâm hàng đầu không chỉ của các giảng viên mà còn của cả các nhà quản lý, cũng như các sinh viên tham gia trực tiếp vào việc học ESP, nhất là trong bối cảnh hiện nay, khi trường đang chuyển từ niên chế sang học chế tín chỉ. Bài nghiên cứu giúp cung cấp một cái nhìn tổng quan về việc dạy và học TACN cũng như tiến hành khảo sát đánh giá của các cựu sinh viên về chương trình. Đây là một nghiên cứu vừa mang tính định lượng vừa mang tính định tính và được tiến hành thông qua khảo sát và phỏng vấn các cựu sinh viên đã từng tham gia các khóa học TACN. Từ kết quả thu được, bài 22 | T h e 2 0 1 3 c o n f e r e n c e “ I n n o v a t i o n i n t e a c h i n g a n d l e a r n i n g E S P ”
nghiên cứu đề xuất một số phương án nhằm nâng cao hiệu quả giảng dạy và khắc phục các khó khăn trong quá trình dạy và học TACN. Từ khóa: TACN: Tiếng Anh chuyên ngành 1. Introduction With the developments of the society, ESP, denoting English for Specific Purposes has been used with EGP (English for General Purposes) for communication activities and professional growth to language learners in both specialized non non-specialized contexts and dimensions. ESP formally defined in the early years of the 17th century has become one of the most primary areas in English target teaching and learning sector with the courses offered for ESP in a large number of universities and colleges in a lot of developed countries with excellent educational system. There is even an international journal dedicated to ESP-, ―English for Specific Purposes: An international Journal‖. Hutchinson and Waters (1987) state, ―ESP is an approach to language teaching in which all decisions as to content and method are based on the learner‘s reason for learning‖ (p. 19). Therefore, in this learner- centered approach, learners‘ needs and purposes in their learning are the prominent factors needing to be administered and focused. Definitely, studying the views from students about an ESP program or an ESP syllabus and other related aspects after its being carried out in particular educational contexts should be done in order to strengthen the good points and adapt the shortcomings of that ESP program and facilitate students‘ learning as well as promote teachers‘ professional growth. ESP was introduced in Ho Chi Minh City University of Education (HCMC UE) in 2000. ESP teaching and learning, however, has not undergone little evaluation either at a class or university scale in this setting. This study focuses on investigating the views of former non- majored students about ESP teaching and learning in HCMC UE. The study was processed with background information, method and the discussion part based on the data collected via questionnaires delivered to 130 former students. From the results drawn, the paper conveys several pedagogical implications in improving the effectiveness of the ESP program in HCMC UE. 2. Literature Review The paper investigates the views of HCMC UE's former non-majored students about the ESP teaching and the necessity of ESP course to their career as well as asks for their recommendations with regard to the curriculum, textbooks and the teaching and learning 23 | T h e 2 0 1 3 c o n f e r e n c e “ I n n o v a t i o n i n t e a c h i n g a n d l e a r n i n g E S P ”
ESP. Hence, the foremost issue that needs to be considered is the clarification of the term "ESP". How is it defined? What is special about ESP? Reviewing the large body of literature about ESP can provide a thorough understanding about the origin as well as the reason why it has become an important and indispensable aspect of English teaching and learning. 2.1. Terminology 2.1.1. Definition Coming into existence in the early 1960s, ESP has nearly half of century history of development and has undergone many phases of changes (Hutchinson & Waters, 1987). It is interesting that although it captures the attention of many researchers in the field and has been an important topic for discussion for a long time, no clear consensus on a concise definition of ESP exists (Anthony, 1997). Throughout this time, many definitions of ESP have been suggested. As a common sense, it is often believed that ESP is the teaching and learning English of special subjects with specialized terminologies and vocabulary (Fiority, 2005). Taking part in an ESP course, students are supposed to deal with special grammar, vocabulary and knowledge taken from authentic materials of these specialized subjects. Therefore, it is no wonder why some researchers state that ESP involves teaching and learning specific skills needed for learners' professional career (Day & Krzanowski, 2011). This way of thinking is also in line with that of Fiority (2005) who agrees that the term "specific" in ESP refers to "specific purposes" of English learning. This "specific purpose" is again emphasized in Tahir (2009)'s paper when he discusses about the definition of ESP. To him, the term "specific" is used , by implication, to highlight the learners' purpose of language learning. Sharing the same view, El-Minyawi (1984) indicates that ESP courses are designed to help learners read and talk about their specialized subjects confidently and fluently. Taking a more general view, Hutchinson and Waters (1987) note in their book that ESP is not merely an issue of teaching specialized varieties of language. Instead of emphasizing the specialized form of language, contrary to popular belief, they shift the focus onto the particular context of language use because "Language varies as it functions varies, it differs in different situations." (Hallliday, McIntosh & Strevens, 1964, p.13). To have a comprehensive picture of ESP, Hutchinson and Waters (1987) use the image of a tree to illustrate the significant relation among the divisions of ELT (English Language Teaching) (see Fig.1). 24 | T h e 2 0 1 3 c o n f e r e n c e “ I n n o v a t i o n i n t e a c h i n g a n d l e a r n i n g E S P ”
Fig. 1: The ELT tree Looking closely at this analogy of the tree, it is clearly seen that ESP is a branch of EFL (English as a Foreign Language), which itself is a branch broken down from ELT. Therefore, they conclude that ESP is not only for specialists or scientists but it is a language teaching approach and is not much different from other forms of language teaching. If there is any difference, it lies at the heavier emphasis on the learners' needs. Or as Dudley-Evans (1997) proclaims, the focal aspect of ESP is the focus on the issue of need analysis. To state explicitly, ESP is a language teaching approach in which the learners' needs determine all the aspects of teaching, from the content to method. (Anthony, 1997; Hutchinson & Waters, 1987). Once the learners' needs are identified; suitable genres, language, and activities for the course would be carefully chosen to meet these needs (Dudley-Evans, 1997). This way of defining ESP has the agreement of most researchers at the time. Drawing from the significant influence of Hutchinson and Waters (1987)'s definition and Strevens (1988)'s point of view, at the ESP conference in Japan in 1997, Dudley-Evans provided another definition of ESP which is considered truly comprehensive and is widely 25 | T h e 2 0 1 3 c o n f e r e n c e “ I n n o v a t i o n i n t e a c h i n g a n d l e a r n i n g E S P ”
accepted nowadays (Anthony, 1997; Tahir, 2009). According to Dudley-Evans (1997), ESP has two principle characteristics which are absolute and variable ones. With regard to absolute characteristics, ESP course is believed to be designed for learners' specific purposes and the course is built up from the language appropriate to methodology and activities "in terms of grammar, lexis, register, study skills and discourse genre" (Dudley-Evan, 1997, p.6). Whereas the relation to specific discipline and the possibility of being used in particular situation with different teaching method compared to General English is considered variable characteristics of ESP. To sum up, the definition offered by Dudley-Evans (1997) which defines ESP as a learner-centered approach with absolute and variable characteristics seems to be the most adequate one to end the discussion on the definition of ESP and this is also the reference for ESP used in this study. 2.1.2. Types of ESP/ ESP taxonomy In contrast to the issue of definition ESP which draws the attention of many researchers and educationalists, the question about how many types of ESP there are is often neglected. However, drawing on studies of ESP, it would cause a bit of surprise to find out that different taxonomies have been proposed (Tahir, 2009). Among them, the classification developed by Carver (1983) which groups ESP into three main types: English as restricted language, English for academic and vocational purpose, and English with specific topics is the one which is widely employed in most research into ESP field. According to Carver (1983), the language used by specific groups of occupations such as traffic controllers and waiters is quite limited. Although they can use these "restricted repertoires" to communicate successfully in certain situations, it is not likely that they can have the same effect in situations outside their vocational environment (Mountford, 1978). The second type of ESP, English for academic and vocational purposes, is taken from the idea of Hutchinson and Waters (1987)'s analogy of the ELT tree. As it can be seen from figure 1, the ESP branch is broken down into EAP (English for Academic Purposes) and EOP (English for Occupational Purposes) or EVP (English for Vocational Purposes). With EAP, English is learnt for the purpose of academic study while with EOP or EVP, English is used as a useful tool and medium for the learners' work or training. However, the distinction between EAP and EOP is quite vague since the language that the learners need to use in their academic study and in their working environment can be overlapped. Due to having no clear- 26 | T h e 2 0 1 3 c o n f e r e n c e “ I n n o v a t i o n i n t e a c h i n g a n d l e a r n i n g E S P ”
cut distinction between these two divisions, Carver (1983) groups them together as one type of ESP. Among three types of ESP, the last one seems to counter the most argument concerning the matter of whether it is a type of ESP or it is only an aspect of this learner-centered teaching approach (Tahir, 2009). To Carver (1983), the specific topics refer to particular situations in which ESP is used. For example, ESP has been used in at workplace, at a conference or in the case of reading for reference. 2.2. Need analysis and the differences between ESP and General English (GE) Although there are different ways of defining ESP, all these definitions hold the focus on learners' needs in common. Hence, identifying the learners' needs or need analysis, the term widely used today, is considered the most substantial issue of ESP. As mentioned in Tahir (2009), need analysis is defined as the involvement of "the assessment of the needs for which a learner or groups of learners may require language" (p. 109). However, it is not until the existence of ESP that the learners' need catches the researchers' attention. The importance of a systematic analysis of learners' needs has been taken into consideration of not only the researchers but also the teachers, course designers and material providers for such a long time because needs analysis is the foremost issue of any language teaching methodology (Dudley-Evans, 1997). This issue has commanded more special attention and grasped more critical importance since the significant development of CLT (Communicative Language Teaching) approach which puts a strong emphasis on the analysis of learners' needs (Tahir, 2009). Once the matter of what the learners would do through the medium of English is identified, the suitable language, content, instruction and methodology would be chosen to meet these requirements. And of course, as these needs are fulfilled, the teaching and learning process would be successful and the effectiveness of the course would be maximized. Compared with General English, need analysis in ESP is given more importance due to the fact that the target learners of ESP mostly are adults and, more importantly, they are more aware of their purposes of learning the language (Hutchinson & Waters, 1987) or as Gillett (1996) notes in his paper, ESP is more goal-directed, hence, the matter of need analysis is placed at a more importance focus. ESP learners, in addition to having some acquaintance with English, have a clearer understanding about what to do with this medium of language in 27 | T h e 2 0 1 3 c o n f e r e n c e “ I n n o v a t i o n i n t e a c h i n g a n d l e a r n i n g E S P ”
their study or career. This feature of the learners' nature is the first factor that distinguishes ESP from GE. The second factor that makes ESP different from GE is the language and skills taught in the courses. Whereas GE covers all four skills, ESP focuses on language in context and the choice of which skill to teach depends on the learners' needs. If the learners are tourist guides-to-be, the skills needed to include in the course are speaking and listening. But if the course is designed for translators, then reading and writing skill are included. However, from a different perspective, ESP is broader than GE because ESP learners can apply their knowledge about the real world in GE course into their specialized field of study. In other words, ESP is the combination of both subject matter and the language teaching (Fiority, 2005). 2.3. Benefits of ESP It is no doubt that ESP course is designed for the learners who need the language for their study or career. Therefore, the substantial benefits that ESP courses provide for the learners are quite vivid. Being able to read authentic materials or learning resources related to their specialized subjects to improve and widen their knowledge in order to meet their study or work's demand, being able to communicate with specialists of their field or present at conference about a specialized matter; are some of the examples of what the learners can greatly benefit from ESP courses. Those are just what can be observed from the surface. Taking a deeper look from the perspective of linguistics, ESP can provide considerable benefits of a faster learning speed, higher learning efficiency and better learning effectiveness (Tahir, 2009). Firstly, ESP courses are designed based on the learners' needs, which means that the learners can learn what they need. According to Input Hypothesis, in language learning, when the learners are engaged with something meaningful to them, the learning process takes place faster (Gass & Slelinker, 2008; Mitchell & Myles, 2004). In other words, they acquire the language faster. Moreover, because their requirements are fulfilled, the learners will be more motivated to study. To Ortega (2009), motivation is one of the affective factors which has a substantial importance in language learning and there is an affective filter that subconsciously screens incoming language based on learners' needs and motives, according to Affective Filter Hypothesis (Gass & Selinker, 2008). Therefore, ESP offers the learners an accelerated context to acquire the language faster (Wright, 1992). 28 | T h e 2 0 1 3 c o n f e r e n c e “ I n n o v a t i o n i n t e a c h i n g a n d l e a r n i n g E S P ”
Secondly, in an ESP course, as the learners will be provided with authentic materials of which knowledge can be used in their study and work, the learners will take full advantage of these learning resources, which leads to higher learning efficiency. Lastly, as for learning effectiveness, after the course or perhaps even during the course, ESP learners can apply what they study in class right away to their study and working environment which means that they have an appropriate context to practice the language. Hence, there is a learning effectiveness in an ESP course (Tahir, 2009). 2.4. ESP development and ESP teaching 2.4.1. International scale Since the existence of ESP in the early 1960s and more than a quarter of century after the term ESP was in use, this learner-centered teaching approach has undergone many stages of development and has flourished at different speeds in different countries. Commencing on the origin of ESP, Hutchison and Waters (1987) note that due to the growing demand of commerce and trading, the interest in learning English, the lingua franca used for almost all international affairs, resulted in an exponential increase after the end of World War II. In addition, English is also the key to acquire the broad knowledge of technology. Hence, English learning has become a need and demand of the society since this time. Then during the late 1960s and the early 1970s, the world witnessed the expansion of English courses for specific groups of learners. The forerunner of ESP is EST (English for Science and Technology). At this time, because English was an important means to explore the world of science and technology, special courses were just designed for learners of this field and ESP was considered the same as EST. The event that led to the flourish of ESP is the development in educational psychology which place the emphasis on learner center in language teaching (Rogers, 1969). Since then, ESP has steadily grown into an dispensable and important area of EFL. ESP has been in the curriculum of tertiary level of many universities and colleges such as Malaysia, China, Japan, Brazil or Vietnam. There are more and more ESP courses offered for the postgraduates as well as more courses for overseas students majoring in ESP (Anthony, 1997). In addition to this, many international journals and conferences have been devoted to the discussion about the nature of ESP, how to teach it effectively and what actions needed to be taken to develop this learner-centered approach. In Brazil, there is even a national project dedicated to ESP, called ESP Brazilian National Project which aims to enhance the 29 | T h e 2 0 1 3 c o n f e r e n c e “ I n n o v a t i o n i n t e a c h i n g a n d l e a r n i n g E S P ”
development of ESP by offering useful resources and teacher education for Brazilian universities (Ramos, 2008). Especially in Japan, the ESP movement has captured great attention of educationalists of this Asian country. Some ESP communities have existed such as the JACET ESP SIG with 28 members or the JALT N-SIG (Anthony, 1997). In November, 1997, there was also an international conference devoted to ESP held at University of Aizu, which attracted nearly hundreds of Japanese and foreign participants. 2.4.2. ESP in Vietnam When English became the lingua franca and the demand of acquiring this international language was on the increase, in Vietnam, where English is spoken as a foreign language, this trend has become much stronger. Because here, this international language is believed to be an efficient means helping Vietnam to enter the world. Therefore, acquiring a perfect mastery of English can be considered a key to success for Vietnamese people. Since then, EFL has still held the influential position in this Southeast Asian country. When the ESP trend existed and extended its influence worldwide, Vietnam was, of course, not an exception. Up to now, ESP has been launched in many universities and colleges such as Vietnam National University in Hanoi, Can Tho University, University of Industry, University of Da Nang or HCMC University of Education (HCMC UE), to name just a few. Although ESP has become an integral part of teaching and training program of many universities, it has received less attention than it should be. As Oanh, Chau and Chi (2005) indicate in their study about ESP program in Vietnam, there is insufficient attention given to ESP teaching compared to considerable development of EFL practices. There are not many studies carried out in this field and most of them are just about ESP teaching method such as how to teach ESP vocabulary and reading skills effectively, the implementation of technology in teaching ESP or some case studies about learners' difficulties in ESP learning. Thus from the body of literature reviewed above, it is clear that ESP is an prominent aspect of EFL and the ESP movement is catching more attention from the researchers as well as the educationalists. However, this issue has not been fully investigated. Most of the research is theoretical and focuses too much on analyzing the nature and characteristics of ESP or the responsibilities of ESP teachers and students, leaving the matter of students' judgment about ESP programs, teaching process or the materials neglected. Moreover, most participants in these studies are students who are doing the ESP courses and little attention is paid to former students who already completed their courses. Especially in Vietnam, the 30 | T h e 2 0 1 3 c o n f e r e n c e “ I n n o v a t i o n i n t e a c h i n g a n d l e a r n i n g E S P ”
focus is just on how to teach ESP whereas the issue of evaluating the effectiveness of the program is still unexplored. Therefore, to bridge this gap and with the aim of investigating the learners' view about the ESP program, this study was carried out with former non- majored students of HCMC UE, asking for their judgments and recommendations about the ESP teaching program as well as the teaching materials. To sum up, the study aims to answer the following questions: 1) What do former non-majored students think about the HCMC University of Education ESP teaching program and ESP materials? 2) What do former non-majored students think about the necessity of ESP courses? Did the courses meet their demands? 3) What recommendations do former non-majored students offer to improve the effectiveness of the course? 3. Methodology Realizing the importance and necessity of ESP at tertiary level, ESP program has been included in the English teaching curriculum of Foreign Language Section, HCMC UE since 2000. The students have to pass through two stages: General English and ESP. After three semesters (195 periods) of General English, the students take another two courses (60 periods) of ESP. Up to now, the Foreign Language Section has launched ESP programs for the Department of History, Geography, Biology, Literature, Political Education, Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Physical Education, Information Technology, Primary Education and Pre-school. However, today the university is changing to credit system, hence after the three compulsory courses of General English, the students can register for ESP course if they like. 3.1. Study instruments The current study was undertaken with 130 former non-majored students of HCMC UE who used to take ESP courses during their study here. To investigate the students' view about ESP teaching program, teaching materials as well as the necessity of the program, questionnaires and interviews were employed as the methodology of the study. 3.1.1. Questionnaire Questionnaire (see Appendix) was used as the main instrument of the study. Since the students coming from different departments with different English levels and some of them 31 | T h e 2 0 1 3 c o n f e r e n c e “ I n n o v a t i o n i n t e a c h i n g a n d l e a r n i n g E S P ”
might have difficulties in expressing themselves in English, the questionnaire was written in Vietnamese. The participants are former students, therefore there was a great difficulty in contacting them. That is why some questionnaires were given directly to the participants whereas most of the questionnaires were sent by email. Each questionnaire consisted of three main sections: the personal information and English learning experience, the opinions about ESP program and material taught at HCMC UE as well as the necessity of the program, and the recommendations for the program. The questionnaire was designed with both close and open questions. 3.1.2. Interview The questionnaire survey was followed by interviews with the participants. Due to the limited time for the study, only one student from each department was chosen randomly to take part in 30-minute interview. The interviews were carried out in Vietnamese and then were transcribed by the researchers. 3.2. Participants 130 former non-majored students were taken part in the study. The former students were chosen due to their deeper understanding about the necessity of the courses. After some years working or teaching, now they can fully realize the importance of ESP to their career, especially to the ones who are or will enroll for higher study. 10 former students from each department which includes ESP course in the program were expected to take part in the study. However, due to some unexpected difficulties in contacting with these former students, while the group of Physics, Chemistry, Physical Education, Geography, Primary Education and Pre-school had enough 10 participants for each department, Political Education group had only 5 participants and Literature group had 7. But out of expectation, the students of Mathematics, Information Technology, Biology and History Department were too eager to take part in the study, hence the number of participants of these departments exceeded with 16 participants of Mathematics, 13 of Information Technology, 14 of Biology and 15 of History. According to their answers on the demographic section of the questionnaire, their year of graduation ranged from 2004 to 2013. Many of them are doing their master degree and nearly most of them have some qualifications of English. 32 | T h e 2 0 1 3 c o n f e r e n c e “ I n n o v a t i o n i n t e a c h i n g a n d l e a r n i n g E S P ”
3.3. Data analysis After the questionnaires were collected, the data was entered and analyzed using SPSS (20.0) software. The information from this was used as the main source to answer the first two research questions. The investigation of the third question was based on students' comments collected through the last section of the questionnaire and the interview. 4. Results and Discussion A questionnaire was delivered via emails and in person to 130 non-majored students of 12 departments for the data. Then, the data were collected and analyzed using SPSS (20.0). Cronbach‘s Alpha was reported at .710 regarding 39 items in four parts of the questionnaire for scale reliability. 4.1. Descriptive analysis in former non-majored students’ general information 48,5% of the student participants belong to the natural science group which includes such departments as Mathematics, Chemistry, Physics, Information Technology, and Biology while 24,6% of the subjects used to learn social sciences like Literature, History, Geography. The other group was counted at 26,9% for the particular group involving students from Primary, Pre-school, Physical, and Political Education. The students from the Mathematics department got the highest number of 12,3% with 16 students over 130. The second largest was History former non-majored students with 15 students occupying 11,5%. The least was 3.8% of the Literature students. A striking point that should be noted here was these students have had learnt English for a long time with the highest number of 27 students learning English for more than 13 years. They have also studied this language for more than 10 and 11 years with the cumulative percentage of 53,7% whereas the others of less than 9 years was a mere percentage of 13.8%. An evidence for their English learning was that 80 over 130 students of 61.5% got the certificate such as TOEFL, IELTS, TOEIC meanwhile the rest was reported at 19.2% excluding missing numbers. These former non-majored students mostly were main-stream ones with 69,2% while their regional counterparts were only 17,7% and the rest was only a modest percent of 12,1%. When it comes to the graduation year, most of the participants have just graduated from the university. Students graduating a year ago were reported at the largest percentage of 29.2% which ranked second by 27.7% equal to 36 students graduating 2 years ago. Only one student took B.A degree 6 years ago. 33 | T h e 2 0 1 3 c o n f e r e n c e “ I n n o v a t i o n i n t e a c h i n g a n d l e a r n i n g E S P ”
Regarding their current courses or programs of the former non-majored participants, these students reported to be taking M.A degree with 43 over the overall 130 of 33.1%. One noticeable feature was that 54.6% of them are not enrolling in any courses for a higher degree or particular professional certificates. Take a look at the use of ESP in the current jobs of the non-majored student participants, the number stood out in the statistic figure was 47 students who sometimes make use of ESP knowledge in their career. This 36,4% could be a little bit contrasted to 18.6% of 24 students never obtaining any opportunities for using the specialized English language. The total number of approximately 53% of the students resorting to ESP in their profession appeared to highlight the need for ESP to be taught although only 9.3% of the students asked assumed its regular use. 4.2. Former non-majored students’ evaluation in ESP teaching and learning in HCMC UE Despite the fact that whether the students can use ESP in their jobs or not, they still expressed their interest in learning ESP in HCMC UE with 90 students taking up 69.2%. 31.5% of the participants said they found teaching and learning ESP in HCMC UE exciting and 47.7% picked up the average level of excitement that these ESP courses brought. Besides, the overwhelming majority of students, 95.4%, claimed the necessity of ESP in the university (Figure 2). Fig.2 The necessity of teaching and learning ESP in HCMC UE The students‘ views on the length of the syllabus and the time spent on ESP in the university were displayed in Figure 2. Approximately 50% of the students asked thought the time for ESP in HCMC UE was too little, which may, in many ways, affect their effective ESP acquisition. Only 4,6 % said that the time for ESP was too much. 34 | T h e 2 0 1 3 c o n f e r e n c e “ I n n o v a t i o n i n t e a c h i n g a n d l e a r n i n g E S P ”
Fig. 3 Students opinions about the length of the syllabus and the time spent on ESP in HCMC UE As regards the difficulty level of the ESP course books in HCMC UE, the majority of the students of 70% picked up ―of the average difficulty‖. This massive percentage was opposed to that of the students claiming that the ESP course books in HCMC UE were easy and very easy with 1.5% and 8.5% respectively. Only 20% of the participants thought that the course books were difficult. However, the students seemed not to be satisfied with the content of the ESP course books when only 24.6% of them appreciated the appropriateness of the course books to the majors they were taking at the university. The modest 14.6% percentage considered the course books inappropriate, which was opposed to 59.2% of the participants thought them fairly appropriate. Vocabulary and grammar are two important dimensions in ESP course books were also evaluated by the students. With vocabulary, the striking point was that the vocabulary stock supplied in the course books was reasonable with 81 students of 62.3% claiming so while the minority of the participants found this stock heavy. Grammar was also the aspect which students were in absolute agreement with each other when they shared their opinions in the necessity and appropriateness of the grammar points mentioned in the course books with 80.8% approval. When it comes to skills, reading and translation were reported to take the leading positions compared to other skills. With 77% and 78.6% of the students found reading and translation interesting, these two skills seemed to bring much more excitement in class compared to listening and speaking skills with 36.5% and 39.7% respectively. The students also reported to be more pleased with how suitable reading and translation skills carried out in classrooms to meet students‘ demands and English level than with other skills. The figures of 81% for Reading and 79% for translation appeared to prove this. writing skills was also appreciated by students with more than 60% of the participants for all three items in the 35 | T h e 2 0 1 3 c o n f e r e n c e “ I n n o v a t i o n i n t e a c h i n g a n d l e a r n i n g E S P ”
figure. From the figure, listening and speaking skills should be more focused since students thought these skills didn‘t meet their needs and English level. Listening Speaking Reading Writing Translation Excitement level Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No 36.5 63.5 39.7 60.3 77 23 57.9 42.1 78.6 21.4 The suitability Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No to students’ 52.0 48.0 50.8 49.2 81 19 69 31 77 23 needs The suitability Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No to students’ level 49.6 50.4 55.2 44.8 80.6 19.4 77.6 22.4 79 21 Fig. 4: Students‘ views on the excitement level, the suitability to students‘ needs, and the suitability to students‘ level of ESP course books in HCMC UE (in percentage terms). Possibly, the above figures showing the students‘ opinions concerning the content and skills practiced in classrooms somehow identified their views on the benefits they got for each English skill from ESP teaching and learning in HCMC UE. A massive 64.3% of the students claimed that they couldn‘t improve their speaking skills and the similar figure of 64.1% was for listening skills. Despite the disappointment of the students in speaking and listening skills, the others seemed to be enhanced. The most successful skill was stated to be Translation, for which 84.5% believed that their translation became better and better after ESP courses in the university. Another skill was Reading with 82.9% of the students who found their reading get improved. Besides, students said they could develop their writing skills with 66.7% claiming so. Once again, about 60% of the students participated in the study recognized the benefits of ESP courses implemented in HCMC UE. As a matter of fact, 106/130 students, taking up 81.5%, said that they would choose to enroll in ESP courses if asked to choose the course again. 4.3. Summary of former non-majored students’ opinions from the open interview questions It is the last part in the questionnaire that asked students to write down their opinions, suggestions and recommendations for the ESP teaching and learning in HCMC UE. In general, students expressed their responsibility in their giving ideas since more than 50% of 36 | T h e 2 0 1 3 c o n f e r e n c e “ I n n o v a t i o n i n t e a c h i n g a n d l e a r n i n g E S P ”
the students delivered the questionnaire supplied their own opinions. Their ideas fell into three categories as mentioned: 4.3.1. ESP coursebooks From an overall perspective, the former non-majored student participants reported not to be totally satisfied with the content of the ESP coursebooks used in the university. According to them, firstly, the content should be more updated with the current news, events and issues in both national and international scope. Secondly, the content should be more closely related to what they were studying in their majors on the grounds that the coursebooks just provided several vocabulary items and themes that appeared in their specialized fields. This was an important point to be taken into significant consideration since a massive 65% of the students asked expressed their wishes to improve the content of the ESP coursebooks used so that it can convey their real knowledge in their majors. What they learnt in the coursebooks was sometimes collected from the Internet without careful sorting and compiling. Moreover, the students from the departments of Chemistry, Mathematics, Geography, Physical Education, Primary Education and History also suggested the specific themes that they hoped to find in the ESP coursebooks. Students of Pre-school department revealed that their course book was not interesting with many texts taken from the Internet. While the ones of Mathematics Department found that the texts included too many stories and biography of the scientists, an area which lacked in the course book of Chemistry. Once again, the upgrading and updating the content in the ESP coursebooks appeared to be of primary and paramount concern from students. Thirdly, the variety of the tasks, exercises and activities such as crosswords, information exchange, and role play should be more and more regarded with 6 students giving their opinions about this aspect. More importantly, more than 50% of the students claimed that the layout and design of the ESP coursebooks was not so appealing, which somehow exerted an effect on the students‘ learning. They argued that most of the coursebooks lacked illustrations with pictures and other visual aids. The fourth common opinion was the cooperation between the ESP lecturers and the experts in specialized fields and the lecturers from the departments with good command of English in the university must be fostered. These experts and lecturers must work together from coursebook design to real teaching in classrooms. 37 | T h e 2 0 1 3 c o n f e r e n c e “ I n n o v a t i o n i n t e a c h i n g a n d l e a r n i n g E S P ”
4.3.2. How the teaching and learning ESP were carried out The most agreed opinion held by the students was the listening and speaking skills needing to be developed and practiced. Their chief concern was the fact that more time should be provided for these skills and more exciting and practical activities aiming at using ESP knowledge in real life communication should be carried out. Role-play, academic oral presentations, watching videos related to the students‘ specialized fields, joining English clubs of ESP, outdoor activities, contests in ESP are what they hoped to do more in their ESP learning. When it comes to other skills of reading, writing and translation, they suggested being guided to the ways to sort out information obtained from the Internet, getting easier and more regular access to foreign journal articles of their majors. 4.3.3. ESP lecturers In general, these former non-majored students appreciated the devotion and responsibility of their ESP lecturers. They also expressed their wish that their teachers should provide them with more activities to create a low-threat classroom atmosphere, encourage them to use the target language. As regards the educational tools, they hoped to get more benefit from visual aids and article journals in class. Doing project work and giving presentations in their specialized fields were suggested by more than 55% of the students. Besides, improving teachers‘ professional quality and teaching skills and techniques was also of students‘ main concern. Students from the Mathematics and Physical Education departments thought that their ESP teachers must enlarge their knowledge in the fields to supply them the correct and mathematics-oriented translation. One more point standing out was the fact that the ESP teachers should agree on what they were teaching since two teachers teaching the course at the same time provided the different meanings of the vocabulary items or translation passages. 4.3.4. The ESP curriculum in HCMCUE Firstly, 30% of the students noted that the implementation of ESP teaching should be closely related to students‘ needs. They argued that whereas most of them intended to get higher education after graduation, others didn‘t. ESP was supposed to be only beneficial to the first group. The problem arising here was the question of whether ESP courses should be taught and the data concerning students‘ needs should be collected and analyzed with extreme care and consideration before any courses were given. The matter of the length of the ESP courses, then, was also administered. More than 57% of the students hoped to lengthen 38 | T h e 2 0 1 3 c o n f e r e n c e “ I n n o v a t i o n i n t e a c h i n g a n d l e a r n i n g E S P ”
their ESP courses with adding one more module to the current modules of real teaching in the university. One suggestion was that they wished to study ESP from the first to the last year in order to facilitate their learning and make their learning more effective. Thirdly, evaluation process of ESP should be stimulated. The ESP coursebooks and teachers should undergo regular, continuous and formal evaluation process with the students‘ and the teachers‘ feedback. Fourthly, placement tests seemed to get the student‘s concern since 42.3% of the students approved of this implementation. According to them, this kind of tests could identify students‘ real level and make it easier and more efficient in getting students in classes with their suitable English levels. 4.4. Recommendations 4.4.1. Administration In terms of administration, increasing the time for ESP course is a necessity. Compared to some other universities such as University of Social Sciences and Humanities or Hanoi National University with more than 180 periods for ESP courses, time given for this program of HCMC UE is too limited. 120 periods for two courses was not enough for the learners to acquire essential knowledge of their specialized subjects. This limited amount of time could lead to the restriction in teaching process as well as teaching efficiency. Asking for the extension of the program duration is a significant need of the learners. Even the learners who do not have good English proficiency and ESP were expected to be difficult for them express a strong wish for learning this branch of EFL. To this type of learners, it is their lack of English competence that requires them more time to acquire this specialized language. Secondly, a suitable syllabus is also required. There should be an agreement about the syllabus, the curriculum as well as the assessment and target set for the program among the administrators and the teachers. Another suggestion put forward was the necessity of a placement test. Due to the different English level of the learners, it was quite stricky for the teachers to exploit the lessons and the teaching effectiveness was much reduced. To the students having good English proficiency, the program was a little bit boring. Nevertheless, weak students found ESP course was heavy for them to follow. With a placement test, this issue can be resolved. When the students are classified based on their English level, it will be much easier for both the teachers in choosing the suitable teaching method and the learners in acquiring the knowledge. In addition to the placement test, the credit system which is being applied today 39 | T h e 2 0 1 3 c o n f e r e n c e “ I n n o v a t i o n i n t e a c h i n g a n d l e a r n i n g E S P ”
can be partly solved. Because with the credit system, ESP is no longer a compulsory subject and the ones who are too weak or feel that they are not confident enough with their English proficiency can have the right of not enrolling for the course. However, today there is no university or college in Vietnam that conduct placement test for ESP courses (Anh, 2009). The third recommendation is about the teaching facilities. When analyzing the inefficiency of ESP program of Hanoi National University, Van (2008) emphasized that the inappropriateness of class size and poorly-equipped class were partly responsible for the failure of the course. Classroom should be well equipped and teachers are provided with good educational tools so that they can conduct the lesson in the most effective way. Information technology should be implemented in ESP teaching also to make the lesson more engaging. It would be more convenient for both teachers and learners if every class can access to the Internet so that they can look up some terminologies or search for useful information related to the field (Dung & Anh, 2010). Last but not least, evaluation should be carried out quite often. Evaluation here includes not only the learners' performance but also the teaching and the effectiveness of the program. If it is possible, after the learners engage in the course 6 months, an evaluation should be conducted. According to Alibakhshi (2011), 6 months after taking part in the course is a good time to ask for the effectiveness and appropriateness of the program in order to see if there is any adjustment required or which additional aspects should be covered. 4.4.2. Materials Nowadays, there is a variety of ESP materials available in the market. Therefore, textbooks for the course should be chosen carefully. The materials have to be suitable for use with specific types of learners. Nevertheless, most compiled ESP coursebooks today are not effective and interesting enough due to the strong focus on language including grammar and terminologies, which results in the demotivation in the learners and makes the course become too "dry". Thus, when choosing the materials, the administrators and the teachers need to consider the learners' level and their needs together with the appropriateness between the time for the course and the target that the program aims at. A co-operation with foreign experts to compile better materials is a suggestion for the situation. Besides, it would be much better if foreign ESP textbooks could be used. This idea of using foreign ESP textbooks has been taken into consideration of the Foreign Language Section teachers for a time. However, as in the introduction of these textbooks, the learners are required to achieve 6.0 or 6.5 IELTS to 40 | T h e 2 0 1 3 c o n f e r e n c e “ I n n o v a t i o n i n t e a c h i n g a n d l e a r n i n g E S P ”