Vietnam National University, Hanoi University of languages and international studies Faculty of Post - Graduate Studies -*** - NguyÔn Thị Hà Quyên TEACHERS AND THE FIRST YEAR BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION STUDENTS’ evaluaTIONS OF THE MERITS AND DEMERITS OF THE ebp MATERIAL MARKET LEADER IN HAIPHONG UNIVERSITY (Những đánh giá giáo viên sinh viên năm thứ khoa Quản trị kinh doanh tr-ờng Đại học Hải Phòng giáo tr×nh kinh tÕ 'Market Leader') MA Minor Thesis Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 601410 Supervisor : Ngun minh Hµ, M.A HANOI - 2010 TABLE OF CONTENTS CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY OF THE THESIS TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ABSTRACT LIST OF FIGURES, TABLES AND CHARTS LIST OF ABBREVIATION Part A: INTRODUCTION Rationale Aims of the study Significance of the study Scope of the study Research questions Methods of the study Design of the study Part B: DEVELOPMENT Chapter 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 An overview of English for Business Purpose (EBP) 1.1.1 English for Specific Purpose (ESP) 1.1.2 English for Business Purposes (EBP) 1.2 Materials in language teaching and learning 1.2.1 Definition and roles of Teaching Materials 1.2.2 Types of Materials 1.3 Materials Evaluation 1.3.1 Reasons of Materials Evaluation 1.3.2 Definition of Materials Evaluation 1.3.3 Kinds of materials evaluation 1.3.4 Materials evaluators 1.3.5 Sources of the data 10 1.3.6 Models for Materials Evaluation 11 1.3.7 Criteria for material evaluation 12 1.3.8 Materials adaptation 12 Chapter 2: METHODOLOGY 15 2.1 The research design 15 2.2 The research methods 15 2.3 Research procedures 16 2.3.1 Document analysis 16 2.3.2.Survey questionnaires 16 2.4 The setting and the participants 18 Chapter 3: DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION 20 3.1 The Requirements of the Course 20 3.1.1 The Course Objectives 20 3.1.2 The Course Content 21 3.2 The Material Description 21 3.3 The Survey Results 24 3.3.1 The Suitability of the Material in terms of Objectives of the Course 24 3.3.2 The Suitability of the Material in terms of Content Requirement 28 3.3.3 Methodology 32 3.4 Major findings 37 3.4.1 The suitability of the Material in terms of Course Objectives 37 3.4.2 The suitability of the Material in terms of Content Requirements 38 3.4.3 The suitability of the Material in terms of Methodology 39 CHAPTER 4: SOME SUGGESTIONS FOR THE MATERIAL ADAPTATION 41 4.1 Objectives Adaptation 41 4.2 Content Adaptation 41 4.3 Methodology Adaptation 42 Part C: CONCLUSION 45 REFERENCES …………………………………………………………………………… .47 APPENDIX 1: QUESTIONNAIRE FOR TEACHERS APPENDIX 2: QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS APPENDIX 3: WRITING PRACTICE OF MEMOS, EMAILS AND FAXES LIST OF ABBREVIATION ESP: English for Specific Purposes EBP: English for Business Purposes ELT: English Language Teaching BA: Business Administration HPU: Haiphong University PART A: INTRODUCTION Rationale At the same time as English became the key to the international currencies of technology and commerce, it is married up naturally with the development of English courses for specific groups of learners called ESP (English for Specific Purpose) Basing on the guiding principle of ESP: „Tell me what you need English for and I will tell you the English that you need‟ (Hutchinson, T & Waters, A 1987:8), it is very necessary and important for BA students (Business Administration) in Haiphong University to gain good knowledge of Business English, besides General English In order to improve the learners‟ motivation and thereby make learning better and faster, any ESP course needs to select its own teaching materials that satisfy the learners‟ wishes, needs, interests and demands Among the varieties of published textbooks, „Market Leader Elementary‟ has been the first time in use as the official textbook for the first year Business Administration students in Haiphong University There were not any study to investigate the appropriateness and inappropriateness of „Market leader Elementary‟ to the certain teaching – learning context in Haiphong University Hence, this led the writer to choose the study titled: “Teachers‟ and the 1st year Business Administration Students‟ evaluations of the merits and demerits of the EBP Material „Market Leader‟ in Haiphong University.” Aims of the study The writer‟s concern in this study includes: - Investigate the currently used EBP material „Market Leader‟ in terms of objectives, contents and methodology from the perception of both Teachers‟ and the 1st year Business Administration Students in Haiphong University - Give some suggestions to make more advantages and fewer disadvantages of the application of „Market Leader‟ for both Teachers and the st year Business Administration Students in Haiphong University Significance of the study Many pre-researchers found materials evaluation a source of interest that a great number of writings on this branch have been written Hopefully, this study will be beneficial to BA teachers‟ teaching method adjustment to attract and suit students‟ interest and demand Therefore, it will help to enhance the students‟ EBP learning efficiency Moreover, it is also hoped that the thesis will be of contributions towards ESP materials evaluation and adaptation Scope of the study Due to the limited time, knowledge and experiment, it is impossible to mention deeply all criteria of materials evaluation, such as audience, objectives, contents, methodology, the cultural bias, the authenticity, etc Therefore, only the three criteria including objectives, contents and methodology would be focused Research questions The study is carried out with an attempt to find out the answers to the following questions: - Does the book Market Leader for the st year Business Administration students meet the requirements of the course in terms of audience, objectives, content and methodology? - What should be done to help improve the book? Methods of the study In order to achieve the aims the reliable answers to the questions mentioned above, the combination of the following methods are involved: - Survey questionnaires were designed to collect data from the BA teachers and students in Haiphong University towards their EBP material evaluation - Informal interviews made teachers and students comfortably express their ideas, so the findings of the thesis are more objective - Data analysis was employed to analyze the data collected from survey questionnaires and informal interviews Design of the study This study consists of the main three parts: - Part A: Introduction includes the rationale, the aims, the significance, the scope, the methods, the research questions and also the design of the study - Part B: Development is devided into the following chapters: - Chapter 1: Literature review presents an overview of EBP, the roles and types of materials in language teaching and learning, materials evaluation and adaptation - Chapter 2: Methodology describes the current EBP teaching and learning situation in Haiphong University, the methodology employed in the study, research design as well as the research procedures and the participants involved in the research process - Chapter 3: Findings and Discussions analyses the data and discusses the findings of the study - Chapter 4: Suggestions is the recommendations for material improvement and the conclusion of the study - Part C: Conclusion gives the conclusion of the study as well as the suggested further study and the limitations of the study PART B: DEVELOPMENT Chapter 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 An overview of English for Business Purpose (EBP) 1.1.1 English for Specific Purpose (ESP) Many authors have offered their definitions and characteristics of ESP in their studies, namely Hutchison and Waters (1987), Strevens (1988) Robinson (1991), Widdowson (1983), Charles (1994 and 1996), Dudley- Evans and St John (1998) Tom Hutchinson & Alan Waters (1987) states that ESP must be seen as an approach not as a product ESP is not a particular kind of method or methodology, nor does it consist of a particular type of teaching material It is an approach to language learning, which is based on learner need ESP has paid attention to the question of how people learn, focusing instead on the question of what people learn Although there are different approaches to ESP, the authors share the same ideas that: ESP is designed to meet specific needs of the learners; ESP makes use of the underlying methodology and activities of the disciplines it serves; ESP is centered on the language (grammar, lexis, and register), skills, discourse and genres appropriate to the activities According to Robinson (1991:3-4), ESP can be classified into two main types according to whether the learner requires English for work/training (EOP/EVP/VESL: English for Occupational Purposes/ English for Vocational Purposes/ Vocational English as a Second Language) or for academic study (EAP : English for Academic Purposes which is taught generally within educational institutions to students needing English in their study) Duddley – Evans and St John suggest the flowing absolute characteristics and variable characteristics Three absolute characteristics are : - ESP is designed to meet specific needs of learners - ESP makes use of the underlying methodology and activities of the disciplines it serves - ESP is centred on the language (grammar, lexis, register), skills, discourse and genres appropriate to these activities Four variable characteristics are : - ESP may be related to or designed for specific disciplines - ESP may use, in specific teaching situations, a different methodology from that of general English - ESP is likely to be designed for adult learners, either at a tertiary level institution or in a professional work situation - ESP is generally designed for intermediate or advanced students Most ESP courses assume basic knowledge of the language system, but it can be used with beginners as well 1.1.2 English for Business Purposes (EBP) Business English is defined as follows: - Business English is the careful research and design of pedagogical materials and activities for an identifiable group of adult learners within a specific learning content (Johns & Dudley-Evans, 1991) - Business English is designed to meet specified needs of the learner (Strevens, 1998) The aims of EBP are to work or prepare to work in a business context, and deal with Business English in an occupational context It is also required on courses in disciplines such as business, finance, accounting and banking has more in common with the study of other EAP disciplines The characteristics of EBP can be seen from the following pie chart Chart 1: Characteristics of EBP (Ellis & Johnson,1994) The most important characteristic of exchanges in the context of business meetings, telephone calls, and discussions is a sense of purpose Users of Business English need to speak English primarily so that they can achieve more in their jobs Besides, there is a need for an internationally accepted way of doing things so that people from different cultures, and with different mother tongues, can quickly feel more comfortable with one other Next, information has to be conveyed with minimum risk of misunderstanding, and the time for processing needs to be short 1.2 Materials in language teaching and learning 1.2.1 Definition and roles of Teaching Materials The term „materials‟ as defined by Tomlinson (1998) is „anything which is used to help to teach language learners‟ It is known under various forms of a textbook, a course book, a workbook, a cassette, a CD-Rom, a video, a photocopied handout, a newspaper, news on the Internet, a story, etc Obviously, materials, among these kinds, can be exploited variously in language teaching and learning Materials are used in all language teaching and their role in the process of language teaching and learning is of great significance (Dudley-Evans & St John, 1998; Richards, 2001) According to Richards (2001), materials provide a basis for the content of the lesson, the appropriate proportion of skills taught, and the type of language practice students take part 46 language competence was found appropriate and helpful for students to achieve the Course requirement In conclusion, the material needs not to be replaced, but the solution for changes and adaptation must be put under very careful considerations Some material adaptation techniques are suggested to apply such as adding, deleting, reducing, modification, extension and restructuring The objectives challenging students should be deleted or reduced while adding, extension and modification should be used to make more practice exercises, interesting games and activities to encourage students Restructuring will help teachers manage the big - sized classes better Furthermore, teachers should find more and more supplementary materials and useful teaching aids such as computers, projectors and Internet to update and improve knowledge Some website addresses suggested in chapter Five, hopefully, are useful to arouse students‟ activeness, enthusiasms, and good for teachers‟ references Nevertheless, the Faculty should give more support and create better condition for English teaching and leaning This study is carried out to hope that some recommendations for material adaptation may become useful for both teachers and students at HPU to approach the Course requirement Furthermore, it is also believed that the study are helpful to those who want to carry out the study in this area and those who get interested in or are concerned with this thesis However, due to the limited time as well as the limited knowledge, some weak points are unavoidable The survey questionnaires were administered to a small group of sample, and the criteria chosen focused on objectives, contents and methodology only Besides, the recommendations may be not approved by the Faculty These call for further research Lastly, valuable critical ideas and comments from all the teachers and those who are concerned with the study would be welcomed and highly appreciated 47 REFERENCES Breen, M., & Candlin, C.N (1987) ELT Textbooks and Materials: Problems in Evaluation and Development ELT Document London: Modern English Publications Brown, J.D (1995) The Elements of Language Curriculum Boston: Heinle & Heinle Publishers Canh, L V (2004) Understanding Foreign Language Teaching Methodology Vietnam National University Publisher Cotton, D., & Falvey, D., & Kent, S Market Leader Longman Financial Times: World Business Newspaper Cunningsworth, A (1984) Evaluating and Selecting EFL Teaching Materials London: Heinemann Educational Books Dudley-Evans, T., & St John, MJ (1998) Developments in English for Specific Purposes Cambridge University Press Dudley –Evans, T & St John, A.M (1991) English for Specific Purposes: international in scope, specific in purpose TESOL Quarterly, 25, 297-314 Ellis, M & Johnson, C (1994) Teaching Business English Oxford University Press Ellis, R (1997) The Empirical Language Teaching Materials ELT Journal, Volume 51, Issue 1: January 1997, pp 36-42 Gillham, B (2000) Developing a Questionnaires London: Continuum Hart, C (2000) Doing a Literature Review London: SAGE Publications Hutchinson, T., & Waters, A (1993) English for Specific Purposes Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Lougheed, L (1993) Business Communication: Ten steps to success Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, Inc Lougheed, L (1993) Business Correspondence: Letters, Faxes, and Memos Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, Inc Lynch, B.K (1996) Language Program Evaluation Theory and Practice Cambridge University Press 48 Madsen, K.S., & Bowen, J.D (1978) Adaptation in Language Teaching Rowley, MA: Newbury House Murphy, D.F (1985) Evaluation in Language Teaching: Assessment, Accountability and Awareness, in Alderson pp.1-17 McDonough, J., & Shaw, C (1993) Materials and Methods in ELT A Teacher‟s Guide Blackwell Nunan, D (1985) „Language Teaching, Course Design, Trends & Issues’ South Australia: Government Printer Nunan, D (1992) Learner-centered Curriculum – A Study in second language teaching Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Richards, J.C (2001) Curriculum Development in Language Teaching Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Richards, J.C., & Lockhart, C (1984) Reflective Teaching in Second Language Classroom Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Robinson, P.C (1991) ESP Today: A Practitioner’s Guide London: Prentice Hall Sheldon, L.E (1988) Evaluating ELT textbooks and materials ELT Journal 42/4 October 1988, pp.237-246 Oxford University Press Strevens, P (1988) ESP after twenty years: a re-appraisal In M.Tickoo (Ed.), State of the Art SEAMEO Regional Language Centre: Singapore Tomlinson, B (1998) Materials Development in Language Teaching Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Ur, P (1996) A Course in Language Teaching Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Wallace, M.J (1998) Action Research for Language Teachers Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 49 WEBSITE ADDRESSES http://www.slideshare.net/guest7f1ad678/english-for-specific-purposes http://www.slideshare.net/Alqheia/cinglsingles-audio-business-english-market-leaderelementary-practice-fileelementary-course-bookmarket-leader-businesselementary-coursebook http://www.englishclub.com/business-english/index.htm http://vietnambusiness.asia/ http://www.dtinews.vn/news/business/vietnam-is-one-of-the-friendliest-countries-says-hsbcsurvey_242.html http://money.cnn.com/news/international/ http://www.better-english.com/vocabulary.htm http://www.englishclub.com/business-english/vocabulary.htm http://www.learn-english-today.com/wordgames.html http://www.learn-english-today.com/business-english/A-business-english-contents.html http://www.tefl.net/alexcase/worksheets/business-esp/problems-roleplays-card-game/ http://www.tefl.net/alexcase/worksheets/telephoning/ http://edition.tefl.net/ideas/business/describing-company-and-job/ http://bogglesworldesl.com/businessESL.htm http://www.eslbase.com/resources/business-english-board-game.asp http://useit.vn/content/view/836/92/lang,vn/ http://www.isabelperez.com/songs/dancingqueen.htm http://www.esl-galaxy.com/music.htm APPENDIX PHIẾU KHẢO SÁT Ý KIẾN SINH VIÊN Đối tượng: Sinh viên năm thứ chuyên ngành quản trị kinh doanh trường Đại học Hải Phịng Mục đích: Để đánh giá giáo trình tiếng Anh ‘Market Leader’ dành cho sinh viên khoa Quản trị kinh doanh năm thứ nhất, ý kiến đánh giá bạn sau kết thúc khoá học quan trọng cần thiết để tìm điểm chưa thật phù hợp giáo trình, từ có điều chỉnh hợp lý giúp cho việc dạy học có hiệu hơn, đồng thời phù hợp với điều kiện dạy học tiếng Anh thương mại trường ta Để trả lời câu hỏi đây, xin vui lòng đánh dấu vào ô bạn chọn Chúng xin chân thành cảm ơn hợp tác bạn! I- SỰ PHÙ HỢP CỦA CUỐN SÁCH VỚI MỤC TIÊU KHOÁ HỌC Hãy đánh giá vốn từ vựng sử dụng tiếng Anh giao tiếp hàng ngày môi truờng kinh doanh quốc tế bạn sau kết thúc chương trình học  mở rộng nhiều  không mở rộng nhiều  mở rộng nhièu  không mở rộng Hãy đánh giá khả thực kỹ giao tiếp bạn sau kết thúc chương trình học Kỹ Talking about work and leisure Telephoning: solving problems Making bookings and checking arrangements Tipping-Entertaining Khá tốt Không Không có khả tốt Introducing yourself and others Rất tốt giao tiếp Job advertisement: presenting a product Negotiating: dealing with problems Meetings: participating in discussions Starting a presentation Hãy đánh giá khả nắm vững cấu trúc ngữ pháp sau bạn sau kết thúc chương trình học Cấu trúc ngữ pháp Rất tốt Khá tốt Khơng tốt Hồn tồn khơng tốt to be a, an with jobs wh-questions present simple adverbs of frequency can/ can’t there is/ are some/ any countable vs uncountable nouns past simple comparatives and superlatives much/a lot/a little/a bit Present Continuous Nhìn chung, bạn nhận thấy tiến kỹ sau ? Kỹ Tiến nhiều Listening Speaking Reading Writing Tiến nhiều Không tiến nhiều Không tiến II- SỰ PHÙ HỢP CỦA GIÁO TRÌNH VỀ NỘI DUNG THEO YÊU CẦU CỦA KHOÁ HỌC Bạn đánh sư phân bổ kỹ giáo trình? [ Kỹ Đƣợc Đƣợc trọng Khơng trọng nhiều đƣợc Hồn tồn không tƣơng xứng với trọng đƣợc trọng ký khac Listening Speaking Reading Writing Bạn đánh từ vựng giáo trình?  liên quan nhiều đến chuyên ngành  liên quan đến chuyên ngành  không liên quan nhiều đến chun  hồn tồn khơng liên quan đến ngành chun ngành Bạn đánh thể loại khố giáo trình?  đa dạng  đa dạng  khơng đa dạng  hồn tồn khơng đa dạng Những kỹ giáo trình giúp ích bạn việc đạt mục tiêu khố học? Kỹ Rất có ích Introduce yourself and others Talking about work and leisure Solving problems Making bookings and checking Có ích Khơng Hồn tồn có ích khơng có ích arrangements Entertaining Presentation: Presenting a product Negotiating: Dealing with problems Meetings: participating in discussions Presentation: starting a presentation Writing e-mails Writing list Writing telephone messages Writing fax Writing memo Writing catalogue description Writing company profile Reading the articles and ads Mastering 600 basic words and phrases with 40% relating to business III- SỰ PHÙ HỢP CỦA CUỐN SÁCH VỚI PHƢƠNG PHÁP DẠY HỌC Trong học, giáo viên bạn thường tập trung vào:  Cấu trúc ngữ pháp  Nói  Từ vựng nhóm cụm từ  Đọc  Nghe  Viết 10 Hãy đánh giá tính hiệu hình thức giao tiếp giáo viên sinh viên lóp bạn Hình thức giao tiếp Cả lớp trả lời Có Khơng hiệu Hồn tồn khơng hiệu Giáo viên giảng Rất hiệu quả có hiệu Sinh viên khởi xướng vấn đề, giáo viên trả lời Cá nhân làm việc độc lập Làm viện theo cặp Làm việc theo nhóm 11 Giáo viên bạn sử dụng giáo cụ trợ giảng sau đây? Hãy đánh gá tính hiệu chúng Giáo cụ trợ giảng có hiệu Trị chơi hát  Phát tập photo  Hồn tồn khơng Băng đĩa  Khơng hiệu Tranh ảnh  Có hiệu  Rất hiệu Vi tính máy chiếu 12 Hãy đánh giá tính hữu ích phần Practice File?  Rất hữu ích  Hữu ích  Khơng hữu ích  Hồn tồn khơng hữu ích 13 Bạn thường xuyên sử dụng phần Practice File nào?  Always  Usually  Sometimes  Rarely  Never 14 Nhìn chung, đánh giá tiến bạn sau khoá học  Rất tiến  Tiến  Không tiến  Hồn tồn khơng tiến APPENDIX QUESTIONNAIRES FOR TEACHERS This questionnaire is designed to collect your ideas toward the current English teaching material in use ‘Market Leader’ Your opinions would be very valuable and helpful to the evaluation research and the improvement in the selection of materials for future use Please be honest and careful to answer the following questions Thank you very much for your cooperation! To answer the survey questions below, please tick as many boxes/cells as appropriate I- THE APPROPRIATENESS OF ‘MARKET LEADER’ WITH THE OBJECTIVES OF THE COURSE How is your students’ Vocabulary enrichment after the Course?  Much enriched  Not much enriched  Enriched  Not enriched at all How your students the following Tasks after the Course? Tasks Introducing yourself and others  Talking about work and leisure  Telephoning: solving problems  Making bookings and checking arrangements  Tipping-Entertaining  Job advertisement: presenting a product  Negotiating: dealing with Well Not Very Not Well Well  Very Well At All problems  Meetings: participating in discussions  Starting a presentation How well did your students use the following Language Points? Language Points wh-questions  at all a, an with jobs  Not Well to be  Well Not Very Well  Very Well present simple adverbs of frequency  can/ can’t  there is/ are  some/ any countable vs uncountable nouns  past simple  comparatives and superlatives  much/a lot/a little/a bit  Present Continuous How are your students’ Language Skills after the Course? Skills Speaking Reading Writing Progress Not much Not progress progress Listening Much progress at all II-THE APPROPRIATENESS OF ‘MARKET LEADER’ WITH THE CONTENT REQUIRED BY THE COURSE How you judge the Proportion of macro skills in the Material? Skills Much Adequately Not much Not focused focused on focused on focused on at all Listening Speaking Reading Writing What you think of the Vocabulary in the Material?  Very familiar and relevant to business   Not very familiar and relevant to  Not familiar and relevant to business business at all Familiar and relevant to business How you judge the text – types in the Material?  Very varied  Varied  Not very varied  Not varied at all What is your opinion on Language Competence help enable students to achieve the aims of the Course? Language Competence Very Helpful Introduce yourself and others Talking about work and leisure Solving problems Making bookings and checking arrangements Entertaining Presentation: Presenting a product Helpful Not Very Not Helpful At All Helpful Negotiating: Dealing with problems Meetings: participating in discussions Presentation: starting a presentation Writing e-mails Writing list Writing telephone messages Writing fax Writing memo Writing catalogue description Writing company profile Reading the articles and ads Mastering 600 basic words and phrases with 40% relating to business III-THE APPROPRIATENESS OF ‘MARKET LEADER’ WITH THE METHODOLOGY In each lesson, what did you put focus on?  Grammar and structures  Vocabulary and Phrases  Listening  Speaking  Reading  Writing 10 How effective were the following teacher – student interaction patterns in your class? Teachers – students’ Very interaction patterns effective Teacher talk Choral responses Students initiate, teachers answer Individual work Effective Not very effective Ineffective Group work Pair work 11 Which following teaching aids did you use and how effective are they? Teaching aids Very Effective Effective  CDs and Cassettes  Handouts Effective Pictures  Not very & Photocopied exercises  Games and Songs Computers and Projectors 12 How useful is the Teacher’s Resource Book?  Very useful  Useful  Not very useful  Not useful at all 13 How useful is the Practice File?  Very useful  Useful  Not very useful  Not useful at all 14 How frequent was the Practice File used by your students?  Always  Usually  Sometimes  Rarely  Never 15 In general, how did your students make progress?  Much progress  Progress  Not much progress  Not progress at all Ineffective APPENDIX WRITING PRACTICE OF MEMOS, EMAILS AND FAXES ... EBP Material „Market Leader? ?? in Haiphong University.” Aims of the study The writer‟s concern in this study includes: - Investigate the currently used EBP material „Market Leader? ?? in terms of objectives,... students 2009 – 2010 academic year - Market Leader consists of the course book, practice file and teacher‟s resource book - Book objectives: Market leader elementary is an elementary level business... provided in the Market Leader Practice File o Revision units: Four revision units are based on material covered in the preceding three Course book units - Methodology: Market Leader combines recent