VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDies Faculty of Post Graduate Studies BÙI THỊ QUỲNH MAI DESIGNING A TASK - BASED ENGLISH SYLLABUS FOR STUDENTS OF TOURISM AT NGHE AN COLLEGE OF CULTURE AND ARTS THIẾT KẾ CHƯƠNG TRÌNH DẠY HỌC TIẾNG ANH THEO NHIỆM VỤ CHO SINH VIÊN CHUYÊN NGÀNH DU LỊCH TRƯỜNG CAO ĐẲNG VĂN HÓA NGHỆ THUẬT NGHỆ AN -MINOR M.A.THESIS Field: Methodology Code: 601410 Hanoi, 2010 TABLE OF CONTENTS PART I INTRODUCTION Rationale Aim and significance of the study Methodology Structure of the study Summary PART II DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 Definition of syllabus 1.2 Definition of syllabus design 1.3 Type of syllabi 1.4 Task based syllabus and ESP 1.4.1 Defining “task” and task based language teaching 1.4.2 Pedagogical Tasks 1.4.3 Task-based Language Teaching 10 1.4.4 Characteristics of Task-based Syllabus 11 1.4.5 How is ESP designed? 14 1.5 15 Summary CHAPTER SITUATIONAL ANALYSIS AND NEEDS ANALYSIS 2.1 Situational analysis 16 2.1.1 Educational setting 16 2.1.2 Learner factors 17 2.1.3 Teacher factors 18 2.1.4 Institutional factors 18 2.1.5 Assessment and evaluation requirements 19 2.1.6 The existing curriculum 20 2.2 Task based need analysis 21 2.2.1 Needs analysis of Hotel staff and tourguides in Nghe An 22 English for Hotel Staff 22 English for tourguides 24 Tourguides’ opinions about language skills 27 2.3 Summary CHAPTER THE PROPOSED SYLLABUS CONTENT 3.1 Objectives of syllabus 28 3.2 Type of syllabus 28 3.3 Time Requirement 29 3.4 Tasks in the syllabus 29 3.4.1 Main target situation tasks of hotel staff 29 3.4.2 Main target situation tasks of tourguides 29 3.5 The proposed syllabus 29 3.5.1 A suggested English language syllabus for Hotel Staff 30 3.5.2 A suggested English language syllabus for tourguides 34 3.6 38 Underlying Methodology of Teaching and Assessment 3.6.1 Teaching methodology 38 3.6.2 Assessment methodology 38 3.7 Summary 39 PART III CONCLUSION 40 Conclusions 40 Recommendations of the Study 41 Limitations and suggestions for further Study 41 PART I INTRODUCTION Rationale The syllabus is often the initial communication tool that students receive as well as being the most formal mechanism for sharing information with students regarding any course ―The syllabus as contract can serve as the document by which the classroom practices, expectations, and norms are discussed and codified Any later ambiguities of meanings can be resolved by examining the contract that exists between the parties‖ (Danielson, 1995, p 8) One of the most popular types of syllabus is task-based syllabus which seemed to satisfy at least four of the rationales First, it promotes the eventual uses of the target language by emphasizing the realworld resemblance of the tasks with the purpose of preparing the students for the real-world tasks Second, tasks derived from the analysis of learners‘ needs increase learners‘ interest and motivation (Robinson, 2001, p 267) Third, while performing tasks, learners can learn the target language through contextualized and meaningful use of the language rather than learning sentence-level usage of the language Forth, tasks presented with gradually increasing complexity provide rich, elaborated, and comprehensible input for the language acquisition to occur (Doughty & Long, 2003, p 50 ) However, in my view, the current English textbooks of tourism in Nghe An College of Culture and Arts has certain disadvantages They may not reflect students‘ needs and interests because they are written for global markets Another drawback is that information is normally out-of-date By the time students work with the material, the information it provides might have changed Moreover, for ESP materials as English for tourism, some of the contents and language may vary according to specific situations in which learners are currently or will be working For instance, tour guides in Sapa will need some cultural knowledge and vocabulary different from those working in Nghe An It is, therefore, necessary to develop one‘s own materials to bridge the gaps In addition to the material issue, I realize that most of our students of tourism face difficulty in learning speaking and listening skills although their grammar is quite good One of the factors that result in the inefficiency in teaching and learning English at our institution is the method of teaching Many instructors still utilize grammar-translation method as it is easy for them, but not necessarily effective for the students As a strong advocate of the Communicative Approach, I think that there should be a new blow of fresh air to our language teaching situation Among several versions of the Communicative Approach, I see that Task-based language teaching (TBLT) is gaining popularity and is very relevant to our educational purposes According to Skehan (1996: p.50), a task is ―an activity in which: meaning is primary; there is some sort of relationship to the real world, task completion has some priority; and the assessment of task performance is in terms of task outcome‖ TBLT provides a structured framework for both instruction and assessment Using tasks as the basic building blocks of syllabus design allows teachers to both sequence lessons and assess their outcomes, while at the same time creating reasonably authentic parameters within which students can communicate with each other for a purpose Most importantly, it allows them to focus on what it is that they are saying to each other, rather than on how they are saying it It is noted that the ultimate goal of an ESP course is to meet the needs of particular learners; thus, one of the main tasks done by ESP teachers is concerned with designing appropriate syllabus for different group of learners Syllabus design is considered to be of great importance in deciding the success of learners For the above-mentioned reasons, I have decided to design a task-based English syllabus for students of Tourism at Nghe An College of Culture and Arts Hopefully, the study, to which I will devote all my efforts, may contribute a considerable success for the improvement of English teaching at our institution Aim and significance of the study The main purpose of the study is to design a task-based English syllabus for students of tourism at Nghe An College of Culture and Arts Specifically, the present study is aimed: - To explore the current trends in task-based syllabus design - To conduct an analysis of the needs of Nghe An Tourism Sector and a survey on Hotel Staff and Tourguides - To propose syllabus contents, which are to be well-matched to the objectives of the course and the learners‘ needs at Nghe An college of Culture and Arts in particular and the needs of Nghe An Tourism Sector in general Methodology This study employed a quantitative methodology to achieve the above – mentioned aim A survey questionnaire was used to find out the target needs from the perspective of the tourism sector The data were analyzed by means of descriptive statistics Structure of the study The study begins with an introduction including the rationale, aims and significance of the study as well as the method and design of the study The subsequent chapters present the main body of the research Chapter I reviews the literature on syllabus design Chapter II consists of three sections i.e., situational analysis, needs analysis, and a proposed needs-based syllabus The Conclusion summarizes the main ideas of the study, and suggestions for the syllabus trialing and implementation Summary In this part, the rationale of designing a task-based syllabus for students of Tourism at Nghe an College of Culture and Arts is presented Also, the aim, the methodology and the structure of the thesis are presented The following part, Part II, consists of three chapters: The Literature Review, Situational Analysis and Needs Analysis, and the Proposed Syllabus Next chapter is the Literature Review PART II DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER LITERATURE REVIEW This chapter reviews the literature on syllabus design First, a definition of syllabus is provided, which is followed by a definition of syllabus design Next, types of syllabus as well as descriptions of these syllabi are reviewed The central part of the chapter is the review of taskbased syllabus design, which is the cornerstone of the study 1.1 Definition of Syllabus A syllabus is an expression of opinion on the nature of language and learning; it acts as a guide for both teachers and learners by providing some goals to be attained Hutchinson and Waters (1987, p.80) hold that at its simplest level a syllabus can be described as a statement of what is to be learnt It reflects language and linguistic performance This is a rather traditional interpretation of syllabus focusing as it does on outcomes rather than process However, a syllabus can also be seen as a "summary of the content to which learners will be exposed" (Yalden,1987, p.87) It is seen as an approximation of what will be taught and that it cannot accurately predict what will be learnt 1.2 Definition of Syllabus Design The terms "syllabus", "syllabus design" and "curriculum" have given rise to confusion in terms of their definitions and use According to Stern (1983, p.45) the field of curriculum studies is part of the discipline of educational studies In its broadest sense, it refers to the study of goals, content, implementation and evaluation of an educational system In its restricted sense, curriculum refers to a course of study or the content of a particular course or programme It is in this narrower sense of curriculum that the term "syllabus" is employed According to Stern, "syllabus design" is just one phase in a system of interrelated curriculum development activities After having understood what the terms "curriculum" and language "syllabus" refer to, the next step would be to come to terms with what language "syllabus design" encompasses According to Webb (1976, p.20), syllabus design is understood as the organization of the selected contents into an ordered and practical sequence for teaching purposes His criteria for syllabus design are as follows:  Progress from known to unknown matter  Appropriate size of teaching units  A proper variety of activity  Teachability  Creating a sense of purpose for the student Garcia (1976, p.116) expands on this and provides more comprehensive criteria which should be taken into consideration when designing a language syllabus He says that "particulars concerning the social forces, the prejudices, the habits and the motives of the student population, the relation of student characteristics to what are considered universal concepts in language learning processes, contemporary insights into the nature of the language, and how it should be taught to non-native speakers and for what realistic purposes, must guide curricular decisions." According to Munby (1984, p 92), syllabus design is seen as "a matter of specifying the content that needs to be taught and then organizing it into a teaching syllabus of appropriate learning units." Maley (1984, p.77) sums it up when he says that syllabus design encompasses the whole process of designing a language programme Maley, holds that "the needs analysis which produces an order unit of items to be taught is organically related to a methodology consistent with the syllabus, a set of techniques consistent with the methodology, and evaluation procedure consistent with the whole." The above discussion on syllabus design implies that syllabus design involves a logical sequence of three main stages, that is, i) needs analysis, ii) content specification, and iii) syllabus organization 1.3 Types of Syllabi In keeping with the British tradition, White considers a curriculum to be the "totality of content taught and aims to be realized within one school or educational system" and further considers syllabi as the "content or subject matter of an individual subject"; however he suggests for many reasons that a curriculum should not be seen as an extended syllabus (1988, p4) Syllabuses vary in many aspects Some are very short and barely readable, while others are lengthy and neatly bound (Taylor 1970, p.32 cited in White 1988, p.3) According to White (1988, p.59), syllabi are divided into two types from the most generic perspective Type A: What is to be learnt? Type B: How is it to be learnt? Interventionist Non-interventionist External to the learner Internal to the learner Other directed Inner directed or self fulfilling Determined by authority Negotiated between learners and teachers Teacher as decision-maker Learner and teacher as joint decision makers Content = what the subject is to the expert Content = what the subject is to the learner Content = a gift to the learner from the teacher or knower Content = what the learner brings and wants Objectives defined in advance Objectives described afterwards Assessment by achievement or by mastery Assessment in relationship to learners' criteria of success Doing things to the learner Doing things for or with the learner Source: White(1998,p.59) These two types of syllabi can be subdivided into six different sub-types of syllabus: structural syllabus, notional/functional syllabus, situational syllabus, skill-based syllabus, content-based-syllabus, and task-based syllabus In the structural (formal) syllabus, the content of language teaching is a collection of the forms and structures, usually grammatical, of the language being taught Examples include nouns, verbs, adjectives, statements, questions, subordinate clauses, and so on Unlike the structural syllabus, the content of the language teaching in the notional/functional syllabus is a collection of the functions that are performed when language is used, or of the notions that language is used to express Examples of functions include: informing, agreeing, apologizing, requesting; examples of notions include size, age, color, comparison, time, and so on In the situational syllabus, the content of language teaching is a collection of real or imaginary situations in which language occurs or is used A situation usually involves several participants who are engaged in some activity in a specific setting The language occurring in the situation involves a number of functions, combined into a plausible segment of discourse The primary purpose of a situational language teaching syllabus is to teach the language that occurs in the situations Examples of situations include: seeing the dentist, complaining to the landlord, buying a book at the book store, meeting a new student, and so on For skill-based syllabus, the content of the language teaching is a collection of specific abilities that may play a part in using language Skills are things that people must be able to to be competent in a language, relatively independently of the situation or setting in which the language use can occur While situational syllabi group functions together into specific settings of language use, skill-based syllabi group linguistic competencies (pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, and discourse) together into generalized types of behavior, such as listening to spoken language for the main idea, writing well-formed paragraphs, giving effective oral presentations, and so on The primary purpose of skill-based instruction is to learn the specific language skill A possible secondary purpose is to develop more general competence in the language, learning only incidentally any information that may be available while applying the language skills In content-based-syllabus, the primary purpose of instruction is to teach some content or information using the language that the students are also learning The students are simultaneously language students and students of whatever content is being taught The subject matter is primary, and language learning occurs incidentally to the content learning The content teaching is not organized around the language teaching, but vice-versa Content-based language teaching is concerned with information, while task-based language teaching is concerned with communicative and cognitive processes An example of content-based language teaching is a science class taught in the language the students need or want to learn, possibly with linguistic adjustment to make the science more comprehensible In general, the six types of syllabi or instructional content are presented beginning with the one based most on structure, and ending with the one based most on language use Language is a relationship between form and meaning, and most instruction emphasizes one or the other side of this relationship ... situational syllabus, skill -based syllabus, content -based- syllabus, and task- based syllabus In the structural (formal) syllabus, the content of language teaching is a collection of the forms and. .. outcomes - the forms are not specified in advance 1.4.4 Characteristics of Task- based Syllabus A task- based syllabus is based on task- based learning, an approach where learners carry out tasks such as... of a task based syllabus include: Adequate 11 consideration of needs analysis, Authenticity of materials, Humanistic orientation, and Variety of tasks The adequate consideration of needs analysis