Vietnam national university, Hanoi UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES NGUYỄN THỊ NGỌC ANH DESIGNING AN ESP READING SYLLABUS FOR THE STUDENTS OF THE TOUR-GUIDING PROGRAM AT TOURISM FACULTY, QUANG NINH COLLEGE OF ARTS, CULTURE AND TOURISM (THIẾT KẾ CHƯƠNG TRÌNH ĐỌC HIỂU TIẾNG ANH CHUYÊN NGÀNH CHO SINH VIÊN NGÀNH HƯỚNG DẪN KHOA DU LỊCH TRƯỜNG CAO ĐẲNG VĂN HÓA, NGHỆ THUẬT VÀ DU LỊCH QUẢNG NINH) M.A MINOR THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60.14.10 HANOI - 2012 Vietnam national university, Hanoi UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY of post - graduate studies NGUYỄN THỊ NGỌC ANH DESIGNING AN ESP READING SYLLABUS FOR THE STUDENTS OF THE TOUR-GUIDING PROGRAM AT TOURISM FACULTY, QUANG NINH COLLEGE OF ARTS, CULTURE AND TOURISM (THIẾT KẾ CHƯƠNG TRÌNH ĐỌC HIỂU TIẾNG ANH CHUYÊN NGÀNH CHO SINH VIÊN NGÀNH HƯỚNG DẪN KHOA DU LỊCH TRƯỜNG CAO ĐẲNG VĂN HÓA, NGHỆ THUẬT VÀ DU LỊCH QUẢNG NINH) M.A MINOR THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60.14.10 Supervisor: Dr DƯƠNG THỊ NỤ HANOI - 2012 TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION…………………………………………………………… i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS…………………………………………………… ii ABSTRACT……………………………………………………………………… iii TABLE OF CONTENTS……………………………………………………… iv LIST OF TABLE AND FIGURES…………………………………………… vii PART I: INTRODUCTION………………………………………………… 1 Rationale of the research……………………………………………………… Aims of the research ………………………………………………………… Research questions…………………………………………………………… Methods of the research……………………………………………………… Scope of the research ………………………………………………………… Design of the research………………………………………… PART II: DEVELOPMENT ………………………………………………… CHAPTER 1: LITERARTURE REVIEW 1.1 An overview of ESP………………………………………… 1.1.1 Definition of ESP…………………………………………… 1.1.2 Types of ESP……………………………………………… 1.2 An overview of syllabus design…………………………… 1.2.1 Definition of syllabus……………………………………… 1.2.2 Types of syllabus…………………………………………… Content-based syllabus………………………………… 1.2.2.1.1 Structural syllabus……………………………………… 1.2.2.1.2 Situational syllabus……………………………………… 1.2.2.1.3 Notional/Functional syllabus…………………………… 1.2.2.1.4 Topic syllabus 1.2.2.1 1.2.2.2 Skill-based syllabus……………………………………… 10 10 iv Method-based syllabus………………………………… 10 1.2.3 Approaches to ESP syllabus design………………………… 11 1.2.4 Steps to design a syllabus…………………………………… 12 1.2.5 Needs analysis……………………………………………… 14 1.3 Theories of reading…………………………………………… 15 1.3.1 Reading in ESP…………………………………………… 15 1.2.2.3 1.3.2 Reading skills and strategies in ESP……………………… 1.4 Summary……………………………………………………… 17 CHAPTER 2: THE STUDY 2.1 The teaching and learning ESP situation at Quang Ninh College of Art, 17 Culture and Tourism…………………………………………… 18 2.2 The teaching staff of the English Division………………… 18 2.3 The students………………………………………………… 19 2.4 The study………………………………………………… 19 2.4.1 The subjects………………………………………………… 19 2.4.2 Instruments for collecting data…………………………… 19 2.4.3 Procedures………………………………………………… 2.4.4 The findings……………………………………………… 2.4.4.1 Needs perceived by the teachers of English Faculty 2.4.4.2 Needs perceived by the teachers of Tourism Faculty 2.4.4.3 Needs perceived by the Tour-guiding students 2.5 20 21 Summary……………………………………………………… CHATER 3: DESIGNING AN ESP READING SYLLABUS FOR THE 26 STUDENTS OF THE TOUR-GUIDING 26 3.1 Aims and objectives of reading syllabus………………………………… 26 3.2 Selecting types of ESP syllabus………………………………………… 27 3.3 Sequencing the content and the tasks in the syllabus 28 3.4 Designing tests for the ESP reading course 29 3.5 The proposed syllabus for the students of the Tour-guiding at Tourism v Faculty, Quang Ninh College of Art, Culture and Tourism 31-40 3.6 Summary 29 PART III: CONCLUSIONS…………………………………………… Recapitulation 30 Conclusions 30 Limitations of the study 31 Suggestions for further study 31 REFERENCES APPENDICES ……………………………………………………… vi I-XXI LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES Figure 1: ESP classification by experience Figure 2: ESP classification by Professional area Figure 3: A language-centered approach 13 Figure 4: A skill-centered approach 14 Figure 5: A learning-centered approach 15 Table 1: Teachers’ expectations of the ESP reading course XI Table 2: Teachers’ ranking of topics related to Vietnam and Quang Ninh tourist attractions XII Table 3: Teacher’s ranking of grammar and structures needed for the syllabus .XIII Table 4: The teachers’ attitudes to reading skill and exercises needed for reading comprehension in the syllabus XIV Table 5: The students’ rating of the objectives of the syllabus XVI Table 6: Students’ assessment of the topics about Vietnam and Quang Ninh tourist attractions XVII Table 7: Students’ opinion of the reading skills and exercises needed in the syllabus vii XVII PART I: INTRODUCTION Rationale English for Specific Purposes (ESP) plays an important role in a global community of people speaking different languages People with good English proficiency are extensively needed in many areas, such as business, banking, telecommunications, tourism, etc With the globalization of trade and economy and the continuing increase of international communication in various fields, the demand for ESP is expanding, especially in countries where English is taught as a foreign language In Vietnam, ESP has really become a necessary and indispensable branch in English language teaching The students who want to get the best preparation for their future career are paying more and more attention to the learning of ESP Therefore, ESP is introduced in many colleges and universities as a compulsory subject in curriculum Students learning ESP in Vietnam mainly get access to popular documents written in English through reading Hence, skills in reading texts are obviously of special significance in teaching and learning ESP At Quang Ninh College of Arts, Culture and Tourism, different ESP courses are taught to students of different majors After completing a 90-period General English, students of the tour-guiding program at Tourism faculty will progress to the ESP stage Teachers of English Division who are asked to teach ESP have a lot of difficulties because of the lack of an appropriate ESP teaching syllabus The materials for the course are not available so that the teachers have to spend much time searching, considering and choosing the most suitable ones to for their students I realized that designing a proper syllabus is of great necessity This is the main reason why “ Designing an ESP reading syllabus for the students of the Tour-guiding program at Tourism Faculty, Quang Ninh College of Arts, Culture and Tourism” is chosen for my thesis Aims and objectives of the study This study aims at designing an ESP reading syllabus for the students of the Tour-guiding program at Tourism Faculty, Quang Ninh College of Arts, Culture and Tourism To achieve this aim, the following objectives are established: - To develop a theoretical framework related to a reading syllabus for English for Tourism in Vietnam - To identify the needs of the ESP teachers, the ESP students of the Tourguiding program at Tourism Faculty, Quang Ninh College of Arts Culture and Tourism - To propose a reading syllabus based on the relevant theories and the needs analysis Research questions The study answers two questions: What are the target needs from the perspective of the ESP students and the ESP teachers? What is the content of the syllabus? Methods of the study This survey research is both qualitative and quantitative The first method by means of questionnaires aims at identifying the needs for the ESP syllabus from the ESP students of the Tour-guiding program The second one is used to collect various ideas through interviews Scope of the study This study is limited to design an appropriate ESP reading syllabus about the famous destinations in Quang Ninh and Vietnam for the second-year students of the Tour-guiding program at Quang Ninh College of Arts, Culture and Tourism Design of the study The study contains three main parts: Part I: Introduction present the rationale, aims, research questions, methods, scopes, and the design of the study Part II: Development consists of three chapters: - Chapter reviews the literature related to ESP, ESP syllabus design and reading theories - Chapter describes the study including its background, subjects, and instruments for collecting and analyzing data for the findings of the study - Chapter proposes a reading syllabus based on the findings of this study Part III: Conclusion provides recapitulation, conclusions, limitations of the study and suggestions for further research PART II: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERARTURE REVIEW There are many previous studies about tourism Some of them were carried out to develop the materials for the English for tourism Some others were designed to improve students’ speaking skill that is very necessary for tour guides However, no research so far has been implemented to design a reading syllabus for the students of Tour-guiding program which is expect to contain information on most popular sites of Vietnam and Quang Ninh Therefore, it is an urgent need to a research to put these ideas about this reading syllabus with suitable task into practice In this chapter, an attempt is made to review the theories related to all basic aspects for designing and ESP reading syllabus, including theories of ESP (definitions and types), theories of syllabus (definitions, types and approaches to ESP syllabus design) and theories of reading (reading skills and strategies) 1.5 An overview of ESP 1.5.1 Definition of ESP It is not easy for most teachers and students of English to give an exact definition of ESP Even great scholars of language define ESP from various approaches Hutchinson and Waters (1987) defined ESP as follows: English for specific purposes (ESP) is one important branch of the EFL/ ESL (English as a Foreign Language/ Second Language) system that function as the main branch of English Language Teaching (ELT) Therefore, ESP is not a particular kind of language or methodology, but rather an approach to language learning whereby the content and method are based on the learners’ particular needs to learn the language Richards, Platt and Webber (1994) affirm that ESP course “is fixed by the specific needs for a particular group of learners” Likewise, Widdowson (1983) argued that the distinction between ESP and EGP (English for General Purpose) is not the problem of specificity of purpose but “the way in which purpose is defined and the manner of its implementation” Strevens (1988) works out a more detailed definition of ESP, which make a distinction between four absolute characteristics and two variable characteristics The absolute characteristics are that ESP consists of ELT which is: ... design an appropriate ESP reading syllabus about the famous destinations in Quang Ninh and Vietnam for the second-year students of the Tour-guiding program at Quang Ninh College of Arts, Culture and. .. program at Tourism Faculty, Quang Ninh College of Arts, Culture and Tourism? ?? is chosen for my thesis Aims and objectives of the study This study aims at designing an ESP reading syllabus for the students. .. related to a reading syllabus for English for Tourism in Vietnam - To identify the needs of the ESP teachers, the ESP students of the Tourguiding program at Tourism Faculty, Quang Ninh College of