CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
This chapter aims at presenting the rationale for the field-study, its aims and scope, the
research questions, significance, methods, and design of the field-study.
1.1 Introduction
It is a common assertion that materials in general play a crucial part in language learning
(Robinson, 1991; Nunan, 1991). This accounts for the fact that discussions of the roles of
materials appear in almost all books on course design. Materials not only provide learners
with a wide range of useful and fascinating information but also can play a part in
enhancing learners’ motivation- thus, facilitate their acquisition (Dudley- Evans& St John,
1998; Nonaka, 2001).
On materials, it can be seen that the textbook is the ‘visible heart’ of any ELT (English
Language Teaching) program. Several advantages of using textbook have been suggested
by researchers. For example, textbooks help to standardize instruction and assessment. That
is, by giving students in different classes the same textbook, teachers can teach and test
them in the same way (Richards, 2005). Textbooks also provide syllabus for a program,
thus supporting novice teachers, training them in methodology and saving their time and
effort for more worthwhile pursuits than material production (Cunningsworth, 1995). What
is more, since textbooks are always carefully tested before being brought into the market so
they give students credibility. Students also often expect to use a textbook in their learning
program (Sheldon, 1998).
In spite of the aforementioned positive view of textbooks use, however, there have also
been certain reservations about this use. One of the most cited concerns is that textbooks are
often implicitly prescriptive and thus might control the methods, process and procedures of
classroom practice and ‘deskill’ teachers (Allwright, 1982). Another concern is that since
textbooks are often written for global markets, they may not suit all classrooms and might
require adaptation to better meet students’ true needs (Richards, 2005). Non-authenticity is
also the most limited feature of almost text books. Due to teaching purpose, both content
and language are presented in idealized and standardized ways rather than they are in real
life (Cunningsworth, 1995).
Many experts have written on how to choose or develop materials, which are relevant to
learners, so that materials can give assistance to learners’ language learning process. In

students’ need and to be not very motivating to them. The materials do not appear helpful
enough to assist students to improve their medical English in terms of grammar structure
and vocabulary. They have difficulties in memorizing and using the language due to the
short diversity of grammar structures and system of content. Thus, students are not usually
engaged in the reading activities, or they do not concentrate on or involve in the reading
tasks. This existing fact has caused a headache to all teachers and some solutions have been
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applied such as giving them some extra reading materials from some other books, but the
situation has not been significantly improved.
In an effort to search for a solution to this situation, the researcher has found that many
authors have asserted that authentic materials have a positive effect on learners’ motivation
and their language acquisition in foreign language classroom. Nevertheless, research to date
of this topic is inadequate and the researcher suggest that testing these subjective
impression- the positive effect of authentic materials on Medicine on students’ learning
process and their motivation, will result in a better guidance for the selection and
exploitation of reading materials used in ESP program.
1.3 Aims and objectives of the field-study
This field-study is firstly aimed at supplementing the findings of the earlier study by
providing empirical evidence for the effect of authentic materials on the students’ reading
proficiency and their involvement levels in class activities. Secondly, it is an attempt to
meet the need of the students at HMU for a way to access real- life language. Lastly, it is
expected that the results of the study would serve as a useful source of reference for
teachers who are teaching ESP or/ and interested in material development for ESP.
Specifically, researcher’s main objectives in carrying out this field-study are as follows:
- To introduce authentic materials as a tool to supplement the course-book to the
second year students at HMU.
- To examine the effect of the authentic materials on the students’ language
acquisition.
- To elicit students’ opinions of the authentic material use and to lay grounds for the
further research.

authentic materials as supplement source on their ESP program.
1.6 Significance of the study
It has long been believed that material development plays an essential role in English
teaching. Therefore, it is hoped that the authentic materials to be used will help to facilitate
and motivate students better in ESP classes and the results of this experiment will support
the suggestion of using authentic materials and give a guidance to select and exploit
authentic materials in order to improve ESP teaching materials.
1.7 Methods of the study
The major method employed in this study to find out the answers to the proposed research
questions within the scope of the study is a quasi- experimental design which involves the
three basic components of experiments as presented by Selinger and Shohamy, that is, the
population ( second year students at HMU), the treatment ( the authentic materials use ) and
the measurement of the treatment (t- test) ( 1998, p.136). Under the present teaching and
4
learning conditions in Vietnam such as the grouping of students in advance, this method has
proved to be the best choice to yield the empirical results for this study.
Besides this main method, the class journals are collected and unofficial interviews also
carried out to students taking part in the program as well as other teachers of English and
medical specialists as a complementary tool to obtain their feedback on the program and
their suggestions for future programs.
1.8 Design of the study
The study is divided into five chapters as hereunder:
Chapter one presents an overview of the study in which the introduction, the rationale for
the study, the aims and objectives, the research hypothesis and questions, the scope, the
significance, the research method as well as the design of the study are briefly presented.
Chapter two reviews the literature relevant and closely related to the study including the
textbook evaluation, textbook use and adaptation, the features of ESP and OEP in general
and medical English in particular, authentic materials and the effect of using authentic
materials on ESP teaching and learning.
Chapter three is a detailed discussion of the method used in the study with all of its

Second, as Sheldon (1988) has pointed out, students often expect to use a textbook in their
particular language classroom and program and believe that published materials have more
credibility than teacher- generated or “in-house” materials. Third, as ONeill (1982) has
indicated, textbooks are efficient in terms of time and money, and they can and should
allow for adaptation and improvisation. Finally, textbooks may constitute an effective
resource for learning in classroom and self-directed learning (Cunningsworth, 1995). A
learner without a textbook might be out of focus and teacher- independent.
In spite of aforementioned benefits of textbooks, however, some reservations can be found.
Some well-founded reservations pointed out by Allwright (1982), for instance, suggest that
textbooks are inflexible and generally reflect the pedagogic, psychological, and linguistic
preferences and biases of their authors. Subsequently, the educational methodology that a
textbook promotes will influence the classroom setting by indirectly imposing external
language objectives and learning constituents on students as well as potentially incongruent
instructional paradigms on the teachers who use them. In this fashion therefore, textbooks
essentially determine and control the methods, processes and procedures of language
teaching and learning. Moreover, the pedagogic principles that are often displayed in many
textbooks may also be conflicting, contradictory or even out-dated depending on the
capitalizing interests and exploitations of the sponsoring agent.
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Other researchers such as Prodromou (1988) and Alptekin (1993) pointed out that textbooks
are often cultural artifacts because it is impossible to teach a language without embedding it
in its cultural base. However, in many instances this might alienate learners if they are
forced to express themselves within a culture they have hardly had any experience with and
been prepared for.
In addition, recent appraisals of commercially produced textbooks have also suggested that
many textbooks tend to offer classroom learners little opportunity for learning how to
properly communicate intentions such as requesting, disagreeing, complaining, and so on in
the second language (L2) (Bardovi- Harlig, 2001; Vellenga, 2004). This is firstly because
many textbook either do not present or they present communicative function (i.e. speech
acts) unrealistically. Boxer and Pickering (1995), for example, found that textbooks

Hence, the textbook evaluation presented above has brought about an overview of benefits
and reservations textbook use that helps teachers identify the strength and weakness of a
particular textbook that is already in use (i.e. in use or retrospective evaluation). This is to
inform teachers in the process of textbook adaptation and decision- making for the next
course (Ellis, 1997).
2.2 Textbook use and adaptation
Material adaptation is one of the most concerned issues to teachers who desire to make
students’ needs and materials as well as learning process well matching. Material adaptation
is especially significant in ESP teaching where textbooks do not appear to catch up with
quick changes in terms of content and no textbooks are well- fitted enough to every
particular situation.
Various problems with materials have been addressed by a number of researchers. O’Neill
(1982: 153) suggest that the textbook can only provide props and framework for classroom
teaching and no textbook can expect to appeal to all teachers or learners at a particular level.
McDnough and Shaw (1993: 83) as well propose that textbooks, internally coherent
although they may be, they may not be totally applicable. Swales (1980) contends that any
given course-book will be incapable of catering for the diversity of needs which exists in
most language classroom. Allright (1981: 9) also maintains that given the complexity of the
whole business of the management of language learning, even with the best intentions no
single textbook can possibly work in all situations. Sheldon (1988:239) addresses a lack of
cultural appropriateness of some of some textbooks, i.e, the thinking underlying the
textbook writing may be different from or event in conflict with the assumptions held by the
teachers.
The problems mentioned above are by no means exhaustive, but the key point remains:
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teachers, with the practical personal knowledge of their classroom teaching, should see
textbooks as their servants instead of their masters; as resource of an “ideal bank” which
can stimulate teachers’ own creative potential (Cunningsworth, 1984: 65). Adapting their
materials allow them to achieve more compatibility and fitness between the textbooks and
teaching environment, and maximize the value of the book for their benefit of their

- For reference
Kennedy and Bolitho (1984), on their comments on a case if the course content and the
learner’s motivation do not match, or if the level of motivation is low in the first place,
suggest that materials have to be carefully designed to raise this motivation. In another case,
these two authors also advised to develop materials in a way that they could motivate a
learner who had some initial reluctance and help him overcome the reluctance to study
English.
Especially, in some situations, where English ‘materials then play a crucial role in exposing
learners to the language, which implies that the materials need to present real language, as it
is used, and the full range that learners require’ (Dudley-Evans & S John, 1998). For
example, learners extract information from English medium subject textbooks. However, if
individual texts come from magazines, content and style will be journalistic. Therefore, the
materials need to maximize the exposure of students to the language, for instance, by
providing additional materials.

It can be concluded from the above discussions that materials are of an importance
especially in increasing student’s motivation in language learning. To do that, materials
need to expose learners to the real language, real world in which the target language is
used. Authentic materials are believed by many authors (Martinez, 2002; Kaprova, 1999;
LeLoup & Ponterio, 2000; Dumitrescu, 2000) to be the one that provides students with
opportunity to expose themselves to the real language.

2.3.2 Authentic materials
There have been a number of books and journals containing the explanations of why
authentic materials should be included in the lessons, and how it should be selected and
used or best exploited. Authentic materials should be included because they have a lot of
advantages.
2.3.2.1 Advantages of authentic materials.
The authors who support the use of authentic materials, although express in different ways,
have in common one idea: “exposure”- the benefit students get from being exposed to the

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motivation through enjoyment) (Kaprova, 1999). They can encourage reading for pleasure
because they are likely to contain topics or kinds of authentic materials to be used in class
(Martinez, 2002).
Finally, they can help increase student cultural background (Kaprova, 1999) and have an
effect on cultural identification (Nonaka, 2001).
In sum, this kind of materials if updated with the latest information on every aspect of life,
therefore, have sufficient and accurate explanations and examples. Moreover, authentic
materials present the real language, real type of materials that they will have to work with in
the future job, therefore avoid word limits and provide genuineness. As s result, authentic
materials can enliven the class and create a more positive attitude toward learning (Nonaka,
2001 quoted Duquette et al, 1987; Kaprova, 1999; Kelly et al, 2002).
Although authentic materials have plenty of advantages as discussed earlier, there remain
some reasons for that people are against the use of authentic materials.
2.3.2.2 Limitations of authentic materials
Although authentic materials have numerous advantages, they still disclose some
disadvantages. One common complaint is that authentic materials are more difficult than
non- authentic materials because of some reasons as follows according to Martinez (2002):
First, they may be too culturally biased, so unnecessarily difficult to understand outside the
language community.
Second, the vocabulary might not be relevant to the student’s immediate needs.
Third, the many structures are mixed so lower levels have a hard time decoding the texts.
Fourth, there are many abbreviations, slang, signs and the like that can require good
knowledge of the cultural background to understand.
Besides the claim of being difficult, some teachers are against the use of authentic materials
because the special preparation is necessary which can be time consuming and the materials
can become outdated easily, e.g. news, etc.
Nevertheless, these limitations can be minimized by choosing the materials selectively and
exploiting them appropriately. Many authors have given instructions on how to select and
12

have to be linked to a view of text. ESP has in its brief history adopted various approaches
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to text analysis, from the early register analysis associated with the identification of key
grammatical elements of scientific communication (Barber, 1962; Swales, 1971) to
rhetorical analysis associated with functional/notional approach (Trimble (1985) and
Lackstrom, Selinker, and Trimble (1972)) and to the dominant approach of today, genre
analysis (Swales, 1990; Bhatia, 1993). The register analysis shows an ability to use certain
key grammatical features is vital in ESP work and that other grammatical features of little
relevance to ESP work can be ignored. The rhetorical analysis first introduced the idea that
grammatical features found in specific contexts, such as an academic textbook, might
follow rules that in certain subtle ways differ from the general rules as set out in general
grammar books. This work also stresses the predominance of rhetorical considerations in
determining the grammatical choice. The notional/ functional approach at its best appears a
very fruitful method of bringing together lexical items that co- occur naturally, i.e, verbs
such as consist of and contain, with passive constructions such as attached to, connected to,
mounted on in describing the notion of structure, or items associated with the notion of
quantity, such as adequate, sufficient, enough, too much, excessive etc. The genre analysis
brings together the insights of these earlier approaches to text analysis, but also a greater
sophistication in the examination of the writers’ purpose. For example, both Fahnestock
(1986) and Myers (1990) have shown that writers in academic journals will make guarded
claims about their findings using many hedged statements (the results suggest that , the
findings appear to support the claim that ) but will use more confident statements in
popular journals tending to present claims as established facts. It can be seen that
differences in the use of epistemic modality such as down-toners, or boosters between
genres and between different disciplines create a special feature of ESP.
2.4.2 Characteristics of English for medical purposes
The theory of text analysis shed a light on identifying features of medical English as follow:
2.4.2.1 Characteristics of medical terminology
1. English medical terms derive from Greece and Latin, especially derivatives and
compound words. Quite a few elements forming word originated from Greece such as:

P1 + noun: whooping cough, dryheating sterilization
Adv + P2 + Noun: badly fed children, sexually transmitted diseases
e. Medical terms are syntactic groups of noun with prepositions
E.g. resistance against medicine
Confinement to bed
Vaccination against the smallpox
f. Medical terms in abbreviation
E.g. SARS, AIDS, DOA (dead on arrival),
FUO (fever of unknown origin)
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2.4.2.2 Grammatical features of English for medical purpose
Grammatical items which are dominantly employed in medical English:
1. Tenses, mood and speech
1.1. Tenses
According to the time axis, tenses in English include past tense, present tense and future
tense. Tenses show the time of the actions. In the other words, tenses indicate that the
actions happen with time.
ESP in medicine, present simple, present perfect and progressive are commonly used to
describe diseases, medical history and medical procedures. To describe diseases such as,
present simple is used like this “cholera is a serious bacterial disease spread through food
and water which has been infected by Vibrio cholerae” (Collin, 2004:71). To ask for
medical history of a woman who is in the Family planning clinic, a sentence “How long has
the coil been fitted?” is used. And to describe medical procedures doctors often say to
patients these sentences “Now the anaesthesia has worn off. We’ll give you some strong
painkillers. It’s normal to have a lot of pain at this stage.”
1.2. Mood
Mood is a set of contrasts which are often shown by the form of the verb and which express
the speaker’s or writer’s attitude to what is said or written. Three moods have often been
distinguished: indicative, imperative, subjunctive moods.
Indicative mood is the form of the verb used in declarative sentences or questions. In

purpose: (I) SVO; (II) S V C; (III) SVA; (IV) SVOO; (V) S V O C; (VI) S V O A; (VII)
SV
Examples: 1. S V O
- The nervous system controls all other systems and bodily movements. (The
language of Medicine in English (p.16) )
- The technology of modern medicine has prolonged human life and reduced human
suffering.
2. S V C
- Shock is a life- threatening condition.
- Tuberculosis is preventable and curable.
3. S V A
Cancer can appear anywhere in the body. (41).
Herniated disks are most common in the lower spine (lumbar).
The patient is wheeled into the operating room. (English for nurses)
4. S + V + O + O
- Can you prescribe something for me?
- I’ll give you some herbal medicine. ((25) English for medical personnel)
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- You’ll have to give them a blood sample, and bring the results immediately back to
me. (231).
5. S + V + O + C (positions)
I’m going to take a small sample of blood from your middle finger. (138)
- He is taking the patient to the E.N.T ward. (24).English for nurses.
6. S + V + O + A
- The electroencephalograph (EEC) records brain waves in a manner similar to the
electrocardiograph
- Nuclear medicine technicians introduce radioactive materials into the patient’s
bloodstream for diagnosis or treatment of disease or injury.
- The surgeon corrected a heart valve defect with a tiny balloon- catheter (112)
7. S + V

As started in 1.3, this study is an attempt to investigate the cause- and - effect relationship
between supplementary authentic materials and the student’s reading proficiency, it can
therefore, be best assisted by an experimental research method. This choice can be justified
by the fact that this method offers the luxury that others can not. According to Nunan
(1990), experiments are often carried out to explore the strength of the relationship between
variables. Also, Salkind pointed out that causal relationship between variables are
established.
It is by virtue of the experimental method itself, which allows for the control of potential
sources of differences (or variance), that the following can be said: One factor is related to
another in such a way that changes in that factor are causally related to another. So, it is not
just a relationship where two variables share something in common (as is the case with a co
-relational relationship); it’s much more. They share something, but one directly affects the
other. (Salkind, 2006: 217)
To put it in another way, an experimental method, when done correctly, can provide a
tremendous amount of power and control over the understanding of the causal relationship
between variables.
Another consideration taken by the researcher is in opting out the experimental design that
is most appropriate for the study. Selinger and Shohamy (1989) and Salkind (2006)
identified three designs within the scope of experimental method which are true-experiment,
quasi-experimental and pre-experimental designs. They are different from one another in
terms of the degree to which they impose control over the variables being studied and the
degree of randomness that enters into the design (Salkind, 2006: 218).
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Considering those differences in combination with the present conditions in which the study
would be carried out, we decide to choose the quasi-experimental design. In detail, the
choice of the design was determined by the following factors.
In the first place, the researcher has no control over who would be in each group because
the students who would take part in the study have already been assigned prior to the study
(Salkind, 2006: 234). In this study, two groups of second- year students were assigned to
the researcher as well as a teacher by a person who is in charge of arranging the teaching

materials use (time spent on dealing with authentic materials and the quality of authentic
materials) and the students’ reading proficiency). To put it technically, the study was
designed to examine the relationship between the independent variable (authentic materials)
and the dependent variable (the second year students’ reading proficiency and the students’
positive attitude to authentic materials).
With regard to the experimental treatment, authentic materials realized by authentic
materials program were measured by the time for dealing with authentic materials and the
quality of materials read by the students. However, our choice of the latter at the expense of
the former was determined by the following consideration.
It cannot be denied that material selection is one of the decisive factors in any language
syllabus, thus the researcher took a great care on the authentic material selection. The
advantages and disadvantages of textbooks and authentic materials are presented in 2.1. and
2.3.2. It is noted that these are the advantages and disadvantages of their own and if any
decision of which type of materials should be used has to be made, it is compulsory to take
learners into consideration. That is why learners and the relationship between learners’
conceptual and linguistic competence are discussed here.

To discuss for whom and which materials, authentic texts or simplified texts, should be
used. Kennedy and Bolitho (1984) wrote that the decision of which approach to adopt
depends on the relationship between the conceptual and the linguistic competence of the
learner, and also on the role of the English program in relation to the subject program of the
learner.
They are then further elaborated on the relationship between concepts and language. If both
concepts and language are at a low level, i.e. if the learner is a freshman in science and
language learning, then there may be a justification for using simplified materials.
If the conceptual knowledge of the learner is higher than his linguistic level, then using
simplified materials may cause offence to the learner because if the language is simplified,
the subject content is usually simplified as a result. In this case, the two authors, Kennedy
21
and Bolitho (1984) strongly suggested the use of authentic materials appropriate to the

materials since the reading proficiency test score has been widely assumed to be valid. What
mattered, if there was, would be the construction of the proficiency test used. To ensure the
reliability and validity of measurement of reading proficiency, a test that is considered to be
standard for doing this job was designed and administered (see 3.5.1 for detailed description
of the test)

3.3 Participants
The sample included two groups of second- year Vietnamese students who are trained to be
general doctors and study English as a foreign language at HMU. They were selected firstly
on the basis of cluster sampling.
This method of sampling had some advantages given the conditions under which the study
was carried out. On the one hand, since students were enrolled from a wide residential and
family background and homogeneously grouped, the relatively high degree of
representatives was ensured. This contributed to the increased validity of the later
generalization to the whole population. On the other hand, since students were already pre-
assigned to groups prior to the study, the removal of any individual from one group to
another was impossible. Therefore, cluster sampling proved to be convenient, inexpensive
and time- saving (Salkind, 2006: 92-93).
As a result of cluster sampling, the two sample groups were, however, not the same in size,
which numbered 32 and 29 respectively. The participants were relatively homogeneous in
age which was ranged from 18 to 20 and all of them did English course of general science
in medicine. Nevertheless, their starting point of learning English at HMU was medical
English so we have no chance to balance their general English therefore, some extra
grammar and vocabulary home work given as a remedy measure. Moreover, those medical
English courses are often provided before the participants study their specialist subject
presents both advantages and disadvantages. Almost the participants appear curious and are
eager to explore their specialist knowledge in English. The new and interesting explorations
do enhance their motivation in learning English yet unfamiliar topics create some
difficulties in their language learning. In sum, these students’ features were representative
of the second-year students who were studying English as foreign language at HMU who

for the non-professional were chosen for the program.
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The criteria for selecting the authentic materials are mentioned in 3.2. In this part, the
researcher would like to summarize them as follows:
• The topics must be among the range of topics students have learnt in the course-
book to assure that they do not have to cope with both specialist knowledge
comprehension and language acquisition at the same time.
• The linguistic level of the authentic materials must be a little challenging, but
achievable so that the students have to make effort in order to complete the tasks.
The appropriate linguistic level is assured by the researcher and her colleagues when
choosing the authentic materials based on their teaching experience and their
awareness of the students’ level of English.
• The text types of the authentic materials need to be the genres that the students will
have to deal with in their future employment. The information about the appropriate
text types was found through unofficial interviews to the medical specialists.
• The tasks accompanying these materials to be authentic, that is, to be the activities
the students will have to do in their future work.
All the chosen reading materials based on the students’ language proficiency and the
medical specialists’ recommendation weekly provided for students as “at home” reading.
Comprehensive reading exercises are also included in each reading text that help students to
get information, contact, predict new medical terms then remember them after the lesson
After students reading thoroughly and writing summary of these readings, post- reading
activities are organized to get them involve as well as for teacher to check how well they
read at home. Post- class journals were collected to get students’ feedback for materials
adjustments.
3.4.3 Applying authentic materials in extensive reading program
As Nuttall suggested (1982) “the best way to improve your knowledge of a foreign
language is to go and live among its speakers. The next best way is to read extensively in
it”. And in fact, authentic materials has traditionally been defined as that written for native
speakers, that is, ordinary everyday materials not provided specially for language teaching