CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
1.1. Rationale
Globalization enhances the close relationship, and the mutual understanding
among nations. It takes place in various areas such as economy, technology,
environment, culture, and society. The most remarkable area in globalizing period is
economy. In this area, the globalization is of necessity to foster the international and
national economic integration.
To facilitate the integrating process, a global language – English is an efficient
and indispensable means to seek the common voice among nations. Therefore,
learning English all over the world recently has been of great popularity. As it has
become increasingly aware that general English courses frequently which focus on
grammar, structure do not meet learners’ or employers’ wants and needs. English
should be specified and intensive in certain fields. Therefore, from the early 1960's,
English for Specific Purposes (ESP) has grown to be one of the most prominent areas
of EFL teaching today. With the globalization of trade and economy and the
continuing increase of international communication in various fields, the demand for
English for Specific Purposes is expanding, especially in countries where English is
taught as a foreign language. That is the true case in Vietnam; ESP has shown a slow
but definite growth over the past few years. Its development is reflected in an
increasing number of courses offered to students. Especially, increasing interest has
been spurred since Vietnam opened its doors and recently entered WTO (2007) with a
lot of well-paid job opportunities for English competent employees. This has led to a
rapid demand for English courses aimed at specific disciplines, e.g. English for
Economics, in place of the traditional 'General English' ones. As one of the leading
universities in language training, ULIS – VNU has applied English for Specific
Purposes (ESP) course for the last 10 years, aiming at improving students’ skill in
using English as a tool to work in an international working environment and to
comprehend technology transference. The course has been applied for seniors whose
English competence is upper-intermediate. Their four skills: reading, listening, writing
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and speaking are nearly accomplished. The course-book was written by Mr. Nguyen

4. What are the solutions to student’s problems as suggested by the teachers
of ESP?
1.3. Significance of the research
- Teachers, after going through this research will be more aware of the difficulties
facing these students, and will be able to help them gradually overcome these
difficulties.
- For educational administrators, the study would provide them with a close view into
the current situation, which may then reveal some pedagogical suggestions.
- The findings hopefully would contribute to the improvement of students in learning
terms.
- Last but not least, with regards to researchers who have the same interest in the topic,
could find fundamental, and useful information to develop their studies.
1.4. Scope of the study
Although the topic of study was “Difficulties facing ULIS’s students in
approaching terminology in English for Economics’ course”, in the scope the study, the
researcher aimed at senior students in Faculty of English Language Teacher Education
who had opportunities to learn ESP course in this semester. Specifically, difficulties
were on each different process of approaching terms such as understanding,
remembering, and applying.
1.5. Organization of the study
The rest of paper comprises five chapters as follows:
Chapter 2 (Literature review) lays the theoretical foundations for the whole
study including the definition of key terms as well as a concise review of related
studies.
Chapter 3 (Methodology) elaborates on the research methods, participants,
instruments, data collection procedure and data analysis methods
Chapter 4 (Results and Discussion) presents the results of the research and
gives interpretation and analyses of major patterns found in data.
Chapter 5 (Conclusion) summarizes the major findings and puts forward some
pedagogical implications and recommendations.

utilitarian purposes. The purposes they refer to are defined by the needs of the learners,
which could be academic, occupational, or scientific. The opinion that student’s need
is essential to determine ESP course also be emphasized by Munby (1978). Similarly,
Robinson (1991, p.3) discussing the criteria to ESP, also agrees that a need analysis to
find out exactly what students have to do is the foundation for ESP course.
To sum up, ESP is “an approach rather than a product to language teaching”
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(Hutchinson and Waters (1987)) which the focal point is on the learner’s need, and
their reason for learning.
2.1.1.2. Classification of ESP
ESP is traditionally divided into EAP (English for Academic Purposes) and
EOP (English for Occupational Purposes). Kennedy and Bolitho (1984, p.4) give
further explanations on the above types: "English for Occupational Purpose (EOP) is
taught in a situation in which learners need to use English as a part of their work or
profession", whereas, "English for Academic Purpose (EAP) is taught generally
within educational institutions to students needing English in their studies".
Robinson (1991) provides the distinction between these two areas as follows:
Pre- experience
EOP Simultaneous/ In service
Post- experience
ESP
Pre- study

For study in a specific discipline In-study
EEP/ EAP Post- study
Independent
As school subject Integrated
Figure 1. Types of ESP (Robinson, 1991:3-4)
However, Hutchinson (1987) does not totally agree on this division, he argues
that there is “not a clear- cut distinction: people can work and study simultaneously.

with English and are learning the language in order to communicate a set of
professional skills and to perform particular job-related functions.
ESP concentrates more on language in context than on teaching grammar and
language structures. It covers subjects varying from accounting or banking, to
economics. The ESP focal point is that English is not taught as a subject separated
from the students' real world (or wishes); instead, it is integrated into a subject matter
area important to the learners.
In conclusion, English for Specific/Special Purposes (ESP) and General English
(GE) are the two branches of English Language Teaching (ELT). The main difference
between ESP and GE lies in the awareness of a need. ESP learners aware their need;
they know what exactly they need English for; they know what the ESP course should
offer them (Hutchinson and Waters (1987)).
2.1.2. ESP course in ULIS
The project of launching ESP course was first initiated by the Head-master of
ULIS- Professor Nguyễn Đức Chính. He assigned Prof. Nguyen Xuan Thom who is a
linguistics expert, and also has deep specialized knowledge in economics to compose
the book. Receiving support from the Dean of English Faculty, the textbook was first
introduced in 1996.
ESP was a new branch in ELT although it did not have a long-term history as
ELT; however, learning ESP was a need in the context of globalization. ULIS’s
teachers with a long-term vision recognized the importance of the ESP branch, which
could be the motivation to form the very first ESP sector in ULIS. Moreover, ULIS
became the first university in Vietnam launching ESP course. The ESP textbooks of
ULIS were very first ESP material composed by Vietnamese professor to serve
studying purpose. Professor Nguyễn Đức Chính , a principal of ULIS at that time
intended to compile textbooks for 19 different branches of ESP to teach in ULIS.
Except the English for Economics, and English for Finance and Banking, all other ESP
textbooks which encountered the difficulty in composing process, or in the piloting
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period, cannot exist till today. It can be proved that English for Economics and English

convey and understand the things, the phenomenon, and the event in the areas. In
General English synonymy and homophone which are regarded as diversity of
language, are considered as ambiguity in ESP sphere and should be highly avoided.
An example to illustrate: “cash book” which has the equivalent as “sổ tiền mặt”, or
the term “invoice” with a sole translated version as “hóa đơn”.
- Systematism: Languge is science which also has its own system. Terminology is a
language element, therefore it must be systematic. When terms are put together in
different systems and context, they convey one specific concept. Some terms can
appear in some different fields; hence, the systematism of term should be highly
considered to understand precisely and correctly the meaning of term. The ignorance
on this relation will lead to the ambiguity for the term.
- Internationalism: As mentioned above, terms are special words expressing common
scientific concepts. Together with the growth of globalization, terms are internationalized.
Besides these above main features, terminology also acquires other features related
to its culture. Thus, terminology in Vietnamese is not an exception; according to Hoang
(2005) they are nationalism and popularity.
- Nationalism: is another core feature of terminology. Terminology is not only used in
specific profession but it is also used in regional/ national area. As a result, the
cultures and characteristics of Vietnamese language will have an effect on the
terminologies, so “the term should be appropriate to Vietnamese people from the
lexicology to the grammatical composition” stated by Hoang (2007).
- Popularity: Language is a means of communication which conveys the ideas,
thinking, etc among people. Terms also contributes to this value of language.
Needless to say, term plays an important role in spreading scientific and technological
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knowledge to all people. The more popular, and understandable a term is, the more
useful a term is for language learning.
In summary, the general features of terminology have been reviewed.
2.1.3.4. The distinction between terms and words
The distinction between terminology and ordinary words is important to foster

to understand the term. Some types of terms which may be easier to explain as
concrete terms, while conceptual or abstract term are more difficult to understand.
The retrieval, the second process of vocabulary acquisition distinguished by
Nation, reinforces the meaning of the term in the learner’s mind. A term will imprint
deeper in the learner’s memory providing the term is frequently repeated. The more
students practice, the more they learn.
The last process of vocabulary acquisition in Nation’s classification is that of
the creative or generative use. It takes place when “previously met words are
subsequently met or used in ways that differ from the previous meeting with the
word”. In other words, this process reflects the learner’s ability recall the term and use
term in appropriate situation and context.
It is necessary to reemphasize the indispensability of each process to approach a
term. Without understanding terms, learner cannot successfully remember terms;
consequently, s/he has no chance to apply terms. Especially, terminologies of
economics as a professional field, involving intensive research and frequent reading in
order to understand the layers of each term and how they can be applied in the context.
Rotten learning without any attempt to use the word may lead to confusion and the
forgetting of the word.
2.1.4.2. Main factors affect the learning.
In the process of learning, there are different factors that play a significant role
towards making it a smooth, pleasurable and constructive process. As Oxford and
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Nykios (1989) noted that the existence of interaction between learner’s internal factors
and external variables might be reasons for difficulties encountering learners. Williams
and Burden's (1997) also agreed with this classification and outlined four aspects of
the teaching-learning process, i.e., teachers, learners, tasks, contexts; in which
learner is the internal factors, while teachers, tasks, contexts are external factors.
Belonging to learner him/herself (e.g., attitudes, motivation, and prior
knowledge), these elements can cause different difficulties. If students are motivated
to learn to their benefits such as expanding knowledge, seeking better job, etc, they

It is undeniable that there has been a general consensus on ESP course, but
they mainly pay attention to course designing. In fact, many of the researches as those
of Tran (2006), Duong (2007). focus on designing syllabus followed these steps of
Nunan (1988): needs analysis, goal setting, and selecting and grading content. The
very first and fundamental step is analyzing student’s need which shows the focal
point in ESP course is learner. Other researcher as Mrs. Dinh, HY studied the ESP
teaching strategies which can be applied for senior students in ULIS. Her study
carefully elaborated, analyzed the different types of strategy in term of their
advantages, drawbacks, applied-conditions, etc. That research presented thoroughly
the ESP setting in ULIS, as well as theoretical background to illustrate suitable
strategies for teacher. Through the lens of curriculum developer, this study could be
very useful to better textbook design. Some other researchers also study to figure out
the factors affecting learning ESP in general, or the difficulties encountered by
students as well as teachers. On Tran, HL’s study, she figured out some problems
which students can encounter in learning reading ESP as vocabulary, grammar,
background knowledge, reading skills. This research will be conducted on different
population; therefore, it will give different results. Besides, these problems can be least
challenging for ULIS students because their main major is English. At this semester,
ULIS’s students expected to be at upper-intermediate level in using English language.
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In addition, most of the pre-researches paid attention to reading skill, and found out the
highest concerned matter in ESP course is terminology acquisition. It seems that
terminology is an attracting topic which received much attention from many writers
which can be named but a few, Tran (2001) with “Translation of term in accounting
documents”, Pham (2003) with “Translation of term in stock market”, Tran (2002)
with “Translation of insurance terminology”, Tran (2005) with “Translation of medical
term”, or Tran (2006) with “Transalation of auditing terminology”. However, the
researcher found no studies on the same issue conducted in the ESP setting in ULIS.
This obviously offers a gap for the researcher to carry out the study. The present study
hopes to bridge the gap by providing a specific and detailed look at the third-year

course in a shorter term (9 weeks), the intensive curriculum certainly put pressure on
students. Before attending practicum, students will spend 4 weeks for this subject, and
then they will finish 5 last weeks after practicum. The course is quite short and
intensive. In addition, the disruption of the course also contributes to the difficulty for
students in learning.
3.2. Participants
3.2.1. Seniors from FELTE
As the main focus of the research, forth year ULIS students played a vital role
in contributing to the success of the study. Seventeen classes were those who have
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chance to study English for Economics’ course in this semester; therefore, the number
of students was quite large nearly 500 students. The population was just too large that
it was impossible to include every individual. This was the reason why the researcher
decided to choose 30 of them to involve in the survey. This number, to some extent,
well represents the population of FELTE. These 30 students were chosen via
convenience sampling. This sampling technique was chosen because it is fast,
inexpensive, and easy and the subjects were readily available.
The researcher distributed 20 questionnaires via email, and came to class
directly handled 50 questionnaires. The total valid respondents were 60; however, the
researcher did not analyze all these respondents, randomly picked up 30 among them.
30 students were classified into two groups. The first group (G1) included those
students who studied only a major of language. While the second group (G2)
contained those students who studied double majors (language and economics at the
same time). Students from G2 were supposed to have better economic background, as
in their curriculum they certainly attended more economic courses than G1’s students.
3.2.2. Teachers of ESP
It is highly demanding to be an ESP teacher, teacher must be not only
excellent at knowledge of language but also good at economic professional
knowledge. There are seven teachers in ESP division in ULIS. All of those teachers
received M.A or B.A in Economics besides their M.A or PhD in linguistics. It can be

• Their suggestions to overcome difficulties
Multiple-choice format is preferably employed in order to create a friendly
feeling and helpful guidance for participants. Because multiple choice questions were
highly structured, they are useful to calculate frequencies of response. One more
reason for using this type of question for students was that normally, students were
lazy at reading and writing long answers, and they preferred multiple-choice questions.
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Besides multiple-choice questions, the survey questionnaires also makes use
of questions which asks the respondents to score a statement according to five-point
scale (Extremely important, very important, somewhat important, not very important,
not important at all) which is adopted to reveal the participants’ perception of the
importance of learning terms, and terms in their future jobs. The other questions were
divided into three groups to answer the difficulties and reasons in each process of
approaching terms, namely understanding, remembering, and applying process. The
items for some questions were purposefully designed based on characteristics of terms
to identify which type of term would be the most striking obstacle for learners. These
other questions concerned with the reasons based on internal and external factors such
as learners, teachers, tasks, textbook, etc. In the last question, the researcher tried to
list out all available and possible solutions which students may use to overcome those
difficulties. Besides, some other questions concerning their education are also utilized
to support the study.
3.3.2. Interviews
Along with survey questionnaire, interview is also chosen by the researcher as
a valuable research instrument to examine the target population. Vaus (2002) asserted
that “in-depth interviewing can give the researcher insight into the meaning of
behavior and attitudes expressed in questionnaires. This can help made more
intelligent interpretations of the patterns discovered in the analysis of questionnaire
data”. A semi-structured interview will be exploited as this type of interviews could
bring about in-depth information and a wide range of responses from the interviewees
(Hancock 1998). Based on the findings from the questionnaires, the interviews will be

some possible solutions for difficulties encountering students.
Summary
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This chapter has justified the methodology of the study by elaborating on the
participants including the teachers and forth-year ULIS students as well as the data
collection method. Clarification has also been given to the data analysis methods and
process. The presentation and interpretation of findings from such analysis are going
to be made clear in the next chapter.
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CHAPTER 4: RESULTS AND DISSCUSSION
In the previous chapter, the methodology applied to conduct this study has been
presented with descriptions and justifications of the choice of participants, research
instruments as well as the process of data collection and data analysis. In this chapter,
all the collected data will be analyzed and discussed according to 9 survey questions
respectively. Charts and graphs are made use of for better presentation and
elaboration.
4.1. Findings
Before the findings are presented, a glance at the students’ perception towards
the overall importance of learning term would reveal their motivation and attitude to
learn.
Question 1: How do you evaluate the importance of learning terminology in
English for Economics course?
Figure 3. The overall importance of learning term in ESP course as evaluated by students.
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It was very clearly seen from the collected data, high percentages of students in
both groups admitted that learning terminology is very important, accounting for 60%
and 67% in G1, and G2 respectively. 13% of students in Group 1 considered learning
term extremely important, while this number was 33 % (nearly triple) in Group 2.
Very small number of students in G1 supposed that learning term was somewhat
important, and not very important. No participants in G2 negated the essence of

difficult to access the source of economic news. More than half of G1’s students
might be aware of this issue, and they more concern in learning terms. Even 13% of
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them believed that learning terms in this ESP’s course is extremely important for their
future job.
Meanwhile, those students from G2 who take part in double degree program
wish to have more chances to find jobs related to banking, financing, or business
administration, not only restricted to language, and education. Therefore, they need
economic terms to perform well in future working environment. None of them chose
options D and E (Not very important and not important at all). Majority of G2’s
students agreed that learning term was very important for their future jobs (67%), and
27% of they considered that it was extremely important to learn terms for future jobs.
Teacher B held a slight different point of view from teacher A. He stated that it
was unpredictable to evaluate the importance of learning terms for student’s future job.
Some students might merely want to teach four English skills (reading, listening,
writing, and speaking); thus, they would not need these terms to work. While other
students who wished to extend their occupational opportunities in another field as:
tourism, press, business, etc would find learning terms really necessary for their jobs.
In a word, these above statistics somehow explain the result of very first
questions. The target-jobs of each group are quite different, which creates different
attitude to learn terms. Students from G2 are more motivated to learn term because
term acquisition is very important to satisfy future occupation’s requirements.
Question 3: When approaching terminology, you would find most challenging
in…
The column chart below shows the differences in the students’ difficulty in
approaching term.
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