VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES
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KIỀU TRÍ DŨNG AN EXPLORATORY STUDY ON THE TEACHERS AND STUDENTS’
PERCEPTIONS OF AN ESP COURSE AT THE INFANTRY OFFICER
TRAINING COLLEGE NUMBER ONE
(Nghiên cứu thăm do
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Anh chuyên ngành ở trường Sỹ quan lục quân 1) M.A. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Language Teaching Methodology
Code: 60.14.10
Supervisor: PhD. Dương Thi
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ii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I am grateful to many people who have supported me and encouraged me
all the time. Without their assistance, I could not have accomplished my thesis.
First of all, I would like to express my sincere appreciation to my thesis
supervisor, Dr. Duong Thi Nu. During the journey of working my thesis, she
never hesitated to make profound comments and provided me a lot of
suggestions and insightful advice. It is impossible for me to complete this thesis
without her support and assistance. I would like to show my deepest gratitude to
her.
My special thanks also go to all my teachers of the Post-graduate course
20 at Vietnam National University, Hanoi, University of Languages and
International Studies, for their interesting and useful lectures.
Moreover, I greatly appreciate the members of the Department of Foreign
Languages at the Infantry Officer Training College Number One, for their
contribution to the data collection and their constructive suggestions for this
research.

First, the students perceived that their English language competence was
inadequate, they were aware of the importance and the difficulties as well as
their future needs toward ESP courses. Second, several potential issues arose
concerning with ESP, such as instruction time, content of ESP, and ESP
teachers’ qualification. Last, the results of this study suggested that a
collaborative teaching could be an alternative of present ESP instruction to
partially solve the problems.
Finally, pedagogical implications and suggestions for future research were
provided in the last part of the study. iv
LIST OF TABLES AND CHARTS
Table 1: Demographic data of the student-participants
Table 2: Demographic data of the teacher-participants

v
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Certificate of originality …………………………………… i
Acknowledgements………………………………………………….…… ii
Abstract……………… ………………………………………………… iii
List of tables, charts and abbreviations ………….…………… … ………… …iv
Table of contents…………………………………………… v
PART A:
INTRODUCTION I
1. Background to the study…………… ………………………………….1
2. Aims of the study……………….…………………………………… 2
3. Research questions………… ………………… …………………… 2
4. Scope of the study…………………………….………………… 3
5. Significance of the study……………………………… ………… 3
6. Organization of the study……………………… …………… 3
PART B: DEVELOPMENT……………….……………………………… II
CHAPTER ONE: LITERATURE REVIEW
I.1. English for specific purposes and military English…………….…… 4
I.2. Needs analysis in ESP……………………… …………………… 7
I.3. Materials and curriculum in ESP…………………….……………… … 9
I.4. Problems and challenges of ESP…………………….……………… ….10
I.4.1. Students’ competence and difficulties toward ESP……… 10
I.4.2.The qualification of ESP teachers…………… 11
I.5. Perceptions and expectations toward ESP……………… 12
CHAPTER TWO: METHODOLOGY
II.1.The teaching context……………………………………………….… 14


III.2.5.The prerequisites for an ESP teacher from a teacher’s
perspective 31
III.2.6.The expectations and suggestions for prospective ESP courses according
to a teacher’s professional background 31
III.3. Summary ……… ……………………………………………… 32
PART C: CONCLUSION……………………………………………………… III
I. Recapitulation ……….………………………………………………… 33
II. Pedagogical implications….………………………………… ……… 34
III. Limitations of the study and suggestions for further study… ….… 35
REFERENCES… …………………………………………………………… 37
APPENDICES
Appendix A: Questionnaire for the students (Vietnamese)
Appendix B: Questionnaire for the students (English version)
Appendix C: interview questions for the teachers 1
PART A: INTRODUCTION
1. Rationale
English has gradually achieved its significant identity as the world
language during the globalization process. Why English? According to
Hutchinson and Waters (1987), the United States achieved its role of the most
significant political/economic power in the world after World War Two, thus its
language became commonly perceived as a language of opportunity and
empowerment. Crystal (2003) presented several factors to explain the world
status of English today: (a) English is the only or one of the official languages of
many important international organizations, such as the United Nations, the
Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and the European Free Trade
Association; (b) a quarter of the world’s periodicals and most academic journals
with an international readership are published in English, and more than 90

instructions and poorly designed syllabi (Braine, 2001), and student ignorance or
inability to foresee their needs and rights regarding ESP are potential problems
(Kavaliauskiene, 2003). In the view of these issues, this study investigate the
teachers’ and students’ perceptions of their ESP course, explores student needs
and expectations of an ESP course at the Infantry Officer Training College
Number One (IOTC No.1).
The findings of the study may provide ESP practitioners and institutional
authorities with a clearer view of existing ESP courses, enabling them to rethink
the objectives of current ESP curricula. Similarly, it may also help students to
build up their awareness of goals, needs, and responsibilities through ESP
learning. Suggestions for a prospective ESP teaching and curriculum for the
students of specific contexts are provided based on the results of the study.
2. Aims of the study
English language skills are required in most specific contexts worldwide.
Consistent with the aims of ESP education in IOTC No.1, ESP courses should
be designed to equip students with adequate English ability to meet their needs.
It is necessary to understand the expectations of teachers and students, as well as
student needs and difficulties, before applying ESP courses. The present study is
designed to investigate IOTC No.1 teachers’ and students’ perceptions of their
ESP course with the following purposes: (1) To understand their perceptions of
the importance of ESP course, to explore student expectations toward ESP
course; (2) to understand student needs and difficulties.
3. Research questions
Based on the purposes of the study, two major research questions are addressed
as follows:
1. What are the students’ perceptions of their English ability, difficulties,
and expectations toward ESP?
2. What are the teachers’ opinions and perceptions of ESP courses and
their expectations of future ESP pedagogy?


provides the teaching context; the research methods, the instruments of data
collection, and the data analysis. Chapter three reports the findings of the
qualitative and quantitative data analysis based on the questionnaires of the
student-participants and interview questions of the teacher-participants, then
gives the recapitulation. Part C gives conclusion, and offers suggestions for
pedagogical applications and further research.
4
PART B: DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER ONE: LITERATURE REVIEW
The purpose of this chapter is to review the literature relating to the
research issues, in order to provide input into the construction of the framework
for the present study. The background of ESP and the previous studies related to
ESP are addressed in the first section, which includes the development of ESP,
the definitions of ESP, and the characteristics of ESP and military English. The
following section covers Needs Analysis in ESP. Materials and curriculum in
ESP are addressed in the third section, while the fourth section talks about the
problems and challenges involved in ESP, including student English competence
and difficulties with ESP, and the qualifications of ESP teachers. In the final
section, learner and teacher perceptions of ESP courses, and research related to
the perceptions of ESP courses is presented.
I.1. English for Specific Purposes and military English
After the Second World War scientific, technical and economic activity
increased tremendously worldwide. As the United States played the key role in
the post-war economy, the English language became the accepted international

active voice instead of the passive. For example, instead of writing in a report
that “The safety instructions were not followed (by Cpl Smith) it would be Cpl
Smith did not follow the safety instructions.” Nonetheless, the students need to
know the passive voice as well in order to pass the examinations after the
courses.
In terms of military documents, everything must be direct and laconic.
There are no long descriptions; instead simple tenses and short sentences are
used. Everything should be short, simple, and to the point. On the other hand,
when the military give an oral description of something, such as a situation or a
picture as a task in the lesson, the descriptions are full of detail, and the students
like to add their own experience to the descriptions. For example, describing two
soldiers talking to each other, the students start with the description of the
background and the soldiers. And then, based on their experience, they explain
why they are carrying exactly this type of weapon and, what can be done with
the weapon, etc. The higher the level of language command, the more detailed
the descriptions are.
Military English can also be characterized by the abundant use of
abbreviations, acronyms and military slang. The use of abbreviations and
acronyms is mandatory rather than recommended. For example, Standard
Operating Procedure C01 (SOP C01 Application of New Standard) from the
U.S. Army Civilian Personnel Management department contains 873 words, 100
of which are either acronyms or abbreviations (26 different acronyms and
abbreviations repeated 100 times in the document).
Another characteristic feature of military English is the NATO phonetic
alphabet. It is mainly used during radio transmissions to ensure the clarity of the
message and to avoid misunderstandings when it comes to similar-sounding
words. Also, it is used instead of the civilian spelling alphabet in the case of
difficult words. The NATO alphabet is not only used by the military but also by
the civilians when two nations need to cooperate and communicate with each
other (e.g. airline pilots).

students become lively and very interested, and it is clearly seen that the level of
motivation is different from discussing GE topics.
In the case of ESP, to be more precise, specific ESP, the language teacher
is often not an expert of the subject matter. In many cases the students know
more about the content than the teachers and this provides the opportunity “… to
draw on students’ knowledge of the content in order to generate genuine
communication in the classroom.” (Dudley-Evans and St John 2001:13). As
military English comprises many different areas (e.g. artillery, engineering,
communications, etc.), it is almost impossible to find a person who would be
7
able to teach English and at the same time be an expert in these areas. Thus,
quite often there is cooperation in the lessons- the teacher helps the students
with the English language and the students help the teacher with specific
terminology or understanding the subject matter.
Dudley-Evans and St John give a true and comprehensive description of
ESP teachers as follows:
ESP teachers also need to have a great deal of flexibility, be willing to
listen to learners, and to take an interest in the disciplines or professional
activities the students are involved in. They must be ready to change tack
in a lesson to take account of what comes up, and to think and respond
rapidly to events. ESP teachers must also be happy to take some risks in
their teaching. The willingness to be flexible and to take risks is one of the
keys to success in ESP teaching. (Dudley-Evans and St John 2001:14)
I.2. Needs Analysis in ESP
Needs refer to necessities, lacks or wants (West, 1994). Brindley (1984)
defined needs as students’ study or job requirements. Robinson (1991) further
illustrated needs as linguistic deficiency. They are goal-oriented and can be
regarded as “objective”.
Needs Analysis (NA) is a defining feature of ESP. NA is a necessary step
in designing ESP syllabus, tasks and materials (Belcher, 2006; Flowerdew &

describing location and procedure accurately in reporting physical examinations.
The study reported that the authentic data can be employed to construct a tightly
focused curriculum addressing students’ needs of the ward session. The data
derived from the needs analysis helped ensure a practical and useful instruction.
Edwards (2000) conducted a case study in a specialized context, a bank,
which involved three German bank officers (one man and two women). The
researcher conducted a prior needs analysis on the first day of the course. The
overall objective of the course was to improve the speaking confidence of
female students in a native-speaking setting. It concluded that the learners gave
positive feedback on this course and asserted that they learned how to use
English speaking in specific meeting or negotiating situations. It also suggested
that current authentic texts could be used selectively and efficiently when
adapted to the specific needs of particular learners in ESP context.
However, obstacles to needs analysis exist.ESP programs vary in length
of time and in focus, in class size, in language level, and in goals and objectives.
Therefore, teachers may not have easy access to gain information about student
proficiency levels beforehand, and learning goals may not be individually
specified. In some cases, the curriculum and materials might have been prepared
by administrators or sponsors before the key information is obtained. Even when
the results of the NA are obtained; they may not be acceptable to the sponsoring
institutions in terms of careful timing and administering of directions (Yogman
& Kaylani, 1996).
Furthermore, ESP teachers are unwilling or unable to conduct the
necessary analysis when faced with some specialist texts that require more time
and energy in the practical teaching context. This inevitably fails to prepare
learners to meet their requirements academically or vocationally (Crosling &
Ward, 2002; Ferris, 1998, Jasso-Aguilar, 1999). Crosling and Ward (2002)
9
examined the workplace needs of oral communication and language use of
business employees who graduated from Monarch University, Australia. They

material developers can present authentic materials which are highly focused on
the learners’ particular needs.
However, producing of teaching materials is time-consuming, and few
ESP teachers are trained in the skills and techniques of material production
(Hutchinson & Waters, 1987). In addition, in-house materials produced by the
ESP teacher alone may not be able to ensure teaching quality. Collaboration
10
with subject teachers can remedy the weakness, and teachers can complement
each others’ expertise (Salsbury, 2005). Further, ESP instructors’ expertise
affects the materials selection, teaching practice, and teaching techniques.
No matter what kind of material is chosen, one thing that should be born
in mind is that the contents of ESP should be authentic, and specific to the goals
and needs of particular learners.
I.4. Problems and challenges of ESP
ESP is usually designed to fulfill the diverse needs of learners in specific
contexts. It is more problematic and complicated than its counterpart, EGP. The
ESP courses vary in goals, contents, methodologies, and instructional
approaches. There are thus a huge variety of issues and problems in ESP
courses. Previous studies have investigated the problems and challenges
involved in ESP classes, including students’ inadequate English language skills
(Basturkmen, 1998), learning difficulty toward ESP (Ferris & Tagg, 1996 a/b),
insufficient instruction hours (Strevens, 1980), large class size and low
motivated learners (Braine, 2001; Strevens, 1980), and teacher qualifications
(Hutchinson & Waters, 1987, Dulley- Evans & St John, 2001). All of them were
regarded as negative factors that affected the effectiveness of ESP.
I.4.1. Students’ competence and difficulties in ESP
ESP is designed to meet the specific needs of learners. Learners are
expected to perform with adequate language skills in target situations at the end
of the ESP courses. However, the performances of ESP learners have been
considered unacceptable or poor in many cases (Bacha & Bahous, 2008; Jasso-

be a normal function of a teacher, the ESP teacher will have to deal with the
prior analysis of learner needs, syllabus design, materials provision, and
evaluation. In some EAP situations, teachers must be able to co-operate with
subject teachers (Flowerdew & Peacock, 2001). As a result, a great workload is
imposed on ESP teachers.
ESP teachers are expected to play five key roles (Dudley-Evans & St
John, 2001): teacher, course designer, and materials provider, collaborator,
researcher, and evaluator. To carry out the above roles, ESP teachers should be
trained in language teaching competence and subject-specific knowledge.
However, there are no certain answers to how well an ESP teacher should
be. Prepared and trained, or how much subject knowledge the ESP teacher
should be required to master. Looking at the level of ESP teachers’ subject
knowledge, Hutchinson and Waters (1987) required just three things:
1. A positive attitude toward the ESP content.
2. Knowledge of the fundamental principles of the subject area.
3. Awareness of how much they probably already know.
In other words, the ESP teachers should be willing to: (1) adjust teaching
activities and materials to student needs,(2) be familiar to some extent with the
students’ specialized area,(3) be interested in and (4) acquire knowledge of the
students’ specialized area. Furthermore, they have to foster independent study
habits among the students, but do not need to become a teacher of subject
matter. However, ESP teaching is different from EGP teaching. The great
majority of ESP teachers have not been well-trained. Thus, they need to
orientate themselves to the new teaching environment.
12
There are not ready-made or straightforward answers to the problems that
ESP teachers may expect to encounter. The ESP teachers should always stay
open- minded and flexible. Hutchinson and Waters (1987) indicated that “All
ESP teachers are an effect pioneers who are helping to shape the world of ESP”
(p.160).

ESL students were observed. Their findings show that there was considerable
variation in student responses regarding the difficulties they encountered and the
importance of specific language tasks and skills across students’ majors, class
13
levels, status, mother tongues, and gender. In addition, student responses were
dramatically different from those of instructors in ranking specific language
skills.
One explanation for the variation between teachers and students may be
the differing requirements across different class levels and class types which
make the students perceive their needs and expectations differently from their
teachers.
Further, students may have their own views and their own preferences for
language skills and classroom activities where the teachers may have different
opinions. Basturkmen (1998) reports that students with engineering specialties
perceived their speaking to be inadequate, and identified listening as the most
important language skill. On the other hand, the teachers considered reading and
listening as almost equally important in that many reading activities were
involved in engineering classes. However, the students did not always hold
views that were the opposite of their teachers’.
The results presented above explained that student perceptions of the
significance of ESP vary from person to person in light of their specialized
development and individual needs. Further, it shows that such variation is
probable inevitable given the differing needs and pressures on students and
teachers.
14
CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY
This chapter provides background information about ESP teaching and

do is to help students develop their ESP learning skills with focus on how to
read specific document; how to write letters, reports, and so on.
II.1.2.The teaching staff of the Department of Foreign Languages at IOTC
No.1
The Department of Foreign Languages is staffed with 29 teachers aged
between 25 and 39. Five of them are teachers of Russian and Chinese. The rest
15
are English teachers. Among the teachers of English, four have M.A Degree in
TESOL (teaching English for speakers of other language); one has M.A Degree
in Linguistics; another one is studying for M.A degree at Hanoi National
University; two are studying for M.A degree at Hanoi University; and four are
studying for M.A degree at Military Science Academy. The others have
Bachelor degree in English.
One of the most obvious difficulties is that these teachers lack a language
environment to develop their communicative abilities. Another problem is that
none of these teachers has been trained in teaching ESP. All of the teachers at
the Department of Foreign Language have been teaching GE for a long time
with a little or no specialist knowledge of the military field…They sometimes
find it difficult to deal with the content area.
Teachers of the Department of Foreign Languages share the same
problem with many other ESP teachers in the world. These problems are
described by Ewer (1976: 10) when he writes about the difficulties that a teacher
of English for General Purposes may encounter when transferring to ESP. These
are “attitudinal, conceptual, linguistic, methodological and organizational”
problems.
II.1.3.The students of IOTC No.1
Most of the students who enter IOTC No.1 are aged 18-20 and are
male students (100%). This is a typical feature of the College. Each class
consists of about 30 to 33 students.
Most of them are beginners although English has been introduced

speaking exercises usually consist of two discussion questions. The exercise
types are the same in every unit. For example, for vocabulary practice the
students have to fill in the blanks with the given words, or after the presentation
of the topic or the reading text there is an exercise in the form of comprehension
questions. “Command English” does not contain any listening exercises. But
still there are some topics such as military uniform and military equipment,
which are quite often used in the classes and which the students like because
they are clearly presented. Also, the book contains progress tests following
every fifth unit. The progress tests are always welcomed by the teachers and the
students as the teachers (and the students) can check the progress the students
have made.
II.2. Methodology
The present study investigates both the teachers’ and students’
perceptions of ESP teaching and learning at IOTC No.1. For conducting this
study, the writer adopted survey research (quantitative and qualitative research
methods). The former was a questionnaire with the students, and the latter
consisted of interviews with the teachers of the Department. This chapter
illustrates the instruments employed in the study, which they are explained in
the five sections below. The first section introduces the distribution of the
participants in this study. The second section describes the instruments for data
collection of the present study. The procedures of the study are then described in
the third section of the chapter. Finally, the statistical methods for analyzing the
research data are illustrated.
II.2.1. Participants
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A total of 165 student-participants and 5 instructor-participants were from the
Infantry Officer Training College Number one. The student-participants
involved in this study had taken ESP courses at IOTC No.1 for a semester. The
instructors involved in the present study are the teachers with English teaching
experience ranging from one to twelve years. The demographics of both student-

Male
Bachelor
02
C
Female
Bachelor
05
D
Male
Master
06
E
Male
Bachelor
01
II.2.2. Methods of the study
The research utilizes a qualitative approach. The qualitative orientation
was important because it is relevant for the exploratory nature of this study
(Marshall & Rossman, 1999).
However, the statistical data is to provide an overall look on the matter
studied. Both questionnaires and in-depth interviews were employed to provide
both “hard” and “thick, rich” data about the phenomenon and to lessen potential
limitations in the study’s internal validity caused by relying on only the
qualitative or quantitative approach (Nunan, 1992).