University of languages and national studies
Post graduate STUDIES

TRẦN THỊ THU HƯƠNG Designing a Thermal Engineering
English Reading Syllabus for workers
in Uong Bi Thermal Power Plant (THIẾT KẾ CHƯƠNG TRÌNH ĐỌC HIỂU TIẾNG
ANH CHUYÊN NGÀNH NHIỆT CHO CÔNG
NHÂN NHÀ MÁY NHIỆT ĐIỆN UÔNG BÍ)

M.A. MINOR THESIS
Field: Methodology

Code: 60 14 10

NHÂN NHÀ MÁY NHIỆT ĐIỆN UÔNG BÍ)
M.A. MINOR THESIS
Field: Methodology
Code: 60 14 10
Supervisor: Hoang Thi Xuan Hoa, Ph.D
hµ néi , N¨m 2010 Designing a Thermal Engineering
English Reading Syllabus for workers
in UongBi Thermal Power Plant TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page
Acknowledgements
List of tables

I.4. Reading 13
I.4.1. Concepts of reading 13
I.4.2. Reading skills 14
I.4.3. Learning and teaching foreign language reading 15

CHAPTER II: ANALYZING NEEDS IN UONG BI THERMAL POWER PLANT

II.1. The setting of the study 17
II.2. Description of data collection 18
II.2.1. Data collection instruments and procedures 18
II.2.2. Material analysis 18
II.2.3 The subjects 19
II.3. Result analysis and major findings 20
II.3.1. Target needs 20
II.3.2. Learning needs 28
II.4. Concluding remarks 30

CHAPTER III: A PROPOSED THERMAL ENGINEERING ENGLISH
READING SYLLABUS FOR WORKERS IN UB TPP

III.1. The General Syllabus 31
III.1.1. Topics in the syllabus 32
III.1.2. Tasks and activities in the syllabus 33

III.2. The Pedagogic syllabus 33
III.3. Suggestions for teaching ESP at UB TPP 37

PART C: CONCLUSIONS 38

References

EAP: English for Academic Purposes
EOP: English for Occupational Purposes
ESL: English as a Second Language
ESP: English for Specific Purposes
EST: English for Science and Technology
ETE: English for Thermal Engineering
GE: General English
FFS: Faculty of Fundamental Science
FE: Faculty of Energy
EPU: Electric Power University
UB TTP: Uong Bi Thermal Power Plant



1. Rationale
From the early 1960's, English for Specific Purposes (ESP) has grown to become one of the
most prominent areas of EFL teaching today. Its development is reflected in the increasing
number of universities offering an MA in ESP and in the number of ESP courses offered to
students at universities.
In Vietnam too, the ESP movement has shown a slow but definite growth over the past few
years. At Electric Power University, teaching ESP also plays an integral role in training
students to become good technicians and engineers. In the previous years, EPU was successful
in educating hundreds of students to become technicians in Power System, Hydro Power and
Thermal Power, etc…The University has also cooperated with many thermal power plants in
the North of Vietnam in general, and in Quang Ninh in particular, in providing English,
especially ESP supplementary courses for their workers for many years. The main purpose is
to help the workers improve their English for Thermal to use and communicate in their work
effectively. However, no available Thermal Engineering English course books are appropriate
for these target students. The current English textbook for Thermal Engineering is designed
with great effort of the English teachers can not meet the demand of the learner‟s needs. When
providing English supplementary courses in other plants such as Son Dong thermal power
plant, Cam Pha TPP, etc…teachers and learners had to face up with the same problems.
Although, the important role of syllabuses in providing practical basis for the division of
assessment, textbooks and learning time as well as telling the teachers and learners what
should be learned can not be denied, such a syllabus has not been designed as the teachers
have not equipped themselves enough knowledge of syllabus design and have found it hard to
select materials appropriate to learners‟ English proficiency level. Therefore, a new and
appropriate ESP reading syllabus is of great necessity and significance. That is the rationale
for the author to conduct a study to design a workable ETE reading syllabus for workers in
Uong Bi TPP.


3
Also, the quantitative method is used as the supporting method so that data will be collected
through material and document analysis.
The results of the study will be interpreted based on the analysis of the collected numbers and
ratios after gathering and analyzing necessary data. Then the important factors relating to the
reading syllabus for learners/ workers in UB TPP are worked out.

5. Organization of the thesis
The thesis is comprised of 3 major parts:
- Part A is the Introduction, which presents the rationale, aims and objectives, the scope as
well as methodology and design of the study
- Part B is the Development, which consists of
+ Chapter I: Literature review, provides the theories concerning ESP, approaches to syllabus
design and reading theories
+ Chapter II: Needs Analysis, describes and comments on situation analysis, subjects of the
study, the instruments for collecting data, analyzes learner‟s target needs and learning needs
and presents the findings of the study.
+ Chapter III: A Proposed Thermal Engineering English reading syllabus, suggests two
types of syllabus: the general syllabus and the pedagogic one. The first included the topics and
tasks; the second is about the functions, grammar, vocabulary….It also offers some
suggestions for teaching ETE in UB TPP as well as for other supplementary courses outside
the university
- Part C is the Conclusion containing the summary, the main ideas of the study, the
contribution and limitations of the thesis.

References
Appendixes include the questionnaires, interviews, a sample unit and a sample of authentic
material.


medium of English”
In 1997, Dudley-Evans, Tony set out in his one hour speech to clarify the meaning of ESP,
giving an extended definition of ESP in terms of 'absolute' and 'variable' characteristics
Definition of ESP (Dudley-Evans, 1997) 5
Absolute Characteristics
1. ESP is defined to meet specific needs of the learners
2. ESP makes use of underlying methodology and activities of the discipline it serves
3. ESP is centered on the language appropriate to these activities in terms of grammar, lexis,
register, study skills, discourse and genre.
Variable Characteristics
1. ESP may be related to or designed for specific disciplines
2. ESP may use, in specific teaching situations, a different methodology from that of General
English
3. ESP is likely to be designed for adult learners, either at a tertiary level institution or in a
professional work situation. It could, however, be for learners at secondary school level
4. ESP is generally designed for intermediate or advanced students.
5. Most ESP courses assume some basic knowledge of the language systems
The definition Dudley-Evans offers is clearly influenced by that of Strevens (1988:1): “ESP
is a particular case of the general category of special-purpose language teaching” and his
definition of ESP makes a distinction between four absolute characteristics and two variable
characteristics, although Dudley-Evans has improved it substantially by removing the absolute
characteristic that ESP is "in contrast with 'General English‟, and has included more variable
characteristics.
The division of ESP into absolute and variable characteristics, in particular, is very helpful in
resolving arguments about what is and is not ESP. From Dudley-Evans' definition, one can see
that ESP can be (though not necessarily so) concerned with a specific discipline, nor does it
have to be aimed at a certain age group or ability range. ESP should be seen simply as an

indicates that this English should be at the heart of ESP although he refrains from developing
it any further.
Hutchinson and Waters (1987), on the other hand, have developed a "Tree of ELT" in
which the subdivisions of ESP are clearly illustrated. ESP is broken down into three branches:
English for Science and Technology (EST), English for Business and Economics (EBE), and
English for Social Studies (ESS).
Each of these subject areas is further divided into two branches: 7
English for Academic Purposes (EAP) and English for Occupational Purposes (EOP). An
example of EOP for the EST branch is "English for Technicians" whereas an example of EAP
for the EST branch is "English for Medical Studies."
Hutchinson and Waters (1987) do note that there is not a clear-cut distinction between EAP
and EOP on the basis of the considerations that (i) people can work and study simultaneously,
and that (ii) the language learnt in a teaching setting for academic purposes can be useful and
employed by the learner in the occupational environment when he/she takes up, or returns to, a
job. This may explain why EAP and EOP have been categorized under the same type of ESP.
Kennedy and Bolitho (1984) also explain the two areas quite clearly: “EOP is taught in a
situation in which learners need to use English as part of their work or profession. Instances of
EOP students would be doctors in casualty or technicians servicing equipment. They need
English, in the first case, to talk and respond to patients and other staff, and in the second, to
read technical manuals”. (Kennedy and Bolitho, 1984:4)
And “EAP is taught generally within educational institutions to students needing English in
their studies. The language taught may be based in particular disciplines at higher levels of
education when the student is specializing (in-study) or intends to specialize (pre-study) in a
particular subject” (Kennedy and Bolitho, 1984:4)
The final one, according to Carver, D. (1983), English with Specific Topics is the third and
final type of ESP. It differs from other types of ESP in the sense that focus shifts from purpose
to topic. That is, the focus is on topics that are in agreement with the anticipated future English

methodology should be two distinctive separate parts as Hutchinson and Waters (1987:80)
when they claim: “ A syllabus is a document which says what will (or at least what should)
be learnt”.
Supporting this view, Nunan (1988) defines syllabus as follows: “Syllabus design is seen
as being concerned essentially with the selection and grading of content, while
methodology is concerned with the selection of learning tasks and activities.”
Another distinction is between syllabus and curriculum. According to Krahnke, K.
(1987:2), “A syllabus is more specific and more concrete than a curriculum, and a
curriculum may contain a number of syllabi”. Having idea on this distinction, Nunan
(1988:8) concludes that: “Curriculum is concerned with the planning, implementation,
evaluation, management, and administration of education programs. Syllabus, on the other 9
hand, focuses more narrowly on the selection and grading of content”. In the existing
literature on language education, the terms „curriculum‟ and „syllabus‟ are sometimes used
interchangeably, sometimes differentiated, and sometimes misused and misunderstood. In
this paper, syllabus and curriculum are differentiated.
In brief, the term „syllabus‟ has been defined either narrowly or broadly in this thesis.
With the aim of designing an ESP reading syllabus for the workers, the author will follow
the broader view.

I.2.2. Approaches to language syllabus design.

A language teaching syllabus involves the integration of subject matter (what to talk
about) and linguistic matter (how to talk about it); that is, the actual matter that makes up
teaching. Choices of syllabi can range from the more or less purely linguistic, where the
content of instruction is the grammatical and lexical forms of the language, to the purely
semantic or informational, where the content of instruction is some skill or information
and only incidentally the form of the language. To design a syllabus is to decide what gets

that learning should “be seen in the context in which it takes place”, and “learning is not
just a mental process, it is a process of negotiation between individuals and society”. This
model gives a full picture of analyzing the target situation and learning needs in the light
of theoretical view of learning and learner. Therefore, it provides a more flexible process
of designing a language program than the two above approaches.
In brief, learning-centred must consider the learner at every stage, while the skill-centred
approach does not fully consider to learner because it is too dependent on the target
situation. For language-centred model, it is learner-restricted. Each approach has their own
advantages and drawbacks. Thus, the author intends to use interactive approach to apply in
designing ESP reading syllabus for workers in UB TPP with the desire to maximize the
strengths and minimize the drawbacks of the above-mentioned models.

I.2.3. Steps to design a syllabus

Designing a syllabus can be archived according to the following steps:
(1). Needs analysis
(2). Goals and objectives determining 11
(3). Content selecting and grading
(4). Teaching methods suggesting
(5). Testing and evaluation forming

I.3. Needs Analysis in ESP

As students in ESP classes often have restricted time to learn English, it makes sense to
teach them only the English they need. Thus the task of the ESP course developer is
generally seen to be to identify the needs of the learners and design a course around them.
Needs analysis may take place prior to, or after a language program. This is the process of

objectives and what they want to learn. “Learners may well have a clear idea of the
necessities of the target situation: they will certainly have a view as to their lacks. But it is
quite possible that the learners‟ views will conflict with the perceptions of other interested
parties: course designers, sponsors and teachers” (Hutchinson & Waters (1987: 56).
Rosbinson (1991:12) suggests of using questionnaires to get information from a large
group of learners about their wants.
In short, target needs is like the umbrella term, which in practice hides a number of
important distinctions. The analysis of target needs involves far more than simply
identifying the linguistic features of the target situation. As Hutchinson & Waters (1987:
59) comment : “ The analysis of target situation needs is in essence a matter of asking
questions about the target situation and the attitudes towards that situation of the various
participants in the learning process”. There are different ways in which information can be
gathered about needs such as questionnaires, interviews, observation, data collection and
informal consultations. The choice will depend on the time and resources available. And
needs analysis is not a once-for-all activity. It should be a continuing process.

I.3.2. Learning needs
Using our analogy of the ESP course as a journey, what we have done so far is to
consider the starting point (lacks) and the destination (necessities) and where the
destination should be (wants). What we have not considered yet is the route. “How are we
going to get from our starting point to the destination? - This is learning needs” - Tom
Hutchinson & Waters (1987: 61) .The whole ESP process is concerned not with knowing 13
or doing, but with learning. Therefore, many factors need to be concerned on the route in
order to have a successful journey. According to Hutchinson & Waters (1987: 61), “it is
naïve to base a course design simply on the target objectives, just as it is naïve to think hat
a journey can be planned solely in terms of the starting point and the destination. The
needs, potential and constrains of the route (i.e. the learning situation) must also be taken

aspects relevant to interpret the text.
The main difference between general reading and EAP/ESP reading is the purpose.
General reading is usually for pleasure (literature) or to find out information (news etc),
whereas ESP reading is for developing knowledge and understanding of a subject.
Although students or people at work may enjoy what they read, they are usually going to
do something with it.

1.4.2. Reading skills

There are different styles of reading for different situations. The technique you choose
will depend on the purpose for reading. Many kinds of reading skills are discussed in
current literature. However, in this section, the author only refer to four main skills

1. Skimming: is used to quickly identify the main ideas of a text. When you read the
newspaper, you're probably not reading it word-by-word; instead you're scanning the text.
Skimming is done at a speed three to four times faster than normal reading. People often
skim when they have lots of material to read in a limited amount of time. Use skimming
when you want to see if an article may be of interest in your research.
There are many strategies that can be used when skimming. Some people read the first
and last paragraphs using headings, summarizes and other organizers as they move down
the page or screen. You might read the title, subtitles, subheading, and illustrations.
Consider reading the first sentence of each paragraph. This technique is useful when you're
seeking specific information rather than reading for comprehension. Skimming works well
to find dates, names, and places. It might be used to review graphs, tables, and charts.

2. Scanning: is a technique you often use when looking up a word in the telephone book
or dictionary. You search for key words or ideas. In most cases, you know what you're 15

16
When teachers of second language reading recognize that each reader brings to the reading
process a unique set of past experiences, emotional and mental processes, level of
cognitive development, and interest level in the topic, they also recognize that not all
teaching strategies will be effective for all students. When isolating the most effective
teaching strategies to use with a group of students, the second language teacher must also
consider the reader strategies that are not necessarily related to content schemata.
Another step in effectively teaching students how to read materials written in a second
language is helping the individual reader to identify effective reading strategies based on
text variables. One important part of this step is alerting the readers to significant aspects
of text variables that will affect second language reading. For example, pointing out the
differences between a fairy tale and a newspaper article helps the reader to recognize the
different text types and to prepare for the uncomplicated sentence structure, high-
frequency vocabulary, and, in most cases, happy ending that typically characterize a fairy
tale. On the other hand, the same reader would need to prepare very differently to read a
newspaper article about the technicalities involved in negotiating a disarmament treaty. In
this case, the vocabulary would be very specialized and the sentence structure more
complicated.
To encourage students to use effective strategies when reading in a second language, the
teachers can develop simple exercises to elicit information via targeted strategies. These
exercises can be divided by the stage of reading at which they occur.
17
CHAPTER II: ANALYZING NEEDS IN UONG BI
THERMAL POWER PLANT (UB TPP)

II.1. The setting of the study



II.2. Description of data collection
II.2.1. Data collection instruments and procedures
A variety of procedures can be used in conducting needs analysis and the kind of information
obtained is often dependent on the type of procedure selected Robinson suggests four
techniques for investigating needs: questionnaires, interviews, observation and gathering
materials. The main technique to collect data in this thesis is questionnaire because it “will
seek information for both the target situation analysis and the present situation analysis…It
can be sent fairly easily to a large number of people”( Robinson (1991:12))
 The first questionnaire was designed for 50 learners/ workers in UB TPP, (age 19-21)
who took the supplementary course to find out target needs and learning needs for an
ETE reading course. The questionnaire was written in Vietnamese and finished in 40
minutes (one period).
 The second questionnaire was designed for 10 ESP teachers at FFS, EPU to get their
suggestions about reading skills, grammar/ structures and tasks/ activities and suitable
methodology for the course, etc. The questionnaire was formulated in English and
collected right after 20 minutes
In addition, informal interviews with 5 subject teachers at Faculty of Energy, Electric Power
University (EPU), and with 5 graduated learners/ technicians from the previous courses, were
carried out to get suggestions about topic areas and reading skills. The results of the interviews
were shown briefly with some significant information.

II.2.2. Material analysis
In order to improve English ability of workers/ technicians, the UB TPP and EPU has co-
operated in opening English supplementary courses in UB TPP. The EPU is responsible for
the content of the course with the agreement of UB TPP. The course will cover GE and ESP
for learners in 3 months. Teaching ESP mainly focuses on mastering ESP reading skills. 19