VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST - GRADUATE STUDIES
************************* NGUYỄN THỊ THANH HÀ TM TT LUN VĂN

DESIGNING AN ESP READING SYLLABUS FOR THE SECOND
YEAR STUDENTS OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION AT THE
WATERWAY TRANSPORT VOCATIONAL COLLEGE NUMBER 1

THIẾT KẾ CHƯƠNG TRÌNH ĐỌC TIẾNG ANH CHUYÊN NGÀNH CHO
SINH VIÊN NĂM THỨ 2 NGÀNH QUẢN TRỊ KINH DOANH
TRƯỜNG CAO ĐẲNG NGHỀ GIAO THÔNG VN TẢI ĐƯỜNG THUỶ 1 M.A MINOR THESIS Field: ENGLISH TEACHING METHODOLOGY
Code: 60 14 10
Hanoi - 2011


TABLE OF CONTENTS
DECLARATION
i
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ………………………………………………………
ii
ABSTRACT…………………………………………………………………………….
iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS …………………………………………………………
iv
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS………………………………………………………
vii
LIST OF TABLES ………………………………………………
viii
PART I: INTRODUCTION…………………………………………………………
1
1. Rationale …………………………………………………………………………
1
2. Aims and objectives……………………………………………………………
2
3. Research questions…………………………………………………………………
2
4. Scope of the study…………………………………………………………………
2
5. Methods of the study……………………………………………………………….
2
6. Overview of the thesis……………………………………………………………
3
PART II: DEVELOPMENT…………………………………………………………
4
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW……………………………………………

10
1.2.4. Steps to design a syllabus……………………………………………………
10
1.2.5. Needs analysis……………………………………………………………
11
1.3. Theories of reading…………………………………………………………
11
1.3.1. Reading in ESP………………………………………………………………
11
1.3.2. Reading skills and strategies in ESP………………………………………
12
1.3.2.1. Reading skills…………………………………………………………………….
12
1.3.2.2. Reading strategies……………………………………………………………….
13
1.4. Summary………………………………………………………………………
14
CHAPTER 2: THE STUDY………………………………………………………….
15
2.1. Introduction…………………………………………………………………
15
2.2. The teaching and learning English situation at the WTVC Number 1……
15
2.3. The target students…………………………………………………………
16
2.4. The teaching staff of the English group……………………………………….
18
2.5. The study……………………………………………………………………
18
2.5.1. The subjects……………………………………………………………

3.2. Selecting the type of ESP syllabus…………………………………………
30
3.3. Sequencing the content and the tasks in the syllabus………………………
30
3.3.1. Selecting the content……………………………………………………
30
3.3.1.1. Topics in the syllabus………………………………………………………….
31
3.3.1.2. Reading skills and reading exercises………………………………
31
3.3.1.3. Grammar and structures……………………………………………………
32
3.3.2. Grading the items in the syllabus………………………………………….
33
3.3.3. The organization of the syllabus…………………………………………
33
3.3.3.1. Time allocation…………………………………………………………………
33
3.3.3.2. Quantity and structures of the syllabus…………………………………….
34
3.4. Designing tests for the ESP reading course…………………………………
34
3.5. The proposed syllabus for the second-year students of business
administration at the WTVC number 1………………………………………………

35
3.6. Summary………………………………………………………………………
35
PART III: CONCLUSION…………………………………………………………….
41

viii

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1: Teachers’ expectations of the ESP reading course…………………………… XII
Table 2: Teachers’ opinion of topics relating to Business Administration …………… XIV
Table 3: Teachers’ ranking of grammar and structures needed for the syllabus…………XV
Table 4: Reading skills and exercises needed for reading comprehension perceived by the
teachers…………………………………………………………………… XVI
Table 5: Students’ expectations at the end of the course………………………………XVIII
Table 6: Students’ opinion of topics relating to Business Administration……………….XX
Table 7: Reading skills and exercises needed for reading comprehension perceived by the
students………………………………………………………………………………… XXI
1



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2. Aims and objectives
The main purpose of the study is to design an appropriate and practical reading syllabus for
the second year students of Business Administration at the WTVC number 1. Therefore,
the following objectives are set up:
(1) to build a theoretical background which is necessary for designing an ESP syllabus.
(2) to find out the needs of the ESP teachers, ESP students, the subject teachers and the ex-
students to create a suitable reading syllabus for the target students.
(3) to design a workable reading syllabus based on related theories and the needs analysis.
3. Research questions
This study is carried out to answer the following questions:
1. What are the learning needs as perceived by the second-year students of Business
Administration, the ex-students, the teachers of English as well as the subject teachers at
the Waterway Transport Vocational College Number 1?
2. What should be included in the ESP reading syllabus for the second-year
students of Business Administration at the Waterway Transport Vocational College
Number 1 as perceived by the teachers and the students?
4. Scope of the study
This study is started from a critical need to design an appropriate ESP syllabus for the
second year students of Business Administration at the WTVC Number 1. Within the
scope of a minor thesis, this research paper focuses on the designing process itself; only the
basic theories related to reading skill, ESP and syllabus design are offered. The study‟s
major participants are the teachers of the English group, the subject teachers, the second
year students of Business Administration and the ex-students of Business Administration at
the WTVC Number 1.
5. Methods of the study
This study used both qualitative and quantitative methods. In order to identify the needs for
the ESP syllabus from a broad view, the quantitative method was employed by means of 4

PART II: DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW
1.1. An overview of English for specific purposes (ESP)
From the early 1960s, ESP has grown to be one of the most prominent areas of English
foreign language (EFL) teaching as it became increasingly aware that General English
courses frequently did not satisfy learners or employers wants. In Vietnam, ESP is a
developing branch of EFL. Therefore, the design of an ESP syllabus that serves a particular
group‟s interests and needs has become a matter of urgent concern among Vietnamese ESP
practitioners.
Hutchinson and Waters (1987) see ESP as an approach rather than a product, by which
they mean that ESP does not involve a particular kind of language teaching material or
methodology. They suggest that the foundation of ESP is the simple question: Why does
this learner need to learn a foreign language? The answer to this question relates to the
learners, the language required and the learning context, and thus establishes then primacy
of need in ESP.
According to Jack C. Richards (2001), in contrast to students learning English for General
purposes for whom master of the language for its own sake or in order to pass a general
examination is the primary goal, the ESP students is usually studying English in order to
carry out a particular role such as a doctor, a lawyer, a mechanic, a businessman or a ship
master.
Robinson (1991) claims “ESP is normally goal directed”. That is, students study English
not because they are interested in the English language as such but because they need
English for study or work purposes. An ESP course is based on a needs analysis, which
aims to specify as closely as possible what exactly it is that the students have to do through

content to which learners will be exposed”.
Finally, in simple words, a language teaching syllabus involves the combination of subject
matter (what to teach) and linguistic matter (how to teach). It actually performs as a guide
for both teacher and learner by providing some goals to be completed. Syllabus, in fact,
deals with linguistic theory and theories of language learning and how they are utilized in
the classroom.
After having understood what the term language “syllabus” refers to, the researcher should
come to the next step to understand what language “syllabus design” consists of.
According to Munby (1978), syllabus design is seen as “a matter of specifying the content
6

that needs to be taught and then organizing it into a teaching syllabus of appropriate
learning units”. Before realizing what is involved in syllabus design, a syllabus designer
also needs to be aware of the approaches in designing process.
1.2.2. Approaches to ESP syllabus design
Syllabus is a part of an overall language course. Therefore, in order to design one, it is
important to look over approaches to course design. According to Hutchinson and Waters
(1987) there are probably as many different approaches to ESP course design as there are
course designers. They identify three main types: language-centred, skill-centred and
learning-centred.
1.2.2.1. Language-centred approach
This approach is considered to have the simplest kind of course design process which
begins with identifying learners‟ target situation, proceeds through various stages of
analysis to a syllabus, then to materials in use in the classroom, and finally to evaluation of
mastery of the syllabus items. Though perceived as a very logical and straightforward
process, this model has a number of weaknesses. Firstly, the learner in this model is simply
used as a means of identifying the target situation while they should be considered at every
stage of the process. Secondly, the procedure is criticized for being static and inflexible.
Thirdly, being too dependent on the target situation, the language-centred model ignores
the importance of other learning factors contributing to the creation of any course. Finally,

1.2.3.1. The structural-grammatical syllabus
Historically, this seems to be the most prevalent of syllabus type, one in which syllabus
input is selected and graded according to grammatical notions of simplicity and
complexity. This type of syllabus is based on the traditional approach and therefore is
centered on items such as tenses, articles, singular/plural, etc. It introduces one item at a
time and requires mastery of that before moving on to the next. The semantic unit is placed
in the centre of syllabus organization (Dubin & Olshtain, 1986). The learner is expected to
master each structural step and add it to her grammar collection. According to McDonough
(1981), “The transition from lesson to lesson is intended to enable material in one lesson to
prepare the ground for the next; and conversely for material in the next to grow out of the
previous one” (p.21).
Despite its familiarity, there are two main criticisms that are often made about this type of
syllabus: (1), The grammatical syllabus focuses on only one aspects of language, namely
grammar whereas in truth there exist many more aspects to language such as the variety
language functions; (2), there is no one-to-one relation between form and function. A
8

single form can realize more than one function and conversely a given function can be
realized by more than one form; (3), there is a divergence between the grammar of the
spoken and of the written language. Thus, this type of syllabus can be suitable for teaching
linguistic structures but when communication fluency is desired, this type of syllabus
cannot be effective.
1.2.3.2. The situational syllabus
The limitations of the structural-grammatical syllabus led to the appearance of a second
type: the situational one, which, though less wide-spread, has already been known in
language learning for hundred years (Dubin & Olshtain, 1986). This model of syllabus is
closely related to topical or thematic syllabuses. Taking the situation need analysis as the
starting point, this type of syllabus consists of units indicating specific situations, such as
“At the post office”, “At the travel agency”, etc. It leads more directly to learners‟ ability
to communicate, though only in specific settings.

linguistic analysis, nor of a description of what learners will be able to do at the end of a
course of study, but “of the specification of the tasks and activities that learners will
engage in class.” (Nunan, 1988). This is because it is assumed in this type of syllabus that
speaking a language is a skill best perfected through practice and interaction, and it uses
tasks and activities to encourage learners to use the language communicatively in order to
achieve a purpose. Tasks designed in the syllabus aim at stimulating real communication.
They create a real purpose for language use and provide a natural context for language
study. They also provide learners with the motivation to improve and build on whatever
language they already have. Yet, a limitation of this syllabus type is its lack of content
specification (in terms of vocabulary, grammar, situation, function and notion, etc.), which
may be found confusing by both teachers and students.
1.2.3.5. The topic-based syllabus
With topic-based syllabus, content rather than grammar, functions or situations is the
starting point in design. Content may provide the sole criteria for organizing the syllabus or
a framework for linking a variety of different syllabus strands together. According to
Krahnke (1987:65), it is the teaching of content or information in the language being
learned with little or no direct effort to teach the language separately from the content
being taught. Organized around themes, topics or other units of content, this syllabus has
the advantage of deploying the content of the students‟ work or specialist study (Robinson,
1991:37) and thus, is of great significance for ESP. However, issues that arise in
developing one are: how are themes, topics and content decided on; what is the balance
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between the content and grammar on other strands of the syllabus; and what should be the
basis for assessment, learning of content or learning of the language?
1.2.3.6. The skill-based syllabus
In this syllabus, the content of language teaching is a collection of particular skills that may
play a role in using language. Skills have traditionally been a central focus in language
teaching and there have been attempts to identify the macro skills underlying the use of the
four macro skills of Reading, Writing, Listening and Speaking as a basis for syllabus

ESP and leads to a very focused language course (Dudley-Evans & St. John, 1998:122).
There are many definitions of needs analysis given by different scholars and researchers.
According to Nunan (1988:75) needs analysis “refers to a family of procedures for
gathering information about learners and about communication tasks for use in syllabus
design”. A more detailed description of needs analysis is presented by Bachman and
Palmer (1996:102) as follows: “needs analysis, or needs assessment, involves the
systematic gathering of specific information about the languages needs of learners and the
analysis of this information for purposes of language syllabus design”.
The rationale for needs analysis is that by identifying elements of students‟ target English
situations and using them as the basis of ESP instruction, teachers will be able to provide
students with specific language they need to succeed in their courses and future careers
(Johns and Dudley-Evans, 1991).
Concerning the types of needs Hutchinson and Waters (1987) distinguish between target
needs and learning needs. Target needs comprise necessities (what the learner has to know
in order to function effectively in the target situation), lacks (the gap between target and
existing proficiency of the learner), and want (the learners‟ view on their needs). Learning
needs, on the other hand, is a cover term for all the factors connected to the process of
learning like attitude, motivation, awareness, personality, learning styles and strategies,
social background etc. Both target needs and learning needs are taken into account when
determining the aims and objectives of the syllabus.
The best methodology for studying the needs of any particular group of students, according
to Hutchinson and Waters (1987), is to use such methods as questionnaires, follow-up
interviews, and collection of authentic texts.
1.3. Theories of reading
1.3.1. Reading in ESP
Obviously, reading plays a crucial role among all the other skills of the English language in
both GE and ESP. Carrel (1988:1) claims that: “For many students, reading by far is the
12

most important of four skills in a second language, particularly in English as a second or


From the recognition that good reading in ESP requires both language and skills, Dudley –
Evans and St.John (1998:96, 98) pointed out some of the key skills to be learnt or
transferred into the new language as follows:
- selecting what is relevant for the current purpose;
- using all the features of the text such as headings, layout, typeface;
- skimming for content and meaning;
- scanning for specifics;
- identifying organizational patterns;
- understanding relations within a sentence and between sentences;
- using cohesive and discourse markers;
- predicting, inferring and guessing;
- identifying main ideas, supporting ideas and examples;
- processing and evaluating the information during reading;
- transferring or using the information while or after reading.
Most of these above skills are composed of several processes and cannot be used all at the
same time. Therefore, when reading a text, ESP readers have to select the appropriate ones
for their reading purposes.
1.3.2.2. Reading strategies
A wide range of reading strategies have been identified through research on successful
strategy teaching and the behaviors of expert readers. In their research, Janzen and Stoller
(1998:256) provided an excellent starting point for the strategy selection process in which
ten broadly applicable reading strategies are indicated:
- Identifying a purpose for reading
- Previewing
- Predicting
- Asking questions
- Checking predictions or finding an answer to a question
- Connecting text to background knowledge
- Summarizing

CHAPTER 2: THE STUDY
2.1. Introduction
According to Nunan (1988) and Yalden (1983), needs analysis is considered as the starting
point in syllabus design. The goal of needs analysis is to collect information that can be
used to make decisions about the goals and content of a language course. This chapter will
present the needs analysis as the foundation for designing an appropriate ESP reading
syllabus for the second year students of Business Administration at the WTVC Number 1.
By means of questionnaires and interviews, the information was collected from the
teachers of the English group, the subject teachers, the target students and the ex-students.
Moreover, some situational factors such as the teaching and learning English program, the
learners‟ background, the teaching staff, resources and administrative constraints are also
analyzed in order to have a general view on the situation of learning and teaching English
for Business Administration at the WTVC Number 1 before designing an actual syllabus.
2.2. The teaching and learning English situation at the WTVC Number 1
Since 1995, General English (GE) has been taught at the WTVC Number 1. Nevertheless,
ESP was not brought into the school curriculum until the college was sponsored by the
Holland Government for upgrading projects in 2000. The students of all faculties learn the
same GE program in the same period of time but the students of different majors learn
different ESP courses. At present, the whole English curriculum for students of Business
Administration composes 2 stages:
- Stage 1: Students learn 120 periods of GE in their first year with 60 periods
each term
- Stage 2: Students learn 60 periods of ESP in the second year.
In the first stage, with the allocation of only 120 periods, both the teacher and the students
encounter many problems because they have to cover 20 units of the textbook “Let‟s study
English” by Do Tuan Minh. Due to the limited time, several writing, speaking and reading
tasks have to be omitted. Moreover, due to the poor facilities, hardly has the listening skill
16

been taught. If any, the tape script is read by the teachers. Besides, the teachers of the

different parts of the country; most of them are from the countryside or remote areas, only
some are from towns or cities. This is the reason why their level of English is rather low. A
majority of the students cannot make even a simple sentence. In addition, many of them
can not pronounce English words correctly. Besides, the class is rather crowded, from 40
to 50 students in each class. With these problems, the teachers obviously have many
difficulties in meeting the needs of all students. Moreover, the time for learning English at
the college is not adequate. Accordingly, after one year of General English, the students‟
level of proficiency is still low compared to the requirement of the course. Being aware of
this problem is of great necessity for the researcher to design a suitable ESP syllabus.
Learning style
Another problem which needs to be considered is the typical learning style of students at
the WTVC number 1. They are a bit lazy and hardly ever try their best. They are too
familiar with the teacher-dominated methods with emphasis on grammar and vocabulary.
Consequently, most students remain passive in classroom. There is a common picture in
which a teacher is lecturing while students sitting afar, keeping silent and taking notes (if
any). It is also the case for the ESP learning among the second-year students at my college.
As a matter of fact, some students even prefer private work which was resulted from high
school experience, i.e. sitting quietly and working on their own. They do not feel
comfortable joining the class discussions. Another tendency in the study of the ESP at the
WTVC Number 1 is that students often turn to their first language while reading, which
can range from translation sentences by sentences into the mother tongue or working out
their own rules based on the first language. There is an urgent task that students‟ learning
styles and behaviors have to be changed by a good material accompanied with a
communicative teaching approach.
Motivation
In general, the students at the WTVC Number 1 are not interested in learning English.
They are not students of English, so they do not devote themselves to learning and they do
not know the way to learn a foreign language. However, the second-year students of
Business Administration at the WTVC Number 1 are more motivated, since they now
18

teachers of the English group, (2) questionnaires for the students of Business