VIET NAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES
****************************************
HOÀNG THỊ HẢI ĐƯỜNG TEACHERS’ LINGUISTIC AND PEDAGOGICAL
CHALLENGES IN TEACHING ESP VOCABULARY TO
THE THIRD – YEAR STUDENTS OF ELECTRONICS
ENGINEERING AT HO CHI MINH UNIVERSITY OF
INDUSTRY BASED IN THANH HOA

(NHỮNG KHÓ KHĂN VỀ NGÔN NGỮ VÀ SƯ PHẠM TRONG VIỆC DẠY TỪ VỰNG
TIẾNG ANH CHUYÊN NGÀNH CHO SINH VIÊN NĂM THỨ BA CHUYÊN NGÀNH ĐIỆN
TỬ TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC CÔNG NGHIỆP THÀNH PHỐ HỒ CHÍ MINH CƠ SỞ
THANH HÓA) MINOR M.A THESIS
Field: English Teaching Methodology

(NHỮNG KHÓ KHĂN VỀ NGÔN NGỮ VÀ SƯ PHẠM TRONG VIỆC DẠY TỪ VỰNG
TIẾNG ANH CHUYÊN NGÀNH CHO SINH VIÊN NĂM THỨ BA CHUYÊN NGÀNH ĐIỆN
TỬ TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC CÔNG NGHIỆP THÀNH PHỐ HỒ CHÍ MINH CƠ SỞ
THANH HÓA) MINOR M.A THESIS
Field: English Teaching Methodology
Code: 60 14 10
Supervisor: V MAI TRANG, M.A
HÀ NI, 2011
iv

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Candidate’s statement ……………………………………………………………………i
Acknowledgements ……………………………………………………………………….ii
Abstract ……………………………………………………………………………… …iii
Table of contents …………………………………………………………………………iv
List of abbreviations …………………………………………………………………….vii
List of tables ……………………………………………………………………………viii

2.4.4. Audio-lingual method…………………………………………………………11
2.5. ESP teaching vocabulary challenges for teachers………………………………… 11
2.5.1 The roles of ESP teachers…………………………………………………… 11
2.5.2. Teachers’ linguistic challenges in ESP vocabulary……………………… 13
2.5.3. Teachers’ pedagogical challenges in teaching ESP Vocabulary………… 14
2.6. Summary…………………………………………………………………………… 15
CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY……………………………………16
3.1. The context of teaching and learning vocabulary at Ho Chi Minh university of
industry………………………………………………………………………………… 16
3.1.1. Brief introduction of Ho Chi Minh City University of industry based in Thanh
Hoa………………………………………………………………………………… …16
3.1.2. The teachers and teaching methods………………………………………… 16
3.1.3. The students and their background ………………………………………… 17
3.2. The course book…………………………………………………………………… 18
3.2.1. The textbook………………………………………………………………… 18
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3.2.2 Book content…………………………………………………………………….18
3.3. Methods and procedures ………………………………………………………… 19
3.3.1. Research questions …………………………………………………………… 19
3.3.2. The participants …………………………………………………………………19
3.3.3. Data collection instruments …………………………………………………… 19
3.3.4. Data collection procedure ………………………………………………………20
3.3.5. Data analysis ……………………………………………………………………21
3.4. Findings and discussion 21
3.4.1. The teachers’ questionnaire …………………………………………………….21
3.4.1.1. The teachers’ linguistic challenges in teaching EEE vocabulary …… 21
3.4.1.2. The teachers’ pedagogical challenges in teaching EEE vocabulary ….23
3.4.1.3. The teachers’ personal view of sources of their challenges in teaching
EEE vocabulary ………………………… 24


1

TEACHERS’ LINGUISTIC AND PEDAGOGICAL CHALLENGES IN TEACHING
ESP VOCABULARY TO THE THIRD – YEAR STUDENTS OF ELECTRONICS
ENGINEERING AT HO CHI MINH UNIVERSITY OF INDUSTRY BASED IN
THANH HOA
Chapter1: Introduction

1.1 Rationale
Nowadays, the English language has been widely used in many areas such as politics,
economics, tourism, telecommunication, culture, science, technology, so on. Since Vietnam carried
out the open door policy towards the regional and global integration, the English language has
become more and more important for people of all ages and careers nationwide. Therefore, there is
great demand for teaching and learning English throughout the country for different purposes.
In teaching English for Specific Purposes, however, no one argues that the scope of specialized
vocabulary is a primary goal. Up to now, teaching ESP, particularly teaching vocabulary, has still
been far from satisfaction. With many similar characteristics and a number of different features in
comparison with General English, ESP is viewed as something hard to teach for language teachers.
In the context of Ho Chi Minh University of Industry ( HUI ) based in Thanh Hoa province,
students are taught English as a compulsory subject. In addition, students of Electronic

Electronics Engineering at HUI.
- Finding out Teachers‟ linguistic and pedagogical challenges that ESP teachers at HUI are
facing in teaching English vocabulary to students of Electronics Engineering.
- Suggesting some solutions to the teaching of vocabulary to students of Electronics
Engineering effectively.
1.3. Research questions
The research is carried out with an attempt to find out the answer to the following research
questions:
- What are the main teachers‟ linguistic and pedagogical challenges experienced by teachers
who are teaching ESP vocabulary to students of Electronics Engineering at HUI?
- What solutions should be offered to help teachers to find out the effective ways to teach ESP
vocabulary to students of Electronics Engineering at HUI?
1.4. Scope of the study
Dealing with all types of teaching ESP vocabulary is too large for studying this size. Thus, this
study focuses on investigating linguistic and pedagogy challenges that the teacher encounters in
teaching ESP vocabulary to students of the third-year students of Electronics Engineering at Ho
Chi Minh University of Industry based in Thanh Hoa province.
Therefore, proper teaching methods can be adopted to help them overcome the difficulties.
The solutions are also provided to help to improve teaching and learning English in general,
teaching and learning English Electronic vocabulary in particular at HUI.
1.5. Methods of the study
3

In order to achieve the aims mentioned above, the study was designed to use varieties of
methods including interview, questionnaire and teaching journal analysis. The data were recorded
both formally and informally. The survey questionnaire to teachers is to get more information to
support the study.

2.2.2.2. Word - form
2.2.2.3. Grammar
2.2.2.4. Aspects of meaning
2.2.2.5. Pronunciation and spelling
2.3. Terminology
2.3.1. Definition of terminology
2.3.2. Characteristics of terminology
2.4. Methodology in vocabulary teaching
2.4.1. The Grammar- translation method
2.4.2. The Direct Method
2.4.3. The Audio-lingual method
2.4.4. The Communicative approach (CLT)
2.5. Teachers’ linguistic and pedagogical challenges in teaching ESP vocabulary
2.5.1 The roles of ESP teachers
2.5.2. Teachers’ linguistic challenges in ESP vocabulary
2.5.3. Teachers’ pedagogical challenges in teaching ESP vocabulary
2.6. Summary

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY
3.1. The context of teaching and learning vocabulary at Ho Chi Minh University of
Industry
3.1.1. Brief introduction of Ho Chi Minh City University of Industry based in Thanh Hoa
Province
3.1.2. Teachers and teaching methods
3.1.3. Students and their background
3.2. The course book
3.2.1. The textbook
After finishing the course of General English, the students are taught English for Specific
Purpose. Students of Electronics learn the book “English for Electronics” which was written by
Eric H. Glendinning &John Mc “English for Electronics” aims to provide students with basic

teachers and students have found it difficult in teaching this course book because of the following
reasons.
First, as each unit has five periods the students usually do not have enough time to practice in
class. Second, the vocabulary teaching integrated with other skills meaning that no separate
vocabulary lesson is provided. Consequently, the teacher have to decide themselves how to teach
vocabulary, when and how much to teach as well. Next, there are a lot of difficult abbreviations
and too many difficult and long terms in a task e.g. R(1K)/ a one kilohm resistor: C (5-65PF)/a
five-to-sixty-five-picofarad capacitor, BZX55C2V4./ a silicon zener diode which has 5%
tolerance and 2,4 V zener voltage.
6

3.3. Methods and procedures
3.3.1. Research questions
The research is carried out with an attempt to find out the answers to the following questions:
- What are the main teachers‟ linguistic and pedagogical challenges experienced by teachers
who are teaching ESP vocabulary to students of Electronics Engineering at HUI?
- What solutions should be offered to help teachers to find out the effective ways to teach ESP
vocabulary to students of Electronics Engineering at HUI?
3.3.2. The participants
This study was conducted with the participation of 10 English teachers and 3 EEE teachers‟
writing journals. These 10 teachers of English at the college are chosen for the investigation as all
of them have been teaching ESP. They are 6 females and 4 males and have at least 2 years‟
experience in teaching ESP.
3.3.3. Data collection instruments
In order to collect the most exact information for the study, the three types of instruments were
employed as follows:
Questionnaire

collected from the other two teachers. As the teacher researcher observed, the first teacher
wrote the journals very carefully and with enthusiasm whereas the second teacher wrote
her journals very briefly and poorly.
All the teachers who were interviewed were very interested in talking about teaching
EE vocabulary and their answers are very helpful.
According to four teachers‟ interviews and two journal writings, they share the ideas that are
challenging or hindering for teaching EEE vocabulary.
3.4.2.1.The teachers’ linguistic challenges in teaching EEE vocabulary
Through the findings from survey questionnaire, interview to teachers and their journal
writings, teachers‟ linguistic and pedagogical challenges in teaching EEE vocabulary have been
revealed frankly. The data analysis and interpretation of the information collected have been
presented carefully including some discussion- on the issue.
Obviously, with a lot of similar characteristics and a number of different features in
comparison with General English, ESP is viewed as something hard to teach for language teachers.
In addition, the teachers of EEE, on the one hand, share the same difficulties with other ESP
teachers, and on the other hand, cope with characterized difficulties of the teachers of EEE.
8

The teachers‟ linguistic and pedagogical challenges in teaching EEE vocabulary include
- The lack of EEE vocabulary and terminologies
- The lack of specialized knowledge or knowledge of concept and knowledge of electronic
- The lack of various teaching techniques
It can be seen that the teachers of EEE are all teachers of GE who were not trained to teach
ESP and they do not have EEE knowledge either. They have no specialist knowledge on the
subject matter, they are unexpectedly required to teach a new and unfamiliar subject, which
contains numerous terms, complicated structures and countless expressions.
.

can use to teach vocabulary to the same class. However, teachers should choose the most suitable
ones to their students basing on characteristics of different groups of students so that students will
find it interesting to learn the new words. Besides, teachers should find better ways in which they
can get to know or at least be able to easily identify the students. In addition, pair work, group
work and games should be applied in a large class. Thus, some suggestions are offered below.
4.3.1. Sample activity 1: Guess the meaning
Aims: to get students to listen to a lot of repetitions of new vocabulary while they are interested and
attentive. Using in unit 5: Alarm systems
Class time: 10 minutes
Resources: Objects or pictures
Procedures: 1. Put 10-12 objects or picture where student can see them
2. Call the student to come to the front.
3. Repeatedly say the name of the objects while learner guesses which object
has that name by pointing at each object in turn. If the learner point the wrong object, keep
repeating the word. When the learner points to the correct object, say “yes” and repeat the name of
the object.
4. Say the name of another of objects, while the learners points when the learner
eventually points to the correct item, quickly revise the previous items by saying their name and
getting the learner to point.
5. Continue until all the objects have been named.
4.3.2. Sample activity 2: Brainstorming
The teacher writes the key word “radio” in the middle of the board and asks students to give
the related words to “radio”. The teacher draws the arrows around the word “radio” and writes the
words the students just say.
Possible keys: 1. aerial; 2:tuner ; 3: amplifier; 4: detector; 5: power; 6: loudspeaker; 7: FM
carrier; 8: Am carrier.
The semantic map will look like as follows:


Learnt words: aerial, tuner , amplifier, detector, power, loudspeaker, FM carrier, Am carrier,
Radio waves, ground wave, sky wave, space wave, wavelength, short wavelength, long
wavelength, low frequency, high frequency,
Procedure:
The teacher divides the class into ten small groups (each group consists of seven students) and
asks the students to fill in the empty boxes with the words they have learnt. When the students
finish their work, the teacher then asks each group to come to the board to write the words of their
groups into the empty boxes. The winner will be the one who writes the most words.
4.4. Teaching word formation
According to Bauer (1973), the best way to help students identify and remember new words is to
provide them with a wider range of knowledge of word analysis that will eventually enable them to
understand complex terminology. As Bauer (1973) states, there is a relatively a small group of very
Radio


which students are quite familiar can be showed to help students understand the effect of the word
building. For example, we can divide the word “semiconductor” as follows:
Semi/conduct/ or : semi is a prefix which means “half”, while or is a suffix added to the
Verb conduct to make a noun. From this we can work out that a
Semiconductor is a component which half conducts
Give students this table. Ask them to try to think of other examples
Prefix
suffix
meaning
examples
Other
De-

Reverse the action
decouple
……………….
Dis-

Opposite of
discharge
………………
Micro-

small
microchip
………………
Multi-

many
multimedia

teaching vocabulary. Teachers should be attend professional development workshops regularly,
establish the co-operation between subject teachers and English teachers. Moreover, teachers
should be introduced to new skills and classroom techniques relate new methodology such as, pair
work, guess meaning, brainstorm, etc, Hopefully, by doing so we can prompt more thinking and
more effective teaching EEE vocabulary.
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Chapter V: Conclusion
In this final part, I would like to make a brief summary of the issues discussed in the study and
offer some suggestion for further study.
1. Summary of the study
The goal of the study is finding challenges of teachers of English for EEE at HUI and makes
some suggestions to solve those obstacles. Theory and practice are contained in this study. Firstly,
the study began with several concepts on ESP teaching, then vocabulary teaching in ESP as well
as terminology, methodology in vocabulary teaching. Secondly, in the next chapter, some
important features about the context of learning and teaching vocabulary of at including teaching
staff and teaching methods, students and their background, are described.
Actually, discovering the problems and picking up the data are through some instruments as
follows: survey questionnaire to teachers, a list if interview questions to the target teachers and
analysis teachers‟ journal writings. These instruments aim at finding out challenges that the ESP
teachers of EEE are encounter in teaching vocabulary to students of EEE. The result of study has
pointed out some common problems that ESP teachers face with in their daily teaching:
- The lack of EEE vocabulary and terminologies.
- The lack of specialized knowledge or knowledge of concept and knowledge of Electronics
Engineering.
- The lack of various teaching techniques.
Based on the study‟s finding, some solutions are suggested to overcome those challenges: