VIET NAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES
***************** NGUYÊ
̃
N THI
̣
MINH THÁI
DESIGNING AN ESP SPEAKING SYLLABUS FOR THE
SECOND-YEAR STUDENTS OF MARINE ENGINE
DEPARTMENT AT MARITIME COLLEGE NO.I

(THIẾT KẾ CHƯƠNG TRÌNH NÓI TIẾNG ANH CHUYÊN NGÀNH MÁY
CHO SINH VIÊN NĂM THỨ HAI KHOA MÁY TÀU BIỂN,
TRƯỜNG CAO ĐẲNG HÀNG HẢI I)

M.A MINOR THESIS
Field: English Language Teaching Methodolog
Code: 601410
M.A MINOR THESIS
Field: English Language Teaching Methodolog
Code: 601410
Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Hong Văn Vân HANOI, 2012
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TABLE OF CONTENTS

PART A: INTRODUCTION
1
1. Rationale
1
2. Aims and objectives of the study
2
3. Research questions
3
4. Scope of the study
3
5. Methods of the study
3

10
1.2.3.5. Task-based syllabus
10
1.2.3.6. Principle to syllabus choice
11
1.3. Overview of ESP……………………………………………………………
12
1.31. Definition of ESP
12
1.3.2. Benefits of ESP
13
1.3.3. Types of ESP
14
1.3.4. Need analysis in ESP
15
1.3.4.1. The definition of needs
15
1.3.4.2. The definition of needs analysis
15
1.3.4.3. The purposes of needs analysis
16
1.3.4.4. Target situation analysis
16
1.3.4.5. Present situation analysis
17
1.3.4.6. Learning needs analysis
17
1.4. Speaking ……………………………………………………………………
17
1.4.1. Definitions of speaking ………………………………………………

2.3.1. The content of the Proposed ESP Speaking Syllabus for second-
year students of Marine Department at MCI……………………………….
33
2.3.1.1. General consideration
33
2.3.1.2. Some specific topics included in the syllabus
33
2.3.1.3. The language functions in the syllabus……………………
34
2.3.1.4. The timing of the syllabus
34
2.3.1.5. The organization of the syllabus
34
2.3.2. Methodology
35

2.3.3. A suggested speaking syllabus for second-year students of Marine

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Engine Department at Maritime College No.I
35
2.3.4. Test for student progress/syllabus effectiveness
40
2.3.4.1 Testing procedure
40
2.3.4.2. Form of testing
40
2.3.4.3. Sample of a speaking test
40
2.3.4.4. Marking scales for Speaking test …………………………

and three for English for Specific Purposes (ESP). Each semester consists of 60 periods.
After completing this course, their English proficiency will reach Intermediate level by
Vietnamese standard.
Although many seafarers have brought some English knowledge to their workplaces,
their language skills may not be sufficient for communicating instructions and
commands. This deficiency is most apparent among multi-national crews in emergency
situations when the use of English is critical. The International Maritime Human Element
Bulletin (Issue No. 14 May 2007) asserts:
The ability to properly convey information by word of mouth and/or by written
communication is important not only to the safety of ships‟ crews, visitors and passengers, but
also to the wellbeing of crews. It would seem that the standard of English of some seafarers is
so bad that they have difficulty communicating not only between themselves but also with
agencies outside the ship (p.5).
Students of MCI also have the same problem after graduating. They meet difficulty
finding out a job onboard a foreign ship because of their poor English proficiency. Some
of them who are working onboard say that the ESP they have learnt at MCI does not
meet the demand of their current work. When they work on a ship (i.e. they live and
work in an international environment), English becomes their most important
communication instrument and speaking and listening become their essential skills to
carry out their daily communication. The ESP course at MCI seems to be not practical
2
enough for them to survive on board a ship. The question here is “What are causes of this
problem?” The answer will be addressed below.
The course book in use for teaching English to the second-year students of Marine
Engine Department in MCI is named Basic English Marine Engine Students. This book
was written by teachers of the English Division in MCI. It consists of 8 units which are
taught in two semesters. Each unit is concerned with one theme familiar with oilers‟
actual job. Every unit includes a text on the topic and some related exercises followed.
The themes of these units are practical for marine engine students. They are, however,
poorly designed with very few communicative tasks for students to develop their

Department in MCI in terms of present situation needs and target situation
needs?
3. How can the ESP speaking syllabus be designed to meet the demand of the
learning needs of the students?
Of these three questions, question 3 is the main focus.
4. Scope of the study
As set in the aim and the objectives which are operationalized in the research questions
above, this study will confine itself to designing an ESP speaking syllabus for the
second-year students of Marine Engine Department at Maritime College No.I. However,
one cannot design a viable syllabus without some understanding about the current
situation of the institution, the teachers, the students and their needs to learn English.
These are also parts of the research which help to provide the backgrounds of the
research.
5. Methods of the study
This study uses both qualitative and quantitative research methods. Qualitative method is
concerned with the researcher‟s reading the literature on syllabus and ESP syllabus
design in order to establish the senses in which the term ESP speaking syllabus is
employed. Quantitative method is used to see whether students need to learn English,
whether their needs are real, and what level of proficiency is required from them after
they graduate from the college, etc.
4

6. Design of the study
The study is divided into three parts:
 Part A - INTRODUCTION – includes the rationale, the objectives, the research
questions, the scope, the methods and the design of the study.
 Part B - DEVELOPMENT – consists of 2 chapters:
- Chapter 1 provides an overview of syllabus design, ESP and speaking skill.
- Chapter 2 presents a small research on MCI students‟ needs to learn English
in general and speaking skills in particular Then it focuses in the presenting

ESP speaking syllabus. Works by Nguyen Kieu Oanh (2005) and Nguyen Thanh Giang
(2007) are some of typical examples. They are all interested in the this issue. Nguyen
Thanh Giang (2007) has conducted the study on the application of the learner-centred
approach to designing a speaking syllabus for the third-year students in teacher-training
section. Based on the situational analysis and experience from current syllabus, a suitable
syllabus framework was developed, he justified his decisions regarding the content of the
course, how it is structured, the learning and teaching activities, how the students are
selected, assessed and possible feedback for the improvements of the syllabus. Nguyen
Kieu Oanh (2005) was also interested in designing an ESP speaking syllabus and she also
proposed a suggested syllabus by needs analysis through survey questionnaires and semi-
structured interview questions. These data collection instruments has supported her with
much useful information as the basis for designing the ESP speaking syllabus. For this
reason, I will also use questionnaires as my data collection instrment but the candidates in
the questionnaires are different. Beside undergraduates and graduates, I will give another
questionnaire to teachesr of English because they have known students very well.
1.2. Syllabus Design
1.2.1. Definition of a syllabus
There seems to be as many definitions as definers, each apparently covering similar
ground, whilst containing various aspects and differences in emphasis. For example,
Pienemann (1985:23) sees the syllabus as “the selection and grading of linguistic
teaching objectives”, while for Breen (1984:47) it is a plan of what is to be achieved
6
through our teaching and our students‟ learning”. Hutchinson and Waters (1987:80)
define syllabus as “a document which says what will (or at least what should) be learnt”
whereas its function is “to specify what is to be taught and in what order” (Prabhu, 1984).
Despite these difficulties, a working understanding of what a syllabus means in this
thesis is needed. I will here follow Candlin‟s summary of a syllabus.
Syllabuses are concerned with the specification and planning of what is to be learned,
frequently set down in some written form as prescriptions for action by teachers and learners.
They have, traditionally, the mark of authority. They are concerned with the achievement of

presentation of language data will produce systematic learning in the learner. Finally, its
analysis of target situation data is only at the surface level and reveals very little about the
competence that underlines the performance.
1.2.2.2. Skills- centred approach
According to Hutchinson and Waters (1987: 69) “a skills-centred approach aims to get
away from the surface performance data and look at the competence that underlines the
performance”. Thus, a skills-centred course will present its learning objectives in terms
of both performance and competence. It can be seen as helping learners to develop skills
and strategies which will continue to develop after the ESP course itself with the aim of
not providing a specified group of linguistic knowledge but making the learners into
better processors of information. However, it still approaches the learner as a user of
language rather than as a learner of language and it is concerned with the process of
language use not of language learning. It proceeds as follow:
1. Identify target situation
2. Analyze skills/ strategies required to cope in target situation + theoretical reviews
of language + theoretical reviews of learning
3. Write syllabus
4. Select texts and write exercises to focus on skills/ strategies in syllabus
5. Establish evaluation procedures which require the use of skills/ strategies in
syllabus

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1.2.2.3. Learning- centred approach
Hutchinson and Waters (1987:72) state “learning is seen as process in which the learners
use what knowledge or skills they have in order to make sense of the flow of new
information”. In this approach, learners are not the only concern of the learning process,
and learning process is not totally decided and based on the learners but should be seen in
the context where it take place. This approach takes account of the learners at every stage
of the design process and it does not only consider the learners‟ competence but also how
the learners acquire that competence.

master a language. Structural syllabus focuses on teaching students the forms, structures
and grammatical of language such as how to use and form nouns, verbs, adjectives or
tenses, voice….Wilkin (1983: 83) stated that the main point of grammatical syllabus is
“teaching the students how to form correctly; how, that is, to manipulate the structures
of the language easily and without error”.
The strongest point of this syllabus is that the strategy of teaching based on the principle
of working from the familiar to the unfamiliar, and using the familiar to teach the
unfamiliar so that the learners find easy to learn. However, the weak point of this type is
that only one aspect of language – formal grammar is concerned. So the learners may not
be able to use the linguistic knowledge in actual communication. Besides, the structure
syllabus seems to bias the teacher-centered rather than the learned-centered approach so
it is not highly appropriate in teaching language nowadays.
1.2.3.2. Functional Notional syllabus
In contrast with the structural syllabus, functional-notional one emphasizes the real
communicative function of language. The content of the language teaching is a collection
of the functions that usually occur in daily life, for example: informing, agreeing,
apologizing, requesting, and so on. And the notions of the language relating to size, age,
color, time, comparison….The advantage of this type of syllabus is that learners are easy
to use their language in the communicative situations with the useful functions or
notions. However, functions and notions are quite abstract and some learners may have
difficulties thinking of communicative functions outside a specific context. And the
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different kinds of structures are often used to express the same communicative function,
so that it is difficult to follow a progression from simpler to more complex structures.
1.2.3.3. Situational syllabus
Situational syllabus focuses on the content of the language teaching that collects the real
or imaginary situations in which language is used. The language interactions are closely
related to social context and the participants can understand them in the certain context or
setting. So it usually concerns with the question “when and where the learner will need
the target language” and attempts to specify the situations such as seeing the dentist,

cognitive difficulty. Class time is devoted to performance of the task and attention is only
directed to language if this is necessary for completion of the task. A major concern
throughout is that students understand the task and what they are doing, and do not act in
mechanical way” (Robinson 1991: 39).
Additionally, task-based syllabus shares a concern with the classroom processes which
stimulate learning. The focus is on the linguistic items that students will learn or the
communicative skills that they will be able to display as a result of instruction. The
syllabus consists of the specification of the tasks and activities that learners will engage it
in class. However, the problem for the task-based syllabus designer is that a variety of
factors will interact to determine task difficulty: the degree of contextual support and the
amount of assistance provided to the learner, the cognitive difficulty of the task, the
complexity of the language, the amount and type of background knowledge required.
1.2.3.6. Principles to syllabus choice
It is obvious that there is hardly any single type of syllabus content, which can
be exclusively used in actual teaching settings for: Syllabi are usually combined in a
more or less integrated ways, with one type as organizing basis around which the others
are arranged and related (Krahnke, K.1994). Thus, before making a final decision of
the syllabus type or types chosen, several questions must be posed. For instance, what
kinds of syllabus types can lead to the outcome desired? Should it be a product or
process oriented syllabus? What are the objectives of the course as well as the needs of
the students? This leads to an examination of the ranking of various elements, which
will possibly be integrated. As White (1988: 92) comments:
A complete syllabus specification will include all five aspects: structure, function, situation,
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topic, and skills. The difference between syllabuses will lie in the priority given to each of
these aspects.
Attempting to combine the various aspects of language has also been exemplified
specifically by Hutchinson and Waters (1986). In writing a functional syllabus, a
structural syllabus is automatically produced since every function is realized by one or
more structures. Likewise, text must be about something, resulting in the fact that all

variable characteristics:
1. Absolute characteristics:
- ESP is designed to meet specific needs of the learner;
- ESP makers use of the underlying methodology and activities of the disciplines it
serves;
- ESP is centred on the language (grammar, lexis, and register), skills, discourse
and genres appropriate to these activities.
2. Variable characteristics:
- ESP may be related to or designed for specific disciplines;
- ESP may use, in specific teaching situation, a different methodology from that of
general English;
- 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 used for learners at secondary school
level;
- ESP generally designed for intermediate or advanced students. Most ESP courses
assume basic knowledge of the language system, but it can be used with beginners.
1.3.2. Benefits of ESP
There are clear advantages in setting up an ESP course where students have specific
needs. Strevens (1988) summarizes the advantages of ESP with the following four
points:
- being focused on the learners‟ need, it wastes no time;
- it is relevant to the learner;
- it is successful in imparting learning;
- it is more cost-effective than „General-English‟.
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ESP certainly brings about a number of benefits while it enables learners to accomplish
certain skills and aspects of language that they need. Firstly, it is learning speed for ESP
results in faster acquisition of required linguistic items: trainees just learn what they need,
when they need it, in authentic, content-based and intensive context. In addition, trainees
are prepared for further job-related training in English, which will result in better

In sum, studying various types of ESP will provide ESP teachers with an overall picture
of the group of learners they are going to work with. This is the initial step which enables
the ESP teachers to succeed in conducting a needs analysis in order to design an
appropriate ESP course for their target students.
Based on the classification of ESP above, Maritime English could be seen as English for
the Science and Technology in general and English for Occupational Purposes in detail.
1.3.4. Needs analysis in ESP
1.3.4.1. The definition of needs
“Needs are the terms used to refer to wants, desires, demands, expectation, motivations,
lacks, constraints, and requirement” (Brindley, 1989: 28). Needs are often described in
terms of linguistic deficiency, that is, as describing the difference between what a learner
can presently do in a language and what he or she should be able to do. This suggests that
needs have objective reality and are simply there waiting to be identified and analyzed.
“Needs are described as objective and subjective” (Brindley, 1989: 65), “perceived and
felt” (Berwick, 1989:55), “target situation/goal oriented and learning, process-oriented
and product oriented” (Brindley, 1989:63); in addition, “there are necessities, wants and
lacks” (Hutchinson and Waters, 1987:55).
1.3.4.2. The definition of needs analysis
An important principle of ESP approaches to language teaching is that the purposes for
which a learner needs a language rather than a syllabus reflecting the structure of general
English should be used in planning an English course. Rather than developing around an
analysis of the language, an ESP approach starts instead with an analysis of the learners‟
needs. Different types of students have different language needs and what they are taught
should be restricted to what they need. These needs are fairly specific; they can be
identified and they should determine the content of any course.
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In ESP, learners‟ needs are often described in terms of performance, that is in terms of
what the learner will be able to do with the language at the end of the course of study.
Whereas in a General English course the goal is usually an overall mastery of the
language that can be tested on a global language test, the goal of ESP course is to prepare

As noted by Pibeam (1979), Target Situation Analysis is a target profile of language
skills which sets down the actual activities that the participants have to carry out or a
needs analysis which focuses on students‟ needs at the end of a language course can be
called a target Situation analysis. Hutchinson and Waters (1987) hold that the analysis of
target situation needs is in essence a matter of asking questions about the target situation
and the attitude towards that situation of various participants in the learning process.
1.3.4.5. Present Situation Analysis
Proposed by Pilbeam (1979), Present Situation Analysis is a profile of personal ability in
which the participants‟ proficiency in these activities is evaluated. Richterich and
Chancerel (1977) share the same idea as they state that a Present Situation Analysis
concerns the students‟ state of language development at the beginning of the language
course.
„A Present Situation Analysis seeks to establish what the students are likely at the start of
their language course, investing their strengths and their weaknesses‟ (Robinson,
1991:9). Richterich and Chancerel (1987) suggest that to establish the Present Situation
Analysis there are three basic information sources: the students themselves, the language
teaching establishment and the user institution. For each of these we shall seek
information regarding their respective level of ability: their resources, their views on
language teaching and learning. We might also study the surrounding society and culture,
their attitude held towards English and towards their learning and use of a foreign
language.
1.3.4.6. Learning Needs Analysis
Target Situation Analysis and Present Situation Analysis help to point out the learners‟
gaps in their linguistic competence and performance as well as constraint of learning
conditions particularly of time and money. According to Hutchinson and Waters, in
order to solve these problems, Learning Needs Analysis should be carried out. “The
whole ESP process is concerned not with knowing or doing, but with learning.” (1987:
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61). The Target Situation Analysis can determine destination but we must choose our
route. The needs, potential and constrains of the route must also taken into account, if we

find it helpful to consider first what the features of a successful interaction would be.
This would focus their attention on appropriate language and skills, and provide a basis
for evaluation at the feedback stage.
 Role-play: The students in the class are divided into pairs or groups and given
situations and roles to act out.
Role-play is relatively free acting out of specified roles and functions. Distinguished
from cued dialogues, cueing is provided only minimally at the beginning, and not during
the activities.
According to Ellis and Johnson (1994) getting students to role-play dialogue has
various advantages. Firstly, it is enjoyable so it is likely to motivate students. Secondly,
and more importantly, it should help students to realize how to discrete bits of language
“fit together” in real life use. Thirdly, role-play gives students an opportunity to
develop fluency and confidence. Finally, students' awareness of cultural differences in
the international business environment should increase as you point out inappropriate
behavior for specific situations. In conclusion, since role-play involves simulated real
life language use, it should be the mainstay of classroom practice.
 Problem solving: The class is divided into groups of about four students and is
given “problems”. Each group selects a representative to report in front of the class after
working out a solution to that problem.
Problem solving has the following features:
- Activity involving specific problems and limitations of means to resolve it
require cooperative action on part of participants in a small or large group.
- Problem solving group techniques focus on the group‟s solution of a
specified problem. Problem solving techniques center students' attention on
meaningful cognitive challenges and not so much on grammatical or
phonological forms.
 Discussion: groups of four or five students are working on a topic of common
interest for ten or fifteen minutes. A representative is selected in the group to report what
they have discussed.