Adapting reading tasks of ESP materials for
the third-year students at Haiphong Medical
University
Đồng Quỳnh Trang

Trường Đại học Ngoại Ngữ
Luận văn ThS. Chuyên ngành: English Linguistics; Mã số: 60 22 15
Người hướng dẫn: Nguyễn Bàng, M.A
Năm bảo vệ: 2010

Abstract: Many teachers of English as a foreign language have recognized the importance of
material adaptation. In reality, a textbook can never totally be an effective tool for teachers to
follow without any adaptation because of its intrinsic deficiencies such as linguistic
inaccuracies, out-of-datedness, lack of authenticity or lack of variety. Adaptation is to
compensate for those deficiencies.
The thesis “Adapting reading tasks of ESP materials for the third-year students at
Haiphong Medical University” was carried out in an attempt to investigate into the
evaluation and attitudes of the third-year students and teachers at Haiphong Medical
University towards the current ESP reading tasks used in here for the third-year students. It
also aimed to find out the suitable techniques of adapting ESP reading tasks in order to make
ESP reading lessons more effective, interesting and motivating to the students.
The data of the study was collected from the survey questionnaires for both the teachers and
the students, and the notes from class observation. The findings indicated that there were a
number of factors that the teachers should take into consideration when adapting reading
tasks of ESP materials such as the difficult level, the students’ needed topics, the kinds of
activities, etc. Basing on these factors, some suitable techniques of adapting materials are
suggested.

Keywords: Tiếng Anh chuyên ngành; Đại học Y Hải Phòng; Kỹ năng đọc.
I.3. An overview of reading 13
I.3.1. Definition of reading and reading comprehension 13
I.3.2. Classification of reading 14
I.3.2.1. According to manner 15
I.3.2.1.1. Reading aloud 15
I.3.2.1.2. Silent reading 15
I.3.2.2. According to purposes 16
I.3.2.2.1. Skimming 16
I.3.2.2.2. Scanning 16
I.3.2.2.3. Intensive reading 16
I.3.2.2.4. Extensive reading 17
I.4. Concluding remarks 17
Chapter II. The study 18
II.1. Situational analysis 18
II.1.1. ESP teaching and learning situation at HPMU 18
II.1.2. The material description 18
II.1.3. The course objective 19
II.2. Research methodology 20
II.2.1. Subjects of the study 20
II.2.1.1. The teachers 20
II.2.1.2. The students 20
II.2.2. Data collection instrument 21
II.2.2.1. Questionnaires 21
II.2.2.2. Follow-up class observation 21
II.3. Procedures 22
II.4. Data analysis 23
II.4.1. Questionnaires 23
II.4.1.1. Evaluation of the effectiveness of reading tasks in the ESP materials 23

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Appendices Abbreviations
HPMU
Haiphong Medical University
ESP
English for Specific Purposes
ELT
English Language Teaching
EOP
English for Occupational Purposes
EAP
English for Academic Purposes
EST
English for Science and Technology
EBE
English for Business and Economics
ESS
English for Social Studies

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Part I. Introduction

I. Rationale
Nowadays English has gained its great popularity all over the world, and this is not an
exception in Vietnam. Our country has now been in the process of regional and global
integration, which has brought about a great many arrivals of foreign visitors, especially since
the implementation of the open-door policy. This makes English the commonest language of
communication which is widely used in all aspects of life. Thus, the demands for using
English as a means of communication make the English teaching and learning more and more
necessary. This is realized by the teaching of this language at almost all universities in
Vietnam, and unexceptionally at Haiphong Medical University (HPMU).
To meet the increasing needs for using English as a means of international communication,
English has been made a compulsory subject in the curriculum of HPMU. It is taught with the
purpose that the students will use it effectively to fulfill their daily work in the future, so it
receives great deal concern of both teachers and students here. Non-stop attempts have been
made to provide the students with general English as well as English for Specific Purposes
(ESP).
ESP is now established chiefly in the universities and the teaching of adults outside the
state school system. The main objective of ESP course is aimed at providing the students with
linguistic knowledge relevant to their field and skills up to their expectation of their future
employment. However, students learning ESP in Vietnam rarely have opportunities to use
English in communication outside the classroom. They mainly have access to popular
documents written in English through reading. Hence, skills in reading English texts are
naturally of special importance in teaching and learning ESP, which is not an exception for the
ESP teaching at HPMU. HPMU is one of those where ESP involves within an English
teaching situation in response to the demand for specific language skills for the specialists –

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 Find out techniques of adapting ESP reading tasks in order to make ESP reading
lessons more effective, interesting and motivating to students.
In brief, these objectives are summarized into the following research questions:
 What are the HPMU teachers and third-year students’ evaluation and attitudes
towards the current ESP reading tasks used by them?
 What techniques of adapting materials should be used for teaching ESP reading to
the third-year students at HPMU?
III. Methods of the study
Both qualitative and quantitative methods are employed in this study.
The quantitative method, which is used to collect data by questionnaires, aims at exploring
the needs of the students, their expectations and opinions about the ESP reading tasks. The
questionnaires are administered to the third-year student population studying ESP as well as
the teachers of ESP at HPMU. The tackling methods are statistic, analytical and synthetical.
Also the qualitative method is used in the sense that relevant issues concerning reading and
reading comprehension, ESP materials, and adapting materials etc. are gathered, critical re-
examined, analyzed and synthesized in order to establish the senses in which terms or
concepts in the field are employed. Consulting the supervisor, observing classes and collecting
information for the study through the discussion with colleagues, students of HPMU are also
involved.
IV. Scope of the study
The ESP course is only for the third-year students at HPMU, so the study is only
concerned with the adaptation of ESP reading tasks to the third year students at HPMU.
V. Design of the study
The study is comprised of three parts: Introduction, Development and Conclusion.
 Part I is the introduction which presents the rationale, the aims, the scope, the research
methods and the design of the study.
 Part II is the development, consisting of three chapters:

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