VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST-GRAFUAT STUDIES
-----------------------

NGUYỄN THỊ HƯỜNG

DESIGNING ESP SYLLABUS FOR INFORMATION
TECHNOLOGY STUDENTS AT A COLLEGE OF
TECHNOLOGY AND ECONOMICS IN HANOI
THIẾT KẾ CHƯƠNG TRÌNH TIẾNG ANH CHUYÊN NGÀNH CHO
SINH VIÊN NGÀNH CÔNG NGHỆ THÔNG TIN TẠI MỘT TRƯỜNG
CAO ĐẲNG CÔNG NGHỆ VÀ KINH TẾ Ở HÀ NỘI

M.A. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology
Code: 60140111

HANOI – 2017


VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST-GRAFUAT STUDIES
-----------------------

NGUYỄN THỊ HƯỜNG

DESIGNING ESP SYLLABUS FOR INFORMATION
TECHNOLOGY STUDENTS AT A COLLEGE OF

many people whom I wish to thank here.
First and foremost, I would like to send a stunning bunch of flowers to my
supervisor, Prof.Dr.Hoang Van Van, who gave me valuable suggestions,
considerate guidance and encouragements in the development and completion of
this study.
I would be grateful to all of my lecturers in the post-graduate department of
VNU University of Languages and International Studies. I should also record a debt
to my students who helped me to complete the survey questionnaires and ESP
teachers of Hanoi College of Technology and Economics who were so enthusiastic
with me in answering interview questions and gave constructive suggestions to my
study.
Last but not least, I would like to thank my family for their understanding,
love and supports during the time I worked on this study.

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ABSTRACT

This study aims at designing a task-based ESP syllabus for intermediate vocational
students of information technology at Hanoi College of Technology and Economics.
The proposed syllabus was produced on the basis of learners‟ needs and target
needs analysis. Data was collected from interviews with ESP teachers and two
questionnaires for 50 undergraduate students of information technology and 30 exstudents of Hanoi College of Technology and Economics. The results of data
analysis along with the theoretical views of syllabus design are the foundation for
designing a syllabus for intermediate vocational students of information technology
at Hanoi College of Technology and Economics. This study is hoped to make some
contributions to the improvement of teaching and learning ESP at Hanoi College of
Technology and Economics.



: Information Technology

TBLT

: Task-based Language Teaching

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LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES

Figure 1.1: ESP classification by experience (Source: Robinson, 1991:3-4) ............ 5
Figure 1.2.Bases for language syllabus design (White, 1988: 46) ............................. 9
Table 1. Students‟ reasons for learning English .......................................................22
Table 2. Students‟ opinions on prospective job ........................................................23
Table 3. Students‟ anticipated possibilities to use English at work in the future .....24
Table 4. Ex-student‟s situations of using English at work ........................................26
Table 5. Student‟s opinions on tasks should be included in the course book ...........27
Table 6. Ex-students‟ opinions on tasks which should be included in the course
book ...........................................................................................................................30
Table 7. Students‟ evaluation on the current ESP course book ................................31

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TABLE OF CONTENT

DECLARATION ........................................................................................................ i
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ....................................................................................... ii


CHAPTER 2: NEEDS ANALYSIS OF INTERMEDIATE VOCATIONAL
STUDENTS OF HANOI COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY AND ECONOMICS..19

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2.1. The teaching and learning ESP at HNCTE ............................................19
2.2. The target students ....................................................................................20
2.3. The teaching staff ......................................................................................20
2.4. The study ....................................................................................................21
2.4.1. The subjects...........................................................................................21
2.4.2. Instruments for collecting data..............................................................21
2.4.3. Data analysis and major findings ..........................................................22
2.5. Summary ....................................................................................................35
CHAPTER

3:

THE

PROPOSED

SYLLABUS

CONTENT

FOR

INTERMEDIATE VOCATIONAL STUDENTS OF INFORMATION AND

for all students coming from different departments and majors. The training
curriculum is divided into two parts: General English (GE) delivered at the first
semester and English for Specific Purposes (ESP) followed afterwards.
However, teaching ESP has confronted a number of issues including content
overload, inappropriate materials and lack of experienced ESP teachers. Among
these problems, the course book is of the most concern for the ESP department.
The current ESP book for Intermediate Vocational students of Information
Technology is compiled by Thac Binh Cuong – an experienced teacher in the
field of information technology. However, after a few years of implementation,
it has revealed lots of limitations in terms of methodology and content. The fact
shows that most students face difficulty in speaking and listening despite their
well-grasping English grammar. They also shoulder a heavy program that goes
beyond their capacity to fulfill. This gives rise to the need of creating a new
syllabus which puts learners in the central role and is tasks-surrounded. Under
such circumstance was this study given birth. Hopefully, it will make a
contribution for the improvement of English teaching at Hanoi College of
Technology and Economics.
2. Aims and objectives of the study
The overarching target of the study is to design a task-based English syllabus
for the intermediate vocational students of information technology at Hanoi

1


College of Technology and Economics. In order to achieve this planned aim,
the following objectives are set:
-

Identifying the learning needs and target needs of the intermediate
vocational students of information technology through conducting a



 Part A is the introduction where the rationale, the aims and objectives, the
research questions, the scope, the method and the structure of the study
will be presented.
 Part B is the development comprising three chapters:
-

Chapter 1 covers literature review of ESP and syllabus design.

-

Chapter 2 presents some situational analysis of ESP teaching and learning
at HNCTE and gives descriptions of subjects of the study, instruments for
data collection and analysis of the results drawn from two questionnaires
and interviews.

-

Chapter 3 comprises ESP task-based syllabus for the intermediate
vocational students of information technology at HNCTE, methodology
of teaching, assessment and syllabus evaluation.

 Part C summarizes the main contents of the study points out limitations and
makes suggestions for further study.

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PART B: DEVELOPMENT

Dudley-Evans and St John (1998: 4-5) believe that adult learners are more likely to
use ESP, whether in a professional work situation or at tertiary level context.
Moreover, ESP is normally designed for intermediate or advanced students and

4


generally offers some basic knowledge of the language system but can be utilized
by beginners.
In short, although opinions on what ESP is differ, most of the definitions above
share a common view; that is,an ESP course must be made up based on the learners‟
needs; in other words, an ESP syllabus should be designed to meet the learner‟s
demand to inspire their learning.
1.2. Types of ESP
ESP has traditionally been divided into two main branches namely English for Academic
Purposes (EAP) and English for occupational Purposes (EOP) (Munby, 1978;
Hutchinson & Waters, 1987; Dudley-Evans & St John, 1998; Robinson, 1991).
However, Hutchinson & Waters do emphasize that there is no clear distinction between
EAP and EOP because: “people can work and study simultaneously; it is likely that in
many cases the language learnt for immediate use in a study environment will be used
later when the students take up, or return to, a job”.

Figure 1.1: ESP classification by experience (Source: Robinson, 1991:3-4)
Carter (1983) groups ESP by three types: English as a restricted language, English
for academic and occupational purposes, and English with specific topics. The
language only used by engineers or by businessmen is examples for the first

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other hand, refers to that subpart of curriculum which is concerned with a
specification of what units will be taught.”
Hutchinson and Waters (1987: 80) are in favor of Allen‟s idea, stating that “A
syllabus is a document which says what will (at least what should) be learnt.
Likewise, Nunan (1988: 5) sees syllabus design as being concerned with the
selection and grading of content, whereas methodology is involved in the selection
of learning tasks and activities. Partly agreeing with Nunan, Webb (1967:20)
maintains that syllabus design is the organization of the selected contents into an
order and practical sequence for teaching purposes. He presents some criteria for
syllabus design as follows:
-

Progress from known to unknown matter

-

Appropriate size of teaching units

-

A proper variety of activity

-

Teachability

-


of indicating the target situation. Secondly, it appears to be a static and inflexible
process. Finally, the analysis of target situation data is only at the surface level that
could not reveal clearly about the competence underlined the performance.
1.3.2.2. Skills-centred approach
Hutchinson and Waters (1987: 69) asserts: “a skills-centred approach aims to get
away from the surface performance date and look at the competence that underlines
the performance”. It means that a skills- centred course will present its learning
objectives in performance and competence simultaneously. By this way, learners
can develop skills and strategies that will further be progressed after the ESP
course. The learners are also approached as a user of language rather than a learner
of language.
1.3.2.3. Learning-centred approach
In contrast to the learner-centered approach and the skill-centered approach, in the
learning-centered approach, according Hutchinson and Waters (1987:72), “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”. By this approach, the learners
are taken into account carefully at every single stage of the design process. It does
not dwell on the learners‟ competence but also pointing out the route the learners
can follow to acquire that competence.

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In short, each approach has its own advantages and drawbacks. The learningcentred approach puts emphasis on the learners‟ competence and performance while
the skills-centred approach regards learners as users rather than learners of
language. The language-centred approach over-depends on the target situation.
Taking careful consideration, I take the learning-centred approach as the foundation
for designing an ESP syllabus for the intermediate vocational students of
information technology at HNCTE.
1.3.3. Types of syllabus

complex because there are few apparent objective means for deciding that one
functional item, for instance, „apologizing‟ is either simpler or more difficult than
another item as „requesting‟.‟
There are many benefits of this type because functions and notions are used in daily
life that help learners communicate easily.
1.3.3.3. Situational syllabus
Richards (2001: 156) calls “situational syllabus is one that is organized around the
language needed for different situations such as at the airport or at a hotel.”
Situational syllabuses have the privilege of presenting language in context and
teaching language of immediate practical use. The content of language is a

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collection of situations occurring in real life. The advantage of this type is to
stimulate and motivate the learners. On the other hand, a situational syllabus will be
limited for those learners whose needs were beyond the situations in the syllabus.
1.3.3.4. Topic-based syllabus
The primary purpose of this type is to teach content of information that use the
language learned by the students. Richards (2001:157) states that topic-based
syllabus is one that is organized around themes, topics, or other units of content.
Content plays dominant role in the process of syllabus design rather than grammar,
functions or situations.
There are some outstanding advantages of this syllabus. According to Robinson
(1991: 37), “it motivates the student and a basic for the „real‟ syllabus of the
language forms, functions or whatever the course designers wish to focus on”. The
topic-based syllabus makes linguistic form more meaningful. However, with this
syllabus, it is much more challenging to monitor the scale of balance between
grammar and content or other strands. Making choice for the basic for assessment –
learning of content or learning of language is another arisen issue.

hand, claim that „tasks provide a vehicle for the presentation of appropriate target
language samples to learners-input which they will inevitably reshape via
application of general cognitive processing capacities‟.
Richards (2001: 162) points out two kinds of tasks: pedagogical tasks and realworld tasks. The following are tasks of this kind: jigsaw tasks, information – gap
tasks, problem solving tasks, decision – making tasks, opinion exchange tasks.
As the syllabus I attempt to design is of task-based, I will look into this type of
syllabus in more detail in the sections that follow.
1.3.4.2. Definition of task-based syllabus (Procedural syllabus)
It is a syllabus which is organized around tasks, rather than in terms of grammar or
vocabulary. Robinson (1991: 39) points out that “task-based syllabuses consists of a
set of tasks or activities ordered according to cognitive difficulty” while Richard
(2006: 31) states that task is something that learners do or carry out using their
existing language resources, which involves a focus on meaning, and on the case of
tasks involving more than one learner, the task call upon the learners.

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The difference between task-based teaching and situation-based teaching is that
while situational teaching delivers content occurred in the situation, task-based
teaching aims at bringing students with a variety of language forms, functions, and
skills in completing the tasks and stimulating real communication in the foreign
language. Due to its advantages over the other syllabus type, “this type of syllabus
[task-based syllabus] has proved to be of great significance for ESP because of
using the medium of English” (Robinson 1991: 40).
1.3.4.3. Characteristics of task-based syllabus
A task-based syllabus is based on a task-based teaching approach in which tasks
such as solving problems, applying for a job or making a reservation are introduced.
The language learnt goes beyond the linguistic demands of the activity. A taskbased structure is built up with a series of the tasks. Therefore, instead of
emphasizing grammatical, notional-functional or any other items, the designer

analysis of learners, so it can fulfill their demand. “A task is a communicative
activity that does not usually have a restrictive focus on a single grammatical
structure. It also had a non-linguistic outcome” Nunan (2000). Therefore, these
tasks can wake up students‟ interest and inspiration, which both play important role
in the language acquisition. The second advantage involves authentic materials
targeted real-life context. The authentic materials and situation will promote
learners‟ ability to cope well with real problems. And lastly, task-based syllabus is
structured by a wide range of tasks. The application of a repertoire of tasks is
considered as a practical means of broadening learners‟ potential to different
situations occupationally or socially.
1.3.4.5. Limitations of task-based
Besides the strong points, this type of syllabus has revealed at least three
limitations. The biggest problem is the ambiguity of task‟s definition. Richard
(2001: 162) states “definitions of tasks are sometimes so broad to include almost
anything that involves learners doing something”. The second limitation, according
to Yalden (1997) is that “most of tasks mentioned by the advocators are referential
in nature. And there might be some tasks involve the conative function such as the
use of language to influence the action of another person”. It means that the taskbased syllabus tend to ignore other functions of language. From my point of view,
this argument against task-based language teaching seems to lack adequate
evidence. In reality, language function is portrayed through language itself.
Provided that use of language is involved, all types of language functions are
realized at the same time. It is not compulsory for the task-based syllabus or any
syllabus to make everything be covered. The final limitation regards to the grading
of the task‟s difficulty level. As is stated by Widdowson (1968: 134)“identification
of valid, user-friendly sequencing criteria is one of the oldest unsolved problems in
language teaching of all kinds”. Schinnerer-Erben even claimed that “natural
sequences do not really exist in sufficient detail to be used as the basis for a precise

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Organization of tasks

1.3.7. Needs Analysis
1.3.7.1.

The importance of needs analysis

In accordance with the development of ESP, there is an emerging tendency that
students‟ needs must be examined in the design of syllabuses. To establish a
workable syllabus design, needs analysis is suggested as the most careful concern
from which the shape of the syllabus is formed. According to John (1984), need
analysis comes to be regarded as an essential step, especially in the design of
courses in ESP.

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1.3.7.2.

Definition of needs and needs analysis

In Windowson‟s (1982: 2) words, needs refer to students‟ study or job
requirements, which are what they have to do at the end of the course. “The term
needs is not as straightforward as it might appear, and hence the term is sometimes
used to refer to wants, desires, demand, expectation, motivation, lacks, constraints,
and requirements” (Brindley, 1984: 28).
Nunan (1988: 75) states: “needs analysis refers to a family of procedures for
gathering information about learners and about communication tasks for use in
syllabus designed” whilst Dudley-Evans (1998: 122) supposes “Need analysis is