Tài liệu A students' needs analysis of the english medium foreign trade operating skills course at faculty of foreign languages ba ria vung tau university thesis

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING BA RIA VUNG TAU UNIVERSITY --------------- THESIS A STUDENTS’ NEEDS ANALYSIS OF THE ENGLISH-MEDIUM FOREIGN TRADE OPERATING SKILLS COURSE AT FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES BA RIA-VUNG TAU UNIVERSITY Submitted to the Postgraduate Institute in partial fulfillment of the Master’s degree in TESOL Course code: 8140111 By Ngo Viet Hoai Supervised by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Pham Huu Duc Ba Ria-Vung Tau – 2022 i CONTENTS CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY....................................................................iii RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS ......................................................... iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ..................................................................................... v ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................. vi CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ........................................................................... 1 1.1. Rationale of the Study .................................................................................... 1 1.2. Background and Context to the Research ................................................... 2 1.3. Objectives of the study ................................................................................... 4 1.4. Research questions......................................................................................... 4 1.5. Scope of the study .......................................................................................... 5 1.6. Significance of the study ................................................................................ 5 1.7. Definitions of the terms ................................................................................. 5 1.8. Chapter summary .......................................................................................... 6 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW .............................................................. 7 2.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................... 7 2.2 Definition of Needs Analysis in teaching and learning language. .............. 8 2.3 Classification of Needs .................................................................................. 11 2.4 Models of Needs Analysis ............................................................................. 17 2.5 Procedures of Needs Analysis ...................................................................... 22 2.6. Conceptual framework ................................................................................ 23 CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY .................................................. 26 3.1. Research method .......................................................................................... 26 3.2. Research Participants .................................................................................. 27 3.3. The instrument ............................................................................................. 29 3.4. Reliability and validity ................................................................................ 30 3.5. Research procedure ..................................................................................... 31 3.6. Summary....................................................................................................... 31 CHAPTER 4. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS.................................................. 32 4.1. Current students’ needs for Foreign Trade Operating Skills ................. 32 ii 4.2. Compare means of eight factors for the current students’ needs ........... 37 4.3. Teachers needs for Foreign Trade Operating Skills ................................ 37 4.4. The former students’ needs for Foreign Trade Operating Skills ............ 39 4.5. The enterprises’ needs for Foreign Trade Operating Skills .................... 40 4.6. The gaps between the requirements of the students’ needs and other stakeholders ......................................................................................................... 41 4.7. Discussions .................................................................................................... 42 4.8. Chapter conclusion ...................................................................................... 45 CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS ..................................... 46 5.1. Conclusions ................................................................................................... 46 5.2. Suggestions ................................................................................................... 48 5.3. Implications .................................................................................................. 49 5.4. Limitations and recommendations ............................................................. 52 REFERENCES ....................................................................................................... 53 APPENDICES ..................................................................................................... 55 APPENDIX 1. QUESTIONNAIRE FOR CURRENT STUDENTS .............. 55 APPENDIX 2. QUESTIONNAIRE FOR TEACHERS .................................. 58 APPENDIX 3. QUESTIONNAIRE FOR FORMER STUDENTS ................ 60 APPENDIX 4. QUESTIONNAIRE FOR ENTERPRISES ............................ 61 APPENDIX 5: CONSENT FORM .................................................................... 63 iii CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY I certify my authorship of the Master’s Thesis submitted today entitled: A STUDENTS’ NEEDS ANALYSIS OF THE ENGLISH-MEDIUM FOREIGN TRADE OPERATING SKILLS COURSE AT FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES – BA RIA-VUNG TAU UNIVERSITY In terms of the statement of requirements for Theses in Master’s programs issued by the Higher Degree Committee of Postgraduate Institute, Ba Ria Vung Tau University Ba Ria - Vung Tau, July 2022 Ngo Viet Hoai iv RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS I hereby state that I, Ngo Viet Hoai, being a candidate for the degree of TESOL accept the requirements of the University relating to the retention and use of Master’s Theses deposited in the Library. In terms of these conditions, I agree that the original of my Master’s Thesis deposited in the Library should be accessible for purposes of study and research, in accordance with the normal conditions established by the Librarian for the care, loan, and reproduction for theses. Ba Ria - Vung Tau, July 2022 Ngo Viet Hoai v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My special thanks are due to all those who have made great contributions to my thesis completion. First and foremost, I would like to express my profound gratitude to Assoc. Prof. Dr. Pham Huu Duc, my supervisor, for his valuable comments and suggestions during the whole research process. His dynamism, enthusiasm, vision as well as his patience have deeply inspired me. Without his support and guidance, this thesis would never have been completed. Secondly, I am very grateful to the Postgraduate Institute of Ba Ria – Vung Tau University who have supported me much time to implement this thesis. My sincere thanks also go to my friends and colleagues for all her help and encouragement. I would like to thank the research participants who have contributed to this study. Last but not least, I warmly thank my family for their countless support, greatest sympathy and unconditional love. vi ABSTRACT As the primary goal of English for specific purposes (ESP) is to educate students to utilize English in specific job settings, it is critical for ESP course planners to be aware of student needs to conduct a requirements analysis to help curriculum designers in developing effective ESP courses or programs. Thus, a course without a requirements analysis lacks the specific and explicit goals needed to deliver the attention needed for clear and effective outcomes. ESP courses that are created without a needs analysis typically have too much or too little teaching to fulfill the needs of the students. To find out the reasons for former students’ poor English achievement and what and how the Business English program can be improved in the case of Baria-Vung Tau University, a proper needs analysis (NA) is needed. Therefore, this study used a model for Business English courses of Dudley-Evans and St John (1998), and Dudley-Evans (1998) to measure the current students’ needs as well as other stakeholders’ needs in terms of foreign trade operation skills. The research found out some valid results to answer the research questions why all stakeholders are interested in foreign trade operation skills course and whether it is a practical subject for English for business program. Future research may use this study as the basis to improve the intake of ESP students’ knowledge in order to accelerate the input of ESP learning and hopefully to shorten the learning time. 1 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1. Rationale of the Study Because the primary goal of ESP is to educate students to utilize English in specific job settings, it is critical for ESP course planners to be aware of student needs (Basturkmen, 2010). Accordingly, conducting a requirements analysis, can assist curriculum designers in developing effective ESP courses or programs. A course without a requirements analysis lacks the specific and explicit goals needed to deliver the attention needed for clear and effective outcomes. The most essential contribution of requirements analysis to the development of the ESP course is that it aids the course designer in understanding the learners’ needs. As a result, course designers may create the best content, resources, pedagogical techniques, assessment criteria, and course evaluation to assist learners achieve their targeted attitude, knowledge, and skills goals. Needs analysis, according to Evans et al. (2011), is usually considered as the first step in the process. According to Hyland (2006), requirements analysis is also considered as a continuous activity that occurs as part of the course development process. Important decisions about learning objectives, material selection, instructional tactics, and evaluation may be made by determining the individual requirements of learners in the ESP course (Jin, 2014). Therefore, the historical history, techniques, and execution of the requirements analysis process are all important for ESP practitioners to understand (Evans et al., 2011). From these views above, university ESP courses or programs must recognize these expectations and ensure that the language taught reflects these real-world realities. Thus, an awareness of its English language demands should shape the content of university ESP courses relating to Foreign Trade Operating Skills in English for Business. 2 1.2. Background and Context to the Research In today’s globalized world, English is extensively used in a variety of situations, from social to corporate, academic, and scientific fields. For decades, there has been an increasing need for studying English for communication, education, and career. English Language Teaching (ELT) was created in response to this trend to accommodate the ever-increasing demand of learners who desire to perfect their English language abilities for various purposes. English for Specific Purposes (ESP) is a part of ELT that focuses on the needs of learners in specific circumstances including occupation, science, academic, and business. As a result, ESP is viewed as a teaching method that can meet specific demands of learners that General English cannot. Many earlier language studies have defined ESP differently. It is a method of teaching English to students who desire to utilize the language for specific professional, academic, or scientific goals (Robinson, 1980). When analyzing the purpose of ESP, Hutchinson and Waters (1987) asked, “Why does this student need to learn a foreign language?” Regardless of any differences in the definition of ESP, it is a learner-centered English teaching approach that must meet the needs of learners in a target context in some way. The purpose of an ESP program is to assist learners to realize their goals of utilizing English in the target setting by combining general English and topic knowledge. Special topic matter is critical in ESP programs because it inspires students and ensures that they comprehend the concepts or ideas that the English language is describing (Cozens, 2006, p.7). In this context, English for Business Purposes (or Business English) is a subset of ESP that focuses on teaching English in business, commerce, marketing, and other related professions. Learners of Business English gain English language abilities as well as specific business knowledge in terms of terminology, vocabulary, grammar, and skills, which many individuals require to function well at work. Making sales pitches, presentations, negotiations, small conversations, attending conferences, business travel, composing emails and reports, reading instructions and technical 3 manuals, and other business circumstances need these talents. As a result, proficiency in Business English is required for a successful career. To find out the reasons for former student’s poor English achievement and what and how the Business English program can be improved in the case of BariaVung Tau University, a proper Needs Analysis (NA) is needed. Iwai et al.. (1999, p.6) defined NA as follows: “the term needs analysis generally refers to the activities that are involved in collecting information that will serve as the basis for developing a curriculum that will meet the needs of a particular group of students”. NA is used to determine “what learners will be required to do with the foreign language in the target situation, and how learners might best master the target language during the period of training” (West, 1994, p.1). NA is an important method to collect data and help the course designer find out the language learners need in a target situation, making the language program more consistent with actual contexts in a real life. NA may be used to evaluate programs and introduce new ideas to satisfy the requirements of students. It gives insight into how learners, teachers, and businesses think about what can be done to help students improve their English skills. These viewpoints can be used to tailor an English education to the needs of students and to meet the demands of employers. Moreover, because each work entails employing one or more of the abilities more than the others, a NA is also useful in evaluating which skills among listening, speaking, writing, and reading are priority in a certain occupational function. Thus, conducting a NA seems to be an appropriate strategy to find out the type of English students’ need for their career in the field of foreign trade. From these current situations, it is necessary to conduct a Needs Analysis to collect information about perspectives of learners, teachers, former students, and employers in relation to their satisfaction level with the English program provided at the university and suggestions to improve the quality of student’s performance in handling foreign trade activities. Although the needs of stakeholders (enterprises, teachers, former students, and current students) may vary, the gaps between the 4 requirements of the students’ needs and other stakeholders are not of any differences. However, there is a problem with the current students that they are not really interested in this subject, and their willingness is not high enough to have a plan to study FTOS effectively. The reason may be that the current students have not identified their real goals or have not implemented the study plan in the best way. 1.3. Objectives of the study The main goal of this thesis was to conduct a needs analysis in an English for the Foreign Trade Operation Skills (FTOS) context at Baria-Vungtau University (BVU) from April to November 2021. The needs analysis process explored the gap between the learning objectives and real businesses in skills and language used in FTOS course, especially, the English language needs of undergraduates in a Business English program with the aim of providing guidelines for redesigning and developing an appropriate FTOS course. It can help curriculum designers to adjust curriculum design course. Therefore, graduates can better meet the needs of businesses. Using a Needs Analysis (NA) for this study, the research wants to achieve the following goals: Investigate the perspectives of four groups of stakeholders’ needs (Present Students of Business English, Business English teachers, Graduates, and Employers) on the Foreign Trade Operating skills teaching and learning practices at the English Faculty of BVU. Find out the gaps between the requirements of the students’ needs and other stakeholders and suggest some implications and innovative changes based on the outcomes of this study that can be applied to enhance the English proficiency and business knowledge for students at the university. 1.4. Research questions This study will try to answer the following research questions: (1) Do the stakeholders have needs in teaching and learning the Foreign Trade Operation Skills course in English for business program at the English Faculty of BVU? 5 (2) What are gaps between the requirements of the students’ needs and other stakeholders? 1.5. Scope of the study This study is conducted at the English Faculty of BVU. The Needs Analysis is carried out on four groups of stakeholders: current students majoring in Business English, Business English teachers teaches, BVU Business English graduates, and employers of several enterprises in Baria -Vungtau (BRVT) province. 1.6. Significance of the study This study will explore the student’s needs in learning English for their major in Business English at the university. Also, it will collect valuable opinions from Business English teachers, graduates, and employers. Therefore, results from this study are useful for the Foreign Trade Operating Skill designers to review the current program and make innovative changes to help students perform successfully in a target communicative business context. Findings from this study will significantly contribute to the knowledge of International Trade and teaching the Foreign Trade Operating skills setting and will serve as a foundation for future researches on teaching practical the Foreign Trade Operating skills subject. 1.7. Definitions of the terms • English Language Teaching (ELT): the teaching of English to people for whom it is not the first language. • English for Specific Purposes (ESP): the teaching of English for scientific, technical, etc. purposes to people whose first language is not English. • Needs Analysis (NA): involves doing some kind of activity with a learner in order to find out what their learning needs are. • Foreign Trade Operating Skills (FTOS): The skills needed to operate in the international market such as foreign trade contracts, INCOTERM, Cargo insurance and risks in international trade activities. • Communication Needs Processor (CNF): 6 1.8. Chapter summary This chapter presented the rationale and significant of the study, the background and context to the research, the aims of the study, research questions, scope and significant of the study, and the definition of terms. 7 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW This chapter presents theoretical backgrounds and a conceptual framework of the research. 2.1 Introduction From an economic point of view, Vietnam has achieved many important achievements in the nearly 35 years of reform since December 1986. Developing a high-quality human resource is considered as the most important factor for the development of the country. High-quality human resources can only be achieved through education and continuous training. Human resources, who have good skills, knowledge and fluent in international business languages, are the key to success in the process of integrating into the global economy. As of December 31, 2020, Vietnam has signed 15 bilateral and multilateral trade agreements with most countries in the world (AFTA, ASEAN, ACFTA, AKFTA, AJCEP, VJEPA, AIFTA, AANZFTA, VCFTA, VKFTA, VN – EAEU FTA, CPTPP, AHKFTA, EVFTA, UKVFTA, RCEP). For successful international integration, a decisive factor is that human resources must be fluent in English, especially English for international trade. Therefore, the demand for human resources using English in international business activities will certainly increase in the near future. The knowledge and skills of the FTOS course are an essential tool for anyone working in international trade. All lectures want to prepare their students to equip these targets but this effort is not always effective. One of the main problems is how learners achieve the knowledge goals in the limited of period of times and resources of this course. The very first approaching should be analyzing the needs of learners and employers in order to best adjust the teaching content. This information will show learners what they must learn and the teachers what professional knowledge they must teach students. 8 2.2 Definition of Needs Analysis in teaching and learning language. Needs analysis has existed in the world of language education more than eight decades. White (1988) and West (1997) convince that Needs analysis, as a term related to language teaching, first appeared in the 1920s. However, it became popular in the decade of the 70s and early 80s by means of some major publications which were associated to ESP teaching such as those by Li (2014) or Rahman (2015). During this time, a lot of literature has explained what needs analysis is and how it has been worked out. Many researchers have discussed the different meanings of needs. Needs refer to learners' present study or future job requirements, in other words, what they have to be able to do at the end of their language course (Yogman,1996). Mountford (1981) said that needs mean “what the user-institution or society at large regards as necessary or desirable to be learnt from a program of language instruction. These two definitions take needs as student's study or job requirements and are goal oriented, which is more appropriately described as objectives, are drawn from the goal or target situation. According to Richards and Schmidt (2002), ESP as a teaching program whose aims are completed to the particular needs of specific groups of learners and ESP oppose totally to General English that is not involved in any special purposes. On the other hand, Berwick, (1989) shows that the identification of language needs “consists primarily in compiling information both on the individuals or groups of individuals who are to learn a language and on the use which they are expected to make of it when they have learnt it”. Seedhouse, (1995) said that needs may equal to learners' “wants” or “desires” which refers to what the students themselves would like to learn in addition to their program requirements. Berwick (1989) defines “needs” as “the gap between a current state of affairs and a desired future state”. These researchers are process-oriented and they focus more on what the learner needs to do to actually acquire the language or on what the students would like to gain from the language course. To include, product-oriented needs 9 derive from the goal or target situation and process-oriented needs derive from the learning situation (Evans, & Morrison, 2011). According to Robinson (1991), needs can be interpreted as inadequacies to be filled, “what the students do not know or cannot do in English”. Brindley (1984) hold his opinion that it is possible to contrast the views of learners/students and of teachers/authorities, when thinking of the goals and content of a course. “Conflict” may also develop between learners and teachers in relation to a number of learning activities, strategies and materials and language content. No matter what needs are considered to be, objectives should be based on them. Needs analysis mentions the activities involved in gathering information that will serve the basis for developing a curriculum that will meet the learning needs of a particular group of students. Once identified, needs can be stated in terms of goals and objectives which, in turn, can serve as the basis for developing tests, materials, teaching activities, and evaluation strategies, as well as for reevaluating the precision and accuracy of the original needs assessment. Thus, needs assessment is an integral part of systematic curriculum building. Brown, (2009) and Haque (2014) argues that needs analysis is a set of procedures for specifying the parameters of a course of study. Such parameters include the criteria and rationale for grouping learners, the selection and sequencing of course content, methodology, course length, and intensity and duration. Evans illustrated that NA is defined as the process of determining the needs for which a learner or group of learners requires a language and arranges the needs according to priorities. It is the process of establishing what and how of the course. It mainly uses of both subjective and objective information (Questionnaires, Observation, interviews and tests). Notice that the needs described in this definition are those of the learners involved and also notice that the student's language requirements are to be and sequenced on the basis of both subjective and objective information. 10 Furthermore, McCormick,et al.l (1985) pointed out that NA is the process of determining the things that are necessary or useful for the fulfillment of a defensible purpose (as cited in Brown, 2001, p.16). A key phrase in this broader definition is “defensible”. This definition is attractive because it implies that the needs that are isolated must be defensible and form a unified and justifiable purpose. Witkin, B. R. (1994) states that Needs assessment refers to an array of procedures for identifying and validating needs and establishing priorities among them. The key phrases that make this definition different from the others are “array of procedures” and “validating needs.” The first phrase indicated that a variety of information-gathering tools should be used. The second implied that needs are not absolute, that is, once they are identified, they continually need to be examined for validity to ensure that they remain real needs for the students involved. Brown combined the best features of the above definitions and defined needs analysis as a systematic collection and analysis of all subjective and objective information necessary to define and validate defensible curriculum purposes that satisfy the language learning requirements of students within the context of particular institutions that influence the learning and teaching situation. Needs assessment enables researchers to justify their assumptions as to whether or not potential educational needs are sound, to design a program in terms of topics and materials so as to be responsive to the needs of participants. Thus, needs analysis aids administrators, teachers, and tutors with learner placement, developing materials, curricula, skills assessments, teaching approaches, and teacher training. It assures a flexible, responsive curriculum rather than a fixed and linear curriculum determined ahead of time by instructors. It provides information to the instructor about what the learner brings to the course (if done at the beginning), what has been accomplished (if done during the course), and what the learner wants and needs to know next. When learners know that educators understand and want to address specific needs and interests, the former are motivated to continue learning. 11 English is the official language used in international documents, science publications, airport and so on. According to Tavil (2006), the role of English is indispensable in this globalized world as it is the first language to be dominant in an age of global communication. A certain level of English proficiency is usually required in most of occupations such as business, commerce, government jobs, science and technology, tourism, academia and so on. 2.3 Classification of Needs Linguists have different views on the classification of needs. The author presents only a handful of views on their needs’ classification: 2.3.1 Perceived Needs and Felt Needs Berwick (1989) defines the perceived needs as objectives set according to others' learning experiences. In his view, perceived needs are the thoughts of experts about the educational gaps in other peoples' experience. Perceived needs are often considered as normative, real, and objective, in the sense that they reflect teachers' or educational settings' outsider perceptions of learners' language needs. On the other hand, the felt needs are as the learner's own needs. These are those needs that the learners think they need. Felt needs are related to the feelings, thoughts, and assumptions of the learners. They can be defined as “wants” and “desires” of the learners. 2.3.2 Object Needs and Subjective Needs Brindley (1984) and Robinson (1991) state the concepts of objective needs and subjective needs. Objective needs can be defined as the needs, which are derivable from different kinds of factual information about learners, their use of language in real-life communication situations as well as their current language proficiency and language difficulties. Objective needs can be diagnosed by teachers on the basis of the analysis of personal data about learners' biographical data, such as age, gender, nationality, marital status, educational background, pre-learned language courses, current language proficiency, patterns of language, difficulties in 12 foreign language learning, current or future profession. This information should be embedded into the process of assessing objective needs. In contrast to objective needs, Subjective needs refer to the cognitive and affective needs of the learners in the learning situation, derivable from information about affective and cognitive factors such as personality, confidence, self-esteem, expectations, learners' wants with regard to the learning of English and their individual cognitive styles (Brindley,1984)). Subjective needs are the language learning cognition and emotional needs of learners. Assessing subjective needs requires information about students' attitudes towards the target language and culture, toward learning and toward themselves as learners; students' expectations of themselves and of the course; students' underlying purposes (Brown, 2016)). Sometimes subjective needs cannot be diagnosed easily, or in many cases, even cannot be stated clearly by learners themselves. 2.3.3 Target Needs. Target needs relates to the learner's “necessities”, “lacks” and “wants” for functioning effectively in the target situation. To illustrate “target needs” more explicitly, it is more useful to look at the target situation in terms of “necessities”, “lacks” and “wants”. “Necessities” is defined as what the learner has to know in order to function effectively in the target situation (Hutchinson & Waters, 1987). For example, international sellers should need to know well about business letters, how to communicate effectively at sales conferences, to get the necessary information from catalogues and so on. He or she might also need to know the linguistic features such as discourse, function, structure and lexicon, which are commonly used in the situations identified. The information is relatively easy to gather by observing what situations the learner will need to function in and analyzing the constituent parts of them. In Business English teaching, the needs of particular learners are emphasized. What the learner already knows but still spends time to learn, then 13 which of the necessities the learner lacks can be decided. Whether or not (or to what extent) learners need the instruction will depend on how well they have already. The target proficiency, in other words, needs to be matched with the existing proficiency of the learners. The gap between the two can be referred as the learners' lacks. Hutchinson and Waters (1987) definition of target needs emphasize allowing students to express their own expectations towards their target situation requirements. The concept of “wants” shares the same cognition with objective needs and subjective needs. “Target needs” is considered from the objective perspective without considering the role of the learners. However, the fact is that the learners do have the idea of what their needs are. Since subjective needs are related to the students' feelings and expectations about their language needs, they reflect the "wants” defined by Hutchinson and Waters (1987) and are the subjective needs of the learner. Therefore, teachers probably perceive the objective needs and learners may perceive their subjective needs. A lot of cases in the development of Business English have shown that there is no necessary relationship between the necessities perceived by the designers and what the learners want or feel what they need. Sometimes, the learner’s perception of needs may even be in conflict with that of course designers, so it is necessary for the course designers to keep in mind what the learners want to know after taking the course. Besides, Hutchinson and Waters’ (1987) definition of “wants” and Berwick’s definition of “felt needs” resemble each other as both of them are related with the learners’ own perceptions about their needs. 2.3.4 Learning Needs Learning needs concerns about many aspects like the learner's motivations, attitudes, interests, personal reasons for learning, learning styles, resources and time available. According to Hutchinson and Waters (1987), it is always inadequate to base a course design simply on the target objectives, just as it is not enough to think that a journey can be planned solely in terms of the starting point and the