Tài liệu Designing an esp reading syllabus for civil servants of the ministry of agriculture and rural development at college of management in agriculture and rural development no1

. t “■ '7* ' ỉ Ri/I-CA! * ■* , «.rt' -.ỉ „ 00 TÍM lipN G HO^ .BESIGMNĨỈ AN ESPREÂ >R c n - ER\ ■ rai m NìSTP y o r ^GRICƯLTƯRE ẠND‘Rt?RAL BẸYEI ẠT-eỌlXEGE OF MANAGI ViENì I í GEi AND RƯKAL ĐEVELOÉÌíẺNT N í ^ . / O M t n i í O 'Ĩ N t e M ỉ A X ĩ O í.H U .A ẫ E P l ■ ■ 5 OE OF MASTE1 t i - Ị i i ĩ c C NT ỈVỈVRĨ MINISTRY 0 F EDUCATION AND TRAINING H A N O I U N IV ER SITY DO THI HONG HOA DESIGNING AN ESP READING SYLLABƯS FOR CIVIL SERVANTS OF THE MINISTRY OF AGRICƯLTƯRE AND RƯRAL DEVELOPMENT AT COLLEGE OF MANAGEMENT IN AGRICULTƯRE AND RƯRAL DEVELOPMENT N°1 f ------------ - s> ^ A ^ t r u h g t Am g T THÚN6 TIN THƯ VIỆN SL NN-VH NƯỞC ỈỈGOẢI T4TV À iĩỉo í V _ — SUBMITTED IN PARTLA.L FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER IN TESOL Hanoi October 2007 TABLE OF CONTENTS A C K N O W L E D G E M E N T S ................................................................................................... IV A B S T R A C T ................................................................................................................................ V STATEMENT OF A U T H O R SH IP......................................................................................VI LIST OF A BBR EV IA TIO N S.............................................................................................VIII CHAPTER I - IN T R O D U C T IO N .......................................................................................... 1 1.1. BACKGROƯND TO THE STU D Y ............................................................................. 1 1.2. AIMS O FT H E ST U D Y ................................................................................................. 2 1.3. SCOPE OF THE ST U D Y .............................................................................................. 3 1.4. SIGNiriCANCE OFTHE STUDY..........................................................................3 1.5. ORGANIZATION OF THE THESIS......................................................................... 3 CHAPTER II - LITERATURE R EVIEW ........................................................................... 4 2.1. AN OVERVIEW OF ENGLISH FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSES (E SP).............. 4 2.1.1. Deíínỉtion and characteristics of E SP ................................................................ 4 2.1.2. Types o f E S P ............................................................................................................ 5 2.1.3. Needs Analysis in E SP............................................................................................6 2.1.3.1. Meanings o f needs.............................................................................................. 6 2.1.3.2. Approaches to Needs Analysis...........................................................................9 2.1.3.3. Data Collectìon Instruments for Needs Analysis............................................13 2 .2 . O V E R V IE w O F SY L L A BUS D E S IG N ......................................................................15 2.2.1. Detìnitions of syllabus.......................................................................................... 15 2.2.2. Syllabus in a training program m e.................................................................... 15 2.2.3. Bases for ESP syllabus design.............................................................................16 2.2.4. Types o f syllabi....................................................................................................... 17 2.2.4.1. A language-form syllabus................................................................................. 17 2.2 4.2. Atopic-based syllabus...................................................................................... 18 2.2.4.3. Askill-based syllabus........................................................................................ 18 2.2.5. Syllabus Specifícations.........................................................................................19 2.2.6. Syllabus Organization......................................................................................... 20 2.3. MATERIAL DEVELOPMENT IN E S P ..................................................................21 2.3.1. Definition of A uthenticity...................................................................................22 2.3.2. Arguments for Authentic T exts......................................................................... 22 2.3.3. Criteria for the selection of authentic texts.................................................... 23 2.4. AN OVERVIEYV O F R EAD IN G T H E O R IE S ........................................................23 2.4.1. R eading and reading com p reh en sio n .............................................................. 23 2.4.2. Reading process.....................................................................................................24 2.4.3. Purposes for reading............................................................................................ 26 2.4.4. R eading Skills/ Strategies.................................................................................... 27 I 2.5. SUM M AR Y ..................................................................................................................... 29 CHAPTER III - M ETH O DO LO G Y....................................................................................30 3.1. M ETH O DO LO G Y........................................................................................................30 3.2. DESCRIPTION OF DATACOLLECTION INSTRUM ENTS.......................... 30 3.2.1. Q uestionnaires........................................................................................................30 3.2.2. Interview s................................................................................................................. 31 3.2.3. Documents analysis............................................................................................... 31 3.3. DESCRIPTION OFTH E SƯBJECTS......................................................................33 3.3.1. Course participants............................................................................................... 33 3.3.2. The teachers at C M A R D 1................................................................................... 33 3.3.3. The administrators at M A R D ............................................................................ 34 3.4. SUM M AR Y ..................................................................................................................... 34 CHAPTER IV - DATA ANALYSIS AND D ISC U SSIO N S............................................. 35 4.1. RESULTS FROM QUESTIONNAIRE1...............................................................35 4.1.1. Learners’ background iníorm ation.................................................................. 35 4.1.2. Learners’ learning experiences..........................................................................37 4.1.3. Learners reading habits and their diỉíiculties in reading........................... 38 4.1.3.1. Leamers’ reading rate and reading frequency................................................. 38 4.1.3.2. Leamers’ habits while reading.............................................................. .........39 4.1.3.3. Leamers’ diABculties while reading..................................................................40 4.1.4. Learners’ expectations towards an ESP reading syllab u s.......................... 41 4.1.4.1. Importance o f an ESP reading syllabus.................................................... . 41 4.1.4.2. Leamers’ purposes o f taking an ESP reading course...................................... 41 4.1.4.3. Leamers’ expectations towards an ESP reading course.................................42 4.1.4.4. Reading topics selected by the leam ers............................................................43 4.2. RESULTS FROM Q UESTIO NNAIREII................................................................ 44 4.2.1. Teachers’ background information................................................................... 44 4.2.2. The importance and benefỉts o f an ESP reading sy lla b u s.......................... 44 4.2.3. Teachers’ suggestions on reading skills and exercises.................................. 45 4.2.4. Reading texts and specialized language item s............................................... 47 4.2.5. Diffỉculties in teaching E S P .................................................................................48 4.3. RESULTS FROM INTERVIEW S...............................................................................48 4.4. RESULTS FROM DOCUMENT A N A LY SIS......................................................... 51 4.4.1. Institutionai documents analysis........................................................................ 51 4.4.2. Text analysis............................................................................................................. 51 4.5. M A JO R FIN D IN G S AND D ISC U SSIO N ................................................................ 52 4.5.1. L e a rn e rs ’ ta rg e t needs...........................................................................................52 4.5.2. Learners’ learning needs.......................................................................................53 4.6. SU M M A R Y ......................................................................................................................54 II CHAPTER V - A PROPOSED ESP READING SYLLABUS AND CO N C LU SIO N ................................................................55 5.1. A PROPOSED READING SYLLABUS...................................................................55 5.1.1. Rationale for the chosen syllabuses..................................................................55 5.1.2. Goals and objectives............................................................................................. 55 5.1.2.1. G oals...................................................................................................................55 5.1.2.2. Objectives.......................................................................................................... 56 5.1.3. Contents Speciíication..........................................................................................57 5.1.3.1. 5.1.3.2. 5.1.3.3. 5.1.3.4. 5.1.3.5. Chosen topics.................................................................................................... 57 Reading skills.....................................................................................................58 Grammar items.................................................................................................. 58 Vocabulary and comprehension exercises.......................................................58 Reading activities.............................................................................................. 63 5.1.4. Time schedule and Sequencing of teaching u n its......................................... 64 5.1.4.1 Time schedule..................................................................................................... 64 5.1.4.2. Sequencing o f teaching units............................................................................ 64 5.2. RECOMM ENDATIONS AND CO NCLƯ SION................................................... 70 5.2.1. R ecom m endations................................................................................................ 70 5.2.1.1. Materials selection............................................................................................ 70 5.2.1.2. Teaching methodology...................................................................................... 70 5.2.1.3. ESP staff development.......................................................................................71 5.2.1.4. Assessment and Evaluation and on-goữig improvement in the syllabus.... 72 5.2.1.5. Other suggestions...............................................................................................73 5.2.2. C onclusion...............................................................................................................74 R EFER EN C ES............................................................................................... .......................... 76 APPENDIX 1 ............................................................................................................................. 80 APPENDIX 2 ............................................................................................................................. 82 APPENDIX 3 ..............................................................................................................................85 APPENDIX 4 ............................................................................................................................. 88 APPENDIX 5 .........................................................................................................................90 III ACKNOVYLEDGEMENTS I am extremely grateful to my supervisor, Dr. Nguyen Duc Hoat, from University of Foreign Trade for all his considerate assistance and criticism, his valuable instructions and comments and suggestions. I would like to express my gratitude to Dr. Vu Van Dai, Head o f Department o f PostGraduate Studies and Ms. Nguyen Thai Ha, Senior lecturer o f Department o f PostGraduate Studies, Hanoi University, who have made favourable conditions and opportunities for the preparation and completion o f the study. I also would like to thank all my teachers, lecturers and staff at the Department of PostGraduate Studies, Hanoi University for their considerations and enthusiasm in helping me complete this thesis. I wish to acknowledge all my íriends, colleagues, heads o f departments and civil servants at MARD for their cooperation and suggestions in conducting the study. IV ABSTRACT The study on designing an ESP reading syllabus for the civil servants of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development at the College o f Management in Agriculture and Rural Development N°1 was conducted to meet the civil servants’ needs in leaming for their proíessional study. The aims o f the study are to identiíy the leam ers’ leaming needs and target needs by carrying out a needs analysis and propose a suitable ESP reading syllabus for the civil servants at MARD. The study started with the reviev/ o f the relevant literature on ESP, syllabus design and reading theory to provide a theoretical base for the study. Then the surveys were conducted by using some means o f data collection instruments such as questionnaires, interviews and document analysis to get data o f leaming needs and target needs. The íindings from data analysis set up the goals, objectives o f the syllabus, the basic components o f designing an ESP reading syllabus such as topics, skills, grammatical items, technical vocabulary and exercises as well as the organization and time arrangement for the course. The som e suggestions on matcrials sclcction, tcaching methodology, ESP teachers’ development, assessment and evaluations procedures are also given at the end o f the thesis. Hopeíully, this study will be applied in teaching and leaming situation in the reíresher courses at CMARD1 and meet the institutional requirements and the needs of leaming English o f the civil servants at MARD. At the same time, this study will be used as reíerence for people working in the fíeld of agriculture and rural development. V STATEM ENT OF A U T H O R SH IP I certify that the thesis submitted entitled “Designing an ESP reading syllabus for civil servants o f the Ministry o f Agriculture and Rural Development at the College of M anagement in Agriculture and Rural Development N ° l” in terms o f the statements of the requirements for the degree o f M aster o f Arts in TESOL is the result o f my work, except where othenvise acknowledged, and this minor or any part o f the same has not been submitted for a higher degree to any other university or institution. The research reported in this thesis was approved by Hanoi University. VI LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS CMARD1: College for Management in Agriculture and Rural Development 1 EAP: English for Academic Purposes EBE: English for Business and Economics EFL: English as Foreign Language EOP: English for Occupational Purposes ELT: English Language Teaching ESL: English as Second Language ESP: English for Speciíìc Purposes ESS: English for Social Studies EST: English for Science and Technology FAO: Food and Agriculture Organization IRRI: International Rice Research Institute GE: General English MARD: M inistry o f Agriculture and Rural Development PSA: Present Situation Analysis TESOL: Teaching English to Speakers o f Other Languages TSA: Target Situation Analysis VIII CHAPTER I - INTRODƯCTION 1.1. BA CK G RO U ND TO T H E STUDY The College o f M anagement in Agriculture and Rural Development N°1 (CMARD1) is a new entity created from the amalgamation o f three colleges: The College of Agriculture M anagement Training, the College o f Forestry M anagement Training and the College o f Water Resources Management Training under Decision 406TTg dated June 17*, 1996 by Prime Minister and Decision 1029 NN-TCCB dated July 2nd, 1996 by Minister o f Ministry o f Agriculture and Rural Development. CMARD 1 has been assigned to offer training and reíresher courses for civil servants working in agriculture and rural development such as training courses for production and business management staff, refresher courses for officials engaged in agricultural and íbrestry extension activities and management of natural resources and environment field. Since 1996, English reíresher courses have been inừoduced in the college’s training programmes in order to improve English language for oíficials, civil servants and staff of MARD. M any English refresher courses, which are 3 month-GE courses with 75 class periods, have been carried out at CMARD1 or at the OíRce o f MARD. Annually, there are two reữesher courses at elementary and pre-intermediate level. In the courses, Headvvay Elementary and Headvvay Pre-Intermediate, both Student’s book and Workbook (Soars, J. and Soars, L., 1993) are used as the main textbooks. The aim o f the courses is to provide leamers vvith basic grammatical and lexical items and to develop all the four language skills. In recent years, these courses have attracted fewer ỉeamers’ participations than before because the textbooks used in the courses are the same as those, which they have leamed at universities or at íòreign languages centres. Though most o f the civil servants o f MARD leamed English three or four years at universities, their English proíiciency has been assumed at pre-intermediate level. It is not good enough for them to update iníbrmation related to their jobs, their research from a wide range o f available reading materials such as magazines, newspapers, and internet and to work with íoreign counterparts. According to Decision N° 1152/QĐ-BNN-TCCB on English and iníbrmatics refresher courses for officials, civil servants and staff o f MARD dated May 7th, 2006 by the Minister of MARD, CMARD1 is responsible for designing English teaching syllabuses so that they are suitable to the staff of MARD. The author o f this study who works as a teacher of English at CMARD1 takes charge o f designing an English teaching syllabus to civil servants working in agricultural areas. In leaming and teaching languages, with the spread o f the leamer-centered approach and the continued increase o f intemational contacts in various spheres, much attention has been paid to the design o f ESP courses. According to Hutchinson and Waters (1987), English for Specific Purposes (ESP) is an approach to language teaching in which all decisions as to content and methods are based on the leam er’s reason for leaming. Therefore, to improve English for the civil servants, the design o f an ESP course is useful and necessary. Novvadays, the availability of a wide range o f scientifíc publications written in English helps the civil servants o f MARD get iníòrmation from various written sources so as to update academic research and develop in their related íield o f study. Thus, the improvement o f reading skills is very necessary for them. It helps them find out iníbrmation related to their jobs or their study as quickly as they can. For these reasons, the author decided to carry out the study to propose an ESP reading syllabus for the civil servants o f MARD in the hope o f providing them with a wide range o f technical vocabulary and expressions related to their jobs, grammatical items as w ell as reading activỉtics to dcvclop tlicir icading skills, which help them collect iníòrmation from existing materials such as magazines, newspapers, internet and so on. In addition to this, the author vvishes to motivate civil servants’ participation in the English reíresher courses in the future and to meet the reqiũrements of the Minister o f MARD on the improvement o f English language o f the civil servants. 1.2. AIMS OF THE STUDY The study aims to design an ESP reading syllabus for the civil servants of MARD. Thus, it will be based on a needs analysis o f the target group. The speciíic objectives of the study are: 1) to investigate civil servants’ English target needs and leaming needs; and 2) to propose an ESP reading syllabus suitable to the civil servants o f MARD. To meet these objectives, the study aims to find the ansvvers for the following questions: 1. What are the leam ers’ language target needs? 2. What are the leam ers’ language leaming needs? 3. What are the speciĩications of an ESP reading syllabus based on thc leamers’ needs? 2 1.3. SCOPE O FTH E STUDY The study will be carried out at MARD and CMARD1. The needs analysis will be conducted with the civil servants, administrators at MARD, the teachers o f English at CMARD1, then a suitable ESP syllabus will be designed to meet the requirements o f the Board o f Directors o f CMARD1 as well as leam ers’ leaming needs and target needs. According to the academic situation at CMARD1, teaching reading is given the priority and the syllabus will be an ESP reading syllabus. However, this does not mean that other skills will be ignored but they will be integrated in reading lessons in the syllabus with appropriate proposition in order to make the lessons more interesting as well as to help leamers improve their reading skills. 1.4. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY The designed syllabus will be the fưst ESP reading syllabus for the civil servants of MARD. It is hoped that this study will have much practical signiíicance. The proposed reading syllabus will be applied to teaching ESP for them. The syllabus not only provide them with a wide range o f topics related to agriculture and rural development through existing texts, authentic texts and so on but its reading activities also develop leam ers’ reading skills vvhich are very necessary for their scientiíic research, íurther studies and their jobs. 1.5. ORGANIZATION OF THE THESIS The research study is organized into five chapters, a list o f reíerences, and appendices. Chapter I, Introduction, includes the background to the study, aim o f the study, the scope o f the study and organization o f the thesis. Chapter II presents a review o f the theoretical íòundation related to ESP syllabus design consisting o f an overview of ESP, an overviev/ o f syllabus design, material development and an overview o f reading theories. Chapter III describes the choice o f methodology, subject o f the study, and means o f data collections. Chapter IV presents preliminary results, data analysis and research íĩndings. Chapter V is an attempt to propose an ESP reading syllabus and comes to an end o f the study. CHAPTER II - LITERATURE REVIEW This chapter presents some literature review related to ESP syllabus design, which is the base of the study. Overviews o f English for Specifíc Purposes, syllabus design, materials development in ESP and reading theories are taken into account, respectively. 2.1. AN OVERVIEW OF ENGLISH FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSES (ESP) 2.1.1. Deíinition and characteristics of ESP ESP has been deíined diíĩerently by diíĩerent authors. Hutchinson and Waters (1987) see ESP as an approach to language leaming, which is based on leamer need, not as a product to language teaching. They argue that the íòundation o f ESP is the simple question: Why does this leam er need to leam a íòreign language? Thus, they defme ESP as follows: "ESP is an approach to language teaching in which all decisions as to content and method are based on the leamer's reason for leaming" (Hutchinson and Waters, 1987:19). Strevens (1988) deíĩned ESP by identiíying its absolute and variable characteristics. Strevens' (1988) definition makes a distinction between four absolute and two variable characteristics: absolute characteristics and variable characteristics. Ten years later, theorists Dudley-Evans and St John (1998), cited in Gatehouse (2001) and Chen (2006) modiíy Strevens' original definition o f ESP to fonn theữ own. They remove the absolute characteristic that 'ESP is in contrast with General English' and added more variable characteristics. They assert that ESP is not necessarily related to a specific discipline. Furthermore, ESP is likely to be used with adult leamers although it could be used with young adults in a secondary school setting. At a 1997 Japan Conference on ESP, Dudley-Evans offered a modified definition. The revised definition, he and St. John postulate is as follows: • • Absolute Characteristics ESP is defined to meet speciíic needs o f the leamer; ESP makes use o f the underlying methodology and activities o f the discipline it serves; ESP is centered on the language (grammar, lexis, and register), skills, discourse and genres appropriate to these activities. Variable Characteristics ESP may be related to or designed for speciíìc disciplines; ESP may use, ừi specific teaching situations, a diổerent methodology from that of general English; ESP is likely to be designed for adult leamers, either at a tertiary level institution or in a professional work situation. It could, however, be for leamers at secondary school level; 4 ESP is generally designed for intermediate or advanced leamers; Most ESP courses assume some basic knovvledge o f the language system, but it can be used with beginners. (Dudley-Evans and St. John, 1998:5) This deíĩnition is considered the most comprehensive because it covers and revises all the features o f ESP mentioned by other authors. 2.1.2. Types o f ESP There are many types o f ESP and many acronyms. Robinson (1991:3) gives two versions of the ESP ‘family tree’ as shown in Figure 2.1 and Figure 2.2. Pre-experience -EOP- -Simultaneous / In-service Post-experience In-study ESP — For study in a — speciíic discipline Pre-study Post-study -EEP/EAP"Ixiđcpciidciit — As a school subject ■ "Integrated Figure 2.1: The ESP ‘/antily tree’ (Robinson, 1991:3) As seen from Figure 2.1, there are two main types o f ESP, EOP (English for Occupational Purposes), involving work-related needs and ưaining and EAP (English for Academic Purposes), involving academic study needs. An example o f EOP for the EST branch is 'English for Technicians' whereas an example o f EAP for the EST branch is 'English for Medical Studies'. Cutting across these is English for Science and Technology (EST), mainly used for ESP work in the USA, which can refer to both work-related and study-related. Hutchinson and Waters (1987) note that there is not a clear-cut distinction between EAP and EOP: "people can work and study simultaneously; it is also likely that in many cases the language learnt for immediate use in a study environment will be used later when the student takes up, or retưms to, a job" (Hutchinson and Waters, 1987:16) 5 Figure 2.2 shovved that ESP can be divided into many types. It is necessary for teachers to knovv the current terms for various types o f ESP and what they mean because they do provide an overall picture o f the main groups o f leamers they are vvorking with. 'Entry level General E A P. 'Low er division Academic Discipline speciíic (graduate level) Usually done privately Vocational Literacy Figure 2.2: ESP in the USA (Robinson, 1991:4) In the Tree o f ELT’ (Hutchinson and Waters, 1987), ESP is broken down into three branches: (a) English for Science and Technology (EST); (b) English for Business and Economics (EBE), and (c) English for Social Studies (ESS). With the characteristics of the leamers as all civil servants, who are engineers and scientiíic researchers, EST will be the most suitable type o f ESP to choose for designing an ESP reading syllabus for them. 2.1.3. Needs Analysis in ESP 2.1.3.1. M eanings of needs The diíĩerent meanings o f needs have been discussed by different researchers. First, needs can refer to leam ers’ study or job requirements, that is, what they have to be able to do at the end o f their language course. This is a goal-oriented deíĩnition o f needs (Widdowson, 1981:2). Needs in this sense ‘are perhaps more appropriately described as ‘objectives’ (Berwick, 1989:57). Second, needs can mean ‘what the user-institution or society at large regards as necessary or desirable to be learnt from a programme of 6 language instruction’ (Mountíbrd, 1981:27). Third, needs can be considered as ‘what the leamer needs to do to actually acquire the language’. This is a process-oriented deíìnition o f needs and related to transitional behaviour, the means o f leaming (Widdowson, 1981:2). Fourth, needs may be understood as ‘personal needs’, which can be viewed as ‘wants or desires’ (Bervvick, 1989:55). Finally, needs can be interpreted as ‘lacks’, that is, what the leamers do not know or can not do in English. Conceming types o f needs, there are different views o f needs which have been paired such as objective versus subjective needs (Richterich, 1980), perceived versus fe lt needs (Berwick, 1989), goal-oriented and process-oriented needs (Robinson, 1991). Hutchinson and Waters (1987:58) expand on the idea o f needs by classiíying them into “target needs” (what the leam er needs to do in the target situation) and “leaming needs”. In this study, leam ers’ needs will be taken into account under Hutchinson and Waters’ point o f view in terms o f target needs and leaming needs which will be elaborated in details as follows: Target needs Target needs are what the leamer needs to do in the target situation (Hutchinson and Waters, 1987). Within the category o f target needs, ủirther division under Necessities, Lacks and Wants are identified. Necessities “Necessities” are the type o f need determined by the demands o f the target situation, that is, what the leamer has to know in order to íiinction effectively in the target situation. They are also seen as “objective needs” by Richterich (1980). In other words, necessities can be regarded as leam ers’ target proílciency - the scope o f the language knowledge and skills that leamers are supposed to acquire on completing a course. For example, civil servants at MARD, who are engineers and scientiíĩc researchers, need English in reading their specialist documents, academic joum als, English drawings, instructions and so on. Thus, they need to know the linguistic features such as technical vocabulary and expressions as well as grammatical items and to master reading skills so that they can get iníòrmation from diíĩerent sources o f reading materials as much as they can. The designer has to investigate exactly what situations leamers need to íunction in and analyze the components o f them to decide what to be leamed by the learners in the course. The analysis o f learners’ necessities vvill provide the designer 7 with detailed information about the characteristic features o f the target language, which helps to determine the content of the syllabus. Lacks When analyzing leam ers’ needs, the designer also needs to know what the leamers know already (existing proíĩciency) so as to decide which o f the necessities the leamers lack. One target situation necessity might be to read texts in a particular subject area. Whether or not leamers need instruction in doing this will depend on how well they can do it already. In other words, ‘lacks is the gap between the target proficiency and the existing proíìciency o f the leam ers’ (Hutchinson and Waters, 1987:56). Iníbrmation about leam ers’ lacks will help the designer determine how much language training is needed to bridge the gap betvveen leam ers’ entry level and their exit one. It is likely that the civil servants o f MARD have already known some basic reading skills and are able to use basic grammar structures and vocabulary items. However, what they lack is probably a wide range o f technical vocabulary and expressions related to their vvorking environment and an appropriate use o f reading skills to deal with diíĩerent types o f texts. In this study, the author vvishes to provide them with a certain amount o f technical vocabulary and expressions about the topics relevant to ứieir jobs as well as some grammatical items and to train them how to use the reading skills effectively. Wants “Wants” are what leamers feel they need in order to operate in a target situation and are also called “subjective needs”. The target needs are considered only in an objective sense, with the leam ers playing on actual role. However, the leamers, too, have a view as to what their needs are. In this subjective sense, leam ers’ needs can be seen as their perceived wants. It is assumed that the civil servant o f MARD share common necessities and lacks beíbre taking an ESP course. However, their subjective wants can be quite different, some o f thein may want to improve their reading skills to get iníbrmation from diíĩerent sources o f materials such as magazines, newspapers, internet and so forth while the others may preíer to practice listening and speaking or study grammar in order to follow their íurther study abroad or taking in intemational seminars and so on. In designing an ESP 8 syllabus, the leam ers’ wants can not be ignored since they will form and stimulate their leaming motivation. Learning needs According to Hutchinson and Waters (1987), leaming needs can be called what the leamer needs to do in order to leam. They say that “using our analogy o f the ESP course as a joumey, what we have done so far is to consider the starting point (lacks) and the destination (necessities) although we have also seen that there might be some dispute as to what that destination should be (wants). What we have not considered yet is the route. Hovv are we going to get from our starting point to the destination? This indicates another kind o f need: leaming needs”. Hutchinson and Waters (1987) also State that “the whole ESP process is concemed not with knowing or doing, but with learning. It’s naive to base a course design simply on the target objectives, just as it is naĩve to think that a joum ey can be planned solely in term o f ứie starting point and destination.” (Hutchinson andW aters, 1987:61) Thus, leaming needs refer to the leamers’ background, the leamers’ language diổiculties, their leaming objectives, and their styles o f leaming and so on. 2.1.3.2. Approaches to Needs Anaỉysis Needs Analysỉs To design an ESP course, it is important to carry out a needs analysis to determine the speciíìc reasons for leaming the language (Hutchinson and Waters, 1987) or to specify exactly what learners need to achieve through the medium o f English (Robinson, 1991). According to N unan (1988), techniques and procedures for collecting iníòrmation to be used in syllabus design are reíerred to as needs analysis. In more formal terms, a needs analysis is “the process o f determining the needs for which a leamer or group o f leamers requires a language and arranging the needs according to priorities” (Richards and Platt, 1992:242). According to M unby (1978) and Yalden (1983), needs analysis is the starting point for course design. Hutchinson and Waters (1987) describe need analysis as “the most characteristic feature o f ESP course design”. Moreover, Richards and Rodgers (1987:47) view needs analysis as “Central to the processes by which relevant content for specialized language courses was determined”. And Richterich and Chancerel (1987) argue that the aim o f needs analysis is not only to identify elements but also to establish 9 relative importance to find out what is indispensable, necessary, or merely desirable. West (1994) states that needs analysis is essentially a pragmatic activity íocused on speciíĩc situations, although grounded in general theories, such as the nature of language and curriculum. In brief, there are different ways of deíining needs analysis. In general terms, needs analysis refers to the activities involved in gathering iníbrmation that will serve as the basis for developing a syllabus that will meet the leaming needs o f a particular group of leamers. Approaches to Needs Analysis There are three main approaches in analyzing leam ers’ needs. Choosing the most appropriate approach is not easy because all three approaches are related to each other. Target Sỉtuation Analysis (TSA) Target Situation Analysis (TSA) is deíined as a needs analysis which íòcuses on leamers’ needs at the end o f a language course. The best known framework for a TSA type of needs analysis is íormulated by Munby (1982), who presents a communication needs processor with a set o f parameters with information on the leamers’ target situation can be collected. TSA may thus pinpoint the stage at which good enough competence for the job is reached. Robinson (1985) shares the same idea with Munby (1982). They State that TSA comprises three elements: tasks performed, linguistic component and knowledge requirement. Tasks períòrmed which ílxnctions are used Target Situation degree o f utilization o f code Linguistic component degree of accuracy of code Analysis required (TSA) Knowledge requirement “notions employed behavioural knowledge o f the subject matter conceptual linguistic Fỉgure 2.3: Target Situation Analysis (Robinson, 1985:44) 10 Present Sỉtuation Analysis (PSA) A PSA seeks to establish what the leamers are like at the start o f the language course, investigating their strengths and weaknesses. Richterich and Chancerel (1987) give the most extensive range o f devices for establishing the PSA. They suggest that there are three basic sources o f iníbrmation: the leamers themselves, the language - teaching establishment and the “user - institution”. For each o f these, information will be sought regarding their respective levels o f ability: their resources, their views on language teaching and leaming. In addition, the siưrounding society and culture might also be studied: The attitude held towards English, towards the leaming and use o f a íòreign language. Robinson (1985) gives the following diagram for PSA. Present Situation Analysis (PSA) Figure 2.4: Present Situation Analysis (Robinson, 1985:45) The TSA and the PSA are discussed above with their strengths and weaknesses. An important issue is the relationship between the PSA and the TSA. For some researchers, including M unby (1982), the PSA represents constraints on the TSA, which vvill have been conducted fĩrst. Munby (1994) modifies this stand a little, allowing that political factors should be considered at the initial phase o f needs analysis, but suggesting that factors relating to time, resources, and styles and tradition o f leaming should not be considered until the syllabus specification stage. Thus, needs analysis may be seen as a combination o f TSA and PSA. A pproaches adopted to Needs Analysis In practice, to design an ESP syllabus, the designer is likely to seek and find iníbrmation relating to both TSA and PSA simultaneously. Hutchinson and Waters (1987) give a framework, vvhich consists of a wide range o f questions to fmd iníòrmation about target