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    CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

    1.1 Background to the study

    Vietnam Forestry University offers English for Environmental Science whichis a

    compulsory course for the third year students of Business Management Department. The

    course book was compiled by teachers at Foreign Language Department and has been

    published only for students of the university since the academic year 2005 2006. During

    the academic year, around 200 students of the third year study this course. The researcher

    had the opportunity to teach English for Environment Science to those students half of

    academic year.

    But do all ESP course designers try to gain insight into learners perceived needs,

    wants, and lacks? Teachers may rely more often on intuition when making course

    planning than on informed assessment of learners needs (Barkuizen 1998, Spratt 1999 as

    cited in Davies 2006).

    Since certain chapters of the books seem to have been designed without involving learners

    in the course design process, it is quite likely that they may not reflect the needs and

    interests of any particular learner groups. The readymade book is prescribed for all

    students of any background of English; it is the responsibility of the ESP practitioner to

    evaluate the congruence between the ESP course objectives and learners needs and to

    make any adaptation suitable to better enable learners to learn effectively and meet the

    learners needs.

    1.2 Rationale

    From the early 1960's, English for Specific Purposes (ESP) has grown to become

    one of the most prominent areas of EFL teaching today. With the globalization of trade

    and economy and the continuing increase of international communication in various fields,

    the demand for English for Specific Purposes is expanding, especially in countries where

    English is taught as a Foreign Language. In Vietnam, the ESP movement is a young and

    developing branch of EFL. ESP has shown a slow but definite growth over the past few

    years. Its development is reflected in the increasing number of universities offering BA and

    MA in ESP (e.g. Hanoi University) and in the number of ESP courses offered to overseas

    students in English speaking countries. In particular, increased interest has been spurred

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    since Vietnam opened its doors and recently entered WTO with a lot of well-paid job

    opportunities for English competent employees. This has led to a rapid growth in English

    courses aimed at specific disciplines, e.g. English for Forestry, in place of the more

    traditional 'General English' ones.

    Even though ESP courses have become popular recently in Vietnam and many

    institutions and universities offer ESP courses for senior students, for years ESP courses

    are given with already made books or ESP materials compiled without students needs

    analysis. Such approach fundamentally ignores the learners personal interests. This often

    leads to low motivation in their English studies and, in turn, poor performance later when

    they use English in their future profession.

    In response to these problems, it is important that university English faculties

    need to design or adapt ESP courses in the way that students needs are paid attention to.

    This means that ESP course objectives should be congruent with learners needs and

    therefore best prepare learners for future professional communication. However, to do

    this, it requires a complete understanding what are students needs and ESP course

    objectives. How can teachers develop a new course whose objectives congruent with

    learners needs? Where should they start? What are the ways that best find out students

    needs? What are the objectives that can best congruent with students needs? What should

    be included in an ESP course? These are some of the questions that ESP course designers

    or ESP instructors should answer and they help to improve the quality of the ESP courses.

    This is the reason that inspired me to conduct this study in a hope that the study can help at

    least improve the quality of ESP course at Business Management Department of Vietnam

    Forestry University.

    1.3 Aims of the study

    The writer intends to centre this study on the following major aims:

    To find out learners needs (third term students who are studying ESP course at

    Business Management Department of Vietnam Forestry Industry).

    To study ESP course objectives of English for Environmental Science book

    designed by teachers at Foreign Language Department to be applied for third year

    students at Business Management Department of Vietnam Forestry University;

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    To investigate the congruence between the ESP course objectives and learners

    needs in Vietnam Forestry University;

    To suggest any adaptation suitable to better enable learners to learn effectively and

    meet the learners needs.

    1.4 The scope and the significance of the study

    This study cannot cover all the aspects of needs analysis and course objectives.

    The study just investigates the stated ESP course objectives in the ESP materials, the book

    English for Environmental Science, designed by teachers at Foreign Language Department

    and tries to find out learners needs at Business Management Department of VietnamForestry University.

    The subjects of the study are the third-year students at Business Management

    Department of Vietnam Forestry University. The current ESP reading textbook is English

    for Environmental Science.

    The findings of the study will hopefully serve as a back-up for the improvement

    of the ESP syllabus. Practically, those findings are believed to be beneficial to teachers,

    course designers as well as students at Business Management Department of Vietnam

    Forestry University.

    1.5. The overview of the study

    The study comprises four chapters: Introduction, Literature Review,

    Methodology, Data analysis and Findings, and Recommendations and Conclusion.

    Chapter 1; Introduction, provides information on the background to the study, the

    rationale, the aims as well as the scope and significance of the study and the outline of thestudy.

    Chapter 2, Literature Review, reviews the literature related to three main areas.

    First, it is a brief overview of different writers opinions on ESP. Second, It looks at the

    theory of course objectives. And finally, theory of needs analysis and related issues are

    discussed.

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    Chapter 3, Methodology, Data analysis and Findings, includes the research

    questions, the description of the subjects, and the description of data collection

    instruments, and the findings of the study.

    Chapter 4, Suggested adaptations and Conclusion, presents the writers

    suggestions for adaptation suitable to better enable learners to learn effectively and meet

    the learners needs. After that, there will be the conclusion of the thesis.

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    CHAPTER 2:LITERATURE REVIEW

    This chapter, literature review, will look at the three main issues that are relevant

    to the study: the conception of ESP, need analysis and course objectives. In the first

    section, the author would like to present briefly an overview of ESP which tackles several

    prominent definitions of the term as well as some differences between ESP and general

    English. The second section will discuss the issues of needs analysis. And finally, the

    theory of course objectives will be reviewed in the last section of this chapter.

    2.1 An overview of ESP

    2.1.1 What is ESP?

    According to Hutchinson and Waters (1997) ESP is one important branch of EFL/ESL

    (English as a Foreign/Second Language) system that functions as the main branch of

    English language teaching ELT. Therefore, ESP is not a particular kind of language or

    methodology, but rather an approach to language learning whereby the contents and

    methods are based on the learners particular needs to learn the language.

    Since its emergence, much effort has been made to give an exact definition of

    ESP. There are almost as many definitions of ESP as the number of scholars who have

    attempted to define it. Many others have tried to define ESP in terms of what it is not

    rather than in terms of what it really is. But for the purpose of exploring what ESP really

    means these definitions will not be looked at.

    Mackay and Mountford (1978) defined ESP as the teaching of English for clearly

    utilitarian purposes (p. 2). The purposes they refer to are defined by the needs of the

    learners, which could be academic, occupational, or scientific. These needs in turn

    determine the contents of ESP curriculum to be taught and learned. Mackay and Mountford

    also defined ESP as a special language that is taught in specific settings by certain

    participants. They stated that those participants are usually adults. They focused on adults

    because adults are usually highly conscious of the reasons to attain English proficiency in a

    determined field of specialization, and because adults make real use of special language in

    the special settings in which they work.

    Strevens (1977, p. 90) said: ESP courses are those in which the aims and the

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    contents are determined, principally or wholly, not by criteria of general educationbut by

    functional and practical English language requirements of the learners.

    Robinson (1980) defined ESP courses as the ones in which participants have

    specific goals and purposes (again, academic, occupational, and scientific). She cited

    Strevens (1977) to emphasize that the purposes language learners have for using language

    are of paramount importance. She stated that those purposes must be understood as the

    driving force of the curriculum in a way that would help teachers and learners to not let

    irrelevant materials be introduced into the course. She also placed the learners in the role of

    curriculum designers in order to make the curriculum more learner-centered. Strevens also

    argued that ESP courses are those that are almost strictly based on the analysis of the

    participants needs - a key and crucial element - in order to tailor the curriculum to meet its

    true purposes.

    Dudley-Evans (Dudley-Evans and St John, M.T. 1998, p.56) took a general

    approach in defining what ESP really is in terms of absolute and variable characteristics

    as follows:

    ESP Absolute Characteristics

    1. ESP is defined to meet specific needs of the learners

    2. ESP makes use of underlying methodology and activities of the discipline it serves

    3. ESP is centered on the language appropriate to these activities in terms of grammar,

    lexis, register, study skills, discourse and genre.

    Variable Characteristics

    1. ESP may be related to or designed for specific disciplines

    2. ESP may use, in specific teaching situations, a different methodology from that of

    General English

    3. ESP is likely to be designed for adult learners, either at a tertiary level institution or in

    a professional work situation. It could, however, be for learners at secondary school level

    4. ESP is generally designed for intermediate or advanced students.

    5. Most ESP courses assume some basic knowledge of the language systems

    The definition Dudley-Evans was clearly influenced by that of Strevens (1988),

    although he has improved it substantially by removing the absolute characteristic that ESP

    is in contrast with General English and has included more variable characteristics. The

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    division of ESP into absolute and variable characteristics, in particular, is very helpful in

    resolving arguments about what is and is not ESP.

    According to Widdowson (1983) ESP is viewed as parasitic in nature because it

    largely depends on the demands and requirements of the other disciplines and areas of

    expertise and activities. While Hutchinson and Water (1987) considered ESP as an

    approach, not product in which all decisions as to content and method are based on the

    learners reason for learning. This means ESP does not involve any particular kind of

    language, teaching material or methodology, but it is an approach to language learning,

    which is based on learners needs. They claim that ESP is not a matter of etching

    specialized varieties of English and ESP is not different in kind from any other form of

    language teaching (Hutchinson, T. and Water, A., 1987).

    From the definition, we can see that ESP can but is not necessarily concerned with

    a specific discipline (subject), nor does it have to be aimed at a certain age group or ability

    range or in other words ESP can be applied to any subject and any learner. ESP should be

    seen simple as an approach to teaching, or what Dudley-Evans describes as an attitude

    of mind. This is a similar conclusion to that made by Hutchinson et al. (1987:19) who

    states, ESP is an approach to language teaching in which all decisions as to contents and

    method are based on the learners reason for learning.

    The last definition of ESP is the definition that this study will definitely employ in

    the process of examining the congruence between the course objectives stated in the

    current teaching material and the studying needs of the learners at Business Management

    Department of Vietnam Forestry University.

    2.1.2 Is ESP different from GE?

    The above definitions have shown how broad ESP really is. In fact, one may ask What is

    the difference between the ESP and GE approach? Hutchinson et al. (1987:53) answer this

    quite simply, in theory nothing, in practice a great deal.

    When their book was written, the Hutchinsons answer was quite true. At the

    time, teachers of General English courses, while acknowledging that students had a

    specific purpose for studying English, would rarely conduct a needs analysis to find out

    what was necessary to actually achieve it. Teachers nowadays, however, are much more

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    aware of the importance of needs analysis, and certainly materials writers think very

    carefully about the goals of learners at all stages of materials production. Perhaps this

    demonstrates the influence that the ESP approach has had on English teaching in general.

    Clearly the line between where General English courses stop and ESP courses start has

    become very vague indeed.

    Rather ironically, while many General English teachers can be described as using

    an ESP approach, basing their syllabi on a learner needs analysis and their own specialist

    knowledge of using English for real communication, it is the majority of so-called ESP

    teachers that are using an approach furthest from that described above. Instead of

    conducting interviews with specialists in the field, analyzing the language that is required

    in the profession, or even conducting students needs analysis, many ESP teachers have

    become slaves of the published textbooks available, unable to evaluate their suitability

    based on personal experience, and unwilling to do the necessary analysis of difficult

    specialist texts to verify their contents.

    In conclusion, English for Specific/Special Purposes (ESP) and General English

    (GE) are the two branches of English Language Teaching (ELT). General English and

    English for Specific Purposes share the same principles of language teaching, having

    effective and efficient learning as a main objective. The main difference between ESP and

    GE lies in the awareness of a need. ESP learners are current or future specialists who need

    English for their specific area and who are aware of their need; they know what exactly

    they need English for, they know what the ESP course should offer them. (Hutchinson and

    Waters (1987).

    2.1.3 Characteristics of ESP courses

    The characteristics of ESP courses identified by Carter (1983) are discussed here.

    He states that there are three features common to ESP courses: a) authentic material, b)

    purpose-related orientation, and c) self-direction.

    Dudley-Evans (1998) claim that ESP should be offered at an intermediate or

    advanced level, use of authentic learning materials is entirely feasible. Closer examination

    of ESP materials will follow; suffice it to say at this juncture that use of authentic content

    materials, modified or unmodified in form, are indeed a feature of ESP, particularly in self-

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    directed study and research tasks. For Language Preparation for Employment in the Health

    Sciences, a large component of the student evaluation was based on an independent study

    assignment in which the learners were required to investigate and present an area of

    interest. The students were encouraged to conduct research using a variety of different

    resources, including the Internet.

    Purpose-related orientation refers to the simulation of communicative tasks

    required of the target setting. Carter (1983) cites student simulation of a conference,

    involving the preparation of papers, reading, note taking, and writing. At Algonquin

    College, English for business courses have involved students in the design and presentation

    of a unique business venture, including market research, pamphlets and logo creation. The

    students have presented all final products to invited ESL classes during a poster

    presentation session. For our health science program, students attended a seminar on

    improving your listening skills. They practiced listening skills, such as listening with

    empathy, and then employed their newly acquired skills during a fieldtrip to a local

    community centre where they were partnered up with English-speaking residents.

    Finally, self-direction is characteristic of ESP courses in that the ... point of

    including self-direction ... is that ESP is concerned with turning learners into users

    (Carter, 1983, p. 134). In order for self-direction to occur, the learners must have a certain

    degree of freedom to decide when, what, and how they will study. Carter (1983) also adds

    that there must be a systematic attempt by teachers to teach the learners how to learn by

    teaching them about learning strategies. Is it necessary, though, to teach high-ability

    learners such as those enrolled in the health science program about learning strategies? I

    argue that it is not. Rather, what is essential for these learners is learning how to access

    information in a new culture.

    2.2 Learner Need- Need analysis

    2.2.1 Learner Needs

    Learner needs is an important aspect in determining the success of an ESP course.

    therefore, it has drawn attention from numerous scholars who want to explore what the

    term is all about. Among them Berwick Brindley, Mountford, and Widdowson have

    discussed different meanings of needs. First, according to Widdowson (1983, p.2) needs

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    refers to students study or job requirements, that is, what they have to be able to do at the

    end of their language course. This is a goal-oriented definition of needs Needs in this sense

    are perhaps more appropriately described as objective (Berwick 1989, p.57). Second,

    needs can mean what the user-institution or society at large regards as necessary or

    desirable to be learnt from a program of language instruction (Mountford (1981, p.27).

    Third, needs is defined as what the learner needs to do to actually acquire the language.

    This is a process-oriented definition which bears the meaning of learning (Widdowson

    (1983, p.2). Fourth, needs is also viewed as what the students themselves would like to

    gain from the language course. This view of needs implies that students may have personal

    aims in addition to (or even in opposition to) the requirement of their studies or jobs.Berwick (1989, p.5) notes that such personal needs may be (and often are) devalued by

    being viewed as wants or desires. Finally, Berwick concluded needs is interpreted as

    lacks, that is, what the students do not know or cannot do in English.

    Some of these views of needs have been paired, and the members of each pair

    seen as polar opposites, although the distinctions are not as clear cut as might be supposed.

    This parings indicated the differences between what is believed to be the needs and what is

    the really needs. The pairings of contrasted views of needs include perceived versus felt

    needs (perhaps covering the same ground as objective and subjective needs), the terms

    products andprocess have a range of uses as well as equatingproductwith a target view of

    needs andprocess with a learning view, we can try to identify the target-level products and

    processes which students will need to control at the end of an ESP course. In this study the

    writer will discus the pair target needs and learning needs (covering the same ground as

    goal-orientedandprocess-orientedneeds) in 2.2.1 and 2.2.2 because it is more relevant to

    the teaching and learning of ESP course in the study setting.

    2.2.2 Needs analysis

    Needs analysis is generally regarded as criteria to ESP, although ESP is by no

    means the only educational enterprise which makes use of it Robinson, P.C (1991). Needs

    analysis is the process of identifying the students' reasons for studying a language. It refers

    to the procedure for identifying general and specific language needs of students so that

    appropriate goals, objectives, and contents in courses can be developed (Hutchinson &

    Waters, 1987). In these researchers points of view it is imperative to carry out a needs

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    analysis to determine the specific reasons for learning the language, or to specify exactly,

    what students need to achieve through the medium of English in an ESP course.

    In the same line Nunan (1988; p.13) said techniques and procedures for

    collecting information to be used in syllabus design are referred to as a needs analysis. In

    more formal terms a needs analysis is the process of determining the needs for which a

    learner or group of learners requires a language and arranging the needs according to

    priorities (Richards, and Platt, 1992; p.242).

    The current concept of needs analysis in ESP, according to Dudley-Evans and St

    John (1998; p.125), includes consideration of the following aspects:

    A. Professional information about the learners: the tasks and activities learners are/will be

    using English for- target situation analysis and objective needs.

    B. Personal information about the learners: factors which may affect the way they learn

    such as previous learning experiences, cultural information, reasons for attending the

    course and expectations of it, attitude to English- wants, means, subjective needs.

    C. English language information about the learners: what their current skills and language

    use are- present situation analysis- which allows us to assess (D).

    D. The learners lacks: the gap between (C) and (A)- lacks.

    E. Language learning information: effective ways of learning the skills and language in (D)-

    learning needs.

    F. Professional communication information about (A): knowledge of how language and

    skills are used in the target situation- linguistic analysis, discourse analysis, genre

    analysis.

    G. What is wanted from the course?

    H. Information about the environment in which the course will be run means analysis.

    There are a number of books and articles that describe procedures for gathering

    information about needs; the writer of this study chooses Hutchinson and Water (1987)

    framework about the kind of information that the course designers need to gather from an

    analysis of needs which are paired into target needs and learning needs.

    2.2.2.1 The target needs

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    A need analysis which focuses on students needs at the end of a language course

    can be called a target situation analysis (TSA) (Chambers, 1984). Probably the most

    thorough and widely known work on needs analysis is John Munbys Communicative

    syllabus design (1978). Munby sets up a highly detailed set of procedures for discovering

    target situation needs. He presents a communication needs processor, comprising a set of

    parameters within which information on the student target situation can be plotted. A

    helpful insight which Munby codifies related to target level performance; for certain jobs

    students may require only a low level of accuracy or of native speaker like ability, ect.

    The TSA may thus pinpoint the stage at which good enough competence for the job is

    reached.

    Hutchinson and Waters (1987, p 59) recommended that Target needs is

    something of an umbrella term, which in practice hides a number of important distinctions.

    It is more useful to look at the target situation in terms ofnecessities, lacks and wants.

    Necessities is the type of need determined by the demands of the target situation,

    that is, what the learners have to know in order to function effectively in the target

    situation. For example, a businessman might need to understand business letters, to

    communicate effectively at sales conference, to get necessary information from sales

    catalogues and so on.

    However, identifying necessities alone is not enough, since the concern in ESP is

    with the needs of particular learners. We also need to know what the learner knows

    already, so that you can then decide which of the necessities the learner lacks. One target

    situation necessity might be to read texts in a particular subject area, Whether or not the

    learners need instruction in doing this will depend on how well they can do it already. The

    target proficiency in other words, needs to be matched against the existing proficiency of

    the learners. The gap between the two can be referred to as the learners lacks (Hutchinson

    T. & Waters 1987).

    It is quite possible that the learners views will conflict with the perception of

    other interested parties; course designers, sponsors, teachers. And bearing in mind the

    important of learner motivation in the learning process, learner perceived wants cannot be

    ignored. What wants mean is well illustrated by Richard Meads account of his research

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    into the motivation of students following ESP courses in the faculties of Medicine,

    Agriculture and Veterinary Science at a university in the Middle East (1980).

    Objectives

    ( course designers)

    Subjective

    ( learners)

    Necessities The English needed for success in

    Agricultural or Veterinary Studies

    To reluctantly cope with a

    second-best situation

    Lacks (Presumably) areas of English needed for

    Agricultural or Veterinary Studies

    Means of doing Medical

    Studies

    Wants To success in Agricultural or Veterinary

    Studies

    To undertake Medical

    Studies

    Hutchinson T. & Waters (1987) suggested the following questions as a starting

    point to uncover relevant information: Why is the language needed? How will the

    language be used? What will the content areas be? Who will the learners use the language

    with? When/Where will the language be used?

    We have considered so far needs in terms of target situation considering, and the

    above questions help answer where is 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). However, these answers do not show the route to reach

    destination from the starting point. The question lies on another kind of need - the learning

    needs.

    2.2.2.2 The learning needs

    In looking at the target situation, the ESP course designer is asking the question:

    What does the expert communicator need to know in order to function effectively in this

    situation?. This information may be recorded in terms of language items, skills, strategies,

    subject knowledge, ect. What the analysis cannot do, however, is show how the expert

    communicator learnt the language items, skills, and strategies that he or she uses (Smith,

    1984). Analyzing what people do tells you a little, if anything, about how they learnt to do

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    it. Yet, the whole ESP process is concerned not with knowingordoing, but with learning.

    It is nave to base a course design simply on the target objectives, just as it is nave to think

    that a journey can be planned solely in terms of the starting point and the destination. The

    needs, potential and constraints of the route (i.e. The learning situation) must also be taken

    into account, if we are going to have any useful analysis of learner needs. ( Hutchinson &

    Water, 1987).

    If the target needs gives us the starting point and the destination, the learning

    needs helps us to choose our route according to the vehicles and guides. To understand the

    learning needs Hutchinson, and Waters (1987 p. 62-63) suggested the following questions:

    Why are the learners taking the course? How do the learners learn? What resources are

    available? Who are the learners? When/Where will the course take place?

    In conclusion, we have so far looked at the most common features of an ESP

    needs analysis. We also have stressed that both target situation needs and learning needs

    must be taken into account. Analysis of target situation needs is concerned with language

    use. But language use is only part of the story. We also need to know about language

    learning. Analysis of the target situation can tell us what people do with language. We also

    need to know how people learn to do what they do with language.

    Needs analysis has then become a vital part of the designing and setting of any

    curriculum, especially in the ESP areas. The importance of conducting a needs analysis

    exercise lies in the fact that through it, curricula-designers can learn first hand two

    important things: (1) what general and specific language proficiency learners have, and (2)

    what general and specific language proficiency learners need to acquire. Once curricula-

    designers discover these two important student-related facts, then they can write the course

    objectives, make decisions on what to include in the syllabus or for example, what

    functions, topics, vocabulary, and other language procedures should be given emphasis

    over others that students already master. Once the syllabus is in place, then decisions about

    how to teach it and when to teach it should be made. This in turn will lead curricula-

    designers to design and create or adapt teaching materials that would cater to the learners

    linguistics needs, which in turn will shape testing of language learning. This is precisely

    the reason why it is often said that needs analysis drives the making of curriculum.

    Therefore, needs analysis must be given especial attention and always be carefully

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    conducted. It should be conducted in a way that would enable curricula-designers obtain a

    high-quality product that would not only allow the mandating institution fulfill its

    educational mission, but in the end empower learners through the acquisition of language

    that would help them reach their linguistic, professional, and personal goals.

    2.3 ESP Course Objectives

    In this section, the writer looked at the reasons why we should set objectives for

    ESP course, the formulating of courser objectives, skill selection and, finally the problems

    when writing course objectives.

    2.3.1 Reasons for objectives

    Hutchinson, and Waters (1987, p 75) said developing statements of perceived

    needs into program goals and these in turn into clear objectives is an effective way to

    clarify what should be going on in the language classroom. Objectives describe what

    learners will be able to do or perform to be considered competent at the end of instruction,

    and they provide clear reasons for teaching. Clearly defined learning objectives are useful

    for instructors, instructional designers and students. By clearly stating the results we want

    the learners to accomplish, instructors can focus each class on what the students need,identify whether students have gained the appropriate skills and knowledge. Clearly

    defined objectives also allow designers and instructors a method to find how successful

    their material has been. And the students in turn, can study more effectively because they

    know what is expected of them and can direct their attention more clearly. Because

    objectives should be stated before learners begin their instructional materials, they provide

    students the means to organize their efforts toward accomplishing the desired behaviors. In

    short, objectives provide the building blocks from which curriculum can be created,

    modeled and revised.

    According to Young (1980), well stated objectives are very valuable:

    a. they help the teacher to determine precisely the correspondence between the objectives

    of the course and the communication skills required in professional life.

    b. they help the teacher to select appropriate materials and methods for teaching the

    students.

    c. they help the teacher to evaluate the effectiveness of his or her instruction.

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    d. they help the teacher to develop examinations which are relevant, fair and useful.

    e. they help the student to evaluate his/her performance and allocate his/her time more

    appropriately.

    f. finally, and just as important as any of the others, the process of trying to formulate

    performance objectives stimulates thought about the entire educational enterprise and

    often results in unexpected and valuable in-sights.

    2.3.2 Formulating Course Objectives.

    Before setting objectives it is important to establish first the dominant role of

    language leaning in a particular course. Two features should be taken into account: 1) the

    context in which students will be learning and in which they will eventually be using the

    language, and 2) the specific purposes in operational terms for which the language is

    expected to be required. (Vaughan,1978). These factors and others were taken into account

    in formulating course objectives.

    The defining of objectives (i.e. determining desired learner capabilities and

    abilities) is not an easy endeavor. It should be performed in a step by step fashion and with

    extreme care. Much has been written on how to define objectives, Bloom (1975), Gagn

    and Briggs (1979) are among those who postulate that in order for objectives to be useful

    in planning of the learning process, they must be defined with precise terms. One reason

    for this is that one word may have different meanings to different people. The choice of

    word, especially of verb, should therefore be one that transmits information as to the

    behavior required of the learner (i.e. it should be a technical word.) The process of

    stating objective begins with the identification of the purpose of the course. This, in turn,

    should reflect what is expected of the learner at the end of the course. The actual stating of

    the specific objectives involves what is expected of the learner during the course and

    should be defined operationally that is, the objectives should state what the learner has to

    do in order to confirm the completion and achievement of the objective. These specific

    objectives consequently define the planned results of the learning process and serve as

    starting point for the evaluation (Gagn and Briggs, 1979, pp. 91-95).

    Gronlund (19780) concurs that specifying clearly the outcome of learning will

    probably make classroom instruction more effective. It is also vital that the statements be

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    general enough to provide guidelines for teaching without overly limiting the instructional

    process, yet specific enough to clearly define the behavior that the students are to exhibit

    when they have achieved the objectives. This approach provides for the inclusion of

    learning outcomes of all types and at all levels ranging form the simplest to the most

    complex. Specifically, these recommendations were:

    I. Stating General Instructional Objectives:

    a. Begin each general instructional objective with a verb (knows, understands,

    appreciates, etc. Omit such unnecessary refinements as the students can or the

    student has the ability to

    b. State each objective in terms of student performance rather than teacher performance.

    c. State each objective as a learning product rather than in terms of the learning process

    d. State each objective so that it indicates the terminal behavior rather than the subject

    matter to be covered during instruction.

    e. State each objective so that is includes only one general learning outcome rather

    than a combination of several outcomes

    f. State each objective at a level of generality that clearly indicates the expected

    learning outcome and that is readily definable by specific types of students behavior.

    Stating from 8 to 12 general instructional objectives will usually suffice.

    (Gronlund, 1978, p.11)

    II. Procedure for Defining Instructional Objective in Behavioral Terms:

    a. State the general instructional objectives a expected learning outcomes.

    b. Place under each general instructional objective a list of specific learning

    outcomes that describe the terminal behavior students are to demonstrate when

    they have achieved the objectives

    1. Begin each specific learning outcome with a verb that specifies

    definite, observable behavior.

    2. List a sufficient number of specific learning outcomes under each

    objective to describe adequately behavior of students who have

    achieved the objective.

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    3. Keep the specific learning outcomes free of course content so that

    the list can be used with different units of study.

    4. Be certain that each specific learning outcome is relevant to the

    objective it describes.

    c. When defining the general instructional objectives in terms of specific learning

    outcomes , revise and refine the original list of objectives as needed.

    d. Be careful not to omit complex objectives( e.g. critical thinking, appreciation)

    simply because they are difficult to define in terms of specific learning

    outcomes

    e. Consult reference materials for help in identifying the specific types of behavior

    that are most appropriate for defining the complex objectives

    (Gronlund., p. 18)

    The two most profound denominators related to objective were the Gronlunds

    book mentioned above and Munbys Communicative Syllabus Design. The Gronlund was a

    valuable tool for stating objective clearly and meaningfully meanwhile Munbys provided

    a selection of skills which applied to many of specific needs and requirements.

    2.3.3 Skills Selection

    The book English for Environmental Science applied for students of Business

    Management Department of Vietnam Forestry University focused only on reading skill,

    thus, the general core objectives stated for all ESP course at of Business Management

    Department of Vietnam Forestry University deal with reading comprehension.

    Reading materials selected reflect the semantic and syntactic structures of English

    found in the learners specialty course materials. The learners, therefore, need to be taught

    a strategy of reading which allows them to understand authentic texts without the aid of the

    teacher or constant use of the dictionary. Basically, it is important for our students to be

    able to scan any of their text materials to get a general idea of its contents, as well as to be

    able to understand important information in a specific part of a whole text in detail.

    When making objective for each specific career course, it is important to

    remember that although each particular field has its own specific vocabulary items, it is

    still part of the English language in general. So, we have the same language employed for

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    similar and different uses employing similar and different usages. The different usages

    and uses refers to items and patterns that are identified as specific to particular subject

    specializations or vocational/ occupational roles ( Mackay and Mountford, 1978, p 25).

    Allen and Widdowson describe two aspects of language learning that we have

    taken into consideration:

    The recognition of sentence use in acts of communication, that is understanding rhetorical

    coherence of discourse.

    The recognition and manipulation of devices used to join sentences and form passages. They are

    referred to as grammatical cohesion of a text.

    (Allen and Widdowson, 1978, p 58)

    Other constraints that in some cases had to be taken into account when designing

    course objectives were the followings:

    The objectives:

    Would be aimed at students with different levels of language competence, from low intermediate to

    almost native speaker abilities.

    Should take into consideration that in some cases students would have a limited amount of time to

    deal with their ESP course due to the many other university course requirements.

    Should be flexible enough to be used by a different professor at a different time with a different set

    of students. It is precisely for this reason that the specific objectives developed for each field

    of study are broad enough to allow for varieties in different teacher methodologies and yet

    precise and clear enough to establish the language objective required.

    2.3.4 Problems in Writing Objectives

    Some of the most problems that are common in writing objectives and solutions to these

    are discussed by Donn C. Ritchie in her article at

    http://edweb.sdsu.edu/courses/edtec540/objectives/Problems.html which are

    presented in the following table:

    Problems Error types Solutions

    1. Vastness Complexity

    or Earnestness

    The objective is too broad in

    scope or includes more

    Reduce and simplify the

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    http://edweb.sdsu.edu/people/dritchie/dritchie.htmlhttp://edweb.sdsu.edu/courses/edtec540/objectives/Problems.htmlhttp://edweb.sdsu.edu/people/dritchie/dritchie.htmlhttp://edweb.sdsu.edu/courses/edtec540/objectives/Problems.html
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    than one objective objective

    2. False Criteria The criteria doesn't let the user

    know explicitly how well

    they need to do the

    behavior

    Make criteria: reasonable,

    specific, useful

    3. False Givens Describes instruction, not

    conditions

    Detail what can be used to

    complete the test

    4. False Performance Often simply restating the goal;

    no true performance stated

    Be specific as to what you

    want the learner to do

    To summarize, instructional objectives must be viewed as flexible, temporary and

    revisable so that they can be tailored to different contexts and respond to changes over time

    in the needs of the students or in the physical and human resource of the program.

    Objectives can provide a useful tool that allows teachers to work out, often for the first

    time, what they want their students to be able to do when they finish the course. Objectives

    are central part of any systematic curriculum development, but they can and should rangein level of generality according to what is being taught and who is teaching it. Without

    goals and objectives, a program may have no clear purpose and direction. With goals and

    objectives, at least a tentative definition exists of what the program has to offer the students

    and what it is that a group of professional language teachers are trying to achieve.

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    CHAPTER 3: THE METHODOLOGY, DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION

    This chapter consists of five parts. First, the research questions will be presented.

    Second, there will be the description of the subjects who are the students and lecturers

    taking part in the need analysis as informants. Third, the description of the data collection

    instruments will follow. In this part, the readers will be provided information about the

    questions in the questionnaires (for students and for teachers). Fourth, the data collected will

    be presented and explained. And the last part will be the evaluation of congruence between

    the ESP course objectives and learners need.

    3.1The research questions

    What do students at Business Management Department of Vietnam Forestry

    University need in taking ESP course?

    What are the objectives stated in designing the book English for Environmental

    Science used as ESP course book applied for students at Business Management

    Department of Vietnam Forestry University?

    Is the ESP course objectives applied at Vietnam Forestry University congruent

    with learners needs?

    3.2 Description of the subjects

    There are 187 students and three teachers of Business Management Department of

    Vietnam Forestry Industry who got involved in the need analysis. There are four classes

    this term two classes study in the morning, and other two classes meet in the afternoon.

    The classes are scheduled to learn two sessions a week.

    There are 187 students in the list. They have different backgrounds of how long

    and how they have been studying English before taking this ESP course. However, they

    did take 200 hours of general English together during the first and second years at the

    Vietnam Forestry University. But this doesnt mean that their level of English is the same.

    They are also different in terms of chances to practice English out of classroom. They are

    of the same ages around 19 to 22. They have diversity of reasons to learn English in this

    course.

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    There are three teachers teaching the course including two masters of linguistics

    and one master-to-be in English studies. The writer of this study is also a present teacher of

    the course. The teachers have been teaching in Foreign Language Department of Vietnam

    Forestry University for over 7 years. They agreed and were willing to collaborate with the

    researcher to get involved in the study. Therefore, it is reasonable to believe that need

    analysis is conducted thoroughly enough.

    3.3 Description of the data collection instruments

    Two data collection instruments used in the study are questionnaire, and materials

    analysis. The first questionnaire is used to investigate learners needs from learners

    participating in the ESP course at Business Management Department of Vietnam Forestry

    University. The second questionnaire is to collect information about the ESP teaching

    practice from teachers of ESP course. And the third instrument is document analysis used

    to find out ESP course objectives.

    3.3.1. Questionnaires

    The writer of this study chose questionnaires as a data collection instrument

    because it provides information from a large number of participants and it allows gettinginformation about variety of aspects. The writer designed close-ended questionnaire on the

    ground of literature review. According to Nunan (1992, p 147), 'one of the great advances of

    close-ended questions is that they yield responses which can readily be quantified and

    analyzed, particularly if one has access to computer packages.

    The first questionnaire was used to collect data from students of the ESP course

    on three main aspects: students previous learning experience, target needs and learning

    needs. In order to obtain valid information, 22 close-ended questions related to each aspect

    were designed (See Appendix A for version of the questionnaire). The questionnaire was

    designed on the basis of a review of relevant literature relating to principles and contents

    needed to successfully discover students learning needs which were discussed in the

    chapter 2. The purpose of the questionnaire was to obtain as much information as possible

    about the participants linguistic needs, and professional and English-learning related goals.

    The second questionnaire is for teachers of the ESP course. They were intended to

    answer the questionnaire about their teaching of the reading materials in the ESP course.

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    Their answers are important to evaluating the achievement of ESP course objectives which

    in turn serves to measure the congruence between learners needs and course objectives.

    Explanation:

    Questionnaire for students

    I. Previous learning experience

    In the first section of the questionnaire, Question 1 to 6, participants were asked to

    provide information about their previous learning experiences.

    Question 1 was used to find out how long they have studied English. This is

    important because it means that students were first exposed to English from secondary

    school or just at university. In Vietnamese education system, English lessons are first

    provided from primary school, or secondary school, or high school or university without

    any compulsory rules.

    Question 2 was used to check where students learnt English. Different institution

    or languages center may use different approaches to teach English for learners.

    Question 3 was used to investigate learners reasons to learn English. This is good

    to find out their motivation in learning English.

    Question 4 was used to evaluate students level of English before they start ESP

    course through their self-evaluation of their proficiency level in English. With this

    information, ESP course designer will be able to direct the curriculum in directions that

    would meet the participants linguistic needs in terms of listening, speaking, reading,

    writing, and grammar and vocabulary. This is very important because the ESP classes in

    the setting s are big and students are of mixed abilities.

    Question 5 was used to reveal students knowledge of the subject. Knowing the

    subject can help students better understand or guest the meaning of the ESP texts and can

    motivate them to learn more.

    Finally, question 6 asked about students experience in learning style which might

    help them feel more confident if ESP can provide the same one.

    II. Target needs

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    There are 6 questions in this part. They are designed to investigate students

    targets in their ESP course.

    Question 1 was used to discover the reasons students taking part in ESP. This

    can reveal the motivation of students and help curriculum designers to set clear objectives

    for ESP courses.

    Question 2 aimed to find out how students will use English later after the course.

    This also helps to setting up the objectives of the course.

    Question 3 focused on the audience of students English, knowing this can help

    ESP course designers set more realistic objectives of the course.

    Question 4 was used to poll the context where English will be used.

    Question 5 was used to check how often students will use English after the ESP

    course.

    And finally, Question 6 helped to reveal students motivation in taking the ESP

    course.

    III. Learning needs

    The learning needs questioned are designed to investigate the learners language

    difficulties, their learning objectives, their styles of learning .

    Question 1 helped to identify students weaknesses in certain skills in language learning.

    Question 2 focused on skills that students think they should improve

    Question 3 used to discover the learning methodology that students think will work for

    them.

    Question 4 asked about students preference about learning activities in the class.

    Question 5 checked students habits of learning.

    Question 6 helped to find out the resources available in ESP course.

    Question 7 found out the opportunities that students have outside classroom.

    Question 8 aimed to discover how much time students spend on studying English.

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    Question 9 asked if students want to do home work, and if so, how much time they are

    willing to spend on this activity.

    Question 10 was used to investigate students expectation in achievement at the end of the

    English course.

    Questionnaire for the teachers.

    There are 10 questions in the questionnaire for the teacher. They are aimed to answer the

    question how teachers exploit the textbook to reach teaching objectives.

    Question 1 focuses on the unit organization

    Question 2 looks at activities teachers apply in each unit

    Question 3 asks about lesson plan

    Question 4,5 &6 look at pre-reading activities

    Question 7,8,&9 look at the reading activities

    Question 10 aims to discover about post-reading activities.

    3.3.2 Material analysis

    The writer of this study investigated the ESP course book English for

    Environmental Science complied by Foreign Language Department, Vietnam Forestry

    University for third year students of Business Management Department of Vietnam

    Forestry University and other related documents (course book design project) to find out

    the ESP objectives specified by the authors. This instrument is necessary because the

    writer of this study believes that the objectives of the ESP course are not only stated in the

    text book but also mentioned somewhere in their report of course book design project.

    3.4 Data analysis and discussion

    Four sections will be presented in this part: data collected from questionnaires for

    students, data collected from questionnaires for teachers, and data collected from document

    analysis. Finally, the major findings are presented as result of these data collections.

    3.4.1 Data collected from questionnaires for students

    The questionnaire was given to 158 students out of 187 students in the list (some were

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    missing the class at the time the questionnaire was handed out). The data collected as

    follows:

    Previous learning experience

    Question 1: With reference to the question how long have you studied English, 14 students

    said that the have learned it for 1-2 years, 112 said that they have learned it for 3-5 years

    and other 32 students notched 5-9 years answer.

    Question 2: In regarding to question where did you learn English? all of 158 voted for at

    school, 76 students said they also learned it at language center other 39 students added

    by themselves and 16 of them also had lessons with a tutor

    Question 2: Regarding to question where did you learn English? all of 158 voted for at

    school, 76 students said they also learned it at language center other 39 students added

    by themselves and 16 of them also had lessons with a tutor

    Question 3: In terms of the reason for their learning, all 158 students said that it was a

    compulsory subject, 20 students said they liked English, 126 students answered they need

    English and 20 students said they learned it for fun..

    Question 4: Assessing about their level of English, 158 students said their listening and

    speaking skills were at elementary level, 158 students claimed their writing and grammar to

    be at pre-intermediate level, 97 students said their reading was at pre-intermediate level and

    the rest 67 students believed their reading skill was at intermediate level.

    Question 5: Referring to the subject material (the environment issues) 23 students said that

    they knew a little, 117 students claimed they know enough and the rest 18 students believed

    they knew a lot.

    Question 6: Regarding to the teaching style they used to, 39 students chose individual, 76

    students chose pair and group work and all students chose whole class activities.

    Target needs

    Question 1: referring to the purposes of learning ESP, 158 students said that it was one of

    the university graduation requirements, 67 students claimed it was for work and for study

    and other 20 students said they learned ESP for their hobby.

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    Question 2: Regarding how English will be used, 39 students said their English would be

    used to speak and listen and 158 students said they would use English in reading and

    writing. 10 students said they would use English on telephone, 76 students said they might

    use it face to face and all 158 students believed they would use English using internet and

    mails.

    Question 3: Concerning who students will use English with, 39 students believed they would

    talk to their colleges, 158 students said they used English with teachers and friends and 76

    students thought they would use English to communicate with customer.

    Question 4: Regarding when the language will be used, all students voted for all choices.

    This indicated the importance of English in their study.

    Question 5: Answering about the frequency of using English, students admitted that their use

    of English was not often. 56 students said they seldom use English, 92 students said that

    they sometimes used English, and only 10 students said they often used English, none said

    he used it frequently.

    Question 6: Referring the motivation in using English, all students said that they used

    English for promotion prospects while only 20 said they liked it and 96 students said theyused English to respect the teachers and want to improve their English.

    Learning needs:

    Question 1: Regarding their strengths and weaknesses in a foreign language, 158 students

    said their English is poor in listening and speaking, and fair in reading. 120 students said

    their writing and grammar is poor and other 38 students ticked fair level for their grammar

    and writing.

    Question 2: referring to the skills that need improving, all students believed they need to

    improve all skills listed much.

    Question 3: Concerning the methodology, 15 students preferred teacher-centered while 113

    students preferred student-centered and the rest 30 students had no idea which would work

    better.

    Question 4: Answering about how they like to learn English, 21 students liked to work

    individually while 137 students liked to work in small group.

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    Question 5: Asked about what way students learn, 22 of them said they learned by memory,

    130 students said they learned by problem solving, getting information themselves and by

    reading and taking notes, 36 students said they learned by listening to the tapes and taking

    notes.

    Question 6: In reference to the resources available, 158 students chose teachers and books

    while only 49 students said they used internet and mass media.

    Question 7: With regard to the opportunities for out-of-class activities, 158 students said that

    they had few chances.

    Question 8: asked about the time students want to learn English, all students said they

    preferred to learn from 1-3 hours a week.

    Question 9: In reference to the homework, only 47 students were willing to do homework

    with about 1-3 hours a week. The rest 111 students said no to homework.

    Question 10: as for the expectation of what students would achieve, 158 students believed

    they could improve their vocabulary, getting familiar with Scientific English; 79 students

    said they would develop techniques that could be adopted while reading texts, developing

    listening skills for academic and professional purposes, and acquiring the ability to speak

    effectively in English in real life situations; 45 students chose realizing the meaning

    potential of a text and becoming familiar with different reading strategies and acquiring

    interpretative and study skills, including library and Internet reference skills; 36 students

    picked up getting trained in organized academic and professional writing and developing

    aural competence and oral fluency of learners. And only 12 students said they would

    achieve proficiency in the effective use of language in various authentic career-related

    situations.

    3.4.2 Data collected from questionnaires for teachers

    The questionnaire was given to 3 teachers oh the course, the data collected as follows:

    Unit organization:Question 1: All teachers said they always consider vocabulary of text in

    organizing their teaching unit meanwhile only 1 teacher said she sometimes considered the

    theme of the text.

    Activities: Question 2: All teachers said they always followed the pre-reading, and reading

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    activities of the text but none voted for post-reading.

    Lesson plan

    Question 3: As lesson plan is one of the requirements of the teaching syllabus in the

    University, all teachers said that they followed general lesson plan.

    Pre-reading activities

    Question 4: Answering about the purposes of the use of pre-reading activities, all three

    teachers voted for "To deal with the difficult vocabulary present in the reading and To

    deal with difficult grammatical structures with high frequency and only 1 teacher said she

    sometimes used it To introduce the general theme of the reading.

    Question 5: Regarding to the kinds of activities in this pre-reading stage, all teachers said

    they dealt with vocabulary by giving students a list of the difficult words and ask them to

    look up in a dictionary.

    Question 6: Referring to the time devoted for pre-reading activities, all teachers added 10-

    15% as an answer.

    Reading activities

    Question 7: Concerning about the kinds of activities used in reading stage, all teachers

    picked up skimming, scanning, content comprehension. Only 1 teacher said that she

    sometimes had discourse comprehension activity.

    Question 8: Referring to the group work and pair work in the reading, none of the teachers

    said that they applied them.

    Question 9: answering about the sequence of the activities listed, teachers ranked them:

    Skimming, scanning, content comprehension and other.

    Post reading activities

    Question 10: Referring to the purposes of using post-reading activities, teachers said that

    they used it to summarize the contents of the unit.

    3.4.3 Data collected from document analysis

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    After researching the book English for Environmental Science complied by

    Foreign Language Department, Vietnam Forestry University, the writer of the study found

    out the following features related to the objectives of the course:

    Firstly, the book stated the target learners as those students who are interested in

    the environment science meanwhile the targeted learners of the ESP course are all the

    second year students of Vietnam Forestry University. The course is compulsory as a

    requirement of the graduation, where the students like the environment science or not.

    Secondly, the book said it was designed for the pre-intermediate and intermediate

    students. This was in fact the right level for the students of the ESP course as in the need

    analysis question 4 of previous learning experience 97 students said their reading was at

    pre-intermediate level and the rest 67 students believed their reading skill was at

    intermediate level.( sees the appendix for the numbers)

    Thirdly, the book stated the objectives of the course in very general way through

    such wordings as:

    It integrates the basic skills especially reading and writing skills. Its

    objective is to improve readers basic English and to prepare students tocomprehend and use college-level science material for environmental

    aspects. The textbook is always focuses on language rather than science.

    No-previous science knowledge is needed by the teacher and students

    Tran et all (2006)

    It is obvious that the book was designed for reading only therefore it could not

    reach the target of it integrates the basic skills especially reading and writing skills as it

    said in the objectives. Furthermore, the objectives are not clearly stated by just saying to

    prepare students to comprehend and use college-level science material for environmental

    aspects. With such a kind of objectives, both instructors and students do not get any guide

    to fulfill their tasks during the course, and do not have clear target to reach.

    Fourthly, the following table shows the structure and content of the book

    The book consists of 5 chapters each one contains 5 lessons except for the chapter 5 which

    holds only 4 lessons. The texts are of variety topics related to the environmental issues. The

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    exercises designed in the book were the same from chapter to chapter and from lesson to

    lesson with 5 types: Gap filling; Synonym; True-False; Answering the question and

    Translation

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    Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5

    Ggeneral knowledge

    of environmental

    science

    Human- Environment

    interaction

    Environmental

    technology

    Environmental

    economics

    International

    organizations and

    policies

    Lesson 1 What is

    environmental

    science

    Population growth Use of solar energy The economic cost

    of environmental

    pollution

    Greenpeace

    Lesson 2 Public opinions andenvironmental

    protection

    Land use,urbanization and

    ruralization

    How to avoid wasteof energy? The economicimpact on pollution

    control

    Internationalorganizations and

    environmental

    policies

    Lesson 3 Environmental

    careers

    Green house effect How to reduce it? Green business Defining

    environmental

    policies

    Lesson 4 Renewable and

    nonrenewableresources

    What threatens

    biodiversity?

    Clean production Ecological

    economics

    Issues concerning

    less affluentnations

    Lesson 5 Environmental

    protection

    Tropical

    deforestation

    Treatment sewage Eco-taxation

    Exercise - Gap filling

    - Synonym

    - True-False

    -

    Answeringthe question

    - Translation

    - Gap filling

    - Synonym

    - True-False

    -

    Answeringthe question

    Translation

    - Gap filling

    - Synonym

    - True-False

    -

    Answeringthe question

    Translation

    - Gap filling

    - Synonym

    - True-False

    -

    Answeringthe question

    Translation

    - Gap

    filling

    - Synonym

    -

    True-False

    - Answerin

    g the question

    Translation

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    3.5. Major findings on the congruence between the ESP course objectives and

    learners needs

    The evaluation of the congruence between the ESP course objectives and learners needs

    will be presented in the form of the similarities between ESP course objectives and

    learners needs, differences between ESP course objectives and learners needs and

    difficulties in matching ESP course objectives and learners needs.

    3.5.1 Similarities between ESP course objectives and learners needs

    The first congruence between the ESP course objectives and learners needs is the

    grammar, vocabulary development and reading skills that the ESP provided for the

    students. Students in the ESP course were mainly at pre-intermediate students and they

    ranked themselves at this level too. Their grammar should be focused and strengthened,

    their vocabulary should be enriched and their reading skill should be developed. As a

    matter of fact, the course objectives to improve readers basic English and to prepare

    students to comprehend and use college-level science material for environmental aspects

    meet the students demand. Supporting for this congruence between the ESP course

    objectives and learners needs was the teachers exploitation of the book. Data from thequestionnaire for the teachers showed that managed well to enrich students vocabulary

    and grammar structure as well as develop students reading skills including skimming,

    scanning and reading comprehension.

    The second match of ESP course objectives and learners needs was that the course

    provided the English in environmental science without requiring learners or teachers to

    have special knowledge of the subject matter to do well in the course. This objective was

    kept on the right track by the teachers efforts. Teachers did it well when they focused on

    the English language used to express the idea, notion and concept of the subject matter but

    not the focus on the subject matter itself. This is clearly stated in the teachers choosing on

    the vocabulary explanation rather than the theme of topic as they answered the

    questionnaire.

    The finally meeting between the ESP course objectives and learners needs lied in the

    contents of the text book. As majority of students said in the need analysis, they wanted to

    learn English for their study purposes (see the questionnaire result), the book served quite

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    well for this purpose. In fact, the book not only served as the resource to learn English

    language but also covered the wide range of topics as well as basic knowledge that helped

    students to have general picture of the environment issues. The topics were not so

    specialized and presented in a very reader-friendly way and systematically so that the

    general readers could understand the content without difficulties. Through the content of

    the book students could learn a lot about the environment science which served the thirst

    for knowledge of learners.

    Despites some congruences mentioned above, the objectives of the ESP course did miss

    some important needs of learners which were presented as the differences between ESP

    course objectives and learners needs in the next part.

    3.5.2 Differences between ESP course objectives and learners needs

    The most striking difference between ESP course objectives and learners needs was that

    students wanted to learn much more than what the ESP could offer. Data from the

    students needs analysis showed that students wanted to learn English to be able to

    communicate in English. This meant that they should be able to use English in both written

    and spoken form. The later was absent in the objectives of the ESP course at Vietnam

    Forestry University. It was so clear that the ESP course only focused on the reading

    materials and this was not communicative at all.

    The second gap between ESP course objectives and learners needs was that students

    wanted to have different activities in the lesson to motivate them and exploit the text book

    better. The research into the text book and the data from the teachers questionnaire

    showed that there were no such activities. The textbook presented the text then the

    exercises with no group or pair activities suggested. The teachers themselves did not

    approach the text in the communicative ways but they just used the traditional method of

    explaining the new words, then reading the text and do the exercises. Furthermore, the

    exercises were the same in all 24 lessons that gave students a bore.

    The last distance between ESP course objectives and learners needs that the writer wanted

    to highlight was the resources available for the ESP course. While students wanted to learn

    communicatively and they needed variety of resources available, what they could found

    from the course were just teachers and 1 text book, no tape, no video, no suggested

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    reference books or sources. Data from the teachers questionnaire showed that teachers

    themselves did not expand the lesson or gave students any handouts for developing the

    topic further.

    3.5.3. Difficulties in matching ESP course objectives and learners needs

    The differences were found but it could not be solved overnight due to some limitation or

    difficulties in matching ESP course objectives and learners needs.

    The first gap the students wanted to learn more than what the course could offer- is

    difficult matter to deal with and it takes time. The whole system runs like this: each subject

    could take certain amount of time in the whole curriculum and it was decided centrally, not

    by English Department of Vietnam Forestry University or by the teachers of the course.

    The new text book takes time to be designed and approved. In fact, no one wanted to make

    a change.

    The second difference between ESP course objectives and learners needs could be settled

    with the teachers willingness to change. However, the difficulties raising here are that

    teachers are facing the pressure from time limitation of the lesson and the quality of the

    course. If the apply the new techniques they have to devote a lot of time preparing forchoosing the activities and prepare for it. This is what the teachers are reluctant to try.

    The last gap was not difficult to solve but difficult to control. With the development of

    Information technology nowadays, the resources are never easier to access to. However, it

    takes time to decide which one is worth using as the information is flooded with variety of

    qualities and reliabilities. Sometimes, the teachers themselves are not IT man to be able

    to make advice or control the resources that students might use.

    3.6 Discussion

    The author of this study has found some of the reasons that led to the gap between ESP

    course objectives and learners needs as follows

    The most striking reason was that the objectives of the ESP course at Vietnam Forestry

    University were too ambiguous to act as a guide for a successful course. First, the ESP

    course focused on familiarizing the student with decoding texts, while identifying elements

    and applying certain reading strategies were taking small parts. General and detailed

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    reading as well as grammar knowledge was the main activities through out the reading

    sessions. Second, there was no instruction about what a text is or even what the reading

    comprehension process consists of, no teacher manuals or guides. And finally, there were

    signs that the objectives the book presented were not coherent with the contents in the

    material. For example, the objectives stated the improve students reading and writing

    skills meanwhile it provided only reading lessons without touching any thing with

    writing. In short, objectives of the ESP in fact drive the course to no where with clear

    direction, leaving the instructors and students finding ways themselves.

    It was also evident that the book did not seem to have been built on any needs analysis.

    First, previous students knowledge on the topic as well as English was not considered in

    the course as a base of designing material or promoting learning. There were no activities

    that develop the students proximal development zone, such as reflection, meaningful

    learning or inner processes of knowledge and meaning construction. Real challenges for

    students were not presented. Second, all exercises were mechanical and consist of content-

    filling. The course was only focused on the literal level of reading comprehension, without

    considering inference or critical reading or promotion of students creativity or

    imagination. And finally, the weak points of students were not attacked by any of the

    activities.

    In conclusion, the differences between ESP course objectives and learners needs have not

    been unidentified. In fact, they have been there and recognized by both teachers and

    students of the course. However, the most crucial problem was that there was no research

    in language learning at Vietnam Forestry University and that no one was willing to do it.

    The other equal important was that, even if the research can be done, the decision for the

    changes does not only lie on the result of the research but also on the complicated policy

    procedure.

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    CHAPTER 4: RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSION

    4.1 Recommendations

    Based on the researchers insights into current ESP practice in terms of students need

    analysis, teachers implementation of the course and ESP materials described in the

    previous chapter, the writer of this study would like to make recommendations relating to

    the ESP course at the Business Management Department, Vietnam Forestry University as

    follows:

    Firstly, the syllabus and course objective writer should build the material based on the

    needs analysis. It is evident that need analysis is the basis of ESP curriculum design and

    setting objectives, and target situation analysis and study needs should be determined as

    the basis to develop the objectives of the ESP course. As part of the needs analysis, an

    analysis of the learners language ability is necessary in order to get to know what type of

    language they already know and what type of language they lack. The result from this

    needs analysis would not only allow curriculum designers and instructors of the course

    decide what and how to teach but also decide on whom they will teach and how to cater for

    a myriad of learning styles preferred by the course students. The curriculum designers of

    the Vietnam Forestry University could revise their ESP objectives considering students

    needs to match course objectives with students needs. The course-designers should

    conduct need analysis before they write the book for learners.

    Second, the syllabus and course objective designer should choose the skills for ESP course

    carefully. The ESP syllabus must encourage students life-long learning and autonomy.

    Students of ESP course have clear target to use the English language in their particular

    condition such as professional work, communication in the real life therefore,

    developing a basic and a habit of continuous learning skill is very important for learners.

    Teaching methodology could no longer depend on teachers and consider teaches as Mr.

    Know-it-all and by spoon feeding students with grammar and vocabulary. In stead, the

    objectives of the course should also focus on skills such as problem-solving, critical

    thinking and researching so that students would be able to study by themselves right from

    the time they are taking the ESP course and later on in their life. This solution also help to

    deal with the present limited ESP resources as students could access the other rich

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    resources such as internet to satisfy their needs of resources. It is obvious that learning a

    foreign language, use of procedural knowledge (learning to learn) is the basis for efficient

    and autonomous life long learning of language after school.

    The last recommendation focused on solving the present situation at the Business

    Management Department, Vietnam Forestry University. It is still a good idea to utilize the

    existing textbook whenever sensible and possible. Changing the textbook takes time and

    seems more complicated than one should think of. However, the teachers are not

    prohibited to adapt available authentic material (course books, radio and video recording,

    media publication and internet resources) to give their students a more meaningful and

    practical lessons to really meet their study needs. Making attempts to create new teaching

    materials appropriate to the current needs of students is also a rewarding thing for the

    teacher as it helps develop his or her career in the process of self-improvement as well as it

    would bring a better output of his or her lessons. Internet is a great source for authentic and

    updated materials that teachers of the course could think of. And finally, teachers could use

    communicative approach to improve students communicative skills and make their

    lessons more interesting.

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    4.2 Conclusion

    The study has proven to be both a learning and a rewarding experience having analyzed the

    data on students needs, the course objectives, the teacher implementation of the course

    and the text book of the course. The study has given the writer a broader understanding of

    the importance of taking account of students needs in the ESP course design and has given

    students a chance to expresses their wants and needs as well as a chance to look at English

    study more deeply. Having an insight of how learners need and what they need from an

    ESP course is vital in designing and piloting of every ESP course. By doing this,

    curriculum designer can learn first hand what students really need to improve and be able

    to use English in their specialized fields to help ESP instructors determine their own

    strengths; directing them in writing the course objectives, syllabus and materials and test

    related to the students needs. On the other hand, the process also helped students to look at

    and think what they really need and see the picture of outcome clearer so that they could

    imagine the road they have to go.

    From the study the researcher also came to conclusion that the level of students

    communicative skills was low while the demand for those skills was high. This stressed the

    importance of considering the students needs in designing course syllabus and course

    objectives. The ESP curriculum and objectives so far have not been relevant to the

    students needs especially their professional needs and relevant to the target situation in

    which ESP students will function as an English communication users or specialists. The

    present ESP teaching curriculum as well as its objectives focusing only on the reading skill

    had a very big hole in order to meet students learning needs. This gap could be somehow

    filled by the teachers approach to the text and teachers hand outs or extra-materials to

    fulfill students thirst for communication skills. More activities should be organized so that

    students could have chance to practice the language and exchange their knowledge with

    others on the process of learning.

    4.3 Suggestions for further study

    This study has looked into the congruence between ESP course objectives and learners

    needs. The results of the study showed that despite come coherence there are still some

    gaps between them and left the curriculum designers as well as instructors the question of

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    how to solve the matter. Due to the limitations such as time constraint, scope of the study,

    the researcher could not cover some areas that could make the study more reliable and

    valuable. There are still some questions the researcher cannot answer. Firstly, how do the

    administrators think about considering and taking needs analysis in designing an ESP

    curriculum? Second, the researcher could not attain needs analysis from employers or

    specialists in the field who could certainly help to unveil more specific target that the ESP

    should meet. One more factor that needs to answer is that how the teachers look at the

    students needs and think students should need to learn. These questions are open for further

    studies.

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