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Business English Program for Freshmen at ULIS-VNU-

HN: Initial Evaluation by the stakeholders

Business English Program for Freshmen at ULIS-VNU-

HN: Initial Evaluation by the stakeholders

Trần Thị Quỳnh LêTrần Thị Thanh Phúc

ULIS-VNU-HN

Trần Thị Quỳnh LêTrần Thị Thanh Phúc

ULIS-VNU-HN

Contents

Introduction 1

The Business English Program at ULIS-VNU

2

Evaluation of the assignments

3

Introduction: rationale

The growing importance of English in business communication

The situation in ULIS – VNU Aims of the paper: Description of the BE speaking

program in ULIS-VNU Evaluation of the two assignments

employed as formative assessment tools

Introduction: Literature review

Curriculum Kerr (1983): all learning planned and guided by the

school Evan (1995): a structured set of learning outcomes

or tasks OECD (1998): content, teaching, learning and

resourcesTwo features:

Planned and guided learning Schooling activities

Introduction: Literature review

Curriculum development Tayler (1949):

• Select aims, goals, objectives• Select learning experiences and content• Organize learning experiences• Evaluate of the achievements of objectives

Wiggins and McTighe (2005):• Identify desired results• Determine acceptable evidence• Plan learning experience

Introduction: Literature review

Curriculum evaluation Tuckman (1979): means to determine

whether the program is meeting its goals, whether the outcomes match the intended outcomes

The current BE speaking program comprises both:

Curriculum design (Wiggins & McTighe, 2005)

Curriculum evaluation

Introduction: Literature review

Assessment Hanson (1993): representational technique Messick (1989): validation of assessment Forms:

• Summative: encapsulates all the evidence to a given point (Maddalena, 2005)

• Formative: compasses all activities to provide information to be used as feedback for modification of teaching and learning activities (Black, 1998)

The BE speaking program

Steps to design the program: Identify the desired goals (knowledge, skills,

attitudes) Determine acceptable evidence

• Two assignments• Final speaking test

Learning plan (working out the syllabus) Collect data on the effectiveness of the

program

The BE speaking program

Core book: Name: New Market Leader (Pre-intermediate)

Second Edition by Cotton, David and Kent (2005) Reasons for choosing:

• Suitable level• Authentic input• Case study in each unit (review)

Supplementary material: Name: Business Vocabulary in Use -Intermediate by

Mascull (2002) Reason for choosing: Business Vocabulary in Use -

Intermediate by Mascull (2002• Explanation of key business terms• Build up vocabulary (Levelt 1989, Ota 2003)

The BE speaking program

Assignments Vocabulary mini-test: one test per two weeks, 10

minutes, 20-25 items• Semester 1: 50% from the two books, 50% from other BE books

(low performance)

• Semester 2: 50% from each book

Case-study: focus on discussion and presentation skills

• Semester 1: adapted case study

• Semester 2: no official adaptation

End of term speaking test (adapted from BEC Premilenary speaking test)

Evaluation of the two assignments

Research questions: i. How were the assignments received by the

teachers and students? ii, What are their suggestions in improving the

assignments? Instruments

Questionnaires (60 students, 5 teachers) about the effectiveness and their preference

Interviews (5 students, 2 teachers) Procedure

Questionnaire completion (60 randomly selected students and 5 teachers who taught the program)

Interview: 2 teachers and 5 students

Evaluation of the two assignments

Findings: How were the assignments received by the teachers and students?

The effectiveness of the case studies – Students’ feedback

The case study was effective

3 1

26

47

23

0

10

20

30

40

50

1

Per

cen

tag

e

Totally disagree

Disagree

Neutral

Agree

Totally agree

Evaluation of the two assignments

Findings: How were the assignments received by the teachers and students?

Comments on case study (CS): T1: prefers the CS of semester 1 Most Ss: prefers the CS of semester 1 Reasons: more suitable for Ss’ level, more close to the Ss, Ss have

more to say Ss: favor CS that invited discussion and argument from the audience

The effectiveness of the case studies – Students’ feedback

Evaluation of the two assignments

Findings: How were the assignments received by the teachers and students?

The effectiveness of the mini-test – Students’ feedback

The Vocabulary mini-test was effective

5 5

26

46

18

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

1

Perc

en

tag

e

Totally disagree

Disagree

Neutral

Agree

Totally agree

Evaluation of the two assignments

Findings: How were the assignments received by the teachers and students?

Comments on vocabulary mini-test (VT): Make Ss learn more Help Ss re-check business vocabulary Ss may forget what they learn Ss favor VT in semester 2 (only from the assigned

books) Level: not appropriate (too difficult in semester 1

while very predictable in semester 2)

Evaluation of the two assignments

Suggestions for CS: Contextualize CS:

• More assessable• Related to the real world of work• Same situation and complex language with minor change

More work on CS before going to class Fewer CS for Ss to have better preparation

Suggestions for VT: Better design Some focus on pronunciation More time to deal with the vocabulary

Evaluation of the two assignmentsImplications

CS promotes speaking skills. CS work well when being practical and

familiar. Ss need to be exposed to unfamiliar

situations. More exploitation of input is necessary. Ss and Ts use Internet to adapt CS. More speaking elements should be

employed in the VT. Ss must have more opportunities to use the

items in the VT.

Limitation and suggestion for further research

Broader scale Comparison between the current program

and other BE programs at other universities More comments from other researchers

REFERENCES

Black, P. & William, D. (1998) Assessment and Classroom Learning, Assessment in Education 5(1) pp 7-74

Cotton, D., David, F. & Kent, S. (2005) Market – Leader (Pre-intermediate_New Edition) Student's Book), Pearson Education Limited

Howell, K.W. & Evan, D.G. (1995) Must instructionally useful performance assessment be based in the curriculum? Comment. Exceptional Children, 61 (4), pp 394-396

Hanson, F.A. (1993) Testing Testing: Social Consequences of the Examined Life. Berkeley: University of California Press.

Kelly, A. V. (1983; 1999) The Curriculum. Theory and practice 4e, London: Paul Chapman Levelt, W.J.M. (1989) Speaking: From intention to articulation, MA: MIT Press Mascull, B. (2002) Business Vocabulary in Use, Cambridge University Press Messick, S. (1989) Validity, In R.L.Linn (Ed.), Educational Measurement (3rd ed.), Phoenix,

AZ: Oryx Press, pp 13-103 Nomura, M. (2004) Enhancement of speaking ability and vocabulary: Using an archaeological

research method, Naruto English Education, 18, 60-71. Naruto University of Education, Department of English

OECD. (1998) Making the Curriculum Work, Paris: Centre for Educational Research and Innovation, Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development

Ota, H., Kanatani, K., Kosuge, A., & Hidai, S. (2003) How English ability is developed: Exploring English acquisition process of junior high school students, Tokyo: Taishukan

Taras, M. (2005) Assessment – Summative and Formative – Some Theoretical Reflections, British Journal of Educational Studies, ISSN 0007-1005, Vol.53, pp 466-478

Tuckman, B.W. (1979) Evaluating Instructional Programmes, Boton/London: Allyn & Bacon Inc.

Tyler, R.W. (1949) Basic principles of curriculum and instruction, Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.

Wiggins, G. & McTighe, J. (2005) Understanding by design, Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision & Curriculum Development

Appendix 1: Identify the desired goals

Appendix 2: Semester 1vocabulary mini-test 1 (part 1)

Appendix 2: Semester 1vocabulary mini-test 1 (part 2)

Appendix 3: Semester 2vocabulary mini-test 1 (part 1)

Appendix 3: Semester 2vocabulary mini-test 1 (part 2)

Appendix 4: Case-study 2 (part 1) (in the core book)

Appendix 4: Case-study 2 (part 2) (in the core book)

Appendix 4: Case-study 2 (part 3) (in the core book)

Appendix 5: Case-study 2 - adapted