Much research on reading comprehension has been done with native readers in mind; however, this study deals with reading comprehension problems for non-native readers - Vietnamese students of English. The study begins with a description of the interpreters and translators training at the Hanoi Foreign Languages College. Based on the aims and objectives of the training course the study emphasises the importance of teaching reading skills to Vietnamese interpreter and translator students in the first, second and third year. To deal with this problem, the study overviews relevant theoretical issues of reading skills presented in current literature with the purpose of relating these to the realities of teaching reading in a particular context in Vietnam. The study then looks at the main problems of teaching reading skills in the English Interpreter Department at the Hanoi Foreign Languages College. Focus has been placed on the analysis of some difficulties encountered by Vietnamese students reading English in an attempt to answer the pertinent question 'Why is it difficult for Vietnamese students to read English?' Consequently, the study considers ways in which the teaching of reading skills to Vietnamese students of interpreting and translating may be improved. The study is also concerned with the selection and development of materials and then proposes a reading syllabus in order to promote more rapid and efficient progress in the teaching of reading skills. Finally, the writer makes some suggestions about how to improve the situation of teaching reading to her colleagues in the EFL area based on her own teaching experience.

This field study proposes a basis for the establishment of a professional development program for Vietnamese high school teachers. The social background and the problems of teaching and learning English in Vietnamese high schools are discussed, including the students' goals in learning English in high schools; the teachers' qualifications and the methods of teaching commonly used; the coursebooks and how they are used; learning facilities, and the attitudes and policy decisions of education authorities. To develop effective solutions to these problems, it is necessary also to know the background to teaching and learning English in Hanoi Foreign Languages Teachers' College. In-service training is of vital importance in the education of all nations. A review of what other people have done in this field is included with particular reference to the problems which are relevant to the situation in Vietnam. Given the constraints of funding and work procedures, a short full-time in-service course would be the most practicable for the Vietnamese situation. A survey of the needs of high school teachers in their professional development has been carried out and is discussed in relation to the priorities to be given to various components of an in-service syllabus. The priorities were found to be: to improve the language, teaching techniques and awareness of a communicative approach to teaching and learning language of high school teachers in Vietnam. These priorities having been identified, the study considers: iv 1 - the syllabus model. 2 - the development of specific goals. 3 - the development of content. 4 - possible modifications of the syllabus in the future. The solution to the problem of professional development must take into account not only the work of internationally known authorities, but also the needs of Vietnamese teachers. The proposed course suggests ways of finding out and meeting the needs of participants and points to possible future development.

The increasing number of economic and cultural aid programmes for Vietnam to reconstruct its war-torn economy in recent years from the United Nations Development Programme and other international and governmental organizations has created a great demand for English language teaching and learning in Vietnam. The language problems that face Vietnamese scientists and technicians working in these aid programmes have been a major concern of many educational institutions in Vietnam and a reason for the author of this Study Report to take up this study. Chapter one of this study covers major stages of development of the teaching of English for Specific Purposes (ESP) and various factors that influence the teaching of ESP. Chapter two discusses some current issues in the teaching of ESP in Vietnam with special reference to course organization, syllabus and material design at the Hanoi Foreign Language College. It also points out some misunderstanding and misconception in the teaching of English to Vietnamese scientists and technicians. Chapter three looks at major language problems that Vietnamese students meet when they go to study at different colleges or universities in English speaking countries. A close investigation will be carried out over a number of Vietnamese veterinary doctors studying at the university of Queensland in Australia. Chapter four is concerned with the selection of suitable syllabus models for ESP/EAP courses at HFLC and also attempts to work out appropriate syllabuses for EAP courses for Vietnamese students going to study overseas. The final chapter suggests some further considerations for organizing ESP/EAP courses at HFLC especially for material production, ESP teacher training and ESP testing. It is hoped that this Study Report will give language teachers in the ESP Department at the Hanoi Foreign Languages College a clearer picture of what ESP is all about and provide some guidelines for successful organization of teaching ESP and EAP to Vietnamese students.

Increasing development of the relationship between Vietnam and other countries has resulted in a great demand for English language teaching (ELT) throughout the country. The need is ever greater for a considerable number of people who can use English effectively in their work. However, at present ELT in Vietnam is still far from satisfactory. There exists a common problem of communicative incompetence in Vietnamese learners. ELT in the Hanoi Foreign Languages Teachers' College (HFLTC) is taken to illustrate the fact that even after five years of training, students frequently remain deficient in the ability to actually use the language, to understand its use in normal communication, and to carry out their teaching adequately afterwards. That existing situation demands a critical look at ELT in all institutions to work out suitable materials and methods to be used in the Vietnamese setting. This work has been undertaken as an exploratory study of this problem. To provide a context for the study, the background to ELT in Vietnam is reviewed. Following it is a detailed description of different approaches used in ELT with reference to the teaching and learning situations in Vietnam. Special emphasis is placed on the differences between conventional approaches and the currently influential one - the Communicative Approach. A detailed comparison is made between two lessons taken from structuralbased and functional/notional-based textbooks representing two distinct approaches. This comparison will be examined from the methodological point of view, investigating, for example, how language is treated in the two approaches, how different types of activities are used, and the role of teacher and learner in the two approaches in order to highlight a possible fresh approach for Vietnamese coursebook designers, teachers and learners in ELT. A sample lesson based on the Communicative Approach is finally provided to assist any attempts to teach and learn English communicatively. It is hoped that this survey will contribute to reducing the existing problem of inadequate communicative competence in Vietnamese learners.

The handbook presented in this paper summarises the results of the research initiative “International Water Research Alliance Saxony” (IWAS). The subproject “IWAS Vietnam” (Phase I, October 2008 – December 2010) focuses on the model region “South-East Asia” with emphasis on Vietnam. The project started as a joint research initiative between German and Vietnamese organisations and included contributions from academic, private and public sector in both countries. The handbook was compiled by the Technische Universität Dresden (project coordination), the Institute for Technical and Scientific Hydrology and Dresden Drainage and Sewerage Company, with substantial contributions from Vietnamese partners. / Sổ tay hướng dẫn trong bài viết này tóm lược các kết quả của sáng kiến nghiên cứu từ “Liên minh Nghiên cứu ngành nước quốc tế bang Saxony” (IWAS). Dự án nhánh “IWAS Việt Nam” (giai đoạn 1, 10/2008 - 12/2010) tập trung vào khu vực Đông Nam Á với trọng tâm là Việt Nam. Dự án khởi động như một sáng kiến liên kết nghiên cứu giữa các tổ chức của CHLB Đức và Việt Nam với sự đóng góp từ các đơn vị tư nhân, nhà nước và trường đại học của cả hai quốc gia. Quyển sổ tay này được biên soạn bởi Đại học Kỹ thuật Dresden (cơ quan điều phối dự án), Viện Công nghệ và Khoa học Thủy văn, và Công ty Thoát nước Dresden, cùng với sự đóng góp quan trọng của các đối tác Việt Nam.

Ce mémoire porte sur le développement d’un système de plancher de béton préfabriqué destiné à l’habitat urbain de Hanoi et plus particulièrement sur la préfabrication d’une poutre de béton armé de bambou. Une partie de la recherche fut menée conjointement avec M. Dany Blackburn qui s’intéressa à l’habitation à faible coût et aux bétons cellulaires. Dans la première partie de ce mémoire, notre travail consistait à dresser le portrait du marché de la construction locale afin d’en saisir les réalités et les enjeux principaux. Les observations réalisées sur le terrain à l’été 2002 sont donc présentées dans la première partie de ce mémoire ainsi que dans celui de Dany Blackburn (2006). En second lieu, une recension d’écrits fait le point sur l’état actuel des publications les plus récentes sur la technologie du béton armé de bambou. Les thèmes retenus sont très étroitement liés à cette recherche exploratoire. Il s’agit des propriétés physiques et mécaniques du bambou, des méthodes de préservation de la matière, des critères de choix de l’espèce de bambou, du problème d’adhérence entre le bambou et le béton et l’utilisation des armatures de bambou dans le béton dans le cas d’une poutre. Notons enfin que cette recension ne prétend aucunement être exhaustive. L’accent est mis davantage sur les études récentes et sur les résultats les plus marquants. C’est à partir de l’information recueillie sur le terrain et de celle recensée dans la littérature que fut réalisé l’objectif premier de ce mémoire, soit la préfabrication d’une poutre de béton armé de bambou destiné à l’habitat urbain de Hanoi. La troisième partie de la recherche expose donc la méthodologie empruntée lors des expérimentations. Finalement, un prototype de plancher préfabriqué en grandeur réelle fut soumis à un essai de chargement. La maquette se compose de 3 poutres de béton armé de bambou ainsi que de 10 dalles de béton cellulaire produites par Dany Blackburn dans le cadre de son mémoire. Des essais mécaniques ont ensuite été menés afin de mesurer l’efficacité structurale des poutres de béton armé de bambou et du système de plancher préfabriqué. Les résultats présentés dans la dernière partie de ce mémoire démontrent que l’utilisation du bambou comme armature de béton dans la préfabrication de poutres est une alternative intéressante et peut être utilisée efficacement pour la construction résidentielle de Hanoi. / This thesis relates on the development of a precasted concrete floor intended for the urban habitat of Hanoi and more particularly to the prefabrication of a concrete beam reinforced with bamboo. A part of this research was carried out jointly with Mr. Dany Blackburn which was interested to low cost housing and gas concrete slabs. Initially, our work consisted in drawing up the portrait of the local construction market to seize the principal realities and stakes of them. The observations carried out on the ground at summer 2002 are thus presented in the first part of this thesis. In the second part, a recension of writings gives a progress report on the current state of the most recent publications on the bamboo reinforced concrete technology. With the information collected on the ground and listed in the literature, the principal objective of this thesis was carried out: the prefabrication of a concrete beam reinforced with bamboo. The third part of research exposes the methodology used during the experiments. Finally, a real size prototype of the prefabricated floor system was assembled. The model is composed of 3 concrete beams reinforced with bamboo and 10 gas concrete slabs produced by Dany Blackburn within its report. Mechanical tests were then carried out to measure the structural effectiveness of the concrete beams reinforced with bamboo and of the prefabricated floor system. The results presented in the last part of this thesis show that the bamboo as concrete reinforcement in the prefabrication of beams are an interesting alternative and can be used effectively for the residential construction of Hanoi.

Les transports artisanaux servent souvent à combler un vide laissé par les transports publics (organisés par l’État) dans les pays du Sud global. En prenant le cas de Hanoi (Vietnam), ce mémoire aborde le rôle de la mototaxi dans les habitudes de mobilité, ainsi que son potentiel à agir comme complément modal au transport public actuel et à venir. Cette recherche met en exergue la relation entre transport public et mototaxi, basée sur des observations directes, des entretiens et une enquête auprès d’usagers du transport public. On y découvre que les usagers du transport public ne les intègrent que sporadiquement à leurs pratiques intermodales et multimodales, en raison de prix trop élevés et de manquement à la sécurité. Parallèlement, des compagnies de mototaxi, récemment fondées et qui promettent des services plus sécuritaires et une tarification claire (grâce à l’utilisation de compteurs), prospèrent à Hanoi, alors que les mototaxis indépendantes voient leur clientèle diminuer. Ces compagnies doivent leur succès à leur capacité à offrir des services bien adaptés aux conditions locales (rues étroites, circulation dense, etc.) et aux besoins des hanoiens (en terme de sécurité, notamment) et ouvrent de nouvelles opportunités dans les pratiques intermodales et multimodales. / Informal transport often fill a gap left unfilled by formal transport in many cities of the Global South. Using the case of Hanoi (Vietnam), this thesis explores the role played by mototaxis in the urban mobility behaviors as well as its potential to complement formal public transit. This research sheds light on the relationship between public transit (formal) and mototaxi (informal), based on direct observations, interviews and a transit user survey. We find that public transit users only sporadically integrate them in intermodal and multimodal journeys. This is due to negative perceptions regarding safety and cost of mototaxi services and feelings of being swindled on the price. We further find that as freelance mototaxi drivers are seeing their market decrease, newly established mototaxi companies (promising safer services and using meters) thrive in Hanoi. These companies’ success (with both transit and non-transit users) is due to their ability to offer a service well adapted to local conditions (narrow streets, traffic jams, etc.) and to users’ needs with regard to mobility and safety. This innovation in informal transport calls for greater attention from planners and policy makers as is opens new opportunities to encourage intermodal and multimodal behaviours.

No description available.

This work is concerned with five problems in combinatorics. In Josephus problem, people are standing in a circle or in a row and every q-th is executed until only one person remains. We show how to find the survivor, and discuss the generalization when each person has more lives. In Tower of Hanoi, we study the numbers and properties of moves necessary to transport the tower from one rod to another, where the total number of rods is either three or four. We mention related problems with restrictions on the legal moves. In ménage problem, we calculate the number of seatings of couples around a table such that men and women alternate and nobody sits next to his or her partner. We also discuss permutations with restricted positions and rook polynomials. In ballot problem, we consider two candidates competing against each other and calculate the probability that, throughout the count, the first candidate always had more votes than k times the number of votes of the second one; we also mention the relation to Catalan numbers. In Kirkman's schoolgirl problem, the task is to find a weekly schedule for fifteen girls walking daily out in triads so that no two go together more than once. We also discuss the social golfer problem and Schurig's tables.

The English language occupied a specially important status in the increasing development of science, technology, culture and international relations in Vietnam, which has resulted in a growing demand for English Language Teaching (ELT) all over the country. The Hanoi Foreign Languages Teachers' Training College in general and its Department of English in particular plays a very important role in this by producing as many teachers of English as possible for high schools as well as for other Colleges and Universities in Vietnam as a whole. Unfortunately, ELT in Vietnam is still far from satisfactory. There exists a common problem of communicative competence in Vietnamese students, even in Vietnamese teachers of English. ELT at HFLTTC is taken to illustrate the fact that even after five years' training, graduates remain deficient in the ability of language use as well as understanding its use in normal communication. This being the case, how can they carry out effectively the teaching of English to high school pupils or students at other institutions? In this situation, we need to take a serious look at ELT in the Department of English at the HFLTTC so as to suggest suitable materials and methods which will enable the Institution to function more effectively. This project makes an exploratory study of the problem. To provide a context for the study, the background to ELT in the Department of English is reviewed. This is followed by a detailed description of different approaches used in ELT with the reference to the actual activities of teaching and learning in the Department of English. A special emphasis is placed on the difference between conventional approaches and the currently influential one - The Functional- Notional-Approach to language teaching and learning. The basic notions of this approach will be covered and also different categories of functions and categories of situations which the students of English often encounter in using English. Different techniques of teaching functional spoken English will be suggested with an aim to improving the teaching of spoken English in the above-mentioned setting. It is hoped that this project may become a contribution to solving some of the existing problems of inadequate communicative competence of Vietnamese students of English and to teaching and learning English with effective communication skills in the Department of English at the HFLTTC.