In 1974 the Ministry for Higher Education stated that
every scientist in Vietnam must know one or two foreign languages
(one of them being English), and be able to use it for his work.
But even now, the number of people who have acquired the language
as required is still small. This paper examines the causes of this
problem and possible remedies.
What has caused the situation to change so slowly? The
reasons may be several, but the most striking one is that teachers
do not understand the nature of EST, so they try to teach scientists
the same language forms in the same way as they do with young
students at Foreign Language Colleges. Consequently, the learners
know a lot about the language, but can use only a little.
The paper considers several aspects of the situation.
Scientists and technologists need to learn only the language forms
often used in scientific literature and the skills needed for their
work. For this reason, teachers must first identify the learners'
needs, then draw up a list of objectives of the course, look for
relevant materials and use appropriate methods of teaching. To help
teachers to do these things, a training programme is needed. The
training will familiarize the teachers with key scientific concepts,
characteristics of EST, and the way to place learners in appropriate
groups.
Several approaches to ESP/EST are examined, but EST
learners in Vietnam are rather different from those in other
countries, so a special model for an EST course is designed ;
an example of a reading course to illustrate the model is given
for teachers to refer to. Finally, some suggestions are offered
to solve problems arising from present EST courses.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ADTP/219380 |
| Date | January 1985 |
| Creators | Kim, Van Tat, n/a |
| Publisher | University of Canberra. Liberal Studies |
| Source Sets | Australiasian Digital Theses Program |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Rights | ), Copyright Van Tat Kim |
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