INTRODUCTION __________________________________________________ _____________________________ 1. Rationale Foreign languages have been introduced and taught in Vietnam for many years. Especially, English has become a very popular subject to be taught and paid further surveys and studies at all levels: from elementary to secondary schools and, furthermore, to tertiary education across the country. As the spread of English to almost all corners of the world, nowadays, people are getting more and more aware of the importance of the language. For many people in Vietnam, English is seen as a very necessary means to get a good job, especially a well-paid job in foreign invested companies. Thus, there is a growing demand to learn the language for business communication. Therefore, the teaching and learning of English have been placed in an important focus. However, the current situation of English teaching and learning in Haiphong University has both advantages and disadvantages which should be defined more clearly so that we can improve the teaching-learning environment and the proficiency of English competence of the students. As English teachers of ESP, we may find it hard to determine what points to focus on when asked to navigate students for their big steps into the real world after they leave university. We should always bear in mind that some of our students may someday have to work for a 100% foreign invested or International Joint Venture (IJV) firm. This requires not only instructing our students on how to improve their foreign business language skills, but also helping them come to terms with cultural differences and business styles which may often be more of useful resources than impediments. Feedbacks from many graduates of Haiphong University and now working for foreign firms show that they really need real-life English when they start their jobs in foreign invested companies such as how to prepare for a job process, office activities, administration procedures, etc. Besides, the teaching of business correspondence is one part of the English for Business Communication. That is why the English majors will really have to face with some fundamental drawbacks when taking part into this ESP course, namely lack of real-life experience, limited time allocated for the course, inappropriate material course book, inexperienced teachers, etc. With those difficulties, the teaching of English business correspondence is really a challenge. What we have to carry out at the moment is to find out the effective way to the teaching and learning this subject matter, so that when they leave university and start working for a business firm they will feel less difficult dealing with business correspondence. 2. Aims of the study The study is aimed at: 1. Reviewing current approaches to teaching EFL writing with focus on teaching and learning business correspondence writing; 2. Identifying some commonly made mistakes by English majors in Haiphong University while learning to write business correspondence; and 3. Giving suggestions for effectively teaching business correspondence writing in Haiphong University. I strongly hope that with all my great efforts focused on some pending matters in terms of both theory and practice, some of my study will partly contribute to the improvement of ESP learning-teaching in general, and business correspondence writing in particular. 3. Scope of study This research focuses on finding out suitable techniques for teaching students to write business correspondence correctly and efficiently (in which cover letters are of the most concentration). With the current ESP curriculum and materials in use in Haiphong University, the Business English is taught within only 30 forty-five minute periods. That is why the scope of our study is limited to the writing of cover letters in Job Seeking Process. 4. Methodology For the implementation of this study, a number of methods will be used such as contrastive, comparative, analysis, general review from published materials in the related fields. Different sources of materials will be chosen from related textbooks, articles, internets, Video Compact Discs (VCD), Compact Discs (CD). Also, the analysis of students’ writing task is done to recognize most common mistakes made by students when they perform their cover letter writing. This can surely help teachers anticipate problems in the existing course and seek the possible solutions to fix these problems. The analysis will assist to distinguish advantages and disadvantages in teaching techniques for teachers’ part. 5. Organization of the study The study includes three parts: PART A: INTRODUCTION presents Rationale, Aims of the study, Scope, Methodology and Organization of the study PART B: DEVELOPMENT constitutes the body of the study and consists of three chapters: Chapter One: Review of Literature In this chapter, the trends and approaches applied to teaching English writing such as Product, Process and Genre are reviewed and then narrowed down to the approaches for teaching ESP. At the end of this chapter a summary of the limitations and differences of these approaches is presented. Chapter Two: Methodology A brief description of the Business English course currently being taught in Haiphong University is given and all information related to the research questions, survey and data collection procedures is also provided with. Also the analysis of errors made by students is discussed. Chapter Three: Data Analysis and Discussion In this chapter, survey data collected are analyzed based on the questionnaire responses in order to find out some major findings about students’ difficulties in learning Business letter writing. Besides, students’ needs on the course content, methodologies and their recommendations will be discussed. Additionally, their weaknesses and strengths are concluded after the error analysis. Finally, a combined approach to teaching business letter writing is suggested. PART C: CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS presents review of the study, recommendations for improvements and some suggestions for further study. Luận văn dài 38 trang
