Students Perspective of Using Content-Based Approach in ESP Class

The purpose of this study is to understand the perspectives of using content-based approach on college students in International Trade Business English (ITBE) Class. Content-based Approach (CBA) viewed as language learning with contents for academic subject matter. It provides a cognitive and motivational basis of language learning. CBA approach gave the academic or language instructors a guideline for designing the contents and activities. Concurrent triangulation research conducted with quantitative method was designed to understand the learners improve their knowledge of business English through the CBA. 115 participants who majored in the Department of Applied English completed questionnaires at both the beginning and the end of the course. To obtain qualitative data, ten participants were randomly selected for specific purpose. Participants received the semiinterview to obtain the detailed information. Findings are listed as followings: (1) CBA increase the level of students’ satisfaction toward the well-designed ITBE materials, (2) CBA has positive effects on ITBE course contents, (3) CBA in ITBE classrooms motivate students’ learning needs, and (4) CBA helps the academic teacher and language teachers work well in designing the course activities and materials. Results indicate that CBA enriched experience of ESP learners and provided practical opportunities for ITBE learning.


Introduction
With the rapid development of science, technology, information and economic globalization, International Trade has also developed over the past few years (Creese, 2005).Because International Trade serves as an important bridge between international business, cultural exchange, and information interaction, it exerts an important influence on human life and social progress among all countries.In order to understand the latest development within the field of International Trade, students have become competent in English so that they can communicate proficiently in international business and its settings.Researchers have applied many teaching methods to International Trade Business English courses, such as the translation method, the cognitive method, the situational approach, and the task-based approach (Adamson, 1993).However, since these approaches are stillbased onEnglish for General Purposes (EGP) teaching theories, they can only solve superficial problems.EGP teaching stresses basic language skills including listening, speaking, reading and writing.In practice, EGP teaching uses daily life situations asmaterials and emphasizes repeated practice of grammar and vocabulary.The class structureis always teacher-centered and the evaluation of EGP often takes the form of the College English Test (Stryker & Leaver, 1997).Although this teaching method is efficientin helping students lay a solid foundation of language, it is insufficient to meet the needs ofstudents' specific vocational qualifications.
Since EGP teaching does not address vocational college students' specialties, many researchers and teachers have considered additional teaching methods.In the case of International Trade English, the English for specific purposes (ESP) theories focus on specific applications."ESPis an exciting movement in English language education that is opening up rich opportunities for English teachers and researchers in new professional domains" (Ohta, 2001).

Statement of Problem
English for Specific Purposes (ESP) theories are favored by both teachers and learners because they focus on the language used in specific disciplines or professions.To apply ESP theories, teachers use five phases: needs analysis, syllabus design, material selection, course teaching and evaluation.In the case of International Trade Business English, teachers use this guided teaching method to develop a clear picture of the qualifications that students need in the international business industry.This information then serves as the foundation of the International Trade Business English course.This focus closes the gap between what is typically taught in EGP and what will actually be needed by students who prepare for jobs in International Trade.The ESP approach can potentially bridge that gap.
Through a variety of ESP teaching activities, teachers create experiences that simulate actual International Trade situations and concentrate on the skills needed by the specific International Trade positions; the learning is combined with practice.In recent years, ESP theories are applied widely and successfully in vocational college English teaching such as Business English (Chumpavan, 2001).However, regarding International Trade Business English course, the application of ESP theories is still a new attempt, needing further studies and practices (Ausubel, Novak, & Hancesian, 1978).In the 21st century, many disciplines overlap.International Trade is one such area that incorporates from science, information technology, economics, and globalization.People with advanced talent in the area of international exchange who can also communicate in English are needed; thus, English teaching faces challenges in order to meet the needs of the society (Alexander, Kulikowich, & Schulze, 1994).Successful experience in English learning suggests that the use of CBA can enhance students' motivation, accelerate students' acquisition of language proficiency, broaden cross-cultural knowledge, and make the language learning experience enjoyable and fulfilling.Using the framework of cognitive and educational psychology theory, this study explores how the use of CBA in the college English classroom influences learning performance for students of International Trade.Widdowson (1981) suggested that the Content-Based Approach (CBA) focuses on the integration of language learning with content learning.When these two areas are integrated, English is learned in the context of the subject matter.Briton (1989) stated that the CBA organizes the teaching method based on the content or the set of information that students will be learning.CBA can be a philosophical orientation and a methodological system that implies the total integration of language learning and content learning (Swain, 1988).Short (1991) stated that in CBA, teachers use content topics for instruction rather than grammar rules or vocabulary lists.

Definition of CBA
According to Stryker and Leaver (1997), subject matter in CBA is broadly defined from topics or themes that are selected based on the interests and needs of the students.This content provides the basic element for learners, which is what teachers teach and what students learn (Brinton, 1997).Tomlinson (2001) stated that content should be taught in an easily understood and meaningful way that allows learners to make connections to their lives.In this study, content is seen as the subject knowledge that students learn through the target language.
Therefore, students achieve simultaneously both academic knowledge and language proficiency through CBA, which employs texts or resource materials such as culture, art, history, geography, sociology, science.Teachers introduce new theories by adjusting the material's level of complexity, abstraction, depth and breadth to match the needs of students.Table 1 summarizes the definitions of the Content-Based Approach.
Table 1.Definition of content-based approach Definition of Content-based Approach Stryker and Leaver (1997) Subject matter in CBA is selected from topics or themes based on student needs and interests.Brinton (1997) In CBA, contents are the basic element, which is what teachers teach and what students learn.Widdowson (1981) The idea of CBA implies the total integration of language learning and content learning.Brinton (1989) The CBA method is organized by content or information that students would acquire.Stryker and Leaver (1989) CBA is based on a philosophy and a methodology that integrates language learning with content learning.Short (1991) In CBA, content topics are used for teaching rather than grammar rules or vocabulary lists.Snow (1993) Language instruction with content-based approach, in which the target language is viewed as a tool of communication.Tomlinson (2001) Content should be taught in an easily understandable and meaningful way, allowing learners to make connections to their lives.

Characteristics of ESP Courses
Based on the definitions above, the core characteristics of ESP are demonstrated below (Chapple & Curtis, 2000): 1) ESP is customized to meet foreign language learners' specific needs; 2) ESP should closely relate to professional knowledge; 3) The content of ESP should be related to specific courses, career or activities; 4) ESP has no definite teaching methodology but distinct from EGP (English General Purpose).

Needs of ESP Learners
To design a useful course, the designers must understand the target group and the purpose of the course (Cook, 2000).Usually, the target group and the purpose are defined by state policy and the designers' understanding of the educational requirements.This method concentrates on what is available to students in terms of what teachers can offer (Cortazzi & Jin, 1996).The design of a CBA course considers the needs of the students and incorporates their role in the teaching-learning activities.Needs analysis has three functions: 1) to provide a way of obtaining wider input into the content, programming and implementation of a language program; 2) to develop goals, objectives and content; and 3) to provide data for reviewing and evaluating an existing program (Ready & Wesche, 1992).The idea of objective and subjective needs of students was presented by Brown (2000), who stated that objective needs can be checked by using factors such as the learner's age, learning experience, education background, and language proficiency level.Subjective needs are those the students lack at present and necessary to explore in target environment (Brown, 2000).

Teacher Qualifications and Training in ESP
AllESP studies (Widdowson, 1981(Widdowson, , 1993;;Winter, 2004) share the assertion that the role of the ESP teacher is not a single one.An ESP teacher or practitioner needs to perform five different roles: Teacher, Collaborator, Course designer and materials provider, Researcher and Evaluator (Eskey, 1984).In order to meet the specific needs of the students and adopt the methodology and activities of the foreign language learning, a true ESP teacher or an ESP practitioner would be a teacher and worker with field specialists closely firstly.Scholars propose an example of the important results emerging from collaboration, which does not have to end at the development stage but can extend as far as teaching (Johns, 1988).
All English teachers should design or provide materials and contents for learners.The difference between 'General English' teachers and ESP practitioners is the content and related materials that ESP scholars provide.Scholars made contributions on solving selecting materials of ESP teachers.Hanson (2005) described distinguishing differences between anthropology and sociology texts, Andrade (2001) demonstrated peculiar features of writing in the engineering field; Harackiewicz (2000) argued that the grammatical structures, functions, discourse structures, skills, and strategies of different disciplines are identical.Occasionally, the evaluator role of ESP practitioners is neglected not only by the English teachers but also by scholars.
The purpose of a university is to prepare students for occupational and technical positions, while providing training in advanced technology and management skills.Students have to dominate in both theoretical knowledge and the reality of day-to-day operations.Some understanding of the management should also be gained by students.In order to meet the needs of the students, ESP teachers should integrate knowledge and be prepared to take on several roles (Dupuy, 2000).

Focus on International Trade Business Course
College students in the International Trade Business English course should obtain commercial knowledge and information.They need to learn the specialized knowledge; otherwise, they lose their motivation to learn English.The content of the International Trade Business Englishcourse should connect to the workplace, and provide knowledge that will be useful for a student's futurecareer (Freeman, 1991).Students want in-depth study expertise knowledge of International Trade Business: international etiquette, international trade organizations, telephone transactions, interviewing techniques, international affairs, economic profiles and how to establish a good marketing strategy with foreign customers (Harackiewicz & Elliot, 2000); at the same time, they are still very interested in learning English.Through the International Trade Business Englishcourse, the college students can learn English business letter format, phrases and terminology of International Trade Business characters, and the notes when reply to correspondence (Hidi & Harackiewicz, 2000).

Methodology
The concurrent triangulation strategy was conducted in this study.The concurrent triangulation strategy gave the equal weight to both qualitative and quantitative research.Both types of data are collected at the same time; therefore the term is called the"concurrent" study (Creese, 2005).

Research Questions
This study aims to investigate the following questions: 1. What are ESP learners' perspectives with using a Content-based Approach in International Trade Business English?
2. What are ESP learners' perspectives with using a Content-based Approach toward materials selection?

Research Procedure-Visual Diagram
A visual diagram gives a clear picture of the flow and timing of the quantitative and qualitative data collection, the weight given to the quantitative and qualitative data and where the mixing of the two methods occurred within a study (Jacoby, 1995;Kolb, 2002).Table 2 demonstrates the concurrent triangulation procedure.

Research Design
In the triangulation design, quantitative and qualitative data were collected simultaneously.In the questionnaire, the collection of both quantitative and qualitative data was achieved by using both closed-ended (quantitative) and open-ended (qualitative) response items.The triangulation design is best suited when a researcher needs to collect both types of data at the same time about a single phenomenon (Crookes, 1991).In the experimental teaching program, the teacher's teaching methods were diverse.A wide range of materials were used: Youtube videos, articles about International Trade Business, maps andother picture documents.Supplementary materials were usedin thecourse, such as talk shows and films.The teaching activities were carried out in several forms: self-study, group discussion, presentation, taking notes, commenting, summarizing and evaluating, as shown in Table 3.

Participants
One hundred and fifteen participants involved in the study were undergraduates, who took the International Trade Business course in northern Taiwan.Their ages were from 20 to 27.About 76.3% of the subjects were female (N=61), while male students occupied 23.7% (N=18) of the total group.At the beginning of the semester, 115 students were registered in the International Trade Business English class.The number of participants was reduced to 104, because 11 of the students did not continue class at the end of semester.In addition, 35 questionnaires were either answered or lightly answered.In that case, 79college students whose ages were similar were involved in this research, and had the same educational background and years of learning English.One hundred and four participants completed the survey after being informed about the study by the teacher.
Interviewees were selected from the students who agreed to participate and were willing to complete the questionnaires at the end of the course.

Classroom Observation
The observations on the regular College English class were carried out during the same period as the other class was taking place.In the course that did not use a Content-based Approach, the teacher spent time and effort to explain the usage of new words and structures in the International Trade Businesstext.The key teaching activities were designed for the purpose of practicing linguistic skills of students and expect to make great elevationon listening, speaking, reading and writing Classroom observation was carried out as apart of the study, which provided meaningful indications and revealed problems concerning the Content-based Approach.With the permission of the teacher who taught the International Trade Business English course, observation of the teaching method and student activity took place.
To avoid disruption of the classroom order and still gain first-hand information, a non-participatory observational method observing by video wasused without interference of the classroom activities.
The first classroom observation was made on the first day of the International Trade Business English course.
Each student was given one sheet of white paper and was asked to write down what kind of knowledge they most wanted to learn mostin the International Trade Business English course.The first lesson of the semester, the teacher gave students two handouts on the International Trade Procedures.Selection of materials (Textbook: International Business English written by Collins) that shows the sequencing of activities in the teacher's CBA English classroom, including teaching steps, teaching activities, teaching materials, teaching objectives and time frame.In the following observation, the observer considered thenumber of the students, class schedule, class content and other aspects of information.The International Trade Business English procedures provided useful information concerning the actions of the teacher and students, teaching content and interaction patterns in English classes.Both of them aim us with the teaching practice of CBA in ESP context.

Students' Log
The students' logs wereused to observe the students' daily recorded information on learning English of the international trade.The information of students learning could be collected though students observations, which involved 36 students selected in the Content-based Approach of International Trade Business English Course classroom.According to requirements which were given by the researcher, students wrote in the learning diary once a month.Students should write what they had learned in the International Trade Business course and what they needed to learn in the future.Students' logs collected to investigate the participants' satisfaction toward the lecturer, the content of the course, the materials, and teaching approaches through CBA.Students' observations were then analyzed to determinethe satisfaction of the participants.

Open Interviews
Interview is an open form of collecting the information, in which the investigator outlines the questions that will be asked of the interviewee.The students are free to answer the relevant information about the problem; afterwards the investigators collected these pieces of information and analyze them.Both person-to-person and group interviewswere used.The researcher wants to expose what is "in and on someone else's mind" (Patton, 2002, p. 341).
In addition, Patton (1990, p. 36) expressed the purpose of interviews: "We interview people to find out from them those things we can't observe feelings, thoughts, and intentions.We cannot observe behaviors that took place at some previous point in time.We cannot observe how people have organized the world and questions about those things.The purpose of interviewing, then, is to allow us to enter into the other person's perspective." Interviewing is required when the researchers are not able to observe behavior, thoughts, or how people interpret the world around them.It is also necessary when the researchers are interested in past events that are impossible to replicate (Song, 2006).
This interview was conducted at the end of the semester.Open-ended interviews were held with ten volunteer students towards the end of the data collection.The interview was conducted seven times during teaching periods and lasted for approximately half an hour.Students promised to look over the questions one hour before they were interviewed, in order to consider the questions deeply.Students should give one example for the type of instruction the instructor was most interesting to the learners.All of the students should answer the question what they have learned and why students think International Trade Business English was important (see Table 4). 2 students were required to write once a week in a the log to reflect their perspectives Open Interviews 10 At the end of the semester.

Perspective of the Teacher
To gain supplementary data for contextualization and further data analysis, the researcher gathered additional documents from the teacher of the course International Trade Business, which wasconducted through content-based approach.The teacher's syllabus, lesson plans, textbooks, teaching video materials, teacher-made handouts, teacher-made assignments and other teaching aids were used for the research.Both qualitative and quantitative research were implemented in this study through observation, interview with the course teacher in order to profoundly investigate the factors of the students' needs and satisfaction toward the instructor, course content, course materials, and teaching approaches through CBA.

Quantitative Data Collection
In order to ensure the reliability and validity of the questionnaire, the researcher accessed relevant information and literature at home and abroad, and related research topics were extracted from the research of scholars to prepare the questionnaire.In addition, the researcher also sought the views of the advisor, who has long-term research experience, and then got the questionnaire to reflect the essence of the problem, thereby ensuring the content validity of the questionnaire.
The questionnaire, also known as the inquiry form, is a printed in the form of a documented survey.A good questionnairehas two functions; convey the correct meaning of the questions to be asked and motivate the respondents to willingly answer the questions.To accomplish these two functions, the design of the questionnaire should follow certain principles and procedures.
This survey contained scales measuring course content, course material, and teaching methods used with the content based approach.The outcomes demonstrate the effectiveness of Content-based Approach ESP learners.
The participants in the International Trade Business English course were informedthat theiranswers would bekept in the strictest confidentiality.The researcher gave the subjects five minutes to browse the question list before making their choices.The questionnaire was distributed at class free time by the researcher, and students were given 15 minutes to complete it.The original course content, course material, and teaching way used in this study all had reliability.The students were asked to consider course content, course materials and teaching methods of the class and to indicate their rating on a 4-pointscale, ranging from 1 (strongly agree) to 4 (strongly disagree).

Research Question One
Table 5 shows the number of responses for the first eight questions that were asked in the survey, including questions 1 through 7 and question 9.The results of each questions is discussed and shown following the Tables 5-8.Note: 1= strongly agree, 2= agree, 3= disagree, 4= strongly disagree.

Analysis of Interviews
Based on the results of the post-test, ten students were selected to be interviewed.These one-on-one interviews lasted ten minutes, and a sound recording was made.Before the interview, the researcher informed students that the interview would be recorded, and the college promised to answer honestly.After the interviews, the researcher concluded students have different ideas about being taught by different teaching methods.First, all of the students admit that their capabilities improved more or less, after the semester-long International Trade Business English course, and they are satisfied with the International Trade Business English course.The students thought these kinds of feeling are evident.They all believe that their improvement was a result of the combination of English language ability and practical vocational capacities.The students had a very deep impression of the simulated vocational circumstance made by the teacher, and they suggested that the students be given a chance to help create the vocational circumstances.Except for the teaching methods they experienced in this course, students think they do not have enough opportunities to practice International Trade Business vocational skills in class.Even in this class, they would have liked more, which is also the disadvantage of the course.Results reveal that all students agree that the teacher has prepared the material well enough for the course.
Students especially preferred whenthe teacher shares her own work experiences with them.Students thought that the incorporation of outside speakers and guest lecturers made their learning a lot more interesting and broad.
Students also considered the opportunity to participate in authentic settings designed by the instructor beneficial for their future careers.
Comments from ten students were shown as follow: Student 1: I do not have any bad comments about this teacher.Honestly, I cannot stop making notes in her class because she always teaches hard and give me much information.She is really a conscientious teacher.
On the other hand, the teacher is interesting, so that I devote my attention to her teaching so much.Moreover, the course content is so enriched, that's why sometimes I hope the teacher could slow down so that I have enough time to think.
Student 2: The contents for every class are really very helpful.I have learned a lot of things about current events.Sometimes, the teacher supplements some advantageous words, phrases, and using a single word group to make a sentence, let us understand the meanings easily.In my opinion, this course is notboring.However, there are too many students in this class, I feel a little bit noisy.
Student 3: Through this class, I have learned about how to write formal business letters in English.Teacher explains every step and detail to us and uses some authentic examples we met in the real life to let us easily understand these complex structures.Although there are many complicated rules we have to follow, through the complete explanations, I find that it is comprehensible and useful.
Student 4: The contents of the class are associated to future career.Thus, I am interested in and pay more attention to the course contents.I am so excited.Moreover, all of us are about to start our career so that learning how to complete a resume is more valuable to me.
Student 5: It is a three-credit course, I always feel tired in the third period.However, I think the teacher playing some funny short films about the interviews is good to make students refresh in the third period.And I hope the teacher can offer extra attractive things to me.Besides, the teacher always gives us extra paper, I think that is good for us.Especially, when I want to review the course contents, I can find the key points quickly.In addition, with English and Chinese translation, it could let the students, who are non-English majors or whose English proficiency is low, have fewer problems.The teacher often asks for students to finish the excises in the class, so that I am wondering if the excises could not be arranged in the third periods.Because I always lose my attention at that time, I think it is not good for my learning effects.
Student 6: In my opinion, except for the contents given by the teacher, students are able to learn things of different perspective if the teacher combines the course contents related to the current affairs so that students discuss with each other in class.Of that, this course would be more intriguing.

Student 7:
The contents of the class are associated to future career.Thus, I am interested in and pay more attention to the course contents.I am so excited.Moreover, all of us are about to start our career so that learning how to complete a resume is more valuable to me.
Student 8: This professor really did a good job in this class.She is not only combined with textbook knowledge, but also handouts, supplementary data, and current affairs information.Also, she designed some exams and exercises.Let me feel we are not just confined to the way of "written" teaching within three hours.Overall, I do recommend the students who want to learn about international trade business should take this course.
Student 9: We learned a lot about APEC through this class.In addition, our professor taught us the Importance of ADOC, OVOP and intellectual property rights.She also gave much extracurricular information which is extremely useful and made me know that Taiwan has more and more communions between other countries in the world.I enjoyed and learned a lot from this class and I think many students who enjoy this class feel the same way like I do.Perhaps the professor could ask us to do some quiz or make us discuss some subject regarding the international trading in groups.This might be a good way to make the students more involved in the class.However, it is an awesome class for me.I like this class and also the way the professor taught us.
Student 10: I think the class is too long for three hours.Therefore, I suggest that if one of the hour could be the inter class, that would be better.If we have the real internships in the workplaces, students will have pressure, then we will study hard and increase the learning motivation.

Conclusion
In this study, concerning the perspective of ESP learners about a Content-based Approach in an International Trade Business Course.Both qualitative and quantitative research was used to obtain a comprehensive and elaborate investigation of the research questions.Data collection included one semester of classroom observation (three hours per week, 18 weeks in total), as well as interviews, English logs, and surveys.Students thought thatteaching that used CBA teaching helped increase their interest in learning, and promoted their English language skills.In response to the first research question, the researcher could conclude from the data that CBA lecturer of International Trade Business Course could meet the needs of the participants.Students wanted to use the wealth of curriculum materials, including extra-curricular resource materials and video materials.
Participantswere satisfied with the content of the course under the Content-based Approach.Students thought thelecture worksheetswere helpful in their learning.They strongly agreed that the materials prepared by the teacher were clear and helpful.

CBA in English Classroom Can Satisfy Students' Teaching Approaches
Clearly, these types of teaching activities go well beyond simply labeling, which challenge students in the English language class to use their English as a vehicle for acquiring information, as a tool for thinking.Such integration can develop students' communicative ability in English.One student said, "I prefer the teacher's teaching style.We gained lots of knowledge through her instruction.We have a role play in business with the group members, and that is really good for us.In addition, it's useful to learn how to form the business letters.Anyways, the teacher did well."In a word, just as the observed teacher in the interview said, "Rather than focusing on text-based instruction, CBA offers English courses intended to engage students in hands-on experiences.Thestudy showed that learning is enhanced when instruction is congruent with a student's style of learning, interest, culture, and intelligent preferences.Classroom activities based on CBA which contain variety and novelty, surprise and probing, vividness and intensity, ease of comprehension, and the choice of topic based on students' interests for them will "catch" interest and "hold" it for a long period of time.

Table 3 .
Teacher's teaching materials and methods

Table 5 .
College ESP students' perspectives on the instruction of Content-Based Approach Questionnaire (Q1~Q7, and Q9)College ESP students' perspectives on the instruction of

Table 6 .
College ESP students' perspectives on the instruction of Content-Based Approach Questionnaire College ESP students' perspectives on the instruction of Content-Based Approach (n= 79)

Table 7 .
Views on students for the Content-Based Approach International Trade coursesQuestionnaire (Q1~Q2)

Table 8 .
Views on students for the Content-Based Approach International Trade coursesQuestionnaire Q3