Designing career-oriented English reading comprehension materials for technical students at Hanoi industrial university from the perspective of systemic functional linguistics

Abstract

Teaching English to technical majored students at Hanoi University of Industry has specific characteristics: it involves teaching English for occupational purposes and utilizing blended learning methods. Accordingly, reading comprehension activities are designed for an online platform, helping students both develop their English reading comprehension skills and equip them with useful, up-to-date information about their future professions. Therefore, the design of reading materials needs to adhere closely to the objectives and outcomes of the course, ensuring the development of learners' reading comprehension abilities while being suitable for online learning. This is a challenge. As a linguistic theory that studies language in context, Systemic Functional Linguistics can help us address this issue. Within the scope of this article, we will focus on three basic contents: 1. An overview of Systemic Functional Linguistics theory; 2. Orienting the construction of reading comprehension materials and positioning reading comprehension materials according to the Systemic Functional Linguistics model; 3. Identifying some basic requirements for designing English reading comprehension materials oriented towards careers at Hanoi University of Industry, based on the application of the Systemic Functional Linguistics model.