(LUẬN văn THẠC sĩ) AN EVALUATION OF THE TEXTBOOK “ADVANCED BUSINESS INTERPRETATION TRANSLATION” FOR THE FOURTH YEAR STUDENTS OF ENGLISH AT a UNIVERSITY IN HO CHI MINH CITY

VIETNAM ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES GRADUATE ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES Hồ Như Minh Nghi AN EVALUATION OF THE TEXTBOOK “ADVANCED BUSINESS INTERPRETATION & TRANSLATION” FOR THE FOURTH Y

VIETNAM ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES

GRADUATE ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES

Hồ Như Minh Nghi

AN EVALUATION OF THE TEXTBOOK

“ADVANCED BUSINESS INTERPRETATION & TRANSLATION” FOR THE FOURTH YEAR STUDENTS OF ENGLISH AT A UNIVERSITY IN

HO CHI MINH CITY

MA THESIS IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE

VIETNAM ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES

GRADUATE ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES

Hồ Như Minh Nghi

AN EVALUATION OF THE TEXTBOOK

“ADVANCED BUSINESS INTERPRETATION & TRANSLATION” FOR THE FOURTH YEAR STUDENTS OF ENGLISH AT A UNIVERSITY IN

HO CHI MINH CITY

Field: English Language

Code: 8.22.02.01

Supervisor: Phạm Lan Anh, Ph.D

HO CHI MINH CITY, 2021

DECLARATION BY AUTHOR

I, the undersigned, hereby certify that the thesis entitled “An evaluation

of the textbook Advanced Business Interpretation & Translation for the year students of English at a university in Ho Chi Minh City” is the result of

fourth-my own research for the Degree of Master of Arts in English Language The substance of the thesis has not, wholly or in part, been submitted for any other degree to any other universities or institutions

Except where reference has been made in the text, this thesis contains no material previously published or written by another person

The study reported in this thesis was approved by the Graduate Academy

of Social Sciences

Author’s Signature

Hồ Như Minh Nghi

Approved by SUPERVISOR

Phạm Lan Anh, Ph.D

Date:………

First of all, I would like to express my genuine appreciation to Ms Phạm Lan Anh, Ph.D, my supervisor, for her considerate guidance and her passionate inspiration as well as her thorough explanation on my research paper

Secondly, I would like to thank Mr Nguyễn Đức Châu, my teacher at HUFLIT University - Department of Foreign Language for supporting me during my research

Thirdly, I am very thankful for all the participants of this study, who have cooperatively taken part in taking questionnaires as well as contributed their opinions on the textbook and the course

In addition, I would like to thank all of the lecturers who gave me interesting lessons, dedication and advice during my study at Graduate Academy of Social Sciences

Last but not least, I must express my appreciation to my superior at my workplace who has encouraged me to continue my learning path and has always believed in my ability to complete this thesis and to have a brighter future

TABLE OF CONTENTS

DECLARATION BY AUTHOR ii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iii

ABSTRACT iv

LIST OF TABLES v

LIST OF CHARTS vi

TABLE OF ABBREVIATIONS vii

Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Rationale 1

1.2 Aims of the study 3

1.3 Research questions 3

1.4 Scope of the study 3

1.5 Significance of the study 4

1.6 Research methods 5

1.7 Structure of the study 5

Chapter 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 6

2.1 The role of textbooks in ELT classroom 6

2.1.1 Definition of textbook 6

2.1.2 The role of textbooks in ELT 8

2.2 Materials evaluation 10

2.2.1 Definition of materials evaluation 10

2.2.2 Reasons for materials evaluation 11

2.2.3 Types of materials evaluation 12

2.2.4 Approaches and Criteria for materials evaluation 14

2.2.5 Popular models of materials evaluation 17

2.3 Previous studies on ELT textbook evaluation 21

2.4 Review of the textbook “Advanced Business Interpretation & Translation” 25

2.4.1 Review of the textbook 25

2.4.2 Overview of students' needs 27

2.5 Summary of Chapter 2 27

Chapter 3 METHODOLOGY 29

3.1 Research question 29

3.2 Research participants 29

3.3 Research method 29

3.4 Data collection instruments 31

3.4.1 Document analyses 32

3.4.2 Questionnaires 33

3.5 Summary of Chapter 3 35

Chapter 4 FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 36

4.1 Data analysis 36

4.1.1 The suitability of the textbook to the aims of the course 36

4.1.2 The suitability of the textbook to the course contents 46

4.1.3 Students’ recommendations 58

4.2 Summary of findings and discussion 60

4.2.1 General conclusion 60

4.2.2 Strengths and weaknesses of the textbook 61

4.3 Summary of Chapter 4 63

Chapter 5 RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSION 64

5.1 Recapitulation 64

5.2 Concluding remarks 65

5.3 Implications 66

5.4 Limitations and suggestions for further studies 68

REFERENCES 69

APPENDIX 2: Questionnaires by David Litz (2005) - Vietnamese version II APPENDIX 3: The questionnaire for students III

APPENDIX 4: The questionnaire for students - Vietnamese version IV

ABSTRACT

The aim of the study is to evaluate the textbook Advanced Business Interpretation & Translation currently being used by the 4th year students and teachers of Department of Foreign Language - Interpretation and Translation major at HUFLIT to investigate whether this textbook suitably meets the

requirements of the curriculum in terms of aims and contents In order to

achieve enough data for the study, selected 20 of 4th year students of the Department of Foreign Language - Translation and Interpretation were given questionnaires The researcher also used document analysis to conduct the evaluation of the content of Advanced Business Interpretation and Translation and the subject content in the university’s curriculum plan The result of the survey showed that the textbook Advanced Business Interpretation and Translation has highly met the course’s requirements in terms of aims On the other hand, the students had some feedback on the textbook’s content’s lack of excitement or shortage of complicated terms and structures However, in general, most of the students stated that the textbook is suitable with their English level

LIST OF TABLES

Table 4.1: Output standard of English - Vietnamese Professional

Translation 38

Table 4.2 Output standard of English - Vietnamese Professional Interpretation 39

Table 4.3 4th year English major students’ opinion on the aims of the textbook Advanced Business Interpretation & Translation 43

Table 4.4 Plans and curriculum of Business Interpretation 45

Table 4.5 Plans and curriculum of Business Translation 48

Table 4.6 Units of lesson in the textbook 51

Chart 4.4 Students’ opinions on the skills 52

Chart 4.5 Students’ opinions on the language type of the textbook 54

Chart 4.6 Students’ opinions on the Subject and Content of the textbook 56

TABLE OF ABBREVIATIONS

Languages - Information Technology

Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale

It is widely known that English, as the most common language used by people all over the world, is being taught in most parts of Vietnam and in all levels of education However, if you take second-language speakers into account, and therein lies the rub, almost without exception, people respond better to the language they grew up speaking To effectively sell to people, it is not enough to speak a language that they understand, especially if their understanding is limited You must speak to them in the language their heart speaks There is a reason demand for translation services is booming While English has been periodically crowned as “the language of global business,” translation and interpreting services remain a vital part of doing business around the world

Ho Chi Minh City University of Foreign Languages - Information Technology (HUFLIT) was founded on October 26th, 1994 in accordance with the Decision No 66/TTg of the Prime Minister During the past 25 years with all effort of HUFLIT’s lecturer team and staff, the University has been recognized and appreciated for its training quality by the society HUFLIT has established many cooperation relations with regional and international universities HUFLIT has 08 (academic) departments, 02 programs, 4 administration offices, 3 committees, a library, and 3 centers with more than

180 employees and 400 lecturers One of the three Specialized English Language Programs is Translation - Interpretation

In the teaching context of Translation - Interpretation, the textbook Advanced Business Interpretation & Translation by Dr Nguyen Duc Chau has

been the main textbooks for many years This textbook helps learners familiarize with special terms, concepts and practical knowledge that would be useful for their future careers, and to upgrade students’ skills of translation in both oral and written forms after they finish intermediate courses However, over time it has been perceived to suffer from certain drawbacks Additionally,

4th year students of the Department of Foreign Languages still find it hard to perform translation skills after the course Furthermore, due to the number of units in this book is beyond outline requirements, teachers have to select alternative units to teach without making students overwhelmed with advanced knowledge For all of those, it seems obviously necessary to conduct evaluation research on the textbook The findings of the study, hopefully, will help the researcher and teachers of the Department of Foreign Languages improve the material, and more importantly to promote their Translation - Interpretation teaching On those above-mentioned grounds, the researcher decided to undertake this study to evaluate whether the textbook suitably meets the

requirements of the curriculum in terms of aims and contents

At HUFLIT, the book of Advanced Business Interpretation & Translation - put into use in 2010, is designated to those in 4th year, who hold certain knowledge of basic translation skills Since its first use in teaching, there has been no official evaluation of researchers or teachers conducted to review the suitable methodology of this textbook Furthermore, complaints about the problems arising during the learning process of students regularly emerge, especially on the vocabulary and some unit contents Besides, some lecturers still question the relevance of the book to students’ needs Therefore, a study to evaluate Advanced Business Interpretation & Translation is urgently needed

1.2 Aims of the study

The aim of the study is to evaluate the textbook Advanced Business Interpretation & Translation currently being used by the 4th year students and teachers of Department of Foreign Language at HUFLIT to investigate whether

this textbook suitably meets the requirements of the curriculum in terms of aims and contents

The findings will help teachers to adjust the use of the book so that they can optimize the strong points and adapt or substitute weak points from other related materials to meet the learners’ needs Furthermore, it is expected that the results of the research, to some extent, could help students from the Department of Foreign Language get over their fear of translating in both oral and written forms

(2) To what extent do the aims of textbook Advanced Business Interpretation & Translation meet the requirements of the curriculum?

1.4 Scope of the study

In materials evaluation, there have been a number of criteria that should

be taken into consideration, such as the content, the methodology, the layout, the authenticity, and so on It will be highly precious to conduct a comprehensive evaluation of the textbook However, within the scope of a

minor thesis, the criteria for evaluation with focus on two criteria: aims and

content

Materials evaluation is a complicated process that requires taking various factors into consideration However, due to the limited time and the ability of the researcher, the study just focuses on analyzing the syllabus and the material, along with questionnaires which will be given to selected 20 of 4th year students

of the Department of Foreign Language - Translation and Interpretation Department of Foreign Language offers 3 specialized programs which are

and Office Administrative Skills The hardest program for high English level students is Translation and Interpretation That is why only few students of the university chose to learn the major of Translation and Interpretation The Translation and Interpretation class only has 25 students The researcher selected 20 out of 25 students based on their translation ability, their general knowledge and their adequate class attendance

1.5 Significance of the study

The study will be useful to students, teachers and researchers in the field

of Business Translation teaching and learning The results are expected to provide a more useful and effective way in teaching and learning translation skills The results also reflect the strengths and weaknesses of the textbook in use, so that teachers can find appropriate teaching methods for students For researchers who share the same interest in this topic, this study could serve as

a reliable source of reference in their studies

1.6 Research methods

In order to answer the two research questions above, the qualitative and quantitative case study was employed The data were collected through document analysis, and questionnaires with 4th year students of the Department

of Foreign Language at HUFLIT

1.7 Structure of the study

The thesis structure is divided into five chapters:

Chapter 1 is the Introduction In this part, the rationale, the aims, the research questions, the scope of the study, the significance of the study, the methods of the study and the structure of the study are presented

Chapter 2 is the Literature Review which includes a theoretical background of textbook evaluation, materials evaluation, previous studies on ELT textbooks evaluation as well as some information related to the textbook

Chapter 3 is the Methodology which mentions research questions, research method, data collection instruments, investigates the participants and summary of Chapter 3

Chapter 4 is Findings and Discussion This part shows some findings concluded from the data analysis, summary of findings and discussion, summary of Chapter 4

Chapter 5 is the Recommendations and Conclusion which includes the conclusion, recommendations and limitations of the study and suggestions for the future study

Chapter 2 LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter presents an overview of the theoretical background for evaluation

of the textbook Advanced Business Interpretation & Translation being used for the seniors of English at HUFLIT Overall, this chapter consists of five main sections The first section mentions the role of textbooks in English Language Teaching classroom The second section gives deep comprehension about materials evaluation in types, approaches, criteria and some popular models for materials evaluation The third section broadly reviews the previous studies related to English textbooks evaluation in different contexts The fourth section focuses on reviewing the textbook Advanced Business Interpretation & Translation and students’ need The last section summarizes this whole chapter

2.1 The role of textbooks in ELT classroom

2.1.1 Definition of textbooks

Textbooks are easily defined by dictionaries For instance, Webster dictionary defines a textbook as a book used in the study of a subject such as:

Merriam-a: one containing a presentation of the principles of a subject

b: a literary work relevant to the study of a subject

Meanwhile, according to Cambridge dictionary, a textbook is a book that contains detailed information about a subject for people who are studying that subject From these definitions, textbooks are generally known as a written guideline for the demands of teaching and/or learning in education Textbooks not only help teachers follow the framework of the course to meet the aim of the curriculum of the university, but also guide students step-by-step from basic

to advanced lessons

On the other hand, from some experts’ perspectives, various profound definitions of textbooks have been provided According to Grant (1987), there are two kinds of textbooks: traditional textbooks and communicative textbooks Traditional English textbooks include subject information, usually focusing on grammar, reading and writing skills because the accuracy of the language is highly rated Traditional English textbooks are frameworks for universities and teachers to orient tests or exams to students The other kind of textbooks is communicative textbooks Opposite to traditional English textbooks, communicative English textbooks emphasize on speaking, listening skills and practices They bring not only detailed definitions but also methods that can be seen or heard in daily life, which capture students’ attention and urge to learn Learning a communicative English textbook means practicing repeatedly and many times with classmates To be able to teach communicative English textbooks, teachers must have excellent organizational abilities As the demand for speaking English fluently grows day by day, communicative textbooks are widely considered a premium basis to evaluate one textbook with the tendency

of communication

In order to assist with student learning, to support teachers as language teaching effectively, a useful textbook must have characteristics such as a strong course framework for both teaching and learning, logical and well-planned syllabus

However, not all textbooks have those characteristics According to Harmer (1998), some textbooks’ contents might be difficult and inappropriate

to some certain aspects of the action of learning of learners For example, a well-planned textbook contains some chapters that are too long and complicated for students For that reason, teachers have to shorten the lesson

and have the lesson explained in a simpler way Based on this opinion, it is necessary to have other simple materials to support the textbook

2.1.2 The role of textbooks in ELT

Gelfman, Podstrigich and Losinskaya (2004) outline what they believe are the functions of a modern textbook which includes governing, developing, communicating and expressing, as well as being a resource for supporting individualization and differentiation of teaching As such, textbooks are generally used to inspire and guide students to form up new knowledge, to equalize particular points and accuracy of information, to build up new questions, or/and to supply students with innovative, varied sided information

On the other hand, Sewall (1992) stresses that high level education is hard to accomplish without textbooks In addition, Valverde and Schmidt (1998) claim that most of the cases where textbooks become impossible to learn happen because teachers try to take over every chapter, every lesson within textbooks without considering the logical methodologies for teaching and learning Moreover, Horsley and Laws (1992) claim that a qualified and logical textbook is really useful in terms of guiding teachers in educating effectively

as well as encouraging students to learn actively Mikk (2000) emphasizes the importance of bringing excitement for education through textbooks; “students have many sources of information available, if their textbooks are dull, they are unwilling to study them Interesting and enthusiastic textbooks develop curiosity and interest in the subject"

In other words, most schools and universities use textbooks in teaching and learning They are materials that not only help teachers follow the framework of the course in order to meet the aim of the curriculum of the university while teaching lessons, but also develop students’ awareness of

studying The fact that students learn faster when their textbooks are interesting enough are proved through advantages of textbooks by numerous theorists

Firstly, Sheldon (1988) indicates that textbooks used in ESL/EFL classrooms "represent the visible heart of any ELT program" (p.237) as well as offer substantial benefits for both students and teachers He also notes that students usually anticipate having a published textbook when they learn a language and they will be more assured when they study with a textbook than listening only to the teacher without published materials or "in-house" materials

Secondly, Hycroft (1998) suggests that one of the principal benefits of textbooks is that students’ learning process and their increase of knowledge will

be estimated easily and precisely

Thirdly, teachers can save lots of time and energy preparing their own materials if they use textbooks in teaching Teachers can have more time on giving out more exercise for students to practice or planning an exciting and qualified lecture for their students (O'Neill, 1982; Sheldon, 1988)

Fourthly, Cunningsworth (1995) states that textbook is not only a material for self-learning, but also a perfect support for less experienced teachers because of its detailed source of knowledge from definitions, activities, examples to many levels of practical exercises, etc

Finally, Hutchinson and Torres (1994) propose that textbooks may play

an important role in encouraging teachers to create new teaching styles by presenting brand new teaching methods, update latest changes of the subject

2.2 Materials evaluation

2.2.1 Definition of materials evaluation

The definition of materials evaluation has been defined in various ways

by different researchers However, their ideas all contribute to giving a more comprehensive and inclusive definition

According to Dudley-Evans & St John (1998), evaluation is a complete process which “which begins with determining what information to gather and ends with bringing about changing current activities or influencing future ones”

Tomlinson (1998, p.3) claims that materials evaluation means “attempts

to measure the value of materials”, or “the systematic appraisal of the value of materials in relation to their objectives and to the objectives of the learners using them” In other words, the value of materials will be evaluated to see if the content is easy for students to understand and enjoyable in learning or teaching

According to Hutchinson and Waters (1987), materials evaluation is a process of “matching the needs to available solutions There is no absolute good

or bad textbook - only about degrees of fitness for the required purposes”

In general, materials evaluation is the process of collecting information and analyzing this data to evaluate the value of the textbook, to judge if the textbook meets the university’s curriculum, or encourage students to learn effectively, or provide a good framework for teachers in teaching Furthermore, evaluating a textbook might discover some problems that needed to be fixed or promoted

2.2.2 Reasons for materials evaluation

Not all qualified textbooks are suitable for all teachers and learners Deciding whether or not one textbook should be used instead of others is really important since it has to meet the needs of teachers and students That is why textbook evaluation plays an important role teaching and learning as it can discover the strong points and weak points within textbooks, and can find out

if the content of the textbook relevant to the aim of the course so that teachers can improve their lessons to suit the course aims, and learners’ needs

According to Awasthi (2006) and Tomlinson (2003), in order to choose

a well-designed textbook, a process of evaluating the textbook is unavoidable Rea-Dickens and Germanie (1994) also share the same view, “to evaluate language teaching methods, materials, and effectiveness as teachers and also how materials are presented to learners, the types of learning tasks used and the way the courses are designed… they all must be evaluated” (Rea-Dickins and Germanie, 1994, p.5) Moreover, another reason to explain the importance of the role of the textbook evaluation is stated by Sheldon (1988) that a thorough textbook evaluation enables administrators and teachers to distinguish between all of the textbooks in the market

One further reason for textbook evaluation proposed by Hutchinson (1987) that it may be helpful to teachers because it contains enough information for them to enhance their knowledge of language so that they can develop their professional growth in teaching methods Therefore, materials evaluation enables teachers not only to select a textbook, but also to develop their awareness of their own teaching or learning situation

In conclusion, materials evaluation is indispensable in language teaching and learning Therefore, it is compulsory that materials be evaluated periodically

2.2.3 Types of materials evaluation

There is controversy regarding the types of materials evaluations Robinson (1991) classifies materials evaluation into three types: preliminary, formative, and summative evaluation

Preliminary evaluation takes place before the course begins and involves making predictions about the potential value of materials on people who use them (Tomlinson 1998, 2003) He indicates that this type of evaluation is often impressionistic, subjective and unreliable since a teacher scans a book quickly

to gain an impression about its value Evaluating a textbook before a course not only chooses relevant and appropriate textbooks for the students, but also identifies specific aspects of the textbook for adaptations (Ellis, cited in Tomlinson, 1998) Based on the sequence of uses, Cunningsworth (1995) suggests that preliminary evaluation is the most difficult kind of evaluation, as there is no actual experience of using the book for us to draw on In this case,

we are looking for the future or potential performance of the textbook

Summative evaluation takes place at the end of the course and addresses the question of whether the materials have been effective (Alderson, cited in Robinson, 1991) It is the most important and valuable type of evaluation because it can measure the actual effects of the materials on the users and provide reliable information (Tomlinson 1998, 2003) Tomlinson maintains that it can measure short term effects such as motivation, impact achievability and instant learning Cunningsworth (1995) believes that summative evaluation provides retrospective assessment of a textbook's performance and can be useful for identifying strengths and weaknesses, which emerge over a period of continuous use

Formative evaluation takes place while the course is ongoing and it measures the value of the materials whilst observing or using them The results

obtained can be used to modify what is being done (Alderson, cited in Robinson, 1991, p.59) Mukundan (2009), for example, indicates that retrospective evaluation is the re-evaluation of materials while they are in-use

to decide if the materials work

Ellis (1997) argues that there are two types of materials evaluations;

‘predictive’ and ‘retrospective’ evaluations A predictive evaluation means deciding which materials suit the most to the course’s aims Retrospective evaluation happens once the materials have been used The materials will be evaluated further to find out whether the materials have worked out for the aims

of the course Both predictive and retrospective evaluations aim at making the teaching/ learning environment more effective Vasiljevic (2011) concurs with Ellis (1997) in mentioning ‘predictive’ and ‘retrospective’ evaluations Whereas Tomlinson (2003) maintains that there are three types of evaluations; pre-use, whilst-use and post use evaluations It is worth mentioning that Ellis and Vasiljevic’s ‘predictive’ is similar to Tomlinson’s ‘pre-use’ evaluation and

‘retrospective’ is like ‘post-use’ evaluations Retrospective or post-use evaluation is the most important and valuable evaluation as it presents the real impact of the materials on the users (Tomlinson, 2003) However, a problem with this type of evaluation is that it is time consuming and sometimes

‘impressionistic’ (Vasiljevic, 2011, Ellis, 1997) To focus on the post-use evaluation, Ellis (1997) argues that ‘macro-evaluation’ is a manageable way to evaluate materials He defines macro-evaluation as “an overall assessment of whether an entire set of materials has worked” (p.37) To do this type of evaluation, there are several ways of measuring the actual post-use influence of the material such as tests of what has been taught, questionnaires, examinations, interviews, dairies and evaluation checklists (Allison, 1999)

To sum up, although different terms are used to indicate the types of materials evaluation, they are basically similar Almost all the researchers agree that materials evaluation is necessary for two main reasons First, it is helpful for measuring the impact of the materials on the learners Second, it encourages further development of materials That is why this research has been carried out

to present the opinions and judgements of the HUFLIT teachers and fourth - year students of English on the current Advanced Business Interpretation & Translation learning materials Of all the types of materials evaluation mentioned above, the retrospective or summative materials evaluation can only

be meaningfully determined after a period of classroom use For the purpose of this study to evaluate the textbook Advanced Business Interpretation & Translation, the researcher used the summative evaluation

2.2.4 Approaches and Criteria for materials evaluation

Many useful approaches and checklists for evaluation criteria have been proposed by Ellis (1997), McDonough and Shaw (2003), McGrath (2002), Tomlinson (2003), etc., which vary according to particular ELT contexts Evaluators can choose from the available checklists for their evaluation, or they can select their own criteria to reflect the priorities of their own specific teaching and learning contexts

There is a variety of evaluation approaches and criteria discussed in the literature The criteria tend to be rather similar although different names are given by different authors There are some approaches (Cunningsworth (1995), Byrd’s (2001), and Ur’s (1996) giving detailed criteria for evaluation, but they

do not give a clear framework for the whole process of evaluation, while other approaches, such as those suggested by Ellis (1997), Tomlinson (2003), Littlejohn (1998) and McGrath (2002) provide evaluators with a clear

framework for the whole process and detailed criteria However, they are for non-context specific evaluations In order to conduct an effective evaluation, evaluators need to apply their chosen criteria of evaluation to the particular contextual circumstances of their evaluation The most important consideration

is that evaluators should be aware of their purpose for evaluation because there are many purposes for evaluating textbooks (selection, balancing teaching, supplement, etc.) Also, textbook evaluation can be conducted either before the book is used, while it is being used or after it has been used (Tomlinson, 2003)

In general, each approach to textbook evaluation, as mentioned above, has its own strengths and weaknesses, evaluators should choose or even devise an approach which is the most principled, systematic and suitable for their context Therefore, it is also important for evaluators to combine approaches, in order

to offset the weaknesses of one approach with the strengths of others

Tomlinson (2003) suggests a three-stage process of evaluation: pre-use evaluation, whilst-use evaluation and post-use evaluation

- Pre-use: A quick look through a textbook (artwork, illustrations, appearance, content pages, etc.) to gain an impression of its potential value

- While-use: Evaluate the following criteria:

● Clarity of instructions

● Potential for localization

● Practicality of the materials

● Flexibility of the materials

● Appeal of the materials

● Effectiveness in facilitating short-term

- Post-use: Impact of the textbook on teachers, students and administrators Cunningsworth’s approach (1995) contains 8 criteria of evaluation as follows:

- Aims and approaches;

- Design and organization;

Hutchinson and Waters (1987, p.99) present their own checklist of criteria based on the following four aspects: audience, aim, content, and methodology

- The audience of the materials: The researcher should have enough

information about the learners such as students’ age, their skill, knowledge of English, general knowledge, interest to find out whether the materials are suitable to them Furthermore, the researcher should understand the aim of the textbook Therefore, it is highly recommended for the researcher to make a

careful survey on learners in order to find out whether the materials are suitable

to students’ age, language background, general knowledge and interest

- Aims of the materials: The researcher has to assure that the textbook matches

the aims and objectives of the course

- Content of the materials: The researcher has to make sure the textbook’s

language points, macro-skills/micro-skills, and topics suit the learners’ needs

To do that, the researcher has to consider these aspects: language description, language points, macro-skills and micro-skills, subject matters such as text type, topics, level of knowledge, organization, and sequence of content

- Methodology of the materials: The researcher has to make sure that the

methodology used in the textbook is suitable for the learners and is able to fulfill the course’s demands The researcher must find out if the teaching and learning techniques, guidance, exercises and tasks and aids provided in the materials satisfy learners and teachers of the course

For the purposes of this evaluation, I chose the criteria suggested by Hutchinson and Waters to evaluate the textbook Advanced Business Interpretation & Translation to see how much it is relevant to learners’ needs

in terms of content and aims because they provide a clear way to conduct a study on materials evaluation

2.2.5 Popular models of materials evaluation

The Materials Evaluation Model of Hutchinson & Waters (1993, p.98)

In this evaluative model, the first step is defining criteria by discussing

what bases for judging materials and which criteria is more important The

second step is subjective analysis In this step the evaluator must state which criteria he or she wants in his or her course The third step is objective analysis,

which explains how the materials being evaluated realize the criteria The final

step is matching in which shows how far the materials match the requirements

of the course

Ellis (1997) suggests a model that has an aim to recognize the consistency between planned and used tasks that could be conducted as a sequence of micro-evaluations In other words, a micro-evaluation is the evaluation of a teaching mission in a very particular information which contains

seven steps for the evaluation, including selecting an appropriate task to follow; illustrating the task which requests the content’s specification based on these factors: input, language activities, procedures and outcomes; setting up the evaluation based on the above-mentioned dimensions; collecting data and necessary information about the way of performing the task and the results of this performance and the opinions of teachers and students about the tasks; qualitative and quantitative analysis of the collected data, figure and information; giving a conclusion based on the discovery from the task evaluation and recommendations for future learning and teaching process; and writing a report

However, this kind of evaluation is time-consuming as well as consuming Moreover, this kind of evaluation can only be conducted in the scope of the classroom, when the target materials are applied

labor-● Littlejohn

Littlejohn’s preliminary framework for materials analysis and evaluation (1998)

There are four steps in Littlejohn’s evaluation process In the first step, the evaluator will analyze the target situation of use including cultural context, the institution, the course, the teachers, and the learners In the second step, the evaluator will analyze the material to find out the aspects of design and publication The third step is to match and evaluate to see how appropriate the aspects of design and aspects of publication to the target situation of use are The last step is action, in which the evaluator determines which action needed

to take to improve the material such as adopting the materials, rejecting

materials, adapting the materials, supplementing the materials or making the materials a critical object

2.3 Previous studies on ELT textbook evaluation

In order to gain more experience in evaluating a textbook, the researcher has reviewed some prominent studies Learning about previous studies from other researchers helps the researcher in this study decide which approach she would use to evaluate the material

For foreign authors, there is impressive research on textbook evaluation

by Litz (2005) This study evaluated English Firsthand 2 used for undergraduate science students at the Sung Kyun Kwan University Science & Technology in Suwon, South Korea by collecting opinions of both instructors and students He designed the questionnaires to evaluate the suitability of the textbook for the language program, “the practical considerations (price, accessories, methodology, etc.), layout and design, range and balance of activities, skills appropriateness and integration, social and cultural considerations, subject content, and language types represented in the textbook” (Litz, 2005) Textbook was considered attractive in physical appearance according to the findings The structure of the textbook was clear and logical The textbook focuses on four main skills and has a wide source of vocabulary and grammar Activities and tasks in the textbook enabled students

to practice language skills, be creative with their answers, and practice giving flexible responses The outstanding point of this study was Litz’s questionnaires: the textbook’s physical appearance, price, skills, subject content, language types, etc

In 2015, Borhani and Hashemi conducted a research on American English File in terms of its appropriateness for Iranian students’ needs and

teachers’ opinions on practical considerations, layout and design, activities, skills, language type, and subject and content of American English File The data was collected through questionnaires that were given to teachers teaching American English File textbook The questionnaire was developed by David Litz (2000) and the data after the findings was statistically analyzed by Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 21.0 The final result showed that American English File is an effective language textbook since it is suitable for different levels of learners

Besides foreign authors, there are plenty of Vietnamese authors who have done some research on English textbook evaluation Dao Thi Sang

conducted an evaluation on the material New English File Pre- intermediate

which had been used for the first-year non-English major students at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities since 2010 in her research in

2014 For data collection, she employed a set of questionnaires for teachers and students, teachers’ interviews and teacher’s weekly self-reports In addition, the material was analyzed based on the criteria suggested by Hutchinson and Waters (1987), Cunningsworth’s (1995), Tomlinson’s (1998) and Mc Grath’s (2002) frameworks The findings helped come into a conclusion that the material responded to students’ needs and interests However, for better application of the material, she recommended adaptation techniques like addition, deletion, replacement, re-ordering and combination should be included

In 2016, Do Thanh Loan conducted an evaluation research on the ESP

textbook entitled Mechanical Engineering used for 150 third-year students at

Hanoi University of Industry The data in her study was collected through document analysis, questionnaire and interview The document analysis covered the syllabus of the course and the material itself analyzed and

compared with each other in order to produce an objective evaluation based on the checklist by Hutchinson and Waters (1987) After that, two sets of questionnaires adapted from David Litz’s study (2005) were delivered to 150 students and 5 teachers to gain their opinions on the appropriateness of the book To confirm the results from the questionnaires, interviews were used for the subject teachers The findings showed that the material basically met the course objectives in terms of aims, content and methodology In order to help the book be able to fulfill the course requirements, Loan proposed recommendations of adaptation for some areas and possible techniques such as adding for vocabulary list, grammar, accompanying tests, teaching aids; modifying for reading texts and vocabulary exercises; replacing for some topics In sum, this study followed the model suggested by Hutchinson and Waters (1987) strictly and focused on three big criteria which were aims, content and methodology Her evaluation approach appeared clear and systematic As a result, the findings were fairly persuasive, especially the questionnaires in this study were very relevant to the topic of the evaluation and revealed her good adaptation from the checklist by Hutchinson and Waters (1987) and from the questionnaires by David Litz (2005) However, the interview used as the third tool for collecting data seemed not to work very well

as most of the participants taking part in answering questionnaires did not

suggest ways to improve the course book as expected

On the other hand, there are only few materials evaluations relating to

translation and interpretation in Vietnam For example, in 2017, Pham Vu Phi

Ho evaluated the course book of Translation and Interpretation 1 for 163 English-major students of 6 classes in semester 2 of the academic year 2015-

2016 at the Faculty of Foreign Languages of HCMC Open University (HCMC OU) To collect data for the evaluation, he developed a series texts and

activities of the course book that would be evaluated by the learners.The study used semi-structured interviews and 11-item questionnaire developed by Tomlinson (2011) to collect the data During semester 2 of the academic year 2015-2016, the researcher often met with teachers using Translation and Interpretation-1 course-book in their lessons to make sure that activities in the course-book were employed to teach the students Teachers were also encouraged to listen to students’ responses to provide them with proper and timely instructions Discussion with teachers also helped to make sure that they could utilize all activities and texts given in the course-book to train the students Then, at the end of the course, the researcher sent the questionnaire to

6 lecturers who used the course book so that they could administer the questionnaire to the students Two lecturers did not use all activities and texts provided to train the students, so the questionnaire was not given to the students

in those classes In terms of content, most of the students confirmed that the course-book was appropriate to their English proficiency level, provided them with updated knowledge and helped broaden their vocabulary and grammatical structures It also offered students chances to practice pronunciation and interpretation skills outside the classroom In terms of evaluation on the teaching activities of the course-book, most of the students agreed that the activities in the course-book enhanced their motivation in the learning processes and gave them good strategies to better do their translation and interpretation Moreover, the course-book gave them opportunities for collaborative learning and becoming autonomous learners when they prepared the lessons beyond the boundary of the classroom

2.4 Review of the textbook “Advanced Business Interpretation & Translation” and overview of students’ needs when learning the textbook 2.4.1 Review of the textbook

The textbook Advanced Business Interpretation & Translation was written by Dr Nguyen Duc Chau and was published in 2017 The textbook is

399 pages with 7 chapters for 7 main parts, in which section 1 refers to Instruction, Course outline, sessional suggested schedule; For Instructors; section 2 expresses English - Vietnamese consecutive interpretation (10 units); section 3 presents Vietnamese - English consecutive interpretation (10 units); section 4 and 5 show English - Vietnamese and Vietnamese - English translation (20 units); and the last introduces the Scripts for English and Vietnamese interpretation to help teachers well facilitate classroom procedures Each unit is taught within a 50-minute lesson

 Aims and objectives

The aims and objectives of the textbook “Advanced Business Interpretation & Translation” helps learners familiarize with special terms, concepts and practical knowledge that would be useful for their future careers, and to upgrade students’ skills of translation in both oral and written forms after they finish intermediate courses Specifically, on finishing this, students are expected to:

- Knowledge: Gain general knowledge about Business, Economy, Import

- Export, Finance - Banking, Currency, Accounting, Tax etc; absorb some practical, specific knowledge of the mentioned fields

- Skills: Possess basic skills in interpreting, analyzing and adjusting language using from the target language into the source language in certain situations; improve pronunciation, intonation and acceptable fluency,

simultaneity, proper use of vocabulary and structures; present academic written forms of translation with a variety of domestic and foreign newspaper-style texts

 Organization and structure

The textbook includes 7 chapters, 246 pages, 1 DVD file

Chapter 1 introduces books, self-study, teacher teaching translating, translating, and specific objectives

Chapter 2 English - Vietnamese translation (oral translation), in this

chapter, students learn vocabulary before listening-translating

Chapter 3 Vietnamese - English translation (oral translation), in this

chapter, students learn vocabulary before listening-translating

Chapter 4 Translation English - Vietnamese, this chapter contains

articles, economic contracts which were selected from international journals

Chapter 5 Vietnamese - English translation, this chapter contains articles,

import-export contracts which were selected from Vietnamese newspapers and magazines

Chapter 6 Scripts of English - Vietnamese Interpreter (speech

translation), for teachers only

Chapter 7 Scripts of Vietnamese - English Interpreter (speech

translation), for teachers only

The attached DVD is for students to download, listen and practice translation from English to Vietnamese

At the end of the book there is an appendix which supplies more translation samples for reference Teachers could provide more vocabulary or grammar structures if needed According to the detailed parameter of the subject of Business Translation - Interpretation issued by the Department of Foreign Languages, the textbook is taught in 50 50-minute periods per semester, including 30 periods of practice and 20 periods of theory The

students also have 30 hours for self-learning The time for each unit depends

on the amount of knowledge and the length of the unit and the grammar practice, so some lessons might take 2 periods to finish

2.4.2 Overview of students’ needs

After finish semester 2 and 3, students have learnt Interpretation and Translation 1, 2, 3 For that reason, they already mastered the basic skills in interpreting and translating from Vietnamese to English and vice versa Learning Interpretation and Translation 4, which is the last level for the senior, students expect to improve basic skills and learn new skills to become professional translators Conference interpreting, simultaneous interpreting, escort interpreting, public speaking etc are what students assume to learn after the course Furthermore, after finishing the textbook, they believe they would have more knowledge on business and even other criteria

2.5 Summary of Chapter 2

Chapter 2 has given a closer approach to textbooks evaluation by presenting definitions and roles of textbooks; definition and reasons of materials evaluation; types of materials evaluation; some popular approaches and criteria of material evaluation to help the writer choose the most appropriate research methodology to conduct the thesis; three models for materials evaluation; three previous textbooks evaluation researches The overview of three previous studies as mentioned above indicates that the main purpose of conducting a materials evaluation is to investigate whether the material responded to students’ needs and whether the material basically met the course objectives in terms of aims and content Most of them used overall evaluation approaches or checklists, as suggested by Cunningsworth,

Hutchinson and Waters, Tomlinson etc and were based on data collected from teachers and students through questionnaires, interviews, students’ self-reports For better application of the material, in her study, Sang recommended adaptation techniques like addition, deletion, replacement, re-ordering and combination should be included Loan’s study uses a mixed method combining both qualitative and quantitative data to give more reliable results From all the reviews of previous related studies as above, it was clearly shown that the model along with the checklist suggested by Hutchinson and Waters (1987) would really work in an overall evaluation For that reason, the researcher chooses Hutchinson and Waters (1987)’s model to evaluate the textbook

“Advanced Business Interpretation & Translation” in this study

Chapter 3 METHODOLOGY

There are five main sections in this chapter The first section presents research questions The second and the third sections present the method of the research and the tools to gather data: document analysis and questionnaire The fourth section gives an overview of the research participants, and the last section summarizes the whole chapter

3.1 Research question

In this chapter, a description of the methodology in this thesis was introduced As mentioned in the introduction, the study goals are to seek the answers to the following research questions:

(1) To what extent are the contents of the textbook Advanced Business Interpretation & Translation suitable for senior students with different level of English and their major knowledge?

(2) To what extent do the aims of the textbook Advanced Business Interpretation & Translation meet the requirements of the curriculum?

3.2 Research participants

20 of 4th year students of the Department of Foreign Language, who are majoring in English and learning Business Translation - Interpretation with the textbook Advanced Business Interpretation & Translation, participated in the questionnaires and also gave their recommendations about the textbook attached with the questionnaires

3.3 Research method

The researcher adopted qualitative and quantitative research methods for

In a qualitative research method, the purpose is to find answers to the research question by gathering evidence and findings that would prove the thesis correct Qualitative research is usually summarized from observation, interviews or written documents Participants in qualitative studies often involve smaller numbers of tools and open-ended questionnaires interview guides Due to the limited scope and time of this thesis, the researcher used questionnaire surveys to collect qualitative information from a small group of

20 students The researcher used open-ended questions in a qualitative method

to collect opinions and recommendations from participants about the contents

of the textbook Advanced Business Interpretation & Translation In this study, the evaluator also gathered qualitative data from the analysis of the syllabus and the material by using the model by Hutchinson and Waters (1987) to determine the suitability of the textbook to the university course syllabus

In quantitative research method, the researcher collected data through close-ended questionnaires to evaluate the percentage of students who agreed that the textbook Advanced Business Interpretation & Translation is suitable for them and the goal after the course

The researcher combined two research methods which are questionnaires and document analysis to conduct the evaluation of the content of Advanced Business Interpretation and Translation and the subject content in the university’s curriculum plan The detailed parameter of the subject Business Translation - Interpretation issued by the Department of Foreign Languages in terms of the requirements and the aims of the course for the fourth-year students

of English at HUFLIT was analyzed for subjective analysis After that, the textbook’s content was looked into for objective analysis To guarantee the findings, the questionnaires were given to selected 20 seniors of English major

to give answers to questions about layout and design, activities, skills and