(Luận văn thạc sĩ) An investigation into teachers beliefs and practice about developing supplementary materials for ielts learners at language centers in Ho Chi Minh city

(Luận văn thạc sĩ) An investigation into teachers beliefs and practice about developing supplementary materials for ielts learners at language centers in Ho Chi Minh city(Luận văn thạc sĩ) An investigation into teachers beliefs and practice about developing supplementary materials for ielts learners at language centers in Ho Chi Minh city(Luận văn thạc sĩ) An investigation into teachers beliefs and practice about developing supplementary materials for ielts learners at language centers in Ho Chi Minh city(Luận văn thạc sĩ) An investigation into teachers beliefs and practice about developing supplementary materials for ielts learners at language centers in Ho Chi Minh city(Luận văn thạc sĩ) An investigation into teachers beliefs and practice about developing supplementary materials for ielts learners at language centers in Ho Chi Minh city(Luận văn thạc sĩ) An investigation into teachers beliefs and practice about developing supplementary materials for ielts learners at language centers in Ho Chi Minh city(Luận văn thạc sĩ) An investigation into teachers beliefs and practice about developing supplementary materials for ielts learners at language centers in Ho Chi Minh city(Luận văn thạc sĩ) An investigation into teachers beliefs and practice about developing supplementary materials for ielts learners at language centers in Ho Chi Minh city(Luận văn thạc sĩ) An investigation into teachers beliefs and practice about developing supplementary materials for ielts learners at language centers in Ho Chi Minh city(Luận văn thạc sĩ) An investigation into teachers beliefs and practice about developing supplementary materials for ielts learners at language centers in Ho Chi Minh city(Luận văn thạc sĩ) An investigation into teachers beliefs and practice about developing supplementary materials for ielts learners at language centers in Ho Chi Minh city(Luận văn thạc sĩ) An investigation into teachers beliefs and practice about developing supplementary materials for ielts learners at language centers in Ho Chi Minh city(Luận văn thạc sĩ) An investigation into teachers beliefs and practice about developing supplementary materials for ielts learners at language centers in Ho Chi Minh city(Luận văn thạc sĩ) An investigation into teachers beliefs and practice about developing supplementary materials for ielts learners at language centers in Ho Chi Minh city(Luận văn thạc sĩ) An investigation into teachers beliefs and practice about developing supplementary materials for ielts learners at language centers in Ho Chi Minh city(Luận văn thạc sĩ) An investigation into teachers beliefs and practice about developing supplementary materials for ielts learners at language centers in Ho Chi Minh city(Luận văn thạc sĩ) An investigation into teachers beliefs and practice about developing supplementary materials for ielts learners at language centers in Ho Chi Minh city(Luận văn thạc sĩ) An investigation into teachers beliefs and practice about developing supplementary materials for ielts learners at language centers in Ho Chi Minh city

BỘ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC SƯ PHẠM TP HỒ CHÍ MINH

Phùng Tuấn Ngọc

AN INVESTIGATION INTO TEACHER'S

BELIEFS AND PRACTICE ABOUT DEVELOPING SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIALS FOR IELTS LEARNERS AT LANGUAGE CENTERS

IN HO CHI MINH CITY

LUẬN VĂN THẠC SĨ KHOA HỌC GIÁO DỤC

Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh – 2021

BỘ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC SƯ PHẠM TP HỒ CHÍ MINH

Phùng Tuấn Ngọc

AN INVESTIGATION INTO TEACHER'S

BELIEFS AND PRACTICE ABOUT DEVELOPING SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIALS FOR IELTS LEARNERS AT LANGUAGE CENTERS

IN HO CHI MINH CITY

Chuyên ngành: Lý luận và phương pháp dạy học bộ môn tiếng Anh

Mã số: 8140111

LUẬN VĂN THẠC SĨ KHOA HỌC GIÁO DỤC

NGƯỜI HƯỚNG DẪN KHOA HỌC:

TS NGUYỄN THANH BÌNH

LỜI CAM ĐOAN

Tên tôi Phùng Tuấn Ngọc Tôi xin cam đoan luận văn về đề tài “An investigation into teacher's beliefs and practice about developing supplementary materials for IELTS learners at language centers in Ho Chi Minh City” là công trình nghiên cứu cá nhân của tôi trong thời gian qua theo yêu cầu của chương trình thạc sĩ tại trường Đại học Sư phạm Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh Số liệu và kết quả nghiên cứu trong luận văn này chưa từng được sử dụng hoặc công bố trong bất kỳ công trình nào khác

Hồ Chí Minh, 2021

Phùng Tuấn Ngọc

DECLARATION

My name is Phung Tuan Ngoc I hereby certify that my thesis entitled “An investigation into teacher's beliefs and practice about developing supplementary materials for IELTS learners at language centers in Ho Chi Minh City” is solely the result

of my own work as the fulfillment of the requirements for the Master’s program at the

Ho Chi Minh City University of Pedagogy The data and results of this thesis have not been submitted for any other degree or professional qualification

Ho Chi Minh, 2021

Phùng Tuấn Ngọc

LỜI CẢM ƠN

Trong quá trình nghiên cứu và hoàn thiện luận văn tác giả đã nhận được rất nhiều

sự hỗ trợ và động viên của các cấp lãnh đạo, thầy cô, bạn bè đồng nghiệp và gia đình

Trước hết tác giả xin được gửi lời cảm ơn chân thành nhất đếngiáo viên hướng dẫn – TS Nguyễn Thanh Bình, người đã trực tiếp hướng dẫn, tận tình chỉ bảo và giúp

đỡ tác giả trong các hoạt động nghiên cứu để hoàn thành bài luận văn này

Tác giả cũng xin được bày tỏ lòng cảm ơn sâu sắc đến phòng Sau đại học trường Đại học Sư phạm Tp HCM và các thầy cô giáo tham gia giảng dạy trong toàn khóa học

vì đã cung cấp những giờ học hữu ích và ý tưởng cho bài luận văn của tác giả

Xin chân thành cảm ơn các anh chị đồng nghiệp đã tham gia vào quá trình khảo sát và trả lời phỏng vấn Đặc biệt là thầy Lê Huy Lâm, cô Đặng Ngọc Anh Thư, và chị Trịnh Mỹ Linh đã giúp đỡ tác giả rất nhiều trong giai đoạn thu thập dữ liệu

Cuối cùng, tác giả xin tỏ lòng biết ơn đến gia đình và bạn bè đã hỗ trợ và động viên trong cuộc sống và thời gian hoàn thành luận văn thạc sĩ

I am deeply grateful to the staff of the Postgraduate Department at Ho Chi Minh City University of Pedagogy and lecturers participating in the Master’s program for their interesting, helpful lectures and ideas for my thesis

My heartfelt thanks also go to my colleagues who have participated in the questionnaire and responded to my interviews Particularly, I am indebted to Mr Le Huy Lam, Ms Dang Ngoc Anh Thu, and Ms Trinh My Linh, who have enthusiastically supported me during the phase of data collection

Last but not least, I wish to express my appreciation to my parents and friends for their constant support and encouragement in life as well as in the time of doing this thesis

ABSTRACT

Much literature in the pedagogic field has focused on language teaching and learning aspects, while there are apparent gaps concerning materials development Moreover, materials development appears to be a contemporary field worth more attention from researchers in the flourishing era of printed and electronic materials for English language teaching and learning This thesis is to investigate teachers’ beliefs about IELTS supplementary materials and explore how they select, adapt, and design these types of materials In this thesis, two instruments, including survey questionnaires and interviews, were employed to attain the research objectives The study focuses on teachers who have experience in EILTS training at language centers in Ho Chi Minh City One hundred and thirty-one teachers participated, and twelve of them were interviewed

The results show that most teachers believe supplementary materials for IELTS classrooms are those extra exercises These materials are used in addition to the main coursebooks provided by their language centers With respect to the factors affecting teachers’ beliefs, rather than education and theoretical knowledge, the influence of personal experience and teaching contexts is tremendous Most teachers reported the impact of former exposure to supplementary materials as learners and the policies at their language centers on their current decision Moreover, although there is a significant convergence between teachers’ beliefs and practice, some beliefs do not translate into actual practice due to internal and external factors

It is expected that this study will contribute to the repertoire of materials development and the relationship between teachers’ beliefs and practice, a field that receives little attention from researchers The results may also have prospective implementation for training teachers and managing language courses

Keywords: belief, practice, supplementary materials, IELTS

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABSTRACT v

LIST OF ABBREVIATION x

LIST OF TABLES xi

LIST OF FIGURES xi

CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Background to the study 1

1.2 Problem statement 2

1.3 Aims and Scope 3

1.4 Significance of the study 4

CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW 5

2.1 Teachers’ beliefs in English language teaching 5

2.1.1 What are teachers’ beliefs? 5

2.1.2 Teachers’ belief system 7

2.1.3 Teachers’ beliefs and practice 10

2.2 The role of materials in ELT classrooms 12

2.2.1 What are language-learning materials? 12

2.2.1.1 Ready-made coursebooks 13

2.2.1.2 Teacher-generated materials 24

2.2.1.3 A need for flexibility 26

2.2.2 Types of language-learning materials 27

2.2.3 Materials for IELTS training 28

2.3 Supplementary materials in IELTS classrooms 31

2.3.1 Selecting supplementary materials for IELTS training 32

2.3.2 Designing supplementary materials for IELTS training 36

2.3.3 Adapting supplementary materials for IELTS training 37

2.4 Theoretical framework from literature review 39

CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY 41

3.1 Research questions 41

3.2 Method design 41

3.3 Research Setting 42

3.4 Participants 43

3.4.1 Description of the population 43

3.4.2 Sampling method 43

3.5 Data collection methods 49

3.6 Pilot Study 54

3.6.1 The questionnaire 54

3.6.2 The interview 55

3.7 Data analysis methods 56

3.8 Reliability and validity 60

CHAPTER IV: FINDINGS 62

4.1 Findings from the survey 62

4.2 Findings from the interview 72

4.2.1 The notion of supplementary materials in IELTS classrooms 72

4.2.1.1 The purposes of supplementary materials for IELTS classrooms 72

4.2.1.2 The benefits of supplementary materials for IELTS classrooms 74

4.2.1.3 The sources of supplementary materials for IELTS classrooms 76

4.2.2 Internal and external sources 78

4.2.2.1 Teaching context 78

4.2.2.3 Teachers’ experience 82

4.2.2.2 The washback effect of the IELTS examination 85

4.2.2.4 Theoretical knowledge 86

4.2.2.5 Personalities 88

4.2.3 Teachers’ practice of developing supplementary materials 88

4.2.3.1 Selecting supplementary materials 89

4.2.3.2 Designing supplementary materials 91

4.2.3.3 Adapting supplementary materials 95

4.2.4 The convergences and divergences between teachers’ beliefs and practice 98

4.2.4.1 Convergences 99

4.2.4.2 Divergences 100

4.3 Data triangulation 101

4.3.1 Teachers’ beliefs and practice about the concept of supplementary materials 102

4.3.2 Teachers’ beliefs and practice about the reasons to develop supplementary materials 104

4.3.3 Teachers’ beliefs and practice about the criteria for developing supplementary materials 106

CHAPTER V: DISCUSSION 110

5.1 Teachers’ beliefs about IELTS supplementary materials 110

5.1.1 Beliefs about the concept of supplementary materials 110

5.1.2 Beliefs about the reason to develop supplementary materials 111

5.1.3 Beliefs about the criteria for developing supplementary materials 113

5.2 Factors affecting teachers’ beliefs about IELTS supplementary materials 115

5.2.1 Contextual factors 115

5.2.2 Teachers’ experiences 116

5.2.3 Other factors 117

5.3 The relationship between teachers’ beliefs and practice 119

5.3.1 Convergences 119

5.3.2 Divergences 119

CHAPTER VI: CONCLUSION 121

6.1 Summary of the major findings 121

6.1.1 Teachers’ beliefs about developing supplementary materials for IELTS courses 121

6.1.2 The factors affecting teachers’ beliefs about developing supplementary

materials for IELTS courses 122

6.1.3 Teachers’ actual classroom practices and their beliefs about developing supplementary materials for IELTS courses 124

6.2 Implications 125

6.3 Limitations of the study 130

6.4 Suggestions for further studies 130

References 132

APPENDICES 141

Appendix A: Teachers’ beliefs questionnaire 141

Appendix B: Personal Interview Questions 144

Appendix C: Interview protocol 147

Appendix D: Themes, subthemes, codes, and counts of the qualitative data 151

Appendix E: Coding System of the Interviews (presented with examples) 155

Appendix F: Examples of Interview Transcript 160

LIST OF ABBREVIATION

IELTS The International English Language Test

ELT English Language Teaching

UNCLES University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate

CLT Communicative language teaching

SLA Second language acquisition

ESP English for Specific Purposes

CEFR The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages

LIST OF TABLES

Table 3 1 Demographic Characteristics of Participants in the Interview 48

Table 3 2 Examples of data condensation 57

Table 3 3 The categorization of themes in relation to the research questions 59

Table 4 1 Teachers’ beliefs about the concept of supplementary materials 63

Table 4 2 Teachers’ beliefs about the reasons to develop supplementary materials 64

Table 4 3 Teachers’ beliefs about the criteria for developing supplementary materials 65

Table 4 4 The difference between the mean scores of male and female teachers regarding Concepts, Reasons, and Criteria of supplementary materials development 66 Table 4 5 The ANOVA results for teachers’ beliefs of Concepts, Reasons, and Criteria of supplementary materials development according to their level of education 67

Table 4 6 The ANOVA results for teachers’ beliefs of Reasons and Criteria of supplementary materials development according to their teaching experience 70

LIST OF FIGURES Figure 2 1 Burns’ Model of intercontextuality of teacher thinking and beliefs 9

Figure 2 2 Beliefs act as filters, frames, or guides 10

Figure 2 3 Sheldon’s Textbook evaluation sheet 35

Figure 3 1 Gender of participants 45

Figure 3 2 Education level of participants 46

Figure 3 3 Teaching experience of participants 47

Figure 3 4 Coding tree representing the codes, subthemes, and themes 58

CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background to the study

In the language teaching context, most English courses use a combination of

“published books and in-house produced material” (Jordan, 1997; Harmer, 2001) In Vietnam, while at public schools there is a must to use the official coursebooks offered

by the Education Ministry, English centers appear to leave more room for directors, managers, or even teachers to select and develop their own teaching materials (McDonough, Shaw, & Masuhara, 2013, p 53) Evidently, most language centers possess unique course books which are usually designed by famous publishers, namely Pearson, Cambridge University Press, or Oxford University Press Textbooks, thus, become more and more powerful and are treated as selling points of a curriculum Edward (2010), cited as a chapter introduction in McGrath (2013) (p 15), remarks on the reality in which such a lot of institutions emphasize the role of “materials and equipment” over teachers and students Despite their benefits and convenience, it is teachers who teach rather than materials themselves (ibid.) There has been doubt about the actual value of textbooks because they ostensibly include cultural bias (McGrath, 2013; Bao, 2016) or consume much time to be adopted Some scholars even call for abandoning course books and replacing them with teachers’ resources Such an approach may serve the needs of students better and thus be more flexible and learner-centered The scenario can be straightforward for experienced teachers; however, novice teachers often have trouble dealing with it Furthermore, additional administration resources will

be needed to ensure teachers do not use the same materials in different classes In order

to compromise this dilemma, Thornbury and Meddings (2002), cited in McGrath (2013), propose a “Dogme” approach that “activities […] provide optimal exposure, attention, output, and feedback, thereby maximizing the chance of language emergence.” Other scholars such as Graves (2000), Nation and Macalister (2010), and McGrath (2013)

supported the notion of adapting coursebooks to mix and match with learners’ needs and learning outcomes However, few studies have touched on the field of supplementary materials A commercial textbook usually accompanies at least a workbook, other visual, audial, or online resources with the advent of technology Those are typically considered supplementary materials If making changes to a coursebook is often based on teachers’ beliefs (Harmer, 2001, p 8-9), they may also influence the selection, adaptation, and design of supplementary materials

1.2 Problem statement

Teachers’ beliefs have captured the interests of pedagogical researchers because they give valuable clues about teachers’ decisions and classroom practices (Richards & Rodgers, 2001; Nation & Macalister, 2010) There has been a large amount of literature

on what teachers believe affects their instructional choices, feedbacks, learning, and learners (Borg & Al-Busaidi, 2011; Nobuhiro, 2014; Bai & Yuan, 2018) However, the gap between teachers’ beliefs and materials development is still a new issue in the pedagogical realm It may be because language-learning materials have been neglected, and up until the mid-1990s, materials development was regarded as an independent field

of research (Tomlinson, 2012)

Supported by the idea of using course books as a springboard for language instructions, developing supplementary material is of paramount significance As for the scale of the classrooms, many teachers have familiarized themselves with the preparation

of supplementary documents in order to bridge the gap between the preplanned textbooks and the actual needs and the ability of learners The process, thus, centers more on learners and promotes teacher autonomy McGrath (2013) notes that in the process of planning a lesson, “many teachers are subconsciously on the look-out for materials” (p 83) because they may learn that particular exercises or activities in the textbooks are monotonous It seems that the decision made by teachers in these situations is somewhat

based on instinct and experience as opposed to rational thoughts If it is the case, the supplementary materials play only a role as fillers and have no contribution to learning experiences However, according to the document published by the Vietnamese Ministry

of Education and Training (Ministry of Education & Training, 2018), a teacher in a language center must meet two requirements:

 Must have at least a degree of associate in the field of language teaching

 Must have at least a degree of associate in the field of language and a teaching certificate

Another document by the Ministry about competencies and standards for language teachers (Ministry of Education & Training, 2014) also stressed that teachers must have adequate knowledge of “material design.” The subject is also incorporated in other private teacher training programs Therefore, it is worth believing that the decision of teachers on supplementary materials is not entirely free from learning, teaching theories, and principles As a result, there is a need to have a thorough understanding of how teachers articulate their beliefs in selecting, adapting, and designing supplementary materials, what salient factors contribute to their beliefs, and whether their beliefs align with practice

1.3 Aims and Scope

The aim of the study is to (1) describe the beliefs of teachers in some English centers

in Ho Chi Minh City regarding the selection of supplementary materials and how supplementary materials are adapted and designed; (2) identify the most influential sources of teachers’ beliefs; and (3) examine the convergence and divergence between teachers’ beliefs and their practice

1.4 Significance of the study

The result from this study may contribute to teachers’ professional development and,

at the same time, provide ideas for teacher training in terms of evaluating, adapting, and designing supplementary materials in language centers In addition, it is also expected to contribute to the theory of materials development As for a more local scale, the research’s outcomes will help IELTS course managers at English centers in Ho Chi Minh City to have a deeper understanding of teachers’ use of supplementary materials and form that they can have proper adjustments to the syllabus to promote teaching and learning experience

CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Teachers’ beliefs in English language teaching

2.1.1 What are teachers’ beliefs?

Although the term “beliefs” has been broadly adopted in various studies and fields, there is still little consensus on a comprehensive and integrative theory of it A belief can vary from constitutional elements such as “metaphysical, moral, philosophical, political, scientific and religious principles” to more incidental ones like “details of everyday life” (Ohlsson, 2011, p 293) Amstrong (1973) defends and further explains the anatomy of Ramsey (1931) about beliefs – “a map of neighbouring space by which we steer.” He concludes that beliefs are formed through interpreting reality, and, as echoed in Pajares (1992), they are driving factors for human decisions and actions (p 4) It has been recognized that beliefs are also what humans accept to be true (Richardson, 1996; Tran, 2012) However, people also hold disbelief towards the world Ohlsson (2011) seems to agree with Borg (2001) about beliefs that comprise a proposition and a truth value or element The proposition refers to the assumption assigned to reality (bearing a resemblance to Amstrong’s analogy of map), while the truth value/ element is the perception of a proposition is true or false (reflecting the conceptualization of

“individual's judgment of the truth or falsity of a proposition”; Pajares, 1992, p 316) Basically, beliefs are the lens through which people interpret the external reality based

on true-false judgment and are action-guiding, and therefore, teachers’ beliefs are overall

“tacit, often unconsciously held assumptions about students, classrooms, and the academic material to be taught” (Kagan, 1992, p 65)

It has been acknowledged that in the course of the teaching career, teachers have to make a large number of decisions before, during, and after each lesson (Richards & Lockhart, 1999) These decisions are heavily influenced by what teachers believe and know about the language itself, teaching and learning nature, and other educational

processes However, teachers usually lack a standard protocol to handle their work but rather turn to their previous experience and instinct – personal understanding – which originates from beliefs (Senior, 2006, p 247; Decker & Rimm-Kaufman, 2008, p 46)

In other words, teachers’ beliefs are served as primary elements encompassing

“conceptions, world views, and mental models” (Mandasari, 2016) that tailor their actions and behaviors (Senior, 2006; Williams, Mercer, & Ryan, 2015; Nguyen, 2019) and thus, affect the teaching quality and learning potential (Nguyen, 2011, p 128; Levin,

2015, p 49; Cheng, 2018, p 7) For instance, some teachers may want their learners to achieve “accuracy” in English, while others may emphasize the “fluency” factors Despite an overt parallel between teachers’ beliefs and beliefs in general, this is only

“the tip of the ice berg”

The brief definition in the earlier part, nevertheless, appears to be incapable of capturing a comprehensive picture of teachers’ beliefs, let alone those of a larger system Fives and Buehl (2012), on the one hand, admit the “murky” reality of research literature

on the attempt to define teachers’ beliefs but vehemently oppose Pajares’ (1992) assumption of difficulty in conceptualizing – “a game of player’s choice.” What actually matters is to pinpoint the consistent definition and terms within and across the field of research (p 473) An example of divergent terms that, of course, lead to different definitions can be found in Pajares’ (1992) lengthy and inexhaustible list of anonymous terms used in literature about teachers’ beliefs: “attitudes, values, judgments, axioms, opinions, ideology, perceptions, conceptions, conceptual systems, preconceptions, dispositions, implicit theories, explicit theories, personal theories, internal mental processes, action strategies, rules of practice, practical principles, perspectives, repertories of understanding, and social strategy” (p 309) In the quest of settling the

“messy” construct of teachers’ beliefs by coding method, Fives and Buehl (2012) manage to identify five characteristics encompassing: implicit and explicit nature (also known as conscious and unconscious nature in Borg (2001)), stability over time, situated

or generalized nature, relation to knowledge, existence as individual propositions or larger systems (p 473) With these features, a thorough view of what is beliefs is attainable

2.1.2 Teachers’ belief system

According to Ohlsson (2011), beliefs are often classified into topics or themes which are based on the cognitive field, regarded as domains A set of beliefs within a domain will constitute a person’s belief system for that domain These belief sets do not separate themselves from each other but interplay, interweave together within and cross cognitive

or affective fields (Pajares, 1992, p 316) Referring back to the analogy of “belief-map,” Amstrong (1973) contends that a man's beliefs in a moment are “a single great map of which the individual beliefs are sub-maps,” and a complete map encompasses “a complete map of the map itself” (pp 3-4) That is why discerning an individual’s beliefs requires a holistic view of them in connection with others as a system However, this perspective also poses a thorny dilemma: What is the boundary of examination? A teacher may have a number of beliefs at the same time, some commonly identified as beliefs about learning and teaching (pedagogical beliefs), the nature of knowledge (epistemological beliefs), learners, subject matters, and themselves (self-efficacy beliefs) (Levin, 2015, p 48) Accordingly, the belief investigation will be time- and resource-consuming To refrain from the sophisticated interrelationship within the belief system, another approach is to examine teachers’ beliefs from their contributors

Richards and Lockhart (1999) summarize six sources of teachers’ beliefs, including (1) their institutions’ policies and practices, (2) personality, (3) experiences as learners, (4) teaching background, (5) principles derived from training and research, and (6) approach- and method-based principles, all of which can also be put in two categories of internal (personal experience, personality) and external sources (formalized knowledge, expectations from other people and organizations) (Levin, 2015; Nguyen, 2019) Apart

from the first two, the others components have been listed in Tomlinson and Masuhara (2013) as sources for developing pre-use evaluation criteria of coursebooks (p 234) which undoubtedly can be modified to serve whilst- and post-use evaluation The scholars also take materials developers’ and researchers’ experiences into consideration Comparing the previous classifications, it is sensible enough to conclude that teachers’ beliefs are overall impacted by four main sources – experiences, knowledge, contexts, and personalities - in the language learning and teaching domain which embodies materials use These sources broadly resonate with what Golombek (1998) identifies as knowledge of self, knowledge of the subject matter, knowledge of instruction, and knowledge of context as a reference to teachers’ personal practical knowledge (p 451)

The source of experience is deemed to arise from teachers’ personal and professional life Similar to the “knowledge of self,” teachers draw on what they have experienced as learners and teachers in order to make a decision in classrooms Teachers’ knowledge can be described in terms of their input from training, readings, or professors The input can also be related to the “pedagogical knowledge” that when teachers adopt a particular teaching approach, it affects their beliefs on issues such as the role of teachers and learners, characteristics of teaching/ learning process, or the nature of students-teachers interaction For instance, in the article of Lee and Bathmaker (2007) about the use of English coursebooks, the authors observed that those teachers who adopted the functional approach preferred to employ group and pair work activities Meanwhile, those advocating the grammar-based approach believe that the best way to learn a language is to remember linguistic rules and memorize forms and structures

As for the context, it refers to “the institutional and sociopolitical setting along with the time, place, and actors within the setting” (Golombek, 1998, p 452) To illustrate the relationship among the context, beliefs, and practice, Burns (1996) proposes a framework with three major contextual levels as depicted in Figure 2.1 (p 158)

Accordingly, the broadest level refers to organizational policies or ideologies from which teachers interpret and form “institutional cultures.” The second contextual level comprises those beliefs, attitudes, or philosophies that teachers bring into classrooms These beliefs shape their approach to teaching and materials selection Finally, at the most specific level is the realization of thinking and reflections in the form of actual instructions, materials in use, and classroom management

With respect to the personality, Farrell (2018), by echoing Richards and Lockhart (1999), explains that some teachers may feel comfortable when deploying more communicative activities Meanwhile, others enjoy the traditional approach to teaching Personality factors, therefore, can be discerned as teachers’ preference of particular teaching styles

Figure 2 1

Burns’ Model of intercontextuality of teacher thinking and beliefs

INSTITUTIONAL FOCUS Institutional programming conventions Decentralized learner-centered curriculum

INSTRUCTIONAL FOCUS Classroom management, tasks, resources, and texts

CLASSROOM FOCUS

Learning Learners Language

2.1.3 Teachers’ beliefs and practice

The investigation of the relationship between beliefs and practice has been one of the major motivations for research into teachers’ beliefs Theoretically, as Farrell and Guz (2019) assert, teachers’ beliefs contribute “a filter through which instructional judgments and decisions are made” (p.2) That, however, is not the only function of beliefs “Frameworks for decision making” and “guides for action” are other indispensable roles The three listed functions interact with each other forming a bridge between beliefs and practice Fives and Buehl (2012) construct a framework to illustrate the interplay of the beliefs’ functions (Figure 2.2)

Potential Filters:

personal epistemology, students, teachers’

conceptualize problem at hand

Potential Frames:

teaching practices

or approach,

context

Guides

What affects immediate action

Potential Guides:

efficacy, task value

self-In Fives and Buehl’s belief diagram, the term “experiences” refers to what teachers encounter in their life and hence, is broader than the one identified in this study It, in fact, also deals with other factors – knowledge and context As a filter, beliefs offer a lens that helps teachers to interpret the input information of the external world Pajares (1992), by referring to the work of Nisbett and Ross (1980), emphasizes the power of beliefs that can distort reality using necessary cognitive tricks (p 317) That is, an individual often tries to match the surrounding world with what he believes is true or allows only information congruent with existing beliefs to be assimilated, and beliefs, in this sense, are associated with actual actions by their influence on human perceptions After the information in the external world is filtered, beliefs continue to direct how problems and tasks at hand are framed and conceptualized Nespor (1987) notes that the belief system is called for to deal with ill-defined and entangled problems because, with

a more constrained and well-structured one, domain-specific knowledge would be employed The last role of beliefs “emerges in their motivational abilities to move teachers to action” (Fives & Buehl, 2012, p 480) These motivational constructs – typically identified as self-efficacy, outcome expectancy, and task value – impact such behaviors as efforts, decisions, and persistence (ibid.) To illustrate the diagram, take teachers who believe in “practice make perfect” as an example They may pay more attention to evidence of insufficient rehearsal and laziness when a student underperforms

in examination (the filter role), and of course, the problems here are regarded as lack of practice (the framing role) In the end, the value of practice leads to teachers’ practice in the classroom: offering more exercises for learners

Although teachers’ beliefs appear to be decisive precursors to their practice, research that has investigated the correspondence between those two variables has been mixed The contradictory findings in belief literature, according to such scholars as Kagan (1992); Fang (1996); Vartuli (2005); Basturkmen (2012); and Fives and Buehl (2012), can be attributed to several main factors: methodological issues in assessing beliefs,

contextual constraints, and the teachers’ inability to articulate their beliefs or to translate their beliefs into practice Since beliefs are tacit in nature, it is nearly impossible to assess them directly Measurements as an extended interview, stimulated recall, experimental tasks, and reflection forms have been suggested to elicit beliefs in Kagan (1990); Fang (1996); Erkmen (2012) Kagan (1990) also goes further when discussing the issue of ecological validity – the relationship between the performance of teachers on some tasks and their actual classroom behaviors – as evidence to justify research instruments Moreover, the theoretical lens a researcher holds may lead to discrepancies among findings

The second critical element lends itself to the context where teachers operate In the study of the influence of teacher experience and qualifications on at-risk students, Brown, Molfese, and Molfese (2008) found that while teachers held strong beliefs about the importance of literacy and mathematics learning, there was weak evidence showing a change in terms of students outcomes It is because the school district’s policies hinder teachers in their effort to act on their beliefs Brown et al (2008) admit “the influence of the school environment and policies, as well as teachers’ knowledge in influencing

teachers’ abilities to implement their ideas about teaching” (p 122)

2.2 The role of materials in ELT classrooms

2.2.1 What are language-learning materials?

When it comes to language-learning materials, some people may see them as the textbooks used in a majority of English classrooms around the world, while others may extend the list with various items such as dictionaries, reference books, realia, games, and other visual, aural aids Tomlinson (2011a), one of the most-cited authors in the field, asserts a broad notion of materials which includes “anything which can be used to facilitate the learning of a language They can be linguistic, visual, auditory or

kinaesthetic, and they can be presented in print, through live performance or display, or

on cassette, CD-ROM, DVD or the internet” This view is akin to that of Allwright (1981) – good materials should promote language learning, not teaching Hutchinson and Waters (1987) extend the notion with five more principles as a “lodestar” for the design (pp 107-108) and, to some extent, for the evaluation and adaptation of materials According to these principles, materials should consist of:

1 A reasonable sequence of content that assist the teaching and learning process

2 A perspective on language and learning nature

3 A reflection of tasks in their own right

4 An introduction to new teaching techniques, which is helpful for teacher training

5 Models of accurate and appropriate language use

These principles appear to be strictly followed to augment the upsides of a textbook which will be discussed as follows

2.2.1.1 Ready-made coursebooks

Ready-made coursebooks (or commercially published coursebooks) are books published by professional publishers or developers with careful consideration of users, content, and aesthetics These coursebooks can be used globally in widely different nations or narrower scale in some regions, local institutions, or schools Based on the markets of implementation, coursebooks can be categories into global, regional, or in-house/ domestic/ national ones (Bao, 2008; Tomlinson, 2011a; McDonough et al., 2013; McGrath, 2013) It seems that ready-made coursebooks are an indispensable feature of most English language programs because of their enormous influence on both teachers and learners Overall, as Richards (2001) puts it, some teachers may use textbooks as their main teaching resource while others appreciate the role of supplementing their instructions As regards learners, coursebooks provide adequate contact with language

besides teachers Before further scrutinizing their effects in the field of English language teaching (ELT), it is worth mentioning the concept of textbooks or coursebooks in this study The terms are often used interchangeably in ELT literature but with two different implies One strictly refers to a single book that contains “the core materials for a language learning course” (Tomlinson, 2011b, p Xi), while the other takes a broader sense of “an organized and pre-packaged set of teaching/ learning materials.” The latter,

in order words, assumes that core materials can both constitute a coursebook or present

in a package encompassing the coursebook itself and other components or add-ons; namely workbook, audio disc, or teachers’ guide (Hutchinson & Torres, 1994, p 328) This notion of textbook appears to be contemporary and innovative as nowadays, hardly

is any coursebook published as a single one but rather in a package with “a wealth of extra material” (Harmer, 2001, p 7) As a result, it is sensible for the current research to adopt Hutchinson and Torres’ broad sense of textbooks

Despite the widespread popularity of ready-made coursebooks, they have not always been received affectionate attitudes toward them by both teachers and scholars Indeed, for the past few decades, there has been much controversy regarding the role of this kind

of material in classrooms Those who are in favor of coursebooks (Hutchinson & Torres, 1994; Harmer, 2001) argue that teachers and learners can benefit from them in several ways Rubdy (2003) identifies a list of seven major advantages for the use of textbooks

as follows:

Textbooks can

 fulfill numerous practical demands;

 offer a “route map” for both teachers and learners”;

 offer “structure and predictability”;

 allow teachers to focus on other vital aspects of lesson planning (including materials adaptation and supplementation) and on using their creativity in

teaching;

 enhance teachers’ sense of self-confidence and security, especially those

lacking experience and training;

 be designed and developed by experts in the field, in line with contemporary pedagogical approach and practice;

 act as agents of change

(p 39)

Textbooks are able to meet a number of practical needs or contexts as the result of commercial purposes Nearly all publishers hope their products will be best sellers and thus, can make the most profit out of them This motif prods them to improve coursebooks through a series of needs analyses, market researches, and materials pilots, which are usually kept confidential (Masuhara, 2011, p 253) Consequently, coursebooks are usually designed in global and regional perspectives that the more needs are covered, the more profitable it will be

Textbooks offer a “route map” so that learners and teachers “know where they are, what they have done and where they are going” (Harmer, 2001, p 7) Hutchinson and Torres (1994) described the need for such maps or plans to demonstrate the coherence

of each lesson in relation to the course as a whole (p 319) For example, most coursebooks comprise a thorough table of content that illustrates the “unit of progression” and lesson objectives broken down from the general aims or goals of the program The map should be necessarily comprehensible, comprehensive, and accessible for three reasons – Negotiation (Textbooks provide a basis for negotiation through the overall picture of what will happen in lessons), Accountability (In addition to teachers and learners, other stakeholders also care about and have an impact on what is done “in the

closed and ephemeral world of the classroom”) and Orientation (The knowledge of standards, objectives, and amount of work secures teachers and learners in relation to self-assessment)

Textbooks, moreover, provide a consistent and predictable format which is served

as a foundation for “negotiation and exploration.” It has been observed from experiences that coursebooks typically follow a particularly coherent order For example, some may start with the practice of receptive skills before moving to productive ones; others may interweave the skills into strands The predictability of textbooks can make lessons run smoothly because learners can soon get used to the learning procedures within parts of lessons (Nation & Macalister, 2010, p 9) As a result, teachers do not have to spend much time familiarizing students with the new tasks or activities, which, in most cases, puzzle and worry learners for they have not done them before

As mentioned earlier, the uniformity of lessons’ unit and language items in coursebooks is beneficial because they save teachers’ time and energies to “look for articles and listening material, […] plan and re-plan syllabuses, […] evaluate class progress, […] plan how to use the material once it has been found” (Harmer, 2001, p.7) Coursebooks, in this sense, are a useful resource for teachers based on which they can adapt or supplement with current and relevant materials to enhance learning Moreover, Allwright (1981) notes the merit of leaving material design for experts in that it frees teachers to “develop the expertise needed for dealing with practical and fundamental issues in the fostering of language learning in the classroom setting” (p 6)

Coursebooks can also support those teachers who are not well-trained and inexperienced with a sense of self-confidence and security According to Allwright’s deficiency view, published teaching materials are able to save learners from deficient teachers in that they help to ensure the syllabus is comprehensively followed and tasks are properly conducted Harmer (2001) shares a similar but less severe perspective He

mentioned the pressure of time encountered by teachers as a result of external factors which may lead to ill-prepared lessons In such circumstances, coursebooks are the perfect lifeline ensuring the emergence of a competent lesson (p 8)

The next merit of coursebooks concerns the fact that they are designed, developed

by experts, and are sensitized to contemporary “theoretical approaches and methodological practices.” Allwright (1981) illustrates this notion by mentioning the

“different view,” which implies the disparity of textbook writers' and teachers’ roles (p 6) Although they both share some identical expertise, there are special individual skills that make material designers superior to the other For example, textbooks writers need

to have an insight into the market as a whole and the nature of materials Their prospective customers are teachers and students whom they have no connection with, and thus, whose needs and interests they have to forecast In the process of writing, they should develop the skills of sequencing the activities and harmonizing them with visual illustrations (Bell & Gower, 2011, pp 135-140) The demand for anticipation leads to several studies to gain a deeper understanding of the contexts where coursebooks will be implemented Such researches are recommended to include discussion with syllabus designers, curriculum planners, and even teachers, for these parties hold different viewpoints Wala (2003), as cited in McGrath (2013), emphasizes that, unlike teachers who only deal with the current contexts, syllabus designers, curriculum planners focus much more on future issues Materials writers, thus, “occupy a kind of twilight zone – materials must answer present-day teacher needs for tomorrow’s class with a view to meeting the goals of education for the future” (p 45) Textbooks are also subject to advanced principles of ELT Hutchinson and Torres (1994) observe the improvement of Streamline (by Hartley and Viney, 1978) and its successor, Grapevine (by Viney and Viney 1989) The former represents the heyday of traditional Grammar translation and Audio-lingual methods with ample texts and drilling activities Within less than a decade, Grapevine made excellent progress when employing Communicative language teaching

(CLT) principles There was “an integrated video, information-gap activities, role play, further reading texts, songs, the development of reading, writing, and listening skills, games, grammar summaries, and tape transcripts.” The way that Grapevine is structured

is much the same as a majority of General English textbooks nowadays

Textbooks also serve as agents of change by maintaining security – the most salient element for a change to occur Hutchinson and Torres (1994), by relating to the other studies of management and social sciences, identify four benefits of coursebooks Firstly,

it is because only a definite amount of change can be dealt with at once Textbooks offer new ideas within their structured framework, which allow teachers and learners to develop harmoniously with these changes Secondly, they support and free teachers from

a number of tasks Thirdly, they provide a thorough picture of the change Finally, the selection of textbooks is not entirely of teachers’ responsibility, but other stakeholders Therefore, teachers feel less stressed and more confident when introducing changes (p 9)

In the field of curriculum and syllabus design, materials, or more specifically textbooks, play a major role as starting points for teachers and developers to draw on in initial steps (Nation & Macalister, 2010, pp 140-141) Masuhara (2011) outlines theoretical and original Model X in which the design process consecutively starts with

an analysis of learner needs to establish goals and decide on appropriate methods and materials Meanwhile, in more contemporary models, they tend to be non-linear and cyclical with consideration of teaching context and evaluation to make proper adjustments in other stages (McGrath, 2013, p 61) It appears that need analysis and goal identification are conducted at the initial stages, and materials selection is delayed towards the end (Masuhara, 2011, p 246) Examples of those innovative models can be found in Nation and Macalister (2010) or Graves (2000) The momentum behind this trend may result from the widespread practice of administrators or teachers observed

worldwide (ibid.) The reality suggests that materials selection comes immediately after the general profile of a certain class and learners is identified In this stage, a commercially published coursebook, which matches the previously defined learner profile and teaching context, is chosen This means other stages such as needs analysis, objectives specification, syllabus design, and selection of methodology may be at the hand of coursebook writers or publishers These clues, found in the description or introduction of a textbook, support teachers and administrators for their selection (ibid)

In commercially published ELT books, there also exists a “coherent syllabus” (Harmer,

2001, p 7) which serves as a framework for teachers to count on and start teaching before adapting and supplementing them to satisfy the context This use of textbooks echoes Hutchinson and Torres’ (1994) notion of making them as starting point for negotiation

in classrooms, and Allwright’s (1981), Harmer’s (2001) of providing burden relief for teachers as their lack time and ability to carry out a complete analysis of learners and teaching situations

On the other hand, there are many doubtful voices towards textbook-based teaching The most pessimistic attitude may come from Brumfit (1980) with his allusion to

“masses of rubbish that is skillfully marketed.” In this author's opinion, the content of textbooks may not match what they are advertised Gray (2000) asserts that regardless

of their excellency, coursebooks, in nature, cater to a wide range of learners and consequently hinder the effectiveness (p 280) They, in essence, cannot perfectly fit the needs of a particular class (McGrath, 2002; Jolly & Bolitho, 2011) As the effect of the learner-centered approach in the ELT field these days, there is some concern about whether pre-designed classroom materials can fulfill the needs of more specific contexts Moreover, the “business of the management of language learning” is too chaotic, dynamic, and complicated that hardly is it fulfilled by “a pre-packaged set of decisions” provided in coursebooks (Allwright, 1981, p 5) Teachers and learners, consequently, may feel like being tightly bound by a textbook “straitjacket,” which may discourage

and demotivate their creativity The situation will be even worse if a language school or institution nudges its teachers to follow a book rigorously

Another drawback of a textbook is that the learners’ different learning styles are usually overlooked Each student possesses a set of learning preferences varying in accordance with contexts (Brown, 2007, p 120) One at a time may prefer to learn by seeing the written down language but feel more ease to memorize the language by hearing at others Despite that fact, many modern textbooks seem to emphasize more on studial (i.e., learners like to focus on language form and accuracy), analytic (i.e., learners like to pay attention to single discrete bits of language) learning, whereas overlooking

on experimental (i.e., learners care more for language use for communication than correctness), and assume that all learners can benefit from it (Tomlinson, 2011a, p 18; Tomlinson & Masuhara, 2013) This “spoon-feeding” approach may harmonize with teachers’ favor of merely providing correct answers rather than having learners try one more time Students are also assumed to expect teachers to correct their errors (Cathcart

& Olsen, 1976, as cited in Brown, 2007; Allwright, 1981; McDonough et al., 2013, p 44) Such direct correction seems to emphasize only explicit learning while neglecting implicit one and thus, impede language acquisition It is, furthermore, teacher-centered and reflects an old tendency of a teaching approach that caters for accuracy at the expense

of fluency In the era of learners as the center of classrooms, they should be trained to share more responsibility with teachers and manage their own learning Nevertheless, textbooks, in this case, may overindulge both teachers and learners by making them less

“busy.” Too many teachers may abuse coursebooks and see them as “monolithic manuals which have to be followed to the letter, like playscripts” (Harmer, 2001, p 8) They, then, are just merely a “technician” who rigidly follow the instruction manuals, but not a

“professional” who is creative and able to make decisions If the responsibility of decision-making is left in textbook producers’ hands, teachers can become “deskilled” individuals that only have an influence on “decisions about presentation, timing, and the

orchestration of practice activities” (Richards & Lockhart, 1999, p 39) As a result, there

is a perilous supposition that students are taught by textbooks rather than teachers or themselves (Graves, 2000, p 176) Allwright (1981) argues that there are so many limited “teaching materials,” and they should be replaced with “learning materials.” A possible form of learning materials can be “a learners' guide to language learning.” By knowing how language is learned, students may be more autonomous and independent and hopefully have “a direct improvement in their language learning” (pp 11-14)

Besides the teaching and learning aspects, coursebooks tend to reflect cultural bias, resulting in the suffering of “intercultural understanding and mutual respect.” In essence, some cultures are more appreciated than others Since most global coursebooks are produced by publishers located in Western cultures, they generally hold an

“Anglocentric view” which sees the native-speaker norms as capital and is sometimes alienated to learners in non-English speaking countries Bell and Gower (2011) depict this phenomenon with their brief description of global coursebook attackers’ view:

“the all-singing, all-dancing, glitzy (expensive) multimedia package with a dedicated website of extras, usually produced in a native-speaker situation but destined for the world with all language in the book (including rubrics) in the target language.” (p 137)

It is dangerous for this kind of publication as there is a shortage of learning situations committing to a specific culture (ibid.) and learners lack the chance to “respond to or challenge the information they receive from the perspective of their own culture” (Gray,

2000, p 280) The cultural problem not only prevails in internationally intended textbooks but arises in others categories The case of domestic coursebooks is rather exceptional because it is similar to the reflection of global ones They may embody texts indicating “learners’ sociocultural behavior, values, beliefs, and familiar experiences.” However, those predictable and common “local-culture” elements may easily do great

harm to learner “curiosity and novelty effect” (Bao, 2008, p 3) In-house published coursebooks can also be negatively used as a tool to purposefully predominate national cultures and values for social cohesion (McGrath, 2013, p 24) As for textbooks used in certain countries, there is a combination of cultural issues in both global and domestic books Apparently, countries in a region, although sharing many identical values, have distinct norms and practices

Another typical criticism of textbooks is their scant application from the finding of research in the field of language, language use, and language acquisition (McGrath, 2013,

p 24) Sheldon (1988) contends that “textbooks merely grow from and imitate other textbooks and do not admit the winds of change from research, methodological experimentation, or classroom feedback” (p 239) Initially, the language used in most coursebooks is modified to match the classroom use and, therefore, unauthentic An obvious example is that listening texts are most often akin to read-out-loud written passages The authenticity element in ELT materials is essential for, according to Tomlinson (2001, p 68), contrived content may not be enough to prepare learners for the real world where they actually use the language Despite the controversy, many Second language acquisition (SLA) researchers claim that there is existent order or sequence of acquisition for language items (see Ellis (1997b) and Nunan (2001) for more discussion) In addition, with the assistance of corpora, it is possible to construct frequency lists of occurrence for vocabulary or grammar Accordingly, the high-frequency items will be introduced to learners earlier than low-frequency ones However, Nation and Macalister (2010) observed that several beginner coursebooks encompass a mixture of both high-frequency and low-frequency items They also found evidence of textbooks’ weak connection with research findings in relation to semantically and formally related items Antonyms, synonyms, hypernyms, and hyponyms may cause interference in learning and memorizing as they bewilder learners with their relation in meanings or forms

Coursebooks are also criticized for their stereotypes and distortion of reality Bao (2016), in his review of eight well-known coursebooks, discovered much evidence of stereotypes (i.e., unjustifiable assumption) regarding nationality, gender, behavior, and lifestyles For instance, the appearance of characters tends to be assimilated in relation

to their original countries In order to tackle this defect, textbook publishers are apt to compromise and take a more neutral view, which Ariew (1982), cited in Richards (2001), labeled as “homogenization.” Guidance for coursebook writers advises them to exclude such taboo topics as “sex, drugs, alcohol, religion, violence, politics, history and pork” (Tomlinson, 2001, p 68; McGrath, 2013, p 26) This censorship, on the one hand, may serve pedagogic and economic purposes but impede learning on the other hand Indeed,

as Hyde (1994) and Tomlinson (2001) reflect, provocative texts that are able to elicit critical and analytical responses can promote learning better For example, teachers may use the topic of politics as inspirational content for students’ discussion and reflection with respect to their cultures Another drawback of censorship in neutral and harmonious textbooks is to derive learners from the chance to protect themselves from harmful content (Hyde, 1994)

Overall, the arguments of abandoning textbooks emphasize strongly on center perspective and no one, perhaps, knows about learners’ particular situation and context better than teachers For that reason, the Dogme approach emerged in the 2000s

learner-as the reaction to the traditional material-driven lessons Thornbury (2000), a pioneer of advocating teachers' independence from coursebooks, once stated, “Teaching should be done using only the resources that teachers and students bring to the classrooms – that

is, themselves – and whatever happens to be in the classroom.” The statement seems to echo Prabhu’s (1992) view of lessons as complex social events in which unpredictability

is essentially inevitable, and Nation and Macalister’s (2010) idea of the negotiated syllabus where teachers and learners work to agree on “goals, content and sequencing, format and presentation, and monitoring and assessment” (p 150) Without the existence

of coursebooks, teachers are given more space to become material designers for their own classrooms

2.2.1.2 Teacher-generated materials

The phenomenon of teachers writing their own teaching materials is not new in pedagogic fields This decision is made when there is either dissatisfaction of teachers concerning materials they are working with or a shortage of appropriate ones that are relevant to their purposes For example, in English for Specific Purposes (ESP), it is rather burdensome to find commercial materials because publishers are less eager to focus on such a restricted number of customers ESP courses, furthermore, are flexible

in accordance with special learners’ needs (Hutchinson & Waters, 1987, p 106) Nevertheless, there are opposite views of teachers resorting to writing materials Initially, pressure from more workload will be put on teachers’ shoulders, so this should be the last choice “when all other possibilities of providing materials have been exhausted” (Hutchinson & Waters, 1987, p 125) Moreover, teachers are deemed to lack expertise

in writing language teaching materials This, again, reflects Allwright’s (1981) “different view,” which differentiates textbook writers and teachers’ roles Following that, teachers

do not receive adequate training and thus had better “have the interpersonal skills to make classrooms good places to learn in” (p 6) Sheldon (1988) seems to agree with Allwright when mentioning the lack of credibility of teacher-generated materials as opposed to commercial textbooks (p 238) because these “professionally produced materials” manage the washback effect better than the other (Block, 1991, p 212)

Components of teacher-designed materials argue that they benefit both learners and teachers in many respects Block (1991) asserts three reasons for such “local” materials encompassing “contextualization,” “timeliness,” and “the personal touch.” The first reason refers to the fact that material content is not merely withdrawn from learners’ contexts but also raises their interests For example, in the IELTS training lesson, instead

of asking questions such as “What are national holidays in your country?”, teachers can make it more relevant by adding particular holidays in relation to the genuine time when the course is running (e.g., Hung King commemoration day, Liberty Day or Tet) Thus, students may have enthusiasm when discussing the topic, and they can also make use of general knowledge When considering contextualization, there should be a concern of whether material content is up-to-date – timeliness An English program usually adheres

to a core material that is commercially or officially published by both private or government agencies Consequently, there are intervals between updated versions For

instance, the second edition of the exam preparation book Get ready for IELTS published

by Macmillan was introduced later than the first one seven years, and this apparently affects the learning experience Block’s last argument is about students’ impressions of teachers In fact, he contradicts Sheldon’s remark of the low credibility among teacher-generated materials compared to a published coursebook Students may find that teachers are putting a lot of effort into the course by preparing their own materials and be attracted

by this The “personal touch” idea should not be mistaken for non-education reasons such as promoting the reputation of language centers or teachers (Hutchinson & Waters,

1987, p 106) Another advantage of teacher-made materials relates to teacher training Some of them can be listed as:

 arousing reflection of teaching and learning theories and beliefs,

 eliciting review of principles that regulate lesson design,

 developing an awareness of issues in materials design such as evaluating, adapting those unsatisfactory materials when needed,

 reinforcing teachers’ capability of fulfilling learners’ needs, promoting

professional development

(McGrath, 2013, p 106)

It seems that there is still doubt of teacher-generated materials with respect to their credibility due to teachers’ shortage of expertise Nonetheless, the role of such materials

in language teaching and learning is crucial as they are more contextualized, updated, and appealing to learners The gap in the expertise of textbook writers and teachers can

be bridged with teacher training on material design

2.2.1.3 A need for flexibility

The revolution of English language teaching has recently been marked by the shift away from the quest for the “best” teaching methods to the principled basis – approach (Brown, 2007) This trend emerged in the realization that every learning and teaching context is unique The case is much similar in terms of language learning materials in that it depends on the situations where they are appropriately chosen and used The debate about learning materials tends to be polarized between commercial textbooks or teacher-generated materials However, they both have merits and defects, so neither of extremes is preferable In other words, there are no one-size-fits-all materials, and no textbooks are perfect Therefore, a compromise should be achieved by flexible use of materials to make the most of them

Teachers at least once in their whole career definitely make some changes to the language teaching materials However, the issue is usually overlooked as an inherent part

of teaching professionals Whoever is pursuing the teaching profession should be familiar with the concept of lesson planning A lesson plan illustrates “what a teacher intends to do during a lesson” and varies in its forms from a detailed written note to ideas

in teachers’ heads (Richards & Lockhart, 1999, p 9, p 82) When preparing for lessons, teachers usually consider what learners need and lack and how available materials (usually coursebooks) can help them achieve the desired learning objectives Therefore, materials evaluation can be included in lesson planning One thing that teachers should bear in mind is that lesson plans are just proposals of teachers’ actions, so they are subject