Evaluation of the new textbook tieng anh 6 and suggestions on how to put it in effective use

I would also like to thank the English-language teachers in Kiến Thiết, Lê Lợi & Lê Quí Đôn middle schools in the third district of Ho Chi Minh City and the teachers in Nguyễn Gia Thiều

CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY

I certify my authorship of the thesis submitted today entitled:

EVALUATION OF THE NEW TEXTBOOK “TIẾNG ANH 6” AND SUGGESTIONS ON HOW TO PUT IT IN EFFECTIVE USE

in terms of the statement of Requirements for Theses in Master’s Programs issued by the Higher Degree Committee

Ho Chi Minh City September 16, 2002

TRẦN THỊ MỸ

RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS

I hereby state that I, TRẦN THỊ MỸ, being the candidate for the degree of Master of TESOL, accept the requirements of the University relating to the retention and use of Master’s Theses deposited in the Library

In terms of these conditions, I agree that the original of my thesis deposited in the Library should be accessible for purposes of study and research,

in accordance with the normal conditions established by the Library for the care, loan or reproduction of theses

Ho Chi Minh City September 16, 2002

TRẦN THỊ MỸ

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my thesis supervisor, Mr

Đỗ Huy Thịnh, Ph.D who has read, discussed and contributed valuable comments and suggestions to my thesis at various points in its development in an attempt to ensure that I make sense most of the time

I would also like to thank the English-language teachers in Kiến Thiết, Lê Lợi & Lê Quí Đôn middle schools in the third district of Ho Chi Minh City and the teachers in Nguyễn Gia Thiều school in Tân Bình District for their opinions

on the new English textbook “TIẾNG ANH 6”

Finally, I would like to express my gratitude to all the members in my family for their help and moral support while I was doing this thesis

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

1 MOET The Ministry of Education and Training

2 BAVE The Business Alliance for Vietnamese Education

ABSTRACT

The educational innovation has become great interest to Vietnamese people for a few recent years, especially since the beginning of this school year 2002-2003, when the new curriculae and the new textbooks for grade 1 and grade 6 are widely applied in the whole country A lot of people, particularly the ones who have children going to grade 1 and grade 6, worry if the new approaches are suitable for their children or not, if the new textbooks are worth using, etc Moreover, all the teachers in primary and middle schools pay a lot of attention to the new curriculae and the new textbooks because they are the ones who directly take charge of the demands of the new teaching approaches Teachers invest a lot of time to explore the books used in their class so as to master them and find out the best way to the teaching and learning In addition, a lot of articles written by educationists, a lot of interviews for the authorities and the textbooks’ authors carried out by reporters appeared in newspapers and magazines in order to discuss the new textbooks Along with the interest of the community, the purpose of this thesis is to evaluate the new textbook “TIENG ANH 6” to find out whether it can be adopted in the current learning and teaching situation, to explore the potential obstacles students and teachers encounter when using the new textbook and, finally, to present some suggestions

on how to put the new book in effective use

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY I RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS II ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS III LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS IV ABSTRACT V TABLE OF CONTENTS VI

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 B ACKGROUND 1

1.2 S TATEMENT OF P URPOSE 3

1.3 R ESEARCH Q UESTIONS 3

1.4 S IGNIFICANCE OF THE S TUDY 4

1.5 D EFINITIONS OF T ERMS 5

1.6 A SSUMPTIONS 6

1.7 L IMITATIONS 6

1.8 D ELIMITATIONS 7

1.9 M ETHODOLOGY 7

1.10 O RGANIZATION OF THE R EMAINDER OF THE S TUDY 9

CHAPTER 2 REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE 10

2.1 E VALUATION OF A T EXTBOOK 10

2.1.1 Why do we evaluate a material? 10

2.1.2 How do we evaluate a textbook? 11

2.2 P OTENTIAL O BSTACLES IN E NGLISH T EACHING AND L EARNING 12

2.2.1 Heavy dependence on textbooks 12

2.2.2 The non-motivation and psychology of the students 13

2.2.3 The physical conditions of teaching and learning 13

2.2.4 The teaching method 14

2.2.5 The teachers’ personality 14

2.3 C OMMUNICATIVE L ANGUAGE T EACHING 15

2.3.1 The development of Communicative Language Teaching 15

2.3.2 Communicative competence 17

2.3.3 Characteristics of Communicative Language Teaching 18

2.3.4 The role of textbooks 20

2.3.5 The roles of teachers and students 21

2.3.6 Why should students learn a language through the communicative approach? 23

2.3.7 Input and intake 24

2.3.8 Classroom testing 26

2.4 S UMMARY 27

CHAPTER 3 OVERVIEW OF ENGLISH TEACHING IN VIETNAM 29

CHAPTER 4 DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY 35

4.1 R ESEARCH S ETTING 35

4.2 R ESEARCH D ESIGN 36

4.2.1 Analysis and evaluation of the new textbook 36

4.2.2 The interviews 36

4.2.3 The questionnaires 38

4.3 S UMMARY 39

CHAPTER 5 FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS 40

5.1 T HE ANALYSIS AND EVALUATION OF THE NEW TEXTBOOK 41

5.1.1 The impressionistic overview of the new textbook 41

5.1.2 The in-depth analysis of Units 6, 7 and 8 44

5.2 D IFFERENCES BETWEEN THE OLD TEXTBOOK “ENGLISH 6” AND THE NEW ONE “TIẾNG ANH 6” 53

5.3 A DVANTAGES AND POTENTIAL OBSTACLES IN TEACHING AND LEARNING THE NEW TEXTBOOK 55

5.3.1 The teachers’ opinions 55

5.3.2 The students’ difficulties 61

5.3.3 The students’ parents’ complaint 63

5.3.4 The opinions of Ms Nguyễn Hạnh Dung, one of the authors of the book 63

5.3.5 The opinions of Mr Đặng Hữu Liêm – an English web-teacher in the third district – on the structure of the book, the distribution of time allotted and the lesson format 71

5.3.6 The interviews with Mr Huỳnh Cơng Minh, the Vice-Director of the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City (carried out by the weekly magazine Giáo Dục & Sáng Tạo numbers 120/2001 & 147/2002) about the application of the new textbooks .74

CHAPTER 6 SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 76

6.1 S UMMARY 76

6.1.1 Strong points 76

6.1.2 Weak points 77

6.2 C ONCLUSIONS 77

6.3 R ECOMMENDATIONS 78

6.3.1 Recommendations to the publisher and the editor 78

6.3.2 Implications for teaching 80

6.3.3 Suggestions to students and students’ parents 111

APPENDIX A: QUESTIONNAIRE FOR VIETNAMESE ENGLISH-LANGUAGE TEACHERS IN MIDDLE SCHOOLS 113

APPENDIX B: BANG CÂU HOI DANH CHO HOC SINH LOP 6 118

APPENDIX C: LESSON PLANNING SHEET FOR “TIENG ANH 6”- UNIT ONE, PERIOD 1 120

APPENDIX D: LESSON PLANNING SHEET FOR “TIENG ANH 6”- UNIT ONE, PERIOD 2 122

APPENDIX E: LESSON PLANNING SHEET FOR “TIENG ANH 6”- UNIT ONE, PERIOD 3 125

APPENDIX F: LESSON PLANNING SHEET FOR “TIENG ANH 6”- UNIT ONE, PERIOD 4 128

BIBLIOGRAPHY 131

Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background

From the 1940s up till 1975, in South Vietnam, French and English were taught as the main foreign languages Apart from English, during the decades of 1940s and 1950s, under the French influence, the English textbook “L’Anglais Vivant” was employed to teach middle school students Then in the 1960s, beneath the American influence, “Let’s Learn English”, and afterwards, “English for Today” were officially used in the South of Vietnam

After the national reunification in 1975, English textbooks – “English - Grades 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12”, written by Vietnamese authors – have been employed in the whole country up to the present time Nowadays, facing students’ new demands of learning English more communicatively, the Ministry

of Education and Training of Vietnam (MOET) has cooperated with the Business Alliance for Vietnamese Education (BAVE) to write new English textbooks for middle school students since 1995 Thus, in 1997, a new textbook, “English for Vietnam – Grade 6” began to be taught as a trial in thirty-four schools in seventeen cities and provinces in the whole country of Vietnam In Ho Chi Minh City, this book was piloted in two schools, one in Thủ Đức, HOA LƯ school, and the other in Tân Bình District, NGUYỄN GIA THIỀU school Thanks to the BAVE – MOET project, the new textbook “English for Vietnam – Grade 6” has

been piloted since 1997; therefore, the book “English for Vietnam – Grade 9” was taught for the first time during the school year 2000 – 2001

In the year 2000, “English for Vietnam – Grade 6” was revised according

to the opinions of language researchers as well as to the opinions contributed by teachers who had piloted the book Finally, the book “English for Vietnam – Grade 6” was divided into two: a textbook and a workbook, and renamed

“TIẾNG ANH 6” and “TIẾNG ANH 6 – SÁCH BÀI TẬP” In the school years

2000 – 2001 and 2001 – 2002, the new textbook “TIẾNG ANH 6” and the workbook “TIẾNG ANH 6 – SÁCH BÀI TẬP” (the first version-2000) were applied in 149 middle schools in eleven districts belonging to eleven cities and provinces (Hà Nội, Hải Phòng, Bắc Ninh, Vĩnh Phúc, Tuyên Quang, Hà Tĩnh, Quảng Ngãi, Kontum, Ho Chi Minh City, Bến Tre, and Bạc Liêu) in the whole country, according to the MOET Decision 2434 dated the eighth of July, 2001

In Ho Chi Minh City, the book was piloted in all middle schools in the third district After having the book piloted in two school years, the MOET and the authors revised the book once again, and then the second version of the book

“TIẾNG ANH 6” and “TIẾNG ANH 6 – SÁCH BÀI TẬP” has been applied in the whole country since the school year 2002 – 2003

These new textbooks are completely welcome at our school – NGUYỄN GIA THIỀU school Teachers, students and students’ parents show their great interest in them because of their beautiful forms, new teaching approaches, and carefully-designed listening and speaking activities

Along with the appreciation for the new textbook, we also see some issues

attitudes of students and their parents toward the new approaches of teaching and learning English, and, above all, the teacher’s ability to apply new methodology

in teaching a foreign language

1.2 Statement of Purpose

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the new textbook “TIẾNG ANH 6” (including the textbook, the workbook, the teacher’s book, the cassette, the CD-ROM, and ready-made pictures) in order to find out if it can be adopted in the current learning and teaching situation, to explore the potential obstacles that students and teachers encounter when using the new textbook “TIẾNG ANH 6” and finally, to present some suggestions to help them employ the book effectively

The objectives of this study are to investigate:

1 The evaluation of the new textbook “TIẾNG ANH 6” (the whole package)

2 The potential obstacles that students and teachers encounter when using the new textbook

3 The implications for teaching and learning the new textbook effectively

1.3 Research Questions

One question guides this study:

Is “TIẾNG ANH 6” suitable for use at middle schools?

Two subquestions are also addressed:

A What are the potential obstacles in teaching and learning the new textbook “TIẾNG ANH 6” ?

B How can teachers and students use the new textbook “TIẾNG ANH 6” effectively?

The study will include a discussion of whether the new textbook “TIẾNG ANH 6” might be suitable to our students, or, in other words, it could meet the students’ demands, and, above all, might be worth using Further, the discussion will explore if there is anything which should be changed or modified to make the textbook more suitable for the students

1.4 Significance of the Study

The application of the new textbook “TIẾNG ANH 6” in all Vietnamese middle schools from the school year 2002 – 2003 (according to the Resolution numbered 40/2000/QH10 dated the ninth of December, 2000, of the National Assembly on the innovation of middle school education) will certainly affect everyone in the whole community Almost each family has at least one child attending the middle school; therefore, a study on the new curriculum in order to find out some suggestions on how to put the new textbook “TIẾNG ANH 6” in effective use is really necessary In addition, the study might also help English-language teachers in middle schools have a useful insight into the new textbook

so that they could understand the nature of the material, master and employ the book effectively

1.5 Definitions of Terms

Ministry of Education and Training (MOET): the government body in

charge of education and training of all levels and forms in Vietnam, including foreign language education curriculum and implementation

The Business Alliance for Vietnamese Education (BAVE): the alliance of

the following corporations: Citibank, The Boeing Company, Chase, The Coca – Cola Company, Eli Lilly and Company, Federal Express, GE Fund, The Gillette Company, Harris, John Hancock, Microsoft, Mobil, Procter & Gamble, R.R Donnelley & Sons Company, UNOCAL, Cathay Pacific BAVE sponsors to write, print and implement the new textbooks “English for Vietnam – Grades 6,

7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12”

Old textbooks: “English – Grades 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12”; the current

textbooks which have been being used since 1977 up till now (2002)

New textbooks: “English for Vietnam – Grades 6, 7, 8, 9”; textbooks (the

original version) supported by MOET and BAVE, piloted in thirty-four middle schools in seventeen cities and provinces of Vietnam since 1997, then revised and piloted in 149 middle schools in eleven districts belonging to eleven cities and provinces of Vietnam In Ho Chi Minh City, the book (the first version-2000) was piloted in all middle schools in the third district After having the book piloted in two school years, the MOET and the authors revised the book once again, and then the second version (2002) of the book “TIẾNG ANH 6” and “TIẾNG ANH 6 – SÁCH BÀI TẬP” has been applied in the whole country since the school year 2002 – 2003

Middle school: a school between elementary school and high school,

usually having three or four grades, variously including grades 5 through 8 (according to UNESCO terminology, Webster’s New World College Dictionary – 1996, p.858) In this study, the term ‘middle schools’ signifies Vietnamese middle schools, including four grades (Grade 6 to Grade 9) after elementary schools (Grade 1 to Grade 5) English is taught three periods (45 minutes per period) a week in middle schools

1.6 Assumptions

The study was based on the following assumptions:

1 The sample population of middle schools in the third district and in Tân Bình District of Ho Chi Minh City was representative of the majority of middle school students in Vietnam

2 The methods and procedures of data collection and analysis were reliable and appropriate to obtain the information to answer the research question and the subquestions

1.7 Limitations

The study aims to investigate three issues of middle school textbooks: the evaluation of the new textbook “TIẾNG ANH 6”, the potential obstacles in teaching and learning English as well as in applying the new textbook “TIẾNG ANH 6”, and the way for teachers and students to use this book effectively

The investigation mainly covered a period of six years, from the school year 1997 – 1998 to the school year 2002 – 2003 The study particularly emphasized the way to use the book “TIẾNG ANH 6” effectively

The study confined itself to piloting the textbook by the researcher herself, and to interviewing and observing the teachers, the students, the students’ parents in NGUYỄN GIA THIỀU middle school and in some middle schools in the third district of Ho Chi Minh City

1.8 Delimitations

Due to the nature of this study, generalizations and recommendations would be limited to the teaching and learning English, Grade Six in Vietnamese middle school education However, the recommendations might be beneficial to other grades with the new textbooks “TIẾNG ANH 7 & 8” which have been being piloted in the third district from the school year 2001 up to now

1.9 Methodology

This is a descriptive and exploratory study consisting basically of qualitative methods such as interviews and observations In addition, questionnaires were employed to obtain additional information and clarify related data

Morse (1991) states, “Characteristics of a qualitative research problem are: (a) the concept is “immature” due to a conspicuous lack of theory and previous research; (b) a notion that the available theory may be inaccurate, inappropriate,

incorrect or biased; (c) a need exists to explore and describe the phenomena and

to develop theory; or (d) the nature of the phenomenon may not be suited to quantitative measures” [17, p.120] Thus, the description of the organization of the new textbook, the analysis of the potential obstacles of teachers, students, parents’ students, the suggestions on how to put the new textbook “TIẾNG ANH 6” in effective use require a qualitative design

Data on the innovation of middle school education were gathered through government documents and education magazines issued by the Ministry of Education and Training and the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City The interviews carried out by magazine reporters for the author

of the new textbook – Ms Nguyễn Hạnh Dung, and the Vice-Director of the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City – Mr Huỳnh Công Minh are used for reference in the thesis The opinions of an English web-teacher in the third district – Mr Đặng Hữu Liêm, on the structure of the book, the distribution of time allotted and the lesson format are included so as to help teachers have an insight view into the book

Three middle schools in the third district selected for observation and data collection were Lê Lợi, Lê Quí Đôn (public schools) and Kiến Thiết (a semi-public school) during the period from December 2001 to April 2002 Selected for the interviews were twenty Vietnamese English-language teachers in three middle schools (Lê Lợi, Lê Quí Đôn and Kiến Thiết) in the third district and in Nguyễn Gia Thiều school, Tân Bình District Included in the interviews were forty grade-six students in Lê Lợi school and three students’ parents selected from Nguyễn Gia Thiều school

The schools selected ensured a representation of public schools and public schools in Ho Chi Minh City The questionnaire was conducted with the other twenty teachers in these three schools that the researcher did not have the opportunity to interview The questionnaire for students was responded by 90 grade-six students in Nguyễn Gia Thiều school

semi-During the study, the researcher worked as an English-language teacher at Nguyễn Gia Thiều middle school The researcher’s participant observation position from 1997 to 2002 helped to collect experience and data for the study Moreover, the collaboration of English-language teachers in the third district of

Ho Chi Minh City through interviews and questionnaire was very helpful for the researcher to explore the issues

1.10 Organization of the Remainder of the Study

Chapter II presents a review of the literature and research relevant to this study – the evaluation of a textbook, the potential obstacles in teaching and learning English, and the communicative language teaching Chapter III provides

an overview of the English teaching in Vietnam Chapter IV describes the research design and methodology Chapter V analyzes and discusses the research findings: the analysis and the evaluation of the new textbook, the differences between the old textbook and the new one, and, finally, the advantages and the obstacles in teaching and learning the new textbook Chapter VI offers a summary and conclusions of the study with suggestions on how to put the new English textbook “TIẾNG ANH 6” in effective use

Chapter 2 REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE

This chapter reviews theoretical and empirical research relevant to the evaluation of an English textbook, the potential obstacles in teaching and learning English and the Communicative Language Teaching The review, thus, covers three main issues: an evaluation of an English textbook, the potential obstacles in the teaching and learning of English and the communicative approach to the learning and teaching of English at the present time

2.1 Evaluation of a Textbook

2.1.1 Why do we evaluate a material?

Cunningsworth (1995) notes some reasons such as “to adopt a new textbook, to identify particular strengths and weaknesses in a textbook already in use, so that optimum use can be made of their strong points, whilst their weaker areas can be strengthened through adaptation or by substituting material from other books” [4, p.14] Littlejohn (1998) also cites some responses after analyzing and evaluating materials: adopt, reject, adapt, supplement the materials In addition, Cunningsworth concludes that “textbook analysis and evaluation help teachers to gain good and useful insights into the nature of the material” [4, p.6] Littlejohn claims that “materials analysis and evaluation enable us to see ‘inside’ the materials and to take more control over their design and use” [13, p.205]

2.1.2 How do we evaluate a textbook?

Cunningsworth points out that “we can form a general impression of a textbook fairly quickly, just by looking through it and getting an overview of its possibilities and its strengths and weaknesses, noting significant features which stand out” [4, p.1] In fact, when a new book is in our hands, we generally have a look at the front cover to see how attractive it is, how many pictures there are in the book, if they are colored or black and white, what topics are introduced, how grammar points are sequenced, etc This impressionistic overview is helpful and enables us to have a general look at the material However, this impressionistic overview cannot give enough detail to evaluate the book if it is appropriate to the current teaching and learning situation Thus, we need an in-depth evaluation, that is the reason why Cunningsworth suggests “we need to examine how specific items are dealt with, particularly those which relate to students’ learning needs, syllabus requirements, how different aspects of language are dealt with, etc.” [4, p.1] Cunningsworth recommends a detailed analysis of one or two units

of a textbook to look at “the balance of activities and skills contained in a unit, the potential for learner participation, the amount of new language introduced, the amount of recycling, etc.” [4, p.1]

Littlejohn (1998) considers materials as “a pedagogic device, that is, as an aid to teaching and learning a foreign language” [13, p.192] According to Littlejohn, we can analyze materials by considering two essential points: publication and design Littlejohn defines publication as “the ‘tangible’ or physical aspects of the materials and how they appear as a complete set or book”; and design as “the thinking underlying the materials” [13, p.193]

Through the design, we can see the aims of the materials, the selection and sequence of tasks, language and content in the materials, the nature of the

teaching and learning activities To have an impression of the material, Littlejohn

has the same opinion as Cunningsworth when he suggests analyzing about 10%

to 15% of the material, and we should choose units around the middle of the

curriculum, that is, if a book has 20 units, we might analyze Units 9,10 and 11

An impressionistic overview of the material and an in-depth examination

of some units of the material will give us a good basis to evaluate the material Moreover, to make fair judgements, we can base on the opinions of the teachers and students who have employed the book In addition to this, we can analyze the language content – grammar, vocabulary, phonology, discourse, style and appropriateness – to evaluate the suitability of the material Besides, we need to check how the textbook deals with the four skills which are considered central to language learning According to Cunningsworth, we can get successful evaluation thanks to such a detailed analysis

2.2 Potential Obstacles in English Teaching and Learning

2.2.1 Heavy dependence on textbooks

In Vietnamese educational system, especially in middle schools, the textbook is officially nominated, and is taught carefully part by part, page by page, in the exact order of the items as they appear Cunningsworth (1998) points out that this approach may cause disadvantages as follows:

-a possible lack of variety in teaching procedures

-a reduced range of response to individual student needs and problems

-a possible lack of spontaneity

-a sharply reduced level of creativity in teaching technique and language use [4, p.10]

Cunningsworth claims that “Heavy dependence on textbooks is far from ideal as it reduces the importance of the individual contributions that good teachers make at all levels in the learning process It can stifle innovation and it severely limits flexibility” [4, p.2]

2.2.2 The non-motivation and psychology of the students

Another potential obstacle in English teaching and learning is that students learn English simply because it is on the school curriculum; actually, it is a compulsory subject, students must learn it despite their like or dislike Moreover, the time of concentration of sixth graders, aged eleven, is short; therefore, Harmer (1991) insists that “children need frequent changes of activities: they need activities which are exciting and stimulate their curiosity: they need to be involved in something active (they will usually not sit and listen!), and they need

to be appreciated by the teacher, an important figure for them” [7, p.7]

2.2.3 The physical conditions of teaching and learning

Harmer also notes that the physical conditions influence strongly on teaching and learning English In fact, if classrooms are not bright enough and classes are overcrowded, if the board is invisible, they may discourage students a lot Instructional aids such as textbooks, flashcards, charts, cassettes, tapes,

language labs, computers (CD-ROM) play an important role in teaching and learning English

2.2.4 The teaching method

Another obstacle of learning and teaching English is the teaching method Harmer (1991) points out that “if students find the teaching method boring, they will probably become de-motivated, whereas if they have confidence in the method, they will find it motivating Despite various attempts, there is unfortunately no research which clearly shows the success of one method over another What we do know, however, is that if the student loses confidence in the method, he or she will become de-motivated” [7, p.5]

2.2.5 The teachers’ personality

The teaching method depends mostly on the teacher According to Harmer, it does not matter if the student likes the teacher or not The important point is that, with the same teaching method, two teachers can get very different results What qualities does a teacher need in order to make students motivated?

In 1970, Denis Girard tried to answer this question He carried out a study

in which a thousand children, from twelve to seventeen, were asked to arrange a list of teacher ‘qualities’ as they liked (1 = most important, 9 = least important) The result is as follows:

1 He makes his course interesting

2 He teaches good pronunciation

3 He explains clearly

5 He shows the same interest in all his students

6 He makes all the students participate

7 He shows great patience

8 He insists on the spoken language

9 He makes his pupils work [7,p.6]

From the study of Denis Girard and his own study on the same subject in

1990, Harmer came to some generalizations that “In the first place, the teacher’s personality matters a lot (and yet this is the most difficult area to quantify or to train for) But beyond that, it is clear that teachers need to do everything possible

to create a good rapport with their students Lastly teachers clearly need to be able to show that they know their subject, they should be able to give clear instructions and examples and as far as possible have answers to the students’ questions” [7, p.6]

We have seen the factors that can affect on English teaching and learning :

a heavy dependence on textbooks, the student’s motivation, the physical conditions, the teaching method, and the teacher’s personality

2.3 Communicative Language Teaching

2.3.1 The development of Communicative Language Teaching

Up to the 1960s, language was considered as a system of rules, and language learners had to internalize and master these rules That is why Kelly (1969), Stern (1983), Howatt (1984) note, “for most of its history, language teaching has focused on written language” [21, p.5] However, during the 1970s,

linguists began to reappraise the language, and language has been seen as a system for expressing meanings A British linguist, D A Wilkins (1972), considers language as a means of communication that learners have to understand and be able to express The book “Notional Syllabuses” written by Wilkins in 1976 contributed a great deal to the development of Communicative Language Teaching In Dictionary of Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics (1992), Communicative Language Teaching is defined as follows:

An approach to foreign or second language teaching which emphasizes that the goal of language learning is communicative competence The communicative approach has been developed particularly by British applied linguists as a reaction away from grammar-based approaches such as the aural-oral approach (audiolingual method) Teaching materials used with a communicative approach often

a teach the language needed to express and understand different kinds of functions, such as requesting, describing, expressing likes and dislikes, etc

b are based on a notional syllabus or some other communicatively organized syllabus

c emphasize the processes of communication, such

as using language appropriately in different types of situations; using language to perform different kinds

of tasks, e.g to solve puzzles, to get information, etc.; using language for social interaction with other people [27, p.65]

According to Richards and Rodgers (1986), Communicative Language Teaching has been seen as an approach “that aims to (a) make communicative competence the goal of language teaching and (b) develop procedures for the teaching of the four language skills that acknowledge the interdependence of language and communication” [26, p.66]

2.3.2 Communicative competence

What does “communicative competence” signify? In his work “On Communicative Competence” (1972), Hymes coined the word “communicative competence” to mention what a speaker needs to know if he/she wants to be communicatively competent in a speech community; that is, in the words of Richards & Rodgers, “a person who acquires communicative competence acquires both knowledge and ability for language use” [26, p.70] Dictionary of Language Teaching & Applied Linguistics (1992) defines “communicative competence” as follows:

The ability not only to apply the grammatical rules of a language in order to form grammatically correct sentences but also to know when and where to use these sentences and to whom Communicative competence includes:

a.knowledge of the grammar and vocabulary of the language

b.knowledge of rules of speaking (e.g knowing how

to begin and end conversations, knowing what topics may

be talked about in different types of speech events, knowing which address forms should be used with

different persons one speaks to and in different situations

c.knowing how to use and respond to different types of speech acts, such as requests, apologies, thanks, and invitations

d.knowing how to use language appropriately [27, p.65]

2.3.3 Characteristics of Communicative Language Teaching

In addition, Finocchiaro and Brumfit (1983) raise the characteristics of Communicative Language Teaching in the following terms:

1.Meaning is paramount

2.Dialogs, if used, center around communicative functions and are not normally memorized

3.Contextualization is a basic premise

4.Language learning is learning to communicate

5.Effective communication is sought

6.Drilling may occur, but peripherally

7.Comprehensible pronunciation is sought

8.Any device which helps the learners is accepted – varying according to their age, interest, etc

9.Attempts to communicate may be encouraged from the very beginning

10.Judicious use of native language is accepted where feasible

11.Translation may be used where students need or benefit from it

12.Reading and writing can start from the first day, if desired

13.The target linguistic system will be learned best through the process of struggling to communicate

14.Communicative competence is the desired goal (i.e the ability to use the linguistic system effectively and appropriately)

15.Linguistic variation is a central concept in materials and methodology

16.Sequencing is determined by any consideration

of content, function, or meaning which maintains interest

17.Teachers help learners in any way that motivates them to work with the language

18.Language is created by the individual often through trial and error

19.Fluency and acceptable language is the primary goal: accuracy is judged not in the abstract but

in context

20.Students are expected to interact with other people, either in the flesh, through pair and group work, or in their writing

21.The teacher cannot know exactly what language the students will use

22.Intrinsic motivation will spring from an interest in what is being communicated by the language [6, p.91-93]

According to Richards and Rodgers (1986), Communicative Language Teaching has the following distinctive features:

1.Language is a system for the expression of meaning

2.The primary function of language is for interaction and communication

3.The structure of language reflects its functional and communicative uses

4.The primary units of language are not merely its grammatical and structural features, but categories of functional and communicative meaning as exemplified in discourse [26, p.71]

2.3.4 The role of textbooks

Textbooks play such an important role in the learning and teaching process In fact, Cunningsworth claims that “teaching materials can exert considerable influence over what teachers teach and how they do it” [4, p.5] Moreover, according to Richards and Rodgers, practitioners of Communicative Language Teaching consider materials as “a way of influencing the quality of classroom interaction and language use” [26, p.79] Thus, Richards and Rodgers propose the material role in Communicative Language Teaching may be described as follows:

1.Materials will focus on the communicative abilities of interpretation, expression, and negotiation

2.Materials will focus on understandable, relevant, and interesting exchanges of information, rather than on the presentation of grammatical form

3.Materials will involve different kinds of texts and different media, which the learners can use to develop their competence through a variety of different activities and tasks [26, p.25]

2.3.5 The roles of teachers and students

Besides the role of the material, it is necessary to mention the roles of the teacher and students in the class Lee and VanPatten (1995) point out that “in a traditional classroom, the role that instructors often assume is that of the authority, the expert, the central figure in the classroom who transmits knowledge to the students” [12, p.4] With such a role, the teacher easily makes students become passive: they only listen to the teacher and do not participate anything in the lesson except some answers to the teacher’s questions (if any), and even in this case, only some of the students work

Nowadays, the communicative language development has changed the roles of the teacher Lee and VanPatten (1995) suggest “the major roles that instructors are beginning to assume are those of resource person and architect” [12, p.12] When the teacher is a resource person and architect, that is, the teacher is responsible to design the interaction; the student has to work to seek for information and negotiate meaning Students cannot just sit and listen to the

teacher any more but have to communicate to express in the new language; therefore, students have new roles as information gatherers and negotiators Thus, Lee and VanPatten define communication as “the interpretation, expression, and negotiation of meaning, both in and out of the classroom” [12, p.14] In addition, Lee and VanPatten insist that “Students must be given opportunities to construct communicative interactions in the classroom as they would outside the classroom – to interpret, express, and negotiate meaning Furthermore, the materials that instructors use must permit the students’ new roles” [12, p.18]

Breen and Candlin (1980) describe the teacher’s role in communicative language teaching in the following terms:

The teacher has two main roles: the first role is

to facilitate the communication process between all participants in the classroom, and between these participants and the various activities and texts The second role is to act as an independent participant within the learning-teaching group The latter role is closely related to the objectives of the first role and arises from it These roles imply a set of secondary roles for the teacher; first, as an organizer of resources and as a resource himself, second as a guide within the classroom procedures and activities… A third role for the teacher is that of researcher and learner, with much to contribute in terms of appropriate knowledge and abilities, actual and observed experience of the nature of learning and

Moreover, Richards and Rodgers suggest other roles for teachers such as a needs analyst, a counselor and a group process manager

Breen and Candlin also mention the learner’s role in communicative language teaching in the following terms:

The role of learner as negotiator – between the

self, the learning process, and the object of learning

– emerges from and interacts with the role of joint negotiator within the group and within the classroom procedures and activities which the group undertakes

The implication for the learner is that he should contribute as much as he gains, and thereby learn in an

interdependent way [26, p.77]

To complete this role, students have to understand that language is not simply grammar and vocabulary but also the use of grammar and vocabulary to listen, speak, read and write to other people; in other words, the ability to communicate effectively is vital

2.3.6 Why should students learn a language through the

communicative approach?

Savignon’s study in 1972, the first empirical research on language acquisition, confirmed that “one learns to communicate by practicing communication” Lee and VanPatten (1995) claim that “communicative language ability – the ability to express one’s self and to understand others – develops as learners engage in communication and not as a result of habit formation with grammatical items (…) and there is reason to believe that communicative activities should be present from the earliest stages of classroom

language learning” [12, p.35] Hatch (1978) suggests that “during communication, learners ‘negotiate’ and even ‘regulate’ the kind of input they receive so that they obtain input suited to their individual needs” [12, p.34] Swain (1985) argues that “communicative production encourages learners to attend to input better since they themselves need to use language they are hearing around them” [12, p.34]

2.3.7 Input and intake

According to Lee and VanPatten, input has two essential characteristics: first, input must be “meaning bearing,” that is, students must be interested in the message given; second, it must be “comprehensible,” that is, students must be able to understand what is said to them Language students, particularly beginners, need a simplified input A distinction is made between “input” and

“intake” Lee and VanPatten consider “input” as “the language the learner is exposed to” and “intake” as “the language that the learner actually attends to and that gets processed in working memory in some way” [12, p.42] Therefore, not all input becomes intake The teacher can modify and simplify the input in order

to make students understand Sometimes students may get the teacher clarify or repeat what is said Thus, students negotiate comprehension and interact with the teacher

However, if the language is used, how can we make beginning learners comprehend? Lee and VanPatten suggest that the teacher could use

“nonlinguistic means,” that is, drawings, photos, diagrams, objects, gestures, and other visual aids; to “provide a mechanism for making the subject of conversation concrete rather than abstract” [12, p.44] In addition to

“nonlinguistic means,” the teacher can use familiar topics that students have already known in their real lives; moreover, the teacher may use the students themselves (their features, their belongings, etc.), the classroom (board, table, desk, etc) to teach vocabulary Another technique suggested to provide input is Total Physical Response (students carry out the actions commanded by the teacher); after introducing the input, the teacher can go on with “input-oriented activities” or s/he can check the student’s comprehension with “input-oriented quizzes” For example, after explaining the parts of the body, the teacher may have students circle the nose, color the right eye red, etc If the student understands the input well, s/he will complete the task exactly, thus, the teacher can combine instructional techniques to testing techniques Through the input, students can acquire vocabulary as well as grammar

According to Lee and VanPatten (1995), “there is a way to incorporate explicit grammar instruction into classes without sacrificing either communication or learner-centered activities We can actually increase the amount of comprehensible input in classroom materials and activities and still get learners to practice grammar” [12, p.94]

Various types of structured input activities are also mentioned: supplying information, binary options, matching, and selecting alternatives Once the structured input activities are carried out, students must use the form in their output since, as Lee and VanPatten point out, “input is not sufficient for developing the ability to use language in a communicative context” [12, p.117] According to Terrell (1986), two processes are required when we produce an utterance: “being able to express a particular meaning via a particular form or

structure, and being able to string forms and structures together in appropriate ways” [12, p.117] Briefly, input relates to the acquisition of forms and structures while output relates to accuracy and fluency; therefore, Lee and VanPatten state

“learners need not only input to build a developing system but also opportunities

to create output in order to work on fluency and accuracy” [12 p.118]

2.3.8 Classroom testing

How do teachers test grammar in communicative language teaching while the goal of communicative language teaching is to promote students to interpret, express and negotiate meaning? Obviously, we have to test grammar “in meaningful and communicative ways” (Lee and VanPatten, 1995) Krashen and Terrell (1983) have the same view on classroom testing as follows:

[Testing] can be done in a way that will have a positive effect on the student’s progress The key to effective testing is the realization that testing has a profound effect on what goes on in the classroom Teachers are motivated to teach and students are motivated to study material which will be covered on tests Quite simply, if we want students to acquire a second language, we should give tests that promote the use of acquisition [in and out of the classroom] In other words, our tests should motivate students to prepare for the tests by obtaining more comprehensible input and motivate teachers to supply it Using an approach in the classroom which emphasizes the ability

to exchange messages, and at the same time testing only

the ability to apply grammar rules correctly, is an invitation to disaster [10, p.165]

Carroll (1980) claims four criteria in foreign language testing: economy, relevance, acceptability and comparability Economy refers to the selection from the items covered in the material to infer something about the student’s knowledge or ability; in order to make a test economical, Lee and VanPatten suggest that “it merely sample the material covered” [12, p.134] Relevance refers to the concord between the curriculum goals and the tests For this criterion, Lee and VanPatten suggest that “it reflect not simply what is taught but, more importantly, how it is taught” [12, p.134] Acceptability refers to the students’ point of view: a test is acceptable when it evaluates their progress; for some students, acceptability means familiarity: students are familiar with the testing format through activities practiced in class Comparability refers to the institution’s point of view, in the words of Lee and VanPatten, “test scores for learners who are taught the same material by the same method should be similar; the same test should yield similar results if it is offered a year later; two different tests examining the same content should yield similar results” [12, p.135]

2.4 Summary

This chapter has discussed theoretical and empirical literature crucial to the understanding of the evaluation of an English textbook, the potential obstacles in teaching and learning English and the Communicative Language Teaching The first issue was to discuss the methods of evaluating a textbook and its purposes Second, the obstacles in teaching and learning English have been analyzed: the heavy dependence on textbooks, the student’s motivation, the

physical conditions, the teaching method, and the teacher’ s personality Finally, the chapter explores the new trend of teaching and learning English – the Communicative Language Teaching – with different aspects: the development, the communicative competence, the characteristics, the roles of textbooks, teachers and students, the rationale for teaching and learning a language through communicative approach, the acquisition of vocabulary and grammar through the input, and the classroom testing These are the essential problems in middle schools that English-language teachers should pay much attention to when applying the new English textbook

Chapter 3 OVERVIEW OF ENGLISH TEACHING

IN VIETNAM

In order to understand why the educational innovation is necessary, it is quite helpful to look further back to see the opinions of education researchers on the old English textbooks for middle schools

In their article “Về Nội Dung và Phương Pháp Dạy Học ở Trung Học Cơ

Sở Hiện Hành” written for The Education Magazine, Number 1, April, 2001, Nguyễn Minh Phương and Nguyễn Hữu Chí point out that the teaching contents

in middle schools were constructed twenty-five years ago and the curricula and textbooks were carried out fifteen years ago In Phương and Chí ‘s views, this is

a product from a process of research on theoretical achievement and experience

on constructing the teaching contents from many countries all over the world – especially former socialist countries, and, above all, from the practical teaching

in our country The good points of these curricula and textbooks are as follows:

a.based on advanced theories in the decade of 1970s, do not copy exactly the curricula and textbooks

of some socialist countries

b.provided a close and thorough guidance by the principles of modernity, sound base, Vietnamese characteristics; the contents of the teaching subjects not only manifest the system, the accuracy, the logic

of the appropriate sciences but also attach to the reality of Vietnam [50, p.21-22]

According to these two educationists, the old curricula and textbooks fully responded to the educational objectives at that time, contributed to the unification of the educational system of middle schools after the national reunification in Vietnam, participated in the stabilization and gave a higher quality to the education in middle schools

However, the contents of the old curricula and textbooks, in Phương and Chí ‘s views, have revealed some limitations as follows:

a.The curricula and textbooks involve plenty of things, tend too much to theory, all subjects have difficult parts over the understanding level of students

b.The teaching contents are tightly prescribed in smallest details

c.The teaching contents tend to provide theory, do not link to the practice; especially for the teaching

of foreign languages, the linguistic knowledge tends to the theory, there is not enough time to practice and develop communicative activities; consequently, the teacher teaches ‘about’ the language but not the language itself

d.Some contents have become backward compared with the development of sciences, life and society Apart from foreign languages, some patterns are too formal or incorrect (English and French of Vietnamese people)

e.The exercises are limited in testing theories, they do not test the practical skills, the application

in real life [50, p.21-22]

During the 1975 – 2002 period, the teaching methodology is mainly lectures and explanation The essential activities include the teacher’s explanation, the student’s listening and copying; the teacher asks questions and some of the students answer while most of them do not have occasions to give their opinions in class There are neither groupwork nor pairwork

An investigation in the framework of the English-language teacher training project notes the traditional approach – teacher-centered approach and highly controlled activities –in the English teaching in middle schools This project warns that, if the Vietnamese educational system wants to train students

to have language competence, the English lessons must engage further in the learner-centered approach (Trần Văn Phước, The Education Research Magazine, Number 2, 2001) [49, p.28-29] This project also claims that the textbooks for middle schools are not suitable because of out-of-date uses of English, inappropriate topics for Vietnamese students; unclear grammatical curriculum,

no attention to the common use of English and the student needs, a burden of grammar and vocabulary; moreover, the four skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing) are not taught Thus, this curriculum is based on behaviorism: the student’s activities are to repeat the dialogue and to drill the patterns at a low level The analysis of the English-language teacher training project partly leads

to the writing of the new textbooks for middle schools as well as for high schools from 1995 thanks to the sponsor of BAVE project [49, p.28-29]

In addition, due to the foreign language policy in Vietnam, English was not considered as important as Russian in the decades of 1970s and 1980s “In the last two or three decades, English was not the main foreign language in secondary schools, and it was only taught in some classes of the schools in towns

or in large urban areas” (Nguyễn Nhật Quang, 1993, p.1), “as an experiment subject since 1970s” (MOET, 1994 c) [54, p.35]

Nowadays, the situation has changed At the Sixth National Congress of the Vietnamese Communist Party, Vietnam decided to establish relations with any country and to adopt a market-oriented economy Therefore, as Nguyễn Huy Thịnh (1996) notes, “an increasing influx of foreign investments, most of which came from capitalist societies such as Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia, Malaysia and others from the European Union, required English as the means of communication.(…) Foreign language education has become a national policy,

of which English is determined to be the most important foreign language It is

an urgent task to introduce foreign languages as compulsory subjects in primary and high schools, improve the quality of foreign language teaching and learning, and both train and retrain foreign language teachers” [54, p.62] As a result of this, in late 1993, the MOET conducted a survey of foreign language needs This work has led to the report “A National Strategy for Foreign Language Teaching and Learning Throughout All Levels of Education” (MOET, 1994c)

All of the above factors – the out-of-date curricula, the new foreign language policy, the new demands of students in the whole community – have led to the educational innovation in Vietnamese schools, including the changes

of textbooks and teaching and learning approaches

The Ministry of Education and Training of Vietnam (MOET) has cooperated with the Business Alliance for Vietnamese Education (BAVE) to write new English textbooks for middle school students since 1995 Thus, in

1997, a new textbook, “English for Vietnam – Grade 6”, began to be taught as a trial in thirty-four schools in seventeen cities and provinces in the whole country

of Vietnam In Ho Chi Minh City, this book was piloted in two schools, one in Thủ Đức, Hoa Lư school, and the other in Tân Bình District, Nguyễn Gia Thiều school Thanks to the BAVE – MOET project, the new textbook “English for Vietnam – Grade 6” has been piloted since 1997; therefore, the book “English for Vietnam – Grade 9” was taught for the first time during the school year 2000 – 2001

In the year 2000, “English for Vietnam – Grade 6” was revised according

to the opinions of language researchers as well as to the opinions contributed by teachers who had piloted the book Finally, the book “English for Vietnam – Grade 6” was divided into two: a textbook and a workbook, and renamed

“TIẾNG ANH 6” and “TIẾNG ANH 6 – SÁCH BÀI TẬP” In the school years

2000 – 2001 and 2001 – 2002, the new textbook “TIẾNG ANH 6” and the workbook “TIẾNG ANH 6 – SÁCH BÀI TẬP” (the first version-2000) were applied in 149 middle schools in eleven districts belonging to eleven cities and provinces (Hà nội, Hải Phòng, Bắc Ninh, Vĩnh Phúc, Tuyên Quang, Hà Tĩnh, Quảng Ngãi, Kontum, Ho Chi Minh City, Bến Tre, and Bạc Liêu) in the whole country, according to the MOET Decision 2434 dated the eighth of July, 2001

In Ho Chi Minh City, the book was piloted in all middle schools in the third district After having the book piloted in two school years, the MOET and the authors revised the book once again, and then the second version (2002) of the