Evaluation on the reading textbook level a used at the foreign language center of cantho in service university

recommendations on the physical aspects as well as on the four categories in the content of this textbook were provided so that it could be revised or adapted hopefully to become a bette

EVALUATION

ON THE READING TEXTBOOK LEVEL-A USED AT THE FOREIGN LANGUAGE CENTER

OF CANTHO IN-SERVICE UNIVERSITY

SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR

THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF TESOL

Submitted by: LƯU THU THỦY Supervisor: LÊ THỊ THANH THU, Ed.D

Hochiminh City, June 2008

ON THE READING TEXTBOOK LEVEL-A USED AT THE FOREIGN LANGUAGE CENTER OF CANTHO IN-SERVICE UNIVERSITY in terms of the statement of Requirements of Theses in Master’s Program issued by the Higher Degree Committee

Hochiminh City, June 9, 2008

LƯU THU THỦY

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 and reproduction of theses

Hochiminh City, June 9, 2008

LƯU THU THỦY

criticism without which this thesis could not have been completed

My gratitude is also due to the organizers of this master course, Dr Trương Thị Kim Chuyên, Head of the Department of Post Graduate Studies, Dr Nguyễn Thị Kiều Thu, Head of the Department of English Linguistics and Literature,

Hochiminh City University of Social Sciences and Humanities and their staff members

I am indebted to the Boards of managers of Cantho In-service University who supported and offered me good conditions to do this thesis and all my colleagues, especially the members of the Department of English at Cantho In-service University for their help, useful information and generous encouragement

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank my friends and students who have heartily helped me to accomplish this research

Hochiminh City, June 9, 2008

LƯU THU THỦY

2 CTIU : Cantho In-service University

3 CTU : Cantho University

4 FCL : Foreign Language Center

5 MOET : Ministry of Education and Training

textbook can not only contribute to students’ motivation which is one of the most important factors to promote effective learning but also help teachers with ready-made materials and suggested teaching methodologies After the textbooks for English Level-A at the CTFLC were compiled again and have been applied since

2004, the Level-A test results showed that there has been a great improvement in the quality of teaching and learning at CTFLC However, it was believed that these textbooks also needed improvement; therefore, this thesis was carried out to evaluate the suitability of the Reading textbook Level-A currently used at CTFLC

Basing the official correspondence from MOET which presented some

regulations of an elementary reading textbook, the author examined this textbook to see whether there were any mismatches between MOET’s requirements and the content of the Reading textbook Level-A at CTFLC Then with the linguists’ theories, the textbook physical aspects such as its general impressions, topic selections, and usage of visual aids together with the four categories made up textbook content: the topics, the text types, the exercises and activities accompanying the reading texts, and the presentation of vocabulary were analyzed and generally evaluated In addition, the author also made an in-depth evaluation on two lessons in this textbook to find out more convincible evidences for the research Finally, all the findings were related to the contexts at CTFLC to help come to the conclusions whether this textbook was suitable or needed any improvements to suit the teaching and learning situation there

recommendations on the physical aspects as well as on the four categories in the content of this textbook were provided so that it could be revised or adapted hopefully to become a better material for teaching reading skill Level-A at CTFLC

in the future

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page No

Certificate of originality i

Retention and use of the thesis ii

Acknowledgements iii

Lists of abbreviations iv

Abstract v

Table of contents vii

Tables of illustration xii

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Problem identification 1

1.2 Coursebook and textbook 3

1.3 Statement of purpose 4

1.4 Research question 4

1.5 Delimitation 4

1.6 Overview on the teaching and learning situation at CTFLC 4

1.6.1 The learners’ background 5

1.6.2 The teaching staff 6

1.6.3 The teaching and learning facilities 6

1.6.4 The general requirements of the Reading textbook Level-A 6

1.6.5 The compilation of the Reading textbook Level-A at CTFLC 8

1.7 Significance of the study 9

1.8 Organization of the study 9

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 11

2.1 Definition of materials 11

2.2 The role of materials in language teaching 11

2.3 Characteristics of good materials 12

2.4 Material evaluation 15

2.4.1 Purposes of material evaluation 15

2.4.2 Kinds of material evaluation 16

2.4.2.1 Evaluating for potentiality 17

2.4.2.2 Evaluating for suitability 18

2.4.3 How to evaluate the suitability of a textbook 18

2.4.3.1 What aspects of materials should we examine? 19

2.4.3.2 How can we examine the materials? 20

2.4.3.2.1 Level 1 20

2.4.3.2.2 Level 2 21

2.4.3.2.3 Level 3 22

2.4.3.3 How can we relate the findings to our own teaching contexts? 23

2.4.4 Categories for evaluating the suitability of a reading textbook 24

2.4.4.1 The topics in the textbook 25

2.4.4.2 The text types 26

2.4.4.3 The exercises and activities accompanying the reading texts 28

2.4.4.4 The presentation of vocabulary 29

2.5 Adaptation and supplementation of materials 30

2.5.1 Material adaptation 31

2.5.2 Material supplementation 32

2.6 Summary 33

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 36

3.1 Research question 36

3.2 Research methodology 36

3.2.1 Step 1 37

3.2.2 Step 2 38

CHAPTER 4: DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS 40

4.1 Step 1 40

4.1.1 The general objectives of a reading textbook Level-A 40

4.1.2 The textbook selection 41

4.1.3 Topics 42

4.1.4 Notions 43

4.1.5 Vocabulary presentation 45

4.1.6 Conclusion 46

4.2 Step 2 47

4.2.1 General evaluation 47

4.2.1.1 The physical aspects 47

4.2.1.1.1 Part 1 49

4.2.1.1.2 Part 2 50

4.2.1.2 The content 52

4.2.1.2.1 The topics 52

4.2.1.2.2 The text types 53

4.2.1.2.3 The exercises and activities accompanying the reading texts 56

4.2.1.2.3.1 Pre-reading activities 61

4.2.1.2.3.2 While-reading activities 62

4.2.1.2.3.3 Post-reading activities 63

4.2.1.2.4 The presentation of vocabulary 64

4.2.1.2.4.1 Part 1 65

4.2.1.2.4.2 Part 2 66

4.2.1.2.5 Conclusion 67

4.2.2 An in-depth analysis on two lessons in the Reading textbook Level - A 69

4.2.2.1 Analysis of Unit 8 in Part 1 69

4.2.2.1.1 The physical aspects 69

4.2.2.1.2 The content 70

4.2.2.1.2.1 The topic 70

4.2.2.1.2.2 The text type 70

4.2.2.1.2.3 The exercises and activities accompanying the reading text 70

4.2.2.1.2.3.1 Pre-reading activities 71

4.2.2.1.2.3.2 While-reading activities… 71

4.2.2.1.2.3.3 Post-reading activities 73

4.2.2.1.2.4 The presentation of vocabulary 74

4.2.2.1.2.5 Conclusion 76

4.2.2.2 Analysis of Reading 1 in Part 2 78

4.2.2.2.1 The physical aspects 78

4.2.2.2.2 The content 78

4.2.2.2.2.1 The topic 78

4.2.2.2.2.2 The text type 78

4.2.2.2.2.3 The exercises and activities accompanying the reading text 79

4.2.2.2.2.3.1 Pre-reading activities 79

4.2.2.2.2.3.2 While-reading activities… 80

4.2.2.2.2.3.3 Post-reading activities 80

4.2.2.2.2.4 The presentation of vocabulary 82

4.2.2.2.2.5 Conclusion 82

4.3 Matching the findings of the research to the teaching and learning situation of reading skill Level-A at CTFLC 84

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 86

5.1 Conclusions 86

5.1.1 Strengths of the Reading textbook Level-A at CTFLC 86

5.1.2 Weaknesses of the Reading textbook Level-A at CTFLC 88

5.2 Recommendations of some improvements to the Reading textbook 90 5.2.1 The physical aspect improvement 90

5.2.1.1 Part 1 90

5.2.1.2 Part 2 91

5.2.2 The content improvement 93

5.2.2.1 The topics 93

5.2.2.2 The notions 93

5.2.2.3 The text types 94

5.2.2.4 The exercises and activities accompanying the reading texts 95

5.2.2.4.1 Pre-reading activities 95

5.2.2.4.2 While-reading activities 96

5.2.2.4.3 Post-reading activities 97

5.2.2.4.4 The presentation of vocabulary 98

5.3 Implication for further research 99

REFERENCES 101

APPENDICES Appendix 1 103

Appendix 2 107

TABLES OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Page No Table 4.1: The topics in the Reading textbook Level-A 42

Table 4.2: The notions in Part 1 43

Table 4.3: The notions in Part 2 44

Table 4.4: The text types in Part 1 54

Table 4.5: The text types in Part 2 55

Table 4.6: Activities and exercises of Part 1 57

Table 4.7: Activities and exercises of Part 2 59

Table 5.1: Pictures to supply in Part 2 91

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Problem identification

Located by the Hau River, Cantho city is considered the center of economics, politics, culture and society of the Mekong Delta (Nguyen, 2002) It can be said that Cantho has undergone dramatic changes in recent years Especially foreign investment activities have created tremendous business activities that require greater use of English Consequently, English has been not only widely used in foreign invested entities but also in local companies In such situation, students have become aware that English is a vital tool for any person who wishes to get involved

in business activities, especially with international enterprises

Furthermore, the English they acquire should be related to their daily work This awareness can be illustrated by the increasing number of enrollments in general English classes, English speaking courses as well as business English classes taken by most learners The number of learners in the three largest Foreign Language Centers (FLCs); FLC of Cantho University, FCL of Cantho In-service University and that of American Training Center (Cantho branch) has been reported

to increase continuously in recent years For example, at the Foreign Language Center of Cantho In-service University (CTFLC), there were fewer than 1,000 learners annually before 2004; however, this number was 3,115 in 2005, 4,401 in

2006 and 5,921 in 2007 (source from CTFLC) There is no doubt that the increasing number of learners taking part in English courses might take root from the expectation of more practical and relevant courses which can prepare them better for their future work

Seeing that the need of learning English is abundant, more and more FLCs

have been established in Cantho city to meet this requirement in the best possible

way With the permission of the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET), CTFLC was established in 1995 Since then, it has trained and granted thousands of certificates at three Levels A, B, and C every year Each level corresponds to learners’ knowledge: Level-A for beginners, Level-B for intermediates and Level-C for advanced learners It takes every six months to complete a course for each level

At the end of the courses, examinations are given and if passing, learners are granted the certificates These certificates issued by MOET are accepted throughout Vietnam

In recent years, CTFLC has at least 3,000 learners of three levels every year and this number is increasing rapidly especially after the textbooks for Level-A and Level-C were compiled again four years ago These changes immediately had positive effects on learners because of its interesting contents and clear aims of

teaching and learning that have motivated learners a lot as Cunningsworth

(1995:17) says, “textbook can promote learning by contributing to student motivation Motivation is one of the most powerful forces for good and effective learning and can often be more important than other factors, including teaching

method.” This view point may be strongly approved in current teaching and

learning context in which a lot of innovations in educational managements and

progresses in teaching methodology have been paid more attention

Besides, many adjustments on materials, especially coursebooks and textbooks have been carried out to achieve good results in the new situation Together with many workshops on teaching methodologies and teaching materials regularly organized at the Department of English Language at Cantho In-service University (CTIU) recently, most new English textbooks were substituted for the

outdated ones For example, Facts and Figures (Ackert & Navarro, 1984), Concepts

and Comments (Ackert, 1985) and Causes and Effects (Ackert, 1994) were replaced

by Rewards (Greenall, 1997) in the program for non-majors of English in 2005

These new textbooks were more communicative and updated a lot of information,

so both teachers and learners seemed more interested in the new materials

Similarly, after the whole textbooks of English Level-A were compiled again

in 2004, the teaching and learning quality has obviously been improved In fact, learners in these classes have increased gradually, and more important, the exam results showed a very positive signal that the average rate of successful candidates has been much higher than before However, along with the appreciation for these textbooks, the researcher has also seen some issues emerging after four years of applying the Reading textbook Level-A In fact, some illogical points in this textbook need adapting to suit the current teaching and learning situation at CTFLC

1.2 Coursebook and textbook

In language teaching, a coursebook is clearly defined as “a textbook which provides the core materials for a course (…) Such a book usually includes work on grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, functions and the skills of reading, writing, listening and speaking” (Tomlinson, 1998: ix) Meanwhile, a book which is used for teaching and learning a specific skill is called a textbook Richards (2001: 254) gives a good example for illustration his statement that “a reading textbook might

be the basis for a course on reading skills, providing both a set of reading texts and exercises for skills practice A writing textbook might provide model composition and a list of topics for students to write about.”

From the above definitions, it seems that there is a clear-cut distinction between the two terms However, some American native speakers asserted that these two words mean the same, but the word textbook is used more commonly in the United States In reality, the two terms “textbook” and “coursebook” are used interchangeably by designers who adopt the use in American sense For that reason,

the researcher would like to use both the words “textbook” and “coursebook” in this research to refer the materials used to teach reading skill at CTFLC

1.3 Statement of purpose

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the reading textbook Level-A in order to find out its strengths and weaknesses so that the strengths will be inherited, and possibilities to overcome the weak points will be considered and suggested to reach the final goal-adapting the textbook to make it a really suitable material for teaching and learning Level-A reading skill at CTFLC

1.4 Research question

This research is carried out to answer the question:

• Does the Reading textbook Level-A need any improvements to suit the

teaching and learning situation at CTFLC?

1.5 Delimitation

Due to the nature of this study, generalizations and recommendations would

be limited to the teaching and learning of reading skill Level-A at CTFLC

1.6 Overview on the teaching and learning situation at CTFLC

To get an overview on the teaching and learning situation at CTFLC, it is necessary to know the learners’ background, the teaching staff, and the teaching and learning facilities at CTFLC Besides, this part also mentions to the general objectives and the compilation of the Reading textbook Level-A at CTFLC

1.6.1 The learners’ background

Learners at CTFLC are various from their professions, ages, proficiency and motivation in learning English Most of them are university students who think that getting the English certificate is an obligation to have enough qualification for a good job In addition, there are a small number of adult learners who really need English for their present work Moreover, a few high school students attend classes

because of their interest in English, and really want to enlarge their knowledge

Apart from the differences in profession and motivation, learners are also different in age Usually they are from twenty to twenty-five, but others are much younger or older Therefore, it is common to find children and middle-aged people studying together This factor partly influences negatively on the atmosphere and

the quality of learning because the adults often feel uncomfortable when learning with children

Another factor makes the gap among learners clearer is their proficiency in English Since there are no placement tests given at the beginning of the courses, learners can freely register into classes they want (except Level-C learners who are

required to have already obtained Level-B) At CTFLC, Level-A is considered the

lowest; therefore, anyone who chooses this course usually has very little knowledge

of English, and some even just begin studying

In brief, from the factors mentioned above, there is not the homogeneity among learners to begin studying English at CTFLC Therefore, both teachers and learners must have a great effort in their work to achieve good results as expected

1.6.2 The teaching staff

The teaching staff of English language at CTFLC consists of 11 members who obtained B.A in English at Cantho University (CTU) Most of them are attending postgraduate courses in English teaching now and have had from seven to fifteen year experience in teaching English Beside these permanent teachers, there are also visiting teachers from other FLCs or universities because there are so many classes that the teaching staff at CTFLC cannot afford the whole work However, the researcher recognizes that the permanent teachers often teach better, and they are also more responsible in their work than the visiting teachers

1.6.3 The teaching and learning facilities

Situated in the center of Cantho city and being one of the oldest and the most crowded FLCs, the teaching facilities at CTFLC; however, are not well-equipped in comparison with the other centers In every classroom, there is a blackboard, chalk with so many tables and chairs It is common to find from 50 to 100 learners in a class and so very inconvenient for the teacher and students to work effectively together, especially in speaking class There is no multimedia to support teaching except cassette players used for listening lessons In reality, some projectors and white boards are provided, but teachers are not acquainted to using it Generally speaking, the class size is the biggest problem at CTFLC Though some suggestions

on diminishing the number of learners in each class were given, there was no positive feedback from the Board of management of CTFLC, and this of course has partly influenced negatively on the teaching and learning quality here

1.6.4 The general requirements of the Reading textbook Level-A

According to the regulations of MOET (as cited in the official

correspondence number 407/TC-BT dated 12/01/1994), the objectives of language teaching for reading skill at Level-A are to help learners achieve the ability to

understand some posts and signs, short simple texts Besides, it is specifically

regulated that the textbook of reading skill Level-A should contain the following aspects

First, ten topics must be covered in the textbook are people’s general

descriptions, family relationships, seasons, weathers, travel, careers, health and illness, sports, amusements, and food and drink Second, the notions required to be involved in the textbook are people’s names, age, marital status, national origin, addresses, physical appearance, phone numbers, parts of the body, physical and emotional status, clothes, people’s parts, childhood, growing up, families, relative relations, numbers and letters, history, resemblance, quality, happiness, poverty, seasons, time, the weather, names of months, days of the week, similarities and differences, numbers (ordinal and cardinal), people’s careers, interest and habits, leisure, personalities, physical characteristics and quality degree, qualification, danger, means of transport, places, holidays, going out, pastime, future intentions, sports, amusements, machines, things in common, colors, weights and measures, prices, sizes, preferences Third, vocabulary should consist of the elements such as prefixes and suffixes, compound words, hyponyms, synonyms, antonyms, idioms, and abbreviations

Although the objectives, topics and notions are clearly stated, there are no points exactly mentioning to what kinds of textbooks to be used as the teaching material In fact, some kinds of reference books like Streamline English (Departure), BBC Beginners’ English (Stage One), New Cambridge English Course

1 are recommended, but there is no information relating to the authors and the time

of publication It is simply said that FLCs have the right to choose suitable materials according to their teaching and learning situations This means that teachers in

charge should have ability to select materials or design appropriate contents for the reading textbook themselves

1.6.5 The compilation of the Reading textbook Level-A at CTFLC

The Reading textbook Level-A at CTFLC was compiled by two teachers of Department of English Language at CTIU in 2004 to update the teaching material which had been used over 10 years at CTFLC It has been used as the Reading

textbook at CTFLC and is the material to be studied Its objectives are to help

learners obtain the ability to understand short simple texts like the regulations of MOET mentioned in 1.6.4 In this textbook, there are 16 lessons consisting of the following topics: Getting Started, Descriptions, People, Work and Play, Places, Entertainment, Health, Food and Drink, a Walk to the North Pole, Fire, Dolphins, Money, Meals in Britain, Coffee, How to Treat a Cold, and Cycling They are

taught in 60 periods during five months in total 400 periods (each lasts 45 minutes)

as regulated for Level-A In reality, there is also one month for doing revision before examination, but learners just deal with the sample tests

Being divided into two parts corresponding to the two stages of learning, elementary with eight Units teaching in 36 periods and post-elementary with eight Readings in only 24, the materials were mainly collected from the textbooks like Facts and Figures (Ackert & Navarro, 1984), Elementary Headway (Soars & Liz, 1987), Elementary Lifelines (Hutchinson, 1999 a), Elementary Interchange (Richards et al, 1992) and the book “Bài Tập Đọc Hiểu Trình Độ A, B, C” (Le, 1999) Then it was evaluated by a group of teachers of English at CTU and permitted to be used for teaching reading skill Level-A at CTFLC since the July of

pre-2004

1.7 Significance of the study

The application of the Reading textbook Level-A at CTFLC from July of

2004 up to now has certainly affected both learners Level-A (with the number of more than 1,000 learners every year) and teachers to some extent A study on the materials evaluation in order to find out the strengths and weaknesses of this textbook is therefore very important From the results obtained, if necessary, some improvements on the materials and teaching methodology will be suggested in order that this textbook will be more suitable to the teaching and learning situation at CTFLC Hopefully, the study might also help English-language teachers at the center have a useful insight into the textbook so that they could master the material, use and adapt the book more effectively

1.8 Organization of the study

The thesis is organized into five chapters inclusive of introducing and concluding sections Chapter 1 provides the rationale and the background of the study which comprises the thesis objectives, the overview on the teaching and learning situations at the CTFLC, the general objectives of the Reading textbook Level-A stipulated by MOET, and the compilation of the Reading textbook Level-A

at CTFLC

Chapter 2 is concerned with the literature review which consists of discussion about various view points on materials, the role of materials in language teaching, characteristics of good materials, kinds of materials evaluation, some categories for evaluating the suitability of a reading textbook, how to evaluate, and how to adapt or supplement teaching materials in case of necessary

Chapter 3 deals with the design and methodology in which the qualitative

study is employed with the research setting at CTFLC The evaluating process will

be done by comparing what is recommended by MOET and the theories suggested

by the linguists with what has been compiled in the Reading textbook Level-A currently used at CTFLC

Chapter 4 focuses on the evaluating process with two steps of analysis Step

1 compares the general objectives of a reading textbook regulated by MOET and what is presented in the Reading textbook Level-A at CTFLC Step 2 describes the general analysis of the physical aspects and the content of the whole textbook to find out its strengths and weaknesses in the view of literature advice, and then an in-depth evaluation will be made with the two representative units in the textbook in order to get more convincible evidences for the results in the general analysis All the findings will finally be related to the current teaching and learning situation at CTFLC from which conclusions of the suitability of the Reading textbook Level-A will be given

Chapter 5 offers conclusions about the strong points and weaknesses of the Reading textbook Level-A Then recommendations on how to adapt or supplement this material to make it more suitable to the teaching and learning situation at CTFLC will be clearly stated

CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW

This part opens with definition of materials, roles of materials in language teaching, characteristics of good materials, and kinds of materials evaluation Then specific ways to evaluate the suitability of a textbook will be mentioned Finally, this chapter ends up with categories to analyze the content of a reading textbook

In language teaching, Tomlinson (1998: xi) defines materials as “anything which is used to help to teach language learners.” For example, a textbook, a workbook, a cassette, a CD-Rom, a video, a photocopied handout, a newspaper can

be used as material Therefore, this definition implies a broad meaning of teaching materials consisting of anything that is used by teachers or learners to facilitate the learning of a language The Reading textbook Level A at CTFLC can be then considered as the material facilitating the teaching and learning process of reading

skill in English classes Level-A at CTFLC

2.2 The role of materials in language teaching

Since long the role of teachers has often been emphasized as the key factor which principally decides the result of the teaching and learning process Lee and Vanpatten (1995: 5) 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.” However with new viewpoints

on education nowadays the role of teaching materials is admitted more and more important

According to Richards (2001: 251), teaching materials are considered as “a key component in most language program.” Littlejohn (1998: 192) believes that materials are a “pedagogic device, that is, as an aid to teaching and learning a foreign language.” They are considered very important because they provide teachers with the basis for the content of the lessons Especially, both of the linguists agree that in the case of inexperienced teachers, materials provide ideas on how to plan and teach lessons as well as formats that teacher can use To learners, materials may provide the chances to contact with the major source of language apart from the teacher Another specialist, Nunan (1988), emphasizes the importance of good materials in language teaching is that that they provide models for teachers to follow in developing their own materials

Generally, the role of materials in language teaching can be summarized as a resource for presentation materials, a source of activities for learner practice and communicative interaction, a syllabus (where they reflect learning objectives that have already been determined), a support for less experienced teachers, and a reference source for learners (Cunningsworth, 1995) Therefore, it is clear that the role of materials is so important, for they can not only provide learners with good lessons but also give teachers a lot of ideas for teaching, help them in their lesson plans, and guide them to many activities in class

2.3 Characteristics of good materials

Seeing that the role of materials in teaching and learning is so important, the question that emerges here is what should be contained in good materials Rowntree (1997: 92) proposes that good materials should

• arouse the learners’ interest

• remind them of earlier learning

• explain new learning content to them

• relate these ideas to learners’ previous learning

• get learners to think about new content

• encourage them to practice

• help them get feedback on their learning

• make sure they know what they are supposed to be doing

• enable them to check their progress

• help them to do better

Although the characteristics of good materials are clearly stated, it is not easy

to apply in actual practice, so any material writers have to develop their own set of working principles in planning and assessing materials as they are written In the researcher’s opinion, it is ideal to compile a textbook with all good characteristics

as mentioned above; however, few materials can meet such criteria to the full Therefore, among ten characteristics of a good material given by Rowntree (1997: 92), the researcher believes that the first six characteristics: arousing the learners’ interest, reminding them of earlier learning, explaining new learning content to them, relating these ideas to learners’ previous learning, getting learners to think about new content, and encouraging them to practice are the most important ones that should be found in a reading textbook at elementary level

Another characteristic of materials which concerns Richards (2001) is the distinction between authentic materials and created materials “Authentic materials” are usually defined as those which have not been produced to teach language like a song, a newspaper article, a letter (Tomlinson, 1998) In contrast, “created materials” refer to textbooks and other resources specially developed for pedagogical purposes

It is accepted that authentic materials are sometimes preferred because they contain authentic language and reflect real-world uses of language, so they can

relate more closely to learners’ needs and provide a link between the classroom and students’ needs in the real world However, Richards (2001) also confirms that using authentic materials is a burden for teachers In fact, to develop learning resources around authentic materials, teachers have to spend a lot of time finding suitable sources for materials as well as creating activities and exercises to accompany the materials

In contrast, created materials may be superior to authentic materials because they are generally built around a graded syllabus and provide a systematic coverage

of teaching items For the reason that both of them have their advantages as well as limitation, in many language programs teachers use a mixture of created and authentic materials because they both contribute meaningfully to teaching and learning language; therefore, they should also be considered as characteristics of good materials

In short, to be considered as good material, a reading textbook should satisfy seven characteristics suggested by Rowntree (1997) and Richards (2001) These

features are recommended because they are logically linked together First, learners

want to read only when the textbook can attract their attention This can be done with attractive appearance, suitable pre-reading activities, attractive visuals aids and

interesting topics Then whentheir interest is aroused, they can remember what they have learnt so that while acquiring new content, they can relate it to their previous knowledge As a result, they can have a thought, prediction, or expectation on the new content In addition, many activities and exercises should be included while and after reading the texts to help learners practice and explain new content to them

This process is clearly better than the learners’ passive acceptation towards the

reading texts as they are used to when learning this skill Finally, combining created and authentic together is also significant to make the reading textbook various and

interesting Generally, these characteristics are very essential for a reading textbook

because they contribute meaningfully into pre, while and post reading activities and

learning vocabulary

2.4 Material evaluation

2.4.1 Purposes of material evaluation

The reasons why people have to carry out the evaluation on materials are many and varied in which the intention to adopt new coursebooks or textbooks is a major and frequent reason Bachman and Palmer (1996: 22) identify that

“evaluation can be defined as the systematic gathering of information for the purpose of making decision.” Therefore, to judge the value of a material before being used, it is necessary to make evaluation on some aspects to make sure that it

is appropriate and useful for both teachers and learners in a specific context The

importance of evaluation is clear because of useful information supply for the future

direction of classroom practice, for the course planning, and for the management of learning tasks and students which can help teachers a lot in their work (Rea-Dickins

& Germaine, 1992) Undoubtedly, it is an intrinsic part of teaching and learning

Another reason of evaluation is to identify strengths and weaknesses in certain textbooks 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” (Cunningsworth, 1995:14) Also, evaluating process is necessary to be carried out to estimate the value of materials in relation to their objectives and to the objectives of the learners using them (Tomlinson, 1998)

It is the truth that no textbooks designed for a general market will be absolutely ideal for a particular group of learners; therefore, coursebook analysis and evaluation is useful in material development and helps teachers gain good and useful insights into the nature of the material Besides, the aims of evaluation are to

find the best possible fit, together with potential for adapting the material where it is unsuitable so that it can serve best teaching and learning process

The researcher’s purpose of evaluation is to look for the strong points and weaknesses in the current Reading textbook Level-A, and for how well it matches its objectives to make sure that if this textbook is really suitable or needs any

improvements to suit the teaching and learning context at CTFLC Moreover, the

researcher has a desire to explore the possibilities to adapt the materials and to

develop it as a better textbook of reading skill Level-A at CTFLC if possible

2.4.2 Kinds of material evaluation

Richards (2001: 259) identifies that “the type of evaluation a textbook receives will reflect the concerns of the evaluator.” Tomlinson (1998) divides materials evaluation into three kinds: pre-use, whilst-use and post-use Each type focuses on different aspects of using materials: pre-use evaluation is on predictions

of potential value, whilst-use on awareness and description of what the learners are actually doing whilst the materials are being used, and post-use on analysis of what happened as a result of using the materials Cunningsworth (1995) shares the same idea with Tomlinson and Richards that evaluation can take place before a coursebook is used, during its use and after use, depending on circumstances and the purpose for which the evaluation is being undertaken

Among these types, it seems that pre-use evaluation is not appreciated by many linguists Davies and Pearse (2000: 150) confirm that “the evaluation of a coursebook before using it is unreliable” because they believe that only one way to evaluate a coursebook is by actually using it over a period of time In fact, teachers may have doubts about a book at first but grow to like it later or vice versa However, to some extent, pre-use evaluation is very useful At many schools, pre-

use evaluation (which is, in fact, evaluation for potential) must be carried out before some suggested teaching materials are applied into practice And then, if necessary, another stage, in-use evaluation and post-use evaluation (also known as evaluation for suitability), is done in order to re-evaluate the materials while they are used or after a period of being used to see that whether they are really suitable to the teaching and learning situation there

In short, different kinds of materials evaluation are divided basing mainly on the time when this process is carried out (before, whilst or after the use of materials) corresponding to the researcher’s purpose to explore the potential of the materials before it is used or the materials which is in use (see 2.4.1) As a result, the study purpose and the time to do the research have to be logically linked together In this study, to conclude the suitability of the Reading textbook Level-A currently used at CTFLC, the researcher principally concerns with the purpose of material evaluation which will be presented in the next section to investigate the kind of material evaluation

2.4.2.1 Evaluating for potentiality

Cunningsworth (1995) says that we can evaluate a coursebook to see what it may be good for and in what situations it can be successful This evaluation of materials is for their potential because the evaluator has no predetermined use in mind Of course, this type of evaluation is carried out before the materials are put into effect without having a particular classes or learners This means a book is just evaluated in general, and this is really the so-called pre-use evaluation as mentioned

in 2.4.2 Therefore, the result may not be appropriate in some situations However,

in some extent, it is still useful for teacher to adopt this kind of evaluation to equip students with criteria for more specific evaluation at later date

2.4.2.2 Evaluating for suitability

Unlike evaluating for potential, this kind aims at evaluating a textbook after being used over a period of time as Cunningsworth (1995: 15) describes “evaluation for suitability involves matching the coursebook against a specific requirement including the learners’ objectives, the learners’ background, the resources available, etc.” Then basing on the results obtained it is very useful for teachers to make some adjustments on their own teaching methods, supplementing or adapting materials to

meet the learners’ needs effectively This process is really an in-use or post-use

evaluation which helps teacher to decide whether the same textbook should be used, need some adaptations or be replaced by another in the future

This research is carried out in order to investigate whether the Reading textbook Level-A at CTFLC can meet MOET’s requirements, and if it is really

suitable to the teaching and learning situation at CTFLC Since being done whilst

this textbook is being used, it is classified as the kind of evaluating for suitability

2.4.3 How to evaluate the suitability of a textbook

Littlejohn (1998) proposes three common questions related to materials evaluation need to take into account are

1 What aspects of materials should we examine?

2 How can we examine materials?

3 How can we relate the findings to our own teaching contexts?

The problems involved these questions will be analyzed in detail in the following sections

2.4.3.1 What aspects of materials should we examine?

What aspects of the material we examine will depend on our priority and on the characteristics of the students that we are working with and the context that we are working in Mc Donough and Shaw (1993) suggest that teachers begin with an

“external evaluation” - the appearance of the materials and then an “internal evaluation” - the content of the materials Similarly, Littlejohn (1998), from a pedagogic viewpoint, proposes two aspects which need to be taken into account in material evaluation are ‘publication’ and ‘design’ The former relates to the physical aspects of the materials, and the latter relates to the thinking underlying in the materials such as the apparent aims of the materials, how the tasks, language and content in the materials are selected and sequenced, and the nature of the teaching/learning activities which are suggested by the materials

Of the two, the physical aspects are rather easy to evaluate as Cunningsworth (1995:1) admits that “we can form a general impression of a coursebook 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.” In fact, when a book is in our hands, the features we first pay attention to are its colors, its pictures, how attractive it is, what topics are introduced, how grammatical points are sequenced and so on This impressionistic overview is useful and enables us to have

a general look at the material The reason why we should examine these aspects is rather easy to understand as Alderson (1996: 12) states, “it goes without saying that

an attractive-looking text is more likely to appeal to the reader.” In fact, appearance

is only superficial but can be important in grabbing students’ attention, especially for extensive reading

On the other hand, the design - the underlying thinking of the materials is rather complicated to analyze Experts have provided a range of approaches that can

be used Most often, an evaluation of content of the text is advocated, but under this broad topic, what should be included? Hartley (1994) sees three content areas that must be addressed and advises assessors to ask the following questions Firstly, does the book meet their teaching objectives? Secondly, is there sufficient depth and breadth of materials? And lastly, will it need to be supplemented?

For the reason that the researcher’s study is carried out whilst the Reading textbook Level-A is in-use and her main purpose is to evaluate its suitability to the teaching and learning contexts at CTFLC, the two things mainly focused on are the physical aspects (or the publication) and the content (or the design) of this textbook

in order to see if it is really suitable or needs any improvements

2.4.3.2 How can we examine the materials?

In building up an analysis of a set of materials, it is not only necessary for the evaluator to examine different sections of the materials but also to move through different ‘levels’ of analysis, making more and more inferences and subjective judgments as they move from a consideration of the more easily identifiable aspects

to the more abstract and complex To deal with this matter, Littlejohn (1998) suggests three levels of analysis

2.4.3.2.1 Level 1

Level 1 focuses on the physical aspects or “explicit nature” of the materials

It is suggested that researchers might begin with statements found within the materials which might cover the publication date, the intended audience, the type of materials, the amount of classroom time required, and how the materials are to be used Besides, it is also important to look at the other aspects such as the published form, number of pages, use of colors, and the total number of components in a

complete set Additionally, when looking inside the materials the researcher can see how the material is divided into sections, and how various they are Then looking further into the materials we can examine how the ‘units’, ‘chapters’ are subdivided, their length, and if there is any standard pattern within them

2.4.3.2.2 Level 2

Whilst Level 1 is mainly concerned with appearance of the materials, the next level, Level 2, moves to the content which is probably the most important aspect of materials In this stage Littlejohn (1998) advises that it is necessary to draw deductions about what exactly teachers and learners using the materials will have to do In order to come to conclusions, researchers will need to divide the materials into their constituent tasks, and then to analyze each task in turn The three key aspects of tasks focus on the role of teacher in controlling the classroom activities, the tasks learners take part in, and the content that the learners are to focus on In fact, the analysis on the content of a textbook in combination with the teacher and learners’ activities should be carefully considered in order that an accurate evaluation on what the materials can provide and what really happens in class can be fully discovered

However, the above analysis cannot give enough details to evaluate a book if

it is appropriate to the current language teaching and learning situation Thus, the researcher needs an in-depth evaluation, and that is the reason why Ellis (1998: 221) suggests “we should look at two or more units in order to investigate such aspects as the presentation of skills in the materials, the grading and sequencing of the materials, the kinds of texts used and the relationship between exercises” Sharing this opinion, Cunningsworth (1995) recommends that it is useful to pick out one or two units of a coursebook and then analyze them in detail, trying to choose units which look as though they are typical of the material as a whole

This idea is also strongly supported by Littlejohn (1998) that since the length

of most materials would make it impractical to analyze their entire content in any further depth, about 10% to 15% of the material should be chosen, and people should choose units around the middle of the curriculum This means if a book has

20 units, we might analyze about three

From the above reasons, it is sure that a sound basis for evaluation is formed from the combination of both approaches involving an impressionistic overview of the whole and an in-depth examination of representative samples in the material,

and this also ensures the choice of the most suitable book for adoption

2.4.3.2.3 Level 3

The final level of analysis, Level 3, is drawn from the findings at Level 1 and

2 to come to general conclusions of the materials From a description of the explicit nature of the materials in Level 1 and an analysis of tasks in Level 2, it will now be possible to make statements about the overall aims of the materials and the basis for selecting and sequencing both tasks and content Moreover, at this third level, when relating to a specific teaching and learning situation, the researcher could be able to come to a conclusion about the roles proposed for teachers and learners as well as the role of the materials as a whole in facilitating language learning and teaching (Littlejohn, 1998)

It is sure that when taken together, the three levels of analysis above can provide a very powerful means of revealing the underlying nature of materials In fact, they will help evaluators identify any mismatches between the aims and the actual nature of the materials they are working on Also, they can potentially help teachers and students examine the materials and decide if they should be used further in the future courses, or if there is anything should be adapted

Seeing that the researcher’s purpose is to evaluate the suitability of the Reading textbook Level-A at CTFLC, the three levels of analysis proposed by Littlejohn (1998) can be followed The analysis will move from the general description of the physical aspects of the textbook (the publication) at Level 1 to its content (the design) at Level 2 in which a general examination of the whole textbook and an in-depth evaluation of two units chosen in the middle of the curriculum will be carried out Finally, at Level 3 the findings from these two previous levels will be related to the contexts at CTFLC to see how it facilitates the teaching and learning situation there

2.4.3.3 How can we relate the findings to our own teaching contexts?

As stating in the 2.4.1, no textbooks are absolutely ideal for a particular group of learners, so to find the best possible fit it is important to match them to specific contexts With the findings found from three levels of the analyzing process, it is a must to relate them to some teaching and learning situation before coming to an exact conclusion about the suitability of a textbook In reality, as mentioning in 1.6, the main factors involving in the teaching and learning situations consist of the learners’ background, the teaching staff, and the school facilities, so the findings then will be put in the influences of these elements to see how well they match each other Davies and Pearse (2000) believe that this step can help the evaluator sets out precisely which aspects of the materials are appropriate or inappropriate Finally, if any problem emerges, the materials may then be analyzed

in detail in order to adopt, reject, adapt, implement or supplement to be most suitable to a specific group of teachers and learners

This research is a kind of whilst-use evaluation which is done while the book

is being used, and the researcher’s main purpose is to evaluate the suitability of the Reading textbook Level-A put in the context at CTFLC Therefore, after three

levels of analysis, the underlying nature of the materials will be revealed Then all the findings will be related to the teaching and learning situations at CTFLC so that conclusions of the suitability of the textbook will eventually be made, and from that some recommendations on the adaptation or supplementation to improve this textbook can be proposed if possible

2.4.4 Categories for evaluating the suitability of a textbook

According to Cunningsworth (1995), effective evaluation depends on asking appropriate questions and interpreting the answers to them; therefore, he presents a checklist for textbook evaluation and selection organized under the following categories:

• aims and approaches

• design and organization

Richards (2001) adds that it is not necessary to evaluate all aspects of materials In fact, what the researcher chooses to study will reflect his/her concerns

because one teacher may mainly interests in whether the book could be used effectively, flexibly, and easily adapted in his/her class, but another may be more concerned to see what the topics are selected and how they are sequenced, how authentic the materials are Basing on the factors in each situation, questions specific to that situation need to be generated around the main issues involved in textbook evaluation

The researcher’s purpose is to evaluate the suitability of the Reading textbook Level-A in the teaching and learning context at the CTFLC, so although both physical aspects and the content will be analyzed, in the scope of this thesis, the textbook content is really the researcher’s main concern Therefore, from the ideas given by Cunningsworth (1995), the four specific categories chosen to evaluate the content of the Reading textbook at CTFLC are

1 The topics in the textbook

2 The text types

3 The exercises and activities accompanying the reading texts

4 The presentation of vocabulary

2.4.4.1 The topics in the textbook

The topics in a reading textbook are so important because if they are not relevant and interesting, they are in danger of losing the readers’ attention easily

To examine the quality of the topics, Cunningsworth (1995) suggests some questions arising around them are:

1 What sorts of topics are they?

2 Are they interesting?

3 Are they challenging?

4 Are they topical?

5 Are they culturally acceptable?

6 Are they likely to remain fresh over the lifetime of the book?

In fact, the most important thing to be noticed is that the sorts of topics chosen have to be suitable to the objectives of the teaching program as well as within the ability of learners because anything so easy or out of their knowledge is inappropriate Besides, learners come to class with curiosity and experience, so language teaching should help them to enrich their knowledge and relate what they already know with the new things Therefore, with interesting and topical topics, textbooks can help students learn better and maintain or increase their motivation Furthermore, it is worth bearing in mind that the topics selected must be appropriate

to the learners’ culture in order to increase the educational values Finally, textbooks are often compiled with the hope that they can be used as long as possible, so the topics included are required to be fresh over the lifetime of the book Briefly, all the above features should be carefully considered when choosing topics for a textbook

Seeing that the topics can strongly influence the effectiveness of teaching and learning reading skill, the researcher, of course, pays some attention on this category when evaluating the Reading textbook Level-A at CTFLC Moreover, this kind of evaluation may be combined with the analysis of the physical aspects in order that the general overview on the textbook can be seen

2.4.4.2 The text types

Reading is an interactive process that goes on between the reader and the text resulting in comprehension, so to create an effective reading the texts selected should attract learners’ attention and at their level of knowledge Cunningsworth

(1995) proposes that a reading textbook should consist of different text types within the ability of students Various styles can be found in different text types such as advertisements, information leaflets, letters, and extracts from magazines, from factual books or from novels This idea is strongly approved by Alderson (1996) that in considering the whole collection of texts, we also need to consider how various the texts selected are

He also proposes three other main criteria influence the choice of texts are the suitability of the content, the exploitability and the readability Among them, the suitability is considered the most important, and the text is considered suitable when

it can interest the readers Then with a text we cannot exploit is useless for teaching even if the students enjoy reading it Finally, the term readability is used to refer to the combination of structural and lexical difficulty Since the language of a text may

be difficult for one student and easy for another, it is necessary to assess the right level for the students we teach, and to know how much new vocabulary is adequate Cunningsworth (1995) and Littlejohn (1998) suggest five percent of new words are acceptable while Alderson (1996) says two or three percent is a lot in his view For these reasons, this is really a debatable point

Lastly, to achieve the communicative approach, it is important to include a degree of authenticity in the reading texts Tomlinson (1998) gives examples of an authentic text such as a newspaper article, a rock song, and a radio interview which

is not written or spoken for language teaching purpose In addition, to interest learners, a reading text can be devised to appear authentic in modern reading coursebooks (Alderson, 1996) For example, a news story is made to look like a piece cut out of a newspaper, or a set of rules is presented as a notice pinned to a board Of course, authentic materials are the ideal, but if the compilers cannot find enough at the right level, they will have to simplify or rewrite it to suit the learners’ level and their teaching and learning situation