Luận văn an evaluation of the material lifeline for the first non english major students at hai phong university

Allwright 1981:5-18 also emphasizes that textbooks are too inflexible to be used directly as instructional material, they should give teachers rationales for what they do From O'Neill'

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOT

UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

TRAN THI CHUNG OANH

AN EVALUATION OF THE MATERIAL “LIFELINES* FOR THE FIRST NON-

‘LISIL MAJOR STUDENTSAT HAL PLEONG UNIVERSETY

DANH GIA GIAO TRINH “LIFELINES” DANH CHO SINH VIEN KHONG

CHUYEN NAM THU NHAT TRUONG DAI HOC HAI PHONG

MINOR PROGRAMME TIIESIS

FIELD: METHODOLOGY

CODE: 601410

HANO01-— 2010

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI

UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUIMES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

TRAN THỊ CHUNG OANH

AN EVALUATION OF THE MATERIAL “LIFELINES"¥OR THE FIRS’

ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS AT HAI PHONG UNTVERSITY

ĐÁNH GIÁ GIÁO TRÌXH “LIFELIXES” DÀNH CHO SINH VIỄN KHÔNG

CHUYÊN NĂM TIIỮ NHẤT TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC HẢI PHÒNG

MIXOR PROGRAMME THESIS

FIELD: METTIODOLOGY CODE: 601410

SUPERVISOR: DR HOANG THI XUAN HOA

HANOI— 2010

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS T: Teachers

S: Students

HPU: Hai Phong University

LIST OF TABLES

‘Table 1: ‘The teachers and students’ opinion about using text types in the

xralzrial

Table 2: The teachers and students’ opinion about proportion of 4 macro skills

‘Table 3: The teachers and students’ opinion about allocation time for each unit

Table 4: The leackers and siuđenls” øpiriơn abou! content sequenced of this

material

‘Table 5: The teachers and stvdents’ opinion about language points in this

material

Table 6: The teachers and students’ opinion about kinds of exercises need to be

included in this material

Table 7; Ths teachers amd students’ opinion about using techniques in this

6 Scope of the study

„ Organization of the study

PART LU: DEVELOPMENT

CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW

1.2.1 Definitions of material evaluation

1.2.2 Types of matezial cvaluation

1.2.3 Purposes of material evaluation

1.3.1 Reasons lor adaptation

1.3.2 Arens for adaptation

1.3.3 Techniques for adaptation

1.4 Summary

CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY

2.1 The current teaching and learning situation at HPU

2.1.1 The vontexL of the study

2.1.2, The material description

2.2.3, Data collection procedure

2.2.4, Data analysis procedure

CHAPTER 3: RESULYS AND DISCUSSION

3.1 Material analysis,

3.1.1 The contents of the material

3.1.2 The methodology of the material

3.2 Survey revults

3.1.1, The suitability of the content of the textbook with the students’

requirements ffom the teachers and students’ opinions

3.1.2 The suitability of the methodology of the textbook with the

students’ requirements fiom the teachers and students’ opinions

3.3 Major findings

3.2.1 The

requirements ftom the teachers and students’ opinions

3.2.2 The suitability of the methodology of the textbook with the

students’ requirerrumls from the Leachers and students’ opinions

3.4.Recommendations for material improvements

3.5.Summary

PART TIT: CONCLUSION

suitability of the content of the textbook with the students”

26

awe ao

1 Summary of previous parts

2 Conclusion

3 Limitations and suggestions for further research

References

APPENDICES:

Appendix 1: Questionnaire for teachers

Appendix 2: Questionnaire for students

Appendix 3: Hutchinson and Water's criteria checklist

PART E INTRODUCTION This part includes seven sections The first seclion [ocuscs ơn the ratiơnalc of the thesis; the second section presents the aims of the thesis; the third section touches on the research questions; the fourth section is the significance of the thesis; the fifth

section poinis out the methodatogy, lhe next section is the scops and the fast is the

organization of the study

1 Rationale of the study

Textbooks are a key component in most language programs, They may provide the basis for the content of the lessons, the balance of skills taught and the kinds of language practice the studcnts take part in (Richards, 2001:35)

Allwright (1981:5-18) also emphasizes that textbooks are too inflexible to be used directly as instructional material, they should give teachers rationales for what they do

From O'Neill's points, in many , toachors and students rely heavily an loxlbooks and they determine the components and methods of leaming, Students leam what is presented

in the textbook and the way the textbook presents material is the way students learn it

Thus, according ta Mink (2007) “lexthook should bs carefully ovaluaicd and selected before being used for a language program Textbook evaluation helps the managerial and teaching staff select the most appropriate materials available for a

parueular course Tt alsa helps lo identify the strengths and weskne

textbook that is already in use”,

Cunningsworth (1995:45) and Ellis (1997) also suggest that textbook evaluation

helps teachers move beyond impressionistic assessments and it helps them to acquire

of a, particular

useful, accurate, systematic and contextual insights into overall nature of textbook

material,

Al Hai Phong University, “Lifstines” has hoon used as major tmalerial far several

‘years but no evaluation or consultation has been condusted to determine its strengths and weaknesses and to see how well it suited the desired and attainable goals of the course

From above raasons, if ne wy to conducl an evaluation for the “Lifelines” lextbook, it is also a gond opportunily to discover the suitability of the material with Ihe students’ level ftom the students’ and the teachers’ perceptions and so that adaptation can

2, Aims of the study:

‘This study aims to evaluate the “Lifelines” textbook in terms of its content and

methodology from the tsachers’ and the students’ opinions ta determine whether the material is suitable with the students’ requrements

3, Rescarch questions

The sludy is lo discuss the following questions

1 Does the content of the textbook suit the students’ requirements in the teachers’ and

the students’ opinions?

2 Does the methodology of the textbook suit the students’ requirements in the teachers” and the students’ opinions?

4 Significance of the study:

The findings of this study will find oul the suitability of the textbook with the students’ requirement in terms of its content and methodology, which helps the teachers adjust their ways of teaching and adapt the material to provide their students effective

More importantly, it is hoped that the study will make some conttibutions to the field of material evaluation

5, Methodology

In this thesis, survey questionaire and informal interview used lo collcet data:

Survey questionnaires here play an important role in collection ideas of teachers and studemts on the material which are very usefill for the completion of the thesis

Informal interview is uscd to scck for detailed and objcctive opinions of participants on the material and students ‘requirement,

6 Scope of the study

In Hai Phong University, “ifctine” material uses for both major and non-major students with different levels in the first year and second year, But due to the limitation of minor thesis, this study only focuses on evaluating the “Lifelines” material using for the firsl non-Fnglish major sludents i terms of ils content and methodology to determine

whether the material is suitable with the students’ requirements.

7 Organization of the thesis

The thesis consists of three parts:

Part J: introduce the rationale, aims, significance, scope and methodology of the study Part TT: includes three chapters

Chapterl: Literature review: provides a theoretical basis for issues retating to Material and Material evaluation such as definition of material, types of material, and criteria for material evaluation and so on,

Chapter 2: Methodology: Includes an overview of the approach used on conducting the study It also provides a thorough description of the data collection procedure as well

as the analytical procedlare

Chapter 3: Results and Discussion; reports the findings of the survey and discusses the prominent aspects

Part TM: Conchsion: summarives the study, recommends o tho material and acknowledges the limitations of the study

of a language They can be linguistic, visual, auditory, kin aesthetic and they can be

presented in print, through live performance or display, or on casselle, CD-ROM, DVD or

the internet”,

In Richards (2001:251) definition’ “Materials can be instructional, experiential,

elicitalive, and exploratory, in thal they can inform earners about Ihe language, Ihey can provide experience of the language in use, they can stimulate language use or they ean help learners to make discoveries about the language far themselves”

1.1.2 Types of material

Materials in-use can vary fiom a textbook, institutionally prepared materials or the teacher’s own materials (Richards, 2001) ‘The former is referred to published textbooks and the laller in- houss materials by Robinson, According to Robinson (1991-21), choosing published textbooks or in-house materials is what specialists in the Geld of English language teaching weigh up for arguments

Swales (cited in Robinson, 1991: 57) indicates published textbooks arc “ jess sufficient in practice materials and in coverage of skill areas” so these textbooks need more supplementary materials

The same story could be scen with arguments for and against the use of in-house materials, Robinson (1991) suggests there are three advantages of in-house matetials: more specific and appropriate than published materials, more flexible than published textbooks, and more suitable in terms of methodology for intended learners

It can be said that there are both good points and bad points in the selection of textbook or in-house material However, it should be noted that “there is no such a thing as

a perfect lexthook” (Brown, 1995: 41) so an evaluation of materials is necessary lo judge

the appropriateness to the target students

1.1.3 Roles of teaching materials in general English course

There are five important components involved in English language instruction namely students, teachers, materials, teaching method and evaluation among which the

inosl essential constituents are the lexthooks and instruction materials Because

instructional materials provide the foundation for the content of the lesson, the balance of the skills taught, as well as the kinds of language practice the students engage in during class activitios

Stressing on the role of materials, Richard (2001) slales thal matzrials provid: a basis for the content of the lesson, the appropriate proportion of skills taught, and the type

of language practice students take part in Furthermore, usefill teaching materials provide grcat assistance tơ insxpericneed teachers or poorly trained teachers, They can scrve as “a form of teacher taining” (Richard, 2001: 251) and teachers can get ideas on how to plan

and teach the lesson from the materials

1.2 Material evaluation

Deciding which textbooks to use or whether the materials being used are suitable or not is obviously of great importance in process of learning and teaching of language And this decision can be achieved only by the means of a comprehensive evaluation The next part

of this chapter is the review of literature of major issues in material evaluation

1.2.1 Definitions of material evaluation

A number of researchers express their point of view regarding the definition of

imaletial evaluation

First, let’s look at term “evaluation” It is said that, according to Robinson

(1991-230)is “ ‘The discovery of the value of something for some purpose”, “ something” and “value” here depend on the specification of the “ purpose” And “evaluation concermed with describing what tx there, and placing some value judgment on what ts

found”- Muuphy (1985:1-17)

And according to ‘Tomlinson (2001), “Material evaluation is a procedure that

involves measuring ihe value (for potcntial valuc) of a sct of learning mmaicrial”

From Dudley (1998: 128) defines “

valuation is a whale process which begins will determining what information to gather and ends with bringing about the change in cuzrent

activities or influencing fiture ones”

Malerial evaluation is “a process not 8 final produet” with “allermpts lo measure the value of materials” (Tomlinson, 1998) or “the systematic appraisal of the value of materials in elation to their objectives and fo the objectives of the learners using them’

With regards to this is 1c, Murphy (1985:210) considers evalualion one of the key concepts in ELT to “determine the extent to which a programme is worthwhile, and to aid decision-making through the purposefid gathering information” In the programme evaluation, material evaluation is given a great deal of attention

Hutchinson and Waters (1987) define: “Evaluation is basically a matching proccss, matching needs to available sotutions”, They also note that evaluation is really a matter of

judging the fitness of something for a parlicular purpose “Given a certain need, and in the light of the resources available, which out of muber of possibilities represent the best solution ‘There is no absolute good or bad only degree of fitness for the required purpose”

From above roscarchors” opinions, they all jive a gonoral identification thal evaluation is a process of collecting data and giving judgments based on the collected data and the most importantly, evaluation must inchide action,

1.2.2 Types of materials evaluation

In terms of types of materials evaluation, Tomlinson (1998) indicates that for each dimension of evaluation, there are certain types of evaluation ‘'hese dimensions include approach, purpose, foens, scope, the cvalualors, the timing, and types of information,

Cunningsworth (1995:76) and MeGrath (2002:14-15) point out that there are three types of material evaluation: pre-wse, in-use and post-use evaluation, While Robinson (1991:59) classifies materials evaluation inlo llưcv lypes: Preliminary, summative and formative, Although types of material evaluation are indicated with different terms, they are basically similar

Preliminary or pre-use evaluation is carried out before a course begins lo select the most appropriate materials for the particular group of Iearners and the aims of the course And another purpose of this evaluation is to identify which aspects of the published malcrial necded adapting io snit the purposes of the ovalualors This can be done by

“đelermining a set of crileria which are used Lo teach a decision regarding which hook Lo adopt and how it needs to be adapted” (Ellis, cited in Tomlinson (i998))

Formative or in-use evaduation is carried out during the life of the course or project and the resulis oblained can be used lo modify what is being done or in other words, such may suggest the development of the matenal in the future

Summative or post-use evaluation is carried out when the course of project is finished and when it is clearly too Tale to do to determine whether (he program was successful and effective and the findings of this evaluation will lead to the decision whether to repeat or use the material again or not

From different perspective, Crmningswerth (1995:67) has anather classification- impressionistic overview and in-depth evaluation, The impressionistic overview can only afford us a general introduction to the material, but no enough detail to ensure a good malch between Ihe content of the textbooks and the requirements of teaching/learning situation, The in-depth evaluation is suitable if we want to examine how specific items and different aspects of language are dealt with,

In this thesis, the roscarcer uscd the cvatuation model by Hulchinson and Waters This is 2 Macro-evaluation which is divided into 4 steps, The first step is to define the criteria upon which the evaluation is based The second step is to determine the subjective

analy: s ‘The next step is objective analysis, And the last one is to evaluate the match

‘belween the malcrials and requirzinents

1.2.3 Purpases of material evaluation

An evaluation of teaching matcrials helps lo identify particular strenglhs and weaknesses of material in use After being used in the classroom for a certain period of time, teaching materials need to be evaluated to see if they have worked well for the

inlonded situation and students

Cunningsworth (1995) states that through evaluation, we can assess whether the course book is the most appropriate for the target learners at vatious levels and in various leaching seltings

According to Ellis (1997), there are two main reasons for carrying out materials evaluation Firstly, there may be need to choose among the materials available the most suilabls ones to nse for a particular siluntion, Secondly, Ihore can be a mced for materials evaluation to determine whether the material, which has been chosen, works tor that

siluation afer if has besn used for a period of lime This may help in deciding whether to use the material again or replace it with a better one

Robinson (1991:112) adds evaluation can be used as part of quality control

Through evaluation, we an know about the advanlagss and disadvantages as well as the etfectivenass of the being used materials, Then we can decide whether the material can be reused or whether it needs to be adapted to meet the need of the particular teaching siluition or we need to change it, absolutely,

Apart form its contribution to the evaluation of efféctiveness of the materials, observation of the materials in use has an additional benefits: it can, for instance, afford general insights into how teachers use materials, and therefore suggest directions both for materials development and professional dcvclopmnent activities

Alderson (1992:79) set out a list of purposes of material evaluation as follows

- lo decide whether materials have had [he intended effect

- toidentify wbat cffeot materials have had

-‡o vindicate a decision

+ lo justify futiez courses of action

- to compare approaches‘methedologies

- to identify areas for improvement in future use

- to show the positive achievements of teachers and students

to evaluation However, they may not filly understand the teaching and learning situation

in which the evaluation is being carried ont, Tn addition, it may lake then more lime to be aware of the local situation such as learners’ needs, theilities and time constraints so it may

be difiientt for them to make truly judgments and recommendations of the program

Tn contrast to the oulsidlers, the insiders are [hase who have been directly involved

in the language teaching program such as teachers, students, course and materials

designers Therefore, they can provide Ihe most valid information in the evaluation process Also, their understanding of cultural and political factors of the institution in which the evaluation takes place would enhance the reliability of judgments and

hard (2001 :296)

states that the involvement of the insiders plays an important part in the success of

Tecommendations To stress the role of the insi ors ws evaluators,

evaluation because “as a consequence, they will have greater degree of commitment to acting on ils result” Consequently, they can know oxaelly the extent (hal the matcriats work for their purposes and they can make modifications to improve the effectiveness of the materials Llowever, there are also disadvantages to insiders when they are “too close and involved” (Dudley-van and St.John, 1998:131) so the evaluation may be influenced

be their subjective points of view and their teaching experience

1.2.5 Models for material evaluation

Littlejohn (1998; 192-202) presents a gcncral flamework for analyzing materials, which he suggests could be used prior to evaluation and action in a model, which is seqnenced as follows:

20

Analysis of target situation of use Material analy sis

- ‘The cultural context From analysis

+ ‘The institution - Whol is their explicit nature?

~The course ¢ proposed aims, - What is required by users?

content, methodology, measures - What is implied by their use?

Match and evaluatian

How appropriate arc the respects of design and the

aspects of publication to the target situation of use?

|

Action Adopt the materials

Reject the materials Adapt the materials

Suppkarent the materials

Make the materials a critical object

Higure 1: Materials evaluation model of Littejohn( 1998: 192-202)

From the above diagram, il can be scon that basing on analyzing larget siluation of use and materials spontaneously and independently, the author conducted matching and evaluating appropriateness of design and the aspects of publication to the target situation of uses, Frou the result of these analyses, decision on snalcrials is reached in the lust stage

On studying this issue, Hutchinson and Waters (1987-97) also identify four steps of evaluation process (macro-evaluation) according to following diagram

21

Define criteria Onwhat bases will you judge materials? Which criteria will

be more important?

criteria do you want in your being evahuated realize the

Matching How far does the material match your

igura 2: Materials evaluation model of Hutchinson and Waters (1987:97)

In the authors’ ideas advise present the criteria for objective and subjective analyses in a checklist and the evaluators should supplement other criteria they think important lo thom in the process of cvalusting Thon identifying the cvalualor’s requirements, analyzing the material and comparing findings those two aspects by awarding points {lowever, the authors also note that highest number of points does not

1

area

ssarily indicate the most suitable material as (he points may be conccnizated in one

Ellis (1997) suggests a model (micro-evaluation) in a clearer and more detailed way:

1

2

Choosing 4 task to fallow,

Describing the task with specification of input, procedures, language activities and

outcome;

Planning the evaluation with reference to the dimensions above,

Collecting information betore, while and after the task was used, and what and how the task was performed:

Aualysis of the informalion callceted,

2

6 Findings of the evaluation and making recommendations for future tacking;

7 Writing the report

‘The author points out the advantages of this model are that can be more manageable Morcover, this type of eveluation ean only be condncted when the materials are being, used in the classroom,

A combination of macro and micro evaluation by McDonough and Shaw (1993)

this is a thyce slage evaluation: extemal cyalualion, imlcrnal evaluation and overall

evaluation The internal stage requires an in-depth look at two or more units to examine whether claims made by the author are the one found in the internal evaluation ‘The internal stage will be carried ont if the extemal evaluation shows that the materials are potentially appropriate Ef the findings show that the materials arc inappropriate, the evaluation will be finished at the external stage

In summary, although these four modets vary in (he processes and the purposes, all

serve to evaluate whether the set of materials is appropriate to a certain situation or group

of learners or not, ‘The evaluator must then base on the purposes of the evaluation, time availuble, facititios as well as constraints of the context in which the evatuation takes place

to decide which model to follow In this thesis the author decided to use the model of Hutchinson and Waters (1993)

1.2.6 Methods of material evaluation

There are three methods of evaluation according to McGrath (2002): the impressionistic method, the checklist method and the in-depth method

The impressionistic method is concemed to oblain a general impr

material, This is wide-ranging but relative superiicial (Cunningworth, 1995:76) The method involves glancing at the publisher’s description on the back cover, the content

jon of the

page, book layoul and visuals

The checklist method is the use of a list of items which is referred to for comparison, identification or verification It is considered systematic, cost effective, convenient and explicit

The in-depth method looks at the kind of language description, underlying assumptions about learning or values on which the materials are based (MoGrath, 2002:69) Tk focuses on specific foalurs (Curmingworth, 1995:111), close analysis of ons or mote extracts (Hutchinson, 1987.98),

23

1.2.7 Criteria for material evaluation

As can bo scon thal criteria for material evaluation are not constant, the elements

making up each criterion do not always coincide Various writers have presented their evaluation checklists As illustrated by Cunningsworth (1995: 7-15), course books should

onl to learners’ needs, help to cquip leamers to use Tanguags effectively for thoir own purposes, facilitate students’ leaming process, have a olvar role in mediating the target language and the learner

‘The first set of oriteria is stated by Sheldon (1998) It includes a great number of

“key questions” for the ovaluators to sock answers when evaluating [hs rnatarial

2, Support fer teaching and learning

+#Teacher’s book?

Yes/No

3 Context relevance:

' Suitable for course:

- Required resources (c.g cassctte recorder) available? | Yes/No

Tomifinson (1998) lakes the definition of specific criteria a step father:

1 Media-specifie criteria: i those which relate to particular medium used, In reference to audio-recorded, for instance, one might consider the audibility of the recording

2, Content-specifie criteria: i.c those which relate to the nature af the malcrial, such as the choice of topics, situation or language in a business English book ot the texts included and skills covered in a book focusing on the development of reading skills

3, Ave-specific criteria: i.c, the suitability of the material (c.g, visuals, cognitive challenge) for the age group for which it is intended

4, Local criteria: ie the appropriateness of the material for the particular environment on

whicl il is lo be used

Sheldon (1998) presents a set of criteria including: rationale, availability, definition, layout, accessibility, linkage, selection, physical characteristics, appropriateness, aulhenticily, suflicicney, cultural bias, educational vatidily, stinnitus, revision, flexibility, guidance, and overall vatue tor money

William (1983:41) suggests seven criteria, each of which has the following aspects: General criteria: give introductory guidance on the presentation of language items and skills

Speech criteria: suggest aids for the teaching of pronunciation: e.g Phonetic system

Grammar criteria: offer meaningtull situations and a variety of techniques for teaching structural units

Vocabulary criteria distinguish the different puxposes and skills involved in the

teaching vocabulary

Technical criteria, contain approptiate pictures, diagrams, tables, etc

From above criteria and the fact of this study, the criteria of | iutchinson and Waters (1987) scent to be the most appropriate, There are four main critzria for materiats evaluation and evaluator should concer: the audience, the aims, the content and the methodology:

The andience of the materiats requires evaluator should obtain information about and from leamers to fad out whether the materials are suitable to the students’ age, 90x, knowledge of English, interest, educational background and so on,

The ams of the materials require the evaluator las to check if the materials malch the aims and objectives of the course

‘The content of the materials is one of the important elements require evaluator need

to measure if the canton of tho nmtorial is suitable to Ue content proscribed in terms of language description, language points, macro‘micro-skills and their proportion, It is necessary to find out if the text-types of the materials are suitable to the requirements of the course, Iinaly, the evaluator need to find out the way the content is organized and sequenced within a unit and throughoul the course is appropriate

The methodology firstly needs to be indicated whether the theories of leaming on which the course is based are in line with the ones of the material under evaluation Secondly, evaluators necd to measure whether Icarncrs expectations about learning arc the ones the materials intended for Thirdly, it necessary to determine whether the kinds of exercisew/lasks includes in the materials are suiled to Ihe couse requirements, Anolber aspcl lo be evaluated is thơ loaching and loamning (oelmiqmes: whoiher the (cnchủng- learning techniques that can be used with the materials are those required by the course and suitable to the learners l'urther more, the evaluation also needs to discover if teaching aids available for use are those required by the materials In addition, the cvaluation noods Lo find out whether the materials supply the teachers with necessary guidance and support for teaching course Hinally, it is necessary to determine if the material are flexible so that they can be used in different order Lo suit teaching contexls.

26

1.3 Materials adaptadon

1.3.1 Reasons for adaptation

Defining adaptation: “every teacher in a very real sense an adapter of the material houses” Madsen and Browen (1987:35) employing: “one or more of a number of techniques: supplcmenting, sditing, expanding, personalizing, simplifying, modernizing, localizing or modifving cultural’ situational content

No one can deny the important rote of course book in touching and loaning,

“Course books are not always clear regarding the methodology they use in texm of “What” and “how” to teach ‘Thsre are also cases of inconsistency between stated and actual methodology Finally, Course books can not be relevant to all teaching/learning contexts

And the purposes of adaptation are highlighted as follow

1 to make the material more suitable for the circumstances in which it 1s being used, i.e to

and such

mould il te the needs and interests of Isamers, the leacher’s own capabil

constraints as time, or as McDonough and Shaw (1993) put it: “to maximize the appropriacy of teaching materials in context, by changing some of the intemal

charaeterislics of a cours: book lo better suit our particular circumstances”

2 to help teachers to maximize the value of the book for the benefit of their learners, Hence they can improve it so that it is suitable for the particular situation (Apple and

Jungck, 1990; Shannon, 1987)

1.3.2 Areas for adaptation

MeDonongh and Shaw (1993) identify the possible areas to adapt as follows

* Lack of grammar coverage in gencral;

* Lack of practice of grammar points of particular difficulty,

* Reading passages contain too much emknown vocabulary,

* Comprehension questions are too easy,

* Subject matters are inappropriate for learners;

* Photographs and other illustrative materials are not culturally acceptable,

* Amount of material is toa mucl loo lille lo cover,

* Lack of gnidance of teachers on group work and role play;

27

* There are no vocabulary lists or a key to exerci x

However, they also note that more areas could be added to this list, depending on the

actual contexts

1.3.3 Techniques for adaptation

According to McDonough and Shaw (1993: 63), there are a number of points to bear in inind regarding the techniques thai can be applied a briny aboul change Firstly, techmiques are selected according to the aspect of the materials that needs alteration Secondly, content can be different content areas ‘Thirdly, adaptation can have both quantitative an

off

qualilativ Finally, lechmiques can be used individually or combination with

ollurs,so the seats of possibilities olearÌy ranges (romstraightforward lo ralher complex

Also according to MeGrath (2002:1-17), the textbooks may adapt teaching material

by selecting, rejecting, adding and changing The author suggests the following suggestions:

1, Selection- Selection: “some material may be relevant, but pressure of time makes it impossible to inciuds them in the lesaơn In this case, we need to decide what can most usefully be done in class and what can be sct for home work Time-consuming written exercises can, for instance, be started in class to give students a feel for what is requizes and then finished for homework This type of adaptation is very common with all kinds of

mmalzrials are written by Vietnamese authors for a specific group of learners, mmamy of ther aie imported ftom foreign recourses

2 Rejection- complete (e.g, Omitting a whole activity or even a whole lesson) ot partial (e

g culling on or more stages within an activity)

3 Adding- in the form of extension or exploitation of existing material, this can be regarded as adaptation, where new materials are introduced, this will be termed supplementation,

4, Changing this is a more radicat form of adaptation, such as modifications to procedure

or changes in context/content (replacement)

McDonaugh and Shaw (1993) state thal there are five main techniques for adaptation Modifying, Simplifying, Adding, Deleting, and Reordering, The following is a tnief introduction of commonly used tectmniques

Adding (he malsrial is supplomnentad simply but pulling more info thet In the quantitative way, we can add the teclmique of extending but the model remains unchanged,

28

The qualilalive way, which can be lermed as expanding refers to the development of the

methodology in new directions by putting in different language skills or a new component

‘This can be thought of as “a change in the overall systems” (McDonough and Shaw, 1993)

Therefore, addition can be made before, during or afer the imtended arca

Deleting or omitting deletion means cutting one or more stages within an activity

or omitting a while activity or even a whole lesson Therefore, addition and deletion offen

work Logethor The tasks in the material may be deleted and componsatcd hy a more suitable one to meet the objectives of the whole unit However, when the techniques tor adaptation are applied, it is necessary to take into account the balance of the lesson as well

as the time allacation

Modifying modification can be divided into two specific ways: re-writing and rc- structuring, Re-writing refers to the modification of the linguistic contents whereas the re- structuring applies lo the classroom management, especially the structuring of the class In short, teachers may occasionally decide to rewrite material, especially exercise material, to make it more appropriate, more “communicative”, more demanding and more motivating

to thoir sludonts

Simplifying simplification is a type of modification namely re-wtiting activity, Many elements of the material can be simplitied such as the instructions, explanations or even the visual layout of materials but the texts or most often reading passages are applied

to this technique Teachers can simplify the texts with scntence structures, the grammar structures and the lexical content

Re-ordering: teachers may decide that the order in which the material is presented

is not suitable for their students, They can usc the technique of re-ordcring to put parts ofa course book in a different order, adjusting the sequence of presentation within a unit, or to arrange of different units ona course book

Tn short, matcrial adaptation plays an important part in the process of language teaching and learning, 1t makes the teaching materials more relevant to the needs

of students and to the objectives of the course and therefore, would stimulate the oMectivenass of teaching and learning

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1.4, Summary

This chapter has provided a tris roview of lileralure on matoriats and material evaluation It includes three sections, The first section addressed major issues reflecting the definition of materials, types of materials and roles of teaching materials in general Lnglish

conrsc The second in malzrial evalualior: definitions, types

of material evaluation, purposcs of material cvaluation, matcrials evaluators, models for material evaluation, methods of material evaluation and criteria for material evaluation The last section also included some Uheoretical discussions about meterials adaplation such as; reasons for adaptation, areas for adaptation and techniques tor adaptation, Therefore, this chapter can be seen as the theoretical foundation for the applications for the sindy in

next chaplor and the improverncnts (hal should be made (o the coursz book “Lifetn

the first non-English major students at HPU

Chapter 2: Methodology This chapter describes the current teaching and learning situation at HPU such as

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method employed in this thesis including participant, instrument, dala collection procedure and data analysis procedure

2.1 The current teaching and learning situation at TIPU

2.1.1 The context af the study

Hai Phong University has beon built and developed for 50 years; the university is the training cradle of teachers and scientific staft and management for Haiphong and other provinces in the country The University also had enough conditions and modem cquipments in order lo serve the tearning weeds of sludents, Up to now, there are 15

departments with total ten thousands students

All non-major students at HPU learn English for two years with the course books:

1 felines Plementary and Pre-inlermettiale published by Oxford University Press in 1999

Before entering University, they have experienced 3 to 7 years studying English at secondary school, but their level of English proficiency and their learning style were varied

Charing the course, the students have only two classes per week (total 5 periods) in large classes (about 50 students a class) In addition, they have just finished some other basic subjects avcording to thar Tearning scclors In class, only some strong students arc

1nolivated lo lake part in group discussion, presentation and, cle AL the end of the course,

they take a 90- minute written test based on the know ledges in the textbook

2.1.2 The material description

Elementary Lifelines is written by Tom Hutchinson and published by Oxtord

University Press in 1999 It consists of 14 units with 14 different topics relating to our life

such as onlertainment, survivors, travel, fashion, health, experiences and so on Fach unit is divided into 5 sections: grammar, vocabulary, reading and writing, listening and speaking, and pronunciation

In the grammar section, new grammar siruclures are presented by using piclures, discussion questions or asking students to read or listen to a conversation After the rules,

there are some practice exercises

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In the vocabulary section, the stndenls are asked lo predicl new words and their meaning based on available pictures or some small games And then the students listen to

the tape for the way to pronounce

In the roading and writing sections, (he students must discuss some questions related to a text given before Then students must read the text again to get ideas to do

tasks Kinally, the students must summarize the text’s content to write a paragraph

depending on the requircrnents ofeach one

In listening and speaking, pictures and discussion are used to help the students activate their knowledge about the topic And then they must listen to the tape to check their ideas and listen more tn do some telated exercise The students practice speaking skills using conversation picecs in listening part

In pronunciation, the students practice sounds under the direction of teachers, and then listening to the tape Io check Finally, they repeat to remember and pronounce sinoothly

‘There is an extension unit after every two units ‘This helps the students to review

theories and practice mwrc exercises, And in each until, imporlanl parts ars highlighted to remind the students to remember

Typescripts, difficult words and their meaning are presented at the end of the textbook Besides, coming with this material there are two CL’s and a student workbook

2.2 Research methodology

2.2.1 Participants

One important issue should be given consideration is the participants or evaluator

of the study Many authors in the literature hold the view that evaluation should not “be restricted to outside evaluator” (Tomson, 1998)

In this study, the first eroup of participants in this study is 10 teachers fiom the Foreign Language Dopartment of Hai Phong University They are all young toavhers, their ages ure fiom 25 to 36 and they have experienced in teaching English for non-major students

‘The second group of participants includes 150 of the first year non-major students, who are chosen randomly in three classes of the Phitological and Technology Faculty They haye been leandng English from 3 years to 7 yours in the secondary school,

2.2.2 Instruments:

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2.2.2.1 Questionnaires

The questionnairs for students is comprised of 2 scelions with 9 questions referring

to the suitability of material content and methodology with the students’ requirement Section 1 consists of 6 questions (from question! te question 6) Its aim to find out the students’ opinions about the suilability of the malorial's content, with their requirements

after the course,

2.1.2.3 Data collection procedure

Data collection was conducted via the questionnaires for both the teachers and the students First, the questionnaires were developed based on the criteria which are the most

appropriale to this study And then, Ihe questionnaires were given to the students in three classes in the last class and the students were requested to complete the qusstionnaire during the class time

The questiormaircs for toachars were distributed on the same day, but the tenchers were asked to return later a week to ensure that they would have enough time to give detailed and accurate information

Besides, data collected by using informal interviews with all the teachers and 30 students in Gree classes during and afler the course, both im and out of the classroom And while asking a series of questions prepared beforehand, the researcher noted their answers

2.2.2.4, Data analysis procedure

In this thesis, data was analyzed by using descriptive statistics method After collecting dala, the roscarchor synthesized thơ answers and catogerived them in form of