Luận văn an evaluation of the textbook english 11 taught at phan dinh phung secondary school in hanoi a case study

UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGE AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES DEPARTMENT OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES LE THI HUB AN EVALUATION OF THE TEXTBOOK ENGLISH 11 TAUGHT AT PHAN DINH PHUNG SECONDARY SCHOOL IN HA

UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGE AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

DEPARTMENT OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES

LE THI HUB

AN EVALUATION OF THE TEXTBOOK ENGLISH 11 TAUGHT

AT PHAN DINH PHUNG SECONDARY SCHOOL IN HANOI

A CASE STUDY ĐÁNH GIÁ SÁCH GIÁO KHOA TIẾNG ANH II DẠY Ở TRIỜNG THPT

PHAN ĐÌNH PHÙNG - HÀ NỘI: ĐIỂN CỨU

MINOR PROGRAM THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology

Code: 60 14 10

Supervisor: Hoang Thi Xuan Hoa, Ph.D

UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGE AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

DEPARTMENT OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES

LE THI HUB

AN EVALUATION OF THE TEXTBOOK ENGLISH 11 TAUGHT

AT PHAN DINH PHUNG SECONDARY SCHOOL IN HANOI

A CASE STUDY ĐÁNH GIÁ SÁCH GIÁO KHOA TIẾNG ANH II DẠY Ở TRIIỜNG THPT

PHAN ĐÌNH PHÙNG - HÀ NỘI: ĐIỂN CÚU

MINOR PROGRAM THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology

Code: 60 14 10

HANOI, AUGUST 3009

Table of COmtEIES o esseseeesceessenecsessscesessssstesesnsanienssenianeeessasaniecsasasecseesneiesesnssnecsseniene dL

2.2.6 Cliteria for fextbook svaluafion 12 2.3 Previous Researcht on texibook evaluation 14

2.4.2 The purpose of adapting texibook 16

CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

A213 Activities oo cecsnseesesmtminienetananensnee -.28 4.2.1.4 Skils

4.3 Classroom observation

CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

5.1 8urnmary of the sludy

5.3 Some suggesled solulons icon ereriirrmriririre

Appendix 1: Curriculum by MOET

Appendix 2: Bookmap of English 11

Appendix 3: Questionnaires for teachers

Appendix 4: Questionnaires for students

s22

5.2.3 Modiloalion con HH that mrrerirrrrirtirrrriie

LIST OF TABLES & CHARTS

able 1 Teachers’ opinions about methodology in the textbook

Table 2 Teachers’ opinions about language text types in the texthook

Table 3 Teachers" opinions about activities in the textbook

Table 4 Teachers’ opinions about skills in the textbook

Table 3 Teachers’ opinions about subjects and contents included in the textbook

Chart 1 Sadents' attitudes toward familiarity of subjects and conients with their daily

Chart 4, Students’ ideas about high frequency of practising language skills

Chart §, Snidents' opinions on balance and links among skills

Chart 6 Students’ attitudes toward capability of communication

Chart 7 Suitability hetween students level of English and language used in the texthook Chart 8 Relevance between subject and content with sndemts’ needs as English learners

Chart 9 Subject and content are interesting, challenging and nvotivatintg ccc cece

Chart 10 Tasks and activities are introduced from simple to comjplex à.c.ec

Chart LI Activities encourage students to work individually, in pair or group

Chart 12 The textbook motivates students ta learn English

1.1 Rationale

English is now taught not only at all universities and colleges, but also as a compulsory subject at almost every senior high school and English will become a compulsory subjocl in grade 3 at primary schools irr 2010 This proves that Igaching and Jeamning English well has become one of the most concems of educators and society

‘Teaching and learning Linglish well means that leamers are able to communicate verbally

providing tasks or aclivilies thal students ean cops with Textbooks provide the sindents with opportunities to use the target language to achieve communicative purposes Tasks and activities in the textbooks are variable and cater for a range of leaming styles so all sladenis can bonofit Fspacially in Vietnam, the textbook is soon as contral Lo toaching- jearning by the majarity of teachers in most schools Whether the new sct of lextbooks is

as effective as Vietnamese teachers expect it to be; whether the textbooks meet the general aims of the course: ¢.g, improving the students’ level of English in the areas of four Janguage skills and teaching thom the basic features of the language, whether the textbooks are appropriatz to the context they are used in’ level of students and teachers, classroom environment, etc are questions for textbook evaluators IIowever, dne to the limited time and its scope, this thesis focuses on evaluating onc sct of textbook only — English 11 at Phan Dinh Phung secondary school, Hanoi, Hopefully, the findings of the thesis will provide contribution to the improvement of the feaching and learning at secondary schools

an Vielnarn,

1.2 Aims and objectives of the study

The study aims to evaluate the textbook objectives, content and methodotogy in order

to determine whether it tuly follows the objectives prescribed by MOET for the course and whether it is suitable to students’ level at Phan Dinh Phung secondary school and to

see whether iL brings aboul the interests in learting Lo the students Al the same lire, the

study also aims to find out whether the textbook suits teachers and helps teachers do the teaching successfully Moreover, the study gives some suggestions to the improvement of the textbook so that the textbook will be better used in the coming years

1.3 Research questions

‘The thesis is to find out the answers to the following research questians

1 Does the textbook Znglish 17 truly follow the objectives prescribed by MOL'T for the

course?

2 Is il suitable lo the students’ level al Phan Dinh Phung secondary school?

3 Does it bring about the interests in leaming to the students at Phan Dinh Phung

secondary school?

4 Js it suitable for the teachers at Phan Dinh Phung secondary schocl, Hanoi in tems of methodology, language competence, tasks, skills and subject and contents?

1.4 Methods of the study

To collect the data, the methods used in the thesis are document analysis, survey questionnaires and classroom observation,

Documents analysis here refers to the analysis of the textbook itself and the objectives for the enurse prescribed hy MOET in the eurriculusn document

Survey questionnaires here play a vital role in getting feedback ftom teachers and

students about the textbook they have used

Classroom observation arc also uscd lơ help the rescarchar interpret tho questionnaire

data more accurately

1.5 Scope of the study

Although the rescarcher is aware that in order to have a comprcheusive evaluation of a textbook, it is much better to make an evaluation of the textbook taught at a large number

of secondary schools in the whotz country, Towever, due lo tine constraints and the limitation of the minor thesis, the researchar only focuses on evaluating the textbook taught

at one secondary school, Phan Dinh Phung secondary school in Hanoi, Because the study

is carried oul al a specific schoot and its participants arc icachers and students al this school, the resull of the study which is ony right af this school cannot be generalized for

all secondary schools in Vietnam Thịs result can be kept For reference when conducting an

evaluation of the textbook taught at other schools

1.6 Design of the study

The study consists of five chapters:

Chapter I Introduction, presents the general introduction of the study, consisting of rationale, aims and objectives, research questions, methods, scope and design of the study Chapter U, Literature review, presents the most important notions related to textbook evaluation They are: definitions and the soles of textbook in language teaching and leaning, definition, reasons, types and methods and criteria of textbook evaluation; definition, purpose and methods of textbook adaptation Also in this chapter some

previous studies om the same topic are presented,

Chapter IH, Methodology, provides information about Research Design, Setting, Participants, Data Collection Instiuments, Data Collection Procedures

cs fhe dala collected

from document analysis, survey questionnaires and classroom observation,

Chapter 5 Conclusions and recommendations, presents the major findings of the study and recommends some suggestions for further study

2.1 Textbook

2.1.1 Definifians nf texthool:

‘The traditional textbook, as we can sce it, usually consists of a number of chapters with texts of different lengths that deal with vatious topics, There may be a different theme for every chapter and sometimes there are a few pre-reading activities, or post-reading excreises The toxis can gonsrally be listened to on CTD or tape In some cases the textbook and the workbook are joined together in the same book, but sometimes they are represented by two separate books

‘This study is aimed at evaluating textbook English 11 by lloang Van Van e¢ al (2008)

therefors it would be sensible to clarify the related terminology “textbook”

Thực am various definitions af textbooks, as for cxample, ỉn www.ndestatsne,us⁄READ/FRAMEWORK/glossary/aeneral pihunl, textbook is defined “a book used for instructional purposes, especially in schools and colleges" Books used by students for particular branches of study can be characterized by another important feature: their itrin

Ily challenging natn

‘Textbook’ is defined by Memiam-Webster Online Dictionary as ‘a book used in the

study of a subject: as a: one containing a presentation of the principles of a subject b: a

Uterary work relevant to the study of a subject’

Collins Cobuild English Dictionary for Advanced Leamers 4° Ldition (2003) also defines textbook as “a hook canlaining facis about » particular subject thal is used by people studying that subject”

In the broad sense of the concept, the tenn ‘textbook’ refers to a manual of instruction

of a standard book in any branch of study They are produced acoording to the demand of educational institutions

‘What the textbook is different from other types of books is thal textbook is written

‘based on standard curriculwn and its principal uscrs are teachers and leamcrs in schools

‘There is some degree of standardization in the textbook rather than others becanse there is

usually an inspectorial system and public examinations to ensure the suitability of the

textbook Textbook has still boon approved and upgraded when having bacn in use within

school system That is why textbook serves as a standard instrument of knowledge for both teachers and learners Textbooks are viewed as resources in acueving, aims and objectives that have already been set in terms of learners’ needs

2.1.2 The roles of texthaok in janquage teaching and aming

English language instruction has many important components but the essential constituculs lo many FST/RFT classrooms aud programs arc the textbooks and instruction materials that are often used by language instructors Different theorists have various ideas

on the crucial rales that textbook plays in language teaching

Garinger (2001) cited in hitp://www teflweb-j orgvInI/garinger html points out that

“Texthooks play a pivotal role in Tanguage classrooms in all typos of educational institutions - public schools, colleges, and language schools - all over the world.’ Riazi (2003, p52) also agrees with that point of view when clarifying that ‘textbooks play a very crucial Tole in the realm of language teaching and learning and are considered the next important ficlar (elentend) [italics added] in the sccond/forcign languags classroom after the teacher.’ Other theorists such as Sheldon (1988) further explains that textbooks not only ‘represent the visible heart of any ELT program’ (p.237) but also offer considerable advantages — for both the students and the teacher — when they arc being uscd in ths

ESL/EFL classroom In some situations, textbooks serve as the basis for much of the

language inpul learners Teceive and the language practice thal occurs in the classroom

‘They may provide the basis for the content of the lessons, the balance of skills taught, and the kinds of language tasks students actively use In other situations, textbooks may serve primarily to supplement the teacher's instruction For leamers, textbooks may provide a major source of contact they have with the target language, oxchuding the input pravieled bby the teacher In the case of novice teachers, textbooks may also be utilized as a form of teacher training: that is, they provide ideas on how to plan and teach lessons as well as formats thal teachers can usc Much of the language teaching that occurs throughout the world today could not take place without the extensive use of commercial textbooks, The advantages that textbooks give to teachers and leamers can be summarised as “A course

‘book is a map It shows where onc is going and where one has been It provides language samples It offers variety.’ (quoted in McGrath 2002:10)

No doubt, a course book is looked upon as an indispensable vehicle for foreign language acquisition whose validity and significance are seldom impugned Many students

working with a course book feel secure and have a sense of progress and achievement They always have a book to relate to; they are not groping in the dark, Consequently, they become more confident and satisfied, as they tackle the target language within a certain framework Furthermore, » textbook provides ther with Ihe opporiumily lo go back and revise, They can also use the textbook for self-study and as a reference tool Besides, a well-illustrated book, equipped with eye-catching phrases and sensational pictures or titles,

is preferable to tons of photocopied material, which teachers and students often take a din view of

While many of the aforementioned theorists are quick to point out the extensive benefits

of using ESL/ENL textbooks, there are many other researchers and practitioners who do

nol necessarily accept this view and retairr some well-founded reservations on the subject Brumtit (1979:30) claims that although textbooks can help teachers, ‘many of them don’?” and that ‘even the best textbooks take away inifiative ftom teachers by implying that there

is somewhere an ‘expert’ who car solve problems’ for the teachers and individual students’, Allwright (1982) also has written a scathing, commentary on the use of textbooks

in the ELT classroom He suggests that textbooks are too inflexible and generally reflect the pedagogic, psychological and linguistic preferences and biases of Iheir authors

Despite that fact, textbooks have a vital and positive role to play in teaching and learning process in sccondary schools in Vietnam, They are an cffective resoures for sel directed leaming, an effective resource for presentation material, a source of ideas and

activities, a reference source for students, a syllabus where they reflect pre-determined learning objcetives, and suppoit for less cxpericneed teachers who have yet to gain in confidence ‘Textbooks can support teachers demonstrate new and/or untied methodologies, inraduce change gradually, and creals scaffolding upon which teachers

can build a more ercalive methodology of their own,

As Cunningsworth (1984:15) slates “course matcrials for Friglish should be scen as the teacher’s servant and not his master’ which leads to the issue of how to evaluate, select and adapt teaching materials to meet our teaching and students” learning needs in order to

qmaximive leaning potentials

2.2 Textbook Evaluation

2.2.1 Definition

‘There are many definitions of evaluation, fundamentally evaluation is asking questions and acting on the responses Evaluation is a whole process which begins with determining, what information to gather and ends with bringing about change in current activities or influencing ones According ta the Langman of Contemporary Rnglish (2001), the most basic definition is ‘the act of considering something to decide how usefull or valuable it is’ Hutchinson and Waters (1987:96) also point out that “Evaluation is a matter of judging the fitness of something for a particular purposc’ Cunningsworth (1984.64) further cxplains + that the process of evaluation could not be a purely mechanical one that professional judgment was involved at every stage.” ‘Professional judgment, found on understanding of

of a context in order to establish in a preliminary way whether that textbook might be suitable for that context we are evaluating,

Low (1987, p 21} states that “teachers generally need to screen materials, in order to predict their suitability for particular classes” ‘thus, in this study, the evaluation of the textbook English 1] in Phan Dink Phung secondary school is \o be conducted with an attempt to find out the fitness of the textbock against students’ level and interests,

2 2 2 The reasons fo evaliate textbook

The iden of evaluating textbooks is seen by some to be closely linked to the selection of textbooks ‘he evaluation helps the selection, which serves as an important decision- making process, as Sheldon (1988) puts il, He has offered some reasons for textbouk evaluation, He suggests that ‘the selection of an ELT textbook often signals an important administrative and educational decision in which there is considerable professional, financial, or even political investnent.” A thorough evaluation, therefore, would enable the amanagerial and teaching staff of a specifie institution or organization to discriminate between all of the available textbooks on the market, Moreover, if would provide for a sons of familiarity with a book's coment thus asstsling odusators in identifying the particular strengths and weaknesses in textbooks already in use, This would go along way

in ultimately assisting teachers with making optimum use of a book's strong points and

recognizing the shortcomings of certain exercises, tasks, and entire texts,

Hutchinson (1987) points out an interactive view of materials evaluation, He emphasizes the deeper level of materials evatuation by asking ths question why materials are the way they are, Tle claims thal *, materials evaluation plays such an important rols

in language teaching that its potential tor influencing the way teachers operate is considerable, Materials evaluation can and should be a two-way process which enables ieachcrs not just ta solect a textbook, but also to develop their awaronass of their own teaching/learning situation.’ (ibid: 37-38)

‘Onc additional reason for textbook evaluation is the fact that it can be very usefull in teacher development and professional growth Cunningsworth (1995) and bllis (1997)

assessments

suggest thal textbook evaluation helps Leachers move beyond impressionist

and it helps them to acquire useful, accurate, systematic, and contextual insights into the overall nature of textbook material ‘Textbook evaluation, therefore, can potentially be a particularly worthwhile meuns of conducting action rescarch as well as a form of professional empowerment and improvement, Similarly, textbook evaluation can also ba a valuable component of teacher training programs for it serves the dual purpose of making, student teachers aware of important features to look for in textbooks while familiarizing them with a wide range of published language instruction zualcrials

2.2.3 Types of fextboak evalualion

Tn lens of when to evaluate a course book, Curmingsworth (1995, p 14) and Ellis (1997) point out that pre-use evaluation, in-use evaluation and post-use evaluation are engendered

2.2.3.1 Pre-use evaluation

The imost common form is probably the ‘predictive! or tpre-use' evaluation thal is designed to examine the future or potential performance of a textbook, Pre-use evaluation tends to be the most difficult kind sinee there is no actual experience of using the course bouk

2.2.3.2 In-use evaluation

‘The other types of textbook evaluation are the ‘in-use’ evaluation designed to examine watcrial thal is currenlly being used In-nse cvaluation is a kind of cvalualion for

suitability, involving “matching the course book against a specific requirement including the leamers’ objectives, the learners’ background, the resources available, etc”

(Cunningsworth, 1995, p 14)

Tnase textbook evaluation, which relies heavily om conscientious record-keeping and evidence-based teflection, is concerned uot only with the evaluation of the original material, but also its adaptability to different contexts

This study will report on a survey that was conducted at Phan Dinh Phung High School

in Hanoi for the purposes of evaluating a textbook English 11 that is being used in this school Thus, this study can be classified as the “in-use” type of evaluation The main

purposs of this evaluation is to validate the merit of the book based on its uscrs’ opinions

will be as varied as the number of stakeholders operating around a particular context, As Rea-Dickins (1994) has written, "The contributions of different stakeholders (those who either make a decision or who are affected by that decision) raise a range of interesting but complex issues that have to do with notions of “objeclivity", "subjectivity", "power relationships", the relative "value" of outsider and insider information, the "use" of evalnation data and so forth.” (p75)

* Can have a deep understanding of

Project and its context

* Likely to be developed trust with staff

and community groups involved

* Parl of the organizational structure

* A way of developing evaluation skills

Bring an outsider's perspective

© Can be viswed by funders as a providing a more independent evaluation

* Can provide a fresh look at the project

* Provide evaluation expeitise & experience ftom other evaluations

* Can free up more time for the doing of the project

Limitations

* Greater cost considerations

* Can have less knowledge of project and organivational = and_—_potiticat environment

© Not part of normal organizational

structure

© May require time to develop trust among staff and participant

In short, whether outsiders or insiders carry out the evaluation depends on the purposes

of the evaluation and on the facilities as well as the constraints of the situation in which the

evaluation happens

2.2.5 Methods of texthook evakiation

‘Three basic methods can be discerned in the literature on textbook evaluation Vor convenisnee, these will be referred lo as the impressionistic method, the checklist method and the in-depth method (MeGrath, 2002),

2.2.5.1, The impressionistic method

‘The impressionistic method is concerned io obtain a gengrat imnprossion of the maleriat and involves plancing at the publisher's blub (Le the brief description of the book on the

‘back cover) and content pages of each textbook (for an indication of the syllabus-type and coverage), and then skimming throughout the book looking at various features of it such as organization, topics, layout and visuals This kind of overview is of course inadequate if it constitutes the sole basis for texthook evaluation and selection

2.2.5.2 The check-list method

‘The checklist method contrasts system (objectivity) with impression (subjectivity) Compared to the two other alternatives, impressionistic evaluation and in-depth cvaluation, the checkdist has at least four advantages: it is systematic which ensures that all elements that are deemed to be important are considered, it is cost effective which permits a good

The checklist method is advocated by most cxperts For instance, Tomlinson (1998) supports the use of this method and maintains that one of the most obvious sources for guidance in analyzing materials is the large number of frameworks which exist fo aim in the evaluation of a textbook However, as he mentions the checklist typically contains implicit assumptions about what desirable materials should look like, and each of these areas might be debatable while also limit their applicability

2.2.5.3 The in-depth method

In-depth techniques go beneath the publisher's and author's claims It considers the kind

of language description, underlying assumptions about learnmg or values on which the materials are based or, in a broader sense, whether the materials seem likely to live up to the claimns that arc boing made for them (MoGrath, 2002)

2.2.6 Criteria for textbook evatiation

Although Sheldon (1988) suggests thal no general list of criteria eam ever really be applied to all teaching and learning contexts without considerable modification, most of these standardized evaluation checklists contain similar components that can be used as helpful starting points for ELT practitioners in a wide variety of simations Preeminent theorists in the ficld of ELT textbook design and analysis, such as Williams (1983), Sheldon (1988), Brown (1995), Cunningsworth (1995) and Harmer (1996) all agree, for

instance, thal evaluation checklists should have some criteria pertaining to the physical characteristics of textbooks such as layout, organizational, and logistical characteristics Other important criteria that should be incorporated are those that assess

a toxthook’s methodology, aims, and approuches and the dogras to which a sot of malorials

is not only teachable but also fits the needs of the individual teacher's approach as well as the organization's overall curriculum Moreover, criteria should analyze ths specific languags, Rmclions, grammar, and skills content that are covered by a particular textbook,

as well as the refevance of linguistic items lo the prevailing socio-cullural enviroment, Finally, textbook evaluations should include criteria that pertain to the representation of cuftural and gender components, in addition to the extent to which the linguistic items, subjects, content, and topics match up to students’ personalitics, backgrounds, needs, and interests as well as those of the teacher and/or institution

It is beneficial to consider some guidelines for evaluation, Sheldon (1988) presents a checklist that includes two main categories: factual details and factors actual details conlain Ihe tile, author, publisher, price, physical size, duration of the couse, largel learner, teacher, and skill, Factors include rationale, availability, user definition, layouVgraphies, accessibility, linkage, selection/grading, physical characteristics, appropriacy, authenticity, suflicicney, cultural bias, educational validity, stimmutus/practicat revision, flexibility, guidance, and overall value for money,

Ur (1996) presents a set of general criteria for assessing any language-teaching textbooks which composes nineteen features These features include: objectives being

explicitly laid ont in an introduction and implemented in the material, approach educationally and socially to the target community, clear attractive layout and easy print 10 read, appropriate visual materials available, interesting topics and tasks, varied topics and tasks, clear instructions, sysicmatic coverage of syllabus, clearly organized and graded content, periodic review and test sections, plenty of authentic language, good prommnciation, vocabulary and grammar explanation and practice, fluency practice in all four skills, cncouraging Ieamers to develop their own Icaming stratogics and to become independent, adequate guidance for teacher, audio cassettes, and being readily available jocally

Robinett (1978 cited in Brown, 2001) introduces another checkhst ‘The main categories

of this checklist arc as follows: goals of the course, background of the students, appraach, language skills, general content, quality of practice material, sequencing, vocabulary, general sociolinguistic factors, format, accompanying materials and teacher’s guide

Byrd (2001 cited in Celce-Murcia, 2001) develops a checklist that includes 4 main evaluative categories: the fit between the textbook and the curriculum, (lie fit between the textbook and the students, the fit between the textbook and the teachers, and overall evaluation of the fit of the book for the course in the program

From the sets of criteria by Sheldon, Uz, Robinett mentioned above, it is remazkable that all chechtists are well-structured and reliable Mowever, iL lakes a lot of time and efforts lo follow these checklists when carrying out textbook evaluation, In reality in Vietnam and in the scope of a minor thesis, Byrd's checklist seems to be more user-tiiendly and easier to follow

2.3 Previous Research on textbook evaluation

‘There are a lot of studies carried out by researchers from many different countries to evaluate textbook being tanghl in their countries Tach study is made use of different approach However, they all have aims to determine the overall pedagogical value and suitability of the book toward the specific language program

“byalnating an EPL Textbook — A new lnglish course” by Jiazhi Wang (2007) is a study on evaluating one particular EFL course book, A New English Course, used by university English major students in China After a bricf introduction of the situation of EFL teaching materials in China and a description of the course book itself, an evaluation

of ane unit of the course book is carried ont ftom both the micro and macro perspectives.

The method used in this research is document analysis By evaluating the teaching material, the researcher pives ideas to adjust, modify and eventually improve the material

“Textbook evaluation and ELT management — A South Korean Case Study” by David

R A Litz, (2005) discusses and describes the intricate and complex evaluation procass that

was undertaken al Sung Kyun Kwan Universily im Suwon, South Korea in 2000-2001 for a

textbook (English Fusthand 2) that was being used in this particular Ieaming environment

‘This study applies a wide variety of relevant and contextually appropriate criteria for the evaluation of the toxthooks (hut are being used in the language classrooms to find out whether contents of the textbooks are of an acceptable standard or level of quality and appropriate to the leamers for whom they are being used Doing this research, a sees of textbook cvaluation questionmaires had been created and provided to the instructors and students at the conclusion of the first year of the course, They contained questions that pertained to the practical considerations (price, accessories, methodology ete,), layout and desig, range and balance of activiti

„ skills appropriateness and integration, social and cultural considerations, subject content, and language types represented in the textbook, An additional component of the study consisted of a student ‘needs analysis’ that was conducted al the same fine as the textbook evaluation survey

“valuation of LI'L Materials Taught at Iranian Public Iligh Schools” by Ali Jahangard (2007) cvaluates four EFL textbooks which have been prescribed for use in Lunian high schools by the Ministry of Education, The merits and demerits of the textbooks are discussed in detail with reference to 13 common features extracted ftom different material evaluation checklists The study then gives some suggcstions to alleviate some of the shortcomings encountered in the textbooks

“An evaluation of the piloted English 10 Textbook 2 at Nguyen Tat Thanh High School” by Nguyen ‘Thu Luong Lan (2004) is aimed to evaluate the textbook in terms of objectives, content, methodology lo determine whelher it truly reftcels the objectives prescribed by MOET for the course and students’ level of English It also provides contribution to the improvement of the textbook to enhance the effectiveness of the material

From all studies mrtionsd above, il can he stated that with the same purpose to cvaluate the effectiveness of the material in use and offer suggestions to improve the

xmaterial im use, the researchers have different criteria and methods to conduct researches

‘The researcher of this study also finds out suitable criteria and method to do research

2.4 Textbook Adaptation

2.4.1, Definition

Definition of adaptation can be unhelptully broad, Madsen and Bowen (1978) claim that

“Livery teacher is in a very sense an adapter of the material he uses” (p vii) According to Tomlinson (1998b:xi), material adaptation means making changes lo materials in order to improve them or to make them more suitable for a particular type of leamer Adaptation can include reducing, adding, omitting, modifying and supplementing Most teachers adapt materials every time they use a lextbook in order lo maximize the value of the book for

their particular leamers

2.4.2 The purpose of adapting textbook

MeCirath (2002.64) stales (hat the two most frequently ciled purposes for adaptation are

as follows:

1 to make the malctial more suitable for the civcurnstaness in which iL is peing used, ic

to mould it to the needs and interests of leamers, the teacher's own capabilities and such constraints as time, or as McDonongh and Shaw (1993:85) put it: ‘to maximize the appropriacy of leaching materials in conlexl, by changing sore of the internal characteristics ofa course book to better suit owr particular circumstances’,

2, t compensate for any intrinsic deficiencies in the material, such as linguistic

inaccuracies, out-of-datedness, lack of authenticity or lack of variety

2.4.3 Methods to adapt textbook

Despite the great effort that textbook writers make to meet the needs of the intended users, textbooks are subject to adaptation when they are actually used in the classroom After all, most commercial textbooks are noi written for any partienlar class, Maley (1998:281) suggests the following options to adapt materials:

+ omission; the teacher Jeaves out things deemed inappropriate, offensive, unpro- dative, ate, for the particular group

+ addition: where there seems to be inadequate coverage, teachers may decide to add

to textbooks, either in the form of texts or exercise material.

+ reduction: where the teacher shortens an activity to give it ess weight or emphasis + extension; where an activity is lengthened in order to give it an additional dimen- sion, (For example, a vocabulary activity is extended to draw attention to some syntactic patterning)

+ rewriting/modification: teacher may occasionally decide to rewrite material, espe- cially excreise malcrial, io make i more appropriate, more “commumicative”, more demanding, more accessible to their students, ete

+ replacement: text or exercise material which is considered inadequate, for whatever reason, may be replaced by more suitable material This is often culled from other resource Tratorials

+ re-ordering: teachers may decide that the order in which the textbooks are presented

is not suitable for thcix students, They can then devide to plot a different course through the textbooks from the one the writer has laid down

+ branching: teachers may decide to add options to the existing activity or to suggest altemative pathways through the activities (Vor example, an experiential route or an

analytival route.)

2.5 Summary

‘This chapter has reviewed theories relaled lo the textbook and the roles iL plays in the process of teaching and learning as well as important issues of textbook evaluation that need to be considered when conducting textbook evaluation it has also reviewed some of the previous rescarch on lextbook cvaluation in different contexts in the world The lasl section of this chapter presents some theoretical discussions about textbook adaptation, All

of these serve as a basis for carrying out an evaluation of the textbook at a specific secondary school presented in the next chapter

‘This chapter describes the research method in this thesis, It presents a discussion on

‘how to conduct an cvaluation of the textbook with the aim to improve cfifctiveness of the textbook for future use The chapter includes research design, setting, participants, data

collection instruments, data collection procedures

3.1 Research Design

‘This study is aimed at evaluating the textbook English 11 taught at Phan Dinh Phung Iligh School, Tanoi in terms of objectives, content and methodology This evaluation research was conducted while the teachers and students have been using the textbook to determine whether the textbook has worked well in this school and what should be adapted for batter use in the fidlure The researcher combines 4 triangulation of methods: document analysis, survey questiounaires and classroom observation It is believed that a combination of different methods to collect data will provide more reliable and valid information for the evaluation

3.2 Setting

In the 2007-2008 academic year, the new English textbook for grade 11 was officially used nationwide in every sccondary school in Victnam It is governed by the MOET that English is a compulsory subject in the syllabus for learners at all secondary schools and only textbooks published by EPH are officially used

‘The study was conducted at Phan Dinh Panng Ligh Schoal in llanoi, where Lnglish [1 was piloied and now the new lextbook English 11 is being taught, There are 15 classes in grade 11 in this school The size of the class is rather large Each class has 45 students It is obvious that due to large-class size, there are some negative effects on teaching and teaming English im the school

Besides major subjects such as Maths and Literature, English is also considered as a core sưbjeot in this school More than half of the stedents major in English The teaching, and leaming English which is received much care from managerial board of the school is expected to act well

3.3 Participants

‘The school now has ten Lnglish teachers aged between 25 and 53 All of them are female, They all graduated from Fngtish Department, University of Language and Intemational Studics, VNU Their teaching cxpcrienc at secondary school ranged from 3

to 30 years All of them have experienced teaching English 11, All of the teachers are willing and enthusiastic toward [heir leaching,

‘The school has 675 students im grade 11 All of the studonis in his school started lcarning English sinec they were in grade 3 Therefore, they have rather good competenac

of English, Among 675 students, 300 students major in the natural science subjects and the zest of students major in the foreign language, English Because the students wha major in the forcign language have good compentenee in English, they leam English 11 much beller than other students in this school and in other schools in Vietnam; the researcher didn’t asked them to do a survey The students whose major subjects are natural science ones do not major in English so theix English language competence is on average which is the same Jevel as students’ in other secondary schools nationwide, When choosing 300 students

from natural science classes as partcipants of the study, the result seems more reliable and

xay rofloot the Teabily of Leaching ad lcaming Engfislt in

ondary schools in Vi

3.4 Data Collection Instruments

Tn this part, the rescarcher described the instruments for collecting dala thal were used

in the rescarch and presonted the strength of the rescarch methods chosen in order to explain the reason for choosing these research methods for the study of evaluating the lextbook The insbuments consist of document analysis, survey questionnaires and classroom observation

3.4.4 Document analysis

‘This research method is said to bring an important sourec of data for cvaluation and it

forms “an essential part of the data for an evaluation exercise” (Robinson, 1991:71).

In this thesis, document analysis is a very suitable method to collect the data because the purposes of the thesis is evaluating Textbook English 11 at Phan Dinh Phmng

secondary school, [lanoi to find ont whether the textbook is suitable to MOET

requirements for the course The svaluator conducted an analysis of the textbook English L1 and compared it to the curriculum of the course prescribed by MOET in order to find out the answer (Appendices J and 2}

34.2, Survey questionnaires

Survey questionnaires are also important instruments for collecting data They have many significant advantages As indicated by Gillham, 2000, they are less pressure on respondents, not under pressure of interview bias and analysis of answers is straightforward

In this thesis, survey questionnaires were designed to collect the teachers” and students” opinions and attitudes toward the lexthook thay are using The loachors and students were requested lo complete the questionnaires relating ta contents and methodalogy in the textbook

“The researcher made use of two sets of survey questionnaires, one for the teachers and the other for the students A thisty-ilem questionnaire was designed to collecl idsas of

ieachers 1 was calogorived inlo five main parts The firs! parl consisted of 7 questions

from 1 to 7 to find out whether the textbook suits the teachers in Methodology These

seven questions were aimed to find out whether tasks in Reading, Speaking, Listening,

Wriling and Langimgs Focus helped tcachers carry oul the (caching casily and successfully, Part 2 included five questions to cellect teachers’ opinions on the suitability

of the textbook for them in term of Language ‘Types: ive questions in part 3 were to find

out the appropriateness of the textbook for (he teachers in eum of Aclivitics, The next three questions in part 4 were to investigate the suitability of the textbook for the teachers

in term of Skills; the appropriateness of the textbook for the teachers in term of Subjects and contenis were identified by four questions in next part and finally questions were ta ñnd out teachers’ opinions about what should be adapted in the textbook (Appendix 3)

Another twelve-item questionnaire was given to students in the natural science classes to

colfcet their opinions The questions were Io find out whether the subjects and contents; skills, activities, language, and social knowledge included in the textbook suited their level and interested them, The survey questionnaires for students were written im Vietnamese to

anake sure that all students could understand the questions without any difficulty and could answer them with high reliability (Appendix 4)

‘rhe teachers and students are requested to complete the questionnaires and return them

to the researcher Then Ihe tescarcher generated and analyzed the dala and displayed in forms of tables and charts

The researcher came to 5 different ch Fach class the researcher observed differen!

periods: Reading, Speaking, Listening, Writing and Language Focus, The purpose of the classroom observation is to find out whether the textbook interests students at Phan Dinh Phung sccondary school in Hanoi and whether the textbook suils students’ fovel The researcher observed the students and took notes of the classroom activities and students’ involvement in these activities After cach observation was completed, the researcher shared [he observation naics and interpretations wilh Ihe leachers to confirm the answers,

3.5 Data Collection Procedures

As being menhoned in the previous part, three instrumenls were employed lo collect data for this thesis: document analysis, survey questionnaire and classroom observation

First, the researcher analyzed the textbook against the requirements set by MOET ‘Then

the rescarcher observed the classes and al the same lime the roscarchor gave ont tha questionnaires to studenis and teachers Afler collecting the questionnaires, the rescareher analyzed and compared the results with the information gained ftom classroom observation

3.6 Summary

This chaplar has provided a description of rescarch design Tt has also described thơ solting and participants uscd in this stndy In addition, ỉL has prescrtod elealy the data collection instruments and data collection procedures

CHAPTER 4 DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION

This chapter presents and discusses the findings that are resulted from the analysis of tiree types of data collection; document analysis, survey questionnaire and classroom observation

4.1 Document Analysis

In order to decide whether the textbook English 11 follows the curriculum prescribed

‘by MORT, it is niceassary to look al the eumioulum (Appendix 1) and th: desuription af the contents in the textbook (Appendix 2) It is clearly seen that the contents of this textbook mostly match the items the curiculum presoribed in terms of topics, grammatical points,

competences

According to the curriculura, there are 6 themes with 16 topics in Tinglish 11 as follows: Friendship, Personal experiences, Parties, Volunteer work, literacy, Competitions, Population, Celebrations, Postal and telecommunication services, Nature in danger, Sources of energy, The Asian Games, Tobie

Snferlainment, Space Conquest, Wonders

of the world In the textbook English 11, these 16 topics are written in the contents of 16

in terms of competences, some are targeted to be acquired by the students but were not

included in the textbook:

- Ths 3s qualities for truz Griendslip

+ Write a letter to ask for und give information about competitions

- Tixpress satisfaction and dissatisfaction towards postal services

- Describe population development

- Talk about types and sources of energy

- Talk about possibilitics of events

several dơinpoloneos are not required bul were employed as new inputs + Making requests

- Inferpreting stalistics on population fromm a chart

- ‘Talking about sports results

Moreover, promunciation is not required but is included in the texthaok

Basically, comparison between the contents in the textbook and the requirements of the course by MORT reveals thal there are jusl few ilems missing so il can be concluded that

the textbook meets the requirements in terms of topics, grammatical points, competences

Llowever, in order to say whether the textbook is suitable to students and teachers or not,

the researcher relied mainly on the (cachers’ and students” opinions collceted by the survey questionnaixcs

1 By teaching tasks in Pre-Teading, you 20% | 80%

interest your students in the topics they

2, By teaching tasks in while-reading,

youhelp your student

3 You taught tasks in post-reading casily

because you only help your students

consolidate what they have learnt

4, By teaching tasks in Pre-listening you

provide your students some key words to

do the tasks in while-listening stages

5 By teaching tasks in while-listening,

you help your shudents acquire

knowledge to understand listening texts

6 You bught tasks in post-listoning

easily because your students only show

‘their understanding in the form of writing

or spenking

7 In Speaking section, teachers always

ask the students to work in pairs and

groups to discuss topics and they can

speak about topics they have learnt

30% 10%

30% 70%

8 In Writing section, teachers provide

‘the students the models of the writing and

ideas necessary for the writing,

9, In Language Focus section, teachers

hetp the students und stand gramnnar

points and practise them in

From the table above, it can be seen that all teachers thought that they were interested in teaching the tasks in pre-reading to the students, Tasks in these parts motivated students very much because they were introduced the topics and asked to give their ideas of the topics through a lot of good and vivid illusiralions Morcover, to do the tasks wall, the students had to brainstorm and used their background knowledge The afmostphere in the classes was very amusing Based on data collected and informal interactions with the teachars at Phan Dinh Phung secondary school, Hanoi, the tasks in thesc parts gave good and clear instructions and were not very difficult so students did the tasks very well

‘When being asked about tasks in while-reading, nine out of ten teachers (90%) admitted

‘that they found no difficulty in teaching tasks in while-reading because their students learnt reading skills since they wers mn grade 6, tlicy got used to varictics af reading tasks such as comprehension questions, word meanings in context, multiple-choice, True/False, title matching, etc They have also enriched their basic vocabulary for eight years of leaning English Moreover, all of tasks 1 in while-teaiting in the textbook checked students the aneanings of new words so students not only knew the usage of new words in the contexts and knew the meanings of new words to understand the reading texts as well

70% of the teachers shared the same opinion that it was not very difficult to teach tasks

in post-reading ‘lasks in post-reading were very interesting and motivating which made sludents more active in the class In sore untls, tasks required students tơ summarise whal they had leamt in written or spoken form and then compared their opinions with their friends, Students were very competitive hecause they could show their understanding In some units, students were required to usc their knowledge to solve the problem which arose in the reading text, Students were very interested because they had opportunities to use their background knowledge lo solve the problem and compared what they had known

to what they had read In some unils, students were required to answer the questions about

themselves related to personal information, These questions became very motivating because students would know more about their friends In sum, students understood the

reading texls and could do the post-reading well so the tsachers found il easily to Leach

‘When being asked about the tasks in predistening, the teachers staled thal, they helped students to do the tasks in while-listening, more easily In some units, the students were provided with cultural knowledge presented in while-listening so they have less difficulty int doing lasks Especially ist Listen and repeat, tha teachers provided sludents wilh now

words in the Listening texts which helped students very much to do the tasks in while- listening, The teachers showed their high satisfaction with tasks pre-tistening and suggested there were no changes in these parts

Ơn the contrary, nine out of ten teachers questioned said that they found it difficnit to leach fisiening tasks in whiledislering, Although students were given new words and structures and sometimes cudtural knowledge included in the listening text, students did not

do tasks well Some said that there was so much information in the listening texts and students gol confised, For cxamglo, in unit 1, students wore required to lislsn Iwo conversations, Lan’s talk and Long’s talk and stndents had difficulty in understanding beth conversations and did the tasks in only a peod In unit 6, there were a lot of events and

people Look part in the events for sludents lo remetmber Listening lext in anit 7 was the

same degree of difficulty Some said that comprehension questions in the listening texts were difficult and they had to modify these tasks For example, task 2 in unit 7 was modified in multiple-choice questions Task 2 in unit 10 was modified in the gap-Ailling passage, From observing class, the researcher also found that there were forty-five students

in each class and students were not allowed fo used headphones for listening so the large number of sixtents and inadequate equipment were also the reason for bad listening results

Although there was only only one task in post-lisicning which required students to show their understanding in the form of writing or speaking, most of the teachers (90%) claimed

‘that they taught these parts not easily and took them much time for preparation With the students’ current level of English at Phan Dinh Phung sceendary school, they could not speak out or write what they had listened correctly and fluently without being guided and

time for posi-islsning tasks was nol much so teachers had to redesign the task, Teach asked stndenis to answer the questions and then spoke again or rowroie, Sometimes the teachers provided students with words/structures or ideas and asked students to speak or write, Only by using guided cnes could students did post-listening correctly

It is clearly seen from the above table that all teachers (100%) agreed that speaking tasks in the Isxtbook such as reporting the tesulls, role-play, practising the dialogue, acting

out the conversations, interviewing, etc, gave students opportunities to work individually,

in pairs and groups ‘Teachers also added that task instructions in this part were good and clear The tasks included structures, rain and supporting ideas for the Lopies so studonts

did not have mach difficulty in finding new ideas to speak out, They only made up sentences and passages and then spoke about topics they have learnt As a result, teachers could carry out the teaching easily without much preparation

‘The data from above table shows that high percentage of the teachers (70%) disagree that tasks in writing section provided the students with the models of the writing and ideas necessary for the waiting so teachers had difficulty in guiding their students to write, There were few units including models of writing, Some difficult types of writing such as writing

a reply loller, describing @ chart, describing a culcbration, writing a letter lo express satisfaction, writing a biography, students’ level of English was not good enough to write a complete compostition in a correct form and format without models so teachers took much time lo give and explain their students gand samples of writing

With respect to language focus, many ieachars (70%) grovad dissatisfied because exercises in this section were sometimes not typical for the language points needed to be practised Moreover, exercises focused on correctness of language usage so teachers only asked students to check the correctness when doing these oxercises, Tho (oachors couÏdn”I

ask students to practise grammar points in commmnicative contexts with these types of

exercises Thus, the teachers thought of communicative situations for students to practise using the language paints learnt

Tn conchision, it cam be seen from the dala and discussions: ahove thal the textbook English 11 is partly appropriate to teachers at Phan Dinh Phung High School, Hanoi in tems of methodology, In reading and speaking, tasks were relatively suitable and teachers could use for teaching without difficulty However, in listening and language focus, it required some modifications so Ul teachers could adapt for ths (caching mora easily