Luận văn an evaluation on the validity of end term english tests used for year 11 students at a vietnamese public high school in the north east area of vietnam

TIIE DEVELOEMENT AND EVALUATION OF UTHENTIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIALS FOR FIRST-YEAR STUDENTS IN GENERAL ENGLISH COURSE AT THAI BINH UNIVERSITY PHAT TRIEN VA DANH GIA TAI LIEU CHAN THYC B

TIIE DEVELOEMENT AND EVALUATION OF UTHENTIC

SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIALS FOR FIRST-YEAR STUDENTS IN GENERAL ENGLISH COURSE AT THAI BINH UNIVERSITY

PHAT TRIEN VA DANH GIA TAI LIEU CHAN THYC BO TRO CHO

SINI VIÊN NĂM THỨ NHÄT TRONG KHÓA HỌC TIỀNG ANII CƠ

BẢN TẠI TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC THÁI BÌNH

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology

Fanui, 2015

TIIE DEVELOEMENT AND EVALUATION OF UTHENTIC

SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIALS FOR FIRST-YEAR STUDENTS IN GENERAL ENGLISH COURSE AT THAI BINH UNIVERSITY

PHAT TRIEN VA DANH GIA TAI LIEU CHAN THYC BO TRO CHO

SINI VIÊN NĂM THỨ NHÄT TRONG KHÓA HỌC TIỀNG ANII CƠ

BẢN TẠI TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC THÁI BÌNH

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology

Supervisor: Duong Thu Mai, PhD

Fanui, 2015

DECLARATION

I certify that I am the sole author of this thesis All the material in this study which is not my own work has been identified and acknowledged This thesis has not been submitted for assessment in any other university or institution wholly or partially 1 also accept all the requirements of ULIS relating to the retention and use of M.A graduation thesis deposited in the library

Vũ Mai Duyên

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I owe my deepest gratitude to my supportive supervisor, Duong Thu Mai,

Ph.D, for her whole-hearted assistance, encouragement as well as the profound

guidance she gave me while I was doing my research

I would like to take this opportunity to express my thanks to all my teachers

and lecturers in Faculty of Post-graduale Sludies, University of Languages and

Intemational Studies, Vielnain National University, Hanoi for thơm valuable instruction and assistance throughout the realization of this thesis

I am heartily thanktul to the administrators, my colleagues, and first-year students at Thai Binh University for their willingness to participate in the research Without their help, this project could not be fulfilled

Last but not least, I am indebted to my beloved family and friends who have

unfailingly inspired ine to camrplete this study

Hanoi, September 2014

ABSTRACT Thus study attempts to develop and evaluate a set of authentic supplementary materials for students in a General English course at Thai Bình University Approaches, principled trameworksand selection criteria are identified to serve as basic guideline for the process of developing materials The material

cvaluation proceeds using survey questionnaire and interview Quantitatively and

qualitatively analytical results revealed thal the developed materials appeared to Dring sboul positive enhancement in students’ learning Fnglish.Bothstudents and teachers demonstrated highly supportive judgments toward the materials?”

effectiveness in nearly all aspects but not much in writing skill Man-Whitmey U test result indicatedsignificant relations between students’ evaluations and their English

proficiency Based on the findings, the thesis provides pedagogic implications and

suggestions for fiuther research which would be of considerable interest to English

language teachers, leamers as well as material developers and evaluators

LISTOF ABBREVIATIONS

sct of Authentic Supplementary Materials

Credit / Fair (students)

Communicative Language Teaching

English Language Teaching

English for Specific Purposes

Good, very Good (students)

High-Order Thinking Skill

Language Teaching and Leaming

(Vietnamese) Mirstry of Education and Training Standard of Deviation

Statistical Package for the Social Sciences

Thai Binh University

University of Language and Tnterational Studies

Vietnam National University, Hanoi

iv

2 Airis of study and research questions su ced

5 Dasign of the study esssseessnineseinvnatisninnnannensinentusimetnmamensned

L.L Material Development in English Language Teaching 4 1.1.1 Materials in Linglish language teaching 4 1.1.2 Process of Material Development in English language teaching 3 1.1.3, Process of Authentic Supplomentary Material Development in ELT .8 1.2 Material Evaluatiơn in English 1,anguage Teaching c T2 1.2.1, Approaches to Material Evaluation 13

1.3 Review of telated studics oo - 21

1.4, Chapter summary

CHAPER UL: METHODOLOGY

2.1.1 Thái Binh University context ccscssnmieneminnntasienatnmenen sa 28 2.1.2 General English Course ninneeerrrerereooee 28

2.2.1, ‘The Development of the Authentic Supplementary Materials 24

2.2.2 The Evaluations of the ASM 29

CHAPTER III: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS

3.1 Strangths and weaknesses of the ASM (Research question 1) 236

3.2.2 Prmctieal Láng ø[he A8M .40 3.3 The impnels ø[ the ASM (Rescarch questlơn 2) - 42 3.3.1 Impactson linguistic and extra-Linguistic skills đ2 3.3.2 Impaoison cornruricative eompglznee ieoeeoeoeree để

3.3 Differences between the evaluationsof thetwo groups(Eesearch questien 3) 4ó 3.3 Future use of the ASM KHatrrrrreirrrrraarrarrrereos T7

3.4 Chapter summary

PART C: CONCLUSIONS

1 Simamary ofthe ñnởings and đỉscussion 2 AB

11 The development of the ASM ¬ - AB

2 Conclusions ¬ - AD

3 Recarmmendations ¬ - - 30

vi

5 Suggestions for further research _— el

REFERENCES and BIBLIOGRAPHY

APPENDIX 1: SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE FOR FIRST-YEAR STUDENTS _.T APPENDIX 2: RELIABILITY STATISTICS ceceeeeeeesieessseesesssees ee WIL APPENDIX 3: Mean scores of evaluations on the A8M VI APPENDIX 4: Results of Mann Whitney test on two groups’ evaluations IX APPENDTX 5: LEARNING STYLES ccneeiereniiereseesoreo XE

LIST OF FIGLRES

Fignre 1-1: Typical Farward design lesson plan

Fignre 1-2: Stages in the Backward design process

Figure 1-3: A leacher’s path through the production of new or adapted materials

Fignre 2.2-1: Steps of developing materials

Figtre 3.1-1: General approprialeness of the ASM

Figure 3.1-2: The appropriateness of the ASM’s confent

Figure 3.1-3: Difficult level of the ASM’s content

Figure 3.1-4: The appropriateness of the ASM's lopics/themes

Figure 3.1-5: Practical Utilizing of the ASM

Figure 3.1-6: Classroom interaclions HH ghe

Figure 3.3-1: Impacts of the ASM on macro linguistic skills

Figure 3.3-2: Impacts of the ASM on cxtra-linguistic skills

Figure 3.3-3: Impacts of the ASM on linguistic competence

Figure 3.3-4: Impacts of the ASM on other components of communicative competence

Figure 3.-1: Significant differences in the evaluations between two student gronpe

LIST OF TABLES Table 3.21: Forms of authentie mafcrials in the ASM

Table 3.1-1: Students’ Loaming styles

Table 3.1-2:Meang on Practical Utilizing

Table 3.3-1:Means on linguistio skilfs

Table 3.4-1: Foture se of the ASM

teachers need lo be cnabled lo write their own matcrials in order to reduce the dependency

on published materials and as a moans of professional development (Jolly & Bolitho 1998, pp.111-112).Using their own language lcaming and teaching experience az a personal knowledge base and gaining theoretical insights on material development and cvaluation,

teachers can devise the most suitable materials to their particular teaching context These

language (cachers, in good time, could create and nurture an environment supporting the development of language knowledge and zocial skills thal their learners need to function in larger society

With the desire tooffera motivating, beneficial and serviceable General English course for first-year students at Thai Binh University (TBU), the integsating of authentic materials into the curriculum is of utmost importance The authenticity is felt significant since it gives leamers a taste of the natural language use, cultural issues and real world experiences (Richard, 2001; Kelly ef al, 2002; MeGrath, 2602) This taste on one hand enhances motivation, generates deeper interests, and facilitates comprehension, on the other hand it providesoppartunitiesfor leamers to rehearse the language studied in a sheltered environment for the successful language use in the fisture

At TBU - a typical contextofa newly-upgraded institutionin an agricultural province where hardly could people see eomeone from an English speaking country on the streets or at special places, the developing of pertinent setz of THT materials for sindents hae also heen

a matter of concem.Being aware of the above mentioned importance of authenticity, the schoal management board haz made this an mportant eriterion for material development

A purposeful and careflcolleclion ofauthentic malerials will“remind” TBU sludentsthal

acquitingan international language like Englishis not anything “luxuious” but advantageons m their daily communicating, entertaining, studying, and ther fixture employment Such materisls should be prioritized to develop and cvaluated, given the current course-book with limitations in terms of authenticity, Since there has nol yet

research targeting at the authentic material development in the context of TBU, this gap has opened a path for the current study on “The Development and Evahuation of Authentic Supplementary Materials for First-Year Students in General English Course at Thai Bish University” Hopefully, advances in language teaching and leamingin given context may

stem from the merits of the developed set of authentic supplementary materials (ASM)

2 Aims of study and research questions

The nltmaterim of this sindy is to develop a set of anthentic supplementary materials for

first-year students at TRU in order to compensate for certain unsnitabifity of the set course-

book.Secondly, the studyinvolves itself in the process ofinvestigating the evalnations of TRUstudentsandteachers towardsthe strengths and weaknesses of the ASM and identifying

their perceptions tothe ASM’s effectiveness Another aim is to explorewhether there 16 4

relation betweenthe students’ evalnationsand their English proficiency The research is condneted to answer the fallowing questions:

Question 1, Whal are the strengths and weaknesses of lhe Authentic Supplementary

Matcrials from the perspectives of first-year students and teachers of English at

‘Thai Binh University?

Question 2To what extent arcthe Authentic Supplementary Materials cffectivefrom the

perspectives of first-year studentsand (cachere of English al Thai Binh University? Question 3 To what extent do the two English proficient student groups differ in their

evaluation on the Authentic Supplementary Materials?

3 Scope of the study

The minor thesis limits its scope to onlyauthentic materials as a source of supplementation since investigating all kinds of supplementary materials are such broad topics that they cannot be wholly discussed within the framework of this paper

The process of applying, snch :aterials in real teaching and examining their effectiveness

is within the scope of this small study.Investigating the atutudes of TBU teachers and targetedstudents towards the materials, the paper also attempts to figure ont whether or not there is difference in the evaluations of student groups based on their English proliciencylevels

Subjects of the material evaluation includel 04 first-yenr students at two faculties at TBU who are not English majored, the results of thie sindy hence may be generalized to only non-English major students at Vietnamese colleges and universities

4 Method of the study

The study is carried out on the basis of relevant theoretical document analysis andauthentic

English material collection for the material development process Asurvey questionnaire

and semi-tmctured interviews are used for material evaluation First of all, intensive and

extensive reading of related-theory documents on material development and evaluation would provide principledframeworks andoriteriafor the authentic material selection for the supplementation process Secondly, afier being implemented, the ASMevahiahon is carried

ont in order ta obtain detailed and comprehensive informationfor the decision on the future use of the ASM In the second stage, bath quantitative and qualitative research methads are

employed in the procedurenf analyzing data callected from the survey queshonnaire and

interviews Qualitative method plays itedommaring tole in the constructing, paneling and

validating of the surveyquestionnairebefore it is revised for surveying purposes

5 Design of the study

The study is composed of Ihre parts:

Part A Introduction—presents the background, aims, rescarch questions, the scope, and the design of the study

Part B- Development- is organized in three chapters

Chapter 1- Literature review— conceptualizes the framework of the study through the discussion of issucs on developing and evaluating authentic materials for English language

Chapter 3 Findings and Discussions consists of a comprehensive analysis of the data collected and a discussion on the findings of this study

Part C — Conclusion- offers a summary of the findings, conclusion, recommendations,

limitations, and future directions for further study.

PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPER T: LITERATURE REVIEW

This initial paperis a principled enquiryinto the theoretical backgrounds onBI-Tmaterial development and evaluation, which engages the research inlo ideas and practices of developing and evaluating a set of authentic supplementary materials for a General English course,

1.1 Material Development in English Language Teaching

LLI Materials in English language teaching

Tomlinson (1998, p xi) defines that materials are “anything which presents or informs about the language being learned” or “anything that can be used to facilitate the learning of

a language” McGrath’s (2002, p.7) agreos that materials are “all kinds” that “can be exploited effectively for language learning”

Regarding the cole of language learning and teaching (LLT)materials,a large volume of research has demonstrated its critical importance in language acquisition Nunan (1988, p.98) states that language teachingmaterials are “an escential element within the curriculum they provide concrete models far desirable classroom practice and

falfill a teacher development tole.” Richards (2001, p 251) alsotitles materials as “a key component in most language programs” Ile perceives the functions of materials as the basis for donguage inpur (lesson contents, skills taught) as well ax language practice oceuming in langnage classroom; and as a form of feacher training which provides teachers with ideas on how to plan and teach lessons

In terms of clastification,(Tomhnson 2003, p.2) notes that materials can he lingustic,

visual, auditory or kinaesthetic Taking the formsof print or non-printhand-written or modia-distribuled Gnicrnel websites, computer software, cle.) (Richards, 2001, p.251, McGrath, 2002, pp 125-136), linguisticmaterials may be myormative — informing learners about the lagoL language, insiructional — guiding lcamcrs in practising the Ianguage,experiential- providing leamers wilh experiences of the language in usc,eliciting

— encouraging learners to use the language, and exploratory — helping learners o make discovotics about the language (Tomlinson, 2012, p.143)

Pedagogicalmatctials — materials designed for language leaming and tcaching,non- pedagogicalmatetials authentic materials (e.g off-air 1ecordings, uewspaper articles),

teacher-written materials, and leamer-generated materials (McGrath 2002, p.7) can

beutilized ascore / main materials or supporting /supplementary materials

(Cunningsworth, 1995, p 1)

In summary, scholars have reached a consensus on the pedagogical benefits of materials in

theLLT process Accordingly, materials in ELT are anything that serve as a guideline for

not only leamers but also teachersabout contentandclassroom practice in English lessons

It is materials that provide learners with English linguistic knowledge and background

knowledge in English, especially when they do the self-directed leaming; and it is

materials that help teachers become more efficient and diverse in ELT classrooms,

1.1.2 Process of Material Development in English language teaching

Material development in the words of Tomlinson (1998, p.2) refers to “anything which is

done by writers, teachers or leamers to provide sources of language input and to exploit

those sources in ways which maximize the likelihood of intake” Tomlinson (2012) makes

the definition clearer when emphasizing material development as all the

processesincluding material evaluation, adaptation, design, production, and exploitation

research, which aremade use of by practitioners who produce and/or use materials for

language learning(pp 143-144),

Essentially,matetial development is an educational operation which helps teachers to

identify ways to make up,modify; select, edit,adapt and use the LLT materials in order for

them at their best to be a “key component” within the language program

1.1.2.1 Approaches to material development in ELT

The development and implementation of ELT materials can be approached in several

different ways, each of which surely has different implications This paper describes three

approaches, namely Forward design, Central design and Backward design, which differ

from one another when issues related to content, process, and outcomes are addressed

(Richard, 2013)

Resolving issues of contents the initial stage of Forward design, which has been the major

tradition of material đevelopment(Richard, 2013, p 5) Wiggins and McTighe (2006, p

15) illustrates this forward-design process with a typical lesson plan

selects a resource

chooses instructional methods

chooses questions to assess learners’ understanding of the topic

Figure 1-1: Typical Forward design lesson plan

Differently, Central design begins with classroom procedures and methodology

“Innovative methods’ of the 1980s and 90s reflect Central design approach (Richard 2013,

p 5) Research on teachers” practices (Clark, 1987; Pennington & Richards, 1997; Richard,

2001; Woodward, 2001) reveals that when planning their lessons,many teachers first

consider theprocedures,teaching techniques, and learning activities (presentation, group

work, pair work, role plays, ete.) Later their attention tums to inputs and leaning

outcomes which are addressed as the chosen methods

are implemented These teachers feel the most important is to get their leamers motivated,

keep theminterested and dothings worthwhile in class If this is achieved, learning will

inevitable happen (Woodward, 2001, p 187)

‘The use of classroom activities and processes as the starting point in instructional planning

is strongly criticized by Wiggins and McTighe (2006), who argue for starting with a clear,

careful description of desired results or learning outcomes - Backward design Backward

Design proceeds in three phases, necessarily in the following order

Identify desired results

IL Determine acceptable evidence

IIL Plan learning experiences & instruction

Figure 1-2: Stages in the Backward design process

As a well-established tradition in curriculum design in general education, Backward design

has re-emerged as a prominent curriculum development approach in ELT The Common

European Framework of Reference is a recent example of backward design (Richard, 2013,

pp 5-20)

It is recognized that, there is no one best approach, and that forward design, central design

and backward design might each work well in different circumstances (Richard, 2013)

Each approach has advocates and practitioners who can cite magnificentexamples of

successful implementation These approaches actually might also work concurrently in

some circumstances,

This paper would rather follow David Crabbe’s suggestion that “in fact, design goes

backwards and forwards whatever the starting point” (cited in Richard 2013, p

28).Considering the specific context, starting with the consideration about what students

are able to do after a period of instruction, the ASMin this study corporates task-based

instructions to transform contents into “a blueprint which enables the desired learning

outcomes to be achieved”, ta wse Richard’s (2013, p 6} words.Before the ASM’s

development isdescribedin detail in the subsequent chapter(see 2.2.1), it now comes to the

need ofa principled framework for ELT material development

1.1.2.2 Principled Frameworks for Material Development in ELT

Investigations into the processes and frameworks of material development carticd out by

Nunan (1988), Prowse(1998), Tomlinson (1998, 2003), Richards (2001) reveal that

numerous material developers rely on intuitive feel for activities which are likely to work,

not much on principles of leaming and teaching Richards (199% p 105) thongh refering

his need of inspiration for writing materials, concludes that tins process is “M0 percent

perspiration” This raises the need fordeveloping material principled frameworks, one of

which can be found in Jolly & Bolitha (1998).The authors provide snfficient theoretical

justification for aflexible, seifregulatingand coherent

Figure 1-3: A teacher's path through the production of new or adapted materials

by Jolly, B & Boliteo, R (1998) in Towinson (1998:98)

The framework initiates withthe identification of needs for materials Distinctly, a material

is “at its most effective” when it is tamed to particular learners” needs, their learning

objectives, learning styles and language proficiency, etc The need exploration of not only

learners but alsoother parties involved (teachers, administrators, otc.) will engage material developers in the linguistic andseinantic exploration as the next vital stageof contextual realization for materials It is understandable that LLT practice does not work in isolation but is influenced by institutional contexts Lf linguistic knowledge is integrated into texts of completely unfamiliar topics ar nation, the materialwriters themselves reduce the materials’ efficacy Once materials have been selectedftom appropriate resources, they need to be organized inte teachable and learnable units, accompanied with explicit and comprehensive instructions for exercises and activities These are parts of padagngical

realizationstage beforethematerial physical productionone It is noteworthy that though the

material appearance and presentation is pivotal for bath motivation and classroom effectiveness, the production 1s not an end in itself, Material development, as an ongoing

and cyclical process, is pointless withont constant reference to classroom practice Put

another way, developedmaterials need to be used and evaluated The evaluation will show whether the materials have lo be abandoned,rewzilten, ox may be reused without delay

In Jolly & Bolitho’s diagram, they emphasize a variely of “optional patitways”and

“feedbacks ioops” which allow material developers to deal in a concrete and flexible way with reasons for the failure of the materials (if there is) and find out clues to material improvement

With referenee to the current study on the development of auhentic supplementary materials, the envisaged steps of need identification exploration have already been done by the instittion The following scctionsdesaiibethe other stages, though, not in the exact order

1.1.3 Process of Authentic Supplementary Material Development in ELT

The currentpaper is an addition whichconcentrates on using authentic materials as a source

of supplementation Benefits of authentic materials are taken into consideration and made best use of

LLB Authentic materials

There exists a complex web of definitions as to what exactly authentic materials consist

of In genetal, there are two main trends of definitions One focuses on the non-teaching

purposesand the native originof the materials which expose leamers to real language style

and usages, cultures, social sitnations that learners are likely to encounter when engaging

in actnal communicative use ontside the classroom The other trend focuses on the real originand commuiucative purposesof the materials

Nunan (1988), Iarmer (1991), Richards (2001), Me Grath (2002},thongh may define the teu using different words, all agree in that authentic materials axe any which are

- real-life texts,

- designed by and for the native speakers who would hear, read or use them,

- not specifically designed for the LJI.T tnrpnsee

In a broader wew, Morrow (1977, p.13) defines authentic text as “a stretch of zea/

language, produced by 4 real speaker or writer for a real audience and designed ta convey

a real message of some sort” In terme of purposes, Littleet al(1988, p.27) considers

authentic materials are created to “fulfill same sacial puxpase in the language community

in which it is praduced” In the same line, Filice and Stnrino (2002) consider authentic materials to be materials which fulfilled a social or communicative purpase in the community:The ideas can be summarized as follows

Authentic materials are

- areal sizcich of language,

- produced by real speakers, ceal writers for seal audience,

- designed to fulfill social or communicative purposes (c.g convey a real message)

In a imtshell, there exist differences in the viewpoints on authentic matetials;the meaningful similarity to be extracted is the exposure to real languagewhich may catch learners’ eyes or eareduting their particular dayand the language we in real situctionsforpurpeses other than language teaching and learning Adopting this similarity

as the base, the following sectionshifts the focus to the term supplementary materials in the process of developing authentic snpplementary materials

113.2 Supplementary Materials

According to Tomlinson (1998), supplementary materials are such “materials designed to

be nsed in addition to the core materials of'a course” (p.13) Although textbooks represent

“the visible heart of any EI.T program” (Sheldon, 1988, 7.237), “na textbook is perfect” therefore, in order for those texthoaks to be used more effectively and properly, “teachers should have the option of assigning supplementary malcrials based on their own specific needs in their own specific teaching, situation” (Ansary & Babaii, 2002, p.6)

The sound reasons for teachers to use other materials beside core textbooks have been

identify by Brown (1994), McGrath (2002) and Richards (2005) The schalare argue that

there exits gaps or mismatches between the official textbook and different needs of specific individuals whose lmguage competence levels may be varied as well More specifically, learners may need to expose to a wide range of textual matcrialsto promote molivation, or they need more practice of particnlar skills or grammer components which is not adequate

in quantity in the textbook

Drawingnpontheliteratureonsupplememtation, McGrath (2002) classifies between svllabus

driven process and concept driven process Thal is, teachers can choose or design worthy materials after they have identified what they need to supplement far a particular class, or tcachers can choose interesting materials accidentally with the hope thal they ean ue such materials in their future teaching, Teachers may utilize items fom different published sources or from others’, even Icamers’ wrilings or teacher may devise their own matciials Teacher-propared materials are likely to be more up-to-date and more relevant

to sindents’ needs and interests since teachers knaw their own stdents well Differently viewed, supplementary matcrisls may be vither conlentorienied which focus on different topics and information, or form-oriented which emphasize appropriate ways of using the language components presented in the main conrse-bool

In cum, a varicty of ideas on authentic materials and supplementary materials has been viewed in order ta provide foundation knowledge ta supplement the currenily-used textbook “Enterprise 2" to maximize students’ Icaming potentials The following ection will devote the literature on criteria for selecting authentic supplementary materials in ELT

1.1.3.3 Criteria for SelectingAuthentic Supplementary Materialsin ELT

Using authentic materials in an ELT class does nol simply mean putting any pieces

of English produced by cerlsin native speakers Authentic materials, if appropriately selecicd and implemented, can “help bridge the gap” between classroom knowledge andlearnei”s noods as well ay their capacities to participate in real-world events (Wilkins,

1976, p 79).Jm order lo decide on the suitable ELT authentic materials, material developers should bear in mind at least fourmentioned below criterin(based on Ian Me Grath 2002, p

106)

lô

Lingnistic and cognitive usefulness

Only pedagogically useful materials - effectively centralizing on language, intellectnal and/oremotional development - should be taken into consideration Althongh authentic matetials are not originally designed for classroom use, the chosen ones should lend themselves to conventional levels of lingnistic description and/or to differentmodes of action and behavior which realize this knowledge so that follow-up aetivities/ tasks may be well constricted by a creative teacher to give learners npportnniliee for practice and boost confidence in their Tinglish ability

Relevance (to learners, to context and to syllabus)

In reference to learners, authentic materials chasen mnst be engaging topics which are familiar to the learners’ lives.As Tfammer (1991) advances, learners can comprehend the meaning and nsage of grammatical items more deeply and implicitly if they are presented

in a relevant context With topics necessary for learners but they do not realize that

necessity, leachers personal anecdotes, noles and other background information should be shared for learners lo follow the materials more casily

With regard to the situational contexl, it is needed a balance in the choosing of authentic materials produced by native speakers and of non-aatives Tomlinson (2005, p 5} recommends thal most Asian leamers of English arc iwifikefy to nocd to communicate with native speakers of

English but ate /itely to need to communicate in English with other non-native speakers” With regard to the supplementation, the relevance to syllabus and course-book strongly affects the materials’ selection, otherwise the supplementary materials may waste learners* time

Intrinsic interest

Being in consideration, if a material is patently not going to interest learners, however relevant it is, it should be replaced by one will.Granting that learners are so interested in the topic or activity in the material, they will NEED the language to talk about it (Roberts, 2014), then materials succeeds in the act of leaning motivation The involvement cultural componente using the target language, including culturally based practices, belief’ Tingnistic and non-linguistics behaviors (Richard, 2001, p 253) may aronse learnere" interest It should be aware that something completely acceptable in one culture may be tahoo m another so it is advisable to consider theculturalapprepriateness

11

Exploitability (availability, length, legibility, audibility)

Potential problems relating to the legibility of a written text (e.g small font size texts or hard-te-read handwriting), or to the audibility of tapes or video clips may lead to the

decision to select alternative ones Over and above, materials chosen must be available

over a long term and easily obtainable 1 learners’real life Learners can encounter them someday somewhere somehow Certainly, authentic information and itemsmust be legally free of copyright restrictions

In a few words,interesting, culturally engaging and relevant anthentic materials should

rednce the likelihood of learners to get bored but af the same time are not allowed to make learners lose track of the lessons

Up te now, the paper has presented three approaches of forward, central and backward design, a principled circular frameworkof six steps for developing ELT materials and four major selection criteria for authentic materials The anbseqnent disenssion is abont theories and studies into the material evaluation in ELT, an important stage inthe ongoing process

of material development

1.2 Material Fvaluation in English Language Teaching

Evaluation is the “systematic gathering of information” to “judge the fitness” of something

sothatpractilioncrs can harvest a betlcr understanding of “what is effective, what is less effective, and whal appears lo be of no use at all” (Weiss,1972, p 22; Hutchinson and

Waters, 1987, p 96, Rea-Dickins & Germaine 1992, p 3).As Weir and Roberts (1994,

p.11) put it, evaluation provides “a tool to indicate the szeeibility of pasticular approaches

or techniqnes under given conditions and whether they meet the claims made for them™in order forawarenessof the need for changesand even where and when changes can take place to befostered

With reference to the LLT practice, Rea-Dickins and Germaine (1992, pp 5-28) present two main motwations for evaluation, One is its se as a means of confirming the validity of existing procedures, the other is explaining and exploring reasons why something is working well in a classroom and why it is appropriate for a given target audience Evaluation, intrinsically, provides a wealth of information for the fisure direction of classroom practice, for the course planning, determining leaming achievement, the

management of learning tasks and for students” satisfaction a welÍ asinferachone

Accordingly, material evaluation yield insights into how teachers use materials, subsequently, suggests directions both for material development and teaching profession

development activities Brown (1995, p.227} perceives material evaluation as the systematic collection and analysis of all relevant infomation necessary to promote the

material fuprovement, ot to arsess its effeci

attindeswithin the particular institution involved” Tomlinson (1998, p 3) affirms material

ano:

and efficiency, or participants’

evaluation as the dynamic process with attempts to measure the value or potential value of

materialsormeasure the effects of the materals on their users That i T material

Johnson (1989) and Robinson (1991) support that material evaluation can be classified into

= preliminary (establish materials’ potential suHtability),

= formative (examine how materials really work in the classtoom), and

= summative evaluation (identify strengths and weaknesses of the materials? performance aver a petiod of continsous nse)

McDonough & Shaw (1993) distinguishes between

= internal evalnation(focuses on theoretical assumptions behind the materials, the intended objectives and the extent to which the objectives have heen realized: the Justification of

language selection and grading; the design of activities and tasks), and

= external evah

ion(examine the extant to which a set af materials meets the needs of

a particular group of learners, the eyllabus, and the examination)

Cnnningsworth (1995) differentiates between

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= impressionistic overview (ook through to get an overview of strengths andweaknesces), and

= in-depth evaluation (undertaken subsequently to provide a detailed evaluation}

Ellis (1997) assigns

= predictive evaluation (make a decision to choose among the available materials (he mostsuitable ene to use for a particular sitnation); and

= retrospectiveevaluation(examine whether the materials used “work well” or nol)

Recently, MoGrath (2002) introduces the concepts of

= preuse evaluation (carried out before a material is used to examine the potential performance of the materiale),

= in-use evaluation (see whether the materials in use should be replaced or noi), and

= post-use evalnation (provide retrospective assessment of the materials” performance and is helpfil ta decide whether to use the materials in the future),

In general, there is a good deal of over/apin the frameworks proposed Accordingly, whether evaluators have a guick oc a detailed look into the materials, whether cxaminingbefore, afier or whilematerials arc in usc, hey actually judgeif the material igsuitable in ite own paraineter values or if itworks well for particular learners or specific purposes,

This minor sludy desires to idenlify strengths and weaknessos of a sei of authentic supplementary materials fiom the perspectives of students and teachers after is bas been put into service so that a decision on the future widespread use of the snaterialy can emerge for all stakeholders involved

1.2.2 Principles for Material Evaluation

One of the points emphasized by Rea-Dickins & Geimaine (1992, p.4) is‘‘ill-prepared and ad-hoc evaluations are likely to be unreliable, unfair and uninformative" and they are not adequate and acenrate source documentation on which to base educational decisions Otherwise stated, evalnation in educational context must be systematic and undertaken according to guiding principles Below are the major principles thata systematic material evaluation needs to pin ơn

Muttipte measure and evaluators

‘An evaluation has to be planned and executed by a mumiber of different people (Rea

Dickins& Germaine,1992, p 13) Multiple evalnators and measurewonid ensnre higher

14

quality, validity, reliability If different people, using different measure still reach the same decision, the consistent

evaluation is unhesitatingly ensured

Specific objectives and systematic criteria

Brown and Rogers (2002, p 229) claim that “the first step in any evaluation is to figure out

the purpose of the evaluation and the issues involved in achieving that purpose” When making evaluative concems the educational aspects, making explicitthe objectives and criterta in judgments is of significance This principle requires evaluators to be extremely clear about whether determinations are made about the materials’ effect on people using them; or about materials” aspect, validity, appeal, flexibility, credibnlity,or reliability of the

materialsthemselves are evalnated(Tomlinson, 1998, p 14)

Considering the relationship between the language, LIT process and learners

Conceming learners, each individual is distinguished from all others in terms of personality, motivation, aptitude, prior experience, interests, needs, and preferred learning styles, level of proficiency and altitudes (Tomlinson, 1998, p 18).If this learner has posilive altitude (o the Iguage studied and language learning, his cvaluation to the LLT materials may be quite different from ones who do not like the language Personal factors indcod much affect omc’s evaluation Systematic LLT material cvaluation, therefore, nocds LLT theory and rescarch findings on language loaming acquisition as guiding principles(Tomlinson, 2003)

Considering the contextual cirenmstances and generalizability

Since materials are developed to suit particular leamners and specific context, it is critical for evaluators to consider the contextual circumstances of the evaluation in order to determine reliable and effective procedures Moreover, evalnators must be cautions in making generalizations of their evaluation A matetial can be judged to be suited to this

situation bul not necessarily fo all others

1.2.3 Material Evaluators

Material evalvationcan be catied ont by insiders (eg teachers, learners, couse designere,or materials designers) or / and outsiders (those who are not involved in the language program, for instance, experts, consultants, inspectors, or administrators)

Material evaluation by outsiders is often said to be abjective since outsiders are haped ta

bring “fresh” perspectives into the evaluation (Pascual, 2013) Outsiders may have

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objectiveviews;however, they may not have a deep understanding about the Jeammers and LLT situations As a corollary, they may not have exact judgments and realistic recommendations

Material evaluation by insiders, on the other hand, is said to be more subjective Yet, insiders are believed to understand the situation better Theyhave already invalved in the language program, as a matter of course, they can determine if and to what extent the materials ‘work’ for their purposes, hence, exact judgments and realistic recommendations may be made, More importantly, the involvement of insiders is of fundamental rale in the success of the evaluation in that they are conseqnently ones who will henefit from the evaluation results, whether they are expected or unexpected Richards (2001) assumes thatthose insiders, especially teachers, can ‘monitor’ the materials being need, thus they can make modifications to improve the materials’ effectiveness

Rested on this assumption, the current study involves insiders (stndents who uze the chosen

materials) as chief evaluators Teachers of English who have not used the materials are

also inviled to participate in the evaluation with the hope of gathering az detailed

information ag possible for the fines! evaluation result,

It ig a worthwhile thing that, LLT materials must mect the demands of Icarmers as well as

teacher and sponsors, so lhe subjective factors should nol be allowed to obscure objcclivily.Evaluators have lo be clear as to whal is being examined, in other words,

evaluation in educational context demands a set of carefully defined criteria

124, Criteria for Material Evahsation

Criteria are what evaluators use to “reach decision regarding what needs to be evaluated” (Tomlinson, 1998: 220) Defining criteria for evaluation is one of the crucial issues evaluators involve before any evaluation can be taken place Criteria, as the basis for evaluators’ judgments, are extremely important and evaluators must be extremely specific about these Evalnation criteria depend on what is being evaluated and why they need evaluating (Dndley- Eivans é St John, 1998)

Cunningsworth (1984) suggests evaluating LLT materials in terms of (1) language content, (2) selection and grading, (3) presentation and practice of new items, (4) developing language skills and communication abilities, and (5) motivation in materials

Hutchingon and Waters (1987) propose a set of criteria for material evaluation, which

include cwutience, ins, content and methadology Audience, mainly leamers,are affected

16

by age, gender, status, neods,interest, study or professional field, leaming, style, learning purpose, experience, educational background, ete Any language course has its own set- advancedaims and objectivesandevaluators are obliged to check if the materials can conform to those Content is one erncial element to be measured By content, Hutchinson

& Waters (1987) refer tolingnistic knowledge presented, micto, macra-skills: their proportions and topics related Methodology encompasses the types of learning activities, procedures and techniques employed by teachers and the principles underlying the design

of the activities and tasks Furthermore, material evaluation neads ta discover if teaching aids available for nse are thase teqnired by the materials

Different set of criteriahave been snggested to help evaluators hecome more systematic and objective Theorist Sheldan (1988), howev

Tightly points ont that no general lst of criteria can ever really be applied to all teaching and learning contexts without considerablemodification Still, most standardized evaluation lists of criteria contain similar components that can be used as helpful slarling points for ELT practitioners in a wide variely of situations

Crileria suggested by Cunningsworth (1984) and Hulchineon Waters’s (1987}combined with a detailed list of characteristics that effective LLT materiale should have (Tomlinson,

1998, pp 7-22) cmergefoue listed below criteria to be considered in the process of malcrial evaluation

Relevant and usefiel to learners

Cunningsworth (1979, p 31) rightly claims that materials are “not intrinsically good or bad

- anther they are inore or less effective in helping learners to reach particular goals in specific situations’ Effective learning may be easily achieved when leamers become aware of the relevance of the materials’ content to their needs, interests, learning and career goals (McGrath, 2002) Relevance and utility relative, and they can be both

achieved if the materials could connectrequisite teaching points and motivating classroom

tasks withrelevant outcomes In fact, without relevance and usefulness, the materiale should be abandoned

Achieving impact

Materials may generate impacts on leamers’ catiosity, interest and attention throngh

(1) novelty - offers the possibility of acquiting something new but not completely nnusual

or alien so that learners might want to share with others about things they have learned afterwards

(2) variety - different textual types, different voices, a wide range of tasks and activities can caterfor learners’ differences in learning styles, level of proficiency and affective

attitndes, etc

Q) attractive preseretion - the adequate use of colors, space, visual content - schematics,

diagrams, arumations, photos, video clips, et

(4) ogpeating content - interest and necessity, engaging universal themes and local references

Tomlinson (1998, p 7) further makes clear that impact is variable: therefore, in order to

maximize the likelihood of achieving impacts, it should be made sure that learners actnally understand and use the materials, it is not enough if learners merelyfeel the materials enjoyable

Requiring and facilitating tearners’ self-investment

Goodlanguage materials should create opportunilics for leamers to relate language points

to their general studying, their future job and their life Thisontcome utges learaers to invest time, effort, even money and many others in further studying It iz noted that requirement and pressure can stimulate some typos of language learncrs, gcncrally fecling

at ease and confident much more facilitates learners’ self investment As Tomlinson (1998,

p 8) suggests, materials may advantagcously take over teacher's responsibility to help students motivated and feel at ease.The matetials’ capacity of maximizing learners’ feeling relaxed and being encouraged to show personal participation; intellectual, aesthetic and emotional involvement;and cooperation in learning activities without doubt should be appraised

Javolving authenticity

In order to acquire the three mentioned above criteria, materials should include the feature

of authenticity Authenticity is the quality helping classtoom materials connect learners to

the real world (Joy, 2011) The ultimate concern of language teaching nowadays is to get

learners to nse the language not ceparately but in real context Needless to argne, learners

deserve chances to be exposed to real discomrse ot ‘authentic’ materials

18

In brief, the four criteria mentioned above are also major features of effective teaching matetials which evaluators should show consideration for in their process of evalnating ELT materials, The following part shifts attention to factors relating to material evaluation

12.3 Factors reluting to Material Evaluations

Evaluation may be seen as a “means” of analysis to serve the learning process, yet, results

of evalnation normally do not reveal only one interpretation Tivaluation results may provide evidence that the materials evaluated are “good”, bnt not jnst ane factor acconnts for that “good” Identifying with precision different conditionscontribnting to the findings

is also af importance It is the truth that whatever approach ie applied, at whichever stage the materials are evalualed by outsiders or insiders for any purposes, the process of material evaluation ultimately is a subjective practice, since it is conducted by hnman Each human being is unique; cach has their own qualitics, instincts, forme of pleasure, and

desire, etc,

In this study, among a number af factors like age, gender, social and enltural background knowledgc, learners' exposure to English outside classroom cnvironmenl, ther leaming objectives, aflective faclors elc., the research limils the examinalion into students’ English proficiency to discover whether or not there is a difference in the two student groups” evaluations In a hopeful manner, the factors of learners” language proficiency, cmerged

from an analysis of the specific context, may provide evidence to support why particular

results are obtained and if the result wonld be repeated

1.2.6 Authentic Material Evaluation Framework in English tanguage teaching

As implications of an evaluation in educational settings are potentially so powerful that it iserueial to give careful thought to make explicit what is being evaluated Examining a set

of authentic English materials, this research does not evaluate the characteristice of what 18 called “authenticity”,a contentions notion even in a narrowest aspect Instead, the hasicaim

is to investigateif there are the henefitsderiving from authentic materials, in specific ELT

context

The issue of using authentic materials in language classrooms and acknowledgment about their benefits has gradually been influential, especially since Menry Sweet (1899, p.l78)probed into the “great advantage of natural, idiomatic texts”;The appreciation of

benefits that authentic materials offerfall into the followmg major claims

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(1) Authentic materials“do justice to every feature of the language” Sweet (1899, p.178)as they include

= various kinds of language occurring chiefly in casual and playfill speech, such as slangs, jargon, lingo, patois, vernacular, which normal textbooks do not often include;

= varied accentsfrom Standard English to regional or non-native ones;

= an extensive are of everyday vocabulary in miscellaneous subject matters, etc

" awide range of genres and text types (narrative stories, mformative articles,

persuasive advertisements, etc.),

(2) Authentic materialskeep learners informed about what is happening in and around their daily lives (Martinez 2002) Proponents view anthentic matenals as a valnable

sonrce, not only of everyday lifeinformation bnt alzo of cultural awareness (Richard

2001) Anthentic materials can aware learners that English is not simply a learning

subject or a means of communication Intrinsically, English isculture, itreflectscomumunication styles, customs, belief, and altitudes of people and cominumityin which the language is used,

(3) Authentic materials promote a mere creative approachto ‘caching, departing from traditional formulaic language tcaching Using authentic materials is both rewarding and stimulating for both tcachers and Icamers given thal authentic materials can enliven language classes with images of reality These mayfunction to facilitateexplicit teaching (defining the moaning of words by having pictures of theit referents), make compzehension and memorization of language knowledge easier, and stimulate mental andlinguistic responses (Kaprova, 1999; Kellyet al, 2002)

(4) Being complex is the nature of the outside world and leamers should be aware that exclusively studying, what bears litfle resemblance to actual language use is uot a good

apbơn

Authentic materials complement language classes and link particular grammatical rules

‘or discourse types in the classroom to the real, natural Iangnage use; hence, they may have positive effects on leamers’ motivation and help create in learnecs a more positive attitude toward English learning

Withont donbt, nothing consists of sale advantages, still, even seemingly disadvantages of authentic materials - contarmng diffienlt language, unneeded vocabulary items, complex or

20

even wngranmatical structures - may be turned into the strength if the study tasks and instructions are designed appropriately.For example, studying a financial report inay help develop skill to extract pertinent information quickly Practitioners may see Maley (1998,

pp 288-291) for detailed suggestions

Combimng the defined criteria for materials evaluation as the base to jndge teaching materials with the characteristics of supplementary materials and the benefits of authentic malerals, the study reveals the framework for evaluating authentic supplementary materiale, which is presented in the form of the survey questionnaire items The framework

is expected to he practical and manageable in the time constraint of the thesis and in the sitnational context of TRU

1.3 Review of related studies

‘Numerous recent studies which readers can casily accesshaveshown thai leamers working

with authentic materials obtain valuable benefils In these studies, the motivation Lhal

authentic materials generate may he applied to diverse settings, learning objectives or tacks, cspecially in (caching language skille (Little ef afl, 1988; Kaprova, 1999;Filice & Sturino, 2002; Kelly, Kelly, Offner& Vorland, 2002), namelylistening(Ji Lingzhu& Zhang

‘Yusnyuan, 2010), speaking (D4 Thi Thanh Tra, 2011); reading and writing skills (Lé Thi Thuy, 2009) andin ESP Courses (Zahra Zohoorien Vahid Baghban, 2011)

Research on supplementary materialeptincipally usesdiverse materials to supplement

some inappropriate course-hook, among which authentic materials are paid much attention The studieslisted here mainfy focus on developing supplementary inaterial for specific Ingnishe stalls (Pham Thị Thủy, 2007;Chwa, Jonas, Tsai & Chuang, 2009-18

mong Giang 2010;Pham Thi Thn Thy, 2010, Nguyễn Thị Hing Vinh, 2011; Khéng

Thị Hồng Lê, 2012) Apart from listing unconventional supplementary materials or niving suggestions on how to choose suitable authentic materials, these stndies raise the important role of supplementary materials in inercase Icamners’ motivation It is suggested that supplementary materials can be effectively adapted tn enhance FFT learners’ reading, listening and speaking strategiesas well as learning ontcome

With respect to the supplementation for English course-books, available studies focus

onenpplementing ESP course-books (Đỗ Lan Hương, 2009;Đảo Thị Hoa, 2010) whereas

this project aims at developing a sct of authentic supplementary to supplement an inappropriate course-book used in a General Finglish (GE) course It is hoped that the

findings of this stndies may act as the basis for suggestions for farther research on the issue of anthentic material development in English teaching, and learning

1.4 Chapter summary

This chapter has systematically examined issues of developing and evaluating ELT matetials, especially authentic matetials Firstly, parameters and key stages of ELT material developmenthave been identified to provide foundation knowledge to develop a set of authentic supplementary materials for a General English comrse.As such, language material develapment deals with (1) the identification and exploration af neadt for materials from the view of all parties involved, especially theview oflearners, (2) the consideration of linguistic, social and enltural contentsfor the materials as well as the ELT contextual factors, (3) the physical praduction af the materials, (4) practical classroom use and (5)material evaluation as the last stage feeding back to the first in a circular process of material planning and improvement.Secondly, definitions of material evaluation, its significant role in ELT andhow scholars approach il are likewise analysed Major principles

of material evalnation reveal the importance of varied eutluators systematic criteriaand (faciorsrelating to langnage process and langnage learners Finally the chapter overview the assumptions and relaled studies on the benefits of authentic malerials, which this research

is hoped to yield evidence to support or protest.The following chapter devotesto the detailed description af research methodology of the study

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CHAPER Il: METHODOLOGY

In the preceding chapter, theoretical matters related ta the topic have heen covered The main contents of this chapter include the description of the study context and steps ta develop the ASM.Subjecis of the ASM evaluation, data collection instruments, dala collection procedure, and data analysis procedure wonld alsa be thoroughly disenssed

2.1 Context af the study

2.4.1 Théi Bint University context

Thai Binh University was founded in 2012, ewilching from Thai Binh College of Economics and Technology In the contex! of a new-born university, he polential nogative impacts of the Credit Program which is in the implementation for the first time arc deGinilely enormous The limited time allocation within Credit Program - only 60 poriodsfor a whole General English Course is an obstacle for both teachers and students The university, mcanwhile,have tried their best to make best usc of what iv required for successftl comes English subject is cuslomauily considered of great importance by all TBU administrators aud teachers of English Teaching facilities are relatively good with classrooms equipped with overhead projectors, projectors for PowerPoint® presentation: cassette players and microphone

212 General English Course

The Vietnamese Ministry of Education and Training (MoET),on 24" January 2014, issued

a Glevel framework of Reference for foreign language learning and teaching in Vietnam Abbreviated at KNLNNVN, the framework 1¢ designed to provide a common basis for explicit desonption of language syllabuses, curriculum guidelines, objectives,

content, examinations, textbooks” ete across Vietnam(MoFT, 2014, Rocument No

01/201/TT-BGDDT) By the same taken,General English Conree I] at TBU is designed

with clear objectives toprovide smdents with language knowledge and skills so as to move them to a baste user of level 2 (A3) s0 thatthey can communicate in English without great misunderstanding for all parlies involved

Whilst focusing on the development of speaking, listening, reading and writing ability, a balance in the amount of grammtar, vocahulary, pronunciation One strategic aim of the course is to provide smdents with Lifelonglcaming skills to move on to duir fulure education and careers with confidence, extra linguistic skills are therefore also developed

Through activities of individual, pair and grơn work, students may identify their individual weaknesses and get strategies for making improvements TBU offers General English lI for first-year students who are expected to have Allevel The 15-week course offers topic-based and interactive English lessons with a maincourse-book Enterprise

Two(Moore & West, 1985} Covering! chasen popular topics, weekly 180-minnte lessons

are subdivided into 4 periods, corresponding to {1) Speaking/ Listening (2)

Reading/Writmg, (3}Grammar/ Vacabularyand (4) Group presentation and Consolidation

2.2 The study

AAs indicated from the name of the thesis, this study inclndes two main phases of developing and evaluatinga sel of authentic supplementary materials This section respectively descrihes in detail the two

2.2.1 The Development of the Authentic Supplementary Materials

‘This minor project favers equipping sindents with realistic experiences sa that students can

practice their lingnistic, social and culturalknowledge for stndy, future work, and leisnre

At the same time, needed skills to enhance their personal, intellectual and cultnral enrichment is promoted It would be appropriate at thie point to simplify the principled

framework on material developmentintrocuced in section 1.1.2.2 (pp 6-7) into sequences

of activities for the purpose oftieveloping the ASM (Figure 2.2-Is)

Step 4; DESIGN appropnate learning lasks'aclivilies & WRITE appropriale instructions

Step 5: PRODUCE the materials (organization: layou™space, visuals), tape leagth etc}

Step 6: USE the materials, (tudents uses+ teacher ONSERVE classroom practice)

Step 1: Identify needs and problems

Apparenlly inferred from its nameeowse-book Enierprise Two - English for ihe Commercial World is primarily designed for business English courses, not for General English oourses After 14 years of being implemented as a core material (fiom school year

2000-2001}, the first-pubhshed-in-l98S5conrse-hook revealedfailure to meet the 2014

students’ needs and thedeclared aims of a General English course A number of weak points can be pointed ont, such as ont-af-date statistics, low quality of black-and-white drawings: overloadedbusiness and commercial content nearly-excluded pronnnciation component, the list can be extended The problem found seems to be down to for the university administraiors, TRU teachers may have the options of adapting the baok and/or

assigning supplementary materials as an instant solution so as to maximize the learning

potentials

Once in a while, something from ‘se real world” brought into langnage class can be an invaluable motivating experience and a weleome break from the pages of the course-book for students, In order for students to be able to effectively communicale in English, they deserve 10 experience the language ag il ie used for real communication.Inclusion of authentic English materials in the instructional process addresses thie need

Step 2: Explore language contents aud skills

Since the institution’s syllabus has already slated out the specific objectives, in terms of both language contents and skills, this step can be skipped in the process of the ASM development

Step 3: Select and contextualize authentic materials for supplementation

Leaning style research proves that numbers of leamery are good at remembering things through visions, many through anditory, others throngh experiences ete.For these reasons, the ASM is collected fiom ample sourees and designs, which incinde spoken and written English y and farboth native and non-native speakers who know, understand and can successfully use Englich to communicate

Being aware of the situational context where chances for TBU students to speak in English witha

foreigner are nearly omitted, the ASM developer shifted students’ initial attention from the ability to speak Finglish well ta the capacity of interpreting and comprehending anthentic

English texts correctly and easily At the outset, the ASM endeavors to make first-year

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students aware of the populatity and selevance of English in their daily lives Granting that one of the below is involved, TBU students with confidence, will find English serviceable

- pieces of Englishon fast-food packets,clothes, studying stuff, a cellphone, to name a few,

- familiar Englishphrases on shampoo, dendarant, medical products;

- meaningful messages, wishes or famous quotations on Valentines or Christmas

postcards,

= cammon English commercial ads on radio ar television

Below are the forms of authentic materials collected to supplement the main texthook

Table 2.2-4: Forms of authentic materials in the ASM

Commercially Printed TTand written Digital Materials

© Books, manuals, travel © Ryleachers - Radios, Pidures Video clips

guidebrochures, « Bystudents - Casselte Posters Film extracts,

* Newspaper, magazines, «Ry others tapes, Photographs Computer

© Catalogs, wademarks, Phone Drawing software,

‘Step 4: Design taxks and learning activities

Learring a subject, any students may desire to get good marks as an indicator of their proficiency In spile of that, if practice in English class solely means wranslating reading toxiz and doing grantmar cxcreisos for (he writlen tests, students and even teachers may forget that “English is a language” It ig not difficult to catch out some teachers trying hard

to got their learners to do a plethora of exercises to give the correct lenses of the verbs, but the noticeable effect this practice probably brings is de-motiving students Utilizing authentic tasksand icalistic expoticncey which are adequate in number, appropriate to the given context, relevant to students" neod and interests, the ASM is hoped to be able to

compensate for stndents’ buznout,

Language communicativeactivitics axe designed to simulate az much as possible the commmnication as observed in the 1eal world outside Classroom tasks andactivities attempt tobe a preparation for students’ 1eal-life intevactions in the outside would Through stimulating, problematic, challenging but still achievable tasks, materials unquestionably

will build up learners’ confidence and their positive attitudes to seif-learning Being offered

incentives and opportunities to interact with real materials, create their own ones and

commnnicate with one another about those materials, studentspractically can acquire and effectively apply linguistic knowledge and linguistic skills to theit studying and their lives Step 5: Produce the ASM

Ilelping students to feel at ease ic one of the main requirements in the production of the ASMtor it is known thai relaxed and comfortable students apparently can learn more than anxions anes in shorter periods of time One af the ways ismaking available adequate white

space tather than stuffingbanks of activities crammed together on the same page Most

learners will be more at ease with materials trying to help them to lear rather than to test them, then, besides the relevant contents, friendly “voice”, the ASM does help by utilizing plenty of illustrations, Accompanying visuale may either function as attractive space- fillere, which help to make thelanguage comprehension easier, or as companions of allached activities, whose object is to stimulate mental and linguistic responses

Atlempting lo be termed as “effective materials”,the ASM casls for and plays all the roles

of informant, motivator and the ELT facilitator.Adopling CLT approach, the ASM docs not limit itself in onc specific skill but ambitiously embodies knowledge, skills and altitudes thai stuđents are to develop This preference lies on the assumption that one material may be utilized for any linguistic skille as long as teachers can provide appcaling, challenging but achievable classroom tasks and learning activities Engaging leamers in meaningful interactions and ongoing communication whercby they have oppoztunities to ask, and be asked, spoken language may help improve listening comprehension Likewise, combining reading and writing best enhance students’ development (Roseanne Rocha Tavares, 2014, p 64)

1.134 ASMas an Informant

The ASM drawsstudents” attention to basic features of conventional linguistic Levels in a lively way Grammar is communicatively presented with their forms and uses in meaningful contexts in erder toteach language functionsas well Pronmneiation and Vocabulary are integrated within given lexieal areas, considesing the sepresentation of cultual-vocial components.The ASM does not emphasize one pasticular model of English language bnt desires to heighten students’ awareness ofifferent types of interactions

tỳ 8

with both non-native aud native speakers, and with various genres and texttypes (everyday, mass-media, literary and academic texts)

Intentionally, the ASM is developed locally rather than globally culture-specifie so thatstudents could relate the contents to their life more easily, yet, this does not meau the exclusion of other cultural components, especially British and American ones By enriching students’ linguistic and socio-cultural knowledge, the ASM proposes an access for further study and vocational training as well as fosters connection between English language and other studying subjects Access information in more than one language, especially in Fnglish, makes available a richer base of knowledge Smdents gradually realize that Enghsh is a “must-have tool” they are to be equipped

1.1.3.5, ASMas an Motivator

Making a provision of a langnage-fertileervironment surrounding sindents,treating them as

language explorers, the ASM may further develop students” interest and confidence in using Fnglish as their understanding andmastery of the langnage grows

Now and then, the ASM embraces “Commercial Breaks” as watm-np activities to keep

students away from boredomand to help them memorize English vocabulary and Grammar more easily Authentic materials such as eye-catching, posters, advertising panels and slogans on streels are of best use for this purpose.These appealing image manipulationswith clever and catchywords/phrases arepowerful means of capturingthe masses" attention and they will without fail motivate and embedthemselves in students” momory

1.13.6 ASMas an Facilitator

‘The facilitating role of the ASM is performed both in the teaching of language features

and lingnistic skills Taking teaching proper English as an example, the ASM considers it more valuable for students to observe their classmates” hand-writings with real errore than

to correct artificial mistakes “invented” by leachers, Touching waiting skill, authentic lexts

to familiarize students with a given genre are necessarily vilal Students will probably be more conyineed of one accepled way to write a complaint Lotter afler reading several genuine samples rather than being told “this is the way you must do il” by a texIbook or even by their teacher

Much of the recent literature on material development for language learning has recommended that leamers should be provided with more opportunities to acquire

language features from frequent encounters with them duting motivated exposure to language in use (Tomlinson 2008) By listing such familiar phrases as “Made in Vietnam, Recommended by Dentists, WANTED, or the name of a famous Margaret Mitchell novel

“Gone with the Wind”, the ASM can better connect the Passive Voice to the natural English and discourse featmresthan those created materials requiring students to change particular Active sentences into Passive ones

To sum up, the ASM is designed ta serve multi-purposes, ranging from (1) providing

access to natural samples of langnage use (2) exposing leamers to meaningful real life

experiences, (3}introdncing culinral issues to enhancing motivation, (4) generating a

deeper interest and facilitating comprehension, to (5) considering what sindenis will be able to do with Fnglish on completing their course so as to provide them with the

receptive, interactive and productive skills (MoRT, 2014) to participate in casnal

conversation

Step 6: Use the ASM

The way in which students actually use and respand lo materials will provide indicators as

to the success or failure of the ASM.So as to cater for students’ nocds az single individuals and as mombers in society, Learning activities and tasks devised in the ASM include whole- class work, group work, pair work and individual work Utilizing group work is an effective remedial to the problem of large class size, Matters of mixed proficiency level and limited class time is solved by allowing students to be five to choose between at least two challenging tasks which follow up cach authentic material, the other task(s) may flexibly be assigned as homework

Last but not least, the importance of data derived from an analysis of materials in use would not be undervalued Inchiding systematic and principled observations of classroom behaviors in the material development process not only provides indication of what students can do at any given time but also of how students acquire the language proficiency demonstrated Under the circumstances, the process of material development is more relevant

2.2.2 The Evaluatinny of the ASM

1137 Panicipann

The inside evaluators in the study are 104 first-year university students fiom twoclasses of

two Faculties of Acconntancy and Business Administration at TRU These 104 participants

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