04051001796_TOANVAN An evaluation of the course book “Family and Friends starter Đánh giá giáo trình “Family and Friends Starter” được sử dụng cho học sinh tiểu học tại một trung tâm tiếng.pdf
INTRODUCTION
Rationale of the study
The role of English Language Teaching (ELT) textbook is considered as one of the key vital components in the process of language teaching and learning Hutchinson (1987) defined evaluation as “a matter of judging the fitness of something for a particular purpose” (p.41) For teacher, textbook is an effective guide and for learners, it serves as a foundation for them to practice in the classroom Furthermore, textbooks became a universal element of ELT teaching (Hutchinson & Torres, 1994, Tomlinson, 1998) It is necessary to evaluate a book to show that the book is suitable for the purpose of the course Sheldon (1988) shows that there are two main reasons why teachers need to evaluate books First, evaluating books help teachers to choose suitable books for their students Second, the evaluation will help teachers to find out strengths and weaknesses of the book This will encourage the teacher to modify and adapt their materials to students The English program for primary students in Vietnam
Since the 1990s in big cities such as Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh, English for primary pupils have been taught in a pilot program at language centers and some primary schools After that, English was introduced as an elective subject starting from the second semester of grade 3 At present, English serves as a major subject in primary education curricula in Vietnam Teaching English as a main subject in primary schools serves the following purposes:
• Forming basic English communicative skills in listening, speaking, reading, and writing for students to be able to communicate in English at schools, at home, and in familiar social environments
• Providing students with a fundamental knowledge of English to gain a primary understanding of the country, people, and culture of some English- speaking countries
• Building positive attitudes to English, and better understanding and love for Vietnamese through learning English Furthermore, students‟ intelligence, personality, and learning method will have also been gradually formed
To achieve the mentioned purposes, there are many different textbooks exist such as
“Let‟s learn”, “Let‟s go”, “Tieng Anh”, “Explore our world”, or “Family and Friends” However, among these books, the “Family and Friends” book series are favored over others in many schools and English institutions
The English textbook Family and Friends Starter
There are six books in the book series Family and Friends which is from Family and Friends Starter to Family and Friends 6 The Family and Friends Starter Class book is supposed to be used for teachers and students in teaching and learning in class Family and Friends Starter Workbook is for students to do homework at home Besides, there are also teacher books and testing and evaluation books that are used for teachers in preparing for the lessons and testing as well as evaluating their students‟ ability
There are nine units in the Family and Friends Starter Class book One unit consists of six lessons: Lesson 1: Words, lesson 2: Grammar and Song, lesson 3: Sounds and Letters, lesson 4: Numbers, lesson 5: Sounds and Letter, lesson 6: Story After every three units, there is one lesson which is Review
Unlike at primary schools where only official textbooks are used to teach students, at English centers in Vietnam, several coursebooks can be used to teach students, for example, Our world, Kids Box, Let's go, etc The Family and Friends series book is written and published in Britain where English standard is believed to be one of the reasons that this series book is highly recommended in many English centers Until now, there have been several studies about to what extent the Family and Friends series book is suitable for teaching and learning in the Vietnam context, but there were not any studies that study to what extent is the book Family and Friends starter satisfied teachers or not in their teaching way following requirements like at school in terms of design, organization, content and methodology and other factors Conducting research and finding out the advantages and disadvantages of this book motivate and inspire me to adapt it more appropriately when teaching students.
Aim of the study
The study aims at evaluating Family and Friends Starter in terms of design, organization, content and methodology based on the English textbook evaluation criteria for the school system in Viet Nam under Circular no 31/2015/TT-BGDDT (see appendix 2) The author would like to see whether the book Family and Friends Starter is suitable for students studying at an English center that also follow the request of the Ministry of Education and Training regarding textbook evaluation in Vietnam From the results of the findings, recommendations and solutions would be mentioned to suggest the appropriate modification of the book to fit the requirements of the course and the request from MOET
To achieve above-mentioned aims, the research was conducted to seek the answer to the following question:
“To what extent is the book suitable for meeting requirements of the course in terms of aims, design and organization, content and methodology for students and teachers at starting level at Big bang center in Vinh Phuc province?”
Scope of the study
The book Family and Friends starter is the first starting book used for students from kindergarten to primary first grade There are plenty of frameworks and criteria for evaluating a book such as ones of Ellis (1997), Mc Donald and Shaw (1993), or Cunningsworth (1984) However, to evaluate the book Family and Friends Starter, the author decided to follow the textbook evaluation checklist under Circular no 31/2015/TT-BGDDT to evaluate this material in terms of aims, design, and organization, content and methodology Due to the small scale of the study, the English Center in Vinh Phuc was chosen as the research setting As a result, the samples of the study were restricted to 40 teachers, who are enjoying learning and teaching the book Family and Friends Starter Nevertheless, this number of participants is believed to be sufficient to provide valid and reliable information, which is vital to the success of the research.
Significance of the study
It is worth using the book Family and Friends in general and the book Family and Friends Starter in particular for teaching and learning at the primary level
Therefore, the research serves as a valuable resource for the teacher to gain a deeper insight into the teaching and learning status of the book as well as pedagogically-oriented recommendations with ways to enhance learners‟ ability
On a larger scale, the study can also be beneficial to English teachers and students in Vietnam, who may use the book Family and Friends in their classes
Finally, it is believed that these findings will contribute a small part to suggest some recommendations to create a better version of the book.
Method of study
To achieve the aforementioned aims, the study applied mixed-methods combining both qualitative and quantitative approaches
As for data collection methods, survey questionnaire was applied to collect data Concerning the survey questionnaire, a total number of 40 teachers from the English center were involved in the study Document analysis is used as a qualitative research method The author followed statistical procedures, from coding questionnaire data to classify, summarize and report data.
Overview of the study
Chapter 1 states the research problem and rationale of the study Subsequently, the aims, scope, significance, and methods of the study are presented
Chapter 2 provides a background of the study, including a review of key concepts relating to the research topic and a review of previous studies
Chapter 3 presents the research methods adopted in the study Justification for the research instruments as well as their procedure of implementation is also mentioned
Chapter 4 presents the findings results of the research combined with critical analysis, from which major findings are revealed and discussed
Chapter 5 reviews the major findings of the study and then indicates some contributions as well as limitations of the study Suggestions for further research are also mentioned in the chapter
The chapter has discussed the research problem, rationale, significance, scope as well as methods of the study Ending this chapter is the design of the thesis With such contents, it acts as a guideline or orientation for the development of the later parts of the thesis.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Materials in language teaching and learning
2.1.1 Definition and types of materials in language teaching and learning
Tomlinson (2001) claims that material is anything which is used to help language learners to learn Materials can be in the form, for example, of a textbook, a workbook, a cassette, a CD-ROM, a video, a photocopied handout, a newspaper, a paragraph written on a whiteboard: anything which presents or informs about language being learned.” It is easy to find any kind of materials in modern life today Teachers can use published materials or can create their own kinds of books for students For examples of materials: posters, movies, CDs, websites, software, apps,
… Material is any systematic description of the techniques and exercises to be used in classroom teaching (Brown, 1995, p.139)
Language teaching has five important components: students, teachers, materials, teaching methods and evaluation According to Nunan (1992), materials is the most substantial and observable component of pedagogy It is the central position in the process of language teaching and learning Materials are used by teachers or learners to facilitate learning of language Depending on curriculum aims and learner needs, materials can be prepared, edited or selected It can be verbal, oral or written, non-verbal, teacher-centered, learner centered, self- learning oriented or skill related However, materials need to be flexible to cater to individual and contextual differences
Materials play a vital role in most language teaching curriculums Many of authors had the same opinion regarding this matter “No teaching- learning situation, it seems, is complete until it has its relevant textbook.” (Hutchingson,1994)
In learning language, one of the main ways in which the learners can attain the ability to speak effectively is the use of materials As stated before, materials include textbooks, pictures, videos and audio tapes, computer softwares, television programs, visual aids, etc Their influence plays a great role in understanding the content and applying the procedures of teaching and learning This should provide learners with a degree of communicative capacity so that they have something interesting to say and an opinion to share with the partner
Tomlinson (2003) stated that: “They can be instructional, experiential, elicitative or exploratory, in that they can inform learners about language, they can provide experience of the language in use, they can stimulate language use or they can help learner to make discoveries about language themselves.” Nunan (1991) added that great materials contribute great help to experienced teachers as well as unexperienced ones
In many cases, materials provide big support to the teachers They broaden the basis for teacher training by introducing new techniques They may organize teaching and learning process They can also be the most economical way of organizing the syllabus For learners, it may allow them to progress at their own rates of learning.
Material evaluation
Hutchinson and Waters (1987) stated that evaluation is a matter of judging the fitness of something for a particular purpose Evaluation concerns on the relative merit There is no absolute good or bad, only degrees of fitness for the required purpose It means that, when the teacher does material evaluation, the evaluation is based on the required purpose or goal that would be reached by the students
Rossi and Freeman (1993, p.48) define evaluation as "the systematic application of social research procedures for assessing the conceptualization, design, implementation, and utility of programs." There are many other similar definitions and explanations of "what evaluation is" in the literature Our view is that, although there are many definitions of evaluation by many authors, and in fact, each evaluation is slightly different, there are several different steps that are usually followed in any evaluation
Materials evaluation is a procedure that involves measuring the value (or potential value) of a set of learning materials It is “the systematic appraisal of the value of materials in relation to their objectives and to the objectives of the learners using them Evaluation can be pre-used and therefore focused on predictions of potential value It can be whilst-use and therefore focused on awareness and description of what the learners are actually doing whilst the materials are being used And it can also be post-use and therefore focused on evaluation of what happened as a result of using the materials.” (Tomlinson, 2013, p 94)
It involves making judgments about the effect of the materials on the people using them and it tries to measure some or all of the following: 1 The appeal of the materials to the learners 2 The credibility of materials to learners, teachers, and administrators 3 The validity of the materials 4 The reliability of the materials 5 The ability of the materials to interest the learners and the teachers 6 The ability of the materials to motivate the learners 7 The value of the materials in terms of short-term learning (important, for example, for performance on tests and examinations 8 The value of the materials in terms of long-term learning (of both language and communication skills) 9 The learners‟ perceptions of the value of the materials 10 The teachers‟ perceptions of the value of the materials 11 The assistance given to the teachers in terms of preparation, delivery, and assessment 12 The flexibility of the materials 13 The contribution made by the materials to teacher development 14 The match with administrative requirements
Evaluating language teaching and learning materials is really important in successful language teaching because it encourages us to be a reflective practitioner (Schon 1983) and actively reflects on what we need/want from materials, how they are used in practice and to what effect Therefore, there are some typical reasons for this material evaluation
Firstly, material analysis examines exactly what is in the coursebook and its purpose is “descriptive analytical” (McGrath 2013, p 53), investigating exactly
“what they contain, what they ask learners to do and what they say they are trying to achieve” (Tomlinson 2012, p.148) When choosing a coursebook, it is necessary to consider learners‟ needs and wants Among various resource available, it is difficult to decide " which out of number of possibilities can represent the best solution? There is no absolute good or bad - only degreed of fitness for the required purpose " (Hutchinson and Waters, 1993) Therefore, evaluating textbooks helps us make good decision in selecting text book
Secondly, teachers can be aware of what they are teaching for each case and apply their teaching experience in their lessons According to a study by Johnson et al (1995) “the more teaching experience an evaluator has (…) the more able he or she is to view a textbook with detachment, and take account of other users‟ needs as well as his or her own” (p.161)
Finally, it forms professional judgments about the book Textbook evaluation would provide judgments on something that needs considering when choosing a textbook, even financial and political investment From that, the most suitable book would be selected for a particular purpose in a particular situation
According to Tomlinson and Masuhara (2004), there are different types of evaluations They differ in purpose, in personnel, in formality and in timing It can be divided into pre-use evaluation, whilst-use evaluation and post-use evaluation In pre-use evaluation, it involves making prediction about potential value of materials for their users It can be context-free, as in review of materials in journals The book is context-influenced if in a review of draft material for publisher with target users in mind Context-dependent: when a teacher selects coursebook for use with her particular class Making use of checklist criteria has become popular in material evaluations and certain checklists from the literature have been frequently made use of in evaluations Tomlinson and Masuhara (2004) has proposed the following questions for evaluating criteria: Is each question an evaluation question? Does each question only ask one question? Is each question answerable? Is each question free of dogma? Is each question reliable in the sense that other evaluators would interpret it in the same way?
Whilst-use evaluation is objective and reliable than pre-use evaluation, though it has its own limitations It is purely based on observation and so it measures solely what is observable It is limited to measure what is observable and cannot claim to measure what is happened in learner‟s brains It can observe short term memory
Post-evaluation measures the actual effects of the materials on the users It provides data with which reliable decisions regarding the use, adaptation or replacement of the materials can be made So it is believed that post-use evaluation should be administered by the teachers to find out whether the textbooks they use meet the learner and learning needs, and to propose suggestions for additions and deletions to enhance the relevance and utility of the textbooks for the targeted group of learners; that is, post-use evaluation will help the teachers to use the English textbooks selectively and will suggest to them the kind of supplementary materials that should be used in an English class
The main limitation of post-use evaluation is, it is time consuming and requires expertise to measure post-use effects reliably Still, it should be executed as this painstaking effort on the part of the teachers will be prove to be helpful to the users of the textbooks The main limitation of post-use evaluation is time consuming and requires expertise to measure post-use effects reliably Still, it should be executed as this painstaking effort on the part of the teachers will be proved to be helpful to the users of the textbooks
The different ways of measuring post-use effects of materials mentioned in Tomlinson (2009) are: Tests of what has been „taught‟ by the materials, tests of what the students can do, examinations, interviews, questionnaires, criterion- referenced evaluation by the users, post-course diaries, post-course „shadowing‟ of the learner Post-course reports on the learners by employers, subject tutors, etc
Evaluation model proposed by Ellis (1998)
According to Ellis, evaluations can be divided into macro or micro in scale and can be carried out for either accountability or developmental purposes or both of these In macro evaluation, he takes various administrative and curricular aspects such as material evaluation, teacher evaluation, learner evaluation as examined aspects, while micro evaluation focuses on the specific aspect of the curriculum or the administration of the program such as evaluation of learning tasks, questioning practices, learners‟ participation etc (Ellis, 1998) The evaluation in language teaching has been primarily concerned with the macro evaluation of programs and projects (Ellis, 1998), and most evaluation studies have been conducted in order to measure the extent to which the objectives of a program have been met, and to identify those aspects that can be improved As the author observes, this kind of analysis is obviously of interest to teachers as they learn whether or not the goals have been accomplished and whether any changes should be made to the program However, most teachers are less likely to be concerned with the evaluation of the program as a whole, and more concerned with the extent to which a particular textbook, or a teaching activity is effective in their teaching context
Evaluation model proposed by McDonough and Shaw (1993)
McDonough and Shaw (1993) provide an evaluation of course books with two stages:
A brief external evaluation includes criteria that give an overview of the organizational foundation of the coursebook, „as stated explicitly by the author/publisher‟ through the cover, introduction and table of contents Following this is an in-depth internal investigation of the coursebook, „to see how far the materials in question match up to what the author claims as well as to the 6 aims and objectives of a given teaching program.” (McDonough & Shaw 1993: 64) Unique in their coverage of criteria, their 22-point framework is designed both for teachers looking to select a course book, a predictive evaluation, as well as for those teachers looking to identify strengths and weaknesses in course books already used in their working context, a retrospective evaluation
Evaluation model proposed by Hutchinson and Waters (1987)
Review of the previous study
There have been quite a few studies focusing on evaluating the coursebook as well as the Family and Friends book series
Rahman Sahragard, Salah Addin Rahimi (2018), in “Textbook Evaluation of Family and Friends Series Based on Teachers‟ Perspectives”, have selected the textbook Family and Friends 5 as their book for evaluation In the research, twenty instructors comprising of 10 males and 10 females were participated and the checklist used consists of 35 items in term of aim and achievement, skill, language type and technical consideration The study‟s finding indicated that the teachers were extremely satisfied with a majority of the textbook‟s features Therefore, Family and Friends series are suitableto be used as it has been used successfully for several years at language institutes in Iran
Le Thi Dung (2016) write an MA thesis on the evaluation of Family and Friends 3, an English textbook used for primary school students in Vietnam This study is carried out with the participant of both external evaluator and internal evaluator The research is conducted as a quantitative study that contains questionnaire to collect data The findings of the research show that the book Family and Friends 3, in general, meets the requirement of English textbook evaluation criteria for school system in Vietnam
In sum, these previous studies have studied about the book Family and Friends 3, Family and Friends 5 There have not has any research about the book Family and Friends Starter Therefore, this study aims to evaluate the book in terms of aims, design and organization, contents and methodology.
Summary
In this chapter, the researcher has stated a number of issues related to the research question This literature review serves as the theoretical framework for the researcher to build up questionnaires and observation and suggest some pedagogical implications The next chapter will provide the readers with the information about the context and the methodology for the study.
METHODOLOGY
An overview of current English teaching and learning at the English Center 16 1 Overview
In the context of renovation and of open door policy, English has becoming a very important second language to be taught in Vietnam It will be a huge advantage for students who have the ability to communicate in English and use it as a license for finding a better job in many hospitality industries and enterprises
Even though English has been introduced nationally as a compulsory subject at all level, parents like to send their children out at some private English centers so that they hope their kids can be better English learners At English centers, all of the classrooms are equipped with modern facilities to support teachers and learners: boards, smart TVs, computers, projectors The class size is adequately small enough for a kid English class which is usually smaller than ten students in one class
It is better for kids to start learning English with a native speaker Therefore, teachers at English center mainly come from English speaking countries such as England, America, Canada and Australia They are responsible for assessing and managing their teaching ability and helping students gain confidence when they practice speaking Beside native speaking teachers, BBEC also hired Vietnamese English teachers They are all graduated from University of Language and International Studies (ULIS) which is a number one school of teaching and learning English and language teaching methodology in Vietnam Most of them have received C1 which is equivalent to the Common European Framework decided by MOET
Because the center is a private center, it follows the rule of Ministry of Education to choose the materials in advance instead of using textbook as the ones used at school Friends and Family book has been chosen because its content is appropriate for kids who have just started learning English However, the differences in learning style and level of learning have resulted in difficulties for students to learn at same speed as well as for teacher to conduct their lessons and increase interest among students
Based on Decision No 3321/QĐ-BGDĐT of the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET), the pilot program for primary school students is clear that kids at starting level have the ability to understand simply four skills of a language MOET also encourages schools to follow the standard from the Common European Framework of Reference for Language (CEFR) They get to know the new language about the alphabet, numbers, new words related to familiar subjects such as family, friends, plans, and animals As it is the beginning of learning a new language, the language and structure should be familiar, easy to understand, and attractive to elementary students
To achieve a standard level such as one from the Common European Framework of Reference for Language (CEFR), it is necessary for students at the beginning level to follow a high-quality program Therefore, the objectives for the program at the center is in coincidence with the language and objectives for students required by MOET
From the combination of both the MOET program and special program prepared by the center, the purpose of the course is to provide students with a basic understanding of English, get to know the alphabet, numbers, familiar topics, and train them how to pronounce correctly It is also aimed at providing students with speaking and literacy skills from an early age The details for purpose of the course at Bing Bang English center is presented as below:
Table 1: Learning Outcome for starter level at Big Bang English Center
The course is made with the target that:
- Build speaking and literacy skills at starting level -Acquire basic pronunciation skills of letters and numbers -Learn fundamental vocabulary and grammar
-Be able to construct basic dialogue and conversation -Widen general vocabulary of common topic through
The target of the course in terms of design:
- The coursebook size, weight, and size of visual and text font must be suitable for young learners
- The title, sub-title, logo, page numbers must be suitable and error-free
- The layout must be clear and organized
The target of the course in terms of organization:
- The coursebook must be organized logically and effectively
- Unit and lessons must be presented systematically
4 Content a New words topic: me and family, my house, color, shapes and sizes, classroom objects, number, feeling, daily activities, days of the week, clothes, season and weather, food, transportation b Language points: Recognize sounds and letters (a.b,c, and number 1-14), and then short words, short sentences c Grammar and structures:
-Verb tenses: mainly present simples
- New words learned: mentioned above with different topics
- Structure of each lesson: mainly question and answer type or narrative sentence
- Reading simple sentences, simple dialogues e Writing:
- - Learn the left-to-right progression
- Drawing diagonals, curves, and sequences, large, small loops, complex loops, and pathways, wave patterns
- Word tracing (left to right_)
- Completing simple sentence patterns with individual words,
- Word writing, completing gap sentence
- Integrating various tasks and exercises in term of speaking, listening, reading, writing, grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation
- Applying various teaching methods into difference types of learners
- Optimizing teaching- learning activities such as individual work, pair work, group work, and whole class work
The table above is the program for English learners at starting level at the English center in Vinh Phuc The course aims at students who learn English at the beginning and help them to study familiar topics: alphabet, numbers, colors, family members, animals, occupation, adjective related to human feeling After the course, students can:
Listen to some basic conversation
- Recognize and read primitive words related to particular topics
- Write down the alphabet, essential words like numbers, colors, animals, and simple sentences
In sum, besides the mentioned requirements, the purpose of the course is also along with the English textbook evaluation criteria for the school system in Vietnam under circular no 31/2015-BGDDT.
Research question
The study aims at answering the following questions:
“To what extent is the book suitable for meeting requirements of the course in terms of aims, design and organization, content and methodology for students and teachers at starting level at Big bang center in Vinh Phuc province?”
Instruments
In order to carry out the research, it is necessary to collect information and data To do this, document analysis and survey questionnaires were used Document analysis is an important tool for gaining an overview of the book‟s appropriateness if the book is suitable for the course purpose or not Survey questionnaires were used to collect data from teachers‟ point of view After that, all the data would be collected and used as a source to draw conclusions for answering research question which has already been mentioned
Document analysis is a systematic procedure for reviewing or evaluating documents It guides as a qualitative research method which assist to focus on the research question
In this study, there are many documents such as Family and Friends class book, CDs, flashcards, workbook, evaluation book that can be assessed to evaluated However, the researcher uses the Family and Friends class book as a major source of document to be analyzed As the class book is provided with full set from aims, design, organization, content, so it would be convenient for the researcher to evaluate the book Other books are used only for reference and supporting ideals when analyzing material Basing on 44 criteria in the English textbook evaluation criteria for the school system in Vietnam under circular no 31/2015-BGDDT
Beside document analysis, the research used one more instrument: survey questionnaire for teachers They are divided into groups: prerequisite criteria, design and organization, aims, teaching methodology, and textbook user support For each group of content, teachers will have to give their opinions on each item that had been prepared in advance by researcher.
Participants
The study was conducted on a group of participants who are teachers using the book Family and Friends Starter as a course book at their school
Forty teachers are varied in terms of gender and experience The oldest one aged 35 who possessed over five years of teaching using the book Family and Friends; meanwhile the youngest one aged 23 who have only taught using the book for one year Most of them graduated from university while 15% of them have college degree About 40% of teachers have teaching experience from 2-5 years, 25% of them have 1-2 years teaching experience and 25% have more than 5 years of teaching experience Only 10% of them have under one year of teaching experience.
Summary
This chapter presented the context and the methodology of the study Concerning the context of the study, the overview of current English teaching and learning context at the English center in Vinh Phuc In the methodology part, the research question, the participants, the instruments, and data collection and data analysis procedures were described in details To obtain the aim and objectives of the study, three sets of document analysis, questionnaires and observation were used.
FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
Document analysis
Family and Friends Starter was written by Naomi Simmons, published by Oxford University Press This book is the first book of the series Family and Friends book for the student at the primary level The knowledge and skills in this book are at the basic level that is for learners who have not learned English before Nine topics are divided into nine units in the book These topics are clear, diversified, and close with students There are six lessons in each unit: words, grammar and song, sounds and letters, numbers, sound and letters, story After every three topics, there is one revision lesson which is called values time! Its aim is to help students to revise what learners have studied in the last three topics In lesson one: Words, learners have a chance to get to know new words New vocabulary is introduced to students via three tasks which are listening, point and repeat, listen and chant and point and say, stick the stickers Students can easily practice with a native speaker‟s voice on the CDs In the second lesson, Gramma and song, students will listen to a song and via the songs, they learn grammar By doing so, students can practice structures containing target grammar points via listening to a song There are usually three tasks which are listen, trace and point in lesson three sounds and letters In this lesson, students are closely approached to literacy skills which is tracing single letters In addition, they will have a chance to recognize letters, learn left-to-right progression In lesson four, numbers, students will be introduced with two numbers for each lesson The lesson includes diverse activities including listening, trace and repeat, point and sing, count and trace the correct number Lesson five Sounds and letters are also appealing and motivating for young learners The lesson is introduced with letters in the alphabet and phonics program which makes up one-third of each unit and helps learners improve their reading and speaking more effectively The straightforward and fun approach is supported by phonics cards and posters, giving fun opportunities for introducing, practicing and reinforcing sounds, helping children to speak with confidence The final lesson of a unit is lesson six which is story In this lesson, students listen to a story and they are asked to repeat and play roles to read the dialogues At the same time, they can practice structures containing target grammar points
In Family and Friends starter, the students start studying short easy vowels and consonants Interesting chants and songs are many provided to help students practice and remember the sound easily As mentioned above, the values time lesson after three topics is well integrated In the values lessons, language is extended to everyday English, learners have the opportunity to study other expressions outside of the scope of the topics All four skills reading, speaking, reading, and writing are well integrated and taught to students to help them get to know and study English in a quite pleasant way
In general, the book Family and Friends is along with culture, history, geography, morality, custom and tradition of Vietnam Content given in the book is neutral which suitable for people all around the earth to learn which either mention a particular nations culture or Vietnam It is also obvious that none of gender discrimination, ethnic origins, skin color, age group prejudices are seen in the book For example:
Figure 2: My Family (Naomi Simmons, 2014, p.30)
The above picture is a photo describing a picnic or a gathering of a family including grandparents, parents and their children It shows that there are no age or gender discrimination with a diversity of age, gender
Figure 3: He‟s happy (Naomi Simmons, 2014, p.37)
This photo includes a group of people with different color of skin As the textbook is used for students at young ages and is written for using not only in Vietnam, its content focuses on common knowledge It also does not mention much about the patriotism, nationalism and national sovereignty
The design of the cover of the textbook can be attractive to learners since its titles, sub title, logo, text fonts, color, page numbers are logic The book is designed systematically where the order of each topic is consistency and convention Scope and sequence of the book are clearly provided at the first page
Figure 4: Table of Content (Naomi Simmons, 2014, p.2)
In the researcher‟s opinion, however, that it would be more logical if the book‟s alphabet pronunciation practicing lesson should only be shown at the last lesson of one topic Chants and song are well integrated in the book However, according to researcher‟s point of view, too much chants and song might distract the attention of learners as learners might pay attention to the lessons with chants and songs more than the ones with no songs
The textbook size and weight are suitable for primary school students The text font and its size, in general, are big and clear enough for students For example:
Figure 5: Family Introduction (Naomi Simmons, 2014, p 31)
The visuals in the book are colorful and eye-catching All the pictures in the book are clip art pictures It is suggested that real pictures should be input for better imagination
The pictures are relevant to the content and support teachers and students in practicing English
Family and Friends Starter follows an incorporation of approaches Audio lingual approach can be found in some activities such as listen and repeat, or listen and chant, or listen and sing In the grammar lesson, some approaches that examines grammar, focuses on patterns and structures in language to aid retention For example, when students are required to do some tasks like circle the words that begin with Ss
Functionalism is sometimes used in the story lesson in dialogues form which connect the function of language and social context Furthermore, communicative approach is also used in the book By using Q&A, it helps students to work in pair, work in group The first task throughout the book in the reading and writing task is the recognizing letters, and left-to-right progression from letter A to Z and numbers from 1 to 20 These mixture strategies provide a flexible methodology for teaching the book Family and Friends starter
The division of each unit into six lessons help teachers to be more convenient in arrange the time for every lesson However, the content for each lesson is quite short, only three tasks are presented Therefore, it is suggested that two lessons should be combined and taught at one time
There are nine different topics in the book Family and Friends starter which are similar to primary learners They are first for foremost to know words and grammar Some topics introduce new information and widen knowledge for students, helping them to get to know familiar topics, engaging students when start ,learning English These topics chosen in the book are alphabet, number, color, family members, adjective related to human feelings (happy, sad, angry,…), occupations, animals, plants, personal things, etc
Each unit provides a balance of skills from reading, writing, listening, speaking and also reciprocal relation At the same time, students can develop one skill when practicing other skills
The words learned in the lesson one and grammar studied in lesson two can be used again in lesson story Activities in the book are various and simple, guide learners to learn in a simple and convenient way Instructions are clear and detailed so that student can understand easily For example, point and say Stick the stickers, or Stick Then circle the beginning e sound and say
One of the strong points of the book is that the book is published in England- a native speaking country, the language is authentic The speaking voice in the CDs are clear and at slow speed which is suitable for students at beginning level
Family and Friends Starter provides teachers with a wide range of integrated print and digital resources, including stickers, phonics cards and posters, tests and CD-ROM The varied resources suit all teaching situations and meet the needs of students with different learning styles
For teachers, teacher’s book is a supplementary material that guide teacher to plan the lesson It guides teachers to lead the class, plan some activities and games for students
Teacher survey questionnaire findings
Teacher survey questionnaires were conducted on 40 teachers who work at primary schools in Ha Noi and Vinh Phuc They have been using Family and
Friends starter as an English coursebook for their classes Through this survey, the researcher could get the feedback of teachers on how appropriate Friends and Family starter is in terms of aims, design and organization, content and methodology All of the data are presented as below:
4.2.1 The appropriateness of the material to some requirement criteria
In this part, teachers were asked to show their opinion about the suitability to some requirement criteria of the book The data was collected through questions with some choices to choose
Table 2 : Teacher‟s perception on some requirement criteria
(Adapted from Circular 31/2015/TT-BGDDT, 2015)
Quite satisfied Satisfied Strongly satisfied
The textbook is in conformity to
The content of the book is within the scope of content required by the Viet
Nam Ministry of Education and Training
The content of the book does not violate the cultural, historical, social and ethical aspects of any country in the world, including Vietnam
The textbook contributes to the education of patriotism, nationalism, and helps ensure political security, social order and national sovereignty
The content of the book is free from discriminate on the basis of gender, age, job, culture, race
Table 1 illustrates survey results to questions from one to five In mentioned components, almost all teachers show their optimistic satisfaction on the survey
In terms of Law regulation, almost all teachers agree that the book complies with Vietnam law of which sharply 50% of them strongly agree, nearly 43% are satisfied, 7.2% of the respondents are satisfied, and none of the teachers are unsatisfied with this opinion It is easy to understand that as the book is published to be widely used among countries all over the globe
Next, all survey participants agree that the content of the book is within the scope of content required by the Viet Nam Ministry of Education and Training which 55% and 45% of them were strongly satisfied and satisfied with the idea respectively No respondents disagree with that idea It can be seen that the content of the book is suitable for students and follow the strict rules of any particular country or nation
Many respondents agree that the content of the book does not violate the cultural, historical, social, and ethical aspects of any country in the world, including Vietnam with 100% of them are either “quite satisfied”, “satisfied”, or “strongly satisfied” with this aspect
The static from question number four shows teachers‟ opinions toward the textbook contributes to the education of patriotism, nationalism, and helps ensure political security, social order and national sovereignty
At the final question, there are 9% of the teachers are quite satisfied that the book is free from gender, age, job, culture, and race discrimination while 20% of them are satisfied and over 70% strongly agree with this point of view It can be seen that the Family and Friends book is made for commercial, it is a commodity with almost regulations of many countries, it is free from any prejudices which is a great material for the teachers to use for learning English at starting level
4.2.2 The appropriateness of the material to the aims of the course
Table 3: Teacher‟s perception on the book objectives (Adapted from Circular 31/2015/TT-BGDDT, 2015)
Quite satisfied Satisfied Strongly satisfied
Build speaking and literacy skills at starting level 0 6.6 43.4 50
Acquire basic pronunciation skills of letters and numbers 0 0 44 56
Learn fundamental vocabulary and grammar 0 6 14 80
Be able to construct basic dialogue and conversation 17 50 13 10
Widen general vocabulary of common topic through “vocabulary extension” 10 30 30 30
In this part, teachers were asked to show their opinion about the appropriateness of the book The data were collected through questions with some choices to choose
In this section, the researcher presented five questions related to the aims of the course Teachers were asked to show their opinions regarding the suitability of the course book under the requirement of checklist
Table 1 illustrates survey results to questions from one to five It can be seen that most of all respondents show their optimistic satisfaction in terms of the aims of the coursebook The idea that the book helps students to build speaking and literacy skills at starting level with the proportion of 50% of respondents strongly satisfied, 43.4% of the teachers feel satisfied and fortunately, nobody is unsatisfied Moreover, except only 6.6% of teachers who are quite satisfied with the opinion, most of them agree that Family and Friends starter helps students to build speaking and literacy skills at starting level Furthermore, 80% of the teachers strongly agree that Family and Friends starter is a good book for students to gain fundamental vocabulary and grammar Only a small percent (6%) of the teachers who are “quite satisfied” and no respondent shows the expression of strongly unsatisfied Regarding pronunciation skills, teachers seem to be quite satisfied with the aims of the coursebook that it can help students to build speaking and literacy skills at starting level with a high proportion of 50%, while 43,4% of respondents are strongly satisfied, satisfied respectively There is only a small percent of 6.6% of the teachers who are quite satisfied with the opinion Luckily, no respondent shows that they are strongly unsatisfied with the question The statistic from question number five presents that each 30% of the respondents show strongly satisfied, satisfied and quite satisfied opinion respectively There is only 10% of the teachers who show unsatisfying opinion toward the question and stated that Family and Friends starter helps students to widen general vocabulary of common topic through “vocabulary extension”
4.2.3 The appropriateness of the material in terms of design and organization requirements of the course
Table 4: Teacher‟s perception on the book design and organization
(Adapted from Circular 31/2015/TT-BGDDT, 2015)
Quite satisfied Satisfied Strongly satisfied
The cover of the coursebook is age- appropriate 0 16,6 13,4 70
The coursebook size, weight, and size of visual and text font are suitable for young learners
The title, sub-title, logo, page numbers are suitable and error-free 0 0 20 80
The layout is designed to be clear and organized 0 8 40 52
The coursebook is organized logically and effectively, and lessons are systematically presented with proper components which fit well with the standard class hours of each educational level
Unit and lessons are presented systematically, each unit has six lessons: words, grammar and song, sounds and letters, story, and a review lesson after
As can be seen from the table, over 80% of the respondents are in favor of the statement that the cover of the coursebook is age-appropriate, in which 70% of them strongly satisfied and 13,4% percent are satisfied Luckily, there is no one dissatisfied and only a small portion of 16.6 % of the teachers who show that they are quite satisfied with the opinion
In terms of size, weight, 49 % of the respondents think that the coursebook size, weight, and size of visual and text font are suitable for young learners, 41 % of the teachers assume that size and weight are relevant and 10 percent of participants are satisfied with the statement The survey shows high appreciation of teachers in the title, sub-title, logo, page numbers Especially, there is no error in the coursebook This is easy to understand as the book Family and Friends starter is the book that is published by Oxford University Press- a publishing company with a reputation and error-free 100% of participants showed that they are satisfied and strongly satisfied toward the statement Furthermore, all respondents agreed that the layout of the book is designed to be clear and organized 100% of teachers are in favor of the statement which accounts for 50%, 42%, and 8% of respondents who are satisfied, quite satisfied, and strongly satisfied respectively Coursebook organization gets a good assessment from teachers Almost all teachers give positive feedback According to the data collected, most of them agree that the coursebook is organized logically and effectively Lessons are systematically presented with proper components which fit well with the standard class hours of each educational level which account for 55 percent of participants strongly satisfied, 35% satisfied, and 10% quite satisfied Luckily, no one disagrees with this statement
In terms of the content arrangement, 53% of teachers are satisfied that unit and lessons are present systematically, each unit has six lessons: words, grammar and song, sounds and letters, numbers, sounds, and letters, story, and a review lesson after every three units which is the highest proportion While 24 % of them are strongly satisfied with the idea, 23% of participants show satisfying feelings toward the statement
4.2.4 The appropriateness of the material to the methodology requirements of the course
Table 5: Teacher „s perception on the book methodology (Adapted from Circular 31/2015/TT-BGDDT, 2015)
Quite satisfied Satisfied Strongly satisfied
The variety of tasks and exercises in terms of speaking, listening, reading, writing, grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation are well integrated into the book
The content and layout of the coursebook enable a teacher to apply suitable teaching and method aids
The teaching-learning activities enable a teacher to apply various teaching methods to a different group of people in a flexible way
The teaching-learning activities enable a teacher to apply various teaching methods to a different group of people in a flexible way
Teaching methods used in the textbook are adaptable to different
The appropriateness of the methodology of Family and Friends starter is presented in the table above
Almost all teachers believe that Family and Friends starter is provided with a variety of tasks and exercises in all four skills which account for 63,4 percent Vocabulary and pronunciation are well integrated with the book which allows teachers to choose a suitable method and aids for teaching easily Nearly one-fourth of teachers informed that they are strongly satisfied while only 13,3 percent of them showed neutral opinion when they stated at the “quite satisfied” There is no one (teachers) who disagree with the statement
The methodology in Family and Friends starter did not receive a high assessment from teachers and students According to the data from the survey, there are more than two-third (74%) of the teachers just feel quite satisfied that the content and layout of the coursebook enable teachers to apply suitable teaching and method aids It can be referred that Family and Friends starter might not be presented with a diversified topic as it is the book for start level learners, which might be the reason for teachers to endure some difficulty when applying multiform teaching and method aids The other one-third of teachers gave satisfied or strongly satisfied opinions toward the question
In terms of the connection between teaching-learning activities, there is a high assessment from teachers and students when 90 percent of teachers agree that teaching- learning activities are various which facilitate individual work, pair work, group work, and whole classwork Therefore, it can be stated that almost all teachers and students were satisfied with the teaching and learning activities in the coursebook
4.2.5 The appropriateness of the material to the content and skills requirements of the course
Table 6 : Teacher‟s perception on the book general content
(Adapted from Circular 31/2015/TT-BGDDT, 2015)
Quite satisfied Satisfied Strongly satisfied
There is a variety of topics in the coursebook which are suitable for learner abilities
The content is up-to-date which enables teachers to create an interesting lesson, increases learners' motivation and interest Topics help expand students‟ knowledge and enrich their experience
The content of each lesson in one unit is proportional and helps students to foster listening, reading, speaking, writing skills
The language in the coursebook is authentic and suitable for learners 0 2 36 62
The table presents teachers‟ points of view on content in the book Family and Friends Starter content is varied and that makes it suitable for learners‟ abilities There is no significant difference among respondents who agree The proportions are roughly equally divided into three groups of opinion which are quite satisfied, satisfied, and strongly satisfied There is 46,7% of teachers who showed their strong satisfied feeling when they mentioned that the content is up-to-date which helps teachers to create interesting lessons and the topics help expand students‟ knowledge and enrich their experience Some teachers might want to have more interesting content, that‟s why there is a proportion of 33,3% of the teachers who just feel “quite satisfied” with this statement
Summary of Findings
The result from document analysis and teacher survey showed that Family and Friends Starter is not against Vietnamese law, culture, and tradition The content does not violate the cultural, historical, social, and ethical aspects of Vietnam
In terms of design and organization, Family and Friends Starter meets the requirements of English textbook evaluation criteria for schools in Vietnam as the same request from the English center The size is suitable for students and visuals are relevant and attractive compared to the content
Both researcher and teachers agreed that the book generally meets the requirements of the course in terms of aims, design and organization, content, and methodology The textbook satisfied the objectives of teaching English for learners at starting level It supports teachers in flexibly teaching students and helps learners develop their language communicative competence
In terms of content and skills, the language used in the book is authentic Listening materials are well-recorded as they focused on language linguistic competence like stress, intonation In general, the content of the book Family and Friends Starter is age-appropriate and accurate
By using mixed-methods which is qualitative and quantitative approaches, the results is gained as below:
In document analysis, the author did not agree that Family and Friends Starter can promote patriotism, nationalism, or ensure political security, social order as it is an international textbook that is not only be used in Vietnam However, according to the questionnaire findings, 10% of teachers agreed with the above statements
The author shared that the size of text font in some cases might cause difficulty for learners but almost all teachers did not share the same opinion except for 10% of them showed that they are only “quite satisfied” with it
Sharply 90% of teachers shared that the organization of the book is logical The researcher would like to combine two lessons into one lesson It is better to do so because teachers can save time to develop other activities in one lesson
For skills, teachers thought that the number of vocabularies in one lesson is appropriate for learners when only over 80% of them were satisfied with the statement that the number of vocabularies in each unit is appropriate for the student at the beginning level However, the researcher shared the opinion that the new words need to be more diverse so that students can get the chance to open their range of new words.
Discussion
From the main findings, it can be seen that the results of the present study are mainly in agreement with the results of the previous study
Regarding cultural and social factors, the findings from the Family and
Friends Starter are the same as the previous studies that the book is along with culture, history geography, morality, custom, and tradition of Vietnam There is no gender discrimination, ethnic origins, skin color, age group prejudices in the book
In terms of design and organization, the book Family and Friends
Starter and the book series Family and Friends, in general, are found to be attractive The title, logo, text fonts, color page number are logical The scope and sequence of the book are provided However, different from other findings of other research, in the book Family and Friends Starter, the alphabet pronunciation practicing lessons should be shown at the last lesson Chants and songs are believed to be too much as they could distract learners from the lessons with songs and chants and lessons with no songs and chants In agreement with other research, the visuals are found to be colorful and eye-catching Nonetheless, it was recommended that besides clip art pictures, real pictures should also be input into the book
Concerning objectives and methodology, Family and Friends Starter follows the incorporation of approaches Functionalism and communicative approach are used in the book The same findings are found in other research of the series book Family and Friends
Regarding Content and Skills, the book is provided with a balance of skills and reciprocal relations However, as the book is for students at starting level, the range of vocabulary is evaluated as not various and diverse enough for students Regarding other research, the content and skills are highly evaluated as there are provided with a wide range of vocabulary
In terms of textbook user support, in all the series book Family and Friends, they are evaluated as a wide range of integrated print and digital resources such as stickers, phonics, cards, posters, tests, and CD-ROM
In addition, according to other research regarding the evaluation of the book Family and Friends series, the textbook series is believed to involve the student with interesting reading material to practice and learn language structures such as idiom, collocation, vocabulary, and reading comprehension Additionally, the Family and Friends series has helped learners to become autonomous and play a pivotal role to promote the motivation and confidence of the learners
From all the findings from the present research as well as other findings relating to the series book, the author see that the book Family and Friends series in general, and the book Family and Friends Starter in particular, are suitable for students as well as teachers in teaching students at school as well as at English institutions The book is appropriate for both experienced and inexperienced as well as untrained teachers The findings of the presents study could be a useful document for EFL instructors to evaluate their textbook and syllabus and selection of proper textbook in terms of the learning objectives.
Recommendation
Based on the analysis document and surveyed results, the researcher would like to give some recommendations on the way of adapting the book in a more valuable and flexible, and effective way
As in the research, the researcher shared that the number of vocabulary in each unit is not appropriate for teachers to make syllabus and for students to learn and observe as well Therefore, it is suggested that while teaching this book, teachers at the English center should take another source of reference to open and widen the range of vocabulary However, it is also suggested that teachers at the English center should consider the ability of learners If they have studied English before, teachers can modify the amount the vocabulary by adding more new words related to the topic of lessons If learners are at their first time learning a new language, it is necessary for teachers to teach at a more carefully and lower speed
The book should be arranged in the following order: words, grammar and song, sounds and letters, numbers, sound and letters (second time), story, and after three units, there is a revision lesson called Values time It is suggested that the grammar and song should be at the end of topics and sounds and letters should be placed as the first lesson of one topic
Furthermore, in the task, listen, point and repeat on each Words lesson, it is better if it can be divided into two different tasks which are listening, and point and repeat the task By doing that, learners will have time to pay attention and practice more carefully.