an evaluation of the text book new english file pre intermediate for the first year non english majored students at university of social sciences and humanities suggestions for book use and adaptat pdf

Figure 5 Participants’ opinions about the update of the topics in New English File – pre intermediate 30 Table 1 Teachers’ and students’ opinions of the language point available in the b

iv

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Declaration i

Acknowledgements ii

Abstract iii

Table of contents iv

List of abbreviations viii

List of figures and tables viii

PART A: INTRODUCTION……… 1

1 Rationale for the thesis ……… 1

2 Aims of the thesis ……… 1

3 The significance of the thesis……… 2

4 Scope of the thesis……… 2

5 Methods of the study……… 2

6 Design of the study……… 3

PART B: DEVELOPMENT……… 4

CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW……… 4

1.1 Text book, coursebook and materials……… 4

1.1.1 Definitions ……… 4

1.1.2 The roles of Course-book ……… 5

1.2 Materials evaluation……… 6

1.2.1 Definition ……… 6

1.2.2 Purposes of materials evaluation and the importance of materials evaluation 7 1.2.2.1 Purposes……… 7

v

1.2.2.2 The importance……… 7

1.2.3 Types of materials evaluation……… 7

1.2.4 Material evaluators ……… 8

1.2.5 Models for Materials evaluation ……… 9

1.2.5.1 Evaluation by Ellis (1997)……… 9

1.2.5.2 Evaluation by McDonough and Shaw (1993)……… 10

1.2.5.3 Evaluation by Hutchinson and Water (1987) ……… 10

1.2.6 Criteria for Materials evaluation……… 11

1.2.7 Need analysis……… 14

1.2.8 Materials adaptation……… 16

1.3 Suitability of the present study in the research area……… 18

CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY……… 20

2.1 Description of the context……… 20

2.1.1 The setting……… 20

2.1.2 Course material……… 21

2.1 3 Course objectives……… 23

2.1.4 Course assessment……… 23

2.2 Research methodology ……… 23

2.2.1 Subjects ……… 23

2.2.2 Instruments ……… 23

2.2.3 Methods and procedures ……… 24

CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS AND RESULTS DISCUSSION……… 26

vi

3.1 Data analysis ……… 26

3.1.1 Overall rating of the course book New English File pre-intermediate………… 26

3.1.2.Teachers’ and students’ preference of the course book New English File pre – intermediate………

26 3.1.3 What teachers and students do not like about the book……… 27

3.1.4 The decision to choose the book for future use……… 27

3.1.5 Does the material provide students with the opportunity to develop their communicative competence?

27 3.1.6 The language points available in this material……… 28

3.1.7.The participants’ opinions about language skills in the book New English File pre-intermediate………

29 3.1.8 What do you think about the topics in this material? 30

3.1.9 The update information of the book ……… 30

3.1.10 Class time ……… 31

3.1.11 Teachers and students’ preferences for the topics in New English File pre-intermediate………

31 3.1.12 Teachers’ suggestions for the materials improvement ……… 32

3.2 Summary of major findings ……… 34

3.3 Recommendation for future material improvements ……… 35

3.3.1 Why teachers have to adapt the book ……… 35

3.3.2 Adaptation Techniques……… 36

3.3.2.1 Addition……… 36

3.3.2.2 Deletion ……… 36

3.3.2.3 Replacement ……… 36

vii

3.3.2.4 Reorder or combination……… 36

PART C: CONCLUSION……… 38

1 The Conclusion of the study……… 38

2 Limitation and suggestions for future research……… 39

REFERENCES……… 41 APPENDICE……… I Appendix 1……… I Appendix 2……… VI Appendix 3……… VII

Appendix 4……… XIII

Appendix 6……… XXI

Figure 5 Participants’ opinions about the update of the topics in New English

File – pre intermediate

30

Table 1 Teachers’ and students’ opinions of the language point available in the

book New English File pre-intermediate

28

Table 2 Teachers and students’ viewpoints about the language skills in New

English File pre-intermediate

1

PART A: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale for the thesis

There are many factors leading to learning English successfully including: teachers, suitable course book choice, learning objectives, and environment and ect Among which, choosing an effective course book is always related to the objectives defined How to evaluate the course book so that we know whether our aims are well- matched with the chosen book or not is really a demanding task At the present, I am teaching English for the first year non- English majored students Two years ago, I taught New Way A- the third edition But since 2010, I have taught them New English File – from elementary to pre-intermediate, and intermediate One notable thing is that all the universities among the Vietnam national University of Languages and International Studies have chosen New English File from elementary to upper intermediate According to Marji Napper (2006), the author who reviews the New English File pre-intermediate, the book is comprehensive, well-organised, and provides materials for a good progression through this level That is the first reason motivating me to investigate the effectiveness of the book after teaching With the growth of computer- assisted language learning, students have an access to many sources of learning materials It is essential that teachers make use of the assessment tools

to evaluate materials so that their students can have an opportunity to learn the highest quality books providing students both communicative competence and diverse learning experience However, most of teachers have not been adequately trained in the selection process and how to make the best choice of text suitable for learners That research gap inspires me to choose textbook evaluation as topic for this master thesis

Last but not least, it is true that teachers teach students to learn English best when teachers have profound knowledge of what their students really expect when learning English

For all- above reasons, I will choose my minor thesis “ An Evaluation of New English

file – pre- intermediate for the first year non- English majored students at University

of Social Sciences and Humanities; Suggestions for book use and adaptation”

2 Aims of the thesis

The primary goal of this thesis is to evaluate the textbook New English File intermediate from both lecturers and students’ viewpoints and then investigate the ways

3 The significance of the thesis

The results of the thesis will provide useful information not only for the researcher, the course books designers but also for the teaching staff and the first- year non- English major students at University of Social Sciences and humanities In addition, the findings are regarded as the bases for recommendations of teaching New English File series more successful Last but not least, the research results are hoped to make small contribution to the field of materials evaluation

4 Scope of the thesis

At the present, a set of New English File is being taught at University of Social Sciences and Humanities The researcher, who is in charge of teaching New English File pre-intermediate, teaches the first year students That is the reason why the thesis will firstly focus on evaluating the post use of course book New English File – pre-intermediate Secondly, due to the limit of the minor thesis, the course book will be evaluated in terms

of language providing and skills developing

5 Methods of the study

According to research type, this thesis is categorized as an action research To support the research with varied and valid data, the author combined both qualitative and quantitative approaches As the study deals with two questions: (1) To what extent does New English File Pre-intermediate satisfy students’ needs? ; (2) What improvements should be made to the material to meet students’ needs? The following methods will be employed to collect data for the study:

Survey – questionnaires: Two sets of questionnaires on New English File

pre-intermediate evaluation designed for both teachers and the first –year students who have experienced using the book

3

Teachers’ informal interviews: Interviews were conducted with the author’s colleagues

who teach the second semester of the school year 2010-2011 for their assessment of the book and their suggestions for better use of the material

Teacher’ weekly self- reports: A free writing report is gradually produced by the

research weekly after finishing teaching each unit to record her judgments on each file The items in the questionnaires are based on the checklists of Hutchinson & Waters (1987), Cunningsworth’s (1995), Tomlinson’s (1998) and Mc Grath’s ( 2002) frameworks and basic principles for evaluating ELT textbook These criteria when applied in the study are adapted suitably with the context of University of Social Sciences and Humanities

6 Design of the study

There are three main parts in this thesis: introduction, development, and conclusion The introduction comprises the rationale, the aims, the significance, the scope, and the design of the study

The development consists of three chapters

Chapter one provides a theoretical background related to materials evaluations It discusses the functions and types of materials in language teaching and learning and present major issues of materials evaluation: definitions, purposes, and types of materials evaluation, materials evaluators, models for materials evaluation, criteria for materials evaluation, as well as material adaptation

Chapter two concentrates on research methodology used in the thesis comprising a brief introduction of current English teaching and learning at University of Social Sciences and Humanities, research methods, and the data collection procedures

Chapter three shows the findings of data analysis of the research and makes suggestions for the material improvement

The conclusion gives a brief summary of what discussed in the study and recommends room for further research

4

PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW

It is common knowledge that in order to conduct a research, the related bases should be looked at Therefore, this chapter gives a brief overview of the literature relevant to the research

1.1 Text book, coursebook and materials

1.1.1 Definitions

Materials:

Most people associate the term “language learning materials” with coursebooks because

that has been their main experience of using materials However, according to Brian

Tomlinson (2005), the term is used to refer to anything which is used by teachers or learners to facilitate the learning of a language Materials could obviously be cassettes, videos, CD-Roms, dictionaries, grammar books, readers, workbooks or photocopied exercises They could also be newspapers, food packages, photographs, live talks by invited native speakers, instructions given by a teacher, tasks written on cards or discussions between learners In other words, they can be anything which is deliberately used to increase the learners’ knowledge and or experience of the language It is obvious that teachers who are materials developers can choose different sources of input to help their students learn the most effectively

To do book evaluation in a correct way, first defining characteristics and giving a good

definition about course book is necessary A coursebook is a book which provides the core

materials for a course It aims to provide as much as possible in one book and is designed

so that it could serve as the only book which the learners necessarily use during a course Such a book usually includes work on grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, functions, and the skills of reading, writing, listening and speaking Although the definition which Ur (1996: 183) has given is a simple one, it is very useful and easy to understand It reads as follows:

The term ‘course book’ means, a text book of which the teacher and each student has a copy and which is in principle to be followed systematically as the basis for a language course Therefore, from the above definition one can get that a course book must have at

5

least being available in the hand of students and teachers, and used systematically in a course of study, and a course of study in this article refers to an English course of study

According to McGrath (2002), the term “course book” refers to a textbook on which a

course is based, therefore, the terms “course book” and “textbook” in my study will be used interchangeably by the researcher

1.1.2 The roles of Course-book

Textbooks are a key component in most language programs According to Richards (2005), the use of commercial textbooks in teaching has given us the following principal advantages: firstly, they provide structure and syllabus for a program because thanks to textbooks, a language program has a central core and learners may receive a syllabus that has been systematically planned and developed Secondly, they help standardize instruction It is obvious that textbooks used in a program can ensure that students in different classes receive similar content and therefore can be tested in the same way Thirdly, course books maintain quality If a well – developed textbook is used, students are exposed to materials that have been tried and tested, that are based on sound learning principles, and that are paced appropriately Fourthly, they provide a variety of learning resources Textbooks are often accompanied by workbooks, CDs and cassettes, videos, CDROMs, and comprehensive teaching guides, providing a rich and varied resource for teachers and learners Fifthly, they are efficient: they save teachers’ time, enabling teachers

to devote time to teaching rather than material’s production Sixthly, they can provide effective language models and input as textbooks can provide support for teachers whose first languages are not English and who may not be able to generate accurate language input on their own Moreover, they can train teachers If teachers have limited teaching experience, a textbook together with the teachers’ manual can serve as a medium of initial teacher training Finally, textbooks are visually appealing It is the fact that commercial books usually have high standards of design and production and hence are appealing to teachers and learners However, there are also potential negative effects of using textbooks Firstly, they may contain inauthentic language because texts, dialogues, and other aspects

of content to be specially written to incorporate teaching points and are often not representative of real language use Secondly, they may distort content It is clear that textbooks often present an idealized view of the world or fail to represent real issues In order to make textbooks acceptable in many different contexts controversial topics are

6

avoided and instead an idealized white middle class view of the world is portrayed as the norm What is more, textbooks may not reflect students’ needs since textbooks are often written for global markets they often do not reflect the interests and needs of students and hence may require adaptation In addition, they can deskill teachers If teachers use textbooks as the primary source of their teaching, leaving the textbooks and teachers’ manual to make the major instructional decisions for them the teachers’ role can become reduced to that of a technician whose primary function is to present materials prepared by others The final drawback is that they are expensive

To sum up, textbooks supply us with both advantages and disadvantages The matter is when using textbook which have some negative consequences, remedial action should be taken, e.g by adapting or supplementing books or providing appropriate guidance and support for teachers in how to use them appropriately

1.2 Materials evaluation

1.2.1 Definition

As a key area in English language teaching, the significance of material design and evaluation has grown steadily since materials, especially authentic materials are not simply the everyday tools of the language teachers; they are an embodiment of the aims and methods of a particular teaching or learning situation Evaluation is basically a matching process, which concerns matching learners’ needs to available solutions (Hutchinson and Waters 1987:97) Low (1987: 21) reminds us that “teachers generally need to screen materials, in order to predict their suitability for particular classes” Moreover, material evaluation, according to Brian Tomlinson (2005), is regarded as the systematic appraisal of the value of materials in relation to their objectives and to the objectives of the learners using them

However, the following definition seems to be a comprehensive one to suit the views and the aims of the research

“Evaluation is the systematic collection and analysis of all relevant information necessary

to promote the improvement of a curriculum, and assess its effectiveness and efficiency, as well as the participants’ attitudes within the context of the particular institutions involved.” (Brown, 1995: 218)

Briefly, different authors have different ways of defining what the materials evaluation is

In my view, these authors share the view that materials evaluation is a matching process

7

between the learners’ needs and designers’ purposes with a view to improving the teaching – learning contexts when choosing a course book I myself find the definition given by Brown (1995: 218) is the most comprehensive and applicable in my research context at University of Social Sciences and Humanities

1.2.2 Purposes of materials evaluation and the importance of materials evaluation

1.2.2.1 Purposes

When we evaluate any materials, we want to identify the good points and bad points of the materials in use After we use them in the classroom for a long time, we need to evaluate teaching materials so that we can know whether the materials match with the teaching context or not According to Ellis (1997), there are two primary reasons why we carry out material evaluation Firstly, there may be a need to choose among the materials available the most suitable ones to use for a particular situation Secondly, there can be a need for materials evaluation to determine whether the material, which has been chosen, works for that situation after it has been used for a period of time This may help in deciding whether

to use the materials again or replace it with a better one

1.2.2.2 The importance

It is said that a learner without a course book is more teacher - dependent While developing materials for a class is a challenging job, now there is a variety of textbooks available on the market each with a different methodology and syllabus, it can be much more difficult to choose the best suitable book for a particular teaching situation Hence, in this situation the importance of book evaluation is clear A thorough evaluation paves the way for teaching staff of each organization and policy makers to have this ability to discriminate amongst all the available books in the market After considering weak points

as well as strong points of each book, educators can choose the most appropriate book Thus, through identifying strengths and weaknesses in textbooks, optimum use can be made of strong points, and weaker points can be adapted or substituted from other books (Cunningsworth 1995: 14)

1.2.3 Types of materials evaluation

There is a variety of classifications of materials evaluation by different authors Robinson (1991: 59) classifies materials evaluation into three types: preliminary, summative and

8

formative while McGraph divides materials evaluation into three stages: pre- use, in- use and post- use evaluation Although different terms are used to indicate types of materials evaluation, these terms are fundamentally similar

Preliminary or pre- use evaluation often takes place before the course starts with the aim to select the materials most suitable for the particular group of learners and for the aims of the course

Formative or in- use evaluation occurs during the learning process, the result obtained can

be used to modify what is being done or in other words, such results may suggest the development of the material in the future

Summative or post- use evaluation is normally conducted when the course is finished with this evaluation will lead to the decision whether to repeat or use the materials again or not According to Cunningsworth (1995), pre- use evaluation tends to be the most difficult kind since there is no actual experience of using the course book From another perspective, in-use evaluation is a kind of evaluation for suitability, involving, matching the course book against a specific requirement including the learner’s objective, the learner’s background, the resources available, etc On the other hand, post-use evaluation refers to an assessment of a textbook’s fitness over a period of continual use which helps teachers to decide whether to use the same textbook in future or not

In brief, there are various kinds of materials evaluation Therefore, the evaluators have to determine what type of materials evaluation will be appropriate with their context For University of Social Sciences and Humanities, New English has been employed for two years, the researcher decided to use summative or post- use evaluation to determine whether this material is effective or not and offer some suggestions for further improvement

1.2.4 Material evaluators

According to Robinson (1991), Tomlinson (1998), Richards (2001), and Dudley – Evan &

St John (1998), evaluators can be either outsiders or insiders

Outsiders are those who have not been involved in the program such as consultants, inspectors, and administrators Accordingly, they may not fully understand the teaching and learning situation in which the evaluation is being carried out Moreover, it may take them more time to be aware of the local situation such as learners’ needs, facilities, and

1.2.5 Models for Materials evaluation

Although there are many different models for materials adaptation, the most commonly models are suggested by Ellis (1997), McDonough & Shaw (1993), and Hutchinson and Water ( 1987)

1.2.5.1 Evaluation by Ellis (1997)

This is a micro – evaluation In this model, Ellis suggests the practice of a detailed empirical evaluation and focuses on evaluation at the task level with reference to its actual

teaching and learning context The steps are as follows:

1 Choosing the task to follow;

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

3 Planning the evaluation with reference to the dimensions above;

4 Collecting information before, while and after the task was used, and what how the task performed;

10

5 Analyzing the information collected;

6 Reaching conclusions relating to what has been discovered, and making recommendations for the future teaching

7 Writing the report

The aim of this model is to identify the match between task planned and task in use It can

be conducted when the materials are being used in the classroom

1.2.5.2 Evaluation by McDonough and Shaw (1993)

This is a combination of macro and micro evaluation In this model, the authors suggest a three stage evaluation model called: external evaluation, internal evaluation, and overall evaluation as presented in the following figure

Macro- evaluation → inappropriate/potential →

Figure 1: Materials Evaluation Model of McDonough and Shaw ( 1993, p.75)

It is clear that the model proposed by Mc Donough and Shaw (1993) illustrates a logical procedure for materials evaluation However, the figure does not discuss the objectives and criteria of the materials which are important to ensure the learners’ learning success as well

as teachers’ effective teaching

1.2.5.3 Evaluation by Hutchinson and Water (1987)

Hutchinson and Water (1987) proposed a perfect evaluation model According to them, the materials evaluation process can be classified into four main following phases

On what bases will you judge materials? Which criteria will be more important?

What realizations of the criteria do you want your course?

How does the material being evaluated realize the criteria?

How far does the material match your needs?

11

Figure 2: Materials Evaluation Process (Hutchinson and Waters 1987, p98)

It is clearly seen from the chart that in the first stage, the criteria are defined to create basis for material evaluation It means that in this step, evaluator must examine what bases the materials will be assessed and which criteria the evaluator want to adopt for his teaching course The second phase is to make the subjective analysis, which means to identify the requirements for the materials so the evaluator should describe what criteria the course is based in details At the third stage, evaluator is supposed to determine the objective analysis by gauging if the existing materials reveal the criteria set in the subjective analysis According to Brindley (1984) and Nunan (1991) ( cited in Hoang Van Van (2010), objective analysis is in relation with the identifying the teaching content whereas subjective needs are associated with teaching methods However, in reality, there is relation between objective needs with methodology (for example teachers will consider which the best method to teach) and subjective needs with teaching contents (for instance, learners define what they want to learn)

The final step is the matching process, which investigates how the materials meet the course requirements

In summary, analyzing learners’ needs is useful in teaching foreign languages And the author thinks that Hutchinson and Water (1987) recommend an effective model It clearly shows the evaluator the whole picture to analyze the materials in accordance with the first year non- English majored students Hence, in this study, the author adopts the this model

to examine whether the currently –used materials is suitable for the students at USSH

1.2.6 Criteria for Materials evaluation

As mentioned previously, if one accepts the value of textbooks in ELT then it must surely be with the qualification that they are of an acceptable level of quality, usefulness, and appropriateness for the context and people with whom they are being used While the literature on the subject of textbook evaluation is not particularly extensive, various writers have suggested ways of helping teachers to be more sophisticated in their evaluative approach, by presenting evaluation checklists based

on supposedly generalizable criteria that can be used by both teachers and students

in many different situations Although Sheldon (1988) suggests that no general list of criteria can ever really be applied to all teaching and learning contexts without considerable modification, most of these standardized evaluation checklists contain

12

similar components that can be used as helpful starting points for ELT practitioners in a wide variety of situations Prominent theorists in the field of ELT textbook design and analysis such as Williams (1983), Sheldon (1988), Brown (1995), Cunningsworth (1995) and Harmer (1996) all agree, for instance, that evaluation checklists should have some criteria pertaining to the physical characteristics of textbooks such as layout, organizational, and logistical characteristics Other important criteria that should be incorporated are those that assess a textbook's methodology, aims, and approaches and the degree to which a set of materials is not only teachable but also fits the needs of the individual teacher's approach as well as the organization's overall curriculum Moreover, criteria should analyze the specific language, functions, grammar, and skills, content that are covered by a particular textbook as well as the relevance of linguistic items to the prevailing socio-cultural environment Finally, textbook evaluations should include criteria that pertain to representation of cultural and gender components in addition to the extent to which the linguistic items, subjects, content, and topics match up to students' personalities, backgrounds, needs, and interests as well as those of the teacher and institution

It is beneficial to consider some guidelines for evaluation and considering criteria of book evaluation According to Dudley- Evan and St John (1998), in the evaluation process, evaluators must take evaluation criteria into account before any evaluation takes place Criteria for materials evaluation depend on what is being evaluated and why they need to

be evaluated Williams (1993) suggests seven criteria, each of which has following aspects:

- General criteria: give introductory guidance on the presentation of language items and skills

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

- Grammar criteria: offer meaningful situations and a variety of techniques teaching structural units

- Vocabulary criteria: distinguish the different purposes and skills involved in the teaching structural units

- Reading criteria: provide guidance on the initial presentation of passages for reading comprehension

13

- Writing criteria: demonstrate the various devices for controlling and guiding content and expression in composition exercises

- Technical criteria: contain appropriate pictures, diagrams, tables

The criteria suggested by Williams(1993) seem to be very useful and appropriate for evaluating a course book However, such frameworks are more suitable for the selection of course books available in the market than for the examination of an – in house material to see whether they meet the intended objectives With its more comprehensive content, the evaluating criteria defined by Hutchinson and Waters, therefore, seem to be a more helpful tool to language materials evaluators

According to Hutchinson and Waters (1987) there are four main criteria for materials evaluation that any evaluator should concern: the audience, the aim, the content, and the methodology

The audience of the materials: the evaluator should obtain information about and from learners to find out whether the materials are suitable to the student’s age knowledge of English, interest and so on

Aims of the materials: the evaluator has to check if the materials match the aims and objectives of the course

Content of the materials: the materials: the evaluator has to check whether the materials language points, macro – skills or micro - skills, and topics suit the learners’ needs

Methodology of the materials: the evaluator has to find out if techniques, aids, guidance provided in the materials satisfy the learners and the teachers of the course

With regard to my context, the criteria set out by Cunningsword (1984: 5-6) is the most suitable one Here are his four criteria which are applied by many teachers and students in

a great variety of teaching and learning contexts

 Relate the teaching materials to your aims and objectives

 Be aware of what language is for and select teaching materials, which help equip your students to use language effectively for their own purposes

 Keep your students’ learning needs in mind

 Consider the relationship between language, the learning process and the learner Among those criteria, analyzing students’ needs is the key to the research

14

1.2.7 Need analysis

Need analysis (also known as needs assessment) has a vital role in the process of designing and carrying out any language course, whether it be English for Specific Purposes (ESP) or general English course, and its centrality has been acknowledged by several scholars and authors

This term “ need analysis” according to Elaine Tarone and George Yule ( 1999), when it has been used in the context of language instruction, has usually referred to the collection

and evaluation of information to answer the question: “ What aspects of the language does some particular group of learners need to know?” Mountford (1981) offers the definition

that needs can be defined as what students should be able to do at the end of their language course or “what the user –institution or society at large regards as necessary or desirable to

be learnt from a program of language of language instruction Another definition given by Brindley (1981:27) is that needs refer to wants, desires, demands, expectations, motivations, lacks, constraints, and requirements It is evident that course designers may take students’ needs into consideration when designing a course Clearly, the role of needs analysis in any ESP course is indisputable For Johns (1991), needs analysis is the first step

in course design and it provides validity and relevancy for all subsequent course design activities Different approaches to needs analysis attempt to meet the needs of the

learners in the process of learning a second language Among which, a modern and comprehensive concept of needs analysis is proposed by Dudley-Evans and St John (1998: 125) which reflects other approaches Their concept of need analysis is as follows:

 Environmental situation - information about the situation in which the course will

be run (means analysis);

 Personal information about learners - factors which may affect the way they learn (wants, means, subjective needs);

 Language information about learners - what their current skills and language use are (present situation analysis);

 Learner's lacks (the gap between the present situation and professional information about learners);Learner's needs from course - what is wanted from the course (short-term needs);

 Language learning needs - effective ways of learning the skills and language determined by lacks;

Today, teachers are aware of that different types of needs analyses are in close association to complete the jigsaw of needs analysis (Figure 3

Figure 3.Needs Analysis Jigsaw

As can be seen from the figure, need analyses should be the common concern of not only ESP but also the general English because the needs of the learners play paramount importance in any language process Therefore, what the designers should do is to analyze students’ needs in order to design appropriate courses so that students feel

16

motivated and learn English faster and more effectively It is clearly that need analysis

is of great importance to the effectiveness of teaching and learning process

1.2.8 Materials adaptation

Materials adaptation is a process of matching materials with the learner’s needs, the

teacher’s demands, and administration’s purpose The aim of materials adaptation is to make the teaching materials the most appropriate in a particular teaching context by making some changes According to McDonough and Shaw (1993: 86) and Isakovos Tsiplakides (2011:761), what we adapt depend on the following aspects: the specific needs and experiences of their students, the general context in which the course book will be used, language use, skills, classroom organization, and supplementary material

There are many forms of adaptation According to Gabrielatos (2000) (cited in Isakovos Tsiplakides (2011:761))when adapting the coursebook, teachers may add the materials and tasks, omit the materials and tasks included in the book, replace materials and tasks included in the book and re- order or combine materials and tasks included in the materials

(1) Addition: Addition is an adaptation procedure which involves supplementation of extra

linguistic items and activities to make up for the insufficiency of materials Addition of extra materials is appropriate when the following situations are faced:

 Areas are not covered sufficiently

 Texts/pictures/tasks are not provided

 Texts/pictures/tasks are fewer than needed

 Tasks are limited in scope

 Tasks are of limited range

(2) Deletion: Deletion is an adaptation procedure which involves removal of some of the

linguistic items and activities which are found to be extra and unnecessary So, deletion is

a process in which materials are taken out rather than added Materials should be reduced through omission when the following situations are faced:

 Learners are clear about a language point

 Learners are competent in a skill

 There are too many tasks on a particular area/point

 The item/area concerned is not a priority

 The item/task is not well designed

 The item/task is not well-suited to its aim(s)

17

 The topic is not appropriate for learners

(3) Modification: Modification means changes in different aspects of materials, such as

linguistic level, exercises, assessment system and so on Modification of materials is appropriate in the following situations:

 Texts are of inappropriate length

 Materials are inappropriate to the aim

 Materials are inappropriate to the learners’ age/ experience

 Materials are unclear, confusing or misleading

 Tasks are badly designed

(4) Simplification: This procedure is employed to make materials less complicated or

easier to understand If the language teaching material is found to be difficult or mechanical for the target learner, the material can be made suitable for the learner through the process of simplification

(5) Rearrangement/re-ordering: Rearrangement is a procedure of materials adaptation

through which different parts of a course book are arranged in a different order or sequence Rearrangement of materials helps to make them comparatively more interesting and appropriate for the learner as well as the teacher Learners may reorder materials by:

 Matching their aims

 Using a practice task for lead-in and elicitation

 Revising an area earlier than the course book does

 Comparing and contrast areas

 Providing thematic unity

 Providing an appropriate follow-up

(6.) Replacement: teacher may decide to replace any text or exercise which is evaluated

to be ineffective or irrelevant by a more suitable one

Textbook adaptation can be done at three levels The first level is macro adaptation, which

is ideally done before the language program begins After comparing what is covered in a textbook and what is required by the syllabus or examination, the teacher may find that certain areas or even whole units of the book can be omitted, and certain contents need to

be supplemented Macro adaptation is very important because it helps the teacher to avoid

18

waste time It also helps the teacher to see in advance what he or she needs to supplement

so that he or she can keep an eye on materials that could be used

The second level of adaptation is adapting a unit This could be reordering the activities, combining activities, omitting activities, rewriting or supplementing exercise material, etc Unit adaptation helps to make the classroom teaching more smooth and cohesive It also helps the teacher to better fulfill the aims of a unit

The third level is adaptation of specific activities in a unit Occasionally an activity is regarded as valuable, but it is not well-designed or it is not feasible in particular classes If the teacher does not want to give up the activity, he or she needs to adapt it

Very often, adaptation involves supplementation, that is, teachers add materials from other resources to the textbook they are using It is believed that authentic materials are better than non-authentic materials for supplementation So teachers who make a point of collecting authentic materials find it much easier to adapt textbooks This is especially true

in ELT contents where authentic English materials are not always readily to hand

It is believed that a good teacher has full awareness of materials adaptation’s importance

He profound knows how to use the textbook to make the best of the value of the book for his specific learners Hence, it is adapting materials that is an indispensable part in the teaching process in order to make the teaching more and more effective and interesting

1.3 Suitability of the present study in the research area

In this chapter, the author has briefly discussed materials evaluation Firstly, the author addressed the definitions, roles, and types of material Secondly, materials evaluations issues including definitions of materials evaluation, purposes of materials, types of materials evaluation, materials evaluators, and models for materials evaluation and criteria for materials adaptation are presented Finally, some basic theoretical background related

to materials adaptation is discussed As a result, this chapter is regarded as the theoretical foundation for the applications for the study in chapter 3 and the recommendation made to the course book New English File for non – English major students at University of Social Sciences and Humanities

It is necessary to clarify how the present study fits into the area of investigation Firstly, with the real teaching context, the researcher found it vital not only to assess the New English File so that learners can make the best of the book but also enable teachers to

19

apply the best methods Therefore, in this thesis, the writer assesses the book whether it is suitable for the learners or not Secondly, from two years’ teaching experience, the researcher has found the significance of adapting the book to make the learners feel motivated as well as learner- friendly

In brief, the study is supposed to enhance the context of the learning and teaching New English File for English department at the pre-intermediate level at University of Social Sciences and Humanities

20

CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

As the study was conducted at English department of University of Social Sciences and Humanity, it is vital for the author firstly to give brief description of the teaching and learning context including the course book used, the teachers as well as non- English majors Then the research method - the heart of the chapter will be described It consists of subjects, research instruments, and procedures of data collection

2.1 Description of the context

2.1.1 The setting

The study was conducted at University of Social Sciences and Humanities that trains a variety of students’ majors such as tourists guides, journalists, librarians and teachers There are many foreign languages like English, French, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean Among which English is a compulsory subject with 13 credits at University of Social Sciences and Humanities and it has the biggest learners though most students are not majored in English In the first year, they learn New English file elementary and New English file pre-intermediate In the second year, they learn New English File intermediate

In the third year, they do not have to study English except high quality students The high quality students learn ILETS for one fifteen week semester As soon as they finish their semester, they take the ILETS exams As for normal classes, they are not going to take any English exams in the fourth year Each academic year falls into two semesters, each lasting

15 weeks, and finishing with end of term examinations For the first two years, which means the first four semesters, students are taught basic language skills namely listening, speaking, reading, writing and grammar They learn each level in four semesters of the first two years During fifteen weeks of each New English File, the course is organized in two meetings a week, each 25 – student class has to attend four hours of English a day In each meeting, teacher teaches listening, reading, writing, speaking, and grammar integratedly The teaching and learning New English File series follow the learner- center approach, aiming at developing students’ English communicative competence

Usually three or four English teachers are responsible for a class with different backgrounds of students Most students have learned English since the third grade whereas some have learned other languages like French, Chinese, or Russian Therefore students with different English knowledge seem to learn in different classes with various students

21

depending on the time they register the course It is the fact that students are not learned in the same English classes in four semesters It is easy to understand this because most students come from different majors with different timetables This brings them both the positive and negative effects The good points are that they have been exposed to various teaching methods of English as well as types of partners They have certain difficulties however, such as the gap between excellent and poor students, multi- level English classes, and studying methods

2.1.2 Course material

As the focus of the study on New English File pre-intermediate students’ book, the researcher gives more information about this book New English File –pre-intermediate is designed by Clive Oxenden, Christina Latham-Koenig, Paul Seligson in 2010 New English File Pre-Intermediate consists of a Student’s Book, Teacher’s Book, Work Book with key booklet, Student’s MultiROM (PC and Mac compatible), class audio CDs and video

The Student's book is a general English text which is designed for group classes but which can be effectively adapted for one-to-one teaching There are nine units, all except the last divided into four teaching sections Each teaching section covers a grammar point At the end of each unit there’s a “Practical English” section, which puts the grammar and vocabulary into a practical context and gives the student the opportunity to practice Further practice is provided on the MultiROM disc and the video A more substantial writing exercise (for example: an e-mail, a letter or a description) and a well-designed revise and check section are also included at the end of each unit

There is a strong emphasis on pronunciation and word and sentence stress throughout this series and the Pre-Intermediate level is no exception As you would expect from a text with this focus, the listening exercises are well thought out with a good mix of comprehension, production (repeating words for pronunciation and sentences for stress) The Student’s Book also contains grammar and vocabulary banks, extra communication exercises and tape scripts of the class audio CD’s

In the view of the researcher, the Workbook is the almost comprehensive in comparison with other books in the market because it gives the students the chance to practice in all the grammar structures and vocabulary from the main text However, the class work and

22

homework may overload for students except some the students who are particularly keen

on Hence, it is best to set homework selectively otherwise the amount of marking becomes impracticable or the students start to suffer from homework overload and the focus of their language learning turns to formulating plausible excuses for not doing it

The Teacher’s Book contains the answers and a suggested lesson plan for each teaching section The lesson plans come with optional lead-ins, suggested methods for the presentation of the grammar points and the exercises They also contain specific and comprehensive references to the supplementary materials like the video and the Student’s Workbook There are also photocopiable activities which can be used for reinforcing language points or for reviewing them later

With two teaching year experience, as for teachers, the book has guided us to teach English effectively and interestingly To students, I have found that photocopiable activities motivate students of all levels to enjoy doing them and consolidate the grammar and structures they work very well

The student’s MultiROm disc provides listen, repeat and answer exercises when used in a

CD player and quizzes, vocabulary and video sequences when on a computer

The video “presents functional and everyday language” to the student Points at which it can be used during lessons are flagged as “Study Links” in the Teacher’s Book The second section of each episode the main functional section is reproduced on the MultiROM so that the student can practice at home The language is clearly presented in useful situations and you can, of course, choose whether or not to display the subtitles To

be honest, I found the video with its studio minimalist presentation style disappointing It’s true that there’s nothing to distract one from the language, which is and should be the main focus, but I think videos should be visually stimulating and this is a missed opportunity for getting the student involved and excited a bit like visual Ryvita

The last, however, is a minor criticism Overall, I think this is a very good pre-intermediate level text It is sound, challenging, and stimulating for the student and can be easily tailored to meet an individual student’s needs The supplementary exercises and activities are easily set up, the students enjoy them, and they work From the teacher’s point of view,

it is very well organized and there is enough variety and range to appeal to most general English students at this level

23

2.1 3 Course objectives

By the end of this semester, the students are supposed to gain common objectives as follows: Firstly, students can understand a variety of sentences as well as common expressions of daily topic conversation Secondly, learners are capable of communicating

in simple situations through direct information exchanges Moreover, after finishing the course, students have ability to describe their appearance, personality, daily activities as well as show their opinions of problems directly associated with their life

2.1.4 Course assessment

There are four kinds of assessment in the course including attendance accounting for 10 %, progress test 1( listening, reading and grammar in 50 minutes making up 20 % ), the progress two ( speaking test with 10 % – students choose a card and discuss with their partner and answers questions raised by teachers) and the final assessment occupying 60

% ( the 100 minute test consisting of listening, writing, reading and grammar)

2.2.2 Instruments

The main means of data in this thesis is two sets of questionnaires designed for the

teachers and the students The questionnaires were designed with a mixture of closed and

24

open- ended questions The questionnaires aimed mainly to survey students’ evaluation of the textbook and their opinion towards improving the materials Brown & Rogers (2002: 142) state “ Surveys are any procedures used to gather and describe the characteristics, attitudes, views, opinions and so forth of students, teachers, administrators or any other people who are important to a study.” Therefore, participants could be free to express their thoughts about the items raised in the questionnaires

The objectives of the questionnaires: The survey was designed to accomplish the following objectives:

 Compare the general assessment of the students and their teachers about the Course book New English File pre-intermediate

 Identify and assess the gaps for improvement in teaching and learning textbook New English File pre-intermediate

It is hoped that the evaluation checklist would be of good use to other colleges or universities if they would like to choose same means of instrument for their own materials The steps of designing the questionnaires were displayed as follows:

 Write the first draft and Consult colleague’s opinions

 Pilot the questionnaires by sending them to colleagues

 Consult supervisor’s opinions

 Edit and write complete questionnaires

 Translate the questionnaires into Vietnamese

 Deliver the questionnaires

2.2.3 Methods and procedures

The study follows a qualitative research approach to describe qualitatively the different ways in which the students and the teachers experience, understand, and evaluate the book New English File Pre –intermediate In terms of research category, this thesis can also be regarded as sort of action research whose aims to improve the quality of instructional materials

Respondents were requested to answer the close- ended and open- ended questionnaires including the rankings of different aspects by four categories in the questionnaires Additional spaces were provided for participants to make any further comments

The analysis procedure of survey results was presented in the following steps

25

In the first step, the questionnaires were designed elaborately concentrating on the aspects that play a vital role in course book evaluation Thanks to the constructive suggestions of the supervisors as well as the consultancy of other colleagues, the pilot survey questionnaires were edited to ensure their clarity, conciseness, and validity At the second stage, the author duplicated the questionnaires and delivered them to the targeted teachers and students In order to limit the drawbacks of this method, the respondents were requested to complete and return on the spot to the researcher after one hour At the third step, the researcher firstly worked out both set of questionnaires spontaneously to analyze the data collected from the questionnaires The data were coded into charts of various classifications Then the researcher summed up and changed all the items with choices into percentage Thirdly, for each category, these figures were graphically co- shown on the charts to make comparison As for open questions and close- ended questions, the author analyzed based on general summary and gave explanations using the author’s own experience and responses from the informants

As a result, all the analyses were combined to answer the research questions respectively

26

CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS AND RESULTS DISCUSSION

This section presents firstly how the respondents assessed the book New English File with the help of survey questionnaire, teachers’ interview After that, the results will be discussed

Figure 3 1 Teachers’ and students’ assessment of the book New English File- pre

intermediate

When being asked to have overall rates on the course book, teachers, and students have different views about the course book New English File pre-intermediate While a minority of teachers assessed the book “poor, fair and excellent” with 6.7 %, 6.7 % and 13.3 % respectively, nearly 50 % of students assess the book “fair” Although teachers and students have various rate of book assessment, they share some viewpoints Most of the participants commended the book “good” with high percentage (73.3 % for the teachers and 50 % for the students) From the figure, it is evident that the book New English File has satisfied both teachers’ and students’ needs It means that the material is suitable for both the course, and learners’ expectations

3.1.2.Teachers’ and students’ preference of the course book New English File pre – intermediate

In general, there are many striking differences between teachers’ and students’ likes about

27

the book In the teachers’ viewpoint, they are really most interested in practical and useful lessons (61.1 %), then in the clear tables of content (50 %) and finally in the attractive and scientific layout (44.4 %) This question also got a lot of other constructive opinions from the teachers Some teachers argue that the book contains wide range of knowledge about grammar, vocabulary and integrated skills Other teachers feel attracted by informative reading texts as well as appropriate listening recordings What attracts most students (41.66 %) most is up-to - date and useful lessons Students secondly also fancy the book by its variety of activities to develop vocabulary and skills, and clear tables of contents, followed by scientific and attractive layout

3.1.3 What teachers and students do not like about the book

There are a number of similarities and differences in teachers and students’ views about the drawbacks of the book Both the teachers and students share the common view that language skills are not separated, too many sections of grammar, some boring or difficult activities and not well – linked parts, which may reduce students’ motivation In terms of different ideas, most students think that the book has modern topics whereas 38.5 % of teachers claims that the book’s topics are out of date Based on the contrastive ideas, it is inferred that what teachers think “modern” is not the same as the students think

It is clear that students for the time being have their own identities They show critically what they satisfy straight forwards, which is quite different from the author’s generation

In my time, students were supposed to learn what the teachers gave us It is said that time has changed and brought some positive effects for language learners Students are currently getting used to being trained actively and independently

3.1.4 The decision to choose the book for future use

This question receives the highest agreement of both teachers and students Most teachers and students will select the next book of New English Series to work with in the future with 89.8 % and 96.7 % respectively This percentage implies that at information age, students are well equipped with critical skills to evaluate and choose the book for them

3.1.5 Does the material provide students with the opportunity to develop their communicative competence?

This question has many same ideas Firstly, most teachers and students strongly agreed that New English File pre-intermediate gave the students a great opportunity to develop basic grammar, widen their general vocabulary of most common topics, listening and

28

pronunciation and reading Secondly, a majority of the respondents think that the book gave students few chances to improve their writing skills Moreover, over 60 % of the teachers and students argue that the book offers learners chances to develop students’ communicative competence In addition, in spite of different percentage, more than half of the participants agree that the course book provides them a variety of activities for pair work, group work, and individual work Last but not least, all the informants think that the book leaves little room for equipping students with learning strategies which are one of most important factors leading to success in learning English Along with the similar opinion, the question also contains the striking difference in the way of self – assessment Most teachers (64.7 %) are well- aware that the book has a lot of exercises to check students’ understanding whereas nearly 50 percent of students consent that the book offers them a number of ways to assess their learning process

3.1.6 The language points available in this material

The table shows teachers’ opinions and students’ opinions about the language points in the course book

Table 1: Teachers and students’ opinions of the language point available in New

English File pre-intermediate

It can be seen from the chart that teachers and students have different views about language points in the book Firstly in terms of structures of grammar, only some teachers and students think that the book has too many sections of grammar despite the various percentage (16.7% and 5% respectively) The common thing is that most teachers (83.3%) and students (52.5%) argue that New English File pre-intermediate consists of adequate grammatical items What is surprising here is that no teacher find the book lack of

29

grammar whereas many students want to have more complicated grammar sections for them to practice It is true that the book only provides students with basic grammar From the author’s teaching experience, students wish to know different levels of basic and advanced grammar compatible with their background

Secondly with regard to vocabulary, few participants claim that there are numerous ranges

of new words in the book In stead, most of the teachers and learners vote the adequacy of the lexical resources although teachers have higher rate that students do with 72.2% and 59.4% respectively What is notable is that more students than teachers consider the shortage of new words in their learning This is understandably enough for both teachers and learners because lectures and learners have different stances on their roles And this motivates teachers to do more research to teach their students more successfully In terms

of pronunciation, teachers have the percentage as nearly twice as the students in the view that the book supplies students with adequate pronunciation While a minority of informants think that the book has too much room for pronunciation, a third of students and one- ninth of the teachers think that the book has not offered enough pronunciation units The various proportion implies that what students want to discover sometimes beyond teachers’ imagination

3.1.7.The participants’ opinions about language skills in the book New English File intermediate

boring

teachers students

Figure 4: Teachers’ and students’ opinions about the topics in New English File

pre-intermediate

As can be seen from the chart, what most teachers think about that the topics is different from the students’ ideas Although there is a small number of participants finding the topics of the book interesting, teachers account for more percent than students More students than teachers think that the book’ topics are fair and boring and very boring More teachers than students, by contrast, argue that the themes in the book are normal It is obvious that thought about topics in the material is differently reacted by teachers and students

3.1.9 The update information of the book

Teachers’ ideas

yes no 35.3

students’ ideas

yes no

Figure 5: Participants’ opinions about the update of the topics in New English File –

pre intermediate

31

This question sees the different opinions from teachers and students about the update information

of the book Students have the percent as twice as teachers’ about the update on the topics It is clear that what teachers define “update” is different from what students define

Table 3: Teachers and students’ thought of class time each week

If 50 percent of teachers think that 6 periods a week is enough for the students to learn and

50 percent of teachers think that it is too little, students have a range of answers 61.67% percent of students think that 6 periods in class is suitable for them Some students suppose that class time is too little for them or much Only few students think that 6 periods in class too little As teachers, 6 periods a week is too few for students because they want to teach students and offer them more and more chances of practice However, students think two three- period meetings are suitable for them What I could explain is that students nowadays are more active and independent They want to learn not only from teachers, from friends but also from their life experience

3.1.11 Teachers and students’ preferences for the topics in New English File intermediate

pre-Five most interesting topics Five most boring topics

32

Through the figures, it is inferred that teachers’ preferences are dissimilar from students’ This poses the question for the teachers that: To what extent do teachers understand students’ interests and how can teachers discover and satisfy students’ needs?

3.1.12 Teachers’ suggestions for the materials improvement

Question number 12 and following – up interview asked teachers to offer suggestions for future improvement of New English File Here is what teachers suggest to make learning and teaching New English File pre-intermediate more enjoyable:

First of all, teachers should find ways to discover students’ needs and interests In fact, it is

a hard job for teachers because of different preferences; we can do small things like chatting, exchanging common email addresses, small talks or break chats and conduct a survey and expectation settings in which we listen to what our students want as well as what they expect from us By doing these, we can discover our students’ personality, hobbies and learning styles

Secondly, the topics of the materials should be more practical and suitable and various for students’ preferences, ages and backgrounds As a result, students find these topics familiar and motivated to get involved

Thirdly, learning strategies are one of the most factors helping the first year students study well However, the course book truly does not introduce the skills Therefore, teachers give students learning strategies by delivering students handouts with clear and necessary tips and exercises compatible with the taught skills It is advisable that teachers share their learning strategies or introduce students to authentic websites so that students get used to learning strategies in their major in general and English in particular

Last but not least, in terms of methodology including learning vocabulary and grammar and four skills and teachers’ roles For grammar and vocabulary acquisition, teachers can provide students with more handouts of grammar and vocabulary suitable for students’ levels In other words, teachers ought to classify kinds of students in class and give the exercises with compatible level of difficulty, which both improve and enhance students’ language knowledge For four skills, in general, teachers share the view that we apply three stages for each skill: pre, while and post Thanks to that, the first year students have a more profound view of what they learn In particular, with regard to speaking teachers should

33

organize more group activities and redesign the tasks to motivate students to get involved

in the lesson without shyness or unwillingness and passiveness Also, to help students speak more naturally and fluently teachers had better provide them with language functions Sometimes teachers can combine both reading and speaking with the consultation of other same topic sources like Streamline or Headway A, B, C to diversify the speaking activities in the book For reading, teachers should be selective This means that teachers choose the most interesting and most important text to teach, which helps teachers teach actively and develop their students’ significant words in each file In addition, besides teaching students reading skills, teachers help students learn word forms

in different contexts and turn passive word learning into dynamic use of word For listening, it works best when students are given time to read the instructions carefully and know what to do with the type of listening To do this, teachers try to ask students how they deal with each category and supply them with full guidelines Sometimes, providing some extra listening like songs, funny conversations or same games really helps students feel interested in mastering listening For writing, teachers should firstly provide students samples that are more interesting and analyze the text, and then require students to write in pair, in group and individual Along with the good book, teachers play the most important part in deciding students’ success Thus, teachers should be selective, active and flexible

We select the most important parts which are closely related to students to teach students and show different roles sometimes as a friend, a teacher or even a family member to create friendly teacher- students relationship We should not be greedy to cover anything

By doing this, students feel tired and get nothing Moreover, we are to be active and enthusiastic and passionate so that our students feel motivated and happy to learn

Besides the above suggestions, teachers who get involved in the study would like to support others Firstly, Teachers expected that students will have more possible accesses to learn English like cable TV, internet rooms Secondly, University of Social Sciences and Humanities hold a month – orientation which equips students with essential learning skills such as teamwork, language skills and university learning Thirdly, instruction and assessment should

be closely linked Fourthly, students are required to master New English File from elementary before they learn Pre-intermediate Last but not least, class size and their English proficiency

34

should be compatible so that teachers make the best use of classroom and facilities like radios, projectors

3.2 Summary of major findings

Chapter three has analyzed the data collected from teachers and students ‘questions and teachers’ interviews The evaluation finding shows certain strengths and weaknesses of the Coursebook New English File Pre-intermediate: Generally speaking, as stated in the aim section, the students needs and interests seem to match perfectly However, data collected from teachers’ and students’ questionnaires show that there are still lots of room needing improving Most participants are concerned about the development of language skills, vocabulary, and pronunciation

As far as the content and grammar are concerned, the strengths, which are easily recognized in the grammar structures and reading and speaking and listening and writing activities Hence, students see their progress as well as the connection among lesson sections However, the aims of vocabulary acquisition, especially pronunciation were not well achieved in this material As can be seen in the document analysis, questionnaires and interview, there was mismatch between what teachers and students thought about pronunciation and vocabulary The problem here is that students are provided so many new words in each file so that they do not know what the important words to learn are As a result, teachers should choose the most important words and additional pronunciation exercises and analyze them in order that students can focus and pay more attention to them It is advisable that exercises and group projects should be designed to offer students opportunity practice at home and in the classroom Moreover, students’ writing and speaking are difficult to be developed because of limited time and crowed class

Although the book has numerous tests to assess students’ learned knowledge such as what

do you remember, quick tests and practical English sections, there are few parts for learning techniques This may be the obvious drawbacks of New English File series It is vital that teachers suggest some strategy recommendations for students during learning process either through direct ways or indirect ways

Time allocation for individual files seemed to meet the course requirement, some teachers required more time for each file However, time for each meeting can not exceed three 45