An evaluation of the appropriateness of the course book family and friends 4 for primary school learners in sunshine english school

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES  LÊ THỊ QUỲNH AN EVALUATION OF THE APPROPRIATENESS OF THE COUR

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES



LÊ THỊ QUỲNH

AN EVALUATION OF THE APPROPRIATENESS OF THE COURSE BOOK “FAMILY AND FRIENDS 4”

FOR PRIMARY SCHOOL LEARNERS IN SUNSHINE ENGLISH SCHOOL

Nghiên cứu đánh giá mức độ phù hợp của giáo trình “Family and Friends 4”

với đối tượng là học sinh tiểu học tại Trường Anh ngữ Sunshine

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111

Hanoi – 2015

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES



LÊ THỊ QUỲNH

AN EVALUATION OF THE APPROPRIATENESS

OF THE COURSE BOOK “FAMILY AND FRIENDS 4”

FOR PRIMARY SCHOOL LEARNERS IN SUNSHINE ENGLISH SCHOOL

Nghiên cứu đánh giá mức độ phù hợp của giáo trình “Family and Friends 4”

với đối tượng là học sinh tiểu học tại Trường Anh ngữ Sunshine

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111

Supervisor: Assoc.Pro.Dr Lê Văn Canh

Hanoi - 2015

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DECLARATION

I, Le Thi Quynh, hereby claim the thesis entitled

AN EVALUATION OF THE APPROPRIATENESS OF THE COURSE BOOK

“FAMILY AND FRIENDS 4” FOR PRIMARY SCHOOL LEARNERS IN SUNSHINE ENGLISH SCHOOL

is the result of my own research for the Degree of Master of Arts in English Teaching Methodology at University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi Unless otherwise indicated, this is my own piece of academic accomplishment

Signature

Hanoi, 2015

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I am sincerely grateful to Assoc.Prof.Dr Le Van Canh, my supervisor, for his precious comments and advice for me during the process of doing research Without his guidance and encouragement, I would have never been able to complete this study

I owe a debt of gratitude to all my lecturers at the University of Languages and International Studies - Vietnam National University, Hanoi, for their enthusiastic teaching and tremendous knowledge that have directly or indirectly enlightened my research paper

Finally, my warmest thanks go to my parents and my husband for their love and support Without their help, this thesis could not have gained the current status

Hanoi, 2015

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ABSTRACT

This study is an evaluation of the appropriateness of the course book “Family and Friends 4” for primary school learners in Sunshine English School in terms of the students‟ attitudes towards the activities in the course book and how the course book helps the students to develop their ability to use English effectively as demonstrated in their speaking and writing The data were collected in the study through questionnaire administered to 25 students, audio-recording files in their speaking activities and their written exercises The findings suggest that the course book is possibly appropriate to the target students; however some adaptations are recommended for better balance between students‟ preference and essential practice

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Declaration i

Acknowledgements ii

Abstract iii

Table of contents iv

List of tables vii

PART I INTRODUCTION 1

1 Rationale of the study 1

2 Aims of the study 2

3 Scope of the study 2

4 Methodology 2

5 Structure of the thesis 3

PART II: DEVELOPMENT 4

Chapter : Literature review 4

1.1 Definition of materials evaluation 4

1.2 The roles of course books 4

1.3 Advantages of course books 5

1.4 Limitations of course books 7

1.5 Models and criteria of materials evaluation……… 7

1.5.1 Models of materials evaluation……… 7

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1.5.2 Criteria for materials evaluation 9

1.6 Materials adaptation 10

1.6.1 Definitions of materials adaptation 10

1.6.2 Materials adaptation: how and why 11

1.7 Needs of understanding students‟ attitudes towards the course books 13

Chapter 2: Methodology 15

2.1 The context of the study 15

2.2 The course book “Family and friends 4” 15

2.2.1 Unit structure 16

2.2.2 Appearance and materials 19

2.3 Participants of the study 19

2.4 Techniques and data collection procedure 19

2.5 Data analysis procedure 22

Chapter 3: Data analysis and result discussions 23

3.1 What are the students‟ attitudes towards the learning activities presented in the course book?………23

3.2 To what extent does the course book help to develop the students‟ ability to use English effectively as demonstrated in their speaking and writing?……… 29

3.2.1 Speaking demonstrations 29

3.2.2 Writing demonstrations 31

3.3.Recommendations 35

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3.3.1 Adapt the activities more appropriately to students‟ preferences 35

3.3.2 Develop the students‟ confidence through speaking activities 36

3.3.3 Develop students‟ writing ability 37

PART III: CONCLUSION 38

1 Recapitulation 38

2 Concluding remarks 38

3 Recommendations 39

4 Limitations of the study 40

5 Suggestions for further researches 41

References 39

iAppendix 1 I

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LIST OF TABLES

Table 1: Students‟ opinions on lesson 1

Table 2-a: Students‟ opinions on lesson 2

Table 2-b: List of activities in lesson

Table 3: Students‟ opinions on lesson 3

Table 4-a: Students‟ opinions on lesson 4

Table 4-b: List of activities in lesson 4

Table 5: Students‟ opinions on lesson 5

Table 6: Students‟ opinions on lesson 6

Table 7a: Structure analysis of students‟ sentence writing

Table 7b: Structure analysis of students‟ sentence writing Table 8: Structure analysis of students‟ narrative text Table 9: Structure analysis of students‟ story

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PART I: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale for the study

English recently has been recognized as one of the major subjects in schools of Vietnam as its necessity in the development and communication of the country with the world It can be said that the increasing number of learners strictly goes with their expectations of high quality practical languages presented in learning materials such

as textbooks, course books and supplementary documents To many teachers, course books are basic elements in English language teaching activities Many of them often come to class with a course book which provides content and teaching learning activities recommended for their lessons According to Tomlinson (1998) a course book will supply the essential materials serves as the only book used by the learners during a course It usually covers work on grammar vocabulary, pronunciation, functions and the four skills Hutchinson and Torres (1994) also agree that course book is an important means of satisfying the range of needs from inside classroom to its wider context Therefore, many books, particular in Vietnam, are regularly published and edited to meet the learning focuses of learners‟ needs and how to decide

a particular course book in a certain case seems to be a difficult task for all educators

In this situation, the evaluation by the insiders like teachers and students can make the task easier and more effectively because they works with the materials very often, show their interests and attitudes in each lesson

Course books are normally written by the specialists in their fields, but they are not the people dealing with them inside classes According to Cunningsworth (1984), “no course book will totally be suited to a particular teaching situation The teacher will have to find his own way of using it and adapting it if necessary So we should not be looking for the perfect course book which meets all our requirements, but rather for the best possible fit what the book offers and what we as teachers and students need”(p.6) Therefore, in any case, a course book may be chosen, but after some months using it as a course material, it may reveal limitations and need adapting in several ways to suit the students‟ needs and expectations or the teaching practicality

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The course book „Family and Friends 4” has been used at Sunshine English School

since its first presence in Vietnam, in 2010 The students using this course book are classified in class named Orange They are expected to go with the book for students within the age range from 10 to 11 (equivalent to learners of grade 4th to 5th in primary schools) to ensure the line of knowledge together with the development of language skills Obviously, the books play a very important part in the English language teaching and learning of the school, but they still can be exploited with greater efficiency In fact, there has been no research on evaluation of this course book carried out to see how far it suits students‟ needs and how it can help students to develop their communicative confidence and competence Thus, this study will be conducted to evaluate the course book regarding its appropriateness to students‟ preferences and recommendations for possible adaptation

2 Aims of the study

This study was aimed at gaining a better insight into the learners‟ opinion on the course book “Family and Friends 4” using at Sunshine English School and their performance during the course The aims of the study are to answer the following questions:

1 What are the students‟ attitudes towards the learning activities presented in the course book?

2 To what extent does the course book help to develop the students‟ ability to use English effectively as demonstrated in their speaking and writing?

3 Scope of the study

The study focuses on the evaluation of the course book by the students regarding their

attitudes towards the learning activities in the course book

4 Method

The study is evaluative in nature, and its purpose is to gather opinions of the users of

a particular course book Therefore, it is a survey study For this purpose, a survey questionnaire was designed and administered to 25 students to explore their evaluation

of the course book In addition, the teacher conducted an observation in natural communication inside class which actually was recorded in speaking activities

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between students Finally, several pieces of students‟ writing were also important resource of data for this research

5 Structure of the thesis

The thesis is comprised of three parts: Introduction, Development and Conclusion Part I presents the rationale, aims, scope, research questions, method and design of the thesis

Part II consists of three chapters:

Chapter 1, literature review, provides the relevant theories related to approaches to course book evaluation

Chapter 2, methodology, introduces the context of the study and describes the methodology employed in the study

Chapter 3, data analysis and discussion, presents and discusses the findings that arise from the data collected

Part III presents the conclusions drawn from what have been found out from the study, and then it offers the recommendations for further improvement of the course book, the limitations and suggestions for further study

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PART II: DEVELOPMENT

Chapter 1: Literature review

1.1 Definition of materials evaluation

There are many definitions about what materials evaluation is from different researchers According to Hutchinson and Waters (1993), materials evaluation is generally defined as the judgement on the fitness of something for a particular objective More specifically, Brown (1995) considers materials evaluation work includes collecting and analyzing all relevant information necessary systematically that helps improve a curriculum, and then evaluating its effectiveness within the context of the particular institution involved Similarly to Brown‟s, Lynch (1996) states evaluation is “the systematic attempt to gather information in order to make judgments or decisions”(p.2) Obviously, these authors use the different terms but they still share the same view of materials evaluation as the judgments in a particular context

Tomlinson (2003), on the other hand, defines material evaluation as “a procedure that

involves measuring the value of a set of learning materials”(p.15) He states that this process has to include the judgments about the effects of the materials on their users such as its appeal, credibility, validity, reliability, flexibility, supplementary and the perceptions of teachers and learners to its value It can be seen that this definition reveals the nature of materials evaluation: each material evaluation is unique as the needs, objectives, backgrounds or preferred styles of the participants will differ from context to context Therefore, this definition was adopted for this study

1.2 The roles of course books

According to Cunningsworth (1995), course books play very important roles in English language classrooms all over the world though when the time passes by, the roles may have changes In the past, course books were seen as the curriculum instead

of a reference and they were an end product Nothing except course books could be the source of materials, or in another word, it should be a route map for a course In

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recent time, course books have been a resource for presentation materials Besides, course books act as a syllabus, providing for directions how the lessons can be delivered and especially inexperienced teachers can use them to support teaching activities (Tomlinson, 2008) Course books also help teachers save time in designing, developing and preparing materials then just focus on their teaching (Edge & Wharton, 1998) With a course book in hand, teachers can have linguistic, cultural and methodological support It is easy to keep track of what should be done and tell where should be reached, like a sense of assurance for both teachers and students For students, they can also find a source of activities for their practice and communicative interaction (Cunningsworth, 1995) and a resource for self-access work (Tomlinson, 2008)

1.3 Advantages of course books

According to Edge & Wharton (1998), course books provide a readily available source of ELT materials for teachers to carry out teaching activities, and save their energy to prepare teaching materials Hutchinson & Torres (1994) also agree that the way course book chapters are designed and structured can provide a blueprint of how lessons shall be conducted Besides, course books can also serve as a tool to motivate and stimulate language learning (Allwright, 1981; Lee, 1997) In a learning environment in which learners are motivated and positive about their learning environment, the speed of language acquisition can be greatly enhanced, making language learning more effective (Tomlinson, 2008) Course books can have a similar function of a map, showing the teaching progress (McGrath, 2002) and can provide for direction and ideas in how lessons can be delivered (Tomlinson, 2008) Thirdly, course books are particularly useful in providing support and security for new inexperienced teachers or teachers, who have relatively low confidence to deliver lessons in a communicative way (Tomlinson, 2008) A good course book can

be an extremely valuable device, especially in situations where interesting and motivating authentic materials are difficult to compile in an organized manner (McDonough & Shaw, 1993)

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Students can also benefit from using textbooks in many different ways Similar to the case of teachers, course books can act as a reference point for their learning process and keep track of their development (O‟Neil, 1982) Students can use the textbook as

a tool for revision of previously taught items, and at the same time, familiarize themselves with the new items that will be taught soon According to Cunningsworth (1995), textbooks provide additional benefits to students as they are an efficient collection of materials for self-accessed learning and for knowledge consolidation

1.4 Limitations of course books

Despite the advantages mentioned in the previous paragraphs, course books themselves still have some limitations Because it seems that almost everything is ready to use in the course book, the teachers and students are easily locked with it (Cunningsworth, 1995) The structure of the course book may be a barrier to teaching and learning creativity and imagination (Hutchison, 1994; Tomlinson, 2008) What‟s more, the topics covered in the topic may be out of date or lead students to sense of boredom and the course book itself may not reflect students‟ needs (Cunningsworth, 1984) Teachers also are not properly trained on how to choose, adapt, evaluate and use their course books They are able to be deskilled (Cunningsworth, 1984) and imposed that the tasks and activities designed are always better than their own ideas (McGrath, 2002) Lastly, Tomlinson (2010) points out that only a minority of textbook writers have actually applied language acquisition principles when writing the materials Although course books can function as a framework for the learning and teaching process for both students and teachers, no course books can effectively address individual learning styles, differences of learners, and the requirements of every classroom setting (Tomlinson, 2003)

More crucially, an English course book produced in an English speaking country is possibly used in various contexts, and even different countries Its original version can

be totally applied or adapted in a school at other side of the sphere The course book not only conveys the potential problems as discussed above but also contradictions because of learning cultures, as Cotarzzi and Jin (2002) suggest that people in

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different cultural communities own distinguished preferences, expectations, interpretations, values and beliefs The almost perfect course book in this culture may expose limitations or unsuits in another geographical area The purpose of the study is

to evaluate the course books in terms of its match to the students learning preferences and its potential to facilitate learning Therefore, it is necessary to review the literature

on the advantages and disadvantages of course books in terms of these aspects Because of the undeniable limitations, course books need to be adapted to suit particular groups of learners The following sections review the literature on materials adaptation and needs of understanding students‟ attitudes towards the course books

1.5 Models and criteria of materials evaluation

1.5.1 Models of materials evaluation

There are many models of materials evaluation raised by different scholars, but the most popular concepts are micro-evaluation, macro –evaluation and a combination between these two In this paper, the models proposed by Ellis (1997), Hutchinson and Waters (1987), McDonough and Shaw (1993), Cunningsworth (1995) are introduced

as the framework for doing the research afterwards

Evaluation model proposed by Ellis (1997) (A Micro-Evaluation)

Ellis(1997) defined that micro-evaluation is the evaluation of one particular teaching task which the evaluator has a special interest in 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 learning context Purpose of this model is to identify the match between task planned and task in use He also suggests that dimensions focused on macro-evaluation (e.g approach, purpose, focus, scope, evaluators, timing, types of information) can also be applicable to micro evaluation Steps involved in the evaluation model are introduced as below by Ellis, too:

Firstly, choosing a task to follow; secondly, describing the task which requires the specification of the content of a task in terms of input, procedures, language activities, and outcome; thirdly, planning the evaluation with reference to the dimensions above; fourthly, collecting information (before the task is used, while it is being used and/or

on completion of the task) about how the task was performed, what learning took

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place as a result of performing the task, and teacher's and learners' opinions about the task; fifthly, quantitative and qualitative analysis of the information collected; then, reaching conclusions relating to what has been discovered as a result of the evaluation

of the task, and making recommendations for future teaching; and finally, writing the report

A micro evaluation may be more manageable than a macro evaluation (Ellis,1997) However, application of this requires more time and efforts in order to provide basis for subsequent macro evaluation, there may be a need for a series of micro evaluation And this type of evaluation can only be conducted when the materials are being used

Evaluation model proposed by Cunningsworth (1995)

Cunningsworth (1995) presents a checklist for textbook evaluation and selection organized under the following perspectives: language content; selection and grading

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of language items, presentation and practice of new language items, developing language skills and communication abilities; supporting materials; and motivation and the learners Dealing with evaluating the material's language content, parts of language system(form, function, etc ), language skills, language styles in the material will be considered whether they are taught in the materials as well as whether the language style matched to social context and are taught fully and systematically For selection and grading of language items, examining this means pointing out the kind

of syllabus and approach the material follows as well as how the language content is graded and recycled throughout the material Evaluation of presentation and practice

of new language items means finding out how the new grammatical and lexical items are presented and practiced in the material as well as the comments given on these presentation and practice The last perspective in Cunningsworth(1995) model is developing language skills and communicative abilities which evaluates the natural of reading texts with accompanying exercises or listening material with accompanying exercises or natural of writing exercises included in the material Furthermore, activities offered during the lesson such as activities for free production of spoken English or for integrating language skills are also taken into account

This research applied a apart of models proposed by McDonough and Shaw (1993) and Cunningsworth (1995) where the activities presented in the course book and how these activities help students develop their communicative skills as demonstrated in their spoken and written outcome were evaluated

1.5.2 Criteria for materials evaluation

Criteria are what evaluators use to "reach a decision regarding what needs to be evaluated" Tomlinson (1998:220) They base on these criteria to make their comments and judgments

Many scholars have set up methods of using checklist or guidelines in evaluation of coursebooks Among the theorists, Cunningsworth (1995) and Hutchinson and Waters

(1987) offer very the most popular sets of criteria

Criteria defined by Cunningsworth (1995)

The criteria proposed by Cunningsworth (1995:15-17) will be presented as following Firstly, they should correspond to learners' needs They should match the aims and

For the above criteria proposed by Cunningsworth, it seems to require more time and efforts to proceed all aspects perceptively Cunningsworth (1995) also suggests a checklist for textbook evaluation and selection organized under the following categories: aims and approaches, design and organization, language content, skills, topic, methodology, teacher‟s books and practical considerations

Criteria defined by Hutchinson and Waters (1987)

Hutchinson and Waters (1987:99-104) suggest their checklist of criteria for subjective and objective analysis in their process of materials evaluation The checklist consists

of some main points such as: the audience, the aims, the content, the methodology and other criteria

In this research, no particular checklist was applied but the researcher still followed Cunningsworth directions that focused on learners‟ attitudes in the questionnaire and

the demonstrations in their outcomes

1.6 Materials adaptation

1.6.1 Definitions of materials adaptation

According to Tomlinson and Hitomi (2004), materials adaptation involves altering the

available materials to make them more suitable to the target learners, teachers or circumstance In the view of these authors, teachers, consciously or unconsciously, almost make adaptations in the ways they prepare for each new lesson They may take

a part of the given book, put more or cut off some texts and activities or even they can replace and supply their students with other relevant materials In fact, the teachers,

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based on their personal experience, beliefs and intuition, also can do “on – the – spot

changes” in accordance with the learners‟ reactions inside the classroom such as

changing the time order of each activity, skipping or focusing on a crucial point of his lesson

Similarly, Carlos and Chris (2003, as cited in Tomlinson and Hitomi, 2004) also agree that teachers in any circumstance have to adapt the materials even they have the right

to choose the book It is a procedure from “adding carefully contextualized role plays with the objective of providing more opportunities to communicate to not finishing a pronunciation drill because of time constraints” (p.86)

From the viewpoint of a critical writer, Claudia (2003, as cited in Tomlinson and Hitomi, 2004) gives another look at this term She argues that materials adaptation is a vital step in order to produce innovative, effective and learner-centered materials in which learners play an active role The adaptations will be more relevant to the learners if they can give ideas, interpretations and discussions, and in other words, they can promote their empowerment on universal and authentic texts However, Claudia also shares the commonalities with Tomlinson and Hitomi, Carlos and Chris that adaptation of materials is a very important part of learning process, a development

of any materials that needs principles to give effective decisions

1.6.2 Materials adaptation: how and why

In their work, Tomlison and Hitomi (2004) suggest that the adaptation begins with the teachers‟ intuitive feelings of something mismatched with their teaching environment, learners, preferences, course objectives or from the materials themselves McDonough and Shaw give a numbers of reasons associated with the impropriate content of the materials, for example, grammar is in short of quantity and practice, there are too many strange words in the reading passages or inauthentic listening materials which are likely written material being read out Also looking from the materials‟ perspective, Cunningsworth (1995) points out that adaptation is necessary when the materials are not ideal For example, the exercise may be too mechanical, the language

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content is too easy or too complicated, the subjects may be boring or not authentic and the cultural reference my need to be omitted or changed In this study, the researchers will partly take Cunningsworth‟s view into consideration when suggesting the materials adaptation The factors are “the dynamics of the classroom, the constraints imposed by the syllabuses, the availability of resources and the expectations and motivations of the learners” (p.136) With the given course book, only certain parts of the unit are remained and some tasks or activities are recommended to change to suit the context

Tomlinson and Hitomi (2004) point out that adaptation and development is the derivation from applicable theories of language, language learning and language teaching It involves sequencing activities which may be “focus first on the meaning then on language” which refers that meaning and communication outputs are paid more attention than language Others may be “reception before production” (listening and reading before speaking and writing) and “start and end with the learners” in order

to achieve self-involvement

While Tomlison and and Hitomi (2004) build up three main categories in terms of quantity: Plus (addition and expansion), Minus (deletion, subtraction, reduction), or Zero (modification, replacement, reorganization, resequencing, conversion), McDonough and Shaw (1993) and Cunningsworth (1995) give a list of techniques that may be used in materials adaptation These are adding (extending and expanding), deleting (subtracting and abridging), and simplifying, reordering, and replacing material The adaptation techniques of these authors are classified or not, they still sound similar Therefore, the researchers only mention Cunningsworth‟s techniques and the changes (if any) of the target book discussed latter on in this study also make use of the mentioned techniques

First, adding means the teacher supplements the existing materials and provides more materials by either extending or expanding When extending an activity, the teacher supplies more of the same types of materials, makes a quantitative change in the material On the other hand, a qualitative change is made when the teacher expands

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his classroom material because he adds something different to the original one Extending or expanding, the teacher can do these adaptations at any part of the target material that he feels it necessary

In contrast with adding, the material can be deleted both in terms of quantity (subtracting) and quality (abridging) By doing this way, the teacher will use less than the materials offer or will decide not to take any exercises or tasks in the course book

Besides, the teacher can simplify the materials, by rewording to produce a more accessible instructions or simplifying to make an activity suitable to learners‟ level However, Cunningsworth (1995) also points out that simplifying can make the text inauthentic

Next, reordering means that the teacher changes the sequence of activities suggested

in the course book He reorders because it obviously helps his students access and understand the issue more effectively For example, the students are required to discuss before reading instead of using reading as a basic for discussion

Finally, replacing means the teacher can substitutes the current visual or text presented

in the course book by another because the substituted will serve an activity better This is a result of the teacher‟s thinking about cultural appropriateness or interests of his students

With these adaptation techniques, including adding, (extending and expanding), deleting (subtracting and abridging), simplifying, reordering, and replacing, the teacher can do at any time and any stage of the course book to suit his teaching situation In the latter part about adaptation recommendation of some typical unit in the target course book, the researchers will apply all the mentioned techniques

1.7 Needs of understanding students’ attitudes towards the course books

Students‟ attitude is one of the main factors that determine their success in language learning Attitudes towards the target language, its speakers and the learning context may all play some part in explaining their success or failure (Candlin and Mercer,

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2001) Many researches have been conducted on the role of attitude in second language acquisition revealing from elements such as motivation, enthusiasm, interest, pride in success (Turner, Thorpe, and Meyer,1998) They also display curiosity, a desire to know more, and positive emotional responses to learning and school (Newmann, 1992) According to Dowson and McInerney (2001), “researchers agree that engaged students learn more, retain more, and enjoy learning activities more than students who are not engaged” (as cited in Theresa, 2006:3) Therefore, if using course books is a need in the students‟ learning process, they should supply students with their expected activities for a better learning

One of the main challenges in learning English is caused by the course books themselves, such as the mismatch between the books selected and students‟ language preferences As a result, understanding students‟ interests and needs are some of the essential requirements to teach English competently

From what is documented in the literature as reviewed in this section, it is necessary to find out how appropriate the course book to students‟ learning preferences This is the motivation of the study

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Chapter 2: Methodology

In the previous chapter, literature related to textbook evaluation was reviewed This

chapter is devoted to the presentation of the method of the study It involves the

context of the study, the course book, the participants, data collection instruments, data collection procedures, and data analyses procedures of the study

2.1 The context of the study

The course book „Family and Friends 4” has been used at Sunshine English School since its first time printed in 2010 The students using this course book are classified

in class named Orange They are expected to go with the book in a range of age from

9 to 11 (equal to learners of grade 4th to 5th in primary schools) to ensure the line of knowledge together with the development of language skills Obviously, the textbooks play a very important part in the English language teaching and learning of the school, but they still can be exploited with greater efficiency

2.2 The course book “Family and Friends 4”

The course book aims at helping learners to develop the confidence and competence to communicate effectively in English, as well as understanding and processing information from a wide range of sources It also looks beyond the classroom and promotes the values of family and friendship: co-operation, sharing, helping and appreciating who help us

The course book is intended to accomplish its goal in a 12 -month - course through

developing students‟ language skills to:

- Read and understand the main ideas of a variety of texts

- Participate effectively in a short conversation using appropriate language and understand the main ideas in short oral communications

- Produce a range of text types using coherent and cohesive paragraphs in an adequately

Lesson 1 introduces ten new words with flashcards and a story that creates a context

to use the new words The topics are about the restaurant, the concert, the dinosaur

museum, sports time, directions, describing words (adjectives), in space, at the airport, audio-visual entertainment, computers, places, illness, making smoothies, family and jobs There aren‟t any exercises in this lesson

Lesson 2 introduces the first grammar spot and two exercises for students to practice

Grammar includes present simple and continuous, past simple of have and be, past

simple: irregular verbs with negatives, possessive pronouns, have to and giving directions, , comparatives and superlatives of long adjectives, the future with will, expressing quantity, infinitive of purpose, present perfect, modal verbs should/ could, object and relative pronouns and past continuous The activities presented in these

lessons are fill in the blanks with the given words, sentence matching and say, fill in

the blanks with the given words, use the pictures/ given words then ask and answer/ point and say

In lesson 3, there will be a further grammar box and a song that help students to

reinforce the target language of the unit It covers time markers in present simple,

present continuous, future and past simple, questions in irregular verbs in past simple, regular and irregular adverbs, why/ because, irregular comparatives and superlatives, some Any, how often…, present perfect: questions, answers and negatives, could/ couldn‟t, dates and grammar homophones The activities focus

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mostly in speaking and writing such as look at the board, say and answer; look at the

given information and fill in the blanks, write notes or ask and answer; talk about the pictures, use give information; write about the content of speaking part In lesson 3,

there is a song for children to listen and sing which contains the new target grammar structures

The phonics knowledge with flashcards is the main point in lesson 4 which enables children to decode new words, thereby improving reading skills and helping them to grasp spelling and pronunciation pattern quickly This lesson normally introduces through 6 flashcards, some short passages with pictures and 2 exercises Students can learn about the relationship between letters or letter combinations and the sounds they

make such as long a, long e, long o, long u, and long i sounds; f and ph spellings; ll,

endings; ck and c endings; soft c and g sounds; au, aw and or spelling;, er and or endings; ur and ir spellings; ea and e spellings; le and al endings; el and il endings; tion and shion endings; vocabulary homophones The exercises are circle the words with the sounds; Circle the odd -one -out; Sound matching; Fill in the blanks and Sound classifying

Finally, lesson 5 and lesson 6 are skills times in which reading, listening, speaking and writing skills are concentrated on through various exercises

Reading texts are about different topics and types, it can be a magazine article, a poem, a non –fiction text, an informative webpage, a fable, an interview, a letter, a TV guide, an account, an information leaflet, a traditional story or online instructions The first activity is always pre-reading This stage is about looking for clues to help students understand the meaning of the text This includes looking at the picture and the text style to guess what type of text it is and what it is likely to be about The second activity is reading for gist while listening to the recording The next two activities focus on reading for detail, students have to identify the new vocabulary

(underline the target words in the text, guess their meanings then check dictionary) and look for certain information (gap filling exercises, multiple choice questions,

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answering questions, true/ false / exercises, story ordering and matching the titles with the right text)

The topics of listening are about eating habits, identifying different musical activities,

favorite things on a school trip, children‟s favorite sports, understanding directions, identifying chronology in a fable, identifying details about holidays, identifying details about children‟s favorite TV shows, identifying children‟s computer use, identifying details about life in the Antarctic, children‟s healthy lifestyles, matching people with how they help others, identifying favorite memories and children‟s wishes The

students are requested to listen for gist (activity 1) and listen for detail (activity 2) through exercises such as listening and correcting mistakes, listening and answering questions, note-taking, matching conversation with pictures, gap filling, true/ false questions, completing the table and ordering pictures

In lesson 6, the students learned key writing and literacy skills such as the double

consonant rule, exclamation mark, instruction, identifying irregular plurals, compound words, addressing envelopes, the prefix “un”, topic sentences, connecting sentences using because and so, identifying and using sub clauses, poem structure and rhyme and using speech marks which were then further practiced in the Workbook There were

two workbook pages dedicated to writing practice in each lesson 6, started with a model for their writing, then activities using target literacy skill from the unit as well

as providing ideas and vocabulary for support during the writing Finally, there was

space for children to complete their own texts with various types and topics such as

writing about my eating habits, writing a description of a picture or writing instructions for a sport The data used in this research rooted from this source

The speaking part in lesson 6 is a controlled practice of the target language and topic,

for example, talking about eating habit, asking and answering questions about

musical preferences or school trip; most of them involve pair work or group work

The students can ask and answer about the others; they can discuss the question and finally role-play The activities are concerned with social and cultural aspects of the language which enhance communicative skills

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2.2.2 Appearance and materials

The book is printed in color The cover is attractive Most of the pages include colorful pictures The pages are designed clearly and easy to follow

Family and Friends 4 first published in 2010 is supported by the following materials:

Supplementary materials for students

- Photocopy Master Book

- Testing and Evaluation Book

- Words flashcards

- Phonics cards

- Values posters interest and hotels…

2.3 Participants of the study

The participants in this study are convenience samples, comprising 2 classes Orange

at Sunshine English School (25 students with 18 female and 7 male of the total number, and at the age of 9-11) They all have had a long term history of learning English, from 3-6 years at their primary school and at the center

2.4 Techniques and data collection procedure

During the period of data collection, there were three main techniques employed for data collection:

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Closed questionnaire

The survey questionnaire is one of the popular instruments used to collect data in social science According to Gilham (2000), applying this method gives researchers a lot of advantages because there is almost no pressure on correspondents or break in analysis of answers On the other hand, it‟s possible to use only a closed questionnaire (Nunan, 1992) in case the responses are designed by the researcher since the questionnaire will help the young learners easy to understand and response

A questionnaire (see Appendix 1) which was composed of a list of activities was designed and administered to a group of 25 primary school learners who are learning

at Sunshine English School and working with the course book “Family and Friends 4”

in order to find out their opinions on the activities presented in the book Based on the results, we could see how appropriate the activities of the course book were to the students‟ preferences, then give ideas on how or what could be adapted to help the learning situation better

- Section 1 was designed to get background information of the students such as age, gender, and the time of learning English

- Section 2 was designed to collect the information on the learners‟ evaluation of the activities listed in the course book with only two options: like and dislike, so the questionnaire was administered in the English version After collecting back the questionnaire, students were invited to give their explanation why they didn‟t like the activities for the researcher to take notes

The purpose and different terms of the questionnaire were explained before the distribution by the teacher During the completion process of the questionnaire, the teacher was present physically to monitor and also to help the respondents to understand certain parts They were also requested to state their true and honest responses In addition, the subjects were informed to ask for any clarifications they could have Students were informed that the information they gave would be kept confidential and be used for research purposes only The students had an hour to complete the questionnaire while they could have time to look back at the target unit