An evaluation of the course book new english file elementary for the first year students at university of final and business administration (UFBA)

The following research question should be answered: To what extent does “New English file - Elementary” satisfy the course requirements in terms of the audience, content, aims and method

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES

M.A MINOR THESIS

MAJOR: ENGLISH TEACHING METHODOLOGY CODE: 60140111

HANOI – 2015

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES

M.A MINOR THESIS

MAJOR: ENGLISH TEACHING METHODOLOGY CODE: 60140111

SUPERVISOR: NGUYỄN ĐỨC HOẠT, Ph.D

HANOI – 2015

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I, first and foremost, would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Nguyễn Đức Hoạt, Ph.D for his continuous support, valuable advice, comments, criticisms and corrections throughout the study Without his guidance and help, this work would not have been accomplished

I would like to express my gratitude to the whole group of teachers and students at UFBA by whom meaningful data for the thesis was collected and handed in on time The last but not least, thanks to valued encouragements and great support from my parents, my husband and my son in so many ways that gave me significant motivations, determination and passion to carry on my thesis

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the course book “New English file-Elementary” which has been currently used for the first year students at UFBA The following research question should be answered:

To what extent does “New English file - Elementary” satisfy the course requirements in terms of the audience, content, aims and methodology for the first year students at the University of Finance and Business Administration?

The evaluation was conducted at macro level on the basis on four criteria On the purpose of achieving the professional goal above, the author had to review the literature in relevance to materials evaluation, employ document analysis, survey questionnaire and determine the answer to the research question

The results revealed that the course book were generally suitable to the intended learners and course‟s requirements However, there should be made some changes for more effective exploitation of the material in the future Based on the findings, some recommendations on adapting, adding, modifying several items in the course book have come out in order to make the best use of the material in coming years

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1

1 RATIONALE 1

2 AIMS OF THE STUDY 2

3 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY 2

4 RESEARCH QUESTION 2

5 SCOPE OF THE STUDY 2

6 OVERVIEW OF THE STUDY 2

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 4

2.1 TEXTBOOK, COUSE BOOK, AND MATERIALS 4

2.1.1 Definitions 4

2.1.2 Role of materials in English Language Teaching 4

2.2 MATERIAL EVALUATION 5

2.2.1 Definition of Materials Evaluation 5

2.2.2 Reasons of Materials Evaluation 6

2.2.3 Types of Materials Evaluation 6

2.2.4 Types of Evaluators 8

2.2.5 Models of Materials Evaluation 9

2.2.6 Criteria for Materials Evaluation 11

2.3 PREVIOUS STUDIES 13

CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 15

3.1 THE SETTING 15

3 2 PARTICIPANTS 16

3.3 DATA COLLECTION INSTRUMENTS 17

3.3.1 Document analysis 17

3.3.2 Survey questionnaires 173.4 DATA COLLECTION PROCEDURES 21

CHAPTER 4: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 22

4.1 THE APPROPRIATENESS OF THE COURSE BOOK TO THE AUDIENCE IN TERMS OF THEIR ENGLISH LEVEL 224.1.1 Material analysis results 224.2 THE APPROPRIATENESS OF THE COURSE BOOK TO THE AIM OF THE COURSE 254.2.1 Material analysis results 254.3 THE APPROPRIATENESS OF THE MATERIAL TO THE CONTENT

REQUIREMENTS OF THE COURSE BOOK 274.3.1 The material analysis results 274.4 THE APPROPRIATENESS OF THE MATERIAL TO THE METHODOLOGY REQUIREMENT OF THE COURSE 324.4.1 Material analysis results 324.5 SUMMARY OF MAJOR FINDINGS 37

CHAPTER 5: RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSION 4 1

APPENDIX 3: CHECKLIST FOR EVALUATION BY HUTCHINSON AND WATERS

(1987) 53

APPENDIX 4: QUESTIONNAIRE FOR TEACHERS 59

APPENDIX 5: QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS 65

APPENDIX 6: KHẢO SÁT Ý KIẾN HỌC VIÊN 71

LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES

Table 4.1: The students and teachers‟ opinions of the overall difficulty level of the material Table 4.2: Teachers and students‟ opinions of aim of the course book “New English File-Elementary”

Table 4.3: The teachers and students‟ opinions about the language points covered in the material

Table 4.4: The teachers and students‟ opinions about language skills in the material

Table 4.5: The students‟ onions about the effectiveness of the sub-skills and the familiarity

of the topics to the students‟ knowledge level

Table 4.6: The teachers‟ opinions about the tasks/ exercises of language points and language skills

Figure 2.1: The material evaluation model by Hutchinson and Waters (1987)

Figure 4.1: The students and teachers‟ opinions of the overall difficulty level of the material Figure 4.2: Teachers and students‟ opinions of aim of the course book “New English File-

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

1 RATIONALE

It has generally agreed that material plays an essential role in the process of language teaching and learning Materials must be important because they could significantly increase students‟ achievement by supporting students‟ learning and be considered as a guide to assist teachers According to McDonough and Shaw (1993), however, no set of materials is likely

to be perfect; it cannot serve equally for the requirements of every classroom setting Teachers should not merely know to use but how useful it can be They must evaluate its strengths and weaknesses Therefore, William (1983) suggests that English language teachers need to know the principles of materials evaluation The ability of materials evaluation is regarded as an extremely important professional activity for all English foreign language teachers Ideally, the teaching materials, after having been selected or designed, need to be carefully evaluated to check whether the material accomplishes its job of enabling teaching and learning

In fact, this is the third year that the course book “New English file - Elementary” has been used at the University of Finance and Business Administration The material is approved and accepted as an official course book for teaching all first year students at the University of Finance and Business Administration Up to now, there have been different opinions from the teachers and the students about this material However, there has not had any attempt to evaluate the book to see whether it meets the requirements of the course in terms of audience, content, aims and methodology These are the reasons why the author of the study made a decision to conduct this evaluation research

As a result, this study is conducted with the hope that the thesis will find out the merits and demerits of the textbook in order to improve or modify the material for future use and therefore make contribution to the teaching and learning foreign language at the intended university

2 AIMS OF THE STUDY

The research aims at evaluating the material of current use at UFBA to determine whether it matches the course‟s requirements in terms of the audience, content, aims and methodology Hopefully, the findings of the thesis will partly help the English teaching staff

to decide whether the material will be used in the coming year or what changes can be made

to improve the effectiveness of the material

3 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The paper will be carried out with the hope that the findings of the study will help teachers improve their language teaching method of exploiting the course book to fulfill

satisfactorily students‟ need and interests

4 RESEARCH QUESTION

The study aims at answering the following question:

To what extent does “New English file - Elementary” satisfy the course requirements in terms of the audience, content, aims and methodology for the first year students at the University of Finance and Business Administration?

5 SCOPE OF THE STUDY

Within the scope of an M.A thesis, this research paper focuses on evaluating the course book “New English file - Elementary” used in the basis communication course for the first year students at the University of Finance and Business Administration This book is used in their first term at UFBA In the scope of this study the suitability of this course to the course requirements and participants‟ attitudes toward it will be worked out

6 OVERVIEW OF THE STUDY

The study consists of three parts and three chapters:

Chapter 1: Introduction provide a general overview of the study with specific

references to the rationale, the aim and objectives of the study, research questions, scope of study, significance of study, overview of the thesis

Chapter 2: Literature review This chapter provides the relevant theories related to

Textbook, Course book, Material and Material evaluation

Chapter 3: Research methodology, includes the methodology employed in the study,

research procedure, the participants, the survey instruments and data analysis

Chapter 4: Findings and discussion It is devoted to a detailed description of findings

and the discussion In this chapter, explanation and interpretation of the findings are explored

Chapter 5: Recommendations and Conclusion gives conclusion, recommendations,

and limitations of the study and then gives suggestions for further study

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 TEXTBOOK, COUSE BOOK, AND MATERIALS

2.1.1 Definitions

The terms “Textbook”, “Course Book” and “Materials” which are commonly found in learning and teaching foreign languages are used interchangeably However, it is pointed that these terminologies are not the same

According to Microsoft Encarta (2005), “Textbook” is defined as a book which treats a subject comprehensively and used by students as a basis for study English teachers have considered textbooks as the instruments supporting to explain and express their teaching ideas

The term “Course Book” is used to refer a textbook on which a course is based (McGrath, 2002:7) Furthermore, Tomlinson shares a similar point with McGrath when he considers a course book as “a textbook which provides the core materials for a course” A course book is used to provide as much as possible in one book and is able to serve as the only book which the learners necessarily use during a course A course book includes work

on not only grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, functions but also the skills of reading, writing, listening and speaking (Tomlinson, 1998)

In Materials Development in Language Teaching, Littlejohn (1998) defines that

“Materials” are considered as anything which is used to help teach language learners In the words of Tomlinson (1998), it can be in the form of a textbook, a workbook, a cassette, a CD-Rom, a video, a photocopied handout, a newspaper, a paragraph written on a whiteboard” Thus, it can be pointed out that course book is a type of materials

2.1.2 Role of materials in English Language Teaching

It is undeniable that the relationship between materials and other components in language teaching such as students, teachers, teaching method and evaluation have been controversial for many years It was not until 1970s there was a movement to make learners rather than teachers the center of language learning Consequently, learners are gradually regarded as the targets of teaching and learning process Besides, the important of teaching

and learning materials cannot be denied that materials play a prominent role in the teaching/learning process and they are the primary agents of conveying the knowledge to the learners Regarding the multiple roles of materials in ELT, Cunningsworth (1995:7) identifies teaching materials as source of ideas and stimulation for classroom activities which provides the learners with practice important communicative interaction Richard (2001) claims that material is considered as the key component of language programe They provide the learners with the necessary input, the language practice as well Regarding the advantages of materials, Nunan (1991) states that good teaching material are of great help to both inexperienced and experienced teachers, especially the inexperienced or poorly trained teachers for they are provided with models to follow in developing their own materials Therefore, the first thing needs to be done when preparing for a course in a particular situation is to select the appropriate materials

2.2 MATERIAL EVALUATION

2.2.1 Definition of Materials Evaluation

There are a large number of definitions of evaluation; fundamentally evaluation is asking questions and acting on the responses Evaluation is a whole process in which what information to gather takes place at the beginning and at the end, changing in current activities or influencing ones is found out According to Tomlinson (1998:3), Materials Evaluation is defined as „a systematic appraisal of the value of materials in relation to their objectives and to the objectives of learners using them.” Hutchinson and Water (1993:96) also stress that “Evaluation is a matter of judging the fitness of something for a particular purposes” According to Donough & Shaw (2012), “Materials Evaluation is one part of a complex process and the materials once selected can only be judged successfully after classroom implementation and feedback” In addition, Brown (1995) defines that

„Evaluation is the systematic collection and analysis of all relevant information necessary to promote the improvement of curriculum and to assess its effectiveness within the context of the particular institutions involved”

Evaluation of textbook is seen to function as a sort of educational judgment, it means referring to subjective judgment-making A description of a textbook is compared with the

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

2.2.2 Reasons of Materials Evaluation

Reasons for Materials Evaluation activities are also many and varied One of the major reasons for it is the need to adopt new course books Another reason as Cunningsworth (1995) states is to identify particular strengths and weaknesses in course books already in use

In Hutchinson‟s view (1987), Materials Evaluation not only serves the immediate practical aim of selecting teaching materials but also plays a critical role in developing teachers‟ awareness in a number of ways which are providing teachers to analyze their own presuppositions about the nature of language and learning, forcing teaches to set their prerequisites and supporting them to consider materials as an essential part of the whole teaching/learning situation Besides, Hutchinson and Water (1993) emphasize that

“Evaluation is a matter of judging the fitness of something for a particular purpose” After being used in the particular setting, the material must be evaluated so as to find out its merits and demerits in order to see if it works well for intended situation and students

In addition, Ellis (1997) stresses that there are two main reasons to evaluate the materials Firstly, there is worth choosing among the resources available the most suitable materials to use for the particular group of students in a particular context Secondly, evaluation is carried out to determine whether the selected or designed material works well

to fulfill the intended purpose after it is has been used for a period of time This helps to decide whether to continue using the material or to replace it with a better material In Cunningsworth‟s view (1995), through evaluation, we could assess whether the course book

is the most appropriate for the target learners at various levels and in various teaching settings

In summary, Materials Evaluation in general and course book evaluation in specific is very necessary and vital It should be taken for two reasons: first, it confirms the course book and second, it adjusts the course book In the end, it will increase the strengths and minimize the drawback of the course book

2.2.3 Types of Materials Evaluation

There are several different ways of dividing Materials Evaluation according to different researchers

In term of when to evaluate materials, Cunningsworth (1995) and Ellis (1997) suggest that there are three types of Evaluation: pre-use evaluation, in-use evaluation and post-use evaluation Pre-use evaluation is admitted to be the most difficult kind of evaluation because there is no actual experience of using the book for us to draw on In this case, we are examining the future or potential performance of a course book The second type is in-use evaluation that is designed to examine material that is currently being used This type refers

to a kind of evaluation for suitability, involving “matching the course book against a special requirement including the learners‟ objectives, the learners‟ background, the resource available, etc” (Cunningsworth, 1995:14) It is concerned with not only the evaluation of the original material but also its adaptability to different settings Post-use evaluation refers to a retrospective assessment of a textbook‟s fitness over a period of continual use

In addition, Tomlinson (1998) and McGrath (2001) share the same point with Cunningsworth when introducing three concepts: Pre-use, In-use/Whilst-use and Post-use

 Pre-use evaluation focuses on the predictions of potential value

 In-use/Whilst-use evaluation is designed to gather data on planning decisions, implementation and response; find out awareness and description of what the learners are actually doing whilst the materials are being used

 Post-use evaluation is designed to collect data on in-course use and data on effects to access suitability of selection and selection procedures

In addition, there is another way of dividing Materials Evaluation depending on the reasons for evaluation suggested by some scholars These authors emphasize that there are three types of evaluation namely Preliminary evaluation, Formative evaluation and Summative evaluation The first type of evaluation is Preliminary one According to Ellis (cited in Tomlinson, 1998), this type is carried out before the beginning of the course in order to select “the most appropriate materials for a particular group of learners” and identify “specific aspects of the published materials” needed adapting to suit the purposes of

the evaluators The second type is Formative evaluation that is carried out during the course considered as “a part of the process of program development in order to find out what is working well, and what is not and what problems need to be addressed” (Richard, 2001:288) Therefore, Formative evaluation is aimed at shaping the material during lifetime and suggesting the improvement of the material in the future The final one is Summative evaluation which is carried out at the end of or after the course In the words of Richard (2001), this type is designed to determine the effectiveness of the material Findings will help to decide whether to use the material again or not; which tasks and activities need changing or how to modify them to make the material more effective and efficient for future use (Ellis, cited in Tomlinson, 1998)

This study will report on a survey that was conducted at University of Finance and Business Administration for the purposes of evaluating a course book “New English File-Elementary” being used at this university Therefore, this study can be classified as the In-use type of evaluation or Formative evaluation The main purpose of evaluation is to validate the merits of the course book based on its users‟ opinions

of commitment to acting on its results Moreover, insiders, especially teachers, can monitor and control the material being used They, therefore, are capable of determining to what extent the material works for their purposes Consequently, they could make modifications

to improve the effectiveness of the material However, According to Dudley –Evans and John (1998), insiders may suffer from several disadvantages when they can be “too closed and involved or lack of expertise” This, in turn, can cause subjectivity in their judgments

On the other hand, outsider is the other type of evaluators who do not involve in the program since they do not directly control the teaching program, they will have own view on teaching methods In Robinson‟s view (1992), outsiders may not fully understand the teaching and learning situations in which the evaluation is being carried out As a result, they may be unsympathetic and they may need more time to get know about the local situation such as learners‟ needs, facilities as well as constrains However, Anderson and Scott (1992) argue that the reason for involving outsiders alone in an evaluation process is that outsiders can guarantee objectivity; they may have greater credibility or offer a fresh perspective They also reveal that this is possible as “outsiders can have great professional or public credibility and may see the issues in a different light (not necessary clearer) than those in the inside” As a result of these, they will bring objective experience into the evaluation from their personal observation In this thesis, the course book New English File- Elementary which is being taught the non-English major students at UFBA is evaluated by both insiders and outsiders Among the evaluators, five teachers and 140 students who have the invitations

to take part in the study are considered as insider-evaluators and the researcher who is currently doing this thesis is an outsider-evaluator

2.2.5 Models of Materials Evaluation

In the literature of these, several kinds of models for evaluation of the language teaching materials will be discussed The models can be classified as macro and micro evaluation models according to the approaches to the materials evaluation

2.2.5.1 Model by Hutchinson and Water (1987)

In the view of Hutchinson and Water (1987), they concern Materials Evaluation as a process of matching needs to available solutions The model introduced by these authors is a macro evaluation that aims at assessing the workability of an entire set of materials The first step is to define criteria which the evaluation is based on The next step is to identify the subjective analysis The third step is designed to determine objective analysis The final step

is conducted to compare the findings with the materials requirements to evaluate the match between the materials and the requirement Therefore, Hutchinson and Water (1993) suggest the model for evaluation that presents a logical procedure This model also has a description

of the stages and criteria, which are presented systematically Moreover, it can help the researcher know exactly what must be done to analyze the material in comparison with the course requirements

Figure 2.1: The materials evaluations model by Hutchinson and Water (1987:98)

2.2.5.2 Model by Ellis (1997)

In Ellis‟s view (1997:236), the concern of Evaluation in ELT has primarily been with macro-evaluation which is “the evaluation of complete programs or projects through the evaluation of materials, teachers and learners” Moreover, he claims that attention also must

be given to evaluation He points out that by focusing on the particular tasks, evaluation could give the supporting to a systematic evaluation of materials after using The model introduced by Ellis (1997), therefore, considers Materials Evaluation at the task level within its actual teaching and learning context Can be seen through this model, the aim of this is looking for whether the task has worked in term of its objectives and to be able to realize how the task can be improved for future use as well Besides, he also suggests such steps to evaluate a task:

micro- Choosing a task to evaluate

Defining criteria

On what bases will you judge material?

Which criteria will be more important?

Subjective analysis

What realizations of the criteria

do you want in your course?

 Describing a task

 Planning the evaluation

 Collecting the information for the evaluation

 Analyzing the information

 Reaching conclusions and making recommendations

 Writing the report

2.2.5.3 Model by Cunningsworth (1995)

Cunningsworth (1995) reveals a checklist for Course Book Evaluation and selection organized under the following perspectives: language content, selection and grading of language items; presentation and practice of new language items; developing language skills and communication abilities; supporting materials; and motivation and the learners

He suggests four guidelines in his model

Guideline 1: course books should be suitable for the learners‟ need, aim and objective

of the language program

Guideline 2: course books should support the users to make of the language; they must

be chosen help learners effectively for their own purpose

Guideline 3: course books should take account of the students‟ need and facilitate their

learning process without dogmatically imposing a rigid method

Guideline 4: materials should get a clear role as the supporting of learning like teachers;

they mediate between the target language and the learners

In conclusion, among above discussed models, the model suggested by Hutchinson and Water (1987) is regarded as the most logical and clearest procedure for Materials Evaluation Furthermore, this one could help the evaluator to decide what must be done to analyze the material in comparison with the course‟s requirements Based on the purpose of the evaluation, time available, facilities as well as the constraints of the context where occurs

to decide which model to follow, the model is intentionally used by the author of the thesis

to evaluate the materials currently used at UFBA

2.2.6 Criteria for Materials Evaluation

It is undeniable that Materials Evaluation is a complex matter as there are many variables that may affect the success or failure of the course books when they are in use Thus, developing criteria to assess materials is one of the major steps to be taken in all the proposed models for Materials Evaluation There are various criteria proposed by several different authors for the majority of ELT situations

2.2.6.1 Criteria proposed by Hutchinson and Water (1987)

Hutchinson and Water (1987) reveal that the checklist of Materials Evaluation includes items related to subjective and objective analysis as follows:

Audience: The first part of checklist consists of some questions related to information

about the learners such as their age, sex, nationalities, study or work specialism, language background and interests

Aim: Both the aim of the material and that of the course are revealed in this part and this

will help students develop certain language skills and function or to improve the language as

a whole Thus, the satisfaction of the aim and the objectives of the course need examining in the language course

Content: The third part in the checklist involves the questions in order to measure the

material‟s content to be covered the following items: language description, language point, macro-skill and their proportion, micro-skill, types, subject matter areas, topics, organization through the course, organization within the course unit, content sequence, content sequence within the course unit to see whether these items in the materials satisfy through requirements which were set up from the analysis of the learners‟ need and the course‟s objective

Methodology: In this part, the checklist investigates methodology including questions

about the theory of learning, the attitudes or the expectation of the learners about learning English, learning exercises and tasks, teaching and learning techniques used, teaching aids, teaching guidance needed and the flexibility of the material to be suitable in different teaching situations

Other criteria: In the words of Hutchinson and Water, it is necessary for the evaluator to consider other criteria such as the price and availability of the materials

2.2.6.2 Criteria suggested by Cunningsworth (1995)

The criteria proposed by Cunningsworth (1995:15-17) investigate organization, language, content, skills, topic, methodology, teacher‟s books and practical considerations

Organization: the amount of continuity within the materials and routes through the

materials is considered carefully Moreover, language content including language form and language use which are being taught will be concerned in this section

Skills: the questions which are related to whether the course books deal adequately with

all of four skills, taking the level and overall aims into account and whether there is a suitable balance language in real situation, if the course books provide materials for appropriate integrated skills and what students‟ need will be depended on will be investigated

Methodology: methodology which is presented in one course book through approaches

explores how the text views the need and the roles of learners and how they can help the learners to learner

Topic: evaluator need to take into account what topic the course book includes, the

subject matter they select and how they treat it, the image of life presented by text books, the attitude they convey and the social and culture values that the textbook communicates

In summary, the criteria suggested by Hutchinson and Water (1987) has been selected since they appear to be suitable and applicable in Materials Evaluation in the context of UFBA The model is a macro evaluation of assessing the workability of an entire set of materials The first step is to define criteria which the evaluation is based on The next step

is to identify the subjective analysis The third step is designed to determine objective analysis The final step is conducted to compare the findings with the materials requirements

to evaluate the match between the materials and the requirements It is admitted that the model presents a logical proceduce so the criteria are clearly presented and it is easy to follow

With the checklist of Hutchinson and Water, the qualitative method which consists of questionnaire and interview are chosen for the thesis It is hoped that from the results of questionnaire and interview, some findings will be revealed

2.3 PREVIOUS STUDIES

Up to now, there have been a number of studies on Materials Evaluation In 1997, Ayman carried out a macro-materials evaluation study at Bilkent University School of Language with Upper Intermediate level students The aims of the study was to seek for how the students and instructors evaluate a textbook based on English for Academic Purpose by the using of instruments: questionnaires delivered to both students and instructors The results of the study indicated that not only students but also instructors were generally positive about the textbook However, there were lack of activities and tasks, inappropriateness of content and topics, ineffectiveness of the teacher‟s book Furthermore, the writer make some recommendations for training instructors in how to use the textbook effectively in their classes, how to look for the ways to raise students‟ awareness in using the material

In Vietnam, Nguyen Thi Ha Quyen (2010) conducted a study to evaluate the textbook

“Market Leader” for the first year students at Hai Phong University with the attempt to see the teachers and students‟ perception of merits and demerits of the textbook “Market Leader” in term of its audience, objectives, content and methodology with the combination

of document analysis, survey questionnaires and informal After finding out some dissatisfactions of the material, some suggestions for future use was carefully made

In 2014, Nguyen Thi Tho carried out an evaluation of the textbook “Communication book 1” at Aten English Center The aim of the study is to determine if the material matches the course‟s requirements in terms of the audience, content, aim and the methodology in order to offer some suggestions to make the textbook better The criteria suggested by Hutchinson and Warter (1987), together with two data collection instruments: document analysis and questionnaires for teachers and students were selected The finding of the study showed that the material did not meet the course requirements in some aspects, especially students‟ goal to use English in Communication

In this thesis, the researcher also carries out an evaluation of the course book “New English File- Elementary” being used at UFBA to seek for whether the material matches the course requirements in terms of the audience, content, aim and the methodology However, there are some differences in several aspects Firstly, accompanied with two data collection instruments: document analysis and questionnaires for both teachers and students, follow-up

interviews for both teachers and students are also employed in order to look for the reliable respondents Furthermore, the course book is evaluated by both insiders and outsiders- evaluators Consequently, it is hoped that this study will reveal the reliable and valuable findings

CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Chapter three, Methodology, presents a description of the research method employed in this study It includes four sections: the setting, participants, data collection instruments, and data collection procedure

3.1 THE SETTING

Founded in 1965, University of Finance and Business Administration (UFBA) has been training the total number of nearly 8000 students who study 8 fields of education and has got constant-annual enrollment of 800 to 1200 students The students share different backgrounds when entering the university Moreover, almost students, coming from rural areas in the North of Vietnam, lack of skills such as searching information on the internet or looking for books in the libraries for their own studies Consequently, most of them, known

as the first year students, rely on what teachers provide in class

In the 2013-2014 academic year, the “New English File-Elementary” was officially used

to teach the first year students of all departments at the university The first academic year falls into two semesters, each lasting 12 weeks and finishing with end of term examinations The teaching and learning New English File-Elementary series follow the learners-center approach, aiming at developing learners‟ English communicative competence

 Course material

Considered as the focus of the study, New English File-Elementary designed by Clive Oxenden, Christina Latham- Keoning and Paul Seligson in 2004 is taken into account carefully The material consists of a Student‟s Book, Teacher‟ Book, Work Book, class audio CDs and a reference book Grammar in Use (Raymond Murphy, 2004)

The Student‟s Book includes nine units, all except the last divided into four teaching sections, grammar and vocabulary banks and extra communication exercises The Work Book offers the students the chance to practice in all grammar structures and vocabulary from the main text In addition, the Teacher‟s Book provides the answer and a suggested lesson plan for each section Furthermore, there are also extra exercises from reference book Grammar in Use used for reinforcing language points

 Course objectives

The course objectives which the students are supposed to achieve by the end of the semester are also prescribed by the Faculty of English In general, firstly, the learners can develop their basis English grammar points in a range of everyday social contexts Besides, the learners have ability to communicate in certain daily topics through direct information exchanges, make conversations for the suggested topics and describe their personality, daily activities or express their opinions in simple situations associated with their life The students are also able to develop speaking, listening, reading and writing skills and they are also introduced to learning strategies Furthermore, the students can broaden their mind about communicative culture and soft skills of communicating with foreigners, team/group work skills as well

 Course Assessment

According to the Course Syllabus, there are three kinds of assessment in the course including attendance accounting for 10 %, mini-tests accounting for 20 % and the final assessment occupying 70% (presented in Appendix 1)

3 2 PARTICIPANTS

Due to the limit of this study, the evaluation is carried out on the first year students in Business Administration Department The five Vietnamese teachers of English in charge of five intended classes will receive the invitations to take part in the research regardless of their gender and teaching experience The English teacher respondents in Business Administration Department include five female ranged in ages from 24 to 31 Of the five teachers taking part in the study, three had already taken MA degree, one is taking the MA degree and one has BA in English All of them have much experience in teaching English and they have been using the intended course book in their teaching process Among them, one has been teaching English for nine years, two of them for five years and one for four years and the other for two years Futhermore, four out of five teachers have been teaching the course book for three years and one for two years It is emphasized that all of the teachers are willing and enthusiastic toward their teaching, always pay attention to the improvement of the course; therefore, they show a lot of interest in this study

In addition, 140 students from five randomly chosen classes as the participants of the study are selected from 240 students of eight classes in the Business Administration Department The students had just finished the first year at UFBA so the researcher makes decision to distribute the questionnaires to them They are expected to provide the relevant information to the study There are 86 male and 54 female students who are the age of between eighteen and twenty-two years old They are also interested in participating in the study

3.3 DATA COLLECTION INSTRUMENTS

In this part, the writer describes in detail the instruments for collecting data that are applied in the research and presents the strength of the research methods chosen in order to explain the reason for choosing these research methods for the study A combination of two data collection instruments consisting of document analysis and survey questionnaires is employed by the researcher

3.3.1 Document analysis

Document analysis that is frequently applied for studying the content and structure of the documents could provide convincing and systematic background information for the evaluation process and help increase the objectiveness of a qualitative research project This document can also provide the evaluator with necessary information about activities and processes of the program In addition, the data collected by using document analysis instruments are regarded as the major source and the reason why the document analysis instruments for collecting data is chosen by the researcher The document analysis of the thesis is the analysis of the official syllabus at the university and the course book “New English File-Elementary” itself, to the criteria audience, aim, content and methodology The analysis of the course book is considered as an objective analysis and based on the same criteria used in curriculum analysis The aim of this is to examine how the course book realizes the criteria of the course requirements Besides, the comparison of the curriculum with the material‟ preface to seek for whether they match each other in terms of audience, aim, content and methodology is also taken into account

In both the curriculum and material analysis, the audience (learners‟ level) was taken an examination at first After that, the aim, content and methodology were put under examination respectively

3.3.2 Survey questionnaires

3.3.2.1 Questionnaire for the students

Questionnaire including four sections is conducted to get the students‟ opinion about the aims, content and methodology of the course book

Section 1 is designed with one question in order to collect learners‟ opinion about the

aims of the course book The question was on a five-point Likert scale (5 = strongly agree; 4= agree; 3 = neutral; 2 = disagree; 1 = strongly disagree)

Section 2 aims at seeking for the information about the content of the course book

Questions 2 to 4 which were designed on a five-point Likert scale (5 = very difficult; 4 = difficult; 3 = undecided or neutral; 2 = not very difficult; 1 = easy) were conducted to find out the opinions and judgments about the difficulty level of the grammar structures, vocabulary, speaking, listening, reading and writing practice, the amount of language points and the amount of language skills covered in the course book Questions 5 to 8 were designed to encourage the respondents to express their opinions about the effectiveness of the sub-skills Finally, the familiarity of the topics with the learners‟ knowledge level were examined through question 9

Section 3 which consists of five questions is investigated to achieve the information of

methodology in the course book The learners‟ opinions about the usage of different sorts of exercises or tasks of the language points and skills are revealed through question 10 and 11 Moreover, the students‟ opinions about the guidance for doing the exercises or tasks, as well

as the teaching and learning techniques and aids provided in the course book are also taken consideration by delivering the question 12, 13 and 14

Section 4 prepares one large opened question to look for the learners‟ opinions or

suggestions, as well as their expectations for the course book adjustment if necessary

3.3.2.2 Questionnaire for the teachers

Questionnaire for the teachers including four sections was conducted to get the teachers‟ opinion about the aims, content and methodology of the course book

Section 1 is designed with one question in order to collect the teachers‟ opinion about

the aims of the course book The question was on a five-point Likert scale (5 = strongly agree; 4= agree; 3 = undecided or neutral; 2 = disagree; 1 = strongly disagree)

Section 2 aims at seeking for the information about the content of the course book

Questions 2 to 4 which were designed on a five-point Likert scale (5 = very difficult; 4 = difficult; 3 = undecided or neutral; 2 = not very difficult; 1 = easy) were conducted to find out the opinions and judgments about the difficulty level of the grammar structures, vocabulary, speaking, listening, reading and writing practice, the amount of language points and the amount of language skills covered in the course book Questions 5 to 8 were designed to encourage the respondents to express their opinions about the effectiveness of the sub-skills Finally, the familiarity of the topics with the learners‟ knowledge level was examined through question 9

Section 3 which consists of five questions was investigated to achieve the information

of methodology in the course book The teachers‟ opinions about the variety of exercises/tasks of the language points and skills were revealed through questions 10 to 11 Moreover, the teachers‟ opinions about the guidance for doing the exercises or tasks, as well

as the teaching and learning techniques and aids provided in the course book are also taken consideration by delivering the question 12, 13 and 14 to the teachers

Section 4 was prepared with one large opened question to look for the teachers‟

opinions and suggestions for the course book adjustment if necessary

3.3.2.3 Data Analysis

As mentioned above, the two questionnaires included both open-ended and close-ended questions The data in the questionnaire were analyzed using mean scores and percentages The questionnaire data were presented in tables For the purpose of the study, a five-point Likert scale was used varying between strongly agree to strongly disagree For instant, the researcher applied a 5-4-3-2-1 Likert scale to investigate the learners‟ extent of agreement or disagreement to the aim of the course book (5=strongly agree 4=agree 3=neutral

2=disagree 1=strongly disagree)

On the purpose of presentation the data in a coherent and timesaving way, an appropriate data interpretation scheme which made use of the mean score method of descriptive statistics was decided to formulate by the researcher The calculated mean scores have to be rounded up or rounded down towards the standard points of the scale as follows:

 Positive scores: a mean score from 4.5 up to 5 means “strongly agree”; a mean score from3.5 up to 4.4 means “agree”; a mean score from 3.0 up to 3.4 means “neutral”

 Negative scores: a mean score from 2.9 down to 1.5 means “disagree”; a mean score from 1.4 down to 1.0 means “strongly agree”

For example, item 1 of the question 1 in the questionnaire for the students, among 140 respondents, twenty respondents ticked 5 (strongly agree),forty-five chose 4, twenty-five ticked 3, fifteen chose 2 and thirty- five chose 1(strongly disagree)

Mean score = (5 x 20 + 4 x 45 + 3 x 25 + 2 x 15 + 1 x 35): 140 = 3

This mean score were compared with the above-mentioned principles considered as

“agree” by the respondents

This data interpretation scheme was applied to all the questions designed on a five point Likert scale of both questionnaires The items given negative mean score would be taken more consideration when being discussion For analyzing the open-ended questions and data

in the follow-up interview, qualitative techniques were used For the final form of the data analysis, a three way analysis of the data was carried out by combining the results of the two questionnaires for the teachers and students and follow-up interview, and the researcher‟s in-depth analysis

3.3.2.4 Follow-up interviews with questionnaires’ respondents

The purpose of the interview is to get more in-depth opinions and suggestions from the respondents

Firstly, follow- up interviews with the students were carried out with the aim of looking for the reasons why the students choose an item(s) for a certain section in the questionnaire and encourage them to reveal more suggestions for the adaptation to different aspects of the course book The sample questions are as follows:

- What is your opinion about the suitability of the material with the first year students, in terms of topics, skills and grammar and vocabulary?

- Did the teachers often create more tasks/exercises or activities in the class?

- Do you think four periods in a week in class is suitable?

The second is follow-up interviews with the teachers The aim of the interview is to investigate the reasons why they choose an item(s) for a certain section in the questionnaire and encourage to give more suggestions for different aspects of the course book

- In what way do you know students‟ needs and their interests?

- What teaching and learning aids do you often use in class?

- What are your suggestions to teach speaking, listening, reading and writing skills more successfully?

3.4 DATA COLLECTION PROCEDURES

As has been mentioned in the previous part, two instruments were employed to gather data for this study: document analysis and survey questionnaire This process is divided into several procedures as follows:

 Firstly, the course curriculum of University of Finance and Business Administration was analyzed and then the material itself was analyzed objectively under four criteria including audience, aim, content and methodology Finally, the questionnaires were only developed after reaching the result of document analysis

 The questionnaires were carefully developed by the researcher and then approved by the supervisor

 The pilot study was carried out with the questionnaires when five copies of questionnaire for the students were handed to five first year non-pedagogical English learners The questionnaires were returned to the researcher without any problem for three days The five days later, the questionnaires were distributed to the subjects

 140 questionnaires for students were distributed to 140 students who are the participants

of the study They were returned to the researcher with in two weeks At the same time, the five teachers regarded as the participants were also received the copies of questionnaires and gave them back seven days later

 Follow-up interviews were carried out to get more information from the respondents and

go over the reliability of the data collected from questionnaire

 All raw data from the document analysis and questionnaires were gathered and kept separately in two files The assistance of Microsoft Excel supported the researcher to compute the data so that a lot of time was saved

 The data were processed and the results of the study will be revealed and discussed in the next chapter

3.5 DATA ANALYSIS METHODS

The data were analyzed quantitatively and quanlitatively For analysis of questionnaires, a five-point Likert scale was used and necessary calculations were carried out The data in the questionnaires were analyzed by using meanscores and percentages For analyzing the open-ended questions in the questionnaires and the interviews, quanlitative techniques were used such as coding of field notes from follow-up interviews and open-ended questions in relation to the kinds of answers, theme and issues, seeking patterning of responses by categorising the data in relation to course requirements, analytic induction and constant comparison of the responses between teachers and students

In the end, a three way analysis of the data was carried out by combining the results of the questionnaires and interviews, and the researcher‟s in-dept analysis In addition, I, as a teacher and evaluator, have examined the results of the questionnaires and interviews and

if there are differences of opinions between teachers and students, the researcher will consider and point out her own opinions depending the author‟s teaching experience

CHAPTER 4: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

In this chapter, the researcher analyses the material, present and discuss the results from the survey to find out whether the course book New English File – Elementary meets the course requirements in terms of audience, aim, content and methodology

4.1 THE APPROPRIATENESS OF THE COURSE BOOK TO THE

AUDIENCE IN TERMS OF THEIR ENGLISH LEVEL

4.1.1 Material analysis results

As stated clearly in the syllabus prescribed by Faculty of English at UFBA, the course was designed for the students who are at the elementary level

In addition, it is undeniable that the course book “New English File – Elementary” is designed for its intended learners at elementary level Comparing the description of the syllabus and the title of the course book, the researcher drew conclusion that the material has been prepared for its right audience in term of English level

On the purpose of determining if the course book was really suitable with the audience in terms of students‟ level, the evaluation was carried out on different categories such as grammatical structures, vocabulary, types of tasks/ exercises, level of tasks/ exercises on speaking, listening, reading and writing

4.1.1.1 Language points

As stated in the table of contents, the grammar points of the course book which were organized as moving from easy to difficult at all nine units appeared quite simple and appropriate to the students‟ level as defined at the curriculum and the title of the course book

As can be seen clearly from the table of content presented in appendix 2, a variety of vocabulary were introduced in the material such as numbers, countries and nationalities, common objects, jobs, family, etc Furthermore, vocabulary part which contains not only simple words but also phrases appears quite easy for the learners to master

In addition, pronunciation is of great importance for the beginner at elementary level who have intention of studying for communication purpose since good pronunciation are able to

support students to produce correct sounds and speech; students, therefore, are capable of communicating in English more successfully

4.1.1.2 Types of tasks and exercises

The tasks and exercises of this material consist of multiple choice, questions, gap-filling, True (T)/ False (F), open-ended questions, role-playing the dialogue, asking and answering the questions, making an interview, making a description, listening for details, listening for comprehension, writing a letter or email, writing a postcard, etc which are familiar with students at this level

However, for speaking tasks and exercises, the researcher found that some speaking tasks were a big challenge for the students For example, in the part D of unit 7, they were asked to role-play fortune telling by looking at the card chose by the other and predicted the other‟s future using those cards It is undeniable that such difficult tasks should be made easier and adaptation or even omitted to reduce the students‟ anxiety when practicing spoken language

In addition, there are some listening tasks which appeared quite difficult for low – level students who are not competent enough to infer the messages given by native speakers as part D unit 5, part B of unit 9 For writing tasks, it is insisted that it is too difficult for the low level students to master a few of types of task writing such as writing a magazine articles, writing a holiday report or making a reservation

In order to make sure of the reliability of the conclusion above, the researcher made comparison the evaluation with the teachers and students‟ opinions from questionnaires:

Total 3.1 3.3

Table 4.1: the students and teachers‟ opinions of the overall difficulty level of the material

Figure 4.1: the students and teachers‟ opinions of the overall difficulty level of the material

When being asked to have overall difficulty level of the course book, the students showed a positive attitudes towards this aspect which is presented by positive result of total mean of 3.3 It is inferred that the material is neither too easy nor too difficult for the students but quite suitable with the intended learners However, grammar points and vocabulary were assessed quite easy by the respondents Furthermore, writing practice was presented by the high mean score of 4.4 which means difficult for the students

Moreover, the following-up interview with 15 students also confirmed the conclusion that some certain types of writing tasks appeared too difficult for the students because they did not have enough the teachers‟ guidance and vocabulary to fulfill those tasks Besides, some speaking and listening tasks were regarded as beyond their level, namely, speaking tasks in unite 5 and 6 and listening tasks for inferring the messages from the conversation which usually made them really nervous and extremely confused

In addition, when being asked to give their opinions of the overall difficulty level of the material, the teachers also approved that the items of the course book are appropriate to the language level of the students with the total mean score 3.1 However, there are some striking differences between teachers and students‟ views In the students‟ viewpoint, the material should offer more variety of vocabulary when their agreement was indicated by the mean score 2.5 (not very difficult) Some teachers argue that the difficulty level in term of vocabulary is “neutral” for the students to absorb by the mean score 3 Moreover, the

students found the writing tasks difficult through the mean score 4.4, meanwhile the teachers showed different view with the mean score 2.8 (not very difficult) In order to investigate the difference, the follow-up interview was given to twenty students It is revealed that one of the reasons that made the material difficult is that the students were not provided with enough guidance or instruction and related words for some difficult writing tasks because it was not time allocation Besides, majority of the students think that the course book gave them few chances to improve their writing skills to which they were seldom exposed at high school As a teacher and researcher, it is suggested that students should be offered more vocabulary and teachers‟ guidance to fulfill not only writing tasks but also a variety of tasks and exercises Furthermore, with the same exercises of speaking and listening in the course book, the teachers had better make speaking and listening tasks easier in order to motivate and help students develop their communicative competence

4.2 THE APPROPRIATENESS OF THE COURSE BOOK TO THE AIM OF THE COURSE SYLLABUS

4.2.1 Material analysis results

Several general objectives defined by Faculty of English in the syllabus are presented above It is admitted that the main goals of the course book New English File – Elementary were based on the aim of the syllabus The objectives of nine units in the material were examined and described in terms of grammar points, vocabulary and pronunciation according to the content of the course book

Can be seen from the content of the material (presented in Appendix 2), the language points in terms of grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation matched with the course‟s requirements However, the language skill development is not described in details through the table content In addition, the background knowledge of communicative culture or soft skills in communicating which were prescribed by the Faculty of English did not appear clear in the content lists, either Hence, the course book was able to be unsuccessful in exposing the students to communicative culture and some kinds of soft skills of communication

On the purpose of making sure the conclusion, the researcher compared the material evaluation with the teachers and students‟ opinions from questionnaires and interviews Regarding the appropriateness of the course book to the aim of the course, the teachers and students were asked to state their ideas about the effectiveness of the course book through the items in section 1

Statement

Ms

1 The course book improves students‟ English grammar structures and

vocabulary in a range of everyday social contexts

2.6 2.2

2 The course book develops students‟ speaking and listening skills 4.5 3.8

3 The course book develops students‟ reading and writing skills 3.5 2.2

4 The course book provides students with opportunities to practice spoken

language in everyday situations

5 The course book provides students with general perspective of

communicative culture and soft skills in communicating with foreigners,

team/ group work skills as well

Figure 4.2: Teachers and students‟ opinions of aim of the course book “New English

File-Elementary”

As table 3 indicated overall, the participants were satisfied with the aim of the course book Specifically, both students and teachers felt positive about the students‟ development

in terms of speaking, listening and pronunciation in relation to communication in English in

a range of everyday social contexts In addition, the respondents showed their disagreement that the course book provides students with general perspective of communicative culture and soft skills in communicating with foreigners and team/ group work skills because this essential knowledge was not given in the course book When being asked why the teachers thought the material was not helpful in improving students‟ language points including grammar structures and vocabulary, all of them gave the same answer that it was because there were not enough tasks and activities related grammar points in the course book leading teachers‟ adaptation by adding more tasks and exercises so as to create opportunities for students to practice The students also revealed in the interview that almost of tasks and exercises provided by teachers gave them the satisfaction However, there is a big difference between the two different group participants While students expressed their disagreement that the material helps to develop their reading and writing skills, the teachers highlighted that the course book fulfilled the course‟s aim in related items

The interview results with the teachers and the students revealed that all the students agreed with teachers expressing that the reading and writing tasks were provided in the material but reading and writing activities coming afterward were not presented in an integrated way in the course book As an outsider-evaluator, the researcher argued that students were not given enough instruction for each writing task which is never considered easy for them Although the teachers stated that writing tasks and activities were organized

as moving from simple to complex, they also admitted that the students did not take enough opportunities to expose writing tasks because of the limited time allocation for teaching writing skills

4.3 THE APPROPRIATENESS OF THE MATERIAL TO THE CONTENT REQUIREMENTS OF THE COURSE SYLLABUS

4.3.1 The material analysis results

The description of the course content requirements is only presented through the general goals prescribed by Faculty of English, but not specific objectives

In order to get the conclusion of the content of the language points and language skills, the course book was thoroughly read through

4.3.1.1 The suitability of the language points

Can be seen from the contents of the course book, there are some tenses including present simple, past simple, present continuous and present perfect and few grammar structures such as comparative adjectives, superlative adjectives, would like/ like and some easy items of grammar points like a/an, plurals, possessive pronoun: mine, yours or quantifiers: a lot, not much It is agreed that the grammar components were presented in a logical way in the material For example, in the grammar part of unit 5, students were taught about the past simple before past simple irregular verbs On the other hand, the grammar points appeared not various and complex enough for the students to master

By assessing the vocabulary presented in the material, it could be seen that the vocabulary belonging to themes were mostly presented in phrases and related to everyday life, self-introduction, houses and furniture, fobs, food and drinks, shops and shopping, books and films, etc However, one problem is that the vocabulary was presented in the material without any explanation of meaning Students, hence, might fail to infer the meaning of the new word Furthermore, the vocabulary was not listed according to each unit, but according to the themes such as: jobs, houses and furniture or food and drink with the limited number of these As a result, the material did not supply students with enough compulsory meaning of new words appearing in each part of unit, which is one of reasons why students give up mastering new words because of their laziness for looking up in dictionary Consequently, the material can not meet the requirements of the course in term of vocabulary

4.3.1.2 The suitability of macro and micro skills

It is insisted that mastering the art of speaking plays an essential role in making conversation in the language On the purpose of students‟ development in speaking English fluently, the material introduced some kinds of speaking activities such as asking and

answering the questions found in parts B and/or D of almost units, role-play the conversations in part E (practical English) of almost units, talking about topics given in all units In general, although few micro speaking skills of the course‟s requirement were not fulfilled by the material, the course book is able to meet the requirements of the course in speaking skills

As for listening and reading, both teachers and students paid much attention to It is evident that students were frequently exposed with numerous activities such as listening for specific information, listening for key words, listening for communication tasks and listening for general understanding However, it is assessed by the researcher that there also exist some difficult listening tasks for the low level students such as the listening tasks in part D of unit 5 and part B of unit 9 in which students were asked to complete the chart with

a lot of information and listening comprehension for the implied message The material contains variety of reading activities and exercises such as asking and answering the questions introduced in the majority of units in part B and/or D, completing sentence and paragraph found in part D of unit 6 It, therefore, could be said that the material did considerably meet the requirements of the course in terms of listening and reading skills Writing skill was regarded as the priority which was paid much teachers and students‟ attention to in teaching and learning foreign language In order to improve students‟ writing skill, the students were trained through few of tasks writing as answering the questions found in all of the task writings or putting verbs in correct forms in unit 6 Those types of micro skills were disjointedly and disconnectedly used in the material Moreover, writing simple sentences and then making complex and compound sentences were not found in any writing part of the material As a result of this, the course book cannot meet the course‟s requirements in terms of writing skill according to the researcher‟s opinion

4.3.1.3 The appropriateness of the topics

As can be seen clearly in the table of content of the material, the course book gives numerous of topics related to everyday social contexts such as greeting, house and furniture, the weather, countries and nationalities or description of people and etc Therefore, it is assessed that the course book did relatively match the course‟s requirements

To ensure the reliability of the conclusion above, the researcher either took deep consideration or made comparison the material evaluation with the teachers and students‟ opinions from the two questionnaires

Language points Grammar

is surprising here is that no student found the material redundancy in grammar items It is inferred that majority of the students wished to have more complicated grammar sections for them to practice From the author‟s teaching experience, students showed their desire to be given more different levels of basic and advanced grammar compatible with their background The various proportions imply that what students want to discover sometimes beyond teachers‟ imagination

The second with regarding to vocabulary, interestingly, 56% of the students claimed that the vocabulary covered in the course book was not enough for them to learn and only 40 out

of 140 students, accounting for 29 %, voted the adequacy of the lexical resources in the book Meanwhile, majority of the teachers (80%), the percentage as nearly three times as this of the students, were satisfied with the ranges of new words covered in the material