Teachers’ evaluation of the textbook the case of english for law enforcement textbook at a police school in vietnam

Its core aim is to give teachers‟ view on the ESP textbook, English for Law Enforcement, by means of addressing two research questions: 1 To what extent do teachers differ in their evalu

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI

UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST - GRADUATE STUDIES

*********************

ĐINH THI ̣ PHƯƠNG THANH

TEACHERS’ EVALUATION OF THE TEXTBOOK: THE CASE OF “ENGLISH FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT” TEXTBOOK

AT A POLICE SCHOOL IN VIETNAM

Đánh giá của giáo viên về giáo trình

“English for Law Enforcement” ta ̣i mô ̣t trường cảnh sát ở Việt Nam

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111

HANOI – 2017

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI

UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST - GRADUATE STUDIES

*********************

ĐINH THI ̣ PHƯƠNG THANH

TEACHERS’ EVALUATION OF THE TEXTBOOK: THE CASE OF “ENGLISH FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT” TEXTBOOK

AT A POLICE SCHOOL IN VIETNAM

Đánh giá của giáo viên về giáo trình

“English for Law Enforcement” ta ̣i mô ̣t trường cảnh sát ở Việt Nam

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111

Supervisor: Assoc Prof Dr Lê Văn Canh

HANOI – 2017

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STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP

I, hereby, the study reported here was conducted by myself and it has never been published before Any idea by other scholars and researchers has been carefully cited

Hanoi, 2017

Signature

Đinh Thị Phương Thanh

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First and foremost, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to Assoc Prof Dr Le Van Canh, my supervisor, for his considerate guidance and enthusiastic assistance in the process of working on the thesis Particularly, what I am really impressed by is his ceaseless dedication, kindness, patience and great knowledge during a period of our joint cooperation Indeed, but for his kind help, I would not complete my thesis successfully

The next people who I am quite grateful to refer to the Faculty of Graduate Studies, University of Languages and International Studies - Vietnam National University, Hanoi Thanks to their sincere willingness and available support, I am really able to make the fulfillment of my thesis at its best

Post-My special thanks are given to all the teaching staffs in general and the English Group in particular from the Department of Foreign Languages, the People‟s Police Academy Without their kind help, I would not be able to place the focus on doing research in my thesis or more particularly, to have enough necessary questionnaire and interview data

This is regarded as a wonderful opportunity to convey my best regards to my faithful friends for their unconditional love and encouragement in need of overcoming unexpected hardships or troublesome difficulties unfortunately incurred

on the road to the completion of the thesis from beginning to end

Last but not least, I would love to dedicate my profound gratitude to my family for their endless love and advocacy in my work towards my master degree Their pride and passion is that their children can enjoy the possibly best university education system with high achievements, regardless of any unexpectedly difficult circumstances

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ABSTRACT

It is widely accepted that a textbook is considered an essential component of the ESL/EFL classroom Even, in advanced society, regardless of further access to computer-assisted language approaches in different forms, its role in ESL/EFL classrooms remains unchangeable Textbook evaluation, therefore, is of utmost importance in order that its pedagogical contribution to the teaching and learning process can be assured In a sense, textbook evaluation can partly contribute to grasping characteristics of such textbook, like strengths and weaknesses or limitations From those discoveries, all relevant entities (especially teachers who are directly involved in teaching textbooks to be evaluated) will have a good opportunity to review such coursebooks and then possibly think twice about making potential revisions or modifications, if necessary, in the approaching time “The process of materials evaluation can be seen as a way of developing our understanding of the ways in which it works and, in doing so, of contributing to both acquisition theory and pedagogic practices It can also be seen as one way of carrying out an action research”, said Hutchinson (1998)

This study is considered a partial contribution to the domain of textbook evaluation Its core aim is to give teachers‟ view on the ESP textbook, English for Law Enforcement, by means of addressing two research questions: (1) To what extent do teachers differ in their evaluation of the textbook?, and (2) What are the opinions of teachers about their evaluation of the textbook? Such research instruments as a questionnaire and an e-mail interview were conducted 20 teachers got involved in making responses to the research questions The acquired findings from teachers‟ views seemed to be relatively somewhat variable It is appeared that there existed more difference in the responses given by teachers to the questionnaire and interview questions when evaluating this ESP coursebook This may make readers feel a bit aware of an implicit thing that materials evaluation and materials development should be one of the core components of teacher education programs due to the fact that classroom teachers rarely read the professional literature

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii

ABSTRACT iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS iv

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS vi

LIST OF TABLES vii

PART A: INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale 1

2 Aim of the study 2

3 Significance of the study 2

4 Method of the study 3

5 Scope of the study 3

6 Design of the study 4

PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 5

1.1 English for Specific Purposes 5

1.1.1 Definitions of ESP 5

1.1.2 Characteristics of ESP 5

1.2 Coursebooks 6

1.2.1 Definitions of Coursebooks 6

1.2.2 Roles of Coursebooks 7

1.3 Coursebook Evaluation 8

1.3.2 Importance of Coursebook Evaluation 9

1.3.3 Approaches of Coursebook Evaluation 9

1.3.4 Methods of Coursebook Evaluation 10

1.3.5 Criteria of Coursebook Evaluation 12

1.3.6 Factors affecting teachers’ coursebook evaluation 13

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1.3.7 Empirical Studies on Coursebook Evaluation 14

1.4 Teachers‟ evaluation of coursebooks 15

CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 17

2.1 Backgrounds 17

2.2 Goals and Objectives of the ESP coursebook 18

2.3 Descriptions of the ESP coursebook 20

2.4 Research questions 22

2.5 Research approaches 22

2.6 Participants 22

2.7 Instruments 24

CHAPTER 3: RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS 27

3.1 Analysis of Questionnaire Data 27

3.2 Analysis of Interview Data 31

3.3 Comparison of Questionnaire and Interview Data 45

PART C: CONCLUSION 46

1 Summary of the findings 46

2 Suggestions for further study 49

REFERENCES 51 APPENDIX A: Evaluation Questionnaire I APPENDIX B: Interview Questions IV

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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

ESP English for Specific Purposes :

ULIS University of Languages and International Studies : VNUH Vietnam National University, Hanoi :

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LIST OF TABLES

Table 1 : Information on the subject group

Table 2 : Findings on teachers‟ evaluation of the ESP coursebook Table 3 : Advantages of the ESP coursebook mentioned by the

participants

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PART A: INTRODUCTION

This chapter introduces the study with a focus on (1) The Rationale, (2) The Aims of the study, (3) The Significance of the study, (4) Methods of the study, (5) The Scope of the study, and (6)The Design of the study

1 Rationale

In theory or practice, ELT materials in general and coursebooks in particular seem to be identified as, on the one hand tool and tutor, on the other hand guidebook and gauge It is a fact that coursebooks regarded as the most useful teaching and learning materials offer considerable advantages for both students and teachers when they are being used in ESL/EFL classrooms Not only do coursebooks provide a framework for teachers achieving the aims and objectives of the course, but they are also served as a guide to teachers when conducting lessons

As for learners, a textbook truly affects their attitudes and performance to the lesson throughout the course It is evident that once when learners are fond of their textbooks, will they enjoy the course as well and turn into active participants to the lesson Therefore, they may be considered “the visible heart of any ELT program”, Sheldon (1988:237) Needless to say, it is obvious that Vietnam is rated as not an exception which means coursebooks are seen as a staple in almost every EFL class

in the Vietnamese context

In current hi-technology society, regardless of the exponential increase in computer-assisted language approaches in various forms, like search engines, the role of coursebooks in ESL/EFL classrooms remains unchangeable; however, it is rather difficult to possibly guess their position in the upcoming time This is to say,

if both learners and teachers showed a total disregard for coursebooks, there could exist a high possibility that they would disappear Accordingly, it is really essential for teachers to be well-equipped with the many assessment tools to evaluate materials as accurately as possible The core purpose for such evaluation is to, in a way, assert that those materials are recognized as legally-licensed or commonly-circulated evaluable sources with the highest quality possible which are really quite

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suitable for learners on almost every aspects (e.g basic or authentic languages, illustrated images or pictures, tasks or activities, reading or listening texts) What‟s more, textbook evaluation has been termed as an interesting topic to study because a textbook or a coursebook plays an important role in teaching It contains a teaching framework and syllabus, ready- made texts and tasks, economy, convenience, guidance and autonomy (Ur, 1996:184) This partially contributes to explaining the reason why I made up my mind to opt for the scope “materials evaluation” as the general theme in my dissertation

Tomlinson (1998c: 341) wrote: “I have not seen any research which convinces me that teachers and learners actually want what they are being given by the materials they are using Nor have I seen any research which demonstrates their dissatisfaction” What Tomlinson implies is that most the research on materials was conducted by researchers with their own criteria It is, therefore, necessary to get information about how teachers themselves evaluated the textbooks This

motivated me to conduct this research, which is titled “Teachers’ evaluation of the textbook: The case of “English for Law Enforcement” textbook at a Police School

in Vietnam” With this study, I hope that it can be added to the storage of referential

documentaries on teacher‟s evaluation of coursebooks

2 Aim of the study

The study was conducted for the purpose of understanding how teachers, who have used the ESP textbook under investigation, evaluated the ESP textbook with its name of “English for Law Enforcement” The understanding is intended to inform teacher development on certain aspects related to teachers‟ evaluation of the textbooks or other learning materials possibly withdrawn from teachers‟ practical evaluation of the specific ESP textbook as mentioned herein

3 Significance of the study

Teachers are users of textbooks and other learning materials Therefore, teachers play an important role in exploiting the textbooks and learning materials effectively for their students‟ learning The understanding of teachers‟ evaluation of

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textbooks will greatly contribute to both pre-service and in-service teacher education To some extent, theoretically, there is a high likelihood that those pre-service and in-service teachers will enhance their awareness of textbook evaluation,

or get to know how to evaluate the textbooks or learning materials Meanwhile, given the practical or post-research aspects, one of the striking things worth mentioning is that some teachers were willing to participate in a number of workshops or conferences domestically or even internationally regarding textbook evaluation What‟s more, some were encouraged to spend more time on extensive readings concerning textbook evaluation This study is conducted towards that goal

4 Method of the study

This study put forward two major research questions: (1) To what extent do teachers differ in their evaluation of the textbook?, and (2) What are the opinions of teachers about their evaluation of the textbook? A quantitative research was administered In support of collecting data for the quantitative research, the known instruments to be applied were questionnaire (specifically designed with certain self-evaluation criteria) and interview (regarding their own practical teaching experience with this coursebook)

5 Scope of the study

The textbook, “English for Law Enforcement”, that had to be evaluated in the paper, is deemed as a form of ESP materials The reason for this is that its contents refer to the specialized domains of law and police that are rather suitable for law enforcers According to Hutchinson and Waters (1987:19), ESP is regarded

as an approach to language teaching in which all decisions as to content and method are based on the learner‟s reason for learning In support of the said view, the self-evaluation criteria and interview questions designed by the researcher were centered upon the content and method of the ESP textbook In terms of the participants, this study placed the focus on English teachers, who come from the English Group - the Department of Foreign Languages under the direct supervision of the PPA

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6 Design of the study

This thesis is structured in three parts:

Chapter 1 (Literature Review) depicts a fundamental framework of

literature reviews or theories of materials evaluation Readers will have access to several key terminologies concerning materials evaluation In addition to this, this chapter will also enable readers to have their concise understanding of which particular method or criteria to be accurately applied to this study

Chapter 2 (Research Methodology) is covered with specific particulars

relating to research methodology Importantly, two major instruments as

questionnaire and interview will be discussed a lot

Chapter 3 (Results and Discussions) deals with two research questions via

the analysis of questionnaire and interview data Apart from that, a number of recommendations will be also raised herein

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PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW

This Chapter gives an overview of the theoretic framework for the study This includes the role of materials in EFL or ESL teaching and learning and approaches to materials evaluation It begins with the definition of the key terminologies used in the study

1.1 English for Specific Purposes

1.1.1 Definitions of ESP

As a recognized area of ELT, ESP is not an approach, a method or a technique However, given the perspective of Hutchinson and Waters (1987:19), ESP is regarded as an approach to language teaching in which all decisions as to content and method are based on the learner‟s reason for learning Currently, ESP has played an important role in the society with the reason that ESP covers an enormous range of specialized or contemporary academic or professional content areas, for example business, medicine, law, engineering or history As defined by Brian Tomlinson (2007:306), ESP is an umbrella term that refers to the teaching of English to students who are learning the language for a particular work or study-related reason

1.1.2 Characteristics of ESP

According to Dudley-Evans (1998), the characteristics of ESP can be described as specifically follows:

 Absolute Characteristics

- ESP is defined to meet specific needs of the learners

- ESP makes use of underlying methodology and activities of the discipline

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- ESP may use, in specific teaching situations, either at a tertiary level institution or in a professional work situation It could, however, be for learners at secondary school level

- ESP is generally designed for intermediate or advanced students

- Most ESP courses assume basic knowledge of the language systems According to Carter (1983), three characteristics of ESP consists of (i) authentic material, (ii) purpose-related orientation, and (iii) self-indirection

On the whole, the aforementioned things make a partial contribution to readers‟ general understanding about ESP (inclusive of its definitions and main characteristics) Below are the other theories regarding coursebooks and coursebook evaluation

As defined, coursebooks represent for both students and teachers the visible heart of any ELT programme Nunan (1999:98) states that a textbook is the main component of any instructional program and it is difficult to imagine a class without

it, while Ahour and Ahmadi (2012) defines that textbooks easily provide the knowledge to the learners In brief, with some of the above-mentioned definitions, the said terms can be partly and clearly understood

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1.2.2 Roles of Coursebooks

As regards the roles of coursebooks in ELT, it can be recognized that a coursebook is of very significant in ELT teaching and learning Specifically, Tomlinson (2003:39) believes that a coursebook helps provide a route map for both teachers and learners, making it possible for them to look ahead to what will be done in a lesson as well as to look back on what has been done Also, as said by Cunningsworth (1995), ELT coursebooks have multiple roles such as helping to present the written and spoken materials, promoting interaction, serving as a reference of vocabulary and grammar, acting as a source for classroom activities and offering self-access work or self-directed learning As a media of knowledge and information, stated by Ahour and Ahmadi (2012:176), textbooks are the main sources that convey the knowledge and information to the learners in an easy and organized way That is to say, from teachers‟ side, a coursebook as a helpful framework helps teachers to achieve the goals and objectives of the course and also

as a guide for teachers‟ lessons supports teachers of coming up with creative ideas for each topic to be revised, offering some ideas and directing them to maps which show the routes to go Meanwhile, from learners‟ side, a coursebook can help learners to follow the scheduled orientations for a purpose of satisfying their needs

In other words, a coursebook partly contributes to assisting both teachers and learners in enhancing general or specific knowledge as well as the culture of the

target language With the many advantages as listed, certain disadvantages related

to the use of textbooks are still recognized through a mass of opinions made by various researchers It is claimed that heavy dependence on a single textbook is detrimental to learners‟ needs (Nunan 1980, Allwright 1981, Stern 1992) Also, Cunningsworth (1995:10) claims that heavy dependence on textbooks is far from ideal as it reduces the importance of the individual contributions that good teachers make at all levels in the learning process According to Swales (1980), the wide use

of textbooks can be seen as an educational failure Given the other assumptions from Tomlinson (2003), Ur (1996) and Williams (1983), no textbook can

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effectively address individual learning styles, differences of learners, and the requirements of every classroom setting At its worst, the teachers may become totally reliant on the textbook (Ur, 1996), and not spend time preparing their lessons (Tomlinson, 2008) This may lead to learners‟ boredom or even active engagement

in English lessons

By and large, in a certain extent or in any ideal situations, both the benefits and limitations should be considered Nevertheless, given the contexts in Vietnamese schools or universities or colleges, textbooks can be widely considered

a key component in almost all language programs

1.3 Coursebook Evaluation

With the said importance, it is very necessary to proceed with materials evaluation Before giving more details of this study, further particulars such as the definitions of “Evaluation” and “Coursebook Evaluation” and other concerned features are written as specifically follows

1.3.1 Definitions of Coursebook Evaluation

Like the above-mentioned terms, a number of researchers or scholars expressed their standpoints regarding the definitions of “Evaluation” and “Materials Evaluation” According to Dudley (1998:128), evaluation is a whole process which begins with determining what information to gather and ends with bringing about the change in current activities or influencing future ones As defined by Hutchinson and Waters (1987:97), evaluation is basically a matching process: matching needs to available solutions As for the term “Materials Evaluation”, Nunan (1998) states that materials evaluation is a process not a final product, while Brian Tomlinson and Hitomi Masuhara (2004:1) shows that materials evaluation involves measuring the value (or potential value) of a set of learning materials by making judgments about the effect of the materials on the people using them, for example the appeal of the materials to the learners (i.e are the materials attractive?), the validity of the materials (i.e is what the materials teach worth teaching?), the ability of the materials to interest the learners and the teachers, the ability of the

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materials to motivate the learners (i.e to stimulate the learners to want to give time and energy to the materials), the potential learning value of the materials, the assistance given to the teachers in terms of preparation, delivery and assessment, the flexibility of the materials (e.g the extent to which it is easy for a teacher to adapt the materials to suit a particular context)

1.3.2 Importance of Coursebook Evaluation

Regarding the importance of coursebook evaluation, Sheldon (1988) mentions two basic reasons to evaluate coursebooks First, the evaluation will help the teacher or program developer make decisions on selecting the appropriate coursebook Also, evaluation of the merits and demerits of a coursebook will familiarize the teacher with its probable weaknesses and strengths What‟s more, Tomlinson (1996) regards material evaluation as another way of action research that develops our understanding of the ways in which the material works Needless to say, materials evaluation is also likely to contributing to teachers‟ professional development by providing them with a critical point of view and enabling them to scrutinize the course material with an academic perspective According to Cunningsworth (1995), through evaluation, we can assess whether the coursebook is the most appropriate for the target learners at various levels and in various teaching settings Robinson (1991) states that evaluation can be used as a part of quality control Through evaluation, we can know about the advantages and disadvantages as well as the effectiveness of the being used materials Torres (1993), evaluation can afford general insights into how teachers use materials and therefore suggest directions both for materials development and professional development activities

1.3.3 Approaches of Coursebook Evaluation

In light of the approaches to materials evaluation, it appears that there have existed inconsistent uses of the term “approach” in materials evaluation Typically, McGrath (2002) synchronizes “a systematic approach” with “a cyclical approach”

with three stages: pre-use evaluation (establishing potential suit), in-use evaluation

generally called “Checklist Approach to Textbook Evaluation” Besides, another

approach recommended by Hutchinson and Water (1987) is to follow a four-step

macro-evaluation process, comprising defining criteria (on what bases will you judge materials? which criteria will be more important?), subjective analysis (what realizations of the criteria do you want in your course?), objective analysis (how does the material being evaluated realize the criteria?) and matching (how far does

the material match your needs?) With some of these given points, I hope readers can partly visualize a number of fundamental approaches to materials evaluation that are often mentioned

1.3.4 Methods of Coursebook Evaluation

With regard to the methods of materials evaluation, McGrath (2002:25) provides three basic methods to evaluate coursebooks, as specifically follows:

- the impressionistic method (analyzing a coursebook on the basis of a

general impression): impressionistic analysis is concerned to obtain a general impression of material As Cunningsworth‟s (1995:1) term

“impressionistic overview” suggests, such an overview typically involves glancing at the publisher‟s burb (i.e the brief description of the book on the back cover), and then skimming through the book looking at organization, layout, topics, and visuals

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- the checklist method (covering the main idea of the paper):

impressionistic evaluation involving dipping into a book, and in-depth evaluation based on close analysis of features or sections, the use of checklists for specific evaluation purposes The systematicity of the checklist method is also emphasized by Skierso (1991:440, citing Tucker 1978)

A textbook evaluation checklist should consist of a comprehensive set of criteria based on the basic linguistic, psychological, and pedagogical principles underlying modern methods of language learning These criteria should be exhaustive enough to insure assessment of all characteristics of the textbook And they should be discrete enough to focus attention on one characteristic at a time or on a single group of related characteristics

(Tucker 1978: 219)

It can be summarized that the systematicity referred to above is only a strength if the criteria or categories of which a checklist is composed (1) are based on a sound pedagogical ground, (2) encompass all features of the textbook, (3) differentiate between features and (4) are relevant to the specific context in which it is to be used

Williams (1983) has noted a checklist cannot be a static phenomenon, evidenced by a wide range of checklists over the years The categories in all materials evaluation instrument or observation schedule are a much reflection of the time at which they were conceived and of the belief of their designers as are published materials themselves Thus, an “off-the-shelf” checklist is likely to need tailoring to suit a particular context

- the in-depth method (requiring a profound scrutiny of representative

features): In a broader sense, this method seeks to find out whether the materials are likely to live up to the claims being made for them Specific procedures recommended include a focus on specific features (Cunningsworth, 1995), a close analysis of one or more extracts

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(Hutchinson, 1978), or a thorough examination of several units using predetermined questions (Johnson, 1986)

1.3.5 Criteria of Coursebook Evaluation

Referring to the Criteria for materials evaluation, various researchers or scholars have suggested different criteria to help teachers become more systematic

and objective in their method of evaluation by using a checklist

Sheldon (1998) presents a set of criteria including rationale, availability, user definition, layout, accessibility, linkage, selection, physical characteristics, appropriateness, authenticity, sufficiency, cultural bias, educational validity, stimulus, revision, flexibility, guidance, and overall value for money

Much of the discussion on materials evaluation is posited on the assumption that the evaluator has in mind fairly well defined end-users (learners, teacher(s) and context As a result, discussions of evaluation criteria tend to be context-related Important though this emphasis is, it is helpful to make a distinction, following Ur (1996), between general criteria (i.e the essential features of any good teaching-learning materials) and specific (or context-related) criteria

Tomlinson (1999:11-12) takes the definition of specific criteria a step further, suggesting four categories of specific criteria

1 Media-specific criteria: i.e those which related to the particular medium used

2 Content-specific criteria: i.e those which relate to the nature of the material

3 Age-specific criteria: i.e the suitability of the material (e.g visuals, cognitive challenge) for the age-group for which it is intended

4 Local criteria: i.e the appropriateness of the material for the particular environment in which it is to be used

Tucker (1975: 355) has a set of criteria claimed to be “consistent with the basic linguistic, psychological, and pedagogical principles”, consisting of four main groups of criteria: pronunciation, grammar, content, and general criteria

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Cunningsworth (1995) seems to be more radical in touching upon the importance of relating materials to course objectives and the learner‟s needs and processes The learner-centered approach is embedded in all the four main groups of criteria: language content, skill, topic, and methodology With such illustrations as (1) whether the coursebook covers the main grammar items appropriate to each level taking learners‟ needs into account; (2) whether reading passages and associated activities suitable for the students‟ levels, interests, etc…; (3) whether the topics help expand students‟ awareness and enrich their experience; (4) whether students are expected to take a degree of responsibility for their own learning In his checklists, grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation are only substituents of language content Obviously, Cunningsworth looks at materials being evaluated from a broader angle than Tucker (1975) and Ur (1996)

From the provided methods and criteria herein, I seemed to feel inclined to follow the methods (primarily the harmonious mixture of the checklist and in-depth methods) and the criteria (mainly content-specific criteria) given by McGrath and Tomlinson respectively in this study

1.3.6 Factors affecting teachers’ coursebook evaluation

As far as you are concerned, in spite of the utilization of the same coursebook, there have always existed minor or even major inconsistencies in materials evaluation among involved teachers After my careful readings, it is realized that a number of subjective and objective factors will be able to make teachers show up with their own different perceptions or evaluations about the coursebook Such decisive factors consist of age, qualification, beliefs or attitudes, specialized knowledge, teaching experience, teaching method, teaching context or background, and learner characteristics It is the main factors which make a great contribution to somewhat difference in teachers‟ comments about evaluation of the ESP coursebook, named “English for Law Enforcement” Given this case, the listed factors can be interpreted or explained more clearly in the form of an interview for a purpose of readers‟ further understanding of key sources resulting in such

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differences and avoidance of any unexpected subjective or objective perceptions during the process of data collection

1.3.7 Empirical Studies on Coursebook Evaluation

Many empirical studies have been carried out on the materials evaluation in different contexts Different researchers have used various materials evaluation schemes or checklists to evaluate different materials

Hoang Van Van (2015) carried out a research with a view to getting evaluative feedback from the teachers who are using the primary English textbooks developed under the National Foreign Language 2020 Project to find out their strengths and weaknesses so that further corrections and revisions will be made to

perfect the materials before putting them into use on a large scale A questionnaire

is developed to ask primary English teachers who are classroom practitioners Overall, the results of the research have shown that teachers‟ evaluations of the textbooks are very positive There are, however, some things that need to be done to improve the quality of the materials

In South Korea, Litz (2005) investigated appropriateness of a textbook called

“English Firsthand 2” (EF2) which was taught at Sung Kyun Kwan University in Suwon, South Korea The data was gathered from eight teachers as well as five hundred students using two coursebook evaluation questionnaires and a need

analysis survey questionnaire He concluded that while EF2 may not be as

well-known as other prominent series of textbooks, it has many notable and worthwhile characteristics For example, the entire textbook package is well conceived and it has a variety of useful supplementary materials The book was found to be attractive with the clear, logical and coherent organization In addition, there was the integration of the four language skills without neglecting other important ELT issues such as vocabulary development Despite its strengths, as Litz found, EF2 still suffered from repetitive activities that failed to encourage truly meaningful practices and promote realistic discourse They were not also led to the internalization of the language

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Birjandi and Alizadeh (2012) conducted a study to investigate the extent to which the Top Notch, Interchange, and English File series include critical thinking

skills Using a checklist mainly based on Bloom‟s taxonomy, they concluded that

the books mainly tapped knowledge, comprehension, application, and building community of thinkers‟ abilities

Ghorbani (2011) evaluated the “English Book 1” being used in Iranian senior

high schools based on a new checklist created by the researcher The findings of the

study indicated that the textbook is perfect in physical qualities like paper quality, binding, printing, etc But there is not a well-balanced pattern among four language skills There are no audio CDs and student‟s and teacher‟s guides as reference materials There is also no glossary at the end of the book The design of the book is more structural-based than communicative The book lacks various communicative tasks and information gap activities The speaking activities are limited to question-answer types using the pair works and there is not much more attention to other communicative activities such as group work, role play, simulation, etc

Kayapinar (2009), for example, in evaluation study of two textbook

packages, namely, Opportunities and New English File incorporating 134 teacher‟s

survey results, points out that there is not an overall positive view of the aforementioned coursebook packages among teachers and the coursebooks must be adapted in a way to meet learners‟ needs and interest at nationwide scope He suggests that the materials used in the teaching process should be evaluated on a regular basis to be kept renewed

1.4 Teachers’ evaluation of coursebooks

The literature review supported Tomlinson‟s (1998) view, which was cited in Part A that studied on teachers‟ evaluation of textbooks were quite few in number Although I tried as hard as I could I managed to find, only three prominent studies have been reported These studies used questionnaires or checklists to explore teachers‟ views of commercial textbooks Kayapinar (2009), for example, reported a survey on English language teachers in 25 high schools in Turkey Fourteen of the

Another study conducted by Litz (2005) on Turkish teachers‟ evaluation of another commercial textbook “English Firsthand 2” Litz concluded that the teachers were clearly not pleased by the university‟s decision to sue the textbook for the reasons that the textbook did not provide adequate review sections and exercises Al-Yousef‟s (2007) research employed only four questions for teachers, but the findings supported the results of Litz (2005) study that the teachers felt that more review was desired

In summary, the literature review reveals that more research on teachers‟ evaluation of the coursebooks is needed According to McGrath (2013), “When materials evaluation is carried out by researchers may result in changes being made

to the materials The kind of evaluation carried out by teachers, on the other hand, really can inform action.” (p 126) This is the reason why the study reported in this thesis was conducted

The next chapter presents the research methodology and the research procedures

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CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

In this chapter, such certain particulars as background, goals or objectives, research questions and other relevant things are clearly introduced Nevertheless, more attention should be paid to clarifying which research methodology is properly applied to or administered in this study The purpose for this is to provide readers with reasonable responses to the research questions herein That is to say, readers may be permitted to enjoy a rather well-rounded depiction of quantitative research methodology by means of such two major instruments as the questionnaire and interview From my standpoint, the main reason for this choice is that these instruments can be seen as the most effective means of measuring teachers‟ evaluation of the ESP coursebook quite relatively and more authentically

2.1 Backgrounds

Among Vietnam-based police or security universities or colleges, the People‟s Police Academy (hereinafter referred as to the “PPA”) has been currently rated as the most high-ranking one for education and training in police major In particular, as a well-known academy nationwide, English is regarded as a prerequisite for all of the students who have studied at the PPA According to the general guidelines or ultimate principles given by the Board of Directors, almost all the students (especially credit students) will need to have much access to English for police with an intent to strengthen a plenty of specialized police vocabularies and have a good command of police knowledge in English for the sake of their future police job To do this, a mass of police coursebooks were suggested and selected carefully prior to putting into practice In reality, the ESP coursebook as officially chosen was so-called “English for Law Enforcement” So far, this ESP coursebook has been taught for three years, but primarily applied to the credit students who have the same English proficiency at the pre-intermediate level

As generally scheduled, the majority of the credit students (often so-called the “students”) at the PPA studied general English for one year Having fulfilled their one-year involvement in studying general English (with the coursebook:

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English Unlimited – Pre-intermediate, Cambridge University Press 2010, 2011), the

students will be immediately taught by the ESP coursebook-English for Law Enforcement, Charles Boyle & Ileana Chersan – in the first semester of the second year By that time, they have not mastered a lot of police vocabularies and even have not had much fundamental knowledge about laws or police For this reason, the students will have to meet difficulties in learning both language and content from the beginning of such semester Nevertheless, as of the date of its application, they have gradually enhanced their vocabularies and developed their knowledge in relation to police and laws In fact, the main reason for this is that the major contents of this ESP refer to the very many aspects with regard to laws and police that are really in accordance with their major Seemingly, this may be regarded as a driving force or an aspiration to encourage them to further

What‟s more, as per the compulsory requirements of the course, the students have to regularly take part in English lessons with three pairs of periods per week (equivalent to six periods/week) to be applied to every class (about 40 students) In the middle of the course, they are required to do a mid-term test for 90 minutes without their participation in the mid-term speaking test At the end of the course, it

is mandatory to do a 90-minute written test and a 12-minute speaking test

Look back to the acquired results or achievements comprehensively from both sides (i.e teachers and students) upon putting it into practice, this study was carried out for a purpose of meeting teachers‟ evaluation of the said ESP coursebook

2.2 Goals and Objectives of the ESP coursebook

Given the pressing demands for police forces in the universal society and based on police students‟ learning needs, the PPA‟s Board of Directors has always realized the importance of making use of foreign languages (especially English) in police works and then has issued a mass of official letters or guidelines with the intention of developing human resources with their very good foreign language qualifications or competences on almost all aspects, typically in the field of police

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major The typical example for this is that, after many times of workshops or discussions and even pilot training sessions, its Board of Directors made up their minds to officially put the ESP coursebook “English for Law Enforcement” into practice at the PPA based on specifically outlined goals and objectives of the course

Goals

After the course, the students will be able to accumulate a large amount of police vocabularies and professional structures Thanks to this, they can have better access to foreign police documents or extensive readings from a variety of evaluable sources To put it simply, they can take advantage of such acquired knowledge to serve for studying a mass of professional subjects (e.g Investigation, Prison, Administrative Management, or Criminal Techniques) in the upcoming semester for their further understanding of police skills or competences and relevant laws

Objectives

Upon the course, a number of main objectives as scheduled will need be

particularly obtained from the students First, they may get to know how to define a

great deal of complicated police terminologies (e.g crime, offender, witness, criminal prosecution, organized crime, prostitution, wildlife trafficking, or bribery) and structures(e.g make testimony, make a commit, carry out an crime scene

investigation, put somebody in prison, or to be in jail) Another important objective worth mentioning is that the students will be likely to master how to place structures

or make sentences related to police or law into practical police or law contexts or situations (e.g how to make interrogative questions in a foreign-based criminal case,

or how to make statements or testimonies from a suspect as a foreign offender, how

to conduct DNA analysis, how to identify the acts of child abuse, or how to

investigate crime scene) Third, it is necessary that they will need to acquire English

language skills or tactics with a view to improving their English proficiency at B1 levels or further developing their abilities of extensive readings about a wide

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range of English-subtitled police or law documents (e.g crime books, online articles, Penal Code, or world crime reports) as well as of good communication with international colleagues in foreign-based or Vietnam-based meetings or workshops

or even conferences for cross-border operations Last but not least, they will be able

to master and distinguish various properties/characteristics of types of crime or criminal acts given from other different cases or situations, resulting in their huge increase in professional knowledge nationwide or even worldwide To sum up, the said-above things are seen as the fundamental objectives that the students will have

to make great efforts every time or place the spiritual and physical focus on their class studies and even out-of-class autonomy learning to possibly reach such objectives

in-2.3 Descriptions of the ESP coursebook

The ESP coursebook herein has its title of “English for Law Enforcement”

by Charles Boyle & Ileana Chersan As a specialized English language course, it sounds really quite suitable for law enforcers (possibly referring to Vietnamese police enforce) from a range of different backgrounds, comprising the police, gendarmes, military police, border guards, customs officials and security personnel

As extracted from the introduction of the initial page of such coursebook, it is recognized that the writers are, indeed, skilful at covering the whole spectrum of law enforcement activity from basic, every day encountering with members of the public, victims and offenders to communication with international colleagues for cross-border operations As per such writers‟ sharing, this coursebook is designed to equip learners with the language they need to communicate and get the job done To

be more specific, it provides an accurate and up-to-date examination of current issues facing law enforcers and the language needed to deal with those issues Additionally, it offers learners lively and stimulating language practice of the core vocabulary and functional language for the main branches of law enforcement activity

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To the best of my knowledge, “English for Law Enforcement” is developed for students studying at an A2 (pre-intermediate) to B1 (intermediate) level of English As affirmed by its writers, the material is particularly appropriate for in-class use with a teacher In case of their out-of-class autonomous studies, they are capable of working on their own by simultaneously making use of both evaluation sources: the Student‟s Book and its attached CD-ROM (containing an interactive workbook that is helpful in the improvement of learners‟ language skills) In addition to this, learners are also advised to have good access to the official website

“www.macmillanenglish.com/englishforlawenforcement ”to download and enjoy

other self-study resources available for the student‟s book

Having a quick look at its contents, readers do realize that each designed unit covers a major topic and is divided into four modules with a number of appropriate tasks or activities Below are some general points for your ease of consideration

Regarding its topics, the entire material is constituted of 12 units in appropriate with each different topic, as specifically follows:

Referring to the format commonly designed for each unit, the writers distribute each unit into four following modules:

Alpha : These modules contain information and language for the topic area of each unit

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2.4 Research questions

With the said objectives, the study was carried out to find out the answers to the below-mentioned research questions:

(1) - To what extent do teachers differ in their evaluation of the textbook?

(2) – What are the opinions of teachers about their evaluation of the textbook?

2.5 Research approaches

In this case, as provided by McGrath (2002:25) above, the methods that can

be appropriate to materials evaluation are the mixture or combination of both the checklist method and the in-depth method To be more specific, taking into consideration, it may be affirmed that the quantitative research was used via the specific application of such research instruments as the self-evaluation questionnaire and e-mail interviews And it is appeared that such application may be viewed as the most appropriate and feasible research approaches to make responses

to the above-mentioned research questions

2.6 Participants

The population I would like to mention herein is a total of 25 members, who are working as English teachers, come from the English Group - the Department of Foreign Languages under the direct supervision of the PPA Nevertheless, the target population applied to this study consists of only 20 teachers who have experienced teaching this ESP coursebook For the 5 remaining members, they have been just recruited for a short time and also have had no practical knowledge of or experience

in teaching this coursebook This is the reason why such 5 teachers did not belong

to the subject group in this study For more details of the target population or subject group that can be used interchangeably, you are suggested to take my presentation with Table 1 below into consideration

As defined by Brown (2001:6), questionnaires are any written instruments that present respondents with a series of questions or statements to which they are to react either by writing out their answers or selecting from among existing answers According to Litz (2005), survey questionnaire is a popular instrument in social sciences as it is helpful in collecting opinions and would be extremely beneficial in specifying aims and analyzing the teaching and learning situation They have a lot

of advantages among which the most obvious may be the fact that the respondents can complete them without any pressure, so that they can speak their mind freely Besides, closed ended questions are straightforward to answer (Grillham, 2000)

In this study, the evaluation of the ESP coursebook is conducted quantitatively through a self-evaluation questionnaire The questionnaire is designed

following a 5-point Likert scale (Excellent = 1, Very good = 2, Good = 3, Not very good = 4, Not good = 5) that contains content criteria in the form of 10 questions

mainly related to contents, tasks and activities in the textbook (please see

“Appendix A”) The procedure for analysis of acquired findings from this

questionnaire was performed under the following steps:

Step 1: Questionnaire Design

The questionnaire was designed with reference to the literature on second language learning and the role of the textbooks in supporting learners‟ learning After the questionnaire was designed, it was tested with one teacher in another school to make sure that all the questionnaire items were unambiguous