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

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 researchquestion s

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST –

M.A MINOR THESIS

MAJOR: ENGLISH TEACHING METHODOLOGY CODE: 60140111

HANOI – 2015

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST –

M.A MINOR THESIS

MAJOR: ENGLISH TEACHING METHODOLOGY CODE: 60140111

SUPERVISOR: NGUYỄN ĐỨC HOẠT, Ph.D

HANOI – 2015

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, thiswork 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

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 researchquestion should be answered:

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

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

The results revealed that the course book were generally suitable to the intended learnersand course‟s requirements However, there should be made some changes for moreeffective exploitation of the material in the future Based on the findings, somerecommendations on adapting, adding, modifying several items in the course book havecome 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 INTERMS OF THEIR ENGLISH LEVEL 224.1.1 Material analysis results 224.2 THE APPROPRIATENESS OF THE COURSE BOOK TO THE AIM OF THECOURSE 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 METHODOLOGYREQUIREMENT OF THE COURSE 324.4.1 Material analysis results 324.5 SUMMARY OF MAJOR FINDINGS 37

CHAPTER 5: RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSION 4 1

5.1 RECOMMENDATIONS 41

5.2 LIMITATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH 42

5.3 CONCLUSION 42

REFERENCES 4 3 APPENDIXES 4 5

APPENDIX 1: THE SYLLABUS OF THE ENGLISH COURSE FOR THE FIRSTYEAR NON-ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS AT UFBA 45

APPENDIX 2: THE CONTENTS OF THE COURSE BOOK “NEW ENGLISH FILE –ELEMENTARY” 52

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

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

1 RATIONALE

It has generally agreed that material plays an essential role in the process of languageteaching and learning Materials must be important because they could significantly increasestudents‟ achievement by supporting students‟ learning and be considered as a guide toassist teachers According to McDonough and Shaw (1993), however, no set of materials islikely 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 itsstrengths and weaknesses Therefore, William (1983) suggests that English languageteachers need to know the principles of materials evaluation The ability of materialsevaluation is regarded as an extremely important professional activity for all English foreignlanguage 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 enablingteaching and learning

In fact, this is the third year that the course book “New English file - Elementary” hasbeen used at the University of Finance and Business Administration The material isapproved and accepted as an official course book for teaching all first year students at theUniversity of Finance and Business Administration Up to now, there have been differentopinions from the teachers and the students about this material However, there has not hadany attempt to evaluate the book to see whether it meets the requirements of the course interms of audience, content, aims and methodology These are the reasons why the author ofthe 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 meritsand demerits of the textbook in order to improve or modify the material for future use andtherefore make contribution to the teaching and learning foreign language at the intendeduniversity

2 AIMS OF THE STUDY

The research aims at evaluating the material of current use at UFBA to determinewhether it matches the course‟s requirements in terms of the audience, content, aims andmethodology 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 helpteachers improve their language teaching method of exploiting the course book to fulfillsatisfactorily 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 coursebook “New English file - Elementary” used in the basis communication course for the firstyear students at the University of Finance and Business Administration This book is used intheir first term at UFBA In the scope of this study the suitability of this course to the courserequirements 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 ofstudy, 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 areexplored

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 inlearning and teaching foreign languages are used interchangeably However, it is pointedthat these terminologies are not the same

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

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 heconsiders a course book as “a textbook which provides the core materials for a course” Acourse book is used to provide as much as possible in one book and is able to serve as theonly 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 thewords of Tomlinson (1998), it can be in the form of a textbook, a workbook, a cassette, aCD-Rom, a video, a photocopied handout, a newspaper, a paragraph written on awhiteboard” 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 inlanguage teaching such as students, teachers, teaching method and evaluation have beencontroversial for many years It was not until 1970s there was a movement to make learnersrather than teachers the center of language learning Consequently, learners are graduallyregarded as the targets of teaching and learning process Besides, the important of teaching 4

and learning materials cannot be denied that materials play a prominent role in theteaching/learning process and they are the primary agents of conveying the knowledge to thelearners Regarding the multiple roles of materials in ELT, Cunningsworth (1995:7)identifies teaching materials as source of ideas and stimulation for classroom activitieswhich provides the learners with practice important communicative interaction Richard(2001) claims that material is considered as the key component of language programe Theyprovide the learners with the necessary input, the language practice as well Regarding theadvantages of materials, Nunan (1991) states that good teaching material are of great help toboth inexperienced and experienced teachers, especially the inexperienced or poorly trainedteachers 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 particularsituation 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 isasking questions and acting on the responses Evaluation is a whole process in which whatinformation to gather takes place at the beginning and at the end, changing in currentactivities or influencing ones is found out According to Tomlinson (1998:3), MaterialsEvaluation is defined as „a systematic appraisal of the value of materials in relation to theirobjectives 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 particularpurposes” According to Donough & Shaw (2012), “Materials Evaluation is one part of acomplex process and the materials once selected can only be judged successfully afterclassroom implementation and feedback” In addition, Brown (1995) defines that

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

Evaluation of textbook is seen to function as a sort of educational judgment, it meansreferring to subjective judgment-making A description of a textbook is compared with the 5

description of the context in order to establish in a preliminary way whether that textbookmight 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 majorreasons 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 inuse

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

“Evaluation is a matter of judging the fitness of something for a particular purpose” Afterbeing used in the particular setting, the material must be evaluated so as to find out its meritsand 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 thematerials Firstly, there is worth choosing among the resources available the most suitablematerials 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 todecide whether to continue using the material or to replace it with a better material InCunningsworth‟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 teachingsettings

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

2.2.3 Types of Materials Evaluation

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

In term of when to evaluate materials, Cunningsworth (1995) and Ellis (1997) suggestthat there are three types of Evaluation: pre-use evaluation, in-use evaluation and post-useevaluation Pre-use evaluation is admitted to be the most difficult kind of evaluation becausethere is no actual experience of using the book for us to draw on In this case, we areexamining the future or potential performance of a course book The second type is in-useevaluation 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 specialrequirement including the learners‟ objectives, the learners‟ background, the resourceavailable, etc” (Cunningsworth, 1995:14) It is concerned with not only the evaluation of theoriginal material but also its adaptability to different settings Post-use evaluation refers to aretrospective assessment of a textbook‟s fitness over a period of continual use

In addition, Tomlinson (1998) and McGrath (2001) share the same point withCunningsworth 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 areactually doing whilst the materials are being used

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

In addition, there is another way of dividing Materials Evaluation depending on thereasons for evaluation suggested by some scholars These authors emphasize that there arethree types of evaluation namely Preliminary evaluation, Formative evaluation andSummative 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 inorder to select “the most appropriate materials for a particular group of learners” andidentify “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 courseconsidered as “a part of the process of program development in order to find out what isworking 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 lifetimeand suggesting the improvement of the material in the future The final one is Summativeevaluation 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 willhelp to decide whether to use the material again or not; which tasks and activities needchanging or how to modify them to make the material more effective and efficient for futureuse (Ellis, cited in Tomlinson, 1998).

This study will report on a survey that was conducted at University of Finance andBusiness 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 validatethe merits of the course book based on its users‟ opinions

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

to improve the effectiveness of the material However, According to Dudley –Evans andJohn (1998), insiders may suffer from several disadvantages when they can be “too closedand 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 theprogram since they do not directly control the teaching program, they will have own view onteaching methods In Robinson‟s view (1992), outsiders may not fully understand theteaching and learning situations in which the evaluation is being carried out As a result, theymay be unsympathetic and they may need more time to get know about the local situationsuch 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 outsiderscan 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 publiccredibility and may see the issues in a different light (not necessary clearer) than those in theinside” As a result of these, they will bring objective experience into the evaluation fromtheir personal observation In this thesis, the course book New English File- Elementarywhich is being taught the non-English major students at UFBA is evaluated by both insidersand 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 iscurrently 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 teachingmaterials will be discussed The models can be classified as macro and micro evaluationmodels 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 aprocess of matching needs to available solutions The model introduced by these authors is amacro evaluation that aims at assessing the workability of an entire set of materials The firststep is to define criteria which the evaluation is based on The next step is to identify thesubjective 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 matchbetween the materials and the requirement Therefore, Hutchinson and Water (1993) suggestthe 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 theresearcher know exactly what must be done to analyze the material in comparison with thecourse requirements.

Defining criteria

On what bases will you judge material?

Which criteria will be more important?

How far does the material match

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 withmacro-evaluation which is “the evaluation of complete programs or projects through theevaluation 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 Themodel introduced by Ellis (1997), therefore, considers Materials Evaluation at the task levelwithin its actual teaching and learning context Can be seen through this model, the aim ofthis is looking for whether the task has worked in term of its objectives and to be able torealize how the task can be improved for future use as well Besides, he also suggests suchsteps to evaluate a task:

micro- Choosing a task to evaluate

 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 skillsand 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 andWater (1987) is regarded as the most logical and clearest procedure for MaterialsEvaluation Furthermore, this one could help the evaluator to decide what must be done toanalyze the material in comparison with the course‟s requirements Based on the purpose ofthe 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 manyvariables 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 theproposed models for Materials Evaluation There are various criteria proposed by severaldifferent 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 includesitems 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, languagebackground 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 inthe 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, organizationthrough the course, organization within the course unit, content sequence, content sequencewithin the course unit to see whether these items in the materials satisfy throughrequirements which were set up from the analysis of the learners‟ need and the course‟sobjective

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

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

Other criteria: In the words of Hutchinson and Water, it is necessary for the evaluator toconsider 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 andlanguage 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 asuitable balance language in real situation, if the course books provide materials forappropriate integrated skills and what students‟ need will be depended on will beinvestigated

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 thelearners 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, theattitude they convey and the social and culture values that the textbook communicates

In summary, the criteria suggested by Hutchinson and Water (1987) has been selectedsince they appear to be suitable and applicable in Materials Evaluation in the context ofUFBA The model is a macro evaluation of assessing the workability of an entire set ofmaterials 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 objectiveanalysis 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 themodel presents a logical proceduce so the criteria are clearly presented and it is easy tofollow

With the checklist of Hutchinson and Water, the qualitative method which consists ofquestionnaire and interview are chosen for the thesis It is hoped that from the results ofquestionnaire 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 ofLanguage with Upper Intermediate level students The aims of the study was to seek for howthe students and instructors evaluate a textbook based on English for Academic Purpose bythe using of instruments: questionnaires delivered to both students and instructors Theresults of the study indicated that not only students but also instructors were generallypositive 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 textbookeffectively in their classes, how to look for the ways to raise students‟ awareness in usingthe 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 seethe teachers and students‟ perception of merits and demerits of the textbook “MarketLeader” in term of its audience, objectives, content and methodology with the combination

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

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

In this thesis, the researcher also carries out an evaluation of the course book “NewEnglish File- Elementary” being used at UFBA to seek for whether the material matches thecourse requirements in terms of the audience, content, aim and the methodology However,there are some differences in several aspects Firstly, accompanied with two data collectioninstruments: 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 reliablerespondents Furthermore, the course book is evaluated by both insiders and outsiders-evaluators Consequently, it is hoped that this study will reveal the reliable and valuablefindings.

CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

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

3.1 THE SETTING

Founded in 1965, University of Finance and Business Administration (UFBA) has beentraining the total number of nearly 8000 students who study 8 fields of education and has gotconstant-annual enrollment of 800 to 1200 students The students share differentbackgrounds when entering the university Moreover, almost students, coming from ruralareas in the North of Vietnam, lack of skills such as searching information on the internet orlooking 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 yearfalls 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-centerapproach, aiming at developing learners‟ English communicative competence

 Course material

Considered as the focus of the study, New English File-Elementary designed by CliveOxenden, Christina Latham- Keoning and Paul Seligson in 2004 is taken into accountcarefully The material consists of a Student‟s Book, Teacher‟ Book, Work Book, classaudio 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 teachingsections, grammar and vocabulary banks and extra communication exercises The WorkBook offers the students the chance to practice in all grammar structures and vocabularyfrom the main text In addition, the Teacher‟s Book provides the answer and a suggestedlesson plan for each section Furthermore, there are also extra exercises from reference bookGrammar 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 candevelop 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 informationexchanges, make conversations for the suggested topics and describe their personality, dailyactivities or express their opinions in simple situations associated with their life Thestudents are also able to develop speaking, listening, reading and writing skills and they arealso introduced to learning strategies Furthermore, the students can broaden their mindabout communicative culture and soft skills of communicating with foreigners, team/groupwork skills as well

 Course Assessment

According to the Course Syllabus, there are three kinds of assessment in the courseincluding attendance accounting for 10 %, mini-tests accounting for 20 % and the finalassessment 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 inBusiness Administration Department The five Vietnamese teachers of English in charge offive intended classes will receive the invitations to take part in the research regardless oftheir gender and teaching experience The English teacher respondents in BusinessAdministration Department include five female ranged in ages from 24 to 31 Of the fiveteachers taking part in the study, three had already taken MA degree, one is taking the MAdegree and one has BA in English All of them have much experience in teaching Englishand 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 fouryears and the other for two years Futhermore, four out of five teachers have been teachingthe course book for three years and one for two years It is emphasized that all of theteachers are willing and enthusiastic toward their teaching, always pay attention to theimprovement 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 thestudy are selected from 240 students of eight classes in the Business AdministrationDepartment The students had just finished the first year at UFBA so the researcher makesdecision to distribute the questionnaires to them They are expected to provide the relevantinformation to the study There are 86 male and 54 female students who are the age ofbetween eighteen and twenty-two years old They are also interested in participating in thestudy.

3.3 DATA COLLECTION INSTRUMENTS

In this part, the writer describes in detail the instruments for collecting data that areapplied in the research and presents the strength of the research methods chosen in order toexplain the reason for choosing these research methods for the study A combination of twodata collection instruments consisting of document analysis and survey questionnaires isemployed by the researcher

3.3.1 Document analysis

Document analysis that is frequently applied for studying the content and structure ofthe documents could provide convincing and systematic background information for theevaluation process and help increase the objectiveness of a qualitative research project Thisdocument can also provide the evaluator with necessary information about activities andprocesses of the program In addition, the data collected by using document analysisinstruments are regarded as the major source and the reason why the document analysisinstruments for collecting data is chosen by the researcher The document analysis of thethesis is the analysis of the official syllabus at the university and the course book “NewEnglish 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 thesame criteria used in curriculum analysis The aim of this is to examine how the course bookrealizes the criteria of the course requirements Besides, the comparison of the curriculumwith 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 anexamination at first After that, the aim, content and methodology were put underexamination 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 theaims, 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 findout the opinions and judgments about the difficulty level of the grammar structures,vocabulary, speaking, listening, reading and writing practice, the amount of language pointsand the amount of language skills covered in the course book Questions 5 to 8 weredesigned to encourage the respondents to express their opinions about the effectiveness ofthe sub-skills Finally, the familiarity of the topics with the learners‟ knowledge level wereexamined 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 ofexercises 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 takenconsideration 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 = stronglyagree; 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 findout the opinions and judgments about the difficulty level of the grammar structures,vocabulary, speaking, listening, reading and writing practice, the amount of language pointsand the amount of language skills covered in the course book Questions 5 to 8 weredesigned to encourage the respondents to express their opinions about the effectiveness ofthe sub-skills Finally, the familiarity of the topics with the learners‟ knowledge level wasexamined 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 ofexercises/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 takenconsideration 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-endedquestions The data in the questionnaire were analyzed using mean scores and percentages Thequestionnaire data were presented in tables For the purpose of the study, a five-point Likertscale was used varying between strongly agree to strongly disagree For instant, the researcherapplied 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=agree3=neutral

2=disagree 1=strongly disagree)

On the purpose of presentation the data in a coherent and timesaving way, anappropriate data interpretation scheme which made use of the mean score method ofdescriptive statistics was decided to formulate by the researcher The calculated mean scoreshave 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 from1.4 down to 1.0 means “strongly agree”

For example, item 1 of the question 1 in the questionnaire for the students, among 140respondents, twenty respondents ticked 5 (strongly agree),forty-five chose 4, twenty-fiveticked 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 pointLikert scale of both questionnaires The items given negative mean score would be takenmore 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 dataanalysis, a three way analysis of the data was carried out by combining the results of the twoquestionnaires for the teachers and students and follow-up interview, and the researcher‟sin-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 therespondents

Firstly, follow- up interviews with the students were carried out with the aim of lookingfor the reasons why the students choose an item(s) for a certain section in the questionnaireand encourage them to reveal more suggestions for the adaptation to different aspects of thecourse 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 toinvestigate the reasons why they choose an item(s) for a certain section in the questionnaireand 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 gatherdata for this study: document analysis and survey questionnaire This process is divided intoseveral procedures as follows:

 Firstly, the course curriculum of University of Finance and Business Administration wasanalyzed and then the material itself was analyzed objectively under four criteria includingaudience, aim, content and methodology Finally, the questionnaires were only developedafter 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 questionnairefor the students were handed to five first year non-pedagogical English learners Thequestionnaires were returned to the researcher without any problem for three days The fivedays 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, thefive teachers regarded as the participants were also received the copies of questionnaires andgave 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 keptseparately in two files The assistance of Microsoft Excel supported the researcher tocompute 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 ofquestionnaires, a five-point Likert scale was used and necessary calculations were carriedout 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 interviewsand open-ended questions in relation to the kinds of answers, theme and issues, seekingpatterning of responses by categorising the data in relation to course requirements,analytic induction and constant comparison of the responses between teachers andstudents

In the end, a three way analysis of the data was carried out by combining the results ofthe 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 interviewsand if there are differences of opinions between teachers and students, the researcher willconsider 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 fromthe survey to find out whether the course book New English File – Elementary meets thecourse 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 coursewas designed for the students who are at the elementary level

In addition, it is undeniable that the course book “New English File – Elementary” isdesigned for its intended learners at elementary level Comparing the description of thesyllabus and the title of the course book, the researcher drew conclusion that the material hasbeen 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 interms of students‟ level, the evaluation was carried out on different categories such asgrammatical structures, vocabulary, types of tasks/ exercises, level of tasks/ exercises onspeaking, 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 wereorganized as moving from easy to difficult at all nine units appeared quite simple andappropriate to the students‟ level as defined at the curriculum and the title of the coursebook

As can be seen clearly from the table of content presented in appendix 2, a variety ofvocabulary were introduced in the material such as numbers, countries and nationalities,common objects, jobs, family, etc Furthermore, vocabulary part which contains not onlysimple 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 24

support students to produce correct sounds and speech; students, therefore, are capable ofcommunicating 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 answeringthe questions, making an interview, making a description, listening for details, listening forcomprehension, writing a letter or email, writing a postcard, etc which are familiar withstudents at this level

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

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

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

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Total 3.1 3.3

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

45 40 35 30

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 waspresented 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

mean score 2.5 (not very difficult) Some teachers argue that the difficulty level in term ofvocabulary is “neutral” for the students to absorb by the mean score 3 Moreover, the

26

students found the writing tasks difficult through the mean score 4.4, meanwhile the teachersshowed different view with the mean score 2.8 (not very difficult) In order to investigate thedifference, the follow-up interview was given to twenty students It is revealed that one ofthe reasons that made the material difficult is that the students were not provided withenough guidance or instruction and related words for some difficult writing tasks because itwas not time allocation Besides, majority of the students think that the course book gavethem few chances to improve their writing skills to which they were seldom exposed at highschool As a teacher and researcher, it is suggested that students should be offered morevocabulary and teachers‟ guidance to fulfill not only writing tasks but also a variety of tasksand exercises Furthermore, with the same exercises of speaking and listening in the coursebook, the teachers had better make speaking and listening tasks easier in order to motivateand 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 presentedabove It is admitted that the main goals of the course book New English File – Elementarywere based on the aim of the syllabus The objectives of nine units in the material wereexamined and described in terms of grammar points, vocabulary and pronunciationaccording to the content of the course book

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

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

Ms Statement

The course book improves students‟ English grammar structures and 2.6 2.2

vocabulary in a range of everyday social contexts

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

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

The course book provides students with opportunities to practice spoken 4 4

language in everyday situations

The course book provides students with general perspective of 1.8 1.9

communicative culture and soft skills in communicating with foreigners,

team/ group work skills as well

The course book develops students‟ pronunciation 4 4.6

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 coursebook 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 disagreementthat the course book provides students with general perspective of communicative cultureand soft skills in communicating with foreigners and team/ group work skills because thisessential knowledge was not given in the course book When being asked why the teachersthought the material was not helpful in improving students‟ language points includinggrammar structures and vocabulary, all of them gave the same answer that it was becausethere were not enough tasks and activities related grammar points in the course book leadingteachers‟ adaptation by adding more tasks and exercises so as to create opportunities forstudents to practice The students also revealed in the interview that almost of tasks andexercises provided by teachers gave them the satisfaction However, there is a big differencebetween the two different group participants While students expressed their disagreementthat the material helps to develop their reading and writing skills, the teachers highlightedthat the course book fulfilled the course‟s aim in related items

The interview results with the teachers and the students revealed that all the studentsagreed with teachers expressing that the reading and writing tasks were provided in thematerial but reading and writing activities coming afterward were not presented in anintegrated way in the course book As an outsider-evaluator, the researcher argued thatstudents were not given enough instruction for each writing task which is never consideredeasy 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 enoughopportunities to expose writing tasks because of the limited time allocation for teachingwriting skills

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