Adapting english 10 textbook for students at viet duc upper seconday school a case study

VIET NAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES LƯU THỊ THÚY ADAPTING ENGLISH 10 TEXTBOOK FOR STUDENTS AT VIET DUC

VIET NAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-

GRADUATE STUDIES

LƯU THỊ THÚY

ADAPTING ENGLISH 10 TEXTBOOK FOR STUDENTS

AT VIET DUC UPPER SECONDARY SCHOOL – A CASE STUDY

ĐÁNH GIÁ VÀ HIỆU ĐÍNH SÁCH GIÁO KHOA TIẾNG ANH LỚP 10 CHO HỌC SINH TRƯỜNG TRUNG HỌC

PHỔ THÔNG VIỆT ĐỨC – ĐIỂN CỨU

M.A MINOR THESIS

Field: English Methodology Code: 60.14.10

Ha Noi, 2010

VIET NAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-

GRADUATE STUDIES

LƯU THỊ THÚY

ADAPTING ENGLISH 10 TEXTBOOK FOR STUDENTS

AT VIET DUC UPPER SECONDARY SCHOOL – A CASE STUDY

ĐÁNH GIÁ VÀ HIỆU ĐÍNH SÁCH GIÁO KHOA TIẾNG ANH LỚP 10 CHO HỌC SINH TRƯỜNG TRUNG HỌC

PHỔ THÔNG VIỆT ĐỨC ĐIỂN CỨU

M.A MINOR THESIS

Field: English Methodology Code: 60.14.10

Supervisor: Dr Đỗ Tuấn Minh

Ha Noi, 2010

LIST OF ABBREVIATION

LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES

PART I: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale for choosing the topic

2 Aims and objectives

3 Scope of research

4 Significance of the assignment

5 Design of the study

PART II: DEVELOPMENT

CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW

1.1 Teaching materials in ELT/ESL classrooms Error! Bookmark not defined. 1.2 Textbooks adaptation

1.3 The statement of the problems

CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY Error! Bookmark not defined. 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.3.1 Textbook analysis

2.3.2 Survey questionnaire

2.3.3 Informal interviews

2.4

3.1.1 Overview of the national curriculum and course objectivesError! Bookmark not defined.

3.2.1 The appropriateness of the textbook with the objectivesError! Bookmark not defined.

3.3.2 The suitability of the textbook to the content prescribed by MoETError! Bookmark not defined.

3.3.4 Student survey Error! Bookmark not defined 3.3.5 Suggestions Error! Bookmark not defined PART III: CONCLUSION Error! Bookmark not defined.

Teaching and learning : T/L

Viet Duc Upper Secondary School : Viet Duc US School

World Trade Organization : WTO

Ministry of Education and Training : MoET

Upper secondary and Professional Teacher Development Project: USPTDP

LIST OF FIGURES, TABLES AND CHARTS

FIGURES

Figure1: Roles of textbook (Cortazzi, M & Lixian, 1999)

Figure 2: Options for textbook (Harmer, 2002)

TABLES

Table 1: General objectives to achieve in Grade 10

Table 2: Teachers' judgment on students' ability on writing tasks

Table 3: Students‟ ability in using 4 macro skills related to the Topics

CHARTS

Chart 1: Teachers‟ opinions on the Suitability of the Objectives of theTextbook

Chart 2: Teachers‟ judgment on communicative aims

Chart 3: Teachers‟ judgment on student‟s interested topics

Chart 4: Teachers‟ judgment on students‟ ability on speaking tasksChart 5: Teachers‟ judgment on students‟ ability on grammar tasks

Chart 6: Students‟ opinions on demanding the students‟ needs of thetextbook

Chart 7: Average percentage of student‟s ability to do 4 macro skills

PART I: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale for choosing the topic

In Viet Nam, education is regarded a paramount investment option for thecountry‟s long term economic growth and equitable social development The country‟saccession to World Trade Organization (WTO) necessitated Viet Nam to acceleratestrengthening of secondary education in developing human resources required for greaterintegration in the global economy With the increase in the enrolment rate to over 90%,lower secondary education has made commendable progress but expansion of uppersecondary and professional secondary education and improvement of their qualityremain to be key challenges for Viet Nam‟s education system

It is a fact that the secondary education system in general and English education

in particular in Vietnam has encountered a number of shortcomings in terms of teacherand teaching quality and students‟ attitude, or testing systems, etc The majority ofstudents are lacking opportunities to access and practice English communication, a largenumber of schools are not able to provide adequate modern teaching and learningequipments, etc have questioned educational managers, teachers and students for ages Inaddition, the current teaching curriculum have mismatched with the testing andevaluation As a result, the students‟ achievement and the teaching quality as well havenot been properly evaluated

In execution of Resolution No 14-NQ/TW of January 11, 1979 of the PoliticalBureau of the Party Central Committee (4th Congress), Socialist Republic of Vietnam, ithas been indicated that innovation of teaching curriculum and textbooks have beenclearly directed with four main principles: (i) to have a firm grasp of the objectives andrequirements in the contents and methods of education; (ii) to ensure the systematic,inheritance and development character of the educational program suited to the practiceand traditions of Vietnam, to acquire the achievements of advanced education in theworld; (iii) to ensure uniformity in knowledge and know-how standards, to increase thecontinuity with vocational education and post-secondary education, at the same time towork out plans to make the program and textbooks suited to the conditions andcircumstances of different area; (iv) to conduct synchronically the renovation of theprogram, textbooks and the method of teaching and learning with the basic renovation ofthe method of evaluation, … renovation of the management of education

In the process of implementation of the above resolution, the Ministry ofEducation and Training has conducted development of standard curriculum andtextbooks for pilot testing all secondary subject areas inclusive of English This task hasbeen finalized so far English 10 textbook was carried piloting the second year in 44upper secondary schools nationwide, English 11 started to pilot in school year (SY)2004-2005 and English 12 has been completed and tested in SY 2005-2006 Therefore, aset of English textbooks have been officially approved for 3 years and it would beconfirmed that English teaching renovation in secondary education is crucial andassessment of implementation status in secondary schools is also very important It plays

a momentous role in continuous improvement of the textbooks and teachingmethodology in the future

For all these reasons, a thesis named: “Adapting English 10 textbook for students at Viet Duc Upper Secondary School – A case study” has been fostered and

conducted

2 Aims and objectives

1 In line with the above mentioned thoughts on teachers and learners‟ needs fromthe textbook, the author sets out to convey a question “How is English 10 employed at VietDuc US School?” in terms of its methodology, content, objectives, practicality and

then to determine whether the book corresponds closely with the teaching curriculumprescribed by MoET Specifically, the researcher seeks to examine the nature of textbookand the suitability of the textbook at Viet Duc School context

2 It is expected that findings and discussion given would make certaincontribution to the improvement of the textbook and propose samples of adaptation toenhance the effectiveness of the material within a case of Viet Duc US school

In short, the study is an attempt to meet two aims It not only points to the value

of teacher‟s use of the textbook in pursuance with MoET‟s curriculum but also to theirwish for guidance in applying materials, adapting these and preparing their own(McGrath, 2002)

2 How can English 10 be adapted to suit the Viet Duc School context?

In other words, this study focuses on the evaluation of suitability of teaching andlearning of English 10 textbook at Viet Duc School regarding its methodology, content,objectives, and practicality The evaluation will be compared with the teachingcurriculum prescribed by MoET and then relevant adaptation will be given to demandingboth teaching and learning settings at Viet Duc US School

4 Scope of research

As mentioned in the research‟s title, it is expected to carry out an investigation onthe textbook of Standard English 10 Since then, the author will study teaching andlearning situation in the light of learner-centred approach and communication learningapproach, with selected students at grade 10 within Viet Duc US school Based ontheoretical background and actual observations, recommendations for teachingadaptation of reading skills are given as an example

5 Significance of the study

The study aims at conveying a picture of the teaching performance with bothstrengths and weaknesses of English teachers at Viet Duc School in particular and insecondary schools in general, since then they would have more adjustments to demandthe requirements of Vietnamese modern educational system; especially supportingcurriculum designers and textbooks composers seriously draw experiences and makeadjustments on the new English 10 standard textbook and current needs of society

My second intention is to clearly understand how suitable the English 10textbook is as applying at Viet Duc US School Besides, the author has expected to giverecommendations for enhancing T/L quality of the school, providing consultation toeducational managers to better understand English studies and making relevant policies

of management in time; upgrading pre-service and in-service teacher training programsunder the control of the project and MoET as well

6 Design of the study

PART I: INTRODUCTION provides the basic information such as the aims, thescope, and significance of the study

PART II: DEVELOPMENT contains of 3 chapters

Chapter 1: Literature Review justifies the literature on roles of textbook‟s use in ELT

classroom, reasons on material adaptation, definitions and techniques of adaptation andespecially the statement of the problems whose background of teachers and students aregiven clearly with the application of textbook at the school

Chapter 2: Research Methodology focus on the methodology employed in this study,

including the methodology, the participants, the instruments and data collection Chapter

3: Findings and Discussions are reported.

PART III: CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS presents a review of theresearch and the recommendations for the improvement of the material with selectedsuggestions for further research

PART II: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW

The process of the literature review involves the researcher in exploring theliterature to establish the status quo, formulate a problem or research enquiry, define thevalue of pursuing the line of enquiry established, and the compared the findings and ideaswith his or her own (Andresen 1997, adapted from Bruce 1994) That‟s why, as stated inthe title of the thesis, the assumption has been made that the primary parts of theliterature will be involved in the role of teaching materials in EL/ ESL classrooms andthe review of literature concerning material adaptation The statement of the problems ofteachers and students is the statements of problems which are given in the LiteratureReview embedded the background and the current use of textbook at Viet Duc USschool This assumption has influenced both the structure and the content of the literaturereview The third which provides the conclusion on findings and discussion is the mostimportant part of the study

1.1 Teaching materials in ELT/ESL classrooms

ELT textbooks can be analyzed as having a number of important functions inseveral extents It has a vital and positive part to play in the everyday job of teaching andlearning English Figure 1 is shown obvious roles of textbooks in the point of views ofCortazzi, M and Lixian, J (1999)

The textbook can be …

Figure1: Roles of textbook (Cortazzi, M & Lixian, J, p 199, 1999)

Firstly, Cortazzi, M and Lixian, J (1999) believed that “a textbook is also a map

that gives an overview of a structured program of linguistic and cultural elements,

showing teachers and learners the ground to be covered and summarizing the route taken

in previous lessons” Other theorists such as Sheldon (1988) agree with that idea andsuggest that textbooks not only “represent the visible heart of any ELT program” (p 237)but also offer considerable advantages – for both students and teachers – when they arebeing used in the ESL/EFL classroom Textbooks provide structure and syllabus for aprogram Without textbooks a program may have no central core and learners may notreceive syllabus that has been systematically planned and developed Haycroft (1998),for example, suggests that one of the primary advantages of using textbooks is that theyare psychologically essential for students since their progress and achievement can bemeasured concretely when we use them The use of textbook in a program can ensurethat the students in different classes receive similar content and therefore can be tested inthe same way It is easy to keep track of what one teacher has done and to tell otherswhere he has reached (e.g when reporting to the Head of Department or briefing a

substitute teacher) Secondly, a set of materials often including textbooks, workbooks,

CDs, cassettes, CD ROMs, comprehensive teaching techniques and activities make

textbook to be a very rich and varied resource for both teachers and learners Crawford, J

(2001) also regards textbook as a source to explore the nonverbal and cultural aspects oflanguage as well as the verbal Intonation, gesture, mime, facial expression, body postureand so on, are all essential channels of communication which not only help learnersunderstand the verbal language to which they are exposed, but also are an integral part of

the system of meaning which they are seeking to learn Thirdly, as Cortazzi, M and Lixian, J (1999) have pointed out, a textbook is also a trainer: for inexperienced or

untrained teachers, the explanations and guidance, the step-by-step instructions of ateacher‟s guidebook, can be very useful Textbooks are seen as embodying currentresearch and theory More than that, students can use textbooks as references beyond theclassroom and independently of the teacher (Crawford, 2001) Similarly, LeslieDickinson (1987) also identified that commercial materials are best served for self-

instruction Fourthly, a textbook is thus seen as an authority: it is reliable, valid, and

written by experts Cortazzi, M and Lixian, J (1999) Often a textbook carries theauthorization of important publishers or ministries of education, together with the furtherauthority that many EFL teachers have no choice as to which text to use: a schooladministrator, or the ministry itself, may take such decisions on behalf of all teachers

within their purview Fifthly, as O‟Neill (1982) has indicated, textbooks are generally

sensitive to student‟s needs, even if they are not designed specifically for them, they are

efficient in terms of time and money, and they can and should allow for adaptation and

improvisation A sixth advantage identified by Cunningsworth (1995) is the potential

which textbooks have for serving several additional roles in the ELT curriculum Heargues that they are an effective resource for self-directed learning, an effective resourcefor presentation material, a source of ideas and activities, and a reference source forstudents, a syllabus where they reflect pre-determined learning objectives, and support

for less experienced teachers who have yet to gain in confidence Finally, Hutchinson

and Torres (1994) have shown that textbooks may play a pivotal role in innovation Theysuggest that textbooks can support teachers through potentially disturbing andthreatening change processes, demonstrate new and/ore untried methodologies, introducechange gradually, and create scaffolding upon which teachers can build a more creativemethodology of their own

While many of the aforementioned theorists are quick to point out the extensivebenefits of using ESL/EFL textbooks, there are many other researchers and practitionerswho do not necessarily accept these views and retain some well-founded reservations onthe subject Crawford, J (2001), for instance, has written a scathing commentary on theuse of textbooks in the ELT classroom He suggests that we are living in a multimediaage, but many teachers still have neither the time nor access to adequate technology tocreate „authentic‟ audiovisual materials (i.e., videos, cassettes and computers programswhich reflect the real world products the learners encounter outside the classroom).Without such authenticity, however, it is difficult to provide culturally rich input, or todevelop coping strategies that will enable students to take advantage of theextracurricular input to which they have accessed

Another assumption on the backwash effects of textbook made by Crawford, J(2001), Cortazzi, M & Lixian J, (1999) and Richard (2001) They state that textbook candeskill teachers If teachers use textbooks as the primary source of their teaching leavingthe textbooks and teacher‟s manual to make major instructional decisions for them theteacher‟s role can become reduced to that of a technician whose primary function is topresent materials prepared by others The teachers will slavishly follow the textbook, let

it control the classroom and what occurs therein, and fail to respond to learner feedback

or to challenge received ideas contained in the materials Theorists, in fact, have implied

to the inherent danger of the inexperienced teachers who may use a textbook as apedagogic crutch, such an over-reliance may actually have the opposite effect of savingstudents from a teacher‟s deficiencies (O‟Neill, 1982; William, 1983; Allwright, 1982)

In such a view justified, and, if teachers do behave in this way, is it realistic to expectthem to prepare their own materials? In any case, as Allwright (1982) points out,materials may contribute to both goals and content but they can not determine either.What is learnt, and indeed, learnable, is a product of the interaction between learners,teachers and the materials at their disposal.

originally envisaged by the materials writers.” Textbook adaptation, in fact, is defined

to be a process of need demanding between the target goals and the current settings, demands of teachers and students It is something that is essential in the process of

changing existing materials to make them more suitable for self-instruction in Dickinson,Leslie‟s ideas (1987) This usually involves making several additions to the materials sothat they will meet the minimum specifications for self-instructional materials Thisadaptation assumes autonomous learners In addition, McGrath, Ian (2002) not onlyemphasizes the importance of adaptation as a process but also highlights the teachers‟competence in managing that process Although they may not always be in a position toselect the materials they use, teachers do decide, consciously or instinctively, how much

of those materials will be used, and how much of what is used will be modified

1.2.2 The purposes of adaptation

The two most frequently cited purposes for adaptation are as follows:

1 to make the material more suitable for the circumstances in which it isbeing used, i.e to mould it to the needs and interests of learners, the teacher‟s owncapabilities and such constrains as time, or, as McDonough and Shaw(1993:85) putit: „to maximize the appropriation of teaching materials (seem more relevantbecause it is important, it can stipulate motivation, and increased motivation is inturn likely to lead to a classroom atmosphere more conductive to learning) incontext, by changing some of the internal characteristics of a course book to

better suit our particular circumstances (what we are really trying to is to improve the effectiveness of learning experience‟;

2 to compensate for any intrinsic deficiencies in the material, such aslinguistics inaccuracies, out- of- datedness, lack of authenticity (Madsen andBowen 1978) or lack of variety

1.2.3 Adaptation techniques

 A principled approach to adaptationSetting a proper principle for adaptation is not an easy task It, thus, requires muchconsideration on particular circumstances, the specific needs of teachers and students,etc It is the best solution to take into account of the following questions suggested byCunningworth (1984: 66):

-What does the exercise actually get the learner to do?

-What do I want the learner to do?

-How can I get the exercise to do what I want it to do for the learner?

-What is the objective of the activity? (McGrath, Ian 2002: 66)

Besides, adaptation is considered agents of change and the importance of thetextbook becomes even greater in periods of change (Hutchinson and Torres, 1994)

Mentioning foci and forms of change, therefore, is as important and efficient asproviding best tools for teachers to apply at anytime, anywhere Ian, McGrath (2002)suggests one of the reasons given above for adaptation was to maintain learner interests

by varying what might otherwise be a rather repetitive diet

 The foci would include (1) language – the language of explanations, examples,texts, exercise and the language that students are expected to produce (2) the contextsand content to which the language relates; and (3) procedures and classroommanagement – who does what with whom and how this is organized; (4) restructuring inrelation to a particular activity in order to build in variety or increase the degree ofchallenge is more of a procedural change

1.2.4 Classification of adaptation

Madsen and Bowen (1978) claim that „Every teacher is in a very real sense anadapter of the material he uses (p.vii), employing „one ore more of a number oftechniques: supplementing, editing, expanding, personalizing, simplifying, modernizing,localizing, or modifying cultural/situational content‟ (p.ix);

Ellis, M (1986: 47) mentions the processes of „retaining, rejecting, re-orderingand modification; Tomlinson (1998b: xi) refers to „reducing, adding, omitting, modifyingand supplementing‟ In the view point of Nunan (1991), two main categories ofadaptation are mentioned: adaptation as addition (in a restricted sense) and adaptation aschange.

Adaptation, generally, is a process of changing in which may occurs adding,rewriting, replacing, re-ordering or reducing activities or content according to Harmer(2002) More details on the options of textbook use are given in Figure 2 below:

USE OF THE TEXTBOOK

YES

NO

R EPLACE

Figure 2: Figure 2: Options for textbook (Harmer, 2002)

According to these grounds of classification, 5 main options for adaptation arefigured out as bellows:

1.2.4.1 Adding

Addition is interpreted by McGrath, Ian (2002) by four main categories:extemporization, extension, exploitation The notion of addition, basically, is thatmaterials are supplemented by putting more into them, while taking into account thepractical effect on time allocation First, addition is made in the quantitative way by thetechnique of extending McMough and Shaw (1993) explained that “this means that thetechniques are being applied within the methodological framework of the originalmaterials: in other words, the model is not itself changed The following situation is anobvious example A second reading passage parallel to the one provided is helpful inreinforcing the key linguistic features – tenses, sentence, structures, vocabulary, cohesive

devices – of the first text Second, more far-reaching perspective on addition of materialscan be termed expanding Whereas extension involves quantitative change, expansion

represents a qualitative change (McGrath, Ian 2002) This can be thought as of a change

in the overall system (Mough and Shaw, 1993)

1.2.4.2 Rewriting

Rewriting may relate activities more closely to learners‟ own background andinterest, introduce model of authentic language, or set most purposeful problem-solvingtasks in case the students cannot answer in prior to be asked by the teacher Audiomaterials, for instance, are either not available or cannot be purchased in a particularteaching context, the teacher, then, can rewrite reading passage and deliver it orally

“perhaps by taking notes from the original and then speaking naturally to the classroomfrom notes‟

1.2.4.3 Deleting or omitting

Deletion is certainly the opposite process to that of addition As mentioned in theprevious section that materials can be added both quantitatively (extending) andqualitatively (expanding), the same point applies when a decision is taken to omitmaterials The most straightforward aspect of reducing the length of materials issubtracting

Addition and deletion of ten work together Textbooks may be taken out and thenreplaced with something authentically The methodological change is greater when, forexample, grammar practice is substituted after the omission of an inappropriatecommunicative function, or when a reading text is replaced by a listening passage

1.2.4.4 Simplifying

Simplification is defined as procedures designed to make things easier for ormore accessible to learner; e.g the editing of texts to reduce linguistic or conceptualdifficulty, and modifications to tasks (McGrath, Ian 2002) Simplification could be in thefollowing forms:

1 Sentence structure: sentences are reduced in overall length, or complexsentence is rewritten as a number of simple ones, for example by the replacement

of relative pronouns by nouns and pronouns followed by a main verb

2 Lexical content, so that the number of new vocabulary items is

controlled by reference to what students have already learned

3 Grammatical structures: for instance, passives are converted to actives;past perfect to simple past, reported to directed speech.

Simplification has a number of further implications First, once linguistic items arechanged, stylistics will be affected, and therefore the meaning of intention of the originaltext is changed Second, simplification of content is required when the complexity of thesubject-matter is regarded as being too advanced Third, simplification can refer to theways in which the content is presented: we may decide not to make any changes to theoriginal text, but instead, to lead the learners through it in a number of graded stages

1.2.4.5 Re-ordering

This procedure refers to the possibility of putting the parts of a course book in adifferent order This may mean adjusting the sequence of presentation within a unit, ortaking units in a different sequence from that originally intended

1.3 The statement of the problems

1.3.1 Teachers' background

The teaching staff has been known to be the key to success of traditional teachingand learning at Viet Duc School so far All teachers here obtained at least Bachelordegrees and they have experienced in teaching service for various years As of Englishteaching group, more than half of teachers have worked in the school and have chances

to study overseas during these years Teaching and self-training for updating andimproving capacity are continuous tasks at this school One of 12 English teachers is atthe young age; the remaining teachers are almost experienced but getting old Thus,

“how to rejuvenate the teaching staff of English remained a question that Viet DucSchool is facing” the Viet Duc Principal said

1.3.2 Students' background

Viet Duc School is located in the central and it has a reputation of first-rankedhigh school in Hanoi The majority of students in Viet Duc School are selected with veryhigh qualification They, thus, have remarkable background of education in general andEnglish proficiency in particular The students of grade 10th are aged fifteen to sixteenfrom mostly in Hanoi Most of them have learnt English at lower secondary school for atleast three years Additionally, Viet Duc School is a top school in Hanoi, it, thus has beeninvited to take part in a number of scholarships, educational development programs

funded by giant international organizations such as RMIT, British Council, IDP, etc It iscertain that the students have tremendous opportunities to access and improve theirEnglish proficiency.

Few of students, however, learnt other foreign languages such as Russian, French

or Chinese Consequently, students are varied in the English background

English course for grade 10th students in Vietnam in general and for those at VietDuc School is divided into two semesters with a total of 105 periods, 3 periods eachweek The aims and objectives of the senior high school‟s English curriculum are to helpstudents consolidate, widen and enrich their English competence including both languageknowledge and skills which they have gained at junior high school (MOET, 2002)

1.4 Summary

Chapter one has presented the major roles that materials play in the process ofteaching and learning as well as issues of materials adaptation that need to be taken intoaccount The discussion implies that issues such as what adaption is, why to adapt, how

to adapt, who are participants and other issues of material adaptation More importantly,the detail introduction of current settings of teachers and students at Viet Duc School areprovided and it becomes the essential background of this thesis

CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This Chapter describes how to collect information using a set of tools for casestudy including observation, analysis of documents, questionnaires, interviews and bothobjectives-referenced and classroom-based tests

2 1 Research design

The study is aiming at the evaluation and adaptation of English 10 in terms of itsobjectives, content and methodology The summative adaptation was implemented asteachers and students at Viet Duc School have just finished the textbook‟s use todetermine whether the material has worked well The researcher employed atriangulation of methods, which was a combination of textbook analysis, surveyquestionnaires and informal interviews The researcher‟s belief was that a combination

of different methods to collect data could provide more reliable and valid information forthe study

2 2 Characteristics of the case study

A case study involves a detailed exploration of a single instance of, or example

of, something Gillham (2000:1) defines a case as:

 a unit of human activity embedded in the real world;

 which can only be studied or understood in context;

 which exists here and now;

 that merges in with its context so that precise boundaries are difficult to draw

A case study, thus, is one which seeks a range of different kinds of evidencewhich is there in the case setting, and which has to be abstracted and collated to get thebest possible answers to the research questions (Gillham, 2000)

It is a case study selected in Viet Nam with the reason that it reflects an importantcurrent issue It may also be that each case selected for this study may, to some degree,

be typical of other secondary schools in Vietnam Access is an important issue to beconsidered in a case study The school which the author chose for this study is the onewhere she has experience working with, and therefore, is quite accessible For thesereasons, Viet Duc School is selected as a case in the study of the English textbook 10(standard version developed by MOET)

2 3 Methodology

In this section, the author provided the description of the instruments forcollecting data that were used and highlighted the strengths and weakness of the researchmethods chosen

The research methods selected are textbook analysis, surveys and informalinterviews Of these three methods textbook analysis is one of the main instruments with

a thorough objective analysis of the textbook under evaluation and adaptation SurveyQuestionnaire is used to collect data that relates to the teachers‟ and students‟perspectives and attitudes towards the textbook they have applied Informal interviewsare conducted to clarify information collected in the survey The next part is a detaileddiscussion of the research methods used in the thesis

2 3.1 Document analysis

According to Hutchinson and Waters, textbook evaluation is basically astraightforward, analytical matching process: matching needs to available solutions(Hutchinson and Waters 1987:97) Robinson (1991) also added that in evaluation andadaptation, the analysis of existing documents can provide useful information and they

“form essential part of the data for an evaluation exercise” One of the biggest advantages

of document analysis is that in some situations, a document represents a reflection ofreality (May, 2001)

In this thesis, textbook analysis or in other words objective analysis is aneffective method to collect data for the study because the purpose of this study is toevaluate and adapt the English 10 textbook for students at Viet Duc US School Theevaluator is also a teacher who has used the materials for teaching and is now in aposition to conduct an evaluation of the material based on an analysis of the teachingmaterial and MOET requirements of the course The data collected from the textbookanalysis would be the analysis of the appropriateness of the materials in terms ofobjectives, content, and methodology to determine whether the materials is suitable toMOET requirements of the course and the student‟s level of English

2 3.2 Survey questionnaires

Interviewing can be a complicated business as far as finding mutually convenienttimes is concerned Thus, questionnaire is the best choice to be the instruments in thiseducational research Gillham (2000) has figured out a number of great benefits of

questionnaire such as: low cost in time and money, analysis of answers isstraightforward; less pressure for an immediate response, respondent‟s anonymity andespecially, lack of interviewer bias.

Hence survey questionnaire was chosen to collect Teachers and students‟opinions and attitudes toward the textbook when they have experienced with the book.Teachers and students were requested to complete and return the questionnaire within aweek They thus would have opportunities to reflect their own experiences of teachingand learning the material The information, therefore, would be more detailed and moreaccurate

The researcher made use of two sets of survey questionnaires to cover all belief ofteachers and students and suggestions serving for the improvement of the textbook Thequestionnaires were given to the population of 12 teachers who teach English at Viet DucSchool (Find Appendix 1 for more details of the questionnaires)

2 3.3 Informal interviews

Interviews may be used as the primary research tool or in an ancillary role as achecking mechanism to triangulate data gathered from other sources Hopkins (cited inMcDonough & McDonoug, 1997) lists three applications of interviews in classroomresearch:

 to focus on a specific aspect of classroom life in detail

 teacher-pupil discussion => diagnostic information

 to improve the classroom climateNunan (1992) adds the following uses to interviews:

 needs analysis

 program evaluation

 individual case studies

 mini-surveys (within institution)This study fits well with these uses of interviews Depending on the evaluationgoals, the specific evaluation context and the nature of the design chosen for theevaluation, an evaluator can make use of three types of qualitative interview format: theinformal conversational interview (the unstructured interview), the standardized open-ended interview (the most structured interview), and the interview guide (semi-structured) (Patton, cited in Lynch, 1996)

Informal interview was identified as the most appropriate method to complimentthe other main methods employed in this research The informal interviews with theteacher informants and the student sample were conducted after the survey informationhad been obtained to clarify information from the surveys The results of the interviewswere noted; any variance thus can be revealed and adjusted with other methods.

2.4 The participants

Participants or evaluators of the study are an integral part of the study Manyauthors in the literature hold the view that evaluation should not “be restricted to outsideevaluators” (Tomlinson, 1998) especially when the purpose of evaluation is to developmaterial In this situation, inside evaluators may have opportunity to take advantage ofthe teachers who have used the material for teaching and the students who have learnedthe material under evaluation and adaptation

2.4.1 The teachers

The grade 10th English teaching group in this academic year at Viet Duc Schoolconsists of 12 teachers The majority of teachers who are middle-aged have obtainedmore than 10 years of teaching and only teacher who is young and experiences only threeyears at the school Of all teachers, they graduated from university degree‟s level, threeout of 12 teachers who completed master degree They, however share a similarity thatthey were trained under the strong influence of the Grammar-Translation method, theemphasis of which is on the learning of the rules of language, not on the acquisition oflanguage skills This is manifested in their methods even the new material follows thecommunicative approach The teacher population was firstly surveyed and during theperiod of revision of final exams, informal interviews and discussions with them wereconducted

surveyed and involved in the research by the end of the academic year before the finalexamination and later informal interviews were implemented.

2.5 Data collection Procedures

In order to collect the required data, the researcher decided to employ acombination of three data collection instruments: document analysis, teacher and studentsurveys and informal interviews with the aim of getting the fullest evaluation of thetextbook from the teachers and students who have used and learned the material Theevaluation of the textbook will be carried out in accordance with the following steps:

1) To identify the criteria for evaluation based on the statements of objectives, aims and principles prescribed by MOET for grade 10th:

2) Objective analysis: textbook analysis and adaptation conducted by the

researcher against requirements by MOET

3) Subjective analysis: survey teacher population and student sample

4) Conclusion: Matching the analysis results with the specified requirements

2.6 Summary

A discussion of data collection instruments has been provided in this chapter It alsodescribed the participants, the methodology used and data collection procedures

CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS

In the closing chapter, the author integrates and summarizes briefly all of thepreceding chapters

3.1 Textbook analysis of English 10

3.1.1 Overview of the national curriculum and course objectives

In 2006, a new curriculum which defines English as a compulsory subject, is

“instrumental to the access of world science and technology as well as world cultures”was developed by MOET (MOET, 2006) It describes the aims for ELT at secondaryschool level as enabling students to:

In addition, the curriculum guidelines also state the following principles for theselection and sequencing of topics, skills, language elements, instructional units,exercises and tasks in ELT syllabus:

 Contextualizing language via realistic communicative situations;

 Using materials that are authentic and applicable in real world communication;

 Ensuring integration between the four language skills and integration between language skills and language elements;

 Recycling language sufficiently and in a spiral manner;

 Tailoring teaching contents to suit learners‟ ages, levels of general knowledge,needs and preferences

 Using materials and tasks that are stimulating and at students‟ levels of

proficiency while still challenging enough

(MOET, 2006)The total number of class hours for English education is 315 time allocation for thestandard textbooks Each class hour is 45 minutes in length, called „a period‟

3.1.2 The course methodology

Regarding methodology of teaching, the new curriculum is claimed to adopt thecommunicative approach to language teaching as its guiding principles and specifies that:

1 Communication skills are the goal of the teaching and learning process;linguistic knowledge is the means by which communication skills are formed anddeveloped

2 Students play an active role in the teaching and learning process and teachers are only organizers and guides

3 Teaching contents be selected and organized according to themes to guarantee

a high level of communicativeness while catering to the accuracy of the modernlanguage system

4 Textbook writing, management of teaching and learning, testing, assessment and evaluation follow the curriculum guidelines

(MOET, 2006)The English 10 was developed based on the new national curriculum The book isclaimed to adopt a theme-based syllabus However, thissyllabus

appropriately described as a “multi-strand” one since there is almost everything in it:topics, tasks, functions, notions, skills, grammar, vocabulary and sounds Themethodologies the books are claimed to follow are the “learner-centered approach and

the central teaching

summarized in a book map which is provided on the first page of the book It is thetextbook that is accompanied with cassette tapes, student‟s workbook and teacher‟smanual.

The curriculum guidelines specify two forms of assessment: continuous andregular These include oral tests, fifteen-minute tests, 45-minutes tests, end-of-semestertests and end-of-year tests The guidelines also emphasize that assessment should coverall four language skills and language knowledge with weighting given equally to each

3.1.3 The course content

There are 16 teaching units and six review units in the book Each teaching unitcovers a topic and is structured in five sections: Reading, Speaking, Listening, Writingand Language Focus Each section is supposed to be taught in one period of 45 minutes.Reading texts are provided at first and foremost in a unit because the authors expect touse the reading text to supply language inputs and ideas for practice of other languageskills There is a glossary at the end of each textbook The glossary contains bothphonetic transcription and Vietnamese translation for each entry The phonetictranscription is based on the system of transcription symbols found in Oxford AdvancedLearner Dictionary (7th edition) (English 10:4)

The Reading section is structured according to the conventional stages of a

reading lesson It begins with one or two Before you read activities, the aim of which is

to introduce students to the topic, activate their background knowledge of the topic,motivate them to read and elicit new vocabulary It then presents a short text followed by

2-3 While you read activities, the aim of which is to develop reading skills and strategies

such as scanning, skimming, and guessing meaning in context The section ends with one

or two After you read activities to offer students some further practice, e.g oral or written

language production

The Speaking section consists of 3-4 activities, termed “tasks” by the textbookauthors (hi) The first and second activities provide language input and develop specificlanguage functions such as expressing opinions, agreements and disagreements Theremaining activities involve short talks on a specific topic possible with or withoutprompt

Similar to Reading section, the Listening section is also structured into threestages Before you listen activities aim to motivate students to listen, activate theirbackground knowledge and provide vocabulary While you listen activities develop such

micro-skills as listening for general understanding, listening for specific or detailedinformation and take the form of matching exercise, True-False questions, multiple

choice questions, or open-ended question After you listen activities often involve text

summary or reproduction in oral or written forms, and/or further discussion of the topic

The Writing section may begin with a model, followed by activities that guidestudents through the writing process such as model analysis, language work, and guidedwriting The text types students are required to produce vary from personal and formalletters to narratives, Figure, graph and table description and expository essays

The Language Focus section comprises two parts, Pronunciation and Grammarand Vocabulary The Pronunciation component focuses on practice of sounds (vowels,consonants, and clusters) that might present difficulty to students, basic stress patterns,rhythm and intonation These features are firstly practiced as discrete forms and thenrepeated in sentences The Grammar and Vocabulary component aims to consolidate thetarget forms covered in the unit Despite the claim made in the preface of the books thatthe forms are to be practiced both in exercises and communicative situations, thispractice, however, is de-contextualized and non- communicative (see 2.4.1 for moredetail)

The six review units, called “Test Yourself”, aim to help students assess their ownprogress and serve as sample tests for teachers when designing 45 minute tests for theirclasses Each review has four main components: Listening, Reading, Writing andLanguage Focus No speaking practice is included

3.2 Teacher survey

The teacher survey questionnaires were completely fulfilled by 12 teachers ofEnglish who have been teaching grade 10th at Viet Duc US School The questionnaire isdeveloped with four main parts Consequently, the data collected was analyzed andillustrated in a number of Figures and Tables in complying with four main parts asbellows:

3.2.1 The appropriateness of the textbook with the objectives

 Aims

In this part, the researcher presents the information collected by 3 questions inwhich the target teachers were asked to state their views towards the appropriateness ofthe textbook under evaluation with the objectives of the course

Chart 1: Teachers’ opinions on the Suitability of the Objectives of the Textbook

According to the Figure, 75% presents three quarters of teachers agreed that allthe objectives in the introductions of units of the textbook truly reflect the requirements

of the course prescribed by MoET 25% accounting for 3/12 teachers disagreed with thisidea because of disqualifying communication targets Communicativeness is one of theutmost important targets raised to teachers‟ opinions It is undeniable that in theteacher‟s belief, the textbook fail to claim to be communicative in its aims and objectives(83% of teacher said “No” to this point, only 17% was supported to this idea) Chart 2shows more details of teachers‟ opinion on judgment of communicative aims

Chart 2: Teachers’ judgment on communicative aims.

Regarding the question “Do all units of the textbook correspond closely with the needs of the students”, it is confirmed that in a particular setting of Viet Duc US School,

the teachers (75%) are expecting higher qualified textbook to better demanding the needs

of students

All teachers are claimed to apply mostly methods of Learner-centered teaching(75%) and Communicative language teaching (50%) at their class Due to time

limitation, teachers revealed that they some times wanted to integrate a various methodssuch as grammar-translation and audio bilingual teaching method, but they could notafford Thus the traditional methods are mostly used at the school.

In short, the beginning of the questions‟ responds revealed numerous issues toinvestigate In general, the textbook is evaluated to closely correspond with the MoET‟steaching curriculum It however is unable to reach the communicativeness targets and tomeet the students‟ needs as well In the other words, the textbook strictly comply withrequirements of MoET but it is out of expectation of teachers and students at Viet Duc

US Schools in some certain extents The following analysis on the content of textbookwill help the author to tackle with these questions in more details

3.3.2 The suitability of the textbook to the content prescribed by MoET

 Topic

Chart 3: Teachers’ judgment on student’s interested topics

There was, according to the bar chart, significant difference among topics inwhich the students are interested in Basically, the common topics that are on favorite

lists of students are The world cup, National Parks, Music (equally accounted for 75% of student‟s interest) The second highest topics belong to group of Undersea world, The

mass media (67%) which are very attracted to the students at the teenage Topic 1

mentioning to daily activities is considered to be not only easy, familiar but also useful It

thus reached more than half of teachers selected (58%) The topics such as Special

education, Conservation, Cities are at the same height of 50%, School talks, An

excursion accounted for 42% of students‟ interest These numbers imply that these topics

are neutral with them However, there are some topics Technology and you,

Films and media (25%), The story of my village, Historical places (17%) seldom

appeared in the list of the teachers‟ choice As discussing with the teachers, in fact, they

revealed that some students seemed to behave negatively to the lessons that they were

supposed to be “boring” and “meaningless” The textbook is unable to support students

to communicate on the topics given with the reason that the content introduced in those

units were unfamiliar, far from the students‟ background and the language was of

difficult level compared with their current proficiency For instance, Unit 1: A day in the

life of …is focused on the life of a farmer and farming work in the country Nevertheless,

the students who have been living in the city seem to have no ideas on how the farmers

“plough and harrow plot of land”, what difference between “plough” and “harrow” or

why need to “lead the buffalo to the field” in the early morning The teachers even are

not capable to provide adequate background and justifications to the students on the

farming procedures because they share the same problems with the students

It can be summed up that the textbook does not meet the requirements of MOET

in enabling students communicating in English about the required topics

 Writing skills

No