THÁCH THỨC TRONG VIỆC dạy bộ SÁCH GIÁO KHOA TIẾNG ANH mới NGHIÊN cứu TRƯỜNG hợp tại TRƯỜNG THCS NGUYỄN tất THÀNH

In 2012, the Ministry of Education and Training passed an Official Dispatch for a new set of English textbooks to be piloted in several schools in Vietnam, including Nguyen Tat Thanh secondary school. These textbooks focus on developing students’ communicative competence and thus requiring teachers to adapt to the communicative language teaching method. The aims of this study are to find out the evaluation of the new textbooks from teachers at Nguyen Tat Thanh secondary school and to see the challenges that they face when following the new English program and the new textbooks. Subsequent to this, suggestions for improvements of the pilot textbooks are to be proposed. Questionnaires in the form of an evaluation checklist were given to the 8 teachers in Nguyen Tat Thanh secondary school, and were followed by semistructured interviews. In this study, the participants praised the new textbooks for the focus on communication, the diversity in topics, the new tasks, and the spiral structure. On the other hand, they criticized the books for the difficulty of language knowledge, the unsatisfactory design of some exercises, particularly the Looking back section, and the lack of representation of the target language’s culture. The teachers encounter challenges with the unfamiliar topics, students’ level gap, and lack of class time. The result of this study provides insight into the direct experience of the teachers who work with the new textbooks.

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI

UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHER EDUCATION

GRADUATION PAPER

CHALLENGES IN TEACHING THE NEW

ENGLISH TEXTBOOKS: A CASE STUDY AT NGUYEN TAT THANH SECONDARY SCHOOL

Supervisor: Nguyễn Thị Kim Phượng Student: Ngụy Việt Hưng

Course: QH2014.F1.E1

HÀ NỘI – 2018

ĐẠI HỌC QUỐC GIA HÀ NỘI

TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ KHOA SƯ PHẠM TIẾNG ANH

KHÓA LUẬN TỐT NGHIỆP

THÁCH THỨC TRONG VIỆC DẠY BỘ SÁCH GIÁO KHOA TIẾNG ANH MỚI: NGHIÊN CỨU TRƯỜNG HỢP TẠI TRƯỜNG THCS NGUYỄN TẤT THÀNH

Giáo viên hướng dẫn: Nguyễn Thị Kim Phượng Sinh viên: Ngụy Việt Hưng

Khóa: QH2014.F1.E1

HÀ NỘI – 2018

I hereby state that I: Ngụy Việt Hưng, QH2014.F1.E1, being a candidate for the degree of Bachelor of Arts (TEFL) accept the requirements of the College relating to the retention and use of Bachelor’s Graduation Paper deposited in the library

In terms of these conditions, I agree that the origin of my paper deposited

in the library should be accessible for the purposes of study and research, in accordance with the normal conditions established by the librarian for the care, loan or reproduction of the paper

Signature

Date: May 4th 2018

Signature of Approval:

_

Date:

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Firstly, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my advisor Ms Nguyễn Thị Kim Phượng for the continuous support of my Bachelor thesis research, for her patience and her experience Without her guidance, I would not have been able to finish my research

Secondly, I would like to thank Ms Lương Quỳnh Trang, for her insightful comments to help me find the direction for my research The information she provided me was crucial in verifying my research results

Finally, my sincere thanks go to the teachers in Nguyen Tat Thanh secondary school They not only offered me immense help with my research but also shared their precious life experience during the time I was there to collect data

ABSTRACT

In 2012, the Ministry of Education and Training passed an Official Dispatch for a new set of English textbooks to be piloted in several schools in Vietnam, including Nguyen Tat Thanh secondary school These textbooks focus

on developing students’ communicative competence and thus requiring teachers to adapt to the communicative language teaching method The aims of this study are

to find out the evaluation of the new textbooks from teachers at Nguyen Tat Thanh secondary school and to see the challenges that they face when following the new English program and the new textbooks Subsequent to this, suggestions for improvements of the pilot textbooks are to be proposed Questionnaires in the form

of an evaluation checklist were given to the 8 teachers in Nguyen Tat Thanh secondary school, and were followed by semi-structured interviews In this study, the participants praised the new textbooks for the focus on communication, the diversity in topics, the new tasks, and the spiral structure On the other hand, they criticized the books for the difficulty of language knowledge, the unsatisfactory design of some exercises, particularly the Looking back section, and the lack of representation of the target language’s culture The teachers encounter challenges with the unfamiliar topics, students’ level gap, and lack of class time The result of this study provides insight into the direct experience of the teachers who work with the new textbooks

LIST OF ABBREVIATION

EFL: English as a Foreign Language

ELT: English Language Teaching

ESL: English as a Second Language

MOET: Ministry of Education and Training

TEFL: Teacher of English as a Foreign Lang

VNIES: Vietnam Institute of Education and Sciences

TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION OF THE RESEARCH

1.1 Rationale of the research 1 1.2 Research aims and research questions 2 1.3 Research goals and objectives 2 1.4 Significance of the study 3

1.6 Organization of the study 3 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

2.2 Textbook in teaching English as a Foreign Language 5 2.2.1 The roles of textbook in teaching English as a Foreign Language 5 2.2.2 The need for textbooks in ESL/EFL classrooms 7 2.2.3 Criticisms of textbook 7 2.2.4 The need for textbook evaluation 9 2.3 Curriculum innovation in Vietnam and the new English textbooks 10 2.3.1 Introduction of the new English textbooks 10 2.3.2 Vietnam Institute of Education and Sciences’ evaluation of 12 the new English program

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY

3.4.2 Interview 19

CHAPTER 4: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

4.1 Data analysis – Teachers’ evaluation of the new English textbooks 22

4.1.4 Attractiveness of the Text and Physical Make-up 28

4.2.1 The strength and weaknesses of the new English textbooks 34

as perceived by English teachers in Nguyen Tat Thanh secondary

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION OF THE RESEARCH

This chapter provides an introduction to the study including the research questions, the goal, the scope, and the significance of the study

1.1 Rationale of the research

English today has evolved to be a common lingua franca around the world Along with the outspread of this language is the growing demand for teaching and learning English as a communication tool, especially in developing countries as English is the language for international business, technology, media, research and publication (Flowerdew & Peacock, 2001) As a result, many countries are shifting from the traditional teaching methods to a communication-focused approach Richards (2006) points out that in the 1970s, the widespread of Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) marked the change in language teaching and established its place in many countries’ national curriculum and syllabus

Le and Barnard (2009) stated that South Korea, Japan, China, Hong Kong, and Thailand have all tried to adopt CLT into their school systems, yet the results have not always been satisfying Although it took some time, Vietnam finally joined its neighbors and introduced CLT into classrooms, with reservations shown

by researchers about the country’s readiness for this teaching method In 2012, after roughly a decade of using the old textbooks, the Vietnamese Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) passed an Official Dispatch for a new set of piloted textbooks for secondary schools The new textbooks are designed to be used with the CLT approach to English teaching, requiring teachers to step out of their comfort zone of the traditional methods This change received mixed reactions from educators and regulators, and its effectiveness doubted

This top-down change not only alters students’ learning style, but also directly affects teachers In applying CLT, teachers of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) may encounter difficulties related to the education system, learning environments, students, and the teachers themselves (Bock, 2000; Pham, 2007) The new textbooks contain more language knowledge than the old ones as

well as a wider variety of activities This change challenges teachers to adapt to a new style of teaching and a lot more preparation is needed for each lesson Understanding that the situation may vary from place to place and the difficulties should be put into context, the researcher of this study came to a decision to conduct a case study at Nguyen Tat Thanh secondary school, Hanoi With this research, the researcher hopes to find out what current issues the teachers there may face when using the new English textbooks in their classrooms

1.2 Research aims and research questions

The research aims at exploring the challenges that English teachers in Nguyen Tat Thanh secondary school, Hanoi have to face when teaching students using the new textbooks Different teachers might have different opinions towards the new textbooks, and some may not have any difficulty in following the new curriculum To clarify on this matter, the research attempts to answer these questions:

1) What are the advantages of the new textbooks as perceived by teachers

at Nguyen Tat Thanh Secondary School?

2) What are the disadvantages of the new textbooks as perceived by teachers at Nguyen Tat Thanh Secondary School?

3) What challenges do they face when teaching the new textbook?

4) How do they solve these problems?

1.3 Research goals and objectives

This study is conducted with a view to investigating the current situation of applying Communicative Language Teaching in classrooms in Nguyen Tat Thanh secondary school in Hanoi to teach the new textbooks and the rationale behind it Through this research, the teachers, who are directly under the pressure of the textbooks change, can raise their voices for curriculum designers to adjust accordingly Pedagogical conclusion can also be drawn from the acknowledgement that the research provides

To achieve these goals, three objectives are set: (1) to report on Nguyen Tat

Thanh secondary school English teachers’ judgment towards the new textbooks,

(2) to compare how the teachers really carry out the lessons with the official guidance of the curriculum and the textbooks, (3) to analyze the difficulties that

the teachers face in using the new textbooks in teaching

1.4 Significance of the study

Prior studies mainly focus on the application of Communicative Language Teaching method in Vietnamese context without going into the textbooks used by teachers To the researchers’ knowledge, little has been researched and published about the new textbooks when they were brought into use in 2012 The findings of this study hopefully will contribute to the broader picture of how the new textbooks are being used and their effectiveness The voices of teachers, who work directly with the books but do not have the power to change the curriculum by themselves, can be heard

1.5 Scope of the study

The research will focus on the difficulties that English teachers in Nguyen Tat Thanh secondary school, Hanoi face when using the new English textbooks in their classrooms There are nine teachers in the English Division of the school and the researcher intends to include all nine teachers

1.6 Organization of the study

This research paper consists of five chapters: Introduction, Literature Review, Methodology, Result and Discussions, and Conclusion Each part plays a different role but all serve to contribute to the research paper as a whole

Chapter One, Introduction, briefly provides the background information

of this study It presents the rationale for the research, the research questions and objectives, the scope, and the organization of the study The audience can gain an overview to the research through this chapter

Chapter Two, Literature Review, critically reviews the literature related to

the topic of the role of textbooks, the need for textbook evaluation, and the Vietnamese curriculum change and the new textbooks The key terms defined and theoretical grounds established here help guide the researcher and audience throughout the whole research

Chapter Three, Methodology, discusses and justifies the methodology

adopted for this research The audience can have an overview of the data collection instruments, data analysis instruments, and the procedure that the researcher follows to collect and analyze data in the research

Chapter Four, Results and Discussion, presents the data results and

findings of the study from the interviews with the teachers in Nguyen Tat Thanh secondary school and class observation This chapter contains the detailed information about what the researcher does and its result

Chapter Five, Conclusion, looks back at the major findings and discussions

from the previous chapter and draws out conclusions The researcher also points out the limitations of the study and proposes some suggestions for future research

This chapter provides conclusion for the whole study

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter presents the literature review to provide theoretical background for the study All the background information and key term(s) are explained here From the literature review, the research gap is provided to explain the reasons for the researcher to conduct this study

2.1 Definition of textbook

According to Richards and Schmidt (2010), textbook is “a book on a

specific subject used as a teaching/learning guide, especially in a school or college.” In teaching foreign language, textbooks are often part of a graded series that cover multiple skills such as reading, writing, listening, speaking or just focus

on one

2.2 Textbook in teaching English as a Foreign Language

2.2.1 The roles of textbook in teaching English as a Second/Foreign Language

Looking at the big picture, textbook plays an important part in a curriculum Curriculum can be defined as “the courses offered by educational institution” (Webster, 2005, p 284) Miller and Seller (1985) and Thomas (2007) identify the components of curriculum as the educational objectives, the content, the teaching strategies, and the evaluation techniques An important part of any curriculum is the textbook because, as Richards and Rodgers (2001) state, they specify the content syllabus items In the beginning of the 1990s, curriculum and textbook became synonymous with each other (Talmage, 1972) Garinger (2002) even stated that a textbook could be a curriculum Many researchers have emphasized the relationship between curriculum and textbook, as well as the role of textbook

in education

Textbook has a prominent role in the process of teaching and learning One

of the main advantages of textbooks is that they can be used to measure to progress and achievement of students concretely, making them psychologically essential for students (Haycroft, 1998) They provide standards in instruction and guarantee that

students in different classes will receive the same content and be measured in the same way Second, according to Sheldon (1988), students often favor using published textbooks to teacher-generated materials This may be because textbooks are generally sensitive to learners’ need, even if they are not specifically designed for them (O’Neill, 1982) Cunningsworth (1995) also proposes another advantage that is the potential for textbooks to play additional roles in the ELT curriculum, such as being the source for self-study, ideas and activities, or presentation material Ultimately, textbook acts as a syllabus and a self-study source for learners

Regarding the relationship between textbooks and teachers, Sheldon (1988) and O’Neill (1982) state that textbooks can help reduce potential overload and allow teachers to spend their time on other pursuits Due to teachers’ limitation in creating materials on their own, using textbooks bring both time and cost benefits (Richards, 1993) Given the limited time, resources, and even professional training, it is hard for teachers to generate their own teaching materials and have

to compromise This is even more true in the case of untrained and inexperienced teachers, who need textbooks as aids in teaching According to Williams (1983), language teaching becomes more and more closely tied to the textbook when there

is a shortage of trained teacher Many teachers, especially the untrained and new, have come to depend heavily upon textbooks as their source of lesson plans and curriculum guides Madsen and Bowen (1978) state that though every teacher adapts materials, the degree of adaptation increases with their experience and sensitivity, so new teachers generally need the guidance from textbooks Lastly, Hutchinson and Torres (1994) suggest that textbooks can play a pivotal role in innovation, by aiding teachers through the process of exposure to new theories, approaches, or methodologies

2.2.2 The need for textbooks in ESL/EFL classrooms

Researchers have constantly emphasized the importance of textbooks through their studies Sheldon (1988) states that textbook represents the “visible heart of any ELT program”, as well as offering considerable advantage to both the teachers and the learners when used in ESL/EFL classrooms His study shows that textbooks are used from 70% to 90% of students’ time in classrooms in the U.S.A Davidson (1974) regards textbook to be the second most important factor in a foreign language classroom after the teacher Similarly, Morley (1979) stresses that textbook has been a central force in the ESL classroom Hutchinson and Torres (1994) state that periods of change in education make the already vital role of textbook even greater Therefore, textbook is largely argued to be the main instrument for teaching in school

To justify the need for textbook in classrooms, Hutchinson and Torres (1994) explain that textbooks “satisfy certain needs” and they conveniently provide the structure for teaching-learning Textbooks are seen as efficient for teaching and learning because they package the content effectively (Shannon, 1987) Morley (1979) claims that textbooks determine the nature of language input and create opportunities for communication and language functions besides the form The need for textbook is not only recognized by researchers but also teachers Richards, Tung and Ng (1992) has conducted a survey of ESL teachers

in Hong Kong and found that only 28% of the teachers reported to make significant use of self-prepared materials The teachers reported that textbooks serve to provide practice activities, provide language models, and provide information about the language These are rather narrow and specific functions, which are only parts of wider roles that researchers have pointed out through their studies

2.2.3 Criticisms of textbook

Mariani (1980) describes the relationship between textbooks and their users

as a love-hate one Sheldon (1988) also points out that teachers do regard textbooks

as necessary evils Despite the several positive roles that textbook plays, many theorists and practitioners retain their reservation on the matter

Allwright (1982) has criticized textbooks to be inflexible and generally reflect the pedagogic, psychological, and linguistic preferences and biases of their authors As a result, the educational methodology promoted by the textbooks will influence the classroom setting by indirectly imposing the language objectives and learning components on students as well as incompatible teaching paradigms on teachers Furthermore, the pedagogic principles displayed in many textbooks may also be conflicting, contradictory or even out-dated

Some authors choose to look at textbooks from a social and cultural point

of view and claim that gender biases, sexism, and stereotyping are evident in many EFL/ESL textbooks Porreca (1984), Florent and Walter (1989), Clarke and Clarke (1990), Carrell and Korwitz (1994), and Renner (1997) observe that there exist examples of gender-related inequalities such as the lack of female character representation or the social stereotypes of both men and women Other theorists such as Prodromou (1988) and Alptekin (1993) also study textbooks in relation with culture but focus on the use of the target language culture as a vehicle for teaching They propose that teaching a language without embedding it in its cultural base is impossible, and in doing that, learners are forced to express themselves within a culture which they do not have any experience of This may lead to cultural alienation, stereotyping, or even reluctance or resistance to learning

Some researchers find the problem with textbooks lies in the presentation

of the target language, arguing that it is too contrived and artificial Cathcart (1989), Bardovi-Harlig, Hartford, Mahan-Taylor, Morgan, & Reynolds (1991), and Yule, Matthis, & Hopkins (1992) state that many textbooks’ language models are inappropriate for preparing students to use the target language in real-world communication They fail to deliver the language knowledge as well as the

conversation context needed to apply such knowledge The scripted language in many textbooks can lead students to oversimplification of language and unrealistic views of real-life situations Additionally, Brazil, Coulthard, and Johns (1980) demonstrate that some textbooks’ dialogues are unnatural in pronunciation The inaccuracy can create false expectation of the target language community for students

The final criticism is about the product nature of ELT textbooks Sheldon (1988, p.239) states that textbooks are often regarded as the “tainted end-product

of an author’s or a publisher’s desire for a quick profit” This problem is found only in commercial textbooks and not official publication by the government

2.2.4 The need for textbook evaluation

Textbook is often regarded as a flawed creation, yet as Hutchinson and Torres (1994) suggest, the anti-textbook attitude will not help to solve the problem

A more positive approach to the problem can make progress in making textbooks useful Cunningsworth (1995, p.7) proposes that we should ensure “that careful selection is made, and that the materials selected closely reflect the aims, methods, and values of the teaching program” In order to do that, evaluation of textbook is needed Rea-Dickens and Germaine (1994, p.4) state that “evaluation is an intrinsic part of teaching and learning” Tomlinson (2001) also stresses the role of textbook evaluation as allowing teachers to judge the effectiveness of the materials on both them and their students

Hewitt (2006) states that analysis of a curriculum can provide practical information about the curriculum-in-use Evaluation is also essential for both the development of the instructional material that is textbook and the quality of education This process can be valuable to teachers’ professional development as well, by helping them go beyond impressionistic assessments and acquire insights into the overall nature of textbook (Ellis, 1997) Similarly, Hutchinson (1987) points out that material evaluation does not only serve the immediate practical aim

of choosing teaching materials, but also plays a critical role in developing teachers’ awareness in analyzing their own presuppositions about the nature of language and learning, setting their prerequisites and seeing materials as an essential part of the whole teaching-learning situation

Ellis (1997) distinguishes two types of material evaluation: predictive and retrospective Predictive evaluation refers to the evaluation process that takes place

to make decision regarding what materials to use After the materials have been adopted, further evaluation may be conducted to determine the efficiency and suitability, which is called retrospective evaluation Both processes aim to improve the quality of the teaching and learning environment and help teachers make appropriate judgment concerning the effectiveness of their teaching, including which materials to use

2.3 Curriculum innovation in Vietnam and the new English textbooks

2.3.1 Introduction of the new English textbooks

In January 2012, Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) dispatched a piloted English curriculum for secondary schools, followed by the publication of the new English textbooks for grade 6, 7, 8, and 9 in Vietnam The new curriculum aims to enable secondary school students prior to entering high school to:

 Use English as a communicating tool in the forms of listening, speaking (monologue, dialogue), reading, writing to meet the basic and direct needs to communicate in familiar and daily situations at the level equivalent

to A2 Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR)

 Possess basic knowledge of English including phonetics, vocabulary, and grammar; and through English, to have general knowledge of English-speaking countries, people, and cultures, as well as having knowledge and pride about their own culture’s strength and values

 Possess positive attitude towards English and learning English; know how to use English as an integrated tool in other teaching and learning contents

 Form and use different learning methods and strategies to develop English communicative competence inside and outside classroom environment (MOET, 2012, p 6)

This curriculum change is part of a bigger national project call “National

Foreign Language Project 2020” It is expected to make substantial changes to

language education in Vietnam as foreign languages, especially English, is essential for the nation’s social and economic development and political integration (Nguyen, 2017) The goal of the project is “to renovate thoroughly the tasks of teaching and learning foreign languages within the national education system” (Toan, 2013) This curriculum change calls for the need to re-train English teachers across the country to be able to follow the new program The major difference of the new textbooks and the new curriculum lies in the adoption of the Communicative Language Teaching method and the focus on developing students’ communicative competence

The new secondary school English program consists of 420 periods of 45 minutes for 4 school grades from 6 to 9, 105 periods each There are 3 periods each week, and 35 weeks each school year By the end of the program, students are expected to reach level A2 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) Grade 6 and 7 will be dedicated to developing students’ communicative competence through listening and speaking activities while all four skills (reading, writing, listening, speaking) will have equal emphasis in grade 8 and 9

The textbooks are written based on 4 themes that appear in all grades: Our Community, Our Heritage, Our World, and Visions of the Future Each theme contains topics that increase in difficulty as students move up in grade though still staying relatively close to students’ daily life and experience Each Unit goes from Getting Started (introducing the topic and target knowledge) to A Closer Look 1 and 2 (focusing on Vocabulary, Pronunciation, and Grammar) to Communication

(facilitating students’ communication) to Skills 1 and 2 (helping students practice Reading, Listening, Speaking, and Writing) to Looking Back (revising the knowledge) and ends with a Project for students to apply what they have learnt

2.3.2 Vietnam Institute of Education and Sciences’ evaluation of the new English program

In 2016, the Vietnam Institute of Education and Sciences (VNIES) evaluated and reported on the effects of the pilot English program for the period from 2011 to 2015 A survey was carried out in 57 schools (28 primary schools,

17 secondary schools, and 12 high schools) with a total of 3480 participants (194 parents, 149 teachers, 2904 students, and 233 management officers) and its results analyzed after 2 months The report’s conclusion is divided into two main sections: regarding the pilot English program and regarding the conditions for applying the program

The report firstly evaluates the English program on several categories: approaches, aims, structure, content, teaching method, assessment, students’ results, and other impacts Overall, the approaches of the program are clear and backed with solid theoretical backgrounds The aims manage to meet the demands

of Vietnamese society on students’ language competence The program, as well as the textbooks, is designed to help students develop integrated skills with constant revision across different grades and levels Multiple themes and topics are included and ample of opportunities for communication are created in the textbooks The communicative language teaching method chosen for the program is regarded as suitable for Vietnamese students to follow international education trend The assessment process is made clear to students about content, method, and how to use results for self-study On the other hand, the pilot English program shows some major flaws in design and execution The theoretical background is not fully provided to users; and the target levels (A1, A2, B1 CEFR) are difficult for Vietnamese students, especially students of ethnic minorities and under-developed areas The program does not do enough in helping students learn general life skills while the development aims for Writing skills are also lacking in expressive and

creative styles The time for English classes (3 periods/week) is not enough to cover the contents of the books, causing teachers to shift from teaching communication back to teaching grammar, reading, and writing This leads to schools assessing students mainly on language knowledge rather than application The result is that 56.9% of the participating Secondary school students fail to reach the target level (71.6% in primary school and 78.1% in high school)

The report proceeds to evaluate the conditions for applying the program on: students’ entry level, teachers’ ability, management officers’ ability, school facilities, and availability of textbooks and materials The estimated number of students meeting entry requirements for grade 6 is 77.4% (for grade 10 it is 73.77%) which means about one-fourth of the number of grade 6 students in the pilot program do not have the best start for it Furthermore, about 25 to 30% of the teachers in both secondary and high schools do not meet the required English competence level for the pilot English program Concerning facilities and teaching materials, most schools are equipped with the needed tools, equipment, textbooks, and reference books to aid the teaching and studying of English The final part in this section points out the general weaknesses of the new English textbooks series

The pilot English textbooks are said to contain heavy grammar and vocabulary with not much diversity in language drills Some conversations are unnatural and the recordings are deemed to be of not-high-enough quality However, the main concern in this part is the choice of themes and topics Some units are reported to have unfamiliar background knowledge that makes it difficult for both teachers and students, or are written subjectively under the view point of the authors Teachers may not know enough about different ethnics, cultures, or locations to fully deliver the lessons Some topics about Vietnamese culture are not representative of the whole country, but rather revolving around the Northern culture Other topics concerning modern technology and innovation are difficult for students in rural or under-developed areas

The report is based on a large scale survey and covers from primary to secondary to high schools The results of this report can serve as reference for researches concerning the new English program and the new English textbooks

2.4 Previous studies

As textbooks play a crucial role in English teaching and learning and have

a close relation with the teachers, many researchers have conducted studies on teachers’ evaluation of textbooks Among them, the Master Thesis by Law (1995)

at the University of Hong Kong contains a lot of useful information The study investigates 101 Secondary School English teachers in Hong Kong on their opinions on textbooks in general and textbook evaluation The study finds out that the teachers’ criteria in evaluating textbooks are different from those of the Curriculum Development Institute in Hong Kong, and the teachers support that there should be a set of guidelines in textbook evaluation

Another study on this topic takes a different approach and investigates teachers’ evaluation on one specific textbook is Hidayet Tok’s “TEFL textbook evaluation: From teachers’ perspectives”, published in 2010 The research examines the language textbook “Spot On”, which is used in primary schools in Turkey, in terms of layout and design, activities and tasks, language type, subject, content and skills, and whole aspects Participants are 46 English teachers chosen randomly from Turkish primary school The study finds out that the “Spot On” textbook does not meet the demand of the teachers and has more negative attributes than positive ones

2.5 Research gap

Regarding the change in curriculum and textbooks in Vietnam, studies have been conducted on the feasibility of the change (Le and Barnard, 2009) and the new High school textbooks’ pragmatic content (Nguyen, 2011) However, little can be found about the difficulties that teachers, specifically secondary school teachers, face when teaching using the new textbooks, except for some newspaper

headlines The VNIES (2016) report is not published and is not accessible for everyone From this gap, the researcher is highly motivated to conduct the research

on “Challenges in teaching the new Secondary School English textbooks”

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY

This chapter presents the methods employed in the research It includes choice of participants, data collection instruments, data collection procedure, data analysis instruments, and data analysis procedure

3.1 Participants and the selection of participants

In order to find the answer to the research questions, the researcher choses

to investigate the English teachers in Nguyen Tat Thanh Secondary School, Hanoi

It should be noted that the school is part of Hanoi University of Education’s system and is very well-equipped with teaching facilities Thanks to the school’s international relationship, not only its students but also teachers have the opportunities to study and train abroad, which not every secondary school English teacher in Hanoi can get The participants for this study are chosen by convenience sampling method

There are eight English teachers in Nguyen Tat Thanh secondary school, seven female teachers and one male teacher There is a generation gap between the teachers as most of them are in their forties while only two are in their twenties The more-experienced teachers have all been teaching for more or less than twenty years with one teacher at the age of 49, two at the age of 44 including the male teacher, two at the age of 42 and one at the age of 40 The two younger teachers are 26 and 23 years old, with the youngest just graduated last year and has been teaching at the school for less than a year

3.2 Research design: Case Study

In this study, the researcher decides to conduct a case study at Nguyen Tat Thanh Secondary School Merriam-Webster’s dictionary (2009) defines case study

as “an intensive analysis of an individual unit” that takes into account the relationship between developmental factors and the environment Case study can also be defined as “the study of an instance in action” (Adelman, Kemmis, & Jenkins, 1980) The instance of a case study are typically real people in real situations As Cohen, Manion, & Morrison (2002, p.253) state, case studies are

“set in temporal, geographical, organizational, institutional and other contexts that make up the boundaries of the study” and “can be defined with reference to the characteristics or the roles of the individuals or groups involved”

According to Nisbet and Watt (1984), a case study can help readers understand how ideas and abstract principles fit together as it is a specific instance designed to illustrate a more general principle As Robson (2002) remarks, case study favors analytic rather than statistical generalization; as such, it can approach situations in ways that numerical analysis cannot always does Another strength of case study is the ability to establish cause and effect by observing real contexts Both causes and effects are determined by the contexts they are set in and as Sturman (1999) argues, human are creatures characterized by holistic systems rather than a combination of fragmented traits Nisbet and Watt (1984) also state that the whole is more than just the connection of components By observing this whole, a case study can present its instance in relation to the real world and the abstract theories

Yin (1984) categories case studies into three types based on their outcome: exploratory (as a pilot to other studies or research questions), descriptive (providing narrative accounts), and explanatory (testing theories) The researcher identifies this study as a descriptive case study Through the case study, the researcher aims to observe the participants in their own working environment This approach to the study seems the most befitting to the expected outcome

3.3 Data collection instruments

The researcher proposed two instruments to collect data: questionnaire and interview All the information will only be publicized with the participants’ allowance

3.3.1 Questionnaire

This data collection tool was employed to find out the teachers’ evaluation

of the new textbook The questionnaire is in the form of a textbook evaluation checklist and was adapted from Miekley (2005)

The questionnaire covers basic information about the participants and the evaluation checklist to evaluate the new textbooks The checklist contains three main sections about the Textbook (which examines the Content, Vocabulary and Grammar, Exercises and Activities, and Attractiveness of the Text and Physical Make-up), the Teacher’s Manual (which examines the General Features, Background Information, Methodological Guidance, and Supplementary Exercises and Materials), and the Context (which takes into account the curriculum and the students)

This instrument was chosen for its efficiency regarding researcher time and effort Though this study does not require collecting data from a large group of participants, which is an advantage of questionnaire, this tool still ease the process

of collecting data about the teachers’ evaluation of the textbooks According to Dornyei (2003), questionnaire can be utilized to deal with numerous topics, one of which is evaluation

On the other hand, questionnaire do have major drawbacks Participants may not fully understand the items and the collected data may be unreliable and superficial To overcome this weakness, the researcher decided to also gather information from another tool: interview

3.3.2 Semi-structured interview

As Fontana and Frey (1994, p 361) stated, “interviewing is one of the most common and most powerful ways we use to try to understand our fellow human beings” The teachers can talk about their thoughts on the new textbooks and the

difficulties they face This data collection method can collect non-observable data such as the participants’ attitude towards the textbooks or self-reported difficulties (Mackey & Gass, 2015)

The interview procedure was carried out right after the participant finished the questionnaire The interview questions focused on facilitating teacher’s elaboration of their choices in the questionnaire and inviting them to share the difficulties that they face when using the new textbooks

However, it is not without flaws Interviewing can be a challenging skill and the interviewees might not share the correct information, whether deliberately

or not To address these concerns, conducting multiple interviews with the same subject and cross-checking with other interviewers are needed to ensure the validity of the data

3.4 Data collection procedure

3.4.1 Questionnaire

Step 1: Designing the questionnaire

The researcher adapted the evaluation checklist by Miekley (2005)

to design the questionnaire

Step 2: Consulting and adjusting

The researcher sought consultation from the Supervisor and Head of English Division at Nguyen Tat Thanh Secondary School and make adjustment needed to the questionnaire

Step 3: Administrating

The researcher delivered the questionnaire to the eight teachers in the English Division of Nguyen Tat Thanh secondary school Each participant completed the questionnaire with the presence of the researcher and was followed

up by the interview

3.4.2 Interview

Step 1: Designing the interview questions

The researcher prepared several interview questions based on the content of the questionnaire for the semi-structured interview

Step 2: Making appointments with the participants

The researcher contacted the eight teachers of English Division of Nguyen Tat Thanh Secondary school to make appointments Time and place of interview were discussed and agreed upon by both sides

Step 3: Interviewing

The interviews were conducted following the pre-determined schedule The interviews took place throughout March, 2018 All the information was recorded with permission from the participants or noted down otherwise and stored in a secure file

3.5 Data analysis methods

The researcher proposes two data analysis methods for the two instruments: Quantitative analysis for questionnaire results and Qualitative for interview results

3.5.1 Quantitative analysis – Questionnaire

After collecting the data, the researcher coded the participants from A to H Then, all the questionnaire results were transferred into Microsoft Excel This program is basic, user-friendly, and efficient in storing and analyzing data It is also accessible from almost any computer, which eases the process for the researcher Next, the researcher calculated the Mean value of each questionnaire item to draw findings from the data The results are displayed in tables followed

by data analysis

3.5.2 Qualitative analysis – Interview

The interview results were first stored and transcribed Afterwards, the researcher highlighted the related information and categorized the answers As the

interview is semi-structured, participants’ answers started from questions related

to the questionnaire and diverted from there The data from the interview was then compared to the questionnaire’s result and findings were drawn

3.6 Data analysis procedure

3.6.1 Questionnaire

Step 1: Coding participants

The researcher coded the participants from A to H in order of years of teaching experience from least experienced to most experienced

Step 2: Importing results

The questionnaire results were imported into Microsoft Excel and the Mean of each item was calculated

Step 3: Presenting the results

The researcher separated each part of the questionnaire into tables for the findings and discussion chapter

3.6.2 Interview

Step 1: Transcribing the data

The recordings of the interview were transcribed from oral to written form The information was checked thoroughly to ensure reliability of interview findings

Step 2: Categorizing the data

The information related to the strengths and weaknesses of the new textbooks, and the challenges that the teachers faced was highlighted and categorized into suitable sections Personal information of participants was coded accordingly to the questionnaire

Step 3: Reporting the data

The researcher compiled the results from the questionnaire and the interview to draw findings and interpretations

CHAPTER 4: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

This chapter presents the findings from data analysis and discusses the results It is separated into three parts: the analysis of the data, findings from the data and discussion, and suggestions proposal The data is presented in tables

4.1 Data analysis - Teacher’s evaluation of the new English textbooks

4.1.1 Content

i Is the subject matter presented either topically or

functionally in a logical, organized manner? 2.86