An evaluation of the coursebook “Solutions Upper-intermediate” for tenth- grade English majors at Foreign Language Specialized School, ULIS, VNU is the results of my resear[r]
Trang 1VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES
NGUYỄN THI ̣ PHƯƠNG
AN EVALUATION OF THE COURSEBOOK “SOLUTIONS UPPER-INTERMEDIATE” FOR TENTH-GRADE ENGLISH MAJORS AT FOREIGN LANGUAGE SPECIALIZED SCHOOL, ULIS, VNU
(Đánh giá giáo trình “Solutions Upper-intermediate” dùng cho học sinh chuyên Anh lớp 10 tại trường THPT Chuyên Ngoại Ngữ, Đại học Ngoại Ngữ,
Đại học Quốc Gia Hà Nội)
M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS
Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 6014.0111
HANOI – 2016
Trang 2VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES
NGUYỄN THI ̣ PHƯƠNG
AN EVALUATION OF THE COURSEBOOK “SOLUTIONS UPPER-INTERMEDIATE” FOR TENTH-GRADE ENGLISH MAJORS AT FOREIGN LANGUAGE SPECIALIZED SCHOOL, ULIS, VNU
(Đánh giá giáo trình “Solutions Upper-intermediate” dùng cho học sinh chuyên Anh lớp 10 tại trường THPT Chuyên Ngoại Ngữ, Đại học Ngoại Ngữ,
Đại học Quốc Gia Hà Nội)
M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS
Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 6014.0111
Supervisor: Prof Nguyễn Hòa
HANOI - 2016
Trang 3i
CANDIDATE'S STATEMENT
I, Nguyen Thi Phuong, hereby certify that the thesis entitled:
An evaluation of the coursebook “Solutions Upper-intermediate” for tenth-grade English majors at Foreign Language Specialized School, ULIS, VNU
is the results of my research for the degree of Master of Arts at University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi and the thesis has not been submitted for any degrees at any other universities or tertiary institutions
Hanoi, 2016
Nguyễn Thị Phương
Trang 4ii
ACKNOWLEDEGEMENT
A thesis costs every researcher a lot of time to complete and mine does, too However, I could not finalize this study with personal efforts and without the assistance of some enthusiastic people who I want to send my deep thanks to
The first one, I want to sincerely thank is Prof Nguyen Hoa He is my
supervisor His constructive comments helped me realize my mistakes and have the reasonable corrections In addition, his enthusiasm made each step in my research process easier and made me feel more comfortable and be under less stress caused
by the great amount of work Nothing can totally and exactly express my gratitude
to him I also acknowledge my gratitude to Dr Tran Thi Tuyet for her useful
lectures on materials evaluation and development She also gives me valuable instructions, comments, and her kindly encouragement during the development of this thesis
especially Tran Thi Lan, (M.A), who is a head of English Division at FLSS and
tenth-grade English majors at FLSS, ULIS, VNU for their cooperation as well as their help in the survey Without their support, the questionnaires and interviews which orientate the suggestions – the heart of my thesis – could not be completed as expected
Lastly, I want to thank my parents who gave me the life and stand by me on each step I take in this life The completion of my research could not be achieved without their spiritual supports
Trang 5iii
ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study is to gauge the suitability of a coursebook titled
“Solutions Upper-intermediate” for students’ levels of English and general expectations in terms of the content and language skills Following that, the teaching-listening situation can be identified and unsuitable content will be adapted Quantitative and qualitative data are obtained through questionnaires with 70 students and semi-structured interviews with 4 teachers, in which survey questions are developed based on the students’ general expectations and MOET’s criteria Quantitative data in the questionnaires are calculated manually into rounded percentages to answer two research questions Qualitative data from “Comments” in the questionnaires with the students and from interviewed teachers are used to contribute more information to the answers to the research questions
The results reveal that the coursebook is partly appropriate to students’ levels and expectations Firstly, it could be affirmed that this coursebook partly suits their levels Reading passages are fully appreciated by the respondents Speaking, writing, and vocabulary relatively match students’ levels In contrast, listening skills and grammar are unsuitable for them It is recommended to find more difficult listening passages and grammar for the students Although vocabulary is somewhat suitable for them, it is better for several lessons with many technical terms or complex words to have more guidance and activities Secondly, as regards the appropriateness for the students’ expectations, in general, the survey results indicate that the coursebook meets their expectations in terms of the content and language skills to a certain extent The topics are various and impressive but it is advisable that more contemporary and compelling topics should be added Reading and writing are two parts which are appreciated by both the students and the teachers Listening and speaking are unable to meet the expectations of the students, which means more activities and tasks on developing these skills should be added The language content including vocabulary and grammar are generally suitable
Trang 6iv
Trang 71
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
1.1 Rationale
In Vietnamese high schools, textbooks or coursebooks are an indispensable part in English teaching and learning For non-specialized high schools, they have used the standard textbooks set by Ministry of Education and Training (MOET)
Nevertheless, in addition to the use of piloted textbooks, other schools like
specialized high schools have selected coursebooks for their own students With the current numerous number of books, the decision to choose one coursebook cannot
be taken lightly and whether it is acceptable or not is one challenging question Hence, teachers need to be knowledgeable enough to opt for the most suitable ones for their students through evaluating these materials based on the guidelines and criteria Foreign Language Specialized School (FLSS) is a specific instance which has chosen the coursebooks for their own students in learning English Teachers at English Division held a meeting and came to the conclusion that they selected
“Solutions Upper-intermediate” as the core material for tenth-grade English major students, and this material has been used for three years A question that plagues the researcher is just whether this coursebook suits the students or not Nevertheless, there have been no strict criteria established or research on evaluating this coursebook carried out so far
For that reason, the current research is undertaken to gauge this coursebook and it specifically seeks to see how far the main factors - the content and language skills suit the students’ levels of English and general expectations of the coursebook In
other words, the researcher will conduct a study titled An evaluation of the coursebook “Solutions Upper-intermediate” for tenth-grade English majors at FLSS, ULIS, VNU This research will acquaint teachers and administrators at FLSS
with a general picture about the content and language skills of this material in the eyes of their students after collecting and analyzing data Following that, the impetus for improvements which suit students’ levels and expectations is evident
Trang 82
REFERENCES
1 Brown, J., D (1988) Understanding Research in Second Language Learning A teacher’s guide to statistics and research design Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press
2 Brown, J., D (1995) Overview of the curriculum The Elements of language curriculum: A systematic approach to program development Boston, M.A:
Heinle & Heinle
3 Brown, J., D., & Rodgers, T S (2005) Doing second language research
Oxford: Oxford University Press
4 Cakit, I (2006) Evaluation of the EFL textbook “New Bridge to Success 3” from the perspectives of students and teachers Ankara, Turkey: Middle East
Technical University
5 Carter, R., & Nunan, D (2001) Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
6 Cohen, L., Manion, L., & Morrison, K (2000) Research Methods in Education London: RoutledgeFalmer
7 Council of Europe (2001) Common European Framework of Reference for
www.coe.int/t/dg4/linguistic/Source/Framework_EN.pdf
8 Cunningsworth, A (1995) Choosing Your Course Book London: Macmillan
9 Dowsett, G (1986) Interaction in the semi-structured interview In M.Emery
(e.d.), Qualitative Research Canberra: Australia Association of Adult Education
10 Dudley-Evans, T., & John, M J S (2007) Developments in English for Specific Purposes: A Multi – Disciplinary Approach Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press
11 Ellis, R (1997) The Empirical Evaluation of Language Teaching Materials
Oxford: Oxford University Press
Trang 93
12 Hutchinson, T & Waters, A (1987) English for Specific Purposes Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
13 Kiely, R & Rea-Dickins, P (2005) Program evaluation in language education Great Britain: Palgrave Macmillan
14 Le Thi Bac (2013) Evaluating the coursebook Tieng Anh 6- tap 1 (Sach thi diem) compiled under the national foreign language project entitled
“Teaching and language foreign languages in the national education system, period 2008-2020 M.A Thesis Hanoi: Learning Resource Center of ULIS, VNU
15 McDonough, J & McDonough, S (1997) Research Methods for English Language Teachers London: Arnold
16 McDonough, J & Shaw, C (1993) Materials and Methods in ELT Oxford:
Blackwell
17 McGrath, I (2002) Materials Evaluation and Design for Language
Teaching Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press
18 Nunan, D (1992) Research Methods in Language Learning Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press
19 Richards, J C (2001) Curriculum Development in Language Teaching
Cambridge: Cambridge University Pres
20 Sheldon, L (1988) Evaluating ELT textbooks and materials ELT Journal, 42 (4), pp 237-246
21 Tomlinson, B (Ed.) (1998) Materials Development in Language Teaching Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
22 Tomlinson, B (Ed.) (2003) Developing Materials for Language Teaching Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
23 Tomlinson, B., & Masuhara, H (2004) Developing Language Course Materials Singapore: SEAMEO Regional Language Center
Trang 104
24 Tran Thi Chung Oanh (2010) An evaluation on the material "Lifelines" for the first year non-English major students at Hai Phong University M.A Thesis Hanoi: Learning Resource Center of ULIS, VNU
25 Tran Thi Thu Trang (2011) An evaluation of the material "English Written Proficiency - Intermediate 1" for first year students of Foreign Languages Faculty, Thai Nguyen University M.A Thesis Hanoi: Learning Resource Center of ULIS, VNU
Trang 11I