An evaluation of the writing component in the english 12 textbook in terms of content and methodology

UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES ***************** TRẦN THỊ HẰNG AN EVALUATION OF THE WRITING COMPONENT IN THE « ENGLISH 12 » TEXTBO

UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES

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

TRẦN THỊ HẰNG

AN EVALUATION OF THE WRITING COMPONENT IN THE

« ENGLISH 12 » TEXTBOOK IN TERMS OF CONTENT AND METHODOLOGY : A CASE AT UONG BI HIGH SCHOOL, QUANG

NINH PROVINCE

ĐÁNH GIÁ PHẦN VIẾT TRONG CHƯƠNG TRÌNH SÁCH GIÁO KHOA LỚP 12 VỀ MẶT NỘI DUNG VÀ PHƯƠNG PHÁP : NGHIÊN CỨU TẠI TRƯỜNG THPT UÔNG BÍ, TỈNH QUẢNG NINH

M.A Minor Thesis

Field: English Methodology

Code: 60 14 10

Hanoi – 2010

FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES

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

TRẦN THỊ HẰNG

AN EVALUATION OF THE WRITING COMPONENT IN THE

« ENGLISH 12 » TEXTBOOK IN TERMS OF CONTENT AND METHODOLOGY : A CASE AT UONG BI HIGH SCHOOL, QUANG

NINH PROVINCE

ĐÁNH GIÁ PHẦN VIẾT TRONG CHƯƠNG TRÌNH SÁCH GIÁO KHOA LỚP 12 VỀ MẶT NỘI DUNG VÀ PHƯƠNG PHÁP : NGHIÊN CỨU TẠI TRƯỜNG THPT UÔNG BÍ, TỈNH QUẢNG NINH

MA Minor Thesis

Field: English Methodology

Code: 60 14 10 Supervisor: Hoàng Xuân Hoa, Ph.D

Hanoi - 2010

LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES

Figure 1: The materials evaluation model of Hutchinson and Waters ( 1993: 98)……… 9 Figure 2 : The process of writing ( Tribble, 1996: 38) 17

Table 3.1 Teacher’s rank of the students’ interest and students’ interest on MOET topics

(Q1)……… 26

Table 3.2: Students and teachers’ opinions about text types, tasks and activities

( Q2,3,4,5)………27

Table 3.3: The teachers and students’opinions about using four intergrated macro-skills in

the writing tasks ( Q6)……… 28

Table 3.4: Teachers and students’ opinions about the amount of knowledge given in

Table 3.11: Teachers and Students’opinions about kinds of tasks, exercises and guidance

in the writing component (Q 15,16)……….35

Table 3.12 Teachers and Students’s opinions of the interaction patterns in the class

( Q17)……….… 35

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY OF THE THESIS……… ……… i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS……… … ii

ABSTRACT……… iii

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS……….iv

LIST OF TABLES……… v

TABLES OF CONTENT………vi

PART I: INTRODUCTION………1

1 Rationale of the study……….1

2 Aims of the study……… 2

3 Research questions……… 2

4 Scope of the study……… 2

5 Significance of the study……… 2

6 Method of the study……… 3

7 Design of the study……… 3

PART II: DEVELOPMENT ……… 4

Chapter 1: Theoretical Background……… ……….4

1.1 Teaching Materials in Language Teaching and Learning 4

1.1.1 The roles of Teaching Materials 4

1.1.2 Types of Materials 4

1.2 Materials Evaluation 5

1.2.1 The concepts of Materials Evaluation 5

1.2.2 The reasons for Materials Evaluation 6

1.2.3 Types of Materials Evaluation 6

1.2.4 Materials Evaluators 7

1.2.4.1 Materials Evaluation by Outsders 7

1.2.4.2 Materials Evaluation by Insiders 8

1.2.5 Models for Materials Evaluation 8

1.2.5.1 Evaluation model by Huchinson and Waters 8

1.2.5.2 Evaluation model by Ellis 9

1.2.5.3 Evaluation model by McDonough and Shaw 10

1.2.6 Criteria for Materials Evaluation 11

Criteria defined by Hutchinson and Waters 11

1.3 Materials Adaptation 13

1.3.1 Reasons for adapting 13

1.3.2 Adapting techniques 13

1.3.2.1 Adding 13

1.3.2.2 Deleting or Omitting 14

1.3.2.3 Modifying 14

1.3.2.4 Simplifying 14

1.3.2.5 Re-ordering 14

1.4 Theoretical backgrounds to writing and teaching writing 14

1.4.1 Reasons for teaching writing 14

1.4.2 Main approaches to teaching writing 15

1.4.2.1 The product approach 15

1.4.2.2 The process approach 16

Chapter 2: The study……….18

2.1 Overview of the current situation of teaching and learning English writing component at Uong Bi High School ……… 18

2.1.1 The school context ……….18

2.1.1.1 The teachers at Uong Bi high shool………18

2.1.1.2 The learners at Uong Bi high school……… 18

2.1.2 The new English textbook for grade 12 (Standard Textbook)……… 18

2.1.3 The current teaching and learning of English 12 writing component at Uong Bi High school 19

2.1.3.1.The opportunities of the context……… 19

2.1.3.2 The constraints of the context 20

2.2 The study……… 21

2.2.1 Research questions……….21

2.2.2 Participants of the study ………21

2.2.2.1 The teachers………22

2.2.2.2 The students……….22

2.2.3 Data collection instrument……… 22

2.2.3.1 Document analysis……… 22

2.2.3.2 Survey questionnaire……….……… 22

2.2.4 Data collection procedure……… 23

Chapter 3: Results and discussions 25

3.1 Document Analysis 25

3.1.1 Description of the writing component of in the “English 12” 25

3.1.2 Requirements of the writing component of the course 25

3.2 The Survey Results 26

3.2.1 The appropriateness of the writing component to the content of the course 26

3.2.2 The appropriateness of the writing component in terms of methodology 33

3.3 Major Findings 36

3.3.1 The suitability of the writing component in the English 12 textbook to the requirements of the MOET 37

3.3.2 The suitability of the writing component to the students’needs in terms of content and methodology 38

3.4.Suggestions for the improvement 38

PART III: CONCLUSION……… 41

1 Conclusion of the study……… 41

2 Limitations of the study……… 41

3 Suggestions for further study……….……42

REFERENCES 43

TEXTBOOK……… I

APPENDIX 2: QUESTIONNAIRE FOR TEACHERS……… II

APPENDIX 3: QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS………XIII

APPENDIX 4: QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS ( Vietnamese version)…….XIV

PART I: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale of the study

Nowadays English has become increasingly important as a means of global communication and a bridge to mankind‟s knowledge In the process of global integration, the teaching and learning English has become a great concern in Vietnam Therefore, the government has changed the curriculum in order to train the citizens who can use English for communicative purposes By doing this, in 2002 the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) announced a new textbook project for upper secondary school level The new textbooks comprised two sets Set 1, unofficially called “sách chuẩn” (i.e “standard textbooks”, was intended for students pursuing Ban cơ bản (i.e The non-specialization program) and Ban tự nhiên (i.e specialization in sciences) Set 2, unofficially called “Sách nâng cao”(i.e advanced textbooks), was intended for Ban xã hội (i.e specialization in social sciences and humanities) Each set comprised of three books, from English 10 to English 12

The new English textbooks for high school students are claimed to adopt the latest teaching and learning approaches: communicative approach and learner-centered approach and aim

at developing both language skills and language knowledge for students Each unit in the new English textbooks consists of five parts: Reading, Speaking, Listening, Writing and Language Focus

English 10 and English 11 were approved and officially introduced into schools by MOET

in the academic years 2006-2007 and 2007-2008 respectively However, English 12 textbook has only been used nationwide since the academic year 2008-2009 Therefore, English 12 textbook is rather new to the students and teachers and little research has been carried out to evaluate this textbook

Uong Bi High school, one of the high schools in the country, adopted “standard textbooks”

As a teacher of English, the researcher has worked quite closely with the new textbooks It

is noticed that although the textbooks have shown a great deal of improvement compared

to the old series of grammar-based textbooks, the implementation of this textbook causes a large number of difficulties, especially the writing component

Evaluation of teaching materials is obviously a very important process in language teaching and learning The results from materials evaluation help to determine whether the

set of materials is suitable for a particular situation Most often materials evaluation is carried out to find out the strengths and weaknesses of the materials so that changes need

to be made to improve the suitability and enhance the effectiveness of the materials This is the reason why the researcher conducted an evaluation of the writing component in

“English 12” textbook

2 Aims of the study

The study is aimed to evaluate the Writing component in “English 12” textbook at Uong Bi secondary school in terms of content and methodology to determine whether it truly reflects the objectives prescribed by MOET for the course and suitable to the students‟ needs of English It is expected that the findings from the study would make contribution

to the improvement of the textbook or propose changes to enhance the effectiveness of the material for the future use

3 Research questions

The study is to find out the answers to the following research questions:

1 Does the writing component of the “English 12” textbook meet the requirements of the course in terms of content and methodology?

2 Is the writing component of the “English 12” textbook suitable to the students‟ needs in terms of content and methodology?

4 Scope of the study

Though the author is aware that in order to have a comprehensive evaluation of any material, a great number of criteria should be taken into consideration, such as the audience, the content, the methodology, the cultural bias, the authenticity, the layout etc, and each criterion needs taking into account various aspects With the scope of this minor thesis, this study is only aimed at evaluating the suitability of the writing component in English 12 textbook in the standard in terms of content and methodology

This study is a in-depth survey at Uong Bi High School in Quang Ninh Therefore, the findings of the study are not intended to be generalized to other school contexts Indeed the findings may not apply beyond the actual participants in this particular study

5 Significance of the study

The findings of the thesis will serve as a back- up for the improvements of the writing component in the “English 12” textbook, teachers‟ method adjustment and materials adaptation as well Practically, the findings are beneficial for both teachers and learners at

Uong Bi High school from the experience of reflection Secondly, the findings of the study will contribute information to textbook writers and educators to determine curricula and program direction It is also hoped that the thesis will be of contributions towards the development of the writing component in general and the writing component in “English 12” textbook in particular

6 Method of the study

In order to evaluate the writing component of the „English 12‟ textbook, document analysis and survey questionnaires were employed to address the two questions being investigated Document analysis was one of the main instruments with a thorough objective analysis of the textbook under evaluation Survey questionnaire was used to collect the data that related to the teachers‟ and students‟ perspectives and attitudes towards the textbook they have just finished The findings are expected to provide convincing evidence for the contribution to the improvement of the textbook for the future use

7 Design of the study

The study consists of three parts: the introduction, the main content and the conclusion The introduction provides the basic information such as the rationale of the study, the aims, the research questions, the scope, the significance of the study and the methods of the study

The main content is divided into 3 chapters Chapter one reviews the literature on materials evaluation It first presents the roles and types of materials in language teaching Then it presents major issues in materials evaluation, including reasons for materials evaluation, types of materials evaluation, who carries out and who provides data for materials evaluations, models for materials evaluation and criteria for materials evaluation Next it provides the information about materials adaptation such as reasons for adapting and adapting techniques Finally, it focuses on theoretical backgrounds to writing and teaching writing, which consists of reasons for teaching writing and main approaches to teaching writing This part plays an important role in the evaluation of the writing component in the study Chapter two focuses on the methodology employed in the study, including the research questions, research method, data collection procedures and the participants Chapter three reports discussions of the results, the findings and the recommendations for the improvement of the materials The conclusion presents a review of the study, the limitations and some suggestions for further research

PART II: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

1.1 Teaching materials in language teaching and learning

Materials are used in all language teaching and their role in the process of language teaching and learning is of great importance (Dudley – Evans & St John, 1998; Richards, 2001) The role of teaching materials in language teaching will be discussed in more details in the next part of this section

1.1.1 The roles of teaching materials

Significant roles that teaching materials play in language teaching are discussed by different authors in the literature Richards and Rodgers (cited in Nunan, 1991) view instructional materials as detailed specifications of content, and guidance to teachers on both the intensity of coverage and the amount of attention demanded by particular content

or pedagogical tasks

Richards and Rodgers‟ perspective is supported and clarified by Richards (2001), who points out that teaching materials can serve as the basis for much of the language input that the learners receive and as the source for much of the language practice that occurs in the classroom Richards further explains that materials provide basis for the content of the lesson, the balance of skills taught, and the kind of language practice students take part in

In addition, good teaching materials are of great help to inexperienced teachers and poorly trained teachers (Nunan, 1991; Richards, 2001) They can serve as “ a form of teacher training” (Richard, 2001: 251) and teachers can get ideas on how to plan and teach the lesson from the materials

Obviously, teaching materials are a key and crucial component in any language teaching contexts, the teacher needs to take account of the roles as well as the requirements of teaching materials when designing or selecting materials for his/ her own teaching situation

to facilitate the most learning from the students

1.1.2 Types of materials

Materials in use can vary from a textbook, institutionally prepared materials or the teacher‟s own materials (Richards, 2001) The former is referred to as published textbooks and the latter in-house materials by Robinson (1991) Which one to choose, published textbooks or in-house materials is what specialists in the field of English language teaching

(ELT) weigh up arguments O‟Neill (cited in Robinson, 1991:58) suggests that no other medium is as easy to use as a textbook More important “ a textbook is complete not just in the physical sense but in the sense that the whole term‟s or year‟s course is available to the students at once” However, Ewer and Boys (cited in Robinson, 1991) reject it in terms of the validity of the linguistic contents, the accuracy of the explanations and examples given, and the number and coverage of the exercises because the writers just focus on approach and methodology Moreover, as Swales (cited in Robinson, 1991:57) indicate published textbooks are “less self- sufficient in practice materials and in coverage of skill areas” so these textbooks need to be supplemented by some other materials

There are also arguments for and against the use of in-house materials On the one hand,

as Robinson (1991) suggests, there are three advantages of house materials Firstly, house materials are likely to be more specific and appropriate than published material and

in-to have greater face validity in terms of the language dealt with and the contexts it is presented in Secondly, in house materials may be more flexible than published textbooks Finally, the writers of in-house materials can make sure of the suitability of methodology for the intended learners On the other hand, Robinson (1991) points out making in-house materials is time- consuming and expensive What is worse is that many locally produced materials “show a striking resemblance to the published materials that have been rejected” (Swales, cited in Robinson, 1991: 58)

As a rule, there always two sides of one problem And as it is always said that there is no perfect textbook which fits all teaching- learning context So, an evaluation of materials is really important before a course book is chosen

1.2 Materials Evaluation

1.2.1.The concepts of materials evaluation

There are many ways of defining evaluation According to Brown (1995) evaluation is defined as “ the systematic collection and analysis of all relevant information necessary to promote the improvement of a curriculum and assess its effectiveness within the context of the particular institution involved” This definition requires that information be gathered and analyzed in a systematic manner and that only relevant information should be included, that is other information can be ignored

Nunan (1988) suggests that evaluation be “a process not a final product” that means it takes place at any time of the material design The first and foremost emphasis of

evaluation is to determine whether the goals and objectives of a language program are being attained

According to Tom Hutchinson and Waters (1993) evaluation is really a matter of judging the fitness of something for a particular purpose “Given a certain need, and in the light of the resources available, which out of number of possibilities can represent the best solution? There is no absolute good or bad- only degrees of fitness for the required purpose”

From the above definitions, it can be inferred that materials evaluation involves the determination of what needs to be evaluated, the objectives and requirements for the materials, and the judgments of the value of the materials being evaluated in relation to the objectives and requirements determined

1.2.2 The reasons for materials evaluation

There are two main reasons for carrying out materials evaluation Firstly, there may be a need to choose among the materials available the most suitable ones to use for a particular situation Secondly, there can be a need for materials evaluation to determine whether the material which has been chosen works for that situation after it has been used for a period

of time ( Ellis, 1997)

Robinson (1991) adds, evaluation can be used as part of quality control Through evaluation, we can know about the advantages and disadvantages as well as the effectiveness of the being used materials Then we can decide whether the materials can be reused or whether it needs to be adapted to meet the need of the particular teaching situation or we need to change it absolutely

In short, the findings of materials evaluation will provide input for responsible people to evaluate the effectiveness of the materials

1.2.3 Types of materials evaluation

There are three types of evaluation according to the reasons for materials evaluation: Preliminary evaluation, formative evaluation and summative evaluation

Preliminary Evaluation

This types of evaluation is carried out before a course begins in order to select the most suitable and relevant materials for a particular group of learners

This also has the purpose of identifying which aspects of the published materials need to

be adapted to suit the purposes of the evaluators (Robinson, 1991; Ellis, cited in Tomlinson,

1993) This can be done by “determining a set of criteria which are used to reach a decision regarding which book to adopt and how it needs to be adapted” ( Ellis, cited in Tomlinson, 1993: 220)

Formative Evaluation

This type is normally carried out during the life of a course project and the results obtained can be used to modify what is being done Or in other words, such results may suggest the development of the materials in the future

Summative Evaluation

Summative evaluation is referred to as evaluation as retrospective evaluation (Ellis, 1997)

It takes place at the end or sometimes after the course has been implemented and very valuable for “durable course” (Dudley – Evans, 1998) According to Richards (2001), a summative materials evaluation is conducted to determine whether the materials have worked well The findings will normally lead to the decision whether to repeat or use the materials again or not: and which aspects of the materials need to be changed and how to modify them to make the materials after they have been used This kind of evaluation therefore can serve as a means of “testing” the validity of a before- program evaluation and

it can point out “ways in which the predictive instruments can be improved for future use” ( Ellis, 1997: 37)

In short, whatever the types of evaluation, preliminary, formative, or summative are, it is very important that the evaluator identifies clearly the reasons for their evaluation so that it can be beneficial for the use of the materials (Robinson, 1991)

1.2.4 Materials evaluators

A great deal of published work on materials evaluation (Dudley – Evans & St John, 1998; Tomlinson, 1998; Robinson, 1991; Richards, 2001) reveals that materials evaluation can be carried out by outsiders (those who are not involved in the program, for example, consultants, inspectors, and adminstrators ) or insiders (e.g teachers, students, course or materials designers); each method has its own advantage as well as disadvantages

1.2.4.1 Materials evaluation by outsiders

As many researchers think, the advantages of having outsiders involved in materials evaluation are obvious They can bring “ fresh” and “ objective” perspectives into the evaluation However, there may be some disadvantages; outsiders as evaluators will have their own views on language teaching methods They may not understand the teaching and

learning situation in which the evaluation is being carried out So, as Robinson (1991) suggests, they may be unsympathetic and it may take more time for them to get to know the local situation such as learners‟ needs, facilities as well as constrainst As a result, it may be hard for them to make exact judgements and realistic recommendations; or may be what they find has already been found ( Dudley- Evans & St John, 1998)

1.2.4.2 Materials evaluation by insiders

Materials evaluation by insiders has some advantages especially if the overall purpose of evaluation is for “ development” and thus for better use in the future As they have already involved in the program, they will understand the teaching and learning situation well (Tomlinson, 1998) Tomlinson‟s view is strongly supported by Holliday (cited in Dudley – Evans & St John, 1998) and Richards (2001) According to Holliday (1998: 296), the evaluator‟s understanding of “ cultural and political factors” of the institution in which the evaluation takes place would be very important for the evaluator to make exact judgements and realistic recommendations Richards (2001) holds the view that the involvement of the insider plays a very important role in the success of evaluation because “ as a consequence, they will have a greater degree of commitment to acting on its results” Richards also points out insiders, especially teachers, can „ monitor‟ when the materials are being used, they therefore can determine if and to what extent the materials „ work‟ for their purposes and thus they can make modifications to improve the effectiveness of the materials However, the insiders “ may be too close and involved” (Dudley-Evans & St John, 1998: 131) so the evaluation may be influenced by their teaching experience and their subjective views

In short, who will carry out the evaluation outsiders or insiders should be determined according to the purposes of the evaluation and to the facilities as well as the constraints of the situation in which the evaluation takes place

1.2.5 Models for materials evaluation

There are different models for materials evaluation suggested by different authors in the literature The popular models are the ones suggested by Hutchinson and Waters (1993), Ellis (1997) and McDonough and Shaw (1993)

1.2.5.1 Evaluation model by Huchinson and Waters

Hutchinson and Water (1997)‟s model is a macro- evaluation which as defined by Ellis (1997:37) as the “overall assessment of whether an entire set of materials has worked” for

a particular situation In their model, Hutchinson and Waters (1993: 96) defined materials evaluation as a “matter of judging the fitness of something for a particular purpose” In this view, the evaluation is divided into 4 steps (see Figure 1)

Figure 1: The materials evaluation model of Hutchinson and Waters ( 1993: 98)

As can be seen in Figure 1, this model presents a logical procedure for materials evaluation

To examine whether the materials are suitable for a certain group of learners or not, there must be certain criteria against which our judgments or evaluation are based It is also a must to determine the objectives or the requirements for the materials because we can not measure the success of a particular activity or a whole set of materials if there is no clear objective for it

1.2.5.2 Evaluation model by Ellis

A Micro – evaluation is the evaluation of one particular teaching task which the evaluator has a special interest in (Ellis, 1997) In this model Ellis suggests the practice of a detailed empirical evaluation and focuses on evaluation at the task level with reference to its actual

What realizations of the criteria

do you want in your course?

OJECTIVE ANALYSIS How does the material being evaluated realize the criteria?

MATCHING How far does the material match your

needs?

teaching-learning context The aim in this model is to identify the match between task planned and task in use He also suggests that dimensions focused on macro- evaluation (e.g approach, purpose, focus, scope, evaluators, timing, and types of information) can also be applicable to micro evaluation This type of evaluation can only be conducted when the materials are being used in the classroom The steps involved in the evaluation model suggested by Ellis (1997) are:

1 Choosing a task to follow

2 Describing the task with specification of input, procedures, language activities, and outcome

3 Planning the evaluation with reference to the dimensions above

4 Collecting information before, while and after the task was used, and what and how the task was performed

5 Analysis of the information collected

6 Findings of the evaluation and making recommendations for future teaching: and

7 Writing the report

It could be said that a micro evaluation may be more manageable than a macro-evaluation, but it is time-consuming

1.2.5.3 Evaluation model by McDonough and Shaw

Mc Donough and Shaw (1993) suggest a three-stage evaluation model, namely external evaluation, internal evaluation and overall evaluation:

- External evaluation (Macro-Evaluation) is the examination of the claims made for the whole materials by the author or publisher They can be in the forms of claims made on the cover of the book, the instructions, and the table of content The evaluation at this stage helps to identify whether the material is potentially appropriate If the external evaluation shows that the materials are potentially appropriate then the internal stage starts, if the findings show that the materials are inappropriate, the evaluation will be finished at the external stage

- The internal stage (Micro- Evaluation) requires an in-depth look at two or more units to examine whether the claims made by the author are the one found in the internal evaluation

- The overall evaluation of the materials is to determine the suitability of the materials by considering a number of factors such as the usability factor, the generalizability factor, adaptability factor and flexibility factor

In summary, although these three models vary in the processes and the nature of the purposes, they all serve to evaluate whether the set of the materials is appropriate to a certain situation or group of learners An evaluator must be based on the purposes of the evaluation, time available, facilities as well as constraints of the context in which the evaluation takes place to decide which model to follow

As presented above, this work aimed at investigating the suitability of the writing sections

in the new textbook English 12 to the particular teaching and learning situation, i.e the teachers, the students and the teaching and learning conditions at UB high school Moreover, this research is not to check the potential appropriateness of a writing material for future use or the fitness of a specific writing task but to evaluate the whole writing sections which are being used by the teachers and students at UB high school With these purposes in mind and after a careful consideration of the purposes of the above evaluation models, the researcher decided to use the evaluation model by Hutchinson and Waters (1993)

1.2.6 Criteria for materials evaluation

Criteria are what evaluators use to “reach a decision regarding what needs to be evaluated” (Tomlinson, 1998: 220) which are the bases upon which evaluators depend on when making judgments Defining criteria for evaluation is one of the crucial issues evaluators must take into account before any evaluation can take place Criteria for materials evaluation depend what is being evaluated and why they need to be evaluated (Dudley – Evans and St John, 1998) But because the researcher chose the evaluation model by Hutchinson and Waters, it is much more reasonable to have deeper understanding about its criteria

Criteria defined by Hutchinson and Waters

Hutchinson and Waters (1993) in their checklist for materials evaluation suggested 5 criteria for evaluation as follows:

Audience:

The first criteria in materials evaluation is the audience of the materials with regards to different information such as sex, ages, study or professional fields, status with respect to professional fields, knowledge of English, of areas of work or study and of the world, educational background, interest and so on

Aims:

Like any language course, which has its own aims and objectives, the evaluation of the course needs to be carried out to find out if the materials can satisfy those aims and objectives of the course

Content:

Content is one of the most important elements of the materials As far as material content

is concerned, it is necessary to measure if the content of the materials is suitable to the content prescribed in terms of language description, language points, macro – skills and their promotion, and micro- skills The evaluation also needs to find out if the text – types

of the materials are suitable to the requirement of the course In general it is very important

to take into consideration the learners‟ subject – matters in terms of level of knowledge, types of topics, and how these topics are presented Finally, the evaluation needs to find out if the way the content is organized and sequenced within a unit and throughout the course is appropriate

is the teaching and learning techniques Whether the teaching- learning techniques that can

be used with the materials are those required by the course and suitable to the learners Furthermore, the evaluation also needs to discover if teaching aids available for use are those required by the materials In addition, the evaluation needs to find out whether the materials supply the teachers with necessary guidance and support for teaching the course Finally, it is necessary to determine if the materials are flexible so that they can be used in different orders to suit the teaching contexts

Other criteria

In addition to the criteria mentioned above, some other criteria are also suggested such as price and availability of the materials

To sum up, in this thesis the researcher used the evaluation model by Hutchinson and Waters because the criteria defined by Hutchinson and Waters appeared to be more manageable and suitable to the objectives of the current study However, due to the scope and purposes of the research, she was to use the two criteria: content and methodology They are the most important criteria when making materials evaluation

1.3 Materials adaptation

1.3.1 Reasons for adapting

Once the materials have been evaluated, potential problem areas can be identified: What the materials offer can not be exactly what our learners‟ need; The materials methodology may not match our own, Our general aims may not match the aims of the materials; the aims of a particular lesson/ unit in the materials may not match our lesson- by – lesson aims We will have to prioritize and select We may need to supplement the materials There are five ways of modifying materials

1.3.2 Adapting techniques

1.3.2.1 Adding

The notion of addition is that materials are supplemented by putting more into them, while taking into account the practical effect on time allocation First, we can certainly add in this quantitative way by the technique of extending “This means that the techniques are being applied within the methodological framework of the original materials: in other words, the model is not itself changed” ( McDough and Shaw, 1993: 89) We can do this in the following situation: A second reading passage parallel to the one provided is helpful in reinforcing the key linguistic features- tenses, sentence structures, vocabulary, cohesive devices – of the first text Second, more far-reaching perspective on addition of materials can be termed expanding This kind of addition is not just extension of and existing aspect

of content They go further than this by bringing about a qualitative as well as a quantitative change… This can be thought of as a change in the overall system” (McDonough and Shaw, 1993:90)

1.3.2.2 Deleting or Omitting

Deletion is clearly the apposite process to that of addition As we saw in the previous section that materials can be added both quantitatively (extending) and qualitatively (expanding), the same point applies when a decision is taken to omit materials The most straightforward aspect of reducing the length of materials is subtracting

Addition and deletion often work together Material may be taken out and then replaced with something else The methodological change is greater when, for example, grammar practice is substituted after the omission of an inappropriate communicative function, or when a reading text is replaced by a listening passage

1.3.2.3 Modifying

Modifying‟ can be sub-divided under two related headings The first of these is rewriting, when some of the linguistic content needs modification, the second is restructuring, which applies to classroom management

1.3.2.4 Simplifying

The technique of simplification is a type of modification, namely a “rewriting” activity The elements of a language which can be simplified are: The instructions and explanations that accompany exercises and activities, and even the visual layout of materials so that it becomes easier to see how different part fit together However, texts, most often reading passages are applied this technique Usually, the emphasis has been on changing various sentences- bound elements to match the text more closely to the proficiency level of a particular group of learners

1.3.2.5 Re-ordering

This procedure refers to the possibility of putting the parts of a course book in a different order This may mean adjusting the sequence of presentation within a unit, or taking units

in a different sequence from that originally intended

1.4 Theoretical backgrounds to writing and teaching writing

1.4.1 Reasons for teaching writing

“ Writing is a language skill which is difficult to acquire” (Tribble, 1996:3)

This statement is always right under any circumstances First and foremost, written language is quite different from spoken language Tribble assures that in speaking the primary emphasis is on the building of relationships; in writing emphasis is on recording things, on completing tasks, or on developing ideas and arguments

When we learn a second or a foreign language, we learn to communicate with other people: to understand them, talk to them An integral part of participating fully an a new culture setting is learning how to communicate when the other person is not right there in front of us, listening to our words and looking at our gestures and facial expressions

Visitors to another country will often have to leave a note for the mailman, fill out a customs declaration form, give written instructions, or write a thank-you letter

But the fact that people frequently have to communicate with each other in writing is not the only reason to include writing as part of ours syllabus Raims (1983: 3) thinks there is

“…an additional and very important reason: writing helps our students learn.” She shows three ways in which students can learn through writing:

First, writing reinforces the grammatical structures, idioms and vocabulary that we have been teaching our students Second, when our students write, they also have a chance to be adventurous with the language, to go beyond what they have just learned to say, to take ricks Thirdly, when they write, they necessarily become very involved with the new language; the effort to express ideas and the constant use of eye, hand and brain is a unique way to reinforce learning

As well as speaking, writing is a productive skill, so it is writing that provides students with a chance to put all those language elements they have learnt into practice They practice the language itself and practice communicative skill at the same time Through the act of writing students will realize what they are already good at and what they still need to learn to become a better and more effective writer (also a better learner!) By far, the difficult question for teachers to answer is not “why teach writing”, but it is how to create good reasons for writing

1.4.2 Main approaches to teaching writing

1.4.2.1 The product approach

Prior to the advent of learner centredness, ELT ( English Language Teaching) was largely pre-occupied with the finished product in directing learners towards pre-specific objectives

In the product approach, students‟ attention focuses on adhering to and duplicating models

of the concrete language Typically, students, in the class adopting product approach, would find themselves studying model texts and attempting various exercises aimed towards drawing attention to relevant features of a text These exercises would require students to complete sentences or add logical connections, and in a final exercise, students would produce parallel texts based on their own information Robinson (1991, cited in Hutchinson, T & Warters, A., 1997: 116) summarises this approach in the following way:

New Input Parallel Text

The product approach, while still very popular, fails to consider non- native students‟ individual needs in, for example, wanting to determine how native speakers come to their final products White (1988) and Jordan (1997) argue that adopting such an approach not only does the very nature of the sequence provide little or no insight into the actual process involved in managing to arrive at the final product, but the students are also restricted in what they can write

1.4.2.2 The process approach

Recently, teaching of writing has begun to move away from a concentration on the written product to an emphasis on the process of writing The process approach has emphasized the idea of writing as problem-solving with a focus on thinking and process The process approach developed by the way of a reaction to the confines presented by the product approach Consequently, students changing classes from product to process- from an approach devoted to correct form and accuracy- would find themselves liberated with an approach concerned with individual levels of fluency and expression The process approach empowers its students, thereby enabling them to make clearer decisions about direction of their writing by means of discussion, task drafting, feedback and informed choice This process encourages students to be responsible for making improvement themselves as opposed to the mimicking of pre-determined models As the process approach focuses on the writing process and the writers‟ gradual improvement, it involves several stages Robinson (1991, cited in Hutchinson, T & Waters, A., 1997: 117) presents the writing stages as followed:

Writing Task → Draft 1→ Feedback → Revision → Input →Draft2→Feedback

→Revision → Draft 3

Tribble (1996), having similar point to that of Robinson, proposes a simple four- stage process: prewriting, composing, revising and editing, which is outlined in the figure below:

PRE – WRITING (specifying the task/planning and outlining/collecting data/making notes)

COMPOSING

REVISING (Reorganizing/shifting emphasis/focusing information and style for your readership)

EDITING (Checking grammar/lexis/surface features)

Figure 2 : The process of writing (Tribble, 1996: 38)

So in the process approach, the students do not write on a given topic in a restricted time and hand in the composition for the teacher to “correct” – which usually means to find the errors Rather, they explore a topic through writing, showing the teacher and each other their drafts, and using what they write to read over, think about, and move them on to new ideas

Teachers who use the process approach give their students two crucial supports: time for the students to try out ideas and feedback on the content of what they write in their drafts They find that then the writing process becomes a process of discovery for the students: the discovery of new ideas and new language forms to express those ideas

CHAPTER 2: THE STUDY 2.1 Overview of the current situation of teaching and learning English writing component at Uong Bi High School

2.1.1 The school context

2.1.1.1 The teachers at Uong Bi High school

There are 9 teachers of English (eight females and one male), aged from 30 to 54, currently working in Uong Bi High school Among them, one-third studied at Hanoi Foreign Language Teacher Training College Another one-third was former teachers of Russian who graduated from the same college The rests who were trained from in-service training courses have experienced teaching for many years However, their communication and ability as well as new teaching methods should be improved

Obviously, the age of the English teaching staff reveals the fact that all of them were trained in the traditional method- the Grammar Translation Method Few of them have taken retraining courses to improve their English and their teaching methods This constrains them from teaching speaking effectively Nevertheless, most of them are enthusiastic in working At the present time, each teacher has to teach fifteen periods divided into 5 classes per week excluding the burden of marking examination papers and time for a lot of different school work More than this, the teachers often have to cope with about 40 students in each class Apparently, the teachers in Uong Bi high school have to deal with a heavy workload in order to fulfill their task

2.1.1.2 The learners at Uong Bi High school

The majority of students in the study at Uong Bi high school are aged from 15 to 18 Most

of them come from urban areas and they have learnt English since they were at primary schools Therefore, their English proficiency is somehow better than students from rural parts due to the availability of opportunities to attend part-time English courses and chances to contact with English speaking people Among them, there are a large number of students who are really interested in learning English and want to develop their ability in using English By contrast, the other part of students is lowly motivated They tend to regard English as less important than other subjects and they study English in order to pass the exams

2.1.2 The new English textbook for grade 12 (Standard Textbook)

“English 12” is a 199-page-long textbook which was based on the new English national

curriculum for high school of the Ministry of Education and Training This course is the following of English 10 and English 11

English 12 is claimed to adopt a theme-based syllabus with 16 teaching units and 6 review units Each teaching unit is about a certain topic which is structured into five sections, Reading, Speaking, Listening, Writing and Language Focus Each section is supposed to

be taught in a period of 45 minutes Reading: Each unit has a 300-word text which

provides students with language input and ideas to practice other language skills It also

helps them develop their reading skills Speaking: This part consists of speaking activities which was designed for individual, pair work or group work Listening: For this section, a

text or a dialogue relating to the unit‟s topic is included to develop the students‟ listening skills, improve their pronunciation as well as their language structure

Writing: The writing section may begin with a model, followed by tasks or activities that

guide students through the writing process such as model analysis, language work and guided writing for the sake of developing their writing skills The tasks‟ requirements are often writing individual letters, writing application letter or describing events and charts …

In other words, the students have to write text on familiar topics based on given models or prompts The writing content of each unit which is clearly summarized in a book map is

printed on the first page of the book in Appendix 1 The six review units called “Test

yourself” are 45 minute tests They are sample tests for the teacher Each test contains four

main components: Reading, Listening, Writing and Language Focus There is no revision for speaking skills To the writing component in each review, students are required to write another composition relating to the topic of each teaching unit

It can be concluded that English 12, in general and the writing section, in particular has a

clear organizational structure, which can be helpful for teachers in conducting their lessons and students in managing self-study

2.1.3 The current teaching and learning of English 12 writing component at Uong Bi high school

2.1.3.1 The opportunities of the context

The context offers several opportunities for the English teaching and learning in Uong Bi high school Firstly, most of the students come from urban area and they have learnt

English since they were at primary school Therefore, their English proficiency is somehow better than the students from rural parts Secondly, a large number of them are really interested in learning English and want to acquire their language proficiency Finally, most of the teachers in Uong Bi High school are active and enthusiastic and ready to change for the better However, the limitations exist leading to the unfavorable learning and teaching results

2.1.3.2.The constraints of the context

Constraints come from all people of concern in the program Firstly, although the students are both intrinsically and extrinsically motivated, their investment seems to be not enough for the subject Their workload of their other subjects and their personal matters deprives them of time and energy for English learning Thus, good result cannot be expected with low commitment to the target language study Secondly, since the students strive for the discrete-oriented entrance examination with reading and grammar competency only, their communicative competence are mainly at low level Although they can do MCQ grammar tests well, most of them cannot write correct and comprehensible sentences, i.e the ability

to negotiate meaning is not satisfactory To make it worse, the opportunities for them to communicate with the native speakers are meager Besides, the cultural aspects counteract the application of new teaching approaches In primary and secondary school, the students used to be taught in teacher-centered and teacher-led approach They did not raise their voice if they were not called upon by the teachers Teachers were the authorities and whatever teachers said were thought to be correct Interruptions or arguments are considered to be rude In brief, they are not active enough to negotiate participatory interaction

Another problem which can be seen in the typical learning style of Uong Bi High school students is the formal and teacher-dominated methods with emphasis on grammar and vocabulary Consequently, most students remain passive in classroom However, in the writing lessons, most of the tasks and activities require the students to work in pairs or groups, students seem to prefer private work, sit quietly and work on their own They do not feel comfortable joining the class discussions

Along with the passiveness of the students, the teachers are also the main cause of the problem Although most of them are very active and enthusiastic, they are not young enough to accept the change One- third was former teachers of Russian who graduated

from the same college The rests who were trained from in-service training courses so they are very affected of the traditional method - the Grammar Translation Method This makes them feel difficult to change their way of teaching Especially, in the writing lessons, teachers usually pay attention on the product- approach not the process- approach They often ask students to finish all the tasks in the book without careful instruction This makes students sometimes confused and difficult to finish some of the difficult tasks in the book

In this way, students are engaged in imitating, copying and transforming models of correct language texts to the new writing task There seems to be no explicit emphasis on the process of planning, drafting, revision, and editing

Although writing is an important skill, the assessment of it is not efficient Teachers often ask students to finish the writing tasks at home due to the constraints of time, but they rarely spend much time correcting their writings Therefore, most students do not know that they have improvements in writing skill or not To make the problem of teaching and learning the writing skill worse, almost the tests do not pay much attention on the writing skills In the tests, students are often required to rewrite the sentences with the same meaning, so the teachers often focus on vocabulary and grammar testing

2.Is the writing component of the “English 12” textbook suitable to the students‟ needs

in terms of content and methodology?

2.2.2 Participants of the study

One important issue should be given consideration is the participants or evaluators of the study Many authors in the literature hold the view that evaluation should not “be restricted

to outside evaluator” (Tomlinson, 1998:224), especially the purpose of the evaluation is development In this situation, inside evaluators may have opportunity to take advantage of their close understanding of the program context when carrying out the evaluation

2.2.2.1 The teachers

Among 9 teachers teaching English at UB High school, only 6 teachers have taught the new textbook English 12 Therefore, the subject of this study was six teachers (5 females and 1male) Most of these teachers were trained under the strong influence of the Grammar- Translation method, the emphasis of which is on the learning of the rules of the language, not on the acquisition of language skills This is obviously manifested in their teaching methods even the new material follows the communicative approach They were asked to answer questions by the end of the academic year when they have finished the textbook

2.2.2.2 The students

Uong Bi high school consisted of 10 classes of grade 12 with approximately 400 students allocated into classes from A1 to A10 The distribution of the students in each class is that the percentage of students at levels of “ Excellent”, “Good”, “average”, “under average” in every class are nearly equal That is the students in each class are similar in their background The participants were randomly chosen by picking up students from odd number classes which consisted of 200 students They were asked to answer questions by the end of the academic year when they have just finished the textbook

2.2.3 Data collection instrument

2.2.3.1 Document analysis

In evaluation, the analysis of existing documents can provide useful information and they

“form an essential part of the data for an evaluation exercise” (Robinson, 1991:71) One of the biggest advantages of document analysis is that in some situations, a document represents a reflection of reality (May, 2001)

In this thesis, document analysis was a very effective method to collect the data for the study because the purpose of this study was to evaluate the writing component in the English 12 textbook at Uong Bi High school And the evaluator was, therefore, in a position to conduct a comprehensive evaluation of the material based on an analysis of the teaching material and the requirements of the course The documents to be analyzed in this study is the book called “Tiếng Anh 12” and the curriculum and syllabus for teaching English of the MOET

2.2.3.2 Survey Questionnaire

The survey questionnaire is one of the instruments which are often used to collect data in social sciences Many significant advantages of using questionnaires are indicated by Gillham (2000): less pressure on respondents, not under pressure of interview bias, analysis of answers is straightforward

However, a survey questionnaire with too many closed ended questions may be said to be imposing to some extent and one with too many open ended questions may take respondents a lot of time to complete So, these are points worth thinking before designing

a survey questionnaire Besides, it should be noted that not all of the being sent questionnaires are returned and not all of them are really reliable

Questionnaire was chosen as data collection instrument in this study because of the purpose of the thesis itself is to collect teachers and students‟ opinions and attitudes toward the textbook

Teachers and students were requested to complete and return the questionnaire on the spot

instructions were given when the questionnaire was administered

2.2.4 Data collection procedure

In order to evaluate the writing component in the “English 12” textbook, the researcher decided to employ a combination of different data collection instruments: document

analysis and the survey questionnaires with the aim of getting fullest evaluation of the textbook from the teachers and the students who have used and learned the material The survey questionnaires were distributed to 6 English teachers and 200 grade 12 students at Uong Bi High school They were asked to answer questions by the end of the academic year when they had finished the textbook With the assistance of the Board of management , the administration of survey questionnaire was carried out very successfully The questionnaires were administered to the teachers and the students during the break in the class They were explained about the purposes of the study and how to complete the survey orally by the researcher Teachers and students were requested to complete the questionnaires on the spot The researcher collected back 6 questionnaires from the teachers and 200 questionnaires from the students All the questionnaires were answered carefully and no question was omitted

CHAPTER 3: RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS 3.1 Document analysis

3.1.1 Description of the writing component of the new textbook English 12

Aims of the writing component: write texts of 130-150 words on familiar topics based on

models or prompts for personal or communicative purposes

Content: The writing section in English 12 textbook consists of 16 different topics

corresponding with 16 units The writing content of each unit which is clearly summarized

in a book map is printed on the first page of the book in Appendix 1 In each writing topic, there has two tasks and the tasks are arranged from simple to complex and they have clear instructions Regarding language elements, the language elements introduced in the textbook was practical but it was not practical at high frequency

Methodology: Most of the tasks and activities are required students to work in pairs or

groups before working individually The writing section often begins with a model, followed by tasks or activities that guide students through the writing process such as model analysis, language work and guided writing for the sake of developing their writing skills The tasks‟ requirements are often writing individual letters, writing application letter

or describing events and charts … In other words, the students have to write text on familiar topics based on given models or prompts The communicative approach to the writing skill requires the writing activities to address real readers with real purposes This

is necessary because in real life, anyone must know who they are going to write for, what relationship they have together and why they have to write so that they can decide on what text type and what language to use to achieve their purposes However, critically looking at the writing sections in the new textbook English 12 shows that many of the writing tasks

do not specify the readership and the purpose for writing

3.1.2 Requirements of the writing component in the course

Content: According to MOET, the writing component of the course needs to focus on the following requirements

Students are acquired to be able to write a parargraph with about 130-150 words about the topics such as: letter of invitation, request letter, job application letter, writing report,

description

Topics: Firstly, the topics used in the textbook should be contextualized in real communication situations Secondly, these topics should be suitable with the students‟

psychological background knowledge as well as their needs and interests Thirdly, these topics should be interesting and highly applicable Fourthly, these topics should be spiraled and widened through the academic years Emphasis is placed on consolidating and extending the students‟ language knowledge and their language skills

Language elements: Firsly, the language elements should be contextualized through the suitable communication situations Secondly, the language elements should be practical Thirdly, the basic vocabulary and grammatical structures should be apracticed at high frequency

Exercises and tasks: firstly, the four macro-skills should be intergrated through the exercises and tasks Secondly, the introduction of language elements and language skills should be arranged from simple to complex Thirdly, the exercises and tasks in the textbook should be suitable to the students‟ level but a little challenging

Methodology: in the writing component, it is said that writing consists of many approaches,

especially the combination of communicative approach and process approach In the writing tasks, a variety of writing techniques must be used: pair work, group work, individual work

3.2 The Survey Results

The following will be the discussion on the results obtained through surveys with samples

of 200 grade 12 students (S) and 6 English teachers (T)

3.2.1 The appropriateness of the writing component to the content of the course

Describing typical feature of

Vietnamese conical leaf hat

endangered species and possible result

to make a complete paragraph

Describing school education

Describing the world you

would like to live in the

a desert, describing a book were interesting enough for the students

The rest topics were perceived not of the students‟ interest with a small percentage of choice

No (%)

Yes (%)

No ( %)

The writing types in the textbook are authentic 100 % 100 %

The writing types in the textbook are varied in 100 % 100 %