Teachers’ and students’ attitudes towards the piloted textbook english 10

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST- GRADUATE STUDIES HOÀNG THỊ CÚC TEACHERS’ AND STUDENTS’ ATTITUDES TOWARDS THE PILOT

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST- GRADUATE STUDIES

HOÀNG THỊ CÚC

TEACHERS’ AND STUDENTS’ ATTITUDES TOWARDS THE PILOTED TEXTBOOK ENGLISH 10: THE CASE OF NGHIA HUNG UPPER

SECONDARY SCHOOL, NAM DINH CITY

THÁI ĐỘ CỦA GIÁO VIÊN VÀ HỌC SINH ĐỐI VỚI SÁCH GIÁO KHOA TIẾNG ANH 10 THÍ ĐIỂM: NGHIÊN CỨU TẠI TRƯỜNG TRUNG HỌC

PHỔ THÔNG NGHĨA HƯNG A TỈNH NAM ĐỊNH

M.A Minor Programme Thesis

FIELD: Theory and Methodology of Teaching English

CODE: 60140111

HÀ NỘI - 2017

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST- GRADUATE STUDIES

HOÀNG THỊ CÚC

TEACHERS’ AND STUDENTS’ ATTITUDES TOWARDS THE PILOTED TEXTBOOK ENGLISH 10: THE CASE OF NGHIA HUNG UPPER

SECONDARY SCHOOL, NAM DINH CITY

THÁI ĐỘ CỦA GIÁO VIÊN VÀ HỌC SINH ĐỐI VỚI SÁCH GIÁO KHOA TIẾNG ANH 10 THÍ ĐIỂM: NGHIÊN CỨU TẠI TRƯỜNG TRUNG HỌC

PHỔ THÔNG NGHĨA HƯNG A TỈNH NAM ĐỊNH

M.A Minor Programme Thesis

FIELD: Theory and Methodology of Teaching English

CODE: 60140111 SUPERVIOR: Hoàng Thị Xuân Hoa, PhD

HÀ NỘI - 2017

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CANDIDATE’S STATEMENT

I certify that the minor thesis entitled: “Teachers’ and students’ attitudes

towards the piloted textbook English 10: The case of Nghia Hung Upper Secondary School, Nam Dinh City.” is submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the

degree of Master of Arts is the result of my own work, except where otherwise acknowledge and that this minor thesis or any part of the same had not been submitted for a higher degree to any other universities or institutions

Date:…….………

Signature: ………

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ACKNOWLEGDEMENTS

During the process of writing this thesis, I have been fortunate to receive supports and assistance from a variety of people

First and foremost, I wish to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Dr

Hoang Thi Xuan Hoa, who allows me to draw fully on her wisdom and experience in

implementing this study Her guidance, encouragement and invaluable detailed critical feedback have been most generous

I would like to convey my thanks to all my teachers of the Post graduate course

22 whose fundamental knowledge about language teaching and learning is of great importance to the achievement of my academic study

My heartfelt gratitude is also to the English teachers and students of Nghia Hung Upper Secondary School for their tremendous supports in the collections of data and information for my study

Finally, I wish to express my acknowledgments to other individuals who have indirectly contributed to the completion of this thesis

To all these people I only hope that the achievement of my thesis will be favorable enough to satisfy their expectation

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ABSTRACT

The textbook is an useful tool for teaching and learning second language and one of the most important components of any educational environment that lead to success or failure of the teaching and learning language This is especially true a Nghia Hung A Upper Secondary School where English teachers and students use the

piloted textbook English 10 in the course Also, the role of the teachers‟ and students‟

attitudes affects teaching and learning second language According to Karahan (2007),

“positive language attitudes let learner has positive orientation towards learning English” (p.84) Gardner, Masgoret, Tennant & Mihic (2004) claim that attitudes influence language learning As such, attitudes play a crucial role in language learning because they would influence students‟ and teachers‟ failure or success in their teaching and learning Gardner and Lambert (1972) in their studies give evidence that positive attitudes toward language enhance proficiency It is also believed that positive attitudes alleviate language learning whereas negative attitudes act as s psychological barrier against it This study is therefore conducted with the hope to investigate the teachers‟ and students‟ attitudes towards the piloted textbook English 10 The study was conducted with 2 teachers and 80 students at 10T1 and 10T2-Nghia Hung A Upper Secondary School The data was collected through interviews, observations and questionnaires to find out the attitudes of teachers and students towards the piloted textbook

The findings reveal that most of teachers and students have positive attitudes towards the topic and contents, the vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation, the physical appearance and the social cultural contexts of the piloted textbook, they have however negative attitudes towards the language contents The findings also show that the teachers‟ and students‟ positive attitudes, knowledge and background are necessary components affecting to the teaching and learning the piloted textbook English 10

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LIST OF TABLES

Tables:

Table 1: The attitudes of students towards the topic and the content of the piloted

textbook English 10 25

Table 2: The attitudes of students towards the vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation of the textbook 26

Table 3: The attitudes of students toward language contents of the textbook 27

Table 4: The attitudes of students towards the physical appearance 28

of the textbook 28

Table 5: The attitudes of students towards social and cultural contexts of the textbook 29

Table 6: The attitudes of students’ towards teaching methods 29

Charts: Chart 1: The students’ preferences toward the piloted textbook English 10 30

Chart 2: The beliefs of the students about the students’ proficiency toward the textbook 30

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

CANDIDATE’S STATEMENT i

ACKNOWLEGDEMENTS ii

ABSTRACT iii

LIST OF ABREVIATIONS iv

LIST OF TABLES v

TABLE OF CONTENTS 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 3

6 Methodology 3

6.1 Data collection 3

6.2 Data analysis 4

7 Design of the study 4

PART II: DEVELOPMENT 6

CHAPTER I: LITERATURE REVIEW 6

1 Attitudes in teaching and learning foreign language 6

1.1 Definition of attitude 6

1.2 Components of attitude 8

1.2.1 Behavioral Aspect of Attitude 10

1.2.2 Cognitive Aspect of Attitude 10

1.2.3 Emotional Aspect of Attitude 11

1.3 The roles of attitudes in language learning 11

2 The textbook in teaching and learning language 12

2.1 Definition of the textbook 12

2.2 The roles of a textbook 13

2.3 The roles of a textbook in language learning 14

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3 Related Studies 15

CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 18

1 Practical situation of teaching and learning the piloted English 10 in Nghia Hung Upper Secondary School 18

1.1 Description of the English course and its objectives at Nghia Hung Upper Secondary School 18

1.2 Description of the students at Upper Secondary School 19

1.3 Description of the teachers at Nghia Hung Upper Secondary School 20

2 Overview of the textbooks 20

3 The Study 21

3.1 Participants 21

3.2 The Data Collection Methods 21

3.2.1 The questionnaire 21

3.2.2 The interview 22

3.2.3 The observation 22

3.3 Data collection and data analysis procedures 23

3.3.1 Data collection procedures 23

3.3.2 Data analysis procedures 24

4 Conclusion 24

CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSIONS 25

1 Data analysis 25

1.1 Data analysis of questionnaire 25

1.2 Data analysis of the interview 31

1.2.1 Teachers’ response 31

1.2.2 Students’ response 34

1.3 Data analysis of classroom observation 35

2 Findings 37

3 Discussion 41

PART III CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 43

1 Implications 43

2 Limitations of the study 43

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3 Suggestions for further researches 44

4 Conclusion 44

REFERENCES 45 APPENDICES I

APPENDIX 1 IAPPREDIX 2 VAPPREDIX 3 V

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PART I: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale of the study

It is argued that language learning is regarded as the cornerstone of human existence Knowing the language can help people to express their opinions, hopes, and even their dreams (Tavil, 2009) In recent years, English has become a compulsory subject for the students in all school levels, which urges the educators and the researchers to find out ways of teaching and learning effectively There are some factors affecting teaching and learning foreign language such as personal characteristics, disposition, the background of the teachers and students, the difficulty of the language, the lack of the instruction media and facilities to teach the English language the appropriate classroom environments, the content of the English course, and the teachers' satisfaction with their job as EFL teachers, etc In foreign language learning context, there are various factors that influence the teaching and learning process such as motivation, attitudes, anxiety, learning achievements, aptitudes, intelligence, age, personalities, etc (Gardner, 1960; Lehmann, 2006, cited in Shams, 2008) The attitudes of teachers and students have

a strong impact on the success or failure of teaching and learning language Attitudes had a strong impact on teaching and learning language, which affects the success or failure of teachers and learners Also, the textbook also played an important role in teaching and learning, it provides the framework for teachers and learners in achieving the aim of the course In fact, there are no studies about the piloted textbook English 10 Hence, the study looks into the concept of attitude as one of the major affective factors for success in teaching and learning a foreign language Therefore, this research focused on the attitudes of teachers and learners towards the piloted textbook English 10

Being a teacher of English in Upper Secondary School, I realize that the attitudes of the teachers and students towards the piloted textbook could affect the results of teaching and learning the language Hence, I would like to do an

2 Aims of the study

The present study aims to investigate the attitudes of the teachers and students in the piloted textbook English 10

The following were the objectives of this study:

- To find out the teachers‟ and students‟ attitudes towards the piloted textbook English 10

- To find out the feelings of teachers and students in the classroom toward the piloted textbook English 10

4 Scope of the study

The new piloted English 10 textbook is not common because it is the piloted program in the small extent of the quantity of the schools and the subjects in the piloted program, so the study will focus on the attitudes of teachers and students towards the piloted textbook However, this study only focuses on the attitudes of teachers and learners towards employing the piloted textbook English 10, particularly with 80 students and 5 teachers chosen for this program at Nghia Hung

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Upper Secondary School Therefore, it cannot be said that the result of the study are generalized to all students and teachers who piloted this new textbook

5 Significance of the study

One of the major theoretical issues that have been paid attention to is the attitudes of teachers and students because they affect to the behaviors and responses

of the teachers and students According to Ajzen and Fishbein (1980), attitudes exert a direct influence on behavior An individual‟s attitudes towards something will influence his or her overall patterns of responses to it The study was conducted with the expectation that its results would be useful for the teachers and students Firstly, a deeper understanding of teachers‟ and students‟ attitudes towards teaching and learning the piloted English 10 textbook will be gained Secondly, the results from this study can help teachers‟ and students‟ attitudes toward teaching and learning language Thirdly, the information from the study can benefit teachers and students conceive the need to develop positive attitudes toward teaching and learning second language and control the attitudes to achieve the effectiveness of language teaching and learning

6 Methodology

6.1 Data collection

In the research of language attitude, two theoretical approaches are used and they are „behaviorist view‟ and „mentalist view‟ (Fasold, 1984) According to behaviorist view, the attitudes are dependent variables which must be studied by observing users‟ responses to certain languages, i.e their use in actual interactions whereas according to mentalist view, attitudes are internal mental state which cannot be observed directly but have to be inferred from users‟ behavior or their self -reported data The cognitivists (metalists) maintain that learning cannot be equated with behavior because observed behavior is only the outward manifestation of internal changes, which the organism may have undergone as a result of learning,

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and these internal changes are not in themselves observable The behaviorist theory emphasizes the importance of verbal behavior and operates the principle: behaviorist theory is the habit formation theory of language teaching and learning This research will use 3 methods to collect the data: observation, and questionnaires, interviews Classroom observation is useful to researchers in a variety of ways, which provides researchers to check for nonverbal expression of feelings, determine who interacts with whom, grasp how participants communicate with each other, and check for how much time is spent on various activities

Interviews may be useful ad follow-up to certain respondents to questionnaires The questionnaire is one of the most common methods of gathering data It is also time-saving and conductive to reliable results Data were collected by means of survey questionnaires for 80 students at Nghia Hung Upper Secondary School The questionnaires included closed- ended questions, open- ended questions Other sources for data collection came from classroom observation, an interview two teachers and 10 students

6.2 Data analysis

To order to fulfill the task mentioned above, this study will employ two approaches of data analysis: quantitative and qualitative methods The quantitative method is used to collect data through survey questionnaire; the qualitative method

is used to gather information through informal interviews and observation from teachers and students in the classroom

7 Design of the study

The thesis consists of three parts:

Part one is the INTRODUCTION which presents the rationales, the objectives, the method and the design of the study It expresses the reason why the author decided to choose this study and the methods for the fulfillment of the study

Part two, DEVELOPMENT, includes three chapters

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Chapter One deals with a historical overview of literature It starts with the theoretical issues on attitudes of teachers and students towards the piloted textbook, which consist the definition, components of attitudes, the relationship among perception, belief and attitude, the relationship between attitude and motivation, the roles of attitudes in language learning, language attitude in teaching and learning in the piloted curriculum The next part discusses about the definition of textbook, the roles of the textbook in teaching and learning L2

Chapter Two emphasizes the study methodology Also, in this chapter the author would like to provide some information about the findings of the study Chapter three suggests some recommendations to improve the teaching and learning the piloted English 10

Part three, CONCLUSION, summarizes the thesis with key issues in the study, makes some suggestions for further study

Attitude is an important concept which is defined as a complex mental state involving beliefs and feelings Attitude has also been defined as a mental and neutral state of readiness, organized through experience, exerting a directive or dynamic influence upon the individual‟s response to all objects and situations with which it is related Furthermore, attitude means the individual‟s prevailing tendency

to respond favorably or unfavorably to an object (Morries and Maisto,2005) According to Hallorah( 1967), attitudes represents an individual‟s like and dislike of

an item Attitudes are positive, negative and neutral views of an “attitude object” i.e

a teaching style, person, situation or event People mean that they simultaneously possess a positive and a negative bias towards the attitude in question In Gibb‟s opinion (1988) attitude is generally defined as a state of mind, which is influenced

by feelings, experiences of the world and belief And the attitudes and behavior of teachers toward their profession can be portrayed in a positive or negative way which can have an effect on the achievement of the students Both negative and positive attitudes have a strong impact on the success of language learning and teaching This means when teachers with positive attitudes experience success in

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the language teaching behavior, the attitudes are reinforced, whereas teachers with negative attitudes may fail to progress language teaching In short, attitudes have a strong impact in teaching and learning language, which affects the success or failure

of teachers and students

There is close ties among belief, perception and attitude According to Richard R Bootzin, Gordon H Bower, Elizabeth Hall (1991), belief and perception are just inside the brain, they are not in action Belief is the root or foundation of a person‟s way of thinking In normal life, people do not question or filter their belief They take their beliefs as it is Perception is the method or way of thinking or point

of view Attitude is what people act or react How people perform their thinking is their attitude Their action is depending on their attitude They usually do not see their own action Their action is just a show-off of their perception and their belief

In summary, three components has a close relationship, they can influence others through their own change in attitude, their action or the reaction They are valuable that help the researchers develop the aims of the study

Attitudes and motivation play a primary role on language learning situations and in second language acquisition contexts Therefore, attitudes and motivation are the most important determinant factors in the learning or acquisition of second language Gardner (1985:9-12) makes clear distinctions between two terms: Attitudes are considered to show an evaluative reaction to some referent (e.g the teacher, the EFL classroom, the textbook,…) inferred on the basis of the learner‟s beliefs X the referent ( e.g opinions, feelings, emotional reactions, etc.) Attitudes contain three basic factors:

- cognitive: the learner‟s belief structure

- affective: affective reactions

- conative: tendency to behave in a certain way

Motivation contains favorable attitudes As used by Gardner, it is a combination of effort, desire and positive attitudes towards the learning of the

of motivation and positive attitude will produce more successful language learners and vice versa Brown (2000) states that a language learner benefits from positive attitude and that negative attitude may lead to decrease in motivation; and consequently it leads to unsuccessful attainment of proficiency

1.2 Components of attitude

Most researchers stated that attitudes of teachers and students are an integral part of teaching and learning language, therefore, it becomes an essential component of second language learning pedagogy There are three components of attitudes: cognitive (i.e., the idea or assumptions upon which the attitude is based), affective (i.e., feelings about the issue), and behavioral (i.e., predisposition toward

an action that corresponds with the assumptions or belief) (Wood, 2000) As the researchers mentioned, attitudes can be positive or negative Both have a strong impact on the success of language teaching and learning process

Gardner‟s argument presented a comprehensive definition of the attitude concept He classified the term “attitude” into three interrelated components namely, cognitive, affective and behavioral The cognitive component involves the beliefs, thoughts or viewpoints about the object of the attitude The affective component refers to the individual‟s feelings and emotions towards an object, whether he/she likes or dislikes The behavioral component involves the tendency to adopt particular learning behaviors Gardner (1985) also points out that attitude is

an evaluative reaction to some referent or attitude object, inferred on the basis of the individual‟s beliefs or opinions about the referent “Attitude is thus linked to a

“Attitude is determined by the individual‟s beliefs about outcomes or attributes of performing the behavior (behavioral beliefs), weighted by evaluations

of those outcomes or attributes Thus, a person who holds strong beliefs that positively valued outcomes will result from performing the behavior will have a positive attitude toward the behavior Conversely, a person who holds strong beliefs that negatively valued outcomes will result from the behavior will have a negative attitude.” Attitude concept can be viewed from these three dimensions Each one of these dimensions has different features to bring out language attitude results Fazio (1986) states that attitude comprises of three components: “an affective component involving feelings about and evaluation of the object, a cognitive component involving belief about the object and a behavioral intentions component.” Accordingly, the attitude concept has three components i.e., behavioral, cognitive and affective The behavioral aspect of attitude deals with the way one behaves and reacts in particular situations In fact, the successful language learning enhances the learners to identify themselves with the native speakers of that language and acquire

or adopt various aspects of behaviors which characterize the members of the target language community Briefly, attitudes have three main components: affective, behavioral and cognitive The affective components are easily assessed by monitoring physical signs such as heart rate whereas the behavioral aspects may be

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assessed by direct observation On the other hand, the cognitive aspects of attitudes are generally measured by interviews, survey and other reporting methods This study concentrates on affective and cognitive components It relates to teachers‟ and students‟ feelings and belief towards the piloted textbook English 10

1.2.1 Behavioral Aspect of Attitude

The behavioral aspect of attitude deals with the way one behaves and reacts

in particular situations In fact, the successful language learning enhances the learners to identify themselves with the native speakers of that language and acquire

or adopt various aspects of behaviors which characterize the members of the target language community Positive attitudes lead to the exhibition of positive behaviors toward courses of study, with participants absorbing themselves in courses and striving to learn more Such students are also observed to be more eager to solve problems, to acquire the information and skills useful for daily life and to engage themselves emotionally

1.2.2 Cognitive Aspect of Attitude

According to Gardner (1985), affective factors which determine or influence learner‟s attitudes to language learning can be divided into two categories: (a) factors prior to the learner‟s approach to the second or foreign language study and (b) factors that develop during the learning process This aspect of attitude involves the beliefs of the language learners about the knowledge that they receive and their understanding in the process of language learning The cognitive attitude can be classified into four steps of connecting the previous knowledge and the new one, creating new knowledge, checking new knowledge, and applying the new knowledge in many situations

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1.2.3 Emotional Aspect of Attitude

Attitude can help the learners to express whether they like or dislike the objects or surrounding situations It is agreed that the inner feelings and emotions of

FL learners influence their perspectives and their attitudes towards the target language

In conclusion, the concept “attitude” is defined as the way in which a person thinks, feels and intends to behave towards something Attitude is the summation of the three components: cognitive component, affective component and behavioral component that is emphasized for determining the overall attitude

1.3 The roles of attitudes in language learning

Attitudes and learning go hand in hand According to Garder and Lamber (1972) all agree that “success in mastering a foreign language would depend not only intellectual capacity and language aptitude, but on one‟s attitudes towards representatives of that language as well” Attitudes play an important role in students‟ learning, if they maintain the positive attitudes, they will carry out their learning to the best ability Therefore, attitudes affect on the classroom behavior, learning results Lightbrown and Spada (1990) state that attitude is fundamental to the success or failure, depending on the learners‟ attitudes Also, Brown (1994) says that language learners benefit from positive attitudes while negative attitudes may lead to unsuccessful attainment of proficiency Moreover, favorable attitudes would

be expected to result in better performance than negative attitudes (Garderner; 1985) Marzano et all (1994) mentioned that “without positive attitudes and perceptions or holding negative attitudes towards the learning, learners have little chance of learning proficiently, if at all” In conclusion, it is clear that attitudes play

an important role in learning, so learners can be evaluated themselves achieving greater in language learning

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2 The textbook in teaching and learning language

The choice of language teaching materials can determine the quality of learning-teaching procedure As a part of the materials used in the language classroom, the textbook can often play a crucial role in students‟ success or failure

2.1 Definition of the textbook

Textbook is one of the important components in most language programs ( Skowronski, 2000 and Hinchman, 2002) Textbooks in the teaching and learning process might function as the main language input that is received by the students or

as the media for the students to have language practice ( Tomlinson, 1998) It is the fact that textbook is regarded as “any visible heart of any ELT program” (Sheldon, 1988) and that “the textbook is an almost universal element of ELT teaching.” (Hutchinson 1994) Jan Amos Comenius defined the communicative values of a coursebook in order that it can be a good teaching- learning material In the 20th century, Zujev (1986: 56) considered a coursebook to be “a final project in the application of the content of learning…” Textbooks are considered the key component of most language programs ( Richards, 2001) and provide the necessary input into classroom lessons through different activities, readings and explanations ( Tomlinson, 2002) According to Cunningsworth (1995) the textbooks serve the language course as a source for material presentation, activities for learner practice and communicative interaction, stimulation and ideas for classroom activities, and a reference source for learners on grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation On the other hand, Prucha pointed that a coursebook is inseparable from the teaching- learning process because it is a means of classroom management for the teacher and self- direction of learner‟s own learning ( Prucha 1984:18) And, in his recent publication, he considers a coursebook to be “a curricular object, the source of knowledge for students and teaching material for teacher” In a survey conducted by Richards, it was reported that textbooks were one of the primary sources of teaching materials The wide use of textbooks in the local ELT classroom is understandable

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as given that fact that, “materials [textbooks] are not simply that every day tools of the language teacher, they are an embodiment of the aims, values, and methods of the particular teaching/ learning situation” (Hutchinson, 1987) According to Riazi (2003, p.52), “textbook play a very crucial role in the realm of language teaching and learning and are considered the next important factor in the second/ foreign language classroom after the teacher” O‟Neill (1982) presents four reasons for the use of coursebooks Firstly, most parts of coursebook materials are appropriate for students‟ needs, even they are not specially designed for them Secondly, they make

it possible for students to plan for future learning and also review the previous materials or lessons Thirdly, coursebooks provide students with high quality materials at a reasonable price Finally, suitable coursebooks allow teachers to adapt and modify them to meet the learners‟ needs and also allow for natural interaction

to happen In short, a textbook is a crucial material which helps teachers and learners define the objectives in teaching and learning process L2 Coursebook is useful because it is regarded as a starting point as well as a finishing point, students know exactly what they learn during the lesson and what they need to revise for the next lesson The teachers who are utilizing the coursebook are able to achieve the aims, the methods and values of the teaching program

2.2 The roles of a textbook

Textbooks are considered the key component of most language programs ( Richards, 2001) and provide the necessary input into classroom lessons through different activities, readings and explanations ( Tomlinson, 2002) Regarding the multiple roles of the textbooks in ELT, Cunningsworth (1995) identifies a textbook

as a resource in presenting the material, a source for learners to practice and do the activities and providing the learners with a reference source on grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation What is more, textbook serve as a syllabus and a self- study source for learners and support for the beginning teachers who have yet

to gain in confidence Thus, it can be said that the fundamental role of textbooks is

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to be at the service of teachers and learners but not their boss Clandfield (2010) asserts that textbooks are useful tools for ELT in which they provide a structure for teachers and students to follow, provide attractive, motivational, colorful and diverse content and provide a source of ideas and methodology for them

In conclusion, textbook has a great influence on teaching and learning L2, which motivates and supports the teachers and learners in using it easily or govern the teaching and learning styles and strategies

2.3 The roles of a textbook in language learning

In practice, there is no single textbook which can suit the learning needs of all students ( Hutchinson & Torres, 1994) Tomlinson (1998) explains in choosing a textbook, teachers need to take into account the abilities, needs and interests of their students , as well as the quality of the book Based on him, teachers should note the extent to which textbook need to be adapted and combined with the additional material Richards ( 2001) stated that “Textbook is considered the key component of most language programs.” And, it provides the necessary input into classroom through different activities, readings and explanation According to Cunningswoth (1995), textbook served the language course as a source for material presentation, activities for learners practice and communicative interaction, stimulation and ideas for classroom activities and a reference source for learners on grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation Clandfield (2010) asserts that textbooks are the useful tools ELT in that they provide a structure for teachers and students to follow, provide attractive, motivational, colorful and diverse content, serve as a great timesaver for teachers, and provide a source of ideas and methodology for them

In spite of these strengths, there are potential negative effects of using textbooks Textbooks may provide learners with inauthentic language including distorted content or ignoring student‟s needs or deskilled teachers (Richards, 2001) Due to the limitations, many language experts believe that the perfect book does not

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exist, however “the best book available for teachers and students does exist” (Grant,

1987, p.8) This is the book that suits the needs, interests and abilities of both the learners and the teacher To be able to find the best book available, materials is still innovated to revolutionize the developments of teaching materials so that the textbook should meet the needs of the students by attending to their interests and abilities and it should be in agreement with the teaching style of a teacher (Grant, 1987)

Textbooks play a crucial role in shaping social attitudes and molding the behavior of the learners Textbooks are the mostly used teaching and learning materials for both teachers and students, they provide a framework for teachers in achieving the aims of the course and serve as a guide to the teachers Also, the textbook affects the students‟ attitudes and performance to the lesson through the course It is true that when the learners like their textbooks, they like the course as well and become active participants to the lesson Textbooks can affect the attitude

of a learner including the structure, the organization, the presentation format and etc which contribute to like or dislike, interest or disinterest, attraction or repulsion and increase positive or negative attitudes of learners and users Kochhhar (1985) made

a comprehensive list of attributes a textbook consisting of: the contents of the textbook, the physical appearance, the suitability for the capability of the users According to Aggarwal(2001), the psychological attributes of textbook tend to affect the attitude of the learners Maxwell (2008) stated that the teacher‟s understandings in using textbook influence their behavior and their teaching performance Hence, the attitudes to the textbook play an important role in language teaching and learning, which can stimulate or cause a barrier toward teaching and learning second language

3 Related Studies

Many studies have been conducted to explore the nature of students‟ attitudes towards learning foreign language in general and EFL in particular,

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compared with the studies concerning the attitudes of ESL learners during the past three decades (Al-Zahrani, 2008) For instance, Shams (2008) conducted a study attempting to investigate students‟ attitudes, motivation and anxiety towards the learning of English The findings underlined that the students had affirmative attitudes and high enthusiasm towards English This also highlighted that most of them showed positive attitudes towards English language and its learning which, in turn, emphasized the value of English language efficiency in the daily life The findings show that students had positive attitudes and extreme eagerness towards teaching and learning English and they also valued the importance of English language efficiency in the daily life Momani (2009) also investigated the secondary stage students‟ attitudes towards learning English as a foreign language and their achievements in reading comprehension The findings showed that the respondents had neutral positive attitudes toward learning English Also, there was a strong correlation between the students‟ attitudes toward learning English and their performance in reading comprehension The findings of study by AlTamimi and Shuib (2009) on Petroleum Engineering students‟ motivation and attitudes towards learning English revealed that they had positive attitudes towards the use of English

in the Yemeni social and educational contexts They also showed affirmative attitude towards the culture of the English speaking world In terms of the year of study variable, AlZahrani (2008) conducted a study to determine the attitudes of Saudi students towards English The statistical analysis revealed that there was not any clear difference among the three years in their attitudes towards Learning English as the descriptive statistics showed that the respondents in the three years had the same level of attitude Regarding the gender variable, Fakeye (2010) investigated the correlation between attitude and achievement in English among 400 senior secondary students selected randomly from five secondary schools The findings revealed that there was a significant relationship between attitude and achievement Additionally, it was explored that students‟ attitude is not gender-related Thus, there was not a statistically significant difference in the attitudes of

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male and female students At Vietnam National University, Hanoi College of Foreign Languages, there are also many M.A these on students‟ and teachers‟ attitudes towards various aspects in English learning and teaching such as learning and teaching English language skills or teachers‟ techniques used in teaching English skills as well as the contents of textbooks For example, N.T.T Hang (2006), T.T Phuong (2007), N.H Tuyet (2009), N.T Chung (2010) investigated students‟ and teachers‟ attitudes towards teaching and learning grammar H.T.B Thuy (2008), T.T Van (2010), etc investigated teachers‟ and students‟ attitudes towards teaching and learning different language skills Or, N.T.B Hang (2009) conducted the study about the implementation of the new English textbook for grade 10 innovation; however, that study focused on using the new textbook when the textbook was complemented in all schools Among these studies, there is not any a study on attitudes of teachers and students towards teaching and learning the piloted textbook English 10 So, this study will focus on the attitudes of teachers and students with the piloted new textbook English 10 which is being modeled in some high schools in Vietnam

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CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

1 Practical situation of teaching and learning the piloted English 10 in Nghia Hung Upper Secondary School

In the previous chapter, the theoretical matters related to the topic have been covered However, in order to see how they work in real teaching and learning, a practical research was carried out The research underwent the following steps:

1 Designing survey questionnaires, observation and interview

2 Delivering questionnaires to the pilot informants

3 Collecting the completed questionnaires

4 Analyzing collected data

5 Proposing some remarks and comments from the results of the questionnaires and giving suggestions

In this chapter, only the first four steps will be mentioned The last step will

be presented in the next chapter

1.1 Description of the English course and its objectives at Nghia Hung Upper Secondary School

Nghia Hung Upper Secondary School has been known as one of the top- ranked schools in Nam Dinh Province Any students who passed the entrance examination to Nghia Hung School must study English as a compulsory subject Students learn this subject during two terms at school and take all the exams However, in the schoolyear, there were two classes which studied the piloted English 10, before students were asked to study this new textbook, they could be chosen through the marks in the entrance exam and their expectations There are two classes who study this piloted book: 10T1 and 10T2 Each term lasts 54 periods (45 minutes per period) equivalent to one semester based on administers‟ MOETs

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English 10 is the first of a three- level English language set of textbooks for the Vietnamese upper secondary school It follows the systematic, cyclical and theme-based curriculum approved by the Ministry of Education and Training on

23rd November 2012 The aim of this set of textbooks is to develop students‟ communicative competence in listening, speaking, reading and writing so that when finishing upper secondary school, students will achieve level three of the Vietnamese Foreign Language Competence Framework (equivalent to B1 in the Common European Framework for Languages)

(MOET, 2012)

The objectives of Nghia Hung Upper Secondary School:

After the 10thschool year, students will be able to:

- Develop the proficiency of language so that they can adopt the demand of this subject

- Develop the skills of reading, writing, listening and speaking

- Achieve B1 level after graduating the school and use L2 in practice fluently

- Achieve the high results in the exam

1.2 Description of the students at Upper Secondary School

All students in Nghia Hung Upper Secondary School have to pass the entrance exam with the high marks in total All students studied English from the Junior

Secondary School Most of the students in two classes (class 10T1 & 10T2) are

chosen according to the total marks and their aspirations Two classes chosen to complement the piloted textbook English 10 contains 40 students each class Mostly students study English as a second language when they were in the secondary school However, almost learners concentrate on part of grammar and are chosen into two classes based on the evaluation of written test

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1.3 Description of the teachers at Nghia Hung Upper Secondary School

If students are the most important factor in the learning process, teachers are the most important factor in the teaching process At Nghia Hung Upper Secondary School, there are 9 teachers teaching English, almost they achieve the C1 level in Common European Framework of Reference Especially, two teachers chosen to participate in complementing the piloted textbook English 10 have the teaching experiences and proficiencies in the second language Two teachers also have an opportunity in participating in the course of training the teachers utilizing the new textbook as well as the new method in the summer break

2 Overview of the textbooks

The piloted English 10 are required to teach in a few high schools, they were developed based on the new national curriculum The textbook is compiled following the program of the primary school and junior school The methodologies that the books follow are “learner-centered approach and the communicative approach with theme-based curriculum”

Each book includes 10 teaching units and four review units Each teaching unit covers a topic and is sub-divided into five sections: Reading, Speaking, Listening, Writing and Language Focus in eight 45-minute lessons These theme- based units are designed to provide students with memorable lessons and enjoyable learning experience Each review lesson provides revision and further practice of the preceding units, taught in two 45-minute lessons Glossary provides phonetic transcription of the new words in the units and their Vietnamese equivalents The new textbook satisfies the requirements of Vietnam‟s MOETs _ appropriate to the students‟ educational psychologies as well as the students‟ cultural background and the cultural features of Vietnam and all over the world, especially the speaking countries in the world

the piloted textbook to participate in completing the survey questionnaires,

observations and interviews

The eight teachers had been teaching both the old textbook and the piloted textbook They have at least seven years of English teaching experience at different high schools Most of the teachers attended a short in-service training workshop organized by the MOET on using the new textbook They were willing to co-operate with this research, they agree with my plan in the collecting data They were ready to participate in the interviews and gave me warm welcome in the classroom observation

Like teachers, the learners in two classes were eager with my plan They filled into the survey questionnaire completely and took part in the interview without refusal They were ready to express their attitudes about this textbook Especially most of the students have intention of pursuing this language to register into the

university or college

3.2 The Data Collection Methods

The data was obtained with three instruments: observation, interview and questionnaire

3.2.1 The questionnaire

In this study, there was a questionnaire for students about attitudes towards the piloted textbook English 10 The questionnaire for students consists of 15 questions and is divided into three parts Part I includes short questions on personal information of the participants Part II contains the questions about the beliefs or