An evaluation of top notch 2 pre intermediate for first year students at fpt university submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for the degree of master of arts in tesol

Aims of the study The study aims at evaluating the textbook Top Notch 2 Pre-intermediate by Saslow and Ascher 2006 for the first year students at FU in order to determine whether the mat

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M IN IS T R Y O F E D U C A T IO N A N D T R A IN IN G

H ANO I U N IV ER SITY

vu VAN CHINH

AN EVALUATION OF “TOP NOTCH 2

PRE-INTERMEDIATE” FOR FIRST YEAR STUDENTS

AT FPT UNIVERSITY

SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF REQUIREMENTS

FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS IN TESOL.

SUPERVISOR: NGUYEN THI QUYNH HOA, M.A

Hanoi

F e b ru a ry , 2 0 1 0

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP

I certify that the major thesis entitled “An Evaluation o f Top Notch 2 Pre-intermediate for First Year Students at FPT University” and submitted in partial fulfillment o f the requirements for the degree o f Master o f Arts in TESOL is the result o f my work, except where otherwise acknowledged, and that this major thesis or any part o f the same has not been submitted for a higher degree to any other university or institution

The research reported in this thesis was approved by Hanoi University

Signed:

Dated:

A C K N O W L E D G E M E N T S

First and foremost, on the completion o f this thesis, I wish to express my deepest gratitude and indebtedness to my departed supervisor, Le Huy Truong, M.A and present supervisor, Nguyen Thi Quynh Hoa, M.A for their patient guidance, helpful suggestions and constructive supervision in writing o f this report Without their help, this thesis would have been made impossible

I would like to acknowledge my gratitude to Ms Nguyen Thai Ha, M,Aed, senior lecturer and all the M.A TESOL lecturers at Hanoi University who have provided me invaluable source o f knowledge for my completion o f this thesis

My sincere thanks also go to my colleagues for their useful and sincere suggestions, which have helped me with the clarification o f my points and my hardworking students

in class SE0407 at FPT University in completing the questionnaires

Last but not least, I would like to extend my thanks to my parents and my younger sister who have always been a source o f encouragement, supports throughout the preparation and developm ent o f this thesis.

1 Does the textbook Topnotch 2 Pre-intermediate meet the requirements o f the course and the students’ knowledge level?

2 W hat should be done to contribute to the improvement o f the material?

In order to achieve the professional goal above, the writer had to review the literature in relevance to materials evaluation, employ document analysis, survey questionnaires and follow-up interviews to identify the answers to the research questions

The subjects o f the study were 7 English teachers and 140 first year students at FPT University who had completed the course o f Top Notch 2 Pre-intermediate

The findings o f the research stated that the material under evaluation was suitable for the students at FPT University and could partly meet the requirements o f the course However, its content and methodology did not completely accommodate the students’ knowledge level in terms o f language points, micro-skills, topics and task types

It is concluded that it is impossible to choose Western materials without taking adaptation into careful consideration Some content adaptation and teaching improvement are suggested so as to make the textbook Top Notch 2 Pre-intermediate more and more appropriate at FPT University

T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S

S T A T E M E N T O F A U T H O R S H IP I

A C K N O W L E D G E M E N T S II

A B S T R A C T Ill

T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S IV

L IS T O F A B B R E V IA T IO N S VI

L IST O F F IG U R E S AND T A B L E S VII

C H A P T E R 1: IN T R O D U C T IO N 1

1.1 B a ckg rou nd to the s t u d y 1

1.1.1 Theoretical consideration 1

1.1.2 Practical consideration 1

1.2 A ims of the s t u d y 3

1.3 S cope and lim itations of the s t u d y 3

1.4 S ignificance of the s t u d y 4

1.5 O utline of the t h e s is 4

C H A P T E R 2: L IT E R A T U R E R E V IE W 5

2.1 KNOWLEDGE LEVEL 5

2.1.1 Learning styles 5

2.1.2 Language proficiency 6

2.1.3 Attitudes and motivation 6

2.1.4 Students ’ general knowledge about the w orld 7

2.2 T eaching m a teria ls in language teaching and l e a r n in g 7

2.2.1 Definitions o f teaching materials 7

2.2.2 The roles o f materials in language teaching and learning. 8

2.3 M atfrjai s f v a ij ia t io n 10

2.3.1 Definition o f materials evaluation 10

2.3.2 The roles o f evaluation 12

2.4 K inds of e v a l u a t io n 12

2.4.1 Preliminary evaluation 13

2.4.2 Formative evaluation 13

2.4.3 Summative evaluation 13

2.5 M odels for m aterials e v a lu a tio n 14

2.5.1 Evaluation by Hutchinson and Waters (1993) - A Macro-Evaluation 14

2.5.2 Evaluation by Ellis (1997) - A Micro-Evaluation 15

2.5.3 Evaluation by McDonough and Shaw (1993) - A Combination o f Macro- and Micro-Evaluation 16

2.5.4 Evaluation by Cunningsworth (1995) 17

2.6 C riteria for m aterials e v a l u a t io n 19

2.6.1 Criteria defined by Brown (1995) 19

2.6.2 Criteria defined by Cunningsworth (1995) 19

2.6.3 Criteria defined by Hutchinson and Waters (1987) 20

2.7 P revious s t u d ie s 22

2.8 S u m m a r y 24

C H A P T E R 3: M E T H O D O L O G Y 25

3.1 R esearch q u e s t io n s 25

3.2 D ata collection in stru m en ts 25

3.2.2 Questionnaires 26

3.2.3 Follow up interview 27

3 3 S u b j e c t s 2 8 3.3.1 Teachers 28

3.3.2 Students 28

3 4 PROCEDURES 2 8 C H A P T E R 4: R E S U L T S AND D IS C U S S IO N 30

4.1 T he satisfa cto riness of the material to the c o u rse ’ s o bjectives 30

4 1.1 The aims o f the material 30

4.1.2 The aims o f the course 31

4.1.3 Data from follow-up interview 32

4.1.4 Discussion 32

4.2 S a tisfa ctorin ess of the material to the a u d ie n c e 33

4.2.1 Data from document analysis 33

4.2.2 Data from analysis o f the course’s audience and students ’ questionnaire 34

4.2.3 Discussion 34

4.3 T he satisfa cto riness of the m ateria l ’ s conten t to the stud en ts ’ know ledge lev el 34

4.3.1 Language points 35

4.3.2 Macro-skills and micro-skills 38

4.3.3 Subject m atters 41

4.3.4 Types o f exercises and tasks 43

4.4 T he satisfactoriness of the m ateria l ’ s m ethodology to the stu d en ts ’ req u irem en ts 46 4.4.1 Data from document analysis 46

4.4.2 Data from the teachers and students ’ questionnaires 47

4.4.3 Data from follow-up interview 49

4.4.4 Discussion 50

4.5 S U M M A K Y 30

C H A P T E R 5: R E C O M M E N D A T IO N S AND C O N C L U S IO N 52

5.1 R e c o m m e n d a t io n s 52

5.1.1 Content adaptation 52

5.1.2 Teaching improvement. 53

5 2 C o n c l u s i o n 54

R E F E R E N C E S 56

A P P E N D IX 1: T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S 59

A P P E N D IX 2: T H E E N G L IS H SY LLA BU S F O R T H E F IR S T Y EA R STU D EN TS AT F P T U N IV E R S IT Y 63

A P P E N D IX 3: Q U E S T IO N N A IR E T O T E A C H E R S O F E N G L ISH AT FPT U N IV E R S IT Y 66

A P P E N D IX 4: Q U E S T IO N N A IR E T O STU D EN TS O F E N G L ISH A T F P T U N IV E R S IT Y 70

A P P E N D IX 5: F O L L O W UP IN T E R V IE W 73

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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES

Table lb: Students’ opinions on the language points covered in the textbook

Table 2b: Teachers and students’ opinions on preferred micro-skills o f reading

topics

Table 4b: Teachers and students’ preferred types o f tasks in the speaking section

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

This introductory chapter provides the background to the study Then, it states the aims

o f the study, scope and limitation o f the study, significance o f the study and presents an overview o f the thesis

1.1 Background to the study

1.1.1 Theoretical consideration

It has been proved by M cDonough and Shaw (1993) that no set o f materials is likely to

be perfect, it cannot serve equally for the requirements o f every classroom setting Teachers must know not only how to use it but also how useful it can be They must evaluate their strengths and weaknesses It is also suggested by William (1983) that English language teachers need to know the principles o f materials evaluation The ability o f m aterials evaluation is considered to be a very important professional activity for all EFL teachers

Although m aterials are good, they will never be perfect for every teaching and learning situation They will always need adapting, modifying or supplementing in order to improve the teaching and learning situation The theoretical basis for materials evaluation and adaptation has been mentioned in a number o f works such as Cunningsworth (1995), Hutchinson and Waters (1987), McDonough and Shaw (1993) and Littlejohn (1998) Therefore, any teacher can carry out a study on materials evaluation

1.1.2 Practical consideration

1.1.2.1 The English teaching at FU

FU was established on September 8lh 2006 with the Vietnamese Prime M inister’s Approval The mission it pursues is to build an example o f an innovative University which has international standards and modem philosophy There is a balance between training and practical life and national labor demand, contributing to boost Vietnam Information Technology to catch up with developed countries in the world

The distinction o f The FU is to focus on training industrial engineers It means that training is embedded with IT enterprises, practices, researches, implementations and innovative technologies In accordance with modem methodology, the teaching programs have alw ays been updated and upheld technological and international standards, especially with emphasis on foreign languages, manufacturing process and group dynamics and other personal skills (FPT Website) Needless to say, English plays

an important role am ong varied subjects at FU

When students first enter FU, they attend a course o f Top Notch 1 Elementary After finishing this English course, students who have passed the final exams o f the four language skills can attend the course o f Top Notch 2 Pre-intermediate This course includes 70 slots o f English (equivalent to 140 class hours) with the textbook Top Notch

2 Pre-intermediate and lasts in 8 weeks

1.1.2.2 The current English teaching materials in use at FU

Being aw are o f the importance o f English learning for their students, the university and the Faculty o f English are always searching for the most suitable materials to use as core materials And since 2006, the textbooks Top N otch by Saslow and Ascher (2006) published by Longm an Publisher has been adopted

The book was first published in 2006 and is said to be the most authentic and updated material that the Faculty o f English thinks it may meet the demand o f teaching and learning English at FU to some extent

This is a six-level material Top Notch 2 Pre-intermediate for intermediate students The intended learners are adults and young adults who want to interact successfully and confidently with both native and non-native speakers o f English

Although the material has been in use at FU for two years, it has never been formally evaluated M oreover, after two years o f being used, the material has revealed some unsatisfactory aspects Some teachers o f English have complained that the material consists o f many cultural and useless factors that they had difficulty in teaching and thus several units in the material do not seem to attract the students’ interest or be ignored by both teachers and students Some others state that the listening tasks in the

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material are difficult because they are so long with different accents and their speed is fast.

For the students, most o f them have complained that what they learned did not match with the requirements o f the course exams Some o f them got bored with some speaking topics in the material and they usually did not succeed in reading and listening sections

As a result, an overall evaluation o f the material is really needed to find out it can be improved with adaptation

1.2 Aims of the study

The study aims at evaluating the textbook Top Notch 2 Pre-intermediate by Saslow and Ascher (2006) for the first year students at FU in order to determine whether the material meets the student’s knowledge level and the objectives o f the course Hopefully, the findings o f the study will provide the English teaching staff at FU with data about what changes to be made to improve the effectiveness o f the material for future use

1.3 Scope and limitations of the study

In the material evaluation, evaluators have to base on a great number o f criteria such as

audience, aims, content, methodology, physical appearance, cultural bias, authenticity and so on And for each set o f criteria, various aspects o f the material need to be taken into account In this study, the researcher focuses on the four following criteria: audience (in term s o f knowledge level), aims o f the material, content o f the material and methodology

This study limits itself to the survey o f 7 English teachers and 140 students attending the course o f Top N otch 2 Pre-intermediate at FU There are some factors that may have affected the outcomes o f the research First, though the material has been in use at

FU for two years, which means that at least two generations o f students have studied it But for some reasons, in this thesis the researcher carries the study limiting only on the students involving in the course o f 2008-2009 and teachers who have involved in teaching the material so far So, their opinions about the material might not be profound enough Second, the research focuses only on the audience (in terms o f knowledge

level), aims o f the material, content and methodology o f the material so it may not be complete and com prehensive enough.

1.4 Significance of the study

As discussed above, materials need to be evaluated to be perfect for specific teaching and learning situations The researcher hopes that the majors findings o f the study will not only make some contribution to the field o f material evaluation but also be very useful to the teachers and students at FU These findings will provide the English teaching staff at FU with data about what changes to be made to improve the effectiveness o f the material for future use

1.5 Outline of the thesis

The thesis is structured in five chapters as follows

Chapter 1 provides the background to the study practically and theoretically Besides, it

gives the aims, the scope and limitations, the significance and the outline o f the thesis

C hapter 2 reviews the relevant literature, concentrating on the issues related to materials

evaluation It first reviews the literature relating to students’ knowledge level Then, it presents m ajor issues in material evaluation, including definition o f teaching materials and materials evaluation, their roles in language teaching and learning, kinds o f evaluation, m odels for materials evaluation and criteria for materials evaluation The chapter also presents some previous materials evaluation studies

Chapter 3 begins with the research questions It presents the methodology employed in

the study such as document analysis, questionnaires and follow up interview The subjects o f the study are also described here Besides, it provides procedures o f the study

Chapter 4 presents the results o f the study, their analysis and discussion M ajor findings

are discussed to find out the strengths and weaknesses o f the material

Finally, Chapter 5 looks at the suggestions for the future implementation o f the

textbook Top Notch 2 Pre-intermediate at FU and makes an end to the study

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CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter attempts to provide the literature within which the research is carried out It consists o f eight parts Part 2.1 reviews the literature relating to students’ knowledge level Part 2.2 gives a definition o f teaching materials and their roles in language teaching and learning Part 2.3 provides literature with materials evaluation Kinds o f evaluation are mentioned in part 2.4 Part 2.5 discusses the models for materials evaluation and part 2.6 presents criteria for materials evaluation Previous materials evaluation studies are presented in part 2.7 The literature discussed is summarized in the last part, 2.8

2.1 Knowledge level

In order to evaluate to what extent the textbook Top Notch 2 Pre-intermediate

accom m odates the students’ knowledge level, the first important thing to be understood

is th at what is meant by knowledge level The fact is that it is difficult to define clearly what knowledge level is In this thesis, four main aspects namely Learning styles, Proficiency, Attitudes and Motivation, and General knowledge about the world will be exam ined to understand about the students’ knowledge level

2.1.1 Learning styles

There has been a wide range o f definitions o f Learning styles Oxfords et al (1992) defines Learning styles as the general approaches students use to learn a new subject or tackle a new problem It is also stated by Felder (1995) that Learning styles include the ways in which an individual characteristically acquires, retains and retrieves information

Reid (1995) seems to sum up well the above definitions when he defines that a Learning style refers to an individual’s natural, habitual, and preferred way o f absorbing, processing, and retaining new information and skills which persist regardless o f teaching and methods or content area Kinsella (1995) shares the same ideas and

em phasizes everyone has a learning style, but each person’s is as unique as a signature Each signature appears to be influenced by both nature and nurture; it is a biological and developm ental set o f characteristics

In short Learning styles are the preferred or habitual patterns o f mental functioning when dealing with new information and a Learning style consists o f perception, cognition, conceptualization, affectation and behavior.

2.1.2 Language proficiency

A ccording to Ellis (1985), Proficiency comprises the learners’ knowledge o f the target language, which is understood as the language that the learner is attempting to learn He indicates that Proficiency includes the native speakers’ grammar Proficiency can be regarded synonymous with ‘com petence’ and it can be known as linguistic competence

or communicative The second language proficiency is usually measured in relation to native speaker proficiency Defining the learners’ language proficiency will certainly help the researcher find out w hether the textbook meets the demands o f the learners’ language proficiency or not

2.1.3 A ttitudes and motivation

There is no general agreement about w hat precisely Attitudes or M otivation consists of, nor o f the relationship between the two Attitudes or Motivation are here understood that learners possess sets o f beliefs about such factors as the target language culture, their ow n culture and, in the case o f classroom learners, o f their teachers and o f the learning tasks they are given These beliefs are referred to as Attitudes or Motivation (Brown, 1981) Gardner (1972) also suggests that Attitudes be related to M otivation by serving as supports o f the learners’ overall orientation

Attitudes and motivation influence language learning in a number o f ways For instance, taking learners’ attitudes to course materials into account, it is a popular belief that learners also vary in their attitudes to teaching materials In general, adult learners dislike having a course book imposed upon them in a rigid way They prefer a variety o f materials and the opportunities to use them in the ways they choose for themselves

A nother exam ple about learners’ attitudes is that students will inevitably have different views about the kind o f teacher that they think are ‘best’ for them Some prefer a teacher who creates ‘space’ for them to pursue their own learning paths Others prefer a teacher who structures the learning tasks much more tightly

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To sum up, it can be said that Attitudes and Motivation are important factors because they help determ ine the level o f proficiency achieved by different learners based on which 'he evaluation o f the textbook will find out whether the textbook is suitable for the students’ level o f proficiency or not.

2.1.4 Students’ general knowledge about the world

Studen:s’ general knowledge about the world is regarded as their understanding about the world in term s o f cultures, politics, arts, society, science, economy and so (Le Hai Yen, 2003) K now ing about the students’ general knowledge about the world will help the researcher give good judgm ent about the textbook Top Notch 2 Pre-intermediate used for the first year students at FU, and find out whether the knowledge about the factors provided in the textbook is appropriate to the students’ background knowledge

2.2 Teaching m aterials in language teaching and learning

2.2.1 Definitions o f teaching materials

The subject o f this study is the textbook Top Notch 2 by Saslow and Ascher (2006),

therefore, it w ould be sensible to commence the literature with the clarification o f three

related term inologies: ‘textbook', ‘course b o o k ’ and ‘m aterials’.

‘Textbook’ is generally defined by Etoh (2005) as a book that treats a subject comprehensively and is used by students as a basis for study This term, also called

‘text’, is the m ost prevalent term to refer to a book exploited in teaching and learning situations In m any circumstances, it is expected that teaching will be based on a single textbook, although other materials may be used at the teacher’s direction

The term ‘course book’ is used to refer to a textbook on which a course is based on In ELT, it is defined more specifically by Tomlinson (1998) as:

A textbook which provides the core materials for a course It aims to provide as

much as possible in one book and is designed so that it could serve as the only

book which the learners necessarily use during a course Such a book usually

includes work on grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, functions and the skills

of reading, writing, listening and speaking

Sometimes, the term ‘course book’ is associated with text materials as it has been

specifically selected and exploited for teaching purposes by the classroom teacher particularly in the local setting Frequently, a course book is considered core materials

o f a certain course It may be accompanied with a variety o f supplementary materials According to Tom linson (1998), ‘m aterials’ is defined in the broad sense o f the concept

as ‘anything which is used to help to teach language learners’ It can take the form o f printed m aterials such as textbooks, workbooks and so on or non-printed materials such

as cassettes, videotapes or computer-based materials: anything that presents or informs about the language being learned However, in the local setting, textbooks seem to be the most widely used materials in language teaching

Throughout the thesis, the terms ‘textbook’, ‘text’, ‘course book’ and ‘m aterials’ will be used interchangeably

2.2.2 The roles o f materials in language teaching and learning.

Teaching m aterials are a key com ponent in most language courses whether they are GE

or ESP ones W hether the teacher uses a textbook, institutionally prepared materials or his/her ow n m aterials, instructional materials generally can serve as the basis for much

o f the language input that the learners receive and the language practice that occurs in the language classroom (Richards, 2001) The crucial roles that teaching materials play

in language teaching and learning are discussed by different authors in the literature Richard and Rogers (1986) view instructional materials as detailed specifications o f content, and guidance to teachers on both the intensity o f coverage and the amount o f attention dem anded by particular content and pedagogical tasks

lesson, the balance o f the skills taught, and the kind o f language practice the studentsparticipate in In addition, good teaching materials are o f great help to inexperienced or poorly trained teachers They can serve as ‘a form o f teacher training’ (ibid, p.251) and teacher can get ideas on how to plan and teach the lesson from the materials

Cunningsw orth (1995, p 7) summarizes six functions o f teaching materials (particularly course books) in language teaching and learning as:

i) A source for presentation materials (both spoken and written)

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ii) A source o f activities for learner practice and communicative interaction

iii) A reference source for learners, for example, on grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation and so on

iv) A source o f stim ulation and ideas for classroom activities

determined

vi) A support for less experienced teachers who have yet to gain in confidence

Dudley-Evans and St John (1998) identify four functions o f materials in language teaching and learning A ccording to these authors, materials are used 1) as a source o f language; 2) as a learning support; 3) for motivation and 4) for reference Each o f thesefunctions w ill be discussed in detail in the following sections

2.2.2.1 A source of language

Dudley-Evans and St John (1998) point out that in some situations where English is a foreign language, the English language classroom may almost be the only source o f English M aterials play a crucial role in exposing learners to the language, which implies that the m aterials need to present a real language, as it is used in real situations, and the full range that learners require For example, in some cases learners have to extract inform ation from an English-medium subject matter textbook However, if every text com es from magazines, content and style will be journalistic Therefore, in order to maximize learners’ exposure to the language, for example, additional materials should

be provided

2.2.2.2 A learning support

For the m aterials to be qualified as a learning support, Tomlinson (1998) suggests that learners should be given opportunities to use the language for communication rather than ju st to practice in situations controlled by the teachers and the materials To support this idea, Dudley-Evans and St John (1998) indicate that materials need to be reliable, that is to say, the m aterials need ‘to work, to be consistent and to have some recognizable pattern’ (p 171) This needs not mean a rigid unit structure or a fixed format There have been published materials where each text is followed by ten comprehension questions or more Such a constraint is an imposition that takes no account o f the real content o f the materials In order to enhance learning, according to

these authors, the materials need to involve learners in thinking about and using the language.

2.2.2.3 A source for stimulation and motivation

Dudley-Evans and St John (1998, p 172) point out that in order to be a source for stim ulation and motivation, materials need to be ‘challenging yet achievable; to offer new ideas and information whilst being grounded in the learners’ experience and knowledge The input m ust contain concepts and/or knowledge that are familiar but it

m ust also offer something new, a reason to communicate, to get involved Exploitation needs to match how input would be used outside the learning situation and take account

o f language learning needs The purpose and the connection to the learners’ reality need

to be clear

2.2.2.4 A source for reference

A ccording to Tomlinson (1998, p 11), as a source for reference, materials help learners

to make ‘efficient use o f the resources in order to facilitate self-discovery’ Dudley- Evans and St John (1998, p 172) also suggests this function materials need to be

‘com plete, well laid out and self-explanatory’ In other words, the materials need to provide explanations, examples and practice activities that have answers and discussion keys so that students can use them for self-study What needs to be mentioned here is the difference in learning styles among the learners This means that activities should be

‘variable and should cater for all learning styles’ (Tomlinson, 1998, p 17)

The review o f the roles o f materials in language teaching and learning would partly help the researcher o f this study to develop criteria for the evaluation o f the textbook Top

N otch 2 in the context FU

2.3 M aterials evaluation

2.3.1 Definition o f materials evaluation

There have been many definitions o f materials evaluation Fundamentally, evaluation is

a com plete process “ ‘which begins with determining what information to gather and ends w ith bringing about changes in current activities or influencing future one.” (D udley-Evans and St John 1998, p 128)

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According to Tom linson (1998, p 11), materials evaluation is the process with

“attempts to m easure the value o f materials” or “the systematic appraisal o f the value o f materials in relation to their objectives and to the objectives o f the learners using them” Via this definition, Tomlinson implicitly points out that the value o f a material should

be determined by considering whether the learning points are potentially useful to the learners, whether the learning procedures can maximize the likelihood o f the learners actually learning w hat they want and need to learn Therefore, besides studying the objectives stated by the author(s) o f the book, the evaluator is advised to consider the learners’ opinions Obviously, his definition is well aligned with the learner-centered approach

Tom linson’s opinion (1998) seems to be the same as Nunan’s (1988) when he adds that evaluation should be carried out:

are actually doing whilst the materials are being used

materials

In general, any language teaching course has certain evaluation requirements For example, course evaluation, means to assess whether the course objectives are being met Syllabus evaluation is to evaluate whether that syllabus meets students’ needs and the course’s objectives or not Program evaluation is a process o f obtaining a variety o f information relating to different curriculum elements and processes for decision-making purposes and so on

In short, m aterial evaluation is understood as the consideration o f such factors as course’s objectives, materials and students’ needs in a concrete context to see whether they match w ith each other or not In other words, materials evaluation is to find out the strengths and the weaknesses o f the materials when matching them with the course’s objectives and the students’ needs In the context o f FU, the whilst-use and post-use evaluation have been chosen to evaluate the currently used textbook Top Notch 2 Pre­intermediate for the first year students The main purpose o f this evaluation is to validate the m erit o f Top Notch 2 based on its users’ opinions

2.3.2 The roles o f evaluation

Rea-Dickson (1998) points out that evaluation plays a very im portant role in the improvement o f teaching and learning To discuss the aim o f evaluation, according to this author, evaluation is to obtain feedback about classroom practice The aim is to explore the reasons why som ething is working well in the classroom and why it is appropriate for a given target audience Evaluation, according to this first meaning, is used to confirm the validity o f features o f the classroom context Evaluation is used to gain inform ation to bring about innovation or changes Evaluation and innovation are therefore closely related concepts, w ith evaluation forming a basis for a subsequent change or m odification within the curriculum

The im portance o f evaluation as a mean o f course im provem ent has been indicated by Cronbach (1963, p 403) who believes that “Evaluation which is used to improve the course while it is still fluid, contributes more im provement o f education than evaluation used to appraise a product already placed on the m arket” The im portant role of evaluation has been acknowledged by many other researchers such as N unan (1988) and Robinson (1991) All o f them share the view that evaluation is a crucial elem ent in the process o f course design and curriculum developm ent as well as in the process of

teaching and learning.

In fact, an evaluation o f teaching m aterials helps to identify particular strengths and weaknesses o f the m aterials in use After being used in the classroom, teaching materials need to be evaluated to see if they have worked well for the intended situation and students A t FU, Top N otch 2 w hich was adopted by the English Staff has revealed certain advantages All these things call for the need o f the evaluation o f the material, which becom es the purpose o f this study

2.4 Kinds o f evaluation

So far there have been different terms to indicate kinds o f m aterials evaluation Ellis(1997) introduces two term s o f m aterials evaluation including predictive and retrospective The first one is used to get the decision regarding which material to use while the second one, the retrospective evaluation is used to examine whether the materials have been used effectively or not

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Robinson (1991) classifies materials evaluation into three kinds, which are very clear to understand: preliminary, formative and summative evaluation.

2.4.1 Preliminary evaluation

This kind o f evaluation is carried out before a course begins in order to select the most relevant and appropriate material for a particular group o f learners Another purpose o f this is to identify which aspects o f the published materials needed adapting to suit the purposes o f the evaluators (Robinson, 1991; Ellis, cited in Tomlinson, 1993) This can

be done by “determining a set o f 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,

p 220)

2.4.2 Formative evaluation

Formative evaluation is defined as the use o f systematic evaluation in the process o f curriculum construction, teaching and learning for the purpose o f improving any o f these three processes (Brown, 1995) One o f the key characteristics o f formative evaluation is that it takes place during the development o f a program and its curriculum, and it therefore provides a mechanism for improving the program during the course o f the program delivery (Johnson, 1989) Brown (1995) adds the types o f decisions that will result from such evaluation will be a relatively small scale, and will result in modifications and fine tuning o f the existing program design

Information collected during formative evaluation is used to address problems that have been identified and to improve the delivery o f the program In order to address these problems, a series o f workshops are held to identify the kinds o f problems teachers are having with the materials

2.4.3 Summative evaluation

Summative evaluation is referred to as retrospective evaluation (Ellis, 1997) It takes place at the end or sometimes after the course has been implemented and is very valuable for “durable course” (Dudley-Evans, 1998) A summative materials evaluation

is conducted to determine whether the materials have been effective (Richards, 2001) The findings will normally lead to the decisions whether to repeat or use the materials

again or not; and which tasks and activities are suitable and which are not; and which aspects o f the m aterials need to be changed and how to modify them to make the

m aterials more effective and more efficient for future use (Ellis, 1997) In other words,

a summative m aterials evaluation is carried out to determine the worthiness and value o f teaching m aterials after they have been used

In short, w hether the kinds o f evaluation, preliminary, formative or summative are, it is very im portant that the evaluator identify clearly the purpose o f their evaluation so that

it can be beneficial for the use o f the m aterials (Robinson, 1991)

2.5 M odels for m aterials evaluation

M odels for m aterials evaluation have been suggested by many famous language researchers, language teachers and course planners The popular m odels are the ones suggested by H utchinson and W aters (1993), Ellis (1997) and M cDonough and Shaw (1993)

2.5.1 E valuation by H utchinson and Waters (1993) - A M acro-Evaluation

Hutchinson and W aters’ (1993) model is a m acro-evaluation w hich is defined by Ellis

(1Q97, p 37) as the “overall assessm en t o f whether an entire set o f m aterials has

w orked” for a particular situation

In their model, H utchinson and W aters (1993) defines m aterials evaluation as a “matter

o f judging the fitness o f som ething for a particular purpose”(p 96) In this view, the evaluation is divided into four steps (see Figure 1 below)

Figure 1: The materials Evaluation Model of Hutchinson and Waters (1993, p.98)

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As can be seen, this model describes a logical procedure for materials evaluation In this process, the first step is to define the criteria upon which the evaluation is based The second step is to determ ine the subjective analysis (i.e analysis o f the course in terms o f materials requirem ents) N ext, an objective analysis (i.e analysis o f the materials being evaluated) needs to be conducted The findings o f these are then used to compare with the materials requirem ents in the fourth step to evaluate the match between the materials and the requirem ents.

To examine w hether the m aterials are suitable for a certain group o f learners or not, there must be certain criteria against which our judgm ents or evaluation are based It is also a must to determ ine the objectives or the requirements for the materials because we cannot m easure the success o f a particular activity or a whole set o f materials if there is

no clear objective for it

2.5.2 Evaluation by Ellis (1997) — A Micro-Evaluation

According to Ellis (1997), a m icro-evaluation is the evaluation o f one particular teaching task w hich the evaluator has a special interest in In this model, Ellis suggests the practice o f a detailed empirical evaluation and focuses on evaluation at the task level

w ith reference to its actual teaching-learning context The aim in this model is to

determ ine the m atch b etw een task planned and task in use H e also suggests that

dim ensions focused on macro- evaluation (i.e approach, purpose, focus, scope, evaluators, tim ing, types o f information) can also be applicable to micro-evaluation The steps involved in the evaluation model suggested by Ellis (1997) are:

choosing a task to follow;

describing the task with specification o f the content o f a task in terms o f input,

procedure, language activities and outcome;

planning the evaluation with reference to the above dimensions;

collecting information before, while and after the task was used, how the task was performed, and what learning took place as a result o f performing the task, and teachers’ and learners’ opinions about the task;

quantitative and qualitative analysis o f the information collected;

reaching findings o f the evaluation and making recommendations for future teaching; and,

writing the report

It could be said that a micro-evaluation may be more manageable than a macro­

evaluation However, it may be time-consuming and require a lot o f effort because in order to provide basis for subsequent macro-evaluation, there may be need for a series

o f micro-evaluation

M acro- and Micro-Evaluation.

Evaluation by M cDonough and Shaw (1993) is a combination o f Macro- and Micro­evaluation In this model, they suggest a three-stage evaluation model, namely external evaluation, internal evaluation, and overall evaluation (see Figure 2)

External evaluation (macro-evaluation) is the examination o f the claims made for the whole materials by the authors or publisher These claims may be presented on the cover o f the book, in the instructions, and/or in the table o f contents The aim o f this evaluation stage is to identify whether the material is potentially appropriate, then the internal stage starts

Internal stage (micro-evaluation) is used to examine the extent to which the factor in the external evaluation stage actually matches the internal consistency and organization o f

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the materials staged by the author/publisher This stage requires an in-depth

investigation into the materials so we need to examine at least two or more units o f the book

The next step is the overall evaluation o f the materials This stage helps to assess the suitability o f the m aterials by considering a number o f factors such as usability factor, generalizability factor, adaptability factor and flexibility factor This model is shown in figure 2

M acro-evaluation -*• inappropriate/potentially ap p ro p ria te - ►

Figure 2: M aterials Evaluation M odel o f McDonough and Shaw (1993, p 75)

It can be seen from Figure 2 that if the external evaluation shows that the materials are potentially appropriate, the internal stage will be carried In contrast, if the external stage shows that the m aterials are inappropriate, it is not necessary to conduct the next stage This model m ay save time if the materials appear inappropriate at the external stage However, w hen the claims made by the author are not detailed enough, an

internal evaluation also needs carrying out even though the external stage shows that the

m aterials are not appropriate

2.5.4 Evaluation by Cunningsworth (1995)

It is suggested by Cunningsworth (1995) that teaching materials should be evaluated from the following perspectives : language content ; selection and grading o f language items ; presentation and practice o f new language items ; developing language skills and comm unication abilities ; supporting materials ; and motivation and the learners

Language content: In C unningsw orth’s view, evaluating the m aterials’ language content means finding out w hat aspects o f language system (form, function, etc what language skills, what language styles are taught in the m aterials as well as checking out if they are appropriate to the social context and if they are taught fully and systematically.

Selection and grading o f language items: Examining the selection and grading o f

language items in the material means finding out the kind o f syllabus and approach the material follows as well as how the language content is graded and recycled throughout the material

Presentation and practice o f new language items: Checking the presentation and practice

o f new language item s m eans finding out how the new grammatical and lexical items are presented and practiced in the material as well as the comments given on these presentation and practice

D eveloping language skills and com m unicative abilities: Looking at the material from this perspective, it is necessary to find out the comments made on the material about the natural o f reading texts w ith accom panying exercises or listening m aterial with

accom panying exercises or natural o f writing exercises included in the material

M oreover, activities carried out during the lesson such as activities for free production

o f spoken English or for integrating language skills are also needed to take into account

The four approaches presented above suggest four options to carry out materials

evaluation Certainly, w hich m odel to choose depends upon the evaluator’s purposes

O f the four m odels, the researcher has found that the m aterials evaluation model by

H utchinson and W aters (1987) is a very clear-cut description and is an apparently

logical fram ew ork for conducting a detailed analysis o f a set o f materials It provides guidance on how to perform the analysis but rem ains flexible Therefore, this evaluation fram ew ork by H utchinson and W aters (1987) has been chosen to evaluate the textbook Top N otch 2 Pre-interm ediate by Joan Saslow and Allen A scher (2006) for the first year students at FU

It is also needed to say that all the criteria declared by the syllabus designer must be defined as a set o f requirem ents for the materials And then the m aterials will be

evaluated to see if they realise those criteria

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2.6 Criteria for materials evaluation

According to Tomlinson (1998, p.220), criteria are what evaluators use to “reach a decision regarding what needs to be evaluated"’ In other words, they are the bases upon which evaluators depend when making judgments Defining criteria for evaluation is one o f the crucial issues evaluators must take into account before any evaluation can take place

There has been a wide range o f sets o f criteria proposed by different authors in the forms o f checklists or guidelines that can be used for evaluating course books In this thesis, the researcher will discuss the three popular sets o f criteria proposed by Brown (1995), Cunningsworth (1995), and Hutchinson and Waters (1987)

2.6.1 Criteria defined by Brown (1995)

Brown (1995) shows a very helpful checklist for evaluating textbooks used in a course They are listed as following:

The fitness o f the textbook to the curriculum o f the program (including approach, syllabus, general language needs, goals and objectives, and language content)

The logistical characteristics o f the textbook (including price, usability, and

availability)

The teachability o f the textbook (including teachers’ editions, reviews, acceptability among learners)

Obviously, the three criteria proposed be Brown (1995) are clear but they are too

general for the evaluator to carry out the jobs

2.6.2 Criteria defined by Cunningsworth (1995)

The criteria suggested by Cunningsworth (1995, p 15-17) will be presented as

following:

Course books should correspond to learners’ needs They should match the aims and objectives o f the language learning program

Course books should reflect the uses (present or future) which learners will make o f the language They should be selected in order to help equip students to use language effectively for their own purposes.

Course books should take into account students’ needs as learners and should facilitate their learning processes, without dogmatically imposing a rigid “method”

Course books should have a clear role as a support for learning Like teachers, they

m ediate betw een the target language and the learners

Apparently, the four criteria proposed by Cunningsworth (1995) are also clear but they may cost m uch o f energy and time to evaluate all aspects perceptively

2.6.3 Criteria defined by Hutchinson and Waters (1987)

The same checklist o f criteria for materials evaluation is also given by Hutchinson and

W aters (1987) However, there seems to be more specific and in more detail The checklist consists o f four main criteria for materials evaluation any evaluator should concern

The audience o f the materials (the evaluator should check different information about learners to find out whether the materials are suitable to the students’ age, knowledge o f English, interest and so on.)

The aims o f the materials (the evaluator has to check if the materials match the aims and objectives o f the course.)

The content o f the materials (the evaluator has to check whether the m aterials’ language points, m acro-skills and micro-skills, topics, etc suit the learners’ needs.)

The m ethodology o f the materials (the evaluator has to find out if techniques, aids, guidance, etc provided in the materials satisfy the learners and teachers o f the course.)

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A summary o f the checklist is presented in figure 3.

SUBJECTIVE ANALYSIS

(i.e analysis o f your course, in terms o f

materials requirements)

OBJECTIVE ANALYSIS(i.e analysis o f materials being evaluated)AUDIENCE

1A Who are your learners?

(E.g ages, sex, nationality/ies, knowledge

in te re sts, )

IB Who is the materials intended for?

AIMS

(Note: Check that the aims are actually what they are said to be, by looking at the material itself)

SUBJECTIVE ANALYSIS

(i.e analysis o f your course, in term s o f

materials requirements)

OBJECTIVE ANALYSIS(i.e analysis o f materials being evaluated)

CONTENT

3A W hat language points should be

covered? (e.g W hat particular structures,

functions, vocabulary areas etc?)

4A W hat proportion o f work on each (e.g

reading) m acro-skill is desired? Should

there be skills-integrated work?)

5A W hat m icro-skills do you need? (e.g

deducing the m eanings o f unfamiliar

words)

6A W hat subject-m atter area(s) is/are

required (e.g medicine, biology etc.)?

7A W hat kinds o f exercise/tasks are

7B What kinds o f exercise/tasks are included in the materials?

To be continued

SU BJECTIV E ANALYSIS

(i.e analysis o f your course, in term s o f

m aterials requirem ents)

OBJECTIVE ANALYSIS(i.e analysis o f m aterials being evaluated)

M ETH O D O LO G Y

8A W hat guidance for doing the kinds o f

exercises/tasks the course will be needed?

E.g

- from guided to free?

- from com prehension to production?

- accuracy to fluency?

9A W hat teaching-learning techniques are

to be used?

e.g ‘lock step, pair-w ork, group-work, etc

8B W hat guidance for doing the kinds o f exercises/tasks the m aterials provide?

9B W hat teaching-learning techniques can

be used w ith the materials?

Figure 3: C hecklist o f criteria f o r m aterials evaluation by H utchinson and Waters (1987)

2.7 Previous studies

This part aim s at review ing previous studies in order to find out the appropriate

m ethodology for the study

Up to now, there have been a certain num ber o f researches done to evaluate teaching materials, each o f w hich m ay use different approaches to m aterials evaluation

H owever, they all dem onstrate how m aterials evaluation provides feedback for improvem ent and m odification As this thesis aims to evaluate the textbook Top Notch

2 Pre-interm ediate used for the first -year students at FU, the review presented in the following section includes only typical studies for practicality and appropriate data collection instruments

V u Thi Yen N ga (2004) carried out an evaluation w ith the aim to find out whether the course book Lifelines Pre-interm ediate was appropriate to the program and the students’ knowledge level in term s o f aims, audience, content and methodology The subjects o f the study w ere 220 second-year non-English m ajor students and 6 teachers o f English at the English D epartm ent in Q uangninh Teachers’ Training College In her study, the researcher chose the criteria proposed by Cunningsw orth (1995) and Hutchinson and

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Waters (1987) for the following reasons First, they are very systematic Second, they are narrower in scope, so the data gathered can be more exact Third, it is also easy to administer Eventually, rating scales are easy to use and useful for broad distinction She realized that after matching, actions o f adopting, rejecting, adapting and supplementing are important for a complete evaluation process So a combination o f Cunningsworth and Hutchinson was the most suitable one for her study The data collection instruments used in this study were document analysis, questionnaires for the students and the teachers.

Another study was carried out by Tran Thanh Nhan (2006) with the purpose o f evaluating the textbook “Oxford English for Electronics” and suggesting for new materials design The subjects o f this study were 8 teachers who have experienced teaching the material for at least one semester and 120 third-year students in the faculty

o f English and Telecommunication The methods applied to collect data for this study were a combination o f survey questionnaires specifically designed for both teachers and the third-year students who have experienced using the textbook, interview o f the teachers regarding their experiences in teaching the materials and informal discussion with the students o f COLTECH through the forum http://www.fotech.org Among these, the survey questionnaire serves as the major method to collect data The checklist

is based on Hutchinson and W aters’ (1987), Cunningsworth’s (1995), and Tom linson’s(1998) frameworks and basic principles for evaluating ELT textbooks The strengths o f Tran Thanh N han’s study are these criteria when applied to appraise the specific textbook’s roles and applicabilities are adapted to suit the ESP context

Nguyen Hong Nga (2006) also chose the combination o f Littlejohn and Hutchinson and

W aters’ model to evaluate ESP m aterials for students o f telecommunications at Posts and Telecommunications Institute o f Technology in terms o f the audiences, aims, content and methodology The subjects o f the study were 5 teachers and 80 students The methods used in this study were docum ent analysis, questionnaires and interviews which were designed to evaluate the materials in terms o f objectives, content and methodology to determine whether the material is suitable to the course requirements and the students’ level o f English Based on the findings, the researcher suggested an adaptation to the material to overcome its weaknesses so that the students can benefit in the future course W hat is different from N ga’s research and the author’s is the

audiences using the materials: one is ESP material while the other is for general English.

Two generalizations can be m ade from these studies First, the m ajor purpose o f conducting an evaluation o f teaching m aterials is to evaluate the effectiveness o f the material in use or its suitability to the course aims Second, the criteria for evaluation may differ to some extent from situation to situation but generally they can be grouped into the five criteria proposed by H utchinson and Waters For these reasons, the researcher has decided to adapt docum ent analysis, questionnaires and follow-up interviews that were successfully utilized by previous researchers to collect the data for his materials evaluation

2.8 Summary

In this chapter, the researcher has given an overview o f what is m eant by students’ knowledge level in term s o f learning styles, language proficiency, attitudes and motivation and students’ background know ledge about the world The teaching materials and m aterials evaluation are defined and their roles w ith review o f the published literature in the field are examined The kinds o f evaluations are introduced before discussion goes on to look at the models for evaluation and criteria for evaluation Finally, som e previous studies in the field are also review ed in order to approach an appropriate m ethodology for this m inor thesis Stated in the next chapter are the research m ethodologies that are m ade from previous studies, the research questions, and the procedures o f the study and a b rief description o f the subjects involved in the study The later part o f the Chapter 3 will deal w ith the way o f analyzing the data

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CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY

This chapter consists o f five main parts Part 3.1 presents the research question Part 3.2 describes the data collection instruments used to collect information for the study Part 3.3 describes the subjects taking part in the study The procedures are presented in the next part, 3.4 The way o f analyzing the data is presented in the last part, 3.5

3.1 Research questions

The study aims at evaluating the textbook Top Notch 2 Pre-intermediate by Joan

Saslow and A llen Ascher (2006) for the first year students at FU.

More specifically, the following questions were investigated:

1 Does the textbook “Topnotch 2 - Pre intermediate” meet the requirements o f the course and the students’ knowledge level?

2 What should be done to contribute to the improvement of the material?

3.2 Data collection instruments

Data was collected by means o f document analysis, questionnaires, and follow-up interview D escription o f each o f these is presented in the following sections

3.2.1 D ocum ent analysis

In this study, two docum ents will be analyzed The first is the English syllabus for the first-year students at FU The analysis o f the program document is to provide insight into the aims and objectives o f the course The information expected to obtain is hoped

to determine w hether the materials satisfies the ultimate aims and objective set out in the course

The second docum ent is the textbook Topnotch 2 Pre-intermediate, which has been

used as the course book for the first-year students at FU The analysis is based on the criteria for m aterials evaluation defined by Hutchinson and Waters (1987) By document analysis, the information about who the textbook is for, what objectives the textbook aims at and how/what the content and the methodology in the textbook are sequenced/provided are the main aspects the researcher tends to gather

3.2.2 Questionnaires

A questionnaire is considered the most appropriate research instrument for gathering information concerning the attitudes o f the respondents Gillham (2000) proposes three reasons for this as follows First, as the respondents can remain anonymous, information from a questionnaire can be confidential It is hoped that people will undoubtedly feel freer in an anonymous style o f responding Second, a questionnaire is easy to administer, enabling the researcher to survey a large number o f respondents Third, the respondents can complete the questionnaire when it suits them

In this study, two questionnaires were employed, a questionnaire for teachers and a questionnaire for students The questions were adapted from N ga’s (2004) with some modification from the ones designed by Cunningsworth (1995) and Hutchinson and Waters (1987)

3.2.2.I Questionnaire for teachers

Teacher questionnaire was designed for teachers who used the textbook to collect their opinions and judgm ents about the textbook as well as the students’ knowledge level

The teacher questionnaire consists o f 8 close and two open-ended questions

Questions 1 recorded teachers’ personal information about working experience,

qualifications and tim e working with the textbook Topnotch 2 Pre-intermediate.

Questions 2 was to seek information about teachers’ awareness o f the amount of

language points covered in the textbook Topnotch 2 Pre-intermediate This question

was designed on a 4-point Likert scale

Questions 3, 4, 5 and 6 were to collect the teachers’ points o f view about the usefulness

or relevance o f sub-skills, topics, types o f exercises and guidance for doing types o f tasks o f the textbook to their students

Questions 7 and 8 were designed to find out what teaching techniques and teaching aids the teachers provide their students

Question 9 was to find out whether the teachers think the guidance o f the textbook is provided sufficiently to make the teaching and learning easier

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The last one was to leave room for the teachers to express their own opinions about the textbook and give some suggestions for improving it.

3.2.2.2 Questionnaire for students

The main objective o f the student questionnaire is to collect their opinions about the textbook Topnotch 2 Pre-intermediate

Like the teacher questionnaire, the student questionnaire also consists o f eight close and two open-ended questions

Question 1 recorded students’ personal information about age, class, years o f English studying, studied kinds o f textbooks and their purpose o f learning

Question 2 was designed to find out what students think about the amount o f language

points covered in the textbook Topnotch 2 Pre-intermediate.

Questions 3, 4, 5 and 6 were to ask the students about the language appropriateness o f the textbook to their knowledge level such as sub-skills, topics types o f exercises and guidance for doing types o f tasks o f the textbook

Q uestions 7, 8 and 9 w ere to seek the students’ preference o f about the presence o f

auxiliary parts o f the textbook (language guidance, suggesting for further work, lists o f lexis and language skills/points, tests, introductions to the materials and consolidations)

Question 10 was to leave room for the students to express their overall opinions and judgm ents about the textbook

3.2.3 Follow up interview

Besides docum ent analysis and questionnaires, some follow-up interviews were conducted to get more detailed information from the respondents and to check the reliability o f the information They were conducted in an unstructured way and focus on the reasons why the respondents chose an option(s) for certain questions in the questionnaires In the interviews, Vietnam ese was mainly used to avoid the respondents’ misunderstanding o f the questions and inaccurate expression o f their ideas

The data from the follow-up interviews is expected to supplement the data collected from document analysis and questionnaires to achieve a full and detailed evaluation of the course book.

3.3.2 Students

The students taking part in this study are all the first-year students o f FPT University (145 in all) who had passed an entrance test o f the four language skills to attend the course o f Top Notch 2 Pre-intermediate M ales outnumber females About 68% o f the students are males Their age ranges from eighteen to twenty-one By the time the students were asked to complete the questionnaires, they had ju st completed 70 slots o f English (equivalent to 140 class hours) with the textbook Top Notch 2 Pre-intermediate

3.4 Procedures

As an evaluator, the research procedures will be carried out as follows:

The syllabus was first analyzed, followed by the textbook Top Notch 2 Pre-intermediate analysis Based on the m ajor findings o f this stage, questionnaires and follow-up interview items were worked out

Two questionnaires were then delivered to the teachers and students who had already finished the 70-slot hour program 145 copies o f the questionnaires were distributed to the students and returned Five questionnaires were not fully completed, e.g the

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respondents failed to report the information in the last three questions, so it was not included In total, the data from 140 fully completed questionnaires were analyzed.

Then, follow-up interviews were carried out The teachers and the students were invited

to a meeting The researcher decided to use Vietnamese as the language of communication with the belief that the interviewees would feel more comfortable when expressing their opinions about the material During the interview, the researcher took notes o f the answers by the interviewees

Finally, the data from the follow-up interviews together with the data collected from the material analysis and the questionnaires were then analyzed and discussed to give a full and detailed evaluation o f the materials

The data analysis is presented and discussed in details in chapter 4

CHAPTER 4: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

This chapter aims to find out satisfactoriness o f the course’s objectives and the teachers and students’ opinions about the textbook Top Notch 2 Pre-intermediate for the first year students at FPT University with regards to its objectives, audience, language content and methodology The chapter consists o f five main parts The results are presented and discussed in the first four parts M ajor findings are presented in the last part, 4.5

4.1 The satisfactoriness o f the material to the course’s objectives.

4.1.1 The aims o f the material

The series o f Top Notch (six levels) have been designed to develop real-life communicative skills and powers o f self-expression (S aslow & A sch er, 2006) Top Notch 2 Pre-intermediate is the second level o f six which is designed for intermediate students The objectives o f Top N otch 2 Pre-intermediate are stated by its authors in the Introduction o f the teacher’s textbook and presented by the researcher as follow

The goals o f Top N otch 2 Pre-intermediate:

skills, keeping the pace o f class session lively and varied

their pride in being able to speak accurately, fluently and authentically

productively

English, both linguistically and culturally English is treated as an international language rather than the language o f a particular country or region

varied rules across cultures for: politeness, greetings and introductions, appropriateness o f dress in different settings, conversation do’s and taboos, table manners, and other similar issues

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By the end o f the course, students will be able to interact successfully and confidently with both native and non-native speakers o f English.

Detailed description o f the textbook can be seen in appendix 1

4.1.2 The aims o f the course

The main objective o f this course is to help students acquire the vocabulary range and to enhance all language skills required for the pre-intermediate level Additional writing and grammar lessons will be incorporation in the course This course is designed to further develop the learner's confidence and fluency in using the English language and

to enrich their learning experience through interactive lessons and communicative exercises

Upon completion o f the course, students should be able to:

a Integrated Language Skills based on the prescribed textbook

1 demonstrate know ledge o f a vocabulary range covered in lessons (including meaning, opposites, spelling and pronunciation)

2 speak confidently and use acceptable expressions in daily communication

3 listen and respond (orally and in writing) to each other, recorded texts and video clips

4 show understanding o f the reading texts by responding to questions

5 respond to writing exercises in the textbook appropriately

6 demonstrate understanding o f grammar rules taught through exercises

b Vocabulary Development based on text book and reference books

1 show understanding o f new words learnt in textbook

2 know o f m eaning o f synonym s, antonyms and simple homonyms

3 do word puzzles and play word games

c Additional Writing and Grammar

1 show ability to skim and scan for information

2 demonstrate ability to m ake inferences and predictions on readings