VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY- HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGE AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES NGUYỄN MỸ LINH AN EVALUATION OF THE COURSE BOOK “FAMILY AND FRIENDS STARTER” USED FOR PRIMARY SCHOOL LEARNERS AT AN ENGLISH CENTER IN VINH PHUC (Đánh giá giáo trình “Family and Friends Starter” được sử dụng cho học sinh tiểu học tại một trung tâm tiếng anh ở Vĩnh Phúc) M. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field : English Teaching Methodology Code :8140231.01 HANOI, 2022 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY- HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGE AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES NGUYỄN MỸ LINH AN EVALUATION OF THE COURSE BOOK “FAMILY AND FRIENDS STARTER” USED FOR PRIMARY SCHOOL LEARNERS AT AN ENGLISH CENTER IN VINH PHUC (Đánh giá giáo trình “Family and Friends Starter” được sử dụng cho học sinh tiểu học tại một trung tâm tiếng anh ở Vĩnh Phúc) M. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field : English Teaching Methodology Code : 8140231. Nguyễn Thị Việt Nga HANOI, 2022 CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY I certify my authority of the thesis submitted entitled: An evaluation of the course book “Family and Friends starter” used for primary school learners at an English center in Vinh Phuc In fulfillment of the requirements for thesis and field study report in Master program issued by the Post Graduate Committee.
Except where the reference is indicated, no other person‟s work has been used without due acknowledgement in the text of the thesis. Hanoi, 2022 Nguyễn Mỹ Linh i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am deeply thankful to many people without whose help the present thesis could not have been completed. First and foremost, I would like to express my deep indebtedness to my supervisor Doctor Nguyen Thi Viet Nga- Dean of faculty of foreign languages of Academy of Journalism and Communication for her valuable guidance and endless support. Her useful advices, comment and corrections help me complete my thesis.
My thanks are also extended to all my lecturers at Department of Graduate Studies, University of Language and International Studies, VNU who gave me meaningful lessons and valuable knowledge; from which I know how to conduct my study. Last but not least, I owe the completion of this dissertation to my family, my colleagues and friends for their motivation, support and encouragement. ii ABSTRACT Materials play an important role in language teaching and learning. Even though no textbook is perfect in a particular teaching situation, it is necessary to evaluate materials frequently.
By doing that, teachers might find suitable materials that fit students‟ interests or students‟ abilities. This thesis was carried on to evaluate the suitability of the coursebook “Family and Friends Starter” (by Naomi Simmons, Oxford University Press, 2010) which has been used at primary levels in an English center in Vinh Phuc. There has been some research related to the book Family and Friends book series. However, evaluation on Family and Friends Starter has not been done by other researchers.
To evaluate the coursebook effectively, document analysis and teacher survey in terms of content, design and organization, and methodology were used. The researcher analyzed the material based on the “English textbook evaluation criteria for the school system in Vietnam” accompanying circular 31/2015/TT-BGDDT. The results of the survey, together with document analysis will help to answer the research question. After analyzing the results, some suggestions on making the material suitable for Vietnamese students will be mentioned at the end.
iii LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES Table 1: Learning Outcome for starter level at Big Bang English Center. 18 Table 2 : Teacher‟s perception on some requirement criteria. 29 Table 3: Teacher‟s perception on the book objectives. 31 Table 4: Teacher‟s perception on the book design and organization.
32 Table 5: Teacher „s perception on the book methodology. 34 Table 6 : Teacher‟s perception on the book general content. 35 Table 7: Teacher‟s perception on the book general content. 36 Table 8: Teacher‟s perception on the book language skills.
37 Table 9: Teacher‟s perception on the textbook user support. 39 Figure 1: Evaluation Model. 12 Figure 2: My Family (Naomi Simmons, 2014, p. 24 Figure 3: He‟s happy (Naomi Simmons, 2014, p.
24 Figure 4: Table of Content (Naomi Simmons, 2014, p. 25 Figure 5: Family Introduction (Naomi Simmons, 2014, p. 26 iv TABLE OF CONTENTS CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY. iii LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES.
iv CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION. Rationale of the study. Aim of the study. Scope of the study.
Significance of the study. Method of study. Overview of the study. 4 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW.
Materials in language teaching and learning. Definition and types of materials in language teaching and learning. Role of materials. Definition of materials evaluation.
Reasons for evaluating materials. Types of material evaluation 9 2. The role of criteria in material evaluation. Review of the previous study .1 An overview of current English teaching and learning at the English Center.
Program of the course. Questionnaires for teachers. 21 CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION. Cultural and social factors.
Design and Organization. Objectives and Methodology. Content and Skill. Textbook User Supports.
Teacher survey questionnaire findings. The appropriateness of the material to some requirement criteria. The appropriateness of the material to the aims of the course. The appropriateness of the material in terms of design and organization requirements of the course.
The appropriateness of the material to the methodology requirements of the course. The appropriateness of the material to the content and skills requirements of the course. The appropriateness of the in term of textbook user supports. Summary of Findings.
Summary of major findings. Limitation of the study. Suggestions for the further studies. Contribution of the research.
V vii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1. Rationale of the study The role of English Language Teaching (ELT) textbook is considered as one of the key vital components in the process of language teaching and learning. Hutchinson (1987) defined evaluation as “a matter of judging the fitness of something for a particular purpose” (p. For teacher, textbook is an effective guide and for learners, it serves as a foundation for them to practice in the classroom.
Furthermore, textbooks became a universal element of ELT teaching. It is necessary to evaluate a book to show that the book is suitable for the purpose of the course. Sheldon (1988) shows that there are two main reasons why teachers need to evaluate books. First, evaluating books help teachers to choose suitable books for their students.
Second, the evaluation will help teachers to find out strengths and weaknesses of the book. This will encourage the teacher to modify and adapt their materials to students. The English program for primary students in Vietnam Since the 1990s in big cities such as Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh, English for primary pupils have been taught in a pilot program at language centers and some primary schools. After that, English was introduced as an elective subject starting from the second semester of grade 3.
At present, English serves as a major subject in primary education curricula in Vietnam. Teaching English as a main subject in primary schools serves the following purposes: • Forming basic English communicative skills in listening, speaking, reading, and writing for students to be able to communicate in English at schools, at home, and in familiar social environments. • Providing students with a fundamental knowledge of English to gain a primary understanding of the country, people, and culture of some English- speaking countries. 1 • Building positive attitudes to English, and better understanding and love for Vietnamese through learning English.
Furthermore, students‟ intelligence, personality, and learning method will have also been gradually formed. To achieve the mentioned purposes, there are many different textbooks exist such as “Let‟s learn”, “Let‟s go”, “Tieng Anh”, “Explore our world”, or “Family and Friends”. However, among these books, the “Family and Friends” book series are favored over others in many schools and English institutions. The English textbook Family and Friends Starter There are six books in the book series Family and Friends which is from Family and Friends Starter to Family and Friends 6.
The Family and Friends Starter Class book is supposed to be used for teachers and students in teaching and learning in class. Family and Friends Starter Workbook is for students to do homework at home. Besides, there are also teacher books and testing and evaluation books that are used for teachers in preparing for the lessons and testing as well as evaluating their students‟ ability. There are nine units in the Family and Friends Starter Class book.
One unit consists of six lessons: Lesson 1: Words, lesson 2: Grammar and Song, lesson 3: Sounds and Letters, lesson 4: Numbers, lesson 5: Sounds and Letter, lesson 6: Story. After every three units, there is one lesson which is Review. Unlike at primary schools where only official textbooks are used to teach students, at English centers in Vietnam, several coursebooks can be used to teach students, for example, Our world, Kids Box, Let's go, etc. The Family and Friends series book is written and published in Britain where English standard is believed to be one of the reasons that this series book is highly recommended in many English centers.
Until now, there have been several studies about to what extent the Family and Friends series book is suitable for teaching and learning in the Vietnam context, but there were not any studies that study to what extent is the book Family and Friends starter satisfied teachers or not in their teaching way following requirements like at 2 school in terms of design, organization, content and methodology and other factors. Conducting research and finding out the advantages and disadvantages of this book motivate and inspire me to adapt it more appropriately when teaching students. Aim of the study The study aims at evaluating Family and Friends Starter in terms of design, organization, content and methodology based on the English textbook evaluation criteria for the school system in Viet Nam under Circular no 31/2015/TT-BGDDT (see appendix 2). The author would like to see whether the book Family and Friends Starter is suitable for students studying at an English center that also follow the request of the Ministry of Education and Training regarding textbook evaluation in Vietnam.
From the results of the findings, recommendations and solutions would be mentioned to suggest the appropriate modification of the book to fit the requirements of the course and the request from MOET. To achieve above-mentioned aims, the research was conducted to seek the answer to the following question: “To what extent is the book suitable for meeting requirements of the course in terms of aims, design and organization, content and methodology for students and teachers at starting level at Big bang center in Vinh Phuc province?” 3. Scope of the study The book Family and Friends starter is the first starting book used for students from kindergarten to primary first grade. There are plenty of frameworks and criteria for evaluating a book such as ones of Ellis (1997), Mc Donald and Shaw (1993), or Cunningsworth (1984).
However, to evaluate the book Family and Friends Starter, the author decided to follow the textbook evaluation checklist under Circular no 31/2015/TT-BGDDT to evaluate this material in terms of aims, design, and organization, content and methodology. Due to the small scale of the study, the English Center in Vinh Phuc was chosen as the research setting. As a result, the samples of the study were restricted to 40 teachers, who are enjoying learning and 3 teaching the book Family and Friends Starter. Nevertheless, this number of participants is believed to be sufficient to provide valid and reliable information, which is vital to the success of the research.
