VIET NAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES NGUYỄN THỊ NGUYỆT ÁNH TEACHER’S EVALUATION ON “LET’S GO 1A SECOND EDITION” FOR GRADE 3 AT PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN NORTH VIETNAM (ĐÁNH GIÁ CỦA GIÁO VIÊN VỀ GIÁO TRÌNH “LET’S GO 1A SECOND EDITION” DÙNG CHO HỌC SINH LỚP 3 CÁC TRƯỜNG TIỂU HỌC MIỀN BẮC VIỆT NAM) M. Minor Programme Thesis Field : English Methodology Code : 60 14 10 Hanoi, 2010 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com VIET NAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES NGUYỄN THỊ NGUYỆT ÁNH TEACHER’S EVALUATION ON “LET’S GO 1A SECOND EDITION” FOR GRADE 3 AT PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN NORTH VIETNAM (ĐÁNH GIÁ CỦA GIÁO VIÊN VỀ GIÁO TRÌNH “LET’S GO 1A SECOND EDITION” DÙNG CHO HỌC SINH LỚP 3 CÁC TRƯỜNG TIỂU HỌC MIỀN BẮC VIỆT NAM) M. Minor Programme Thesis Field : English Methodology Code : 60 14 10 Supervisor : Vũ Thu Thủy, M.A Hanoi, 2010 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS EFP English for primary ELT English Language Teaching Let’s Go Second Edition LG 2nd Oxford University Press OUP MOET Ministry of Education CLT Communicative Language Teaching TPR Total Physical Response MAT Model Action Talk TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES Figure 1: The materials evaluation model proposed by Hutchinson and Waters (1987:98) Figure 2: The materials evaluation model proposed by Littlejohn (1998:3) Figure 3: Teacher’s Opinions on Objectives of the Book Figure 4: Teacher’s Opinions on the Appropriateness of the Topics in the Material Figure 5: Teacher survey results on the tasks and activities in the material in Rural Area Figure 6: Teacher survey results on the tasks and activities in the material in Urban Area Table 1: The grade 3 syllabus prescribed by the MOET Table 2: Comparison of communicative functions as defined by the curriculum and covered in Let’s Go 1A Table 3: Macro-skills and proportions comparison Table 4: Teacher Survey Results on time allocation of the book Table 5: Teacher Survey Results on balance of skills offered in the book Table 6: Teacher Survey Results on reading and writing skills offered in the book Table 7: Teacher Survey Results on speaking and listening skills offered in the book Table 8: Teacher Survey Results on suitability of the Language Points offered in the book Table 9: Teacher Opinions on Vocabulary offered in the book. Table 10: Teacher Survey Results on Pronunciation provided by the material Table 11: Teachers’ opinions on the suitability of culture elements in the material Table 12: Teachers’ opinions on the values hint by the material.
Table 13: Teachers’ opinions on the supplementary materials of the book Table 14: Teachers’ opinions on the general look of the material Table 15: Teachers’ opinions on the accessibility of the book’s price Table 16: Teachers’ opinions on the methodology applied in the material TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.vietnam TABLE OF CONTENTS Certificate of originality of the thesis Acknowledgements’ Abstract List of Abbreviations List of Tables Table of Content PART 1: INTRODUCTION 1 1. Back ground to the Study and Statement of the Problem 1 1. Statement of problem 2 3. Aims of the study 2 4.
Theoretical bases of the Study 2 6. Scope of Study 3 7. Overview of Study PART 2: DEVELOPMENT 3 CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 4 1. Material in Language Teaching and Learning 4 1.
Role of Materials 4 1. Types of Materials 5 1. Why is evaluation 7 1. Definitions of Materials Evaluation 7 1.
Types of Materials Evaluation 8 1. Principles of Materials Evaluation 10 1. Approach to Materials Evaluation 10 1. Models for Materials Evaluation 10 1.
Criteria for Materials Evaluation 10 1. Summary 13 CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY 15 2. Primary school English education in the North Vietnam: Policy and Practice 15 2. Document Analysis 17 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.
Data Collection Procedures 18 2. Questionnaires for the Teachers 19 CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION 21 3. Objectives of the Course 21 3. The primary school English education syllabus 23 3.
The Material Descriptions 23 3. The Suitability of the Material to the Objectives of the Course 25 3. Matches between curriculum requirements and textbook’s coverage in terms of input 27 3. The Appropriateness of the Material to the Methodology Requirements 29 3.
The Suitability of the Material to the Objectives of the Course 30 3. The Suitability of the Textbook to the Content required by the Course 30 3. The Appropriateness of the Material to the Teaching Methods applied 37 3. Discussion PART 3: CONCLUSION 37 1.
Summary of Previous Parts 2. Limitation of the study 39 4. Conclusion 39 REFERENCES TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.vietnam CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1. Background to the study and statement of problem 1.
Theoretical background According to McDonough and Shaw (1993) no set of materials is likely to be perfect; it cannot serve equally for the requirements of every classroom setting. Teachers should not merely know to use it but how useful it can be. They must evaluate its strengths and weaknesses. So William (1983) suggests that English language teachers need to know the principles of materials evaluation.
The ability of materials evaluation is considered to be a very important professional activity for all EFL teachers. Although the materials are good, they will never be perfect for every teaching situation. They will always need adapting, modifying or supplementing in order to improve the teaching and learning results. The theoretical basis for materials evaluation and adaptation has been mentioned in a number of works by Cunningsworth (1995), by Hutchinson and Waters (1987), McDonough and Shaw (1993) and by Littlejohn (1998).
Therefore, evaluation can be carried out with any materials by any evaluator. The English program at Primary schools in Vietnam The English course for pupils at primary is compulsory at the beginning of grade 3 continuing at grade 4 and grade 5. Schools can optionally choose to teach between Let’s Learn English by Education Publishing House and Let’s Go by Oxford University Press with either 2 periods per week or 4 periods per week depending on each province’s application. The English teaching material Let’s Go (2nd Edition) series has been used since 2000.
It contains 4 main units for each level 1A, 1B, 2A, 2B. After every two units there is one review unit. Each unit is organized by a set pattern of components including Let’s Talk, Let’s Sing, Learn, Let’s Move, Let’s Listen, Let’s Review and Let’s Learn Some More. The first component, Let’s Talk, introduces functional dialogues.
In Let’s Sing, an interactive song based on the dialogue is offered. Let’s Listen gives test and unit review. In Let’s Move, there are classroom 1 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.vietnam commands and action verbs. Let’s Learn instructs new grammar; Let’s Review offers further review after every units and Let’s Learn Some More revises related grammatical structures.
Statement of problem Let’s Go 2nd series are written and published by the British. The series have been introduced into Vietnam primary as a course book used for grade 3, grade 4 and grade 5. However, the series have never been carefully evaluated on their appropriateness in terms of content, methodology and physical properties and matter of cost are also exclusive. This fact motivates me to do this survey research.
In the scope of this study, the evaluation is carried out with Let’s Go 1A student book used for grade 3 in the Northern provinces of Vietnam. Aims of the study The study aims to evaluate Let’s Go Second Edition (Oxford University Press, 2000) to determine whether the employment of this material is appropriate in the context of teaching at primary schools in the North of Vietnam. Hopefully, the findings of the study will provide the English teaching staff at primary schools with data about what changes to be made to improve the effectiveness of the material for future use. Research question The study aims to answer to the following question: To what extent does Let’s Go 1A Second Edition (Oxford University Press, 2000) satisfy the course requirements in terms of the audience, aims, content and methodology for grade 3 at primary schools in the North of Vietnam? 1.
Theoretical bases of the study In the material evaluation, evaluators have to base on a great number of criteria such as audience, aims, content, methodology, physical appearance, cultural bias, authenticity and so on. And for each set of criteria, various aspects of the material need to be taken into account. In this study, the researcher focuses on the following criteria: Audience (in term of English level, the usefulness and the appeal of the material as perceived by the audience) Aims of the material and the course Content (in term of language points covered, skills, text types and topics) Methodology (in term of types of tasks and exercises, and teaching-learning techniques) 2 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.vietnam Scope of Study The study is intended to follow the above theoretical bases which seek the answer to the appropriateness of the book Let’s Go 1 A Second Edition in terms of objectives, content and teaching methodology with the course requirements. The study is also hopefully expected to compare teaching of this book in two different area of North Vietnam: urban area and rural area with a districted data from the most distinguished sample of the participants.
By that, the research can draw her conclusion on the suitability of this book with the teachers and students of these areas. Overview of the study The study is organized into 5 main chapters as follows: Chapter 1 discusses the background to the study and statement of problem, the aims, the research question and the overview of the thesis. Chapter 2 presents a review of literature, concentrating on the issues related to material evaluation. It first discusses the roles and types of materials in language teaching.
Then, it presents major issues in materials evaluation, including definition of materials evaluation, reasons for materials evaluation, types of materials evaluation, principles for materials evaluation, materials evaluation procedure as well as criteria for materials evaluation. The next part is about materials adaptation. The chapter also mentions some previous studies. Chapter 3 describes the research methodology adopted in the study, the data collection instruments, the subjects, as well as the data collection procedures.
Chapter 4 discusses the findings of the study, pointing out the strengths and weaknesses of the material. Chapter 5 suggests solutions to improve the material as well as directions for further research and concludes the study. 3 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.vietnam CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW Chapter two aims to establish a theoretical framework for the evaluation of Let’s Go 1A Second Edition series (Oxford University Press, 2000). In the first part, the chapter deals with teaching materials which focuses on the role of materials in language teaching and types of materials.
The second part addresses issues in materials evaluation which involve reasons for materials evaluation, definition of materials evaluation, teacher’s role in material evaluation, models for materials evaluation, and criteria for evaluation. Materials in Language Teaching and Learning 2. Role of materials: There is no doubt about the role of materials in English Second Language class (ESL). There have been many authors spending times and efforts to seek the answer to the role of teaching materials.
There is a general view to see that materials play a positive part in teaching and learning second language. According to Jack C. Richard (2001) ―Teaching materials are a key component in most language programs. Whether the teacher uses textbooks, institutionally prepared material, or his or her own materials, instructional materials generally serve as basis for much of the language input learners receive and the language practice in the classroom.