VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES NGUYỄN THỊ NGỌC CHÂU AN EVALUATION OF THE MATERIAL “ENGLISH FOR CHEFS” FOR THE FIRST YEAR STUDENTS IN THE COOKING CLASS AT HAI PHONG TECHNOLOGICAL AND VOCATIONAL TRAINING SCHOOL ( Đánh giá giáo trình “ Tiếng Anh chuyên ngành chế biến món ăn” cho học sinh năm thứ nhất ngành Chế biến món ăn tại trường Trung cấp Nghiệp vụ và Công nghệ Hải Phòng) M. MINOR THESIS FIELD : ENGLISH TEACHING METHODOLOGY CODE : 60 14 10 SUPERVISOR : PHẠM THỊ HẠNH, M. SUPERVISOR : PHAM THI HANH, M. HA NOI-2010 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com v Table of content Part 1: INTRODUCTION 1.
Rationale of the thesis. Aims of the thesis. Significance of the thesis. Scope of the thesis.
Design of the thesis. 2 Part 2: DEVELOPMENT Chapter 1: Literature review 1. Materials in Language Teaching and Learning. Roles of Materials in Language Teaching and Learning.
Advantages and Disadvantages of published textbook for Chefs. The Characteristics of Materials of English for Specific Purpose. Purposes of Materials Evaluation. Types of Materials Evaluation.
Models of Materials Evaluation .Criteria for Materials Evaluation. Why do we adapt the material?. Levels of material adaptation. 14 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com vi Chapter 2: Research methodology 2.
An overview of current English Teaching and Learning at HPTVTS. Data collection procedure. 17 Chapter 3: Data analysis 3. Material versus Course: Aims.
Analysis: course versus the material. Survey: Teachers and students’ opinions about the appropriateness of the material in term of the aims .2 The Material versus the Course: Content Requirement .1 Analysis: Course versus the material. Survey: Teachers and students’ opinions about the appropriateness of the material in term of the content. The Material versus the Course: Methodology Requirement.
Analysis: the course versus the material. Survey: Teachers and students’ opinions about the methodology of the material. 36 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com vii Chapter 4: Discussion and adaptation 4. Discussion on the aim and content requirements of the course in comparison with the material and the opinions from teachers and students……………………………………….
Discussion on the methodology requirements of the course in comparison with the material and the opinions from teachers and students. Teacher’s suggestions for the material improvement. Recommendations for material improvements. Summary of previous parts.
Limitation and suggestion for further research. XXII LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com iv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS VNU: VietNam National University ULIS: University of Language and International Studies HPTVTS: Hai Phong Technological and Vocational Training School. LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 1 PART 1: INTRODUCTION 1. Rationale of the thesis As a key area in English Language Teaching (ELT), the significance of material design and evaluation has grown steadily.
Evaluation is basically a matching process, which concerns matching learners’ needs to available solutions (Hutchinson & Waters, 1987. 21) reminds us that “teachers generally need to screen materials, in order to predict their suitability for particular classes”. Thus, material evaluation is a decisive way to question and develop our own ideas as to what is required. Another benefit is through identifying strengths and weaknesses in coursebooks, optimum use can be made of strong points, and weaker points can be adapted or substituted from other books (Cunningsworth, 1995, p.
At present, there are not many coursebooks on cooking for students of cooking classes at vocational schools in Vietnam in general and at my school in particular. At HPTVTS, the books used to some extent are not really effective for their studies. Moreover, these books can lack practical information with too much theory and some contents are not suitable with the objective of the course as well as the demand of students. The material “English for Chefs” which was issued by Hanoi Publisher has been used as an official coursebook for students of cooking classes at HPTVTS for 2 years but there hasn’t any evaluation of the effectiveness of the book in completing the content requirement of the course as well as the aims given.
Aims of the thesis The study is conducted in order to identify: (1) How appropriate the material is in terms of content, objectives and methodology. (2) What remedies for changing or adapting should be used to make the material more suitable with requirement of the course and students’ need. Significance of the thesis English for Chefs is a compulsory subject of students of cooking classes at HPTVTS as it may be necessary for their future jobs. At present, “English for Chefs” is being used as the official coursebook for this subject.
However, there has not been any valuation of this book there so that the author decides to find out how good it is of the current English material used for LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 2 students of cooking class with the hope of having a good English material for students of cooking class which helps provide students with certain knowledge of English specializing in cooking and boost students’ belief in the training quality of school. Scope of the thesis There are many criteria to evaluate a material such as the audience, the content, the methodology, the cultural bias, the layout, the authenticity, and so on. In this thesis, the author aims at the appropriateness of the material to the content requirement, the objective and the methodology of the course which are based on Hutchinson and Water’s model (1987). The study is conducted by getting the results from the material analysis and utilizing the survey method applying on both teachers who have been teaching the material for 2 years and students who have used this material.
Design of the thesis The thesis consists of three main parts: introduction, development and conclusion Part one gives an overview of the thesis with the introduction, rationale, aims, scope and significance of the thesis Part two includes four chapters in which chapter one is the literature review of the thesis with the different views about material evaluation, the role of material as well as the material evaluation. It also points out some ways of evaluating a material with different criteria of different linguists. Chapter two presents the current teaching and learning English at HPTVTS, the research method, and data collection procedure of the study. Chapter three presents the results from the survey and the analysis of the material.
Chapter four discusses the findings of the research and suggestions on material adaptations. Part three provides the conclusion of the whole study and limitations of the thesis, and recommends further research. LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 3 PART 2: DEVELOPMENT. CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.
Materials in Language Teaching and Learning 1. Roles of materials in Language Teaching and Learning Allwright (1990) argues that materials should teach students to learn, that they should be resource books for ideas and activities for instruction/learning, and that they should give teachers rationales for what they do. From Allwright's point of view, textbooks are too inflexible to be used directly as instructional material. O'Neill (1982), in contrast, argues that materials may be suitable for students' needs, even if they are not designed specifically for them, that textbooks make it possible for students to review and prepare their lessons that textbooks are efficient in terms of time and money, and that textbooks can and should allow for adaptation and improvisation Materials include textbooks, video and audio tapes, computer software, and visual aids.
They influence the content and the procedures of learning. The choice of deductive vs. inductive learning, the role of memorization, the use of creativity and problem solving, production vs. reception, and the order in which materials are presented are all influenced by the materials.
In fact, much of the language teaching that occur today throughout the world could not take place without the extensive use of commercial textbooks. Hence, how to use and adapt textbooks is an important part of teacher’s professional knowledge. Advantages and Disadvantages of published coursebooks According to Penny Ur (1996), published coursebooks have their own advantages and disadvantages (The term ‘coursebook’ here means the textbook of which the teacher and usually each student has a copy, and which is in principle to be followed systematically as the basis for a language course) LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 4 Advantages - Framework: A coursebook provides a clear framework that teacher and learner know where they are going and what is coming next, so that there is a sense of structure and progress. - Syllabus: In many places the coursebook serves as syllabus; if it is followed systematically, a carefully planned and balanced selection of language content will be covered.
- Ready –made texts and tasks: The coursebook provides tasks which are likely to be an appropriate level for most of the class. This, of course, saves time for the teacher who would otherwise have to prepare his or her own. - Economy: A book is the cheapest way of providing learning material for each learner; alternatives, such as kits, set of photocopied papers or computer software, are likely to be more expensive relative to the amount of material provided. - Convenience: A book is a convenient package; it is bound, so that its components stick together and stay in order; it is light and small enough to carry around easily; it is of a shape that is easily packed and stacked; it does not depend for its use on hardware or a supply of electricity.
- Guidance: For teachers who are inexperienced or occasionally unsure of their knowledge of the language, the coursebook can provide useful guidance and support. - Autonomy: The learner can use the coursebook to learn new material, review and monitor progress with some degree of autonomy. A learner without a coursebook is more teacher- dependent. However, though how much the textbooks are well planned, they have their own disadvantages.
So that Penny Ur also gives some drawbacks of textbooks that he means ‘coursebook’ Disadvantages - Inadequacy: Every class - in fact, every learner - has their own learning needs: no one coursebook can possibly supply these satisfactorily. - Irrelevance, lack of interest: The topic dealt with in the coursebook may not necessarily be relevant or interesting for your class. LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 5 - Limitation: a coursebook is confining – Its set structure and sequence may inhibit a teacher’s initiative and creativity, and lead to boredom and lack of motivation on the part of the learners. - Homogeneity: Coursebooks have their own rationale and chosen teaching/learning approach.
They do not usually cater for the variety of levels of ability and knowledge, or of learning styles and strategies that exist in most classes. - Over-easiness: Teachers find it too easy to follow the coursebook uncritically instead of using their initiative; they may find themselves functioning merely as mediators of its content instead of as teachers in their own right. The characteristic of English for Specific Purpose (ESP). The most important difference between English for Specific Purposes (ESP) and English as a Second Language (ESL) (also known as general English) lies in the learners and their purposes for learning English.
ESP students are usually adults who already have some acquaintance with English and are learning the language in order to communicate a set of professional skills and to perform particular job-related functions. An ESP program is, therefore, built on an assessment of purposes and needs and the functions for which English is required. ESP concentrates more on language in context than on teaching grammar and language structures. It covers subjects varying from accounting or computer science to tourism and business management, and the like.