VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST- GRADUATE STUDIES *************************** BÙI BÍCH PHƢƠNG TEACHERS' AND STUDENTS' EVALUATION OF THE NEW TIẾNG ANH 11: A STUDY AT THREE UPPER SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN QUANG NINH PROVINCE (ĐÁNH GIÁ CỦA GIÁO VIÊN VÀ HỌC SINH VỀ CHẤT LƯỢNG SÁCH GIÁO KHOA MỚI TIẾNG ANH 11: NGHIÊN CỨU TẠI 3 TRƯỜNG TRUNG HỌC PHỔ THÔNG Ở TỈNH QUẢNG NINH) M. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111 HA NOI – 2017 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST- GRADUATE STUDIES *************************** BÙI BÍCH PHƢƠNG TEACHERS' AND STUDENTS' EVALUATION OF THE NEW TIẾNG ANH 11: A STUDY AT THREE UPPER SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN QUANG NINH PROVINCE (ĐÁNH GIÁ CỦA GIÁO VIÊN VÀ HỌC SINH VỀ CHẤT LƯỢNG SÁCH GIÁO KHOA MỚI TIẾNG ANH 11: NGHIÊN CỨU TẠI 3 TRƯỜNG TRUNG HỌC PHỔ THÔNG Ở TỈNH QUẢNG NINH) M. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111 Supervisor: Prof. Hoàng Văn Vân HA NOI – 2017 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com DECLARATION I hereby certify that the MA thesis entitled Teachers' and Students' Evaluation of the New Tiếng Anh 11: A Study at three Upper Secondary Schools in Quang Ninh Province is the result of my research for the Degree of Master of Arts at University of Languages and International studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi.
The thesis has not been submitted for any degree at any other university or tertiary institution. In terms of these conditions, I agree that the origin of my paper deposited in the library should be accessible for the purposes of study and research, in accordance with the normal conditions established by the librarian for the care, loan and reproduction of the paper. Hanoi, May 2017 Bùi Bích Phƣơng i LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I have benefited a great deal of support from a number of people during the time carrying out this thesis. First and foremost, I would like to express my profound gratefulness to my supervisor, Prof.
Hoàng Văn Vân, for his wholehearted supervision, his valuable and insightful comments, his deliberate guidance and constrictive critical feedback without which the thesis would not have been possible. I also wish to thank all my lecturers at University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi for their precious lectures whose ideas are partly employed in this study. I am also immensely grateful to 6 English teachers and 160 students in three top high schools in Quang Ninh province who were enthusiastic in their responses to my questionnaires. Especially, I would like to express my special thank to 14 interviewees for spending time answering my questions.
Moreover, I would like to say “thank you” to the boards of managers in these three schools who created convenient conditions in order that I was able to complete my surveys. Last but not least, I owe the completion of this study to my big family, my old teachers and my close friends who always stand by my side with encouragement and consideration. Thanks for their spiritual support throughout this study. ii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ABSTRACT Decisions related to textbook selection and evaluation are of great importance.
The purpose of this study is to evaluate the new Tiếng Anh 11 compiled under the Project 2020 used at several piloted high schools in Quang Ninh province by getting feedback from both students and teachers. For this purpose, a 48-item questionnaire for students and a 53-item questionnaire for teachers were developed about the physical features and organization, textbook contents (topics, texts, activities, skills, pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary), and supplementary materials, teacher’s book, objectives and curriculum fit. 160 students in piloted classes and 6 high school English teachers using the new textbook in three top high schools in Quang Ninh province were asked to reflect on the questions by checking one of the five options included. After, the interviews were conducted with 10 students and 4 teachers with more than five years of teaching experience to discuss in detail.
The results indicated that the textbook’s qualities, in general, satisfy both students and teachers in terms of design, structure and contents. The most remarkable improvement of the book is the way it is organized sections. In addition, that the book tends to develop students’ communicative competences through a variety of activities in class attracts them a lot. Besides, there still have some limitations of the book that were discussed.
Two of them are the lengths of reading texts and the number of grammar introduced in each unit. Finally, significant recommendations were also given to get the textbook improved. Key words: Textbook evaluation, criteria, Project 2020, evaluate, strengths, weaknesses iii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS .vii LIST OF TABLES.
Research statement and rationale of the study. Aims and objectives of the study. Scope and limitations of the study. Significance of the study.
The structure of the study. Teaching and learning English in Vietnam under the National Foreign Language Project. The NFL 2020 Project. An Overview of the Pilot English Curriculum for Upper Secondary schools 7 2.
An Overview of the Pilot Textbook Tiếng Anh 11. Definitions of textbook. Roles of textbooks. Textbook evaluative criteria.
Previous studies on textbook evaluation. 18 iv LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. Participants and sampling size. Data collection instruments.
Data analysis methods. Data collection procedure. Data analysis procedure. Analyzing collected data from questionnaires.
Analyzing collected data from interviews. MAJOR FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS. Students’ and teachers’ evaluation of the textbooks in each of 5 main categories. The evaluation in the “Physical features and organization” category.
The evaluation in the “Textbook contents” category. The teachers’ and students’ evaluation of the “Topics” section. The teachers’ and students’ evaluation of the “Texts” section. 36 v LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.
The teachers’ and students’ evaluation of the “Activities” section. The teachers’ and students’ evaluation of the “Skills” section. The teachers’ and students’ evaluation of the “Pronunciation” section. The teachers’ and students’ evaluation of the “Vocabulary” section.
The teachers’ and students’ evaluation of the “Grammar” section. The teachers’ and students’ evaluation of the “Supplementary materials” category. The teachers’ evaluation of the “Teacher’s book” category. The teachers’ evaluation of the “Objectives and Curriculum Fit” category 46 CHAPTER 4.
Recommendations for further research. QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS. PHIẾU KHẢO SÁT DÀNH CHO HỌC SINH .VI APPENDIX III. QUESTIONNAIRE FOR TEACHERS.
QUESTIONS FOR INTERVIEWS. XXII APPENDIX VI. THE INTERVIEWS’ SUMMARY. XXIX vi LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ABBREVIATIONS MOET: Minister of Education and Training VNU: Vietnam National University, Hanoi ELT: English Language Teaching NFL 2020: the National Foreign Language 2020 Project CEFR: Common European Framework of References CLT: Communicative Language Teaching vii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF TABLES Table 1.
Textbook evaluation criteria by Mukundan, Jayakaran, and Nimehchisalem (2011) Table 2. Textbook evaluation criteria by Hoàng Văn Vân (2015) Table 3. Evaluation on general features and organization Table 4. Evaluation on Topics Table 5.
Evaluation on Texts Table 6. Evaluation on Activities Table 7. Evaluation on Skills Table 8. Evaluation on Pronunciation Table 9.
Evaluation on Vocabulary Table 10. Evaluation on Grammar Table 11. Evaluation on Supplementary materials Table 12. Evaluation on Teacher’s book Table 13.
Evaluation on Objectives and Curriculum Fit viii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. Research statement and rationale of the study The textbook is one of the crucial factors in determining the learners’ success in language course (Mukundan, Jayakaran, and Vahid Nimehchisalem, 2012). In a developing country like Vietnam, it has been a regular practice to consider textbooks as a major source of the learning process to be undertaken in schools (Hoàng Văn Vân, 2012; Mahomood, 2010). Foreign language textbook is not an exception.
Vietnam is a country where English has become the compulsory subject in the educational curriculum from primary to upper secondary school. In response to this fact, on 20 September, 2008 Decision No. 1400/ QD-TT was issued by the Prime Minister on The Approval of the 10-year National Project for “Teaching and Learning Foreign Language in the National Formal Educational System Period 2008-2020” (the National Foreign Language 2020 Project, [NFL2020]). In implementing the Decision, be aware of the significant role of textbook, the Vietnamese Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) started to design the new curriculum and new English textbook with an aim to “form and develop English language communication competence” (Piloted English Language Curriculum for Lower Secondary Education, p.
In the first and second phases of this Project, the pilot teaching and evaluation of the new textbook are the focus. According to Sheldon (1988), textbook evaluation is necessary as it will help the teacher or program developer in making decisions on selecting the appropriate textbook, and familiarize the teacher with its future instruction. That is the reason why the book evaluation is not new in English Language Teaching (ELT) in the world. For instance, Tomlinson et al.
1 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com The critical consideration of Vietnamese researchers is also given to this issue. For example, Nguyễn Thị Thúy Minh (2007) evaluated English textbook in use in Vietnam’s upper-secondary schools, Lê Thị Huệ (2009) carried out the study on Tiếng Anh 11 in Phan Dinh Phung High School, Hanoi. In light of the project 2020, it is becoming extremely difficult to ignore the importance of textbook evaluation. One of the latest studies on textbook evaluation under this project is Lê Thị Bắc’s (2013), evaluating the course book “Tiếng Anh 6, Tập 1” in Hai Duong lower secondary school.
Tiếng Anh 11 is developed to comply with the NFL 2020 Project and the Piloted English Language Curriculum for Vietnamese upper secondary schools. It has been adopted as textbooks for many upper secondary schools including Ha Long High School for gifted students, Cam Pha High School and Uong Bi High School, top high schools in three big cities in Quang Ninh province. Although the new textbooks have been piloted for several years, there are no studies conducted to evaluate these books in particular contexts. It is necessary that an evaluation on the textbook from perspectives of students and teachers should be carried out to discover whether the book is suitable within the context of teaching and learning.
It is also hoped that recommendations will be made for the textbook writers to improve the textbook’s quality to meet the goal of the NFL 2020 Project. Based on the gap that needs to be met as presented above, the researcher would like to conduct the study “Teachers' and Students' Evaluation of the New Tiếng Anh 11: A Study at three Upper Secondary Schools in Quang Ninh Province”. Aims and objectives of the study This research aims at evaluating the quality of the new Tiếng Anh 11 compiled under the Project 2020 to find out the strong points and weak points of the new textbook. Based on the findings, practical recommendations for textbook writers will 2 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com be made to improve the quality of the textbook to meet the requirements set by MOET (via the National Foreign Language 2020 Project): Upon finishing the secondary education, students’ English proficiency will reach Level 3 (equivalent to CEFR B1).
To achieve the above aims, the following objectives, presented in the form of two research questions, are set as follows: 1. What are the strengths and weaknesses of the new Tiếng Anh 11 as seen from the evaluation of the teachers and students who are using it? 2.