VIETNAM ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES GRADUATE ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES Nguyễn Thị Viên AN EVALUATION OF THE TEXTBOOK COVER PAGE 2 TIẾNG ANH 6 (10-YEAR PROGRAM): A CASE STUDY AT QUYNH MAI SECONDARY SCHOOL MA THESIS IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE HANOI, 2018 VIETNAM ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES GRADUATE ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES Nguyễn Thị Viên AN EVALUATION OF THE TEXTBOOK TIẾNG ANH 6 (10-YEAR PROGRAM): A CASE STUDY AT QUYNH MAI SECONDARY SCHOOL Field: English Language Code: 8220201 Supervisor: Phạm Lan Anh, Ph. HANOI, 2018 DECLARATION BY AUTHOR I declare that this thesis entitled “An Evaluation of the Textbook “Tiếng Anh 6 (10-year Program)”: A Case Study at Quynh Mai Secondary School” is created by my own findings and I am the sole author of this thesis. To the best of my knowledge, with the exception of the indication of reference, this thesis is carried out without using any other author’s work and is submitted after a carefully checking progress in order to fulfill the requirements of the M. Author’s signature Nguyễn Thị Viên Approved by SUPERVISOR Phạm Lan Anh, Ph.
Date: __________________ iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This thesis is completed with lots of working hours and is contributed by a large amount of enthusiasm, effort and assistance from many people. First and foremost, I would like to express my gratitude to my supervisor, Dr. Phạm Lan Anh for her support. Without her guidance, advice and comments, I would not complete this research paper.
Moreover, I would like to send my special thanks to all of the teachers at Quynh Mai Secondary School for their help and suggestions which are very necessary and useful to me during the progress of this thesis. Additionally, I am so grateful for the assistance from the students at Quynh Mai Secondary School with their answers for the interview and questionnaires. Last but not least, I would like to send my special thanks to my beloved family, who are always supportive and enthusiastic to me during the progress of making this thesis. iv ABSTRACT This thesis is created and completed on the purpose of evaluating the textbook of “Tiếng Anh 6 (10-year Program)”, especially in the context of teaching English at Quynh Mai Secondary School.
The aim of this thesis is to evaluate the English textbook officially used by the teachers and the students at Quynh Mai Secondary School. Based on the theoretical framework of textbooks evaluation, figures, data and information was collected and analyzed mainly through surveys, questionnaires and interviews. The benefits, positive effects, as well as challenges of using the textbooks are analyzed in this thesis. Furthermore, some suggestions for overcoming these difficulties are also mentioned.
v Table of Contents DECLARATION BY AUTHOR. v LIST OF TABLES. ix LIST OF FIGURES. ix CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION.
Aims of the study. Scope of the study. Significance of the study. Structure of the study:.
4 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW. ELT Materials in Learning and Teaching Language. Position and Purpose of Materials in Teaching Language. Types of materials.
Models used for Materials Evaluation. Model of Hutchinson and Water. Criteria for Materials Evaluation. Criteria proposed by Hutchinson and Waters (1993).
Criteria suggested by Brown (1995). Criteria suggested by Tomlinson (1998). Previous Studies on Textbook Evaluation. Previous studies carried out in foreign countries.
Previous studies carried out in Vietnam. Data Collection Instrument. 37 CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS. Evaluation of Aims.
Aims stated in the Curriculum. Aims stated in the textbook. Evaluation on Methodology. Methodology stated in the curriculum.
Methodology perceived by teachers and students. Methodology enacted by teachers. Comparison and contrast. Evaluation on Audience.
Audience stated in the curriculum. Audience stated in the textbook. Evaluation on Contents. Contents perceived in the curriculum.
Contents perceived in the Textbook. Contents perceived by teachers and students. Findings of the Study. Findings related to Research Questions 1 and 2.
Limitations and suggestions for the further study. 90 APPENDIX 1: LESSON PLAN. 93 APPENDIX 2: CITATION OF AIMS OF THE TEXTBOOK TIẾNG ANH 6. 101 APPENDIX 4: CLASSROOM OBSERVATION.
105 APPENDIX 5: INTERVIEW QUESTIONS. 107 viii LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Judgment on Objectives. 41 Table 2: Evaluation on Skills Development. 44 Table 3: Evaluation on Methodology.
50 Table 4: Evaluation on General Appearance. 60 Table 5: Judgment on Design and Illustration. 63 Table 6: Judgment on topic appropriateness. 65 Table 7: Number of tasks in the book.
68 Table 9: Judgment on Content Appropriateness. 70 Table 10: Evaluation on Social and Cultural Context. 72 Table 11: Evaluation on Methodology. A Summary of Appropriate and Inappropriate Features of the Targeted Textbook Under Evaluation.
80 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: The materials evaluation model by Hutchinson and Water. 12 Figure 2: Judgment on Objectives. 41 Figure 3: Evaluation on Skills Development. 43 Figure 4: Evaluation on Methodology.
49 Figure 5: Evaluation on General Appearance. 60 Figure 6: Details of evaluation on Design and Illustration. 62 Figure 7: Judgment on topic appropriateness. 64 Figure 8: Judgment on Content Appropriateness.
70 Figure 9: Evaluation on Social and Cultural Context. 72 Figure 10: Evaluation on Methodology. 73 ix CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1. Rationale Textbooks are basic materials, compulsory to use in the school, so it is very important to use suitable textbooks in teaching and learning.
Students are the primary target audience for textbooks. From textbooks, students can get access to basic, modern and systematic knowledge. Students can acquire knowledge through various sources of information, but knowledge in textbooks is considered as the most standard knowledge. In addition to new knowledge, textbooks are also materials that help students consolidate, synthesize, and systematize knowledge through review and study guides.
Given the importance mentioned above, the textbook Tiếng Anh 6 (10- year program) was written for innovative purposes to replace the textbook that has been in used since 2001. English 6 for grade-6-students in Vietnam was developed by the Vietnamese Education Publishing House in accordance with the English Secondary Education Program issued by the Ministry of Education and Training under Decision No. 01/QĐ-BGDĐT dated 03 January 2012, followed by English 3, English 4 and English 5. The book is designed in a way that enables students to use language (phonetics, vocabulary, grammar) to develop communication skills in English through four skills in listening, speaking, reading and writing, with a focus on developing two listening and speaking skills.
In light of learning-centered approach, pupils are the subject of the teaching process, in which the psychological age of junior high school students, the cultural characteristics of Vietnam as well as of other countries in the world, especially of the English speaking countries, are given special importance. 1 Indeed, the textbook Tiếng Anh 6 for grade-6-students in Vietnam has been taught experimentally in some classes in secondary schools nationwide for several years. However, this material has never been evaluated by teachers who directly teach students in secondary schools to examine if it really meets the defined aims of the compulsory English program for grade-6-students and if it is suitable to the students’ level of English and their background knowledge. Since it was taught experimentally, it has been a subject of much controversy among teaching staff.
It is said to be well-written but not quite suitable for students who are not equipped with basic knowledge from the elementary level. Some teachers argue that each lesson in each unit of the textbook contains a large amount of vocabulary. This makes it difficult for students to remember the vocabulary of the lesson. In contrast, there are teachers who are enthusiastic about it and say that it is thoughtfully planned and relevant to current ELT trends in Vietnam.
For those reasons, “An evaluation of the textbook Tiếng Anh 6 (10-year program): A case study at Quynh Mai Secondary School”” is chosen as the title of my thesis. Hence, I hope that the findings of the study can help the researcher and other teachers find out the appropriate points as well as the inappropriate points in order to improve or modify the material for future use. Especially, I believe that this study can enhance English teaching and learning in schools in Vietnam. Aims of the study.
The study aims at evaluating the textbook Tiếng Anh 6 (10-year program) to explore if it really meets the defined aims of the course and if it is appropriate to the students’ level of English and their background knowledge. I also hope that the findings of the thesis will partly help to decide whether to 2 modify any contents or the structure of the book to improve the quality and the effectiveness of the material. Research questions The study will be conducted to answer the following research questions: 1. To what extent does the textbook meet the aims of the course? 2.
To what extent is the textbook appropriate to the students’ level of English in terms of language and their background knowledge? 1. Scope of the study According to Tom Hutchinson (1993), in textbook evaluation, a number of criteria such as audience, aims, content, methodology, and other criteria should be taken into account. However, in this study, due to time constraints and scope of the minor thesis, the main focus of the evaluation is on the following criteria as audience, aims of the material, content of the material and teaching methodology The subjects of the study are 80 students chosen randomly from 8 classes: class 6D, 6E, 7D, 7E, 8D, 8E, 9D, 9E (10 students per each class) who studied experimentally the textbook in the school years 2014-2015, 2015-2016, 2016-2017 and 6 teachers of English at Quynh Mai Secondary School, Hai Ba Trung District, Hanoi, Vietnam. The study was implemented from early September 2017 to late May 2018 at Quynh Mai Secondary School as soon as students stabilize their learning at the beginning of the new school year.
Significance of the study The findings of the thesis are hoped to be useful for the teachers who are teaching English at Secondary Schools. The findings of the thesis may provide some suggestions for the authorities and the group of authors of the textbook at the Vietnamese Ministry of Education and Training with scientific evidence to improve the quality of the current material being used for grade- 6-students in Vietnam. The results also reflect the strengths and weaknesses of the textbook in use, so that teachers themselves can find appropriate teaching methods for students with different levels, and authorities and authors might also modify the textbook if possible. Research methods In order to achieve the purpose of the study and due to the practical situation that the textbook Tiếng Anh 6 has just been taught experimentally in schools nationwide for some years, the study was only conducted at Quynh Mai Secondary School in Hai Ba Trung District, Hanoi, Vietnam.
In order to answer the two research questions above, the qualitative case study was employed. The data were collected through document analysis, questionnaires, interviews and observations with students and teachers at Quynh Mai School. Structure of the study: The study is organized into five chapters as follows: Chapter 1: Introduction This chapter introduces the background to the study and statement of the problem, the aims of the study, the research questions, the scope of the study, and the significance of the study. 4 Chapter 2: Literature Review This chapter presents an overview of theoretical issues of textbook evaluation, concentrating on the issues related to ELT textbook evaluation.
Chapter 3: Methodology This chapter describes the data collection instruments and data collection process to conduct the case study. Chapter 4: Findings and Discussions The results of the data are reported, described, analyzed and discussed. Therefore, answers of the two questions are clarified in the chapter.