MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING QUY NHON UNIVERSITY NGUYEN THI CHUNG TEACHERS’ AND STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS ON THE 11th GRADE ENGLISH TEXTBOOKS Major: Theory and Methodology of English Language Teaching Code: 8140111 Supervisor: Assoc, Prof. Nguyen Thi Thu Hien BỘ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO TRƢỜNG ĐẠI HỌC QUY NHƠN NGUYỄN THỊ CHUNG NHẬN THỨC CỦA GIÁO VIÊN VÀ HỌC SINH VỀ SÁCH TIẾNG ANH 11 MỚI Ngành: Lý luận và phƣơng pháp dạy học bộ môn Tiếng Anh Mã số: 8140111 Ngƣời hƣớng dẫn: PGS. Nguyễn Thị Thu Hiền i DECLARATION OF AUTHORSHIP The thesis entitled “Teachers’ and Students’ Perceptions on the 11th Grade English Textbooks” is conducted under the supervision of Assoc. Nguyen Thi Thu Hien.
I declare that the information reported in this study is the result of my own work and effort, except where due reference is made. This thesis has not been submitted for the award of any degree or diploma in any university. Quy Nhon, 2022 Nguyen Thi Chung ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Without the support, encouragement, and contributions from my supervisor, my professors, my school, colleagues, friends, and family, the successful completion of this thesis work would not have been possible. I take this chance to express my deepest thanks to them for their support.
First and foremost, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my thesis advisor Associate Prof. Nguyen Thi Thu Hien for her continuous support, expert guidance, and patience throughout the study. She provided me with assistance at every stage of the process and always expressed his faith in me. I am gratefully indebted to her for her very valuable comments on this thesis.
A special thank goes to Phu Yen Department of Education and Training and Nguyen Khuyen Secondary and High School for giving me the chance to attend a MA course at Quy Nhon University. This study was made achievable by the participation of the enthusiastic teachers and students at High Schools in Song Cau town, who devoted their time to taking part in this research. I was also thankful to my colleagues for their support during my study time. I am also grateful to Quy Nhon University, Post-graduate Department, and Foreign Languages Department for the administrative assistance.
Last, but not least, I must express my gratitude to my family for providing me with unfailing support and continuous encouragement throughout the course and the study of this thesis. iii ABSTRACT This study explored the teachers‟ and students‟ perceptions on the 11 th grade English textbooks issued in 2014 under the National Foreign Language 2020 project. The study was conducted with 10 teachers and 100 students from high schools in Song Cau Town during March 2022. This research implemented the quantitative and qualitative approaches in collecting the data, by using questionnaires and semi-structured interviews.
A questionnaire was distributed to 10 English teachers and 100 students, and interviews were completed with 3 teachers and 8 students who returned the questionnaire. The findings showed that the teachers and students had positive perceptions of the textbooks in the physical appearance and format and the roles of the textbooks. The results also showed that teachers and students had different perceptions of the difficulty level and unit organization, the exercises and activities, and the skills and sub-skills distribution in the 11th grade English textbooks. Keywords: Textbook, teachers’ and students’ perception iv TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION OF AUTHORSHIP.
iii TABLE OF CONTENTS. iv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS. vii LIST OF TABLES. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES.
SCOPE OF THE STUDY. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY. ORGANIZATION OF THE STUDY. TEACHING ENGLISH AT THE GENERAL EDUCATION LEVEL IN VIETNAM .1 The 7-year set of English textbooks.
The renovation of the textbooks in Vietnam. Definition of textbook. The role of textbooks for EFL teachers and students. A description of the 11th – grade English textbooks.
Definition of perception. Importance of perception on learning and teaching. EVALUATION OF TEXTBOOKS. Evaluating the design of ELT textbooks.
Evaluating the language content of ELT textbooks. REVIEW OF RELATED EMPIRICAL STUDIES. POPULATION AND PARTICIPANT SELECTION. Semi – Structured Interview.
RELIABILITY AND VALIDITY. Scale Reliability Analysis. FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS. TEACHERS‟ PERCEPTIONS ON THE 11TH GRADE ENGLISH TEXTBOOKS.
Teachers‟ perception on the appearance and format of the 11th – grade English textbooks. Teachers‟ perception on the difficulty level and unit organization of the 11th – grade English textbooks. Teachers‟ perception on the exercises and activities of the 11 th – grade English textbooks. Teachers‟ perception on the skills and sub-skills distribution of the 11th – grade English textbooks.
Teachers‟ perception of the roles of the textbooks. STUDENTS‟ PERCEPTIONS ON THE 11TH GRADE ENGLISH TEXTBOOKS. Students‟ perception of the physical appearance and format on the 11th grade English textbooks. Students‟ perception on the difficulty level and the unit organization of the 11th – grade English textbooks.
Students‟ perception on the exercises and activities of the 11 th – grade English textbooks. Students‟ perception on the skills and sub-skills distribution of the 11th – grade English textbooks. Students‟ perception of the roles of the 11th – grade English textbooks. CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS.2 IMPLICATIONS OF THE STUDY .3 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY.
SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE STUDIES. 70 APPENDICES vii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS EFL : English as a foreign language ELT : English language teaching ESL : English as a second language SLA : Second language acquisition CEFR : Common European Framework of Reference for Languages MOET : Ministry of Education and Training VNFLPF : Foreign Language Proficiency Framework for Vietnam viii LIST OF TABLES Table 2. The number of English periods for each level of education in Vietnam. Book structure, unit structure, component headings, and time allocated for each heading ( Hoang, V.
The topics in the 11th grade Textbooks (MOET, 2012). The background of teacher participants. The background of student participants. Process of Conducting the Survey.
Reliability Statistics of the questionnaire. Teachers‟ perception of the 11th grade English textbooks. Teachers‟ perception on the appearance and format of the 11th – grade English textbooks. Teachers‟ perception on the difficulty level and the unit organization of the 11th – grade English textbooks.
Teachers‟ perception on the exercises and activities of the 11th – grade English textbooks. Teachers‟ perception on the skills and sub-skills distribution of the 11th – grade English textbooks. Teachers‟ perception of the roles of the textbooks. Students‟ perception of the 11th grade English textbooks.
Students‟ perception of the physical appearance and format on the 11th grade English textbooks. Students‟ perception on the difficulty level and the unit organization of the 11th – grade English textbooks. Students‟ perception on the exercises and activities of the 11 th – grade English textbooks. Students‟ perception on the skills and sub-skills distribution of the 11th – grade English textbooks.
Students‟ perception of the roles of the textbooks. RATIONALE It can be denied that textbooks play a pivotal role in teaching in all types of educational institutions - public or private schools, colleges, and universities - all over the world. Textbooks play a very crucial role in the realm of language teaching and learning and are considered the next important factor in the second/foreign language classroom after the teacher. Textbooks also provide the syllabus for a program, thus supporting novice teachers, training them in methodology, and saving their time and effort for more worthwhile pursuits than material production (Cunningsworth, 1995).
In some situations, textbooks serve as the basis for much of the language input students receive and the language practice that happens in the classroom. Learning how to use and adapt textbooks is hence an important part of a teacher‟s professional knowledge (Richards, 2001). For learners, using a textbook as instructive tool helps them practice and study themselves. The textbooks may provide the main source of contact they have with the language apart from input provided by the teacher.
In the case of inexperienced teachers, textbooks may also assist as a form of teacher training – they provide ideas on how to plan and present lessons as well as formats that teachers can use. A few of studies have investigated on the teachers‟ and students‟ attitude of the English textbooks in ESL/EFL classroom (Wen-Cheng et al. These studies discussed a textbook evaluation checklist for standardized use at the elementary level. Furthermore, under the National Foreign Language 2020 project, the set of Pilot English Curriculum for 2 Vietnamese Upper Secondary Schools was implemented at some piloted high schools on the 23rd November 2012 by Ministry of Education and Training (MOET, 2012).
With the renovation of English textbooks, a research was carried out to investigate Vietnamese upper secondary school EFL teachers‟ use of the set of English textbooks Tieng Anh 11 as resources for achievement tests (Ha Linh & Le, 2020). The findings of this research indicated the teachers‟ practicing in using the set of English textbooks Tieng Anh 11 as resources for achievement tests. Another study was done (Tran, P., & Tran, 2020) to explore EFL teachers‟ and students‟ perspectives on communicative skills represented in the 11th grade English textbooks. Up to now, though the set English textbooks under the National Foreign Language 2020 project having been piloted in Vietnamese High Schools, some schools have just implemented this set of textbooks for the first time.
Hence, there has been little investigation of the perceptions of teachers and students who directly work with the textbooks. Moreover, few studies are conducted the new “English 11” textbooks. In addition, the investigation of the English textbooks under the National Foreign Language 2020 project is quite challenging. For that reason, I choose this study with the aim at understanding how teachers and students perceive on the new English 11 textbooks so that some contributions in improving textbook task or activities can be achieved.
AIMS AND OBJECTIVES 1. Aims The aim of the study is to find out teachers‟ and students‟ perceptions on the physical appearance and format, the content (units, activities, exercises, skills and sub-skills), and the roles of the 11th grade English textbooks issued in 2014 as a result of the National Foreign Language 2020 project (MOET, 2013). Objectives To achieve this aim, two main objectives were set up + To investigate the perceptions of the teachers on the physical appearance and format, the content (units, activities, exercises, skills, and sub-skills), and the roles of the 11th grade English textbooks. + To examine the students‟ perceptions of the physical appearance and format, the content (units, activities, exercises, skills, and sub-skills), and the roles of the 11th grade English textbooks.
RESEARCH QUESTIONS The following research questions are proposed in order to determine the perceptions of the teachers and the students on eight sections of the 11 th grade English textbooks: 1. What do high school teachers in Song Cau town perceive the 11th grade English textbooks? 2. What do high school students in Song Cau town perceive the 11th grade English textbooks? 1. SCOPE OF THE STUDY The design of the 11th – grade English textbooks consist of eight headings in each unit.
Due to limited time, ability and research conditions, I would like to investigate the perceptions of the teachers and the students on physical appearance and format, language (Vocabulary, Pronunciation, and Grammar) and skills (Reading, Speaking, Listening, Writing), and roles of the textbook of the 11th grade English textbooks. The participants are 10 teachers and 100 students who are teaching and learning in some high schools in Song Cau town. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY This research is assumed to discover ways in which teachers and students perceived the textbooks as appropriate or inappropriate sources for English teaching and learning at some high schools in Song Cau Town. It contributed more practically for actual teaching and learning situations at high schools.
ORGANIZATION OF THE STUDY The study consists of five chapters.
