MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING QUY NHON UNIVERSITY NGUYEN THI THUY TRANG TEACHERS’ PERCEPTIONS OF THE NEW ENGLISH 3 TEXTBOOK AND THEIR SUGGESTIONS TO ENHANCE TEACHING EFFECTIVENESS Major: Theory and Methodology of English Language Teaching Code: 8140111 Supervisor: Assoc. Nguyen Thi Thu Hien BỘ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC QUY NHƠN NGUYỄN THỊ THUỲ TRANG NHẬN THỨC CỦA GIÁO VIÊN VỀ SÁCH TIẾNG ANH 3 MỚI VÀ NHỮNG ĐỀ XUẤT CỦA HỌ ĐỂ NÂNG CAO HIỆU QUẢ GIẢNG DẠY Ngành: Lý luận và phương pháp dạy học bộ môn tiếng Anh Mã số: 8140111 Người hướng dẫn: PGS. Nguyễn Thị Thu Hiền i DECLARATION OF AUTHORSHIP The thesis entitled “Teachers’ perceptions of the new English 3 Textbook and their suggestions to enhance teaching effectiveness” is conducted under the supervison of Assoc. Nguyen Thi Thu Hien.
I declare that the ìnformation 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, 2023 Nguyen Thi Thuy Trang ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Without the support, encouragement, and contributions from my supervisor, my professors, my school, my colleagues, my friends, and my 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 her faith in me. I am gratefully indebted to her for her valuable comments on this thesis.
A special thank goes to Dao Duy Tu Primary 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 Primary Schools in Phu Yen Province, who devoted their time to taking part in this research. I am also thankful to my colleagues for their support during my study time. I am also grateful to Quy Nhon University, Department of Graduate Education, Faculty of Foreign Languages, and Faculty of Education for the administrative assistance.
Last but not least, I want to 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’ perceptions of the new English 3 Textbook and their suggestions to enhance teaching effectiveness. The new English 3 textbook, published by Viet Nam Education Publishing House Limited Company, is compiled to follow the General Education Program in English 2018 of the Ministry of Education and Training. The study was conducted with 25 teachers from 10 primary schools in Phu Yen Province during March 2023.
This research implemented the quantitative and qualitative approaches in collecting the data, by using questionnaire and semi- structure interview. The questionnaire was distributed to 25 teachers of English; and the interview was completed with 7 teachers who returned the questionnaires. The findings showed that the teachers had positive perceptions of the content, skills, and activities designed in the textbook. Moreover, the research found that teachers had differrent perceptions of difficulty level and unit organization; the activities; and the skills and sub-skills distributions in the English 3 textbook.
The results also showed that teachers had different perceptions of the challenges and the advantages when they using the new English 3 textbook. Consequently, they offered some suggestions for better teaching situations, such as differentiating instruction, using a variety of teaching methods, providing opportunities for practice, using technology to enhance learning, and partnering with parents and the community. Keywords: Textbook, teachers’ perceptions, challenges and advantages, suggestions. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION OF AUTHORSHIP i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii ABSTRACT iii TABLE OF CONTENTS iv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS vii LIST OF TABLES viii CHAPTER 1.
AIMS AND OBJECTIVES 2 1. SCOPE OF THE STUDY 3 1. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY 3 1. ORGANIZATION OF THE STUDY 4 CHAPTER 2.
A GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF TEACHING ENGLISH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE IN VIETNAM 5 2. Definition of textbook 10 2. The role of textbooks for EFL teachers and students 11 2. A description of the new English 3 textbook 11 2.
PERCEPTION AND ITS IMPORTANCE IN TEACHING PROCESS 13 2. Definition of perception 13 2. The importance of perception on teaching 14 2. THE IMPORTANCE OF EVALUATION OF TEXTBOOKS 14 v 2.
The evaluation of the content of ELT textbooks 17 2. The evaluation of the skills of ELT textbooks 19 2. The evaluation of the activities of ELT textbooks 19 2. The evaluation of the language aspects of ELT textbooks 20 2.
The evaluation of the culture of ELT textbooks 22 2. REVIEW OF RELATED EMPIRICAL STUDIES 23 CHAPTER 3. SETTING AND PARTICPANT SELECTION 26 3. Semi – Structured Interview 31 3.
RELIABILITY AND VALIDITY 34 3. FINDING AND DISCUSSIONS 36 4. TEACHERS’ PERCEPTIONS ON THE NEW ENGLISH 3 TEXTBOOK 36 4. Teachers’ perceptions on the content of the new English 3 textbooks 36 4.
Teachers’ perceptions on the activities of the new English 3 textbook. Teachers’ perceptions on the skills of the new English 3 textbook 46 4. EFL TEACHERS’ PERCEPTIONS OF THE ADVANTAGES AND THE CHALLENGES OF USING THE NEW ENGLISH 3 TEXTBOOK AND THEIR SUGGESTIONS TO ENHANCE TEACHING vi EFFECTIVENESS 50 CHAPTER 5. CONCLUSION AND IMPLCATION 59 5.
Summary of the study 59 5. Suggestions for further research 61 REFERENCES 61 APPENDICES vii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS EFL: English as a Foreign Language ESL: English as a Second Language MOET: Ministry of Education and Training viii LIST OF TABLES Table 2.1 The 10 English textbooks for Grade 3. The English 3 textbook structure (MOET, 2018). The background of teacher participants.
Process of conducting the Survey. Reliability Statistics of the questionnaire. Teachers’ perceptions on the content of the new English 3 textbooks. Teachers’ perceptions on the activities of the new English 3 textbook.
Teachers’ perceptions on the skills of the new English 3 textbook. Teachers’ perceptions on the advantages and the challenges of the new English 3 textbook. RATIONALE Textbooks play a crucial role in English language teaching and learning. Teachers are the primary users of textbooks in the classroom, and their perceptions of the textbook can have a significant impact on how they use it and the effectiveness of their teaching.
Textbooks are the most widely used teaching materials in the world. According to a 2020 survey by the International Association of Publishers (2020), 98% of teachers in developing countries and 93% of teachers in developed countries use textbooks in their teaching. Teachers' perceptions of textbooks can have a significant impact on how they use them and the effectiveness of their teaching. A study by Brown (2000) found that teachers who have a positive perception of a textbook are more likely to use it effectively in their teaching.
There are a few studies that have investigated teachers' perceptions of English textbooks in ESL/EFL classrooms, such as, Richards and Mahoney (1996); Nurhayati (2013); Dinh and Le (2020); Nguyen and Nguyen (2007), Septiana et al. These studies found that teachers generally have a positive perception of English textbooks, but they also have some suggestions for improvement. The new English 3 Textbook is a significant change from the previous textbook. It has a new curriculum, new teaching approaches, and new materials.
It is important to understand how teachers perceive this change and how it is impacting their teaching. By understanding teachers' perceptions of the new English 3 Textbook and their suggestions to enhance teaching effectiveness, we can identify areas where the textbook can be improved and develop strategies to help teachers use the textbook more effectively. Moreover, we can improve the quality of English language teaching and learning for all students. 2 The new English 3 Textbook has been recognized as the official English textbook starting from the 2022-2023 school year by the National Assessment Council under Decision No.
438/QĐ-BGDĐT signed by the Minister of Education and Training on January 28, 2022. It is applied to all provinces and cities in the country. In Phu Yen Province, all primary schools have chosen this textbook series for teaching. However, since it has only been applied for one school year, there has been no research on the perceptions of teachers and students about the content, the language skills and the advantages and disadvantages of using this new textbook series.
For that reason, I choose this study with the aim at understanding how teachers perceive on the new English 3 textbooks so that there will be some contributions in improving textbook and enhancing effective teaching. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES 1. Aims The aim of this research is to find out what teachers think about the content, activities and skills of the new English 3 Global Success textbook published by Viet Nam Education Publishing House Limited Company. Besides, the research is to discover teachers’ possible challenges and the advantages of using the new English 3 textbook and their suggestions to enhance teaching effectiveness.
Objectives There are two objectives which are focused on this study: Identify the EFL teachers’ perceptions of the content, activities and skills designed in the new English 3 textbook. Explore the EFL teachers’ possible challenges and advantages of using the new English 3 textbook and their suggestions for better teaching situations. RESEARCH QUESTIONS The main research question that the study aims to investigate and answer are: The following research questions are proposed in order to investigate the perceptions of the teachers of the new English 3 textbook: 1. What are the EFL teachers’ perceptions of the content, activities, and skills designed in the new English 3 textbook? 2.
What are EFL teachers’ perceptions of the challenges and advantages of using the new English 3 textbook and their suggestions to enhance teaching effectiveness? 1. SCOPE OF THE STUDY There are many aspects for evaluation a textbook. However, on account of limited time, ability and research conditions, the researcher would like to study the perceptions of the teachers on the content (appearance, format, and language), activities, and skills (language skills and sub-skills) of the new English 3 textbook; their perceptions of the challenges and advantages of using the new English 3 textbook and their suggestions to enhance effective teaching. The researcher was aware that the more participants joined in a study, the more reliable the study was, but because the number of the English teachers at Primary schools is very limited ranging from 1 to 3 teachers in each school, only 25 teachers who are teaching in some primary schools in Phu Yen province became the participants of the study.
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY This study is assumed to find out ways in which teachers perceived the new textbook like appropriate or inappropriate sources for teaching English at some primary schools in Phu Yen Province. This study could be used to develop professional programs helping teachers use the new English 3 textbook more effectively. It could also be 4 used to improve the textbooks itself and to inform policy-makers and curriculum developers about the needs of teachers. Besides, it could help to improve the quality of English language education at primary school overall.
ORGANIZATION OF THE STUDY The study consists of five chapters. Chapter 1 “Introduction”, presents the rationale, aims and objectives, research questions, the scope of the study, the significance of the study, and the organization of the study. Chapter 2 “Literature Review”, briefly reviews the literature of previous studies on teacher’s perceptions on the English textbooks related to this study. This chapter also provides the theoretical background textbook evaluation of the content, activities, skills, and the roles of the textbooks.