Luận văn thạc sĩ VNU ULIS an evaluation of the course book english for navigation students for the students at navigation department, haiphong polytechnic college

Vietnam National University, Hanoi University of Languages and International studies Faculty of Post-graduate studies Trần thị nga AN EVALUATION OF THE COURSE BOOK “ENGLISH FOR NAVIGATION STUDENTS” FOR THE STUDENTS AT NAVIGATION DEPARTMENT, Haiphong polytechnic college (Đánh giá giáo trình English for navigation students dành cho sinh viên khoa điều khiển tàu biển tr-ờng Cao Đẳng nghề Bách Nghệ Hải Phòng) M.A Minor Thesis Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60 14 10 Supervisor: Trần Thanh Nhàn, MA hanoi - 2010 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Declaration i Acknowledgments ii Abstract iii Table of contents iv Abbreviations vii List of tables and charts … viii PART A: INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale for the study Aims and objectives of the study Significance of the study Scope of the study Methods of the study Organization of the study PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 An introduction 1.2 Textbook, course book, and materials 1.2.1 Definitions 1.2.2 A wide range of Maritime English materials 1.2.3 The roles of materials in a language program 1.3 Materials evaluation 1.3.1 Definitions of materials evaluation 1.3.2 Purposes of materials evaluation 1.3.3 Types of materials evaluation 1.3.3.1 Pre-use evaluation 1.3.3.2 In-use evaluation 1.3.3.3 Post use evaluation 10 1.3.4 Methods of materials evaluation 10 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com v 1.3.4.1 The impressionistic method 10 1.3.4.2 The checklist method 11 1.3.4.3 The in-depth method 11 1.3.5 Criteria for materials evaluation 11 1.3.5.1 What should be included in the criteria checklist? 11 1.3.5.2 The individualized checklist 13 1.4 The roles of materials evaluation to adaptation of the course book “English for navigation students” 13 CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY 15 2.1 The current ESP teaching and learning situation at HPPC 15 2.1.1 The context 15 2.1.2 The course objectives 16 2.1.3 General description of the material 17 2.2 Research questions 18 2.3 Research method 18 2.4 Participants 18 2.4.1 The ESP teachers 19 2.4.2 The subject teachers 19 2.4.3 The students 19 2.5 Instruments 20 2.5.1 Questionnaire 20 2.5.2 Interview 20 2.6 Data collection procedure 22 2.7 Data analysis procedure 22 CHAPTER 3: ANALYSIS OF THE RESULTS AND SUGGESTIONS FOR MATERIALS ADAPTATION 23 3.1 The realization of each criterion in the course book “English for navigation students” 23 3.1.1 Format and organization 23 3.1.2 Maritime content 25 3.1.3 Language content 27 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com vi 3.1.4 Language skill 30 3.1.5 Methodology 32 3.2 Suggestions for materials adaptation 33 3.2.1 Format and organization 33 3.2.2 Maritime content 34 3.2.3 Language content 35 3.2.4 Language skill 35 3.2.5 Methodology 36 PART C: CONCLUSION 37 Conclusion 37 Limitations and suggestions for further study 38 References: 39 Appendix 1: Evaluation checklist for the students (in English) i Appendix 2: Evaluation checklist for the students (in Vietnamese) v Appendix 3: A sample of an original unit ix Appendix 4: A sample of a newly-adapted unit xv LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com vii List of abbreviations ULIS, VNUH: University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi EFL: English as a Foreign Language ELT: English Language Teaching ESL: English as a Second Language ESP: English for Specific Purposes ENS: English for Navigation Students HPPC: Haiphong Polytechnic College TEFL: Teaching English as a Foreign Language LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com viii List of charts and tables Table & chart 3.1: The realization of the format and organization criteria Table & chart 3.2: The realization of the maritime content criterion Table & chart 3.3: The realization of the language content criterion Table & chart 3.4: The realization of the language skill criterion LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com PART A: INTRODUCTION Rationale for the study English for Specific Purposes (ESP) has developed to become one of the most prominent areas of ELT teaching The growth of ESP has also led to an increasing number of specialized materials Maritime English materials are not an exception The importance of materials is undeniable due to its important role in the curriculum as Nunan (1988, cited in Pritchard, 2003:1) states that “…materials, in fact, are an essential element within the curriculum, and more than simply lubricate the wheels of learning At their best they provide concrete models of desirable classroom practice, they act as curriculum models, and at their very best they fulfill a teacher development role.” Moreover, materials, whether commercially developed or teacher-produced, are considered a key component in most TEFL programs essential for both teachers and learners Obviously, most teachers use materials as their primary teaching resource in providing the content of the lessons and class room practice In some situations, however, materials are only used to supplement the teacher‟s instruction For learners, materials generally serve as the basis for the language input they receive and the language practice they take part during their classes Materials are also considered a reference source for learners on various aspects of language such as pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary, etc Nevertheless, as Swales (1980) points out that materials exhibit problems and in extreme cases are examples of educational failure Although materials are a core element in most ESP classes, there has been little materials evaluation made Therefore, in order to exploit the materials at best, it is necessary for individuals, especially language teachers, to carefully examine all aspects of the materials The course book “English for Navigation Students” was designed for the second and thirdyear students at Navigation Faculty with the greatest effort of the teachers at the English Department It has been used at Haiphong Polytechnic College (HPPC) for nearly years, however, since then there has been no evaluation to the course book by the college administrators prior to the introduction of the course book to recognize its strengths and shortcomings, and to see how much the course book meets students‟ occupational purposes and needs, and the employers‟ requirements For this reason, the researcher decided to choose materials evaluation as the theme for this thesis LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 2 Aims and objectives of the study This study is carried out with the aim of improving the quality of the teacher-generated material “English for Navigation Students” to meet the students‟ occupational requirements In order to achieve this aim, the objectives were worked out below: - To evaluate the material “English for Navigation Students” from the view points of the ESP teachers, subject teachers and students at Navigation Faculty to identify its strengths, deficiencies and weaknesses; - To offer suggestions for adaptation of the materials basing on the major findings Significance of the study First of all, the study will provide the findings which are not only useful to the researcher herself but also to the course book designers and the teaching staff These findings help them to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the course book so that they can make optimum use of the book‟s strengths and adjust the shortcomings of certain tasks and every unit throughout the course book In addition, the findings will be the foundation for enhancing the quality of the in-house material “English for Navigation Students” in order to meet the students‟ occupational requirements Lastly, it is expected that the results of the study would serve as a useful source of reference for teachers who are in charge of teaching ESP and/or interested in materials development for ESP, especially Maritime English Scope of the study The study mainly focuses on evaluating the course book “English for Navigation Students” from the view points of the ESP teachers, subject teachers and students at Navigation Faculty in terms of format and organization, subject content, language content, language skill, and methodology among a great number of criteria for materials evaluation Methods of the study The accomplishment of this thesis is first based on the review of materials in the area of evaluation to build up a theoretical background for the research LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com Survey research will be exploited with two principle instruments to collect data for this study as follows: - Survey questionnaire is designed for the second-year students at Navigation Faculty, who have worked with two-thirds of the course book; - Interviews are conducted with the ESP teachers who have experienced using and teaching the course book, and with the subject teachers who both have taken part in lectures at college and have worked on board a ship on worldwide routes for years alternately Organization of the study This study consists of three parts as follows: Part A will provide general information about the rationale for choosing the theme, aims and objectives, significance, scope, methods, and organization of the study Part B is divided into three main chapters In order to provide readers with literature review relevant to this study, the important notions of materials, materials evaluation, types, methods, and criteria for materials evaluation are discussed in chapter one Also in this chapter, the significant role of materials evaluation to adaptation of the course book is presented The next chapter will give the readers an overview of the current ESP teaching and learning situation at Navigation Faculty, HPPC, and a detailed analysis of methodologies employed in the study, research procedures and participants involved in the research process Based on the collected data, chapter three will analyze and discuss the findings of the study, and give suggestions for adaptation of materials evaluation Part C will summarize the major findings, reveal the limitations remaining in the study, and offer some suggestions for further study on the same topic LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 An introduction Materials evaluation is part of a language course and plays an important role in a materials development; and teaching and learning process Therefore, this issue has not only become a topic of great interest among foreign researchers but also Vietnamese ones Being aware of its importance, in Vietnam, as Tran Thanh Nhan (2006) stated that “only recently has evaluation confirmed its vital role in guaranteeing educational quality Its significance still holds true within the scope of materials evaluation.” Hence, this research field has drawn attention to numerous postgraduates at ULIS, VNUH, who chose and wrote their theses on materials evaluation, especially evaluation of ESP materials The following researchers are worthy to be mentioned: Nguyen Do Thu Hoai (2004); Tran Thanh Nhan (2006); Giap Thi Yen (2008) and Nguyen Thi Xuan Thuy (2008), etc They made a great deal of contribution to the post-graduate research field of materials evaluation at ULIS, VNUH and their previous works help lay a reliable foundation for this study Although each thesis was carried out with different aims, contexts and participants, and based on various theories of linguists abroad, fundamentally they shared the framework for materials evaluation namely: types, purposes, methods, models and criteria In this present study, the researcher is going to exploit the framework for evaluation of the course book “English for Navigation Students” which is currently used at Haiphong Polytechnic College 1.2 Textbook, course book, and materials 1.2.1 Definitions As the theme of this thesis is the evaluation of the course book “English for Navigation Students” that is being exploited for teaching and learning at HPPC, the researcher would like to start the literature review by considering and clarifying the three basic terms: textbook, course book, and materials These terms are commonly used in discussing materials evaluation As defined in Longman Dictionary (1998:1394), textbook is a book which contains information for the study of a particular subject, for example, a history textbook or a LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 26 It can be said that although the English staff at HPPC were not professional materials designers, they made every effort to provide this material with the subject contents which are practical and useful for the nautical students‟ future job These contents cover relatively adequate aspects concerning their jobs from daily activities on a ship, maritime safety to main operations during a voyage In addition, the course book also provides a number of various interesting topics and themes that students with different learning styles, preferences and motivation levels seem to enjoy such as embarkation at the first time, safety closes at work, basic information about a ship, common rules and disciplines on board a ship, ship‟s departure from and entry into port, steering modes, garbage disposal and sea protests, etc Moreover, in order to be able to collect various topics and themes to meet the vocational needs, the English staff made reference to many different reliable sources from maritime conventions and regulations, subject textbooks and nautical reference books such as Welcome on board published by All Japan Seamen‟s Union in 1998, English for Seafarers- Pack published by Marlins in 1997, English at Sea - Module published by Canadian Coast Guard College Press in 1995, Deck Cadet Course by Training and Seafarers Education Department – VINIC company in 2003; and Standard Marine Communication Phrases by the International Maritime Organization 2.5 1.5 Means 84% Enough evidence 69% 60% 0.5 7% Chart 3.2: The realization of the maritime content criterion Beside the strong points mentioned above, ENS also remains some problems Looking at the chart 3.2, the audience can find out that the first problem lies in the lack of the non-text materials (4) such as maps, charts, diagrams, graphs, figures and pictures In comparison with published materials, this deficiency is really a big shortcoming, which the teacher- LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 27 writers should pay more attention to If the non-text materials were added, integrated or illustrated in the course book, they would help the students understand and acquire lessons more effectively In some situations, diagrams, graphs or figures may tell much more than the whole text This increases the students‟ inference ability about the topics of the units or giving solutions to an emergency situation, for instance The lack of non-text materials, as a result, led the respondents to low satisfaction with only 7% of positive feedback Another problem in this category is inappropriateness of sequence of maritime content in every unit in the whole book The following comment of a subject teacher could be proved for this problem: “The maritime contents in the units were not organized according to the subject development They need to be rearranged: first onboard daily activities, then maritime safety and finally onboard main operations.” Such the comment clearly shows that the sequence of maritime content was disconnected and presented at random and in illogical subject development Moreover, the interview results indicated that the course book remained some less motivating topics including after the fire accident (Unit 2), in the toxic place (Unit 3) and reports (Unit 15) which should be replaced with more occupational-oriented and interesting topics such as ship‟s structure, ship‟s emails, repair and maintenance work, and watch-keeping duties in the course book To sum up, the course book ENS was evaluated rather high in terms of maritime content area However, aspects for improvement in this section include maritime content sequence, replacement and supplement of topics, and inclusion of non-text materials 3.1.3 Language content This criterion is concerned with the technical language input such as grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation and text-types, etc In terms of difficulty level, this aspect scores relatively high at 70% of positive feedback for the students as in ENS, the grammar points become more and more complex as the units progress Typical grammar items are one of the strengths of ENS The students expressed their approval of this aspect at 69 % as in the course book These grammar points that are covered throughout the course book and listed as follows are essential functions, tenses and structures LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 28 - Present Simple vs Future simple - Relative Pronoun - - Past Simple vs Past Continuous Present Perfect vs Past Perfect Passive voice Conditional sentence Imperative - Indirect Speech, Direct Speech Relative Clause Gerund Linking verbs must have done something can have done something - to be to something In general, these grammatical points are mainly focused on their uses, forms and rules and presented briefly Therefore, this makes it easy for the teachers to explain and the students to follow and understand One negative feedback that could be found, however, was the ESP teachers‟ dissatisfaction with deficiency in grammar drills and this caused them to spend a lot of time preparing grammatical handouts for their students Translation drills are considered as one of the strengths in this criterion, which scored at 58% of the students‟ feedback These translation activities were designed to reinforce the terminologies that the students learned within one unit According to the English teachers‟ opinions, however, the translation section should include various types of exercise that help students to put the terminologies into context Ratings No Language content criterion Means Enough evidence The language content throughout the course book is organized in the level of difficulty 2.1 70% The main grammar items are explained briefly and clearly, and followed by practice exercises 1.9 69% Vocabulary is provided with phonetic transcription, word types, clear explanations and drills 1.4 47% The course book contains pronunciation drills 0.9 26% 1.7 58% 0.7 21% The translation works are aimed at reinforcing the technical terms that the students have already learnt Text-types are various including manuals, letters, dialogues, reports, diagrams, charts, etc Table 3.3: The realization of the language content criterion Beside the strengths mentioned above, there exist several drawbacks concerning variety of text-types (6), pronunciation drills (4) and vocabulary (3) (See Table & Chart 3.3) LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 29 2.5 1.5 Means Enough evidence 70% 69% 0.5 47% 58% 26% 21% Chart 3.3: The realization of the language content criterion Variety of text-types seems to be one of the course book‟s major weak points In ENS, the text-types mainly focus on dialogues and reading texts There are very few units containing charts, diagrams, operating manuals for tools or equipment on board a ship, typical report and order forms (i.e provision order, spare part order, fuel oil order) which are necessary for the students‟ future jobs As a result, the students expressed their dissatisfaction at the mean of 0.7 and with 21 % of positive feedback Another weak point hides in this criterion is a lack of pronunciation drills Although vocabulary in each unit is provided with phonetic transcription, there are no exercises of word stress, sentence stress and intonation That is the reason why the students gave low score at the mean of 0.9 and with 26 % of positive feedback The presentation of vocabulary in every unit in the entire course book is considered as a weak point in this section Although the vocabulary section in each unit is provided with phonetic transcription, explanation with examples, classification of parts of speech and practice exercises, both the two groups of students and ESP teachers were not satisfactory with this aspect This is evidenced by the below average and a low ratio of positive feedback at 47% for the students Meanwhile, the ESP teachers claimed that due to the illogical subject content development, the vocabulary, especially technical terminologies were not presented in an increasing order of difficulty Longer reading texts or dialogues with complex vocabulary items appear before the shorter and more simple ones such as „Safety training on deck‟ (Unit 5) before „Common rules‟; „Departure‟ (Unit 8) before „Garbage Disposal‟ (Unit 9) In addition, explaining new words in English, especially LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 30 technical terms, caused a challenge to both the teachers and students Sometimes, the English words which were used to explain for a terminology were much more difficult than the terminology itself In short, the course book made the users quite satisfactory in terms of language content criteria However, it should be improved regarding variety of text-types, tasks for pronunciation and vocabulary explanation 3.1.4 Language skill In terms of this category, both ESP teachers, subject teachers and students were in favor of topical reading texts, logical distribution of language skills and speaking activities with positive response of 80%, 60% and 59% for students respectively (See Table & Chart 3.4) Ratings No Language skill criterion Means Enough evidence All the four skills are adequately covered 1.4 44% The skills are distributed and integrated appropriately to meet the students‟ occupational requirements 1.7 60% The topical reading texts provide students with knowledge relevant to their future job 2.0 80% 1.7 59% 1.1 29% Speaking activities are designed to equip learners how to deal with job situations Writing activities are guided clearly and correctly Table 3.4: The realization of the language skill criterion In every unit in ENS, reading comprehension part covers a wide variety of interesting topics which are expected to meet the objectives of the course book They include „customary behavior on board‟, „ship‟s organization‟, „duties of able seamen‟, „muster list‟, „duties of third officers‟, „steering orders‟, „Captain‟s and Chief Officer‟s standing orders‟, „maneuvering‟, „Pilotage – Pilot request‟, „berthing‟, „procedure to cast anchor‟, „charter party‟ and „statement of sea protest‟ However, according to the ESP teachers, as these reading passages were designed to help students to be able to understand the contents of the topics, therefore, in order to check the students‟ understanding and reinforce their knowledge of the topics, this section should be provided with a wide range of tasks and organized at the end of the unit as a kind of supplementary reading LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 31 For speaking activities in ENS, they mainly focus on discussions in group about topics concerning dealing with an emergency situation on board such as a fire or an accident, getting to know ship‟s information, prevention and protection of sea environment, types of safety training on board, discipline on board, and deck tools, etc To some extent, this kind of speaking activity is expected to help increase the students‟ team-work ability as in fact there are many tasks and duties on board, which get seafarers to work in team and require them a smooth co-ordination such as repair and maintenance work, cargo handling, departure and port entry operations, anchor work or watch-keeping, etc However, both subject teachers and English teachers claimed that there existed some limitations in this section The first limitation is that there is a lack of clear and detailed instructions and suggestions Secondly, it failed to provide the students with useful expressions or phrases to help them practice speaking more easily and fluently Besides, some topics for discussions which are based on the contents of reading passages or dialogues in every unit in ENS were believed rather difficult for the students due to their limitations of the world and subject knowledge as well as their lack of vocabulary 1.5 Means 0.5 80% 44% 60% Enough evidence 59% 29% Chart 3.4: The realization of the language skill criterion With respect to writing skill, the teacher-writers made an effort to provide the course book with the forms of letters, messages and sea protests to meet the objectives of the course book However, these forms were presented without essential instructions about the organization of a radiogram, a message, a letter or a sea protest including introduction, development and conclusion parts Besides, there are few writing tasks designed for LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 32 students to practice This deficiency led the students to low response at the mean of 1.1 and with 29 % of positive feedback Inadequacy of the presentation of language skills is another problem in this criterion The lack of listening skill in every unit in ENS is the reason why this aspect in the criterion scored below average (44%) by the students While over half of the students agreed that in ENS a logical proportion and integration of the language skills were designed to meet the student‟s future occupational requirements (2), the ESP teachers claimed that the number of tasks in each section throughout the course book was disproportional to each skill A close investigation into the course book demonstrated that the reading was paid most attention, then the speaking Few tasks for writing skill were found (only in Unit 14 and Unit 15) and no tasks were for listening skill In the same vein, the subject teachers were unsatisfactory with this unbalance as they asserted that the speaking and listening skills were in fact the most important to the seafarers when they worked on board a ship, especially on a foreign ship on worldwide routes Seafarers in general and deck officers and deck ratings in particular are required to use English to communicate with each other (in case of working on a multi-national crew ship), with pilot stations, port authority, inspectors, agents and ship owners, etc Therefore, these two skills should be most focused in the ENS In conclusion, beside good judgments about some aspects of this criterion, the three groups of participants offered some improvements concerning unbalance of skills, instructions for speaking and writing skills 3.1.5 Methodology In terms of methodology, the interview results with the ESP teachers showed that the course book provided chances for pair work and group work These teaching/learning techniques are mainly presented in speaking activities in Discussion Section However, instructions for these techniques are not found and clear in the course book With respect to the structure of the course book, most of the ESP teachers complained that ENS was structured so tightly It was evidenced by a monotonous pattern of lessons throughout ENS There are always gap filling exercises in Vocabulary Section, answering questions or true/false in Dialogue or Reading Text Section As pointed by a teacher: “There is a lot of repetition in the course book We always have the same type of exercises LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 33 in every lesson and one cannot feel any sort of creativity The students become very bored as I move from one lesson to the other.” Therefore, the teacher-writers should avoid making each unit look the same, with the same type of text, the same kind of illustrations, the same type and number of exercises in order to stimulate students and draw their interest in the lessons Furthermore, all the ESP teachers showed their dissatisfaction with a lack of development of students‟ communicative competence It is evidenced by the fact that among four language skills, reading was paid most attention Lastly, ENS failed to provide the ESP teacher with teacher‟s book guide about subject specialism, methodological hints and answer keys, etc This makes them really difficult in preparing lessons and improving teaching quality, especially in ESP context Based on the evaluation results from the three groups of participants, it can be concluded that although ENS is a teacher-produced materials, it gained certain strengths, especially in maritime and language content However, the course book still remains some shortcomings which are going to be discussed for adaptation in the following sections 3.2 Suggestions for materials adaptation Based on the data analysis from the questionnaire for the students and interviews with ESP and subject teachers mentioned above, the strengths and weaknesses of the course book are both revealed To some extent, the strengths show that ENS seems to be a good ESP inhouse course book for students at Navigation Department at HPPC However, there exist some weaknesses in the course book, which imply a need for adaptation in order to improve the materials quality and achieve the expected occupational outcomes 3.2.1 Format and organization As the findings show, there are some existing limitations in terms of format and organization, which need to be adapted First of all, spelling mistakes should be rechecked and corrected The second is that the introductory table of contents should be provided with a detailed overview of topics and themes, structures or grammar and skills within each unit to make sure that any course book users have a general overview of the course book whenever they access to it LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 34 In addition, a number of useful appendices should be designed at the back cover of the course book for students‟ convenience and self-study A list of these may include a glossary of common maritime abbreviations, Standard Marine Communication Phrases which should be extracted selectively according to the students‟ occupational requirements, and Maritime terms and expressions with brief and clear explanation Moreover, consolidation after every two units should be designed in order to help students recycle or reinforce their knowledge of the previous lessons to be able to store it in longterm memory Finally, it can be suggested that the objectives need to be introduced briefly and clearly at the beginning of each unit in the whole course book This helps both teachers and students come to an agreement that what will be taught and learned and keep track during the teaching and learning process in the class 3.2.2 Maritime content Although all the three groups of respondents were satisfactory with this criterion concerning practical subject matter area, various themes and topics and the Maritime English references presented in ENS, a number of adjustments should be made to be able to overcome the shortcomings Regarding the topics in ENS, in fact, all of them were chosen with thorough consultation of the subject teacher, constructive discussions between the ESP teachers, and based on the objectives However, the sequence of subject content was disconnected and presented at random To avoid this limitation, the themes should be regrouped and re-arranged with a sequence which progresses from simple to complex level and in a logical subject development to make sure that the progression matches the normal teaching sequence of the subject Besides, more care should be taken to the occupational-oriented topics According to the subject teachers‟ suggestions, the course book should be provided with several essential topics such as ship‟s structure, ship‟s emails, repair and maintenance work, watch-keeping duties and be replaced with such less motivating topics in ENS as „after fire accident‟ and „in a toxic place.‟ LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 35 As for the non-text types, they should be inserted or illustrated in the units in ENS where necessary and appropriate; especially pictures, drawings and diagrams to make sure that the lessons become more vivid, interesting and easier for students 3.2.3 Language content In ESP, the selection of key terminologies, and semi-technical words and their prescriptions in the texts will have large impact on the level of difficulty and thereby the students‟ motivation Due to the fact that the sequence of subject matter area did not progress logically, vocabulary was not presented in difficulty level in the entire course book To overcome this problem, as mentioned above, the themes and topics should be regrouped and re-arranged to ensure the relative uniformity in a logical development of both subject content and vocabulary Besides, vocabulary practice exercises throughout the course book should be of various types These types include not only gap-filling but also changing word form, matching words with definitions, etc Therefore, the students will have more chances to use the vocabulary they acquired in fluency work, which stimulate real language use Moreover, vocabulary should be explained in more simple way, especially terminologies in units 8, 10, 14 and 15 increasing in number and difficulty level In relation to the drills of grammar, pronunciation and translation in the entire course book, firstly, it is advisable to design grammar drills after Grammar Note Section in order to reinforce the knowledge of grammar the students have just acquired and reduce burden and time that the teachers have to spend preparing grammar handouts for their students Secondly, the course book should be provided with pronunciation drills to make sure that the students can have more chances to improve their pronunciation This may help them become more confident in communication Finally, in addition to simple and easy translation work in form of supplying English terms, the teacher-writers should design other types which help students to be able to use these maritime terms in context 3.2.4 Language skill According to the subject teachers, among four language skills, speaking and listening are the most important to the seafarers However, in every unit in the entire course book the listening skill was not found Therefore, “English for Navigation Students” should be provided with listening practice exercises which are relevant to the students‟ future jobs and this is in fact a challenging job for the non-native language teacher-writers LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 36 Another aspect which should be adjusted is that the course book was provided with forms of a letter, a radiogram and a sea protest without exercises and any detailed and clear instructions for writing them, for example, how to write introduction, development and conclusion parts In fact, each type is quite different in form, structure and language Hence, guidance, techniques and practice exercises for writing skill should be added to this course book 3.2.5 Methodology With respect to the types of exercise in the whole course book, the teacher-writers should design the various types of exercise in every section of every unit to encourage and motivate the students who are diverse in learning styles, preference and level of English For example, vocabulary practice exercises can be designed in form of gap-filling, changing word form, matching words with definitions In Dialogue/Text Section, a dialogue or text can be followed by the some types of exercises such as answering referential questions, true/false, multiple choices, role-play, etc In addition, more attention should be paid to development of students‟ communicative ability This can be done through designing more collaborative tasks such as pair-work and group work, and balancing and integrating the four language skills Lastly, the course book should be provided with teacher‟s guide book as Cunningsword & Kusel (1991:129) suggest that it “assists the ESP teachers in understanding the structure of the course book and the contribution of each lesson or unit to the overall course, especially it provides guidance in the practical use of the course book” so that the teachers can use it for lesson plan and reference In conclusion, this chapter has presented the results of two principal instruments: questionnaire and interview The analysed results showed both strengths and weaknesses of the course book “English for Navigation Students” in terms of format and organization, subject content, language content, language skills, and methodology Based on the findings, suggestions for adaptation of the course book were also given LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 37 PART C: CONCLUSION Conclusion It is obviously that there is also no best material to suit all types of learners in every context Materials though published or teacher-generated have their own strengths and weaknesses To make the most effective use of materials, it is necessary to carefully examine all their aspects and compare them against an assessment tool Therefore, it is the duty of a language teacher to play a role as a materials evaluator to identify their strengths and weaknesses and give suggestions for improving them as well The course book “English for Navigation Students”, which is being used for the nautical students at HPPC, has been evaluated in terms of format and organization, subject content, language content, language skills, and methodology To make effective judgement on the course book in this specific educational context, the checklist method was adopted to gauge the merits and demerits of the textbook The two principal instruments exploited to collect data for this study were questionnaire and interview The results of the survey indicated that all the ESP teachers, subject teachers and the students, to some extent, were satisfactory with the course book as it virtually meets the expected occupational requirements This is evidenced by the coverage of practical maritime content with various interesting topics, essential grammar and vocabulary items, pair and group work methodology, and clear and attractive printing quality However, in order to make “English for Navigation Students” become a course book which really satisfies the future occupational requirements of the students at Navigation Faculty at HPPC, its shortcomings should be overcome regarding lack of glossary of essential abbreviations and useful appendix which are commonly used on board a ship, and non-text types; insufficient coverage of skill area; monotonous patterns of units throughout the course book; and deficiency in the teacher‟s guide Therefore, in the light of the findings, “English for Navigation Students” needs modification and improvement In other words, adaptation for the present course book is necessary These modifications should mostly include those aspects which have not received positive feedback by the students and the teachers to improve the quality of the course book so that both of them can benefit more from it in the coming courses LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 38 Limitations and suggestions for further study The study, although was carried out with the researcher‟s great attempts, still proves a number of inevitable limitations due to the limited time, lack of resources and the researcher‟s ability One of the limitations in this study is that it lacks time to conduct a survey at a wider scope to get more students‟ opinions of the materials As a result, the findings are not quite of popularity Besides, due to the limited scope of a minor thesis, it is impossible for the researcher to touch all aspects of materials evaluation, which could make the study more reliable and valuable Furthermore, only questionnaire and interview were used as the two principal instruments to collect data in this study Therefore, the findings and discussion would have been more comprehensive and insightful if these two instruments had combined with direct observation in the classes to see what the teachers with materials and the effectiveness of the materials on the students‟ outcomes This research will lay a basic foundation for a more thorough and comprehensive study on evaluating and designing marine engine English materials with the hope to make a countable contribution to improve the quality of maritime English materials at Haiphong Polytechnic College LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 39 REFERENCES Bahumad, S (2008) TEFL materials evaluation: A teacher‟s perspective Poznan Studies in Contemporary Linguistics, 44(4), 423-432 Chambers, F (1997) Seeking consensus in course book evaluation ELT Journal, 51(1), 29-35 Cunningsworth, A & Kusel, P (1991) Evaluating teachers‟ guides ELT Journal, 45(2), 128-139 Cunningsworth, A (1984) Evaluating and selecting EFL teaching materials London Heinemann Cunningsworth, A (1995) Choosing your Course book London: Macmillan Dudley-Evans, T & St John, M.J (1998) Development in ESP: A multi-disciplinary approach Cambridge Cambridge University Press Ellis, R (1997) The empirical evaluation of language teaching materials.ELT Journal, 51(3), 36-42 Giap Thi Yen (2008) An evaluation of the material “Basic English III” for the second year non-English major students at Bac Giang teachers‟ training college M.A thesis VNU, Hanoi Hutchinson, T& Torres, E (1994) The textbook as agent of change ELT Journal, 48(4), 315-328 10 Hutchinson, T& Waters, A (1987) English for Specific Purposes Cambridge Cambridge University Press 11 Jebahi, K (2009) Using a commercially developed ESP textbook: A classroom Dilemma The Asian ESP Journal, 5(2), 75-92 12 Johnson, D.M (1992) Approaches to Research in Second Language Learning London Longman 13 Longman (1998) Dictionary of English language and culture London 14 Martin, I (1992) An Invitation to ESP SEAMEO Regional Language Center Singapore 15 McDonough & Shaw (1993) Materials and Methods in ELT Oxford Blackwell 16 McGrath, I (2002) Materials Evaluation and Design for Language Teaching Edinburgh Edinburgh University Press 17 McGrath, I (2006) Teachers‟ and learners‟ images for course books ELT Journal, 60(2), 171-180 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 40 18 Nguyen Thi Xuan Thuy (2008) Construction engineering students‟ evaluation of the ESP programme at Vinh University M.A thesis VNU, Hanoi 19 Nunan, D (1988) Syllabus Design Oxford Oxford University Press 20 Nunan, D (1989) Designing tasks for the communicative classroom Cambridge Cambridge University Press 21 Nunan, D (1991) Language Teaching Methodology London Prentice Hall 22 Prichard, B (2003) A survey of maritime English teaching materials Retrieved from the website on 16 April 2008 at http://www.imla-imec.com/articles.htm 23 Richards, J.C (2005) The role of textbooks in a language program Retrieved from the website on 10 April 2010 at http://www.professorjackrichards.com/work.htm 24 Robinson, P (1991) ESP today: A practitioner‟s Guide London Prentice Hall 25 Sheldon, L.E (1988) Evaluating ELT textbooks and materials ELT Journal, 42(4), 237-246 26 Swales, J.M (1980) ESP: The textbook problem The ESP Journal, 1(1), 11-23 27 The international maritime organization (1978) Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping Convention Retrieved from the Website April 2010 at http://www.imo.org/materials.htm 28 Tomlinson, B (1998) Materials development in Language Teaching Cambridge Cambridge University Press 29 Tomlinson, B (2003) Developing materials for Language Teaching Cromwell Press 30 Tran Thanh Nhan (2006) An evaluation of the textbook “Oxford English for Electronics” and suggestions for new materials design M.A thesis VNU, Hanoi 31 Zangani, E (2009) The ESP textbook problem: The evaluation of ESP textbooks in Humanities in the undergraduate program of Iranian universities The Asian ESP Journal, 5(2), 93-106 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ... students? ?? communicative competence 1.4 The roles of materials evaluation to adaptation of the course book ? ?English for Navigation Students? ?? Before the course book ? ?English for Navigation Students? ?? was... course book, and materials 1.2.1 Definitions As the theme of this thesis is the evaluation of the course book ? ?English for Navigation Students? ?? that is being exploited for teaching and learning at. .. quote, compare, and support or challenge the findings during the course of analyzing the data of the students 3.1.1 Format and organization Ratings No Format and Organization Criteria The print is