Tính hiệu quả của việc sử dụng sách giáo khoa new headway trình độ sơ cấp đối với việc dạy và học kỷ năng nói tại trung tâm ngoại ngữ tin học kon tum

TABLE OF CONTENTS Pages Sub cover page Statement of authorship i Acknowledgements ii List of abbreviations iii List of figures iv Abstract v CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background 1.2 Rationale 1.3 Research Questions 1.4 Significance of the study 1.5 Scope of the study 1.6 Structure of the thesis CHAPTER II LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Introduction 2.2 Definitions of key terms 2.2.1 What is “speaking”? 2.2.2 Elements of speaking 10 2.2.3 Types of speaking 11 2.2.4 Speaking skills and spoken English 15 2.2.4.1 Speaking skills 15 2.2.4.2 Spoken English 16 2.3 Factors affecting English speaking abilities 16 2.4 The nature of teaching speaking 18 2.4.1 What is teaching speaking? 18 2.4.2 Goals of teaching speaking in the classroom 18 2.4.3 Why teaching speaking skills? 20 2.4.4 Principles for teaching speaking skills 20 2.4.5 Classroom techniques and tasks for speaking 22 2.5 Sub-skills in teaching and learning the speaking skills 23 2.6 Textbooks and their roles in a language program 24 2.6.1 What is a textbook? 24 2.6.2 The roles of textbooks in the ELT classroom 25 2.6.3 Approaches in textbook design 26 2.6.4 Textbook adaptation and techniques of adaptation 27 2.6.4.1 Textbook adaptation 27 2.6.4.2 Techniques of adaptation 29 2.7 Overview of the textbooks New Headway Beginner and Elementary 31 2.7.1 Objectives 31 2.7.2 Structure of the textbooks 31 2.8 The English Program for elementary level at KFLIC 34 2.8.1 Length of the courses 34 2.8.2 Overview of learners and teachers of English at Kon Tum Foreign Language - Informatics Centre 34 2.9 Previous studies on teaching speaking skills and textbook adaptation 35 2.9.1 In other countries 35 2.9.2 In Vietnam 37 2.10 Summary 39 CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY 40 3.1 Introduction 40 3.2 Participants 40 3.3 Methodology 40 3.4 Data Collection Instruments 41 3.4.1 Questionnaires 41 3.4.2 Interviews 42 3.4.3 Class observations 43 3.4.4 Materials 44 3.5 Methods of data analysis 44 3.6 Summary 44 CHAPTER IV FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 45 4.1 Introduction 45 4.2 The textbooks as a teaching and learning tool to improve learners’ speaking skills .45 4.2.1 Learners and teachers’ general evaluation of the textbooks New 45 Headway 45 4.2.2.Learners and teachers’perception of the appropriateness of the textbooks New Headway 46 4.2.3 Learners’ interest in the topics in the textbooks 48 4.2.4 Teachers’ ranking of the topics that gain learners’ interests 49 4.2.5 Learners and teachers’ evaluation of the vocabulary, pronunciation, grammar and speaking activities 50 4.2.6 Learners and teachers’ opinions of accuracy and fluency in the New Headway 51 4.2.7 Speaking activities of the textbooks 53 4.3 Difficulties faced by learners and teachers when using the books 54 4.3.1 Difficulties faced by teachers 54 4.3.2 Difficulties faced by learners when they use the textbooks 56 4.4 Adaptations made to the textbooks to be used more effectively at the center 59 4.4.1 Textbook adaptation techniques 59 4.4.2 Speaking activities used by teachers 60 4.4.3 Learners’ opinion of teachers’ textbook adaptation 62 4.4.4 Reasons for teachers’ textbook adaptation 63 4.5 Summary 65 CHAPTER V CONCLUSION, IMPLICATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER STUDY 66 5.1 Summary of the key findings 66 5.2 Teaching Implications 67 5.2.1 For administrators 67 5.2.2 For teachers 68 5.2.3 For Students 69 5.3 Limitations of the study 69 5.4 Further study 69 REFERENCES 70 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background According to The Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) English is a compulsory subject for elementary school students from the third grade through high school From 2010-2011, MOET expects that English will be taught to some 20 percent of third grade students, with gradual, yearly expansion An estimated 70 percent of students will learn English in the 2015-2016 school year, reaching 100% in 2018-2019 This is to show that English learning is very important in Vietnam However, according to the evaluation of some employers and language educators, many school-leavers seem to be incompetent in speaking English Nguyen Huu Tho, the Director of Saigon Tourist says: At our company, most of the applicants graduating get ‘dumb’ by fifty percent and ‘deaf’ by forty percent when being interviewed Similarly, The Director of Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization Centre in Vietnam says ‘many BA holders could not express everyday notions or perform basic communicative functions; they lack productive skills and strategies; they are unable to negotiate meaning successfully In short, they lack communicative competence (cited in Pham Van Chi, 2008, p.1) According to Candlin and Edelhoff (1982, cited in Phan Van Chi, 2008, p.2), many language teaching materials used in Vietnamese schools in general are ‘authentic’ in the sense that they contain ‘authentic language, authentic tasks, and authentic focus of communication’ However, Candlin and Edehoff (1982) point out that the tasks and the topics found in the textbook are limited and proved not to meet all of the need and interests of learners As a result, many learners have decided to take extra English courses at the language centres for the sake of improving their English communicative competence With this trend, many foreign language centres have chosen native textbooks and the use of authentic materials as their tool of teaching and learning English 1.2 Rationale Textbooks are one of the most important factors that have great impact on the success of a language program According to Richards (2001), textbooks are one of the key components in most language programs In some cases, they serve as the basis of the language input that the learners receive and the language practice occurs in the classroom They may provide the basis for the content of the lessons, the balance of skills taught, and the kinds of language tasks students actively use In other situations, textbooks may serve primarily to supplement the teacher's instructions For learners, textbooks may provide a major source of contact they have with the target language Richards (2001) adds that in the case of inexperienced teachers, textbooks may also serve as a form of teacher training He says that textbooks provide ideas on how to plan and teach lessons as well as formats that teachers can use In my opinion much of the language teaching that occurs throughout the world today could not take place without the extensive use of textbooks Learning how to use and adapt textbooks is hence an important part of a teacher’s professional knowledge In the last several years, the number of English-language teaching materials on the market has grown exponentially, addressing a variety of learner interests, skill levels, and tastes Among other features, these materials also vary in their linguistic design, focus, and objectives, making the choice of a textbook-an integral part of many ELT classrooms - a seemingly formidable task Teachers or those trained to become teachers of English can look to a number of sources to help them to make more informed decisions when the evaluation of textbooks is required In the case of Vietnam, many employers nowadays require job applicants to have an A, B or C certificate in a certain language, especially in English In parttime education, the proficiency in English is measured by national levels: A (Elementary), B (Intermediate), and C (Advanced) According to the Decision No 31 of The Ministry of Education and Training (MOET), Foreign Language Centres (FLCs) must use the native textbooks such as Streamline English series, Headway or New Headway series, Cutting Edges series or Life Lines series for teaching English in order to develop learners’ language skills The National Syllabus for teaching English at FLCs includes 400 periods of 45 minutes for each level The classes often take place six sessions a week MOET also has set clear objectives for language skills (Speaking, Listening, Reading, and Writing) for each level Speaking and listening are as important as reading and writing Speaking currently accounts for up to 10 per cent of the final total mark awarded in the final examination It is also assessed separately by teachers in the final exam, and has equal weighting here with other skills The objective of speaking skills set in the Vietnam’s table of English proficiency by MOET, 2005 is that a learner can participate in simple dialogues in and outside of class and express his/her own ideas without limitation about cultural and social issues (level -elementary), or can take part in dialogues and present his/her ideas about familiar topics (level 4) when he/she finishes level B (intermediate) Moreover, as a teacher at Kon Tum Foreign Language- Informatics Centre (KFLIC) for more than 10 years, I have noted that most of learners when doing the enrollment for an English course at the centre, really want to develop their speaking and listening skills Therefore, KFLIC has chosen New Headway textbooks series in order to meet learners’ needs However, the effects of the use of the textbooks on teaching and learning speaking skills still need to be investigated The writer is, therefore, urged to the study, entitled “The Effects of the Use of New Headway Textbooks at Elementary Level on Teaching and Learning Speaking Skills at Kon Tum Foreign Language–Informatics Centre” 1.3 Research Questions The study aims to answer the following questions: How effective are the books as a teaching and learning tool to improve learners’ speaking skills? What are the difficulties that teachers and learners encounter when using the books? What adaptations can be made to the books so they can be used more effectively at the center? 1.4 Significance of the study Theoretically, the study hopes to contribute to the literature of the learning and teaching speaking skills and the use of textbooks Practically, it hopes to give implications on how to use the textbooks, particularly, the series of New Headway effectively as a teaching and learning tool to improve learners’ speaking skills at KFLIC in particular and at other places where the setting is similar 1.5 Scope of the study This study focuses on the effects of the use of New Headway Beginner and Elementary textbooks on the actual teaching and learning speaking skills at KFLIC The study is conducted with 40 students randomly selected from classes at the elementary level and with teachers who are in charge of teaching these elementary classes at KFLIC 1.6 Structure of the thesis This study consists of five chapters Chapter one introduces general information of the research Chapter two reviews the literature and chapter three discusses research methodology In chapter four, findings and discussion are presented Chapter five gives summary of the research, implications and suggestions CHAPTER II LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Introduction First, this chapter defines and clarifies terminology related to speaking skills, teaching and learning speaking skills Second, it discusses the roles of textbooks in a language program and its techniques of adaptation Third, the approaches in textbook design are presented Next, an overview on the New Headway Beginner and Elementary textbooks, learners at elementary level and teachers at Kon Tum Foreign Language- Informatics Centre is described Finally, an analysis and synthesis of some previous studies related to teaching and learning speaking skills and textbook evaluation are presented 2.2 Definitions of key terms 2.2.1 What is “speaking”? Chaney (1998, cited in Pham Van Chi, 2008, p.14) explains that speaking is the process of building and sharing meaning through the use of verbal and nonverbal symbols, in a variety of contexts Brown (1994), and Burn Joyce (1997, cited in Pham Van Chi, 2008, p.14) define that speaking is an interactive process of constructing meaning that involves producing and receiving and processing information In fact, speaking is a crucial part of foreign language learning and teaching because its form and meaning are depended on the context in which it occurs, including participants themselves, their collective experiences, and the physical environment, and the purpose of speaking Moreover, Kathleen (2003, cited in Nunan, 2003, p 48) defines that speaking is an aural/oral skill It consists of producing systematic verbal utterances to convey meaning According to Manser (2000, p.414, cited in Bismoko, 2009, p.4), speaking is to talk to somebody about something, use your voice to say something; be able to use a language; make a speech to an audience; or say or state something 2.2.2 Elements of speaking Harmer (2001, p.269) says that the ability to speak fluently presupposes not only language features, but also the ability to process information and language “on the spot” He points out elements necessary for speaking are the following: Language features Connected speech Effective speakers of English need to be able not only to produce the individual phonemes of English but also to use fluent “connected speech” Expressive devices Native speakers of English change the pitch and stress of particular parts of utterances, vary volume and speed, and show how they are feeling (especially faceto-face interaction) by other physical and non-verbal (paralinguistic) means The use of these devices contributes to the ability to convey meanings They allow the extra expression of emotion and intensity Students should be able deploy at least some of such suprasegmental features and devices in the same way if they are to be fully effective communicators Lexis and grammar Spontaneous speech is marked by the use of a number of common lexical phrases, especially in the performance of certain language functions Teachers should therefore supply a variety of phrases for different functions such as agreeing or disagreeing, expressing surprise, shock, or approval Where students are involved in specific speaking contexts such as a job interview, we can prime them, in the same way, with certain useful phrases which they can produce at various stages of an interaction Negotiation language Effective speaking benefits from the negotiatory language we use to seek clarification and to show the structure of what we are saying 10 them from joining the speaking tasks actively is 80% Here are some opinions from the interviews: Sometimes, I find it hard to communicate with my partners when joining the speaking activities because we have different levels of English Some of my friends are quite good Therefore, I feel afraid of making mistakes Yes, I think that classroom furniture makes us lazy to move (Student Minh, aged 13) I can’t understand my friends when we work together in groups because our English levels are quite different I don’t like the arrangement of furniture in my classroom It is not spacy enough for us to move around when we participate in speaking activities (Student Tien, aged 14) There are many different students with different levels in my English class Some are very good others are not Therefore, when we are in the groups, the good ones speak much more than the weak ones Besides, we rarely get out of our seats to talk to the others because of the tables and chairs (Student Nga, aged 17) In conclusion, when carrying out the speaking tasks in the textbooks, both learners and teachers have various difficulties such as physical factors, cultural factors in conversations etc Most of teachers and learners are aware of all the constraints when the textbooks are used as a tool for learning and teaching speaking skills As a result, there should be adaptation to the textbooks for better use In the following part, the data will show what adaptations the teachers have made to the textbooks, the reason why they make modification and how they carry out speaking tasks in the classroom 4.4 Adaptations made to the textbooks to be used more effectively at the center 4.4.1 Textbook adaptation techniques It is obvious that a single textbook cannot cover all aspects of a language course Therefore, textbook adaptation is one way to make input more comprehensible for learners McDonough and Shaw (1999) say that adaptation is a a very practical activity carried out mainly by teachers in order to make their work more relevant to the learners with whom they are in day-to day contact Richard 59 (2001) reckons that although textbooks play important roles in a language–teaching program, there are also some limitations such as the matter of classroom cultural, learners’ needs Data below shows the adaptation techniques that the teachers reported they used Te xtbook adatation te chinque s use d by te ache rs 120 Percentage(% ) 100 100 80 60 40 40 40 40 20 0 Adding Simplifying Modifying Deleting Reordering Te chnique s Chart 4.10 Textbook adaptation techniques used by teachers Questions 11 and 12 of the questionnaire (see Appendix 1) are designed to find the textbook adaptation techniques the teachers have used to make the textbooks New Headway better for improving learners’ speaking skills The chart shows that the teachers have used most of the textbook adaptation techniques However, the textbook adaptation techniques are based on the teachers’ ability and working experience It can be seen from the chart that adding is most often used Four out of five teachers (80%) usually used this technique Simplifying, Modifying and Deleting occupy a lower percentage (40%) No teachers used reordering 4.4.2 Speaking activities used by teachers The data from question 13 of the questionnaire (see Appendix 1) supports the result found through questions 11 and 12 of the questionnaire This is to prove what modification the teachers have made when dealing with speaking activities 60 The chart shows the percentage of teachers who made modification to the textbook Pe r c e nta g e % when designing speaking activities 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 100 80 40 S im p ly f in g th e s p e a k in g a c tiv itie s S e lf - d e s ig n e d a c tiv itie s in th e b o o k s S1 U s in g a c tiv itie s a d a p te d f r o m o th e r s o u r c e s C o m p e le te ly u s in g th e s p e a k in g a c tiv itie s in th e books S p e ak i n g tas k s /ac ti vi ti e s u s e d b y te ac h e r s S im p ly f in g th e s p e a k in g a c tiv itie s in th e b o o k s S e lf - d e s ig n e d a c tiv itie s U s in g a c tiv itie s a d a p te d f r o m o th e r s o u r c e s C o m p e le te ly u s in g th e s p e a k in g a c tiv itie s in th e b o o k s Chart 4.11 Speaking tasks / activities used by teachers Chart 4.11 shows that the teachers (100%) completely use the speaking activities in the New Headway and 80% of teachers usually add more speaking activities from other sources to enhance learners’ speaking skills Two experienced teachers (40%) simplified the speaking activities in the textbooks, and no teachers designed their own speaking activities The result from the interview supports the data from the questionnaires I think the speaking tasks/activities in the New Headway Beginner and Elementary are alright so I usually get my students to practice them However, I also use some speaking activities from other sources such as Life-Lines or Cutting Edges When I find the tasks are difficult, I simplify them so that my student can them easier ( Teacher Tuc, aged 42) Well, I like the speaking activities in the New Headway I often let my students finish them I also copy some speaking activities from other books too to make the lesson more interesting ( Teacher Tan, aged 33) 61 The speaking tasks /activities are interesting, I rarely simplify them But, I add some speaking activities from other books to make my students more interesting (Teacher An Binh, aged 32) Yes, I usually add more speaking activities or exercises from other books but I always have my students all of the speaking activities in the textbook But sometimes simplify the speaking activities in the books if I find these are too difficult for my students to speak ( Teacher Ninh, aged 37) This is the first time I work with the New Headway, so I completely follow the speaking activities set in the textbooks I find it more secure (Teacher Duyen, aged 26) In conclusion, teachers completely followed the tasks in the textbooks When making modification to the textbooks, teachers used the speaking activities from other sources They never design their own speaking activities Only experienced teachers could simplify the speaking activities 4.4.3 Learners’ opinion of teachers’ textbook adaptation The data below shows the learners’ opinions of the teachers’ adaptation to the textbooks P ercen t a g e( % ) L e a rn e rs ' O pin io n o f Th e F re qu e n cy o f t h e S pe a k in g A ct iv it ie s 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 95 90 55 Ac tiv ities in th e tex tb o o k s Ac tiv ities d es ig n ed Ac tiv ities f r o m o th er Ac tiv ities in th e b y teac h er s s o u r c es tex tb o o k s s im p lif ied b y th e teac h er s Chart 4.12 Learners’ opinion of how teachers design the speaking activities When asked about the teachers’ textbook adaptation for the speaking activities in the textbooks, 95% of learners thought that their teachers always had further speaking activities from other sources to enhance their speaking skills 55% of learners stated that their teachers simplified the speaking activities in textbooks 62 The percentage of learners who said that their teachers completely used speaking activities in the textbooks is 90% A small percentage of learners reported that the teachers rarely designed their speaking tasks on their own In short, the teachers found the textbooks safe and effective tools to improve learners’ speaking skills Mostly, the teachers completely follow the speaking activities in the New Headway When making some modification to the textbooks, the teachers usually add some more speaking activities from other sources Some teachers who are experienced with the textbooks can simplify the difficult activities The following part presents the reasons why the teachers have made modification to the textbooks 4.4.4 Reasons for teachers’ textbook adaptation As presented in the experimental study’ profiles, the learners of English at KFLIC are different in many aspects Therefore, the teachers have made modifications to the textbooks to make them suitable for their learners The chart bellow shows the number of teachers agreeing with the reasons for their adaptation The following chart presents the four main reasons for teachers’ adaptation R e a s o n s fo r t e x t b o o k a d a p t io n N o o f te a c h e r s 4 1 0 C o m p lic a te d la n g u a g e C u ltu r a l o b s ta c le s U n in te r e s tin g to p ic s D if f ic u lt s p e a k in g a c tiv itie s Chart 4.13 Reasons for textbook adaptation Regarding the reasons for their adaptations, teachers agreed that if the speaking activities include cultural factors preventing their learners from speaking, they will make modification to make them suitable for the target learners such as the factors related to the learners' age, gender, social class, occupation, religion or 63 cultural background out of teachers stated that they modified the speaking activities when they think that they were not suitable for their learners Only one teacher agrees that the topics in the textbooks are not interesting The class observation below supported the data presented in the table above The class observation was carried out at class A2 The class lasts for 90 minutes The teacher asks a question to warm up: “What’s your telephone number?” and the students answer the teacher’s question He continues asking: “When you want to know someone’s telephone number in Vietnam, where you call to?” The students answer: The post office Then he asks: “Which section in the post office?” The students keep silent The teacher gives feedback: 108 Directory Enquiries Then he starts to present activity He asks the students to listen and then complete the conversation In activity 2, the teacher asks the students to work in pairs, practice the conversation by asking the telephone and fax numbers of Franziska and Mauricio Some pairs are invited to act out their conversations The students can it well with the books in their hands The teacher explains the cultural factors and simplifies the conversation He shows the drill: Operator: 108 Directory Enquiries, Kon Tum Can I help you? You: Can I have the telephone number of ? Operator: Yes, What’s the address? You: Operator: The number you require is The next stage, the teacher asks the students to work in pairs: one play the role of a telephone operator of 108 Directory Enquiries, the other asks to find some telephones in Kon Tum After that the teacher invites some pairs to act out the conversations Then the teacher goes on to the activity In activity 4, the teacher asks the students to complete the conversations with the lines in activity Then the students listen to the recording and practice After that, the teacher asks the students to make similar conversations with their partners 64 The class observation proved that the teacher completely followed the activities in the New Headway However, he simplified the conversation to make it easier for his students to practice 4.5 Summary This chapter presents the results of the study Firstly, the majority of teachers and learners are interested in the textbooks for many reasons: the textbooks provide learners with language factors before they participate in speaking activities; the topics in the textbooks are real and close to the learners’ everyday activities and the speaking activities are suitable for learners’ level Secondly, the results showed the difficulties faced by teachers and learners when they carried out speaking activities in the textbooks: classroom furniture and cultural factors lying in the conversations problems, not active learners’ participation, large and mixed level in the class Finally, the chapter reported the textbook adaptation techniques the teachers used and the reasons for their adaptation The next chapter will present some implications and suggestion for further study 65 CHAPTER V CONCLUSION, IMPLICATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER STUDY 5.1 Summary of the key findings This research aims to find out first how effective the textbooks as a teaching and learning tool to improve learners’ speaking skills, second the difficulties faced by teachers when using the textbooks, and finally what adaptation can be made to the books First of all, it was found from the study that there were coincidental opinions of teachers and learners about the textbooks New Headway textbooks by Liz Soars and John as effective tools to improve learners’ speaking skills Both teachers and learners stated that the textbooks provide learners with a variety of interesting texts on different topics, language factors before speaking, good speaking activities that focus on accuracy and fluency, which can help improve learners’ speaking skills Secondly, the teachers were aware of the difficulties they faced while applying the books in their actual teaching speaking skills A majority of teachers and learners consider that classroom furniture, not active learners’ participation, large and mixed level students in the class, and especially cultural factors lying in the conversations are difficulties they face when carrying out the speaking activities/tasks in the textbooks Finally, all of the teachers were aware of textbook adaptation techniques to make the New Headway suitable for their teaching context The major adaptation techniques the teachers applied were adding, simplifying, modifying, and deleting Four out of five teachers usually used ‘adding’ Two used ‘simplifying’, ‘modifying’ and ‘deleting’ No teachers used ‘reordering’ Teachers added some other speaking activities from other sources to enhance their learners speaking skills However, when teaching conversational English, only two teachers who are experienced with the textbooks could overcome the cultural obstacles by simplifying the 66 conversations and make them similar to Vietnamese culture while the teachers who first worked the textbooks find it hard Therefore, they follow completely the activities/tasks in the textbooks It can be concluded that the textbooks respond to the need of the English language program at KFLIC and meet the learners’ needs and the objectives of the English course and the curriculum set by the MOET 5.2 Teaching Implications The current study has several implications for the administrators, the teachers and learners who are concerned about using the series textbooks New Head way as tools to improve learners’ speaking skills at KFLIC 5.2.1 For administrators The New Headway textbooks are the greatly effective tools for the teachers when the books are used to improve the learners’ speaking skills at the elementary level First, the teachers find that the textbooks are the backbone of the language teaching program at KFLIC The books provide the teachers and their learners with a framework, and help them know where they are going and what coming next However, when carrying out the speaking activities, both teachers and learners faced certain difficulties Therefore, to help teachers and learners overcome these obstacles and make their teaching and learning successful, administrators should: - change furniture in the classrooms which is convenient enough for students to move around the class for interaction - reduce the number of learners in a class when they the enrollment - have a placement test at the enrollment in order to put the learners of the same level into one class - have a workshop on the textbooks evaluation so that the teachers can share the view points and experience in how to use the textbooks effectively 67 5.2.2 For teachers The research supports the idea that textbooks cannot deskill teachers but can train them because the teachers have limited teaching experience A textbook together with its teachers’ manual can serve as a medium (McDonough and Shaw, 1993) However, if the teachers completely follow the tasks in the course book while preparing the lesson, their students sometimes get bored Therefore, the teachers should not base completely on the textbooks New Headway McDonough and Shaw (1999) say that adaptation is a very practical activity carried out mainly by teachers in order to make their work more relevant to the learners with whom they are in day-to day contact In reality, there are hardly any course books which meet a specific group It can be seen that some topics in the New Headway are suitable for adult learners only As a result, it is necessary to make some modifications to the New Headway to suit the young learners groups Moreover, the study supports the opinion that although textbooks play important roles in a language–teaching program, there are also some limitations such as the matter of classroom cultural appropriateness of a textbook In fact, every learner has his/her own learning needs, and no textbook can supply these satisfactorily (Penny Ur 1997) Therefore, the teachers should: - prepare the learners with the key language factors so that they not feel frustrated when participating in speaking activities and let students have more exposure and practice so that they can use new language fluently - not completely follow the textbooks - make following adaptations to the textbooks so that the textbooks can be better used: + adopt some other topics from other sources to make a variety of topics for English learners + find the type of the topic materials which will involve students + omit the tasks and topics which not gain much learners’ interests 68 + simplify the cultural factors in order to have similar topics to Vietnamese culture + should be offered enough training for techniques of textbooks adaptation 5.2.3 For Students Although the New Headway textbooks provide learners language factors, interesting topics and good speaking activities, learners should be encouraged to participate into the speaking activities more actively Learners should be aware of the learning English for communication and the roles in a language program 5.3 Limitations of the study The study was conducted on a small scale of English learners at KFLIC within a limited time of implementation The results may not be generalized for the situation of using a native textbook as a teaching and learning tool to improve 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