An investigation into the use of textbooks and teaching approaches at English language center of Ca Mau community college

The fourth section presents the reality of teaching and learning English at the English language center in Ca Mau Community College.. The information in this part shows an overview of le

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MINISTRY OF EDUCATION A

AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE USE OF

TEXTBOOKS AND TEACHING APPROACHES AT ENGLISH LANGUAGE CENTER OF CA MAU

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment

of the requirements for the degree of

Master of Thesis (TESOL)

Submitted by: HO HONG LIEN

Supervisor: NGUYEN HOANG TUAN, Ph D

HO CHI MINH CITY- JUNE 2011

Acknowledgements .ĂQẶQ k ili

Chapter 1: Introducfion - s.- «s«s<< s2 s1 << 01

1.2 Aims and significance of the study 05 1.3 Research Questions c cà 05

Chapter 2 Literature RÑ€view con non HH n1 1 1 07 2.1 Role and Evaluation of teaching materlals 07

2.2 Teaching Methods HH xa mm xa en Tunney 17

2.2.3 The Communicative Approach 19

Chapter 3 Methodology - - «se se An nỲ 1S 26

3.1.1 SubJect of the sfudy c.Q QQ Q HH nh kh sa 26

3.2 QuesfionnaIr€S Sen nh nh kh, 28 3.2.1 Questlonnaires for student - 29 3.2.2 Questionnaires for teacherS - 30

3.3 PrOC€dUF€ c.Q QQ nnn nnnn n HH HH kh vn 30 3.4 SUITTAFY - CS Qn nn nn SnS Hn HY Hy vn 31 Chapter 4 Data Analysis and Discussion .-.- 32 4.1 Data anaÌySiS QQQ QQ QQn nn nn nh nh nha 32 4.1.1 Students’ evaluation about the teaching and learning of English 32

at Ca Mau Community College cà S2

4.1.1.1 Evaluation of the material used 33 4.1.2 Evaluation of the teaching methods 34

4.1.2 Teachers’ evaluation of the teaching and learning of English at Ca

Mau Community College .- 3

4.1.2.2 Evaluatton of the teaching methods 37

4.2 The method of tes(ing .-.- co su Sen S1 1 Y⁄ 38 4.2.1 The reading and writing teSf cà cẰ 39

4.2.2 The oral t€sf - cọc SH nen nhớ 39 _4.3 Classroom obserVafi0n các St cm ngờ 41 4.4 Discussion .- sec c5 s2 se s2 42

4.5 Summary - Ăn ng HH» nee ener SSeS een 43 Chapter 5 Implication and suggestion 45

5.1 Teaching MateriaÌs -.- cà SĂ Sàn Sen hà sen 45 5.2 Teaching Methods cece teens eee een eee eeeeeaes 47 5.2.1 Integration of the communication language teaching into the traditional method -.-c- nành se, 47 5.2.2 Strategies for developing the speaking skIll 48

5.2.3 Developing speaking actIVIfI€S cà 50 5.3 ClassroOM MaNagEMENt .cscrcsesercrnceccceceecececsceeeeseceees 55 0 9)i0 103/900 2551 ÔỒÔỒ 58

Limitations of the study .- Ăn sàn se 58 Recommendations for further study 59

S111 59

(vn 6e 60

Appendices 63

Appendix 1: evaluation questionnaires for students (English version) 63

Appendix 2: evaluation questionnaires for teachers (English version) 66

Appendix 3: evaluation questionnaires for students (Vietnamese version) 69

Appendix 4: evaluation questionnaires for teachers (Vietnamese version) 7]

Appendix 5: Test of English — level A ¬ cee eeeeeee nesses ene a ee ees 74 Appendix 6: Test of English — level B ::: - 78

Appendix 7: Test of English — level] C . : 82

Appendix 8: Oral test for level A 0.0 cece ccc cc ence eee eee eee eee eee nenaes 88 Appendix 9: Oral test for level B 0 ccc cee ee cece cee cee eeeeeseeeeenaes 89 Appendix 10: Oral test for level C 0 ce cece c erent nee eee 90 Appendix 11: Bang diém lớp Anh văn chứng chỉ A 9]

Appendix 12: Bảng điểm lớp Anh văn chứng chỉ B ¬ ee eS 93

Appendix 13: Bang điểm lớp Anh văn chứng chi C 94

List of Tables

Page

Table 1: The information about the teachers -. - 26

Table 2.: The information about the studenfs - - - - 27

Table 3: Students” attitudes towards the textbook confent 32

Table 4: Students° attitudes towards the teaching methods 33

Table 5: Teachers? attitudes towards the textbook confent - 34

Table 6: Teachers” attitudes towards the teaching methods 36

Table 7: The result of the final test (level A) -<- + se 38 Table 8: The diagram of the final test scores (level A) 38

Table 9: The result of the final test (level B) .-.- - 39

Table 10: The diagram of the final test scores (level B) 39

Table 11: The result of the final test (level C) -. .-. - 40

Table 12: The diagram of the final test scores (level C) .- - 40

Chapter One

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the study

Chapter One presents the background information essential for an understanding of the issues to be discussed in the thesis This chapter consists of five sections The first and the second ones give the information of the teachers and students in general The third section is about the evening class curriculum of English teaching program in Ca Mau Community College approved by our principal This part, in brief, shows the format of each unit in the textbook (New American Streamline) The fourth section presents the reality of teaching and learning English at the English language center in Ca Mau Community College The information in this part shows an overview of learning and teaching English at the English Language Center of Ca Mau Community College The last section is the summary of this chapter

1.1.1 Teachers’ profile

English Language Center in Ca Mau Community College has twelve English teachers but only four of them belong to the English Language Center, the others are in different school around Ca Mau City All of them graduated from Can Tho University or Pedagogic University in Ho Chi Minh City Most of them are enthusiastic and experienced They are willing to join the training course when they have a chance However, there is no professional development program available

So they cannot learn the new teaching methods

1.1.2 Students’ profile

Students at English Language Center in Ca Mau Community College are divided

into three levels: the A standard, the B standard, and the C standard They are from

secondary schools, high schools or offices in Ca Mau There are no placement tests Students can register in any classes that they think they can follow After each level students can take the certificate exams Most of them come from schools around Ca Mau city, so they are pretty good at grammar, but they have limited communicative

competence

1.1.3 Description of school materials/ textbooks

The new American Streamline textbook is the only teaching material that has been used at English Language Center in Ca Mau Community College from 2002 up to now

New American Streamline published by Oxford University Press is an intensive, three-level series geared to the interests and needs of adult and young adult students

of English as a second or foreign language Its use of American language, culture, and humor makes it ideal for students of English It is designed to enable students to communicate effectively A set of New American Streamline consists of three books: book | is Departures, book 2 is Connections, and book 3 is Destinations Each book has 80 units The writers of the books are Bernard Hartley and Peter Viney The materials are divided into three levels with ten courses The A level consists of four courses The B level consists of three courses and the C level also has three courses

1.1.3.1 Evening class textbook

The A level consists of four courses with a hundred and twenty units It begins from unit | in Departure textbook to unit 40 in Connections The level B consists of

three courses with sixty units from unit 41 in Connections to unit 20 in Destination Like level B, level C also has sixty units from unit 21 to unit 80 in Destination

There are thirty units for the whole course for level A and twenty units for level B

and C Each course lasts three months There are two tests in a course, midterm test

and final test Each unit is taught in three periods

1.1.3.2 Format of each unit

Each teaching unit includes:

A conversation or texts which help students develop their reading and listening

skills

The exercises provide students with activities to reinforce the knowledge learned

The activities include pair work with conversation, a test with practicing the new

grammatical structures in book 1, Departures and book 2, Connections In book 3, Destinations, the exercises with more various activities such as discussion, finding

the synonym words, etc are mentioned

One limitation is that the textbooks do not have many activities Moreover, teachers

do not follow every step as prescribed in the textbooks

1.1.4 The reality of teaching and learning English at Ca Mau Community College

At the back cover of the textbooks, the material designer made it clear that the new American Streamline books were designed to consolidate and build upon learners’

oral skills

It provides communicative materials for students It also trains students’ two language skills: listening and speaking Moreover, the aims of the material are to

equip students with some fundamental knowledge and skills in communication in English If students attended class regularly, they can speak and listen to simple English sentences in activities like greeting; exchanging personal information about names, age, job, addresses; introducing the family members; talking about their past ability and what they have ever done for a period of time after they finished the

level A curriculum

Yet, the courses at English Language Center of Ca Mau Community College are still delivered according to the traditional teaching method With the unit format as mentioned above, the teachers read once, and then they write all the words that they think new on the board Next, they asked students to repeat Students are required to

stand up and pronounce the new words and are corrected In addition, the teachers

supply the new grammatical structure points to students by writing on the board and

asked students to take note

As far as teaching speaking is concerned, the teachers asked students to work in pair The students only perform the role-play the dialogue in the conversation and then exchange the role together And all students are asked to take their turn that way And as for reading texts, they are divided into segments; each student is required to read aloud one segment

Finally, students do exercises with the language teacher’s guide After they finish it they write on the board and the teachers correct it The teachers sometimes turn on the cassette player once or twice for a unit and ask some questions based on the listening and call students to answer The activities they create also aim at practicing grammar structures and vocabulary That is the teaching and learning process of a unit for 3 teaching periods

' As compared between the objectives and the reality of teaching and learning method, it is obvious that there is a big gap between the teaching material and the

method used With the mechanical role-play in the conversation mentioned above, there are no chances for learners to improve their speaking skills in the classroom Hence, it does not help to develop students’ speaking and listening skills

As English has become an international language used in many activities and fields

of the life and society, it is becoming more and more important to learn English The importance of the English language has made teaching English a crucial career

So teaching it effectively has become a concern in the field of education To ensure teaching effectively, English teachers need to be trained as well as to update materials more frequently This is an issue mentioned at English language center in

Ca Mau Community College However, how to enhance the quality of teaching and learning English at the center is a problem

1.2 Aims and significance of the study

This thesis aims at investigating the current English learning and teaching situation

at English language center in Ca Mau Community College and evaluating “New American Streamline” textbook as well as giving some suggestions for teaching and learning improvement

The study was carried out to evaluate the use of teaching materials and the teaching methods

1.3 Research questions

To achieve the above aims, the study tries to answer the following research questions:

1 What is the current teaching in Ca Mau Community College

2 How effectively are the materials used?

1.4 Overview of the thesis

The thesis includes five chapters:

Chapter One provides the background information of the study It gives some details about the teachers’ profile, students’ profile, the description of school material, and the reality of teaching and learning English at English language center

in Ca Mau Community College

Chapter Two reviews the relevant literature in two parts: language material/textbook evaluation and teaching methods

Chapter Three presents the methodology of the study involving the research questions

Chapter Four provides discussion and analysis of the research findings in these following sections: teachers’ relies; students’ relies to the questionnaires given,

students’ test result, and reenrollment rate

Chapter Five suggests solutions with recommended teaching methods

1.5 Summary

In a word, how the teachers handled the activities provided does not align with what

the material designer’s state in the teachers’ textbook Each teacher applies his/ her own teaching method Textbooks and teaching approaches are the problems which are solved at English language center of Ca Mau Community College

Chapter Two

LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter provides a review of literature on teaching materials, including the definitions of some terms and as well as evaluation of the textbooks The second part presents the teaching methods: mainly Grammar translation method and Communicative approach

2.1 Role and evaluation of teaching materials

2.1.1 Definition of textbooks

People cannot deny the fact that a bicycle always has wheels, and without them, it cannot be called a bicycle Thus is the case of teaching and learning without textbooks because they are the most essential part of teaching language, especially English for Academic purposes “A textbook is a collection of the knowledge, concepts, and principles of a selected topic or course It’s usually written by one or more teachers, college professors, or education experts who are authorities in a specific field Most textbooks are accompanied by the teachers, who provide you with supplemental teaching materials, ideas, and activities to use throughout the academic year” (Fredericks, 2005)

According to Tomlinson, Glossary of basic terms for materials development in language teaching “Materials is anything which is used to help teaching language

learners Materials can be in the form of a textbook, a workbook, a cassette, a CD-

Rom, a video, a photocopied handout, a newspaper, a paragraph written on a‘ whiteboard: anything which presents or informs about the language being learned.”

Teaching materials is a generic term used to describe the resources teachers use to deliver instruction Teaching materials can support students’ learning and increase students’ success Ideally, the teaching materials will be tailored to the content in which they are being used, to the students in the class they are being used, and the teacher Teaching materials come in many shapes and sizes, but they all have in common the ability to support student learning (Lieberman, Ann, 2004)

Teaching materials can refer to a number of teacher resources However, the term usually refers to concrete examples, such as worksheets or manipulative (learning tools or games that students can handle to help them gain and practice facility with new knowledge - e.g counting blocks) Teaching materials are different from teaching "resources," the latter including more theoretical and intangible elements, such as essays or support from other educators, or places to find teaching materials Good materials are identified by authenticity, appropriateness, relevance, practicability of content and tasks and attuning to learners’ levels of competence, both linguistic and cognitive Within the learner-centered system The authentic materials are the ones that can reflect the outside would where the learners are living in The appropriateness and relevance of the teaching materials refer to whether the topics and themes in the materials are of learners’ interest and of their experiences and lives Some materials will present activities and some bits of the language for the learners to practice with, but include nothing explanatory to the

textbooks and can be quite useless and impracticable to the learners (All Wright & Bailey, 1991:1630)

2.1.2 Role of teaching materials to teaching

English language teaching materials/textbook plays a very important role in many language classrooms but in recent years, there has been a lot of debate throughout the ELT profession on the actual role of material in teaching English as

Second/Foreign language (davidralitz@yahoo.com) As Hutchinson and Torres (1994) have pointed out that textbooks may play a pivotal role innovation They suggested that textbooks can support teachers through potentially disturbing and threatening change processes, demonstrate new and/ or untried methodologies, introduce change gradually, and create scaffolding upon which teachers can build a more creative methodology of their own

In English foreign language contexts in general and in my own English foreign language in particular, the classroom almost the only source of English input So, materials then play a crucial role in exposing learners to the language (Dudley- Evans and John, 1998:171) According to Graves (2000:175), textbook is a stimulation or instrument for teaching and learning, and a good textbook can be boon for teachers However, the absolute power of textbooks cannot only undermine teaching effectiveness but also obstruct students’ learning In fact, learning occurs within interaction between learners and materials (Rams den, 1988:14) So choosing the teaching materials is the very important in learning and teaching process

2.1.2.1 Textbook selection

Based on the students’ needs and objectives of the course, some theories of good textbooks and current situation, teaching materials / textbooks can be chosen in such

a way that they are suitable So, in order to achieve the course’s objectives, in term

of materials development and for the sake of motivating students and enhancing their language learning experience, it is believed that if the learners can choose their

own recourse materials, these materials in turn can meet their needs and interests,

which will better facilitate their learning That the reason why teachers should show the textbook/ materials to their learners before the course starts and should ask them `

to discuss as well as to decide what topics they would like to learn and what tasks they enjoy to be involved

Thoughtful selection of learning materials will help students achieve goals Whether you teach students in a classroom setting, home school your children or simply want

to supplement your kids' education, it is important to choose the best learning materials for the job Many learning materials cost money All cost time and effort

to find and use them Use these resources wisely by carefully evaluating learning materials before you make the investment Teachers only choose the ones that will help their students most effectively

However, There are many fabulous materials that can be used for teaching You need to follow a set of guidelines that your school district will give you But also you can use your own experiences Use the following guidelines to give you extra help in choosing your textbooks/ materials

Firstly, the teachers in some school are allowed to be able to make decision on the budget for your classroom

Secondly, if you are teaching in a rural community, you may have more abilities to decide on the lesson than in an urban school You have thought of your classroom’s

Resist ordering materials that are expensive or only look good They are not always the best materials to use

Be open to other teacher's suggestions They may have an idea of something that might work that you would not have thought of

(http://www ehow.com/how _2100504_choose-teaching-materials html)

When teaching materials/ textbooks are mentioned, instructional materials also have

to be paid attention to because the role of instructional materials within a functional/communicative methodology might be specified in the following terms Materials will be focus on communicative abilities of interpretation, expression and

(Richards & Rodgers, 1996:25) Choosing the materials is important because the information on materials/textbooks decides that it is good for learners As Aurebach (1995:16) pointed out that material selection should be based on what is good for learners But choosing textbook/materials that is suitable for all students is not an easy work

2.1.2.2 How to Design Teaching Materials

A lesson is only as effective as the material used to teach it Teachers need to create effective teaching materials to ensure that students are learning to their maximum potential Any tool used to convey information or test understanding is a teaching material This broad category includes common classroom elements such as worksheets, videos, quizzes and activities When designing materials, teachers need

to consider a number of factors By taking time to consider educational goals-and ways to create and deliver materials appropriate to the specific body of students being taught-teachers will be more successful in creating quality teaching material that promotes learning

Erin Schreiner (2008) stated that:

Establish an objective Start by deciding what you want the students to know at the end of the lesson; this is referred to as the cognitive objective Also consider what you want the students to be able to do at lesson's end, otherwise known as the behavioral objective Establishing objectives prior to creating the material will provide you with a better understanding of what you are trying to accomplish With this knowledge, you will be more successful in creating material that achieves the lesson's goals

Analyze the audience Take the characteristics of the group into account when

creating materials Consider their race, socio-economic status and age Tailor the material to the students through the use of ethnic names or terms, making reference

to places or objects the group of students will be familiar with, and selecting topics they have some experience with These small things will increase student interest in the lesson and allow the lesson to speak to students at their level

Consider differing learning styles Students learn more effectively when they are engaged in their style of learning Visual learners learn most effectively when they can see something; auditory learners learn best through sound; and kinesthetic learners learn the most while engaged in motion Provide your students with a learning inventory to determine whether your students are mainly visual, auditory,

or kinesthetic learners Allow this information to influence your material development

Select a delivery method Determine how you want to present the material Do you want to make copies, or instead project the image onto a screen with an LCD projector? Consider which delivery methods have proven effective with your students in the past, as well as which method is the most appropriate match for the learning styles present in your class

Seek ways to integrate technology Using technology increases student engagement When creating your materials, consider ways in which you could use available technology If you could show an online video or have students complete

a digital simulation, take advantage of the opportunity and use the technology available to you to aid student learning

2.1.3 Teaching materials evaluation

2.1.3.1 Definition of materials evaluation

According to Brian Tomlinson (1998), materials evaluation is the systematic appraisal of the value of materials in relation to their objectives and to the objectives of learners using them Evaluation can be pre-use and therefore focused

on predictions of potential value It can be whilst-use is therefore focused on awareness and description of what the learners are actually doing whilst the materials are being used And it can also be post-use and therefore focused on analysis of what happened as a result of using the materials

2.1.3.2 Criteria for textbooks

Four criteria for evaluating textbooks, particularly course books proposed by Cunnings Worth are cited in Richard (2001:258)

1 They should correspond to learners’ needs They should match the aims and objectives of the language learning program

2 They should reflect the uses (present or future) that learners will make of the language textbooks should be chosen that will help equip students to use language effectively for their own purposes

3 They should take account of students’ needs as learners and should facilitate ` their learning processes, without dogmatically imposing a rigid method

4 They should have a clear role as a support for learning Like teachers, they mediate between the target language and the learners

Learners can spend more time on the materials that cause some difficulties The

| information on the materials can be reviewed and the tasks can be repeated until the learner is happy to move on to a new point The learner feels in control and that usually enhances satisfaction levels with the learning materials So according to Richard (2001:262-3), ‘in both materials development and classroom teaching the goal is to develop a sequence of activities that leads teachers and learners through a learning route that is at an appropriate level of difficulty, is engaging, that provides both motivating and useful practice Good materials do many of the things that a teacher would normally do as part of his or her teaching

To order to evaluate, adapt and develop materials, we cannot start the process without very clear understanding of the learners, teachers themselves and learning contexts For example, in the case of adaptation, making the existing material relevant and meaningful to the learners often requires localization of their teaching materials Such a localization process helps the teachers readdress and articulate relevant elements of learner characteristics, contexts and their own teaching styles and preferences

Such clear understanding of learners, teachers themselves and contexts leads to critical appreciation of theories from a very specific point of view General and abstract theatrical discussion is re-evaluated through concrete cases The materials (i.e.: the outcomes of theoretical application) can be tested in the classroom for their effect and value A materials writer, in this sense, may be compared to an engineer For engineer, a valid theory is one that works in practice; if it does not, theory needs

to be re-evaluated In this way, practice and theory go hand -in -hand

Tomlinson (2006:78) Language learners need to develop the ability to use the target language accurately, fluently, appropriately and effectively They cannot be taught

to achieve this ability, but they can help to learn how to develop it for themselves There are many different methods and approaches which can help learners to this successfully None of them has been demonstrated conclusively to be more _ effective than the others, but they all share some of the following highest common

denominators:

The language they expose the learners to contextualized in that it is influenced

by being located in setting by being used to achieve purposes and by the roles and relationships of its interact ants (i.e language is used as it is in real life)

e They are designed to provide rich opportunities for learning, rather than just opportunities for teaching or testing

e They provide opportunities for apprehension before comprehension (i.e the learners experience language being used before they asked to analyze it.)

e The interaction between task and text provides opportunities for multi- dimensional representation (e.g the learners represent the text in their minds through visualization, through connections with previous experience and through connections to their own thoughts and feelings)

e They help to develop readiness for learning (e.g the learners’ minds are actively focused on relevant previous experience before they are presented with a learning experience)

e They cater for learners with different preferred learning styles (e.g some learners prefer to learn by listening, some by reading and others by doing things physically)

e They eventually provide opportunities for learners to negotiate meaning through interaction with users of the language (i.e they provide opportunities for authentic use of language)

To evaluate the materials/textbook is appropriate to learners, according to Sandy Fleming (2000) includes the following factors:

Clarify the goals of your curriculum and the learning materials The two need to match in order for the materials to be effective Consider, for example, a curriculum goal of making change by counting back coins Material that builds skill with solving story problems involving adding monetary amounts would not be an appropriate tool to teach the skill Instead, the activity should provide direct practice with making change, either with coins or manipulative

Match the learning materials to the situation where you teach If you work with a group, be sure the learning materials are suitable for group use If students work individually, choose materials that are appropriate for individual use Consider too how much supervision and assistance will be needed to use the materials, and whether you are in a position to provide it

Choose learning materials that best meet students' needs The activities should address the students' primary learning styles and be attuned to their preferences for visual, auditory or kinesthetic learning

` Ensure that the learning materials are sequentially organized Step-by-step presentation will help nearly all students achieve the desired goals Smaller steps will increase students’ success, especially for those with special ‘needs

A slower pace will be appropriate for struggling learners, while a faster pace will challenge accelerated learners

Use learning materials that are age-appropriate, are free from bias and present balanced examples that do not glamorize discrimination For students needing remedial help, make sure the materials feature characters, situations and activities that match their age rather than their academic

achievement level Be careful that advanced students do not encounter inappropriately mature discussions and information

~ A very good teacher can use almost any textbook to good advantage A highly discovery-oriented course can be run using the most traditional of textbooks if the teachers spend most of his class time on experiments and activities and uses the text

as something to examine critically rather than as an authority upon which students

base their conclusions

2.2 Teaching methods

2.2.1 Definitions of teaching methods

Teaching methods can be best defined as the types of principles and methods used for instruction There are many types of teaching methods, depending on what information or skill the teacher is trying to convey Class participation, demonstration, recitation, and memorization are some of the teaching methods being used When a teacher is deciding on their method, they need to be flexible and willing to adjust their style according to their students Students’ success in the classroom is largely based on effective teaching methods (Teaching method From Wikipedia, the free encyclopaedia)

2.2.2 What ïs the communication?

Communication is defined as a process by which we assign and convey meaning in

an attempt to create shared understanding This process requires a vast repertoire of _ skills in intrapersonal and interpersonal processing, listening, observing, speaking, questioning, analyzing, and evaluating Use of these processes is developmental and

transfers to all areas of life: home, school, community, work, and beyond It is

through communication that collaboration and cooperation occur (Communication jrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopaedia)

However, in communication, there can be one-way and two-way For example, writing an article or a story or video clip on the web is one-way communication On the other hand, a dialog between two or three people, a discussion in a group or teaching in a class is examples of two-way communication, because the participants mutually share information or send and receive verbal and non-verbal messages

Truly, communication takes place by sending and receiving messages The instructor sends information and receives them from the participants, where the participants are not only receivers, but also senders of information Feedback shows how a certain message was received and interpreted by the receiver Feedback is very important because it enables control over the process of message exchange and interaction between the participants

Sharpe (1991) pointed that communication is an interactive process in which meaning is stimulated through sending and receiving verbal and non-verbal messages If all goes well, we transmit the meaning in our minds so that a similar Meaning is stimulated in the minds of others The effectiveness of any communication is judged by how closely the receiver's understanding matches the sender's intent In the final analysis, the only message that matters is the one the other person receives

2.2.3 The Communicative Approach

According to Richards and Rodgers (1991: 66), Communicative Language

- Teaching has been seen an approach “ that aims to (a) make communicative competence the goal of language teaching, and (b) develop procedures for the teaching of the for language skills that knowledge the interdependence of language

and communication.”

The communication is the essential relationship in society However, in teaching

process, ‘The Communicative Approach is the most common method This

approach focuses on meaningful communication, rather than precise grammar and usage In the Audio-lingual Method, students learn by memorizing phrases in order ~

to learn common patterns in the language The Total Physical Response method teaches by having students respond physically to language This may include miming, gesturing or dancing and is usually for younger students With the Silent Way method, students work out grammar rules based on example sentences These and other methods each have their pros and cons, so most teachers use a mixture.’

Brown (2000:266) offers four interconnected characteristics as a definition of Communicative Language Teaching

- Classroom goals are focused on all of the components of communicative competence and are not restricted to grammatical or linguistic competence

- Language techniques are designed to engage learners in the pragmatic, authentic, functional use of language for the meaningful purposes Organizational language forms are not the central focus but rather aspects of language that enable the learner to accomplish those purposes

- Fluency and accuracy are seen as complementary principles underlying _ communicative techniques At time fluency may have to take on more importance than accuracy in order to keep learners meaningfully engaged in language use

- In the communicative classroom, students ultimately have to use the language, productively and receptively, in unrehearsed contexts

2.2.3.1 Oral communication skill

Some writers composed that teaching speaking skill has right ideas According to John and Sarah (1996), they gave 10 ideas to stimulate to practice communicative

skill in classrooms, included:

Speaking for 1 Minute: For small groups You have a list a subject to talk about E.g Football, the sex life of the inside of a ping-pong ball, cooking, etc You choose one person to start talking about the subject If the person repeats a word, hesitates

or makes a grammatical error, another person in the group can take over by saying error, hesitation or repetition It is the teacher’s job to decide quickly if the interruption is valid The person who interrupts them must continue The winner is the person talking at the end of the minute

Yes/No game: Everyone must have played the game in which one person must avoid saying yes or no when asked many questions by the others in the group The winner is the person who can survive longest Strangely it seems to be less difficult for a non-native speaker to avoid saying yes/no

Call my Bluff: You need a big (bilingual) dictionary for this one A student looks in

the dictionary and finds a word which seems very obscure That student gives a

definition of the word to the others The definition must be either 100% true or 100% false When the student has finished the others must decide if the definition

was bluff or true The student receives a point for each person who is deceived

Variation: Instead of using definitions The students must tell the others something about themselves which is 100% true or 100% false E.g I always tell them that my

second cousin was the tallest ever woman to live in Britain and tell them some

things about it This happens to be true This is an excellent game for compulsive

liars

Ranking and Negotiating Games: If you look in almost any TEFL book you will

- find ranking games A group of students have to decide what to take from a series of objects for a particular situation e.g.: To get to the North Pole, or survive on a desert island One variation which I thought of that works well is this: All your students are going on holiday or immigrating to another country in a small car Each student has 2 objects that they want to take E.g a violin, a big dog, 20 bottles of whisky Each person must argue in favor of their own choices The student with the most inventive argument wins rather than the most sensible idea

Board Games: It is possible to modify a whole series of board games for TEFL For example dictionary, taboo Also you can get ideas from game shows that are on

television

Lateral Thinking Questions: You may have played this game before You tell the students a story They have to discover the explanation of the story by asking questions You can only answer yes/no or not important E.g A man lives on the 10th floor of a block of flats Every morning he gets in the lift, goes down to the ground floor gets in his car and goes to work When he returns from work he gets into the lift goes to the 7th floor and then walks the rest of the way to his flat using the stairs Why? Answer: He is a dwarf and can only reach the button for the 7th

floor

Women's Magazines: Do the questionnaires from women’s magazines The ones that find out if you are honest or not, etc Get the students to make their own questionnaires in groups and then try them out on each other

Speak about Cards: Get some small cards and write a topic of conversation on each one Give each group a pile of them When a student turns over a card he must talk about that subject This often leads to spontaneous conversations with the students forgetting about the game which in my opinion is excellent Some ideas for topics are: The happiest moment of my life, the pets I have had, what happened to

me last weekend, my ambitions, my ideal day, etc The teacher should change the topics according to the class This is also a way of introducing polemic topics, etc legalization of drugs, capital punishment, etc

Fairy Stories: Get the students to tell each other fairy stories or traditional children's stories from their countries One variation is to choose a fairy story that everyone knows e.g little red riding hood and get small groups to tell the story (Going in a clockwise direction) Each person can only add one word

According to Donn Byrne (1986), Oral communication is a two — way process between speaker and listener and involves the productive skill of speaking and the receptive skill of understanding Both speaker and listener have a positive to perform, (simply because the interaction between speaker and listener is a complex process), the speaker has to encode the massage he wishes to convey in appropriate language, while the listener (no less activity) has to decode the massage It should

be kept in mind that the listeners’ interpretation will not necessarily correspond to the speakers’ intended meaning The message itself, in normal speech, usually contains a good deal of “information” that is redundant (i.e it contains more information than the listener actually needs in order to understand, so that he is not obliged to follow with the maximum attention) At the same time, the listener is helped by prosodies features, such as stress and intonation, which are parts of the

meaning of the spoken utterance, as well as by facial and bodily movements such as gestures, we should also note that, in contrast to the written language, where sentences are usually carefully structured and linked together, speech is often _ characterized by incomplete and sometimes ungrammatical utterances, and frequent false starts and repetitions (Dorn Byrne 1986: 8 & 9)

2.2.3.2 Communicative competence

According to Richards, Platt and Weber (1985: 49), communicative competence

includes:

(a) knowledge of the grammar and vocabulary of the language,

(b) knowledge of the rules of speaking (e.g know how to begin and end conversations, knowing what topic can be talked about in different styles of speech events, knowing which address form should be used with different persons one speaks to and in different situations;

(c) knowing how to use and respond to different types of speech acts such as

requests, apologies, thanks, ‘and invitations;

(d) knowing how to use language appropriately,

In other words, communicative competence is the ability to use the language correctly and appropriately to accomplish communication goals, the desired outcome of the language learning process is the ability to competence, not the ability to use the language exactly as a native speaker does

Communicative competence is made up of four competence areas; linguistic, sociolinguistic, discourse, and strategic

Linguistic competence is knowing how to use the grammar, syntax, and vocabulary

of a language Linguistic competence asks: What words do I use? How do | put them into phrases and sentences?

| Sociolinguistic competence is knowing how to use and respond to language appropriately, given the setting, the topic, and the relationships among the people communicating Sociolinguistic competence asks: Which words and phrases fit this setting and this topic? How can I express a specific attitude (courtesy, authority, friendliness, respect) when I need to? How do I know what attitude another person

is expressing?

Discourse competence is knowing how to interpret the larger context and how to construct longer stretches of language so that the parts make up a coherent whole Discourse competence asks: How are words, phrases and sentences put together to create conversations, speeches, email messages, newspaper articles?

Strategic competence is knowing how to recognize and repair communication breakdowns, how to work around gaps in one’s knowledge of the language, and how to learn more about the language and in the context Strategic competence asks: How do I know when I’ve misunderstood or when someone has misunderstood me? What do I say then? How can I express my ideas if I don’t know the name of something or the right verb form to use?

In the early stages of language learning, instructors and students may want to keep

in mind the goal of communicative efficiency That learners should be able to make themselves understood, using their current proficiency to the fullest They should try to avoid confusion in the message (due to faulty pronunciation, grammar, or vocabulary); to avoid offending communication partners (due to socially inappropriate style); and to use strategies for recognizing and managing

communication breakdowns

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2.3 Summary

This chapter has discussed theoretical and empirical literature crucial to understanding of the evaluation of textbook/materials First, it was to discuss the teaching materials: the definitions, the role of teaching materials, the materials selection, the designing teaching materials and teaching materials evaluation Second, the teaching method was mentioned It included communicative approach which was helpful for evaluation and improvement of teaching materials

Chapter Three

METHODOLOGY

This chapter includes three parts: the first part presents the methodology used in the research The second part describes the questionnaires designed for teachers and students as well as the tests for students The data collection procedure is presented

in the third part

3.1 Data collection

Two main types are justified in this part: Subjects of the study and instruments

3.1.1 Subjects of the study

3.1.1.1 Teachers

There are 12 teachers participating in the study, seven of them are female and five

of them are male Most of them are Vietnamese teachers at English Language Center in Ca Mau Community College Five teachers have been working for ten years The other teachers come from different schools around Ca Mau city They have been teaching in Ca Mau Compnunity College from 3 to 15 years One-fourth

of the teachers (25%) have taught here since the Center was established A half of the teachers (50%) have a strong attachment to this Center One-third of them (25%) have been teaching at Ca Mau Community College for more than ten years Most of them (75%) have got a

B.A degree in English One teacher has an M.A degree It made up 8.33% And 16.6% is ratio of two teachers who are completing M.A in TESOL To identify ` more information about New American Streamline textbook as well as to find out ways improve the reality of learning and teaching, two questionnaires were sent to

the teachers and students to investigate the current situation of learning and teaching English at English Language Center in Ca Mau Community College

Table 1 The information about the teachers

Time of teaching at CMCC I-Syears = 3 (25%)

Gender M.A in TESOL = | (8.33%) Professional degree

Male =5 (41.67%) B.A in English = 9 (75%)

Female = 7 (58.33%) Completing M.A program in TESOL =

2 (16.67%)

3.1.1.2 Students

The participants who took part in this study are 96 students chosen from three

different levels: 36 students of level A, 32 students of level B and 28 students of

level C Most of the students are college students and some of them are employees They are from 18 to 45 years old They have studied English before The number of female students is bigger more than the number of male students It is 43.75% and 56.25% for male and female students, respectively