Students' evaluation of ESP coursebook in Faculty of Geography, Hanoi National University of Education = Đánh giá của sinh viên đối với giáo trình tiếng Anh chu20150227

4 ESP LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS EG: English for Geography ESP: English for Specific Purposes GE: General English HNUE: Hanoi National University of Education M.A Thesis ESP M.A Thesis LIST OF CHARTS, FUGURES, AND TABLES Chart 3.1: Learners’ attitude towards skill development Chart 3.2: Learners’ attitude towards the usefulness of exercises in skill development Chart 3.3: Learners’ fulfillment of exercises and activities Chart 3.4: Learners’ attitude towards the necessity of an ESP course Chart 3.5: Learners’ expectations in terms of the the time allocation for ESP course Chart 3.6: Learners’ expectations of additional topics Chart 3.7: Learners’ preference in terms of additional topics of the coursebook Figure 1.1: Stages in the ESP process Figure 1.2: The material evaluation process Figure 1.3: A preliminary framework for materials analysis and action Table 3.1: Learners’ ranking of their purposes of learning ESP Table 3.2: Learners’ needs met by the ESP coursebook Table 3.3: Learners’ attitude towards the content of the ESP coursebook Table 3.4: Learners’ evaluation on time allocation for ESP Table 3.5: Learners’ attitude towards vocabulary and grammar Table 3.6: Learners’ attitude towards exercises and follow-up activities Table 3.7: Learners’ preference for types of exercises and activities Table 3.8: Learners’ suggestions for better coursebook Table 3.9: Learners’ satisfaction towards classroom activities Table 3.10: Learners’ attitude towards teacher’s use of language and the coursebook Table 1: Teachers’ views of physical characteristics Table 2: Teachers’ views of content Table 3: Teachers’ perceived limitations of the coursebook Table 4: Students’ reactions to the coursebook as observed by teachers Table 5: Challenges to the students in using the coursebook as observed by teachers Table 6: Teachers’ self-reported challenges in using the coursebook ESP M.A Thesis TABLE OF CONTENTS Certificate of originality of study project report i Acknowledgements ii Abstract iii List of abbreviations iv List of charts, figures and tables v Table of contents vi PART I: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale 1.2 Aims of the study 1.3 Scope of the study 1.4 Research questions ……………………………………………………………2 1.5 Method of the study 1.6 Composition of the thesis PART II: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 Approaches to ESP……………………….……………………………………….3 1.1.1 Learner-centeredness in ESP……………………………………………………3 1.1.2 Learner-centeredness vs learning-centeredness in ESP……………………… 1.2 Coursebook evaluation 1.2.1 Definition of coursebook evaluation 1.2.2 Purposes of coursebook evaluation 1.2.3 Types of coursebook evaluation 1.2.4 Coursebook evaluation in ESP 1.2.5 Rationales of students’ evaluation 1.2.6 Models for evaluation 10 1.2.7 Criteria for evaluation 12 1.3 Conclusion 12 CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY 13 2.1 The context of the study 13 2.1.1 The course 13 2.1.2 The coursebook 13 ESP M.A Thesis 2.1.3 The ESP teachers 14 2.1.4 The students 14 2.2 The methodology 15 2.2.1 Participants 15 2.2.2 Data collection instruments 16 2.2.3 Procedure 17 CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION 18 3.1 Results and discussion 18 3.1.1 Learners’ attitude towards learning ESP 18 3.1.2 Learners’ evaluation of ESP coursebook 19 3.1.3 Learners’ evaluation of the teachers’ exploitation of ESP coursebook 29 3.1.4 Learners’ evaluation of the teachers’ exploitation of ESP coursebook 31 3.1.5 Teachers’ views of ESP coursebook 33 3.2 Major findings 34 3.2.1 The suitability of the coursebook to the audiences 34 3.2.2 The suitability of the coursebook to the aims 35 3.2.3 The suitability of the coursebook to the content requirements 35 3.2.4 The suitability of the coursebook to the methodology 36 3.3 Recommendations 37 3.3.1 Content improvements 38 3.3.2 Methodology improvements 38 3.3.3 Other recommendations……………………………………………………… 39 PAER III: CONCLUSION 41 Conclusion 41 Limitations of the study 41 Suggestions for further researches 42 REFERENCES…………………………………………………………………… 43 APPENDIX (Students questionnaire) I APPENDIX (Teachers’ views as stated in the interviews) ……………………….VI APPENDIX (A sample unit in the coursebook)………………………………….VIII ESP M.A Thesis PART I: INTRODUCTION RATIONALE From the early 1960s, English for Specific Purposes (ESP) has grown to become one of the most prominent areas of English foreign language teaching This development is reflected in an increasing number of publications, conferences and journals dedicated to ESP discussions Similarly, more traditional general English courses gave place to courses aimed at specific areas, for example English for business purposes, English for travelling purposes ESP is really one of the major activities around the world today It is an enterprise involving education, training and practice ESP draws upon three major realms of knowledge: language, pedagogy, and the students’ specialist areas of interest ESP teachers generally have a great variety of often-simultaneous roles, such as researchers, course designers, materials developers, testers, evaluators as well as classroom teachers Nowadays it is still urgent to discuss what to teach and how to teach a foreign language taking into account the objective social and professional needs of future specialists in our country Beside businessmen, tradesmen, engineers, scientists and scholars all over the world must know English because it is the international means of exchange of information and experience To meet the needs of the learners, many ESP coursebooks have been designed Together with the worldwide trend to learn ESP, the teaching staff of Faculty of English at Hanoi National University of Education (HNUE) has compiled some ESP coursebooks for some specific fields including the ESP coursebook for Faculty of Geography The main objective of ESP coursebook is to provide the students with linguistic input relevant to their field and skills up to the expectation of their future employment However, no research on the coursebook evaluation has been carried out to see how far it meets the students’ needs and expectations Therefore, it is necessary to have the coursebook English for Geography (EG) evaluated by the learners themselves at Faculty of Geography at HNUE for the improvement of the coursebook in the following courses AIMS OF THE STUDY This study was carried out to have a better insight into the learners’ evaluation of the ESP coursebook at Faculty of Geography, HNUE The aims of the study are: - To find out students’ evaluative comments on ESP coursebook in Faculty of Geography, HNUE ESP - M.A Thesis To offer suggestions for further improvement of the coursebook which is appropriate to the needs and expectations of the students in the light of learner-centered approach RESEARCH QUESTIONS The study was carried out to answer the following questions: 1) What are the learners’ evaluative comments on the ESP coursebook? 2) What are the learners’ expectations for learning ESP in Faculty of Geography, HNUE? 3) How should the ESP coursebook be improved to be more relevant to the learners’ needs and expectations? SCOPE OF THE STUDY The ESP course is only for the second year students at HNUE, thus the study focuses on the evaluation of the second year students of Faculty of Geography at HNUE on ESP coursebook currently used METHOD OF THE STUDY The study follows a quantitative research method Specifically a survey questionnaire was designed and administered to the second year students in Faculty of Geography to explore their evaluation of ESP coursebook In addition, interviews with teachers were conducted to gain supplementary information to the questionnaire data COMPOSITION OF THE THESIS The thesis is comprised of three parts: Introduction, Development and Conclusion Part I presents the rationale, aims, scope, research questions, method and composition of the thesis Part II consists of three chapters: - Chapter 1, Literature Review, provides the relevant theories related to approaches to ESP and coursebook evaluation - Chapter 2, Methodology introduces the context of the study and describes the methodology employed in the study - Chapter 3, Data Analysis and Discussion, presents and discusses the findings that arise from the data collected Then, it offers the recommendations for further improvement of the coursebook Part III presents what have been found out from the study, the limitations and suggestions for further study 10 ESP M.A Thesis PART II: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW This chapter is aimed at providing a theoretical base to develop a framework in which the study operates Firstly, approaches to ESP with a focus on learner-centeredness and learning-centeredness are reviewed Secondly, an overview of coursebook evaluation is provided including definition, purposes of coursebook evaluation, types of coursebook evaluation, coursebook evaluation in ESP, rationales of students’ evaluation, models for evaluation and criteria for evaluation 1.1 APPROACHES TO ESP A variety of linguistic scholars, such as Hutchinson and Waters (1987) and Tudor (1993) have taken pains to study learner-centered approach In this study, two major approaches namely learner-centeredness and learning-centeredness will be distinguished in the viewpoints of Hutchinson and Waters 1.1.1 Learner-centeredness in ESP The learner-centered approach is based on the principle that learning is totally determined by the learner In other words, this approach focuses on the learner Hutchinson and Waters (1987, p.72) states, “As teachers we can influence what we teach, but what learners learn is determined by the learners alone.” Then, learning is seen as a process in which the learners use what knowledge or skills they have in order to make sense of the flow of new information This process depends on the knowledge the learners already have and their ability and motivation to use it According to Hutchinson and Waters (1987), however, a truly learner-centered approach does not really exist at the current time due to two reasons Firstly, it is very difficult to see how such an approach could be taken in current institutionalized systems Secondly, most syllabuses, materials, coursebooks, etc which have designed and compiled for learners are pre-determined ones Therefore, the term learner-centeredness should be replaced by learning-centeredness to indicate that the concern is to maximize learning 1.1.2 Learner-centeredness vs learning-centeredness in ESP While learner-centered approach focuses on learner, learning-centered approach focuses on activities In other words, this approach considers learning process in the context it takes place Hutchinson and Waters (1987, p.72) note that “Learning is not just a 11 ESP M.A Thesis mental process; it is a process of negotiation between individuals and society.” Society sets the target (in the case of ESP, performance in the target situation) and the individuals must their best to get as close to that target as is possible (or reject it) Therefore, learner is one factor to be considered in the learning process, but it is not the only one When the learning-centered approach is taken, further questions will be asked and other factors will be considered to evaluate the coursebook Then, it will maximize the potential of the learning situation While the language-centered approach only determines the ESP course as the nature of the target situation performance, and the skill-centered approach determines the ESP course as the nature of the target situation performance and looking behind the target performance data to discover what processes enable someone to perform, the learningcentered approach says that is not enough either It is because that although the languagecentered approach starts from the learner and learner’s needs, in fact the learner is treated as a means of identifying the target situation It means that only a restricted area of the language is taught instead of teaching the whole English is taught to learner Meanwhile, the skill-centered approach considers the ESP course as helping the learner to develop skills and strategies which will continue to develop after the ESP course (Hutchinson & Waters, 1987) However, the two authors claimed that this approach still treats learner as a language user rather than a language learner, and the processes it is concerned are that of language use not language learning The learning-centered approach determines the ESP course as the nature of the target situation performance, looking behind the target performance data to discover what processes enable someone to perform, and looking beyond the competence that enables someone to perform because what we really want to discover is not the competence itself, but how someone acquires that competence (Hutchinson and Water, 1987) These features of the learning-centered approach seem to make it outweigh the two co-existing approaches in ESP, namely the language-centered approach and the skill-centered approach In conclusion, although Hutchinson and Waters (1987) make a distinction between two approaches - learner-centered and learning-centered approaches to ESP - I think such a distinction is not necessary because learning-centeredness is part of learnercenteredness Therefore, in this study, the term “learner-centeredness” is used as an umbrella term 12 ESP M.A Thesis 1.2 COURSEBOOK EVALUATION 1.2.1 Definition of coursebook evaluation To have a good definition of coursebook evaluation, giving a good definition of coursebook is necessary McGrath (2002, p.7) defines a coursebook as “a textbook on which a course is based” Tomlinson (1998, p.ix) shares similar point with McGrath when he considers a coursebook as “a textbook which provides the core materials for a course” In his viewpoint, a coursebook is used to provide as much as possible in one book and it is designed to serve as the only book which the learners necessarily use during a course It usually includes not only work on grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, functions but also work on the skills of reading, writing, listening and speaking In Materials Development in Language Teaching, the term “materials” is defined as “anything which is used to help to teach language learners It 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.” (Tomlinson, 1998, p.xi) Therefore, it can be point out that coursebook is a type of materials Materials evaluation has been defined differently by different authors from their personal stance Hutchinson and Waters (1987, p.96) consider valuation as “a matter of judging the fitness of something for a particular purpose” Evaluation is, then, concerned with relative merit There is no absolute good or bad - only degrees of fitness for the required purpose Evaluation, therefore, can be based on not only the opinions of course designers, material writers, teachers but also the opinions of learners Tomlinson has the same point with the two scholars in defining the term materials evaluation In his opinion, materials evaluation is “the systematic appraisal of the value of materials in relation to their objectives and to the objectives of the learners using them.” (Tomlinson, 1998, p.xi) From the above definitions, it can be pointed out that cousebook evaluation is the systematic appraisal of the value of the coursebook in relation to both its objectives and the learners’ objectives In other words, the value of a material or a coursebook should be evaluated by considering whether the learning points are potentially useful to the learners, whether the learning procedures can maximize the likelihood of the learners actually learning what they want and need to learn Thus, it is vital to consider the learners’ opinion, not only the objectives stated by the writers of the coursebook This definition is actually given in the light of the learning-centered approach 13 ESP M.A Thesis 1.2.2 Purposes of coursebook evaluation Evaluation plays a very important role in the development of materials Robinson (1991) asserts the purposes of evaluation as to provide information about the advantages, disadvantages and the effectiveness of the being used materials so that the material can be decided to be reused, adapted to meet the need of the particular teaching situation or changed Also, Ellis (1997) points out two reasons for materials evaluation Firstly, evaluation is carried out to choose among the available materials the most suitable one to use for a particular situation and such valuation is taken before the course takes place Secondly, evaluation is carried out to determine whether the material which has been chosen works for that situation after it has been used for a period of time This helps to decide whether to continue using the material or to replace it with a better material In the words of Cunningsworth (1995, p 7), coursebook is “a resource in achieving aims and objectives that have already been set in terms of learner needs” For him, through evaluation, we can assess whether the coursebook is the most appropriate for the target learners at various levels and in various teaching settings What is more, the evaluation process will involve elements of comparison, especially where existing materials are being challenged by newly produced materials Besides the above purposes, another author, Torres (1993) adds more purposes of material evaluation In his opinion, evaluation should be taken not only to assess the effectiveness of materials but also to afford general insights how teachers use materials Hence, evaluation may be planned to suggest adjustments for both materials development and professional development activities In summary, materials especially authentic materials play a significant role in foreign language teaching They are not simply the everyday tools of the language teachers; they are an embodiment of the aims and methods of the particular teaching/learning situation Materials evaluation in general and coursebook evaluation in specific is very necessary and important It may be taken for two reasons: first, it confirms the coursebook and second, it adjusts the coursebook Then, it will increase the strengths and minimize the drawback of the coursebook 1.2.3 Types of coursebook evaluation There are many different ways of dividing coursebook evaluation according to different researchers ... overview of coursebook evaluation is provided including definition, purposes of coursebook evaluation, types of coursebook evaluation, coursebook evaluation in ESP, rationales of students’ evaluation, ... teaching staff of Faculty of English at Hanoi National University of Education (HNUE) has compiled some ESP coursebooks for some specific fields including the ESP coursebook for Faculty of Geography... evaluation of the ESP coursebook at Faculty of Geography, HNUE The aims of the study are: - To find out students’ evaluative comments on ESP coursebook in Faculty of Geography, HNUE 9 ESP - M.A