An evaluation of the textbook kid’s box 5 for grade 5 at doan thi diem private primary school

To evaluate the appropriateness of the textbook to the students’ needs and objectives of the course, document analysis and questionnaires from the perspectives of teachers and students o

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST - GRADUATE STUDIES

******

ĐỖ THỊ THUẦN

AN EVALUATION OF THE TEXTBOOK “ KID’S BOX 5” FOR

GRADE 5 AT DOAN THI DIEM PRIVATE PRIMARY SCHOOL

(Nghiên cứu đánh giá sách giáo khoa “ Kid’s Box 5” dùng cho

học sinh lớp 5 tại trường Tiểu học Dân lập Đoàn Thị Điểm )

M.A Minor Programme Thesis

Field: English Teaching Methodology

Code: 60.140.111

HANOI - 2015

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST - GRADUATE STUDIES

******

ĐỖ THỊ THUẦN

AN EVALUATION OF THE TEXTBOOK “ KID’S BOX 5” FOR

GRADE 5 AT DOAN THI DIEM PRIVATE PRIMARY SCHOOL

(Nghiên cứu đánh giá sách giáo khoa “ Kid’s Box 5” dùng cho

học sinh lớp 5 tại trường Tiểu học Dân lập Đoàn Thị Điểm )

M.A Minor Programme Thesis

Field: English Teaching Methodology

Code: 60.140.111

Supervisor: Hoàng Thị Xuân Hoa, Ph.D

HANOI - 2015

DECLARATION

I hereby declare that all information in this thesis has been obtained and presented

in accordance with academic rules and ethical conduct I also declare that, as required by these rules and conduct, I have fully cited and referenced all material and results that are not original to this work

Signature

Do Thi Thuan

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, I would like to express my deepest gratitude and appreciation to

Dr Hoang Thi Xuan Hoa, my supervisor, for her guidance, advice, criticism, encouragements and insight throughout the research

I would like to show my gratitude to all lecturers of the Faculty of Post - Graduate Studies, University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi for their precious lectures, and to Asso Prof Dr Le Van Canh for his inspiring lectures on material evaluation and his support to my research

I am greatly indebted to the teachers and students at Doan Thi Diem Private Primary School for their cooperation and enthusiasm when they participated in my research

Last but not least, thanks go to valued encouragements and helps from my family in

so many ways that gave me significant motivation, determination and passion to carry on my thesis

ABSTRACT Materials evaluation is important in language teaching and learning and it is necessary to evaluate materials frequently This study is conducted to evaluate the appropriateness of the textbook “Kid’s Box 5” (by Caroline Nixon & Michael Tomlinson, Cambridge University Press, 2010 ) which has been in used for students

in Doan Thi Diem Private Primary School (DTDS) since 2011 To evaluate the appropriateness of the textbook to the students’ needs and objectives of the course, document analysis and questionnaires from the perspectives of teachers and students of DTDS in term of aims, design and organization, content and methodology were used The study adopted model by Hutchinson and Waters (1987) in which objective and subjective analysis were done to achieve the results

of the study The findings of the study reveal that the textbook could be suitable to the students and course requirements in terms of objectives, design and organization, topics, vocabulary, listening, reading and speaking components The textbook in general is appropriate to the students’ needs and the course requirements However, the tasks and exercises in grammar, writing and pronunciation sections need improving Based on the findings, the thesis suggests that adaptation should be made to overcome some weaknesses in order to enhance the effectiveness of the book for future use

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Declaration i

Acknowledgements ii

Abstract .iii

Table of contents iv

List of Abbreviations vii

List of Tables viii

List of Figures ix

PART A: INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale of the study 1

2 Aims of the study 2

3 Research question 2

4 Scope of the study 2

5 Significance of the study 3

6 Method of the study 3

7 Overview of the study 3

PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER I: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 Materials in teaching and learning 4

1.1.1 Definition of materials and types of materials 4

1.1.2 Roles of materials in language teaching and learning 5

1.2 Materials evaluation 6

1.2.1 Definition of materials evaluation 6

1.2.2 The importance of materials evaluation 7

1.2.3 Types of materials evaluation 8

1.2.4 Models for evaluation 9

1.2.5 Criteria for materials evaluation 11

1.3 Learning styles of and teaching styles for primary students 13

CHAPTER II: METHODOLOGY

2.1 An overview of current English teaching and learning at DTDS 15

2.2 Research methods 16

2.2.1 Document analysis 16

2.2.2 Survey questionnaire 16

2.2.2.1 Teacher questionnaire 16

2.2.2.2 Student questionnaire 17

2.3 Participants 17

2.4 Procedures 17

2.4.1 Document analysis 18

2.4.2 Questionnaires for students and teachers 18

CHAPTER III: DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION 3.1 Document analysis 19

3.1.1 The appropriateness of the material to the aims of the course 19

3.1.1.1 Objectives of the course 19

3.1.1.2 Objective of Kid’s Box 5 20

3.1.2 The appropriateness of the material to the content requirements of the course 20

3.1.2.1 Syllabus analysis 21

3.1.2.2 Material analysis 21

3.1.3 The appropriateness of the material to the methodology requirements of the course 23

3.1.3.1 Syllabus analysis 23

3.1.3.2 Material analysis 24

3.2 Survey results 28

3.2.1 The appropriateness of the material to the aims of the course 28

3.2.2 The appropriateness of the material to the design and organization of the course 30

3.2.3 The appropriateness of the material to the content of the course 32

3.2.4 The appropriateness of the material to the methodology requirement of

the course 36

PART C: CONCLUSION 1 Summary of major findings 39

2 Recommendations 40

3 Limitations of the study 41

4 Suggestions for further study 42

5 Conclusion 42

References 43 Appendices

Appendix 1: I Appendix 2: IV Appendix 3: VII Appendix 4: XII

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

YLE tests Young Learner English tests

LIST OF TABLES

Table 7: Students’ and teachers’ evaluation on the aims of the book 29 Table 8: Students’ and teachers’ evaluation on the design and organization

Table 10.2: Students’ and teachers’ evaluation on the teaching and

learning techniques of the book

38

PART A: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale of the study

The important role of textbooks is mentioned by Sheldon (1988: 237) as “the visible heart of any ELT programme” and by that “The textbook is an almost universal element of ELT teaching.” (Hutchinson, 1994: 315) In some situations textbooks serve as the basis for many language inputs that learners receive and for language practices that occur in the classroom They may provide the basis for the content of the lessons, the balance of skills being taught and the kinds of language practice the students take part in Despite the crucial roles of textbooks in teaching and learning the foreign language the textbook used in a certain context do not always fit the curriculum or closely correspond with the objectives of the course and the needs of the teachers and learners Therefore, the textbook should be evaluated based on the needs and the context of the course Hutchinson and Waters (1987: 96) stated that

“evaluation is a matter of judging the fitness of something for a particular purpose.” Then, textbook evaluation helps the teachers select the most appropriate materials for a certain course or have any adaptation for the materials in the next course

At Doan Thi Diem Private Primary School (DTDS), English has been a compulsory and main subject for all students from the beginning of grade one With the typical characteristic of a private school in choosing textbooks in foreign language, there has hardly an official textbook which is absolutely approved by the Ministry of Education like Government Schools The teachers and managers with their experience choose the textbook which they believe that is appropriate to their students The famous textbook Let’s Go by Ritsuko Nakata, Karen Frazier, Barbara Hoskins and Carolyn Graham of Oxford University Press, published 2000 in which has been used in many other primary schools in Viet Nam used to be the textbook in DTDS for fourteen years, from 1997 to 2011 Then this has been substituted by the

textbook called Kid’s Box by Caroline Nixon and Michael Tomlinson of Cambridge

University Press which uses American English accent and is considered more interesting than Let’s Go at this school As a matter of fact, no evaluation of this textbook had been carried out to seek how far it has suited the English course and the students’ needs in DTDS Therefore, this study was conducted to evaluate a

textbook Kid’s Box 5 in the series Kid’s Box for grade 5 students and suggest ways

to improve the suitability of the textbook and the course The author chooses Kid’s Box 5 because she is a grade 5 teacher in DTDS This can help her conduct the study more convenient in terms of working with grade 5 students and teachers, a d

in finding involving materials In addition, the collected findings are useful to her and her students Moreover, grade 5 students are mature enough for the survey

2 Aims of the study

This study aims to evaluate Kid’s Box 5 to find out the appropriateness of this textbook for the students and the context of teaching and learning of the teachers and grade 5 students at DTDS in terms of aim, design and organization, content and methodology Hopefully, the findings of this study will provide the teachers a useful data both strengths and weaknesses of this textbook as well as some recommendations for these weaknesses so as to enhance the learning efficiency of the students

3 Research question

To what extent is the textbook Kid’s Box 5 appropriate for the course requirements in terms of aims, design and organization, content and methodology for grade 5 students at Doan Thi Diem Private Primary School?

4 Scope of the study

Materials can be evaluated under different categories such as effectiveness, suitability and teaching ability of the material This study only focuses on evaluating the suitability of the material Base on some main criteria in evaluating materials by Cunningsworth (1984), Ur (1996), McDonough and Shaw (1998), this study focuses mainly on the aims, design and organization, content and methodology of the material Therefore, the textbook will be evaluated under certain categories above In addition, the research subjects are mainly confined to English teachers who have experience in working with this textbook Kid’s Box 5 and only grade 5 students’ feedback when they have finished learning the book Kid’s Box 5 Finally, there are some instruments for collecting data, but only two of them: document analysis and questionnaires are used in this study

5 Significance of the study

The findings of this thesis give the teachers and students at DTDS useful information about their textbook which helps to identify the problems and suggests some recommendations to improve them Furthermore, it is hoped that those research results about this textbook will make some contributions related to materials to the teachers and teacher trainers or administrators in some other primary schools whose students and teaching context are the same to DTDS In addition, this particular study focuses on young learners and their textbooks This requires different considerations in designing and implementing the study This study contributes to the literature in this respect both by providing data about young learners and their textbooks, and with valuable information about how to do research with young learners

6 Method of the study

To investigate the question, the survey research was applied The instruments employed in this study included document analysis, teacher and student survey questionnaires The evaluation was conducted by using the model of Hutchinson & Waters (1987) The teacher and student questionnaires with closed questions helped

to collect both teachers and students’ opinions about the suitability of this textbook

7 Overview of the study

The study mainly consists of three parts as follows:

Part A is the general introduction with the reasons for choosing the topic, the aims, research question, scope, significant, methods and overview of the thesis Part B is the development with three chapters: chapter one presents a review of literature, concentrating on the issues related to materials and material evaluation; chapter two deals with the research methodology applied in the study with the data collection instruments, the subjects of the research and the data collection procedure; chapter three presents data analysis and discussion Part C states the finding of the study based on the analysis of the data and some recommendations

to improve the material and conclusion which encloses practical suggestion for the future use of this textbook

PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER ONE: LITERATURE REVIEW This chapter is allocated to review previous literature which aims to form a theoretical framework for this textbook evaluation The first part deals with materials in language teaching and learning with their definition, role and types of materials Then, the second part points out materials evaluation with related issues

in which reasons for materials evaluation, definition of materials evaluation, types

of materials evaluation, model and criteria for materials evaluation are explored 1.1 Materials in teaching and learning

1.1.1 Definition of materials and types of materials

Tomlinson (2001:66) defines materials as “anything which can be used to facilitate the learning of a language.” Materials can be in forms of a textbook, a workbook, a cassette, a CD-Rom, a video, a photocopied handout, and a newspaper All the things that the teachers use in class to teach languages for their students can be considered as materials Shared with this opinion, Zohrabi, Sabouri & Behroozian (2012) state materials can be in different forms of printed materials such as books, guidebooks and non-printed materials like CDs, cassettes or audio materials In addition, McGrath (2002: 7) contends that “materials could include realia: real objects such as a pencil, a chair or a bag and representations such as a drawing, a photograph of a person, house or scene” Materials of these types can be used effectively for language teaching and learning However, in the local setting, textbook seems to be the most widely used material in language program Therefore, it can be understood that textbook is a part of material or a textbook is a material In this study, the term “textbook” and “material” are used interchangeably According to McGrath (2002), the materials can be classified into four main types:

Published materials: This type of materials includes books and reference materials

such as dictionaries, grammars, test practice materials, advice on language learning,

tapes accompanying course books or supplementary books

Authentic materials: Authentic materials consists of newspaper, magazines, user

manuals, leaflets and brochures, foreign mission information, letters faxes, emails,

videos ( films or documentaries), and songs They are those taken from real life

Adapting and supplementing published materials: Materials in this type are those

that have been adapted or supplemented in some ways These cut-up materials can

be self-standing or deliberately designed to supplement the course books

Specially-prepared materials: Specially-prepared materials are considered to be

useful as there is always a need for material that is more precisely tailored to the

needs of students working on their own

The materials should be suitable to the objectives of the course and meet the need of learners Therefore, when choosing materials, the teachers should consider factors such as learners’ needs, level, and the objectives of the course

1.1.2 Roles of materials in language teaching and learning

The important role of materials in language teaching program has been stated by many authors There is a general view to see that materials play a positive part in teaching and learning second language According to Richards (2001), teaching materials can be considered as a key component in most language programs In spite of any kinds of materials, teaching materials can serve as the basic for much of the language input that the learners receive and as the source for much of the language practice that occurs in the classroom Richards clarifies that materials can also be used as a source of different classroom activities, content of the lessons, and maintenance of the skill balance In some classrooms, they may apply mainly to add and make the teacher’s instruction complete For some learners, it can be the main source of having contact with the language, separate from information prepared through the teacher

Furthermore, materials are useful for language teachers when they can serve as “a form of teacher training” (Richards, 2001:215) Nunan (1991) shares the same idea: good teaching materials are of great help to experienced teachers or poorly trained teachers Regarding beginner teachers, it can also be used as a source of teacher instruction Tomlinson (2003: 39) believes that “A textbook helps provide a route

map for both teachers and learners, making it possible for them to look ahead to what will be done in a lesson as well as to look back on what has been done” Despite the impact of new technologies, textbooks will doubtlessly continue to play

an important role in language teaching and provide a useful source for both teachers and learners They are seen as sources of achieving learners’ needs and matching the aims and objectives of their needs They will help to equip students to use language effectively for their own purposes Textbooks and other materials used in language learning, generally, present a certain way of looking at the world They fulfill an extremely important role in the process of education and English language teaching Nunan (1999: 98) states that “a textbook is the main component of any instructional program and it is difficult to imagine a class without it ” Cunningsworth (1995: 7) believes that textbooks have multiple roles in English language classes: they can help to present the written and spoken materials, provide activities, promote interaction, serve as a reference of vocabulary and grammar, act

as a source for classroom activities, serve as a syllabus, and offer self-access work

or self-directed learning

To sum up, teaching materials or textbooks are important factors in language class They provide the source of activities, skills and practice for both teachers and learners However, O’Neill claimed “a textbook can best provide only a base or a core of materials It is a jumping – off point for teachers and class.” (cited from Crawford, 2002: 87) Therefore, to meet the objectives of the course and the needs

of the learners, material selection is necessary and sometimes they need to be evaluated to suit the language program and the learners’ needs

1.2 Materials Evaluation

1.2.1 Definition of materials evaluation

There are many definitions of materials evaluation by the authors The term evaluation has been used to define a variety of processes in the field of applied linguistics Lynch (1996: 2) defines evaluation as “the systematic attempt to gather information in order to make judgments or decisions” However, evaluation is different from assessment as Harmer (2001: 301) states that “the assessment of a course book is an out-of-class judgment as to how well a new book will perform in

class Course book evaluation, on the other hand, is a judgment on how well a book has performed in fact” In addition, most of the definitions agree that material evaluation has given a great deal of attention because of their important role in ELT Hutchinson and Waters (1987: 97) defines that evaluation is basically a “matching process: matching the needs to available solutions” Murphy (2000) in his words agrees that evaluation is a key concept to “determine the extent to which a programme is worthwhile, and to aid decision-making through the purposeful gathering information”

In general, material evaluation is the assessment of how well the materials are actually fulfilling the prescribed objectives Material evaluation includes the things

to be evaluated, the objectives of the materials and the relation of materials to the objectives and requirements of a particular context

1.2.2 The importance of materials evaluation

Cunningsworth (1984) states that most teachers use published teaching materials at some stages in their teaching career No matter where, what and to whom they teach, they use some published materials for it is time and money saving Therefore, they have to evaluate the materials to reach sound decisions about them McDonough and Shaw (1998: 65) state that teachers may be “interested in evaluation as a useful process in its own right, giving insight into the organizational principles of the materials and helping them to keep up with the developments in the field.” As a result, all teachers evaluate the materials they use

in the classroom at one point or another

Hutchinson and Waters (1987), after stating that evaluation is “a matter of judging the fitness of something for a particular purpose” (1987: 96), continues with

a clarifying statement that evaluation of materials is, then, concern with finding the better solution among the available resources by making use of a systematic checklist of criteria which highlights the important variables Then, there is no one absolute solution to fit the required purpose, but different degrees of fitness in materials evaluation This is confirmed by Cunningsworth (1984): “No course book will be totally suited to a particular teaching situation The teacher

will have to find his own way of using it and adapting it if necessary.” (1984: 9) Therefore, it is important to find the best choice among the others for the required purpose and a careful evaluation is the most effective way to ensure the effectiveness of the choice made because it “can save a lot of expense and frustration” (Hutchinson and Waters, 1987)

Ellis (1997) focuses on two reasons why language teachers should evaluate materials The first one is to choose the most suitable material for a particular situation among the variety of ones This evaluation is often evaluated before the course takes place The second reason is to assess whether the chosen material fit the purposes of the course for a period of time

In view of the above, it is, therefore, very important to conduct ELT textbook evaluation so as to ensure ELT textbooks can effectively facilitate the attainment of our teaching objectives

1.2.3 Types of materials evaluation

In categorizing materials evaluation, different terms have been suggested by the authors to divide the types of materials evaluation The classification stated by Johnson (1989) with three sub types: preliminary, formative, and summative This classification is similar to Cunningsworth (1995) and McGrath (2002) with different names: pre-use evaluation, in-use evaluation, and post-use evaluation respectively

Preliminary or pre-use evaluation tends to be the most difficult kind since there is

no actual experience of using the course book This evaluation is carried out before

a course book and it is probably the most common

Formative or in-use evaluation is a kind of evaluation for suitability, involving

“matching the course book against a specific requirement including the learners’ objectives, the learners’ background, the resources available, etc.” (Cunningsworth, 1995:14) This type of evaluation refers to course book evaluation while the material is in use to see whether it should be considered for replacement

Summative or post- use evaluation refers to an assessment of a textbook’s fitness

over a period of continual use Evaluation of this kind can be practical in helping to decide whether to use the same textbook on future occasions

In this paper, formative evaluation is used with the aim to seek out the suitability of Kid’s Box 5 when it is in use for grade 5 students in DTDS

1.2.4 Models for evaluation

There are certain kinds of models suggested for the evaluation of the language teaching materials in the literature This paper presents several popular models suggested by Ellis (1997), McDough& Shaw (1993) and Hutchinson and Waters (1987)

Evaluation model proposed by Ellis (1997)

Ellis (1997) suggests a model in which he suggests the practice of a detailed empirical evaluation and focuses on evaluation at the task level with reference to its actual teaching and learning context This model aims to identify the match between the task planned and the task in use Seven steps below are in the process of this model: choosing a task to follow; describing the task with specification of input, procedures, language activities, and outcomes; planning the evaluation with reference to the dimensions above; collecting information before, while and after the task was used, and what and how the task was performed; analyzing the information collected; reaching conclusions relating to what has been discovered, making recommendations for the future teaching; writing the report

Evaluation model proposed by McDonough and Shaw (1993)

McDonough and Shaw (1993) suggest an evaluation model with three stages: External evaluation, internal evaluation and overall evaluation

External evaluation offers, a brief “overview” of the materials from the outside It consists of an examination of the claims made on the cover of the students’ and teacher’s books, the introduction and the table of contents The evaluation, at this stage, aims to find out whether the material is potentially suitable for more detailed analysis It is claimed that this should be followed by an internal evaluation which requires “an in-depth investigation into the materials” (p 75) What is important for the evaluator at this stage is finding out to what extent the factors mentioned at the external evaluation stage match up with the internal consistency and organization of the materials Finally, they state, “there

is a need to make an overall assessment of the material as to the suitability of the materials by considering the parameters, namely the usability factor, generalizability factor, adaptability factor and flexibility factor” (p.75)

It can be seen that this three-stage-evaluation model suggested by McDonough and Shaw (1993) focuses on the evaluation of English Language materials with a

purpose of selection and adaptation prior to classroom use

Evaluation model proposed by Hutchinson and Waters (1987)

According to Hutchinson and Waters (1987), there are four main steps in the process of evaluation as define criteria They are presented as in the figure 1:

The first step is to define the criteria on which the evaluation will be based Then, the second step presents subjective analysis, specifically, to analyze the nature and underlying principles of the particular teaching-learning situation The third step is the objective analysis, that is, to analyze the nature and underlying principles of the available materials and test the analysis in the classroom The final step is the matching, which compares the findings of the two analyses, or finds out how far the material matches the course requirements It can be viewed that not only the significance of analyzing teaching/learning situation is emphasized but also the materials required for it are emphasized in this model It includes logical steps which can help the evaluator know exactly what must be done to analyze the materials in comparison with the requirement

Macro-evaluation inappropriate/potentially appropriate

(External)

exit Micro-evaluation inappropriate/appropriate adopt/select

(Internal)

exit

Figure 1: Materials evaluation model proposed by McDonough and Shaw

(1993:75)

In summary all the evaluation models emphasize the need to define, select or develop criteria that best serve the purpose of the evaluation aimed at

Depend on the evaluator’s purpose and other requirement, model by Hutchinson and Waters (1987) was to this study to check whether the existing material is suitable for the students at DTDS in terms of some criteria: aims, design and organization, content and methodology through out the analysis and comparison between the criteria in the course requirements and these of the material

1.2.5 Criteria for materials evaluation

Various scholars have suggested ways of helping teachers to be more systematic and objective in their evaluative approach, by presenting evaluation “checklists” based on supposedly generalizable criteria Criteria are what evaluators use to

“reach a decision regarding what needs to be evaluated” (Tomlinson, 1998:220) They base upon these criteria to make their comments or judgments

Criteria defined by Crunningsworth (1984)

Cunningsworth (1984) offers a very detailed checklist of textbook evaluation that consists of items about grading and recycling, presentation and practice

the criteria do you

want in your course?

OBJECTIVE ANALYSIS How does the material being evaluated realise the criteria?

MATCHING How far does the material match your needs ?

Figure 2: The materials Evaluation Model of Hutchinson and Waters (1987:98)

of new language items (approach, language learning process, grammar items, vocabulary, pronunciation), developing language skills and communicative abilities , supporting materials, motivation and the learner (variety, interest, attractiveness, culture) and overall evaluation Under the heading of overall evaluation, he offers to ask questions about the particular strengths and weaknesses, notable omissions, for which situations the textbook is suitable or unsuitable, and comparisons with other materials He also suggests reaching a general conclusion

Criteria defined by Ur (1996)

Ur (1996) discriminates between general and course or learner-specific criteria According to her, some criteria are basic in all of the evaluation processes while some are specific to a particular course or learners Examples of general criteria are

“clear layout and print” or “periodic review of test sections.” Examples of specific criteria are “attractive and colorful illustrations” (for young learners) or

“vocabulary and texts relevant to the topic” (for students of science and technology) After making this discrimination, she offers a checklist that consisted

of titles like objectives, approach, layout and print, visual materials, interesting topics and tasks, variety of topics and tasks, clarity of instructions, fit with the syllabus, sequencing and grading, periodic review and test sections, authentic language, the explanation and practice of vocabulary, pronunciation and grammar, fluency practice, learner strategies and independency, guidance for the teacher, availability and the supporting materials

Criteria defined by Hutchinson & Waters (1987)

In the evaluation process, Hutchinson and Waters (1987:99-104) offer five criteria for evaluation in their checklist in which criteria for subjective and objective analysis are included The checklist consists of audience, aims, content, methodology and other criteria which are thoroughly stated in appendix 3 The first

part is audience The audience includes different information such as ages, sex,

study or professional fields, status with respect to professional fields, knowledge of

English The second part is aims The evaluation of a course book needs carrying

out to find out if the materials can satisfy the aims and objectives of the course The

third part is content The content in the materials is an important element Thus, the

evaluation aims to measure whether the content of the materials suits the content prescribed in the course in relation to language description, language points, macro-

skills and their proportion, micro-skills and so on The fourth part is methodology

Methodology including many aspects needs evaluating such as the theories of learning, the learners’ expectations, the kinds of tasks and exercises, teaching and learning techniques, teaching aids, guidance and support for running the course,

flexibility of the material The last part is other criteria like price and availability of

the material These criteria are clear and easy to follow They are suitable to this study when the aim of the evaluator is to find out how much Kid’s box 5 match with the aims, content, design and organization and methodology of the course However, there are some adaptations in which the author does not cover all criteria

to suit to the purposes and scope of the study

1.3 Learning styles of and teaching styles for primary Students

Children learn language in a different way from adults because of their young minds Therefore, characteristics of young learners and their learning styles affect second language acquisition

Basic principles of teaching young learners

There are some basic principles of teaching young learners by different authors Piaget (1970) says that “Children are active learners and thinkers.” That means children construct knowledge from actively interacting with the physical environment in developmental stages They learn through their own individual actions and exploration Vygotsky (1962) states different opinion “children learn through social interaction” Children construct knowledge through other people, through interaction with adults Adults/teachers work actively with children in the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) or the difference between the child's capacity to solve problems on his own and his capacity to solve them with assistance The adult’s role is very important in a child’s learning process Bruner (1983) shares Vygotky’s opinion when he focuses on the importance of language in

a child’s cognitive development in which “children learn effectively through

scaffolding by adults.” He shows how the adult uses “scaffolding” to guide a child’s language learning

Characteristics of young learners from 7-12 years old

According to Slatterly and Willis (2001), young learners at this age are learning to read and write in first language; are developing as thinkers; understand the difference between the real and the imaginary; can plan and organize how best to carry out an activity; can work with others and learn from others; can be reliable and take responsibility for class activities and routines Therefore, the textbook used for young children should take advantage of these characteristics to arouse their ability and encourage their interest

Ideas for teaching English to young learners

EFL teachers of young learners can take advantage of the flexibility of young minds and the malleability of young tongues to grow better speakers of English Shin (2006) states ten ideas for teaching to young learners:

Supplement activities with visuals, realia, and movement

Involve students in making visuals and realia

Move from activity to activity

Teach in themes

Use stories and contexts familiar to students

Establish classroom routines in English

Use first language as a resource when necessary

Bring in helpers from the community

Collaborate with other teachers in your school

Communicate with other teaching English to young learners professionals

In general, young learners have different needs and characteristics when learning languages so teaching English to young learners requires different approaches, methodology and materials Therefore, choosing a material which suits to them and promotes their ability is necessary

CHAPTER TWO: METHODOLOGY This chapter describes the context of teaching and learning English in DTDS Then the methodology and procedures carried out in this study will be explored

2.1 An overview of current English teaching and learning at Doan Thi Diem Private Primary School

English has been applied for primary students in the pilot program from grade 3 to grade 5 as an optional subject by the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) at most of the public primary schools in Vietnam with two periods per week English

in DTDS is much focused and students have a chance to learn English from grade 1

by both Vietnamese and foreign teachers from six to eight periods per week The teaching and learning condition is quite good The classrooms are equipped with different facilities to support teachers and students in teaching and learning: boards, computers, projectors, computer lab rooms and CD players However, the class size

is rather big for an English class, from 29 to 32 students in each class

In terms of teachers, the foreign teachers are from different English speaking countries such as England, America, Canada and Australia They are employed via

a center that is in charge of management and responsible for assessment of their teaching ability as well as teaching certificates In spite of different methodologies

of teaching or even quality, the Vietnamese teachers in this school were all graduated from universities and most of them achieved level B2 which is equivalent

to the Common European Framework decided by MOET The levels of students are quite different when there are some students are much better than others because they are afforded to learn more English outside school time

Because DTDS is a private school, the Ministry of Education permits the school to choose the materials for teaching English Kid’s Box is chosen because it is considered a perfect book for general use and also fully covers the syllabus of the Cambridge Young Learners English (YLE) tests which are applied every year for the students in DTDS However, the differences in learning styles and different levels of learning cause some difficulties for teachers to conduct their lessons effectively and arouse the learning interest among students

2.2 Research methods

A survey research was done to gather the information needed To collect the data, document analysis and survey questionnaires were employed Document analysis plays an important role which provided an in-depth analysis of the material under evaluation In this paper, Kid’s Box 5 and syllabus of course requirements analysis were carried out Then, the survey questionnaires were used to collect the data from the students’ and teachers’ opinion The analysis of the data collected was used to draw conclusions related to the research questions already identified

2.2.1 Document analysis

In this study, the evaluation was conducted basing on an analysis of the teaching material and the requirements of the course Thus, the evaluation model was adopted by Hutchinson and Waters’ model (1987) which indicates two types of analysis: objective and subjective analysis and the match of them to find out the results For subjective analysis, course requirements in four criteria: aim, design and organization, contents and methodology were analyzed to seek the requirements and the needs of students For objective analysis, the author analyzed the textbook Kid’s Box 5 in the same criteria Then, the collected data was analyzed to find out whether the material matches these requirements for students

2.2.2 Survey questionnaire

Survey questionnaires were used to evaluate textbook Kid’s Box 5 used for grade 5 students basing on Hutchinson and Waters’ model in which the course requirements were analyzed as subjective analysis, information was collected from questionnaire

as objective analysis Then the matching of two analyses was carried out All the items required the participants respond using a four- point Likert Scale Rating scale

was numerically coded: 1 was strongly disagree, 2 was disagree, 3 was agree and 4 was strongly agree

teacher’s evaluation of the suitability of the material to the design and organization

of the course requirements Section III including 14 items from number 10 to number 23 surveyed teachers’ ideas of suitability of the materials to the content prescribed by the course Items from 10 to 14 were about the topics, items from 15

to 18 were about language content, and items from 19 to 23 were about the language skills Section IV included 4 items from 24 to 27 collect teachers’ ideas of the methodology in the textbook

2.2.2.2 Student questionnaire

The student questionnaire consisted of the same categories as the teacher questionnaire To avoid misunderstanding when answering in English, the student questionnaire was translated into Vietnamese, the learners’ mother tongue, and the language was simple to help them understand easily

In this questionnaire, item number 1 is about the aims of the material, items 2-9 were about the design and organization of the book, items 10-14 dealt with the topics in the book, items 15-18 investigated the students’ ideas on the appropriateness of language content offered by the book, items 19-23 were about language skills mentioned in the book, items 24-27 were about the methodology used in the book

2.3 Participants

The participants in this study include14 English teachers who have been teaching Kid’s Box in DTDS Some teachers are in charge of teaching Kid’s Box 5, some teachers used to teach this book one or two years ago with different experience and years in teaching At the time doing this research, there were 6 teachers who were in charge of teaching 18 grade 5 classes Therefore, the researcher randomly chose 6 classes which were taught by these 6 teachers to give questionnaire to investigate their ideas They had finished learning Kid’s Box 5 at the time when they did the survey

2.4 Procedures

The data was collected at the end of the English course in May 2014 The researcher used document analysis and questionnaires to collect dada for the purpose of the study

2.4.1 Document analysis

In order to obtain data for the research, the textbook was analyzed in terms of aims, design and organization, content and methodology These criteria were based on the materials evaluation by Hutchinson and Waters (1987) Therefore, the model suggested by Hutchinson and Waters (1987) was used with subjective analysis and objective analysis After conducting subjective analysis with the course requirements and objective analysis with Kid’s Box 5 according to four criteria aim, design and organization, content and methodology simultaneously, the matching of two analyses was analyzed to seek out the results

2.4.2 Questionnaires for students and teachers

To collect the data, 192 grade 5 students and 14 English teachers at DTDS were selected

The researcher went to 6 out of 18 classes of six English teachers who are in charge

of teaching grade 5 at the school year 2013-2014 and gave the questionnaire to the students After the introduction was made, the research topic was explained to the students in Vietnamese to have clear explanation and easy understanding for the students Moreover, difficult terms were explained The students were given 20 minutes to complete the questionnaires

Nearly the same to the students, the researcher used a break time with all the English teachers in the room, however the questionnaires were delivered to English teachers who used to be or are grade 5 teachers After the topic and purposes of the study were explained, the participating teachers took the questionnaires and they could finish at any time in the day and gave back to the researcher at the end of the school day

CHAPTER THREE: DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION

3.1 Document Analysis

3.1.1 The appropriateness of the material to the aims of the course

By analyzing the course objectives and syllabus of material, the appropriateness of the material to the aims of the course was found out

3.1.1.1 Objectives of the course

After the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) is applied as the standard evaluation for both teachers and students, the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) issued the Decision No 3321/QĐ-BGDĐT on a pilot program in English for primary school students on August 12th 2010 DTDS also bases on the MOET programme According to the objectives of this programme, grade 5 students have ability to communicate simply in four language skills They can form basic and simple communication by every conversation at school and family This also provides students with basis and simple background of English such as understanding of countries, human being, and cultures of English speaking countries According to language focus, the students can get common words for familiar topics; acquire basic knowledge of grammar such as tenses, kinds

Each of two levels in CEFR corresponds to one of the YLE tests These objectives according to CEFR coincide with those of the Cambridge ESOL YLE Tests After finishing grade 5 or primary school, the students can achieve level A2 or they can

be confident in taking part in Flyer test The objectives of A2 (Flyer) level are the ability to handle social functions (greeting people, ask how they are and react to news; handle very short social exchanges; ask and answer questions about what

they do at school and in free time; make and respond to invitations; discuss what to

do, where to go and make arrangements to meet; make and accept offers.) and ability to perform simple classroom tasks in English

From the combination of MOET programme and special programme of DTDS, the course is aimed at providing students with: ability to communicate simply in English relating common topics in all four language skills speaking, listening, reading, and writing ; opportunity to write short descriptive paragraph, letters, postcards to others; ability to understand a text about daily topics; knowledge about basic grammar structures; general vocabulary for familiar topics and basic pronunciation; knowledge about culture, people in English speaking countries 3.1.1.2 Objectives of Kid’s Box 5

Kid’s Box 5 covers all the relevant language structures, presents and practises the vocabulary list which is too comprehensive to include all of lexical items in the Pupil’s book Language is recycled throughout the units and pupils can practise the language in different contexts Kid’s Box has followed the syllabus for the YLE tests so that each cycle of two levels corresponds to one of the tests: Starter, Mover and Flyer Kid’s Box 5 is equivalent to Flyer (level A2) which aims at communicating in simple expressions or the students can express what they understand, their problem at home or school; understanding texts about everyday topics, even if they do not know all the words; writing a short message on a postcard or in an email or writing about how they feel The aims of the material which were made on the aims of the syllabus objectives for A2 (Flyer) level and they were detailed in twelve units of the material (See appendix 4)

In short, according to the above analysis, the material has basically met the aims of the course in covering all the skills and language points with their purposes as the requirement

3.1.2 The appropriateness of the material to the content requirements of the course

In this part, the content of the material and the content requirements of the course are compared and analyzed to find out the correspondence of the material to the content requirement of the course

3.1.2.1 Syllabus analysis

The content syllabus of the course is presented in Table 3

2 Text - types Reading texts, dialogues, story, and song

- Complex sentences: clauses of time, place, reason, … ; wh-questions: what, when, how; yes/no questions

- Modal verbs; Nouns; Adjectives; Adverbs -Connective: then, next, because

- Prepositions: by, on, in, at…

- Be made of/ in/ for/ by

Words are correspondent to themes word stress , rhythm, intonation, syllable, homophones, some difficult phonemes, /ed/

5 Macro skills Basically, develop 4 language skills: reading,

writing, speaking, listening

Table 3: Content requirements of the course 3.1.2.2 Material analysis

Theme: The themes covered in the book Kid’s Box are the same the content

requirements of the course They are friends, school, family and the world around

However, the numbers of topics in each theme are not equal when there are a lot of topics for theme “world around”, most of topics related to school and there is only one subtopic for theme “family”

Text-type: It can be seen that reading texts, stories appear in reading section; dialogues, survey are in speaking section, songs are in the listening section and writing models are in writing section Compared to the requirements of the course, the text types used in the material are relevant to the course requirements

Topic: The topics according to course requirements relate to familiar ones which help students to handle social functions or communication All the topics presented

in the materials are common and they support for students a lot in communicative purposes For example, the first unit help students learn how to greet people and

introduce themselves, time for television, city life, disaster provide students

information to react to news around

Language points: Grammar: In Kid’s Box 5, structures mainly focus on basic grammar such as present simple, present continuous, past simple, past continuous, future - be going to, present perfect; noun; clauses of time, places, reason, wh-questions, yes-no questions; model verbs like should, could, preposition, connectives because, when, so; be made of To compare with the content from table

3, it is obvious that the grammar components in the material nearly can meet the objectives as stated in the syllabus except for adjectives, adverbs of manner and adverbs of frequency However, these grammar points are clearly shown in Kid’s Box 4 Grammar section provides knowledge about the combination of noun, adjectives and verbs but it is difficult for young learners when they have to distinguish an adjective and a noun from one original word In addition, present perfect tense which appears in only unit 8 may cause difficult for students with limited time Thus, it is necessary to locate more time for students to practice Vocabulary: The vocabulary is given according to the certain topics in each theme The vocabulary is words about common topics and they are interesting to students

For example, Introductory unit: Welcome to our ezine, Unit 1: Time for television, Unit 7: natural world, Unit 8: world of sport From this analysis, it can be seen that

the material could meet well with the course requirement in terms of vocabulary Pronunciation: The material provides students with the knowledge about word stress, syllable, homophones and some difficult phonemes in English like /ŋ/, /ʌ/, /z/

& /s/, /ə/ and past ending of “ed” in past verb As can be seen from the table above, the material meets the course requirement most parts of pronunciation However, the material does not mention to intonation and rhyme Each unit presents a different kind of matter which is not repeated in another unit Thus, it is quite difficult for young learners to remember deeply In addition, learning some difficult morphemes like sounds /z/ & /s/, /ʌ/ does not make sense when almost young students learn pronunciation of a word by imitating the teachers It’s difficult for them to apply in different words In addition, there are few tasks or materials for students practice Therefore, pronunciation partly meets the methodology requirements

Language macro-skills: The aims of the course are to help students have basic knowledge to communicate in English through listening, speaking, reading and writing As can be seen from table in appendix 4, four language skills are covered in each unit and they are integrated to support each other That meets the requirement

of the course as mentioned above

Time allocation: The textbook includes 8 units and 4 review units which are taught

in 35 weeks with five periods a week Thus, there are 175 periods in the whole of the course which meets the requirement of the course

3.1.3 The Appropriateness of the Material to the Methodology Requirements

of the Course

3.1.3.1 Syllabus analysis

Table 4 shows the methodology requirements of the course

Contents Methodology requirement of the course

Read and answer questions; read and choose the correct answer; read and match; read and label the diagram; read and complete; read and correct the sentences; read and answer

"true" or " false"; read and order the events; read and choose the best title

Building sentences with given words; write a paragraph; write a description; write a letter, a postcard; write a report

Integrated in four skills

Multiple choices; choose the correct word/ phrase to grammatical structures; correct the grammatical error; give the right tense of the verbs; reorder to make sentences; look pictures and write sentences with grammar structures Match words with definitions; match words with pictures; read and complete( use vocabulary in context); Look pictures and write words; listen and write words

Listen, find the sound/ phoneme and say "yes" or" no"

Odd one out; put words with certain sounds in the right columns; find the words with the same sounds

Encourage the creativities of students and communicative purposes

Work in individually, in pairs, in groups, whole-class

Table 4: The methodology requirements of the course 3.1.3.2 Material analysis