Evaluation of the english textbook in regards to the learning needs of students of accounting, finance, and banking at ho chi minh city open university

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MINISTRY OE EDUCATION AND TRAINING HO CHI MINH CITY OPEN UNIVERSITY — de — —~ EVALUATION OF THE ENGLISH

TEXTBOOK IN REGARDS TO THE LEARNING NEEDS OF STUDENTS OF ACCOUNTING, FINANCE, AND BANKING AT HO CHI MINH CITY OPEN UNIVERSITY TRƯỜNG DAI HOG MO TP.HCM THU VIEN

A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF

MASTER OF ARTS (TESOL)

Submitted by LE HOANG KIM

Supervisor: Dr LE HOANG DUNG

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ABSTRACT

Nowadays, in order to meet the great demand for learning English for different purposes increasing in many countries in general, and in Vietnam in particular, mass of commercial English language textbooks have been designed for Selection of one of those textbooks, conveying not only language knowledge, but also amount of cultural, social, professional knowledge and so on to be the main source of material in particular teaching and learning process becomes popular in many schools Consequently, check for those textbooks’ suitability to the particular teaching and learning situations are necessary

Actually, English language textbook evaluation is a very large field in English language teaching and learning Criteria for checking the correspondence vary depending on the kind of textbook, their target learners, and so on Likewise, in order to evaluate the accordance of the AFB learners’ learning needs and the ESP textbook in terms of content and task design, used in teaching and learning process at the AFB faculty, a conceptual framework for in-depth ESP textbook evaluation was shaped, in which three main components including learners’ current and prospective factors, content of the textbook consisting of linguistic aspects, language skills, and texts, and task design/methodology in form of PPP approach are required to interrelate, and

govern each other

Based on the criteria, an investigation into the ESP learners and teaching staff's attitudes and opinions was carried out in the middle of December, 2010 at Accounting-Finance-Banking Faculty- HOU The collected data through questionnaire, interview, and result from analyzing the target textbook were then analyzed, compared, and synthesized to find out answers for the issues

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP ssssssassessssssesasszvevsssesacsscseusvenssssauntscaosunacsnsasessenesveses ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS sicsssssessovsssvevsssscsnvesucsvsasonessasenccvossitsessensessenseunsensaseosboavesests iii XBSTRACT gu gt8 tt t0G2008t0sgiQ0081000800681834081546420WAWSES308Gã1GG8804044011386.6008a iv TABLE OF CONTENTS vcsnsssincinssenrsneniasnmnnnracsnenwonneaunamannyecues vi I09)331602170105S5S51.141 1 ix LIST OF TABLES sncinnnninnnmunnnnnnmmnnnmmmnnnmmmnananmnnmunmnnsa & LIST OF ABBREVIATION scssssesssesvessessssucssvssvsssonsiestssnsetsssstecsvsnvssessassesteassensssaesssess xi Chăpt6f1ZTNTRODUCTTON si báogtxgiggis8s8Gisiã054Gs66138áiax888Y584 1

1.1 Background to fhe SfUủy HT ninh gee 1 1.2 Sta(ement of probleIm .- s65 sen 111x101 411301816114188464060 011 4 1.3 Significance of the SÍUỞY HH1 t11114.1.111.001 se 4 1.4 Organization of the thesis

Chapter 2: REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE .sssssssssssssesseeseseessseenenseseenes 6 2.1 Evaluation of ESP textbook

2.2 Theoretical guideline for ESP textbook evaluation 2.2.1 Learners` factors analySiS .cs cv

2.2.1.1 Learners’ current factors in dealing with ESP textbook

2.2.1.2 Learners’ prospective factors in acquiring knowledge from ESP textbook

2.2.2 Content of ESP textbook 2.2.2.1 Texts in ESP textbook

2.2.2.2 Linguistic aspects in ESP textbook 2.2.2.3 Language skills in ESP textbook 2.2.3 Task-design in ESP textbook

2.2.3.1 Pre-task design in ESP textbook 2.2.3.2 Whilst-task design in ESP textbook 2.2.3.3 Post-task design in ESP textbook

2.3 Researches related to textbook evaluation .««esececseeeeeseeeseseseseeerse 24 2.4, Conceptual framework for in-depth ESP textbook evaluation 25

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2.5 Summary Chapter 3: RESEARCH METHODOLLOGY., s-5-csccsccseceseserserssrsee 29 8È]; Reseä6h TiiEHIGississssaooaotttieoibilitligflitsisii48ti40800164Gi8Qi84184ã24086 29 3.2 Research design 3.2.1 Evaluated textbook 3.2.2 Respondents of the study 3.2.3 Instruments 3.3 Data collection 3.3 Analytical framework 3.3 Summary «36

Chapter 4: ANALYSIS OF DATA AND DISCUSSION OF RESULTS 37 4.1 Data analysis and discussion 0Ÿ resulf s-sec<<<cssscseseseereesrese 38

4.1.1, Learners’ factors

4.1.2 Content of the ESP textbook in relation to the learners’ factors 4.1.2.1 Texts in ESP textbook

4.2.2.2 Linguistic aspects in ESP textbook “ 4.1.2.3 Language’skills in the ESP textbook các ccacscbnsdiiiiihdiireidaaviisasgga 4.1.3 Task-design in the ESP textbook in relation to the learners’ factors

(presentation-practice-production (PPP) stages) 4.1.3.1 Pre- task design in the ESP textbook

4.1.3.2 Whilst-task design in the ESP textbook 58 4.1.3.3 Post-task design in the ESP textbook

4.2 SUMMALY ccrssccerrscossseoneessnscnsncesaeeseenrsscsneceevosssnseseesssssossessenessoseresonsecesareseses 63 Chapter 5: SUMMARY OF FINDINGS, SUGGESTIONS, AND

RECOMMENDATIONS "“—- ` 67 5.1 Summary of findings about the current materials "— 67 5.1 Learners’ factors ÌSSUES usossasbsitesgvgstegi8460230161404314518036i001018G.030u3g0xzx4) 67 5.1.2 The accordance of the ESP textbook’s content with the learners’ factors 69 5.1.3 The accordance of the way the textbook’s task-design (3Ps stages) with learners” learning ne€ed - «-+- tt H11 TT HH HH ngư 71 5.2, Suggestions rcororsseneversreesrrensneneersereenenensnenenanensovensergespasesnennoconensesneneneneses — 73

5.2.1 Suggestions to ESP learners 5.2.2 Suggestions to ESP lecturers

5.2.3 Suggestions to ESP administratOrs - -‹

§.3 Limitations and recommendations for further research a 1D

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Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION

Karl Marx says that thing should be checked for its value in practice (Long & Vui, 2006) because the nature of things can be realized when they work in reality where they have chance to interact with other things and expose their characteristics This idea is able to apply to many aspects of life in general, and the thesis’ situation in particular In order to check the accordance of the ESP textbook with learning needs of students of Accounting-Finance-Banking (AFB) Faculty at Ho Chi Minh City Open University (HOU), the study carries out an investigation into the teachers and learners’ feedback about the use of the textbook in real teaching and learning context Specific background, problem, purpose, research questions, significance, and organization of the research are presented in this introductory chapter

1.1, Background to the study

In Vietnam for many recent decades, especially after joining World Trade Organization (WTO), English proves its crucial role in connecting people There are different purposes for possessing the language such as watching films, listening to music, communicating with foreigners, exploring information written in the target language, etc The goals vary from people to people, bringing their own features when taking part in the particular language course It means that people at any social classes can learn and may have the need in learning the language

Because of the demand, besides English language centers, almost Vietnamese schools from primary ones to universities treat English as a compulsory subject at these places To some extent, the language knowledge that learners can gain from

those educational environment will be the foundation for them to use and even

develop their language proficiency in reality later on

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However, in the researcher’s language teaching and !earning experiences, most of the materials used in the processes are commercial ones which are designed and published by famous authors all over the world Meanwhile, the domestic ones rarely

exist in the sequences maybe because of time-consuming, financial problems,

professional qualification and so on In fact, people know that nothing in the market can totally fit to particular context of teaching and learning (Cunningsworth, 1995); therefore, it is necessary to make sure that there is a match between the particular textbook in use and the specific teaching and learning situation

In fact, materials evaluation aspect of ELT (English language Teaching) has been taken into concern by some researchers, educators for recent years in Vietnam The evidence is that some studies, belonged to the field have been found in the

libraries of universities such as Ho Chi Minh City University of Social Sciences and

Humanity and HOU:

In 2002, Tran Thi My carried out a research entitled “Evaluation of the New Textbook ‘Tiéng Anh 6’ and Suggestions on How to Put It in Effective Use” The second one was done in 2006 by Nguyen Truong Anh Tram with study entitled “An Evaluation of Lifelines Elementary as the English Coursebook at The Central Professional School of Archives And Records Management N, II” The third one was about “An In-depth Evaluation of ‘Let’s Learn English Book 1’ used for teaching English as an optional subject in primary school” conducted by Nguyen My Ngoc in 2008 And the last one was about “Evaluation on the Reading Textbook Level A Used at the Foreign Language Center of Can Tho In-service University”, made by Luu Thu Thuy in 2008

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The effects of changing and/or innovating on the materials help to bring better treatment in the teaching processes However, the studies related to the field are actually limited in number, especially those for ESP field which is always considered a special aspect of English language teaching (ELT) because of its typical features in terms of language content In other words, it seems that the textbook evaluation matter is still not paid much attention to at many schools in Vietnam in general, and in Ho Chi Minh City in particular As a result, there remain a lot of English textbooks having not been checked for their correspondences to specific teaching and learning

situations

The use of ESP textbook, entitled English for International Banking and Finance is one of the cases It was written by Jim Corbett, and published by Cambridge University Press in 1990 Since 2005, teaching staff of Faculty of Foreign Languages at Ho Chi Minh City Open University (HOU) has been in charge of using the textbook as the core material in teaching ESP for learners of the Accounting- Finance-Banking (AFB) Faculty at the school

In company with the application of the textbook into the teaching and learning context for such a long time, there exist many changes, inventions, services, and so on relating to accounting-finance-banking field in practice Consequently, the learners’ ESP learning needs may to some extent be different from five years ago, as well Differently speaking, it is possible to propose that the textbook may not really suit the teaching and learning context as it used to be, thus the researcher to hear a lot of comments about the use of textbook from the AFB learners and the ESP teaching

staff

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In the face of such the changes and feedback from participants, it is clear that the suitability of the textbook to the particular teaching and learning situation should be checked in order to make sure that there is correspondence between the textbook and the needs of AFB learners in learning ESP subject

1.2 Statement of problem

Up to now, even though about 3000 students corresponding to 500 students or 12 classes per year have studied the textbook and some comments and complaints occur, none of research examining the accordance of the book with the teaching and learning context in general, and the learners’ learning needs in particular has been done until the study is carried out

Consequently, the aim of the research is to evaluate the English textbook for AFB students at HOU in accordance with their learning needs in terms of content and task design/ methodology

In order to help to attain the goal of conducting the thesis, one major research question is set up:

To what extent does the textbook “English for International Banking and Finance” in terms of content and task design/methodology accord with the ESP learning needs of AFB students at HOU?

1.3 Significance of the study

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the limitations in time (if any) so that learners can be involved in good condition in dealing with the subject at the school, firstly with useful and practical textbook

1.4 Organization of the thesis

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Chapter 2: REVIEW OE RELATED LITERATURE

In the process of English language teaching and learning, textbooks play important role in mediating the two other factors, teachers and learners together (Maley, 1998) According to Richards (2011),

“Textbooks are a key component in most language program They serve as the basic for much of the language input learners receive and the language practice

that occurs in the classroom They may provide the basic for the content of the

lessons, the balance of skills taught and the kinds of language practice the

students take part in” (p,1)

Because of the crucial functions of textbooks in teaching and learning sequences, checks for the suitability of those in particular teaching and learning contexts are necessarily carried out so that the training purposes for those courses can partially be achieved by using those textbooks In fact, the requirements for the textbooks to be are different from teaching and learning situations; therefore, criteria used in examining the correspondence between particular English textbook and teaching and learning environment should be specifically set up It is also the reason why the thesis would like to mention about framework for evaluating ESP textbook in general and textbook for banking and finance in particular

2.1 Evaluation of ESP textbook

According to the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English (2001), evaluation is “the act of examining something to decide how useful or valuable it is” The action is used firstly as a means of explaining and confirming existing procedures by obtaining feedback about classroom practice which informs the reasons why the textbook is working well in the classroom and why it is appropriate for a given target audience and vice versa (Germaine & Rea-Dickins, 1992 & Cunningsworth, 1995) In addition, the given information can help authorities to decide if the textbooks are good for their particular teaching situations; or they must be added in and/or cut out in some parts; or

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In order to have timely decision, materials evaluation process can be taken place before, during, and/or after those textbooks are used in reality (Tomlinson, 1998) so that changes or innovation happening in those must be taken as soon as possible whenever the textbooks show their irrelevance to teaching and learning

contexts

Likewise, in order to examine if the target textbook suits the teaching and learning situation while it is used in practice, in-use materials evaluation process should be employed According to viewpoints of two famous scholars of material development, the correspondence “between what the coursebook contains and the requirements of learning/teaching situation” (Cunningsworth, 1995, p.v) in terms of its content and methodology should be checked when it is being applied into the process (Donovan, 1998) The “in-use evaluation” (Cunningsworth, 1995, p 14) procedure is focused on because at this time, all participants’ attitudes and feedbacks for good points and shortcoming of the material can be freshly informed Differently speaking, the given information can show to what extent the textbook meets the condition of specific teaching and learning context in general and learning needs in particular

2.2 Theoretical guideline for ESP textbook evaluation

In order to “ensure a good match between what the coursebook contains and the requirements of the learning/teaching situation” (Cunningsworth, 1995, p 1), a checklist for evaluating textbook should be built up The step has usually been taken by many scholars and/or researchers

For instance, Alderson & Beretta (1992) gave out checklist for ESP textbook evaluation for Brazilian national ESP project, in which learners’ factors such as professional knowledge, needs of language use, and language level and issues about language skills use were concerned

In 1995, Cunningsworth proposed checklist for material evaluation which interested in four main aspects of materials: (1) linguistic aspects including language form, function, grammar, phonology, vocabulary, discourse, appropriate context of

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‘teaching and learning, society; kind of language to teach (e.g dialect, formal, style, ), and language skills; (2) selection and grading of language items; (3) methodology (grammar & vocabulary), developing language skills and communicative abilities (integrated skills, free production), supporting material, tests, texts, given information, group work, cultural and social aspects); and (4) physical attribute (cover appeal, size, binding, layout, )

In 2002, the researcher, Garinger designed another material evaluation checklist which covered four main aspects of materials: (1) program and course; (2) skills; (3) exercises and activities; and (4) practical concerns

Then in 2005, Joshua Miekley’s materials checklist existed and concerned about three main aspects of material: (1) content of the textbook (organization, language culture, authenticity, and genre); (2) vocabulary and grammar, exercises and tasked-based activities (comprehension & strategies), attractiveness of the texts and physical make up, and (3) information about teacher’s manual (general features, background information, methodology guidance, supplementary exercises and material)

Instead of giving out specific checklist for evaluating material as other scholars and researchers did, Andrew Littlejohn (1998) suggested framework for material evaluation which can also be applied for all aspects of materials design: publication (physical aspects); design (methodological and content aspects) in relation to language syllabus, requirements of learners and situation

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ị The correspondence can ensure that learners’ language proficiency (in terms of -social/professional knowledge, grammar, pronunciation, vocabulary, and four

language skills)-can be improved at particular level after finishing the course In ESP course, the goal becomes clear when learners’ learning needs and situational driven tequirement are “unique to specific learners in specific context” (Brunton, 2009, p.10) and always the ‘lodestar’ for carrying out the course

In short, learners’ characteristics and requirements for learning the ESP course is prerequisite condition for choosing the textbook, especially its content and task design/methodology They are also the fundamental of the thesis to set up conceptual framework for in-depth ESP textbook evaluation referring to the evaluation of ‘inside’ factors that constitute the textbook’s content and task design/methodology

2.2.1 Learners’ factors analysis

The very previous idea is supported by Hutchinson and Torres (1994) who say, “Textbooks clearly survive because they satisfy certain needs” (p.317) It means that “material writing is at its most effective when it is turned to the needs of a particular group of learners” (Jolly & Bolitho, 1998, p 110) In fact, learners are the main subjects that any courses aim to deal with and serve for Differently speaking, at any condition and teaching/learning environment including ESP course, what to teach, test, and achieve for particular course are governed by learners’ features (Cunningsworth, 1995), thus in order to make sure that those goals are attained, there must be the accordance of the target textbook with the learners’ factors when taking part in the course

These factors are divided into two main parts The first one is the learners’ current factors being the very basic elements about learners that they bring to them when learning ESP subject The second one is their prospective factors relating to

their needs and expectations from learning the course The parts are discussed in detail

in the next sections

2.2.1.1, Learners’ current factors in dealing with ESP textbook

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For the learners’ current factors, textbook evaluator needs to indicate exactly two

main things: “who the learners are?” (Graves, 2000, p 102); and “where is the site?”

(Graves, 2000, p.14) The indications help to find out their particular features being usually different from one group to another, and affecting to their needs of learning the subject

For the learners’ personal information, it is necessary to know three main things: their learning major; professional background knowledge; and their current level of language (Graves, 2000) All of them must be the very first impressions that direct the selection of textbook

In ESP teaching and learning process, the learners’ studying branch is the first factor that decides which textbook should be used It is not acceptable for learners to be forced to learn ESP that does not directly relate to their field because of irrelevant information that the textbook provides

Also, learners will not be able to understand the content containing in the textbook if they lack professional background knowledge in their first language when

dealing with the subject; therefore, in order to control the problem, the interrelation

between the ESP subject and other ones in the curriculum should be taken into consideration by the administrators of the subject so that learners’ knowledge of the different, especially professional subjects that they are equipped in their mother tongue becomes the useful basic knowledge for them in joining their ESP course

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These criteria belonged to learners’ current factors mentioned so far are not strong enough for having complete impression about learners since “the value of textbooks in ELT must surely be appropriate for the context and people with whom they are being used (Litz, 2011, p.9); thus, learners’ future working environment should also be taken into account (Tomlinson, 1998) to inform what requirements that learners are demanded for their jobs in the sense of ESP language knowledge (Dubin & Olshtain, 1986 & Bouzidi, 2009) because different requirements and items to deal

with are usually different from one place to another For instance, there are some

banking services and/or activities that are popularly used in Vietnamese context, but not in other countries and vice versa

It can be concluded that learners’ major, specialized background knowledge, language level, and working environment are the first criteria that the chosen textbook must be compatible with

2.2.1.2 Learners’ prospective factors in acquiring knowledge from ESP textbook

The learners’ current factors are considered the base that leads to their prospective factors that directly mark on selecting textbook It is the fact that learners all have their goals and expectations to learn particular course such as to pass their final examination, to use that kind of knowledge in their future jobs, or to improve their target language proficiency, and so on Hence, no matter how negative they are when dealing with the course, their behavior will be changed when the course and/or what they are taught during the process directly focus on and serve their learning needs and interests in terms of professional knowledge in the second language including updated topics and other issues about the field that they are interested in: “in what situations will they use ESP beyond classroom? Who will they use it with? What topic will they need to be able to communicate about? And what content will they need to know?” (Graves, 2000, p 104), and language competence (i.e., providing them language skills used in their workplace and knowledge of linguistic that they may lack)

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Differently speaking, learners’ needs for professional knowledge, linguistic knowledge and language skills in second language, and their expectations for texts to deal with during the course are the second criteria that direct the right choice of textbook for particular teaching and learning context

In short, material selection must closely reflect “the needs of the learners and the aims, methods, and values of the teaching program” (Cunningsworth, 1995 p.7) They are the foundation for administrators of the subject to set up the objectives for the whole course to be by defining clearly “what students will know and understand”; “what they will be able to do with language” (Graves, 2000, p.83-84); “what objectives should be reached; how much work should be covered in a given time” (Hutchinson & Torres, 1994, p.320)

Learners’ factors are considered the points that direct the purposes of carrying out specific language course in general, and the ways the textbook chosen in particular It means that the textbook which can generally correspond to the learners’ features as mentioned so far is at the first glance reasonable to be selected as the core material for particular teaching and learning context The match between the textbook and learners’ factors becomes the main circle of the evaluation framework of the study, in which its criteria governs the performance of factors contained in two other remained circles of the evaluation framework

2.2.2 Content of ESP textbook

The second requirement for the suitability of the textbook to the teaching and learning context is for content of the ESP textbook The study proposes that the match between learners’ features and the textbook must also be marked on content of the textbook which is considered ‘heart’ of the coursebook where: professional knowledge is displayed through texts; and linguistic aspects, and language skills are contained

Cunningsworth (1995) says, “The most suitable coursebooks for your learners will reflect as closely as possible the language content, language skills and patterns of

language use that are needed” (p.15); likewise, the content of ESP textbook must, on

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designed to teach English for particular fields of study only; on the other side, it still plays the role of English language textbook (i.e to develop learners’ ability to communicate with foreigners, explore information from different source of data in English, and so on) Consequently, linguistic aspects and language skills must also be

contained in the content

The discussion leads to the conclusion for this part that content of ESP textbook should not only concentrate on subject matter, but cover all components about linguistic factors and language skills as the content of general English ones have as well so that learners can effectively use such the knowledge in practical situations

2.2.2.1 Texts in ESP textbook

The first impression in handling a textbook’s content is for texts, “any scripted or recorded production of a language presented to learners of that language” (Cunningsworth, 1995, p xiii) in the sense that they must be compatible with the language course objectives In general, the texts need not to mainly focus on transferring professional knowledge (Cunningsworth, 1995) that the learners should have learned in university program in their mother tongue In the target learning process, the knowledge should only take the stimulation role on learners’ thoughts and feelings and be the base for them to develop their language competence (i.e., language skills and linguistic knowledge) transferred through texts (Tomlinson, 1998)

The suitability of the texts must also be expressed through their three sub- components consisting of topics, contents, and authenticity

Topics for ESP texts

It is possible to say that the first element in exploring texts is about their topics because they inform if the textbook suits in teaching ESP for particular field; if they meet the learners’ interest and vary in genre (Bell & Gower, 1998) Different types of

texts such as ads, press, extracts, recipes, letter, and so on can not only interest

learners in the learning process, but also help learners to get familiar with the

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structures, uses of words, formation, and so on of the text types (Cunningsworth, 1995) The knowledge helps to develop the learners’ different skills, especially writing one, and copes with the same ones in practice As a result, being relevant to learners’ professional knowledge, suiting their interest, and including many different genres of texts for learners to study are three criteria that the topics of texts should be

Contents of ESP texts

The criteria required for suitable texts cannot just stop at topic issues The next noticeable points are for contents of texts, in which all matters about specialized background knowledge, and complexity of grammatical and discourse structures should be taken into consideration (Cunningsworth, 1995) In other words, contents of

texts are the foundation for learners to gain professional, social, and cultural

knowledge from and develop their linguistic aspects and language skills; consequently, there are some requirements that should be interested in choosing the

contents

Firstly, they must be relevant to learners’ need, interest, and relate to their major or “situational driven” (Long & Richards, 1987, p.149) The relevance of contents of texts in relation to learners’ features is highlighted in order to make sure that the general concept of selecting content of the whole textbook can be specified in the texts’ contents

Secondly, the contents must be organized in suitable ways (Graves, 2000) by taking “coherent” structure of the contents which “lies in the deep structure of a text, and refers to the complex non-linear notional-functional relations behind the linear sequences of words, sentences or paragraphs” (Wang & Sui, 2006, p.2), and using “appropriate cohesive devices, including pronouns for anaphoric reference and conjunctives” (Cunningsworth, 1995, p.46) which links ideas of the contents together The criterion helps learners to easily keep up with the author(s)’ idea for building up the texts and then get information from them

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1995) Too much high or low level in terms of information contained in contents of texts can cause learners’ inconvenience in comprehending the contents There are many factors affecting the learners’ comprehension for written and spoken texts They consist of grammatical aspect in texts (i.e., how complex and difficult the grammatical structures are used) (Nunan, 1989); the amount of new vocabulary exists (Thuy, 2008); and length of text (Cunningsworth, 1995) (i.e the texts are too long or short will be hard for learners in exploring information from (Bell & Gower, 1998) The well control of the match between learners’ level and these aspects can ensure learners’ readability (Al-Musallam, 2009) and then understandability of the texts (Davies, 1984 as cited in Berardo, 2006)

Fourthly, the contents of texts must be informative The aspect includes the amount of information the texts contain, its explicitness (Nunan, 1989), and “the interaction of text-presented knowledge with their stored knowledge of the world” (Beaugrande & Dressler, 1981, p.6-7) The demand gives learners chances to revise their background knowledge and update it with the amount of new one

Fifthly, according to Brian Tomlinson (1998), materials can help learners to feel at ease if illustrations (e.g photographs, drawings, tables, graphs, and so on) which are usually considered the extra part of the contents can relate to their own culture These images can also communicate with learners by setting the scene and giving information through (Nunan, 1989) Therefore, it must also become a criterion for selecting the contents

Taking overall view, contents of texts must qualify the five criteria comprising relevant learners’ need and interest; suitable ways in organizing texts, suitable in learners’ level in terms of background knowledge, language proficiency, informative support, and illustrations

Authenticity of texts

The demand for suitable texts in the ESP textbook is also about authenticity of those In this study, the authenticity aspect in the ESP textbook is understood in the sense that the texts must not be “written or spoken for language teaching purposes”

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(Tomlinson, 1998, p viii) and should reflect what happen in the real world (Bell & Gower, 1998) Those characteristics of texts allow learners to get closer with what happen in practice (Al-Musallam 2009 & Berardo 2006) In context of language teaching, the typical features of texts are shown through their topics and contents, and ‘specified its elements as follow:

The first one is its updated information that helps learners to catch up with current information in the field In addition, the contents must relate to what happen in real life where the learners are going to work for Differently speaking, learners

should be involved in and get familiar with their field through texts in the textbook

before joining real working context Moreover, coursebook always sets its material in social and cultural context (Cunningsworth, 1995); therefore, understanding about the aspects can help learners to easily explore the contents of texts Thus, cultural and social aspects are those which cannot be ignored when examining the contents In short, up-dated information, real life reflection, social and cultural aspects should be taken into account for creating authenticity of contents of texts

In summary, texts used in the ESP textbook must qualify the criteria set for their topics, contents, and authenticity that meet the learners’ learning needs All requirements for the texts take a small part in second component of the framework, content of the textbook

2.2.2.2 Linguistic aspects in ESP textbook

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It is said that at the level of ESP learning, learners are supposed to attain language proficiency at required level, usually intermediate one; therefore, it is not necessary to teach them grammar points in the subject Cunningsworth (1995) said, “Grammar is a major component of any general language course” (p.32); however, the researcher suggests that the aspect should also be part of ESP textbook because Vietnamese learners usually possess different language levels when taking part in the same English language course It is not sure that they all can understand the structures that are used by author(s) when constructing the texts The matter becomes urgent when there are some structures that are specially used for particular situation in particular context in order for special meaning and/or effect, especially in ESP field Because of these reasons, it is necessary to involve grammar aspect in the content of textbook

In addition, pronunciation aspect should be included for learners’ well communicative ability in the target language (Litz, 2011) since the English language pronunciation system differs from the one in different countries in general, and Vietnamese in particular (Cunningsworth, 1995) The difference causes much trouble for Vietnamese learners in pronouncing English words correctly The limitation can lead to their problem in getting correct information from listening texts and communicating with other people, especially in ESP context

Furthermore, vocational vocabulary is considered an important point in teaching/learning ESP Lacking the element; learners cannot be able to understand information from texts due to its special meanings (Cunningsworth, 1995) Hence, new words should be paid much attention to throughout the textbook

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‘textbook to contain all three linguistic aspects takes the second part of the second component in the conceptual framework employed in the study

2.2.2.3 Language skills in ESP textbook

Knowledge about grammar, pronunciation, and vocabulary is considered the foundation helping learners to easily cope with other aspects of language learning (Cunningsworth, 1995) According to Almarza Sanchez (2000), when learners’ linguistic skills are strong enough to deal with the content of language, their language skills, “central of language learning” (Cunningsworth, 1995, p.64) especially communicative one will automatically develop later on The idea is applied for ELT in general and ESP field in particular It means that in ESP linguistic knowledge and language skills should be at the same time involved in the content of the textbook

People said that ESP learners would mainly use reading and listening skills for getting amount of information in their working time; so the two skills should be mainly focused on However, the roles of other two skills are equally crucial in the sense that learners can use the skills in communicating/dealing with foreigners/customers at work It is uncertain that the learners are only going to receive

information from others to serve their works; actually in some situations, they are

required to inform information for others, as well

Differently speaking, it is really necessary to ‘integrate the four language skills

at the beginning of the course’ (Bell & Gower, 1998, p 124) so that, on the one side,

their language skills can support and develop each others during their ESP learning process; on the other side, the fluency in using language skills can help the learners much on their future jobs The present of four language skills in the content of ESP textbook plays the third part in the second component of the framework

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The correspondence between the content of ESP textbook including criteria for texts, linguistic knowledge, and language skills and learners’ features in general, and language level in particular makes up the whole second section of the evaluation framework set up for the study

2.2.3 Task-design in ESP textbook

In ESP language textbook, it is not advisable to separately specify content as an ends of learning or the tasks as means to those ends, but integrate them (Nunan, 1989) because tasks help to activate what are contained in the content of the textbook; and vice versa the content is the environment for tasks to develop in the sense that they all serve the objectives set up at the beginning In fact, there are different methodologies to design the tasks such as Grammar-translation method, Communicative approach, and so on

However, in order to make sure that the learners can step by step approach with the language, practice it, and then get ready to use it in real situation, the thesis would like to examine the task-design in the textbook in form of PPP (Presentation, Practice, Production) approach, in which task, ‘the core of material writing’ (Tomlinson, 1989, p.93) specified in terms of activities, or a piece of classroom work that involves learners in comprehending, manipulating, producing or interacting in the target language (Robertson & Jung, 2006)

According to Litz (2011), the approach

“lends itself to accountability since there are clear, tangible lesson objectives It

is based on the belief that out of accuracy comes to fluency This presentation

stage is then followed by practice activities that are designed to enable learners to

produce the material that has been presented In the final production stage, opportunities are provided to use language freely in the expectation that this will

consolidate what is being learned and extend its range of applicability ” (Litz,

2011, p.17-18)

Moreover, Brian Tomlinson (1998) says, “The approach could be used to promote

durable learning” (p.16)

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English language learners in general, and ESP in particular

“need to start learning what is simple; learners need rules; learners need to get things right But learners also need to be prepared for interaction in the real world They need to be aware of the intentions as well as the meanings of the speakers

and writers they interact with and they need to be able to produce language which is not only accurate and appropriate but which is effective too” (Tomlinson, 1998,

p.88)

In nature, “learning process is essentially bound up with extending knowledge, understanding and skills from familiar to the unfamiliar” (Cunningsworth, 1995, p 102); therefore, the study supposes that tasks or activities for sections of each unit of the content of textbook should make sure these steps so that learners can, on the one hand, comprehensively explore information from the texts, enlarge their linguistic knowledge, and practice their language skills; on the other hand, they can possess necessary strategies for not only dealing with each of the sections, and practice them in controlled and then free ways, but use them at their own real situations as well (Litz, 2011) The three main steps are discussed in detailed as follow:

2.2.3.1 Pre-task design in ESP textbook

Specifically, the task can be subdivided into three main stages The first one is called pre-task In the first phase, activities are used to “set the context or focus the learners’ attention on the work” (Nunan, 1989, p 109) by using eliciting questions, story telling, discussion, games, pictures or else In other words, learners should be always put in the situation where/when/which the lesson occurs by asking them to join warm- up activities in order that learners will be able to have general concept about what they are going to learn with and activate their relating knowledge to get ready for dealing with whilst-task stage

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According to Tomlinson (1989), whilst-task phase is the time to “get things right” and “prepare for interaction in the real world” (p.88) Learners would have chance to comprehend and explore information from the texts by using many different strategies (Cunningsworth, 1995 & Tomlinson, 1998) in coping with activities for linguistic knowledge and language skills In other words, at this stage, all the objectives set up for the content of language in terms of linguistic knowledge and language skills to be displayed hereby get place for realizing

Particularly, at first there are many ways and strategies for grammar points to be practiced such as filling in, matching, rewriting, and so on, depending on context of use Secondly, pronunciation activities should be added in relation to other activities (Cunningsworth, 1995) to practice pronouncing words, stress, intonation, and so on

Thirdly, activities for vocabulary are always focused on and included in both kinds of texts (i.e., written and spoken forms) and exist before or after activities for other aspects and skills in the role of basic element Their forms (such as matching, filling in, etc.) differ for different purpose(s) like to find definitions, synonym, antonym, etc of words (Cunningsworth, 1995) In addition, strategies for drawing out meaning of words vary too (e.g semantic relations (i.e word according to meaning, synonyms, hyponyms, opposites); situational relationships (i.e word sets associated with particular situation); collocations (i.e words commonly found in association), and so on) (Cunningsworth, 1995) Through the activities, learners can not only enlarge their vocabulary knowledge, but use the strategies for their own learning in similar context as well

To language skills aspect, firstly to listening skill, depending on particular purposes of listening such as listen “for comprehension, extract information from the texts, etc.,” (Cunningsworth, 1995, p 67) there will be appropriate activities for carrying out these such as listen for main ideas or details; listen for gist, tone, and so on (Graves, 2000) The tactics for listening help them to easily achieve the listening purposes from listening texts or lectures, and so on, especially their communication skills in combining with speaking one Hopefully, when learners can use right strategies in listening for things, they can be able to rapidly get right information and react right away with their interlocutors in conversation

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Next, activities for speaking skill can happen in form oral presentation, dialogue work, role-play, discussing, story telling, etc., (Cunningsworth, 1995) {During the process, they can use their negotiative, descriptive, persuasive, informative ‘strategies to attain the same speaking purpose(s)

Then for reading section, learners are usually required to find out information from the texts for their literal or surface, then comprehensive and finally inferential level of meanings (Cunningsworth, 1995) Reading strategies then emerge to qualify the requirements They are various and purposeful depending on particular type of information which learners are required or want to get Those are skimming (i.e get general idea); scanning (ie get a specific fact or piece of information); comprehension (i.e obtain comprehensive understanding); and critical reading (i.e evaluate information from text) (Cunningsworth, 1995)

“Writing activities in coursebooks are normally of the controlled or guided kind, where a model is given and the student’s task is to produce something similar, usually based on additional information given” (Cunningsworth, 1995, p 80) Therefore, it depends on particular purposes of writing such as writing memos, letters, teports, and so on; issues about kinds of structures and vocabulary to be used, writing format, and so on (Nunan, 1989) should be taught for learners to learn and practice the

skill

2.2.3.3 Post-task design in ESP textbook

Exposing learners to language in authentic use is another role of materials (Tomlinson, 1998) Learners would be limited to develop their ESP language proficiency if the process halts at the second sequence since the last one is the phase that allows learners to apply what are taught into practice by taking part in little controlled activities and totally free those after all

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i.e their knowledge of how language is used) and to develop strategic competence” omlinson, 1998, p.15)

In other words, learners are moving from accurate stage to fluent one (Cunningsworth, 1995) at the final phase when “particular emphasis is placed on meaningful and authentic communication with the goal of establishing communicative

competence in production” (Litz, 2011, p.14), “in which the content, strategies and

expression of the interaction are determined by the learners” (Tomlinson, 1998, p 14) These attempts help the learners to check the effectiveness of their internal ‘hypotheses, especially if the activities stimulate them into pushed output, to -automatise their existing procedural knowledge (that is, their knowledge of how

language is used) and to develop strategies competence (Tomlinson, 1998)

No matter what type of tasks/activities at what stage of the whole sequence; to this study, there are four main extra criteria for each of them to be operated Firstly, they must be relevant to the teaching and learning context, especially learners’ needs in learning ESP (Tomlinson, 1998) The second one is their authenticity (Tomlinson, 1998); it is that the tasks or activities should be aimed at “meaning-focused” (Spratt, 2002, p.36) by “creating realistic situations” (Cunningsworth, 1995, p.16) for learners to involve in Thirdly, their organization must be clear and reasonable distribution

(Jolly & Bolitho, 1998) from simple, and brief to more complex ones; and time to

spend for steps to take in each task (Nunan, 1989) Variety is the fourth extra criteria in choosing or designing tasks or activities (Tomlinson, 1998) It is necessary to have different numbers and forms of tasks for learners to join into; however, they should also be kept the balance (Cunningsworth, 1995) between those so that learners have chance to develop all aspects of ESP language learning

It can be concluded that tasks or activities in ESP textbook, they must be presented in the sequence of three stages (presentation-practice-production) so that learners can at first have general concept about what they are going to deal with for particular text; in addition, they can understand the contents of texts, and at the same time explore and practice linguistic aspects and language skills Moreover, the learners can use the language knowledge and strategies from the previous sequence in freely practicing at the last one The important thing is that all the tasks or activities

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should qualify requirement about their relevance to the target learning situation, authenticity, clear organization, and variety Criteria for tasks design/methodology, specifically those for its three stages make up the last section of the framework

2.3 Researches related to textbook evaluation

Up to now, many researches on material evaluation have been conducted by educators, and researchers in different countries However, the study just mentions four of those which took place in Vietnamese context in order to partially inform material evaluation situations in Vietnamese context in general and Ho Chi Minh City in particular

The first one was done in 2002 by Tran Thi My about “Evaluation of the New Textbook ‘Tiéng Anh 6’ and Suggestions on How to Put It in Effective Use” In her study, she found that content of the material was good in terms of suiting to the learners’ language level, engaging learners into real situations However, time for the course was not enough for learners to do exercises Furthermore, the content of each unit was long; and the outline was not as clear as the previous one; some exercises were mechanical

The second one was done in 2006 by Nguyen Truong Anh Tram about “An Evaluation of Lifelines Elementary as the English Coursebook at The Central Professional School of Archives And Records Management No II” The finding showed that the textbook was evaluated to be useful and practical to the teaching and learning process in terms of learners’ ability, task design, language content and three language skills except listening one because the listening tasks are too demanding

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| methodology in the book was helpful but some steps in activities must be changed so "that learners have more chances to join into learning process

And the-last one was about “Evaluation on the Reading Textbook Level A Used at the Foreign Language Center of Can Tho In-service University”, made by Luu Thu Thuy in 2008 She informed that the textbook contained suitable texts in terms of topics and notions for the learners to deal with, extracted from different sources In addition, the textbook’s appearance was some outstanding Moreover, the texts varied in genre Furthermore, the activities happened in three stages making sure that the learners could engage in, practice with, and use the knowledge in reality However, the requirements for each stage of the whole task seemed not to be systematically recycled Some inadequate forms of exercises existed

From the findings, the thesis realizes that first of all, the four researches took

learners’ factors, the main subject when conducting the investigations In addition, they share the same ideas with the research about necessary criteria that materials should have in terms social knowledge, language content and language skills Specifically, in spite of the differences between these general English focused textbooks and the ESP one, they all concern about texts and issues around them so that they are informative and suit to the learners’ learning need and interests In addition, grammar, pronunciation, vocabulary, and four language skills should all be presented in the content of the textbooks

Last but not least, the exercises or activities should be spent through three stages from presenting the language to comprehending the content, and finally practicing these However, to these, the sequence stops at controlled production only

In general, the suitability of ESP textbook basically shares common criteria in evaluating those on general ones The special points of the study which those studies did not mention because of their contexts of evaluation are its need and situational driven in the content of the textbook

2.4 Conceptual framework for in-depth ESP textbook evaluation

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Based on the supporting ideas of some scholars, educators, and researchers about materials development issues, the criteria for evaluating content and task design/methodology of the ESP textbook of the study are mentioned and become parts of the conceptual framework for in-depth ESP textbook evaluation

Specifically, the textbook is checked for its accordance with the particular teaching and learning situation in three main aspects consisting of learners’ factors, content of language in the textbook, and the textbook’s methodology or ways of designing tasks under form of PPP (Presentation-Practice-Production) approach The three aspects interrelate, affect, and are affected by each other

CURRENT FACTORS: PROSPECTIVE FACTORS:

Major Learning needs

LI professional knowledge Professional knowledge

Language level Linguistic aspects

Future working Language skills

Expectations for texts LEARNERS’ TEXTS: FACTORS Topics PRE-TASK Content 4 DESIGN Authenticity TASK CONTENT of DESIGN

LINGUISTIC LANGUAGE /METHOD WHILST-TASK

ASPECTS in the OLOGY (3Ps) DESIGN TEXTBOOK in the TEXTBOOK LANGUAGE POST-TASK SKILLS DESIGN

Figure 2.4: A conceptual framework for in-depth ESP textbook evaluation

It means that at first, it is absolutely necessary to have the correspondence between learners’ factors and the textbook in terms of learners’ current factors including their learning major, professional knowledge in mother tongue, language level, and future working environment; and their prospective factors consisting of their learning needs: professional knowledge in the target language, linguistic knowledge, and language skills; and their expectations for texts to be

Then the suitability of the textbook and the learners’ features must be specified in the content of the textbook where texts are shown; and linguistic knowledge and language skills are contained Those are transferred to learners through tasks/activities

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where and when learners are exposed into new language items, practice them, and \produce the new ones basing on what they are taught in the previous stages The linside interaction between the three cycles make sure the accordance of the textbook in terms of content and task design with the learners’ factors for specific learning

context

The three main components of the framework and their criteria are not only applied for evaluating ESP textbook in general, but the target textbook focusing on banking and finance field in accordance with the subject teaching and learning situation at AFB faculty- HOU as well

The first one is the correlation between the textbook and the learners’ factors It is that: The target textbook in general must not only be suitable to learners’ current factors consisting of their major, background professional knowledge in their mother tongue, language level before dealing with the textbook, and future working environment, but also their prospective factors in requiring knowledge from ESP textbook such as: goals of learning professional knowledge in the second language, learning need for linguistic knowledge and language skills, and expectation for texts

All of the elements should become objectives for selecting the textbook In other words, issues about time for the textbook to be applied into the teaching and learning sequence and what to teach and test during the time the learners study the subject are decided from the above factors

The learners’ features must also be involved in the content of the textbook

which is divided into three main parts The first one is for texts in ESP textbook, in

which their topics should be relevant to learners’ professional knowledge, interested, and various in types; their contents must also be relevant to learners’ need and interest, have appropriate ways in organizing texts in terms of coherence and cohesion, suit learners’ level in terms of background knowledge, language proficiency, difficulty, and length of texts, be informative, and use illustrations in performing the contents; the last elements is for authenticity of texts The texts must contain updated information, reflect real life events, and include cultural and social

aspects

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The second part is for linguistic aspects in the ESP textbook which should have consisted of three aspects: grammar, pronunciation, and new professional words considered the basic knowledge in any language courses The last one is for four language skills which should be integrated throughout the textbook In addition, all

elements in the textbook’s content must be balance, relevant to the context and make

sure gradation through

The design of task in the ESP textbook in form of PPP approach is the last |component in the framework Because of the learners’ learning outcome inside and ‘outside classroom, the tasks/activities should cover three stages The first one is called pre-task where ideas about what are going to learn are formed in the learners’ concept Then, in the whilst-task stage, doing tasks/activities can help learners to: (1) understand professional knowledge in the second language, (2) gain linguistic knowledge, (3) practice language skills, and (4) get strategies for doing linguistic aspects and language skills Finally, the last stage of task gives learners chance to practice in controlled and free ways Furthermore, the task design should always be relevant to the target learning situation, authentic, well organized, and various in

forms as well

All the criteria are used to conduct checklist for in-depth ESP material evaluation process in the thesis which is then specified in questionnaires to investigate participants’ feedbacks about the concerned issue of the study raised in chapter one

2.5 Summary

This chapter sets up criteria in choosing ESP textbook basing on supporting ideas of

scholars and researchers for the field These criteria cover on three main themes

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Chapter 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The third chapter presents methodology for conducting the research, in which research method for carrying out the study, research design including evaluated textbook, and participants taking part in the process, instrument for drawing out data, and data collection are mentioned in sequence

3.1 Research method

In order to know if the ESP textbook in terms of content and task-design/methodology correspond to the AFB learners’ features during the learning process, an investigation of the opinions and attitudes of the AFB learners and the ESP lecturers was conducted According to Isaac & Michael (1995), survey method could help researcher to “collect detailed factual information that describes existing phenomena”

(p 50)

3.2 Research design

The study took place at Accounting-Finance-Banking Faculty of Ho chi Minh City Open University located at 11 Doan Van Bo Street District 4 Ho Chi Minh City, and investigated the values of the ESP textbook in terms of content and task-design in accordance with the AFB learners’ features on two main subjects The first one was the target ESP textbook; the second ones are respondents

3.2.1 Evaluated textbook

As mentioned in chapter one, the evaluated textbook was entitled: “English for International Banking and Finance”’, written by Jim Corbett, and published in 1990 by Cambridge University Press Although its whole package includes three components: a Student’s Book, a Guide for Teachers, and a Cassette, the research

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focused mainly on analyzing the design of the Student’s book in terms of content and task-design/methodology since it was primarily used in the classes The textbook

|

; Consists of nine thematically linked units Each of them is then divided into four | sections The first three of which are performed in spoken language; and the last one is

in written form

3.2.2 Respondents of the study

There were total 280 participants joining the investigation; among these, 271 of them were learners of AFB Faculty and other 9 people were the Faculty of Foreign Languages’ ESP teaching staff It meant that the survey was carried with two main groups of participants

Because of the time when the target textbook has being applied into the teaching and learning process at the AFB faculty and time schedule for carrying out the ESP subject at the place for many school years (that was; they started the ESP course at the third semester of the four-year course, and finished it within three semesters or at the fifth semester of the whole course), the learners involving in the study were different from others in terms of time to deal with the subject at the school Specifically, some learners have currently used the book in their subject learning; some have just finished the course even though they were at the school; and some had studied it before graduating from the university

Consequently, in order to find out whether the learners satisfied with the use of

the textbook in their learning process; what advantage and disadvantage that the book brought to them during the time they dealt with, and if it was practically used or not, the study carried out the survey in the three typical groups of learners Generally speaking, the first group of participants was sub-divided into three small groups corresponding to the three classes of learners

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ones And the last one comprised 6 graduates who used to cope with the textbook when they were students at the faculty

The second primary group of participants comprised 9 teachers; among those, five people were males; especially one out of the five people, a lecturer and leader of the ESP subject was in charge of choosing the textbook for teaching and learning process; and the rest of them were females Their ages were about 35 to 68; all of

them have taught general English for more than ten years Moreover, some of them

got experiences in teaching ESP for many years before being in charge of the subject at the Faculty of Foreign Languages Three of the lecturers took BA and MBA degrees; meanwhile, the majority of them were M.A only In general, all of them have used the textbook mentioned in the teaching situation for many years; therefore, their comments would provide some more information relating to the use of the textbook at the faculty, and at the same time confirm the given information from the learners

All the participants were conveniently chosen from the population because the researcher could not contact with classes where students were studying their F1/ F2/F3 and F4 (finished) ESP sections The reason was that the research was carried out when AFB students were going to complete their first semester of the 2010-2011 school year; most of classes finished their teaching and learning program for the semester, including ESP subject, hence there just remained some classes in the school at the time when the investigation was taken place As a result, the researcher by accident contacted with lecturers of four AFB classes where students were going to complete first semester of their second/third school-year at university, in which one class was studying their F1 ESP class; one class was learning their F2 ESP class; and the other two classes were studying their professional subjects at their third and four school

years

Receiving agreement of authority of AFB faculty, the researcher tried to ask for 200 graduates’ permission to send questionnaire through email by mobile phone 50 of them accepted the demand; however, there were 6 of them replied the email at last

Finally, the researcher also had chance to communicate with the teaching staff due to the support of Faculty of Foreign Language’s secretary

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It was important to notice that the number of participants between sub-groups ‘was not the same However, the thesis would like to find their common ideas and attitudes of those about the textbook use in specific issues, but not compare their responses In other words, all of their ideas were used in the sense of supporting each other in drawing out the answers for matters

In general, although the fact that the sample took about one seventh amount of learners who has been learning the subject at the school which could be hardly generalized to the ideas of the whole, the number of people could inform the study for the phenomenon about the ESP teaching and learning situation with the use of the target textbook

3.2.3 Instruments

The researcher used questionnaire as a main instrument to collect the data because it suited the study’s aim of getting amount of information for particular issues from large number of participants within quite short time

In order to rank the participants’ level of satisfaction for each issue, the answers for closed questions was rated by scale invented by Likert There were five levels in the scale: (1) strongly disagree; (2) disagree to some extent; (3) be acceptable; (4) agree to some extent; and (5) strongly agree In addition, some open- ended questions were added for the respondents to fill out their own opinions for particular points

Beside the main tool, structured interviews were also employed on some AFB learners, lecturers, and administrator in order to take the participants’ deeply comments about the issues which may be hard or inconvenient for them to express

those in written form

Textbook analysis was also involved in collecting related information about the target textbook

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‘There were four sets of questionnaire (see Appendix 2 on page 83-104), specified from the checklist for in-depth ESP textbook evaluation (see Appendix 1 on page 81- 82) which was extracted and redesigned from the framework for in-depth ESP textbook evaluation of the study (see figure 2.4 on page 26) The first two ones were for current and former learners, and graduates; the last two ones were just used as ‘questions that guided the structured interview were for lecturers, and administrator

Each of the sets covered three main themes corresponding to three main

components of the framework; however, not all of the criteria existed in the theoretical

‘ guideline were transferred to checklist because some of the points the researcher could evidently find for information through analyzing the target textbook and related documentation taken from the faculties and/or draw out from the responses of the same topic of discussion They consisted of future working environment, time for the textbook to be applied into the teaching, information about what to teach and test, interested level of topics, informative support (from texts), illustrations, the balance distribution of linguistic knowledge and language skills, degree of complexity, and gradation in content of the textbook, variety and well organization of tasks

In the sets of questionnaire, general issues about the ESP textbook directly related to learners’ factors were included They were about professional background knowledge in their mother tongue, language level before studying the subject by the textbook, goals of learning professional knowledge in the second language, linguistic knowledge, and language skills

Then issues about the correspondence between the learners’ learning needs and the textbook’s content were mentioned The accordance was explored in three aspects The first element was about texts divided into three sub-matters: (1) topics for ESP texts consisting of their relevance to the learners’ professional knowledge and variety; (2) contents of ESP texts including ways in organizing texts in terms of coherence and cohesion, suitability to learners’ level (background knowledge, language proficiency, and length, and (3) authenticity of ESP texts comprising up-dated information, real life reflection, social aspects, and cultural aspects

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The second facet was about linguistic aspects including grammar, pronunciation, and new professional words And the last one was about language skills (four integrated skills);

Finally, information about the textbook’s task-design that closely link to 3Ps (presentation, practice, and production) stages was informed The first one was the j design of pre-task in ESP textbook where ideas about what are going to learn are | shaped in the learners’ concept Then the issues about design of whilst-task in ESP textbook were asked for information about professional knowledge, linguistic aspects, llingiage skills, and strategies for doing each of the section Finally, the design of task “for production stage was concerned: controlled practice, and free practice

Although all the four sets of questionnaires focused on the same three main themes as mentioned in the previous part of this chapter, the specific questions of each themes for each set were slightly different from each other because of the participants’ typical roles in handling the subject in general and the textbook in particular

For the questionnaire to current and former learners, first of all the matters about the correspondence between the textbook and their typical characteristics in learning the subject were mentioned Then, their expectations for texts to be, and learning needs for linguistic knowledge and language skills were asked After all, they were asked if the tasks in the textbook were easy for them to do, and helped them to explore information from the texts, and improve, practice, and gain strategies in doing all language aspects and language skills; and used the skills in reality

The second set of questionnaire shared the same issues with the first one at the first two themes However, for the last one, graduates were asked about the ways the tasks should be in their opinions in order to get strategies in doing all language skills

sections