Lectures and students evaluations on the coursebook international express pre intermediate second edition a thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of

Today there are a wide range of different off-the-shelf English language teaching coursebooks published, thus teachers should find the one the best suitable the learners’ needs and goals

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

HO CHI MINH CITY OPEN UNIVERSITY

-

NGUYỄN NGỌC BẢO CHÂU

LECTURERS’ AND STUDENTS’ EVALUATIONS

ON THE COURSEBOOK INTERNATIONAL EXPRESS

PRE-INTERMEDIATE – SECOND EDITION

Major: TEACHING ENGLISH TO SPEAKERS OF OTHER LANGUAGES Major code: 60140111

MASTER OF ARTS IN TESOL

Supervisor: Assoc Prof Dr PHAM VU PHI HO

HO CHI MINH City, 2016

i

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP

I certify that this thesis entitled “Lecturers’ and Students’ Evaluation on the

coursebook International Express – Pre-intermediate - Second Edition” is my own

work

Except where reference is made in the text of the thesis, this thesis does not contain material published elsewhere or extracted in whole or in part from a thesis by which

I have qualified for or been awarded another degree or diploma

No other person’s work has been used without due acknowledgement in the main text of the thesis

This thesis has not been submitted for the award of any degree or diploma in any other tertiary institution

Ho Chi Minh City, 2016

Nguyen Ngoc Bao Chau

ii

RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS

I hereby stated that, I, Nguyen Ngoc Bao Chau, being the candidate for the degree

of Master of TESOL, accept the requirements of the University relating to the retention and use of Master’ Thesis deposited in the Library

In terms of these conditions, I agree that the original of my thesis deposited in the Library should be accessible for the purposes of study and research, in accordance with the normal conditions established bu the Library for care, loan, or reproduction

of thesis

Ho Chi Minh City, 2016

Nguyen Ngoc Bao Chau

iii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First of all, I would like to express my appreciation to my first thesis supervisor Dr Nguyen Thi Boi Hoang for her guidance, sincere advice and encouragement from the beginning of thesis progression However, because of some objective reasons, she left Vietnam since the middle of 2015 and could not continuously support me to the end

In addition, my deepest gratitude goes to my present thesis supervisor, Dr Pham Vu Phi Ho, who provided me invaluable thoughtful comments, and helpful instruction on how to conduct an effective thesis writing Without his support and wholehearted guidance, I could not have finished my thesis

Next, I am also grateful to all lecturers for their helpful instruction during the Master course as well as the staff of Graduate School, at Ho Chi Minh City Open University, for their kindly assistance

My honest thanks go to Ms Ngo Thi Thanh Van, The Director of TOEIC Center, Ton Duc Thang University for her support and all the colleagues who are the lecturers of English language at TOEIC Center, as well as students at Ton Duc Thang University, for their contribution, enthusiastic engagement in the survey and interviews

I would like to thank my classmates of TESOL 7 who provide me a number

of sincere advice and share with me a lot of knowledge and learning experience during the course Without their helps, I think I could have never been completed the courses

Last but not least, I would like to express my gratitude to my family for their spiritual as well as material supports, especially, my husband who has supported me

a great deal in conducting a thesis study

iv

ABSTRACT

Textbooks play a vital role in language teaching program A textbook may serve as a main tool for teacher to convey language knowledge to EFL learners Nevertheless, it is obvious that no textbook can perfectly suit a language teaching context as well as fit learners’ needs and interests Therefore, many theorists have developed checklists and principles for textbook evaluation

The present study aims at evaluating coursebook International Express – Pre-intermediate - Second Edition, used at TOEIC Center, Ton Duc Thang

University The purpose of this study is to investigate lecturers’ and students’s perception toward this coursebook 304 students and 50 lecturers comprising males and females participated in this study The instrument employed in the study was a textbook evaluation questionnaire adapted and modified from a variety checklist and a semi-structured interviews with ten lecturers and ten students The 45 questionnaire items using 5-point Likert scale rating from “1=not al all” to “5=very much” was employed to elicit participants’ evaluation on four main categories of the coursebook including Content, Tasks and activities, Layout and design as well

as Overall assessment

Descriptive statistics was carried out to interpret the quantitative data by utilizing mean and standard deviation The quantitative data from the interview were transcribed and grouped into themes for interpretation The findings showed that most lecturers and students have similar opinions with regard to the strengths and weaknesses of the coursebook Regarding the positive features, the finding indicated that the layout and design of the coursebook are effective organized for a convenience of use Furthermore, the grammar is contextualized in meaningful context for learners to work out rules Last but not least, the reading and listening texts are almost taken form authentic source to help students relate the language in real world context

v

Despite the strong points, the coursebook also have some weaknesses First and foremost, the topics in coursebook are not diverse, up-to-date and interesting to appeal students’ interest Next, listening and reading texts are too lengthy and often accompanied with challenging tasks Moreover, tasks are not effective in terms of provide students with opportunities to produce meaningful practice or relate the language they acquire to their real life In addition, the supplementary materials inadequately support lecturers and students in teaching and learning process Finally, the coursebook does not really correspond to the goal and objectives of learning courses

Based on the finding, it is suggested that lecturers should make a great deal

of modification to make the lessons more interesting and appropriate to learner needs and levels Overall, the coursebook did not serve both learners’ needs and the course goal; therefore, the educators or curriculum developers should consider changing another coursebook more suitable to satisfy learners’ needs

vi

TABLE OF CONTENTS

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP i

RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS ii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iii

ABSTRACT iv

TABLE OF CONTENTS vi

LIST OF FIGURES x

LIST OF TABLES xi

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS xii

CHAPTER 1 - INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Background of the study 1

1.2 Statement of the problem 4

1.3 Aims of the study and Research Questions 8

1.4 Significance of the study 9

1.5 Overview of thesis chapter 9

CHAPTER 2 – LITERATURE REVIEW 10

2.1 Textbooks, coursebooks and instructional materials 10

2.1.1 Definitions of terms 10

2.1.2 The roles of coursebook in English language classroom 12

2.1.3 The pros and cons of coursebook 13

2.2 Coursebook evaluation 15

2.2.1 Definition of coursebook evaluation 15

2.2.2 The rationale for coursebook evaluation 16

2.2.3 Types of coursebook evaluation 18

2.3 Theoretical framework for coursebook evaluation 19

2.3.1 Language Content 21

2.3.1.1 Topic 21

2.3.1.2 Linguistic aspects 22

2.3.1.3 Language skills 24

vii

2.3.1.4 Language functions 26

2.3.2 Tasks and Activities 27

2.3.3 Layout and Design 31

2.3.4 Overall Assessments 32

2.4 Review of previous studies 34

2.4.1 Relevant studies on coursebook evaluation 34

2.4.2 Implication of the current study 47

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 48

3.1 Pedagogical setting and Participants 48

3.1.1 Pedagogical setting 48

3.1.2 Participants 49

3.1.2.1 Lecturers 49

3.1.2.2 Students 50

3.2 Research method 52

3.3 The coursebook International Express – pre-intermediate, second edition and learning outcomes of the course Communicative English 1 and 2 53

3.3.1 The coursebook International Express – pre-intermediate, second edition 53

3.3.2 Learning outcomes of the course Communicative English 1 and 2 55

3.4 Instruments 55

3.4.1 Questionnaires 56

3.4.2 Interviews 64

3.5 Procedures of data collection 65

3.5.1 Procedure of administrating the questionnaires 65

3.5.1.1 Administration of the questionnaires to lecturers: 66

3.5.1.2 Administration of the questionnaires to students: 66

3.5.2 Procedure of conducting interviews 67

3.5.2.1 Lecturers’ interview 68

3.5.2.2 Students’ interview 68

3.6 Data analyses 69

3.6.1 Analyses of data from the questionnaire 69

3.6.2 Analyses of data from the interviews 70

viii

3.7 Summary of the chapter 71

CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 72

4.1 Demographic profile of participants 72

4.2 Lecturers’ and students’ perceptions towards the coursebook International Express 75

4.2.1 Research question 1: 75

4.2.1.1 Evaluation on the content provided in the coursebook 77

4.2.1.2 Evaluation on Tasks and activities provided in the coursebook 91

4.2.1.3 Evaluation on Layout and design of the coursebook 95

4.2.1.4 Overall assessments of the coursebook 98

4.2.2 Research question 2: 115

4.2.2.1 Lecturers’ responses on aspects of the coursebook that need improving 116

4.2.2.2 Students’ responses on aspects of the coursebook that need improving 121

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSIONS 123

5.1 Summary of the findings 123

5.1.1 Research question 1 123

5.1.2 Research question 2 125

5.2 Implication of the current study 126

5.3 Limitations of the study 126

5.4 Recommendations for further research 127

REFERENCES 128

APPENDICES 133

APPENDIX 1 - INFORMATION SHEET AND CONSENT FORM FOR LECTURERS 134

APPENDIX 2 - INFORMATION SHEET AND CONSENT FORM FOR STUDENTS 137

APPENDIX 3 - SURVEY QUESTIONAIRRE FOR COURSEBOOK EVALUATION 140

APPENDIX 4 - SURVEY QUESTIONAIRRE FOR LECTURERS 146

ix

APPENDIX 5 - SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS 151

APPENDIX 6 - INTERVIEW QUESTIONS FOR STUDENTS 157

APPENDIX 7 - INTERVIEW QUESTIONS FOR LECTURERS 157

APPENDIX 8 - SUMMARY OF INTERVIEWS WITH LECTURERS 158

APPENDIX 9 - SUMMARY OF INTERVIEW WITH STUDENTS 173

x

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 2.1 Theoretical framework for an evaluation of the coursebook International Express 34 Figure 3.1: Layout of a one-page questionnaire showing the placement of

demographic information, closes-ended items and open-ended items (Griffee,

2012p 137) 59

xi

LIST OF TABLES

Table 3.1: Reliability analysis of scales 63

Table 4.1 Demographic Profile of the Lecturers 72

Table 4.2 Demographic Profile of Students 74

Table 4.3 Evaluation on the topics 78

Table 4.4 Evaluation on grammar 82

Table 4.5 Evaluation on vocabulary 84

Table 4.6 Evaluation on pronunciation 85

Table 4.7 Evaluation on language skills 88

Table 4.8 Evaluation on language functions 90

Table 4.9 Evaluation on tasks and activities 92

Table 4.10 Evaluation on layout and design 96

Table 4.11 Overall assessments on the coursebook 98

Table 4.12 Comparison of lecturers’ and students’ evaluation on the content of the coursebook 101

Table 4.13 Comparison of lecturers’ and students’ evaluation on tasks/ activities and supplementary materials 106

Table 4.14 Lecturers’ and students’ responses to the coverage of linguistic aspects 109

Table 4.15 Lecturers’ and students’ responses to the coverage of language skills 111 Table 4.16 Evaluation on the design of teaching- skills methods 113

Table 4.17 Lecturers’ and students’ preference of teaching-skills methods 113

Table 4.18 Evaluation on the inclusion of the vocabulary list or glossary 114

Table 4.19 Assessment of aspects in the coursebook that need improving 116

xii

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

CE: Communicative English

EFT: English as a Foreign Language

ELT: English Language Teaching

ESP: English for Specific Purposes

IE: International Express

TTC: TOEIC Center

TDTU: Ton Duc Thang University

1

CHAPTER 1 - INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background of the study

The demand of learning English in Vietnam has become more popular and important, especially, when the country join the World Trade Organization At the time, Vietnamese people learn English for a variety of purposes They acquire a language other than their mother tongue for their interests, the need of communication, and for self-promotion, especially, to university students, they learn

in order to pass the high-school graduation exam and entrance university exam as; they also learn English because of their job requirements, and so on

With such a great need, the selection of an appropriate English coursebook for teaching and learning is not any easier for educators, syllabus designers or curriculum developers Tok (2010) cites that textbooks play a prominent role in the teaching /learning process and they are the primary agents of conveying the knowledge to the learners Besides, one of the basic functions of textbooks is to make the existence knowledge available and apparent to the learner in a selected, easy and organized way

Today there are a wide range of different off-the-shelf English language teaching coursebooks published, thus teachers should find the one the best suitable the learners’ needs and goals (Frendo, 2005) In addition, Bao Dat (2008) reveals that teachers of English in Vietnam taking part in his interviews could list 37 titles from Oxford and Cambridge publisher alone In fact, walking along some bookstores, people can easily find a great deal of English coursebooks for variety of English learners at every level from beginner to advance Therefore, the question of how to choose a good coursebook for each language learning course asks educators and syllabus designers to take a thorough and consideration assessment As proposed by Harmer (2007), a good coursebook is prepared to provide a coherent syllabus, appropriate language control, motivating texts, audio cassetts/ CDs, video/

2

DVD material, CD-ROMs and other supplementary materials Besides, they reduce teachers’ time and pressure for preparing the lesson Moreover, the teacher’s guides not only provide the procedures for each lesson but also design extra activities, tasks and offer other resources

There are generally two ways to select a coursebook First, it is chosen by collecting ideas of a group of teachers and students after they have highlighted all the strengths and weaknesses of some possible books as well as the needs of learners to ensure the coursebook could match their needs The second one, however, is a more common way in which teachers or the school/ institute do the selection for their learners themselves (Frendo, 2005) Consequently, when the needs and interests of learners are not highlighted in textbook selection progress, learners may feel demotivated and uninteresting in language learning program In this regards, Tomlinson (2013b) stresses that in materials selection process, the most important thing need executing is analyzing learner needs and interests as well

as considering the way these factors are addressed Similarly, Dang Tieu Yen (2005) also argues that choosing a material from a wide range of sources should be based on its curricular framework and students’ interests In addition, Garinger (2012) presents that “prior to selecting a textbook, educators should thoroughly examine the program curriculum If the goals and curriculum of the program are clear and well defined, the parallels with certain textbooks may become obvious”

Despites the fact that textbook plays a prominent role in ELT context, it is believed that no textbook is perfect (William, 1983; Sheldon, 1988) Likewise, Richards (2006, p 257) also claims that “no commercial textbook will ever be perfect for a language program” Because no textbook can fully satisfy all teaching-learning contexts, it is advisable for educators or syllabus designers to do an evaluation, in order to assess their suitability and relevance for a particular group of learners To do so, teachers should engage their learners’ as well as colleagues’ in the process of selection and evaluation to obtain their attitudes and perceptions

3

towards the coursebook According to Ansary and Babaii (2002) teachers, students, and administers are all consumers of textbooks; thus all three groups may have different points of view about what a good or standard textbook is In this regards, Richards (2006) suggests that one should consider the three main factors before evaluating one coursebook: (i) the role of the textbook in the program, (ii) the teachers in the program, and (iii) the learners in the program

As indicated by Zohrabi, Sabouri and Behroozian (2012), “the basic purpose

of evaluation in school is to bring about quality improvement in education by providing feedback regarding pupils learning, classroom teaching, appropriateness

of curriculum and course content” In general, to make teaching and learning successfully and effectively, educators must be aware of the objectives of the curriculum as well as learners’ needs in the program Consequently, obtaining teachers’ and learners’ attitudes provides a very useful source of information for both administrators and teacher themselves to adapt the textbooks flexibly and successfully so that teachers can improve their teaching and learners’ learning

Although there are no consensus on these checklists, they generally propose framework, guidance and criticism for an in-depth judgement the language teaching materials In addition, many authors and researchers have applied these proposals for evaluating coursebook

Riasati and Zare (2010) conducted a study on EFL Teachers’ Perspectives on

“New Interchange” by using Litz (2005)’s checklist and concluded that most teachers have similar opinions with regard to the effectiveness and suitability of the series Tok (2010) evaluated the advantages and disadvantages of “Spot On” and claimed that negative attributes far out-weighed the positive characteristics Haghverdi and Gahsemi (2012) conducted an a study on textbook evaluation to explore pedagogic values of “American English File” and indicated that both experts and teachers agreed that the course book series are in alignment with the goals presented by its authors Al-sowat (2012) evaluated textbook "Say It In

4

English" by using a questionnaire adapted from many checklists and showed that there were statistically significant differences between the views of male and female teachers referred to gender in favor of female teachers Ahour and Ahmadi (2012) conducted a study to evaluate textbook “Summit 2B” with both teachers and students by employing Doaud and Celce-Murcia (1979)’s checklist and indicated that there are some problems related to the criteria of vocabulary and structure, and physical make-up in relation to the over-loaded pages

In Vietnamese ELT context, studies conducted on coursebook evaluation are quite limited Nguyen Thi Thuy Minh (2007) evaluated a new series of English textbooks including English 10, English 11, and English 12 developed by the Ministry of Education and Training of Vietnam (MOET) by applying Cunningsworth (1995)’s checklists and concluded that shortcomings might have made the books less communicative than they would have been expected and intended to be Similarly, Le Hoang Kim (2011) also used Cunningsworth (1995)’s checklist to evaluate an ESP coursebook used for students majoring in accounting, financing, and banking at Ho Chi Minh City Open University and revealed that the book does not match learner needs and level, and it should be replaced by another course book that can meet learner needs In addition, Tran Thi Kim Trang (2013) employed Huchinson and Waters (1987)’s framework an evaluation of Pharmaceutical English Textbook at Phuong Nam Vocational College and illustrated that the textbook does not fit learner needs and contains several limitation that need improving

1.2 Statement of the problem

First, it is widely seen that most of the instructional materials in the program are recommended textbooks and chosen in accordance with the requirement of the university teaching plan (Duong, 2005) She also documents that textbooks are almost written by native English speakers for EFL learners and this results in large

5

gaps between the materials written and the actual needs of learners and teachers According to a confidential research project conducted for a major publisher, Tomlinson (2008, p 3) presents that “many English language teaching materials are designed for teaching English rather than for learning it” He also clarifies that ELT materials presently is one of contribution to the failure of ESL and EFL leaners because they primarily focus on the teaching of language items rather than on the provision of opportunities for language acquisition and development

Second, the issue of developing ELT materials is especially concerned by Tomlinson (2013a) when there have been a numerous of materials published recently He reveals that almost experienced writers depend on their intuitions about what they believe useful and necessary and provide the content and activities in their repertoire that is supposed to match their objectives, but the theories of language teaching and learning or principle of materials development In addition, Richard (2006) also reveals that the development of commercial textbook is frequently affected by the interest of either authors or publisher

The author is generally hopeful that the book will be successful and make a financial profit because a large investment of the author’s personal time and effort

is involved The publisher is primarily motivated by financial success However, in order to achieve a profit, publishers generally recognize that a book must have qualities of excellent that will distinguish it from its competitors (Richard, 2006, p 257)

Due to restrictions of coursebook development, “doing an objective evaluation and gathering feedback may help the decision-making process the next time a course in run This evaluation should take into account both the teacher’s and learners’ perspectives” (Frendo, 2005, p 46) Today, most teachers or curriculum developers, however, originally evaluate the coursebook they are about to used or being used intuitively; they can figure the merits and demerits of the coursebook without doing any assessment In fact, since textbook are an essential component in

6

language teaching, and no textbook can fully satisfy the teaching requirement in all context, it is important to subject the textbooks in use to evaluation, in order to assess their suitability and relevance for a particular group of leaners in a specific ELT context

Third, in Vietnam ELT context, the field of textbook evaluation so far is under-researched while the industry of ELT materials publishing is growing dramatically Moreover, ELT materials have rarely selected with a consideration of learner needs and interests before a course starts Instead, the school or institutions tend to choose a coursebook they believe appropriate and can serve learner needs without doing an evaluation

Moreover, with regards to the coursebooks International Express, they have been widely using in some English language centers and universities in Vietnam For instance, by 2015, Center for Foreign Language of Ho Chi Minh city University

of Pedagogy and Hanoi University of Science and Technology had used the coursebooks International Express for classes of General English and Communicative English Cao Thang College of Technology has also been using International Express for their ELT programs Although the series of coursebook International Express have been used popularly, there were few studies conducted

to evaluate this series as well as to investigate the perceptions of teachers and learners using them

Similarly, at Ton Duc Thang University (TDTU), since TOEIC Center (TTC) was founded in 2011, the series of coursebook International Express - Second Edition including levels of Elementary, Pre-intermediate and Intermediate (Keith Harding and Liz Taylor, 2005) have been using in the course of Communicative English for students of all majors except for those majoring in English and Chinese-English Nevertheless, there had not been any evaluation conducted at TDTU to examine the strong and weak points of International Express

or to acquire lecturers and learners’ perceptions before

7

In addition, in 2014, after about 1 year teaching at TTC, the researcher had noticed there were a number of complaints from lecturers and learners on the coursebook International Express – New Edition regarding its content such as lengthy and difficult listening texts, too much vocabulary and uninteresting topics, and so on Moreover, students attending these courses were not really motivated and interested in English language learning In fact, they were usually absent from classes as much as they can and inattentive in learning With regard to this issue, the researcher assumed that the content of training program or the materials perhaps were not appropriate to what students expected in an English language course Therefore, the researcher conducted some short personal communications with lecturers and students overhere to get their general ideas towards the coursebook in use

It was revealed that most students and lecturers agreed the coursebook International Express are more suitable with adults or working people who already have experience and skills in doing business rather than students at university level

In addition, experienced lecturers also presents that though students can achieve the required scores of TOEIC test and pass their training course, they remained unable

to apply linguistics knowledge and skills, especially speaking and writing skills into real life communication on a daily basis Lecturers and students assumed that language of the coursebook is higher than their English language proficiency and the cultural content is far different from Vietnamese culture, thus they were not really inspiring to get students involved in the lessons In addition, lecturers showed that since they were not given any teacher’s book, they could not exploit the coursebook effectively with more extra activities, useful instructions and techniques

Thus, to fill the gap in this field, this study was conducted in an attempt to explore lecturers’ and learners’ evaluation towards the coursebook International Express – pre- intermediate as well as to examine the appropriate of the book in accordance with learner needs and the learning outcomes of the course This

8

objective evaluation was based on the responses of users towards four main categories: Content including Topic, Linguistic aspects, Language skills, and Language functions; Tasks and Activities; Layout and Design as well as Overall Assessments The present study hopefully can acquire some recommendations for

an improvement of the coursebooks in order meet learn needs and interests in teaching context at TDTU

It should be clarified that after the researcher decided to conduct this evaluation, TOEIC Center have made some changes in coursebook selection Particularly, the coursebooks of level elementary and intermediate were replaced by other EFL coursebooks Nevertheless, until now, the coursebook International Express – pre-intermediate has been being used for teaching classes of Communicative English 1 and 2

1.3 Aims of the study and Research Questions

The primary concern of the present study was to investigate perceptions of lecturers and learners towards the coursebook International Express - pre-intermediate regarding it Content; Tasks and Activities; Layout and Design as well

as Overall Assessments In addition, shortcomings of coursebooks International Express was investigated in accordance with learner needs and interests Last but not least, the study tried to explore useful recommendations to improve the quality

of English training at TDTU

To this end, the study aimed to seek the possible answers for the following research questions:

1 What are lecturers’ and students’ perceptions towards the coursebook

International Express – pre-intermediate employed at TOEIC Center, TDTD?

2 Which aspects in the coursebook need improving to meet learner needs and interests?

9

1.4 Significance of the study

The findings of the study may help both the administrators, and teachers have an overview of the strengths and weaknesses of the coursebook International Express so that they can adapt the books more effectively in their educational setting and to meet the objectives of the course and learners’ needs Consequently, the results might be beneficial for all users including lecturers and students, as well

as the curriculum developers, policy makers in selecting or developing an ELT coursebook Last but not least, the study is expected to make a little contribution to the field of evaluating ELT materials in Vietnamese context

1.5 Overview of thesis chapter

The thesis study consists of five chapter Chapter one aims at introducing the background of study as well as the rationale, purposes for conducting the study In this chapter, the two research questions which the study set out to answer was also addressed Chapter two aims to provide a theoretical framework for an evaluation of coursebooks together with the reviews of previous studies in textbook evaluation Chapter three presents pedagogical setting, samples, the methods, the instruments for collecting the data to answer the research questions Next, chapter four appears

to present the results and interpretation in relation to the research questions Finally, chapter five occurs to summarize the findings based on the results of previous chapter, along with the implication and some recommendation for further research

10

CHAPTER 2 – LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter aimed at providing a critical review and analysis of the literature relevant to coursebook evaluation To this end, the researcher defined some concepts of coursebook, coursebook evaluation, as well as summarized roles, advantages and disadvantaged of coursebook in ELT context Additionally, the importance and types of coursebook evaluation were presented in relation to the present study Moreover, the conceptual framework as well as criteria for evaluating coursebook was addressed in this chapter Last but not least, in order to examine the gap and similarities as well as differences in previous research, the literature of relevant studies was also reviewed in latter part of this chapter

2.1 Textbooks, coursebooks and instructional materials

2.1.1 Definitions of terms

Textbook is “a book on a specific subject used as a teaching learning guide, especially in a school or college Textbooks for foreign language learning are often part of a graded series covering multiple skills (listening, reading, writing, speaking, grammar) or deal with a single skill (e.g reading)”, while coursebook, “in language teaching, is a book (usually as part of a series of books) that contains all the materials necessary for a particular type of language learner at a particular level (e.g intermediate level adults) Such a book is typically based on an integrated or multi-skills syllabus i.e one that contains sections on grammar functions, vocabulary, listening, speaking, reading and writing” (Richards and Schmidt, 2002,

p 129, 550) From these explanations, it can be revealed that either are parts of a series which contain linguistic content and language skills and serve as a syllabus for a language course Regarding these terms, nevertheless, whether there are any precise differences between them in ELT context

11

Usually, textbook is produced by a commercial publisher, a Ministry of Education or a large institution (e.g university language centre, private language school chain) and they are normally supplemented by other materials such as teacher’s guides, a student’s workbook, tests, visual aids, a reader, audio/ video materials, computer-based exercise materials However, the modern textbook at present normally referred to a “coursebook” because it tends to be used as the foundation for a language course (McGrath, 2013) In fact, though many people

have tried to distinguish the terms of coursebook versus textbook, Richards (Course

book versus Textbook, n.d.) states that there is no clear distinction between the two terms for teaching second or foreign language and both terms can also be used interchangably

In addition, the two terms are included as a key element in the broader concept, “instructional materials” As Thornbury (2006, p 127) defines, “materials

in the language classroom include anything that is used to support the learning process This includes coursebooks, workbooks, visual aids, charts, board games, audio and video materials as well as the software that is run by computers, data projectors and interactive whiteboards” Similarly, Richards (2006) provides a more detailed of instructional materials in which he stresses on the roles of textbooks, a paramount element in language training

“Teaching materials are a key component I most language programs Whether the teacher uses textbook, institutionally prepared materials or his or her own materials, instructional materials generally serve as the basis for much of the language input learners receive and the language practice that occurs in the classroom In the case

of inexperienced teachers, materials may also serve as a form of teacher training – they provide ideas on how to plan and teach lessons as well as formats that teachers can use” (p 251)

The coursebook, according to Ur (2012) is as the basis for a course, whether

it is a traditional paper book or an online/ digital course materials Thornbury (2006) explains that the coursebook itself consists of both written and spoken texts,

12

with accompanying tasks and exercises, presentation of language components and skills, and often supported with supplementary materials such as audio materials, photocopiable resource pack and CD-ROM of extra activities

Overall, in this regards, the term instructional materials including printed materials such as coursebooks/ textbooks, workbooks, teacher’s handouts, or worksheets and nonprint materials such as audio/ video materials, computer-based materials or materials on the Internet that provide the basis content of the lesson, the balance of language skills and the language practice for their users (Richards, 2006) Moreover, in the present study, the terms textbook and coursebook can be used interchangeably because both are the key component that provides systematical language knowledge for students well as methodology and training guidance for teachers in a language course

2.1.2 The roles of coursebook in English language classroom

In any language teaching context, coursebook plays a vital role of transferring knowledge to learners systematically and it serves as a syllabus for a specific learning objective and provide less experience teachers with instruction, guidance and the methodology underlying in their teaching progress

"The textbook is an almost universal element of English language teaching Millions of copies are sold every year, and numerous aid projects have been set up

to produce them in various countries… No teaching-learning situation, it seems, is complete until it has its relevant textbook" (Hutchinson and Torres, 1994)

As revealed by Cunningsworth (1995), in English language teaching, coursebook plays as many roles such as a resource for presentation materials (spoken and written), a source of activities for learners practice and communicative interaction, a reference source for learners on program, grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation and so on, a source of stimulation and ideas for classroom activities, a syllabus (where they reflect learning objectives that have already been determined);, and a support for less experienced teachers who have yet to gain in confidence

13

Riasati and Zare (2010) underline a crucial role of coursebook and agree that it is the second important factor in the second/foreign language classroom compared to the teacher and an importantly supporting tool for teachers Similarly, a coursebook provides a structure for teacher to monitor the lesson and it is a social interaction and a basis tools for negotiation between all the relevant parties (Hutchinson and Torres, 1994) Nevertheless, the responsibility of teachers is to understand not only

how to use it, but also how effective it can be

Regarding the role of coursebooks towards learners, it is stated that one of the major functions of textbooks is to make the existence knowledge available and obvious to the learner in a logical and easy way (Tok, 2010) Furthermore, Harmer (2007) documents that students can use coursebooks as organized resources to review and reinforce their learning Their visual and topics appeal can make a powerfully engaging effect; consequently, students can develop their autonomy learning and improve their linguistics knowledge and skills In addition to providing linguistic and topical contents, a coursebook can be a major resource of cultural aspects which necessarily reflect the ideology inherent in the ELT context (Wen-Chen, Chien-Hung, and Chung-Chieh, 2011)

2.1.3 The pros and cons of coursebook

It is presented that textbooks can provide novice teachers who have less teaching experience with guidance in course and activity to ensure a consistency structure and logical progression in class (Wen-Cheng et al., 2011) Moreover, it can satisfy learner’s needs or expectations of having something concrete to work from and take home for further study and provide them with multiple resources such

as audio CDs, videos, self-study workbooks and the like

As revealed, coursebooks own advantages as follows: reducing the time for teachers to create lessons for every class, providing a visible, coherent program of work for teachers who do not have much time and experience to design a coherent learning program, providing supports such as teaching methodology or procedures

14

to accomplish tasks for teachers, especially, those who are untrained or inexperienced, a convenient source for learners to preview and review what is studied in class, conveying cultural information via colour, photographs, cartoons, magazine-style formats, and providing a wide range of additional resources for both classroom use and self-access purposes (McGrath, 2013)

According to Ur (2009), a coursebook provides a clear framework and progress for teacher and learner In addition, it is used as a syllabus with systematically planned section of language Moreover, it provides ready-made texts and tasks fit to the level of learners and useful guidance for less experience teachers Last but not least, with a coursebook, learners can acquire new knowledge, review and manage their learning progress autonomously

Bao Dat (2008) uses the terms “imported coursebooks” or “foreign coursebooks” to refer to what elsewhere is known as “global coursebooks” Despite many advantages of global coursebook, he lists some common weaknesses as following First, instructions for classroom activities are not always easy for learners at a variety of English proficiency levels to understand Second, the cultural information and images about many cultures over the Anglo-Saxon and European world are often presents inaccurately In addition, learners feel demotivated and have few opportunities to express their identity due to the irrelevant content to their real life

Similarly, Ur (2009) also comments some weak points of a coursebook Firstly, no single coursebook can perfectly satisfy different learners’ needs Secondly, the topics of the coursebook may out-of-date rapidly or they may be uninteresting for learners Next, the cultural contents may be not appropriate for learners, which can make them become uncomfortable or uninterested in the lesson Finally, a coursebook may cause negative effects on teaching when teachers tend to follow it uncritically, hence they will limit their creativity and flexibility in the teaching process

15

In this regards, Richards (2006) documents some potential negative effects of coursebook as follows: (i) they may contain inauthentic language; (ii) they may distort content since they often present an idealized view of the world but fail to represent real issues; (iii) they may not reflect students’ needs and require adaptation since textbooks are often written for global markets; (iv) they can deskill teachers when teachers totally depend on the teaching manual and there role is merely to present materials prepared by textbook writers; (v) commercial textbooks may represent a financial burden for students in many parts of the world because they are costly

Due to the benefits and possible limitations of the coursebooks, they need evaluating by teachers themselves or curriculum developers Thanks to evaluation, they can seek out ways to make the coursebook appropriate with a particular language program such as adapting the coursebook itself or supplementing other related materials or suggesting suitable instruction to exploit them more effectively

2.2 Coursebook evaluation

2.2.1 Definition of coursebook evaluation

Sarem et al (2013) defines that evaluation is “the systematic gathering of information for purposed of making decisions through different instruments and from different sources” Based on the research results, this information then is interpreted to make important decisions through which teachers and curriculum developers can make an enhancement and satisfactory results of a course (Sarem et al., 2013)

Regarding textbook evaluation, it is an applied linguistic activity through which teachers, supervisors, administrators and materials developers can “make judgments about the effect of the materials on the people using them" (Tomlinson,

et al., 2001, cited in Azizifara et al., 2010)

16

Textbook evaluation requires not only teachers but also the policy makers or curriculum developers to be responsible for selecting a coursebook and adopting it

as well as identify the strengths and weaknesses of the coursebook in order to make

it fit to the needs of learners of a particular class Cunningsworth (1995) highlights that an inevitable evaluation will involve elements of comparison, especially when there are many coursebooks are considered for an adoption or when newly published coursebooks are challenging the existing coursebook For a comparative evaluation, a usual and formal procedure and a common set of criteria would be very helpful to make the process more objective and the results more reliable

2.2.2 The rationale for coursebook evaluation

The reasons for coursebook evaluation are varied Ellis (1997) states that textbook evaluation would help teacher a great deal in his/her development as well

as professional growth In addition, he claims that textbook evaluation helps teachers move beyond impressionistic assessments and it helps them to acquire useful, accurate, systematic, and contextual insights into the overall nature of textbook material In other words, textbook evaluation can be a worthwhile tool for conducting action research as well as a form of professional empowerment and

improvement Therefore, Litz (2005) concludes that textbook evaluation can

potentially be a particularly worthwhile means of conducting action research as well

as a form of professional empowerment and improvement

Similarly, Cunningsworth (1995) emphasizes that textbook evaluation can also be a valuable component of teacher training programs for it serves the dual purpose of making student teachers aware of important features to look for in textbooks while familiarizing them with a wide range of published language

instruction materials

Moreover, Sheldon (1988) argues that the whole business of product assessment is haphazard and under-researched despite the fact that ELT coursebook publishing is a multi-million pound industry In line with Sheldon argument,

17

Habtoor (2012) states that several textbooks are published annually over the world and a number of them are designed mainly for ESL/EFL situations This variation results in some confusion among teachers, especially those with little or no teaching experience; even experienced teachers might find it a challenging task to select a textbook for their target groups Therefore, selection and evaluation of textbooks are interrelated and considered a real problem for teachers and curriculum developers in language teaching contexts Those who are working in textbook selection should bear in mind the target learners’ needs and level as well, and a collective decision should be reached before prescribing a textbook” (Habtoor, 2012)

One of the major and frequent reasons for evaluating a coursebook is the need of adopting a new coursebook (Cunningworth, 1995) He also presents that the purpose of coursebook evaluation is to investigate the merits and demerits of a coursebook in use so that the instructors can make use of its strengths or to adapt the coursebook by supplementing other related materials Furthermore, Frendo (2005) and Sheldon (1988) agree that publishers sometimes ignore matters of cultural appropriacy and include assumptions about language learning which do not always match the teachers’ and learner’s perception of how best for language acquisition Besides, they are not always aware of the pedagogical implications of current theory and research in linguistics and language learning (Sheldon, 1988) Last but not least, any textbook should be employed sensibly, since it cannot match requirements of every classroom setting or learners’ needs (Ansary and Babaii, 2002) Consequently, teachers need to adjust, adapt or modify coursebooks to make them appropriate for a group of students

In conclusion, coursebook evaluation is a systematic process which is conducted mainly to investigates the appropriateness of an existing material, to demonstrate strengths and weaknesses of the coursebook; for the instructors and curriculum developers to make a decision about whether to adopt a new coursebook

or to modify others additional materials to enhance the teaching and learning context

18

Regarding the present study, the coursebook International Express – intermediate was evaluated because in Vietnam, there have been very few studies conducted to examine its pedagogic values or to investigate teachers’ and students’ perceptions towards this coursebook Furthermore, the ELT context at TDTU necessitates an objective evaluation of the coursebook in use so that the administrator, educators or curriculum developers can have an appropriate decision

pre-on how to adapt the coursebook or whether to change the coursebook to enhance the training quality and improve students’ foreign language proficiency

2.2.3 Types of coursebook evaluation

According to Cunningsworth (1995), and Tomlinson (2013), evaluation can

be divides into three types: "pre-use", "in-use" and "post-use" evaluation in which pre-use evaluation is the most difficult because it is conducted before the coursebook is used Thus, in this case the evaluators have to foresee the performance of the book in a course because at this stage, they do not have actual experience of using the coursebook In-use evaluation is a kind of evaluation to examine the coursebook which is currently being used This type of evaluations can bring the teacher and program designer the strengths and weaknesses of the coursebooks for a better adaption Post-use evaluation refers to an assessment of a coursebook’s performance over a period of continual use This kind of evaluation is helpful for teachers and curriculum developers in deciding whether to use the same textbook in the future or not

Similarly, Ellis (1997) proposed two types of evaluation: a predictive (or pre-use) evaluation designed to make a decision regarding what material is going to

be used for a course, and a retrospective (or post-use) evaluation designed to examine materials after they have actually been used

Regarding the aims of the study, the researcher utilized the post-use (restropective) evaluation to obtain perceptions of both lecturers and students who have been using the coursebook in order to examine the appropriateness of the book

19

with the course objectives as well as and learner needs Besides, thanks to this type

of evaluation, the researcher can find out recommendations or suggestions for the administrators to decide whether they should continually use the coursebooks or to utilize a new series for improving learner’s competence

2.3 Theoretical framework for coursebook evaluation

While the literature and conceptual framework in the field of coursebook evaluation is not substantial, various researchers and theorists have suggested evaluation checklists and criteria that can reflect the effectiveness and appropriateness of textbooks towards disparate context, to investigate whether they can satisfy the majority of users, and if they can fulfill the needs and objectives of a particular learning and teaching context However, it is believed that “though providing food for thought, checklists and questionnaires like these have probably had little real influence on textbook evaluation in terms of either ELT reviewing practice or educational decision making” (Sheldon, 1988)

Regarding the subject of textbook evaluation, William (1982), Sheldon (1988), Cunningsworth (1995), Litz (2005), and Ur (2012) all agree that the evaluation checklist should include some common criteria related to Layout and Physical make-up, Topics, Linguistic Contents, Language Skills, Exercises and Activities, Practical Concerns, and Aims/ Approaches

Daoud and Celce-Murcia (1979) recommend a coursebook evaluation checklist that involves evaluating Subject Matters, Vocabulary and Structure, Exercise, Ilustrations, and Physical make-up

Litz (2005) proposes a textbook evaluation questionnaire that contains seven categories such as Practical Consideration, Layout and Design, Activities, Skills, Language Type, Subject and Content, and Overall Consensus; while Wong (2009) divides the checklist into five domains: Linguistic Content, Other Content, Learner Concerns, Teacher Concerns and Practical Concerns

20

However, because of the cultural restriction and different teaching/ learning context, no global list of criteria can apply in most of local situation without a considerable modification (Sheldon, 1988) Likewise, Mukundan, Hajimohammadi and Nimehchisaleme (2011) concealed that “evaluative criteria of checklists should

be chosen according to the learning-teaching context and the specific needs of the learner and teacher” Therefore, teachers who intend to do a post-use evaluation of the textbooks should include local criteria in their checklist

Concerning the purpose of the proposed study as well as the design and content of coursebooks International Express – Pre-intermediate, the researcher evaluated the coursebook in terms of four main categories: (i) the Content which includes Topic, Linguistic aspects, Language skills, Language functions; (ii) Tasks and Activities; (iii) Layout and Design, and (iv) Overall Assessments

The theoretical framework for evaluating an EFL or ESL coursebook constructed was primarily based on the general guidelines and criteria identified by Cunningsworth (1995), and the principles of language acquisition, language teaching and learning as well as material development provided by Tomlinson (2011, 2012, 2013a, and 2013b) In addition, a useful framework suggested by Sheldon (1988) and theories for language teaching in the coursebook “A Course in Language Teaching” developed by Ur (2012) were employed for the construction Moreover, the theoretical and empirical bases of task-based language teaching in

Nunan (2004)’s coursebook (Task-based Language Teaching) was used for tasks

and activities assessment Last but not least, the theories and principles in related studies such as: Al-sowat (2012) on an evaluation of English language textbook

"Say It In English" in Saudi Arabia and Litz (2005) on a South Korean case study of textbook evaluation and ELT management contributed to the building of the theoretical framework for coursebook evaluation

21

2.3.1 Language Content

2.3.1.1 Topic

In order to engage students in the lesson and to make them more independent

to participate in classroom activities, a coursebook must provide them with a wide range of interesting topics that relevant to their social background and culture As Cunningsworth (1995) proposes, including interesting and inspiring topics and encouraging learners to think around these topics can enhance their higher levels of learning autonomy and self-reliance in their use of English Moreover, concerning the topics of the coursebooks, Cunningsworth (1995) suggests major criteria for an evaluation First, it is necessary that the coursebooks contain topics of various kinds

to reach a variety of demands among learners Second, to expose learners to large information and knowledge in real world, coursebooks should include interesting topics that not only stimulate them to explore but also motivate them in their use of the target language In fact, topics which are real and prompt might obtain more interest and response from learners as well as their imaginary Third, any coursebooks that not include topics close to daily life communication and relevant

to users’ concerns and interests could not succeed in getting learners’ concentration, and even their attention In the same view, in the discussion of the principles of second language acquisition (SLA) concerning the development of language teaching materials, Tomlinson (2013, p 41) summarizes that what is being taught should be perceived by learners as relevant and useful so that learners are convinced that what they learn from the target language are related to what they needs for real-life communication

Obviously learning a language cannot be separated from understanding the culture in which the target language is used Therefore, it is vital to ensure that the coursebooks involve social and cultural contexts that are comprehensible and relevant to learners’ culture and background rather than only teaching skills, grammatical rules and or vocabulary According to Tomlinson (2011, 30), one of

22

the principles of second language acquisition relevant to materials development for language teaching is that materials should help learners to feel at ease Particularly, materials should provide texts and illustrations in accordance with their own cultures in terms of conversation routine, cultural behavior, etiquettes so that they can relate the language to it purposes in real life communication In regards with the objective of the coursebooks, International Express is a course for adult professional learners who need English as a language of international communication in both professional and social contexts, thus the topic should involves topics as to not only social and cultures issues but also the working environment, professional contexts

2.3.1.2 Linguistic aspects

Language has normally been divided into three major components: (1) the phonology, or the system of sound; (2) the lexis, or the words or phrases used for expressing concepts; (3) the structure or the way words and phrased are combined together to make correct and meaningful sentence; so far for the convenience of

language teaching, the three aspects of language are defined as pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar (Ur, 2009) In addition to topics, language content still

involves these three fundamental factors forming the process of language teaching and learning Cunningsworth (1995) argues that grammar is the major component for acquiring a language, and when introducing a new grammatical point, it is more effective to emphasize on its uses (forms) rather than meaning To this point, grammar should be taught with an inductive approach so that learners can work out rules through contextualized examples Regarding the three aspects of language, not only grammar but vocabulary and pronunciations should be contextualized Tomlinson (2013) proposes the principle of materials development in which learners should be given comprehensive samples of authentic language to ensure that they understand how the language is actually used in real –life In fact, when learners are exposed to sufficient examples of authentic use in the target language, it

may be useful for them in the process of language acquisition

23

Moreover, one of the most important criteria need considering when evaluating the courses is that “whether or not the language is at the right level or of the right type for the students and whether the progression of new language was both logical and appropriate for students” (Litz, 2005) Regarding grammar, there is

no correct sequence of grammar items that is suitable for learners of different levels and the nature of the items selected is based on the subjective preferences of the coursebook writers and the topic base Sheldon (1988) points out that “the selection and presentation of vocabulary often seem to be accomplished without system in some coursebooks, despite the relevant studies and sources of information to which reference could be made” As a result, the responsibilities of the writers is to ensure the language content: grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation have a straight route from the beginning, systematically move from the items already known to the new ones, from the simple to more complex (Cunningsworth, 1995)

It is often believed that to students at lower levels, they can communicate more effectively with a knowledge of vocabulary than with a knowledge of grammar Therefore, the selection of vocabulary is not as simple for the coursebook writers (Cunningsworth, 1995) Usually, the choice of the new words introduced to learners is based on a specific topic, the frequency and usefulness of the learners’ needs and the coursebook’s In addition, teaching vocabulary includes not only the new words but also the strategy for vocabulary development, word remembering as well as dictionary using skill

The concept of teaching “pronunciation” involves teaching sounds and, word and sentence stress, rhythm and intonation Like grammar and vocabulary, selection

of pronunciation aspects should not only be appropriate with learners’ level but also base on the principle of language learning – from easy to more difficult sequence Moreover, pronunciation teaching should also be put in the context using visuals and listening passages, dialogues so that learners are able to find it meaningful and relevant to real world contexts and likely to apply the content of language in their real-life situations

24

2.3.1.3 Language skills

In addition to the three components of language contents, coursebooks should help learners develop the four communicative skills: Reading, Listening, Writing and Speaking In the coursebook International Express, there is a greater prominence to receptive skills including listening and reading skills Therefore, concerning the language skills, the researcher primarily assessed the criteria of the two skills with regard to the language input: listening and reading texts However, the integration of the four skills is also examined to have an overall view of skills focus in the coursebook

a Authentic texts

In order to prepare learners for the reality of language use, texts should refer

to actual situations and examples in the target language , Frendo (2005) claims that the key criterion should be considered when selecting a coursebook is authenticity Apparently, because language are used in real situation for real purpose to facilitate language learning, coursebooks must expose learners to language that actually used (Cunningsworth, 1995) An authentic reading or listening text is the one which is not written or spoken for language-teaching purposes, but for the purpose of communication (Nunan, 2004; Ur 2009; Tomlinson, 2012)

Cunningsworth (1995, p 88) documents that “really authentic material is material that creates an authentic response, that informs, challenges, stimulates, enriches experience, encourages curiosity, develops judgement, and does the other things that real language does” In other words, the authentic texts must come from the real life situations so that learners are able to cope with the same kinds of reading and listening in reality of the target language However, though authentic texts is a perquisite for the development of communicative and strategic competence, it is not a “must” that the authentic texts is produced by native speaker but a version which has been simplified from the original to facilitate communication can be accepted as well (Tomlinson, 2012) In the context of

25

business English, the authentic materials are normally real commercial documents such as letters, emails, contracts…, newspaper article, recording of meeting and conversation made in the workplace or on the phone Such authentic materials is useful for not only working people but also pre-experienced learners because they help them to have an approach to the world of business people or they can relate themselves in the working environment (Frendo, 2005) In general, authentic texts can develop learners’ communicative competence in target language and increase their motivation since they provide learners with useful and meaningful language for real life use, provided that the topics of texts are relevant to learners’ cultures and close to their interests

b The varieties of texts

The materials should not only be authentic but also involve various types or genres of listening texts such as: interview, instruction, announcement, radio news, committee meeting, telephone chat, etc and reading texts such as: articles, press extracts, advertisements, information leaflets, letters, travel guides, and so on (Ur, 2009; Cunningsworth, 1995) Moreover, the selection of different text types should fit learners’ levels as well as their ability and its gradation should also be in alignment with the learners’ progress during a course

c Length and content of texts

Having suggested that, when analyzing the contents of texts, evaluators should consider the length of texts, the appropriateness of the reading/ listening texts to the students’ level (Cunningsworth, 1995) Specifically, at more advanced levels, coursebooks should include longer texts which require students to relate to their specialized background knowledge to process the text as well as to deal with challenging activities of listening and reading comprehension

26

d Integration of skills

When engaging in a conversation, certainly people cannot interact others by speaking out what they think without listening to them Similarly, after reading an email, a letter, or a message, frequently the recipients will write a responding one to the sender It is inevitable that in real life communication, the four basic skills are closely connected to one other Therefore, in teaching skills of a target language, it makes no sense to teach a specific skill in separation (Harmer, 2007) Likewise, Cunningsworth (1995) suggests that it is essential to investigate if the coursebook adequately deals with all four skills, considering learners level and overall aims; however, the balanced treatment of the four skills is not necessary for all teaching situations Particularly, a course for adult professional learners, who just demand to improve their listening and speaking skill for their career, does not need to include a variety of long reading texts instead of short conversations that close to real world situations

2.3.1.4 Language functions

In addition to the three major elements: vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation, as well as the focus of four skills in a language course, language function, a more “communicative” aspect is some kind of communicative act which usually involves interaction between at least two people to achieve a particular purpose such as greeting, introducing, suggesting, promising, giving advice, agreeing, refusing, apologizing and so on (Ur, 2009) In fact, in the context of business English in which the aim is to teach people how to communicate in English, the examples of dialogues with a specific function need to be integrated in the realistic contexts so that learners are exposed more closely to the world of business Especially, these authentic materials can help pre-experienced learners relate to the conversations actually used in the workplaces, companies as well as see the point of training (Frendo, 2006) In the same view, Tomlinson (2013, p.88) presents the one of the principle of material development regarding the authentic input as follows:

27

Make sure that the language input is contextualized Language use is determined and interpreted in relation to its context of use Decontextualized examples do not contain enough information about the user, the addressee(s), the relationships between the interactants, the setting, the intensions, or the outcomes for them to be

of value to the language learners…Only extended samples of language in contextualized use can provide the learner with the “information” they need to develop awareness of how the target language is actually used

Moreover, in order to prepare learners for real life contexts, they need to meet the useful expressions of the language function in various situations in order to fir them in their memory, gain fluency in using them; thus checking whether new items and expressions are recycled and reinforced in subsequent lessons is also essential (Cunningsworth, 1995)

2.3.2 Tasks and Activities

Together with the language content, a coursebook should provide learners with a variety of interesting tasks to engage learners in the development of the communicative skills as well as to relate them to the real world situations “Tasks”

is some kind of practice that implemented through the procedures called “activities”

or “exercises” All three terms refer to language practice in classroom that aims to consolidate the learning of a grammatical structure, or the development of listening, speaking, reading or writing skills, or the memorization of vocabulary (Ur, 2009)

Nunan (2004, p 3) defines that a pedagogical task (this term is used to show the difference with target or real-world tasks which refer to uses of language in the world beyond the class-room) is classroom activity that engage learners in comprehending, manipulating, producing or interacting in the target language and primarily emphasizes on the learners attention to meaning rather than grammatical forms Particularly, pedagogical tasks are explained as follow:

…an activity or action which is carried out as the result of processing or understanding language (i.e as a response) For example, drawing a map while listening to a tape, listening to an instruction and performing a command may be referred to as tasks Tasks