DSpace at VNU: Evaluating the Quality of the Two Textbooks Tiếng Anh 3 – Tập 1 and Family and Friends – Grade 3: A Comparative Study

DSpace at VNU: Evaluating the Quality of the Two Textbooks Tiếng Anh 3 – Tập 1 and Family and Friends – Grade 3: A Compa...

HANOI NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, VIETNAM

UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES

NGUYỄN THỊ MAI

EVALUATING THE QUALITY OF THE TWO TEXTBOOKS TIẾNG

ANH 3 - TẬP 1 AND FAMILY AND FRIENDS - GRADE 3: A

COMPARATIVE STUDY

(Đánh giá chất lượng của 2 cuốn sáchTiếng Anh 3- Tập 1vàFamily and

Friends - Grade 3: Một nghiên cứu so sánh)

(MA MINOR PROGRAM THESIS)

Field : English Teaching Methodology

Code : 60140111

HÀ NỘI - 2016

tự:……

HANOI NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, VIETNAM

UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES

NGUYỄN THỊ MAI

EVALUATING THE QUALITY OF THE TWO TEXTBOOKS TIẾNG

ANH 3 - TẬP 1 AND FAMILY AND FRIENDS - GRADE 3: A

COMPARATIVE STUDY

(Đánh giá chất lượng của 2 cuốn sách Tiếng Anh 3 - Tập 1 và Family and

Friends - Grade 3 : Một nghiên cứu so sánh)

(MA MINOR PROGRAM THESIS)

Major: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111

Supervisor: Prof Dr Hoang Van Van

HÀ NỘI - 2016

tự:……

i

DECLARATION

I, Nguyễn Thị Mai, hereby certify that the thesis “Evaluating the quality

of the two textbooks Tiếng Anh 3 - Tập 1and Family and Friends - Grade 3:

A comparative study is submitted for the partial fulfillment of the Degree of

Master of Arts at the Faculty of Graduate Studies - University of Languages and International Studies - Vietnam National University, Hanoi I also declare that this thesis is the result of my own research and efforts and that it has not been

submitted for any other purposes

Hanoi, 2016 Signature

Nguyễn Thị Mai

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First of all, I would like to express my indebtedness and sincere gratitude to

my supervisor Prof Dr Hoang Van Van for his invaluable guidance and great support without which this thesis would not have been completed

Besides, I am heartily thankful to all the lecturers and teachers of the Faculty of Graduate Studies - University of Languages and International Studies - Vietnam National University, Hanoi for their valuable and interesting lectures and assistance during my study at the university

Many thanks go to all the teachers of English from many primary schools whose active participation and cooperation helped me to fulfill this study

Last but not least, I send my special thanks to my husband, my family and my friends who have provided abundant assistance and encouragement while this work was in progress

ABSTRACT

The basic goal of material evaluation is selecting teaching materials which are appropriately relevant for a particular teaching context The current study aimed at

evaluating the quality of the two textbooks Tiếng Anh 3 - Tập 1and Family and Friends - Grade 3to reveal their similarities and differences, strengths and

weaknesses, and their appropriateness to Vietnamese teachers and students The researcher designed a questionnaire consisting of 35items to evaluate the textbooks

The study results showed that Tiếng Anh 3 - Tập 1 meets almost all criteria given and seemed to be highly suitable for Vietnamese teachers and students while Family and Friends - Grade 3also got positive feedbacks from teachers However, this set of

textbook offered a large amount of knowledge, big size of paper, unfamiliar contents and so on…,that affect teachers’ low ratings on the quality of the textbook compared

to Tiếng Anh 3 - Tập 1 However,it can be concluded that Tiếng Anh 3 - Tập 1 and Family and Friends - Grade 3 are suitable to Vietnamese teachers and pupils

Although there exist some minor weaknesses, these two sets of the textbooks are seen

to be a good choice of textbook and can be widely used

PART A: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale for the Study

We are living and working in the world of cultural diversity, in which languages operate Learning a language provides us with a new communicative tool to transfer advanced science and technology knowledge and to learn about different cultures, which makes a contribution to mutual understanding, helps to form global citizen awareness and develops personal qualities and performance By dint of learning a foreign language and having much knowledge of different cultures, we gain a deeper understanding of our own language and culture

English is one of the most common international languages in the world Learning English at primary level helps students form and develop their English communicative ability by practicing listening, speaking, reading and writing skills English learning is also a beginning step in forming and developing long-life studying skills, working ability in the future and cultural-social activity participation at the same time Learning English from primary level provides a basis for continuously studying English at higher levels or learning other languages in the future Besides, English study gives students a chance to form their idea-expressing ability confidently, independently and creatively.With the thorough understanding of the importance of English, the quality of English teaching and learning has attracted considerable interest from the society Such issues as the quality of teachers, facilities, and curriculum have been widely discussed in the media

In order to have a quality curriculum, the quality of the textbooks plays an extremely important role Nevertheless, a countless number of English textbooks are available on the market today The eyes can easily be deceived

by colorful covers, a beautiful layout and attractive artwork As an inexperienced teacher it can be particularly difficult to know what to look for

a good textbook for use Therefore, the selection of a course book is one of the most important decisions a teacher will make to have a textbook that involves matching the material against the context in which it is going to be used, following the aims of the teaching program, as well as fitting the personal methodology of the teacher

In the Vietnamese context, the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) has implemented its policy of radical and comprehensive reform, in which the quality of education, teachers and textbooks has received a lot of special attention When working on the national project “Teaching and Learning Foreign Languages in the National Education System, period 2008 - 2020”,

at the end of 2010, MOET approved Pilot English Curriculum for Vietnamese Primary Schools and assigned Vietnam Education Publishing House to organize the writing of the set of textbooks, including Tiếng Anh 3, Tiếng Anh 4 and Tiếng Anh 5 This set of textbooksis being piloted in some

selected primary schools While the set of primary English textbooks published by Vietnam Education Publishing House is being piloted, the

Family and Friends set compiled by foreign authors has also been used in a

number of primary schools in Vietnam since the mid 1990s It has been familiar to many teachers and pupils After that, this set of textbooks has been adapted to suit the teaching context of Vietnam However, there are different opinions on the advantages and disadvantages of these two sets of textbooks But there has not been any research to compare them For this reason, in this minor thesis, I will attempt to conduct a preliminary research

to compare two sets of textbooks Specifically, I will attempt to compare

Tiếng Anh 3 – Tập 1compiled by Vietnamese authors of Vietnam Education

Publishing House in collaboration with English native authors of MacMillan

Publishing House and Family and Friends - Grade 3compiled and adapted

by foreign writers of Oxford University Press

REFERENCES

Bộ Giáo dục và Đào tạo (2010).Chương trình tiếng Anh thí điểm tiểu học (Ban

hành theo Quyết định số 3321 ngày 12 tháng 8 năm 2010 của Bộ trưởng Bộ Giáo dục và Đào tạo)

Brown., H.D (2001) Teaching by principles: An interactive approach to language pedagogy (2nd ed) White Plains, NY: Pearson Education

Cunningsworth, A (1985) Evaluating and Selecting EFL Teaching Materials.London: Heinemann Educational Books

Cunningsworth, A (1995) Choosing Your Course Book.Oxford: Heinemann

Daoud, A.M & Celce-Murcia, M (1979).Selecting and Evaluating Textbooks

In M Celce-Murcia & L Mc-Intosh (Eds), Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language New York: Newbury House

Dendrinos, B (1992) The EFL Textbook and Ideology.Greece: N.C Grivas

Publications

Green, A (1926) “The Measurement of Modern Language Books”.The Modern Language Journal, 10(5), 259-269

Harwood (Ed.) (2010) English Language Teaching Materials: Theory and Practice New York: Cambridge University Press

Harmer, J (1991).The Practice of English Language Teaching.New York:

Longman Publishing

Hoàng Văn Vân (2012) Vai trò của sách giáo khoa trong việc thực hiện Đề án quốc gia về Dạy và học ngoại ngữ trong hệ thống giáo dục quốc dân, giai

đoạn 2008-2020 Tạp chí khoa học Ngoại ngữ, số 30 Trang 75-89

Hoàng Văn Vân (2015) Teachers’ Evaluation of Primary English Textbooks for Vietnamese Schools Developed under the National Foreign Language 2020

Project: A Preliminary Internal Survey Paper presented atVietTESOL – the Second International VietTESOL Conference: Transforming English

Language Education in the Era of Globalization: Pp: 19-38.Reprinted in VNN Journal of Science – Education Research Volume 31, N:4, 2015 Pp.1-15

Hutchinson, T & Torres, E (1994).The textbook as agent of change.ELT Journal, 48(4), 315-328

Ivi’c, Pesikan and Anti’c, (2008).The Guide for the Good Textbook

Celce-Murcia (2001).Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language, Page

29-42

Litz, D R.A (2005).Textbook Evaluation and ELT Management: A South

Korea Case Study.Asian EFL Journal, no volume and page numbers

given.Retrived from http://www.asian-efl-journal.com/Litz_thesis.pdf

McCoyd, J., & Kerson, T (2006).Conducting Intensive Interviews Using Email:

A Serendipitous Comparative Opportunity.Qualitative Social Work, P.397 McDonough, J & Shaw, C (1993).Materials and Methods in ELT A teacher’s

Guide Oxford: Blackwell Publishers

Nguyen Thi Nguyet Anh (2010) Teacher’s evaluation on “Let’s go 1A second edition” for grade 3 at primary schools in North Vietnam

Nguyen Thi Huong Lan (2004) An Evaluation of the piloted “English 10” Textbook 2 at Nguyen Tat Thanh High School

Ornstein, A.C (1990) Strategies for effective teaching New York: Harper &

Row

Khalid Mahmood (2009) Indicators for a Quality Textbook Evaluation Process inPakistan, Journal of Research and Reflections in Education December

2009, Vol

Richards, J (2001) Curriculum Development in Language Teaching.Cambridge

University Press

Robinson, P C (1991) ESP Today: A Practitioner’s Guide.UK: Prentice Hall

International

Sheldon, L.E (1988) Evaluating ELT textbooks and materials.ELT Journal, 42(4), 237–246

Tomlinson, B (Ed.) (2008) English Language Learning Materials: A Critical Review, London: Continuum

Tomlinson, B (Ed.) (2003) Developing Materials for Language Teaching.London: Continuum

Trịnh Quốc Thái.2005 Thực trạng việc giảng dạy tiếng Anh bậc tiểu học ở Việt Nam.Báo cáo được trình bày tại Hội thảo giảng dạy Tiếng Anh bậc Tiểu học,

Hà Nội

Trochin, W M K (2005) Research Method (The Concise Knowledge Base)

Ohio, USA: Atomic Dog Publishing

Ur, P (1996) Acourse in Language Teaching: Practice and theory.UK:

Cambridge University Press