DSpace at VNU: An evaluation of Family and Friends 3, an English textbook used for primary school students in Viet Nam

DSpace at VNU: An evaluation of Family and Friends 3, an English textbook used for primary school students in Viet Nam t...

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY - HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES

LÊ THỊ DUNG

AN EVALUATION OF “FAMILY AND FRIENDS 3”, AN ENGLISH TEXTBOOK USED FOR PRIMARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN VIET NAM

(NGHIÊN CỨU ĐÁNH GIÁ GIÁO TRÌNH “FAMILY AND FRIEND 3”

DÙNG CHO HỌC SINH TIỂU HỌC TẠI VIỆT NAM)

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field : English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111

HANOI – 2016

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY - HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES

LÊ THỊ DUNG

AN EVALUATION OF “FAMILY AND FRIENDS 3”, AN ENGLISH TEXTBOOK USED FOR PRIMARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN VIET NAM

(NGHIÊN CỨU ĐÁNH GIÁ GIÁO TRÌNH “FAMILY AND FRIEND 3”

DÙNG CHO HỌC SINH TIỂU HỌC TẠI VIỆT NAM)

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field : English Teaching Methodology Code: : 60140111

Supervisor : Dr ĐỗTuấn Minh

HANOI - 2016

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CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY

I certify my authority of the thesis submitted entitled:

An evaluation of “Family and Friends 3”, an English textbook used for primary

school students in Viet Nam

In fulfillment of the requirements for thesis and field study report in Master program issued by the Post Graduate Committee

Except where the reference is indicated, no other person’s work has been used without due acknowledgment in the text of the thesis

Hanoi - 2016

Lê Thị Dung

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I am deeply thankful to many people without whose help the present thesis could not have been completed

First and foremost, I would like to express my deep indebtedness to my supervisor Dr Do Tuan Minh – the vice president of University of Languages and International Studies, Viet Nam National University Hanoi for his invaluable guidance and endless support His useful advices, comments and corrections help

me complete my thesis

My sincere gratitude are due to Assoc Prof Dr Le Van Canh and Dr Huynh Anh Tuan for their kindness and generosity in providing suggestions, and helpful advice

My thanks are also extended to all my lecturers at Department of Graduate Studies, University of Languages and International Studies, VNU who gave me meaningful lessons and valuable knowledge; from which I know how to conduct my study

I sincerely thank the whole group of primary school teachers in Hanoi by whom meaningful data for my thesis was collected

Last but not least, I owe the completion of this dissertation to my family, my colleagues and friends who have always given me motivation and encouragement to carry on my thesis

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ABSTRACT

There is no doubt that materials play an important role in language teaching and learning However, no textbook is perfect in a particular teaching situation since there is an mixture of components affecting it such as the aims of the course, students’ interest or students’ ability Therefore, materials evaluation is essential in deciding which textbook should be chosen before applying it to any course This thesis was carried on to evaluate a material which has been in use for primary school students in Vietnam Although it has been in use for a long time as a popular textbook, there is no research checking whether teachers satisfy with it as well as its appropriateness to the teaching situation in Vietnam in term of both appearance and content

In order to fulfill the objectives of the study, the researcher found prior studies at the same field to find out different opinions of researchers about textbook evaluation and adaption Then she analyzed the material using the “English textbook evaluation criteria for the school system in Viet Nam” accompanying circular 31/2015/TT-BGDĐT, complied by a group of authors

Finally, the researcher conducted a survey on primary school teachers in Hanoi to find how much they satisfy with the material in term of its appearance, methodology, content and skills as well as its user support The result of this survey was compared with the document analysis to answer the research question Some suggestions for adaptations were also given to make the material become more suitable with the teaching situation of Vietnam

The findings exhibited that Family and Friends 3 is not against Vietnamese

culture and tradition It is not against Vietnamese rules or contain any prejudices The layout and design of this textbook are highly appreciated In addition, textbook user support is also one of strong points of FF3 since it provides very helpful supplementary materials for both teachers and students Besides, in general, its content and skills get quite good comments from teachers However, due to

teachers’ opinions, FF3 remains some drawbacks Firstly, as a commercial textbook, FF can not directly promote patriotism, nationalism or political security of Vietnam In addition, sometimes students are not given sufficient tasks to practice skills It needs updating more new and interesting topics for students too To deal with those drawbacks, some adaptation techniques such as adding, re-ordering, simplifying or deleting are suggested for better use of this material in the future

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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

VNU: Vietnam National University

FF 3: Family and Friends 3

ELT: English Language Teaching

PSSs: Primary School Students

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