An evaluation of the appropriateness of english unlimited a1 coursbook to english beginners at thang long canon factory

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST - GRADUATE STUDIES *************** NGUYỄN THỊ NHẤT AN EVALUATION OF THE APPROPRIATENESS OF “ENGLISH UNLIMITED A1” COURSEBOOK TO ENGLISH BEGINNERS AT THANG LONG CANON FACTORY (Đánh giá phù hợp giáo trình “English Unlimited A1” với đối tượng người học tiếng Anh nhà máy Canon Thăng Long) M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS FIELD: ENGLISH TEACHING METHODOLOGY CODE : 60140111 HANOI – 2015 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST - GRADUATE STUDIES *************** NGUYỄN THỊ NHẤT AN EVALUATION OF THE APPROPRIATENESS OF “ENGLISH UNLIMITED A1” COURSEBOOK TO ENGLISH BEGINNERS AT THANG LONG CANON FACTORY (Đánh giá phù hợp giáo trình “English Unlimited A1” với đối tượng người học tiếng Anh nhà máy Canon Thăng Long) M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS FIELD: ENGLISH TEACHING METHODOLOGY CODE : 60140111 Supervisor: Prof NGUYỄN QUANG, Ph HANOI – 2015 DECLARATION I hereby certify that the thesis “An evaluation of the appropriateness of “English Unlimited A1” course book to English Beginners at Thang Long Canon factory” is the result of my own research in the fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts at University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi The study has not been submitted for any other degrees Signature: Nguyễn Thị Nhất Date: May 28th, 2015 i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The study could not have been fulfilled without the help, encouragement and support of a number of people First and foremost, I would like to express my deep gratitude to my supervisor and promoter, Prof Nguyen Quang, Ph He helped me with a lot of advice, comments, enthusiasm and experience of doing a research My special thanks also go to Mr Quang for his friendliness, hospitality, kindness and enthusiasm Besides, I would like to show my gratitude to all the teachers of the Faculty of Post-graduate Studies, University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi whose lectures and guide helped me much while carrying out this study I also acknowledge Dr Ngo Huu Hoang who suggested me this topic Also, I am thankful to my colleagues teaching English at Thang Long Canon factory helped me complete data collection I would like to say thanks to all the students – the workers and staff at Canon factory participating in the study with their enthusiasm and responsibility in the lessons in class as well as the questionnaire completion Last but not least, my deepest gratitude goes to my family, especially my husband and friends who have always been supportive and encouraging to me ii ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to investigate the appropriateness of the textbook “English Unlimited A1” to beginners at Thang Long Canon factory Participants consisted of 100 students at elementary level and 10 teachers directly teaching English at Thang Long Cannon factory The data collection instruments used in this study were student questionnaire, teacher interview and document analysis In this sequence, the material analyzed based on the criteria suggested by Hutchinson and Waters (1987) with the objectives to find out the match of the textbook with students’ level and the appropriateness of the material in terms of aims, content and methodology to beginners at TL Canon factory The research results have revealed some strengths of the material which allows the author to conclude that the material is relatively suitable with the students’ level of English Also, the aims, content and methodology requirements of the course are quite relevant to the learners, but some weaknesses are unavoidable Based on the findings, the thesis suggests some recommendations on materials adaptation such as addition, deletion, and combination that should be made to remedy the weaknesses of the material so that the students and teachers can benefit more from it in future courses iii TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii ABSTRACT iii TABLE OF CONTENTS iv LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES viii PART A INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale Aims of the study Significance of the study The research questions The scope of the study Overview of the study PART B DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER ONE: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 Textbooks, course books, and materials 1.2 Textbook evaluation 1.2.1 Definition 1.2.2 Types of textbook evaluation 1.2.3 Methods of textbook evaluation 1.2.4 Models of material evaluation 1.2.5 Criteria for textbook evaluation 15 1.3 Textbook adaptation 16 1.3.1 Definition 16 1.3.2 Areas of adaptation 17 1.3.3 Methods to adapt a textbook 17 1.4 Conclusion 18 CHAPTER TWO: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 19 1.1 An overview of current English Teaching and Learning at TL factory 19 2.1.1 Context of the thesis 19 2.1.2 Material description 19 iv 1.2 Research methodology 20 1.2.1 Research questions 20 2.2.2 Subjects 21 2.2.3.1 Questionnaire 21 2.2.3.2 Interview 23 1.3 Data collection procedure 23 2.3.1 Document analysis 23 2.3.2 Student questionnaire 24 2.3.3 Teacher interview 24 CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 25 4.1 The appropriateness of the material to the students’ level of English 25 4.1.1 Document analysis 25 4.1.2 Results from the survey 25 4.1.2.1 Teacher interview 25 4.1.2.2 Student questionnaire 27 4.1.3 Matching and discussion 30 4.2 The appropriateness of the material to the aims of the course 30 4.2.1 The appropriateness of the material to the aims of the course in terms of language aspects 30 4.2.2 The appropriateness of the material to the aims of the course in terms of language skills 33 4.3 The appropriateness of the material to content requirements of the course 34 4.3.1 The appropriateness of the content in terms of language aspects 34 4.3.2 The appropriateness of the content of the course book in terms of language skills 35 4.3.3 Matching and discussion 36 4.4 The appropriateness of the material to methodology requirements of the course 37 4.4.1 Material analysis and survey results 37 4.4.2 Matching and discussion 39 4.5 Recommendations for the course book’s adaptation 40 4.5.1 Addition 40 v 4.5.2 Deletion 40 4.5.3 Combination 41 PART C CONCLUSION 42 Conclusion of the study 42 Limitations and suggestions for future research 43 REFERENCES I APPENDICES III Appendix III HUTCHINSON AND WATERS’S CRITERIA CHECKLIST FOR MATERIALS EVALUATION III Appendix VIII STUDENT QUESTIONNAIRE VIII Appendix XII TEACHER INTERVIEW XII Appendix XIII NOTE-TAKING OF THE TEACHER INTERVIEW XIII vi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS CLT: Communicative Language Teaching EFL: English as a Foreign Language ELT: English Language Teaching ESL: English as a Second Language GE: General English TL: Thang Long vii LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES Figures Figure 1: Material evaluation model by McDonough and Shaw Figure 2: Material evaluation model by Hutchinson & Waters Tables Table 2.1: Types of information in the student questionnaire Table 4.1: Teachers’ opinions of the appropriateness of the material to the students’ level of English Table 4.2: Teachers’ opinions of the difficulty of different parts in the material Table 4.3: Students’ assessments of the difficult sections in the material Table 4.4: Students’ opinions of the reasons why some sections are difficult Table 4.5: Students’ opinions of the appropriateness of the material for the aims of the course in terms of language aspects Table 4.6: Students’ opinions of the appropriateness of the material for the aims of the course in terms of language skills Table 4.7: Students’ opinions of the appropriateness of the material to the content requirements of the course Table 4.8: Students’ opinions of the appropriateness of the material to the methodology requirements of the course viii organized throughout the course? around language points? by subject matter? by some other means (e.g study skills)? by a combination of means? 10A How should the content be organized within the course units? by a set pattern of components? by a variety of patterns? by some other means? to allow a clear focus on (e.g certain skill areas, a communication task etc.)? 11A How should the content be sequenced throughout the course? 9B How is the content organized throughout the materials? 10B How is the content organized within the units? 11B How is the content sequenced throughout the book? e.g: from easier to more difficult? to create variety? to provide recycling ? by other criteria? Should there be no obvious sequence? 12A How should the content be sequenced within a unit? e.g: from guided to free? from comprehension to production? accuracy to fluency? by some other means? Should there be no obvious sequence? 12B How is the content sequenced within a unit? V METHODOLOGY 13A What theory/ies of learning 13B What theory/ies of learning are should the course be based on? the materials based on? Should it be behaviorist, cognitive, affective, some other kind, and a combination of one or more of these? 14A What aspects of the learners' 14B What attitudes to/ expectations attitudes to/ expectations about about learning English are the materials learning English should the course take based on? into account? 15A What kinds of exercises/ tasks are needed? 15B What kinds of exercises/ tasks are included in the materials? e.g guided  free? comprehension  production? language/ skills practice  language/ skills use? one right answer  many possible right answers? whole class  group  individual? language/ skills-based  contentbased? 'mechanical'  problem solving? role-play, simulation, drama, games? ones involving visuals? self-study? some other kinds? 16A What teaching-learning techniques are to be used? 16B What teaching-learning techniques can be used with the materials? e.g lockstep? pair work? small-group work? student presentations? work involving technical subject matter? other kinds? 17A What aids are available for use? 17B What aids the materials require? e.g cassette recorders? VI overhead projectors? realia? wallcharts? video? other? 18A What guidance/support for teaching the course will be needed? e.g statements of aims? lists of vocabulary and language-skills points? language guidance? technical information? methodological directive or hints? suggestions for further work? tests? other kinds? 19A How flexible the materials need to be? 18B What guidance the materials provide? 19B In what ways are the materials flexible? e.g - can they be begun at different points? - can the units be used in different orders? - can they be linked to other materials? - can they be used without some of their components (e.g cassettes)? OTHER CRITERIA 20A What price range is necessary? 20B What is the price? 21A When and in what quantities should the materials be available? etc 21B When and how readily can the materials be obtained? VII Appendix STUDENT QUESTIONNAIRE Dear my students! This questionnaire is designed to investigate students’ perceptions and attitudes towards the textbook “English Unlimited A1” The researcher would highly appreciate your support in completing all the survey questions The data will be used in the research paper only, not for any other purposes Please choose the option which is the most suitable to you Your gender: male female Your age: ………… Your years of English learning: …………… Section 1: Give your ideas about the levels of difficulty and the reasons for your opinions Items Strongly Disagree Grammatical structures are difficult Vocabulary tasks are difficult Pronunciation tasks are difficult Speaking tasks are difficult Listening tasks are difficult Writing tasks are difficult Reading tasks are difficult VIII Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree Question 8: Give your reasons why these sections are difficult? Items Grammar Vocabulary Pronun Speaking Listening Writing Reading Too little practice Too little guidance in the book Too many new words, expression Too many requirements Too long The tape is too fast Ineffective teaching methods Section 2: Give your ideas about the aims of the textbook “English Unlimited A1” Ideas Strongly disagree The effectiveness of the material is suitable to the aim of the course 10 The students had the perceptions about the aims of the material 11 The course-book provided you new grammar items and grammatical structures 12 The course-book equipped you with enough functional language and vocabulary relating to communication in your job 13 You have been confident in IX Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree using speaking and listening skills, as the result of learning the coursebook 14 The course-book should be used again because it helped you to improve your job 15 Four skills all were presented in the course book 16 The course-book helped you consolidate a lot of basis grammar and grammatical structures that you had learned before 17 The aim of this textbook responds your study 18 You still use this book after finishing the course Section 3: Give your ideas about the content of the textbook “English Unlimited A1” Ideas Strongly disagree 19 The grammar presented in the course-book was enough to learn 20 The structures introduced in the textbook were adequate to the your need 21 Most of the words presented in the book were familiar to you because you have usually used it in your daily work 22 The grammar exercises in the course book were adequate for the students’ level 23 The unit topics were really interesting to the learners 24 The vocabulary was too much X Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree for the students to learn 25 The number of exercises on grammar in the course book were enough to practice 26 The content of the book is clear that you can learn it for their daily job Section 4: Give your opinions on methodology of the textbook Ideas Strongly Disagree 27 The material under the study based on the combination of the learning theories including behaviorist, cognitive 28 There were many kinds of tasks and exercises in the course book 29 The time was enough for the teachers and students to finish the exercises and the tasks in the book 30 The techniques employed in the course-book were individual work, pair-work, group work, role-play and class activities 31 The language skills and methodology were the most suitable with the students’ need 32 The methods provided by the teachers are appropriate for the each lesson XI Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree Appendix TEACHER INTERVIEW Is the material for elementary level? Is the material relevant to your students’ level of English? Is the material a bit difficult for your students? Which parts (grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, speaking, listening, writing and reading) you think difficult for students? Why you think that? Do you agree that the material is suitable for the aims of the course in terms of language aspects and language skills? Do you agree that the material is suitable for the content requirements of the course in terms of language aspects and language skills? Explain your ideas? Do you think methodology requirements of the course book are suitable with the beginners of English at TL Canon factory? What are your recommendations for the textbook’s adaptation? XII Appendix NOTE-TAKING OF THE TEACHER INTERVIEW Question 1: Is the material for elementary level? All participants agreed with this questions Question 2: Is the material relevant to your students’ level of English? out of 10 teachers agreed with this statement Participant E: Not really, some parts in the material are not really relevant to Ss’ level of English I find them sometimes a bit difficult or easy to Ss’ level Question 3: Is the material a bit difficult for your students? Participant A: Yes, I think some parts are not necessary and waste of time to do, so I omitted them in my lecture Participant B: it is really hard to give an exact answer because the book was designed for various learners Depending on specific purpose of each group of students, teachers can adapt it to suit with their students Participant C: yes, many Ss in my complained about that with me Participant D: No, I don’t think so Participant E: Not really Participant F: yes, there are a lot of sub-parts, which makes my Ss bored with them Participant G: yes, I agree with you Participant H: In my opinion, I find the material quite hard in some sections Participant I: No, most of my Ss can solve with all the parts in the book Participant K: No, even many Ss thought that it is quite easy to learn this book XIII Question 4: Which parts (grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, speaking, listening, writing and reading) you think difficult for students? Why you think that? Participant A:.Listening and reading I think that listening is a hard part because the native speakers’ voice spoke quite fast, which was difficult for elementary students to catch up and understand immediately Besides, Ss’ listening skills were not really good Participant B: Among them, I think listening and pronunciation are the most difficult parts of the material It is difficult to teach my Ss to pronoun exactly each sound Participant C: I found that reading and grammar are difficult for my Ss Some texts in the book contains strange vocabulary which students have never met Grammar is a little tough, sometimes the book presents unnecessary grammatical structures, which are not useful to Ss Participant D: Listening skill was considered as the hardest part to my Ss In my class, many Ss had troubles in listening detail because they are not familiar with the native speakers’ voice Participant E: I agree that speaking and reading are considered as being quite tough Participant F: Listening skill and writing Participant G: Participant H: I find reading and pronunciation quite hard for my Ss They are usually not confident in making the sounds Participant H: In my opinion, listening and reading are a bit difficult Some words in the texts are sometimes quite hard to the Ss of elementary level Participant I: Listening and speaking It is terrible because few Ss couldn’t speak or listen to anything in class Participant K: Writing and speaking XIV Question 5: Do you agree that the material is suitable for the aims of the course in terms of language aspects and language skills? Participant A: yes, The material both consolidates basic grammar and grammatical structures, and provides students new grammar items and grammatical structures Participant B: In fact, I think that the vocabulary relating to presented in the material is not enough for Ss to interact However, the material both consolidates basic grammar and grammatical structures, and provides students new grammar items and grammatical structures Participant C: Actually, the effectiveness of the material is suitable with the aim of the course The material both consolidates basic grammar and grammatical structures, and provides students new grammar items and grammatical structures I believe the material is appropriate to the aims of the course As regards language skills, I realize many Ss have been confident in using speaking and listening skills as the result of learning the course-book This is an useful book for my Ss, so it should be used again in the next courses Participant D: I totally agree that the effectiveness of the material is suitable for the aim of the course In addition, I believe that my students had the perceptions about the aims of the material Participant E: As you know, the material both consolidates basic grammar and grammatical structures, and provides students new grammar items and grammatical structures Participant F: Yes, the material provides Ss new grammar items and grammar structures Also, it equipped Ss with enough functional language and vocabulary relating to communication in their job Participant G: My answer is yes In the learning process, my Ss has been quite confident in using speaking and listening skills XV Participant H: To my mind, the course-book should be used again because it helped Ss improve their communicative skills in the job Participant I: Actually, four skills all were presented in the course-book Furthermore, the aims of the textbook responds my Ss’ study Participant K: When asking Ss about using the book again after finishing the book, most of them thought that this is an useful material and should be utilized in the next courses Question 6: Do you agree that the material is suitable for the content of the course in terms of language aspects and language skills? Explain your ideas? Participant A: Of course, I agree with you The structures introduced in the textbook were adequate to Ss’ need I think that, the material is quite appropriate for the content requirements of the course in terms of language aspects and language skills Participant B: As can be seen from the book, most of the words presented in the book are familiar to Ss because they have usually used it in their daily work Also, grammar exercises are adequate for the Ss’ level Hence, in terms of language aspects, the book is quite appropriate for the content requirements of the course Participant C: Yep, in comparison with previous course-book, the unit topics in this book are really interesting to the learners They are very useful and understandable Participant D: I agree that the book is suitable for content requirements of the course Participant E: Not really, speaking skill lacked a bit necessary hints or suggestions for students to practice In addition, the learners are workers and staff in a factory, and their main learning aim is to be able to communicate at work after the course, so it is important to add vocabulary and real speaking situations relating to working environments for students practice much in class Participant F: Yes, the content requirements of the course in terms of grammar, function vocabulary, text types, topics were relatively appropriate to the students XVI There is no doubt that the mount of grammar, structures, and function presented in the course-book met the course requirements, so it is not necessary to adapt the area of vocabulary and grammar exercises in the material Regarding four language skills (speaking, listening, reading and writing), all they matched the course requirements in terms of text types Participant G: Yes, it could be said that the material could meet most of the content requirements of the course in terms of language points, and language skills Question 7: Do you think methodology requirements of the course book are suitable with the beginners of English at TL Canon factory? Participant A: Yes, the material under study based on the combination of the learning theories including behaviorist, cognitive Participant B: yes, I think methodological criteria of the course book met the requirements of the users in terms of types of tasks or exercises and teaching-learning techniques The various types of tasks and exercises presented in the material were also suitable for the requirements of the course Participant C: The learning techniques including pair-work, group-work, and individual-work were instructed appropriately for those different tasks and activities Participant D: In fact, nearly all the tasks and exercises are instructed to create the activities for individually, pair –work and group –work, which makes the students get bored when doing things in the same way Participant E: I agree The time was enough for the teachers and students to finish the exercises and the tasks in the book Also, the language skills and methodology were the most suitable with the Ss’ need Participant F: I believe that there should be more guidance for the four skills, especially for writing skill so that students can improve their required target, and more XVII speaking tasks in the book should be designed in relation to the real working environment to develop the students’ speaking ability Participant G: The method provided by the teachers are appropriate for the each lesson I agree that the methodology requirements of the course book are suitable with the beginners of English at TL Canon factory Question 8: What are your recommendations for the textbook’s adaptation? Participant A: Generally speaking, the textbook is quite suitable for our Ss, but there are some weakness needed to adapt to make it more useful First, there should be more guidance for the four skills, especially writing skills so that students can improve their target In addition, more speaking tasks in the book should be designed in relation to the real working environment to develop Ss’ speaking ability Also, in each lesson I always try to use supplementary such as games, songs, game shows to motivate Ss’ curiosity and creativity Participant B: As you know, the company always have an entrance test before arranging Ss into a class However, the quality of the test sometimes is not really good, so the level of Ss in a class is quite varied I think, teachers should find out the most suitable teaching methodology to help all students learn the best Hence, teachers should add or omit unnecessary parts in the book to make it more appropriate Ss’ level Participant C: To my mind, time allocation for each module should be considered Each course lasts only 40 hours and hours for each lesson are not enough for us to learn the book The class size is quite big, so many Ss have no chance to raise their voice in class Participant D: well, it cannot deny that the book is quite suitable for our Ss at TL Canon factory, but some limitations are not unavoidable I have some suggestions and recommendations for the book First, the deletion of some tasks or exercises is necessary I usually put them into homework assignment, and design some other XVIII proper tasks to make Ss more attractive with the lesson Second, learning time is quite limited, so it requires each teacher should arrange the most important parts of each unit for Ss to learn the most effective with their aims Participant E: in fact, adaptation is important to teachers when they use a material to teach their Ss I just find that there are lots of sub-parts in the textbook, and it is necessary to combines these together Participant F: From my two – year experience of teaching this book, I suppose the teachers should add suggestions, hints, or examples in each speaking lesson to help students understand what they will have to Furthermore, in listening skills, teachers should play the tape many times and repeat the words of native speakers if Ss have not accustomed with native speakers’ voice Participant G: Well, addition, deletion and combination are necessary to adapt the material Participant H: I believe while teaching vocabulary, teachers should create more interesting activities to encourage Ss during the lesson such as role-play, conversation samples and picture descriptions It is important that the book’s guidance is added Participant I: I usually let my Ss practice much listening skills by providing them supplementary listening materials such as famous songs, interesting videos, or short films I feel that my Ss are really interested in these useful activities Participant K: I often focus on speaking skills in each lesson, so I encourage my Ss to speak in front of class to enhance their confidence, and their speaking ability by creating interesting activities and practical game shows, which are suitable with the topic in the material XIX ... TL Canon factory In other words, it investigates the suitability of the material to the students’ level of English and looks into the appropriateness of the material to beginners at TL Canon factory. .. out the appropriateness of the material to students’ level of English at TL Canon factory  To identify the appropriateness of the material to beginners at TL Canon factory in terms of aims,... supportive and encouraging to me ii ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to investigate the appropriateness of the textbook ? ?English Unlimited A1? ?? to beginners at Thang Long Canon factory Participants