An evaluation of the material lifeline for the first non english major students at hai phong university m a thesis linguistics 60 14 10

1 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES TRẦN THỊ CHUNG OANH AN EVALUATION OF THE MATERIAL “LIFELINES”FOR THE FIRST NONENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTSAT HAI PHONG UNIVERSITY ĐÁNH GIÁ GIÁO TRÌNH “LIFELINES” DÀNH CHO SINH VIÊN KHÔNG CHUYÊN NĂM THỨ NHẤT TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC HẢI PHÒNG MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS FIELD: METHODOLOGY CODE: 601410 HANOI – 2010 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES TRẦN THỊ CHUNG OANH AN EVALUATION OF THE MATERIAL “LIFELINES”FOR THE FIRST NONENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS AT HAI PHONG UNIVERSITY ĐÁNH GIÁ GIÁO TRÌNH “LIFELINES” DÀNH CHO SINH VIÊN KHÔNG CHUYÊN NĂM THỨ NHẤT TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC HẢI PHÒNG MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS FIELD: METHODOLOGY CODE: 601410 SUPERVISOR: DR HOANG THI XUAN HOA HANOI – 2010 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS T: Teachers S: Students HPU: Hai Phong University LIST OF TABLES Table 1: The teachers and students‟ opinion about using text types in the material Table 2: The teachers and students‟ opinion about proportion of macro skills Table 3: The teachers and students‟ opinion about allocation time for each unit Table 4: The teachers and students‟ opinion about content sequenced of this material Table 5: The teachers and students‟ opinion about language points in this material Table 6: The teachers and students‟ opinion about kinds of exercises need to be included in this material Table 7: The teachers and students‟ opinion about using techniques in this material Table 8: The teachers and students‟ opinion about using aids in this material TABLE OF CONTENTS Certificate of originality of project report Acknowledgements Abstract List of Abbreviations List of tables Table of Contents PART I: INTRODUCTION Rationale Aims of the study Research Questions Significance of the study Methodology Scope of the study Organization of the study PART II: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER : LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 Material 1.1.1 Definition of material 1.1.2.Types of material 1.1.3 Roles of teaching materials in a general English course 1.2 Material evaluation 1.2.1 Definitions of material evaluation 1.2.2 Types of material evaluation 1.2.3 Purposes of material evaluation 1.2.4 Materials evaluators 1.2.5 Models for material evaluation 1.2.6 Methods of evaluation 1.2.7 Criteria for material evaluation 1.3 Material adaptation 1.3.1 Reasons for adaptation 1.3.2 Areas for adaptation 1.3.3 Techniques for adaptation 1.4 Summary CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY 2.1 The current teaching and learning situation at HPU 2.1.1 The context of the study 2.1.2 The material description 2.2 Research methodology 2.2.1 Participants 2.2.2 Instruments 2.2.2.1 Questionnaires 2.2.2.2 Informal Interviews 2.2.3 Data collection procedure 2.2.4 Data analysis procedure CHAPTER : RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 3.1 Material analysis 3.1.1 The contents of the material 3.1.2 The methodology of the material 3.2 Survey results 3.1.1 The suitability of the content of the textbook with the students‟ requirements from the teachers and students‟ opinions 3.1.2 The suitability of the methodology of the textbook with the students‟ requirements from the teachers and students‟ opinions 3.3 Major findings 3.2.1 The suitability of the content of the textbook with the students‟ requirements from the teachers and students‟ opinions 3.2.2 The suitability of the methodology of the textbook with the students‟ requirements from the teachers and students‟ opinions 3.4.Recommendations for material improvements 3.5.Summary PART III : CONCLUSION 10 Summary of previous parts Conclusion Limitations and suggestions for further research References APPENDICES: Appendix 1: Questionnaire for teachers Appendix 2: Questionnaire for students Appendix 3: Hutchinson and Water‟s criteria checklist 11 PART I: INTRODUCTION This part includes seven sections The first section focuses on the rationale of the thesis; the second section presents the aims of the thesis; the third section touches on the research questions; the fourth section is the significance of the thesis; the fifth section points out the methodology, the next section is the scope and the last is the organization of the study Rationale of the study Textbooks are a key component in most language programs They may provide the basis for the content of the lessons, the balance of skills taught and the kinds of language practice the students take part in (Richards, 2001:35) Allwright (1981:5-18) also emphasizes that textbooks are too inflexible to be used directly as instructional material, they should give teachers rationales for what they From O‟Neill‟s points, in many cases, teachers and students rely heavily on textbooks and they determine the components and methods of learning Students learn what is presented in the textbook and the way the textbook presents material is the way students learn it Thus, according to Minh (2007) “textbook should be carefully evaluated and selected before being used for a language program Textbook evaluation helps the managerial and teaching staff select the most appropriate materials available for a particular course It also helps to identify the strengths and weaknesses of a particular textbook that is already in use” Cunningsworth (1995:45) and Ellis (1997) also suggest that textbook evaluation helps teachers move beyond impressionistic assessments and it helps them to acquire useful, accurate, systematic and contextual insights into overall nature of textbook material At Hai Phong University, “Lifelines” has been used as major material for several years but no evaluation or consultation has been conducted to determine its strengths and weaknesses and to see how well it suited the desired and attainable goals of the course From above reasons, it necessary to conduct an evaluation for the “Lifelines” textbook, it is also a good opportunity to discover the suitability of the material with the students‟ level from the students‟ and the teachers‟ perceptions and so that adaptation can be made to gain better results of teaching and learning 12 Aims of the study: This study aims to evaluate the “Lifelines” textbook in terms of its content and methodology from the teachers‟ and the students‟ opinions to determine whether the material is suitable with the students‟ requirements Research questions The study is to discuss the following questions: Does the content of the textbook suit the students‟ requirements in the teachers‟ and the students‟ opinions? Does the methodology of the textbook suit the students‟ requirements in the teachers‟ and the students‟ opinions? Significance of the study: The findings of this study will find out the suitability of the textbook with the students‟ requirement in terms of its content and methodology, which helps the teachers adjust their ways of teaching and adapt the material to provide their students effective lessons More importantly, it is hoped that the study will make some contributions to the field of material evaluation Methodology In this thesis, survey questionnaire and informal interview used to collect data: Survey questionnaires here play an important role in collection ideas of teachers and students on the material which are very useful for the completion of the thesis Informal interview is used to seek for detailed and objective opinions of participants on the material and students „requirement Scope of the study In Hai Phong University, “Lifeline” material uses for both major and non-major students with different levels in the first year and second year But due to the limitation of minor thesis, this study only focuses on evaluating the “Lifelines” material using for the first non-English major students in terms of its content and methodology to determine whether the material is suitable with the students‟ requirements 13 Organization of the thesis The thesis consists of three parts: Part I: introduce the rationale, aims, significance, scope and methodology of the study Part II: includes three chapters: Chapter1: Literature review: provides a theoretical basis for issues relating to Material and Material evaluation such as definition of material, types of material, and criteria for material evaluation and so on Chapter 2: Methodology: Includes an overview of the approach used on conducting the study It also provides a thorough description of the data collection procedure as well as the analytical procedure Chapter 3: Results and Discussion: reports the findings of the survey and discusses the prominent aspects Part III: Conclusion: summarizes the study, recommends o the material and acknowledges the limitations of the study 48 This questionnaire is designed to collect ideas of the first non-English major students at Hai Phong University on the currently used material Lifelines- Elementary Please answer the following questions carefully Your opinion would be valuable to the evaluation research Thank you for your cooperation! To answer the question below, please tick (√) the appropriate box (es) 1/ Content Which text types are suitable with this material? Manuals Letters Reading texts What you think of the proportion of the macro-skills in this material? Skills Ap Listening Speaking Reading Writing Do you think periods for each unit are…………………………………………? Too much Enough Much little What you think about the language points of this material? 49 Language points Grammar structures Vocabulary Pronunciation How is the content sequenced throughout the material? From easy to difficult Recycling available Various Others……………………………………… 2/ Methodology Which kinds of exercises should be included in this material? Gap filling Change the verb forms Matching Correct mistakes Make sentences Others…………………………………… In your opinion, which of the following techniques should be used in this material? Pair-work Group- work Individual work Others……………………………………………… What kinds of aids you think is necessary for this material? 50 Cassette recorders Overhead projectors Wall charts Video Others………………………………………………… PHIẾU KHẢO SÁT SINH VIÊN 51 Đánh giá phù hợp giáo trình “Lifelines” với nhu cầu sinh viên phương diện nội dung phương pháp Bản câu hỏi nhằm lấy ý kiến sinh viên năm thứ hệ không chuyên trường Đại Học Hải Phịng giáo trình “Lifelines”-Elementary Mong bạn vui lịng trả lời đầy đủ câu hỏi dựa tình hình thực tế bạn trường.Những ý kiến đóng góp bạn có giá trị cho trình nghiên cứu đánh giá giáo trình Xin chân thành cảm ơn hợp tác bạn! 1/ Nội dung Những dạng phù hợp với giáo trình này? Hướng dẫn Thư từ Bài đọc Bạn nghĩ việc phân bổ kỹ giáo trình này? Các kỹ Nghe Nói Đọc Viết Bạn nghĩ tiết cho là……………………………… Quá nhiều Nhiều Bạn nghĩ trọng điểm ngôn ngữ giáo trình này? 52 Các trọng điểm ngơn ngữRất phù hợp Các cấu trúc ngữ pháp Từ vựng Phát âm Nội dung bố trí giáo trình này? Từ dễ đến khó Lặp lại Đa dạng Các dạng khác……………………… 2/Phương pháp Dạng tập sau nên có giáo trình này? Điền vào ô trống Biến đổi động từ Nối Sửa lỗi Đặt câu Các dạng khác………… Theo bạn, hoạt động số hoạt động nên sử dụng giáo trình này? Làm việc theo cặp Làm việc theo nhóm Làm việc độc lập Các dạng khác……………………………………………… này? Những dụng cụ hỗ trợ giảng dạy bạn cho cần thiết với giáo trình 53 Cattset Máy chiếu Biểu đồ Video Các dạng khác…………………………………………… QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS 54 Evaluating the suitability of “Lifeline” textbook with the students’ requirement in terms of content and methodology This questionnaire is designed to collect ideas of the first non-English major students at Hai Phong University on the currently used material Lifelines- Elementary Please answer the following questions carefully Your opinion would be valuable to the evaluation research Thank you for your cooperation! To answer the question below, please tick (√) the appropriate box (es) 1/ Content Which text types are suitable with this material? Manuals Letters Reading texts What you think of the proportion of the macro-skills in this material? Skills Ap Listening Speaking Reading Writing Do you think periods for each unit are…………………………………………? Too much Enough Much little 55 What you think about the language points of this material? Lang Gramm Vo Pro How is the content sequenced throughout the material? From easy to difficult Recycling available Various Others……………………………………… 2/ Methodology Which kinds of exercises should be included in this material? Gap filling Change the verb forms Matching Correct mistakes Make sentences Others…………………………………… In your opinion, which of the following techniques should be used in this material? Pair-work Group- work Individual work Others……………………………………………… 56 What kinds of aids you think is necessary for this material? Cassette recorders Overhead projectors Wall charts Video Others………………………………………………… 57 TABLE OF HUTCHINSON AND WATERS’ CHECKLIST CRITERIA Subjective analysis (i.e analysis of your course, in terms of material requirements) Audience 1A Who are your learners? e.g - ages - sex - nationality/ies - study or work specialism(s) (e.g banking,medicine etc.) - status/ role with respect to specialism (e.g.trainee cashier, qualified anaesthetist etc.) - knowledge of (i) English (ii) specialism (iii) other (e.g knowledge of „the world‟ etc) - educational backgrounds - interests (etc) AIMS 2B What are the aims of the materials? 2A What are the aims of your course? (Note: check that the aims are actually what they are said to be, by looking carefully at the material itself.) CONTENT 3A What kind of language description you require? Should it be structural, notional, functional, discourse-based, some other kind, a combination of one or more of these? 4A What language points should be covered? (i.e What particular structures, functions, vocabulary 58 areas etc.) 5A What proportion of work on each macro-skill (e.g.reading) is desired? Should there be skillsintergrated work?) 6A What micro-skills you need? (e.g deducing the meanings of unfamiliar words) 7A What text-types should be included? e.g - manuals? - letters? - dialogues? - experimental reports? -visual texts( pictures, diagrams, charts,graphs, cartoons etc.)? - listening texts? - any other kind? 8A What subject-matter area(s) is/are required (e.g medicine, biology etc.)? What level of knowledge should be assumed (e.g secondary school, first year college/ university, post-graduate etc.)? What types of topics are needed? (e.g in medicine: hospital organisation, medical technology etc.)? What treatment should the topics be given (e.g „straightforward‟, factual; „human interest‟ angle; humorous; unusual perspective; taking into account issues, controversy, etc.) 9A How should the content be organised throughout the course? - around language points? - by subject-matter? - by some other means (e.g study skills)? - by a combination of means? 59 10A How should the content be organised within the the materials? 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.? 10B How is the content organised within the units? 11A How should the content be sequenced throughout the course? e.g - from easier to more difficult? - to create variety? - by other criteria? Should there be no obvious sequence? 12A How should the content be sequenced within a unit? 11B How is the content sequenced throughout e.g - from guided to free? the book? - from comprehension to production? - accuracy to fluency? - by some other means? Should there be no obvious sequence? 12B How is the content sequened within a unit? Methodology 13A What theory/ies of learning should the course be based on? Should it be behaviourist, cognitive, affective, some other kind, a combinmation of one or more of these? 14A What aspects of the learners’attitudes to/ expectations about learning English should the course take into account? 60 15A What kinds of exercises/tasks are needed? 15B What kinds of excercises/ tasks are e.g included in the materials? -guided free - comprehension production? -language/skillspracticelanguage/skills use? one right answer many possible right answers? - whole class group individual? -language-/skill-based content-based? - 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? e.g - „lockstep‟? - pair-work? - small-group work? - student presentations? -work involving technical subject-matter? - other kinds? 17A What aids are available for use? e.g - cassette recorders? - overhead projectors? - realia? - wallcharts? - video? - other? 17B What aids the materials require? 18A What guidance/support for teaching the course will be needed? e.g - statements of aims? lists of vocabulary and language-skills points? 18B What guidance the materials provide? 61 - language guidance? - technical information? - methodological directive or hints? - suggestions for further work? - tests? - other kinds? 19A How flexible the materials need to be? 20A What price range is necessary? 21A When and in what quantities materials be available? etc ... evaluation 1.2.3 Purposes of material evaluation 1.2.4 Materials evaluators 1.2.5 Models for material evaluation 1.2.6 Methods of evaluation 1.2.7 Criteria for material evaluation 1.3 Material adaptation... course The second section presented major issues in material evaluation: definitions, types of material evaluation, purposes of material evaluation, materials evaluators, models for material evaluation, ... Reject the materials Adapt the materials Supplement the materials Make the materials a critical object Figure 1: Materials evaluation model of Littlejohn(1998:192-202) From the above diagram, it can