Adapting new interchange intro used at hai phong foreign language center hai phong university

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES  NGUYỄN THỊ PHƯƠNG LOAN ADAPTING “NEW INTERCHANGE INTRO” USED AT HAIPHONG FOREIGN LANGUAGE CENTER – HAIPHONG UNIVERSITY (Điều chỉnh giáo trình “New Interchange Intro” sử dụng Trung tâm Ngoại ngữ Hải Phòng, Đại học Hải Phòng) M.A MINOR THESIS FIELD: ENGLISH TEACHING METHODOLOGY CODE: 601410 HA NOI - 2010 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES  NGUYỄN THỊ PHƯƠNG LOAN ADAPTING “NEW INTERCHANGE INTRO” USED AT HAIPHONG FOREIGN LANGUAGE CENTER – HAIPHONG UNIVERSITY (Điều chỉnh giáo trình “New Interchange Intro” sử dụng Trung tâm Ngoại ngữ Hải Phòng, Đại học Hải Phòng) M.A MINOR THESIS FIELD: ENGLISH TEACHING METHODOLOGY CODE: 601410 SUPERVISOR: PHẠM THỊ NGỌC PHƯỢNG, M.A HA NOI - 2010 v TABLE OF CONTENTS Declaration Acknowledgements Abstract List of figures, tables, and charts PART A: INTRODUCTION …………………………………………… I Rationale………………………………………………………………… ……… II Aims………………………………………………………………………………… III Scope…………………………………………………………………………… … IV Research questions ………………………………………………………………… V Research methodology……………………………………………………… …… VI Design of the study ………………………………………………………………… PART B: DEVELOPMENT ……………………………………………… Chapter 1: Literature review ……………………… ………………………………… Materials in language teaching ………………………………………………… 1.1 The notion of materials ……………………………… … …… 1.2 Limits of materials in EFL/ESL class …………………………… 1.3 Roles of materials in EFL/ESL class…………………………… Materials evaluation …………………………………………… ……………… 2.1 Definition ………………………………………….…… ………………… 2.2 Reasons for materials evaluation…………………… ……………… … 2.3 Types of materials evaluation…………………… …… ………………… 2.4 Criteria for materials evaluation………… Material adaptation ………………………………………………………….…… 3.1 Definitions of adaptation………………… 3.2 Purposes of adaptation………………… 3.3 Reasons for adapting…………………… 3.4 Objectives of adapting ………………… 3.5 Categories of adaptation………………… vi 3.5.1 …………………………………………… Adaptation as addition 11 …………………………………………… Adaptation as change 12 3.5.2 3.6 Techniques for adaptation……………………………………………….… 13 3.6.1 Adding; extending and expanding ……………………………… … 13 3.6.2 Deleting; subtracting and abridging…………….…………………… 13 3.6.3 Simplifying …………………………………… …………………… 13 3.6.4 Reordering …………………………………… 14 …………………… 3.6.5 Replacing ………………………………….………………………… 3.7 A frame work for adaptation ……………………………………………… 15 16 Chapter 2: The study … …………………… ……………… ………… 17 Background ……………………………………………………………………… 17 1.1 An overview on Haiphong Foreign Langu 1.2 Teachers and teaching method …………… 1.3 Students ………………………………… 1.4 Materials ………………………………… 1.5 Materials evaluation ……………………… 1.5.1 Guideline ……………………… 1.5.2 Guideline ……………………… 1.5.2.1 Syllabus type …………… 1.5.2.2 Language input ………… 1.5.2.3 Skills syllabus …………… 1.5.3 Guideline ……………………… 1.5.4 Guideline ……………………… 1.5.5 Summary and overall evaluation … Research methodology …………………………………………………………… 2.1 Subjects ………………………………… 2.2 Data - collection method ………………… 2.3 Procedure ………………………………… 2.3.1 Attitude of the teachers and student 2.3.2 Attitude of the teachers and student 2.3.3 Evaluation on the objectives of the 2.3.4 Evaluation on the content of the tex 2.3.5 The extra activities for the textbook vii Implications……………………………………………………………………… 37 Samples of Adaptation ………………………………………………….……… 38 4.1 Supplementing …… .……………………………………………… 38 4.2 Extending …………………………………………………………………… 39 4.3 Replacing …………………………………………………………………… 40 PART C: CONCLUSION……… ……………………………………… 42 Conclusion ……………………………………………………………………… 42 Limitations of the study………………… ……………………………………… 43 Suggestions for further research…………………… …………………………… 43 44 I References ……………………………………………………….……………………… Appendices ……………………………………………………………………………… iv LIST OF FIGURES, TABLES, AND CHARTS Figure 1: A framework for adaptation (McDonough and Shaw, 1993) Figure 2: New Interchange Intro’s receptive skills syllabus (Richards, J.C, 2000) Figure 3: New Interchange Intro’s writing syllabus Table 1.1: Evaluation on the students’ needs Table 1.2: Evaluation on the needs the textbook meets Table 2: Applied activities to the textbook Chart 1: The viewpoint of the teachers and students towards the syllabus Chart 2.1: The viewpoint of the teachers and students towards the lessons and the tasks Chart 2.2: Viewpoint of the teachers and students towards the difficulties of the lessons and tasks Chart 3: Evaluation on the content of the textbook Chart 4.1: Use of the book viewed by teachers Chart 4.2: Use of the book viewed by students PART ONE: INTRODUCTION I Rationale The role of English language as a lingua franca makes it a unique language in the world This distinctiveness does not only refer to the language itself, but also to the ways it is taught as a foreign language In Vietnam, English has gained its popularity in teaching and learning over the last few decades Demand for learning English even gets stronger when Vietnam fosters its international relations English, in parallel with the knowledge of some other fields, turn out to be a key to open the door into the bustling world In any walk of life in Vietnam, you can find people use English, from the big cities to mountainous areas, from the international conferences to daily conversations, or just few pidgin words with the foreign tourists People learn and use English with different purposes, but there is a fact that they are trying to learn English with the hope that they can use it effectively To learners of English at Haiphong Foreign Language Center – Haiphong University, this is not an exception Every learner, naturally and obviously, wants to become the masters of all the four skills Though there are some who propose what they need is speaking a fluent English, therein they consider listening a tool for the realization of their goal, there are also some who say writing is necessary because documenting reports, letters, memos, etc is what they daily deal with in their office, learning to read effectively remains the top in the targets of them Due to the above points, English is taught at A, B, C level with the objectives of introducing effective communicative language teaching techniques, providing students with basic knowledge of English (especially grammar and vocabulary) and training them to be capable of the four skills, integrating grammatical elements with language skills so as to make the grammar genuinely functional and communicative, creating more opportunities for interaction between teachers and students and among students themselves Therefore, the textbooks used in most of these courses are the series New Interchange The primary goal of the books is to teach the ability to communicate according to the situation, purpose, and roles of the participants In the limitation of the thesis, the researcher wishes to give some adapted activities to the first level book – New Interchange Intro – which is designed for beginners and for learners needing a thorough review of basic structures and vocabulary in order to make it really suitable to learners‟ needs As a result, the thesis title goes as: “Adapting „New Interchange Intro‟ used at Haiphong Foreign Language Center, Haiphong University” II Aims of the study The study is ultimate aimed at producing some samples of adaptation for elementary students at HFLC The specific aims are as follows:  Investigate the teaching and learning context at HFLC  Analyze teachers and learners‟ viewpoints towards the use of the textbook  Collect and analyze teachers and learners‟ evaluation on the textbook  Adapt some activities in the textbook New Interchange Intro III Scope of the study The researcher is well aware that in order to have suitable material adaptation, a great number of criteria such as the audience, the content, the methodology, etc should be taken into consideration Also, each criterion needs taking into account a variety of aspects However, due to the limitation of this minor thesis, only the following issues are touched upon:  Teachers and learners‟ evaluation on the textbook New Interchange Intro  Adapting some activities for the textbook New Interchange Intro to make students more active and interested in lessons IV Research questions The minor thesis tries to investigate the following questions:  What are the HFLC teachers and students‟ evaluation and viewpoints towards the textbook?  Should the textbook be adapted to suit the objectives and content of the course?  V What should be adapted to suit the objectives and content of the course? Research methodology To conduct the research, survey questionnaires are used Questionnaires are delivered to 100 students and 10 teachers to identify their attitudes towards the textbook, the need of applying these activities Collected data from questionnaires are then analyzed, the findings are critically discussed, and some activities are adapted VI Design of the study The thesis includes three parts: Part I: INTRODUCTION presents an overview of the study with rationale, aims, scope, research questions, and methodology of the study Part II: DEVELOPMENT consists of two chapters: Chapter one: Literature briefly presents the notions of materials, materials evaluation, and materials adaptation, and introduces techniques for adaptation textbooks Chapter two: Research methodology elaborates the analysis of current situation of teaching and learning in HFLC Time and efforts have been spent on accumulating information about teachers and their teaching methods applied Then an attempt has been made to evaluate the strong points and weak points of the textbook Also, in this chapter, survey is conducted to identify the HFLC teachers and students‟ evaluation and viewpoints towards New Interchange Intro, and find out if the textbook should be adapted to suit the objectives, content, and methodology of the course, if so, what should be adapted to suit the objectives, content, and methodology of the course? An analysis of data collected based on the instrumentation of survey questionnaires will be given Last but not least, the researcher focuses on the adapted samples for the textbook Part III: CONCLUSION gives a summary of main findings, limitations of the study and suggestions for further research VII APPENDIX LIST OF THE MAIN CONTENT Title Unit 1: nice to you It’s Introducing meet yourself friends; hello and goodbye; asking and numbers Unit 2: Naming What’s this? asking giving the location of an object Unit 3: Where Talking are you from? geographical locations; for and information places nationality, language, and age; describing people Unit not boots! 4: I’m Asking wearing describing clothing; about the weather; VIII finding of an item Unit 5: What Asking are you telling time; asking doing? about describing activities Unit 6: We Asking live in the giving information suburbs about people how they work talking family talking about daily routines Unit the havev a view? 7: Does Asking apartment describing saying furniture is IX room Unit you do? 8: What Asking giving information about work; giving opinions jobs Unit 9: Talking Broccoli is foods that are good good for you or food dislikes, and eating habits, about need Unit can 10: You Talking play sports you like and baseball really dislike; talents and well abilities Unit 11: What Saying are you going asking to do? birthdays; asking for information future holidays, celebrations X Unit 12: Talking What’s the illnesses matter? health giving giving instructions Unit can’t miss it 13: You Talking shopping; asking for locations directions Unit 14: Did Asking you have a giving information good about weekend? the recent past Unit Where you born? 15: Asking were giving information about place school experiences, the recent past Unit Please us a message 16: Making leave calls; phone XI inviting people and accepting declining invitations; making excuses XII APPENDIX Two sample units from New Interchange Intro’s main content Title Func Unit 6: We Asking live in the giving suburbs about wh live and h to work talking ab members; about dail Unit Does apartment 7: Asking the describing saying have a furniture view? room XIII APPENDIX Sample for supplementing activities    Door SWIMMER Swimming pool Swimsuit    Milk Deliver   MILKMAN Sport WRITER Book Story  Write XIV APPENDIX Sample for supplementing activities TIRED HEADACHE STOMACH ACHE TOOTHACHE XV TEMPERATURE SORE THROAT COUGH SCRATCH XVI CUT A FINGER BURN A HAND XVII APPENDIX Sample for extending activities XVIII XIX APPENDIX 10 Sample for replacing activities THE FAMILY TREE Frank, Bill, Brian, Mike, Stephen = male Rachel, Lisa, Rosie = female XX Fill in the gaps Brian is Lisa’s Rosie is Mike and Stephen are Brian’s Frank is Mike’s Mike is Frank is Lisa’s Mike and Frank and Rachel are Lisa’s grandmother Brian is Mike’s 10 Lisa’s uncle’s name is is 11 is Stephen’s wife XXI APPENDIX 11 Sample for replacing activities Who’s calling? Student A Call your friend David to tell him this: There’s a party at Bob’s house on Saturday night Bob’s address is 414 Maple Street, Apartment 202 Pick me up at 8:00 p.m Student B Someone calls for your brother David He isn’t in Take a message for him Student A Someone calls for your sister Carol She isn’t in Take a message for her Student B Call your friend Carol to tell her this: There’s no class next Friday afternoon The class is going to a movie at Westwood Theater, Meet us in front of the theater at 4:30 Student A Call your friend Mike to tell him you are coming to him next week His mother takes the phone Ask where he is now and when he will be back Student B Someone calls for your son Mike He isn’t in He is going on vacation in Florida He will be back in five days Take a message for him ... out reasonable adaptation of the material Background 1.1 An overview on Haiphong Foreign Language Center, Haiphong University Haiphong Foreign Language Center (HFLC), Haiphong University was established... goes as: ? ?Adapting ? ?New Interchange Intro? ?? used at Haiphong Foreign Language Center, Haiphong University? ?? 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