Đánh giá giáo trình solutions upper intermediate dùng cho học sinh chuyên anh lớp 10 tại trường THPT chuyên

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES ̃ NGUYÊN THI P ̣ HƢƠNG AN EVALUATION OF THE COURSEBOOK “SOLUTIONS UPPERINTERMEDIATE” FOR TENTH-GRADE ENGLISH MAJORS AT FOREIGN LANGUAGE SPECIALIZED SCHOOL, ULIS, VNU (Đánh giá giáo trình “Solutions Upper-intermediate” dùng cho học sinh chuyên Anh lớp 10 trƣờng THPT Chuyên Ngoại Ngữ, Đại học Ngoại Ngữ, Đại học Quốc Gia Hà Nội) M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 6014.0111 HANOI – 2016 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES ̃ NGUYÊN THI P ̣ HƢƠNG AN EVALUATION OF THE COURSEBOOK “SOLUTIONS UPPERINTERMEDIATE” FOR TENTH-GRADE ENGLISH MAJORS AT FOREIGN LANGUAGE SPECIALIZED SCHOOL, ULIS, VNU (Đánh giá giáo trình “Solutions Upper-intermediate” dùng cho học sinh chuyên Anh lớp 10 trƣờng THPT Chuyên Ngoại Ngữ, Đại học Ngoại Ngữ, Đại học Quốc Gia Hà Nội) M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 6014.0111 Supervisor: Prof Nguyễn Hòa HANOI - 2016 CANDIDATE'S STATEMENT I, Nguyen Thi Phuong, hereby certify that the thesis entitled: An evaluation of the coursebook “Solutions Upper-intermediate” for tenthgrade English majors at Foreign Language Specialized School, ULIS, VNU is the results of my research for the degree of Master of Arts at University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi and the thesis has not been submitted for any degrees at any other universities or tertiary institutions Hanoi, 2016 Nguyễn Thị Phƣơng i ACKNOWLEDEGEMENT A thesis costs every researcher a lot of time to complete and mine does, too However, I could not finalize this study with personal efforts and without the assistance of some enthusiastic people who I want to send my deep thanks to The first one, I want to sincerely thank is Prof Nguyen Hoa He is my supervisor His constructive comments helped me realize my mistakes and have the reasonable corrections In addition, his enthusiasm made each step in my research process easier and made me feel more comfortable and be under less stress caused by the great amount of work Nothing can totally and exactly express my gratitude to him I also acknowledge my gratitude to Dr Tran Thi Tuyet for her useful lectures on materials evaluation and development She also gives me valuable instructions, comments, and her kindly encouragement during the development of this thesis Additionally, I would like to express my appreciation to many teachers, especially Tran Thi Lan, (M.A), who is a head of English Division at FLSS and tenth-grade English majors at FLSS, ULIS, VNU for their cooperation as well as their help in the survey Without their support, the questionnaires and interviews which orientate the suggestions – the heart of my thesis – could not be completed as expected Lastly, I want to thank my parents who gave me the life and stand by me on each step I take in this life The completion of my research could not be achieved without their spiritual supports ii ABSTRACT The purpose of this study is to gauge the suitability of a coursebook titled “Solutions Upper-intermediate” for students‟ levels of English and general expectations in terms of the content and language skills Following that, the teaching-listening situation can be identified and unsuitable content will be adapted Quantitative and qualitative data are obtained through questionnaires with 70 students and semi-structured interviews with teachers, in which survey questions are developed based on the students‟ general expectations and MOET‟s criteria Quantitative data in the questionnaires are calculated manually into rounded percentages to answer two research questions Qualitative data from “Comments” in the questionnaires with the students and from interviewed teachers are used to contribute more information to the answers to the research questions The results reveal that the coursebook is partly appropriate to students‟ levels and expectations Firstly, it could be affirmed that this coursebook partly suits their levels Reading passages are fully appreciated by the respondents Speaking, writing, and vocabulary relatively match students‟ levels In contrast, listening skills and grammar are unsuitable for them It is recommended to find more difficult listening passages and grammar for the students Although vocabulary is somewhat suitable for them, it is better for several lessons with many technical terms or complex words to have more guidance and activities Secondly, as regards the appropriateness for the students‟ expectations, in general, the survey results indicate that the coursebook meets their expectations in terms of the content and language skills to a certain extent The topics are various and impressive but it is advisable that more contemporary and compelling topics should be added Reading and writing are two parts which are appreciated by both the students and the teachers Listening and speaking are unable to meet the expectations of the students, which means more activities and tasks on developing these skills should be added The language content including vocabulary and grammar are generally suitable iii TABLE OF CONTENTS CANDIDATE'S STATEMENT i ABSTRACT iii LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES viii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale 1.2 Aims and objectives 1.3 Significance 1.4 Scope 1.5 Methodology 1.6 Organization of the thesis CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Definition of coursebook 2.2 Definition of evaluation 2.3 Definition of materials evaluation 2.4 Types of materials evaluation 2.4.1 Pre-use evaluation 2.4.2 In-use evaluation or whilst-use evaluation 2.4.3 Post-use evaluation 2.5 Purposes of materials evaluation 10 2.6 Methods of textbook evaluation 11 2.6.1 The impressionistic method 11 2.6.2 The checklist method 11 2.6.3 The in-depth method 12 2.7 Criteria for materials evaluation 13 2.8 Previous studies on materials evaluation 15 2.9 Summary 17 CHAPTER 3: METHODOLODY 18 iv 3.1 THE CONTEXT OF THE STUDY 18 3.1.1 The course 18 3.1.2 The coursebook “Solutions Upper-intermediate” – Student‟s book 19 3.1.3 The students 21 3.1.4 The teachers 22 3.2 METHODOLOGY 22 3.2.1 Research methods 22 3.2.2 Participants 22 3.2.3 Data collection instruments 23 3.2.4 Procedure of data collection 27 3.2.5 Data analysis procedure and presentation of data 28 3.2.6 Summary 28 CHAPTER 4: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 30 4.1 Findings for the first research question 30 4.2 Findings for the second research question 32 4.2.1 The appropriateness of general content to students‟ expectations .32 4.2.2 The appropriateness of listening skills to students‟ expectations 35 4.2.3 The appropriateness of speaking skills to students‟ expectations 36 4.2.4 The appropriateness of reading skills to students‟ expectations 37 4.2.5 The appropriateness of writing skills to students‟ expectations 38 4.2.6 The appropriateness of language content to students‟ expectations 39 4.3 Summary 40 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION 41 5.1 Conclusion 41 5.2 Recommendations 42 5.3 Limitations 43 5.4 Suggestions for further studies 43 REFERENCES 44 APPENDICES I v APPENDIX APPENDIX APPENDIX APPENDIX APPENDIX vi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ELT: English Language Teaching FLSS: Foreign Language Specialized School MOET: Ministry of Education and Training ULIS: University of Languages and International Studies VNU: Vietnam National University vii LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES Figure 1: Four basic components of evaluation Figure 2: Macro and micro-evaluation in language teaching Table 1: Adaption from MOET‟s checklist 25 Table 2: Students‟ evaluation on the appropriateness of the content and language skills to their levels 31 Table 3: Students‟ evaluation on the appropriateness of general content to their expectations 33 Table 4: Students‟ evaluation on the appropriateness of listening skills to their expectations 35 Table 5: Students‟ evaluation on the appropriateness of speaking skills to their expectations 36 Table 6: Students‟ evaluation on the appropriateness of reading skills to their expectations 37 Table 7: Students‟ evaluation on the appropriateness of writing skills to their expectations 38 Table 8: Students‟ evaluation on the appropriateness of vocabulary and grammar to their expectations 39 viii APPENDIX QUESTIONNAIRE FOR THE STUDENTS (English version) AN EVALUATION OF THE COURSEBOOK “SOLUTIONS UPPERINTERMEDIATE” FOR TENTH-GRADE ENGLISH MAJORS AT FOREIGN LANGUAGE SPECIALIZED SCHOOL, ULIS, VNU This questionnaire is designed to evaluate the suitability of the content and language skills to the students’ levels of English and general expectations of the coursebook Your opinions will be fully appreciated and strictly kept confidential Thank you for your help Section I Learners’ information Name (Optional): ……………… Class (Optional): … Age: … How long have you been learning English? What are your reasons of learning English? ……………………………………………………………………………………… Section II Learners’ evaluation of the coursebook I would like you to indicate your opinion after each criterion by putting a tick in the box that best indicates the extent to which you evaluate Evaluation rubric: 0: poor; 1: satisfactory; 2: good Evaluation rubric No Criteria GENERAL CONTENT The textbook covers a variety of topics from different contexts and cultures The textbook helps enrich the learners‟ knowledge and experiences The subject and content are popular The subject and content are educational in terms of behaviour and life skills development VIII The content is up-to-date The content is interesting, which encourages motivation and interests The teaching-learning activities are various, w leading learners from easy to difficult, simple to c The teaching-learning activities have clear obj instructions The English language contents are logically alloc lesson and language skills are practised either individually but, in the latter case, the focused sk the practice of other skills 10 The textbook provides a balance of activities and both on fluency and accuracy Comments:……………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………… LISTENING 11 The listening tasks are various, which helps t develop their listening comprehension skills 12 The difficulty level of listening tasks is suitable f ability 13 The listening material is well-recorded 14 The listening material is authentic or close to situations 15 The listening material focuses on English linguis such as stress, intonation, and aspects of connecte 16 The length and difficulty levels of the listenin appropriate to the learners‟ ability IX 17 The listening material is accompanied by background information, questions and activities which help comprehension Comments:…………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………… SPEAKING 18 The speaking tasks are well-designed, encouragin speak, and naturally develop their communication 19 The learners are provided with sufficient inpu content, and are led from controlled to guide speaking activities 20 Speaking activities are developed to encourage st and student-teacher communication 21 There is sufficient material for spoken Englis discussion, work in pair, work in group, presentat project work, etc.) 22 The difficulty level of speaking tasks is suitable f ability Comments: …………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………… READING 23 The reading passages are various, helping the learners develop their reading comprehension skills 24 The reading passages are natural and authentic 25 The length and difficulty levels of the reading passages are appropriate to the learners‟ ability 26 The difficulty level of reading tasks is suitable for the learners‟ ability X Comments: …………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………… WRITING 27 The writing tasks enhance varied writing opportunities, developing the writing skills of learners 28 Learners are provided with sufficient input and language content, and are led from controlled to guided and/or free writing activities 29 The writing tasks are authentic and contextualized 30 The writing tasks are appropriate to the students‟ level Comments: …………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………… LANGUAGE CONTENT 31 The textbook provides appropriate and context-ba 32 There is a reasonable distribution of vocabulary l whole book 33 The number of new words in each lesson is appro students‟ level 34 Material is adequate in terms of range of vocabul 35 Exercises about vocabulary are suitable for the st 36 The presentation of grammar is clear and underst 37 The coursebook covers the main grammar items a the students‟ level 38 The grammar points are contextualized 39 The grammar points are taught communicatively both form and use XI 40 Exercises about grammar are suitable for the students‟ level Comments: …………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………… THANK YOU FOR YOUR COOPERATION! XII APPENDIX QUESTIONNAIRE FOR THE STUDENTS (Vietnamese version) ĐÁNH GIÁ GIÁO TRÌNH “SOLUTIONS UPPER-INTERMEDIATE” DÙNG CHO HỌC SINH CHUYÊN ANH LỚP 10 TẠI TRƢỜNG THPT CHUYÊN NGOẠI NGỮ, ĐH NGOẠI NGỮ, ĐH QUỐC GIA HÀ NỘI Câu hỏi thiết kế để đánh giá phù hợp kiến thức kỹ ngôn ngữ với trình độ tiếng Anh mong đợi chung học sinh giáo trình Ý kiến bạn đánh giá cao giữ bí mật Cảm ơn bạn nhiều giúp đỡ bạn Phần I Thông tin học sinh Tên (Không bắt buộc): Lớp (Không bắt buộc): Tuổi: Bạn học tiếng Anh bao lâu? ………… Lý học tiếng Anh bạn gì? ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………… Phần II Đánh giá học sinh giáo trình  Bạn đưa câu trả lời cho nhận định cách đánh dấu " " vào MỘT lựa chọn Các mức đánh giá: 0: không đạt; 1: đạt; 2: tốt Các mức đánh giá STT Tiêu chí CHUNG Sách giới thiệu chủ đề phong phú, đa dạng phản ánh bối cảnh văn hoá, xã hội khác Sách giúp mở rộng nhận thức trải nghiệm người học Các chủ đề nội dung sách phổ biến XIII Các chủ đề nội dung sách mang hành vi kỹ sống Nội dung sách cập nhật Nội dung sách thú vị, tạo động lực h học Sách có hoạt động dạy học thi triển khai bước, từ dễ đến kh tạp Sách có hoạt động dạy học thi hướng dẫn rõ ràng Nội dung dạy học phân bổ hợp lý học, kỹ ngôn ngữ rèn luy hợp đơn lẻ tạo hội phát t khác 10 Sách tạo cân đối hoạt độ trôi chảy giao tiếp độ xá ngữ Nhận xét : ………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………… NGHE 11 Các hoạt động dạy nghe thiết kế đa dạng, phát triển kỹ nghe hiểu khác người học 12 Bài tập kỹ nghe phù hợp với trình độ người học 13 Bài nghe ghi âm rõ ràng XIV 14 Ngữ liệu nghe thực tế, gần gũi với hồn cảnh ngơn ngữ tự nhiên 15 Ngữ liệu nghe quan tâm tới việc phát triển lực ngôn ngữ trọng âm, ngữ điệu yếu tố lời nói liên kết tiếng Anh 16 Độ dài độ khó nghe phù hợp với trình độ người học 17 Ngữ liệu nghe cung cấp thông tin bản, câu hỏi hoạt động giúp ích cho việc nghe hiểu học sinh Nhận xét: ………………………………………………………………………………………… … NĨI 18 Các hoạt động thực hành nói thiết thú, phát triển kỹ giao tiếp tự nhiê 19 Người học cung cấp đầy đủ thô ngữ dẫn dắt bước cá nói 20 Các hoạt động thực hành nói sách người học với người học người luyện tập nói 21 Người học có hội thực hành nói qua (đóng vai, thảo luận, làm việc theo bày, tranh luận, thực dự án, v.v.) 22 Độ khó tập nói phù hợp với Nhận xét: ………………………………………………………………………………………… XV ………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………… ĐỌC 23 Sách có hệ thống đọc đa dạng, phát triển kỹ đọc hiểu khác người học 24 Ngôn ngữ sử dụng đọc tự nhiên thực tế 25 Độ dài độ khó đọc phù hợp với trình độ người học 26 Bài tập kỹ đọc phù hợp với trình độ người học Nhận xét: ………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………… VIẾT 27 Sách có hoạt động phát triển kỹ viết đa dạng, tạo hội cho người học viết nhiều thể loại khác 28 Người học cung cấp đầy đủ thông tin, nội dung ngôn ngữ dẫn dắt bước giai đoạn thực hành viết 29 Yêu cầu tập viết giới thiệu ngữ cảnh, thực tế 30 Bài tập kỹ viết phù hợp với trình độ học sinh Nhận xét: ………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………… XVI NỘI DUNG NGÔN 31 Từ vựng dạy phù hợp, gắn liền vớ 32 Lượng từ vựng phân bổ hợp lý tro 33 Số lượng từ học phù sinh 34 Ngữ liệu cung cấp từ vựng cách ph 35 Bài tập từ vựng phù hợp với trình độ 36 Nội dung ngữ pháp rõ ràng dễ hiểu 37 Các mục ngữ pháp phù hợp với trình độ 38 Các mục ngữ pháp dạy ngữ 39 Các cấu trúc ngữ pháp sách giao tiếp, đảm bảo cân dạy cách sử dụng 40 Bài tập ngữ pháp phù hợp với trình đ Nhận xét: ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… CẢM ƠN BẠN VÌ ĐÃ HỢP TÁC! XVII APPENDIX INTERVIEW PROMPTS WITH THE TEACHERS Section I Teacher’s information How old are you? What qualification did you get? (BA, MA, PhD, …) How many years have you been teaching English? Section II Teacher’s evaluation of the coursebook Which parts (listening, speaking, reading, writing, vocabulary, grammar) you reckon suitable for students‟ levels? Why you think that? Do you think that the teaching-learning activities are various, well-organized, leading learners from easy to difficult, simple to complex tasks? Can you clarify this point? Do the teaching-learning activities have clear objectives and instructions? Can you give me examples? Are the listening tasks various, which helps your learners to develop their listening skills? Can you explain for me? Are the speaking tasks well-designed, encouraging your students to speak, and naturally develop their communication skills? Why you think so? Are the reading passages various, helping learners develop their reading comprehension skills? Please tell me why Do the writing tasks enhance varied writing opportunities, developing your writing skills? Can you clarify your point? Is the material adequate in terms of range of vocabulary? Do you think the grammar points taught communicatively with a focus on both form and use? Can you specify your point? 10 If you can change anything in this coursebook, what would you suggest to change? XVIII APPENDIX NOTE-TAKING OF INTERVIEWS WITH TEACHERS (ABOUT COURSEBOOK EVALUATION) Which parts (listening, speaking, reading, writing, vocabulary, grammar) you reckon suitable for students’ levels? Why you think that? - Teacher A: Of four language skills, reading and writing seem suitable for my students‟ levels The real problem is listening which is quite short and easy - Teacher B: In general, this upper-intermediate book is suitable for the students‟ levels However, it is ideal to have more difficult points of grammar for students - Teacher C: Some parts are simple like listening whereas some are challenging like vocabulary because there vocabulary is a little bit difficult However, my students liked this challenge - Teacher D: Except for listening, I think everything is ok Do you think that the teaching-learning activities are various, well-organized, leading learners from easy to difficult, simple to complex tasks? Can you clarify this point? - Teacher A: Yeap! Before a lesson, students have chances to think about vocabulary, what they will learn or see in various ways, which are helpful for them They can move from easy to difficult - Teacher B: Yes, of course Take an example in a reading lesson Students have chances to discuss issues relating to reading texts After that, they answer general questions about the reading texts before specific or inference questions - Teacher C: I totally agree with this That is one point that I like in this book Learners feel comfortable in lessons with this organization of content - Teacher D: This book provides variety of activities for students and they are well- organized In addition, I think, that is what they expected Do the teaching-learning activities have clear objectives and instructions? Can you give me examples? XIX - Teacher A: Yes, students can see what they are going to achieve at the beginning of each lessons Every lesson has an outcome: “I can” statements at the top of each page which builds confidence by showing students what they will progressively achieve For example, students can see the line “I can talk about actions and events and their consequences in the past” at the top of page 10 when students learn Grammar “Past perfect simple and continuous” And they all have chances to receive clear guidance from the book - Teacher B: In each English period, we always tell students what they will learn And this book also helps us in this - Teacher C: Yes, I think so - Teacher D: In general, this book has clear objectives and instructions However, sometimes, we have to explain for the students because some instructions are complex in which one question are related to many other parts, for instance, in some writing sections Are the listening tasks various, which helps your learners to develop their listening skills? Can you explain for me? - Teacher A: Listening tasks are not various and in order to develop students‟ listening skills Therefore, there should be more tasks and activities - Teacher B: I think it should be added more tasks - Teacher C: I think teachers have to adapt this part because students did not have many opportunities to develop their listening skills - Teacher D: It is not enough for my students to practice listening skills with tasks in this book Are the speaking tasks well-designed, encouraging your students to speak, and naturally develop their communication skills? Why you think so? - Teacher A: Speaking tasks are not well-designed and helpful for students because they are not enough - Teacher B: Yes, I strongly disagree Sometimes in a speaking lesson in this book, there are more listening, reading, and writing activities than speaking ones XX - Teacher C: The design of speaking tasks is not good, in which students have slim chances to practice tasks, and in order to develop their communications skills, more tasks and activities should be added - Teacher D: Not well-designed Are the reading passages various, helping learners develop their reading comprehension skills? Please tell me why - Teacher A: Many topics in reading are very helpful - Teacher B: Various! My students have opportunities to develop reading skills - Teacher C: That book is ok in terms of the variety of reading texts - Teacher D: Reading passages are various and I am satisfied with that My students have chances to develop their reading skills Do the writing tasks enhance varied writing opportunities, developing your writing skills? Can you clarify your point? - Teacher A: Writing part is so marvelous Students have chances to learn step by step through many activities and tasks - Teacher B: Students are provided with many chances to develop their writing skills This book is actually helpful for both learners and teachers - Teacher C: I am content with this part Students can even listen, reading and speak to find ideas for writing Students practiced writing a story, describing people, writing a letter and so on - Teacher D: Yeap! Totally agree Is the material adequate in terms of range of vocabulary? - Teacher A: Students learn a lot from this book In the part of reading, students are provided with new words which are highlighted Even, students can learn new words or phrases in speaking, listening and writing - Teacher B: Many new words are presented here because this book mentions various topics and students have opportunities to explore vocabulary - Teacher C: I totally agree with that XXI - Teacher D: Many new words are provided, from simple to complex I find that this book is outnumbered by academic words Do you think the grammar points taught communicatively with a focus on both form and use? Can you specify your point? - Teacher A: Students have chances to learn the structures, examples, explanations and apply them in communication - Teacher B: Grammar points are taught communicatively with many activities, which is one different point with many other books - Teacher C: For grammar, students have chances to before brainstorming what will be learnt before learning forms The forms are not provided by the teachers Students themselves find out the structures and the usages After that, they grammar exercises or practice the grammar points through other skills like speaking - Teacher D: Students have chances to foster their communication skills even in a grammar lesson 10 If you can change anything in this coursebook, what would you suggest to change? - Teacher A: I recommend exploring more sources for listening which ensures the length and the difficult level of listening passages for students and design more activities for speaking skills - Teacher B: It should be supplemented more complex points of grammars and exercises - Teacher C: I think that there should be more guidance and activities with the lessons about technology, science or environment with numerous technical terms or difficult vocabulary - Teacher D: I suggest finding more authentic materials outside the book, for example, from the Internet to get students more involved in listening lessons XXII ... COURSEBOOK ? ?SOLUTIONS UPPERINTERMEDIATE” FOR TENTH-GRADE ENGLISH MAJORS AT FOREIGN LANGUAGE SPECIALIZED SCHOOL, ULIS, VNU (Đánh giá giáo trình ? ?Solutions Upper-intermediate? ?? dùng cho học sinh chuyên Anh. .. specifically, at FLSS in the 2014-2015 school year, there are classes for English majors, including 10A, 10B, 10H, 10I and 10K It is a population of 210, a sample of 70, and every third person... students The sample size is 70 students from classes (10A, 10B, 10H, 10I and 10K), accounting for approximately 33.3 % of the whole population (about 210 students) The sampling strategy adopted here