an evaluation of top notch as the textbook for efl classes – the case of fpt polytechnic college

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HO CHI MINH CITY OPEN UNIVERSITY AN EVALUATION OF TOP NOTCH AS THE TEXTBOOK FOR EFL CLASSES – THE CASE OF FPT POLYTECHNIC COLLEGE TESOL: 60 14 01 11 A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in TESOL Submitted by DANG VU MINH THU Supervisor: LE THI THUY NHUNG, Ph.D Ho Chi Minh, 2019 MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HO CHI MINH CITY OPEN UNIVERSITY AN EVALUATION OF TOP NOTCH AS THE TEXTBOOK FOR EFL CLASSES – THE CASE OF FPT POLYTECHNIC COLLEGE TESOL: 60 14 01 11 A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in TESOL Submitted by DANG VU MINH THU Supervisor: LE THI THUY NHUNG, Ph.D Ho Chi Minh, 2019 i CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY I certify that this submitted thesis entitled “An evaluation of Top Notch as the textbook for EFL classes – The case of FPT Polytechnic College” is my own work This thesis does not contain material published elsewhere or extracted in a whole or in part from a thesis by which I have qualified for or been awarded another degree or diploma, except reference is made in the text of this thesis No other person’s work has been used without due acknowledgements in the thesis This thesis has not been submitted for the award of any degree or diploma in any tertiary institution Ho Chi Minh, November 2019 DANG VU MINH THU ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This Master of Arts in TESOL thesis is a successful collaboration of all people who have enthusiastically contributed to my research Without the help of those, I would not be able to fulfill my M.A thesis First and foremost, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisor Dr Le Thi Thuy Nhung, from Banking University of Ho Chi Minh City, who continuously supported and encouraged me through the journey of my research Without her patience, guidance and insights, my work would be far from completed In addition, I would like to present my grateful appreciation towards all lectures of the Open University in Ho Chi Minh City for providing me precious intellectual knowledge during my study that was extremely useful in accomplishing my thesis Last but not least, my special gratefulness goes to all students and instructors at FPT Polytechnic College for their cooperation and willingness to complete the questionnaires and interviews, which provides valuable information for my research iii ABSTRACT Textbooks are considered an indispensable resource in any English training programs In Vietnam, English textbooks are often published and imported from overseas This may result in a lack of suitability and appropriateness of imported book in the English training curriculum Imported textbooks may not meet the learners' needs, interests, and abilities as well as the teachers' needs Therefore, textbook evaluation is highly important because it not only provides useful information for teachers but also plans learning settings for students This study was conducted to examine the appropriateness of the textbook Top Notch which is used as the main coursebook for non-English majors at a college in Ho Chi Minh City It also investigated the perceptions of both students and instructors in the college about the use of this textbook for their English classes The study employed mixed methods to gather data for analysis including document analysis, questionnaire survey and interviews Participants included 156 students who completed the survey and five English teachers who agreed to attend the interview with the researcher The findings show that most teachers recommend the use of Top Notch as the main coursebook for non-English majors because of its suitability in terms of topics, organization, content and language type However, several students did not seem to favor the textbook in terms of its practicality and appropriateness The findings of the study would be of significant value to students and teachers, curriculum designers as well as English program managers as it provides an official evaluation on Top Notch with a view to examining the suitability of this textbook for English language training programs not only at FPT Polytechnic College but also at other higher educational institutions in Vietnam and in other non-dominant Englishspeaking countries iv TABLE OF CONTENTS CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii ABSTRACT iii TABLE OF CONTENTS iv LIST OF TABLES ix LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS x CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 The importance of textbook in general and EFL textbook in particular 1.2 The current situation of EFL textbooks use in Vietnam 1.3 The current situation of the use of Top Notch at FPT 1.4 Reasons for evaluating Top Notch 1.5 Research problem 1.6 Aims of the study 1.7 Research questions 1.8 Scope of the study 1.9 Significance of the study 1.10 Structure of the thesis CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Concepts and definitions of materials 2.2 The importance of textbooks in EFL classes 10 2.3 Benefits and drawbacks of textbooks in language classes 11 v 2.3.1 The benefits of textbooks to teachers 11 2.3.2 The benefits of textbooks to students 12 2.3.3 The drawbacks of textbooks 12 2.4 The rationale for textbook evaluation 13 2.5 Conceptual frameworks for textbook evaluation 16 2.6 Methods and stages of textbook evaluation 17 2.7 The adoption of checklist as a tool for textbook evaluation 19 2.8 Criteria of the checklist 19 2.9 Textbook evaluation in Vietnamese context 21 2.10 Description of the textbook “Top Notch 2” 23 2.11 Research on textbook evaluation 24 2.11.1 Previous studies on textbook evaluation in international contexts 24 2.11.2 Previous studies on textbook evaluation in Vietnamese EFL context 26 2.12 Chapter summary 28 CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY 29 3.1 Research design 29 3.1.1 The analysis of Top Notch student’s book 29 3.1.2 Survey 30 3.1.3 Interviews with teachers 31 3.2 Research site 32 3.3 Research instruments 33 3.3.1 The questionnaire 33 vi 3.3.2 Piloting the questionnaire 35 3.3.3 Interview 35 3.4 Data collection procedures 36 3.5 Data analysis 37 3.6 Reliability and validity of the research 38 CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 40 4.1 Findings 40 4.1.1 Practical considerations 40 4.1.1.1 Document analysis 40 4.1.1.2 Results from the interview 41 4.1.1.3 Results from the survey 42 4.1.2 Layout and design 43 4.1.2.1 Document analysis 43 4.1.2.2 Results from the interview 43 4.1.2.3 Results from the survey 44 4.1.3 Activities 44 4.1.3.1 Document analysis 44 4.1.3.2 Results from the interview 45 4.1.3.3 Results from the survey 47 4.1.4 Skills 48 4.1.4.1 Document analysis 48 4.1.4.2 Results from the interview 49 vii 4.1.4.3 4.1.5 Language type 51 4.1.5.1 Document analysis 51 4.1.5.2 Results from the interview 51 4.1.5.3 Results from the survey 53 4.1.6 Subject and content 54 4.1.6.1 Document analysis 54 4.1.6.2 Results from the interview 55 4.1.6.3 Results of the survey 56 4.1.7 4.2 Results from the survey 50 Overall consensus 57 4.1.7.1 Document analysis 57 4.1.7.2 Results of the interview 57 4.1.7.3 Results of the survey 58 Discussion 59 4.2.1 Findings of the current study in relation to research in international context 59 4.2.2 Findings of the current study in relation to research in Vietnamese context 61 4.3 Chapter summary 63 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS 64 5.1 Summary of major findings 64 5.2 Implications 65 viii 5.2.1 For teachers 65 5.2.2 For students 66 5.2.3 For EFL program managers 66 5.3 Limitations of the research 67 5.4 Recommendations for further research 67 REFERENCES 69 APENDIX A – THE TEXTBOOK EVALUATION QUESTIONNAIRE (ENGLISH VERSION) 75 APENDIX B – TEXTBOOK EVALUATION QUESTIONNAIRE (VIETNAMESE VERSION) 78 APENDIX C – INTERVIEW QUESTIONS 82 APENDIX D – INTERVIEW QUESTIONS (VIETNAMESE VERSION) 83 APENDIX E – INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT OF T4 84 APENDIX F – SUMMARY OF INTERVEW TRANSCRIPTS 91 APENDIX G – SPSS STATISTICS 96 APENDIX H – THE TEACHERS’ PROFILE 111 APENDIX I – COVER AND TABLE OF CONTENT OF TOP NOTCH 112 APENDIX J – SAMPLES OF TOP NOTCH 114 104 SC19 Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Strongly disagree 1.9 1.9 1.9 Disagree 12 7.7 7.7 9.6 Neutral 49 31.4 31.4 41.0 Agree 72 46.2 46.2 87.2 Strongly agree 20 12.8 12.8 100.0 156 100.0 100.0 Valid Total SC20 Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Strongly disagree 1.3 1.3 1.3 Disagree 13 8.3 8.3 9.6 Neutral 50 32.1 32.1 41.7 Agree 67 42.9 42.9 84.6 Strongly agree 24 15.4 15.4 100.0 156 100.0 100.0 Valid Total SC21 Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Strongly disagree 1.3 1.3 1.3 Disagree 14 9.0 9.0 10.3 Neutral 66 42.3 42.3 52.6 Agree 60 38.5 38.5 91.0 Strongly agree 14 9.0 9.0 100.0 156 100.0 100.0 Valid Total 105 SC22 Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Strongly disagree 1.9 1.9 1.9 Disagree 11 7.1 7.1 9.0 Neutral 52 33.3 33.3 42.3 Agree 75 48.1 48.1 90.4 Strongly agree 15 9.6 9.6 100.0 156 100.0 100.0 Valid Total SC23 Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Strongly disagree 6 Disagree 5.8 5.8 6.4 Neutral 46 29.5 29.5 35.9 Agree 62 39.7 39.7 75.6 Strongly agree 38 24.4 24.4 100.0 156 100.0 100.0 Valid Total OC24 Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Strongly disagree Valid 4.5 4.5 4.5 Disagree 17 10.9 10.9 15.4 Neutral 68 43.6 43.6 59.0 Agree 51 32.7 32.7 91.7 Strongly agree 13 8.3 8.3 100.0 106 Total 156 100.0 100.0 OC25 Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Strongly disagree 11 7.1 7.1 7.1 Disagree 27 17.3 17.3 24.4 Neutral 60 38.5 38.5 62.8 Agree 42 26.9 26.9 89.7 Strongly agree 16 10.3 10.3 100.0 156 100.0 100.0 Valid Total Reliability Scale: ALL VARIABLES Case Processing Summary N Valid Cases Excludeda Total % 156 100.0 0 156 100.0 a Listwise deletion based on all variables in the procedure Reliability Statistics Cronbach's Alpha 450 N of Items 107 Item-Total Statistics Scale Mean if Scale Variance if Corrected Item- Cronbach's Item Deleted Item Deleted Total Correlation Alpha if Item Deleted PC1 3.22 1.230 291 PC2 2.55 1.359 291 Reliability Statistics Cronbach's Alpha N of Items 900 Item-Total Statistics Scale Mean if Scale Variance if Corrected Item- Cronbach's Item Deleted Item Deleted Total Correlation Alpha if Item Deleted LD3 3.87 879 818 LD4 3.95 888 818 Reliability Statistics Cronbach's Alpha N of Items 786 Item-Total Statistics Scale Mean if Scale Variance if Corrected Item- Cronbach's Item Deleted Item Deleted Total Correlation Alpha if Item Deleted A5 14.36 7.315 550 749 A6 14.31 7.376 515 761 A7 14.21 7.803 551 751 A8 14.45 6.623 672 706 108 A9 14.58 7.033 536 756 Reliability Statistics Cronbach's Alpha N of Items 690 Item-Total Statistics Scale Mean if Scale Variance if Corrected Item- Cronbach's Item Deleted Item Deleted Total Correlation Alpha if Item Deleted S10 7.10 2.660 420 698 S11 7.02 2.264 568 516 S12 7.31 2.165 534 559 Reliability Statistics Cronbach's Alpha N of Items 690 Item-Total Statistics Scale Mean if Scale Variance if Corrected Item- Cronbach's Item Deleted Item Deleted Total Correlation Alpha if Item Deleted S11 7.02 2.264 568 516 S12 7.31 2.165 534 559 S10 7.10 2.660 420 698 Reliability Statistics Cronbach's Alpha 844 N of Items 109 Item-Total Statistics Scale Mean if Scale Variance if Corrected Item- Cronbach's Item Deleted Item Deleted Total Correlation Alpha if Item Deleted LT13 18.22 11.711 530 837 LT14 18.25 11.840 572 828 LT15 18.27 11.643 593 824 LT16 18.22 10.924 661 811 LT17 18.32 11.303 700 804 LT18 18.20 11.451 701 804 Reliability Statistics Cronbach's Alpha N of Items 801 Item-Total Statistics Scale Mean if Scale Variance if Corrected Item- Cronbach's Item Deleted Item Deleted Total Correlation Alpha if Item Deleted SC19 14.46 6.869 607 756 SC20 14.43 6.750 626 750 SC21 14.61 6.756 693 730 SC22 14.49 6.819 667 738 SC23 14.24 7.837 359 832 Reliability Statistics Cronbach's Alpha 787 N of Items 110 Item-Total Statistics Scale Mean if Scale Variance if Corrected Item- Cronbach's Item Deleted Item Deleted Total Correlation Alpha if Item Deleted OC24 3.16 1.116 653 OC25 3.29 867 653 111 APENDIX H – THE TEACHERS’ PROFILE Code Age Years of teaching Qualifications experience T1 31 Bachelor’s degree of pedagogy T2 27 Bachelor’s degree of pedagogy T3 30 Bachelor’s degree of pedagogy T4 30 Bachelor’s degree of pedagogy T5 51 15 Bachelor’s degree of pedagogy 112 APENDIX I – COVER AND TABLE OF CONTENT OF TOP NOTCH 113 114 APENDIX J – SAMPLES OF TOP NOTCH 115 116 117 118 TÓM TẮT LUẬN VĂN Sách giáo khoa nguồn tài liệu thiếu chương trình đào tạo tiếng Anh Ở Việt Nam, sách giáo khoa tiếng Anh thường xuất nhập từ nước Điều dẫn đến tình trạng thiếu phù hợp sách tiếng anh nhập so với chương trình đào tạo Việt Nam Sách giáo khoa nhập khơng thể đáp ứng nhu cầu, sở thích lực người học nhu cầu giáo viên Vì vậy, việc đánh già sách giáo khoa quan trọng khơng cung cấp thơng tin hữu ích cho giáo viên mà cịn lên kế hoạch bối cảnh học tập cho học sinh Bài nghiên cứu thực để kiểm tra phù hợp sách Top Notch 2, sử dụng giáo trình cho sinh viên khơng chuyên Anh trường cao đẳng thành phố Hồ Chí Minh Bài nghiên cứu cịn kiểm tra nhận thức sinh viên lẫn giảng viên trường cao đẳng việc sử dụng sách Top Notch cho lớp học tiếng Anh Bài nghiên cứu sử dụng phương pháp hỗn hợp để thu thập liệu cho phân tích bao gồm phân tích tài liệu, khảo sát câu hỏi vấn Thành phần tham gia bao gồm 156 sinh viên hoàn thành bảng khảo sát giảng viên đồng ý tiến hành vấn với người thực nghiên cứu Kết cho thấy phần lớn giảng viên đề nghị dùng sách Top Notch làm giáo trình cho sinh viên khơng chun Anh phù hợp chủ đề, cấu trúc, nội dụng ngôn ngữ sử dụng Tuy nhiên số sinh viên dường không ủng hộ sách tính thực tế mức độ phù hợp Kết nghiên cứu có giá trị quan trọng sinh viên, giảng viên, nhà thiết kế chương trình giảng dạy quản lí chương trình tiếng Anh để nâng cao chất lượng sách giáo khoa cho chương trình đào tạo tiếng Anh khơng trường cao đẳng FPT Polytechnic mà cịn sở giáo dục cấp độ cao đẳng, đại học khác Việt Nam nước tiếng Anh khơng phải ngơn ngữ thức ...MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HO CHI MINH CITY OPEN UNIVERSITY AN EVALUATION OF TOP NOTCH AS THE TEXTBOOK FOR EFL CLASSES – THE CASE OF FPT POLYTECHNIC COLLEGE TESOL: 60 14 01 11 A thesis... certify that this submitted thesis entitled ? ?An evaluation of Top Notch as the textbook for EFL classes – The case of FPT Polytechnic College? ?? is my own work This thesis does not contain material... Top Notch meet the evaluation criteria for a standard EFL textbook? What are the teachers’ and students’ perceptions of Top Notch as English textbook for their English classes? 1.8 Scope of the