Đánh giá từ vựng trong sách giáo khoa tiếng anh 12 được xuất bản bởi nhà xuất bản giáo dục việt nam năm 2008 khoa học giáo dục

The study investigated aspects of word knowledge, and vocabulary learning strategies, and types of vocabulary activities underlying vocabulary activities.. The study consists of two main

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

**********************

N O T N

AN EVALUATION OF VOCABULARY USED IN THE TEXTBOOK

“T ẾN AN 12” PUBL S ED BY V ETNAM EDUCATION

PUBLISHER IN 2008 ánh giá từ vựng trong sách giáo khoa “T ẾN AN 12” được xuất bản

bởi Nhà xuất bản Giáo dục Việt Nam năm 2008

M A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111

HANOI - 2017

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

**********************

N O T N

AN EVALUATION OF VOCABULARY USED IN THE TEXTBOOK

“T ẾN AN 12” PUBL S ED BY V ETNAM EDUCAT ON

PUBLISHER IN 2008 ánh giá từ vựng trong sách giáo khoa “T ẾN AN 12” được xuất bản

bởi Nhà xuất bản Giáo dục Việt Nam năm 2008

M A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111

Supervisor: Dr Ngu n Th Ng c Qu nh

HANOI - 2017

in part, has not been submitted for a degree to any other universities or institutions

Hanoi, 2017 Signature

ng Ho i Th ng

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

First of all, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Ms Nguyen Thi Ngoc Quynh I would never have finished my dissertation without her useful and insightful comments and advice I would also like to give thanks to my teachers for their precious sharing of experiences, knowledge, and resource materials with me during my study Last but not least, I wish to thank students and teachers participating

in my study, my colleagues, and study mates for their help and support throughout my master’s degree course

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the voca ulary in the text ook TI NG ANH 12 pu lished in 2008 in terms of the selection of voca ulary, the presentation, and the vocabulary practice The study investigated aspects of word knowledge, and vocabulary learning strategies, and types of vocabulary activities underlying vocabulary activities A total of 180 randomly selected grade - twelve students and five English teachers in an upper-secondary school in Bac Ninh province were involved The data were collected through textbook analysis with the help of Range program by Nation (2002), questionnaires and interview Then, the information obtained from these sources were analysed quantitatively and qualitatively and evaluated using a checklist The data analysis tools used for the study are SPSS 20, and Excel The study consists of two main parts with the selection of vocabulary, the designs of the explicit vocabulary activities with reference to vocabulary learning strategies, and aspects of word knowledge, and types The results showed that the textbook has low pedagogical value and insufficient lexical input for learners in terms

of vocabulary selection The results also showed that there is a gap between what is pedagogically desirable about vocabulary learning strategies and what is actually included in the textbook The textbook hardly reflects all aspects of knowing a word in its vocabulary tasks and lack of diversity in designing explicit vocabulary activities

TABLE OF CONTENTS

DECLARATION i

ABSTRACT iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS……… ….iv

LIST OF TABLES vi

LIST OF FIGURES vii

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Rationale 1

1.2 Scope of the study 2

1.3 The objective of the study 3

1.4 Research questions 3

1.5 Significance of the study 3

1.6 Organization of the dissertation 4

CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK 5

2.1 Vocabulary learning and practice 5

2.1.1 Definitions of vocabulary 5

2.1.2 Vocabulary learning and practice 6

2.2 Evaluation and Textbook evaluation 8

2.3 Evaluating vocabulary in a textbook using a checklist 10

2 4 Vocabulary selection criteria 14

2.5 Aspects of word knowledge 17

2.6 Vocabulary learning strategies 19

2.7 Previous studies on evaluating vocabulary in the textbooks 20

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 26

3.1 Methodological approach 26

3.2 Research procedure 26

3.3 Study population 27

3.4 The general description of the text ook TI NG ANH 12 29

3 5 Research instruments 31

3.5.1 Textbook analysis 31

3.5.2 Survey questionnaire 32

3.5.3 Interview 33

3.6 Data collection evaluative checklist 34

3.7 Data analysis tools 34

CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS 36

4.1 Research question 1: How are the target vocabulary items in the textbook under study selected? 36

4.1.1 Results from textbook analysis 36

4.1.2 Results from survey questionnaires 42

4.1.3 Results from interviews 44

4.2 Research question 2: How is vocabulary presented and practised in relation to aspects of word knowledge, vocabulary learning strategies, and types of vocabulary activities? 46

4.2.1 Results from textbook analysis 46

4.2.2 Results from survey questionnaires 50

4.2.3 Results from interviews 50

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION 52

5.1 Summary of the major findings of the study 52

5.2 Pedagogical implications 54

5.3 Limitations of the study and suggestions for further study 54

5.4 Concluding remarks 55

REFERENCES 56 APPENDICES I

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1: Vocabulary size (Schmitt, 2000)……….… 15

Table 2: Aspects of word knowledge (Nation, 2001, p 27)……….……… 18

Ta le 3: Research population’s information……….…………27

Table 4: Groups of learners……… 28

Table 5: Information about teachers participating in the study……….…… 29

Table 6: Number of types and word families in the first three BNC word frequency lists……….32

Table 7: Frequency of words in the whole book……… 37

Table 8: The distribution of frequency words in the textbook……… 39

Table 9: Range of key vocabulary items in the textbook under study……… 39

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1: Types and tokens in the textbook……….38

Figure 2: Key vocabulary items in the textbook……… 40

Figure 3: Word grouping in the textbook………41

Figure 4: Number of explicit vocabulary exercises………42

Figure 5: Aspects of knowledge in explicit vocabulary activities……… 47

Figure 6: Vocabulary learning strategies in explicit vocabulary activities…… 48

Figure 7 (a): Types of vocabulary activities……… 49

Figure 7 (b): Types of vocabulary activities………49

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale

In English language teaching and learning in general, vocabulary plays a very important role Norbert Schmitt (2000, p 19), stated that one of the key elements in learning a foreign language is mastering L2 vocabulary Wilkins (1972, pp 111-112) also wrote that …while without grammar very little can e conveyed, without vocabulary nothing can e conveyed In fact, the more students learn, the more complex they find their learning Students do not only learn a single word, but at advanced levels, they have to learn other components of the words including antonyms, synonyms, allophones, collocation, semantic, and pragmatics A rich vocabulary makes the skills of listening, speaking, reading, and writing easier to perform, (Nation, 1994, p 8) Likewise, Richards and Rodgers (2002), appreciated the role of vocabulary teaching and learning in comparison to grammar Vocabulary difficulty has been found to be one of the best predictors of text difficulty (Chall, 1958), cited in Steven A Stahl and Michael C Jacobson (1986, p 309) Teaching vocabulary will not guarantee success in reading, just as learning to read words will not guarantee success in reading However, lacking either adequate word identification skills or adequate voca ulary will ensure failure (Biemiller, 2005) A wide number of people around the world today use English as a second or foreign language In learning

a language, vocabulary knowledge is viewed as an important factor

Textbook plays a role as the skeleton for the whole learning and teaching process Sheldon (1988, p 237), Course ooks are perceived y many to e the route map for any ELT program, laying bare its shape, structure, and destination, with progress, program, and even teacher quality being assessed by learners in terms of sequential , unit-by-unit coverage Thorn ury (2002) sees text ooks as sources of words He claims that vocabulary input is realized in the actual content of books by means of segregated activities, integrated text-based activities, grammar explanations and task instructions In addition, textbooks are commodities, political objects, and cultural representations and, therefore, are the site and result of struggles and compromise in order to determine how and by whom they will be produced, how and

by whom their contents will be selected, how and to whom they will be distributed, and how teachers and students will make use of them

Evaluation can reveal the weaknesses and strengths of certain textbooks and seek feasible supplementary materials or teaching techniques to overcome the demerits Evaluating vocabulary in its suitability will help teachers adapt their teaching methods better It is the teacher’s duty to understand why and what the vocabulary is selected in the textbooks

Therefore, I would like to explore further about the appropriateness of the vocabulary presented in the text ook TI NG ANH 12 that is still in use in the majority of upper-secondary schools in English teaching and learning context in Vietnam in general and in an upper-secondary school in Bac Ninh province in particular Then, I can suggest some possible adaptations in teaching vocabulary for larger groups of students and recommend better teaching techniques for teachers The study is also desired for suggesting a theoretical framework for further evaluation of vocabulary in other textbooks

1.2 Scope of the study

The study was limited in receptive vocabulary in the text ook TI NG ANH

12 , which was pu lished in 2008 y Vietnam national pu lisher of education, Ministry of Education and Training The formal presentation of vocabulary or explicit presentation of vocabulary in reading, speaking, writing, listening sections and the section of language focus, then incidental or indirect attention to vocabulary in some sections of the textbook is beyond the scope of the study McCarthy (1990, p 67) suggests that multi-word units should also be included in the high-frequency word lists, little research has been done on the frequency of these items and how many of them are needed for learners Therefore, the frequency and range of multi-unit words including phrasal verbs and idioms will be excluded in this study Instead, those kinds

of words will be classified in the demonstration of vocabulary organization in the study

The research was restricted to only 180 students and 5 teachers in an secondary school that could be representative for those who were using the textbook

to be school-leavers and finished their compulsory education in which English is an important subject

Finally, the data collected was gathered only from questionnaire, interview and textbook analysis with the hope that it could have been richer with the help of more data collection instruments

1.3 The objective of the study

Due to the fact that textbooks are used directly as instructional materials and the main tools in the teaching and learning process, this study is aimed at evaluating the textbook to see if it can effectively teach vocabulary and equip students with essential vocabulary learning strategies and provide students with essential word knowledge The study will review theories and researches concerning the selection of the vocabulary used in the textbook, aspects of word knowledge, vocabulary learning strategies and types of vocabulary activities The ultimate goal of the study is to suggest solutions or adaptations for teachers and textbook designers in relevance to improving the quality of vocabulary selection, presentation and practice

1.4 Research questions

Vocabulary can be studied from the perspective of breadth of knowledge which

is concerned with how much vocabulary a learner needs and depth of knowledge which is concerned with the quality of the learners’ voca ulary knowledge From these two dimensions, the study focuses on answering two research questions:

1, How are the target vocabulary items in the textbook under study selected?

2, How is vocabulary presented and practised in relation to aspects of word

knowledge, vocabulary learning strategies, and types of vocabulary activities?

1.5 Significance of the study

The study can be significant in a number of ways First of all, previous studies have put much focus on textbook or material evaluation in all aspects without specific emphasis on a single or particular item as vocabulary Therefore, my research will go

in more details of material evaluation, particularly vocabulary Then, the study can propose suggestions for teachers to adapt more effectively the textbook so as to improve English vocabulary learning for students In addition, there have been numerous studies on materials evaluation and vocabulary difficulty, but this study will contri ute to a deeper research y investigating oth students and teachers’ opinions

on the vocabulary in the target textbook In particular, triangulation in research is very important and this approach offers a new way to evaluate the suitability of the vocabulary in a particular textbook in a particular teaching and learning context …textbook evaluation is a science involving human values (Roberts, 1996) Then, the research also provides data about teachers and learners working with the voca ulary in the text ook, seeing how difficult they meet in developing students’ communicative competence as set out at the eginning part of the teachers’ ook through questionnaires and interviews Finally, the study is desired to suggest a systematic evaluative checklist for vocabulary evaluation for other further studies

1.6 Organization of the dissertation

The dissertation is organized into five chapters Chapter 1 introduces the rationale, the objective, the scope, and research questions of the study Chapter 2 consists of a review of the relevant literature, which forms the basis for analyzing the textbook First, it provides a brief description of the textbook under study and then looks at the definition of vocabulary, theories about vocabulary learning and practice Then, it provides different views on vocabulary selection criteria, evaluative checklist

It also introduces theories on aspects of word knowledge and vocabulary learning strategies Chapter 3 introduces the methodology used in the study Chapter 4 presents the findings and discusses the results in relation to the guidelines in literature Chapter

5 concludes on the study, discusses the limitations of the study It also suggests some adaptations as well as some advice for further study

CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK 2.1 Vocabulary learning and practice

2.1.1 Definitions of vocabulary

There are different definitions of vocabulary Vocabulary refers to words that a reader recognizes in print and learning meanings of new words – Beck, McKeown, Kucan (2008, p 1) Vocabulary is defined as the knowledge of words and word meanings More specifically, we use vocabulary to refer to the kind of words that students must know to read increasingly demanding text with comprehension (Kamil

& Hiebert, 2005) Vocabulary can be defined as the words of a language, including single items and phrases or chunks of several words which convey a particular meaning, the way the individual words do (https://goo.gl/Uhb23r ) Vocabulary can be defined as words we must know to communicate effectively; words in speaking (expressive vocabulary) and words in listening (receptive voca ulary) ( Neuman & Dwyer, 2009, p 385) Horn y (1995) defines voca ulary as the total num er of words in a language; voca ulary is a list of words with their meanings Ur (1998) states that vocabulary can be defined, roughly, as the words we teach in a foreign language

There are two types of vocabulary: receptive and productive vocabulary (Hatch

& Brown, 1995) Receptive vocabulary is words that learners recognize and understand when they are used in context, but which they cannot produce It is vocabulary that learners recognize when they see or meet in reading text but do not use

it in speaking and writing (Stuart Webb, 2008) Another kind is productive vocabulary which is the words that the learners understand and can pronounce correctly and use constructively in speaking and writing It involves what is needed for receptive vocabulary and the ability to speak or write at the appropriate time Productive vocabulary can be addressed as an active process as the learners can produce the words

to express their thoughts (Stuart Webb, 2005) Nation (2001, pp 24-25) claims that receptive voca ulary size involves perceiving the form of a word while listening or reading and retrieving its meaning In this sense, receptive use dominates normal language learning (Nation, 2001, p 29.) On the other hand, productive voca ulary

use involves wanting to express a meaning through speaking or writing and producing the appropriate spoken or written word form

All words belong to categories called word classes (or parts of speech) English has four major word classes: nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs (Cambridge Dictionary) Other word classes include prepositions, pronouns, determiners, conjunctions, and interjections In grouping vocabulary items semantically, collocations, fixed expressions, and idioms are also considered

2.1.2 Vocabulary learning and practice

It is necessary to distinguish explicit learning and implicit learning Tomlinson (1998, p 4) wrote that language learning can e explicit (i.e the learners are aware of when and what they are learning) or it can be implicit (i.e the learners are not aware of when and what they are learning) Direct teaching of vocabulary relates to the grammar translation method and incidental (the communicative approach) Schmitt (2000, p 116) suggested that two main processes of voca ulary acquisition: explicit learning through the focused study of words and incidental learning through exposure when one’s attention is focused on the use of language, rather than the learning itself Nation (2001, p 384) mentioned that vocabulary learning does not benefit from being planned, but can be determined by the occurrence of words in texts, tasks, and themes The purpose of vocabulary learning should include both remembering words and the ability to use them automatically in a wide range of language contexts when the need arises (McCarthy, 1984)

Vocabulary learning is effective when it entails active engagement that goes beyond definitional knowledge Stahl and Kapinus (2001) stated that when children

‘know’ a word, they not only know the word’s definition and its logical relationship with other words, they also know how the word functions in different contexts Tickoo (2003) believed that extensive reading, contextualized presentation of words, and inference can lead to more effective vocabulary learning than procedures predominantly relying on dictionary usage and translation

Word frequency is a factor that affects vocabulary learning The frequency of a word indicates its occurrences across a wide range of texts Frequency in vocabulary learning matters for two reasons Firstly, most often used lexical items should be

learned first because they contribute to communicative competence more significantly Secondly, frequency of occurrence creates chances for repetitive practice, which is one

of the essential conditions for vocabulary consolidation Lotto and DeGroot’s (1998)study concluded that high-frequency words are easier to learn and retrieve than low-frequency words However, the proficiency level of learners will determine the number of word exposures Liu (2002) discovered that the optimal pick-up exposure frequency range for English foreign language senior high school students with different English proficiency fell at the range from six to twelve exposures

Together with frequency, repetition and multiple exposures to vocabulary items are important Stahl (2005) cautioned against mere repetition or drill of the word, emphasizing that vocabulary instruction should provide students with opportunities to encounter words repeatedly and in a variety of contexts Memory, review, and repetition take a crucial role in the complex process of learning a lexical item Nation (2001, pp 76-77) maintained that repetition brings quantitative and qualitative benefits

to voca ulary learning He said that repetition is essential for voca ulary learning because there is so much to know about each word that one meeting with it is not sufficient to gain this information, and because vocabulary items must not only be known, they must e known well so that they can e fluently accessed Recycling is synonymous to revision, repetition or consolidation of knowledge A word may need

to be recycled three, four, five, or six times before it is learned adequately - Cunningsworth, 1986, p 25) Carter (1998, p 193) proposed there are at least 6-7 repetitions in the state of rote-learning At more advanced stages, exposure should amount to 10-12 to ensure retention (Coady & Huckin, 1997, p 225) Mitra Hashemzadeh (2012) studied the effect of exercise types on EFL learners’ vocabulary retention by utilizing action research within two weeks The results from the test showed that recognition exercises (fill-in-the-blank and matching) are more effective than production exercises (paraphrasing and glossing) The author then included that unknown words should be repeated in different exercises so as to be stored in long-term memory and retained effectively

When it comes to vocabulary learning tasks in the textbook, Wallace (1982), proposed different purposes of vocabulary tasks as follow:

- The teacher can look at them from the point of view of expanding his or her range of techniques when involved in vocabulary teaching from a context or in a situation

- Tasks can be used to focus on some aspects of vocabulary learning

- Some aspects of vocabulary (but not all) can be developed in an autonomous or autonomous way, i.e more or less independently of the teacher Provided that the student is able to correct his answers, vocabulary is one of those areas of language learning where a well-motivated learner can make giant strides on his own is / he is given the right kind of material to work on, and vocabulary development exercises can have a role to play here

semi Some of the tasks can also be used as tests Vocabulary exercises found in the textbooks and courses are in fact tests The purpose of a vocabulary exercise is to develop the learner’s communication of the target language voca ulary, not simply to find out whether she/ he knows particular item of vocabulary or not However, a close relationship exists between tests and exercises, since many exercises can be made into tests and vice versa

Coady and Huckin (1997, pp 182-184) suggested that all vocabulary exercises can be grouped into five categories: (1) Selective attention – the least demanding exercise type- which implies noticing (e.g oldfacing), (2) Recognition which involves partial knowledge (e.g matching), (3) Manipulation which entails rearranging

in terms of morphology and grammar (e.g using affixes to construct words, complete table, (4) Interpretation which presupposes analysis of meaning and use in contexts (e.g multiple choice cloze exercises, completing sentences, (5) Production – the most demanding exercise type-which means production in appropriate contexts (e.g open cloze exercises, finding a mistake)

2.2 Evaluation and Textbook evaluation

Evaluation plays a key role in education and it is important for the teacher since

it can provide valuable information for the future going of classroom practice, the planning of courses and management of learning tasks by students Evaluation aims to discover whether what one is looking for is there , McGrath 2002, p 32) Evaluation is defined as a systematic appraisal of the value of materials in relation to their o jectives and to the o jectives of the learners using them , Tomlinson (1998, p

11) Evaluation refers to the fit of the text ook with the teaching context, i.e learners, teachers, school settings, and educational policies in the country

Evaluation is the process of judging something’s quality, importance, or value According to Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, (2001), evaluation is the act of considering something to decide how useful or valuable it is Rea-Dickins & Germaine (1992, p.4) stated that evaluation is an intrinsic part of teaching and learning McGrath’s asic explanation of text ook evaluation concerns the discovery

of whether what you were looking for was there When found, you then need to put a value on your findings Evaluation implies judgment-making which therefore also means that evaluation is subjective Although when evaluating, McGrath (2002, p 22) claimed that you might miss the unusual and the innovative

Textbook evaluation has been an interesting topic to study because a textbook

or a course book plays an important role in teaching According to (Ur, 1996, p 184),

a textbook contains a teaching framework and syllabus, ready- made texts and tasks, economy, convenience, guidance and autonomy Identifying the strengths and weaknesses in textbooks, optimum use can be made of strong points, and weaker points can be adapted or substituted from other books as mentioned in Cunningsworth (1995, p 14) Materials and textbooks evaluation have emerged to add to criteria of appropriateness to know to some extent which English textbook is more effectively used

The evaluation as a cyclical process is suggested by Ian McGrath (2002, p 14); this consists of pre-use evaluation, in-use evaluation and post-use evaluation In this study, post-use evaluation is carried out Post use evaluation is carried out at the end of the academic school year According to Ellis (1998), it is aimed at examining in a more comprehensive way the impact of using the textbook/ course book, assessing how far the material motivates the students, or examining the application of knowledge or skill to a different situation without any assistance The areas can be quantitatively measured including lexical repertoire (McGrath, 2002, p 199) This offers careful evaluation which can make the research more valid and reliable In his book, Grant (1987, p 118), states that a good book should satisfy three conditions Firstly, it should suit the needs, interests and abilities of your students Second, it should suit you (The est ook in the world won’t work in your classroom if you have

good reasons for disliking it) Thirdly, the textbook must meet the needs of official public teaching syllabus or examinations

An evaluation can be made of how the materials match the target situation of use and whether it is necessary to take action, i.e modifying the materials, supplementing or rejecting them Therefore, the results of any materials evaluation must necessarily be context-dependent - Laura & Schmitt (2017, p 32) Evaluation can highlight strengths and weaknesses in existing course books, thus providing the basis for formulating new textbooks policies and developing new materials

2.3 Evaluating vocabulary in a textbook using a checklist

In the first words, using checklist method or using a checklist for evaluating vocabulary is appropriate with the current study Ian McGrath (2002, pp 26-27), lists four benefits of using a checklist for in-depth evaluation

1 It is systematic, ensuring that all elements that are deemed to be important are considered

2 It is cost-effective, permitting a good deal of information to be recorded in a relatively short space of time

3 The information is recorded in a convenient format, allowing for easy comparison between competing sets of material

4 It is explicit, and, provided the categories are well understood by all involved

in the evaluation, offers a common framework for decision-making

Cunningsworth (1995) suggests six criteria in order to evaluate the lexical presentations in ELT materials:

(1) Is vocabulary learning material included on its own right? If so, how prominent is it? Is it central to the course or peripheral?

(2) How much vocabulary is taught? - Is there any principled basis for the selection of vocabulary?

(3) Is there any distinction of between the active and passive vocabulary, and classroom vocabulary?

(4) Is vocabulary presented in a structured, purposeful way?

(5) Are learners sensitized to the structures of the lexicon through vocabulary learning exercises based on semantic relationships, formal relationships, collocations and situation-based word groups?

(6) Does the material enable students to expand their own vocabularies independently

by helping them to develop their own learning strategies? (p.46)

Litz (2007) presents a teacher textbook evaluation form which includes four items for vocabulary evaluation:

(1) The textbook includes a detailed overview of the vocabulary that will be taught in each unit

(2) An adequate vocabulary list or glossary is included

(3) The vocabulary items are introduced in motivating and realistic contexts

(4) The progression of vocabulary items is appropriate

Miekley (2005) provides a textbook evaluation checklist:

(1) Are the new vocabulary words presented in a variety of ways?

(2) Are the new vocabulary words presented at an appropriate rate so that the text is understandable and so that students are able to retain new vocabulary?

(3) Are the new vocabulary words repeated in subsequent lessons to reinforce their meaning and use?

(4) Are students taught top-and-down techniques for learning new vocabulary words? Grant (1987, pp 119 - 120) presents the CATALYST model Test which provides some questions that determine whether the textbooks being used are suitable for the class or not The eight letters in the word CATALYST represent the eight criteria by which we can decide whether a textbook/material is suitable for our classroom objectives and needs Communicative? Is the text book communicative? This question aims to find out whether the students after using this book will be able to use the language to communicate Aims? Does it fit in with the aims and objectives? These may be laid down by educational authorities, or devised on our own Teachable? Does the course seem teachable? Does it seem reasonably easy to use, well organized, and easy to find your way round? Available Adds-ons? Are there any useful adds-ons-additional materials such as teacher’s ooks, tapes, work ooks, etc.? Level? Does the level seem out right? Your impression? What’s your overall impression of the course? Student interest? Are the students likely to find the book interesting? Tried and tested?

Has the course been tried and tested in real classrooms? Where? By whom? What were the results? How do you know?

A vocabulary analysis criterion was proposed by Cel-ce-Murcia (1991) including: appropriateness of context, accessibility, inclusiveness per syllabus, load suitability and balanced distribution Then, keys terms are defined as follows:

(1) Appropriateness of context: The vocabulary items are introduced in appropriate contexts and situations

(2) Accessibility: The vocabulary items included in the text are easily accessible to the learner by providing a word list or summaries of new words

(3) Inclusiveness per syllabus: The vocabulary items included in the text are necessary for using the language up to the complexity or master the book achieves and thus these items can match the objectives of the book

(4) Load suitability: The number of the new words introduced in every lesson seems to reasonable for the students

(5) Balanced distribution: The even distribution of vocabulary material among units

A checklist was introduced by Mat Hussin et al, (2015), which was introduced in the article of International Journal of Language Education and Applied Linguistics in

2015 This criterion was developed from the checklist by Daoud and Celce-Murcia, (1979), then by Celce-Murcia, (1991) The checklist for vocabulary evaluation consists

of 11 items:

linguistic level of students

(7) The topical nature of the vocabulary exercises is often meaningful to the

students

(10) The sentences and examples that define new vocabulary use words that are

known by learners

Each item is graded according to Likert-scale from 0 to 4, in which (0) means Totally lacking, (1) means Poor, (2) means Satisfactory, (3) means Good and (4) means Excellent Then, after calculating the mean score, the interpretation can be done by using Scores interpretation guide to evaluate the voca ulary presentation in the

textbooks

Gairns and Redman (1986) propose a useful set of evaluation criteria for vocabulary work in a course book

(1) Selection

- Is there a lexical syllabus? And a rationale for vocabulary selection?

- How are vocabulary items grouped?

- How many items are introduced at once?

(2) Linguistic considerations

- To what extent does the course book assist both learner and teacher in clarifying meaning, dealing with style and connotation, or contrasting items which cause difficulty?

- Does it provide phonemic transcriptions and indicate the part of speech of new items?

- How thoroughly does it deal with the use of items?

(3) Methodology

- What learning approaches are selected? Are strategies taught?

- Does the teacher’s ook suggest teaching procedures?

- Are practice and testing activities provided? Is vocabulary recycled?

- How are learners encouraged to consolidate and widen their vocabulary outside the classroom?

- Does the course book contain useful visual material?

- Does the course book anticipate vocabulary needed for skills activities?

These checklists are considered to be very valuable and basic, and help for forming the final checklist for the current study The criteria were chosen with a view to fitting the objectives of the research as well as research questions raised

2 4 Vocabulary selection criteria

To select a number of vocabulary items from a textbook is not a simple task because of the significant number of English words The number of vocabulary items learners need to know refers to the concept of core or target voca ulary How many words students should learn? How much vocabulary learners should know? And What words learners need to know? are the questions to answer The answers ena le learners to have reasonable comprehension and begin to adequately engage in everyday communication In vocabulary evaluation, it is also necessary to investigate whether the vocabulary items are sequenced in order to achieve a systematic gradation Recycling is another important issue in vocabulary teaching, thus the previously learned vocabulary need to be revised with reasonable numbers as mentioned above Although a language makes use of a large number of words, not all of these words are equally useful for all contexts and all purposes Nation (1990) maintains that after these high frequency words are learned, the next focus for the teacher is on helping the learners develop strategies to comprehend and learn the low frequency words of the language Moreover, the length of the sentences should be controlled in order not to distract students’ attentions according to Daoud & Celce-Murcia (1979) Richards & Rodgers (2002, pp 220-221) paid much attention to selecting which vocabulary to learn and emphasized: …selecting voca ulary ased-solely from the reading text, and words are taught through bilingual word lists, dictionary study, verb conjugation and grammatical paradigm should be committed to memorization Additionally, Skierso (1991) consider that is essential to question on which criteria the vocabulary items are selected Then, it is necessary to investigate whether they are structured on ‘frequency counts, thematic units, or communicative, socio-cultural functions’ (p 436) Ur (1996) proposes a list of the suggested items concerning the selection process of the lexical units

The first 2,000- 3,000 high frequency words are fundamental to the learning of English as a second language In fact, these high frequency words make up the majority of the running words in a text According to Schmitt (2000, p 142), vocabulary size is relevant to the number of word families as described in the following table

Table 1: Vocabulary size (Schmitt, 2000)

From the table above, the basic vocabulary size that allows communication amounts to 2000-3000, which is the threshold where learners can start to learn from context (Schmitt & McCarthy, 1997, p 11) This mean that on average, students learn about six to eight new words each day Voca ulary should match students’ a ility and learning experiences with reasonable amount, order, and repetitions This is based on the well-known I +1 Comprehensi le Input Hypothesis y Krashen (1982) Meanwhile, Freebody and Anderson (1983) proposed that the maximum amount of new words in a text was 15% of the words in the whole text Sheldon (1988, p 237) suggests that text ooks represent the visi le heart of any ELT program According

to Nation (2001), the number of new words in a text should be less than 5% of the total

so that students could have a reasonable learning load and sufficient familiar words for the comprehension of new words Cunningsworth (1995, p 7) contends that we should ensure that careful selection is made, and that the materials selected closely reflect the needs of the learners and the aims, methods, and values of the teaching program Nation (2006) cited in The Canadian Modern Language Review, 63, 1 (Septem er),

p 59), states that most readers would need to know 98% of the running words in a text

to gain adequate comprehension

Cunningsworth (1986) offers the following set of guidelines which can form the basis of formulating a personalized criteria checklist:

- The selected materials should be related to the teaching objectives

- The materials should utilize activities which are interesting, involving, and intellectually stimulating for the learners

- The students should be able to relate personally with the subject matter used in the materials

- The materials should present and practice English in a systematic and comprehensive way

White (1998, pp 48-50) proposed key issues in deciding the words taught or introduced

(1) Frequency of use (the total number of occurrences of an item in a given corpus

of language) – high frequency words

(2) Coverage (the number of things which can be expressed by any given item) – words with a broader coverage

(3) Range (the amount of times a word or words appear in texts within a given corpus) – words found in different text types

(4) Availability (the readiness with which a word is remembered and used by native speakers in certain situations) – words easy available to native speakers (5) Potential learnability (the ease or difficulty with which a particular word can be acquired) – easy words

(6) Opportunism – words connected with learners’ immediate situation

(7) Centres of interest – words interesting to learners

Nation (2001, p.382) suggest the following points with regard to what vocabulary

to include in a language course I.e in addressing learner needs

A learners’ lacks (What voca ulary do they know? And what strategies can they use?)

B learners’ necessities (What voca ulary do they need? And what strategies do they need?)

C learners’ wants (What voca ulary do they want to learn)

Thornbury (2002, pp 75-76) makes clear factors that affect the number of words to present:

(1) The level of the learners (whether beginners, intermediate, or advanced)

(2) The learners’ likely familiarity with the words (learners may have met the words before even though they are not part of their active vocabulary)

(3) The difficulty of the items – whether, for example, they express abstract rather than concrete meanings, or whether they are difficult to pronounce

(4) Their teachability – whether, for example, they can be easily explained or demonstrated

(5) Whether items are being learned for production (in speaking and writing) or for recognition only (as in listening and reading) Since more time will be needed for the former, the number of items is likely to be fewer than if the aim is only recognition (6) The number of new words presented should not overstretch the learners’ capacity

2.5 Aspects of word knowledge

Stahl (2005) stated, Voca ulary knowledge is knowledge; the knowledge of a word not only implies a definition, ut also implies how that word fits into the world Consequently, researchers and practitioners alike seek to identify, clarify, and understand what it means for students to know what a word means The English language has a very large vocabulary, estimated to between 450,000 to 750,000 words (Stahl, 1999; Tompkins, 2005) The current study will follow the theory proposed by Nation (2001) In details, Nation (2001, p 27), distinguish three aspects of word knowledge including form, meaning, and use The form of a word involves its pronunciation (spoken form), spelling (written form), and any word parts that make up this particular item (such as prefix, root, and suffix) The meaning of a word consists

of the way that form and meaning work together, that is, the concept and what items it refers to, and the associations when people think about a specific word or expression The use of a word involves the grammatical functions of the word or phrase, collocations that normally go with it, and finally any constraints on its use, in terms of frequency, level, and so forth

Table 2: Aspects of word knowledge (Nation, 2001, p 27)

knowledge

Productive knowledge

What word parts

meaning?

What items can the concept refer to?

people think of?

What other words could people use instead of this one?

(register, frequency )

Where, when, and how often would people expect to meet this word?

Where, when, and

word?

2.6 Vocabulary learning strategies

Vocabulary learning strategies are a part of language learning strategies which

in turn are a part of general learning strategies They can help learners to facilitate the effort and better consolidate word knowledge, ultimately increase their vocabulary The effectiveness of using vocabulary learning strategies depends on a number of variables including proficiency level, L1, culture of students, their motivation, and purposes for learning the L2, the task and text being used, and the nature of L2 itself (Schmitt, 2000, p 133)

Schmitt’s taxonomy has een extensively exploited due to its several advantages over others These advantages are as follows: Schmitt’s taxonomy can be standardized for assessment goals, can be utilized to gather the answers from students easily, is based on the theory of learning strategies as well as on theories of memory, is technologically simple, can be applied to learners of different educational backgrounds and target languages, is rich and sensitive to the other relevant learning strategies and allows comparison with other studies

Schmitt’s taxonomy asically classified into two dimensions as discovery and consolidation strategies of vocabulary learning Discovery strategies refer to determination and social strategies, whereas consolidation strategies include social, memory, cognitive, and Meta cognitive strategies Social strategies involve learners using interaction with other people to facilitate their learning Memory strategies consist of those approaches helping relate new materials to existing knowledge system; skills which require manipulation or transformation of the target language y the learner Lastly, Meta cognitive strategies involve a conscious overview of the learning process and making decisions about planning, monitoring or evaluating the best way to study Discovery strategies include several determination strategies and social strategies A learner may discover a new words meaning through guessing from context In group of consolidation strategies, memorization strategies refer to those involving making connections between the to-be-learned word and some previously learned words, using some form of imagery or grouping Memorization strategies play

an important role in helping learners to commit new words into memory and in the whole process of vocabulary learning Cognitive strategies primarily refer to written and verbal repetition as well as some mechanical means involving vocabulary

learning Meta cognitive strategies are positive predictors of vocabulary size and general English proficiency, showing their significant role in language learning Apply Meta cognitive strategies, learners control and evaluate their own learning through various ways, such as using spaced word practice, continuing to study word over time,

or self-testing They take more responsibility for their studies and overall learning effect may be improved Classification of vocabulary learning strategies by Schmitt (1997, p 206) is provided in appendix 2

2.7 Previous studies on evaluating vocabulary in the textbooks

Riazi & Aryashokouh (2007) focused on the consciousness-raising aspect of vocabulary exercises in four English textbooks (three of high school, and one of pre-university) by using textbook analysis The results showed that only one percent of all the exercises in the four textbooks could be categorized as consciousness-raising They also found out that the exercises only emphasized individual words (about 26%), lexical collocations (about 15%) and grammatical collocations (about 2%) The textbooks they studied reflected that they mainly dealt with meanings of individual words and not with how the words are used in association with other words The study only deals with one aspect of vocabulary exercises in the textbooks

Kamile Hamiloglu and Hayriye Karhova (2009) conducted a research into a content analysis on the vocabulary presentation in EFL course books By analyzing the details and examples from vocabulary and pronunciation sections in notes, the authors found out that the textbooks under study integrate lexis into their syllabus, giving emphasis on word knowledge by means of separate headings and additional headings, such as Vocabulary, Word building, Word formation, Easily confused words, Key word transformation, Near-synonyms and synonyms besides word lists at the end of students’ ook In terms of techniques, most of the books encourage students to guess word meanings but urge them to check dictionaries Only one textbook among five ones emphasizes recycling of the newly learned words However, none of the books refer to the level and frequency of the vocabulary covered in the course books

Raquel Criado1 & Aquilino Sánchez (2012) in their study analyzed the lexical component in a specific textbook from three points of view: frequency, distribution and the kind of activities through which vocabulary learning is promoted The

computational tool used for counting and comparing vocabulary in the textbook was RANGE developed by Nation They also checked if the textbook complied with the specific conditions governing knowledge acquisition, in particular (i) those regarding

‘opportunities for repetition’, which would depend on the frequency of occurrence of lexical items throughout the textbook, and (ii) the amount of activities favoring explicit or incidental learning After doing the research, their overall evaluation led to conclude that the manual was not in line with some of the basic and fundamental requirements for lexical acquisition, specifically the suitability of the words selected regarding the frequency list of general English and the lack of opportunities for 874 rehearsal and repetition of the lexical items the students were supposed to learn In comparison with other studies, the researchers used RANGE by Nation to analyze the textbook, which makes the research objective

Thotapally Anjaneyulu (2014) did a critical analysis of the English language textbooks in Andhra Phrades, India with the aim to yield insights as to its suitability to the set goals and learners’ needs, examining whether the text ook would promote communicative language, learner autonomy, and problem-solving skills or not The instrument is questionnaire with a view to collecting information about the textbooks and teacher’s attitude towards English language teaching in AP In terms of vocabulary, the researcher found out that vocabulary/lexis which was not found to be a section on its own most of the times was nevertheless included in the description of the contents Vocabulary was rarely a section in the units but embedded in the context of other sections The findings showed that the overall organization of the textbook and the themes included were satisfactory; the authors’ intention to use real-like situations and explore all four language skills in an integrated way was apparent and elements of differentiation of instruction were also found in the textbook This study only counted the percentage of tasks or activities related to vocabulary and it was not concerned with the suita ility of voca ulary with the learners’ needs and so on

Nasser Rashidi & Roghaye Kehtarfard (2014) conducted a study under the framework of needs analysis The needs analysis questionnaires were administered among 180 third-grade female high school students for whom the textbook was designed Having investigated the students’ perceived foreign language needs the researcher then used it as the basis for evaluating the textbook The textbook studied

places too much emphasis on grammar and is more lenient on reading, and this does not let other skills and components flourish The results of the textbook evaluation revealed that although all language skills and components were almost important for the majority of the students, the textbook could not fully support all of them together

With the population of 180 students, Masoomeh Hanafiyeh & Mansour Koosha (2014) conducted questionnaire and interview with following issues based on ten criteria: the selection and organization of content in the textbook, level of the learners, the physical appearance, the content, the exercises and activities, the vocabulary and grammar, the clarity of instructions, the supporting sources, the development of learner autonomy, and the consideration of learning style differences based on Cunningsworth (1995) The results showed that vocabulary exercises do not facilitate vocabulary learning and vocabulary items are inappropriate with student’s level; actually, the activities and exercises seemed to be above their level due to the confusing sentence structures and vocabulary load

Hadi Yaghoubi Nezhad et al (2013) did an evaluation of two different ESP textbooks, one of which is English for students of Mechanical Engineering, design of solids (SAMT publication), the other of which is English in Mechanical Enginnering (Oxford University Press) using Textbook Evaluation Checklist (Miekley, 2005) Among the questions raised are: Are the new vocabulary words presented in a variety

of ways (e.g glosses, multi glosses, and appositives)? - Are the new vocabulary words repeated in subsequent lessons to reinforce their meaning and use? Then, the findings they found out is that like grammar rules the new words are not presented under a distinct exercise addressing vocabulary They are implicitly introduced in activities with different purposes and there is no way to understand or guess the meaning of new words In addition, no single section has been spent on vocabularies

Judy Davies et al (2008, p 14), wrote in Evaluation and Selection of Learning Resources: A Guide that evaluating learning material should consider the amount of technical vocabulary used, and the devices used to interpret, explain, and define technical terms; consider the general level of difficulty of non-technical words used (in terms of familiarity and abstractness), realize that excessive use of idioms and dialect increase reading difficulty, use simplified vocabulary, avoiding excessive dialect or idioms, provide definitions of key vocabulary, define and bold new vocabulary in text

Comprehension is essential, and can be facilitated by using strategies appropriate for the individual’s assessed needs and scaffolding vocabulary/language proficiency In addition, non-technical vocabulary is appropriate in the textbook However, a textbook evaluator should consider the overall vocabulary load, the purpose for reading, listening, or viewing, the sophistication of the ideas presented, the context (sentence complexity), the level of concreteness/abstraction, the use of idiom and dialect (can increase comprehension difficulty and/or enrich meaning), and user support (e.g., examples, illustrations, glossaries) in terms of vocabulary In short, the writer notes down quite clear criteria to choose a good textbook for students learning a foreign language

Seda Aytuğ (2007) using questionnaire and interview for students and teachers, evaluated the textbook New Bridge to Success for 9th Grade New Beginners In addition to those instruments, the vocabulary profiler was used to set out the vocabulary load and gradation in the textbook For the researcher, valuating the presentation of vocabulary in ELT textbooks focus on the presentation of vocabulary, the vocabulary load should be consistent with the intended level of the learners The result showed that most of the teachers indicated the gradation of the vocabulary is not successful and the main reason of this result can be traced to the decrease of the words

at the K2 level In particular, nearly 40 % of the participants indicated that the vocabulary load is not consistent with the students’ level One of the most striking findings of this study was that the reading passages included too many vocabulary items Teachers in the interviews emphasized that due to the vocabulary load in the reading passages, the students had great difficulty in comprehending the reading texts and doing the related tasks and activities The results also revealed that both teachers and students thought that the number of vocabulary exercises and activities were not sufficient to practice the new vocabulary In addition, both groups agreed that vocabulary exercises do not facilitate vocabulary learning It can e inferred that New Bridge to Success 3 is not conducive to equip the learners with strategies for handling the unknown vocabulary Besides, both teachers and students complained that the newly learned vocabulary items were not recycled in subsequent lessons

Duarte and Escobar (2008) using Catalyst model to evaluate the material asked students to answer questionnaires The detailed evaluation consists of a three-part

questionnaire focusing on: – Does the material or the course book suit your students? – Does it suit the teacher? – Does it suit the syllabus? Students were asked to compare the local version and global version in order to find out which was appropriate In terms of vocabulary, learners were asked to decide the vocabulary global or local and whether the varied vocabulary was suitable with their needs or not The findings showed that the level of difficulty, the vocabulary, the recycling of grammar and realistic situations were outstanding factors in obtaining good perceptions in relation to the local adapted material implemented in contrast to the global version Moreover, the fact of having included situations connected with their daily lives makes them feel more motivated and attracted to do activities in this new material

Marie Nordlund (2016) did a research about EFL textbooks for young learners with a comparative analysis of vocabulary by using BNC (British national Corpus) The analysis of two English teaching course book series widely used in school years 4-

6 in Sweden consists of comparisons of the vocabulary components in the materials and examines the extent to which words in the two series – adjectives, nouns, and verbs – recur in the books, whether there are core words and whether the vocabulary corresponds with accepted measures of English high-frequency words The results of the study show that all the coursebooks contain a high proportion of one-time and low frequency words One third of the words are not found in the 2,000 most frequent English words

The most important study, whose aspects are nearly similar to the present study,

is done by Ma Dolores Lopez - Jimenez (2012) The author conducted a study with the title A critical analysis of the voca ulary in L2 Spanish text ooks using six criteria checklist 12 textbooks at three proficiency levels were analyzed with the help

of a detailed analysis The results suggest that the vocabulary lacks consistency because the selection and grading criteria are not explicitly stated In addition, vocabulary teaching tends to be traditional due to a limited number of closed and open exercises and vocabulary learning strategies hardly exist The textbooks overuse semantic fields in introducing vocabulary and insufficient word recycling However, the study just focus on analysis without evaluating the suggested criteria Moreover, there is only one tool that is used – textbook analysis

In a study on evaluating the vocabulary load of written text, Paul Nation and Stuart Webb (2008) used The vocabulary size test (Nation & Beglar, 2007) and the Range program (Nation & Heatley, 2002) to determine the coverage of a text and the words which are likely to be unknown, aiming at evaluating the appropriateness of texts for specific learners and they found out that if learners had a vocabulary size of the most frequent 2000 word families, there would be 12 more unknown words families or 24 more unknown tokens, then pre-teaching and dictionary use become much more demanding and glossing and simplifying are appropriate

A textbook evaluation from Nguyen, T T Minh (2007, pp 49-50), using textbook analysis, questionnaires and interview, found out that vocabulary is taught and practiced via both materials for language skills development and in its own right in the Language focus section However, the activities are not properly designed and are unlikely to achieve their purposes This is the only research as far as I know that evaluate the set of textbooks which consist of the textbook under study

All the previous studies focus on evaluating and analyzing vocabulary in the textbooks, except for the study from Nguyen, T T Minh (2007) They used different research instruments including textbook analysis, interview and questionnaire and they are all useful to give studies results However, each research investigates one or two aspects of vocabulary such as word frequency or design of vocabulary exercises From what has been discovered, the present research is desired to evaluate vocabulary in a textbook under different aspects including word selection, design of vocabulary activities from dimensions of aspects of word knowledge, vocabulary learning strategies, and the use of types of vocabulary activities, using the same instruments in the previous studies

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 3.1 Methodological approach

As mentioned above, the vocabulary evaluation will be implemented methodologically and practically This research will be conducted as an evaluation which is associated with human (teachers and students), so interviews and questionnaires are suitable instruments Moreover, qualitative data and analysis will improve my understanding of vocabulary under perspectives from both students and teachers In addition to the survey and the interview used, textbook analysis is taken advantage of so as to collect objective data about the vocabulary presentation in the textbook To do this research, a checklist will be utilized for a number of advantages

3.2 Research procedure

As it was mentioned in chapter one, the objectives of the study are to evaluate voca ulary in the text ook TI NG ANH 12 in order to find out whether the vocabulary presentation tasks and exercises are designed according to various vocabulary learning strategies as well as aspects of word knowledge It is also aimed at evaluating vocabulary through criteria of vocabulary selection The data gathered through textbook analysis, interview, and questionnaire were analysed both quantitatively and qualitatively since mixed approach brings a valid result The word lists of the textbook for textbook analysis were extracted and changed into text documents in order to e run through Nation’s Range Program The textbook analysis was implemented during the whole process of the study, meanwhile, the questionnaire and interview question items were quite challenging and time-consuming to design The interview and questionnaires, after a number of reflections, were distributed to

180 students and four teachers at the end of the academic school year The interview was delivered to teachers efore students’ questionnaires a week for appropriate interval Right after the data from those research instruments were received, the data analysis was carried out SPSS program version 20 The data obtained from the analysis were arranged into separate tables in the form of numbers and percentages to answer the research questions raised in the introduction part of the study

Table 3: Students’ information

The role of age factor in evaluation cannot be underestimated in language learning and teaching (Cook & Singleton, 2014, p 18) On page 22, the researcher suggests a table with at least three age groups of learners as follow:

Table 4: Groups of learners

identity

formed

Older learners seem too superior to young children at explicit learning because the classroom setting provides many opportunities (Cook and Singleton, 2014, p 30) As can been seen from the table, according to age, all the students participating in the survey questionnaire are eighteen except one that is nineteen That means they can be called adolescents and they are on the way to being fully formed They have certain awareness of their learning This table also shows that the number of female students (113) outnumbers that of male ones (67) Rosa Maria, (2003) and Rebecca Oxford & John M Green (1995) found out that males and females might have different preferences in terms of strategy uses In addition, the number of students that take English as one of three main subjects for deep study for universities are larger than that who do not In particular, 99 out of 180 have been investing more time and energy

on learning English to prepare for their entrance examination to a university This also implies their needs for providing vocabulary knowledge for the preparation for their important examinations Harmer, (1991, p 3), uses the word goal to categorize the motivation in second language learning into short-term goal and long-term goal The short-term goal means when students wish to succeed in doing something in the near future, for example, students who want to pass their examination, especially those with high grades Therefore, their decision of going to university with what subject groups

or not affects their language learning as well as their evaluation of the vocabulary in the textbook

The second group of participants are five teachers who are responsible for teaching the students English language teachers act as a kind of bridge between

students and their textbooks Their opinions, preferences, and beliefs can provide valuable insights of the textbooks All of the five teachers are female with ages ranging from 32 to 54 In addition, four of five teachers are bachelor accounting for 80%; there is only one teacher that has Master of Arts degree theory and pedagogy in teaching English language 100% teachers under interviews have been teaching English for more than 10 years, which ensures the reliability of their evaluation Importantly, they have never used piloted textbooks for grade 12 before and are not expected to compare the quality of the two series of textbooks that are used at the same time The teachers are appointed to take charge of different classes according to their teaching ability and experience The information about teachers is concluded in the following table:

Table 5: Information about teachers participating in the study

Current students’ subject groups

B (Math, Physics, Biology)

History, Geography)

year 2008 The textbook is among three books: teacher book, student book and supplementary book that provides extra activities for the student book The textbook is designed according to theme-base including sixteen units and six revision units For the author of the textbook, the book is theme-based because this approach can use a system of teaching methods and test knowledge of language effectively (H V Vân,

2011, p 97)

The themes range from you and me, education, community, nature, recreation, to people and places Each theme introduces two or three topics with a number of key vocabulary items that students should master There are five sections in each unit including Reading, Speaking, Listening, Writing, and Language focus At the end of the book, a glossary listing key words in each unit is provided with their phonetics ased on Oxford Advanced Learners’ Dictionary, edited 7th, Oxford Express 105 is the total number of periods that are allotted to use the textbook during an academic school year The textbook is claimed, by H V Vân (2011), to follow two approaches: the learner-centered approach and the communicative approach which tasks are main activities to develop students’ communicative competence According to H V Vân (2011), vocabulary together with pronunciation and grammar is considered to be an instrument or tool that helps create and develop communication skills In addition, there is no specific section for vocabulary in each unit Lexical items are imbedded in skills and exercises in language focus In the instructional ook for teachers pu lished

in 2009, V Th L i and Nguy n H i Châu, on pages 36-47, set out vocabulary goal for the whole book and in details for each unit All the target vocabulary is listed in the Appendix 1 with details After finishing grade 12, generally, students are expected to use English as a communicative tool at basic level In listening, students are expected

to understand the detailed contents of conversations with length of 180-220 words and understand the documents at natural speed In speaking, students are expected to ask and answer, present issues related to the topics as well as express satisfaction, dissatisfaction, agreement and disagreement, distinguish facts and personal opinions, etc In reading, students are expected to understand main ideas and specific information of 270-300-word passages Students can also improve vocabulary learning through dictionaries, guessing meaning from context, synonyms and antonyms In

writing, students can write with suggestions or freely with 120-130 words to support demands for effective communications basically

3 5 Research instruments

3.5.1 Textbook analysis

In the first place, textbook analysis was carried out in order to evaluate the vocabulary tasks and vocabulary related exercises in the book The study investigated the strategies of vocabulary learning in the textbook which may encourage or discourage students to make use of different vocabulary learning strategies Using textbook analysis, the study is also aimed at finding out aspects of word knowledge underlying vocabulary activities Textbook analysis is useful in evaluating the vocabulary in the textbook under aspects of frequency and range To take use of textbook analysis, the whole book was transferred into text type in addition to a word list that contains all the key vocabulary items introduced in each unit and glossary at the end of the book The word list was run by Range programme by Nation & Heatley (2002) that is described in details as follow

In fact, it is impossible to teach the whole vocabulary of a language, we should select those lexical items which are more useful for the language learner One measure

of usefulness is word frequency, that is, how often the word occurs in the normal use

of the language Lists of high frequency words provide an important basis for choosing what goes into language program as well as learning materials They also provide a trusted source for direct vocabulary learning Then, the fourteen word family lists which were developed by Paul Nation from BNC are the most recent frequency lists The three basic ranges of words are representative of the three basic levels in language teaching materials concerning the amount of lexical items introduced in each level: beginners (first 1000 most frequent words), intermediate (second 1000 most frequent words), and advanced (third 1000 frequent words) The BNC first free 1000 high frequency word lists consists of 3000 word families which form the basis of 16454 types For Nation (2010), a type consists of a head word and its inflected forms where the headword and its inflected forms are all the same part of speech Types are different word forms that are the sources of tokens Tokens are occurrences of types,

so one type can have many tokens, i.e it can occur many times To count tokens, each