Evaluation on the reading textbook level a used at the foreign language center of cantho in service university

HOCHIMINH NATIONAL UNIVERSITIES UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES EVALUATION ON THE READING TEXTBOOK LEVEL-A USED AT THE FOREIGN LANGUAGE CENTER OF CANTHO IN-SERVICE UNIVERSITY SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF TESOL Submitted by: LƯU THU THỦY Supervisor: LÊ THỊ THANH THU, Ed.D Hochiminh City, June 2008 CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY I certify my authorship of the thesis submitted today entitled EVALUATION ON THE READING TEXTBOOK LEVEL-A USED AT THE FOREIGN LANGUAGE CENTER OF CANTHO IN-SERVICE UNIVERSITY in terms of the statement of Requirements of Theses in Master’s Program issued by the Higher Degree Committee Hochiminh City, June 9, 2008 LƯU THU THỦY i RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS I hereby state that I, LƯU THU THỦY, being the candidate for the degree of Master of TESOL, accept the requirements of the University relating to the retention and use of Master’s Theses deposited in the Library In terms of these conditions, I agree that the original of my thesis deposited in the Library should be accessible for purposes of study and research in accordance with the normal conditions established by the Library for the care, loan and reproduction of theses Hochiminh City, June 9, 2008 LƯU THU THỦY ii ACKNOWLEGDEMENTS I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my thesis supervisor, Dr Lê Thị Thanh Thu, who has given me useful advice and spent her valuable time reading and improving my manuscripts for her constant guidance and valuable criticism without which this thesis could not have been completed My gratitude is also due to the organizers of this master course, Dr Trương Thị Kim Chuyên, Head of the Department of Post Graduate Studies, Dr Nguyễn Thị Kiều Thu, Head of the Department of English Linguistics and Literature, Hochiminh City University of Social Sciences and Humanities and their staff members I am indebted to the Boards of managers of Cantho In-service University who supported and offered me good conditions to this thesis and all my colleagues, especially the members of the Department of English at Cantho Inservice University for their help, useful information and generous encouragement I would also like to take this opportunity to thank my friends and students who have heartily helped me to accomplish this research Hochiminh City, June 9, 2008 LƯU THU THỦY iii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS CTFLC : The Foreign Language Center of Cantho In-service University CTIU : Cantho In-service University CTU : Cantho University FCL : Foreign Language Center MOET : Ministry of Education and Training iv ABSTRACT Recently, more and more attention has been paid on the roles of textbook towards the effectiveness of teaching and learning process for the reason that textbook can not only contribute to students’ motivation which is one of the most important factors to promote effective learning but also help teachers with readymade materials and suggested teaching methodologies After the textbooks for English Level-A at the CTFLC were compiled again and have been applied since 2004, the Level-A test results showed that there has been a great improvement in the quality of teaching and learning at CTFLC However, it was believed that these textbooks also needed improvement; therefore, this thesis was carried out to evaluate the suitability of the Reading textbook Level-A currently used at CTFLC Basing the official correspondence from MOET which presented some regulations of an elementary reading textbook, the author examined this textbook to see whether there were any mismatches between MOET’s requirements and the content of the Reading textbook Level-A at CTFLC Then with the linguists’ theories, the textbook physical aspects such as its general impressions, topic selections, and usage of visual aids together with the four categories made up textbook content: the topics, the text types, the exercises and activities accompanying the reading texts, and the presentation of vocabulary were analyzed and generally evaluated In addition, the author also made an in-depth evaluation on two lessons in this textbook to find out more convincible evidences for the research Finally, all the findings were related to the contexts at CTFLC to help come to the conclusions whether this textbook was suitable or needed any improvements to suit the teaching and learning situation there v The outcome of this thesis revealed that the current Reading textbook LevelA had certain strengths to be inherited like attractive appearance, interesting topic selection, various text types, suitable activities and exercises, but it still contained some weaknesses to be improved such as lacking of some essential topics, illogical pre-reading questions, and unsuitable post-reading tasks Therefore, detailed recommendations on the physical aspects as well as on the four categories in the content of this textbook were provided so that it could be revised or adapted hopefully to become a better material for teaching reading skill Level-A at CTFLC in the future vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Page No Certificate of originality i Retention and use of the thesis ii Acknowledgements iii Lists of abbreviations iv Abstract v Table of contents vii Tables of illustration xii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Problem identification 1.2 Coursebook and textbook 1.3 Statement of purpose 1.4 Research question 1.5 Delimitation 1.6 Overview on the teaching and learning situation at CTFLC 1.6.1 The learners’ background 1.6.2 The teaching staff 1.6.3 The teaching and learning facilities 1.6.4 The general requirements of the Reading textbook Level-A 1.6.5 The compilation of the Reading textbook Level-A at CTFLC 1.7 Significance of the study 1.8 Organization of the study CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 11 2.1 Definition of materials 11 2.2 The role of materials in language teaching 11 2.3 Characteristics of good materials 12 2.4 Material evaluation 15 vii 2.4.1 Purposes of material evaluation 15 2.4.2 Kinds of material evaluation 16 2.4.2.1 Evaluating for potentiality 17 2.4.2.2 Evaluating for suitability 18 2.4.3 How to evaluate the suitability of a textbook 18 2.4.3.1 What aspects of materials should we examine? 19 2.4.3.2 How can we examine the materials? 20 2.4.3.2.1 Level 20 2.4.3.2.2 Level 21 2.4.3.2.3 Level 22 2.4.3.3 How can we relate the findings to our own teaching contexts? 23 2.4.4 Categories for evaluating the suitability of a reading textbook 24 2.4.4.1 The topics in the textbook 25 2.4.4.2 The text types 26 2.4.4.3 The exercises and activities accompanying the reading texts 28 2.4.4.4 The presentation of vocabulary 29 2.5 Adaptation and supplementation of materials 30 2.5.1 Material adaptation 31 2.5.2 Material supplementation 32 2.6 Summary 33 CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 36 3.1 Research question 36 3.2 Research methodology 36 3.2.1 Step 37 3.2.2 Step 38 CHAPTER 4: DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS 40 4.1 Step 40 4.1.1 The general objectives of a reading textbook Level-A 40 4.1.2 The textbook selection 41 viii 4.1.3 Topics 42 4.1.4 Notions 43 4.1.5 Vocabulary presentation 45 4.1.6 Conclusion 46 4.2 Step 47 4.2.1 General evaluation 47 4.2.1.1 The physical aspects 47 4.2.1.1.1 Part 49 4.2.1.1.2 Part 50 4.2.1.2 The content 52 4.2.1.2.1 The topics 52 4.2.1.2.2 The text types 53 4.2.1.2.3 The exercises and activities accompanying the reading texts 56 4.2.1.2.3.1 Pre-reading activities 61 4.2.1.2.3.2 While-reading activities 62 4.2.1.2.3.3 Post-reading activities 63 4.2.1.2.4 The presentation of vocabulary 64 4.2.1.2.4.1 Part 65 4.2.1.2.4.2 Part 66 4.2.1.2.5 Conclusion 67 4.2.2 An in-depth analysis on two lessons in the Reading textbook Level - A 69 4.2.2.1 Analysis of Unit in Part 69 4.2.2.1.1 The physical aspects 69 4.2.2.1.2 The content 70 4.2.2.1.2.1 The topic 70 4.2.2.1.2.2 The text type 70 4.2.2.1.2.3 The exercises and activities accompanying the reading text 70 4.2.2.1.2.3.1 Pre-reading activities 71 ix Take the case of Reading 2, with a lot of new words in the passage like “discover, struck, rubbing, sticks, frighten, signal, warn, invention, wire basket, equal, flame, torches” needed to be explained; however, most of the words selected to present are easy, simple and familiar like “warm, enemy, important, small, danger, quickly” Therefore, it is recommended that the vocabulary section of these units should be revised again with more care placing on selecting new words to present Another point to be noticed is that the instructions in some exercises to teach vocabulary are not clear, so this could cause difficulty for teacher and learners who taught themselves For example, exercise and of Unit (page 44) ask students to say the numbers and the years, and exercise of Unit (page 69) want them to arrange the words in team sports or individual sports, but no rules or examples are given before asking them to practice Similar situations were found in section (page 45) of Unit 1, exercise of Unit (page 63), exercise of Unit (page 73) Although this is not a big problem to teacher, it will be better if a clear instruction is added into these exercises Generally, vocabulary plays an important role in providing learners an amount of knowledge to understand the reading texts; therefore, it should be wellpresented and effectively exploited from the texts, especially in reading textbooks at elementary level Hopefully, with the adaptations and supplementations like mentioned above, the vocabulary presentation of the Reading textbook Level-A at CTFLC will be improved and can support learners’ reading skill more efficiently 5.3 Implication for further research With the purpose to find out the strong points as well as the weaknesses of the Reading textbook Level-A at CTFLC in order to confirm the suitability of this 99 textbook in the teaching and learning situation at CTFLC, the findings obtained from the analysis and evaluation process gave an amazing experience to the researcher for the reason that many unexpected things had been found both in positive and negative aspects Although the examination proved that this book could meet the MOET’s requirements for compiling a reading material Level-A, and had the characteristics of a good textbook used for teaching reading skill given by the linguists, it was a great pity that the findings indicated that there were so many things to improve in both physical aspects and the content of this textbook as mentioned in the previous sections Consequently, it is unavoidable for the researcher to think about the problems existing in the textbooks for other skills In reality, this textbook only dealt with reading, so if there are still weaknesses in the other textbooks like in this one, the effectiveness in teaching and learning English at elementary level has been decreased more or less Therefore, the researches into the suitability of the Level-A textbooks for other skills should be immediately done in the near future so that necessary supplementations and adaptations available can be done to improve all of these textbooks and make them really appropriate materials for teaching English Level-A at CTFLC 100 REFERENCES Ackert, P & Navarro, N G (1984) Facts and Figures CBS College Publishing Ackert, P (1985) Concepts and Comments CBS College Publishing Ackert, P (1994) Causes and Effects CBS College Publishing Alderson, J C (1996) The Testing of Reading In Nuttall, C Teaching Reading Skills in a Foreign Language Heinemann Bachman, L F & Palmer, A S (1996) Language Testing in Practice OUP Beglar, D & Hunt, A (1995) Vocabulary and Reading: Teaching and Testing JALT Cunningsworth, A (1984) Evaluating and Selecting EFL Teaching Materials Heinemann Educational Books Cunningsworth, A (1995) Choosing Your Coursebook Heinemann Clark, M A & Silberstein, S (1987) Towards a Realization of Psycholinguistics Principle in the ESL Reading Class In Michael H L & Richards J C Methodology in TESOL: a Book of Readings Heinle & Heinle Publishers 10 Davies, P & Pearse, E (2000) Success in English Teaching OUP 11 Dubin, F & Olshtain, E (1989) Course Design CUP 12 Ellis, R (1998) The Evaluation of Communicative Tasks, p 217-238 In Tomlinson, B Materials Development in Language Teaching CUP 13 Greenall, S (1997) Elementary Rewards Heinemann 14 Hartley, J (1994) Designing Instructional Texts Kogan Page Ltd 15 Hidalgo, A C et al (1995) Getting Started: Materials Writers on Materials Writing SEMEO Regional Language Center 16 Hutchinson, T (1999) Elementary Lifelines OUP 17 Jolly, D & Bolitho, R (1998) A framework for materials writing, p 90-115 In Tomlinson, B Materials Development in Language Teaching CUP 101 18 Le, V S (1999) Bài Tập Đọc Hiểu Trình Độ A, B, C NXB Đồng Nai 19 Lee, J F & Vanpatten, B (1995) Making Communicative Language Teaching Happen McGraw-Hill 20 Littlejohn, A (1998) The Analysis of Language Teaching Materials: inside the Trojan Horse, p 190-216 In Tomlinson, B Materials Development in Language Teaching CUP 21 McDonough, J & Shaw, C (1993) Materials and Methods in ELT: A teacher’s guide Blackwell 22 Nguyễn Đình Đầu (2002), Đồng Bằng Sông Mêkong 300 năm qua, NXB Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh-Tạp chí Xưa Nay 23 Nunan, D (1988) The Learner-Centered Curriculum CUP 24 Rea-Dickins, P & Germaine, K (1992) Evaluation OUP 25 Richards, J C (2001) Curriculum Development in Language Teaching CUP 26 Richard, J C et al (1992) Elementary Interchange OUP 27 Rowntree, D (1997) Developing Course for Students McGraw Hill 28 Shelson, L E (Ed.) (1987) ELT Textbooks and Materials: Problems in Evaluation and Development In ELT Documents 126 Modern English Publications 29 Soars, J & Liz (1987) Elementary Headway OUP 30 Stervick, E J (1976) Memory, Meaning, and Method: Some Psychological Perspectives on Language Learning Newbury House 31 Tomlinson, B (1998) Introduction, p 8-24 In Tomlinson, B Materials Development in Language Teaching CUP 102 APPENDIX Unit Food and drink Vocabulary Look at the Spidergram Arrange the words to each kind beer milk fish pasta mushrooms eggs sandwiches potatoes wine rice bacon tomatoes water sausages grapes cheese bananas bread Drinks Meat Food Other Fruit Vegetable Can you add any more words? Match the words and the pictures 103 READING : Pre-reading task: a b c d e f Ask your partner When you have breakfast / lunch / dinner? Which is your big meal of the day? What you have for breakfast / lunch /dinner? What you drink with your meals? What is your favorite food? What you eat with it? When you have it? Do you go to restaurants or pubs? Read the texts and complete the charts Reading: Betty and Phil Meals breakfast When? What? When? What? Roy and Joan Meals 1. _ 2. _ 3. _ You are what you eat M y name is Betty and this is my husband, Phil We both work in offices in London We have breakfast at half past seven We don’t have a big breakfast, because we have to go to work We usually have toast, coffee, and orange juice For lunch we usually have a salad or soup and a sandwich That’s at about 1.30 We have dinner at about half past seven It’s the big meal of the day and we have meat or fish with vegetables and potatoes, pasta or rice We have fruit or ice-cream for dessert We have a glass of wine with the meal On Saturday evenings we 104 usually go to a restaurant for dinner at about eight o’clock We both like Chinese and Italian food I am Roy and this is my wife, Joan We live on a farm, so we have to get up early, at about 5.30 We start a day with a big breakfast: bacon, sausages, and eggs, with tomatoes and mushrooms We have toast, too, and two or three cups of tea Our big meal of the day is lunch at 12 o’clock We have meat with potatoes and vegetables, then a big pudding, such as apple pie and custard, and a cup of tea At five o’clock we have tea That’s a light meal – eggs perhaps, or cheese on toast, and then cakes or biscuits and another cup of tea! On Fridays and Saturdays we go to the pub in the evenings and have a few pints of beer Read the text again Which couple is it? a b c d e f g h i They drink coffee in the morning They have breakfast at half past five Lunch is their big meal of the day They eat ice-cream for dessert They drink tea with their meals They don’t eat fish Lunch is a light meal They go to pub at the weekend They like Italian food Compare the information chart with your own meals What differences are there? Write about your meals On weekdays I have breakfast at .I usually have - For lunch I have - That’s at about - I have dinner at - I usually have At the weekends .I like 105 Information: FOOD FACTS The number of people who drink coke for breakfast in the U.S: 965,000 The favorite meat in North America: steak The most popular orders in restaurants: hamburgers, fried chicken, Roast beef, spaghetti, turkey, baked ham, fried shrimp, beef stew The most popular ice cream flavours: vanilla, chocolate, Neapolitan, chocolate chip, strawberry Complete the information below Then compare with a partner My typical breakfast: ………………………………………………………………………… My favorite meat: …………………………………………………………………………… My favorite order in a restaurant: ……………………………………………………… My favorite ice cream flavor: …………………………………………………………… GAP FILL: Complete the text with the words in the box cup dinner restaurant things milk pubs like about don’t or just cheese juice meal weekend can lot breakfast until biscuit lunch have because a glass I don’t usually eat breakfast I(1) ………….have a (2) of coffee I don’t eat anything (3)……… about eleven o’clock Then I have a (4) ……… and a glass of (5) ……… For (6) ……… I usually (7) …… a salad That’s at (8) ……… two o’clock I have (9)…… at about 6.30 I’m (10) ……… vegetarian, so I (11) … eat meat (12) …… fish I eat (13) ……… and eggs and things like that I have a (14)……… of water or fruit (15) ……… with my (16) ……… At the (17) ……… I usually go to a (18) ……… in the evening You (19) ………get vegetarian meals in a (20) ……… of restaurants and (21) ………now I (22) ……… Indian food, (23) ……… they have a lot of (24) …… for vegetarians 106 APPENDIX Reading A WALK TO THE NORTH POLE I PRE-READING Who was the first person to go to the North Pole? When did he go? How old was he when he did it? In April 1984, David Hempleman Adams walked through Northern Canada to the North Pole by himself He walked 400 kilometers in 22 days David is an explorer and adventurer He was the first person to walk to the North Pole by himself He was 27 years old when he did it Other people traveled to the North Pole before David but they had a sled and a dog team David didn’t have a dog team David was a brave man to go on this adventure by himself He was also a lucky man because the bear and the icy water didn’t kill him II VOCABULARY Fill in the blanks with given words explorer adventures by himself brave lucky sled He lives in this house Eskimos usually travel through the ice by a pulled by a team of dogs Christopher Columbus was a explorer He was last week He won the lotteries It’s frightening to see films with a lot of and murders He used to explore new lands He was an _ III COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS Who traveled with David? A Other people traveled with him 107 B A dog team traveled with him C The first person traveled with him D Nobody traveled with him Which of the following is not true? A B C D He walked to the North Pole by sled He walked to the North Pole alone He walked 400 kilometers He was 27 years old when he traveled to the North Pole The phrase “by himself” can be replaced by which of the following? A B C D Alone With other people Successfully On foot Which is the main idea of this passage? A B C D David spent 22 days walking to the North Pole David is a lucky man because the bear didn’t kill him David was the first person to walk to the North Pole Other people traveled to the North Pole before David IV Discussion Do you like traveling? When? Where? With whom? Tell some places to travel in our country GAP-FILL THE WEATHER IN ENGLAND Fill in the blanks with the suitable words The English summer is never hot, and the winter is not very cold Spring and autumn are cool Cold winds (1) _ in winter and there are cool winds in summer (2) is little snow and much rain in England Spring and summer are beautiful (3) , because the sun often (4) brightly The fields, meadows and forests are (5) _ and there are many beautiful flowers of all (6) in the gardens Autumn is a nice season,(7) It is the season of harvest, the season (8) beautiful apples 108 109 Table 4.6: Activities and Exercises of Part Reading activities Unit Topic Pre-reading Vocabulary Getting started While-reading Post-reading Questions Name of countries Read a text Cardinal numbers Complete a similar text and Word stress conversation Speaking Self-introduction Singular and plural Descriptions Parts of the body Read a letter Colors Answer questions Gap-filling Word order Say the opposites (with picture guide) Writing Describe pictures People Jobs Speaking about Family relationships family (pair work) Read a text Write your family tree Write a family tree Gap-filling True / False Workplaces and jobs Work and Play Word stress Sports Read the job ads Speaking about jobs (pair work) Fill in the blanks with correct jobs Choose the most interesting job Gap-filling (with picture guide) Places (choose the odd one out) Some Places Read vacation postcards places in the Answer world and in Viet Nam questions about traveling Choose True / False statements Gap-filling (information from Things in city and in the Gap-filling (with picture guide) the text) countryside Months Classify Entertainment entertainment Ask activities and answer questions about Sports (match pictures watching T.V Read a text about TV Write good and bad things of TV and words, group kinds Gap-filling (with picture guide) Give your own opinions about of sports) good and bad things of TV Parts of the body The cold facts Health Ask and Advices for the health questions problems answer about cold Read a text about how to treat a cold Choose True / False statement Speaking Do you use the same remedies? Containers Read a text Food and Drink Kinds of food Discussion about Give some kinds of eating habits (pair food you know work) Gap-filling Complete the chart Write your own meals Answer questions Complete the text with Compare with your own meals given words Table 4.7: Unit Activities and Exercises of Part Topic Content Pre-reading A Walk to the North Pole While-reading Answer questions Read the text Discussion about travel Fill in the blanks with the Choose correct answers Gap-filling words from the text Fire Dolphins Money (The weather Answer questions Read the text Discussion Match opposite adjectives Choose correct answers Gap-filling (Paul’s French holiday) Answer questions Read the text Discussion Match opposite adjectives Answer questions Gap-filling (The Giraffe) Answer questions Read the text Discussion Fill in the blanks with the Choose the correct answers Gap-filling (Traveling by train) words from the text in England) Word family Post-reading Answer questions Meals in Britain Coffee Answer questions Read the text Discussion Game: Word search True / False statements Gap-filling (Food) Answer questions Read the text Fill in the blanks with the True / False statements Gap-filling (Coffee) words from the text How to Treat a Cold Answer questions Read the text Discussion Fill in the blanks with the Choose the correct answers Gap-filling (My Day) words from the text Cycling Answer questions Answer questions Read the text Discussion Writing word family Choose the correct answers Gap-filling (Mending a bicycle) Answer questions ... consisting of anything that is used by teachers or learners to facilitate the learning of a language The Reading textbook Level A at CTFLC can be then considered as the material facilitating the teaching... various view points on materials, the role of materials in language teaching, characteristics of good materials, kinds of materials evaluation, some categories for evaluating the suitability of. .. ‘publication’ and ‘design’ The former relates to the physical aspects of the materials, and the latter relates to the thinking underlying in the materials such as the apparent aims of the materials,