An evaluation of top notch 2 pre intermediate for first year students at fpt university submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for the degree of master of arts in tesol

! 000043975 M IN IS T R Y O F E D U C A T IO N A N D T R A IN IN G HANOI UNIVERSITY vu VAN CHINH AN EVALUATION OF “TOP NOTCH PRE-INTERMEDIATE” FOR FIRST YEAR STUDENTS AT FPT UNIVERSITY SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS IN TESOL SUPERVISOR: NGUYEN THI QUYNH HOA, M.A Hanoi F e b ru a ry , STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP I certify that the major thesis entitled “An Evaluation o f Top Notch Pre-intermediate for First Year Students at FPT University” and submitted in partial fulfillment o f the requirements for the degree of Master o f Arts in TESOL is the result o f my work, except where otherwise acknowledged, and that this major thesis or any part o f the same has not been submitted for a higher degree to any other university or institution The research reported in this thesis was approved by Hanoi University Signed: Dated: ACKNOW LEDGEMENTS First and foremost, on the completion o f this thesis, I wish to express my deepest gratitude and indebtedness to my departed supervisor, Le Huy Truong, M.A and present supervisor, Nguyen Thi Quynh Hoa, M.A for their patient guidance, helpful suggestions and constructive supervision in writing o f this report Without their help, this thesis would have been made impossible I would like to acknowledge my gratitude to Ms Nguyen Thai Ha, M,Aed, senior lecturer and all the M.A TESOL lecturers at Hanoi University who have provided me invaluable source o f knowledge for my completion o f this thesis My sincere thanks also go to my colleagues for their useful and sincere suggestions, which have helped me with the clarification o f my points and my hardworking students in class SE0407 at FPT University in completing the questionnaires Last but not least, I would like to extend my thanks to my parents and my younger sister who have always been a source o f encouragement, supports throughout the preparation and developm ent o f this thesis ABSTRACT Materials evaluation is considered to be one o f the most necessary aspects o f language teaching and learning because it is known that no textbook is perfect This study focuses on the evaluation o f Top Notch Pre-intermediate which has been currently in use for the first year students at FPT University The following research questions must be answered: Does the textbook Topnotch Pre-intermediate meet the requirements o f the course and the students’ knowledge level? W hat should be done to contribute to the improvement o f the material? In order to achieve the professional goal above, the writer had to review the literature in relevance to materials evaluation, employ document analysis, survey questionnaires and follow-up interviews to identify the answers to the research questions The subjects o f the study were English teachers and 140 first year students at FPT University who had completed the course o f Top Notch Pre-intermediate The findings o f the research stated that the material under evaluation was suitable for the students at FPT University and could partly meet the requirements o f the course However, its content and methodology did not completely accommodate the students’ knowledge level in terms o f language points, micro-skills, topics and task types It is concluded that it is impossible to choose Western materials without taking adaptation into careful consideration Some content adaptation and teaching improvement are suggested so as to make the textbook Top Notch Pre-intermediate more and more appropriate at FPT University TABLE OF CONTENTS ST A T E M E N T O F A U T H O R S H IP I A C K N O W L E D G E M E N T S II A B S T R A C T Ill T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S IV LIST O F A B B R E V IA T IO N S VI LIST O F FIG U R E S AND T A B L E S VII C H A P T E R 1: IN T R O D U C T IO N 1.1 Background to the s t u d y 1.1.1 Theoretical consideration 1.1.2 Practical consideration 1.2 A ims of the s t u d y 1.3 Scope and lim itations of the s t u d y 1.4 S ignificance of the s t u d y 1.5 O utline of the t h e s is C H A P T E R 2: L IT E R A T U R E R E V IE W 2.1 KNOWLEDGE LEVEL 2.1.1 Learning styles 2.1.2 Language proficiency 2.1.3 Attitudes and motivation 2.1.4 Students ’ general knowledge about the world 2.2 T eaching m aterials in language teaching and lea r n in g 2.2.1 Definitions o f teaching materials 2.2.2 The roles o f materials in language teaching and learning 2.3 M atfrjai s f v a ijia t io n 10 2.3.1 Definition o f materials evaluation 10 2.3.2 The roles o f evaluation 12 2.4 K inds of e v a l u a t io n 12 2.4.1 Preliminary evaluation 13 2.4.2 Formative evaluation 13 2.4.3 Summative evaluation 13 2.5 M odels for materials ev aluation 14 2.5.1 Evaluation by Hutchinson and Waters (1993) - A Macro-Evaluation 14 2.5.2 Evaluation by Ellis (1997) - A Micro-Evaluation 15 2.5.3 Evaluation by McDonough and Shaw (1993) - A Combination o f Macro- and MicroEvaluation 16 2.5.4 Evaluation by Cunningsworth (1995) 17 2.6 C riteria for materials e v a l u a t io n 19 2.6.1 Criteria defined by Brown (1995) 19 2.6.2 Criteria defined by Cunningsworth (1995) 19 2.6.3 Criteria defined by Hutchinson and Waters (1987) 20 2.7 P revious s t u d ie s 22 2.8 S u m m a r y 24 C H A PT E R 3: M E T H O D O L O G Y 25 3.1 R esearch q u e s t io n s 25 3.2 D ata collection in strum ents 25 3.2.1 Document analysis 25 iv 3.2.2 Questionnaires 26 3.2.3 Follow up interview 27 3 S u b j e c t s 28 3.3.1 Teachers 28 3.3.2 Students 28 PROCEDURES C H A P T E R 4: R E SU L T S AND D IS C U S S IO N 30 4.1 T he satisfactoriness of the material to the co urse ’s objectives 30 1.1 The aims o f the material 30 4.1.2 The aims o f the course 31 4.1.3 Data from follow-up interview 32 4.1.4 Discussion 32 4.2 S a tisfactoriness of the material to the a u d ie n c e 33 4.2.1 Data from document analysis 33 4.2.2 Data from analysis o f the course’s audience and students ’ questionnaire 34 4.2.3 Discussion 34 4.3 T he satisfactoriness of the m aterial ’s content to the students ’knowledge level 34 4.3.1 Language points 35 4.3.2 Macro-skills and micro-skills 38 4.3.3 Subject m atters 41 4.3.4 Types o f exercises and tasks 43 4.4 T he satisfactoriness of the m aterial ’s m ethodology to the students ’requirem ents 46 4.4.1 Data from document analysis 46 4.4.2 Data from the teachers and students ’ questionnaires 47 4.4.3 Data from follow-up interview 49 4.4.4 Discussion 50 4.5 S U M M A K Y 30 C H A P T E R 5: R E C O M M E N D A T IO N S AND C O N C L U S IO N 52 5.1 R ec o m m en d a tio n s .52 5.1.1 Content adaptation 52 5.1.2 Teaching improvement 53 C o n c lu s io n .54 R E F E R E N C E S 56 A PPE N D IX 1: T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S 59 A PP E N D IX 2: T H E E N G L ISH SYLLA BUS FO R T H E FIR ST Y EAR STU D EN TS AT FPT U N IV E R S IT Y 63 A PP E N D IX 3: Q U E S T IO N N A IR E T O T E A C H E R S O F EN G LISH AT FPT U N IV ER SITY 66 A PPE N D IX 4: Q U E S T IO N N A IR E T O STU D EN TS O F EN G LISH AT FPT U N IV E R S IT Y 70 A PPE N D IX 5: F O L L O W UP IN T E R V IE W 73 v LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS % Percentage CLT Communicative Language Teaching EFL English as a Foreign Language ESP English for Special Purposes FU FPT University GE General English IT Information Technology VI LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES Figure 1: The Materials Evaluation Model o f Hutchinson and Waters (1993) Figure 2: Materials Evaluation Model of McDonough and Shaw (1993) Figure 3: Checklist o f criteria for materials evaluation by Hutchinson and Waters (1987) Table la: Teachers’ opinions on the language points covered in the textbook Table lb: Students’ opinions on the language points covered in the textbook Table 2a: Teachers and students’ opinions on preferred micro-skills o f listening Table 2b: Teachers and students’ opinions on preferred micro-skills o f reading Table 2c: Teachers and students’ opinions on preferred micro-skills o f writing Table 3: Teachers and students’ opinions on the interesting and familiar level o f the topics Table 4a: Teachers and students’ preferred types o f tasks in the listening section Table 4b: Teachers and students’ preferred types o f tasks in the speaking section Table 4c: Teachers and students’ preferred types o f tasks in the reading section Table 4d: Teachers and students’ preferred types o f tasks in the writing section Table 5: Teachers and students’ opinions on the guidance for doing the types o f tasks Table 6: Teachers and students’ opinions on the learning techniques Table 7: Teachers and students’ opinions on the teaching aids Table 8: Teachers and students’ opinions on the guidance the materials need to provide CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION This introductory chapter provides the background to the study Then, it states the aims o f the study, scope and limitation of the study, significance o f the study and presents an overview o f the thesis 1.1 Background to the study 1.1.1 Theoretical consideration It has been proved by McDonough and Shaw (1993) that no set o f materials is likely to be perfect, it cannot serve equally for the requirements o f every classroom setting Teachers must know not only how to use it but also how useful it can be They must evaluate their strengths and weaknesses It is also suggested by William (1983) that English language teachers need to know the principles o f materials evaluation The ability o f materials evaluation is considered to be a very important professional activity for all EFL teachers Although materials are good, they will never be perfect for every teaching and learning situation They will always need adapting, modifying or supplementing in order to improve the teaching and learning situation The theoretical basis for materials evaluation and adaptation has been mentioned in a number o f works such as Cunningsworth (1995), Hutchinson and Waters (1987), McDonough and Shaw (1993) and Littlejohn (1998) Therefore, any teacher can carry out a study on materials evaluation 1.1.2 Practical consideration 1.1.2.1 The English teaching at FU FU was established on September 8lh 2006 with the Vietnamese Prime Minister’s Approval The mission it pursues is to build an example o f an innovative University which has international standards and modem philosophy There is a balance between training and practical life and national labor demand, contributing to boost Vietnam Information Technology to catch up with developed countries in the world A P P E N D IX 1: TABLE OF CONTENTS r Scopt lid SffMflCt V oc a bu l ar y ' «►> Greetings and Small Talk • Customs around the world • Tourist activities Top Notch Song: ‘Greetings and SmallTalk" • Explanations for being late • Ways to express likes Movies and and dislikes Entertainment • Movie genres Page 74 • Adjectives to describe movies Top Notch Song: ‘Better Late Than Never" Staying at Hotels Cars and Driving Page 38 Top Notch Song: "Wheels around the World* Personal Care and Appearance Page 50 Strategies • Ask What have you • The present perfect: yet alrea4y ever, and Further expL form and i present perfe past participles • The present perfect: * Use ITigy ¿ay to additional uses—tor support a suggestion * Use Actually to and since indicate that what you • Would rather are about to say may be surprising * Use For real? to convey surprise Contrasting I perfect and perfect continu Spelling rules present partic • The future with will Use I'd like to to politely state your • Had better purpose on the phone Use That's right to confirm Use By the way to Introduce a new topic ora question * Further expli usage: future and be going I • Degrees of obli have to must, better, besu should, j could Telephone messages Hotel room features Hotel facilities H otd room amenities and services • • • • • • Ways to show concern • Use expressions such Car parts as Im so sorry and Types of cars How awful to convey Bad driving behaviors concern Polite address • Begin a response with Phrasal vetfes Well to introduce an explanation • Personal care products • Salon services • Ways to schedule and pay for personal care • Ways to improve appearance Grammar have you been? to • • • • Page 26 Eating Well Page 62 Psychology and Personality Page 74 V o c ab ul ar y o f c o n t e n t a n d s k il l s C o nv er sa ti o n S t r at eg i es Grammar • Excuses for not eating • Use EJoa'Jt wQny • Negative yes / DC something questions and Why about it to decline an • Food passions apology don't ? • Lifestyles and health » Use Well to introduce • Used, ie problems an opinion that differs • Describing food from someone ebe's • Describing colors • Adjectives of emotion • Suggestions to cheer someone up • Adjectives to describe personality Top Notch Song: 'The Colors of Love” A • Further expli of usage: neg ygs/ooques short answer • Further expla usage: Why < doesn't ? • Further expla form: used to • Further expla • Use YGuliistt, to be • Gerunds and less abrupt infinitives after certain of form and u gerunds and i verbs • Use out of the question to indicate • Gerunds after • Negative gen opposition prepositions • Use Really? to indkate • Expressions with a difference of opinion prepositions • Use Ihaiite for asking to acknowledge another's concern "íí‘; SiSitípíSBí