100%, of which 32% rated as excellent, 56% rated as very good, and 12% rated
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as good; 0% rated as not very good and not good. Regarding the evaluation of particular items, first, with regard to the suitability of the textbook‟s objectives to pupils (item 1), 5 teachers (20%) rated as excellent, 14 (56%) rated as very good and 6 (24%) rated as good. Secondly, concerning time allocation for the textbook‟s objectives (item 2), 11 teachers (44%) rated as excellent, and 14 (56) rated as very good. No teachers rated as not very good and not good. The average rating of the teachers of FF3 was quite positive. However, the numbers of teachers who rated FF3 excellent and very good is more modest when compared to TA3. 94%, of which 8% rated as excellent, 12% rated as very good, and 74% rated as good. 6% rated as not very good. 1 teacher (4%) rated item 1 and 2 teachers (8%) rated item 2 as not very good. The interview was conducted to collect teachers‟ opinions for these two items. Teachers of FF3 confirmed that they could not exploit all amount of knowledge and activities as well given by each lesson because of time limitation and students‟ level.
3.2.2. Teachers’ Evaluation of the Textbooks in the “Layout and Design”
Category
The results obtained from the teachers‟ evaluation of the “Layout and Design”
Category indicate that teacher‟s evaluation on the two textbooks is very positive.
Overall, the average rating of 3 items by the 25 teachers of TA3 at three levels excellent, very good and good accounts for 98.7%, of which 22.7% rated as excellent, 66.7% rated as very good, and 9.3% rated as good; only 1.3% rated as not very good. (item 4) the color and organization of the textbook and (item 5) the size of the textbook was rated very good while one teacher (1.3%) rated the quality of paper and binding as not very good.
The average rating of 3 items by 25 teachers of FF3 was positive but lower than those of TA3. 93.3 %, of which 10.6 rated as excellent, 28% rated as very good, and 54.7 rated as good. 6.7 % rated as not very good. Being similar to TA3, item 3 of FF3 was rated as excellent (20%), very good (72%), and good (8%).
However, 5 (20%) teachers rated item 5 as not very good. The interview for this
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item was conducted to collect teachers‟ opinion. Teachers confirmed that the size of the textbook is quite big for pupils to handle and it is also bigger than other textbooks. They found that their pupils are familiar with the common medium size of Vietnamese textbooks and it came to a bit strange and difficult to use a bigger textbook like FF3.
3.2.3. Teachers’ Evaluation of the Textbooks in the “Topics” Category
96% teachers highly appreciated TA3, of which 13% rated as excellent, 29%
rated as very good, and 54% rated as good. 4% rated as not very good. Familiar topics to pupils (item 7) and real and natural languages (item 8) received good feedbacks from teachers. 1 (4%) teacher thought that the topics of the textbook (item 6) was not very varied and 3 (12%) teachers thought that there was not many funny elements (item 9) exploited by the textbook.
The number of teachers who highly appreciate FF3 accounts for 100%, of which 12% rated as excellent, 36% rated as very good, and 52% rated as good. No teachers rated as not very good and not good. 4 items (6, 7, 8, 9) were given high ratings with 100%. (Item 6) the variety of topics, 4 teachers (16%) rated as excellent, 13 (52%) rated as very good, 8 (32%) rated as good. (Item 7) familiar topics to pupils, 4 teachers (16%) rated as excellent, 10 (40%) rated as very good, 11 (44%) rated as good. (Item 8) real and natural language, 3 teachers (12%) rated as excellent, 9 (36%) rated as very good, 13 (52%) rated as good.
(Item 9) funny elements, 1 teacher (4%) rated as excellent, 9 (36%) rated as very good, 13 (52%) rated as good.
In general, the quality of topics covered by the two textbooks was highly appreciated by teachers. FF3 has strong points in having the variety of topics, real and natural language, familiar topics and funny factors. TA3 was given high ratings with familiar topics and funny factors. However, participants also said that there should be more funny elements in the textbook TA3.
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3.2.4. Teachers’ Evaluation of the Textbooks in the “Language Skills”
Category
Teacher‟s average rating of 8 items in the “Language skills” section (Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing) for both TA3 and FF3 at three levels excellent, very good and good accounts for 99.5% and 99%, respectively, of which, 10.5%
teachers of TA3 and 10% teachers of FF3 rated as excellent, 27% teachers of TA3 and 23% teachers of FF3 rated as very good, and 62% teachers of TA3 and 66% teachers of FF3 rated as good. 0.5% teacher of TA3 rated as not very good and 1% teacher of FF3 rated as not very good, 0% teacher rated as not good.
Two sections including listening and reading of the two textbooks were given high ratings. With regard to the listening section of TA3, The average rating of 3 items (10, 11, 12) by 25 teachers at three levels excellent, very good and good account for 100%, of which 12% rated as excellent, 42.7% rated as very good, and 45.3 % rated as good. 0% rated as not very good and not good. With regard to reading section, the average rating of 2 items (15, 16) at three levels excellent, very good and good also accounts for 100%. Of which, 8% of teachers rated as excellent, 8% teachers rated as very good, 84% teachers rated as good and 0%
rated as not very good and not good. Concerning to listening section of FF3, the average ratings of 3 items was that 10.7% teachers rated as excellent, 37.3%
teachers rated as very good and 52% teachers rated as good. Concerning to reading section of FF3, the average ratings of 2 items was that 12% teachers rated as excellent, 14% teachers rated as very good and 74% teachers rated as good. Two sections including speaking and writing of the two textbooks were given quite modest ratings from the teachers. 1 (4%) teacher of TA3 rated (item 14) as not very good. The teacher said that group discussions in the textbook have not yet been fully exploited while the textbook concentrates mainly on other activities like monologue and pair work. 1 (4%) teacher of FF3 rated (item 17) as not very good. The writing skill of the textbook is quite simple and does not present the particular level of difficulty.
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3.2.5. Teachers’ Evaluation of the Textbooks in the “Methodology”
Category
Teachers‟ average rating of 3 items (18, 19, 20) relating to the “methodology of the textbooks” category at three levels excellent, very good and good makes up 100%, of which 5.3% TA teachers rated as excellent, 14.7% rated as very good and 80% rated as good while 2.7 % FF3 teachers rated as excellent, 13.3 % rated as very good and 84% rated as good. Detailed ratings of each of the three items as follows: with item 17, 1 TA3 teacher (4%) and 0 FF3 teacher (0%) believed that the usefulness of the activities in the textbooks reach excellent level, 2 TA3 teachers (8%) and 2 FF3 teachers (8%) rated as very good, 22 TA3 teachers (88%) and 23 FF3 teachers (92%) rated as good and 0 teachers of both of the textbooks rated as not very good and not good. With item 19, 3 TA3 teachers (12%) and 2 FF3 teachers (8%) rated the textbooks‟ usefulness for teachers to exploit activities as excellent, the same number of teachers of the two textbooks, 6 (24%) rated as very good, and 16 (64%) and 17 (68%) rated as good; and with regard to the usefulness of the textbooks to help teachers and students localize activities (item 20), 2 levels of rating given by teachers were very good and good accounting for 100%, of which 3 TA3 teachers (12%) and 2 FF3 teachers (8%) rated as very good and 22 (88%) and 23 (92%) rated as good.
3.2.6. Teachers’ Evaluation of the Textbooks in the “Types of Activities”
Section
Teachers‟ average rating of 4 items in the “Types of Activities” section of the textbook TA3 at three levels excellent, very good and good accounting for 100%, of which 24% rated as excellent, 19% rated as very good, 57% rated as good and 0% rated as not very good and not good. However, Teachers‟ average rating of 4 items of the textbook FF3 at 4 levels, in which 28% rated as excellent, 15% rated as very good, 56% rated as good, 1% rated as not very good and 0% rated as not good. Various activities (item 21), clear and sufficient instructions (item 22) and the provision of communicative exercises (item 23) of
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the two textbooks were highly appreciated. 2(8%) TA3 teachers rated (item 21) as very good, 23 (92%) rated as good and 0% rated as excellent, not very good and not good while 25 (100%) teachers of FF3 rated (item 21) as good. 6 (24%) TA3 and FF3 teachers rated (item 22) as excellent, 6 (24%) TA3 teachers and 7(28%) FF3 teachers rated as very good, 13 (52%) TA3 teachers and 12 (48%) rated as good. 0% teachers rated as not very good and not good. Many teachers gave (item 24) high ratings, in which 16 (64%) TA3 teachers and 18 (72%) FF3 teachers rated as excellent, 7 (28%) TA3 teachers and 5 (20%) FF3 teachers rated as very good, 2 (8%) teachers of the two textbooks rated as good.
Concerning the suitable number of activities, there is a little difference between two groups of teachers. 1 (4%) FF3 teacher rated this item as not very good while 25 (100%) TA3 teachers rated this item at three levels excellent (8%), very good (16%), good (76%), not very good and not good (0%).
3.2.7. Teachers’ Evaluation of the Textbooks in the “Teaching Aids”
Section
Teachers‟ average rating of 6 items in the “Teaching Aids” section (including audio CDs, flashcards, pictures, website, Teacher‟s Books, Workbooks) of TA3 at three levels excellent, very good and good accounts for 98.7%, of which 11.3% rated as excellent, 35.4% rated as very good, and 52% rated as good.
Only 1.3 rated as not very good, 0% rated as not good. Teachers‟ average rating of FF3 at three levels excellent, very good and good accounts for 99.3%, of which 18.7% rated as excellent, 34% rated as very good, and 46.6% rated as good. Only 0.7 rated as not very good, 0% rated as not good. A detailed rating of each item is presented below:
With regard to audio CDs of TA3 (item 25), 5 teachers (20%) rated as excellent, 12 (48%) rated as very good, 8 (32%) rated as good. These levels of rating of FF3 were 5 teachers (20%) excellent, 4 (16%) very good, 16 (64%) good, respectively.
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As for components accompanying the textbooks including flashcards, pictures, website, Teacher‟s Books, Workbooks (item 26) of the two textbooks TA3 and FF3 at three levels excellent, very good and good accounts for 92% and 96%, of which 2 teachers (8%) and 5 (20%) rated as excellent, 3 (12%) and 15 (60%) rated as very good and 18 (72%) and 4 (16%) rated as good. 2 TA3 teachers (8%) and 1 FF3 teacher (4%) rated as not very good.
Concerning Teacher‟s Book, the utility of the Introduction section in Teacher‟s Book (item 27), 4 TA3 teachers (16%) rated as excellent, 5 teachers (20%) rated as very good and 16 (64%) rated as good. These levels of rating of FF3 were 4 teachers (16%) excellent, 3 (12%) very good, 18 (72%) good, respectively. And as for the guiding ability of Teacher‟s Book (item 28), 2 TA3 teachers (8%) rated as excellent, 18 teachers (72%) rated as very good and 5 (20%) rated as good. These levels of rating of FF3 were 3 teachers (12%) excellent, 20 (80%) very good, 2 (8%) good, respectively. Concerning the usefulness of Workbooks (item 29), 1 TA3 teachers (4%) rated as excellent, 8 teachers (32%) rated as very good and 16 (64%) rated as good. These levels of rating of FF3 were 8 teachers (32%) excellent, 7 (28%) very good, 10 (40%) good. No teachers rated as not very good and not good. And as for the utility of Workbooks in extending linguistic knowledge and communicative skills of Student‟s Book (item 30), 3 TA3 teachers (12%) rated as excellent, 7 teachers (28%) rated as very good and 15 (60%) rated as good. These levels of rating of FF3 were 3 teachers (12%) excellent, 2 (8%) very good, 20 (80%) good.
3.2.8. Teachers’ Evaluation of the Textbooks in the “Linkage” Category The results obtained from the teachers‟ evaluation of the “Linkage” category indicate that teachers‟ evaluation of TA3 is very positive. The average rating of 2 items by 25 teachers at three levels excellent, very good and good accounts for 100%, of which 28 % rated as excellent, 28% rated as very good and 44% rated as good. However, the results obtained from teachers‟ evaluation of FF3 is more modest accounts for 92%, of which 2% rated as excellent, 10% rated as very
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good and 80% rated as good. 8% rated as not very good and 0% rated as not good. A detailed rating of each item is presented below:
Concerning the textbook coherence (item 31), 2 TA3 teachers (8%) rated as excellent, 4 teachers (16%) rated as very good and 19 (76%) rated as good.
These levels of rating of FF3 were 1 teacher (4%) excellent, 4 teachers (16%) very good, 20 (80%) good. 0% rated as not very good and not good. And as for the textbook‟s connection of topics and contents to students‟ daily life and experiences (item 32), 12 TA3 teachers (48%) rated as excellent, 10 teachers (40%) rated as very good and 3 (12%) rated as good. These levels of rating of FF3 were (0%) excellent, 1 teachers (4%) very good, 20 (80%) good. 4% rated as not very good and 0% rated as not good. Teachers thought that the contents of the topics chosen for the textbook should be slightly changed in order to be more suited to Vietnamese students. Specifically, with the topic “Lunch time” unit 9 and “Where is the ball” unit 5, some vocabularies such as lunch box, sandwich, Frisbee, ride horse, slide or seesaw are not really familiar with all Vietnamese students.
3.2.9. Teachers’ Evaluation of the Textbooks in the “Cultural Values”
Category
Teachers‟ average rating of 3 items (33, 35, 35) relating to the “Cultural Values”
category of TA3 at three levels excellent, very good and good accounts for 96%, of which 36% rated as excellent, 32% rated as very good and 28% rated as good.
Teachers‟ average rating of FF3 at three levels accounts for 68%, of which 6.7%
rated as excellent, 26.6% rated as very good and 34.7% rated as good. Teachers had different opinions on cultural elements of the two textbooks. 3 teachers of TA3 (12%) rated the presence of British and American culture as not very good while 21 teachers of FF3 (84%) rated the presence of Vietnamese culture as not very good and just 4 (16%) rated this item as good. Concerning to the suitability of the textbooks‟ contents to pupils‟ background knowledge and social culture (item 35) 21 teachers of TA3 (84%) rated as excellent, 3 teachers (12%) rated as
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very good and 1 (4%) rated as good. No teachers rated as not very good and not good. 2 teachers of FF3 (8%) rated as very good, 20 teachers (80%) rated as good and 3 teachers (12%) rated as not very good. 0% teachers rated as not good.
In general, both of the textbooks do not have a balance of cultural elements that are necessary for pupils when learning a new language.