An evaluation of “family and friends 3”, an english textbook used for primary school students in viet nam

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An evaluation of “family and friends 3”, an english textbook used for primary school students in viet nam

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VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY - HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES LÊ THỊ DUNG AN EVALUATION OF “FAMILY AND FRIENDS 3”, AN ENGLISH (NGHIÊN CỨU ĐÁNH GIÁ GIÁO TRÌNH “FAMILY AND FRIEND 3” DÙNG CHO HỌC SINH TIỂU HỌC TẠI VIỆT NAM) M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field : English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111 HANOI – 2016 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY - HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES LÊ THỊ DUNG AN EVALUATION OF “FAMILY AND FRIENDS 3”, AN ENGLISH (NGHIÊN CỨU ĐÁNH GIÁ GIÁO TRÌNH “FAMILY AND FRIEND 3” DÙNG CHO HỌC SINH TIỂU HỌC TẠI VIỆT NAM) M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field : English Teaching Methodology Code: : 60140111 Supervisor : Dr ĐỗTuấn Minh HANOI - 2016 CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY I certify my authority of the thesis submitted entitled: An evaluation of “Family and Friends 3”, an English textbook used for primary school students in Viet Nam In fulfillment of the requirements for thesis and field study report in Master program issued by the Post Graduate Committee Except where the reference is indicated, no other person‟s work has been used without due acknowledgment in the text of the thesis Hanoi - 2016 Lê Thị Dung i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am deeply thankful to many people without whose help the present thesis could not have been completed First and foremost, I would like to express my deep indebtedness to my supervisor Dr Do Tuan Minh – the vice president of University of Languages and International Studies, Viet Nam National University Hanoi for his invaluable guidance and endless support His useful advices, comments and corrections help me complete my thesis My sincere gratitude are due to Assoc Prof Dr Le Van Canh and Dr Huynh Anh Tuan for their kindness and generosity in providing suggestions, and helpful advice My thanks are also extended to all my lecturers at Department of Graduate Studies, University of Languages and International Studies, VNU who gave me meaningful lessons and valuable knowledge; from which I know how to conduct my study I sincerely thank the whole group of primary school teachers in Hanoi by whom meaningful data for my thesis was collected Last but not least, I owe the completion of this dissertation to my family, my colleagues and friends who have always given me motivation and encouragement to carry on my thesis i ABSTRACT There is no doubt that materials play an important role in language teaching and learning However, no textbook is perfect in a particular teaching situation since there is an mixture of components affecting it such as the aims of the course, students‟ interest or students‟ ability Therefore, materials evaluation is essential in deciding which textbook should be chosen before applying it to any course This thesis was carried on to evaluate a material which has been in use for primary school students in Vietnam Although it has been in use for a long time as a popular textbook, there is no research checking whether teachers satisfy with it as well as its appropriateness to the teaching situation in Vietnam in term of both appearance and content In order to fulfill the objectives of the study, the researcher found prior studies at the same field to find out different opinions of researchers about textbook evaluation and adaption Then she analyzed the material using the “English textbook evaluation criteria for the school system in Viet Nam” accompanying circular 31/2015/TT-BGDĐT, complied by a group of authors Finally, the researcher conducted a survey on primary school teachers in Hanoi to find how much they satisfy with the material in term of its appearance, methodology, content and skills as well as its user support The result of this survey was compared with the document analysis to answer the research question Some suggestions for adaptations were also given to make the material become more suitable with the teaching situation of Vietnam The findings exhibited that Family and Friends is not against Vietnamese culture and tradition It is not against Vietnamese rules or contain any prejudices The layout and design of this textbook are highly appreciated In addition, textbook user support is also one of strong points of FF3 since it provides very helpful supplementary materials for both teachers and students Besides, in general, its content and skills get quite good comments from teachers However, due to ii teachers‟ opinions, FF3 remains some drawbacks Firstly, as a commercial textbook, FF can not directly promote patriotism, nationalism or political security of Vietnam In addition, sometimes students are not given sufficient tasks to practice skills It needs updating more new and interesting topics for students too To deal with those drawbacks, some adaptation techniques such as adding, re-ordering, simplifying or deleting are suggested for better use of this material in the future iii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS VNU: Vietnam National University FF 3: Family and Friends ELT: English Language Teaching PSSs: Primary School Students iv LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES Table 1: Teachers‟ opinions on the appropriateness of the textbook to the prerequisite criteria in the checklist 32 Table 2: Teacher survey result on the match of textbook to the requirement of the checklist in term of design 33 Table 3: Teacher survey result on the match of textbook to the requirement of the checklist in term of organization .34 Table 4: The suitability of the material to the requirement of the checklist in term of objectives and Teaching Principles 35 Table 5: The suitability of the material to the requirement of the checklist in term of methodology 36 Table 6.1: Teacher survey result on the match of textbook to the requirement of the checklist in term of general content 37 Table 6.2: Teacher survey result on the match of textbook to the requirement of the checklist in term of general content 38 Table 7: Teacher survey result on the match of textbook to the requirement of the checklist in term of listening skill .39 Table 8: Teacher survey result on the match of textbook to the requirement of the checklist in term of speaking skill .40 Table 9: Teacher survey result on the match of textbook to the requirement of the checklist in term of reading skill .41 Table 10: Teacher survey result on the match of textbook to the requirement of the checklist in term of writing skill .41 Table 11: Teacher survey result on the match of textbook to the requirement of the checklist in term of textbook user support 43 Figure1: Teachers' opinion on vocabulary in FF 42 Figure 2: Teachers' opinions on grammar practice in FF3 .42 Figure 3: Teachers' opinions on pronunciation practice in FF3 42 v TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS i ABSTRACT ii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS iv LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES v TABLE OF CONTENTS vi PART A: INTRODUCTION 1 Background to the study and the statement of problem 1.1 Theoretical background 1.2 Practical background 1.2.1 The English program for primary students in Vietnam 1.2.2 The English textbook “Family and Friends 3” 1.3 Statement of problem Aims of the study 3 Research questions .3 Scope of the study Significance of the study .4 Overview of the study PART B: DEVELOPMENT .6 CHAPTER I LITERATURE REVIEW .6 1.1 Materials in language teaching and learning 1.1.1 What are materials? .6 1.1.2 Role of materials 1.2 Materials evaluation 1.2.1 Definition of materials evaluation 1.2.2 Reasons for evaluating materials 1.2.3 Types of material evaluation 1.2.4 The procedure of material evaluation .11 vi 1.2.5 Criteria for materials evaluation 11 1.3 Materials adaptation 14 1.3.1 Definition of materials adaptation .14 1.3.2 Reasons for adapting materials 14 1.3.3 Kinds of materials adaptation 15 1.3.3.1 General adaptation 15 1.3.3.2 Specific adaptation 16 1.3.3.3 Techniques for adaptation .16 1.3.3.4 Addition 16 1.3.3.5 Deletion 16 1.3.3.6 Simplification 17 1.3.3.7 Reordering .17 1.3.3.8 Replacement 17 CHAPTER TWO: METHODOLOGY .18 2.1 Research questions 18 2.2 Research design 18 2.3 Research method .18 2.3.1 Document analysis .19 2.3.2 Questionnaires for teachers 19 2.4 Data collection procedure .20 2.5 Participants 20 CHAPTER FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION .22 3.1 Document analysis 22 3.1.1 Materials description 22 3.1.2 Cultural and social factors 23 3.1.3 Design and organization .24 3.1.4 Objectives and methodology .26 3.1.5 Content and skills 27 3.1.6 Textbook user supports 30 vii Teachers can asked students to “write five sentences about what you often in your daily life, using adverbs of frequency” *Re-ordering: The content of Words, Grammar, Grammar and song, Skills time normally relates to each other However, Phonics focuses on practicing sounds only Therefore it can be separated as a particular part Lesson four Phonics could be moved to the end of units Words, Grammar, Grammar and song, Skills time can be put before it Besides, lesson Skills time can be divided into two lessons: Skills time 1: Listen and speaking, Skills time 2: Reading and writing; so that teachers and students have more time to practice *Simplifying: In reading skill, there are three activities In addition, some reading passages are too long In this case, teachers can summary and simplify the content of the passages so students can read and understand more easily *Deleting: In case some new topics about Viet Nam national geography or famous people are added, some other parts need deleting to make sure teachers and students have enough time to complete the course 48 PART C: CONCLUSION Conclusion The findings exhibited that in general, Family and Friends basically meets the requirement of the English textbook evaluation criteria Firstly, it is suitable with Vietnamese culture and tradition It does not cause any cultural shock for students and teacher while using this book There is no prejudice such as gender, ethnic, age or group This book even encourages the cross - cultural communication by introducing to students different lives in different countries around the world The appearance, layout and design are ones of strong points of this textbook The textbook cover is very attractive to students The text font, font size, sub-titles, logo, punctuation marks, and page numbers are of consistency and convention There is no grammar or spelling mistake The organization of the book is clear, systematical and easy to follow Especially, language used in the book textbook is authentic and natural The quality of the recordings is good and the speakers‟ voice is clear enough to understand Moreover, textbook user support is also another strong point of FF3 since it provides very helpful supplementary materials for both teachers and students They support teachers in preparing for their lessons and evaluating their students These reference books with detailed instruction also help students to revise, practice and self study at home to improve their English ability Besides, its content, objectives and methodology generally get quite good comments from evaluators Due to teachers, the level of English and the content of FF3 are age- appropriate and challengeable enough to students However, due to teachers‟ opinions, FF3 remains some drawbacks As a commercial textbook, not for using in Viet Nam only, FF3 can not directly promote patriotism, nationalism or political security of a particular country like Vietnam In addition, sometimes students are not given sufficient tasks to practice skills Listening, speaking and writing parts provide only one task while reading part seems too long Therefore it needs adapting from teachers to flexibly add or remove some tasks which depends on 49 different teaching situation Another thing should be improved is theme This book was published some years ago; therefore due to teachers, it is better to update newer and more interesting topics to motivate students Limitation and suggestions for further study Firstly because of small scale of this minor thesis, the data collection of the study was limited Teacher survey questionnaires were administered to small sample Secondly, the thesis aims to find out how Family and friends 3, an English material used for primary school students in Vietnam match with the requirement of the English textbook evaluation criteria However, its scope was limited to Hanoi area Only teachers working in Hanoi took part in this research It must be much more better if this thesis could be conducted in the South of Vietnam as well Further study can be carried on in Ho Chi Minh city as a representative for the South of Vietnam Then the results from North area and South area are compared to bring out the findings so that the thesis can represent for the situation of Vietnam more exactly 50 REFERENCE Brown, J.D (1995) The Elements of Language Curriculum Boston: Heinle & Heinle Publishers Cunningsworth, A (1984) Evaluating and selecting EFL Teaching Materials London: Heinemann Educational Books Cunnings worth, A (1995) Choosing Your Course book London: Heinemann Educational Books Dudley-Evans, T & St John, M.J (1998) Development in English for Specific Purposes Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Ellis, R (1998) The Evaluation of Communicative Tasks in Tomlinson, B, Materials Development in Language Teaching (1st ed, p.217-238).Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Huchinson, T (1987) What’s underneath? An interactive View of Materials Evaluation in ELT textbooks and materials: Problems in Evaluation And Development Modern English Publication in association with the British Council Hutchinson, T (1994) The textbook as agent of change ELT Journal, 48, 315-328 Huchinson, T & Waters, A (1987) ESP: Learning – Centered Approach CUP Huchinson, T & Waters, A (1993) English for specific Purposes: A learning centered approach Cambridge: Cambridge University Express Littlejohn, A (1998) The Analysis of Language teaching Materials: Inside the Trojan Horse, in Tomlinson, B (Ed), Materials Development in Language Teaching (p190-261) Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Madsen, H.S & Bowen, J.D (1978) Adaptation in Language Teaching Rowley, Mass: Newbury House Masuhara, H (1998) What teachers really want from course books?, in B Tomlinson (Ed.), Materials development for language teaching (pp 239-260) Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press 51 May, T (2001) Social Research: Issues Methods and Process Buckingham: Open University Express McDonough, J & Shaw, C (1993) Materials and Methods in ELT Oxford: Blackwell McDonough, J., & Shaw, C (2003) Materials and methods in ELT Oxford: Blackwell McGrath, I (2002) Materials Evaluation and Design for Language Teaching Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press Nunan, D (1988) Learner- Centered Curriculum Cambridge: Cambridge University Express Richards, J.C (2001) Curriculum Development in Language Teaching Cambridge: Cambridge University Express Robinson, P.C (1991) ESP today: A practitioner’s guide London: Prentice Hall Sheldon, L.E (1988) Evaluating ELT Textbooks and Materials ELT Journal 42/4 Tamzin Tompson& Naomi Simmons Family and Friends London: Oxford University Press The Government of Vietnam, No 1400/QD-TTg: Decision on the Approval of the Project entitled “ Teaching and Learning Foreign Languages in the National Education System, period 2008-2020” The Ministry of Education and Training, No 2258/ QĐ-BGDĐT: Decision on the approval of the establishment of expert team to draft the English textbook evaluation criteria for school system in Vietnam Tomlinson, B (1998) Material Development in Language Teaching Cambridge: Cambridge University Express Tomlinson, B (1999) Developing criteria for materials evaluation IATEFL Issues, 147 Tomlinson, B (2001) Material development, in Carter R &Nunan D,The Cambridge Guide to Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages Cambridge: Cambridge University Express Tomlinson, B (2003) Developing Materials for Language Teaching British Library 52 APPENDIX APPENDIX 1 QUESTIONNAIRE FOR TEACHERS Title of Textbook: FAMILY AND FRIENDS PERSONAL INFORMATION STT: Evaluator‟s name: Institution (optional): English teaching experience: □ under year □ from 1-2 years Qualification: □ Diploma □ College □ from 5-5 year □ B.A □ more than years □ M.A INSTRUCTION To respond to this questionnaire, please put a tick in the appropriate choice as follows: 1.Strongly disagree Agree Quite agree Strongly agree STT Description Prerequisite criteria The textbook is in compliance with the Laws of Vietnam The content of the textbook is in line with the teaching curriculum of each educational level, which is issued by the Ministry of Education and Training of Vietnam The content of the textbook is not against any cultural norms, history, geography, morality, custom, and tradition of Vietnam, and is relevant to the trend of global integration The textbook contributes to the education of patriotism, nationalism, and helps ensure political security, social order, and national sovereignty The content of the textbook is free from prejudices related to gender, ethnic origins, religion, occupations, social groups, age groups I Objectives, Teaching Principles and Methodology The textbook satisfies the objectives of the English teaching curriculum, taking into account of the teaching conditions and standard teaching volume of the school system The textbook adheres to age-appropriate psychological characteristics The layout of the textbook‟s content enables teachers to choose suitable teaching methods and aids The textbook shows good consistency among objectives, teaching methodology, teaching-learning modes, and testing and assessment 10 The textbook makes a balance of the four skills of Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing 11 The textbook promotes the use of advanced teaching methods in light of the development of communicative competence and active learning 12 The teaching methods used in the textbook are applicable to different groups of English teachers 13 The teaching-learning activities are various, which enables the teachers to flexibly apply different teaching methods into different learners 14 The teaching-learning activities develops a balance of knowledge- and skill-based objectives, which facilitates individual, pair and group work opportunities 15 The textbook is consistent and systematic in terms of both language content and skills, and is compatible with the learning outcomes of each educational level, which are specified in the six-level framework of foreign language competences for Vietnamese people Content and language skills 16 The textbook covers a variety of topics, which are suitable for learners‟ abilities and educational in terms of behavior and life skills development 17 The content is up-to-date and interesting, which encourages teachers‟ creativity, learners‟ motivation and interests, and helps enrich learners‟ knowledge and experiences 18 The contents of fostering Listening, Reading, Writing, Speaking competencies and the contents of Vocabulary, Pronunciation, and Grammar are proportional in each lesson 19 Each language skill is practiced properly, involving the practice and development of other skills 20 The language used in the textbook is natural, authentic and ageII appropriate 21 The teaching-learning activities are various, well-organized, leading learners from easy to difficult, simple to complex tasks with clear objectives and instructions 22 The textbook provides a balance of activities and tasks that focus both on fluency and accuracy 23 The Listening activities are various, helping learners to develop their listening comprehension skills 24 The Listening material is well-recorded and authentic, focusing on English linguistic competences such as stress, intonation, and aspects of connected speech 25 The length and difficulty levels of the Listening passages are appropriate to the learners‟ ability and encourage post-listening practice of other language skills 26 The Speaking activities are designed with clear objectives, and encourage learners to speak, and develop their natural communication skills 27 The learners are provided with sufficient input and language content, and are led from controlled to guided and/or free Speaking activities 28 Speaking activities are developed to encourage student-student and student-teacher communication via different practice activities (such as role-play, discussion, work in pair, work in group, presentation, debating, project work) 29 The Reading passages are various and interesting, helping learners develop their reading comprehension skills 30 The Reading passages are natural and authentic 31 The length and difficulty levels of the Reading passages are appropriate to learners‟ ability 32 The writing activities are various, which helps enhance different writing opportunities 33 The Writing tasks are authentic, contextualised, goal-oriented, achievable, and appropriate to the learners‟ ability 34 Learners are provided with sufficient input and language content, and are led from controlled to guided and/or free Writing activities 35 The textbook provides appropriate, context-based Vocabulary presenting techniques with a reasonable distribution of the vocabulary load across the whole book 36 The Grammar points are contextualized and taught communicatively with a focus on both form and function 37 Pronunciation activities are appropriately integrated in the III Listening and Speaking tasks with an emphasis on natural pronunciation, including stress and intonation Design and Organization 38 The textbook design is attractive; the sub-titles, logo, text fonts, punctuation marks, and page numbers are of consistency and convention, and are error-free 39 The textbook is logically and effectively organized, and the lessons are systematically presented with proper components such as Introduction, Table of Contents, Units/Lessons, Revisions, Grammar Reviews, Pronunciation, Glossary, Cultural Notes, and References 40 The textbook offers a balance of the introduction of new language and practice activities, which fits well with the standard class hours of each educational level 41 The visuals used in the textbook are attractive, relevant to the lesson contents, and stimulate creativity of teachers and learners, providing input for communication and language practice 42 The textbook size and weight, the sizes of the visuals and text fonts are age-appropriate Textbook user supports 43 44 45 The textbook has proper supplementary materials which support the teachers to better use the textbook such as those promoting active and effective learning and teaching, and innovative testing and assessment The supplementary materials for learners‟ use are relevant to the contents of the textbook, promoting learners‟ self-study and selfassessment, with which the learners develop active learning methods The textbook materials enhance the application of information technology in teaching-learning activities, which is context relevant Thank you very much for your cooperation! IV APPENDIX V VI VII VIII IX X ... CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY I certify my authority of the thesis submitted entitled: An evaluation of “Family and Friends 3”, an English textbook used for primary school students in Viet Nam In fulfillment... group of Vietnamese experts who are experienced and understand the teaching and learning foreign language situation of Vietnam, the policy of Vietnam government on textbook, the requirement of Vietnam... context of teaching and learning English in Vietnam Specifically, there is no study to discover how FF3 satisfies teachers and matches the requirement of Ministry of Education and Training in choosing

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