MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING VINH UNIVERSITY -  TRAN THI HUE EXPLORING THE TEXTBOOK “ENGLISH FOR LIFE” IN TEACHING ENGLISH SPEAKING TO ADULT BEGINNERS ( Khai thác giáo trình “English for Life” để dạy nói tiếng Anh cho người lớn trình độ sơ cấp) Master Thesis in TESOL Vinh, 2011 MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING VINH UNIVERSITY -  TRAN THI HUE EXPLORING THE TEXTBOOK “ENGLISH FOR LIFE” IN TEACHING ENGLISH SPEAKING TO ADULT BEGINNERS ( Khai thác giáo trình “English for Life” để dạy nói tiếng Anh cho người lớn trình độ sơ cấp) Field: Theory and Methodology of English Language Teaching Code: 60.14.10 Master Thesis in TESOL Supervisor: NGUYEN THI VAN LAM, M.A Vinh, 2011 Statement of Authorship The thesis named “ Exploring the textbook “English for Life” in teaching English speaking to adult beginners” above has been submitted for the degree of Master of Arts I, the undersigned, hereby declare that: • I am the sole author of this thesis • I have fully acknowledged and referenced the ideas and work of others, whether published or unpublished, in my thesis • I have prepared my thesis specifically for the degree of Master of Arts while under supervision at Vinh University • My thesis does not contain work extracted from a thesis, dissertation or research paper previously presented for another degree or diploma at this or any other university Vinh, 2011 Tran Thi Hue Acknowledgement The study could not have been completed without the help of my teachers and friends during the time of my doing it First of all, I would like to express my sincere and deep gratitude to my supervisor, Ms Nguyen Thi Van Lam (M.A) for her constant encouragement, delibrate guidance, generous support and invaluable critical feedback during the writing of this study In particular, I wish to thank Mr Ngo Dinh Phuong and other staff members of Foreign Languages department of Vinh university for their continuous encouragement and support I also wish to thank all my friends, colleagues and classmates who have kindly given their advice and enthusiastically helped me with useful source materials for the completion of this thesis Finally, I would also like to thank my parents for their support and encouragement during the process of writing this thesis Abstract Many language learners regard speaking ability as the measure of knowing a language These learners define fluency as the ability to converse with others, much more than the ability to read, write, or comprehend oral language They regard speaking as the most important skill they can acquire, and they assess their progress in terms of their accomplishments in spoken communication However, many English teachers still spend the majority of class time on reading and writing practice almost ignoring speaking and listening skills It is the fact that teaching and learning conditions in our city have some certain limitations Students from high schools and universities are aware of the importance of communicating in English in their real life but they are only taught much more about reading and writing to pass the exams with high scores Therefore, these students come to some English centers to learn general English programme with the aims at developing the four skills and at the end of the course they can communicate successfully First of all, besides the acknowledgements, the table of contents, the introduction, in chapter one we give here some concepts concerned with the investigation In chapter two we deal with the theoretical background that we base on to explore the textbook to teach English speaking to adult beginners The next chapter presents research methodology with the research questions and the research procedure (including Planning for the intervention, Implementation, Evaluation and Data collection) In chapter findings and discussion, we come up with an overview of the centre and the syllabus, then the data analysis, findings and discussions, implications and sample lessons The last chapter is conclusion in which we come to the final conclusion for the whole study, its limitation and suggestions for further study And then some reference books are listed before appendix part TABLE OF CONTENTS STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ABSTRACT TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale 1.2 Aims of the study .7 1.3 Research questions 1.4 Scope of the study 1.5 The method of the study 1.6 Organization of the study CHAPTER THEORETICAL BACKGROUND .11 2.1 The framework of materials and methods 11 2.1.1 Contextual factors .11 2.1.1.1 Learners 12 2.1.1.2 Setting 13 2.1.2 The syllabus 14 2.2 Current approaches to materials design 15 2.2.1 The impact of the communicative approach .15 2.2.2 Current approach to materials design 16 2.2.2.1 Multi-syllabus 16 2.2.2.2 The lexical syllabus 17 2.2.2.3 The process syllabus 17 2.3 Evaluating a textbook 18 2.3.1 Reasons to evaluate materials .18 2.3.2 Criteria to evaluate materials 19 2.3.2.1 The external evaluation 20 2.3.2.2 The internal evaluation .21 2.3.2.3 The overall evaluation 22 2.4 Exploring a textbook 22 2.4.1 Reflective teaching 23 2.4.2 Reflection process .24 2.5 Teaching adults 27 2.5.1 Principles of adult learning 28 2.5.1.1 Motivation 29 2.5.1.2 Experience 29 2.5.1.3 Level of engagement 29 2.5.1.4 Applying the learning .30 2.5.2 Principles of teaching adults .30 2.5.2.1 Make sure adult students understand “Why” 31 2.5.2.2 Respect that students have different learning styles 31 2.5.2.3 Allow students to experience what they are learning .32 2.5.2.4 When the student is ready, the teacher appears 33 2.5.2.5 Encourage adult students 33 2.6 Types of classroom speaking performance 34 2.6.1 Imitative 34 2.6.2 Intensive 34 2.6.3 Responsive 35 2.6.4 Transactional (dialogue) .35 2.6.5 Interpersonal (dialogue) 35 2.6.6 Extensive (monologue) .36 2.7 Principles for designing speaking techniques 36 2.7.1 Use techniques that cover the spectrum of learner needs, from language-based focus on accuracy to message-based focus on interaction, meaning and fluency .36 2.7.2 Provide intrinsically motivating techniques 36 2.7.3 Encourage the use of authentic language in meaningful contexts .37 2.7.4 Provide appropriate feedback and correction 37 2.7.5 Capitalize on the natural link between speaking and listening 37 2.7.6 Give learners opportunities to initiate oral communication 37 2.7.7 Encourage the development of speaking strategies .37 2.8 Retelling technique 38 CHAPTER METHODOLOGY 40 3.1 Determining on research questions 40 3.2 Planning for the Intervention 41 3.3 Implementation 41 3.4 Evaluation 42 3.5 Data collection .43 CHAPTER FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS 44 4.1 An overview of the language centre and the syllabus 44 4.1.1 An overview of the Asem Link Languages centre, Vinh city, Nghe An province 44 4.1.2 The syllabus 44 4.1.3 Skills lesson 45 4.2 Data analysis 46 4.2.1 Results of survey questionnaire for evaluating the textbook and skills lesson 46 4.2.1.1 Frequently used activities in skills lessons .47 4.2.1.2 Teachers and students’ interest in the activities in a skills lesson 48 4.2.1.3 The evaluation of the activities in the skills lesson 50 4.2.1.4 The effectiveness of the activities 51 4.2.1.5 Teachers and students’ evaluation about some other related points in the textbook .52 4.2.2 Results of survey questionnaire for students .53 4.2.2.1 Some of the problems that students cope with in learning English speaking skills in the classroom 53 4.2.2.2 Students’ attitudes toward retelling activity in skills lesson 55 4.2.2.3 Some benefits that students can achieve after learning with retelling activity 56 4.2.2.4 Students’ opinions about this teaching approach .58 4.3 Findings and discussions 59 4.3.1 Findings from survey questionnaire for evaluating the textbook and skills lesson 59 4.3.2 Findings from survey questionnaire for students after learning with retelling activity 60 4.3.2.1 Findings from Section A about some of the problems that students cope with in learning English speaking in skills lesson classroom 60 4.3.2.2 Findings from Section B about retelling activity in the skills lesson .61 4.3.2.3 Findings from Section C about some benefits from retelling activity .62 4.3.2.4 Findings from Section D about students’ opinions about this teaching 10 ...MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING VINH UNIVERSITY -  TRAN THI HUE EXPLORING THE TEXTBOOK ? ?ENGLISH FOR LIFE? ?? IN TEACHING ENGLISH SPEAKING TO ADULT BEGINNERS ( Khai thác giáo trình ? ?English. .. lesson in the textbook ? ?English for life? ?? for beginning level and finding out how to explore this textbook in teaching speaking for beginners at Asem Link Language Centre It is limited to only the. .. improve their speaking, I really wish to explore the skills lesson in the textbook ? ?English for life? ?? to better teaching and learning English, especially for beginners 3.2 Planning for the Intervention