A student - based evaluation of the reading comprehension tasks in Tieng Anh 12 Nang Cao = Đánh giá của học sinh về các hoạt động đọc hiểu trong sách

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES
  


VŨ THỊ KIM THANH




A STUDENT- BASED EVALUATION OF THE READING COMPREHENSION
TASKS IN “TIENG ANH 12 NANG CAO”
ĐÁNH GIÁ CỦA HỌC SINH VỀ CÁC HOẠT ĐỘNG ĐäC HIỂU
TRONG SÁCH “TIẾNG ANH 12 NÂNG CAO”



MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS


FIELD: METHODOLOGY
CODE: 601410





HANOI - 2010

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI

UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES
  


VŨ THỊ KIM THANH




A STUDENT- BASED EVALUATION OF THE READING COMPREHENSION
TASKS IN “TIENG ANH 12 NANG CAO”
ĐÁNH GIÁ CỦA HỌC SINH VỀ CÁC HOẠT ĐỘNG ĐäC HIỂU
TRONG SÁCH “TIẾNG ANH 12 NÂNG CAO”



MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS


FIELD: METHODOLOGY
CODE: 601410
SUPERVISOR: LÊ VĂN CANH (MA)




HANOI - 2010

M.A.Thesis

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Table of contents

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP I
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS II
ABSTRACT III
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS IV
LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES VIII
INTRODUCTION 1
1. Statements of the Problems and Rationale for the Study 1
2. Aims of the Study 2
3. Significance of the Study 3
4. Scope of the Study 3
5. Methods and Procedures 4
6. The Structure of the Thesis 4
Chapter I. Review of Literature 5
1.1 Reading comprehension 5
1.1.1 Definition of Reading and Reading Comprehension 5
1.1.2 The Importance of Reading Comprehension in Foreign Language Learning 6
1.1.3 Reading Sub-Skills 6
1.2 Reading comprehension Tasks 8
1.2.1 Tasks 8
1.2.2 Reading Tasks 8
1.2.3 Types of Reading Tasks 8
1.3 Textbook Evaluation 10
1.3.1 Definition of Textbook Evaluation 10
1.3.2 The purpose of Textbook Evaluation 10
1.3.3 Types of Textbook Evaluation 10

1.3.4 Models of Micro-Evaluation of Tasks 11
1.3.5 Student- Based Textbook Evaluation 11
1.3.6 The Need to Have Students’ Evaluation of the Reading Tasks 12
1.3.7 Criteria for Evaluation 12

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1.4 Previous Studies on the New Set of English Textbooks 13
CHAPTER 2. OVERVIEW OF THE READING TASK IN TIENG ANH 12 NANG
CAO 15
2.1 Overview of the National Curriculum and Syllabus for ELT 15
2.2 Overview of the Textbook 15
2.3 Overview of the Reading Section 16
2.3.1 Reading Text Types 17
2.3.2 Reading Task Types 18
CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 21
3.1. The Setting 21
3.2 Participants 21
3.3 Data collection methods 22
3.3.1. Survey questionnaire 22
3.3.2. Interview 22
3.4 Data Collection Procedures 22
3.5 Data Analysis 23
CHAPTER 4: RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS 24
4.1 Quantitative data 24
4.1.1 Usefulness of the Reading Tasks 24
4.1.2 Usefulness of the information 25
4.1.3 Genres of reading texts. 25

4.1.4 Helping to develop and consolidate vocabulary and grammar competence 26
4.1.5 Relevance to students’ level of English. 27
4.1.6 Preparing students for exams 28
4.1.7 Developing sub- reading skills 29
4.1.8 The need to modify and supply more reading comprehension tasks. 31
4.1.9 Matching personal reading strategies 31
4.2 Qualitative data 32
4.2.1 Usefulness to students’ English language learning 32
4.2.2 Relevance to the students’ needs 34
4.2.3 Students’ expectations 34


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CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 36
5.1 Summary of the study. 36
5.2 Recommendations 38
5.2.1 Addition 38
5.2.2 Providing Supplementary Reading Texts 39
5.3 Conclusion 40
5.4 Limitations of the study 41
REFERENCES 42
APPENDIX 1: PHIÕU §IÒU TRA HỌC SINH I
APPENDIX 2. CÂU HO
̉
I PHO
̉
NG VÂ

́
N CHO HO
̣
C SINH V
APPENDIX 3 OVERALL EVALUATION OF THE READING SECTION VI
APPENDIX 4. THE SUGGESTED ADDITION OF THE READING TASKS VII
APPENDIX 5. SUPPLEMENTARY READING TEXTS IX


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LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES

Table 1: Types of reading tasks developed within Davies‟ and Green‟s model 9
Table 2.1 Reading Text Types 17
Table 2.2 Quantity of Reading Tasks 18
Table 2.3 Types of Reading Tasks 19
Figure 4.1 Students‟ general opinions on the usefulness of the reading tasks 24
Figure 4.2 Students‟ opinion on the usefulness of the information. 25
Figure 4.3 Students‟ opinion on genres of reading texts 25
Table 4.1 Students‟ opinions towards how much vocabulary and grammar is consolidated and
developed 26
Table 4.2 Students‟ assessment of the relevance of the reading tasks to their level of English 27
Table 4.3 Relevance to the requirement of the exams 28
Table 4.4 The sub-skills of reading tasks students gained 29
Figure 4.4 Student‟s opinions on the needs of modification 31
Table 4.5 Relevance to students‟ personal learning method in general and method to learn reading
comprehension in particular 31

Table 5 : Added tasks suggested in the three reading stages in each unit 39


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Introduction
1. Statements of the Problems and Rationale for the Study
In the age of globalization the status of English has been enhanced. As Richard
(1985:1) reminds us the current state of English has turned a significant percentage of the
world population into part time users or learners of English. This is also true for Vietnam
in the new social context with the recent economic renovation, the participation in WTO as
well as regionalization and globalization. There has been increasing demand for mastering
English.
The teaching and learning English in high secondary school is most prioritized by
the MOET. The old set of textbooks which was used for a long time has been replaced by
the new one in 2002 which is claimed to incorporate the latest methodology in second
language teaching. The introduction of the new textbooks is considered the first step
towards the achievement of better quality of education. The objectives of the books have
been adjusted for a better use of English “as a tool of communication at basic level in
terms of listening, speaking, reading and writing” (Hoang et al., 2006a:33).
Being an effective and fluent reader in another language is very important as
reading helps students consolidate what they have learned and support their further study.
According to Carrel (1981:1), “for many students, reading is by far the most important of
the four macro skills, particularly in English as a second or a foreign language”.
Unfortunately, teaching and learning readings skills is still far from satisfactory for various
reasons.
The new textbooks for upper secondary school level comprised two sets: the basic
book and advanced books. Hoang Van Thu specializing secondary school chooses the

basic books for non English specializing classes and the advanced for English specializing
ones. English 10 and English 11 were approved and officially introduced into schools by
MOET in the academic years 2006-2007 and 2007-2008, respectively. English 12 has been
implemented in the nationwide scale since the academic year 2008-2009. Up to now it has
been used for English specialized classes of grade 12 in Hoang Van Thu school for two
years.

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As a teacher of English in a specializing high school, I have worked quite closely
with the new textbooks. I have noticed that although the books have shown a great deal of
improvement as compared with the old series of grammar-based textbooks, they also bear
several limitations as it can not be of great help to improve students‟ language knowledge
and more importantly it hardly caters for all the needs of students.
In a specializing school the students‟ level of language proficiency is rather high.
Tieng Anh 12 Nang Cao does not come to students‟ expectations in term of language,
grammar, the length and the quality of the tasks. Students have to use supplementary
reading material to improve their reading skill which is compulsory part in all exams. So
how would the teachers solve this problem?
The methodology course in postgraduate program has changed our mind and
provided us with the new perspective about our English language teaching career. It helps
us shape our critical thinking towards using the textbooks. The research therefore is
conducted to evaluate the reading comprehension task in Tieng Anh 12 Nang Cao using
student - based evaluation.
Since the 1970‟s there has been a movement to make learners the center of
language instruction and it is probably best to view textbooks as resources in achieving
aims and objectives that have already been set in terms of learner needs. “The learner is
focused” is one of the issues mentioned by Canagarajah (2006) in which the role of learner

has been highlighted. As English has become an international language, learners with their
diverse learning contexts and needs are focused in more specific ways.
Research on the limitations of the new textbooks has been a core part of my study.
Based on the findings, recommendations are made which are expected to help improve
students‟ reading skill to enable them firstly to successfully fulfill the reading section in the
university entrance examination paper, and secondly to further their study.
2. Aims of the Study
The study aims to understand students‟ evaluative comments on the usefulness and
relevance of the reading tasks in terms of preparing better for the high school graduation
and university entrance exams, further study and future jobs. Particularly, the study tries to
answer the following two research questions:

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1. To what extent do students find the reading comprehension tasks useful to
their English language learning?
2. To what extent do students find the reading comprehension tasks relevant to
their learning needs?
3. Significance of the Study
The study helps the audience to be aware of the strong and week points of the text
book. This would also enable the teachers to effectively exploit the strength and revise,
modify or supplement the materials if necessary.
Moreover, it is useful for the teachers to listen to their students about their
interests, needs, and expectations. Only by doing that, can we respond to their needs at the
utmost and maximize the learning/teaching objectives by revising the textbook.
The study has been also a benefit for the evaluator herself. As Richards, (1990)
believes that a successful teacher is the one who can evaluate teaching materials and to
teach students successfully, therefore it is a good chance to review major theoretical basis

relating to material evaluation. Being equipped with the knowledge, teachers have a critical
thinking towards the material they are using, namely, they can evaluate it systematically
and methodologically. This work is also of great use for the writer to gain good and useful
insights into the nature of the reading comprehension tasks in the textbook. This micro-
evaluation will serve as basis for evaluating other tasks such as listening, speaking, and
writing tasks.
4. Scope of the Study
First, the study can not be generalized to other 12 specializing classes in HVT
specializing school as their English textbook is the basic set and it can not also be applied
in other high schools even though they teach the same textbook because of different
population.
Second, the study was concerned with evaluating only the Reading Comprehension
Tasks in Tieng Anh 12 Nang Cao. The limitation of time and the scope of a minor thesis do
not allow the researcher of this project to cover many aspects as expected. However, the
subject is hopefully deeply analyzed.

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5. Methods and Procedures
In order to find the answer for the above research questions, the writer reviewed
different textbook evaluation methods of many researchers in this field and finally found
that the method proposed by Ellis (1997) is the most suitable as this study aims to evaluate
one task in a textbook.
To collect the data, the methods used in the thesis are questionnaires and interview.
Survey questionnaires here play a vital role in getting feedback from students about the
reading tasks in Tieng Anh 12 Nang Cao. Interview is served to probe more about students‟
concrete opinions.
6. The Structure of the Thesis

This thesis is divided as follows:
The Introduction presents the background to the study, states the aims, significance,
discusses the scope of the study, method and procedure and outlines the thesis.
Chapter One, Literature Review, discusses issues relating to reading, reading
evaluation, task evaluation and reading comprehension tasks, which serves as the scientific
base for the thesis.
Chapter Two presents the overview of the reading task in Tieng Anh 12 Nang Cao.
Chapter Three, Methodology, presents the deep analysis of the setting including the
students‟ profile and institution. It also describes data collection instrument, data collection
procedure and data analysis.
Chapter Four, Data Analysis and Discussion, presents the results from the
questionnaire, and interview. The chapter ends with a discussion of the findings.
Chapter Five, Recommendations and Conclusion, presents the recommendations
drawn from the findings of the study and concludes the thesis.






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Chapter I. Review of Literature

1.1 Reading Comprehension
1.1.1 Definition of Reading and Reading Comprehension
What is Reading?
According to Goodman (1971:135), reading is “a psycholinguistic process by

which the reader, a language user, reconstructs, as best as he can, a message which has
been encoded by a writer as a graphic display”, and the act of reconstruction is viewed as
“a cyclical process of sampling, predicting, testing and confirming.”
Nuttall (1996) defines reading as “essentially concerned with meaning”(pp18-19).
That means the reader‟s responsibility is to get meaning out of text. Reading viewed from
this perspective can be interpreted as an active creative process in which the reader
interprets a message in the light of his or her previous knowledge, predicts and anticipates
subsequent rhetorical strategy and information, selects information relevant to his or her
reading purpose, matches information with his or her previous knowledge and experience,
evaluates it in the light of that knowledge and then applies this information to new
experiences. As a result, the main aim of the reading syllabus, reading texts and reading
tasks is to develop students‟ appropriate reading strategies, or enabling skills that will help
them to comprehend texts and not just the text being studied. In other words, students
should be trained to become automatic or independent readers. Those reading strategies
should be embedded in the reading tasks.
What is Reading Comprehension?
Ro, Stood and Burns (1987:2) consider “Reading comprehension is reconstruction,
interpretation and evaluation of what author of written content means by using knowledge
gained from life experience.”
Anderson and Pearson (1984:225) argue that when students make a critical
evaluation of the ideas conveyed in the text, “they are making connections between the
new information on the printed page and their existing knowledge”.
According to interactive model of reading, comprehension is built up or constructed
from knowledge sources which interact with each other on the input from the written page.
Comprehension, by definition, is the process of relating new or incoming
information to information already stored in memory. Readers make connection between
the new information on the printed page and their existing knowledge. They must allow the
new information to enter and become a part of their knowledge store.
(Lee and Vanpatten1995:191)

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1.1.2 The Importance of Reading Comprehension in Foreign Language
Learning
Reading is an important, if not the most important, skill that students who study
foreign language need to acquire. As Eskeys (2005) points out that many students of
English as a Foreign Language (EFL) rarely need to speak the language in their day-to-day
lives but may need to read it in order to “assess the wealth of information”(P.563). Of the
four language skills, reading has conventionally been the most emphasized in FL and ESL
or EFL situations over the years. Bright and Gregor (1970:52-53) states that books provide
most pupils with the situation in which learning takes place. Where there is little reading,
there will be little language learning. He also states “further education depends on quantity
and quality of reading. All the important skills, in fact, require quick and efficient
imaginative reading.”
When English is taught in a foreign language environment like in Vietnamese high
schools, students have little opportunity to practice it outside the classroom. In this context,
students are expected to learn how to read in a foreign language in order to learn the
language and obtain the information that they find useful for them. ”Learning to read and
reading to learn” is not an outworn slogan. The need for developing the reading skill is
more urgent because of the ever-increasing amount of reading our students are called upon
to do. From a second language acquisition (SLA) perspective, reading and the reading texts
are a source of input of the target language without which acquisition of the second
language can hardly happen. This is because reading texts can be used for several different
purposes, and this is reflected in the coursebook as follows.
- developing reading skills and strategies,
- presenting/ recycling grammar items, extending vocabulary
- providing models for writing,
- giving information of interest to students,

- stimulating oral work (Cunningsworth, 1995:73)
1.1.3 Reading Sub-Skills
Nuttall (1996) categorizes the reading skills into two major types: (a) word attack
skills and (b) text attack skills. “Word attack skills” includes tackling unfamiliar lexical
items by using morphology, inference from context, a dictionary, etc…. The latter include

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(i) understanding sentence syntax, (ii) recognizing and interpreting cohesive devices, (iii)
interpreting discourse markers, (iv) recognizing functional value, (v) tracing an interpreting
rhetorical organization, (vi) recognizing implications and making inferences, (viii)
prediction, (ix) integration and application (pp 69-97). Any evaluation of the reading text
and/or reading syllabus should refer to these skills.
Another researcher Grellet (1981) has proposed 19 sub- reading skills that he takes
from Munby‟s Communicative Syllabus Design:
- Recognizing the script of a language.
- Deducing the meaning and use of unfamiliar lexical items.
- Understanding explicitly stated information.
- Understanding information when not explicitly stated.
- Understanding conceptual meaning.
- Understanding the communicative value (function) of sentences and utterances.
- Understanding relations within sentences.
- Understanding the parts of a text through lexical cohesion devices.
- Understanding cohesion between the parts of a text through grammatical devices.
- Interpreting text by going outside it.
- Recognizing indicators in discourse.
- Identifying the main point or important information in a piece of discourse.
- Distinguishing the main idea from supporting details.

- Extracting salient points to summarize the text or an idea.
- Selective extraction of relevant points from a text.
- Basic reference skills
- Transcoding information to diagrammatic display
- Skimming
- Scanning
To develop these sub reading skills, the reading comprehension tasks are designed
in the textbook

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1.2 Reading Comprehension Tasks
1.2.1 Tasks
Task, from a dictionary of applied linguistics, is “an activity or action which is
carried out as the result of processing or understanding language (i.e. as a response)
(Richards, Platt and Weber, 1986:289). According to Nunan (2001:10), task involves
communicative language use in which the communicative task is described as a piece of
classroom work.
1.2.2 Reading Tasks
Nunan (2001) describes the reading task as a classroom work which involves
learners in comprehending, manipulating, producing or interacting in the target language
while their attention is principally focused on meaning rather than form. A reading task in
a classroom consists of a process of three tasks (pre-reading task, while-reading task and
post-reading task). Pang, Muaka, Bernbardt and Kamil (2003:6) define reading task as a
complex activity for understanding written texts that involves both perception and thought.
Reading consists of two related processes: word recognition (the process of perceiving
written symbols from different kinds of texts) and comprehension (the process of making
sense of words).

1.2.3 Types of Reading Tasks
According to Nunan (1999:262), good reading tasks are tasks that :
- Typically make use of authentic and challenging texts.
- provide students with a rhetorical or topical framework for processing and
analyzing the text.
- Frequently involve an oral reading of the text by the teacher or a student
followed by silent reading and rereading of the text.
- Involve students in direct analysis of the text instead of in direct question
answering.
- Frequently involve the transfer of information from the text to a visual or
diagrammatic representation.
The table below exemplified the types of reading tasks that can be developed within
Davies’ and Green’s model - the Directed Activities Related to Text (DART) used as an
alternative to the traditional approach to reading comprehension. There are two different
task types: reconstruction activities and analysis activities. Reconstruction activities require
the reader to reconstruct a text. Analysis activities require the reader to transform the
information in the text in some way.

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Table 1: Types of reading tasks developed within Davies’ and Green’s model
Reconstruction Activity
(Using text modified by teacher)
Analysis Activities
(Using straight/ authentic text)
Pupil tasks: Complete a text or diagram,
reconstruct meaning
Pupil tasks: Locate and categorize text

information by marking and labeling. Use
marked text as basis for summary
(diagrammatic or note form)
Text completion
- Word completion (selected words deleted
from the text)
- Phrases completion (selected phrases/
clauses deleted from the text)
- Sentence completion (selected sentences
deleted from the text)

Sequencing
- Selected segments of text arranged in
logical/ time sequence (text cut into
segments representing steps, events, etc )
- Segments of text classified (text cut into
segments representing certain categories of
information)

Prediction
- Pupils predict next events/ steps or stage
after reading segments of text (text
segments presented at section at a time)

Table completion
- Pupils fill in cells of table using row and
column headings and text as sources of
information (teacher provides row and
column headings)
- Pupils devise row and column headings

using texts and cells of matrix as sources
of information (teacher fills in cells)
Text marking
- Locating and underlining parts of text
representing certain meaning of information
targets

Labeling
- Pupils label parts of text using labels
provided by the teacher


Segmenting
- Pupils break text into meaning or
information units and label/ annotate
segments of text.

Table construction
- Pupils construct and complete diagram
appropriate for particular text.

Pupil- generated questions
- Pupils read text and generate questions they
still need answers to.

Summary
- Pupils produce headings and summarize
information

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1.3 Textbook Evaluation
1.3.1 Definition of Textbook Evaluation
A textbook is a teaching material for the teacher and a learning material for the
learner. Within this master thesis, the terms „textbook‟, „text‟, and „materials‟ are used
interchangeably.
In general there are many definitions of evaluation. Hutchinson and Waters
(1987:96) defines evaluation as “a matter of judging the fitness of something” and “it is
concerned with relative merit”.
1.3.2 The purpose of Textbook Evaluation
Evaluating materials enables teachers to see if teaching material matches the
objectives of the language learning program; whether it assists learners to use language
effectively for their own purposes; if it accords with learners‟ needs by facilitating their
learning processes; or whether it supports learning. (Cunningsworth, 1984:5).
1.3.3 Types of Textbook Evaluation
Ellis (1997:37) divides materials evaluation into two types: macro-evaluation and
micro- evaluation. According to him, the former is the impressionistical assessment of
effectiveness of the whole set of materials. In the latter, however, a particular teaching task
chosen by the evaluator is given through evaluation. For this one, Ellis focuses on
evaluation at the task level with reference to its language teaching methodology. The task
here is described in terms of its objectives, the input (the information provided), the
conditions (under which the task is conducted), the procedures, the outcomes (the
achievement on completion of the task). The aim in this model is to identify the match
between task planned and task in use. According to him, micro-evaluation can serve as the
basis for further macro evaluation. On the other hand, micro-evaluation can be an
individual, practical and legitimate way of carrying out an empirical evaluation of teaching
materials
“A micro-evaluation of teaching materials is perhaps best carried out in relation to

„task‟‟ (Ellis, 1997: 37). Tasks within the curriculum or of methodology is described as
“Tasks are justify on the grounds that they will help the learners to develop the skills they
will need for carrying out real-world communicative tasks beyond the classroom” (Nunan,
2001:38). And as the important places of retrospective evaluation and tasks are as
described, the researcher decides to conduct a retrospective evaluation on reading
comprehension tasks as this is the initial and important part of the four language skills. It
can give the input for the following lessons such as listening, speaking, writing, and

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language focus and it is one important section in university entrance examination. Another
reason why the author chooses this micro restrospective evaluation is the feasibility to
conduct a research.
1.3.4 Models of Micro-Evaluation of Tasks
Ellis (1997:38) recommends the following steps of task evaluation: .
Step 1- Choosing a task to evaluate; (In this thesis the reading comprehension tasks
are examined)
Step 2 - Describing the task which requires the specification of the content of a task
in terms of input, procedures, language activities and outcome; (The researcher analyzes
the reading tasks)
Step 3- Planning the evaluation;
Step 4 - Collecting the information for the evaluation (before, while and after the
task is used) about how the task was performed; (This work uses while and after
evaluation)
Step 5 - Analyzing the information;
Step 6 - Reaching conclusion relating to what has been discovered as result of the
evaluation of the task and making recommendations;
Step 7- Writing the report

This study follows these steps in getting the students to evaluate the reading tasks
in Tieng Anh Nang Cao for 12 Graders.
1.3.5 Student- Based Textbook Evaluation
Definition
According to Ellis (1997:39) student-based evaluation is the evaluation in which
the effectiveness of the task is examined through the students‟ attitudes and opinions by
using questionnaires and interviews.
Why Student - Based Evaluation?
Student -based evaluation of textbooks is an evaluation in which the learners assess
the textbook whether it matches their language proficiency, needs, interests and
expectations. When learners are involved in textbook evaluation, they may have a greater
feeling of being active factor of the learning process. Such an evaluation may serve to
increase learner motivation, create a sense of learner-centredness, and stimulate learning.
Learners only learn what they need or want to learn (Tomlinson, 2003:147). Evaluation of
the textbook basing on learners‟ opinion is also helpful to the teachers so that they know
how to adapt and supplement the currently-used textbook to motivate their learners. That is
why the author chooses the student- based evaluation type.

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1.3.6 The Need to Have Students’ Evaluation of the Reading Tasks
Cheng (1985) criticizes the traditional practice of teaching reading in which the
students are to read the text and then answer questions as for being of little help to the
development of the reading skills which are necessary to cope with different reading
materials for different reading needs. The students‟ task is to do as directed and nobody
asks them whether they like the text and their reading skill is improved or not.
Nuttall (1996:170), while also criticizing the conventional approaches to
coursebook evaluation which ignore the learners voice, challenges that “Suggesting that

you look for motivating materials implies that you know what interests the students. Are
you sure you do? It is worth carrying out an investigation”. Unfortunately, the student-
based evaluation of the learning materials and learning tasks is rarely undertaken in the
field of English language teaching. This is the reason why I adopted this approach to the
evaluation of the reading tasks in this study.
1.3.7 Criteria for Evaluation
1.3.7.1 Criteria for Textbook Evaluation
Before choosing the criteria to evaluate the reading task, it is necessary to consider
the criteria to evaluate a textbook in general.
Criteria are what evaluators use to “reach a decision regarding what needs to be
evaluated” (Tomlinson, 1998:220) which are the bases upon which evaluators depend on
when making judgments. Cunningsworth (1995), Grant (1987) possess the same ideas
when proposing criteria for evaluating textbooks. According to them the perfect textbook
does not exist but the best one available for the teacher and their students certainly does.
Such a book should satisfy these conditions:
1. It should correspond to learners‟ needs, interest and abilities. It should match the
aims and objectives of the language learning progress.
2. It should reflect the uses (present or future) which learners will make of the
language. A textbook should be chosen so that they will help equip students to use
language effectively for their own purposes.
3. It should take account of students‟ needs as learners and should facilitate their
learning processes, without dogmatically imposing a rigid method.
4. The textbook must meet the needs of official public teaching syllabuses or
examinations.
My thesis research questions are based on these conditions and then are amplified
in the form of the questionnaire and interview.

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1.3.7.2 Criteria for Task Evaluation
Littlejohn (1998) proposes three criteria for the task evaluation: 1) “what is there”
in the book; 2) “what is required of the users”; 3) “what is implied” based on the
distribution of teacher and students. Matthews (1991) suggests “the balance of tasks”
(enough attention to different types of task). Grant (1991) looks at “enough activities”.
1.3.7.3 Criteria for Evaluation of Reading Comprehension tasks
It is important for EFL teachers at high school level to select appropriate reading
materials, considering students‟ needs, interests and abilities. In other words, successful
selection of materials may be a key to enhancing students‟ reading ability.
Nuttall (1996:170-174) highlights three major criteria for evaluating texts for
reading. These include: suitability of content, exploitability, and readability. By suitability
she means the reading texts must be interesting to the students. According to her, far and
away the most important criterion is that the text should interest the readers- preferably
enthrall and delight them. Of course it is possible to develop reading skills on a text that
bores readers, but interesting content makes the learner‟s task far more rewarding.
Exploitability refers to the facilitation of learning- is arguably the most important
criterion after interest. When the text is exploited, it is used to develop the students‟
competence as readers. To achieve exploitability the reading text must fit the purpose of
the reading lesson in terms of both the language and content. The text must be exploitable
in terms of integration of various reading sub-skills as well as integration of other language
skills.
Regarding the third criterion – Readability, she suggests that reading teachers
assess the students‟ level and consider lexical, structural and passage difficulty of the text
and then calculate the readability level of the material. It seems that these suggestions are
reasonable and teachers should bear these kinds of criteria in mind when they choose
reading materials.
1.4 Previous Studies on the New Set of English Textbooks
In Vietnam a number of projects have been carried out to evaluate the new set of
English textbooks including the basic and the advanced, among which Nguyen Thuy Minh

(2007) is the most typical example. Her research “Textbook evaluation: The case of
English textbooks currently in use in Vietnam‟s upper secondary schools” gives readers a
rather comprehensive evaluation on the new set of textbooks. The evaluation was carried
under the criteria namely: the teaching of language skills (Reading, listening, speaking and
writing), the teaching of language element (grammar, pronunciation and vocabulary) using
the checklists provided by Cunningsworth (1995). The researcher has come to some

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conclusion about the strengths and weakness of the new textbooks. The strength is pointed
out as the books have brought about the positive changes in the way English was taught at
secondary school, making it significantly more communicative and effective. The
weakness is the challenge for both students in rural, remote areas and for teachers who do
not continue to improve their language knowledge, skills and teaching methods.
Another evaluation of the whole textbook English 11 taught at Phan Dinh Phung
secondary school in Ha Noi - A Case Study by Le Thi Hue found out some useful results.
She concluded that the textbook English 11 truly followed the objectives prescribed by
MOET for the course. Regarding to the suitableness of the textbook to the students, the
reading and speaking section are relatively acceptable but the listening part and language
focus need some modification to be more suitable. The author believed that interesting,
challenging and motivating subjects and contents that were relevant to students needs
interest the students.
When it comes to reading part in the advanced textbook, Nguyen Thi Nguyet has
conducted a survey on “How to make classroom reading more communicative for grade 10
of English at Bac Ninh specializing high school. The significant part is devoted to
recommendations on how to make classroom reading more communicative.
Although the Tieng Anh textbook series for Vietnamese high schools have been
evaluated by some authors, the Tieng Anh 12 Nang Cao has not been evaluated yet. In

addition, those evaluations were made with the teachers‟ perspectives only. This study,
therefore, focuses on the students‟ evaluation of the reading tasks in Tieng Anh Nang Cao
for 12 graders.
Summary
This chapter has reviewed theories related to the reading comprehension and the
roles it plays in the process of English language teaching and learning as well as important
issues of reading task evaluation that need to be considered when conducting the research.
The highlighted aspects are the sub-reading skills presented in reading comprehension
tasks, the model to evaluate tasks proposed by Rod -Ellis with student-based evaluation
and the criteria to evaluate reading tasks. It has also reviewed some of the previous
research on textbook evaluation in different contexts in other settings in Vietnam. All of
these serve as a basic for carrying out an evaluation of the reading comprehension tasks in
Tieng Anh 12 Nang Cao at a specific secondary school. The next chapter presents an
overview of the reading task in Tieng Anh 12 Nang Cao.

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CHAPTER 2. OVERVIEW OF THE READING TASK IN
TIENG ANH 12 NANG CAO

2.1 Overview of the National Curriculum and Syllabus for ELT
Before an evaluation of the reading tasks of Tieng Anh 12 Nang Cao takes place,
an overview of the national curriculum for ELT in secondary school education and the
syllabus for the 12 grade is provided
In 2006 MOET issued a new curriculum which defines English as a compulsory
subject, which is “instrumental to the access of world science and technology as well as
world cultures” (MOET, 2006: 5). It describes the aims for ELT at secondary school level
for the advanced program as enabling students to:

1. “Use English as a means for basic communication relatively proficiently both in
spoken and written channels to meet the specific demand related to socio- science and
humane.
2. Master basic and relatively systematic knowledge of English suited to their
levels of proficiency and ages and the specific demand related to socio- science and
humane.
3. Acquire some general understanding of the people and cultures of some English-
speaking countries and develop a positive attitude towards the people, cultures and
language of these countries; cultivate the pride in, love for and respect to the Vietnamese
culture and language”.
2.2 Overview of the Textbook
The book is claimed to adopt a theme-based syllabus. The methodologies presented
in the book are the “learner-centered approach and the communicative approach with task-
based teaching being the central teaching method”. The teaching contents for each unit are
summarized in a book map which is provided on the first page of each book. There are 16
teaching units and six review units in each book. Each teaching unit covers a topic and is
structured into five sections: Reading, Speaking, Listening, Writing and Language Focus.

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Each unit is supposed to be taught in 7 periods with 45 minutes per one. Reading skills are
dealt with first and foremost in a unit because the authors expect to use the reading text to
provide language input and ideas for practice of other language skills.
The requirement of the MOET on reading skills in Tieng Anh 12 Nang Cao are
defined as follows:
After finishing grade 12, students are able to:
- Use appropriate skills to read a passage of 300-350 words for general, detailed
or specific information the theme of which is included in the textbook.

- Distinguish the main ideas and supporting ideas.
- Use the main ideas to summarise the text.
- Comprehend and judge the author‟s opinions and attitudes
(Tieng Anh 12 Nang Cao - Teacher‟s book, p9)
2.3 Overview of the Reading Section
The Reading section is structured according to the conventional stages of a reading
lesson. It begins with one or two Before you read activities, the aim of which is to
introduce students to the topic, activate their background knowledge of the topic, motivate
them to read and elicit new vocabulary, to present the notion, content, personal experience
related to the. The aim of this part is to arouse the pupils‟ interest in their learning. It may
be some suggested questions, matching the pictures with the title or information, group or
pair work discussion. It then presents a short text followed by 2-3 While you read
activities, the aim of which is to develop reading skills and strategies such as scanning,
skimming and guessing meaning in context. While - reading tasks help students understand
the writer‟s purpose and clarify the text content. The section ends with one or two After
you read activities to offer students some further practice, e.g. oral or written language
production. Post- reading tasks aim to check students‟ comprehension, consolidate what
students have read and provide a sense of completion to the whole process.

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2.3.1 Reading Text Types
This part includes one or more passages with different genres extracted or
developed from the authentic source but the language is adjusted to suit the students‟ level
of the 12 graders.
Regarding text types, all the texts in the textbook are authentic and cover the
following genres.
Table 2.1 Reading Text Types

Types
Authenticity
Illustration

1.Press extract: 14 (70%)
2.Extracts from factual books
and novels: 4 (20%)
3.Advertisements, precautions
for safety: 2 (10%)
100%
Colored pictures (Tables)
100%
(Source: Tieng Anh 12 Nang Cao - MOET)
In brief, the textbook uses different types including press extract, advertisement,
extracts from factual books and novels, announcements, precautions for safety. There is a
text with gaps, which requires not only to understand, but also to be able to supply missing
words (Unit 5). However, the distribution is not even as the predominant is press extract,
which accounts for 70% of the total. This may bore students as they expect the alternative.
The interesting about the text types used in the textbook is that they are extracted from
authentic sources. Plenty of authentic language arouses students‟ interests as they have a
chance to get familiarized with the English of native speakers. Nunan (1998) has suggested
characteristics of materials as follows: „Materials should be authentic as they reflect the
outside world and the socio-cultural context within which they will be used‟
Moreover, the reading parts are presented with wordings illustrated with colorful
pictures, tables, together. The reading part is used to provide the input in the context and to

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develop other skills such as: listening, speaking, writing with different kinds of practice in
the following parts. It also provides the language content in the Language Focus part.
It is effective to label the 3-stage process for the reading tasks namely: Pre-
reading, While- Reading, Post- Reading.
2.3.2 Reading Task Types
Table 2.2 Quantity of Reading Tasks
Before you read
While you read
After you read

Total 30
Percent 30%
53
53%
17
17%

As can be seen, the number of while- reading tasks accounts for over half of total
tasks in the textbook (53%) whereas the tasks in pre-reading make up 30% and post-
reading just 17%. Obviously, most of comprehension tasks are concentrated in the while-
reading stage. Therefore, such a big proportion of tasks designed for while-reading is of
great use as students have more opportunity to comprehend the text, in other words, they
will be more approachable to the content of the text and this result expresses the authors‟
exploitation of the reading text to the full.
Compared with the quantity of while-reading tasks, the task quantity in pre-reading
is quite adequate. This part is important and dispensable as it prepares the readers for what
he or she is going to read.
So “rich” in number of tasks as while-reading is, the number of tasks in post-
reading is the “poorest”. Clearly each reading passage is distributed evenly with one post-
reading task to consolidate what they have gained, to connect what they have known from

the text with their own ideas and experience.

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Table 2.3 Types of Reading Tasks
In brief the typical types of the reading tasks in Tieng Anh 12 Nang Cao are as
follows.
Form of task
Total: 53
While-reading Task
- Matching words and meanings
- Question- answering
Matching
Gap filling
True - False
Multiple choice
Arranging
Transferring information
Discussion
Choose the best title

12
10
9
9
6
2
2

1
1
1
Pre-reading Task
Discussion
Question- answering
Matching
Tick the items
Total: 30
10
8
9
3
Post-reading Task
Discussion
Writing
Summarizing
Oral presentation
Total:17
14
1
1
1