Evaluating the textbook English for engineering for students at Hanoi industrial vocational college (HNIVC) = Đánh giá giáo trình Tiếng Anh chuyên ngành Cơ kh

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



HỨA THỊ MAI HOA


EVALUATING THE TEXTBOOK “ENGLISH FOR
ENGINEERING” FOR STUDENTS AT HANOI
INDUSTRIAL VOCATIONAL COLLEGE (HNIVC)

(ĐÁNH GIÁ GIÁO TRÌNH “TIẾNG ANH CHUYÊN NGÀNH CƠ KHÍ”
DÀNH CHO SINH VIÊN TRONG TRƯỜNG CAO ĐẲNG NGHỀ
CÔNG NGHIỆP HÀ NỘI)

M.A. Minor Thesis


Field: English Teaching Methodology
Code: 601410
Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Hoàng Văn Vân


HANOI- 2011

6

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page
Declaration………………………………………………………………………… ……
iii
Retention and use of the thesis……………………………………………………… …
iv
Acknowledgements………………………………………………………………………
v
Abstract………………………………………………………………………. …………
vi
Table of content…………………………………………………………………………
vi
List of abbreviations…………………………………………………………. …………
xi
Chapter 1
INTRODUCTION

1.1. Rationale of the study………………………………………………………………
1
1.2. Aims of the study…………………………………………………………… …
2
1.3. Research questions…………………………………………………………. …… ….
2
1.4. Scope of the study………………………………………………………… ……….
3
1.5. Methods of the study…………………………………………………………………
3
1.6. Design of the study………………………………………………… ………………
3
1.7. Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………….

4
Chapter 2
LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1. Introduction…………………………………………………………………………
5
2.2. Materials in language teaching and learning……………………………………….
5
2.2.1. Roles of textbooks in EFL/ESL class……………………………………………
6
2.2.2. Types of textbooks………………………………………………………………
7
2.3. English for specific purpose ( ESP)

2.3.1. What is ESP?
7
2.3.2. Characteristics of ESP……………………………………………………………
8
2.3.3. Conditions of applying ESP…………………………………… ……………….
8
2.4. Textbooks evaluation

2.4.1. What is textbooks evaluation?
9
2.4.2. Why textbooks evaluation? ………………
9
2.4.3. Types of textbooks evaluation…………………………………………………….
10
2.4.4. Models for materials evaluation…………………………………………………
12

2.4.5. Criteria for textbooks evaluation…………………………………………………
18
7

2.5. Materials adaptation………………………………………………………
19
2.6. Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………
21
Chapter 3
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

3.1. Introduction…………………………………………………………………………
22
3.2.Research methodology………………………………………………………………
22
3.3. Description of teaching ESP and its objectives at HNIVC

3.3.1. Description of the students at HNIVC……………………………………………
23
3.3.2. Description of the teachers at HNIVC……………………………………………
23
3.33. The teaching and learning ESP at HNIVC………………………… …………….
24
3.4. Data collection procedures

3.4.1. Document analysis……………………………………………… ………………
24
3.4.2. Questionnaires………………………………………………………………………
24
3.4.2.1. Questionnaires for teachers (Q1)………………………

24
3.4.2.2. Questionnaires for students (Q2)………………………………………………
26
3.5. Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………
26
Chapter 4
DATA ANALYSIS

4.1. Introduction………………………………………………………………………….
27
4.2. Objectives of the course……………………………………………………. ……
27
4.3. Significance of each criterion…………………………………………………… .
28
4.3.1. Audience…………………………………………………………………………
28
4.3.2. The aims of the materials………………………………………… ……………
28
4.3.3. The contents of the textbook……………………………………………………
29
4.3.4. The methodology……………………………………………………………….
4.4. The realization of each criterion in the textbook “English for Engineering” (EFE)
29
4.4.1. Audience…………………………………………………………………………….
29
4.4.2. The aim of EFE……………………………………………………………………
30
4.4.3. The content of EFE…………………………………………………………………
30
4.4.4. The methodology……………………………………………………………………

31
4.5. Data analysis and discussion

8

4.5.1. Result………………………………………………………………………………
31
4.5.2. The appropriateness of the material to the aims of the course

4.5.2.1. The appropriateness of the aims of the coursebook in terms of language aspects
31
4.5.2.2. The appropriateness of the aims of the coursebook in term of language skills…
34
4.5.3. The appropriateness of the material to the content requirements of the course

4.5.3.1. Language points
34
4.5.3.2. Language skills……………………………………………………………………
35
4.5.3.3. Text types…………………………………………………………………………
35
4.5.3.4. Topics…………………………………………………………………………….
35
4.5.3.5. The appropriateness of the content of the coursebook in terms of language
aspects…………………………………………………………………………………….

35
4.5.3.6. The appropriateness of the content of the courrsebook in terms of language
skills………………………………………………………………………………………

36
4.5.3.7. Matching and discussion………………………………………………………….
37
4.5.4. The appropriateness of the material to the methodology requirements of the course

4.5.4.1. Material analysis result……………………………………………………………
37
4.5.4.2. Matching and discussion………………………………………………………….
39
4.6. The teachers' teaching experience and suggestions…………………………………
40
4.7. Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………
40
Chapter 5
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

5.1. Result obtained……………………………………………………………………….
41
5.2. Areas for adaptation………………………………………………………………….
41
5.3. Suggestions for further study…………………………………………………………
42
5.4. Conclusions………………………………………………………………………….
43
REFERENCES………………………………………………………………………….
44
Appendix 1. Evaluation checklist for the teachers' questionnaire………………………
I
Appendix 2. Evaluation checklist for the students‟ questionnaire………………………
IV

Appendix 3. Syllabus design………………………………………………………………
IX
Appendix 4. Sample lesson………………………………………………………………
XI

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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
VNU : VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
ULIS : University of Language and International Studies
ESP : English for Specific Purpose
TESP : Teaching English for Specific Purpose
HNIVC : Hanoi Industrial Vocational College
EFE : English For Engineering
ESL : English as a Second Language
ESOL : English for Speakers of Other Languages
EFL : English as a Foreign Language
ELT : English Language teaching
TESL : Teaching English as a Second Language
TESOL : Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages
TEFL : Teaching English as a Foreign Language
EST : English for Science and Technology






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Chapter 1
INTRODUCTION
In this chapter, we discuss about the rationale that we choose this topic, why this
topic is necessary for our career. Then, we say the aims of the study and the research
questions, these are like the way we go through the research. Next, we explore the scope and
the methods of the study, and at last, we design the form that we will do during conducting to
work on this thesis.
1.1. Rationale of the study
In this thesis, we will look at the textbook which aims to suggest, to the teacher, ways
of going about the task of materials evaluation. Generally, the textbook evaluation is so
necessary for us as the teachers, because it can give us the chance to know whether the
textbook we used is good enough for teaching and learning or whether it can be adapted
something. Let us now begin by discussing some of the different emphases that can be found
in texts about materials analysis; especially, here we will focus on the textbook of English
for Specific Purpose (ESP). While producing our own materials, we should check that ESP
materials meet target needs and that the language taught matches the language that the
students will use. Besides we should put emphasis on the development of specific skills and
strategies for operating in the ESP context. In fact, textbook work approach fits comfortably
within teaching English for Specific Purpose (TESP) since it responds to the learners specific
purposes, the students operate in the target language, it is activity and research based, multi-
skilled (develops linguistic & research skills), involves learners in both individual and group
work, uses authentic material, is set up in collaboration with subject teachers. It provides an
opportunity for real world and classroom experience to overlap, gives learners a feeling of
achievement. Besides, this textbook can also encourage positive classroom behaviors such as
co-operation, enjoyment, motivation and interest. It can be an elegant culmination of the ESP
course.
Being aware of the importance of the English learning for their students, the Hanoi
Industrial Vocational College (HNIVC) and the Faculty of Basic Sciences are always
searching for the most suitable materials used as core material. And since 2007, the text book
English for Engineering (EFE) edited by Tran Lan Phuong used in teaching ESP at the third

semester for technical students. Though the material has been in use at HNIVC for 5 years
and applied to technical students since 2007, it has never been formally evaluated. So, it is
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essential, therefore, that we should establish and apply a wide variety of relevant and
contextually appropriate criteria for the evaluation of the textbook to assess its
appropriateness against the learning purpose.
1.2. Aims of the study
An evaluation of teaching materials helps to identify particular strengths and weaknesses
of the materials. The finding of the thesis will be very useful for both the researcher and the
teachers, who are teaching the coursebook “English for Engineering”. It will provide the
authorities and the teachers with scientific evidence to improve the quality of the current
book used for the second-year students of HNIVC.
1.3. Research questions
The thesis will be conducted to answer the following research question :
How does the textbook, used for the second-year students at HNIVC, meet the course
requirements in terms of the aims, the contents and the methodology?
In order to answer the question above, the researcher intents to carry out the
following procedures:
- Reviewing the literature relating to material evaluation and setting up the criteria for
evaluating the material. Based on the theoretical framework the researcher analyses the
material;
- Conducting a questionnaire for the students to find out their opinions about the materials
they have learned;
- Conducting a questionnaire for the teacher to find out the opinion about the material they
have used;
- Finally, the researcher makes suggestion and recommendations on the development of the
material.
1.4. Scope of the study
Evaluating teaching is complicated work and it needs to take into consideration lots

of different aspects such as materials effectiveness, efficiency, attitudes, specialty, validity,
reliability, etc. In this study, the researcher just focuses on three criteria which are stated in
the requirements of the students at Hanoi Industrial Vocational College: in terms of the aims,
the content and the methodology in the textbook „ English for Engineering‟.
1.5. Methods of the study
To collect the data, the methods used in this thesis are document analysis, survey
questionnaires, and informal interviews.
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Document analysis here refers to the analysis of the materials itself and the
requirements of the course.
Survey questionnaires specifically designed for both the teachers and the second-
year students who have experienced using the book.
Informal interview is used to seek for detailed and objective opinions of examples of
teachers and students on the material and students‟ needs. This method we used when
researching some opinions on the aims, the content and the methodology of the teachers and
students in our college. Therefore, it is not written in the appendix.
1.6. Design of the study
The study is organized into five main chapters as follows :
- Chapter 1. Discusses the background to the study and statement of problem, the aims, the
researcher question, the limitations and overview of the thesis;
- Chapter 2. Presents a review of literature, concentrating on the issues related to ESP
material evaluation;
- Chapter 3. Describes the research methodology; description of teaching ESP and its
objectives at HIVC; the data collection instruments, the subjects as well as the data collection
procedures;
- Chapter 4. Discusses findings of the data analysis, objectives of the course; significance of
each criterion;
- Chapter 5. Suggests solutions to improve the material and concludes the study.

1.7. Conclusion
In this chapter, we showed the procedure that we will do in the thesis; the reason that
we chose this topic; the aims of the study that needs to evaluate this textbook; to conduct the
work, we need to give the research questions, whether this question need to analysis during
working on the thesis; then we introduced the scope of the study, we focus more on the aims,
the content and the methodology in the textbook when we analysis the data that we collected
for the study; next we discussed about the methods of the study; and finally, the design of the
thesis is introduced in order to join all the parts of the thesis closely and consequently.





13

Chapter 2
LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1. Introduction
This chapter gives an overview of the literature of the evaluation materials. It
introduces the theorical apparatus of the theory of materials in language teaching and
learning; roles of textbooks in EFL/ESL class; types of textbooks. It includes the definition
of English for specific purpose (ESP), its characteristics and the conditions of applying ESP,
also in this chapter we will describe the textbooks evaluation, why here we need textbook
evaluation, the types of textbook evaluation and there obtains the different models for
materials evaluation in the literature; a collection of criteria proposed by various researchers;
and finally, we say some types of the materials adaptation: addition, deletion/ omission, and
modification/ changing.
2.2. Materials in language teaching and learning
ESL (English as a Second Language), ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages),
and EFL (English as a Foreign Language) all refer to the use or study of English by speakers

with a different native language. The precise usage, including the different use of the terms
ESL and ESOL in different countries, is described below. These terms are most commonly
used in relation to teaching and learning English, but they may also be used in relation to
demographic information. ELT (English Language Teaching) is a widely-used teacher-
centred term, as in the English language teaching divisions of large publishing houses, ELT
training, etc. The abbreviations TESL (Teaching English as a Second Language), TESOL
(Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) and TEFL (Teaching English as a
Foreign Language) are also used. The literature on the subject of textbook evaluation is not
very extensive. Various writers have suggested ways of helping teachers in particular to be
more sophisticated in their evaluative approach, by positing „checklists‟ based on supposedly
generalizable criteria. These sometimes elaborate systems use a variety of „scoring‟ methods
to assess how well specific textbooks measure up under scrutiny (see Tucker 1975, van Lier
1979, Allwright 1981, and Williams 1983). Tucker, for example, proposes an ingenious
method whereby textbooks are assigned numerical scores, which are then plotted on a „Value
Merit Product Graph‟, the object of which is to compare the resulting score curve against an
ideal target profile drawn up in advance by the teacher.
14

According to Hutchinson and Waters (1987), textbook evaluation is basically a
straightforward, analytical „matching process: matching needs to available solutions‟. Our
own view is that this issue is rather more emotive and controversial for teachers; many would
agree with Swales (1980) that textbooks, especially course books, represent a „problem‟, and
in extreme cases are examples of educational failure. We would like to explore the reasons
for such strong reactions, and to put forward possible evaluative solutions. We wish to
concentrate on course books because, whether we like it or not, these represent for both
students and teachers the visible heart of any ELT program. The selection of a particular core
volume signals an executive educational decision in which there is considerable professional,
financial and even political investment. This high profile means that the definition and
application of systematic criteria for assessing course books are vital. Supplementary
textbooks and materials on the other hand may not carry the same burden. The evaluative

criteria for these can to some extent remain implicit, or be allowed to define themselves more
informally in the local situation.
2.2.1. Roles of textbooks in EFL/ESL class
Back in 1934, McElroy stated that “the textbook is decidedly not the sole condition
of an effective class; quality of teaching is more important”. 75 years later, an enormous
body of research on the role of the textbook in EFL classrooms has accumulated around the
globe, indicating that „successful‟ learning and teaching in primary and secondary EFL
school environments is dependent on a wider spectrum of factors, not only on the quality (or
quantity) of English language learning materials. The importance of the teacher is, of course,
undisputed (see, for instance, Butzkamm 2005).
Over the past decades, it has become increasingly clear that context-sensitive EFL
instruction requires teachers to take into account many anthropological and sociocultural
factors which influence the conditions under which English is taught. Currently, global
textbooks produced for teaching and learning English as a foreign language in many different
countries are criticized for paying too little attention to this, especially for largely failing to
assist EFL teachers in bridging the cultural background(s) of „their‟ individual learners and
the diversity of English-speaking target language cultures.
2.2.2. Types of textbooks
15

College textbooks come in a variety of shapes and sizes, paperback, spiral bound, or
hardcover, but what is most important is finding used copies. While all college textbooks are
available brand new, hot off the printing press, the brand new versions can cost you double
the price of a used textbook. For a new college student, money spent on textbooks can easily
eat up a month's worth of wages. However, there has been a sharp decline in textbook
purchasing in the past few years. Students are bypassing the typical types of school
textbooks and embracing ways to save money on books. Many students are now taking to
sharing textbooks. The more students taking the same class, the easier it is to share the
textbook. A new type of textbook is becoming readily available. Instead of purchasing
expensive, heavy textbooks, some colleges and publishers are including free, downloaded

textbooks. Students simply download the textbook to their computer and print out necessary
pages or read the textbook online. This is helping students focus on the expense of tuition,
room, and board without having to worry about finding inexpensive versions of the
textbooks they need.
2.3. English for Specific Purpose (ESP)
2.3.1. What is ESP?
ESP has had a relatively long time to mature and so we would expect the ESP
community to have a clear idea about what ESP means. Strangely, however, this does not
seem to be the case. Some people described ESP as simply being the teaching of English for
any purpose that could be specified. Others, however, were more precise, describing it as the
teaching of English used in academic studies or the teaching of English for vocational or
professional purposes. Swales (1985) presents an article by C.L. Barber on the nature of
Scientific English which was published as early as 1962. But it was the late 1960s and the
early 1970s which saw the greatest expansion of research into the nature of particular
varieties of English – for example, descriptions of written scientific and technical English by
Ewer and Latorre (1969), Swales (1971), Selinker and Trimble (1976) and others. Most of
the work at this time was in the area of English for Science and Technology (EST) and for a
time ESP and EST were regarded as almost synonymous. But there were studies in other
fields too, such as the analysis of doctors – patient communication by Candlin, Bruton and
Learther (1976). In short, the view gained ground that the English needed by a particular
group of learners could be identified by analyzing the linguistic characteristics of their
16

specialist area of work or study … became the guiding principle of ESP (Tom Hutchinson
and Alan Waters (1987)
2.3.2. Characteristics of ESP
According to Dudley-Evan (1997), the characteristics of ESP can be described as
follow:
Absolute characteristics
1. ESP is defined to meet specific needs of the learners;

2. ESP makes use of underlying methodology and activities of the discipline it serves;
3. ESP is centered on the language appropriate to these activities in terms of grammar, lexis,
register, study skills, discourse and genre.
Variable characteristics
1. ESP may be related to or designed for specific disciplines;
2. ESP may use, in specific teaching situations, a different methodology from that of General
English;
3. ESP is likely to be designed for adult learners, either at a tertiary level institution or in a
professional work situation. It could, however, be for learners at secondary school level;
4. ESP is generally designed for intermediate or advanced students;
5. Most ESP courses assume some basic knowledge of the language systems.
2.3.3. Conditions of applying ESP
HNIVC offers students with all ages when they have certified that they finished High
School in Vietnam. All students will be expected to have the subjects in a college
preparatory curriculum, or in an appropriate college course of study, that they can perform
well in their future working environment. So at HNIVC students need to be trained about
their future career as well as English as a means to find a job after graduating. After learning
120 lessons for General English, our students will continue learning 60 ESP lessons. This
can help them for more opportunities to find a better job. This is why ESP is taught in this
college.
2.4. Textbooks evaluation
2.4.1. What is textbooks evaluation?
In today's classrooms, textbooks serve as tool and tutor, guidebook and gauge.
Teachers throughout the world use texts to guide their instruction, so textbooks greatly
influence how content is delivered Schmidt, McKnight, and Raizen (1997) identified
17

textbooks as playing an important role in making the leap from intentions and plans to
classroom activities, by making content available, organizing it, and setting out learning
tasks in a form designed to be appealing to students. To make the most effective use of a

textbook, however, teachers must decide which textbooks are appropriate for their needs. A
teacher needs to determine the extent to which a textbook focuses on and is aligned with a
coherent set of significant, age-appropriate student learning goals that the teacher, school, or
district has identified as integral to the understanding of and progress in a particular
academic subject. They must also assess how well a textbook's instructional design
effectively supports the attainment of those specified learning goals. The only way to gain
this information is through careful evaluations of textbooks and other curriculum materials.
To evaluate a textbook, reviewers examine each content-matched activity in light of the
instructional criteria and rate the set of activities according to a prescribed set of indicators
and scoring scheme for each one. Their findings are presented as profiles of judgments for
each learning goal across the set of criteria with evidence provided to support each judgment.
2.4.2. Why textbooks evaluation?
Sheldon (1988) has offered several reasons for textbook evaluation. He suggests that
the selection of an ELT textbook often signals an important administrative and educational
decision in which there is considerable professional, financial, or even political investment.
A thorough evaluation, therefore, would enable the managerial and teaching staff
of a specific institution or organization to discriminate between all of the available textbooks
on the market. Moreover, it would provide for a sense of familiarity with a book‟s content,
thus assisting educators in identifying the particular strengths and weaknesses of textbooks
already in use.
This would go a long way in ultimately assisting teachers with making optimum use
of a book's strong points, and recognizing the shortcomings of certain exercises, tasks, and
entire texts. To make the most effective use of a textbook, however, teachers must decide
which textbooks are appropriate for their needs. A teacher needs to determine the extent to
which a textbook focuses on and is aligned with a coherent set of significant, age-appropriate
student learning goals that the teacher, school, or district has identified as integral to the
understanding of and progress in a particular academic subject. They must also assess how
well a textbook's instructional design effectively supports the attainment of those specified
learning goals. The only way to gain this information is through careful evaluations of
18

textbooks and other curriculum materials. This thesis reveals how well a textbook can
support teachers in their efforts to help students learn specific ideas and skills, specifically
those in nationally accepted standards and benchmarks. This textbook evaluation gives busy
educators the solid information they need to make informed choices about which textbooks
can help their students improve their knowledge and skills in teaching and learning English.
2.4.3. Types of textbooks evaluation
Evaluating materials can be divided into three types : preliminary, formative and
summative evaluation.
Preliminary evaluation
This kind of evaluation will be normally carried out before a course begins. Its aim
involves selecting the most appropriate materials from the publications that are available
for a particular group of learners. At the same time, from the kind of evaluation the
evaluators can also identify specific aspects of the materials that require adaptation. Is is
necessary to have a set of criteria which is ranked in order of priority for making decision
of textbook selection and adaptation (Robinson, 1991)
Summative evaluation
According to Brown (1995) summative evaluation is usually characterized as
occurring at the end of the program. The purpose for gathering information not capable of
improving that particular determine the degree to which the program was successful
evaluation is to decisions that result from summative evaluation tend to cause sweeping
changes and are fairly large in scale. Examples of such decisions might include the
cancellation or continued funding of a program to a much more suitable site. This leads to
the fact that these decisions or judgments often produce so much anxiety and
defensiveness in student, teacher, and curriculum makers.
Before handling an evaluation project, evaluators have to determine the purpose of
the work, i.e. determine whether their evaluation would be formative or summative. So
what type of evaluation should be done to a university language program? It might be
noted that most university language program are continuing institutions that do not
conveniently come to an end so that summative can not be performed. Therefore, a

formative evaluation is always a choice when an evaluation to a university language
program is needed.
19

Formative evaluation
Scriven (1967) cited in Lynch (1996) first used the term formative evaluation in
connection with curriculum development. Is was defined as the use of systematic
evaluation in the process of curriculum construction, teaching, and learning for the
purpose of improving any of these three processes. One of key characteristics of formative
evaluations is that it takes place during the course of program delivery, and it therefore
provides a mechanism for improving the program during the course of the program
delivery. Brown (1995) adds that the types of decisions that result from formative
evaluation are numerous and relatively small in scale because such decisions are mean to
result in modifications and fine tuning of existing curriculum. Formative evaluation can
be built into the curriculum during its development and implementation. When planners
make such evaluation a regular part of the curriculum, they are in the enviable position of
constantly being able to gather and analyze information to be used in changing ,
developing, and upgrading their program.
The role of formative and summative evaluation is proved to be essential to any
language training program, however, both two types of evaluation seem to be very
unfamiliar to nearly all of the language program in particular and educational programs in
Vietnam. At HNIVC, this evaluation project is the first program evaluation that has ever
been done though a lot of adjustments to the program have occurred. The purpose of this
evaluation project is to improve the current course book for students of HNIVC, so the
type of evaluation chosen for the project is formative evaluation.
2.4.4. Models for materials evaluation.
Many authors have introduced different models for materials evaluation in the
literature. However, depending on purpose and kinds of materials evaluation, one should
choose an appropriate model. For example, in order to select the most suitable materials
using both macro and micro evaluation, Donough and Shaw' model (1993) can be utilized.

In order to carry out a materials evaluation at micro laver, the model suggested by Ellis
(1993) can be employed. The models defined by Hutchinson and Waters (1993) and by
Cunningsworth (1995) aim to carry out a macro- evaluation, and to investigate the
suitability of the materials to the learners' needs and the syllabus requirements. A short
description of each model will be presented in the following sections:
20

Evaluation model by Mc. Donough and Shaw (a combination of macro and micro –
evaluation)
In 1993, Donough and Shaw suggest their materials evaluation. It is a three- stage
model that is called external evaluation, internal evaluation, and overall evaluation (see
Figure 1). This model is based on the view that it is useful for teachers to perform and
external evaluation of materials so that they can gain an overview of organizational
principles involved, then move to a detailed internal evaluation of the materials to see
how far the materials match up to what the author claims as well as to the aim and
objective of a given teaching program. Accordingly, external evaluation is considered as a
preliminary evaluation or a macro- evaluation. It is an examination of the claims made for
the whole materials by the author or publisher. These claims can be made somewhere on
the cover of the book, in the instructions, or even in the table of contents. The evaluation
at this stage helps to identify whether the material is potentially appropriate.
The internal evaluation stage (micro – evaluation) requires an in-depth look oat two
or more units to examine what will actually be presented ” inside” the materials
themselves and whether the claims made by the author are the one found in internal
evaluation.
The next step is overall evaluation of the materials. It examines the suitability of the
materials on such numbers of factors as the usability, the generalizability, adaptability,
and flexibility factors. This model is shown as figure 1. From figure 1 it is clear that the
internal stage will be carried out when the materials have been evaluated to be potentially
appropriate in the external evaluation. If the findings at this stage show that the materials
are inappropriate, the evaluation will be finished quite early.

Macro - evaluation inappropriate/ potentially appropriate
(External)
Exit
Micro - evaluation inappropriate/ appropriate adopt/select
(Internal)
Exit
Figure 1. Materials evaluation model of Mc Donough and Shaw (1993)
21

Evaluation model by Ellis (a micro- evaluation)
Ellis (1997) believes that the evaluation of language teaching materials has been
primarily predictive and have focused on whole sets of materials. There is a need for more
thought to be given to how teachers can evaluate the materials they use retrospectively on
a day- by- day basis. Therefore he suggests a model that can be best carried out a series of
micro-evaluations. In this model, a detailed empirical evaluation and evaluating tasks in
language teaching are focused on. The aim of the model is to identify the match between
task planned and task in use. According to Ellis, some dimensions used for macro
evaluation such as approach, purpose, focus, scope, evaluator, types of information can be
applied in micro evaluation process. Ellis introduces the following steps when this model
is applied:
1. choosing a task to follow;
2. describing the task with requires the specification of the content of a task in term of
input, procedures, language activities, and out come;
3. planning the evaluation with reference to the dimensions above;
4. collecting information (before the task is used, while it is being used and/ or on
completion of the task) about how the task was performed, what learning took place
as a result of performing the task, and teacher's and learner's opinions about the
task;
5. analyzing information collected qualitatively and quantitatively;
6. reaching conclusions relating to what has been discovered as a result of the

evaluation of the task, and making recommendations for future teaching;
7. writing report.
Evaluation model by Cunningsworth
Cunningsworth (1984) gives a checklist of criteria in which he suggests examining
many aspects for the course such as linguistic factors of the materials in term of language
content, topics, skills, methodology, and so on. According to Cunningworths (1984),
examination of language content should focus on the appropriateness of the grammars,
structures, functions, and vocabulary presented in the materials to the requirements. He
also thinks that the topics should be interesting, various, and sophisticated in content.
Also, these topics should help students to expand the awareness within their language
22

level. Regarding the skills introduced in the materials, the questions about whether the
four skills are adequately covered and whether they are suitable to the course aims and
syllabus requirements and so on should be answered. Additionally, the question about
methodology of the materials should find out whether they are appropriate to the learning-
teaching situation, and what techniques are used for presenting new language items, how
different skills are taught.
Evaluation model by Hutchinson and Water (a macro – evaluation)
Hutchinson and Waters (1993) define materials evaluation as “a matter of judging the
fitness of something for a particular purpose”. According to them an evaluation should be
served a certain need, and lighted by resources available. Therefore, evaluation is
basically a matching process: matching needs to available solutions. In this view, an
evaluation can be split into four major steps. They are described in the model below (see
figure 2)

Figure 2. Materials evaluation model of Huchinson and Waters (1993)
In this process, firstly, the evaluator will set out the criteria on which the evaluation is
based. Additionally, among defined criteria, he can mention on his own preferred ones.
The second step is to determine the subjective analysis. It is the time to analyze the
requirements of the course in aspects related to the criteria. According to Hutchinson and
Define criteria
On what bases will you judge materials?
Which criteria will be more important?
Objective Analysis
How does the material being
evaluated realize the criteria?
Subjective analysis
What realization of the criteria do
you want in your course?
Matching
How far does the material match
your needs?
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Waters (1993), the subjective analysis should not be considered as a fixed set of
requirements. The evaluator should use the materials evaluation process as a means of
questioning and developing his own ideas as to what is required. After a subjective
analysis, an objective analysis needs to be carried out. This is the stage to analysis the
materials in term of the selected criteria. Finally, the finding of which are used to compare

with the materials requirements in the fourth step in order to evaluate and determine the
matching the materials and the requirement. In this model, it can be seen that three
options may happen after the evaluation process: the materials may not meet ant
requirements. When the materials partially mismatch the requirements in some criteria.
Hutchinson and Waters think that the evaluator should consider the more important
criteria to the various people concerned (teachers, students, sponsors), and choose the
easier criteria to adapt.
Hutchinson and Waters (1993) also propose their own checklist of criteria for objective
and subjective analyses. The purpose of the checklist is for evaluating English teaching
materials by focusing on such big issues as the audience, the aims, the content, the
methodology, and other criteria including price, and availability.
Audience
According to Hutchinson and Waters (1993), one of the most important factors is
learner. The overall aim of course or a program is to meet the needs of a particular group
of learners. English teaching materials in general must be selected or designed based on
those needs.
In order to evaluate materials on what criterion, there is so much different
information dealing with students should be regarded such as ages, sex, study, knowledge
of English, education background, interests, and so on. It includes the students‟ attitude
when learning English, they can want more about English because now English seems a
means to discover much more knowledge in the world: from the games to the specific
materials that they need for their job. It means that we should pay more attention to our
students who we transmit the knowledge to.

Aims
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In any language course, the aims of the course must be defined clearly. At the
same time, matching the aims of the materials and the objectives of the course is
necessary to be carried out in materials evaluation process.

Content
Content is one of the most important elements of the materials. With the purpose of
evaluating materials, Hutchinson and Waters (1993) state that it is necessary to examine if
the content of the materials is suitable to the content prescribed in terms of language
points, macro- skills and their proportion, micro skills, as well as the kind of texts. In
many cases, the aspects of subject matter areas, learners' level of knowledge, type of
topic and how those topics are presented are also considered. Last but not least, the
evaluation needs to learn about whether the way the content is organized and sequenced
within the course units, throughout the course is appropriate or not.
Methodology
Hutchinson and Waters (1993) suggest many aspects dealing with material
methodology that need to be evaluated. Firstly, the evaluation must indicate whether the
theories of learning on which the course based on are in line with the ones of the
materials. Secondly, the aspects of the learners' attitude to expectations about learning
English should be considered. Thirdly, it is necessary to determine whether the kinds of
exercises / tasks included in the materials are suited to the course requirements. Teaching-
learning techniques are another aspect that needs to be evaluated. At this time, evaluators
must decide whether the teaching – learning techniques that can be used with the
materials are those required by the course and suitable to the learners. Moreover, the
materials evaluation should take the aspects such as teaching aids, and guidance support
for teaching. Finally, it is necessary to determine if the materials are flexible so that they
can be used in different order to suit the teaching contexts.

Other Criteria
Apart from the criteria mentioned above, Hutchinson and Waters also suggest some
those criteria such as the price and availability of the materials. These issues are
considered as practical concerns and they must be acknowledged. They may be one of the
deciding factors in textbook selection. In fact, not all textbooks can be purchased by
students because of their high price and scarcity in the local market. Sometimes it is the
25

purchase that becomes economic burden faced by students. Therefore, materials may be
evaluated by these criteria.
2.4.5. Criteria for textbooks evaluation
Preeminent theorists in the field of ELT textbook design and analysis, such as
Williams (1983), Sheldon (1988), Brown (1995), Cunningsworth (1995) and Harmer (1996)
all agree, for instance, that evaluation checklists should have some criteria pertaining to the
physical characteristics of textbooks such as layout, organizational, and logistical
characteristics. Other important criteria that should be incorporated are those that assess
a textbook's methodology, aims, and approaches and the degree to which a set of materials is
not only teachable but also fits the needs of the individual teacher's approach as well as the
organization's overall curriculum. Moreover, criteria should analyze the specific language,
functions, grammar, and skills content that are covered by a particular textbook, as well as
the relevance of linguistic items to the prevailing socio-cultural environment. Finally,
textbook evaluations should include criteria that pertain to the representation of cultural and
gender components, in addition to the extent to which the linguistic items, subjects, content,
and topics match up to students' personalities, backgrounds, needs, and interests as well as
those of the teacher and/ or institution. Cunningsworth (1995) and Ellis (1997) have
suggested that there are three different types of material evaluation. They argue that the most
common form is probably the „predictive‟ or „pre-use‟ evaluation that is designed to examine
the future or potential performance of a textbook. The other types of textbook evaluation are
the „in-use‟ evaluation designed to examine material that is currently being used, and
the „retrospective‟ or „post-use‟ (reflective) evaluation of a textbook that has been used in
any respected institution. This particular study can be classified as the „retrospective‟ type of
evaluation in which an attempt is made to check the characteristics of the textbooks under
study against a collection of criteria proposed by various researchers.
We know that evaluate the textbook materials is very important for the educators who
will make plans to develop the teaching and learning matter, and the teachers who directly
introduce the knowledge to the learners. As mentioned above, there are a lot of types to
evaluate the materials, but here we will choose the Hutchinson and Waters (1993) model,

because it is suitable to our scope and the objectives of study.
2.5. Materials adaptation
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Materials adaptation means matching materials with the learner‟s needs, the teacher‟s
demands and administration‟s purpose. To adapt materials we have to consider five major
factors
(1) Addition: Addition is an adaptation procedure which involves supplementation of extra
linguistic items and activities to make up for the inadequacy/ insufficiency of materials.
Addition of extra materials is necessary/ applicable/ appropriate when the following
situations are faced:
 Areas are not covered sufficiently.
 Texts/pictures/tasks are not provided.
 Texts/pictures/tasks are fewer than needed.
 Tasks are limited in scope.
 Tasks are of limited range.
(2) Deletion/ Omission: Deletion is an adaptation procedure which involves removal of
some of the linguistic items and activities which are found to be extra and unnecessary. So,
deletion is a process in which materials are taken out rather than added. Materials should be
reduced through omission when the following situations are faced:
 Learners are clear about a language point.
 Learners are competent in a skill.
 There are too many tasks on a particular area/point.
 The item/ area concerned is not a priority.
 The item/ task is not well designed.
 The item/ task is not well-suited to its aim(s).
 The topic is not appropriate for learners.
(3) Modification/ Changing: Modification means changes in different aspects of materials,
such as linguistic level, exercises, assessment system and so on. Modification of materials is
applicable/ appropriate in the following situations:

 Texts are of inappropriate length.
 Materials are inappropriate to the aim.
 Materials are inappropriate to the learners‟ age/ experience.
 Materials are unclear, confusing or misleading.
27

 Tasks are badly designed.
(4) Simplification: This procedure is employed to make materials less complicated or easier
to understand. If the language teaching material is found to be difficult or mechanical for the
target learner, it (material) can be made suitable for the learner through the process of
simplification.
(5) Rearrangement/ Re- ordering: Rearrangement is a procedure of materials adaptation
through which different parts of a course book are arranged in a different order or sequence.
Rearrangement of materials helps to make them comparatively more interesting and
appropriate for the learner as well as the teacher. Learners may reorder materials by:
 Matching their aims.
 Using a practice task for lead-in and elicitation.
 Revising an area earlier than the course book does.
 Comparing and contrast areas.
 Providing thematic unity.
 Providing an appropriate follow-up.
2.6. Conclusion
In chapter 2, we tried to review the literature of the material evaluation. Why we need
textbook evaluation. We remind the types of textbook that the students use everyday; we
would expect the ESP community to have a clear idea about what ESP means; the
characteristics of ESP; the conditions of applying ESP in HNIVC, why our students need to
learn ESP. To evaluate a textbook, reviewers examine each content-matched activity of each
special book. To make the most effective use of a textbook, however, teachers must decide
which textbooks are appropriate for their needs. Here we say about three types of textbooks
evaluation: preliminary, formative and summative evaluation and why we choose formative

evaluation for this project. Depending on purpose and kinds of materials evaluation, we use
the Hutchinson and Waters (1993) model to evaluate our English teaching material.



28

Chapter 3
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.1. Introduction
In this chapter, some research methodologies are introduced for our project:
document analysis and questionnaire. Then we describe the teaching and learning ESP and
its objectives at Hanoi Industrial Vocational College (HNIVC). After that, this chapter says
about data collection procedures: how to do the document analysis; and finally, we discuss
about questionnaires for the teachers and for the students to discover whether this textbook
can be taught and learned.
3.2. Research methodology
In this study, the researcher employed two of the instruments: document analysis
and questionnaire. We realized that they are suitable with our evaluative purpose and time
for our research. They will be detailed in the next chapter. According to Robinson‟s
model, we can describe these methods as follow:
Document analysis: Document analysis is use of “content analysis and other techniques
to analysis and summarize printed materials and existing information” (Taylor & Steel,
1996). The purpose of using this instrument is to utilize any preexisting information that
may be available. The documents that need to be analysis “can include data sources
within a program such as the materials under the evaluation, the course syllabus, the
curriculum, or external data source” (Brown, 1995)
Questionnaire: Questionnaire aims to seek evidence of the teachers‟ and the students‟
opinions about the aim, content and methodology of the material. Questionnaires are
chosen because they allow wider sampling, they ask everybody the same questions and

they are time-saving technique to collect information from a large respondents at the same
time (Wallace, 1998). The respondents would feel more comfortable and willing to fill the
questionnaires than they were asked to answer the questions directly during a face to face
interview. Also questionnaire with closed question can help analysis the data
straightforwardly and conveniently.
3.3. Description of teaching ESP and its objectives at HNIVC
3.3.1. Description of the Students at HNIVC
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Students at Hanoi Industrial Vocational College graduated from High School in Vietnam.
They come to HNIVC:
- To learn and train their future job;
- To learn about English and ESP;
- to encourage an awareness of English for Technical knowledge;
- to collect printed and visual materials from the media in various languages in addition
to English;
- to conduct interviews and organize the close relation between ESP and their own
knowledge through ESP texts; to exercise note-taking;
- to design questionnaires; to make oral presentation and reporting.
3.3.2. Description of the teachers at HNIVC
At HNIVC, there are 6 English teachers; age from 28 to 48. Because ESP teachers did not
have sufficient technical background and teacher training, qualified teachers to teach ESP are
lacking. All teachers indicated that there are no in-service ESP training courses available,
especially for technical purposes. Three of the six teachers had attended General English
training courses, which provided TEFL/ TESL training, or sometimes, multi-media or
Teaching English for Children. In other words, teachers are inadequately trained to teach
ESP. Generally, ESP teachers are primarily the teachers of General English. When
transferring from General English to ESP teaching, they might have encountered several
difficulties. One is a difference of attitude difficulty, between literature and science in
particular. Therefore, ESP teachers need to orient themselves to a new environment for

which they are not well-prepared.

3.3.3. The teaching and learning ESP at HNIVC
As far as English is concerned, HNIVC considered General English to be the main focus,
rather than technical English. This is due mainly to the subjects they teach, mostly General
English. One of the HNIVC emphasised that General English should be the basis, then
technical English will be easier to focus on. A similar view was expressed by teachers. Five
of the six teachers argued that General English should be concentrated on and supplemented