Phương pháp giảng dạy,đánh giá sách tiếng anh Criteria by tanner green (1998) (1)

EVALUATING ELT MATERIALS


WHY EVALUATE MATERIALS???
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What is evaluation?
Evaluation = a matter of judging the fitness of something for a particular purpose
Why evaluate materials?
To identify how successful the materials used in the classroom are.
To examine whether the materials fulfill the prescribed course
To examine the extent to which materials allow Ss to achieve learning objectives.
To identify whether the designs of the materials are suitable for a syllabus.
To provide a good theoretical base for writing another material


Criteria by Mc Donough & Shaw
(1993)


* External evaluation  ‘overview’ from the outside
E.g. + Cover
+ Introduction
+ Table of contents
* Internal evaluation  more detailed

The External Evaluation
1. * The ‘blurb’/ the claims made on the cover of the teachers/students book
* The introduction & table of contents


Components of typical ‘blurb’ + introduction
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The intended audience

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The proficiency level

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The context in which the material are to be used

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How the language has been presented & organized into teachable units/lessons

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The author ‘s view on language and methodology


Other factors to consider
2. Are the materials to be used as the main ‘core’ course or to be supplementary to it?

3. Is a teacher’s book in print & locally available?
4. Is a vocabulary list/index included?
5. What visual material does the book contain? Is there for cosmetic value only or is it
actually integrated into the text?
6. Is the layout and presentation clear or cluttered?


7. Is the material too culturally biased or specific?
8. Do the materials represent minority groups and/or women in a negative
way? Do they present a ‘balanced’ picture of a particular country/society?
9. The inclusion of audio/video material & resultant cost essential?
10. The inclusion of tests in the teaching material useful?


The internal evaluation

1. The presentation of the skills in the materials

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Are all the language skills covered? In what proportion? Is this appropriate?

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Are the skills treated discretely or in an integrated way?


2. The grading (level) and sequencing
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Some materials: ‘steeply’ graded

>< Others: no grading at all

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Types of grading:
Grading within the unit
Grading across the unit the progression of difficulty: linear fashion
‘Modular’ grading = grouping a set of units at approximately the same level

* In cases of no grading investigate the extent to which we think this is true


3. Where reading/’discourse’ skills involved ? Is there much of the way of appropriate text beyond the
sentence?
4. Where listening skills are involved? Are recording ‘authentic’ or artificial?
5. Do speaking materials incorporate what we know about the nature of real interaction?
Are artificial dialogues offered instead?
6. The relationship of tests & exercises to (a) learner needs and (b) what is taught by the course
material


The overall evaluation
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The usability factor

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The generalizability factor

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The adaptability factor

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The flexibility factor


Criteria by Tanner & Green (1998)


MATERIALS
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Method
Appearance
Teacher-friendly
Extras

Realistic
Interesting
Affordable
Level
Skills


METHOD
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Does the book’s method suit your own teaching method and overall aims? (Grammar-Translation
Method? Audio-Lingual Method? Communicative Approach? Theme-based? Task-based? Projectbased?)

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Does the book focus on grammar, or does it have lots of fluency activities, groupwork and mingling?

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Are the questions open-ended, or of the yes/no variety?


APPEARANCE
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Is the book’s appearance appealing & attractive?

+ cover
+ design
+ illustrations

+ color
+ feel

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If a book looks very ‘busy’  overwhelming for learners.
If there are a lot of mistakes T is likely to question the level of expertise of the course book writer.

 Clearly laid out activities

 bright colors
 adequate amount of white space


TEACHER-FRIENDLY
= How easy or difficult it is for the teacher to use.
* Is it well organied?

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If the book has teaching ideas  form part of a T’s professional development .

The book should:

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save T’s time + information should be easy to find.

Include an index or table of contents with the skills and/or grammar focus of each unit
Include Answer key to exercises


EXTRAS
= downloadable listening activities,
a DVD,
an adaptable workbook,
a student CD,
a website,
a teacher’s book
and supplemental materials


REALISTIC
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Does the textbook use authentic language or not?
Does the language seem true-to-life and current?
Authentic + up-to-date

 Decide what is authentic and balance it with words


ARTIFICIAL VS. AUTHENTIC LANGUAGE
Dialogue 1:
- Rin: Hello Mai.How are you?

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Mai: I’m fine, thank you. And you?
Rin: I’m fine, thanks. Do you have free time tonight, around 7 p.m?
Mai: Yes, I do.
Rin: Let’s go to the cinema. I have bought 2 tickets for “Guardians of the galaxy 2”
Mai: That sounds great!I’d love to.I like that film very much”


Dialogue 2
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Rin: Hey, how are you?

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Mai: Oh not too bad... How are you?

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Rin: Fine. Well...are you available tonight, around 7 p.m or so?

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Mai: Yup sure! How come?

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Rin: Errr...Do you fancy going to Lotte Cinema with me? Actually, I’ve got 2 tickets for “Guardians of
the Galaxy 2”

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Mai: Are you kidding me? I’m a big fan of that film.I’ll definitely come!


Problems with dialogue 1

The sentences are correct, BUT:
+ sound “robotic” and “unreal” with well-formed sentences
+ NOT a genuine communication
 ARTIFICIAL


Features of authentic dialogues
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length and turn-taking patterns

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lexical density

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repetitions

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pausing

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discourse markers: “well” “oh” “like” “of course” “actually”...

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hesitation devices: “ah”, “errrr”, “um” ..

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back-channelling: “I see”, “OK”, “yes”, “uh huh”, “yeah”...


INTERESTING
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By looking at the topics in a course book, a teacher can decide if they are relevant and interesting to
his or her learners.

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The topics should be relevant and interesting to the teacher as she has to use the topics as a
vehicle for teaching

AFFORDABLE
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If the book is too cheap, it may not be valued by the learner as authoritative.
If it is too expensive, the learner may have unrealistic expectations about how much they will
achieve by using the book