An evaluation of the coursebook nursing 1 and its suitability to the second year nursing students at quang ninh medical college

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

HÀ HẢI HỒNG

AN EVALUATION OF THE COURSEBOOK “NURSING 1”
AND ITS SUITABILITY TO THE SECOND-YEAR NURSING STUDENTS
AT QUANG NINH MEDICAL COLLEGE
(ĐÁNH GIÁ GIÁO TRÌNH “NURSING 1” VÀ SỰ PHÙ HỢP CỦA GIÁO TRÌNH
VỚI SINH VIÊN NĂM THỨ HAI CHUYÊN NGÀNH ĐIỀU DƯỠNG
TRƯỜNG CAO ĐẲNG Y TẾ QUẢNG NINH)

M.A. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology
Code: 60140111

Hanoi, 2016


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

HÀ HẢI HỒNG

AN EVALUATION OF THE COURSEBOOK “NURSING 1”
AND ITS SUITABILITY TO THE SECOND-YEAR NURSING STUDENTS
AT QUANG NINH MEDICAL COLLEGE
(ĐÁNH GIÁ GIÁO TRÌNH “NURSING 1” VÀ SỰ PHÙ HỢP CỦA GIÁO TRÌNH

VỚI SINH VIÊN NĂM THỨ HAI CHUYÊN NGÀNH ĐIỀU DƯỠNG
TRƯỜNG CAO ĐẲNG Y TẾ QUẢNG NINH)

M.A. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology
Code: 60140111
Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Lâm Quang Đông

Hanoi, 2016


DECLARATION
I hereby declare that this thesis and the work presented in it are my own and
has been generated by me as the result of my own original research. I confirm
that:
1. This work was done wholly while I am in candidature for a Master degree at
this University;
2. This thesis has never been submitted partially or wholly for a degree or any
other qualification at this University or any other institution;
3. Where I have consulted the published work of others, this is always clearly
attributed;
4. Where I have quoted from the work of others, the source is always given.
With the exception of such quotations, this thesis is entirely my own work;
5. I have acknowledged all main sources of help;
6. Where the thesis is based on work done by myself jointly with others, I have
made clear exactly what was done by others and what I have contributed
myself.
I am fully aware that should this declaration be found to be false,
disciplinary action could be taken and penalties imposed in accordance with

University policy and rules.
Hanoi, October 2016

Ha Hai Hong

i


ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
This study would not have been completed without the help and
encouragement which I received along the way.
First and foremost, I wish to express my profound gratitude to my supervisor
- Assoc. Prof. Dr. Lâm Quang Đông, who during the preparation of this thesis has
been most willing and ready to give me valuable advice, inspiration and
supervision.
I also acknowledge my sincere thanks to all the professors and lecturers at
University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University,
Hanoi for their insightful lectures, invaluable assistance and useful guidance.
I would like to extend my appreciation to the teachers and nursing students
of K9 at Quang Ninh Medical College for their participation and assistance
throughout the process of the study.
I am indebted to the authors of the reference materials whose ideas have
inspired me throughout the writing process.
Last but not least, I am grateful to my family whose encouragement was vital
to me in completing this paper.

ii


ABSTRACT

It is undeniable that medical ESP coursebooks play a crucial part in teaching
and learning ESP at medical colleges and universities. Therefore, this study focused
on evaluating the coursebook Nursing 1, Oxford University Press before it comes
into use for nursing students at Quang Ninh Medical College. The purpose of this
study was to evaluate the coursebook in terms of Audience, Aims, Content and
Methodology from both teachers‟ and students‟ perspectives to make out how
suitable the book is to nursing students at the college. The writer applied three
major methods including document analysis, questionnaire and informal interview
to carry out the research. The results of the study show that the coursebook is
appropriate to be used for nursing students at the college although it has some
drawbacks which can be adjusted through the process of adaptation by the teachers.

iii


LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
EAP

English for Academic Purposes

EFL

English as a Foreign Language

ELT

English Language Teaching

EMP

English for Medical Purposes

EOP

English for Occupational Purposes

ESL

English as Second Language

ESP

English for Special Purposes

EVP

English for Vocational Purposes

GE

General English

QNMC

Quang Ninh Medical College

VESL

Vocational English as a Second Language

iv


LIST OF CHARTS, FIGURES AND TABLES
Chart 1: Students‟ time of learning English
Chart 2: Students‟ levels of English
Chart 3: Learners‟ attitudes towards learning ESP
Figure 1: Types of ESP (From Hutchinson and Waters, 1987)
Figure 2: The evaluation model of Hutchinson and Waters (1987)
Table 1: Students‟ and teachers‟ ranking of the purposes of learning ESP
Table 2: Students‟ and teachers‟ requirement for the topics of the coursebook
Table 3: Students‟ and teachers‟ requirement for grammar of the coursebook
Table 4: Students‟ and teachers‟ requirement for vocabulary of the coursebook
Table 5: Students‟ and teachers‟ requirement for skills of the coursebook
Table 7: Students‟ and teachers‟ requirement for activities of the coursebook
Table 6: Students‟ and teachers‟ requirement for the support of the coursebook

v


TABLE OF CONTENTS
DECLARATION .................................................................................................................. i
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ................................................................................................... ii
ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................................... iii
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ............................................................................................ iv
LIST OF CHARTS, FIGURES AND TABLES ................................................................. v
PART A: INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................... 1
1.

Rationale ................................................................................................................ 1

2.

Aims of the study ................................................................................................... 2

3.

Research questions ................................................................................................. 2

4.

Scope of the study .................................................................................................. 2

5.

Methods of the study .............................................................................................. 3

6.

Organization of the study ....................................................................................... 3

PART B: DEVELOPMENT ................................................................................................ 4
CHAPTER 1. LITERATURE REVIEW ............................................................................. 4
1.

2.

3.

An overview of ESP ............................................................................................... 4

1.1.

Definition of ESP ............................................................................................ 4

1.2.

Classification of ESP ....................................................................................... 4

1.3.

Characteristics of ESP course ......................................................................... 5

1.4.

Characteristics of English for Medical Purpose .............................................. 6

Roles of using the coursebook in language teaching and learning ........................ 7
2.1.

Definitions of textbook, coursebook and materials ........................................ 7

2.2.

The importance of coursebook ........................................................................ 7

Coursebook evaluation ........................................................................................... 8
3.1.

Definition of coursebook evaluation ............................................................... 8

3.2.

Purposes of coursebook evaluation ................................................................. 8

3.3.

Types of coursebook evaluation...................................................................... 9

3.4.

Techniques of coursebook evaluation ............................................................. 9

3.5.

Criteria for coursebook evaluation ................................................................ 10

3.6.

Models for coursebook evaluation ................................................................ 12


3.7.
4.

The importance of conducting a pre-use evaluation ..................................... 13

Coursebook adaptation ......................................................................................... 13
4.1.

Reasons for adapting ..................................................................................... 13

4.2.

Areas for adaptation ...................................................................................... 14

4.3.

Techniques for adaptation ............................................................................. 14

5.

Previous studies on coursebook evaluation ......................................................... 15

6.

Summary .............................................................................................................. 16

CHAPTER 2. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY .............................................................. 17
1.

The current ESP teaching and learning situation at Quang Ninh medical college
17
1.1.

The context .................................................................................................... 17

1.2.

The coursebook description .......................................................................... 17

2.

Participants ........................................................................................................... 20

3.

Data collection instruments.................................................................................. 20
3.1.

Document analysis ........................................................................................ 20

3.2.

Questionnaires ............................................................................................... 21

3.3.

Informal interview ......................................................................................... 22

4.

Data collection procedure .................................................................................... 23

5.

Data analysis procedure ....................................................................................... 23

CHAPTER 3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION ................................................................ 24
1.

Document analysis ............................................................................................... 24
1.1.

The analysis of ESP training curriculum ..................................................... 24

1.2.

The analysis of the coursebook ..................................................................... 24

2.

Students‟ background ........................................................................................... 27

3.

The requirements for the coursebook ................................................................. 29

4.

3.1.

The aims ........................................................................................................ 29

3.2.

The requirement for the content .................................................................... 31

3.3.

The requirement for the methodology........................................................... 34

Findings ................................................................................................................ 35
4.1.

The suitability of the coursebook in terms of audience ................................ 36

4.2.

The suitability of the coursebook in terms of aims ....................................... 36

4.3.

The suitability of the coursebook in terms of content ................................... 36

4.4.

The suitability of the coursebook in terms of methodology ......................... 38


PART C. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS .............................................. 40
1.

2.

The strengths and weaknesses of the coursebook ................................................ 40
1.1.

Strengths ........................................................................................................ 40

1.2.

Weaknesses ................................................................................................... 41

Recommendations ................................................................................................ 41
2.1.

To the content ................................................................................................ 42

2.2.

To the methodology ...................................................................................... 42

3.

Limitations of the study ....................................................................................... 43

4.

Suggestions for further study ............................................................................... 44

5.

Conclusion ........................................................................................................... 44

REFERENCES .................................................................................................................. 45


PART A: INTRODUCTION
1. Rationale
ESP has had a relatively long time to mature. Since the early 1960's, ESP has

grown to become one of the most prominent areas of EFL teaching today. The growth
of ESP has also generated an increasing number of specialized textbooks. The
importance of the textbook is undeniable since it determines the major part of
classroom teaching and student learning. Although choosing a textbook is daunting, it
has significant influence on students‟ ability to meet their language learning objectives
and affects both the process of learning and outcomes. Nevertheless, as Swales (1980)
states, textbooks, especially coursebooks, exhibit problems and extreme cases are
examples of educational failure. Thus, to have a successful language teaching program,
it is necessary to have good materials, and to make the most effective use of a textbook,
it is necessary for teachers to carefully examine all aspects of the textbook and compare
it against an assessment tool. The current ESP coursebook used at Quang Ninh Medical
College (QNMC) was collected and edited from various sources. To some extent, its
objectives meet teaching and learning‟s goals such as vocabulary and reading
development. However, for communicative target in learning language, it does not meet
teaching and learning requirements. It includes the texts, then the exercises, which
contain only questions to improve reading comprehension and the same kind of
questions for all 12 units, which gives students little interest in learning. There is no
CD, no video, no suggested reference books or sources enclosed in this book. This
material has been used at QNMC since 2011 and it appears to be uninteresting and
unsuitable to the objectives of the course. Therefore, the writer of this study
recommends a new coursebook Nursing 1, Oxford University Press that has received
many positive comments from colleagues of other medical colleges. However, it is
necessary to have overall evaluation on the coursebook before it comes into use so that

1


the teachers can assess its suitability to the students and adapt the coursebook for the
highest effectiveness in teaching and learning. For those reasons, the topic “An
evaluation of the coursebook "Nursing 1" and its suitability to the second-year

nursing students at Quang Ninh Medical College” was chosen with the intention that
a new but suitable and useful coursebook will be used to enhance the learning
efficiency as well as stimulate students‟ interest in language learning.
2. Aims of the study
This study aims to evaluate the strengths and the weaknesses of the coursebook
and its suitability to the objectives of the curriculum, content and methodology from
both the teacher‟s and the nursing student‟s perspectives at Quang Ninh Medical
College.
Based on the evaluation results, possible ways for adaptation of the book are
suggested so that it can be used for teaching and learning ESP in the most effective way
at QNMC.
3. Research questions
1.

What are the strengths and the weaknesses of the coursebook Nursing 1?

2.

How suitable is the coursebook to the second-year nursing students at

QNMC?
4. Scope of the study
In coursebook evaluation, there are a great number of criteria that should be
taken into consideration such as: the audience, the content, the methodology, the
cultural bias, the layout, the authenticity, and so on. In this study, the criteria for
evaluation were based on Hutchinson and Waters (1987) with focus on the four
following criteria: audience, aims, content and methodology.

2

5. Methods of the study
This study employed three methods including document analysis, survey
questionnaires and informal interviews. These methods are described in detail in
chapter two.
6. Organization of the study
The study consists of 3 parts:
Part I - Introduction - presents the rationale, aims, scope and methodology of the
study
Part II - Development - includes 3 chapters:
Chapter 1 – Literature review – provides a theoretical basis for the study. First, it
surveys the literature on the theories of the basic concepts such as English for Specific
Purposes and English for Medical Purposes, regarding the definition, classification, and
characteristics. Second, it reviews coursebook evaluation, need analysis in terms of
definition, types, purposes and models. The last part of the chapter presents the issues
involving coursebook adaptation which serve as a base for the improvements
recommended at the end of the study.
Chapter 2 – Research Methodology – includes an overview of the approach used in
conducting the study. It also provides a thorough description of the data collection
procedure as well as the analytical procedure.
Chapter 3 – Results and discussion – reports the findings of the survey and discusses
the prominent aspects.
Part III – Conclusion – makes conclusion of the study; recommends the improvements
to the coursebook; expresses the limitations and suggestions for further research.

3


PART B: DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER 1. LITERATURE REVIEW

1. An overview of ESP
1.1. Definition of ESP
Different researchers and scholars have expressed varied views to the concept of
ESP.
According to Hutchinson and Waters (1987), ESP must be seen as an approach
not as a product which Dudley-Evans (1998) describes as an “attitude of mind”. They
affirm that “ESP is an approach to language teaching in which all decisions as to
content and method are based on the learner‟s reason for learning”. They also
emphasize that “the foundation of all ESP is the simple question: Why does this learner
need to learn a foreign language?”
Robinson (1991) states that ESP is “normally goal-directed”, and that ESP
courses develop from a need analysis, which aims to specify as closely as possible what
exactly it is that students have to do through the medium of English.
From the definitions, ESP can be not necessarily related to a specific discipline,
and it also does not have to be aimed at a certain age group or ability range. Rather,
ESP should be seen simple as an “approach” to teaching that meets learner‟s demands.
1.2. Classification of ESP
Hutchinson and Waters (1987) state that ESP has two main types according to
whether the learner requires English for academic study (EAP: English for Academic
Purposes) or for work/ training (EOP/ EVP/ VESL: English for Occupational Purposes/
English for Vocational Purposes/ Vocational English as a Second Language). The
target learners of EAP are generally at schools and they need English in their study.
Meanwhile, EOP is used as part of learners “work or occupation, for instance, to
communicate with tourists (a tour guide), to persuade the customer (a salesman)”. The
crucial point here is that ESP course which will take place depends mainly on whether
4


the learners are studying English before, during or after the time they are taught in their
job. Nevertheless, school-subject ESP has been divided into such situations where

English is a separate subject on the curriculum but with a related content to other
subjects (independent ESP), and where English is the means for other subject to be
learnt (integrated ESP). Hutchinson and Waters (1987) divide ESP into three branches
with each branch subdivided into two smaller ones: EOP and EAP as follows:
ESP

EST

EBE

English for Science

English for Business

English for

& Technology

& Economics

Social Study

EAP

EOP

e.g. English

e.g. English

for medical
studies

for
technicians

EAP
e.g. English

EOP

EAP

EOP

e.g. English

e.g. English

e.g. English

for
Economics

ESS

for
Accountancy

for

Psychology

for
Law

Figure 1: Types of ESP (From Hutchinson and Waters, 1987)
This classification is not a clear-cut distinction: people can work and study
concurrently; and there is also a likelihood that in many cases the language learnt for
immediate use in a study environment will be used later when the student takes up a
job.
1.3. Characteristics of ESP course
Most researchers (Strevens, 1988; Bojovic, 2006; Dudley-Evans, 1997;
Gatehouse, 2001) have supported the main characteristics proposed by Carter (1983).

5


He identified the following “three features common to ESP courses: authentic material,
purpose-related orientation, and self-direction”.
“Authentic material” means using material, not developed or written for teaching
purpose, from the main area of study of the learners or their occupation. This material
may include books, forms, charts, graphs etc. and these forms of authentic texts may be
exploited in modified or unmodified forms according to the requirement of the teaching
circumstances. Authentic material will be an appropriate choice if ESP courses are
offered to advanced or intermediate level as proposed by Dudley-Evans, (1997).
Purpose-related orientation (Gatehouse, 2001 cf. Carter, 1983) has been
identified as the simulation of different communicative tasks to prepare the learners for
different target situations. The learners are given practice through simulation to enable
them to handle various linguistic roles in the target situation.
“Self-direction” is the third characteristic of ESP courses which means “that ESP

is concerned with turning learners into users” (Carter, 1983). It indicates that the
students should “have certain degree of freedom to decide when, what and how they
will study” (Gatehouse, 2001).
1.4. Characteristics of English for Medical Purpose
EMP is a subset of ESP Education that most often focuses on teaching aspects of
medical English, particularly terminology (Hull, 2004). The language of medicine is
quite unique. It is fraught with technical, academic language and replete with slang,
colloquialisms, abbreviations and acronyms. It has its own rules and structures. Health
professionals must read, write, interpret, give directions, etc. Using a wide variety of
abbreviations and acronyms are extremely career-specific. Medical English is also
contextual. Doctors and nurses use academic and technical language interspersed with
common speech and workplace jargon. It rarely focuses on complete or proper sentence
structure.
With regard to the level of Medical English, Hull (2004) believes that Medical
English cannot be taught at the level of or in the same methods of basic English
6


language teaching. Hull assumes that all EMP learners are health professionals or in the
midst of health studies at the college or university level. Therefore, career-specific,
highly technical language must be contextually based. The goal of learning English at
this level is not to learn grammar and structure primarily, but to acquire and use the
language of practice and social relations within the career.
2. Roles of using the coursebook in language teaching and learning
2.1. Definitions of textbook, coursebook and materials
The definition which Ur (1996) has given is very useful and easy to understand.
It reads as follows: The term „coursebook‟ means, a text book of which the teacher and
each student has a copy and which is in principle to be followed systematically as the
basis for a language course. Therefore, a coursebook must have at least being available
in the hand of students and teachers, and used systematically in a course of study, and a

course of study in this article refers to an English course of study.
In Materials Development in Language Teaching (Littlejohn, 1998) the term
“materials” is defined as “anything which is used to help to teach language learners. It
can be in the form of a textbook, a workbook, a cassette, a CD-ROM, a video, a
photocopied handout, a newspaper, a paragraph written on a whiteboard.” (Tomlinson,
1998). Therefore, it can be pointed out that coursebook is a type of materials.
2.2. The importance of coursebook
In classrooms, coursebooks are an important aspect of the curriculum. They are
the most observable feature of a teacher‟s methodology, and can contribute greatly to a
course‟s syllabus. O‟Neill (1982) provides 4 justifications for the use of coursebooks.
Firstly, a large portion of a coursebook‟s material can be suitable for students needs,
even if not specifically designed for them. Secondly, coursebooks allow students to
look ahead, or refresh themselves with past lessons. Thirdly, coursebooks have the
practical aspect of providing material which is well-presented in inexpensive form.
Finally, well-designed coursebooks allow for improvisation and adaptation by the
7


teacher, as well as stimulating students to create spontaneous interaction in the class.
Therefore, coursebooks should be accessible to a variety of students as well as
adaptable to the diversity of teachers and teaching styles.
3. Coursebook evaluation
3.1. Definition of coursebook evaluation
Hutchinson and Waters (1987) state that “evaluation is a matter of judging the
fitness of something for a particular purpose. Given a certain need, and in light of the
resources available, which is out of a number of possibilities can represent the best
solution?” In other words, “Evaluation is basically a matching process: matching needs
to available solutions.”
In the opinion of Dudley (1998), “Evaluation is a whole process which begins
with determining what information to gather and ends with bringing about the change in

current activities or influencing future ones.”
Although each researcher has his own way of giving opinion on evaluation, they
still come to the agreement that evaluation is a process of collecting data, giving
judgments based on the collected data, and the most importantly, evaluation must
include action.
3.2. Purposes of coursebook evaluation
Evaluation plays a very important role in the development of materials. Ellis
(1997) points out two purposes for materials evaluation. Firstly, evaluation is carried
out to choose among the available materials the most suitable one to use for a particular
situation and such valuation is taken before the course takes place. Secondly, evaluation
is carried out to determine whether the material which has been chosen works for that
situation after it has been used for a period of time. This helps to decide whether to
continue using the material or to replace it with a better material. In short, evaluation
can help assess whether the coursebook is the most appropriate for the target learners at
various levels and in various teaching settings, then adjust it in order to increase the
strengths and minimize the drawbacks of the coursebook.
8


3.3. Types of coursebook evaluation
According to some scholars, material evaluation is divided into three main types
depending on the reasons for evaluation. Cunningsworth (1995) points out that there are
three types of material evaluation, i.e. pre-use evaluation, in-use evaluation and postuse evaluation. This classification is similar to Ellis (1997) with different names, i.e.
Preliminary, Formative and Summative evaluation respectively. The first type, pre-use
evaluation is carried out before a course begins in order to select the most relevant and
suitable materials for a particular group of learners. This also has the purpose of
identifying which aspects of the published materials need to be adapted to suit the
purposes of the evaluators (Robinson, 1991; Ellis, cited in Tomlinson, 1993). Pre-use
evaluation focuses on predictions of potential value. This is probably the most difficult
kind as there is no actual experience of using the course book. In-use evaluation is a

kind of evaluation for suitability, involving “matching the course book against a
specific requirement including the learner‟s objectives, the learner‟s background, the
resources available, etc.” (Cunningsworth, 1995). The third type, post-evaluation refers
to an assessment of a textbook‟s fitness over a period of continual use. Evaluation of
this kind can be practical in helping to decide whether to use the same coursebook on
the future occasion.
In short, whatever the types of evaluation, pre-use, in-use evaluation or post-use
are, it is very important that the evaluator identifies clearly the reasons for their
evaluation so that it can be beneficial for the use of the coursebook (Robinson, 1991).
3.4. Techniques of coursebook evaluation
According Hutchinson & Waters (1987), Lynch (1996), Richards (2001),
Robinson (1991), the useful evaluation techniques are questionnaires, interviews, test
results, discussion and other informal means. The different methods used for evaluation
have been mentioned but they all have their possible advantages and limitations as
follows:

9


-

Questionnaires are the most popular methods of data collection. They can be

used to elicit students‟ and teachers‟ comments on a wide range of issues. The
advantage is that they can be given to a large group of respondents at the same time and
they are not expensive. However, questionnaires need to be carefully designed to avoid
respondents‟ misinterpretation of questions.
-

Interviews are also a valuable method for evaluation. They have advantages of

in-depth information on specific questions but the problem is that it is very timeconsuming though they can provide the opportunity for more extended exploration of
the issues than questionnaires.
-

Observation can focus on any observable aspects of the lesson and can provide

an objective eye to identify things that may not be very clear to the teacher. However, it
is a specialized work and requires careful preparation.
-

Document analysis refers to any documents that are involved in evocation, such

as: curriculum description, policy statement, newspapers, and program brochures,
correspondence and so on. This method is an effective way to collect data for the study
because it can provide useful information and then “form an essential part” of the data
for an evaluation exercise (Robinson, 1991).
To sum up, among a number of different methods to collect data the researcher
should identify what types of these instruments to be used effectively in their study. In
this study three methods including document analysis, questionnaires and interviews
were applied for data collection.
3.5. Criteria for coursebook evaluation
Criteria for material evaluation used to determine which perspectives of the
material should be taken into consideration. Tomlinson (1998) suggests, “Criteria are
what researchers use to reach a decision regarding what needs to be evaluated”.
Hutchinson and Waters (1987) suggest four main criteria for material evaluation
including: the audience, the aims, the content and the methodology.

10

- Audience: The evaluator should obtain information about and from learners to
find out whether the materials are suitable to the students‟ age, knowledge of English,
interest, sex, study or professional fields, status, educational background, and so on.
- Aims: The aims of the material is to help learners develop certain language skills
and function or to improve the language as a whole. In any language course, it is
necessary to examine whether the material can satisfy the aims and the objectives of the
course or not.
- Content: The content is one of the important elements of the material. In order to
measure the material‟s content to see if it is suitable for the course, the researchers need
to take into account the following items: language description, language points, macroskills and their proportion, micro-skills, text types, subject matter areas, topics,
organization through the course, organization within the course units, content sequence,
content sequence within a unit. The evaluator has to check if these items in the material
satisfy the requirements, which were set up from the analysis of the learners‟ needs and
the course‟s objectives.
- Methodology: The criterion of methodology refers to the researcher‟s judgment
of whether the methodology used in the material is appropriate with the learners and
efficient in helping them achieve the course‟s objectives. Methodology of the material
can be reflected by the theories of learning on which the course is based, the attitudes to
or the expectations of the learners about learning English, kinds of exercises and tasks
included, teaching and learning techniques used, teaching aids, teaching guidance
needed and the flexibility of the material to suit in different teaching contexts.
Besides the four criteria mentioned above, Hutchinson and Waters suggest other
criteria such as the price, quantities and availability of the material.
In this research, the set of evaluation criteria suggested by Hutchinson and
Waters (1987) appears to be suitable to be applied in evaluating to coursebook Nursing
1 in terms of audience, aims, content and methodology.

11

3.6. Models for coursebook evaluation
Hutchinson and Waters (1987) presents a model is a macro-evaluation in which
the evaluation is divided into 4 steps.
DEFINING CRITERIA
On what bases will you judge materials?
Which criteria will be more important?

SUBJECTIVE ANALYSIS
What realization of the
criteria do you want in your
course?

OBJECTIVE ANALYSIS
How does the material being
evaluated realize the
criteria?

MATCHING
How far does the material
match your needs?

Figure 2: The evaluation model of Hutchinson and Waters (1987)
The model shows a logical procedure for material evaluation or coursebook
evaluation. This first step is defining criteria on which the material will be assessed.
This step is to identify the requirements for material, so the evaluator should describe
what criteria your course is based. The second one is to evaluate whether the material
realize the criteria set in the subjective analysis. The final step is the matching process,
which finds out how far the material matches the course requirements. To evaluate the
coursebook under study, it is very important for the author to set out the criteria for both

subjective analysis (the analysis of the training curriculum) and objective analysis (the
analysis of the material being evaluated). Then the findings of the two analyses are put
into comparison to find out whether they match or not. Based on the results, strengths
as well as drawbacks of the coursebook can be identified, which may lead to some
suggestions for the coursebook improvements.

12


3.7. The importance of conducting a pre-use evaluation
As mentioned previously, among three types of evaluation, pre-use evaluation is
carried out before a course begins in order to select the most relevant and suitable
materials for a particular group of learners and it is considered the most difficult kind as
there is no actual experience of using the course book. The desired outcome of
evaluation is to allow for informed adaptation of the coursebook, which is intended to
allow teachers to compensate for “non-congruence” (McDonough and Shaw, 2003)
between coursebook, desired course outcomes, and the teaching context.
According to Richard (2012), most coursebook evaluation schemes distinguish
two essential stages that are necessary at the pre-evaluation phase: a description or
analysis phase, and an interpretation or evaluation phase. In the first phase, the contents
of the book have to be carefully described in terms of scope and sequence, organization,
and the types of texts and exercises contained within. The analysis phase will involve
identifying these kinds of information: aims and objectives of the book, level of the
book, skills addressed, topics covered, situations it is intended for, target learners, time
required, components, number and length of units, organization of units.
In this study, the evaluator applied this type of evaluation also to understand
learners and teachers‟ expectations from a coursebook so that the coursebook can be
adapted to meet the requirements of learners and teachers.
4. Coursebook adaptation
4.1. Reasons for adapting

Once a coursebook has been evaluated, potential problem areas can be
identified: What the coursebook offers cannot be exactly what our learners' need; The
coursebook methodology may not match our own; Our general aims may not match the
aims of the coursebook; The aims of a particular lesson/unit in the book may not match
our lesson-by-lesson aims. We will have to prioritize and select. We may need to
supplement the coursebook.

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Teachers, with direct personal knowledge of their classroom teaching, should see
textbooks as a resource or an “idea bank” which can stimulate teachers‟ own creative
potential (Cunningsworth, 1984). Adapting materials helps teachers to maximize the
value of the book for the benefit of their learners. Hence they can improve it so that it is
suitable for the particular situation. (Apple and Jungck, 1990; Shannon, 1987)
4.2. Areas for adaptation
McDonough and Shaw (2003) identify the possible areas to adapt as follows:
- Lack of grammar coverage in general
- Lack of practice of grammar points of particular difficulty
- Reading passages contain too much unknown vocabulary.
- Comprehension questions are two easy
- Subject matters are inappropriate for learners
- Photographs and other illustrative materials are not culturally acceptable
- Amount of material is too much/too little to cover
- Lack of guidance of teachers on group work and role play
- There are no vocabulary list or a key to exercises
However, they also note that more areas could be added to this list, depending on
actual contexts.
4.3. Techniques for adaptation
According to Tomlinson (1998) there are various ways various ways of adapting

a course-book:
- Omission: The teacher leaves out things deemed inappropriate, offensive and
unproductive, etc.
- Addition: Where there seems to be inadequate coverage, the teachers may decide
to add material, either in form of texts or exercise material.
- Reduction: Where the teacher shortens an activity to give it less weight or
emphasis.
- Extension: Where an activity is lengthened in order to give an additional
dimension
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- Rewriting/modification: Teachers may occasionally decide to rewrite material,
especially exercise material, to make it more appropriate, more communicative, more
demanding, more accessible to their students.
- Replacement: Texts or exercise material which is considered inadequate for
whatever reason may be replaced by more suitable material.
- Re-ordering: Teachers may decide that the order in which the materials are
presented is not suitable for their students. They can then decide to plot different course
through the materials from the one writer has laid down.
5. Previous studies on coursebook evaluation
There have been many studies done in the field of evaluation of ESP
coursebook. Many of these studies have brought about good improvement of the
coursebooks used for ESP courses. Some researches worth mentioning are Ngo Thi My
Binh (2010), Luong Thi Minh Thu (2012), Nguyen Thi Van (2012), Luu Nhu Quynh
(2012), Nguyen Thi Mai Huong (2013)
These evaluation had been done on different kinds of coursebooks such as ESP
for tourism students, marine engine students, for nursing students, for medical students,
for economics and business management students. All of these researchers of ESP
coursebooks aimed at finding out the strengths and the weaknesses of the coursebook

and then usually gave suggestions for improving the coursebooks. This thesis aims to
evaluate the ESP coursebook for the second-year nursing students at QNMC in terms of
language level, aims, content and methodology to determine whether it meets the
course‟s objectives, students‟s language level, and the users‟ needs. Therefore, the
researcher just wants to review two studies that have the similar aspects. Luu Nhu
Quynh (2012) did the research to evaluate the ESP coursebook for the students at Ha
Tinh Medical College according to learning-centred approach. The subjects of this
study were100 second-year students of medicine who were taught the ESP coursebook
of the college and three English teachers. The study employed survey questionnaires for
teachers and students. To conduct the study, Luu Nhu Quynh used criteria and the
model proposed by Hutchinson and Waters (1987) focusing on the learners and the
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