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VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST- GRADUATE STUDIES
===========   =========== NGUYỄN THỊ THẢO

AN EVALUATION OF THE COURSEBOOK
“ENGLISH FOR PHARMACEUTICAL COURSE”
FOR THE SECOND - YEAR STUDENTS AT VĂN HIẾN MEDICAL
AND PHARMACEUTICAL SCHOOL

(Đánh giá giáo trình “English for pharmaceutical course” dành cho sinh
viên năm thứ hai Trường Trung cấp Y, Dược Văn Hiến)

M.A. PROGRAM PROGRAMME THESIS

FIELD: ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING METHODOLOGY


M.A. PROGRAM PROGRAMME THESIS
FIELD: ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING METHODOLOGY
CODE: 60 14 10
SUPERVISOR: Dr. NGÔ HỮU HOÀNG HA NOI - 2013
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ABBREVIATIONS BA - Bachelor of Arts
ELT - English Language Teaching
ESP - English for Specific Purposes

Figure 2: Materials Evaluation Model of McDonough and Shaw (1993)

Tables
Table 1: Types of information in the teachers and students‟ questionnaires
Table 2A: The teachers‟ opinions about the aims of the materials ( Q1 - 6)
Table 2B: The students‟ opinions about the aims of the materials ( Q1 - 6)
Table 3A: Students‟ opinions on the skills of the material ( Q7 - 11)
Table 3B: Teachers‟ opinions on the skills of the material ( Q7 - 11)
Table 4A: Students‟ opinions on the language points and text types of the material
( Q12 - 16)
Table 4B: Teachers‟ opinions on the language points and text types of the material
( Q12 - 16)
Table 5A: Students‟ opinions on the topics of the material ( Q17 - 20)
Table 5B: Teachers‟ opinions on the topics of the material ( Q17 - 20)
Table 6A: Students‟ opinions on the tasks/exercises of the material (Q20 - 25)
Table 6B: Teachers‟ opinions on the tasks/exercises of the material (Q20 - 25)
Table 7A: Students‟ opinions on the teaching - learning techniques of the material
( Q25 - 30)
Table 7B: Students‟ opinions on the teaching - learning techniques of the material
( Q25 - 30)

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

PART A: INTRODUCTION 1

1.4.2. Questionnaires………………………………………………… … ….19
1.4.3. Interviews………………………………………………………….… …20
1.4.4. Records………………………………… …………………… …….….20
1.4.5. Assessment………………………………………………… ……….….21
1.4.6. Checklists………………………….………………………………… 21
1.5. Summary …21
CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY 22
2.1. Research questions restated……….……………….………… ……… 22
2.2. Data collection instruments………………….……………………… ….22
2.2.1. Document analysis…………………………………………….…… 23
2.2.2. Questionnaires ………………………………………………… … …24
2.3. Subjects……………………………………………… ………………… 25
2.3.1. The teachers…………………………………………………………….25
2.3.2. The students………………………………………………………… 26
2.4. Data collection procedures……………………………………………… 26
2.5. Summary……………………………………………………….………… 27
CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION 28
3.1. The results from the evaluation of aims……………………………… …28
3.1.1. Aims of the course……………………………………………… … …28
3.1.2. Results from the analysis of material aims and questionnaires…… …28
3.2. The results from the evaluation of the content……………………….….30
3.2.1. ESP material analysis……………………………………………… ….30
3.2.2 Teachers and students‟ opinion on the content of the material…… ….32
3.2.2.1. Skills………………………………………………………… … 32 viii
3.2.2.2. Language points and text types……………………………… ….33
3.2.2.3. Topics………………………………………………………… ….35
3.3. Results from the evaluation of the methodology…………… ………… 36

ESP material for pharmaceutical students at Van Hien School is designed to
help students get effective knowledge related to their job in the future. This material
has been introduced to students since 2009. It has been officially used as the core
material for the students of Pharmacy at Van Hien School. English is a compulsory
subject at this school. English course for pharmaceutical students is divided into two
stages. The first stage consists 60 class hours of general English with the
coursebook Headway Elementary written by Liz and John Soars (2000). And in the
second part (the third semester), they have 30 class hours of ESP with English for
Pharmacy. It was designed by two first teachers but they moved to other school.
This material contains 25 units. Each unit includes one reading text and
pronunciation of new words. The reading text introduces the theme of unit related to
pharmacy. The second one is the list of new words with pronunciation.
Teachers and students feel dissatisfactions with this material because of
many reasons. Until now, no research on the course book evaluation has been
carried out to examine how well the material being in use match the course
requirements in terms of aims, content and methodology. And based on those
reasons, the researcher decides to evaluate this material named “English for
pharmaceutical course” with the hope that it will help to improve the material‟s 2
quality and get better learning efficiency as well as stimulate students‟ interest in
language learning to meet the students‟ needs and the course requirements.
2. Aims of the study
This study is to evaluate the ESP material “English for pharmaceutical
course” to determine how the material satisfies the requirements in terms of aims,
content and methodology and what the material effects on students. From the
evaluation, some suggestions for using the material will be shown to change and
improve the effectiveness of the material for the better use.
This study aims at answering the following questions:

Chapter 1 presents a review of literature of this study and theoretical
background about materials and materials evaluation. Previous studies are presented
first. This chapter is concentrated on the issues related to ELT material evaluation
including the roles and types of materials in language. Then, it presents major issues
in materials evaluation such as: definitions, reasons, types, principles, models as
well as criteria of materials evaluation. The chapter ends with research instruments
in materials evaluation.
Chapter 2 describes the choices of methodology adopted in the study, the
data collection instruments, the subjects as well as the data collection procedures
Chapter 3 presents the results of the study and the discussion of those results,
data analysis and the findings of the study, pointing out the strengths and
weaknesses of the material.
Chapter 4 shows recommendations of the study, the limitations of the study,
suggestions for further study and conclusion of the study. 4

PART B
DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER 1

content and methodology. The subjects of the study are 40 second year students and
four teachers. The methods used in the study are document analysis, questionnaires
for students and interview for teachers. The study is well presented. After collecting
information from the document analysis and the survey questionnaires, she
concludes that the material is difficult for students in terms of grammatical structure
and lexical items. However her thesis reveals some weaknesses. And it should be
implemented some parts.
From the above mentioned studies, it can be concluded that the major
purpose of conducting an evaluation of materials is to evaluate the effectiveness of
the material in use and its suitability to the course requirements. It is also found that
the criteria proposed by Hutchinson and Waters (1987) are chosen in almost studies.
Document analysis, questionnaire and interview seem to be popular methods to
collect data for materials evaluation.

1.2. Materials in English Language Teaching and Learning
Roles of materials, Types of materials will be shown in this section.
1.2.1. Roles of Materials
Materials play an important role and a key in any language teaching and
learning. Richard (2001: 251) states that:
The teaching materials can serve as basis for much of language input that the
learners receive and as the source for much of the language practice that
occurs in the classroom.
It means that materials are “basis for the content of the lesson, balance of skills
taught, and the kind of language practice students take part in” (p. 251). Brown
(1995:139) defines materials as “any systematic description of the techniques and
exercises to be used in classroom teaching”. It emphasizes that teaching materials 6
are crucial component in the language classroom and there is hardly any class

7
handout, a newspaper, a paragraph written on a white board: anything that presents
or informs about the language being learned. Materials of these kinds can obviously
be exploited effectively for language learning. Because of the limited scope of the
study, only three types of materials concerned with materials evaluation, especially
in ESP are presented. They are textbooks, in-house materials, ESP materials.
1.2.2.1. Textbooks
Tomlinson (1998:9) states that:
A textbook provides the core material for a course. It aims to provide as
much as possible in one book and is designed so that it could serve as the
only book, which the learners necessarily use during a course. Such a book
usually includes work on grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, functions and
the skills of reading, writing, listening and speaking.

Textbooks are a key component in most language programs. In some
situations they serve as the basis for much of the language input learners receive
and the language practice that occurs in the classroom. They may provide the basis
for the content of the lessons, the balance of skills taught and the kinds of language
practice the students take part in.
In other situations, the textbook may serve primarily to supplement the
teacher's instruction. For learners, the textbook may provide the major source of
contact they have with the language apart from input provided by the teacher. In the
case of inexperienced teachers, textbooks may also serve as a form of teacher
training - they provide ideas on how to plan and teach lessons as well as formats
that teachers can use.
Much of the language teaching that occurs throughout the world today could
not take place without the extensive use of commercial textbooks. Learning how to
use and adapt textbooks is hence an important part of a teacher's professional
knowledge.
1.2.2.2. In - house materials

(Ellis and Johnson, 1994). 9
According to Prabhu (1994: 94), another important issue regarding materials
is that they should be used as sources: “The fact that materials need to be used as
sources rather than as pre-constructed courses should not be regarded as a weakness
of task-based teaching; it can in fact be a strength for any form of teaching”.
To sum up, after analyzing learner needs and setting objectives for the
course, the ESP teacher has to select materials that will help the students achieve the
course objectives (Ellis and Johnson, 1994). These materials should also relate
closely to the learners‟ specific skills and content needs, which is an important
precondition for full exploitation of the materials as well as the learners‟ motivation
1.3. Materials Evaluation
Materials evaluation is an important part of materials selection as well as the
materials development process. In both cases, evaluation is primarily “concerned
with relative merit. There is no absolute good or bad – only degrees of fitness for
the required purpose” (Hutchinson and Waters, 1994: 96). An evaluation of printed
ESP materials will thus above all serve to locate the materials that will best suit the
learners‟ needs with regard to their future or current work area. When no suitable
printed materials are found, the evaluation of existing materials can serve as a
springboard for development of in-house produced materials. In-house materials
themselves should also be evaluated in order to provide the basis for their revision
with a view to improving their quality and their suitability to the target learners‟
needs.
1.3.1. Definition of Material Evaluation
Many definitions of evaluation exist. Most definitions refer to program
evaluation; some refer to project or policy evaluation. Some definitions use one
term to refer to all types of evaluation, for example including policy and program
evaluation under the umbrella title of policy evaluation. This section provides a

for a particular course.
5. As a basis for improving materials (trialling or piloting materials)
6. In order to edit materials produced by others.
7. In order to review proposed materials for a publisher.
8. In order to review published materials for a journal 11
9. In order to help teachers or trainee teachers develop their understanding of
methodology and/or materials writing.

Evaluation is considered as the confirmation of practice if the practice is
good. In the other case when there is any problem with the practice. Evaluation is
for the consideration of ways to innovate or change the practice for a better one.
The material at Văn Hiến Intermediate School, “English for pharmaceutical
course”, is used every school year. It has both advantages and disadvantages. So it
is necessary to evaluate this material, which becomes the main purpose for carrying
out this research of the author.
1.3.3. Types of evaluation
With the different researchers, they will have different ways to categorize the
types of evaluation.
Tomlinson (1998: 10) divides materials evaluation into three stages: pre-use, in
-use and post-use evaluation while Robinson (1991:59) classifies materials
evaluation into three types: preliminary, formative and summative. Although
different terms are used to indicate types of materials evaluation, these terms are
basically similar:
 Pre-use (preliminary) evaluation: The material is evaluated before it is
taught, and it is the most common type of evaluation. But even a meticulous
pre-use evaluation can be unreliable, as there may not be adequate
information about the impact of the material in the classroom.

They further add that to make the best choice, different parts involved in the course
have to be considered: teachers, students, and sponsors. This is a perfect macro-
evaluation. 13
Figure 1: Materials Evaluation Process of Hutchinson and Waters (1987:98)
 The first step is to determine criteria for evaluation. In this step, the different
evaluators have different purposes for evaluation so the selection of evaluation has
to base on what the materials will be judged and which criteria the evaluators
choose for their evaluation.
 The second step, the subjective analysis, is the analysis of the course in terms of
materials requirements under the defined criteria so the evaluator should describe
in detail for the learners and the course. According to them, subjective analysis
should not be considered as a fixed set of requirements. The evaluator should use
OBJECTIVE ANALYSIS
How does the material being
evaluated realize the criteria?

MATCHING
How far does the material

Macro- evaluation inappropriate/ potentially appropriate
(External)
EXIT
Micro- evaluation inappropriate/ appropriate adopts/ select
(Internal)

EXIT
Figure 2: Materials Evaluation Model of McDonough and Shaw (1993:75)
 Firstly, external stage (macro - evaluation) that examines the organization of
materials stated by the author or the publisher including claims made on the cover
page and information in introduction and table of contents. This kind of evaluation
gives information about the intended audience, the proficiency level, the context
of use, presentation and organization of materials, and authors' opinion about 15
language and methodology, use of audio-visual materials, vocabulary list and
index, cultural aspects, tests and exercises included in the book.
 Secondly, internal stage ( Micro - evaluation) in which the following factors
are examined: a) the presentation of the skills, b) the grading and sequence of
the materials, c) authenticity or artificiality of the listening materials, d)
authenticity or artificiality of the speaking materials, e) appropriateness of
tests and materials, and f) appropriateness of the materials for different
learning styles and claims made by the authors for self-study.
 The last stage is overall evaluation in which usability, adaptability, and flexibility
factors are examined.
1.3.5.3. Evaluation by Ellis ( 1997)
Ellis (1997) suggests the practice of detailed evaluation and focuses on
evaluation at the task level with reference to its teaching learning context. The aim
in this model is to identify the match between task planned and task in use. It can be

items and skills.
 Speech criteria: suggest aids for the teaching of pronunciation: e.g. phonetic
system
 Grammar criteria: offer meaningful situations and a variety of techniques
for teaching structural units.
 Vocabulary criteria: distinguish the different purposes and skills involved in
the teaching of vocabulary.
 Reading criteria: provide guidance on the initial presentation of passages for
reading comprehension.
 Writing criteria: demonstrate the various devices for controlling and guiding
content and expression in composition exercises.
 Technical criteria: contain appropriate pictures, diagrams, tables, etc…
According to Hutchinson and Waters (1987), there are four main criteria for
materials evaluation any evaluator should concern: the audience, the aims, the
content, and the methodology. 17
 The audience of the materials: 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 and so on.
 Aims of the materials: the evaluator has to check if the materials match the
aims and objectives of the course.
 Content of the materials: the evaluator has to check whether the materials‟
language points, macro-skills/ micro-skills, and topics suit the learners‟
needs.
 Methodology of the materials: the evaluator has to find out if techniques,
aids, guidance provided in the materials satisfy the learners and the teachers
of the course.
In conclusion, from these criteria presented above, I decide to choose the criteria

disadvantages. Creswell (2005:361) claims that “individuals may lack any personal
investment in the study and decide not to return the instrument”. Besides, the
researchers do not have a means for explaining questions so respondents may
misinterpret items in the questionnaires ( Creswell, 2005).
Questionnaires items can be relatively open ended and closed ended. An
open item is one in which the respondent can decide what to write and how to say
(Nunan, 1992). Open ended questions include items where the actual question is not
followed by response option for the respondent to choose from but rather by some
blank space to fill. A closed item is one in which the range of possible responses is
determined by the researcher. Closed ended question is one in which the respondent
is provided ready made response options to choose from by encircling or ticking or
by putting an x in the appropriate slot/box.
1.4.3. Interviews
According to Creswell (2005:360), interview is “a form, on which the
researcher asks questions from an interview guide, listens for answers or observes
behavior, and records responds on the survey”.
Depending on the evaluation goals and the specific evaluation context, the
evaluators can make use of the following three types of qualitative interview
format: the structured, semi-structured, and unstructured (Patton cited in Lynch,
1996). Interview may be face - to - face, voice - to - voice, or screen - to - screen.
But it is time - consuming.
1.4.4. Records