VIET NAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES
*****************

TRAN THI THU HUONG AN EVALUATION OF THE TEXTBOOK ENGLISH FOR
GRADUATE STUDENTS OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND
HUMANITIES AT USSH, VNU

(Đánh giá giáo trình Tiếng Anh chuyên ngành dành cho học viên
cao học ngành xã hội nhân văn, trường Đại học Khoa học xã hội và
Nhân văn, Đại học Quốc gia Hà Nội) M.A Combined Programme Thesis
English methodology
Major code: 60 14 10

Hanoi - 2011

VIET NAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES


Chapter I: Introduction 10
1.1Background to the study 10
1.2 Aims of the study 13
1.3 Research questions 13
1.4 Scope of the study 14
1.5. Design of the study 14
Chapter II: Literature review 16
2.1 Materials in language teaching and learning 16
2.1.1 Roles of teaching material EFL/ESL classes 16
2.1.2 Types of materials 18
2.2 ESP and ESP materials 20
2.2.1 A brief overview of ESP 20
2.2.2 The role of ESP materials 23
2.3 Materials evaluation 25
2.3.1 Definitions of materials evaluation 25
2.3.2 Techniques of materials evaluation 26
2.3.3 Criteria for materials evaluation 28
2.3.4. Types of materials evaluation 33
2. 3. 5 Models for material evaluation 34
2. 4. Material adaptation 38
2.4.1 Reasons for adaptation 38
2.4.2 Techniques for adaptation 39
2.5 Previous studies on materials evaluation 41
Summary 43
Chapter III: Methodology 45

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3.1. Research questions 45
3.2 Data collection instruments 45


CFL College of Foreign language
VNU Vietnam national university, Hanoi
USSH University of Social Sciences and Humanities
ESP English for special purposes
ESL English as second language
ELT English Language Teaching
EFL English as a Foreign Language
TESOL Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages
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Lists of Figures and Tables

Figure 1: Materials Evaluation Model of McDonough and Shaw (1993, p.3)
Figure 2: Material Evaluation process (Hutchinson and Waters, 1993, p.98)
Figure 3: Teachers‟ experience of teaching graduate students at USSH.
Figure 4: Number of ESP classes of each teacher
Figure 5: Students‟ working experience in their specialist field
Figure 6: Student‟s purposes of taking ESP course
Figure 7: Opinions of the ESP teachers and ex-students on the aims of the material
Figure 8: Students‟ opinions on the difficulty level of the language items in the
material
Figure 9: Teachers‟ opinions on the difficulty level of the language items in the
material
Figure 10: Opinions of the ESP teachers and ex-students on the specialist vocabulary
Figure 11 : Opinions of the ESP teachers and ex-students on the topics of reading
texts
Figure 12 : Opinions of the ESP teachers and ex-students on grammar structures


1.1Background to the study
1.1.1 An overview of English teaching and learning for graduate students at
USSH, VNU
The University of Social Sciences and Humanities (USSH) is a prestigious
educational institution where thousands of students of social sciences and humanities at
different levels, ranging from undergraduate to graduate ones are being trained. They
are trained to work in different fields of social sciences, including Journalism, Tourism,
History, Sociology, etc. After graduation, a large number of learners will need English
for their jobs. Therefore, English is taught as a compulsory subject, aiming at providing
learners sufficient knowledge and skills. During the whole course of graduate study,
English accounts for 7 credits, equal to 105 class hours. According to the syllabus,
there are two main stages: General English (GE) and English for Specific Purposes
(ESP). In stage 1 comprising the first 4 credits, students are to achieve Basic English
level C with general English knowledge and communication skills. 45 periods of
English for Specific Purposes are expected to be covered in stage 2. However, for
years, there was no ESP material for use, so during this stage, teachers and learners had
to use the last 6 units in New Headway Intermediate by Liz and John Soars (1998)
instead.
1.1.2 The graduate learners
To become a graduate student at the university, one has to be in the top group in
entrance written exam of English and a specialized subject of their field; their results of
English test scores must be from 50 out of 100 points at the minimum. It means that
their English should be at pre-intermediate level. Thus, graduates are quite good at
grammar, vocabulary and have fairly good writing skill. Moreover, before taking ESP

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course, the graduates have already finished the GE stage with 60 class hours and at the
end of this stage they are assumed to have achieved the intermediate level of
proficiency. In addition, they pay much attention to ESP because they are aware of the

This material contains 3 topic areas: Population and economic issues,
Superstitions and customs, and Religions. Each unit is organized in such sections as
follows: Language focus, Reading, Listening, which in some lessons is replaced by
Writing. Language focus section deals with certain grammatical points in which
learners are required to do rewriting exercises, gap-fill and correcting mistakes
exercises or translating sentences from English into Vietnamese and vice versa. In the
reading section, students read a passage on some topics related to their studying fields,
like What is in a name?, Black cats and broken mirrors, Customs, and so on. Learners
are provided tasks to gain some new terminologies, cultural and social knowledge and
they also have much chance to practice reading and translating skills. For Listening,
teachers in charge of each class have to select their own listening passages to teach
their students. In the writing section, the author provides different kinds of exercises
varying from gap-fill to matching, writing stories or essays and describing graphs or
charts, etc. in order for students to build sentences and extend them into paragraphs and
essays. The material was highly appreciated by the administrators, teachers and
students at USSH because it seemed to meet learners‟ needs.
1.1.5 Arising problem
However, after two semesters using the new course-book, there have been a lot
of reflections from both teachers and learners on the appropriateness of the material
and the learning outcomes. Some reflections were positive but some were extremely
negative. Therefore, an investigation into the appropriateness of this textbook to

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learners‟ needs would be of great importance, as this study would provide information
for the author to improve it so that students‟ language levels and teaching aims are met.
These above mentioned facts inspired me to conduct this study “An evaluation
of English for graduate students of social sciences and humanities at USSH, VNU”.
Hopefully, the results of this study will be of much help to the teachers of graduate
students at USSH in achieving the objectives of the ESP program in the coming years.
1.2 Aims of the study

1.5. Design of the study
The paper is organized into five chapters:
1. Chapter I is the introduction that presents such basic information as rationale,
aims, methods, research questions, and design of the study.
2. Chapter II presents a review of related literature that provides introduction to
textbook and textbook evaluation but the focus is on the importance of the
appropriateness of the textbook and learning targets. Some understandings about
criteria of a good textbook will also be proposed.
3. Chapter III consists of rationale for the research method applied, description of
three groups of subjects, data elicitation tools and data collection procedures.
4. Chapter IV, the main section of the study, presents the data analysis and
findings concerning students‟ language levels in an ESP course, the present
situation of using English for graduate students of social sciences and
humanities at USSH in order to lay bare its strengths and weaknesses. Based on

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these, an evaluation of the appropriateness of this textbook to learning targets
was done.
5. Chapter V proposes some recommendations from the perspectives of teaching
staff and students in terms on how to improve this textbook so that learners‟
needs were met. In addition, the limitations of this study are also presented. 16
Chapter II
Literature review
2.1 Materials in language teaching and learning
2.1.1 Roles of teaching material EFL/ESL classes
The relationship between materials and other components in language teaching
such as students, teachers, teaching method and evaluation have been controversial for

Dudley-Evans and St John (1998) also indicate the four functions of teaching
materials. The first function is that materials are authentic source of language, which
means that materials need to present real language as it is used in real situation and be
suitable to a wide range of learners‟ needs. The second one is that materials are a
source of learning support. To enhance learning, according to the writers, the materials
need involve students in thinking about and using language; the activities in the
materials need to “stimulate cognitive, not mechanical process”; and the learners also
need “a sense of progression” (p.171). The third one is that materials are a source for
stimulation and motivation. To fulfill this function, materials need to be “challenging
yet achievable; to offer new ideas and information whilst being grounded in the
learner‟s experience and knowledge” (Dudley-Evans and St John, 1998, p.172). These
authors also explain that the input must contain concept and knowledge that are
familiar to the learners, but it must also offer something new, a reason for learners to
communicate and to get involved. The last one is that materials are a source of
reference, which is understood as that materials need to be “complete, well-laid out and
self-explanatory” (Dudley-Evans and St John, 1998, p.172). In other words, materials

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should provide explanations; examples and practice activities that have answers and
discussion keys do that learners can use them for their self-study.
Obviously, good teaching materials are of great help to both inexperienced and
experienced teachers, especially the inexperienced or poorly trained teachers because
they also provide models for teachers to follow in developing their own materials
(Nunan, 1998). Therefore, the first thing the teachers need to do when preparing his
course in his own situation is to write or to select the appropriate materials.
In USSH, English for post graduates of social sciences and humanities was
designed by Lam Quang Dong, Dean of the Department of foreign language. Due to
the lack of time and the unavailability of various resources, the material was compiled
from various texts and most of the exercises were designed by the author. After being
used for two years, it is necessary to evaluate the material to see if it were appropriate

- Homogeneity: textbooks have their own rationale, chosen teaching, and learning
approach. They do not usually cater for the variety of levels of ability and
knowledge, or learning styles and strategies that exist in most classes.
- Over-easiness: teachers find it too easy to follow the textbook uncritically
instead of using their initiative; they may find themselves functioning merely as
mediators of its content instead of as teachers in their own right.
Therefore, once using a textbook, teachers must consider these counter-arguments.
 In-house materials
In-house materials or institutionally prepared materials are also the teaching
materials that teachers use (Richards, 2001). One of the most importance factors that
in-house materials have is that they are always designed for particular group of learners
so they correspond to learners‟ needs and match the aims and objectives of the course.

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According to Robinson (1991), using in-house materials, has many advantages as
follows:
“First, in-house materials are likely to be more specific and appropriate than
published materials and to have greater face validity in terms of the language
dealt with and the contexts it is presented in. second, in-house materials may be
more flexible than published textbooks. Last, the writer of in-house materials
can make sure of the suitability of methodology for the intended learners.
However, in-house materials take time to write and their production is relatively
expensive”. (p.58)
In short, both textbooks and in-house materials have their own advantages and
disadvantages. Which one should be used depends on the purposes of the course as
well as particular situation. Which category does the material under investigation fall
into? In this particular situation, English for graduate students of social sciences and
humanities belongs to in-house material section.
2.2 ESP and ESP materials
2.2.1 A brief overview of ESP

Absolute characteristics:
- ESP is designed to meet specific needs of the learners
- ESP is related in content (that is in its theme and topic) to particular disciplines,
occupation and activities.
- ESP is centered on language appropriate to those activities in syntax, lexis
discourse
- ESP in contrast with “General English”
Variable characteristics:
- ESP may be restricted to the learning skills to be learned.
- ESP may not be taught according to any pre-ordained methodology

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At the 1997 Japanese Conference on ESP, Dudley-Evans offered a modified
definition. The revised definition by Dudley-Evans and St. John postulates with
absolute and variable characteristics as follow:
+ Absolute characteristics:
- ESP is defined to meet specific needs of the learner
- ESP makes use of the underlying methodology and activities of the discipline it
serves
- ESP is centered on the language (grammar, lexis), skills, discourse and genres
appropriate to these activities
+ Variable characteristics
- ESP may be related to or designed for specific disciplines
- ESP may use, in specific teaching situations, a different methodology from that
of general English
- ESP if 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
- ESP is generally designed for intermediate or advanced students
- Most ESP courses assume some basic knowledge of the language system but it

In short, it is clear that ESP plays very important role in the English language
teaching and learning. Therefore, it is extremely necessary to pay much attention to the
teaching and learning of ESP.
2.2.2 The role of ESP materials
It is undeniable that materials are a key component in most language courses
and teaching materials is vital in the process of successful language teaching and
learning. Materials are also the center of instruction and one of the most important

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influences on what goes on in the classroom. Many authors indicate this crucial role
that teaching materials play in language teaching. Brown (1995, p.139) defines
“materials as any systematic description of the techniques and exercises to be used in
the classroom teaching”. Allwright (1981) also accepts that materials should teach
students to learn, that they should be resource books for ideas and activities for
instruction/learning, and that they should give teachers rationales for what they do.
Similarly, according to Cunningsworth (1995), teaching materials are sources of ideas
and stimulation for classroom activities, which provide learners with practice in
communicative interaction. Besides, teaching materials can function as a reference
source for learners on grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation. Moreover, teaching
materials can be considered as a syllabus reflecting learning objectives that have
already been determined and a support for less experienced teachers who have yet to
gain confidence. At this point, materials are vital resources because they stimulate and
develop students‟ linguistics skills. This role is even more important and essential in
the ESP context as in this point, ESP materials can be the primary source of exposing
learners to the language they need to learn.
In short, teaching materials have great efforts on the success of any language
teaching program, especially the teaching and learning of ESP. The teacher needs to
take into account the roles as well as the requirements of teaching materials when
designing, selecting or changing material for his/her own teaching situation to make
them suitable to the learners and the aims of the course. In the particular situation at

the determination of what needs to be evaluated, the objectives and requirements of the
materials, and the judgments of the value of the materials being evaluated in relation to
the objective and requirements determined.
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2.3.2 Techniques of materials evaluation
As mentioned in section 2.3.4, there are three types of evaluation and each of
them has their own method to collect data (Robinson, 1991). The importance is that
researchers should identify the suitable methods in the study. A lot of technique used to
evaluate materials attract much attention and have been discussed by many researchers:
Dudley-Evan and St. John (1998). According Hutchinson & Waters (1993), Lynch
(1996), Richards (2001), Robinson (1991), and according to Hutchinson & Water
(1993, p.153), the useful evaluation techniques area questionnaires, interviews, test
results, discussion and other informal means.
Dudley-Evan & St John (1998, p.132) stated that in evaluating and ESP course,
one or more of the data collection methods can be used: checklist and questionnaires,
accession, discussion and record keeping.
The different methods used for evaluation have been mentioned but they all
have their possible advantages and limitations as follows.
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 (Wallace, 1998). However, questionnaires need to be
carefully designed to avoid respondents‟ misinterpretation of questions.
Interviews, as Robinson (1991) stated, are also a valuable method for
evaluation. They have advantages of in-depth information on specific questions but the
problem with this type of instruments is that it is very time-consuming though they can
provide the opportunity for more extended exploration of the issues than