vi

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CANDIDATE’S STATEMENT i
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii
ABSTRACT iii
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS iv
LIST OF FIGURES, TABLES AND CHARTS v
TABLES OF CONTENTS vi
PART A: INTRODUCTION 1
1.Rationale 1
2.Aims of the study 2
3.Method of research 2
4.Scope of the study 3
5.Design of the study 3
PART B: DEVELOPMENT 5
CHAPTER I: LITERATURE REVIEW 5
1.1.Material Design 5
1.1.1. An overview of materials 5
1.1.2. Categories of materials 5
1.1.2.1 Published materials 5
1.1.2.2. Authentic materials 5
1.1.2.3. Specially-prepared materials 6
1.1.3. Characteristics of good materials 6
1.1.4. The process of materials designing 7
1.1.5. Principles for designing materials 8
1.1.6. Designing materials for British literature 10
1.1.6.1. The concept of literature 10
1.1.6.2. Models of teaching literature in ESL classroom 11
1.1.6.3. Criteria for the literary text selection 12

3.7. Taking teachers’ and students’ difficulties into account 39
3.8. Samples of the British materials for students at BVU 41
PART C: CONCLUSION 43
1. Recapitulation 43
2. Limitation of the study and suggestions for further research 43
REFERENCE
APPENDICES iv

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
BVU: Ba Ria Vung Tau University
FLD: Foreign Language Department
ESL: English as second language
ESP: English for Specific Purposes
BL: British literature
1
PART A: INTRODUCTION
1. Rationale
The teaching and learning of a foreign language is always associated with the learning of
culture. Culture here is understood as a set of behaviors, attitudes, perceptions that people
in a nation share and follow. As a field with the reflection function of life, literature is
regarded as a core part of culture. Moreover, the learning of literature is an effective way to
explore the use of language and its beauty presented in the field through an interesting
experience. Thanks to the learning of literature, we are more aware of the variety, multi-
layer and multi-colors of the kind of language used in the field of literature and then know
more about the history process and social life reflected in literature. Therefore, literature is
always included as an obligatory subject in every foreign language training program.
Together with many compulsory subjects in the training program for English major
students such as semantics, phonology, syntax, British culture, etc. at Ba Ria Vung Tau
University, British literature (BL) has been put into teaching for the first time and for the
first training course since 2009. However, the current program is showing off its
shortcomings in terms of syllabus design and material development. In fact, the syllabus is
designed with only 45 periods of teaching which is not enough time for students to have an
adequate input of the knowledge of British literature. From this fact, it is difficult for the
Foreign Language Department (FLD) to design an official material. As a result, the
University currently does not have an official material for British literature and it is the
teachers who take on teaching the subject choose and prepare the materials for teaching
and learning based on the requirements in the syllabus. Those teachers often combine

(v) Finally, to suggest a sample of material design for British literature
3. Method of research
The fulfillment of the thesis is done firstly based on the literature review in the area of
material development to build up a theoretical background for the research.
The study is mainly carried out with quantitative methodology. Survey questionnaire is
used as data collection instrument. The survey which consists of 9 multiple choice
questions is done on 125 post-course English major students at Ba Ria Vung Tau
University to investigate their evaluations on teachers’ material preparation, challenges in
learning, and their demands, desires, interests and expectations. Another set of
questionnaire including 8 multiple choice and one open-ended questions is also delivered
to 4 teachers to collect their ideas on issues such as material preparation, teaching
difficulties and expectations in teaching British literature at BVU. This will help to draw
some principles in designing materials which leads to the birth of an official textbook for
teaching and learning British literature at BVU later.
3
Moreover, the observation and formal discussion methods are also applied into the
teaching and learning situation in order to get initial information for the conduction of the
study.
4. Scope of the study
Concerning material design for British literature, there are several issues to study such as
designing British material for teaching and learning, designing supplementary literary
reading materials, etc. However, within the scope of a minor thesis, this study just focuses
on finding out some important principles of designing British literature material for
English major students at BVU based on the syllabus requirements and needs analysis with
a reference to the review of the related materials.
5. Design of the study
The thesis consists of three main parts:
5
PART B: DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER I: LITERATURE REVIEW
1.1. Material Design
1.1.1. An overview of materials
Material in language teaching has been in the center of attention of not only language
teachers but also educational practitioners. The essence of material refers to all forms of
materials employed to help to teach language learners. Both McGrath (2002:7) and
Tomlinson (1998:11) agree on the point that materials can be anything which is
deliberately used to increase the learner’s knowledge and/or experience of the language.

pedagogical purpose. This type of material exhibits features with high possibility of
occurring in actual acts of communication such as the naturalness of form, and
appropriateness of context as in the language of native speakers. On the other hand,
unmodified authentic material is oral or written language which is originally written or
spoken for a non-pedagogical purpose, and which is created by native speakers and for
native speakers of the language for a genuine of communication aiming to convey
information or to entertain (Brian, 1998; Bacon, 1992; Rogers & Medley, 1988).
1.1.2.3. Specially-prepared materials
Apart from published and authentic materials, there is always a needs for material that is
precisely tailored to the needs of students. This type of material can be either teacher-
generated or student-generated and in many cases normally is used to supplement the
course books in use within the institution (MacGrath, 2002).
1.1.3. Characteristics of good materials
Methold (1972) states that good materials will have the following characteristics:
- They will set out to teach a predetermined body of knowledge, e.g., what is contained in
the syllabus.
- They will be divided into teachable segments (i.e. take into account of both time
constraints and the quality of material that can be included in a particular lesson).
- They will take into account such principles as variety, weighting, the content validity of
exercises and the need for recycling.
- They will take into account local conditions (the classroom environment, conventional
teaching and learning practices, and teachers’ linguistic and methodological
competence).
It is understood from the above characteristics that good materials should meet the
standards of knowledge, time, teaching condition, adequacy of content, etc. Therefore, it
is not easy for a specific material to match all the teaching and learning features of all
universities and hence, the finding out of principles for designing material is of
significant importance and necessity.
7


materials, we must also imagine a variety of optional pathways and feedback loops which
make the whole process both dynamic and self-regulating. Jolly and Bolitho (1998:98)
demonstrates a teacher’s path through the production of new or adapted materials as
follows:
IDENTIFICATION: by teacher or learner(s) of a need to fulfill or a
problem to solve by the creation of materials
EXPLORATION of the area of need/ problem in terms of what language,
what meanings, what functions, what skills etc.?
CONTEXTUAL REALISATION of the proposed new materials by the
finding of suitable ideas, contexts or texts with which to work
PEDAGOGICAL REALISATION of the materials by the finding of
appropriate exercises and activities AND the writing of appropriate
instructions for use
PHYSICAL PRODUCTION of materials, involving consideration of
layout, type size, visuals, reproduction, tape length etc.
8
Fig. 2: A teacher’s path through the production of new or adapted materials
(Jolly and Bolitho 1998:98)
Notes:
a) Even in the creation of entirely new materials, it may be the case that some of the
steps envisaged have already been done for the writer.
b) Materials may be produced and evaluated without students use, e.g. by a colleague
or professional. Most publishers work this way. This does not reduce the need for
evaluation after use by specific groups of students.
1.1.5. Principles for designing materials
According to Nunan (1988b:1), when designing materials, attention should be paid to a set
of principles:

aesthetic and emotional involvement which stimulates both right and left brain
activities.
(xii) Materials should not rely too much on controlled practice.
These two scholars have one thing in common, that is, they both take learners into account
when discussing principles for designing materials. Nunan emphasizes on learners in terms
of the interaction, development of formal aspects of language, learning skills and language
skills. Tomlinson also mentions communication and linguistic features of the input but he
focuses more on other issues related to learners such as studying spirit, confidence,
relevance and usefulness to learners, learning styles and learning potential. Furthermore, in
discussing the principles in term of materials, they both mention the authenticity of
material and task. On the other hand, Nunan has extended the principles with other
10
elements such as curriculum and other features of materials such as presentation in
addition to the content.
In a nutshell, from the viewpoints of the two scholars, some important principles that
material developers should pay well attention to are: materials should be contextualized,
realistic and authentic; materials should be designed with variety of activities for learners
to study; materials should be flexible enough to be suitable with individual differences.
1.1.6. Designing materials for British literature
1.1.6.1. The concept of literature
First of all, any method or approach towards using literature in the classroom must take as
a starting point the question: What is literature? The Macmillan English Dictionary gives
the following definition:
literature / noun
stories, poems, and plays, especially those that are considered to have value as art and not
just entertainment
( Macmillan Publishers Ltd. 2003)

uses of the language. Carter states that the main point is to help the learners find ways into
a text in a methodical way and for themselves. Since literature is made from language, it is
thought that language-based approach is suitable as it pays attention to the way language is
used. This can help the learners to interpret the relations between linguistic forms and
literary meanings. However, Carter argues that by using literature as an instrument to teach
specific vocabulary or structures, the learners will not have any pleasure in reading the
literary text due to the use of mechanistic and demotivating teaching practises which
focuses on language activities.
Third, the personal growth model which helps the learners to achieve an engagement with
the reading of literary texts. It encourages the learners to enjoy and love literature beyond
the classroom as mentioned by Carter. Personal growth is stimulated by understanding our
society, culture and ourselves, the individual relationships with people and institutions. The
appreciation and evaluation of the complex cultural artifacts also contribute to the personal
growth of the learners. It is student-centred as texts selected to stimulate the learners to
respond and participate imaginatively. The use of themes and topics to depict personal
experience motivates the learners to read and helps them to evaluate and distinguish great
literature from less successful examples.
1.1.6.3. Criteria for the literary text selection
Most scholars agreed that the good teaching is always associated with good materials and
this remains completely true to materials for teaching British literature. The selection of
British literature materials determines a large part in students’ perceptions of literature and
the teaching and learning outcomes. Therefore, criteria for the literary text selection are put
into considerations:
12
According to Gillian (1993:53), it is probably fairly self-evident what is meant by criteria
such as the age of students, their emotional and intellectual maturity and their interests and
hobbies. The only difficulty when applying these categories to a whole class is that

How much of the language in the text will students be able to infer?
Will students find it useful and enjoyable to study the text, or will they feel demotivated by
the difficulties of the language?
Even if the language of the text is extremely difficult, will students be motivated by other
factors to study the text (e.g. students often enjoy studying a difficult short story if there is
a film based on it which they also enjoyed).
Finally, you may well ask yourself whether the text is too specialized in its language to be
relevant to the type of language the students require to learn on the course.
Third, when considering the students’ literary background factor, Gillian (1993:54)
proposes an interesting relationship between the literary background, since the two do not
necessarily go together. When choosing texts to use with students, therefore, we should
look not only at the grading of the language in the text, but at its specific literary qualities
and whether our students can navigate their own way through these.
Furthermore, he also points out other factors to consider when selecting literary texts such
as the availability of texts, length of text, exploitability and fit with syllabus.
Then he summarizes these criteria for choosing literary texts into a checklist:
Checklist for choosing literary texts

TYPE OF COURSE
Level of students
Students’ reasons for learning English
Kind of English required
Length/ intensity of course
TYPE OF STUDENTS
Age
Intellectual maturity
Emotional understanding

Different scholars suggest different definitions of language needs. Richterich (1972:39)
holds the view that language needs are “the requirements which arise from the use of a
language in the multitude of situations which may arise in the social lives of individuals
and groups”. According to Widdowson (1981:2), needs can be defined as “what the
learners need to do to actually acquire the language”. Brindley (1984:28) stands on the
view which involves only learners: needs sometimes refer to wants, desires, demands,
expectation, motivations, lacks, constraints and requirements. In addition, Mountford
(1981:27) mentions needs as “what the user-institution or society at large regards as
necessary or desirable to be learnt from a program of language instruction”. Here, in this
definition, the two elements society and institutions are taken into consideration.
1.2.2. Purposes of needs analysis in language teaching
According to Richards (2001:52), the purposes of needs analysis are demonstrated as
follows:
- To find out what language skills a learner needs in order to perform a particular role,
such as sales manager, tour guide, or university students.
- To help determine if an existing course adequately addresses the needs of potential
students.
15
- To determine which students from a group are most in need of training in particular
language skills.
- To identify a change of direction that people in a reference group feel is important.
- To identify a gap between what students are able to do and what they need to be able to
do.
- To collect information about a particular problem learners are experiencing.
1.3. Summary of chapter 1
In this chapter, the author has dealt with necessary information concerning material design
such as an overview of materials, categories of materials, characteristics of good materials,

However, due to the lack of an official textbook for teaching this subject, the teaching and
learning outcomes has been not as good as expected.
2.1.2. Teaching staff
There are totally 15 official teachers in the English group at FLD, BVU and many other
visiting teachers who are responsible for teaching English including GE (General English,
ESP (English for Specific Purposes) for English major and non-English major students.
The teaching of English at BVU has also been taken on by some volunteer teachers from
English speaking countries such as England, the USA and Australia every year. Among the
official teachers, 8 out of 15 have owned a Master degree, 5 other teachers are studying
post-graduate courses in Vietnam and overseas. For the visiting teachers, one has Doctor of
Philosophy degree, two have Master degree and many others have got Bachelor of Arts
from some universities in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. Most of the teachers are at the age
of from 26 to 35 which are young and enthusiastic in teaching.
2.1.3. Facilities
17
In spite of being a newly- established university, BVU seems to meet the demands of
facilities in teaching and learning. Projectors and cassette players are always ready for all
the classrooms. All the English teachers have their own laptops to serve the teaching.
There is one small library for teachers and learners to borrow and read materials. An e-
library is also available for teachers and students to study.
However, teachers and students also cope with some difficulties related to facilities:
several rooms are hot to sit in, many projectors are old and in bad condition which hinders
the teaching and learning. Moreover, the textbooks for some subjects and reference books
are not available even in the library. In that condition, teachers and students at BVU have
tried their best to teach and study for the sake of students’ future.
2.1.4. The current syllabus and materials in use
2.1.4.1. Syllabus for British Literature

students to have its photocopies, learners will know what to study first and what to study
next and they can have something to read at home. However, if a teacher just takes
randomly a textbook of another university and sends it to students and s(he) just selects
some parts which are suitable with some points required in the syllabus and supplements
some of other parts from another book or source, then students may feel confused in
learning because they see too much knowledge and do not know what to study first and
next. This may result in demotivating students and then make the learning outcomes go
down. Through our observation and informal discussion with teachers, it is realized that
because of the inexistence of an official teaching textbook, some teachers may even not
follow the syllabus to create the teaching material themselves. On the contrary, they
randomly select what they like to teach and hence the activities for each lesson do not go
with the literary texts, but due to the teachers’ decision. This may make students not have
guidelines and tasks to do after reading a text but to wait for teachers to assign tasks.
The situation requires an urgent material design by the group of teachers in the Faculty of
Foreign Languages. However, before trying to develop the required materials for teaching
and learning, the author of this thesis would like to draw some principles in designing
material for British literature. This will pave the way for the birth of effective and suitable
British literature materials for the following courses.
At the first observation of the materials currently used in teaching British literature, there
does not exist an official material for the teaching. This problem will be put into more
investigation and discussion in order to work out some principles in designing materials for
the subject in the next chapter.
2.1.5. Students
The English major students in FLD come from many provinces both in the North and the
South of Viet Nam. Many of them are from the Central Highlands. Since English is one of
three obligatory subjects in the university entrance examination, so they have some
19

In order to collect enough information for the study, a set of survey questionnaire for both
teachers and students are conducted together with classroom observation and informal
discussion with teachers and students.
20
The survey questionnaire was done at the end of the year 2010-2011. Although the author
met a lot of difficulties in making contact with ex- students, finally a set of nine questions
was successfully delivered to 125 English major students. When being asked to complete
the questionnaire, they were willing to finish them in about 30 minutes.
Also, a set of questionnaire including nine questions (8 multiple questions and 1 open-
ended question) were delivered to four teachers in the survey. The multiple choice
questions provided necessary data for the study because it is easy to complete. The open-
ended question was made to get more information about teachers’ expectations and wants
in teaching the subject. The process of gathering the questionnaire did not meet any
difficulties. The following is the analysis and illustration of two sets of the questionnaire.
2.2.3. Data analysis, findings and discussions
As stated earlier in this chapter, in doing needs analysis through the two sets of
questionnaire, the author focuses on analyzing the present conditions and situations of
learning and teaching BL perceived both by students and teachers.
The questionnaires will be analyzed with a combination between questions for both
students and teachers and will be divided into three groups: (a) students’ motivation in
learning BL; (b) lacks and constraints in teaching and learning BL; (c) students’ wants,
desires, demand, expectation and requirements.
a) Group 1: students’ motivation in learning BL
The first question aims to investigate the students’ motivation in learning British literature.
Options
Number of
students

Questions 2,3,5,7,8 in students’ questionnaire and similarly questions 1,2,4,5,6 in teachers’
questionnaire deeply analyze and show the lacks in the BL teaching and learning
conditions. It is these lacks that leads to the constraints towards the teaching and learning
of this subject at BVU.
Questions 2 and 3 in students’ questionnaire and questions 1 and 2 in teachers’
questionnaire provide us information about the preparation of material for British
Literature.
Question 2 for students and question 1 for teachers ask whether they have an official
textbook or material for teaching and learning British literature. The percentage is shown
in the following chart and table.
60
40
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
yes
no

Chart 1. Students’ opinions on the official teaching material
From the chart 1, it is clear that there were 75 students accounting for 60% said that they
had a textbook or material to serve their learning of British literature. However, the rest of
students (50 students taking up 40%) affirmed that they did not have official material to
follow in learning the subject. Through informal discussion, the reasons were displayed for
the above percentage. Some students said that their teachers compiled the material on their
own, some students were delivered with textbooks written by other universities, not by the
FLD, BVU and as a result some of them assumed that they have textbook to learn. Other