VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

NGUYỄN HOÀNG ĐÔAN EVALUATION OF SPEAKING ACTIVITIES IN THE
TEXTBOOK TIẾNG ANH 10 FOR THE 10th GRADE STUDENTS
AT GIA LỘC HIGH SCHOOL IN LIGHT OF CLT
Đánh giá các hoạt động nói trong sách giáo khoa tiếng Anh 10
cho học sinh trường THPT Gia Lộc theo đường hướng giao tiếp
M.A. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS
Field : English Teaching Methodology
Code : 60140111
HANOI, 2015
VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

NGUYỄN HOÀNG ĐÔAN EVALUATION OF SPEAKING ACTIVITIES
IN THE TEXTBOOK “TIẾNG ANH 10” FOR THE 10th GRADE
STUDENTS AT GIA LỘC HIGH SCHOOL IN LIGHT OF CLT
Đánh giá các hoạt động nói trong sách giáo khoa tiếng Anh 10
cho học sinh trường THPT Gia Lộc theo đường hướng giao tiếp
M.A. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS
Field : EnglishTeaching Methodology
Code : 60140111

speaking lessons of the English Language textbook Tiếng Anh 10 currently used at
Gia Loc high school, Hai Duong. It attempts to find out if the speaking activities in
this book have fulfilled the principles of Communicative Language Teaching. The
study also seeks to evaluate the suitability of these activities for grade 10 students in
this school and to make some suggestions for adaptation. For this purpose, a content
analysis is employed to analyze the speaking lessons with criteria developed on
the basis of CLT principles. In addition, a 10- item questionnaire was prepared by
the writer to examine the suitability of the speaking lessons for students at Gia Loc
high school. 227 grade 10 students were asked to reflect on the questions by
checking one of the five options included and three teachers of English were
interviewed for in depth information. The results of the research revealed that the
speaking lessons are relatively communicative in the light of CLT principles and
that they are suitable for students at Gia Loc high school to some extent. However,
they have some drawbacks in some areas. On the basis of the findings, the
researcher made some suggestions and recommendations for improvement of the
textbook that has been being used in this particular learning environment.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
LISTS OF TABLES, CHARTS
TABLES
CHARTS
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PART A: INTRODUCTION
1. Background and Rationale of the Study
Nowadays everyone knows the importance of English language in today's
world. English is the most widely spoken language in the world and used in various
areas such as technology, science, and business. In Vietnam, English language has
been taught and learnt widely for a long time in Vietnam. However, most of the
students cannot use English naturally and frequently and they have not achieved the
highly communicative effect in English Many students only wanted to be good at

in English after seven years of study in secondary school. These claims assume that
communication-oriented speaking activities can help students acquire English-
speaking competence. The goal of the textbooks is to engage students in
communication-based activities of real-life situations in which students can
immerse themselves in integrative language use. Their language ability can be
developed through activities. Within this communicative ability, speaking occupies
a very important role. In fact, speaking sections are emphasized in the textbooks.
From this background, the question “Are speaking activities designed in the
new textbooks communicative in the light of CLT?” has come to my mind. If the
textbooks claiming to be in line with CLT principles are actually not, the
development of students’ ability to communicate will be greatly influenced. To the
researchers’ best knowledge, no study has been done to evaluate these textbooks or
some part of them in line with CLT in the Vietnamese contexts. In light of the literature
available in the field , my interest lies solely in evaluating speaking activities
designed in the textbooks in the light of communicative language teaching (CLT).
This has given me the desire to conduct “An Evaluation of Speaking
Activities in the Textbook “ Tiếng Anh 10” for the 10th Grade Students at Gia Lộc
High School in the light of CLT”
2. Objectives of the study
This study aimed to
1. Examine the extent to which the speaking activities in the textbook Tiếng
Anh 10 are communicative in the light of CLT principles.
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2. Examine the suitability of these activities in Gia Loc High School context.
3. Make some suggestions for adaptation to enhance the effectiveness of
these activities within a case of Gia Lộc High School
3. Research questions
The above aims can be realized through the following research questions:
1. To which extent are speaking activities included in the textbook Tiếng
Anh 10 communicative in the light of CLT?

textbook evaluation and adaptation, and theoretical frameworks.
Chapter III - Research methodology: The research design of the study, the
context of the study and the introduction of textbook Tieng Anh are presented in
this chapter. In addition, research methods and data collection procedures are
described in detail in this chapter.
Chapter IV - Results, discussions and suggestions. In this chapter, the
content analysis of the speaking lessons is analyzed and the results of the
questionnaire survey are described, analyzed and discussed. Also, some suggestions
for the adaptation of the speaking activities are done in this chapter.
Chapter V summarizes all the key issues of the study. The limitations of the
study and some suggestions for further studies are also mentioned in this chapter.
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PART B: DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER 1 - THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
1.1. The Current English Teaching and English Textbooks in Vietnam
Since the economic reform known as doi moi in 1987, awareness of the need
to increase the quality of English language education has been widespread in
Vietnam. Party and State realize its significant role in modernization and
industrialization. English was officially regarded as the first foreign language to be
taught in schools (Khoa Anh Viet, 2008, p. 169). From 1982 to 2002, English was
introduced nationally as a compulsory subject at upper secondary level and as an
elective subject at lower secondary level. According to Hoang Van Van, PhD, the
English textbooks, although differing in orientation, are mainly grammar-based,
taking the view that grammar can be taught systematically as a set of rules to be
mastered and transferred by the learner into proficient language use. In the early
1990s, Vietnamese government and communist party officials began to realize the
need for educational reform to prepare managers for a global economy (Van Kopp,
1992). At the beginning of 2002, the Vietnamese Ministry of Education and
Training (MOET) organized the design of the new curriculum and the writing of
new textbooks for all school subjects. In the new general curriculum, English is a

learning English more effectively.
1.2. An overview of Communicative Language Teaching
1.2.1. Definitions of Communicative Language Teaching
According to Wikipedia, Communicative language teaching (CLT) is an
approach to the teaching of second and foreign languages that emphasizes
interaction as both the means and the ultimate goal of learning a language. It is also
referred to as “communicative approach to the teaching of foreign languages” or
simply the “communicative approach”.
Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching & Applied Linguistics defines
the Communicative Approach or Communicative Language Teaching as “an
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APPROACH to foreign or second language teaching which emphasizes that the
goal of language learning is COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCE.” (Richards et al
1992:65) According to the same dictionary, the approach which has been developed
by British applied linguists as a reaction away from grammar-based approaches
a) teaches the language needed to express and understand different kinds of
functions
b) is based on a NOTIONAL SYLLABUS or some other communicatively
organized syllabus
c) emphasizes the process of communication, such as using language
appropriately in different types of situations; using language to perform different
kinds of tasks, e.g. to solve puzzles, to get information , etc.; using language for
social interaction with other people.
1.2.2. Major Principles of CLT
The principles of CLT have been stated in different ways by Richards and
Rodgers (2001), Finocchario& Brumfit, Berns (1990, 104), Nunan (1991a), Brown
(2001: 43), etc. D. Nunan (1991:279) “Language Teaching Methodology “
said that
Communicative Language Teaching or Communicative Approach differs from
other traditional Methods in language teaching. He presented the most important

language community.
(6) The students are encouraged to discover the forms and structures of
language for themselves.
(7) There is a whole-language approach in which the four traditional
language skills (speaking, listening, reading, and writing) are integrated.
Berns (1990, 104) provides a useful summary of eight principles of CLT:
1. Language teaching is based on a view of language as communication. That is,
language is seen as a social tool that speakers use to make meaning speakers
communicate about something to someone for some purpose, either orally or in writing.
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2. Diversity is recognized and accepted as part of language development and
used in second language learners and users, as it is with first language users.
3. A learner’s competence is considered in relative, not in absolute, terms.
4. More than one variety of a language is recognized as a viable model for
learning and teaching.
5. Culture is recognized as instrumental in shaping speakers’ communicative
competence, in both their first and subsequent languages.
6. No single methodology or fixed set of techniques is prescribed.
7. Language use is recognized as serving ideational, interpersonal, and
textual functions and is related to the development of learners’ competence in each.
8. It is essential that learners be engaged in doing things with language—that
is, that they use language for a variety of purposes in all phases of learning.
Brown (2001: 43), in assessing the various interpretations, offers a concise
summary of key tenets as follows:
1. Classroom goals are focused on all of the components (grammatical,
discourse, functional, sociolinguistic, and strategic) of communicative
competence. Goals therefore must intertwine the organizational aspects of
language with the pragmatic.
2. Language techniques are designed to engage learners in the pragmatic,
authentic, functional use of language for meaningful purposes. Organizational

and discussion.
In turn, activities are, in Richards and Rodgers’ view (2001), of three major
types: text-based (e.g. textbooks), task-based (relying on jigsaw or information-gap
principles), and realia (here, we are referring to authentic materials, taken from “real
life” and brought into the classroom, such as signs, magazines, newspapers, maps,
pictures, graphs, charts, or even objects).
In conclusion, Communicative Language Teaching is no doubt an excellent tool
for increasing fluency. Overcoming its limitations and implementing with different
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methodology; teacher can become more creative while learners become more
competent. One of the prime supports for CLT is the practicability use of language.
1.4. Textbook evaluation and adaptation
According to Nunan (1999, p. 98), he states “a textbook is the main
component of any instructional program and it is difficult to imagine a class without
it ” Richards (2007, p. 251) believes that materials “provide the students with the
main information and the type of the language practice that occurs in the
classroom”. However, as Tomlinson (2006) states, no textbook is perfect, since it
can be used by different students in different circumstances. Therefore, textbooks
need to be evaluated to find their weaknesses and improve them. Additionally,
Hutchinson and Waters (1989, p. 96) state that evaluation of materials should be
performed for giving an opinion about our materials’ suitability to our “particular
purpose”. Since there is no ideal textbook for every teaching learning situation, ELT
material evaluation has taken place in research to explore the extent to which it can
be modified (Cunningsworth 1995: 136).
In terms of material textbook adaptation, materials adaptation should be based
on the results of materials evaluation. Of course different materials have different
potential areas for adaptation. It is very important for us to adapt textbooks to meet
our teaching and students’ needs in order to maximize learning potentials. For a long
time the textbook was the ‘bible’ and the teaching manual which gave in minute
details of what to teach. However, with the advent of CLT, textbooks have become

forms would be useful to see whether it is appropriate for students. Following a
quick impressionistic evaluation, detailed checklists can be constructed to perform
in-depth evaluation on a textbook, to enable examination of the appropriateness of
the textbook in serving demands of the syllabus and educational needs of the
students (Cunningsworth, 1995).These have mostly been checklist-based, usually in
the form of questions to be answered to determine the extent to which the materials
fulfill a set of criteria.
Teaching and learning situations are unique and evaluation frameworks need
to be edited and adapted to each situation. As priorities in language teaching have
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evolved, so have the teacher and learner needs, and classroom materials. Williams
(1983, p.251) calls it a “question of relevance.” Using someone else’s checklist
without adapting it means we accept another’s view for our own situation. In this
present study, the researcher will use some of the criteria for evaluating speaking
activities and exercises in textbooks proposed by Gloria Luque Agulló (2007) and
design some criteria to evaluate a textbook based on based on Nunan (1989), Ellis
(1998), Cunningsworth (1995) and Savignon (2002).
1.6. Summary
The sections discussed in this chapter will help to work as the basis for
evaluation of the speaking activities designed in the textbook Tieng Anh 10 for
grade 10 students at Gia Loc high school, Hai Duong . They will be used in
constructing the researcher's own checklists to analyze the content of the speaking
lessons and to design the students’ questionnaire.
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CHARPTER 2: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
This chapter consists of five sections. The first section delineates the overall
research design. Section two describes the context of the study, and section three
depicts the textbook Tiếng Anh 10. Section four gives an insight into the research
methodology that was followed to conduct the research. It contains the description
of a content analysis with the researcher own checklist, and the description of a

much on learning English in lower secondary schools and most of them have very
low English proficiency when they start to attend Gia Loc high school. As a result,
they often have a great anxiety in English classrooms. However, when they become
high school students, most of them pay much more concerns about English as a core
subject and hope that their English level will be improved by their great efforts.
2.3. The textbook Tiếng Anh 10
The textbook Tiếng Anh 10 has 16 units with topics. Every unit consists of 5
lessons: Reading, Speaking, Listening, Writing, and a Language Focus one. This
book was designed with various learning tasks, the purpose of which is to set up
communicative situations for students to practice English language. Furthermore,
the book focuses on learners’ communicative competence without ignoring
learners’ linguistic competence. It is also accompanied with a great number of team
work and group work activities to develop students’ communicative competence.
And students have chances to listen to both native and non-native English speakers
from the tapes/ CDs accompanied with the books. The activities in the textbook are
designed based on specific tasks (both pedagogical and real-life), each of which is
clearly instructed. The method of task-based language teaching has many
advantages. First, it provides situations where students use language. Second, it
lowers the methodological burden on the teacher […]: the teacher does not have to
be concerned about how to design activities for teaching as usually seen when using
the traditional set of textbooks (MOET, 2006b, p. 54, ).
As for the general objectives of skills of the textbook Tiếng Anh 10, after
finishing the textbook, students will be able to:
Table 2.1: General objectives of skills for Tiếng Anh 10 ( standard)
(MOET, 2006a, adapted from Minh, 2007, p. 17 )
Listening Understand the main ideas and details of monologues/dialogues of 120-
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150 words on the 6 topics covered. Understand texts that are delivered
at a slow speed.
Speaking

- Talk about different types of the mass media.
- Talk about advantages and disadvantages of the mass
media.
8. The story of my village
- Talk about plans to improve life of a village and their
possible results.
9. Undersea world - Offer solutions to sea problems using
should/shouldn't.
- Talk about causes and consequences of sea
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problems.
- Report on discussion results.
10. Conservation
- Ask for someone's opinions, and show their
agreement or disagreement about the new kind of zoo.
- Talk about national parks and nature conservation
11. National parks
- Use conditional sentences type 3 to express regrets
- Talk about an excursion.
12. Music
- Ask and answer questions about music.
- Talk about favorite kinds of music.
13. Films and cinema
- Ask and answer questions about the plot of a film
based on prompts.
- Tell what kinds of film they like and dislike.
- Express their opinions about a film, using attitudinal
adjectives.
14. The world cup
- Use some football vocabulary to ask and answer

In this survey, A close ended structured questionnaire was developed for
the 227 grade 10 students in Gia Loc high school. The unstructured interviews were
administered to the three teachers of English in an attempt to gain in-depth
information for the research question. The data were obtained by quantitative
(questionnaire)and qualitative methods (interviews). The use of mixed method
approach – a combination of both quantitative and qualitative approaches is the
major strength of this research design.
2.4.2.1. The participants
The participants of this study consisted of 227 students and 3 teachers of English at
Gia Loc High school, Hai Duong. The students were not randomly chosen but the
researcher selected 5 from 12 10th grades randomly for the study from 10 A, 10C,
10 E, 10H and 10P. In each class, there were maximum 45 students. Each class had
both males and females. The three English language teachers selected used the
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textbook Tieng Anh 10 in their classes in school year 2012 -2013. They were
female with their teaching experiences of 5, 8 and 15 years.
2.4.2.2. Instruments
The first data collection tool used in this research included a questionnaire ( see
Appendix 1). A four point Likert-type scale, ranging from 1 to 5, was used to show the
participants’ levels of agreement with a list of statements. The facet of the items was
only focused on suitability of the speaking lessons the textbook Tiếng Anh 10 to the
students at Gia Loc high school. The time required to complete the questionnaire was
approximately 20 minutes. The questionnaire comprises 10 questions developed in
consideration to some questions used in previous studies. The participants were
instructed to circle the most appropriate answer for each item. The options are
sequenced from strongly disagree, disagree, not sure, agree and strongly agree. Before
delivering the questionnaire, the researcher had explained each item carefully in
Vietnamese and asked participants to respond to each item before going to the next
one. Furthermore, the researcher asked respondents to go over each item again after
completing the questionnaires in order not to miss or misunderstand anything. It was