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

ĐỖ THỊ THUẦN

AN EVALUATION OF THE TEXTBOOK “ KID’S BOX 5” FOR
GRADE 5 AT DOAN THI DIEM PRIVATE PRIMARY SCHOOL

(Nghiên cứu đánh giá sách giáo khoa “ Kid’s Box 5” dùng cho
học sinh lớp 5 tại trường Tiểu học Dân lập Đoàn Thị Điểm )

M.A. Minor Programme Thesis

Field:

English Teaching Methodology

Code:

60.140.111

HANOI - 2015


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


Do Thi Thuan

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First and foremost, I would like to express my deepest gratitude and appreciation to
Dr. Hoang Thi Xuan Hoa, my supervisor, for her guidance, advice, criticism,
encouragements and insight throughout the research.
I would like to show my gratitude to all lecturers of the Faculty of Post - Graduate
Studies, University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National
University, Hanoi for their precious lectures, and to Asso. Prof. Dr. Le Van Canh
for his inspiring lectures on material evaluation and his support to my research.
I am greatly indebted to the teachers and students at Doan Thi Diem Private
Primary School for their cooperation and enthusiasm when they participated in my
research.
Last but not least, thanks go to valued encouragements and helps from my family in
so many ways that gave me significant motivation, determination and passion to
carry on my thesis

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ABSTRACT
Materials evaluation is important in language teaching and learning and it is
necessary to evaluate materials frequently. This study is conducted to evaluate the
appropriateness of the textbook “Kid’s Box 5” (by Caroline Nixon & Michael
Tomlinson, Cambridge University Press, 2010 ) which has been in used for students
in Doan Thi Diem Private Primary School (DTDS) since 2011. To evaluate the
appropriateness of the textbook to the students’ needs and objectives of the course,

6. Method of the study ........................................................................................... 3
7. Overview of the study ........................................................................................ 3
PART B: DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER I: LITERATURE REVIEW
1.1. Materials in teaching and learning .................................................................. 4
1.1.1. Definition of materials and types of materials ........................................ 4
1.1.2. Roles of materials in language teaching and learning ............................. 5
1.2. Materials evaluation........................................................................................ 6
1.2.1. Definition of materials evaluation.......................................................... 6
1.2.2. The importance of materials evaluation ................................................. 7
1.2.3. Types of materials evaluation ................................................................ 8
1.2.4. Models for evaluation ............................................................................ 9
1.2.5. Criteria for materials evaluation .......................................................... 11
1.3. Learning styles of and teaching styles for primary students........................... 13

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CHAPTER II: METHODOLOGY
2.1. An overview of current English teaching and learning at DTDS ................... 15
2.2. Research methods ......................................................................................... 16
2.2.1. Document analysis .............................................................................. 16
2.2.2. Survey questionnaire ........................................................................... 16
2.2.2.1. Teacher questionnaire ............................................................. 16
2.2.2.2. Student questionnaire .............................................................. 17
2.3. Participants ................................................................................................... 17
2.4. Procedures .................................................................................................... 17
2.4.1. Document analysis .............................................................................. 18
2.4.2. Questionnaires for students and teachers ............................................. 18
CHAPTER III: DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION

Appendices
Appendix 1: .......................................................................................................... I
Appendix 2: ......................................................................................................... IV
Appendix 3: ....................................................................................................... VII
Appendix 4: ....................................................................................................... XII

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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
DTDS

Doan Thi Diem Private Primary School

ELT

English Language Teaching

EFL

English as Foreign Language

MOET

Ministry of Education and Training

YLE tests

Young Learner English tests


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Table 7: Students’ and teachers’ evaluation on the aims of the book

29

Table 8: Students’ and teachers’ evaluation on the design and organization
of the book

30

Table 9.1: Students’ and teachers’ evaluation on the topics of the book

32

Table 9.2: Students’ and teachers’ evaluation on the language content of

34

the book
Table 9.3: Students’ and teachers’ evaluation on the language skills of the

34

book
Table 10.1: Students’ and teachers’ evaluation on the tasks and exercises

36

of the book

heart of any ELT programme” and by that “The textbook is an almost universal
element of ELT teaching.” (Hutchinson, 1994: 315). In some situations textbooks
serve as the basis for many language inputs that learners receive and for language
practices that occur in the classroom. They may provide the basis for the content of
the lessons, the balance of skills being taught and the kinds of language practice the
students take part in. Despite the crucial roles of textbooks in teaching and learning
the foreign language the textbook used in a certain context do not always fit the
curriculum or closely correspond with the objectives of the course and the needs of
the teachers and learners. Therefore, the textbook should be evaluated based on the
needs and the context of the course. Hutchinson and Waters (1987: 96) stated that
“evaluation is a matter of judging the fitness of something for a particular purpose.”
Then, textbook evaluation helps the teachers select the most appropriate materials
for a certain course or have any adaptation for the materials in the next course.
At Doan Thi Diem Private Primary School (DTDS), English has been a compulsory
and main subject for all students from the beginning of grade one. With the typical
characteristic of a private school in choosing textbooks in foreign language, there
has hardly an official textbook which is absolutely approved by the Ministry of
Education like Government Schools. The teachers and managers with their
experience choose the textbook which they believe that is appropriate to their
students. The famous textbook Let’s Go by Ritsuko Nakata, Karen Frazier, Barbara
Hoskins and Carolyn Graham of Oxford University Press, published 2000 in which
has been used in many other primary schools in Viet Nam used to be the textbook in
DTDS for fourteen years, from 1997 to 2011. Then this has been substituted by the
textbook called Kid’s Box by Caroline Nixon and Michael Tomlinson of Cambridge
University Press which uses American English accent and is considered more
interesting than Let’s Go at this school. As a matter of fact, no evaluation of this
textbook had been carried out to seek how far it has suited the English course and
the students’ needs in DTDS. Therefore, this study was conducted to evaluate a

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Kid’s Box 5. Finally, there are some instruments for collecting data, but only two of
them: document analysis and questionnaires are used in this study.

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5. Significance of the study
The findings of this thesis give the teachers and students at DTDS useful
information about their textbook which helps to identify the problems and suggests
some recommendations to improve them. Furthermore, it is hoped that those
research results about this textbook will make some contributions related to
materials to the teachers and teacher trainers or administrators in some other
primary schools whose students and teaching context are the same to DTDS. In
addition, this particular study focuses on young learners and their textbooks. This
requires different considerations in designing and implementing the study. This
study contributes to the literature in this respect both by providing data about young
learners and their textbooks, and with valuable information about how to do
research with young learners.
6. Method of the study
To investigate the question, the survey research was applied. The instruments
employed in this study included document analysis, teacher and student survey
questionnaires. The evaluation was conducted by using the model of Hutchinson &
Waters (1987). The teacher and student questionnaires with closed questions helped
to collect both teachers and students’ opinions about the suitability of this textbook.
7. Overview of the study
The study mainly consists of three parts as follows:
Part A is the general introduction with the reasons for choosing the topic, the
aims, research question, scope, significant, methods and overview of the thesis.
Part B is the development with three chapters: chapter one presents a review of
literature, concentrating on the issues related to materials and material evaluation;

effectively for language teaching and learning. However, in the local setting,
textbook seems to be the most widely used material in language program.
Therefore, it can be understood that textbook is a part of material or a textbook is a
material. In this study, the term “textbook” and “material” are used interchangeably.
According to McGrath (2002), the materials can be classified into four main types:
Published materials: This type of materials includes books and reference materials
such as dictionaries, grammars, test practice materials, advice on language learning,
tapes accompanying course books or supplementary books.

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Authentic materials: Authentic materials consists of newspaper, magazines, user
manuals, leaflets and brochures, foreign mission information, letters faxes, emails,
videos ( films or documentaries), and songs. They are those taken from real life.
Adapting and supplementing published materials: Materials in this type are those
that have been adapted or supplemented in some ways. These cut-up materials can
be self-standing or deliberately designed to supplement the course books.
Specially-prepared materials: Specially-prepared materials are considered to be
useful as there is always a need for material that is more precisely tailored to the
needs of students working on their own.
The materials should be suitable to the objectives of the course and meet the need of
learners. Therefore, when choosing materials, the teachers should consider factors
such as learners’ needs, level, and the objectives of the course.
1.1.2. Roles of materials in language teaching and learning
The important role of materials in language teaching program has been stated by
many authors. There is a general view to see that materials play a positive part in
teaching and learning second language. According to Richards (2001), teaching
materials can be considered as a key component in most language programs. In
spite of any kinds of materials, teaching materials can serve as the basic for much of

as a source for classroom activities, serve as a syllabus, and offer self-access work
or self-directed learning.
To sum up, teaching materials or textbooks are important factors in language class.
They provide the source of activities, skills and practice for both teachers and
learners. However, O’Neill claimed “a textbook can best provide only a base or a
core of materials. It is a jumping – off point for teachers and class.” (cited from
Crawford, 2002: 87). Therefore, to meet the objectives of the course and the needs
of the learners, material selection is necessary and sometimes they need to be
evaluated to suit the language program and the learners’ needs.
1.2. Materials Evaluation
1.2.1. Definition of materials evaluation
There are many definitions of materials evaluation by the authors. The term
evaluation has been used to define a variety of processes in the field of applied
linguistics. Lynch (1996: 2) defines evaluation as “the systematic attempt to gather
information in order to make judgments or decisions”. However, evaluation is
different from assessment as Harmer (2001: 301) states that “the assessment of a
course book is an out-of-class judgment as to how well a new book will perform in

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class. Course book evaluation, on the other hand, is a judgment on how well a book
has performed in fact”. In addition, most of the definitions agree that material
evaluation has given a great deal of attention because of their important role in ELT.
Hutchinson and Waters (1987: 97) defines that evaluation is basically a “matching
process: matching the needs to available solutions”. Murphy (2000) in his words
agrees that evaluation is a key concept to “determine the extent to which a
programme is worthwhile, and to aid decision-making through the purposeful
gathering information”.
In general, material evaluation is the assessment of how well the materials are



will have to find his own way of using it and adapting it if necessary.”
(1984: 9) Therefore, it is important to find the best choice among the others
for the required purpose and a careful evaluation is the most effective way to
ensure the effectiveness of the choice made because it “can save a lot of
expense and frustration” (Hutchinson and Waters, 1987).
Ellis (1997) focuses on two reasons why language teachers should evaluate
materials. The first one is to choose the most suitable material for a particular
situation among the variety of ones. This evaluation is often evaluated before the
course takes place. The second reason is to assess whether the chosen material fit
the purposes of the course for a period of time.
In view of the above, it is, therefore, very important to conduct ELT textbook
evaluation so as to ensure ELT textbooks can effectively facilitate the attainment of
our teaching objectives.
1.2.3. Types of materials evaluation
In categorizing materials evaluation, different terms have been suggested by the
authors to divide the types of materials evaluation. The classification stated by
Johnson (1989) with three sub types: preliminary, formative, and summative. This
classification is similar to Cunningsworth (1995) and McGrath (2002) with different
names: pre-use evaluation, in-use evaluation, and post-use evaluation respectively.
Preliminary or pre-use evaluation tends to be the most difficult kind since there is
no actual experience of using the course book. This evaluation is carried out before
a course book and it is probably the most common.
Formative or in-use evaluation is a kind of evaluation for suitability, involving
“matching the course book against a specific requirement including the learners’
objectives, the learners’ background, the resources available, etc.” (Cunningsworth,
1995:14). This type of evaluation refers to course book evaluation while the
material is in use to see whether it should be considered for replacement.
Summative or post- use evaluation refers to an assessment of a textbook’s fitness

stage, aims to find out whether the material is potentially suitable for more
detailed

analysis.

It is claimed that this should be followed by an internal

evaluation which requires “an in-depth investigation into the materials” (p. 75).
What is important for the evaluator at this stage is finding out to what extent
the factors mentioned at the external evaluation stage match up with the
internal consistency and organization of the materials. Finally, they state, “there

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is a need to make an overall assessment of the material as to the suitability of the
materials

by

considering

the

parameters,

namely

the


matching, which compares the findings of the two analyses, or finds out how far the
material matches the course requirements. It can be viewed that not only the
significance of analyzing teaching/learning situation is emphasized but also the
materials required for it are emphasized in this model. It includes logical steps
which can help the evaluator know exactly what must be done to analyze the
materials in comparison with the requirement.

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DEFINE CRITERIA
On what bases will
you judge materials?
Which criteria will
be more important?

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

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

MATCHING
How far does the
material match
your needs ?

Criteria defined by Ur (1996)
Ur (1996) discriminates between general and course or learner-specific criteria.
According to her, some criteria are basic in all of the evaluation processes while
some are specific to a particular course or learners. Examples of general criteria are
“clear layout and print” or “periodic review of test sections.” Examples of specific
criteria are “attractive and colorful illustrations” (for young learners) or
“vocabulary and texts relevant to the topic” (for students of science and
technology). After making this discrimination, she offers a checklist that consisted
of titles like objectives, approach, layout and print, visual materials, interesting
topics and tasks, variety of topics and tasks, clarity of instructions, fit with the
syllabus, sequencing and grading, periodic review and test sections, authentic
language, the explanation and

practice

of

vocabulary,

pronunciation

and

grammar, fluency practice, learner strategies and independency, guidance for the
teacher, availability and the supporting materials.
Criteria defined by Hutchinson & Waters (1987)
In the evaluation process, Hutchinson and Waters (1987:99-104) offer five criteria
for evaluation in their checklist in which criteria for subjective and objective
analysis are included. The checklist consists of audience, aims, content,
methodology and other criteria which are thoroughly stated in appendix 3. The first

through social interaction”. Children construct knowledge through other people,
through interaction with adults. Adults/teachers work actively with children in the
Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) or the difference between the child's
capacity to solve problems on his own and his capacity to solve them with
assistance. The adult’s role is very important in a child’s learning process. Bruner
(1983) shares Vygotky’s opinion when he focuses on the importance of language in
a child’s cognitive development in which “children learn effectively through

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scaffolding by adults.” He shows how the adult uses “scaffolding” to guide a child’s
language learning.
Characteristics of young learners from 7-12 years old
According to Slatterly and Willis (2001), young learners at this age are learning to
read and write in first language; are developing as thinkers; understand the
difference between the real and the imaginary; can plan and organize how best to
carry out an activity; can work with others and learn from others; can be reliable
and take responsibility for class activities and routines. Therefore, the textbook used
for young children should take advantage of these characteristics to arouse their
ability and encourage their interest.
Ideas for teaching English to young learners
EFL teachers of young learners can take advantage of the flexibility of young minds
and the malleability of young tongues to grow better speakers of English. Shin
(2006) states ten ideas for teaching to young learners:
Supplement activities with visuals, realia, and movement.
Involve students in making visuals and realia.
Move from activity to activity.
Teach in themes.
Use stories and contexts familiar to students.