Số thứ tự:

…….
HANOI NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, VIETNAM
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES
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TRẦN THỊ MINH TRANG

EVALUATING THE QUALITY OF THE NEW TEXTBOOK TIẾNG

ANH 10 DEVELOPED UNDER THE NATIONAL 2020 PROJECT

(Đánh giá chất lượng của bộ sách giáo khoa Tiếng Anh 10 mới biên soạn trong
khuôn khổ của Đề án Ngoại ngữ Quốc gia 2020)

MA. MINOR PROGRAM THESIS

Major: English Teaching Methodology

Code : 60140111
Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Hoang Van Van

Hanoi – 2016

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 PART A: INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER 1 Rationale for the Study
English is one of the most common international languages in the world.
Learning English helps students form and develop their English communicative
ability by practicing listening, speaking, reading and writing skills. English learning
is also a beginning step in forming and developing long-life studying skills, working
ability in the future and cultural-social activity participation at the same time.
Besides, English study gives students a chance to form their idea-expressing ability
confidently, independently and creatively.
With the thorough understanding of the importance of English, the quality of
English teaching and learning has attracted considerable interest from the society.
Such issues as the quality of teachers, facilities, and curriculum have been widely
discussed in the media. In order to have a quality curriculum, the quality of the
textbooks plays an extremely important role. Nevertheless, a countless number of
English textbooks are available on the market today. The eyes can easily be deceived
by colorful covers, a beautiful layout and attractive artwork. As an inexperienced
teacher it can be particularly difficult to know what to look for a good textbook for
use. Therefore, the selection of a course book is one of the most important decisions
a teacher will make to have a textbook that involves matching the material against
the context in which it is going to be used, following the aims of the teaching
program, as well as fitting the personal methodology of the teacher.
In 2008, the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) has implemented its
policy of radical and comprehensive reform, in which the quality of education,
teachers and textbooks has received a lot of special attention. When working on the
national project “Teaching and Learning Foreign Languages in the National
Education System, period 2008 - 2020”, at the end of 2012, MOET approved “Pilot
English Curriculum for Vietnamese Upper Secondary Schools” continuing the
Primary and Lower Secondary Pilot English Curriculum and assigned Vietnam
Education Publishing House to organize the writing of the set of textbooks, including
Tiếng Anh 10, Tiếng Anh 11 and Tiếng Anh 12. This set of textbooks is being piloted

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in some selected upper secondary schools nationwide. But there has not been any
research to evaluate its quality in a large scale. For this reason, in this minor thesis, I
will attempt to conduct a preliminary research to evaluate the set of textbook The
New English Textbook Tiếng Anh 10 compiled by Vietnamese authors of Vietnam
Education Publishing House in collaboration with English native authors of Pearson
Publishing House.
CHAPTER 2 Aim of the Study
The aim of the study is:
To get evaluative feedback from the teachers who are using Tiếng Anh 10, and from
students who are learning from it so as to establish its strengths and weaknesses and
to see if it is suited to the teachers and the students.
1. Research questions
1. Does Tiếng Anh 10 suit the teachers who are teaching it?
2. Does Tiếng Anh 10 suit the students who are learning from it?
3. What are the strong points and weak points of the new textbook Tiếng Anh 10?
4. Scope of the study
Given the aim and the research questions, the study is confined to the
evaluation of the new set of high school English textbook, Tiếng Anh 10. The study
will focus on establishing the criteria for the evaluating the new textbook Tiếng Anh
10 (including Student’s Book, Teacher’s Book and Workbook, Audio CD) to ask
teachers and students who are using the material to evaluate whether the teachers can
use it to teach and the students can learn from it.
5. Significance of the Study
This study can be significant in some ways. First, the study aims at getting the
evaluative feedback from teachers and students working with this material in order to
see how suitable it is for their teaching and learning context and to establish its
strengths and weaknesses. The more significant intention, the researcher has
expected that the study will be of some value to textbook writers and upper
secondary English teachers in Vietnam.

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 PART B: DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER 1 LITERATURE REVIEW
1. 1 Introduction
This chapter means to review background theories to the issue including relevant
knowledge and several related studies

1. 2 Teaching and Learning English in Vietnam under the National Foreign

Language Project Entitled: “Teaching and Learning Foreign Languages in the
National Education System, Period 2008-2020”

1.2.1 Teaching and Learning English at Upper Secondary Schools in Vietnam

Teaching and learning English at upper secondary level have attracted great
interest from schools, parents, managers and educational strategic planners as well.
According to Hoang Van Van (2010), English has been introduced into upper
secondary schools since the period before 1954. Although English made its presence
during that period, it did not become a foreign language to be learnt as widely as
French.
In the period from 1945 to 1954, English was the dominant foreign language
in upper secondary schools in the South while in the North Russian dominated the
first place in upper secondary schools. English was taught in only some classes in
those schools in towns and big cities as pilot subject.
In the period from 1975 to 1986, when Russian dominated the scene both in
the North and in the South, English suffered a setback. It was taught in a limited
number of classes in upper secondary schools, particularly in towns and in big cities.
The period from 1986 up to the present can be seen with the rapid growth and
expansion of English in Viet Nam. This English boom was mainly because of the
initiation of an overall economic reform known as Đổi mới (Renovation). The reform
started at the Six National Congress held by Vietnamese Communist Party. In the
context of economic renovation and of the open door policy, English became foreign
language number 1 be taught in Viet Nam. At upper secondary education, it is one of

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the six compulsory examinations that students have to pass if they want to get the
General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE).

1.2.2 The National Foreign Language 2020 Project

The Vietnamese Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) is currently
launching the Project entitled “Teaching and Learning Foreign Languages in the
National Education System, Period 2008-2020” which was approved by the Prime
Minister on September 2008 (For more details, see Appendix 4). The National
Foreign Language (NFL) 2020 Project specifies the goals of teaching and learning
English within the national education system and identifies seven tasks at both macro
and micro level for implementing the project in three different phases (2008-2010,
2011-2015 and 2016-2020).
In implementing the Vietnamese Prime Minister’s Decision 1400/QD-TTg on
the approval of the national project entitled “Teaching and learning a foreign
language in the national education system, Period 2008-2020”, three pilot English
curricula for Vietnamese schools were designed and promulgated by MOET Chương
trình tiếng Anh thí điểm tiểu học (Pilot English Curiculum for Vietnamese Primary
Schools), Chương trình giáo dục phổ thông môn tiếng Anh thí điểm cấp trung học cơ
sở (Pilot English Curiculum for Vietnamese Lower Secondary Schools), Chương
trình giáo dục phổ thông môn tiếng Anh thí điểm cấp trung học phổ thông (Pilot
English Curiculum for Vietnamese Upper Secondary Schools).
1.2.3 The Pilot English Curriculum for Vietnamese Upper Secondary Schools

Also according to Hoang Van Van (2015) , the Pilot English Curriculum for
Vietnamese Upper Secondary Schools is designed to implement the Prime Minister’s
Decision (on the 23rd November, 2012,). The Minister of Education and Training
signed Decision 5209/QĐ-BGDĐT on the Approval of Chương trình giáo dục phổ thông
môn tiếng Anh thí điếm cấp trung học phổ thông (Pilot English Curriculum for Vietnamese

Upper Secondary Schools). The curriculum is organized around two main parts: (i)
Curriculum Framework and (ii) Syllabus.

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 The Pilot English Curriculum for Vietnamese Upper Secondary Schools is
designed and developed with the total time frame of 315 periods, from grade 10 to
grade 12. In regard to principles of curriculum design and development, after
finishing the curriculum, students will be able to reach B1 level as specified in the
CEFR.
In order to reach these aims, the curriculum is specified based on the
performance objectives. They are built to help upper secondary students form and
develop English communicative competence through 4 skills: Grade 10 (Level 3.1),
Grade 11 (Level 3.2), Grade 12 (Level 3.3)
Students’ study results are shown in 2 forms of assessments: formative and
summative forms. Basing on the facts of communicative competence students have
achieved in their learning process. The forms of testing also rely on teachers’
observation and feedback during the school year. Forms of testing are various
comprising of both written test and oral test, and is a combination of 4 language
skills.

1.3 The New English Textbook, Tiếng Anh 10

Tiếng Anh 10 - is the first of the three-level English language set of textbooks
for the Vietnamese upper secondary school students learning English as a foreign
language (EFL). The teaching contents for each unit are summarized in a book map
which is provided on the first page of the textbook. It is accompanied with an audio
CD, student’s workbook and teacher’s book and is divided into two volumes: Tiếng
Anh 10, Volume 1 and Tiếng Anh 10, Volume 2.
The book follows a systematic, cyclical and theme-based curriculum,
approved by the Ministry of Education and Training on November, 2012. The aim of
this set of textbook is to develop students’ communicative competence in listening,
speaking, reading and writing so that when finishing upper secondary school students
will achieve Level 3 (equivalent to CEFR B1) of Six Language Proficiency Level
Framework as developed in CEFR ( Common European Framework of Reference for
Languages).

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1.4 Textbook Evaluation

1.4.1 Textbooks
Textbooks are an important element in a language teaching curriculum. They
are necessary for both teachers and learners as they give them confidence. According
to Brown (2001: 136), “The most obvious and most common form of material
support for language instruction comes through textbooks.” Hutchinson and Torres
(1994: 232) defined the role of textbooks in educational system as “a vehicle for
teacher and learner training, as a support and relief, as providing as complete a
picture as possible of what the change will look like and as a psychological support
they give to teachers.” It can be argued that although there are role plays,
conversations, discussions, and chalkboard work, none of them fulfills the role of
textbooks which are unified instructional materials, moreover as supporting materials
they play a very important role in the classroom (Brown, 2001).

2.1.1 Roles of Textbook

We are living in a multimedia age, although there are advantages of using a
computer to teach and learn a language, no matter how advanced technology is, it is
obvious that textbooks still play a key role in the education today.
According to Hoang Van Van (2012), textbooks are an important resource for
teachers in assisting students to learn. They are the foundation of school instruction
and the primary source of information for students and teachers. They serve as one of
the main instruments for shaping knowledge, attitudes and principles of our young
people. It is no exaggeration to say that “much of the language teaching that occurs
throughout the world today could not take place without the extensive use of
materials (textbooks)” (Richards, 2001). And in the opinions of many contemporary
scholars (e.g. Allwright, 1995; Cunningsworth, 1995; Gonzales, 1995; Tickoo, 1995;
O’Neill, 1995; Hutchinson & Hutchinson, 1997; Richards, 2001; Ur, 2001; and
Harmer, 2005), textbooks are important to and useful for students, teachers,

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 education administrators, and, therefore, they are important to and useful for the
2020 Project as well.

2.1.2 The Needs for Textbook Evaluation

The ever increasing number of textbooks on the market makes formulating the
right choice in textbooks difficult (Cunningsworth, 1995); (Green, 1926). Textbook
selection can have a massive impact on the teaching and learning process as teachers
would make references to the textbooks (Cunningsworth, 1995; Harmer, 1991) or
even design the entire EFL syllabus around it. In that sense, the quality of a textbook
might be so important that it can determine the success or failure of an ELT course
(Green, 1926).
According to Tomlinson (2008), the cause of learning failure is twofold. The
first cause of failure is that possibly motivated by the need of commercial success,
publishers would have to produce according to the public demand. The second cause
of failure is that instead of focusing on how learners could actually benefit from
using textbook, textbook writers relied on their intuition and produce materials what
they think would work best for their intended learners (Tomlinson, 2008: 7).

2.1.3 Quality Standards for Textbook

According to Ornstein (1990), a good textbook has many desirable
characteristics. They were all organized, relatively up to date, and accurate. A good
textbook must be well organized. Here, textbook must have a good composition of
instructional materials. The materials must be organized clearly and contain of all
English skills. A good textbook is relatively up to date. It means that the material of
the textbook must contain the newest things, so it will give some new news or
information to the students. Besides, “up-to-date” here also means up-to-date
methodology. The ESL textbook should be consistent with the psychological and
linguistic principles underlying current and accepted methods of 2 nd language
teaching. Ornstein also presumed that a reliable textbook should be guidance for non-
native teachers. It can provide appropriate guidance so that novice teachers have no

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doubts on the procedures proposed by the textbook. A good textbook should be
accurate. In this case materials in the textbook should not present wrong information
or presented in error grammatical language and incorrect words. A good course book,
according to him, is also the need for the second language learners and the relevance
to the socio-cultural environment. Textbook must suit multilingual settings and have
the distinction between English as a subject and English as a medium of instruction
in order to meet the demand of the students. It should be relevant to the socio cultural
environment because the 2nd language problems in learning vocabulary and syntax
often arise from differences between cultures associated with the target language and
the mother tongue.
In the book entitled “The Guide for the Good Textbook” Ivi’c, Pesikan and
Anti’c, (2008) attempt to define general quality standards for textbooks. In their
research work, quality standards for the following areas have been defined as:
Group A: Quality standards for textbook sets
Group B: Quality standards for textbook as books for student use
Group C: Quality standards for thematic units
Group D: Quality standards for textbook content
Group E: Quality standards for the didactic design of textbooks
Group F: Quality standards for the language of textbook
Group G: Quality standards for electronic textbook components and electronic
textbooks.
Mamood (2009) based on studying internationally available criteria for
textbook evaluation and Garvin’s (1988) eight dimensional model of quality product,
and, later on finalized them with the following characteristics of a textbook.
i. Conformity to curriculum policy and scope
ii. Vocabulary and format
iii. Horizontal and vertical alignment of the text
iv. Acceptability
v. Text reliability

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 vi. Cognitive development and creative thinking
vii. Learning and Assessment
viii. Bias free: diverse background of students, gender equality.

2.1.4 Textbook Evaluation Methods

Impressionistic and In-depth Method

A famous ELT textbook evaluative researcher, Cunningsworth (1995) has
suggested that it would be best for textbook evaluation schemes to adopt a “leveled”
approach in evaluation in which a first level overview “impressionistic” evaluation
should be conducted followed by an in-depth evaluation.
Impressionistic evaluation is conducted by quickly looking through the
textbook cover to cover to try and get an overview of the strengths and weaknesses
of the book. An in-depth evaluation will be undertaken subsequently to provide a
detailed evaluation of specific items in each textbook on areas such as how the
exercises can cater for the syllabus and learners’ needs (Cunningsworth, 1995;
McDonough & Shaw, 1993).

Pre-use Evaluation Method

Pre-use evaluation proposed by McGrath (2002) and Tomlinson (2003)
involves making decisions about the potential value of materials for their users.

In-use Evaluation Method

In-use (McGrath, 2002) or whilst-use evaluation (Tomlinson, 2003) involves
measuring the value of materials while using them or observing them as being used.

Post-use Evaluation Method

Post-use evaluation (McGrath, 2002; Tomlinson, 2003) measures the actual
effect of the materials on the users. As Tomlinson (2003: 25) states, post-use
evaluation can measure the actual outcome of the use of the materials and thus
provide the data on which reliable decisions about the use, adaptation or replacement
of materials can be made.

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Checklist Method
A checklist is an instrument that provides the evaluator with a list of features
of successful learning-teaching materials. As Tomlinson (2003) suggests, checklists
are categorized separately into quantitative, qualitative, or outline format.
Quantitative checklists are those that utilize rating scales with or without
accompanying questions. Qualitative checklists are those that use close/open-
ended questions without rating scales and outline format checklists are those
without any rating scale and questions of any kind.
Harmer (1998) states that there are nine main areas which teachers should
consider in the books they evaluate: Price (5 items), Availability (6 items), Layout
and Design (5 items), Methodology (3 items), Skills (5 items), Syllabus (4 items),
Topics (5 items), Stereotyping (4 items), and the Teacher’s guide (5 items). The
weighting in this checklist is based on the descriptive answers provided by the users.
In this study we exploited certain categories as Layout and Design, Skills, Topics to
design our questionnaire.
Rivers (1968) presents a set of criteria for textbook evaluation which is based
on seven major areas: Appropriateness for local situation (including 6 evaluative
items), Appropriateness for teachers and students (10 items), Language and
Ideational content (6 items), Linguistic coverage and Organization (9 items), Types
of activities (6 items), Practical consideration (7 items), and Enjoyment index (1
item). Each of these evaluating items also includes several questions that aim at
evaluating some features. The rating system in River (1968; 477-483)’s checklist is
based on a 5-point scale: Excellent (1), Suitable (2), Will do (3), Not very suitable
(4), and Useless (5). We also used Language and Ideational and Types of activities
categories in Rivers’ checklist to establish our own evaluative criteria.
Daoud and Celce-Murcia (1979) cited in Celce-Murcia, (2001) introduced a
broad evaluative checklist. They consider five major components for the textbook in
their checklist: Subject matter (including 4 evaluative items), Vocabulary and
Structures (9 items), Exercises (5 items), Illustrations (3 items), and Physical make-

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up (4 items). Also there is a section for teacher’s manual which includes four major
parts: General features (including 5 evaluative items), Type and amount of
supplementary exercises for each language skill (6 items),
Methodological/pedagogical guidance (7 items), and Linguistic background
information (4 items). The rating system is based on a 5-point scale: Excellent (4),
Good (3), Adequate (2), Weak (1) and Totally lacking (0). In this study, the
researcher referred evaluative category, Methodological guidance to design the
questionnaire for the teachers.
Sheldon (1988) presented a checklist that includes two main categories:
Factual details and Factors. Factual details contain The Ttitle, Author, Publisher,
Price, Physical size, Duration of the course, Target learner, Teacher, and Skill.
Factors include Rationale (3 evaluative items), Availability (2 evaluative items), User
definition (3 evaluative items), Layout/graphics (2 evaluative items, accessibility (4
evaluative items), Linkage (3 evaluative items), Selection/grading (3 evaluative
items), Physical characteristics (4 evaluative items), Appropriateness (3 evaluative
items), Authenticity (3 evaluative items), Sufficiency (2 evaluative items), Cultural
bias (6 evaluative items), Educational validity (1 evaluative item), Stimulus/practical
revision (3 evaluative items), Flexibility (3 evaluative items), Guidance (6 evaluative
items), and Overall value for money (2 evaluative items). The assessment in this
checklist is based on a 4-point scale: Poor, Fair, Good, and Excellent. Sheldon’s
criterion of Linkage was also employed by us to make our own questionnaires for
both teachers and students.
The most recently, on December 14th 2015, the Vietnam MOET finished and
enacted the decision No 31/2015/TT- BGDDT on the checklist for English Textbook
evaluation and organization. The decision suggests the checklist under the following
categories: General prioritized attributes (4 evaluative items), Aims, Objectives and
Methodology (10 evaluative items); Content and Language Skills (22 evaluative
items); Layout and Graphics (5 evaluative items); Supplementary materials (3
evaluative items). The assessment in this checklist is based on the grading scale: 0

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 point, 1 point and 2 points. Supplementary materials category was also referred in
our survey.

2.1.5 Related Studies on Evaluation of the Textbook

Al-Hojailan, (1999) investigated the quality of the English third grade
secondary textbook, English for Saudi Arabia. The study used both quantitative data
collection methods and statistical test analysis, supported by qualitative data and
content analysis. The participants in the study were teachers and supervisors. The
questionnaire contained 8 criteria. The results of the study revealed support for the
book's Appearance, Accompanying materials, Academic content, Cultural content,
and Evaluation techniques. Disagreements appeared in terms of the national goals
and the teaching methods. The implications of the study included merging the
textbook, the Workbook, and the Writing Book; stating the educational goals in the
Teacher's Manual; inserting pictures in the book's cover to make it attractive;
increasing grammar; adding free composition, translation, and dictation; putting in
model tests; and updating the book's topics every five years.
Saeed Roshan (2014) investigated into the comparative critical evaluation of
New Interchange and New Headway Pre-intermediate series two, well-known series
employed in EFL/EFL contexts. The evaluation is done in terms of two assumptions;
firstly, cultural and ideological assumptions, and secondly, assumptions about
language, language learning and best practice. Findings reveal that both New
Interchange and New Headway texts reflect ideological and cultural assumptions
through their focus on the US and UK way of life respectively. The pictures and the
material are found biased towards the culture of these countries in their depiction of
local cities and lifestyles and in the inclusion of subjects.The study gives some
suggestions for improving the usability of these books in the context of Iran.
Most recently, Hoang Van Van, (2015) conducted a survey on “Teachers’
Evaluation of Primary English Textbooks for Vietnamese Schools Developed under
the National Foreign Language 2020 Project: A Preliminary Internal Survey” to get
evaluative feedback from the teachers who are using the primary English textbooks

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to find out their strengths and weaknesses so that further corrections and revisions
will be made to perfect the materials. The author used the questionnaire consisting of
52 items to ask teachers to evaluate the textbooks. The participants of the study were
teachers who are piloting the textbooks in 92 primary schools. The results of the
study have shown that teachers’ evaluations of the textbooks are very positive. The
textbooks are written with high quality, meeting most of the criteria for a modern
foreign language textbook and the requirements of MOET’s Pilot English
Curriculum for Vietnamese Primary Schools. The research results, however, have
also suggested that there are still some minor drawbacks of the textbooks in the
categories of “General issues” and “Components accompanying Student’s Book” that
need to be improved to perfect the materials before putting them into use on a large
scale.

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 Chapter 2 METHODOLOGY

2.1 Introduction
This chater will present the research method, research instrument,
survey procedure and the methods of data analysis
2.2 Research Method

2.2.1 Sites of the Research

The first intended research site to conduct the evaluation of the New
English Textbook, Tiếng Anh 10 is at two upper secondary schools in Ha Nam
Province namely, A-Binh Luc, and Ly Nhan Upper Secondary Schools. These
two schools are among six schools in Ha Nam which are piloting Tiếng Anh
10. Each school has two classes of this material trialling with the number of
students ranging from 40 to 45. All students in these classes passed the
proficiency test designed by Ha Nam Department Education and Training
(DOET) involving four English skills. More importantly, in each school, the
principal selected two qualified English teachers to try this material out.
Besides, the two schools targeted have good physical and teaching and
learning facilities such as standard classroom, sufficient CD players,
computers, etc.
The second research site to conduct the evaluation of the material is at
the 52 day workshop held in Hanoi University from November 10th to
December 31st, 2015.
2.2.2 The Subject of the Research:
The subject of the research is the New English Textbook, Tiếng Anh 10.

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2.2.3 The Participants
The participants of the research include English teachers who are
teaching the New English Textbook and 10th form students who are learning
from the textbook.
The participants of this research are four English teachers who are
teaching Tiếng Anh 10 at four above mentioned classes in Ly Nhan Upper
Secondary School and A-Binh Luc Upper Secondary School.
However, four intended English teachers in two above-metioned schools
are not enough for our survey. Luckily, in the workshop held at Hanoi
University, the researcher had an opportunity to meet with 74 school English
teachers in eight northen provinces. Among them, 26 teachers are usingTiếng
Anh 10 to teach their students. The reseacher invited them to be under the
survey in this study and they were willing to help.
Besides, the participants of the research are also 150 students learning at
Ly Nhan and A-Binh Luc Upper Secondary Schools. We chose these schools
for two main reasons. First, Ly Nhan Upper Secondary School is the place
where the researcher is working in and A-Binh Luc Upper Secondary School
used to be the place where the researcher studied at. Therefore, it is convenient
to collect the data from the students as well as their English teachers. Second,
these two schools are situated in the two big towns in Ha Nam Province. They
have students coming from both urban and rural areas. Accordingly, the data
got from students may be more objective.

2.2 Research Instrument

2.3.1 Questionnaire and Interview
To accomplish the aim as set above, questionnaire and interview were
employed as research instruments.

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 An email interview was also chosen for research instrument to get
opinions of the teachers. The reason is that the email interview reduces costs
associated with data collection and participants have time to think of their
responses before they send them, often leading to responses which are detailed,
thoughtful and richer (Mann & Stewart, 2000; McCoyd & Kerson, 2006: 397).
Informal interview was identified as the most appropriate method to
compliment the other main methods employed in this research to get opinion from
the students. The informal interviews were conducted after the survey information
had been obtained to clarify information from the surveys. The results of the
interviews were noted; any variance thus can be revealed and adjusted with other
methods.

2.2.1 Survey Procedure

Before sending the questionnaire to the students, the researcher contacted the
headmasters of the two schools, Ly Nhan Upper Secondary School and A-Binh Luc
Upper Secondary School where the intended students are learning to ask for
permission to carry out the survey. During the evaluation process, the respondents
could communicate directly with the researcher to receive detailed instructions to
ensure that all the items in the questionnaire were fully and accurately evaluated.
The researcher also asked for permission to carry out the survey for four
English teachers teaching in these four classes.
The survey for the teachers was carried out during the 52 day-workshops for
English teachers in the 2020 Project held in Ha Noi University from November to
December, 2015.
The questionnaires for both teachers and students were written in Vietnamese
(in this study it is translated into English) to make sure that all the items in the
questionnaires were equally understood.
After getting the data from the questionnaires, if the researcher was not clear
about the teachers’ answers or any evaluating items were left blanked, the email

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interview instrument could be used. Similarly, the formal interview instrument could
be used for the students if any of their answers were unclear enough. The interviews
surely helped the researcher clarify the responses of the teachers and the students in
the questionnaires.

2.2.2 Methods of Data Analysis

Data was quantitatively calculated using Microsoft Excel for statistics and was
converted into percentages from overall average percentage of 35 items to average
percentage of nine categories as described in Section 2.1.3, and to percentage of each
item. Then the percentage of those categories will be shown in the form of the
column chart for being clearly seen. For convenience of presentation and
observation, except for the overall evaluation and the evaluation of nine categories,
the evaluation of each item in each column on the five-point scale was analyzed and
presented following the order: the number of respondents and the percentage that
number accounts for out of 20 respondents of the textbook participating in the survey
(for more detail, see Appendices 1 and 2 [both English and Vietnamese Versions])

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 Chapter 3 FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
3.1 Recapitulation
Chapter 1 introduces the literature review. Chapter 2 presents research method,
research instruments, survey procedure and method of data analysis. This chapter,
chapter 3, will present the main findings from the questionnaire and discuss in some
detail these findings.

2.3 Overall Rating

The first questionnaires were sent to teachers in the early December, 2015 in
the Workshop at Ha Noi University and were returned to the author on the later days
of the same month. 30 teachers were under survey and all of them returned the
questionnaires, accounting for 100%.
The second questionnaires were sent to the students of two schools, Ly Nhan
Upper Secondary School and A Binh Luc Upper Secondary School on the last days
of their school year. They had just finished their final examinations and were going
to have their summer holidays so they were very ready to be under the survey. The
number of questionnaires delivered is the same as the number of those returned to the
author: 150, accounting for 100%.
From the results obtained, it can be said that, in general, both the teachers and
the students have a positive view of the quality of the New English Textbook, Tiếng
Anh 10. This can be seen from the table that, the overall rating of the teachers of
Tiếng Anh 10 on 35 items at the three scales Excellent, Very good and Good is high:
93.4%. The numbers of percentage are 19.6%, 37.3% and 36.5% respectively.
However, there is 6.6% of teachers rating the set of book as Not very good and no
one rated the book set as Not good.
The overall evaluation of the students of Tiếng Anh 10 on the 31 items is also
high with 86.1% (17.7% students rated this textbook set as Excellent, 25.2 % as Very
good and 43.2 % as Good. However, the percentage of students rated the book set as
Not very good is 11% and Not good is 2.9%).

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3.3 Teachers and Students’ Evaluation of the Textbook on Each Category

3.3.1. Teachers’ Evaluation of the Textbook on “Objectives” Category

3.3.2. Students’ Evaluation of the Textbook on “Contents” Category

3.3.3. Teachers and Students’ Evaluation of the Textbook on “Layout and Design”
Category

3.3.4. Teachers and Students’ Evaluation of the Textbook on “Topics” Category

3.3.5. Teachers and students’ evaluation of the textbook on “Language Skills”

Category

3.3.6. Teachers’ Evaluation of the Textbook on “Methodology” Category

3.3.7. Teachers and Students’ Evaluation of the Textbook on “Types of activities”

Category

3.3.8. The Teachers’ Evaluation of the Textbook on “Teaching aids” Category

3.3.9. Students’ Evaluation of the Textbook on “Supplementary materials” Category

3.3.10. Teachers’ Evaluation of the Textbook on “Linkage” Category

3.3.11. Teachers and Students’ Evaluation of the Textbook on “Cultural values”

Category
3.4 Summary of the main findings
3.4.1 Main findings for research question 1
Does Tiếng Anh 10 suit the teachers who are teaching it?
It is clearly seen that Tiếng Anh 10 meets the quality standards, 35 evaluating
items for teachers were given the high ratings. With the nine categories given to
teachers, Tiếng Anh 10 meets 6/9 categories accounting for above 90%, only 3/9
categories making up above 80% at three levels Exellent, Very good and Good. In

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general, 93.4% teachers rated the textbook as Excellent, Very good and Good over all
35 items
In general, basing on the scope of the study and the result drawn from the
analysis, it can be concluded that Tiếng Anh 10 is highly appropriate to Vietnamese
10th form students.
3.4.2 Main findings for research question 3
3.4.3 What are the strong points and weak points of the New English
Textbook, Tiếng Anh 10?
The following features were inferred to by teachers and students as the strong
and weak points regarding Tiếng Anh 10 involved in the study.
Strengths
a. The objectives were suitable for the 10 graders.
b. Beautiful coverage and quality of paper.
c. Familiar and varied topics, real and natural language.
d. Various and useful activities for four skills Listening, Speaking, Writing and
Reading.
e. The contents suit the learners’ current knowledge and culture
f. Teacher’s book and workbook are useful for teachers and learners.
Weaknesses
a. Lacking components accompanying the Student’s Book.
b. The quality of the audio CD is not as natural as that in the real conversation
c. Lacking fun elements.
3.5 Summary
This chapter has been concerned with the analysis of teachers and
students’ questionnaires, teachers and students’ interview about the quality of the
new Tiếng Anh 10. The findings have shown that Tiếng Anh 10 is highly appropriate
for the teachers and students. The findings have pointed out its strengths which meet
the quality criteria, although there are some minor weaknesses that need improving.

PART C: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

1. Conclusion

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 As mentioned, the aims of this survey research is to get the evaluative
feedback of the teachers and students who are teaching and who are learning from it
so as to establish its strengths and weaknesses and to see if it is suited the teachers
and students, we have conducted the study with the title: “Evaluating the quality of
the New English Textbook, Tiếng Anh 10 developed under the National 2020
Project”. The researcher hopes that the result of the study will be helpful for the book
writers to perfect the material, for the teachers to improve and adjust the teaching
methods, for students to raise their awareness of learning English not only as a
subject but also a means of communication. The research used a questionnaire of 35
items for teachers and 31 items for students as the main research instrument. Besides,
if the answer of any item was unclear, the researcher used the interview as the
additional instrument to clarify these points.
Of all the 35 evaluative items for the teachers and 31items for the students,
research results have indicated that both teachers and students’ evaluation of Tiếng
Anh 10 is very positive, in which the teachers appreciated the textbook higher than
students. However, both teachers and students’ overall average rating of all
evaluative items at three levels Excellent, Very good and Good are very high. This
allows the researcher to conclude that basically Tiếng Anh 10 is written with high
quality, meeting most of the criteria for a modern foreign language textbook, and, in
particular, it suits the teachers teaching it and students learning from it.
Research results, however, have also suggested that there are still some
minor drawbacks of the textbook in the categories of “Topics” item 13 and
“Supplementary” item 26 in the questionnaire for the students. These drawbacks
need to be improved to perfect the material before putting them into use on a large
scale.

2. Limitations

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 The study has revealed some limitations. Firstly, it is a small-scale study with
a limited coverage of 30 teachers and 150 students who are using the textbook as the
main materials for teaching and learning. The results, therefore, cannot be said to
fully reflect the overall picture of the textbook. Secondly, this research has only used
questionnaires for teachers and students, together with interview as the sole
instruments. If the class observation is exploited the research would be more
comprehensive and the research results would help to arrive at more convincing
conclusion. Finally, the research was only conducted on the Tiếng Anh 10. It should
be carried out on the textbook for grade 11 and 12 in the series of the textbooks for
the Upper Secondary Level. By doing so, we will come to a more general picture of
Tiếng Anh 10 in the English Textbook Series.
3. Suggestions for Further Studies
The following measures should be taken to overcome the above-mentioned
limitations.
First, the survey should be conducted on a large scale which involves greater
number of teachers.
Second, the data should be collected from students during class observation. In
addition, the data also should be collected from professionals who have history in
textbook evaluation.
Third, the study should focus on more evaluative criteria in order that the
research results will be more comprehensive and convincing.
Last but not least, there should be another research to measure the effectiveness
of this new English textbook 10.

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