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1. The role of textbooks in a language program

Textbooks always play a very important role in the process of language teaching and learning, no
matter how the methodologies of language teaching and learning change. Hutchinson and Torres
(1994) claim that
No teaching-learning situation, it seems, is complete until it has its relevant textbook.
Sharing the same opinion, Riazi (2003) believes that textbooks are the second most important
factor, surpassed only by the teacher in language education and maintains that the teacher must
know how to use their materials and how useful they can be.
To build up a language course, all of the program factors in effective second language teaching
should be examined including teaching materials of high quality that are carefully selected or
developed and regularly reviewed and revised to provide a sound curriculum (Richards, 2001). Once
appropriately studied, planned and developed, teaching material will surely bring the following
advantages:
1) Framework: A coursebook provides a clear framework: Teachers and learners know what they
are going to learn and teach next.
2) Syllabus: The coursebook serves as a syllabus: The carefully planned and balanced selection
of language content enables teachers and students to follow the subjects systematically.
EVALUATING EFL MATERIALS IN VIETNAMESE
STATE SCHOOLS: IN SEARCH OF A HANDY SURVEY
QUESTIONNAIRE
. Chung The Quang
*
*
M.A. Education Publishing House.
SUMMARY
From the perspective of an editor who has participated in the organizational processes of
compiling and editing the English textbooks being used in teaching and learning in all
secondary schools in Vietnam, the writer of the article summarizes some focus issues
about the role of teaching materials (textbooks) in teaching and learning languages in
general and foreign languages in particular, and the evaluation of teaching materials.
Based on the actual compilation and use of English textbooks in Vietnam, a questionnaire
which can be employed with other survey methods in the evaluation process of English
textbooks used in Vietnam has been suggested.
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3) Guidance: The coursebook can provide useful guidance and support particularly for teachers
who are inexperienced.
4) Autonomy: The learner can use the coursebook to learn new material, review and monitor
progress with some degree of autonomy. In doing so, he becomes less teacher-dependent. (Ur, 1996)
Considering the similar elements, Richards later (2001) demonstrates that the use of textbooks in
teaching has certain advantages, among which the most important ones to the Vietnam case are in
such full explanation as
1) They provide structure and a syllabus for a program.
2) They help standardize instruction.
3) They maintain quality. If a well-developed textbook is used, students are exposed to materials
which have been tried and tested, which are based on sound learning principles, and which are paced
appropriately.
4) They provide a variety of learning resources. Textbooks are often accompanied by workbooks,
CDs and cassettes, videos, CD ROMS, and comprehensive teaching guides, providing a rich and
varied resource for teachers and learners.
5) They are efficient.
6) They can provide effective language models and input. Textbooks can provide support for
teachers whose first language is not English and who may not be able to generate accurate language
input on their own.
7) They can train teachers.
8) They are visually appealing.
Along with playing the above-mentioned crucial roles and providing certain advantages when
used, textbooks should also be considered in relation to other elements in a language program. In
Vietnams case, in order to bring about effective learning outcomes, textbooks, with their key role,
should be considered at the very beginning of designing the course or developing a new program
based on the communicative language teaching approach.
2. Textbook Evaluation
After accepting the vital position of materials in the whole process of language instruction, we
can move to agree that evaluating textbooks is a must in order to keep improving the quality of
teaching and learning. As varied as the literature on the roles of textbooks is, the literature on textbook
evaluation is quite immense. Ansary and Babaii (2002) show that Various scholars have suggested
different ways to help teachers become more systematic and objective in their approach (cf. Chastain,
1971; Tucker, 1975; Candlin & Breen, 1979; Daoud & Celce-Murcia, 1979; Williams, 1983;
Hutchinson and Waters, 1987; Sheldon, 1988; Skierso, 1991; Ur, 1996; Littlejohn, 1996; to name
but a few.)
2.1. The Reasons for Evaluating Textbooks
There are many reasons for evaluating textbooks. Simply and understandably enough, Littlejohn
(1998) claims materials analysis and evaluation enable us to see 'inside' the materials and to take
more control over their design and use.
According to Cunningsworth (1995), among these reasons are:
1) To adopt a new coursebook.
2) To identify particular strengths and weaknesses in coursebooks already in use, so that optimum
use can be made of their strong points, whilst their weaker areas can be strengthened through adaptation
or by substituting material from other books.
Besides, in Riazis (2003) opinion, textbook evaluation may be carried out in order to
1) Select textbooks for a newly started language program.
2) Identify the strengths and weaknesses of the books.
3) To retain, update and/ or substitute the books.
Noticeably, the urge to evaluate materials comes from the following potential problems of textbooks
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which Ansary and Babaii (2002) have listed
1) No one textbook can be a response to all differing needs;
2) Topics in a textbook may not be relevant for and interesting to all;
3) A textbook is confining, i.e., it inhibits teachers creativity;
4) A textbook of necessity sets prearranged sequence and structure that may not be realistic and
situation-friendly;
5) Textbooks have their own rationale, and as such they cannot by their nature cater for a variety
of levels, every type of learning styles, and every category of learning strategies that often exist in
the class, and most important of all, perhaps;
6) Teachers may find themselves as mediators with no free hands, and may see themselves as
slave, in fact, to judgments of others about what is good and what is not. (Ur, 1996)
In Vietnam, English as a foreign language (EFL) textbook use appears to suffer from the problems
listed above. This is described by Cunningsworth (1995) as characteristics of schools in countries
where the syllabus is set centrally and where an officially approved coursebook is prescribed for
use and accordingly cause some disadvantages
1) There may be lack of variety in teaching procedures.
2) There is a reduced range of response to individual student needs and problems.
3) There may be a lack of spontaneity.
4) There is a sharply reduced level of creativity in teaching technique and language use.
Furthermore, the EFL textbooks currently being used in Vietnam are a created material, which
Richards (2001) defines as the material generally built around a graded syllabus and hence provide
a systematic coverage of teaching items. As an experienced professor, he notices there are some
potential negative effects.
1) They may contain inauthentic language.
2) They may distort content.
3) They may not reflect students needs.
4) They can deskill teachers.
5) They are expensive.
(Richards, 2001)
2.2. How to Evaluate Textbooks
As there are many reasons for evaluating textbooks, there are also many methods to implement
the evaluation as Richards (2001) believes that evaluation can only be done by considering something
in relation to its purpose and Riazi (2003) indicates that it can be carried out at the following
stages in the process of second/ foreign language instruction by teachers, administrators, ELT experts,
either individually or in collaboration
1) Selection of textbooks for a newly started language program.
2) Evaluation of books already in use in a language program to identify the strengths and
weaknesses of the books.
3) Evaluation of books after a course of instruction with the objective of retaining, updating,
and/or substituting the books.
4) Contribution to the knowledge of the field of second/foreign language education by unfolding
the underlying structure and methodology used in the textbooks and their efficiency and effectiveness
on students learning.
Although evaluation can be conducted at different stages, it does not mean that it is a simple or
single action, but an ongoing process which, as Grant (1987) identifies, consists of three stages
1) Initial evaluation: a quick process to decide whether the textbook available is likely to be
worth looking at more closely.
2) Detailed evaluation: a detailed process with questionnaire to decide how far the textbook suits
the teacher, learners, and syllabus.
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3) In-use evaluation: an evaluation necessary even if the textbook is already adopted to ensure
that the teacher is the master, and not the slave, of the textbook (Cunningsworth, 1984).
To assists teachers, ELT administrators and experts, and even textbook writers and material
developers in their approach to textbook evaluation Riazi (2003) has made a valuable investigation
into most of the available textbook evaluation schemes in the three decades within 1970s and 1990s
and helpfully summaries them in the following table.
Decade 1970s 1980s 1990s
Year 1975 1979 1983 1988 1991 1995 1996 1998
Checklist Davison Daoud & Williams Sheldon Skierso Cunnings Ur Littlejohn
Tucker Celce- -worth
Murcia
Table 2.1: Textbook evaluation schemes in three decades
Because of the difference in (1) the methodologies of language teaching and learning at specific
periods of time and consequently the role of teacher, learners and textbooks in such situation; (2) the
researchers purposes of evaluating, points of view and concern, the above-mentioned schemes
obviously have different categories, factors, tasks, checklists, etc.
With the aim to find out to what extent the textbook helps to achieve the aims stated in the
curriculum, this study is a kind of personal evaluation for personal interest in order to gain more
experience in career development and accordingly contribute to the organizational and social benefit.
Therefore, dealing with such characteristics and in such limitation of this study, Cunningsworths,
Littlejohns, and Richards points of view are more preferable.
In Cunningsworths (1995) classification, this study suggests a questionnaire for the in-use
evaluation for suitability as it
1) is carried out whilst the material is in use and to see whether it should be considered for
replacement,
2) involves matching the coursebook against a specific requirement including the learners
objectives, the learners background, the resources available, etc.
It should therefore follow these guidelines for evaluation.
1) Coursebooks should correspond to learners needs.
2) Coursebooks should reflect the uses (present or future) which learners will make of the language.
3) Coursebooks should take account of students needs as learners and should facilitate their learning
processes, without dogmatically imposing a rigid method.
4) Coursebooks should have a clear role as a support for learning. Like teachers, they mediate
between the target language and the learner.
Each evaluation is different to the others as far as the evaluators concerns are varied. For that
reason, the specific and relevant questions for each case are posed in various ways. However, no
matter how the questions are generated, Richards (2001) advises that they should relate to these
main factors:
1) Program factors - questions relating to concerns of the program
2) Teacher factors - questions relating to teacher concerns
3) Learner factors - questions relating to learner concerns
4) Content factors - questions relating to the content and organization of the material in the book
5) Pedagogical factors - questions relating to the principles underlying the materials and the
pedagogical design of the materials, including choice of activities and exercise types.
3. A suggested questionnaire for evaluating Vietnams in-use English textbooks
As an editor, I suggest the following questionnaire modified with the questions originated from
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opinions suggested in The Role of Textbooks in a Language Program by Jack C. Richards; Universal
Characteristics of EFL/ESL Textbooks: A Step Towards Systematic Textbook Evaluation by Hasan
Ansary and Esmat Babaii; and Selecting and Developing Teaching/ Learning Materials by Kenji
Kitao and S. Kathleen Kitao.
Totally, there are twenty-five questions divided into four categories:
1) Program factors: Questions 1 to 4 (4 questions in total)
To find out whether the textbook matches the defined curriculum, syllabus and language teaching
approach. However, the extent of this suitability is also implied or shown in the way the textbook
relates and supports other important elements like teacher and learner.
2) Teacher factors: Questions 5 to 7 (3 questions in total)
As textbooks have essential relation to teachers, there are arguably questions for teachers to
express their opinions. Actually, there are not only these three questions. The next four questions in
the next section also ask for teachers judgment on the textbooks for their learners benefit.
3) Learner factors: Questions 8 to 11 (4 questions in total)
To avoid confusion and misunderstanding, it is necessary to describe that this is the section for
teachers to evaluate the textbook according to the organic relation among teacher, textbook, and
learners. Besides, traditional Vietnamese learners, due to cultural constraints, are reluctant to provide
critical opinions about teaching and learning issues. Therefore, the presentation of the four questions
under learner factor sections may look somehow not actually reasonable enough, but the focus is
on teachers evaluation. (In fact, the subheadings of the sections are not printed in the questionnaire
sent to teachers.)
4) Content factors: Questions 12 to 25 (14 questions in total)
These are the essential questions to the design of the textbook, with
- Content regarding in topics, instructions, tasks for fluency practice in all language skills
listening, speaking, reading and writing (Questions 12 to 19; 8 questions in total);
- Design regarding the clarity of organization and graded system; attractiveness of illustrations;
and the cultural suitability of layout (Questions 20 to 25; 6 questions in total).
All of these questions are arranged in the most common type of summated scaling called Likert
scales to measure the strength of some opinion using a numerical valuable to indicate a persons
position on a number of questions (De Vaus, 2002).
For each question, there are four possible choices for teachers to check to express their opinions:
1. SA : Strongly agree
2. A : Agree
3. D : Disagree
4. SD : Strongly disagree
The questionnaire will be like this:
QUESTIONNAIRE
(Please check the box indicating your choice for each item.)
DEMOGRAPHICS

1. Gender:
Male Female
2. English Language Teaching (ELT) qualifications:
BA Postgraduate diploma in TESOL MA in TESOL
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Strongly Agree Disagree Strongly
agree disagree
1. The textbook matches the aims and objectives
of the curriculum.
2. The textbook matches the language teaching approach.
3. The textbook provides structure for a program.
4. The textbook provides a syllabus for a program.
5. The textbook provides enough tasks for teachers
to carry out in the program.
6. The textbook saves teachers time
in the process of teaching.
7. The textbook, together with Workbook, CD, cassette
and other supplementary materials,
is affordable to teachers.
8. The textbook takes into account students needs.
9. The textbook is socially and psychologically
appropriate for students.
10. The textbook encourages students to develop
their learning strategies.
11. The textbook encourages students to learn
more independently.
12. The textbook suggests interesting topics and tasks.
13. The textbook introduces varied topics and tasks
for different learning styles and interests.
14. The textbook provides clear instructions.
15. The textbook provides fluency practice
in the listening skill.
16. The textbook provides fluency practice
in the speaking skill.
17. The textbook provides fluency practice
in the reading skill.
18. The textbook provides fluency practice
in the writing skill.
19. The textbook provides appropriate contexts
and situations.
20. The content of the textbook is clearly organized.
21. The content of the textbook is clearly graded.
22. The textbook has attractive layout.
23. The textbook has clear layout.
24. The illustration in the textbook is attractive.
25. The illustration in the textbook is useful
to help students know about cultures.
OPINIONS ABOUT THE TEXTBOOK (Ti ng Anh 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, or 12)
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As the questionnaire is built with Likert scale, each teacher will receive a score when answering
each question. (The score depends on the answer chosen.) After that, the scores for each questions
will be added together to show each teachers overall score - the teachers position used in analyzing
findings.
Scale Score
Strongly agree 4
Agree 3
Disagree 2
Strongly disagree 1
Table 3.1: The scales and scores for the questionnaire
After the total scores for each informant have been added up, statistics will be made with frequency
counting, and percentage calculating, leading to the meaning extractable.
As mentioned above, this is just a personally-recommended questionnaire and consequently has
its own limitations, which can be supported by other research instruments.
I hope that this will be a minor contribution to help all of us in preparation for textbooks as well
as language program evaluating to improve the quality of English teaching and learning in Vietnam.
REFERENCE
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in language teaching. Oxford University Press.
2. Ansary, H. and Babaii, E. (2002). Universal Characteristics of EFL/ESL Textbooks: A Step towards Systematic
Textbook Evaluation. Internet TESL Journal. Vol. 8/2.
3. Breen, M. P., C. Candlin and A. Waters. (1979). Communicative Materials Design: Some Basic Principles.
RELC Journal. Vol. 10/2.
4. Cunningsworth, A. (1995). Choosing Your Coursebook. Oxford: Heinemann.
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ResandLinks/evaluating.html.
6. Dubin, F. and Olshtain, E. (1986). Course Design: Developing Programs and Mate-rials for Language Learning.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
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8. Grant, N. (1987). Making the Most of Your Textbook. New York: Longman Inc.
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TO M T T
a nh gia ta i li u gia ng da y ti ng Anh
ta i ca c tr ng cng Vi t Nam:
B ng phng pha p i u tra ba ng ho i
. ThS.Chung Th Quang
D i go c nhn cu a m t bin t p vin tham gia quy trnh t ch c bin soa n va bin
t p b sa ch gia o khoa Ti ng Anh ang c s du ng gia ng da y va ho c t p trong t t ca
ca c tr ng trung ho c ph thng ta i Vi t Nam, ba i vi t to m l c m t s v n tro ng tm
v vai tro cu a ta i li u gia ng da y (sa ch gia o khoa) trong vi c da y - ho c ngn ng no i
chung va ngoa i ng no i ring, cu ng nh vi c a nh gia ta i li u gia ng da y. Cn c va o
th c t bin soa n va s du ng sa ch gia o khoa Ti ng Anh ta i Vi t Nam, ng i vi t ngh
m t ba ng cu ho i co th s du ng ke m v i ca c phng pha p kha o sa t a nh gia kha c
trong qua trnh a nh gia sa ch gia o khoa phu c vu cng ta c gia ng da y ti ng Anh ta i Vi t
Nam.