but lack the soft skills to convert knowledge into a profession. English is ... This series of books prepared for grade three, four and five lays the foundation ... Ministry of Education improving English literacy rate of all Sri Lankan school children ..... each unit is given over to grammar-related presentation and practice material.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1 Introduction ................................................................1 Chapter 2 Literature Review ...................................................... 9 Chapter 3 Methodology ............................................................25 Chapter 4 Content Analysis ...................................................... 33 Chapter 5 Conclusion ............................................................... .82
Bibliography ...............................................................................88 Appendices ................................................................................. 96 Appendix 1 ............................................................................... 96 Appendix 2 ............................................................................... 103 Appendix 3 ............................................................................... 108
List of Figures
Figure 1 Distribution of Sample in Terms of Gender
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Figure 2 Distribution of Sample in Terms of Qualifications
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Figure 3 Distribution of Sample in Terms of Teaching Experience
28
Figure 4 Selected Topics are Familiar to the Students
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Figure 5 Selected Topics Enhance Learners' Motivation
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Figure 6 Course Book has a List at the end for New or Difficult Words
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Figure 7 Course Book Contains Self - Check Progress Reports
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Figure 8 Overall Analysis of 'Content'
40
Figure 9 Paradigm Used to Introduce Grammatical Rules is Clear and Simple 42 Figure 10 Overall Analysis of 'Grammar'
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Figure 11 New Lexical Items are Graded According to the Principle of Immediate Use
45
Figure 12 New Lexical Items Appear in the Following Units
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Figure 13 Overall Analysis of 'Vocabulary'
47
Figure 14 Pronunciation is Built through Different Types of Activities
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Figure 15 There are Cassettes/ CDs for Pronunciation Practice
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Figure 16 Overall Analysis of 'Phonology'
50
Figure 17 There is Practice in the Four Language Skills
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Figure 18 Overall Analysis of 'Language Skills'
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Figure 19 Course Books Discuss and Identifies Areas of Student Needs
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Figure 20 Overall Analysis of 'Methodology
61
Figure 21 Course Books Contain Advices on Study Skills Development
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Figure 22 There are Some Materials for Independent Work
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Figure 23 Overall Analysis of 'Study Skills'
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Figure 24 Overall Analysis of 'Visuals'
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Figure 25 Course Books Provide Communicative Exercises that Enable Learners to Carry Out Their Communicative Tasks in Real - Life Situations
67
Figure 26 Workbook Activities are Done in Class & as Homework
69
Figure 27 Overall Analysis of 'Practice & Testing'
70
Figure 28 Posters and Flash Cards Accompanying the Book are Attractive and 71 Suitable Figure 29 Time Required to Complete Both Text & Work Books is Adequate 73 Figure 30 Overall Analysis of 'Objectives'
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Figure 31 Overall Analysis of 'Content Selection'
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Figure 32 There is a Systematic and Balanced Recycling of All Items
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Figure 33 Overall Analysis of 'Gradation and Recycling'
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Figure 34 All Teachers are Provided with the Teacher's Manual
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Figure 35 Overall Analysis of 'Teacher's Manual’
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Chapter 1 Introduction 1.1 Introduction
English education is considered as a passport for everyone seeking better employment opportunities and social advancement. Sri Lanka as a nation and an island was under the British colonization for nearly 200 years and during this period schools where medium of instruction was English and supported by government and maintained by the elite were initially introduced to the Sri Lankan education system. During the period of 1931 – 1947 during which Dr. C. W. W. Kannangara held office as the minister of education, Sri Lankan education system stepped forward with a wealth of achievements. As mentioned in Education For All National Action Plan (2002) Dr. C. W. W. Kannangara implemented a system for the common people to access quality English education in order to eliminate injustices and social disparities existed as a result of the prevailed education system where only who could afford to pay were provided quality English education facilities. As a result, free English education was provided through central schools, which was a new concept of existed school organization, accommodating bright students from primary grades who pursued studies in first language to study in English medium with the aim of providing quality education.
In 1956, with the official languages act, it was decided that the national languages would be the media of instruction and English would be taught only as a second language. This decision led to a decline in the knowledge of English and the students were deprived of acquiring knowledge on science and technology, commerce and industry, etc resulting in a shortage of personnel capable of contributing to social and economic development of the nation. 1
At present, recognizing the importance of being proficient in English language which is the gate way to modern knowledge as well as advantageous in an innumerable other aspects, teaching and learning of English is being practiced primary grades onwards. Further, several measures have been taken to upgrade the standards and strengthen the process of formal teaching and learning of English language. Therefore, a critical evaluation of the series of ‘Let’s Learn English’ primary grade English language textbooks, which lays the foundation for our student’s formal English language learning process could be considered as a vital requirement to discover whether selected material of the books cater to the interests of both urban and rural students and help meet the objectives of the curriculum enhancing the motivation necessary to support the learning of English providing required knowledge and skills for future learning purposes.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
English the language of upward mobility and the international language of commerce and business develops personnel capable of contributing to social and economic advancement. Knowing the language has always been advantageous to link with the private sector job market and seek employment positions overseas. English is also the gateway through which anybody could access modern knowledge through information technology. Therefore, it is absolutely imperative that improving English language skills of Sri Lankan students or the future of our nation should be strengthened further.
Although much research has been done by many educationists, linguists and sociologists on the effectiveness of English language programs introduced to the school system in Sri Lanka since independence in mid 1900s, much of them have been criticized as unsuccessful efforts based on two factors. Firstly, it is being argued 2
that majority of the candidates do not achieve satisfactory marks at the G.C.E. O/L examination (General Certificate of Education Ordinary Level Examination). An article published in Daily News of 17th March 2011 states that according to the Minister of Education the pass percentage of Mathematics, Science and English is 61.61, 59.80 and 41.41 respectively in the year 2010.In the year 2004, it has been 30%. Secondly, the Sri Lankan youth lacks the required proficiency in English to compete in the private sector job market as well as to seek job opportunities abroad. Sunday Times dated 15th January 2012 reveals that many qualified youth in Sri Lanka tend to possess the ‘technical skills’ or appropriate academic qualification for a job but lack the soft skills to convert knowledge into a profession. English is often taught as a subject rather than as a skill for the world of work. Moreover, the medium of instruction of majority of courses offered in Sri Lankan universities is English and it is an undeniable truth which is proven through much research that majority of the undergraduates in Sri Lankan national universities lack adequate talents in English to pursue studies in English which has resulted in a considerable number of students who succeeded to seek an opportunity of pursuing free higher education to abandon the courses. Further, with the continuing globalization, need of creating multilingual individuals has become a vital requirement and being proficient in English or the ‘international language’ in future undeniably will open up new opportunities locally as well as internationally for our children who are the future of our nation. Therefore, a critical evaluation of the series of ‘Let’s Learn English’ primary grade English language coursebooks, which lays the foundation for our children’s formal English language learning process, could be considered a vital requirement to discover whether selected material of the books help meet the objectives of the curriculum and enhance the motivation necessary to support the learning of English providing required knowledge and skills for future learning purposes.
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1.3 Significance of the study
There are different views pertaining to the significance of evaluating materials used for teaching English. Rod Ellis (1997) considers retrospective evaluation of teaching materials as significant because it provides teachers with information regarding the strengths and weaknesses of the used syllabus. Further the teaching materials directly influence the teaching and learning process determining what should be taught in language teaching programs. Therefore, material evaluation could be considered as an educational necessity through which we could determine the extent the curriculum objectives is met.
Nunan (1988 cited in Alamri, 2008) states that the teaching materials play an important role within the curriculum and ‘do more than simply lubricate the wheels of learning’. A best teaching material would provide best lessons which are desirable for classroom practice. Nunan (1988 cited in Alamri, 2008) further defines the evaluation of materials as a process of measuring the value of learning materials.
Rod Ellis (1997) shows that evaluation of teaching materials help teachers to choose the ‘best suited materials available to them’ by carrying out a predictive evaluation on the materials available to them, because they often face with the task of choosing what teaching materials to use.
Weir and Roberts (1994 cited in Alamri, 2008) gives two key reasons for evaluating teaching materials. They first say that an evaluation would provide evidence to theoretical arguments on which directions should be followed in teaching a language or in teacher education. Secondly, it is considered as a tool to show the appropriateness of certain approaches or techniques used in language teaching under 4
given conditions and whether the techniques help meeting the claims expected from them. The series of primary grade English textbooks named ‘Let’s Learn English’ which are proposed for evaluation were developed with the assistance of the ‘Primary English Language Project’ as a part of Sri Lankan new educational reforms program in 2000. This series of books prepared for grade three, four and five lays the foundation to the formal and crucial stage of English language learning process of Sri Lankan students. Therefore, it is of high importance that these books motivates and excites the students’ interest thoroughly presenting the fundamentals of English language learning in an age appropriate manner. This makes the evaluation of this series of textbooks a significant initiative revealing their strengths and weaknesses and determining the extent to which the objectives set out in the curriculum are achieved. “If we take care of the elementary stage the advanced stage will take care of themselves” (Palmer 1922 cited in Alamri, 2008, page 13).
English, the language of international commerce and transaction has been the second language of the island Sri Lanka for nearly a half a decade. At present it performs as the link language between the multiple ethnicities bringing all of them on mutual grounds linguistically. Therefore, the ability of evaluating this series of textbooks could be considered of high importance to achieve designated learning goals by the Ministry of Education improving English literacy rate of all Sri Lankan school children irrespective of their social, economical or geographical backgrounds, and serving a possible guide for similar future textbook evaluations. This study could reveal the strengths as well as weaknesses of the textbooks and determine whether they need supplementation and modifications for optimal learning. The ultimate results of the textbook evaluation would help make appropriate recommendations for 5
the curriculum planners, course designers and the decision makers in order to improve the quality of the books which will benefit the entire school system. This study will also instruct the teachers to use the areas where they can achieve the set goals optimally, and show the parts that they need to use supplementary materials in order to make the learning and teaching process a success.
1.4 Research questions
A textbook is of much value in a context where English is taught as a second language for primary grade students of 9 – 10 years in age. Content of a textbook reflects the curriculum in general reflecting the predetermined learning and teaching objectives, and it has a great impact on the learner’s understanding of the knowledge associated with the topics specified in the materials of the textbook. Teachers could use it for different purposes. It is sometimes used as the main source of teaching, a source of supplemental material, and as a material to inspire classroom activities. Cunnigswoth (1995 cited in Al – Yousef 2007) states that a textbook could play various roles. It is a resource to present materials covering required language skills such as spoken and written including learner practice activities. A textbook is also a reference source on pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary, reading, etc for students who use it as a self directing learning item. It can be of immense support for less experienced teachers ‘who have yet to gain in confidence’. The series of primary grade English textbooks named ‘Let’s Learn English’ could be considered the foundation stone of formal English language learning and teaching process in Sri Lankan government school system. Therefore, with the aim of analyzing strengths and weaknesses and making appropriate recommendations to improve the quality of the series of the books, this study investigates the following research questions: 6
To what extent does the content of the course book meet the set objectives? To what extent is the course book free of any mistakes and errors? Is the incorporation and teachability of all four language skills are at satisfactory level? With respect to what categories do the books need to improve on? What are the categories perceived as strengths and weaknesses of the book?
1.5 Hypotheses of the study
The study aims to test the following hypotheses: The content of the course book meets the set objectives. The course book is free from errors. Incorporation and teachability of all four language skills are at satisfactory level. The course book does not require further improvements in any of the categories.
1.6 Limitations of the study
This study has several limitations. First and foremost, this study was only concerned with the evaluation of the primary grade English course books: grade three, four and five due to lack of time and concerning the quality of the research being carried out. Further, the grades 3 – 5 syllabus is an evolution from the primary curriculum framework proposed under the new educational reforms of the National Education Commission which lays the foundation to the formal learning and teaching process of English language in Sri Lankan government schools.
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Secondly, the research was restricted to government, semi government as well as private schools where the primary grade English syllabus introduced by the National Institution of Education is being used in order to initiate English as a Second Language learning and teaching process formally. The international school sector in Sri Lanka pursues the Edexcel and Cambridge syllabus and as a result the international school sector had to be excluded from the study.
Moreover, the number of schools and the areas covered for data collection had to be limited to Southern and Western Provinces of the island due to time limitations. Therefore, the number of the participants in the survey was small, which resulted in a small population of the
targeted
experimental group excluding accurate
representation of the diverse population of ESL teachers in the country. This limits the generalization of the study findings.
Finally, the evaluative criteria used to evaluate the course books are only a few of the numerous possible sets of criteria which could be used to evaluate a course book.
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Chapter 2 Literature Review
2.1 Introduction
This Chapter expounds the related theoretical and empirical studies done previously which strengthen the concepts presented in this research work. The chapter begins by presenting the importance of evaluating text books, and teaching/ learning materials when teaching English as a second language. This chapter ends with the researcher’s attempts to incorporate psychological aspects associated with second and foreign language acquisition of children.
2.2 Evaluation of Text Books, Teaching and Learning Materials
Literature on textbook evaluation is vast and the most significant and relevant literature will be presented in this study with the aim of investigating theories and experiments contributed in successful evaluation of textbooks. O’Neill (1982) suggests four explanations for using textbooks. Firstly, he explains that a textbook can be of much importance in terms of its content even if it is not specifically designed for them. Next, it helps students to continue with the subsequent lessons and refer back to previous lessons for revision purposes. Thirdly, he explains that textbooks are practical sources which could provide well designed material for less cost. And lastly, a well designed textbook improves a teacher’s creativity and adaptation and helps students improve their spontaneous interaction in the class. Rod Ellis (1997) distinguished between two types of material evaluations named 9
predictive evaluation and retrospective evaluation. According to Ellis, predictive evaluation is about making decisions regarding the materials that can be used in a textbook, while retrospective evaluation is about examining materials that have actually been used. Through retrospective evaluation, teachers could be given the information regarding the strengths and weaknesses of the used syllabus. It also serves "as a means of testing the validity of a predictive evaluation, and may point to ways in which the predictive instruments can be improved for future use" (Eliss, 1997, p. 37).
Material evaluation is always given an important position in designing a syllabus of any subject. According to Taba-Tyler (1962, in Al – Yousef, 2007) through a CB evaluation the extent to which the curriculum objectives are met in the designed syllabus could be decided. According to Low (1989, in Al – Yousef, 2007) the teaching materials play a major role in determining what to be taught in language teaching programs. Sharp (1990) identifies an "illuminative evaluation" of courses where less concern is given on prediction and measurements and more concern given on description and interpretation.
Many researchers present checklists supported by a generalizable criteria. A range of methods are used in these checklists to assess how well a textbook could be measured up to certain standards. According to the seventy checklists of English Language Textbooks reviewed by Farr and Tulley (Al – Yousef, 2007) the number of criteria on the checklists has ranged from forty two to hundred and eighty items. A different framework for textbook analysis has been recommended by (Skierso, 1991). According to her, in order to evaluate a course material, firstly information about students' background, the course syllabus, and the learning context should be collected. She then divides the course material into the five subsections: bibliographical data, aims and goals, subject matter, vocabulary and structures, layout and physical makeup. 10
Sheldon (1988) presents a broad checklist of fifty three questions categorized under seventeen major criteria which includes factors such as accessibility, content, layout and authenticity.
An expansive checklist of evaluation criteria for English as a Second or Foreign Language (ESL/EFL) teaching material, upon which the TET (see appendix 1) of this research work is based has been produced by Cunningsworth in 1995. “The category of language content addresses how language form, language functions, and patterns of communicative interaction are organized” (Al – Yousef, 2007).
For each category of evaluation Cunningsworth puts forward certain evaluation criteria. His checklist for evaluation and selection contains forty five criteria in eight categories: aims and approaches, design /organization, language content, study skills, topic, methodology, teacher's book, and practical considerations such as cost and obtainability.
Cunningsworth suggests several questions to be analyzed under the category of organization of the book. Firstly, he analyses the techniques used for recycling and reinforcement, and the availability of reference sections. Then, he examines the availability of a list of new vocabulary items for students’ reference and whether the material is suitable to be utilized in a self-study mode. Finally, studies the availability of keys to exercises and the time duration specified for each unit.
He has also investigated the four sub-categories; grammar, phonology vocabulary and language skills on language content. In Grammar, he first analyses the grammar items included in the material and whether they correspond to students’ language needs. Considering the presentation and treatment of form and use of grammar items of the 11
materials, Cunningsworth examines whether they are small enough units for easy learning and how balanced the treatment of form and use are. In Phonology he focuses on how thoroughly and systematically the aspects of the phonological system such as individual sounds, word stress, sentence stress, intonation, etc. are covered. Further, he examines whether the pronunciation work is built on other types of work, such as listening, dialogue, practice, etc., or stand separately, and the availability of cassettes for pronunciation practice.
With reference to vocabulary Cunninsworth pays attention in examining the principle basis for selection of vocabulary and the distinction between active and passive vocabulary, and classroom vocabulary. Also, the learners’ preparation to the structure of the lexicon through vocabulary learning exercises based on semantic relationships, formal relationships, and collocations are examined. As language skills, Cunningsworth observes the practice in all four skills, its balance, skills which are not being practiced as language skills, use authentic reading material at an appropriate level, kinds of comprehension questions asked, how CB uses authentic listening material at an appropriate level, how accuracy and fluency are balanced in speaking and writing and whether they both are controlled in communicative exercises.
He similarly introduces criteria for the other categories, and under methodology emphasizing learner needs he examines whether the material discusses and identifies areas of student need and the book sensitive to what students need in order to learn well.
Focusing on principles and approaches of a CB, the extent to which the book encourages deductive or inductive approach to learning, or a balance of both and how accuracy is balanced with fluency are analyzed. Similarly, the extent to which the learners are encouraged to use language creatively, the attitude towards error and the attitude towards the use of students' mother tongue are also examined. 12
Considering incorporation of visuals, Cunningsworth attempts to study the purpose of their usage; whether the visuals in the book are used as an integral part of teaching or they are essentially decorative. Further, their practicality, reasonability, production and attractiveness are also observed. Study skills are analyzed by observing the reflection of study skills on study techniques, incorporation of advice on study skills development, how students are encouraged to take some degree of responsibility for their learning, and the availability of materials for independent work.
With the aim of evaluating the teacher's manual, Cunningsworth considers several factors included in it. Firstly, he studies the components included in the teacher's book and whether it is written so as to be comprehensible enough for less experienced teachers. He further examines the suitability of the teachers’ manual for native and non-native speakers and whether the underlying approach of the writers expressed clearly and explicitly. Moreover, the inclusion of cultural explanation to enable teachers which they are unfamiliar with, for example, British life styles to interpret and exploit appropriately with the situations portrayed in the CB is examined. He also considers the predictions made on learning difficulties and the advice given to overcome them, availability of keys to exercises and other activities, regular progress tests, guidelines for evaluating progress of lessons, and the photocopiable additional materials. Addressing the evaluation of textbook's content, Hartley (1992, in Al – Yousef, 2007) presents the three content areas: teaching objectives, depth and breadth of material, and supplementary material required, which are in par with the evaluation criteria recommended by Cunningsworth in 1995. Xu (2004, in Al – Yousef, 2007) based on the literature review and the interviews of practicing ESL teachers developed a predictive textbook evaluation questionnaire. The developed questionnaire is of thirteen categories including eighty criteria. The 13
thirteen categories are: content, activities, language, culture, communication, evaluation, organization, format, reliability, supplementary components, literacy, marketability and legacy. According to Al-Yousef (2007) Xu's study also revealed that when evaluating a textbook , teachers and supervisors refer to the use of standard English and quality of language in the textbook and good editing, an attractive design and layout, easy access to components and content for organizing instruction, evidence of a developmental progression of content, topics that are of relevance and interest to students, educational validity, an assessment of costs and durability, a wide variety of activities, a sufficient number of practice activities that fit all parts of the learning process, many activities on a similar theme or topic, follow-up questions for all readings, contemporariness of the curricular content, activities which promote communication, and activities that meet the needs of multi-level classes.
As stated by Jarvis and Adams (1979, in Al – Yousef, 2007) curriculum evaluation contains all the components essential for curriculum i.e. educational objectives, the content, the teaching strategies, and the evaluation techniques. It is also stated that materials should be analyzed descriptively before starting the evaluation process.
Rea-Dickens (1994) presents three kinds of evaluation to materials. Firstly, she introduces an evaluation type which can be done prior to the use of a CB for the purpose of checking the construct validity and the match with needs. The second and third styles of evaluation she presents can be done while using the CB, and after the use of CB which is measured in terms of learners’ performance respectively.
She supports her arguments further giving more attention to evaluation done while using the CB and evaluation done after the use of CB. According to Skierso (1991, in 14
Al – Yousef, 2007) an evaluation of the material can be carried out using criteria such as bibliographical data, aims and goals, subject matter, vocabulary and structures and layout and physical make up, after collecting some background information about the learner, the teacher, the course, and the institutional objectives.
Skierso emphasizes the importance of evaluating the teacher's manual, as part of material evaluation, which could be done using the criteria such as general features, supplementary exercises, methodological and pedagogical guidance and linguistic background information.
A material evaluation scheme related not only for language teaching assumptions but linguistic and the pedagogical components which are associated with these assumptions have been introduced by Williams (1983). The assumptions related with the scheme are: (1) An up-to date methodology of second language teaching (2) Needs of learners, (3) Guidance for nonnative speakers of English, and (4) Relevance to socio-cultural environment. He suggests an EFL/ESL textbook evaluation questionnaire including seven criteria in twenty eight categories. The seven criteria are: general, speech, grammar, vocabulary, reading, writing, and technical. “While the first criterion, general, "embrace global considerations of methodology, the needs of the learner, the teacher, and the community" (Williams, 1983, p. 352), the technical criterion is concerned with "the quality of editing and publishing; the availability of supplementary material; cost and durability of the text; authenticity of language and style of the writer, etc." (Al – Yousef, 2007).
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According to Williams such a checklist is considerably comprehensive and the teachers could develop a set of criteria appropriate for different educational levels or language teaching situations. “He also argues that the validity of certain criterion can be certified by seeking the judgments of other teachers or linguists” (Al – Yousef, 2007).
Güntek (2005) evaluating the new ENG 101 course, Development of Reading and Writing Skills 1, in order to find out about the effectiveness of the course in terms of the goals and objectives, methods and materials and evaluation procedures, designed three questionnaires and an interview document. The questionnaires were distributed among twenty one instructors and two hundred and fifty five students. In addition, interviews were carried out with nine instructors and one administrator. Feedback was obtained from the term - end evaluation meeting. Another questionnaire was designed and given to nineteen instructors to evaluate the course book, English for Academic Purposes. Data was analyzed using quantitative data, descriptive statistics, a one-way ANOVA and t-test. Significant differences were there in English language skills of the fresh study group and the more advanced study group. Qualitative data gained from interviews, open ended questions and feedback from end course meeting was analyzed using content analysis. According to results the participants were satisfied with the course as most of the answers given in the questionnaires were of moderate preference, which meant that all groups had generally approving perceptions about the effectiveness of the ENG101 in terms of achieving objectives, effectiveness of the methods, materials used, evaluation procedures and the course book. Complaints about teachers’ workload, too many writing tasks, and insufficient language input and time constraints were highlighted. As a result, along with administrative decisions certain modifications were carried out in order to rectify the above. 16
In 2002, adopting Cunningsworth’s (1995) four general guidelines an evaluation was carried out with particular emphasis on the syllabus and methodology used. Ranalli (2002) evaluating the course book named the New Headway Upper-Intermediate has suggested several guidelines for textbook evaluation. She suggests that course books should correspond to learners' needs and should reflect the uses (present and future) which learners will make of the language. It is further stated that course books should take account of students’ needs as learners and should facilitate their learning processes, without dogmatically imposing a rigid method and should have a clear role as a support for learning.
Ranalli (2002) identifies the CB under study as an example of content-based approach to syllabus specification, where the success of learning is judged by mastering those itemized vocabulary, grammatical structures, and language skills. Therefore, content is graded according to three major categories: grammar, vocabulary and a postscript. Approximately one-fourth to one-third of the material in each unit is given over to grammar-related presentation and practice material. Vocabulary is selected, graded, and correspond directly to aspects of word knowledge, e.g. multiple meanings (Units four and twelve), rules of word formation (Units three and six); and collocation (Units two, five, seven and eight). The "postscript" section includes categories of communicative function, topics, themes or communicative and cognitive skills. For this category, Ranalli uses the epithet "a catch-all category" which includes functional language (Unit five), a lexical set of time expressions (Unit ten), and discourse features of conversation (Unit twelve). Cross-cultural items have also been used in unit 6, English Sign, which the author declares it is not relevant for the Korean learners. The used methodology resembles the Presentation-Practice-Production (or PPP) approach, where a unit in the book starts with a semi-authentic text meant to provide a context for examples of the target language, followed by controlled practice activities. 17
Kim (2001) developed his own Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) criteria to study the 6th and 7th grade national Korean English curricula. The research had two aims. First, to develop appropriate CLT criteria for 4th grade elementary school pupils who begin learning EFL in Korea. The second purpose was to examine how the curriculum change affects one component of the curriculum, and the materials. Perceptions of the curriculum and material change were considered from three perspectives: three teachers, a policy maker and 20 a researcher. It was revealed that opinions from the three perspectives vary considerably. The study also found that despite the recent attempt to implement CLT-based elementary EFL, there are still deficiencies in the Korean elementary EFL curriculum and materials, such as the use of the Audio-lingual approach in teaching the 7th curriculum material set.
2.3 Psychology in Child Second and Foreign Language Acquisition
According to (Smith, 1983 in Klein, 1986) second language acquisition requires a ‘stronger dominance and functional specialization’. Speaking English primarily as a second language through out the world rather than as a first language exemplifies the dominance acquired by second language learning & teaching. And, psychology plays a vital role in the acquisition of a language and studying psycholinguistics is imperative for a study in which child second language acquisition is discussed. According to Whorf, language is the most important factor in shaping the speaker’s view of the world and his thought process in general. Therefore this section of the chapter is devoted to an investigation of studies on psychology of learning a language with special focus on child second and foreign language acquisition.
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2.3.1 Social Psychology
Giles and St Clair (1979) considering social psychology in learning languages stresses that learning a second or foreign language in a school situation is often considered an ‘educational phenomenon’, and learning a second language as a part of the school curriculum is considered as similar as any other school subject. They further reveal that in acquiring a second language, the student is faced with the task of not simply learning new information like vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation, etc which is part of his own culture but acquiring symbolic elements of a different ethnolinguistic community. “The new words are not simply new words for old concepts, the new grammar is not simply a new way of ordering words, and the new pronunciations are not merely different ways of saying things. They are characteristics of another ethnolinguistic community” (Giles & St Clair, 1979).
Furthermore, these characteristics of the other ethnolinguistic community are not being learnt by students but acquired to make them part of their own language reservoir. This is simply incorporating elements of another culture into one’s own culture. Thus, the student’s conformity with his own cultural community and his ability to identify with other cultural communities become important considerations in the process of second language acquisition. As Giles and St Clair mentions Lambert in 1963 is considered the first to propose a social psychological theory of second language acquisition. According to him, a successful individual acquiring a second language gradually adopts symbolic elements of a different ethnolinguistic community, and his/ her ethnocentric tendencies and attitudes towards the community determine his/ her success of acquiring the new language. Further, the motivation of learning is determined by attitude and orientation towards learning a second 19
language. This study provided the foundation to much other research on social psychology on second language acquisition. For example: Gardner & Lambert 1972.
When talking about social identity, it is argued that (Klein, 1986) first language acquisition is closely related with the child’s social development, and links to the evolution of the child’s social identity, whereas this will not affect to the same extent to second language acquisition.
2.3.2 Critical Period
Critical Period theory is of considerable relevance for second or foreign language learning. Considering age as a factor affecting second language acquisition, studies have proven that there is a definite period in course of child’s growth which is adequately suitable for language acquisition. This parallel development is called Critical Period of language acquisition. When the child grows mentally and physically, the language too develops parallely. This period is from 18 months to puberty and within this period the child acquires language without difficulty.
In 1967 Lenneberg popularized the idea of Critical Period Hypothesis introduced by Penfield and Roberts. He introduced the original Critical Period Hypothesis, through which he mainly concentrated upon first language acquisition. It is stated that during this period (from 18 months to puberty period or 13 years) a child acquires a language easily and encounters difficulties the period beyond. He illustrates the common relationship between language development and biological factors in acquiring a language.
According to Noam Chomsky children possess a Language Acquisition Device (LAD) in their heads. This LAD functions as an unseen device of the brain that helps 20
children to acquire the structure and words of a language without any conscious efforts. But, after childhood the LAD starts malfunctioning. As Golinkoff and Hirsh – Pasek states (in Klein, 1986) during childhood acquisition of either a native or second language is closely associated with the developing mind. And the adults’ acquisition of language is associated with a developed mind. “Most adults who learn a foreign language have accent; in some cases, the accent can be quite strong and noticeable. Children, on the other hand, pick up the sounds pretty much as the native speaker makes them, seemingly without much effort” (Klein, 1986). The studies by (Gjerlow & Obler, 1999) reveal that adults’ ability to learn a second language differs from individual to individual significantly, and many of the adults who attempt learning a second language after puberty could acquire ‘grammatical competence and lexical knowledge’ to a fair degree. Still they have the ability of maintaining a proper accent.
According to (Wilkins, 1972) age is considered a relevant variable which affects learning of a second or foreign language. The potential of learning a second or foreign language changes with age, and it is hypothesized that as the person grows old the capacity of learning a language decreases. As a result, the amount of foreign language teaching that is being done in primary schools is taken into consideration to a greater extent.
“The evidence that language learning is an easier process at an early age comes from a number of different sources. It is found most strikingly in any language contact situation, that is to say a situation in which groups speaking one language 21
live in proximity to and interaction with speakers of another language” (Wilkins, 1972).
It has further been proved through observations of new immigrants and children brought up by bilingual parents. It is stated that to implement learning foreign languages as a regular part of a child’s primary education, a major administrative responsibility would be required. A young child under the exact exposure required, a higher level of proficiency can be expected. A child who starts learning a foreign language at primary school will acquire a better pronunciation of that language than an older learner.
Therefore, it is evident that certain factors related with language acquisition are recognized with maturation rather than solely to learning.
Bilinguals are categorized into two general types. Firstly the group of bilinguals who learn speaking two languages in natural speech situations either consecutively or concurrently. Secondly the group of bilinguals who learn a second language formally as in school. These two categories are named as primary and secondary bilinguals respectively.
Weinreich 1964 notes that the basic linguistic problem encountered by bilinguals is interference, where one of the speaker’s languages influences on the other. He identifies interference a phonological, morphological, semantic and pragmatic. He further describes interference as an unavoidable impediment for bilinguals where anyone at least in theory shows influence of one language upon the other to a certain extent regardless of circumstances of acquisition. He therefore, identifies interference as uni or bi directional in primary bilingualism and unidirectional in secondary bilingualism. 22
It is argued that interlingual interference is far more striking a problem in secondary than in primary bilingualism. Also, types of bilingualism could appear irrespective of the learning situation. So, in such an occasion a monolingual who studies a second language in a school environment has the capacity of forming a ‘coordinate system’ through the first and second language, which is also the ultimate result expected in modern language teaching. Concerning child bilingualism, it has been argued that child language learning differs from adult language learning qualitatively despite the number of languages learnt. Also, it is mentioned that although the particular languages in a given context may produce more or less interference, unlike adult bilingualism childhood bilingualism will not have effect on later ability to learn languages.
Commenting on Critical Period, (Klein, 1986) mentions that in contrast to first language acquisition, many schools where second language is being taught offer total immersion programmes, where students are supposed to learn a language twelve hours a day for a period of four to six hours a day. Through this intensive course the students are expected to acquire a reasonable command of the language. Yet while acquiring a second language, the students’ capacity of being proficient in vocabulary and syntactic variations is limited. Peter Strevens (1965) marks in his book ‘Papers in Language and Language Teaching’ that psychologists and the neurologists about language development in the child recommends that languages should be introduced at an early age.
But, in contrary to these suggestions or rather the Critical Period of acquiring a language, Birdsong and Leaver (in Klein, 1986) argue that some adults have been able to perform just as a child: pronounce words with a native accent, learn language in context, etc. 23
In oppose to Critical Period, the investigations carried out by Neufeld (1979) reveals that a suitably motivated second language learner could acquire perfection of pronunciation even of the ‘most exotic’ languages, where the native speakers cannot distinguish between any foreign accents. Therefore, this gives us the evidence that acquiring a second language is feasible even after puberty.
However, it is assumed that at the age of eleven and after the brain changes functionally as well as structurally so that it cannot process linguistic input automatically as it did previously.
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Chapter 3 Methodology 3.1 Introduction
This exploratory study is primarily a quantitative and a qualitative study. In nature qualitative research is “… a form of systematic, empirical inquiry into meaning” (Shank, 2002, p. 5).
This study which seeks to investigate the quality and compatibility of the course books used to introduce English as a Second Language for primary grade students formally is based on the assumption that the participants’ (students and teachers) views are of highly significance. Therefore, qualitative interviews were carried out to draw experiences and perceptions of the participants. Teachers provided a very comprehensive feedback, while the students’ responses were vital to carry out the evaluation of the course books successfully.
As a measure to increase the credibility of the results of the study, the researcher also analyzed the course books through the description based on the researcher’s evaluation (see appendix 2) and the documents which were analyzed for this study included the grades three, four and five ‘Let’s Learn English’ course books: Pupil's Book and Workbook, Teacher's Manual, and Grade 3 – 5 English Syllabus which comprises the objectives of teaching English as a second language at primary level in Sri Lankan public school sector.
McDonough and Shaw (1993) mentions that any course book evaluation should be brief, practical, and inclusive of all criteria covered in the course book.
In this vain, through a questionnaire named Textbook Evaluation Tool (TET) quantitative data was collected with the aim of investigating participants’ judgments 25
and opinions regarding the content of the course books. Both male and female primary grade ESL teachers participated in the study by completing the questionnaire.
In this study, interview data and results of the questionnaires have been incorporated in the content analysis section, while they are integrated in a general discussion to provide a broader perspective of the quality and the compatibility of ‘Let’s Learn English’ series in English as a second language teaching and learning process.
3.2 Participants
The participants of this study were primary grade ESL teachers currently employed in the public school system of Sri Lanka, Project Coordinators and Lecturers in English at the National Institute of Education, Sri Lanka, and primary grade students utilizing ‘Let’s Learn English’ series presently at public schools. A sample of eighty one ESL teachers took part in quantitative data collection survey through the questionnaire. These randomly selected teachers representing both urban and rural regions, work in schools from Colombo and Matara districts. Out of the hundred questionnaires distributed eighty one were returned.
The following charts illustrate the distribution of the sample of eighty one teachers in terms of gender, qualifications and years of teaching.
26
Gender 30%
Male Female
70%
Figure 1 Distribution of Sample in Terms of Gender
Majority of the respondents were female teachers (70%). The percentage of male respondents was 30% (see Figure 1).
The participants also greatly varied in terms of qualifications. Majority of the teachers, 63% were trained teachers while 19% of them were diploma holders. Only a few of the respondents possessed either a Bachelor’s or a postgraduate qualification. 11% of the teachers possessed Bachelor’s degrees and only 7% possessed Mater’s degrees. None of them was qualified in a PhD (see Figure 2).
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Qualifications 0% 0% 11%
7%
19%
Certificate Diploma Trained B.A./ B. Ed M.A./ M. Ed
63%
PhD
Figure 2 Distribution of Sample in Terms of Qualifications
Teaching Experience 7%
7%
0% 11%
Less than one year 1 - 2 years 3 - 5 years
56% 19%
6 - 10 years 11 - 15 years More than 15 years
Figure 3 Distribution of Sample in Terms of Teaching Experience
According to the above chart (see Figure 3) 56% of the teachers possessed more than fifteen years of experience in teaching English. 19% of the sample had eleven to fifteen years of experience, while 11% of them were six to ten years experienced in English teaching. 7% of them were one to two years experienced, and another 7% was experienced less than a year in teaching English.
28
Meanwhile, Ms. Chandrika Peiris, the Project Coordinator and Lecturer of Department of English, National Institute of Education, Sri Lanka, and ten randomly selected students learning English at grades three, four and five took part in the qualitative interviews. Out of the five male and five female students who took part in the interview, three were from grade three, while another three were from grade five and four were from grade four.
3.3 Data Collection
The data collection process began after selecting a number of accessible schools for the researcher. Then permission was obtained from the principals or vice – principals to interview a number of randomly selected students and collect data from the teachers through the questionnaire.
3.3.1 Interviews
One of the primary sources of data in this study is interviews. A total of ten students were interviewed between November 2012 and January 2013. Out of the ten students, four students from Anula Vidyalaya, Nugegoda and Mahanama College, Colombo 03 were interviewed by the researcher herself. As the researcher had no access to participants from Matara district, one of the targeted areas of data collection, the other six interviews were conducted by an ESL teacher working in a school from Matara district. Unstructured interview questions were used in conducting the interviews with students.
In addition, the researcher also conducted another unstructured interview with Ms. Chandrika Peiris, the Project Coordinator and Lecturer of Department of English, National Institute of Education, Sri Lanka. 29
In conducting interviews with the students, prior permission was obtained from the school principals and vice – principals. The Researcher used Sinhala, students’ first language to question them. At the beginning of each interview, the students were asked to provide a brief introduction of him- or her. This mostly included basic information like name, whether they attend extra classes (tuition) after school to learn English, etc. Several interview techniques recommended by Lichtman (2010, cited by Hettiarachchi) for qualitative researchers. Hence, a selection of unstructured questions such as general questions, specific questions and comparison/contrast questions were used to question the students. For example, General Question: “What is your name?” Specific Question: “Do you like this book?” Comparison/Contrast: “Which lessons do you like most: listening, speaking, writing, or reading?”
The interviewer noted down the statements in response to the questions, and each interview lasted from five to ten minutes.
Prior to the interview with Ms. Chandrika Peiris, the Project Coordinator and Lecturer of Department of English, National Institute of Education, Sri Lanka, the researcher introduced herself and explained the purpose of the study. All experiences and opinions were shared in English. This unstructured interview was an informal discussion which revealed much important information about ‘Let’s Learn English’ series.
3.3.2 Questionnaire Survey
Both quantitative and qualitative data was collected through a questionnaire named Text Book Evaluation Tool developed from the checklist suggested by Cunningsworth (1995). As Cunningsworth (1995) has mentioned different course 30
book evaluations will require different criteria. Therefore, a checklist including identified priorities required to evaluate ‘Let’s Learn English’ series was developed. The questionnaire also carried a section for the participants to make remarks about the course books.
A sample of eighty one ESL teachers currently working in public schools from Matara and Colombo districts participated in the questionnaire survey. Prior to conducting the survey permission was obtained from the school principals and vice – principals and through them all primary grade ESL teachers requested to take part in the study. The total number of teachers involved in English teaching for primary grades was less five in every school concerned. After a brief introduction to the research the questionnaires were distributed and the participants were allowed to complete the questionnaire at home. The researcher received eighty one out of the hundred questionnaires distributed.
The questionnaire consisted of three sections. Firstly, nine questions were included in the opening page with the intention of gathering demographic data about the respondents such as school, district, gender, educational qualifications, teaching experience, etc.
The second section or the TET included fifty three criteria under fourteen categories to draw the respondents’ judgments about ‘Let’s Learn English’ series. The fourteen categories included (content, grammar, vocabulary, phonology, language skills, methodology, study skills, objectives, content selection, gradation and recycling, visuals, practice and testing, supplementary materials and the Teacher’s Guide) were located into a four-point forced-multiple-choice Likert scale format which ranges from ‘Strongly Disagree to Disagree’ and then ‘ Agree to Strongly Agree’ (see appendix 3). 31
Thirdly, a separate section was included for teachers’ to draw remarks about the course books.
3.4 Data Analysis
The data analysis was conducted using the information gathered through following tools:
3.4.1 Interviews All the interview results or remarks were translated from first language to English, and classified according to the categories specified in the questionnaire. For example: Question 01: Do you like this book (Pupil’s Book)? Which areas do you like most: songs, pictures, drawings, puzzles, etc?
(Category - content & visuals)
3.4.2 Questionnaire Survey
In analyzing the 81 questionnaire surveys of the study, the researcher used frequencies and percentages. The remarks made by the respondents too were thoroughly analyzed and classified according to the categories specified in the questionnaire.
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Chapter 4 Content Analysis 4.1 Introduction ‘Let’s Learn English ‘comprises a Pupil’s Book designed for each grade which is the text book of the series including all teaching materials. It includes lessons illustrated in color, activities such as games, songs, rhymes, stories, dialogues and numerous other activities for presenting, practicing, and producing the language. Each text book or the Pupil’s Book is accompanied by a Workbook and a Teacher’s Guide. The work book carries all activity based exercises providing practice in all four skills particularly writing and reading skills in an integrated way. The Teacher’s Guide provides guidelines and support for teachers in using the Let’s Learn English series. Through the content analysis the researcher intended to analyze the Pupil’s Book, Workbook, and Teacher’s Guide (collectively named as the course book) of Grade three, four and five employing the fourteen categories used to carry out the questionnaire survey (see appendix 1 & 3). Hence, the content analysis is a blend of the researcher’s evaluation results of the course books and the respondents’ answers to the open – ended question in the questionnaire, e.g. remarks and the final results derived through the responses to all fifty three statements listed under the fourteen categories in the questionnaire. Therefore, in this section the points of strengths and weaknesses of the course books used for grades three, four and five formal English language learning and teaching process will be examined with the aim of making a critical analysis of the contents of the course books.
4.2 Content
An observation of the content of Grade three and four course books revealed that they are integrated with activity based learning materials with a view to internalizing the 33
language rather than learning by rote. The syllabus displays a combination of play, activity and desk work, where students move towards more desk work and less play as they progress through the syllabus from Grade three to grade five. Furthermore, the Grade 3 – 5 English Syllabus (2000) states that an integrative approach to language learning which includes the development of all four language skills – listening, reading, writing and speaking is used in teaching the syllabus content throughout.
Therefore, third and fourth grade course books constitute a
communicative activities syllabus through which topics and skills are introduced as well as a language syllabus through which grammatical and lexical items are introduced. According to the tables of content of each Pupil’s Book, there are fourteen teaching units which contain eight lessons each. “…Let’s Learn English grade 3 is a topic – based course. It consists of seven topics” (Teacher’s Manual Grade 3, 2000, pg. 2). Similarly, Let’s Learn English Grade four is a topic – based course consisting seven topics.
When the selected seven topics of each course were analyzed e.g. Myself, Animals, Clothes, My Family, Food, Toys and Games and Our Helpers for Grade three and My Friends, Time, Transport, Weather, My Village, Nature, and My Body for Grade four, it was evident that each topic is familiar and interesting to students due to their suitability with the age range and the local flavor incorporated. “…All these topics were selected because they are familiar and interesting for learners of this age, and because they can be interrelated and integrated with other subjects in the curriculum” (Teacher’s Manual Grade 3, 2000, pg 2). 34
Final results obtained through the responses to the statement that the selected topics are familiar to the students further proved the above conclusion (see Figures 1 & 5). According the chart, while 4% disagree with the statement, 96% of the respondents are in agreement with it. The interesting representation of the topics enhances the learners’ motivation. For example, use of colors, fewer texts and more pictures, characters with familiar names (Kandu, Pancha), songs, drawing and matching activities. Furthermore, the variability in selecting the topics from their immediate environment has been a plus point to enhance learner motivation. This remark is further endorsed by the responses for the statement that the selected topics enhance learners' motivation. 96% of the teachers either agreed or strongly agreed with the above remark while a 4% of the total disagreed (see Figures 2 & 5). Inclusion of lessons illustrated in color, activities such as games, songs, rhymes, stories, dialogues and numerous other activities for presenting, practicing and producing the language which are also appealing to eight and nine year old learners’ senses evoking their motivation is one of the merits of third and fourth grade course books.
35
Content 0% 4% 15% Strongly Disagree
Disagree Agree
81%
Strongly Agree
Figure 4 Selected Topics are Familiar to the Students
Content 0% 4% 19% Strongly Disagree
Disagree Agree
77%
Strongly Agree
Figure 5 Selected Topics Enhance Learners' Motivation
This topic based courses provide the advantage of presenting a clear context in which the child can more easily learn sets of vocabulary items which are connected with their themes. For example, body parts through the lesson ‘My Body’ in Grade four Pupil’s Book, age through the lesson ‘Myself’ in Grade three Pupil’s Book. It is also noteworthy that the theme or topic selection at fourth grade is slightly complicated than Grade three. Furthermore, incorporation of a list of new and difficult words is a 36
fundamental help for learners to make further progress in learning the language while enhancing their vocabulary. Except for the three Work Books, all three Pupil’s Books and Teacher’s Manuals contain lists of new and difficult words at the end. The chart below (see Figures 3 & 5) shows that 92% out of the 81 teachers responded positively by agreeing with the above statement.
Content 4% 4% Strongly Disagree
50%
42%
Disagree Agree Strongly Agree
Figure 6 Course Book has a List at the End for New or Difficult Words Moreover, the course books also lack self – check progress reports which would have been essential to evaluate students’ progress of learning the language. From the responses to the statement that the course books contain self - check progress reports, it was further proved that all the three grades: three, four and five, lack self – check progress reports (see Figures 4 & 5).According to the chart below, a total of 60% of the respondents either disagree or strongly disagree with the statement, while 40% of them agree. Although, Grade 3 – 5 English Syllabus (2000) is enclosed with record sheets named ‘Grade Three (Four) Assessment of English – Record Sheet for teachers’ reference and usage, it seems that they have not been introduced to the school curriculum. However, the inclusion of four revision activities, containing three
37
lessons each is commendable as they give the opportunity for both the student and the teacher to check and revise the language learned in the previous units. ‘Let’s Learn English’ Grade five is the last of the series of new Primary English textbooks, and according to Grade 3 – 5 Syllabus (2000) Grade five students will consolidate and expand the language they learnt in grades three and four. Students are directed towards more desk work and activity and less play in their learning process. Accordingly, the activities incorporated in this book have been designed in a way that requires the students to do more reading and writing than in the Grade three and four course book.
Content 4% 24% Strongly Disagree
36%
Disagree Agree
36%
Strongly Agree
Figure 7 Course Book Contains Self - Check Progress Reports Grade five ‘Let’s Learn English’ course book is also a topic based course and there are fourteen lesson units arranged under the seven topics: Town and City, Festivals, Sports and Hobbies, Our Country, World of Science, Stories and Folk Tales, Life in the Future. Although it has been stated in the Teacher’s Manual that the above selected topics are interesting to learners of ten years, certain topics incorporated are perceived to be much advanced for the knowledge level and comprehension of the 38
pupils. For example, the topics ‘World of Science & Life in the Future’ and the learning material such as reading passages, vocabulary included in them appear complex and unfamiliar which will undeniably diminish the students’ interest in learning the new language. A summary of the remarks given in questionnaires revealed that although the Grade three and four course books are at satisfactory level, Grade five course book is quite complicated and above students’ linguistic competency. A teacher form a leading girls’ school in Colombo stated that: ‘…The grade five course book is not very interesting and is very difficult, especially the lesson, World of Science, and some grammar lessons such as passive voice are too advance for students’ knowledge level’. Also, one objective of introducing Let’s Learn English series has been to cater to the interests of both urban and rural students providing opportunities for the students to personalize the language they learn related to their own context (Pupil’s Book Grade 05, 2002, pg. 134). Yet, considering the extent to which the rural and urban students are exposed to certain contexts socially and culturally and their level of linguistic knowledge, certain lessons incorporated in Grade five course book may not be of rural students’ interest, for example, Life in the Future, is disadvantageous for their learning process of the new language. A primary grade English language teacher from a rural school in Matara district remarked that: ‘Grade three and four books are at satisfactory level. However, grade five course book is more advanced according to the level of the students and there are some texts which are not suitable for the students’ in rural areas’.
What the teacher implies through the statement possibly is the difficulty of understanding the lessons especially due to unfamiliarity of certain topics and concepts and inclusion of difficult vocabulary items. 39
Finally, pedagogic texts and dialogues in all three course books include new vocabulary and grammatical structures which are recycled throughout the course. Language items such as vocabulary are presented in context to make meaning clear, while pedagogic texts and dialogues include a variety of interesting subjects. Additionally, a thorough inspection of the content of the Pupil’s Books and the Workbooks of third, fourth and fifth grades a few number of minor errors were located.
400
70 378
350
60 50
250
40
200
30
150
20
100
108
50 -
10
Results of the Statements
Total results
300
Content 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7
21
Strongly Disagree
42 (10)
Disagree
Agree
Strongly Agree
Figure 8 Overall Analysis of 'Content'
4.3 Grammar
The grammatical structures presented in Grade three and four course books are limited, simple and recycled in many contexts to help students to practice the 40
language. In these course books simple and basic sentence patterns mostly in both affirmative and negative forms as well as question forms are introduced in a systematic and practical style. For example: ‘Hello! I’m Kandu. What’s your name?’ in lesson one, unit one of third grade Pupil’s Book. Further to this, grammatical structures (of which the examples given below) such as imperative forms, possessive forms, modal verbs, adjectives, nouns, difference between the two articles ‘a’ and ‘an’, plural forms, and present simple tense and its third person singular form with‘s’, and several other grammar structures are introduced simply and clearly in many contexts to help students practice the new language.
Examples: Imperative forms:
Touch your nose, look, and draw, fold the paper.
Possessive forms:
Pancha has four legs, Meena’s frock has circles on it.
Modal verbs:
I can jump
Adjectives and nouns:
big/small, thin/fat, tall/short, green parrot.
‘A’ and ‘an’:
an aunty, a hat.
Plural forms:
socks, skirt, shorts, blouse.
Present simple:
I eat, I don’t like, he likes.
Although majority of the respondents, 55.55% out of the 81 respondents (see Figures 6 & 7) either agreed or strongly agreed with the fact that the paradigm used to introduce grammatical rules is clear and simple, it was observed all three course books lack paradigms used to introduce grammar structures. Instead the students are introduced the above mentioned simple grammar structures through activities which are recycled throughout the course in order to internalize the language rather than learning by rote, which can be considered as a plus point of the course books.
Although grammar is presented communicatively throughout the course, it can be argued that the students will not achieve 100% grammatical accuracy upon 41
completion of the course due to lack of sufficient activities to practice specially through written practice. However, the grammar items suit the students’ language needs and there is a balance between form and use although the grammar practice material is insufficient. Also the sentences and examples used to present grammar items are familiar to students as most of example sentences are based on the themes of the lessons derived from their immediate environment.
A close inspection of grammatical structures presented in Grade five course book showed that new grammatical structures are combined with selected ones from grade three and four course books and are recycled throughout the course by amalgamating them in various practical activities to help students enjoy learning the new language. Through this course book ‘Wh’ question words, imperatives, simple present tense, past simple, present perfect, present continuous, past continuous, future simple, modal verbs, ‘if’ conditionals, prepositions, negation, contacted forms, conjunctions (clauses), superlative adjectives, active/ passive forms, quantifiers, etc are introduced.
Grammar 0%
15% 44%
Strongly Disagree Disagree
41%
Agree Strongly Agree
Figure 9 Paradigm Used to Introduce Grammatical Rules is Clear and Simple 42
Although 74.07% out of the 81 respondents either agree or strongly agree that the grammar items suit students’ language needs (see Figure 7), it can be argued that certain grammar items incorporated in Grade five course book do not suit students’ knowledge level considering their complexity. For example, active and passive voice difference. Also, a balance between form and use was not observed for Grade five course book. This is a result of insufficient number of grammar exercises available for the students practice. Although sentences and examples are based on the themes of the lessons which are picked from students’ immediate environment, the complexity of the grammar items hindrances students’ ability of comprehending the grammar rules. Therefore, it is questionable whether Grade five students acquire
250
70 60
200 Total Results
50 150
40
100
30 20
50 Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Agree
Strongly Agree
Figure 10 Overall Analysis of 'Grammar'
43
Results of the Statement s
100% accuracy in grammar.
Grammar 2.1 2.2
10
2.3
-
2.4
4.4 Vocabulary
The vocabulary introduced for Grade three, four and five is listed at the end of all Pupil’s Books and Teacher’s Guides. These word lists contain all the vocabulary items introduced in ‘Let’s Learn English’ textbook series. They are in alphabetical order and the number of the unit in which each word first appears is given for the convenience of students. The vocabulary which appears in each unit is graded according to the principle of immediate use, and they appear in the following units. Although a significant number of teachers opposed, 63% and 89% of the teachers responded positively to the two statements that new lexical items are graded according to the principle of immediate use and new lexical items appear in the following units respectively (see Figures 8, 9 & 10). Overall presentation of the vocabulary is acceptable, appropriate for the students’ knowledge level and age and they play a major role in the syllabus. “There are approximately 300 new vocabulary items. In each topic a certain number of new vocabulary items are introduced and a lot of vocabulary items from earlier units are recycled. Introducing a considerable number of vocabulary items will be a fundamental help for the learners to make further progress. It will also encourage them to communicate and explore the new language” (Introduction, the Teacher’s Manual, Grade 05, 2002, Pg. 03).
44
Vocabulary 0% 0% 37%
Strongly Disagree
Disagree
63%
Agree Strongly Agree
Figure 11 New Lexical Items are Graded According to the Principle of Immediate Use
Grade four textbook carries nearly 500 new and difficult vocabulary items, while Grade five includes approximately 600 new and selected vocabulary items from Grade three and four books.
Vocabulary 0% 11% 11% Strongly Disagree Disagree Agree 78%
Strongly Agree
Figure 12 New Lexical Items Appear in the Following Units
45
One drawback in presenting the vocabulary items in primary grade course books is the lack of a list of regular and irregular verbs for students’ reference, and the failure to include the vocabulary list at the end of the Workbooks which would have been helpful for students in working out the activities given in the Workbooks. Although the Teacher’s Guide for Grade five ‘Let’s Learn English’ course mentions that the new vocabulary introduced is listed at the end of the Pupil’s Book, Teacher’s Guide as well as the Workbook, it does not appear in the Workbook. Students’ understanding of the meanings of new vocabulary items is checked through comprehension questions and writing activities, and they play a major role in syllabus. Although the new lexical items introduced in Grade five course book are graded according to the principle of immediate use, and appear in the following units, the overall presentation of the vocabulary seems beyond the students’ knowledge and age level. For example, the words such as dispenser, pylon, streamer, wreath, etc. “The new vocabulary items introduced in the book will help the students to enlarge their stock of words in English. This will encourage them to explore and communicate in the new language with greater confidence”. (Introduction, the Teacher’s Manual, Grade 05, 2002, Pg. 03).
46
70
100
60 50
80
40 60
Results of the statement s
Total Results
120
30 40
20
20
10
-
Vocabulary 3.1 3.2
Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Agree
Strongly Agree
Figure 13 Overall Analysis of 'Vocabulary'
4.5 Phonology
As Maclean et al (1987) mention phonological awareness is a powerful predictor of the speed and efficiency of reading acquisition. Through phonological awareness, Karen Ford (2010) refers to the ability to manipulate the sounds that make up language, independent of meaning. He further states that if learners are given the knowledge on phonology, they will learn to recognize rhyming words, listen to the syllables within words, learn to recognize beginning sounds in words, and match the sounds to letters.
A thorough scrutiny of the course books disclosed that the lack of listening activities is a major drawback of third, fourth and fifth grade Let’s Learn English Pupil’s Books and Workbooks. “Phonological and syntactic awareness could be assumed to be significant in the development of reading and speaking skills in English. Knowledge in phonology 47
helps the learners to be speed and efficient in reading” (for a review, see Siegel, 1993).
Phonology 0%
11% 11% Strongly Disagree Disagree Agree
78%
Strongly Agree
Figure 14 Pronunciation is Built through Different Types of Activities Grade three and four ‘Let’s Learn English’ course books, practice pronunciation skills through various activities such as songs, rhymes, chants, dialogues and other listening activities, whereas Grade five course book deviates from above activities and introduces more advanced activities such as reading passages for pronunciation practice. According to the results of the questionnaire on phonology 89% respondents out of the 81 agreed with the statement that pronunciation is build through various activities (see Figures 11 & 13). Acquiring better pronunciation skills would develop student’s reading abilities as well as dictation, and according to the introduction of Grade three Teacher’s Guide, these numerous activities aim to contextualize and revise vocabulary as well as giving oral practice in a fun way. It further mentions that although tunes to known songs are made available, the teachers are encouraged to make up their own tunes or
48
just chant the words, a method that cannot be recommended for constant practice of pronunciation.
Phonology
15% 11%
30%
Strongly Disagree Disagree Agree
44%
Strongly Agree
Figure 15 There are Cassettes/ CDs for Pronunciation Practice
Interview with Ms. Chandrika Peiris, the Project Coordinator and Lecturer at National Institute of Education, Sri Lanka revealed that a minimum of two audio cassettes including songs, rhymes, and chants were provided to each school for pronunciation practice. However, 74.07% of the respondents to the questionnaires either strongly disagreed or disagreed with the statement that there are cassettes or CDs for pronunciation practice (see Figures 12 & 13). Therefore, it is questionable whether the students acquire a better competency level in pronunciation without proper training in English pronunciation. Furthermore it seems that the teachers require a good command of English pronunciation to train the students using their own tunes or chant the words when the required audio material such as cassettes and CDs are not available.
In addition to reading passages which are used for pronunciation purposes, Grade five ‘Let’s Learn English’ course book also includes a number of songs, rhymes, and 49
chants, spread throughout the book. According to the Introduction of the Grade five Teacher’s Guide, they have been used to add a variety to the range of learning activities and to change the pace of the lesson to maintain the student’s motivation and interest. Through these activities the authors aim to provide practice of vocabulary, language patterns and pronunciation in a fun way. Nevertheless, the failure to introduce proper and standard methods or techniques for pronunciation practice reveals that the authors have made less effort to develop such skills of
80
70
70
60
Total Results
60
50
50
TResults of the Statemen ts
students.
40
40 30
30
Phonology 20
20
10
10 -
4.1 4.2
Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Agree
Strongly Agree
Figure 16 Overall Analysis of 'Phonology'
Klein (1986) states that a child picks up sounds better and faster than adults and as the child grows up the articulators become more resistant to sound changes. “Most adults who learn a foreign language have accent; in some cases, the accent can be quite strong and noticeable. Children, on the other hand, pick up the sounds pretty much as the native speaker makes them, seemingly without much effort” (Klein, 1986). 50
Therefore, lack of proper techniques to develop students’ pronunciation is a major limitation found in the series.
4.6 Language Skills According to Grade 3 – 5 English syllabus proposed under the new educational reforms of the National Education Commission (2000) an integrative approach to language learning including development of all four language skills – listening, writing, reading and speaking is being used in teaching the syllabus content throughout. In ‘Let’s Learn English’ series all four language skills are integrated and developed with special focus on the systematic and thorough development of reading and writing skills.
A close inspection of the workbook revealed that majority of the exercises of all three grades is based on the lessons presented in Pupil’s Book. Yet, it was observed that the activities provided in Workbooks are not sufficient to expect a gradual improvement in four skills of students which is one major learning outcome expected through ‘Let’s Learn English’ series. A trained English teacher from Matara district possessing more than fifteen years of teaching English to primary grade students remarks in the questionnaire “…that the series of books for the primary level students are designed well and themes are also suitable to the level of the students. But the activities provided in the workbook are not sufficient as well as the grammatical rules and the structures are not properly organized, therefore, we cannot expect the gradual development of four skills of the pupils in this level…” 51
Karen Ford (2010) introduces knowledge on alphabet, phonology and print as essential early literacy skills. It is worth noting that ‘Let’s Learn English’ Writing Practice book introduced along with the series has facilitated students to improve expertise on such as alphabet which is an indispensable requirement for basic writing skills. This includes recognizing and naming upper and lower case letters and beginning to associate letters with the sounds they make. Making suggestions to further improve writing skills of students, Ms.Chandrika Peiris, the project coordinator and lecturer at the National Institute of education, Sri Lanka, remarked that “Incorporating double rules in the workbook itself to improve pupils’ skills in spellings, hand writing, and formation of simple sentence structures along with available ‘trace or copy’ activities would help students to expect a better development in writing skills”
A large part of the course books comprises reading and writing activities like songs and rhymes, stories and dialogues, etc. and less attention has been given on improving speaking and listening activities. However, contradictorily to the above observations 83% respondents out of the 81 agreed with the statement that there is practice in all four language skills (see Figures 14 & 15).
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Language Skills 0% 26%
7% Strongly Disagree
Disagree Agree
67%
Strongly Agree
Figure 17 There is Practice in the Four Language Skills
Priscilla Clarke (2009) states that during the early years of school, the main focus for young children who study English as a second language is developing oral English language through the dimensions of listening and speaking. Therefore, one major drawback observed in whole series was that the incorporation of insufficient listening activities and spoken activities. Yet, introduction of simple listening and speaking activities such as listening and acting or miming, listening and pointing, listening and making, drawing, matching, sorting, and repeating, listening to rhymes, songs and reciting them back, listening to short stories, words and expressions used to greet, thank, affirm, deny, etc. and repeating them could be considered an improved feature of the course books. Inclusion of a sufficient number of exercises to practice the above activities would have increased the quality of the books by equalizing the practice of all four language skills.
Although the ‘Activity Based Oral English
(ABOE)’ syllabus at Grade one and two which has been introduced with the aim of developing oral English skills of the students by building on vocabulary and structures is commendable to a certain extent, the extent to which the students acquire
53
the expected level of oral English is questionable as the teaching is not done by teachers specialized to teach the language.
4.6.1 Reading Skills As mentioned in the Grade three Teacher’s Guide (2000) initial reading skills of the students are developed by introducing new words orally, and familiarizing them with the sounds of the new language. Then they are taught to link picture or objects with the sound which is pronounced by the teacher before they recognize the written form of the word. Mostly the ‘Look and say’ approach is used in the early stages until students can easily recognize some frequent words and names of characters. It is hypothesized that the students readily pay attention to specific sound and letter relationships, especially those in the initial letters of the words and which is later on combined with the writing skills. It was observed that this method of teaching is a success in a context where English is being introduced for the first time formally as a second language.
Reading skills are developed initially by introducing new and difficult words with the help of pictures and encouraging the students work out the meanings of new words from the context in which they are used. ‘Read and find’ method is used widely to develop reading skills of the students. Both grade three and four course books use authentic or real world reading material at an appropriate level where majority of the teachers responding the questionnaire also agreed with the above remark (Figure 14). However, the reading texts in grade five course book are comparatively longer and grammatically more complex than those in grade three and four. Although the use of reading materials predominantly has a local flavor, they are sometimes expanded to include references to global contexts which have resulted in making the reading material more complex for students to comprehend, for example, ‘Life in the Future’. Grade five Teacher’s Manual (2002) specifies that the students are not required to 54
know the meanings of every single word or understand all the grammatical structures in the texts. It is sufficient if the students are able to understand the reading texts well enough to do the activities that follow. One objective of introducing this approach to develop reading skills in students is to help students to extract information by reading a written passage. According to grade three to five English syllabus, much of the content from grades three and four are incorporated into grade five syllabus and additional skills components such as reading both simple and complex texts, with increased comprehension, reading aloud expressively and fluently, reading and sequencing events, reading and comprehending the written word with increased speed, scanning texts for main ideas, reading and presenting information in another form, reading and predicting, and reading and completing incomplete texts are also included throughout the course. With the objective of achieving above mentioned learning outcomes, certain reading material found in lessons such as ‘World of Science’ move beyond learners’ linguistic capacity in order to develop their fluency and reading strategies.
4.6.2 Writing Skills
When writing skill development is considered, firstly the students are presented with the ‘Introduction to Writing Practice – Grade 3’ which should be completed before starting the course of studies specified for Grade three. An informal discussion with a primary grade school teacher it was revealed that this initial writing practice course requires at least a one month time to be completed successfully. Upon completion of the pre – writing practice, the Pupil’s Book and the Workbook for Grade three are introduced to the students. A thorough observation and an evaluation of a few students from grades three and four revealed that the objective of making students aware of the formation of English alphabet and giving practice in writing all the letter in the alphabet and helping students to progress into advanced writing activities is successfully achieved by the authors. This practice has made it easier for students to 55
work on the activities and exercises given in Pupil’s Books and the Workbooks. This practice is advanced with the progress of the students to higher grades where they are exposed to complex written practices such as answering short questions based on comprehension passages. Grade three ‘Let’s Learn English’ Pupil’s Book and the Workbook initially focus on specific letters. The Workbook revises all the letters except for the letter ‘o’. The first eight units are devoted for this purpose. According to Grade three Teacher’s Guide, the sequence in which the letters of the alphabet are introduced reflects their frequency as well as the simplicity or difficulty of their shapes for recognition and production. For example, the letters ‘c’ and ‘e’ are focused upon the first three units. Accordingly, all the letters are being introduced in the following units. ‘Pre – writing patterns’, ‘Look and trace’, ‘Copy writing’ are the practice methods used to help students develop their writing skills.
According to Grade three, four and five syllabuses, at third grade level the students are expected to write letters of the alphabet with correct directional hand movements by tracing or copying lines and patterns, write capital and simple letters of correct size and formation, identify the initial sound of a word and write the corresponding letter, write one’s name, begin a sentence with a capital letter and end it with a full stop by practicing basic punctuation marks and distinguishing between uppercase and lowercase letters, write missing letters of a word, re – arrange and write the jumbled parts of a sentence and write a simple sentence using a picture clue.
In Grade four, the students are expected to write down personal information, use punctuation marks correctly, write the date, re – arrange and write jumbled parts of longer sentences, write answers to simple questions, write sentences describing pictures, write simple instructions and messages, use the correct form of the verb ‘be’ with personal pronouns and write about simple familiar topics. 56
‘Let’s Learn English’ Grade five builds on the foundation of basic language skills development established in ‘Let’s Learn English’ Grade three and Grade four. Much of the activities in both Grade five Pupil’s Book and Workbook are devoted to develop writing skills of students. The learning outcomes expected are: expressing likes, dislikes, wants, feelings, etc. through writing, composing short, connected paragraphs and essays on simple topics, writing simple text types such as notices, invitations, greeting cards, etc., writing answers to questions, and writing according to conventions of English, e.g. using uppercase letters, apostrophes.
Each course book introduces easier writing activities at the beginning as the students progress they are required to switch to complex writing activities. In Grade five, the students are encouraged to write with less help from the teachers and picture clues. Some writing activities lead the way to independent writing by asking the students to write sentences based on the given pattern but with personalized information.
4.6.3 Listening Skills
As revealed previously although the listening materials incorporated in Grade three, four and five course books are authentic and carefully chosen, they are not accompanied appropriately with proper practice methods such as utilizing listening equipment. Although the introduction to Grade five Teacher’s Guide (2002) states that there are many activities in the book which only require the students to listen to the teacher in order to do the activities, out of more than two hundred activities from both the Pupil’s Book and Workbook, only sixteen activities have been devoted to improve listening skills of the students. Furthermore, the Teacher’s Guide mentions that most of the listening activities included are ‘Listen and find’ type activities. However, it 57
was revealed that most of them are either ‘Listen or number’ or ‘Listen and repeat’ type activities. Nevertheless, there are a small number of activities in certain lessons where the students are encouraged to produce language of their own orally by looking at a picture cue or with the help of an example provided on the page.
4.6.4 Speaking Skills According to Grade 3 – 5 English Syllabus (2000), helping students to listen to simple commands/ instructions in English and respond verbally and non verbally, and give expressions orally to basic language functions in English are two main general objectives of implementing ‘Let’s Learn English’ series. A thorough analysis of Grade three and four course books revealed that the spoken activities introduced to achieve above mentioned objectives are appropriate and the selection of content encompassing games and songs are interesting. At third grade level students are expected to sing with confidence, count up to twenty, use polite expressions and greetings such as ‘Hello’, ‘Good morning, identify people, animals and things in their immediate environment as in Unit 13 – Our Helpers, introduce themselves to others, respond to simple questions about likes or dislikes, what they can or can’t, and describe things in the immediate environment using adjectives such as colors, numbers, sizes. Most of the responses drawn through the interviews with the students revealed that they are more interested in listening and spoken activities that the course books carry.
58
70 60 50 40 30
Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Agree
Results of the Statemen ts
Total Results
200 180 160 140 120 100 80 60 40 20 -
20
Language Skills
10
5.1
-
5.2
(10)
5.3
Strongly Agree
Figure 18 Overall Analysis of 'Language Skills'
At fourth grade level students are expected to ask and tell time, speak about daily actions, ask and get personal information from another, count up to hundred, tell the date, express feelings, and using ‘wh’ questions to elicit information. Students of Grade five are expected to exchange information with peers, describe exact location of places in relation to others, rile play simple dialogues, recite poems with correct pause and voice modulation, take part in classroom discussions, use contracted forms, listen to stories and retell them, speak about a topic using words and picture clues, read and guess next part of the story/ text, and describe past and future events and activities. As mentioned previously certain learning outcomes expected above are difficult to be realized due to complex representation of the activities, grammar items, etc.
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4.7 Methodology
Rabbini (2002, cited in Al - Yousef) argues that when evaluating a syllabus which is aimed at developing an overall competence in language, how the various aspects involved are prioritized should be observed.
Methodology 0% 7%
19% Strongly Disagree Disagree Agree
74%
Strongly Agree
Figure 19 Course Books Discuss and Identifies Areas of Student Needs According to Grade 3 – 5 English Syllabus (2000) teaching does not envisage strict adherence to any particular methodology. The methodology approach will be based on the appropriateness of the method to the teaching content and to the level of ability of the students. Therefore, the primary grade ‘Let’s Learn English’ course books discuss and identify areas of students’ needs. 81% of the respondents to questionnaire also agreed with the statement that the course book discusses and identifies areas of student needs (see Figure 16 & 17).
Inductive approach to teaching English language means using particular facts and examples to form general rules and principles with the aim of delivering a comprehensible lesson. All the three grades utilize inductive approach to learning by 60
using examples for every lesson introduced. For example, the lesson ‘Life in the Future’ in Grade five Pupil’s Book introduces future simple tense through a variety of examples. According to the results of the questionnaires 96% out of the total respondents to questionnaire are also in agreement with the above statement (see
200 180 160 140 120 100 80 60 40 20 -
80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 (10) Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Agree
Results of the Statement s
Total Results
Figure 17).
Methodology 6.1 6.2 6.3
Strongly Agree
Figure 20 Overall Analysis of 'Methodology'
Moreover, it can be observed that the authors show concern about the needs of the learners by introducing interesting themes predominantly having a local flavor but expanding to global contexts appropriately through communicative activities where the learners are encouraged to involve in mainly reading, writing and to some extent in listening and speaking.
4.8 Study Skills Through ‘Let’s Learn English’ series, the authors also aim at developing study skills of the students. 85% of the teachers stated through the questionnaires that the course 61
books include lessons that reflect on study techniques (Figure 20). Several other learning strategies such as skimming and scanning at fifth grade, drawing, matching, pointing, and listening at third grade, and introducing role plays at fourth grade are presented to students to help them tackle with reading and writing difficulties.
Although the learning tools are not specifically mentioned in either of the course books or advised on study skills development, students are introduced to certain learning strategies and study skills such as referring to new and difficult vocabulary items arranged in the concluding pages of the Pupil’s Books and Teacher’s Guides. As shown in figures 18 & 20, 58% of the teachers are of the opinion that the course books contain advices on study skills development, while 42% disagree with the statement.
Study Skills 0% 8% 42%
Strongly Disagree Disagree
50%
Agree Strongly Agree
Figure 21 Course Books Contain Advices on Study Skills Development
Students are encouraged to take some degree of responsibility for their learning by introducing homework practices through which students are encouraged to make independent attempts in completing them.
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Study Skills 4% 15%
26%
Strongly Disagree
Disagree Agree
55%
Strongly Agree
250
70
200
Results of the Statement s
Figure 22 There are Some Materials for Independent Work
60
Total Results
50
150
40
100
30
Study Skills 7.1
20 50 Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Agree
7.2
10
7.3
-
7.4
Strongly Agree
Figure 23 Overall Analysis of 'Study Skills'
“An important aim of providing homework for students is to form habits of independence and responsibility at an early age…” (Teacher’s Guide Grade Three 2000). 63
This observation is further proved by the 80% responses (see Figure 20) received by teachers through questionnaires on the statement that students are encouraged to take some degree of responsibility for their learning. However, 30% of the teachers were of the opinion that the course books lack material such as homework for students to work independently (see Figure 19 & 20).
4.9 Visuals
A range of simulating drawings illustrated in a range of colors is incorporated appropriately into the layout of the Pupil’s Book. Grade three course book uses less texts and more drawings to help students enjoy the learning process of the new language. Use of colorful visuals helps students, children of eight years, to retain new and difficult words and phrases in their long term memory. As many of the activities in Grade three Pupil’s Book as well as in the Workbook require students to engage in numerous exercises by looking at the pictures, e.g. ‘Look and match’, ‘Look and find’, ‘Look and repeat’. The inclusion of pictures helps them to complete the activities successfully. This approach has also helped in motivating students to learning English at an early stage. Using visuals is an integral part of the Grade three teaching process. Although Grade three Workbook includes a range of pictures, lack of colors make the book appears less attractive. Similar to Grade three course book, layout of Grade four Pupil’s Book is also presented with reasonably well produced and attractive drawings. Using pictures is an integral part of Grade four English language teaching process. As many of the activities in Grade four Pupil’s Book and in the Workbook also require students to engage in numerous exercises by looking at the pictures, such as ‘Look and match’, ‘Look and find’, ‘Look and repeat’. Inclusion of pictures has helped them to complete 64
relevant exercises successfully. This course book is presented to children of nine years. Therefore, usage of colorful visuals helps students to retain new and difficult words and phrases in their long term memory, and the numerous colorful drawings help students to engage in activities actively while motivating them more to learning the new language. Lack of colors in Workbook could be observed as a drawback.
There are a variety of colorful, meaningful, and attractive drawings and comparatively a higher number of texts integrated into the layout of Grade five course book. Use of pictures plays a vital role in the learning and teaching process as at this stage the students are encouraged to produce language, especially orally by looking at picture cues. Although a few pictures are not clear as in lesson two revision four, lesson eight - unit one, many of them are produced appropriately. Similar to Grade three and four Workbooks, although Grade five Workbook includes a range of pictures, lack of colors make the book appears less attractive.
A summary of the results from the questionnaire revealed that 89% of the respondents agree with the statement that the visuals used in the books are an integral part of teaching, while 93% agreed that visuals are reasonably well produced and attractive (see Figure 21).
65
70
120
60 50
100
40
80
Results of the Statement s
Total Results
140
30 60
20
Visuals
10
8.1
20
-
8.2
-
(10)
40
Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Agree
Strongly Agree
Figure 24 Overall Analysis of 'Visuals'
4.10 Practice and Testing Grade three ‘Let’s Learn English’ course book provides practice and testing techniques. It supplies mechanical and meaningful exercises and communicative exercises that enable learners to carry out their communicative tasks in real – life situations especially in writing and reading. Although 74% of the respondents agreed with the statement, 26% of the total held an opposite view about the statement (see Figures 22 & 24). A weakness highlighted during the observation was the lack of proper speaking and listening practice and testing activities and it could be stated that the 26% opponents to the statement were not satisfied with the communicative exercises provided with the course books due lack of listening and speaking practice as well as testing activities.
66
Practice & Testing 0% 15%
26%
Strongly Disagree
Disagree Agree
59%
Strongly Agree
Figure 25 Course Books Provide Communicative Exercises that Enable Learners to Carry Out Their Communicative Tasks in Real - Life Situations The Teacher’s Manual gives detailed instructions to teachers explaining how every exercise should be completed. The Pupil’s Book contains twelve revision lessons and final activity in each Workbook lesson is provided for homework to help students practice the lessons learnt. Although one important aim of providing homework for students is to help them to carryout independent work, the Pupil’s Book and Workbook do not contain sufficient instructions to students or any other trainer other than the teacher to guide the student on how the exercises should be completed. However, majority of the respondents (82%) agreed with the statement that there are directions to explain how every exercise can be done, while 19% of the total disagreed with the statement (see Figure 24).
According to Williams (1983) a textbook is a useful medium of orientation and study outside the classroom. However, all the Pupil’s Books include a few units which are not comprehensible for students to study outside the classroom with their parents or any other instructor other than the guidance of the school teachers who are provided the guidance of the Teacher’s Guide. 67
E.g. Lesson 01 - 02 ‘Myself’, unit 08 (page 66) in Grade three Pupil’s Book, introduces simple interrogative sentence structures such as “Can the baby cook?” and the simple affirmative and negative sentence structures in response such as “Yes he can”. But the use of pictures and instructions such as ‘Look and say’ alone is indistinct for learners to comprehend the lesson and such obscurity in lessons is disadvantageous for them to use the textbook as a useful medium of study outside the classroom. Yet much of the units in textbooks have used examples, catch phrases, or clear and comprehensible guidelines for the lessons. For example, in third grade textbook the lesson 05 – 08 ‘Clothes’ (unit 05 page 45) introduces ‘This is my …’ and ‘These are my …’ sentence patterns, and the pictures, instructions as well as the example catch phrases used enable students to comprehend the lesson easily.
The revision units incorporated give the opportunity for an informal assessment of students’ progress and the amount of recall of what has been learned. They also provide the feedback necessary for the teacher to do any kind of remedial work required for weaker students and assess their progress. Although most activity based exercises generally require plenty of time to work on, time allocated to cover the teaching content in the Pupil’s Book and Workbook for Grade three is adequate. Grade four ‘Let’s Learn English’ series too integrates practice and testing options, and it provides meaningful as well as communicative exercises mostly in reading and writing, helping students to cope with communicative tasks in real – life situations. Only the Teacher’s Guide provides directions on how every exercise can be done. The Pupil’s Book and the Workbook lacks sufficient details on how the exercises should be completed. The number of exercises is appropriate considering students’ knowledge level and time allocated. But, it could be suggested that including more practice exercises to develop all the four skills would help students improve their language skills practically. 68
According to Grade 3 – 5 English syllabus (2000) little or no formal assessment is approved in the first year of learning. The revision units included at the completion of every four units are of diagnostic nature to help teachers to identify particular strengths and weaknesses of students. A highest number respondents (96%) agreed with the statement that Workbook activities are done in class & as homework, and as mentioned earlier every final activity in each Workbook lesson is provided for homework to help students practice the lessons learnt (see Figures 23 & 24).
In Grade five Workbook, the last activity in each lesson is marked as homework. These homework activities help students to practice and consolidate language work covered in the relevant lesson. The twelve revision lessons incorporated provide the teacher with the opportunity of amalgamating the language learnt in previous lessons and informally assessing the progress of the students.
Practice & Testing 0% 4% 24% Strongly Disagree Disagree Agree
72%
Strongly Agree
Figure 26 Workbook Activities are Done in Class & as Homework
According to the remarks given by teachers in questionnaires, the number of exercises exceeds the allocated time for language teaching. This is mainly due to the 69
complexity of certain lessons such as ‘World of Science’ and the activities following such as active voice and passive voice in unit number 10, where the students require much time to comprehend the lessons. The Teacher’s Guide provides detailed directions to explain how every exercise can be done, whereas the Pupil’s Book and the Workbook provides simple directions such as ‘Write sentences’, ‘Look and write’, ‘Read and complete’, etc. Finally it was observed that many of the exercises are communicative, mechanical and meaningful
Total Results
irrespective their difficulty.
70
350
60
300
50
250
40
200
30
9.1
150
20
9.2
100
10
9.3
50
-
9.4
-
(10)
9.5
Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Agree
Strongly Agree
Results of the Statement s
400
Practice & Testing
9.6
Figure 27 Overall Analysis of 'Practice & Testing'
4.11 Supplementary Materials Alexenoamen (2009) writes that ‘Realia and flash cards’ are essential tools in teaching language, as they facilitate teachers in teaching new vocabulary and they help draw especially beginners’ attention to follow and match new words to items. 70
He further states that ‘realia is an authentic material that helps the teacher to overcome classroom artificiality’.
Supplementary materials such as posters and flashcards are not provided with the course books. Although majority of the teachers either agree or strongly agree with the statement that such supplementary materials accompany the course book (see Figure 25), the interview held with Ms. Chandrika Peiris, the Project Coordinator and the Lecturer at National Institute of Education, one pioneer in preparing learning materials for ‘Let’s Learn English’ series stated that supplementary materials should be prepared by teachers if required. A summary of remarks on the questionnaires revealed that although audio cassettes were provided along with the course books, certain schools have not received the cassettes, and certain schools where several classes are conducted for the same Grade have not received sufficient number of cassettes. Some stated that the cassettes are not durable; therefore, they are not used for teaching purposes.
The posters and flash cards accompanying the book are attractive and suitable. 4% 0% 18% Strongly Disagree Disagree Agree
78%
Strongly Agree
Figure 28 Posters and Flash Cards Accompanying the Book are Attractive and Suitable
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4.12 Objectives According to Grade 3 – 5 English Syllabus (2000) first general objective of teaching English as second language is to ‘lay foundation for the gradual development of the students’ abilities to communicate effectively in English through speaking, reading, writing and listening’. Terminal goals of Grade three, four and five ‘Let’s Learn English’ course are specified in the Teacher’s Manual. For example, through reading activities incorporated in Grade three course book, students are expected to learn new vocabulary, recognize some frequent words, pay attention to specific sound and letter relationship, etc. Inclusion of terminal goals either in the Teacher’s Manual or the Pupil’s Book could be regarded as a pre requisite. Developmental objectives are also not specified in either of the books. Incorporating developmental objectives at the beginning of lesson could be also regarded as mandatory, making the learning and teaching process specific and effective. The failure to amalgamate the lessons along with the expected developmental objectives may lead to inefficiency in teaching or learning the language, and deciding the extent to which the learners’ needs are met through the specified objectives.
However, the questionnaire analysis produced a contradictory result where 63% and 75% of the respondents either agreed or strongly agreed with the statements that the developmental objectives are specified at the beginning of each lesson and the developmental objectives suit the level of the learners respectively (see Figure 27). However, the remarks drawn by them simultaneously revealed that although the objectives specified for Grade three and four meet the needs of learners and suit the level of the learners, objectives specified for Grade five barely meet their expectations. Similarly, although 76% of the respondents agreed with the statement that the Pupil’s Books and Workbooks are at satisfactory level to help students reach expected competency level (see Figure 27), majority of them criticized Grade five 72
course book for its complexity, remarking that they are not at satisfactory level for students to reach expected competency level.
Conversely, only 44% of the respondents agreed with the statement that the time required to complete both Pupil’s Book and Workbook of each Grade is adequate (see Figures 26 & 27),and a summary of their remarks revealed that this inadequacy of time is an issue pertinent only to Grade five course book. According to Grade 3 – 5 English Syllabus (2000) the suggested number of lesson periods to cover the teaching content in Pupil’s Book as well as Workbook is a total of hundred and twenty four periods (period = 40 minutes). Each school allocates a forty minute time period for English every weekday.
Objectives
7% 8%
Strongly Disagree 37% 48%
Disagree Agree Strongly Agree
Figure 29 Time Required to Complete Both Text & Work Books is Adequate
Nevertheless, the overall result of the criterion shows that a significant number of respondents either disagree or strongly disagree with statements (see Figure 27).
73
80 70
300
60 Total Results
250
Results of the Statement s
350
50
200
40
Objectives
150
30
11.1
20
11.2
10
11.3
-
11.4
(10)
11.5
100 50 Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Agree
Strongly Agree
11.6
Figure 30 Overall Analysis of 'Objectives'
4.13 Content Selection According to Grade 3 – 5 English Syllabus, aims of teaching English as a second language are as follows: - Laying the foundation for the gradual development of the students’ abilities to communicate effectively in English through speaking, reading, writing and listening. - Enriching students’ participation in primary school learning through a positive, enjoyable foreign language learning experience. - Developing a positive attitude in students that encourages them to learn English further in the secondary school. - Building the students’ confidence in their ability to succeed in learning the language. - Providing support to acquire the basic competencies related to the National Educational Policy through an additional language teaching program. 74
- Providing sufficient command of the language to enable the students to use English in real life situations, as and when the need arrives.
Although 92% (see Figure 28) of the respondents agreed with the statement that the items selected for Grade three, four and five course books reflect the objectives of the courses, researcher’s observations as well as the remarks drawn on questionnaires with regard to gradual development of language skills revealed that the selected items are appropriate, but inadequate for the ‘gradual development of the students’ abilities to communicate effectively in English through speaking, listening, reading and writing. Firstly, the courses have failed in utilizing standard techniques such as audio CDs, etc. to help students practice listening activities, and the techniques presently practiced, for example, encouraging teachers to make up their own tunes or just chant the words, could be considered as obsolete. The monotonous practice may affect the motivation of the students in learning the language. Secondly, the number of items incorporated especially in Grade three and four course books are insufficient to expect a gradual development in language skills. Therefore, it is evident that all course books require further improvement by delivering the selected items to students using proper teaching methods, and including sufficient practice exercises covering all language skills. Further, these weaknesses may affect in achieving the aim of ‘enriching students’ participation in primary school through an enjoyable foreign language learning experience’ because modern foreign language learning courses constantly encourage students to involve in interactive listening and speaking activities followed by reading and writing activities.
85% of the teachers either agreed or strongly agreed with the statement that the item selection suits the level of the course, while 15% of them disagreed (see Figure 28). However, a careful inspection of the course books revealed that although Grade three 75
and four course books contain lesson items which suit the level of the course, items incorporated in Grade five course book is above the competency or linguistic level of the students. A summary of the remarks drawn on the questionnaires supported the above statement and the few remarks given below further prove this point. “Grade 03 and 04 Pupil’s Book and the workbook are suitable for students, but grade 05 book is too heavy for the level of the students”. “The lessons in grade 05 textbook are too difficult and not interesting for the student, e. g. World of Science”. “I think that the grade five book is somewhat complex for the students. If the lessons are short students would get more benefitted”.
Similarly, the items included in Grade three and four course books suit the allotted time limits, while Grade five course content goes beyond the allotted time limits due to complexity of the integrated materials. The responses from teachers on this statement differ significantly from the other statements specified under content selection. As the chart shows, 54% of the 81 teachers disagree while 46% agree with the statement (see Figure 28).
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140
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100
Results of the Statement s
Total Results
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30
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20
60 40
10
20
-
-
(10) Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Agree
Content Selection 12.1 12.2 12.3
Strongly Agree
Figure 31 Overall Analysis of 'Content Selection'
4.14 Gradation and Recycling ‘Let’s Learn English’ Grade three, four and five course books are commendable for their systematic and balanced recycling of all learning items. Vocabulary, grammar, structures and other functions have been evaluated and recycled throughout the books in different contexts. All course books provide revision units after every four teaching units and the last revision unit summarizes and covers key items from the whole course. 67% of the 81 teachers responded positively in agreement with the above comment while33% of them were against the statement (see Figures 29 and 30).
Although grading of grammar items appear to be made based on cognitive simplicity at Grade three and four levels, it deviates at the level of Grade five by progressing into much advanced grammar items which are above students’ competency level, for example, active voice and passive voice. However, the organization of the grammar items is maintained throughout the course books. For example, simple present, present continuous and simple past followed by simple future, perfect tenses, etc. 77
Gradation & Recycling 4% 0% 33%
Strongly Disagree Disagree
63%
Agree Strongly Agree
140
80
120
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100
60
Results of the Statemen ts
Total Results
Figure 32 There is a Systematic and Balanced Recycling of All Items
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40
60
30
40
20
20
10
-
-
Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Agree
Gradation & Recycling 13.1 13.2
Strongly Agree
Figure 33 Overall Analysis of 'Gradation and Recycling'
Other items such as vocabulary too move from simple to complex as the students progress from each Grade. For example, Grade three course book contains nearly 300 vocabulary items and it increases both in quantity and complexity in Grade four. 78
Grade five course book contains 600 vocabulary items. Grade five vocabulary items comprises both difficult and new words from Grade five course book and selected items from Grade three and four. Although 11% of the teachers opposed the statement that the grading of items is suitable for the learners, 89% of them responded positively in agreement with the statement (see Figure 30). Nevertheless, the appropriateness of the used language items for Grade five course book as previously discussed under section4.3 ‘vocabulary’, is again a debatable factor considering the linguistic competency of the students. 4.15 Teacher’s Manual Several remarks were made upon the inspection of Teacher’s Manuals. Firstly, although figure 31 shows that nearly 90% of the teachers have responded positively to the statement that all the teachers are provided with Teacher’s Manuals, unfortunately, an informal discussion had with teachers from certain schools, revealed that the all the teachers especially from rural areas of the country, are not provided with all the three Teacher’s Manuals: Grades one, two and three.
Teacher's Manual 0% 23%
8% Strongly Disagree Disagree Agree
69%
Strongly Agree
Figure 34 All Teachers are Provided with the Teacher's Manual 79
Secondly, it was observed that the Teacher’s Manuals are informative and written so as to be comprehensible enough for less experienced teachers. They provide full information and support on how to best use ‘Let’s Learn English’ course in class. There are lesson notes for each activity in Pupil’s Books and Workbooks. Facsimiles of the Pupil’s Book and Workbook pages are printed opposite the lesson notes to make using the Teacher’s Guides as convenient as possible. Further, they contain a brief explanation on how the lessons should be delivered in the class. “…Although the notes give the suggested order in which the activities in each lesson are to be done, the teacher, with good reasons, has the freedom to modify the suggested order to suit the needs and the proficiency level of the students in the classroom…” (Teacher’s Guide, Grade 05, 2002, pg. 02)
According to Figure 32 96% and 92% of the respondents agree with the statements that the Teacher’s Guides are informative and the manuals are written so as to be comprehensible enough for less experienced teachers respectively. Also, the underlying approach of the authors in implementing ‘Let’s Learn English’ series is expressed clearly and explicitly, while providing keys to exercises and other activities. The results of the responses on the questionnaire revealed that all the respondents (100%) are in agreement of the above observation. However, the Teacher’s Manuals have failed to integrate both regular progress tests to evaluate the students’ gradual development and guidelines to evaluate how well lessons went. Learning difficulties are not predicted and appropriate advice in handling difficulties is not included.
80
Total Results
500 450 400 350 300 250 200 150 100 50 -
80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 (10) Disagree
Agree
Strongly Agree
14.1 14.2 14.3 14.4 14.5 14.6 14.7 Total Results of the Stateme nts
Strongly Disagree
Teacher's Manual
14.8
Figure 35 Overall Analysis of 'Teacher's Manual’
The principle aim of conducting this research study was to analyze strengths and weaknesses and make appropriate recommendations to improve the quality of the series of the books. Therefore, through the results of the analyses the researcher arrived at the following conclusions in response to the research questions.
First and foremost, the content of the course books has failed to meet the set objectives at the implementation of the series ‘Let’s Learn English’ relatively. As a result, Grade five Pupil’s Book, and Workbook require drastic modifications considering the entire criteria used to evaluate the course books, whereas Grade three and four course books require modifications in certain criteria.
The course books also contain a few minor errors whereas the incorporation and teachability of all four language skills are not at satisfactory level, therefore, the course books require improvements in all criteria to avoid hindrances of learning the new language.
81
Chapter 5 Conclusion 5.1.
Conclusion
This research study of critically evaluating primary grade ‘Let’s Learn English’ series began with the need to examine whether selected material of the course books cater to the interests of both urban and rural students and help meet the objectives of the curriculum enhancing the motivation necessary to support the learning of English providing required knowledge and skills for future learning purposes.
Further, this study derives its significance in the present context mainly due to lack of reported studies on textbook evaluation in Sri Lanka. Moreover, although research on ESL/ EFL textbook evaluation collectively is vast around the world, such research specifically on primary grades is limited. By drawing quantitative and qualitative data through questionnaires surveys and interviews, this study has gathered significant results revealing the strengths and weaknesses of ‘Let’s Learn English’ series, helping to determine the extent to which the objectives set out in the curriculum are achieved.
As the results indicate, five out of the fourteen categories (grammar, phonology, language skills, objectives, content selection and supplementary materials) used for the analysis of ‘Let’s Learn English’ series, require significant improvements, whereas the remaining categories in addition need substantial improvements in certain sections.
However, the discovered points of strength of this research study revealed that the entire ‘Let’s Learn English’ series is a commendable effort supporting the English Language Teaching in Sri Lanka. 82
5.2.
Implications and Recommendations
The results of the study mainly imply that Grade five Pupil’s Book, and Workbook require drastic modifications considering the entire criteria used to evaluate the course books.
In terms of the content of Grade five course book, certain topics incorporated are perceived to be much advanced for the knowledge level and comprehension of the pupils, for example, ‘World of Science’ & ‘Life in the Future’. Also, the learning material such as reading passages, vocabulary, etc. included in them appear complex and unfamiliar which will undeniably diminish the students’ interest in learning the new language. Also, considering the extent to which the rural and urban students are exposed to certain contexts socially and culturally and their level of linguistic knowledge, inclusion of such lessons is not of rural students’ interest, which is disadvantageous for their learning process of the new language as a result of difficulty of understanding the lessons especially due to unfamiliarity of certain topics and concepts and inclusion of difficult vocabulary items. Certain grammar items incorporated in Grade five course book do not suit students’ knowledge level considering their complexity, for example, active voice and passive voice difference, and ‘if’ conditional. Also, a balance between form and use was not observed for Grade five course book. Although sentences and examples are based on the themes of the lessons which are picked from students’ immediate environment, the complexity of the grammar items hindrance students’ ability of comprehending the grammar rules, obstructing acquiring accuracy in grammar.
Although the new lexical items introduced in Grade five course book are graded according to the principle of immediate use, and appear in the following units, the 83
overall presentation of the vocabulary seems beyond the students’ knowledge and age level. Furthermore, the objectives specified for Grade five English language learning barely meet their expectations. Pupil’s Book and Workbook are not at satisfactory level to help students reach expected competency level due to its complexity.
Findings of this study considering overall presentation of Grades three, four and five course books revealed that lack self – check progress reports which would have been essential to evaluate students’ progress of learning the language as a fundamental weakness.
Other implications are that all three course books lack paradigms to introduce grammar structures and grammar practice materials. One drawback identified in presenting the vocabulary items in primary grade course books is the lack of a list of regular and irregular verbs for students’ reference, and the failure to include the vocabulary list at the end of the Workbooks which would have been helpful for students in working out the activities given in them.
A thorough analysis of the course books disclosed that the lack of proper listening activities using standard and accepted techniques such as using cassettes and CDs is a major drawback of third, fourth and fifth grade ‘Let’s Learn English’ Pupil’s Books and Workbooks. Failure to introduce pronunciation practice reveals that the authors have made less effort to develop overall language skills of students. This has hindered students’ pronunciation skills development which is a major limitation found in the series.
It was observed that the practice and testing activities provided in Workbooks are not sufficient to expect a gradual improvement in four skills of students which is one major learning outcome expected through ‘Let’s Learn English’ series. Also, although Workbooks include a range of pictures, lack of colors make the book 84
appears less attractive. Lack of sufficient instructions in Pupil’s Books and Workbooks for students to carryout independent work, or a trainer other than the teacher to guide the student on how the exercises should be completed was found to be another major weakness of the course books.
Supplementary materials such as posters and flashcards are not provided with the course books and lack of terminal goals and developmental objectives at the beginning of lesson making the learning and teaching process specific and effective could be also regarded as mandatory weakness,. The failure to amalgamate the lessons along with the expected developmental objectives may cause inefficiency in teaching or learning the language, and deciding the extent to which the learners’ needs are met through the specified objectives. Finally, the findings on the Teacher’s Manuals imply that they have failed to integrate both regular progress tests to evaluate the students’ gradual development and guidelines to evaluate how well lessons went. Learning difficulties are not predicted and appropriate advice in handling difficulties is not included. Also all the teachers especially from rural areas of the country, are not provided with all the three Teacher’s Manuals. Therefore, in order to rectify the drawbacks identified in ‘Let’s Learn English’ series, which lays the foundation for our student’s formal English language learning process, several immediate measures are needed. The following recommendations could be taken into consideration as modifications are made to ‘Let’s Learn English’ series or new implementations are made.
First and foremost, a thorough and an overall content analysis should be conducted for Grade five course book for improvements and help cater to language needs of entire student body encompassing both rural and urban students. This comprises 85
selection of topics, learning materials such as reading passages, vocabulary, grammar items etc.
Also, it is essential that measures be taken to provide supplementary materials especially cassettes, CDs and flash cards to all schools adequately which will facilitate students and teachers to learn and teach listening and speaking skills.
Considering overall presentation of Grades three, four and five course books, inclusion of self – check progress reports to evaluate students’ progress of learning the new language, lists of regular and irregular verbs for students’ reference, paradigms to introduce grammar structures and grammar practice materials, and vocabulary lists at the end of the Workbooks which would help students to work out the activities given in them was identified as an essential components.
Further, introducing pronunciation practice exercises to help develop overall language skills of students and terminal goals and developmental objectives at the beginning of lesson making the learning and teaching process specific and effective are fundamental requirements. Moreover, integrating both regular progress tests to evaluate the students’ gradual development and guidelines in the Teacher’s Guides to evaluate how well lessons went is a mandatory necessity. Predicting difficulties and including appropriate advice in handling difficulties is also essential in producing a quality course book for language learning.
Finally, all the teachers especially from rural areas of the country should be provided with Teacher’s Manuals either in printed format or on CDs which will reduce the cost of printing and ensure the books are free of mistakes. 86
5.3.
Future Research Problems
As the research was conducted amidst several limitations, further research studies need to be operated for the study findings to be more precise and conclusive. The effectiveness of an English language course book depends on the role played by the teacher in the teaching process. The efficiency of teaching process could be assessed by conducting a research study considering the qualifications, experience, motivation, dedication and other essential and influential factors such as teaching methodology, etc, which will ultimately lead to the effective use of course books. Learner’s motivation in learning the language directly affects the effective use of the course books. Hence, this factor can be taken into consideration through future research studies. ‘Let’s Learn English’ is a series of books introduced for English language learning and teaching purposes of primary grades. It is worth carrying out a research study to investigate how this series affects English language learning and teaching process of secondary grades and how significant and successful the process followed at primary school is for students to resume or progress their learning process at secondary level. The evaluative criteria used to evaluate ‘Let’s Learn English’ course books are only a few of the numerous possible sets of criteria which could be used to evaluate a course book. Therefore, a comprehensive study could be arranged including criteria such as general appearance, social and cultural contexts, teachability, flexibility, teaching methods, etc.
Finally, any research based on textbook evaluation should consider both teachers as well as students who are involved in learning and teaching to draw accurate results, which is a limitation in this research study. 87
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95
Appendices Appendix 1
Textbook Evaluation Tool (TET) for Instructors & Teachers
6th August 2012
Anoma A. Gunawardana Kalugala Watta Deiyandara Matara
Dear Instructors/ Teachers A Critical Evaluation of Sri Lankan Government School Textbook Series ‘Let’s Learn English
I am conducting a research study titled as above. The research questionnaire used in this study is attached herewith. Your contribution with this regard is highly appreciated.
Please follow the following instructions:
1. Filling-in the general demographic questions on the first page. 2. Putting a circle around the choice which you find most suitable. 3. Drawing any remarks you would like to add at the end of the questionnaire.
Thank you Yours faithfully
A.A. Gunawardana (The Researcher)
96
Textbook Evaluation Tool (TET) for Instructors & Teachers
Modified from Cunningsworth (1995) & Hesham Suleiman Dawood Al-Yousef (2007)
Please complete the following survey as completely and honestly as possible.
Name (optional)
: …………………….....................................................................
School
: ………………………………………………………………….
District
: ………………………………………………………………….
Nationality: (check the best fit)
Gender:
Sri Lankan
Female
Non Sri Lankan
Male
Are you an English Supervisor?
Yes
No
Are you a primary school English Teacher?
Yes
No
Qualifications:
Certificate
Trained
Diploma
B.A. / B. Ed
97
M.A. / M. Ed
PhD
Number of English teacher training sessions you have attended:
English teaching experience:
Less than one year
1 – 2 years
3 – 5 years
5 – 10 years
10 - 15 years
More than 15 years
98
Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Agree
Strongly Agree
1
The selected topics are familiar to the students.
1
2
3
4
2
The selected topics enhance learners' motivation.
1
2
3
4
3
The course book has a list at the end for new or difficult words.
1
2
3
4
4
The course book contains self - check progress report.
1
2
3
4
5
Pedagogic texts and dialogues include new vocabulary and grammatical structures.
1
2
3
4
6
Language items (e.g. vocabulary, etc.) are presented in context to make meaning clear.
1
2
3
4
7
Pedagogic texts and dialogues include a variety of interesting subjects.
1
2
3
4
8
The paradigm used to introduce grammatical rules is clear and simple.
1
2
3
4
9
Grammar items suit students' language needs.
1
2
3
4
1 0
There is a balance between form and use.
1
2
3
4
1 1
Sentences and examples use words that are known by learners.
1
2
3
4
1 2
New lexical items are graded according to the principle of immediate use.
1
2
3
4
1 3
New lexical items appear in the following units.
1
2
3
4
1 4
Pronunciation is built through different types of activities, such as listening, dialogue practice etc.
1
2
3
4
1 5
There are cassettes/ CDs for pronunciation practice.
1
2
3
4
1 6
There is practice in the four language skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing.
1
2
3
4
1
The course book uses authentic (real - world) reading material at an appropriate
1
2
3
4
Critical Evaluation of Government Primary Grade English Course Books (Grade Three, Four & Five)
Please circle the best answer
99
7
level.
1 8
The course book uses authentic (real - world) listening material at an appropriate level.
1
2
3
4
1 9
The course book discusses and identifies areas of student needs.
1
2
3
4
2 0
The course book encourages inductive approach to learning.
1
2
3
4
2 1
Accuracy is balanced with fluency.
1
2
3
4
2 2
The course book includes lessons that reflect on study techniques.
1
2
3
4
2 3
The course book contains advices on study skills development.
1
2
3
4
2 4
Students are encouraged to take some degree of responsibility for their learning.
1
2
3
4
2 5
There are some materials for independent work.
1
2
3
4
2 6
The visuals used in the book are an integral part of teaching.
1
2
3
4
2 7
The visuals are reasonably well produced and attractive.
1
2
3
4
2 8
The course book provides mechanical and meaningful exercises.
1
2
3
4
2 9
The course book provides communicative exercises that enable learners to carry out their communicative tasks in real - life situations.
1
2
3
4
3 0
There are directions to explain how every exercise can be done.
1
2
3
4
3 1
The number of exercises is suitable.
1
2
3
4
3 2
The textbook provides periodical revisions for diagnostic purposes.
1
2
3
4
3 3
The posters and flash cards accompanying the book are attractive and suitable.
1
2
3
4
100
3 4
The terminal goals are specified in the Teacher's Manual or the Pupil's Book.
1
2
3
4
3 5
The developmental objectives are specified at the beginning of each lesson.
1
2
3
4
3 6
Developmental objectives meet the needs of learners.
1
2
3
4
3 7
Developmental objectives suit the level of the learners.
1
2
3
4
3 8
Item selection reflects the objective of the course.
1
2
3
4
3 9
Item selection suits the level of the course.
1
2
3
4
4 0
Item selection suits the time limit allowed for the course.
1
2
3
4
4 1
The grading of items is suitable for the learners.
1
2
3
4
4 2
There is a systematic and balanced recycling of all items.
1
2
3
4
4 3
All teachers are provided with the Teacher's Manual.
1
2
3
4
4 4
The Teacher's Manual is informative.
1
2
3
4
4 5
The manual is written so as to be comprehensible enough for less experienced teachers.
1
2
3
4
4 6
The underlying learning approach of the authors is expressed clearly and explicitly in the Teacher's Manual.
1
2
3
4
4 7
Learning difficulties are predicted and appropriate advice is given.
1
2
3
4
4 8
The manual provides keys to exercises and other activities.
1
2
3
4
4 9
The manual contains regular progress tests.
1
2
3
4
5
There are guidelines for evaluating how well lessons went.
1
2
3
4
101
0 5 1
Time required to complete both course & work books is adequate.
1
2
3
4
5 2
Course & work books are at satisfactory level to help students reach expected competency level.
1
2
3
4
5 3
Work book activities are done in class & as homework.
1
2
3
4
Remarks:
102
Appendix 2
The Researcher’s Evaluation of the Government Primary Grade English Course Books (Grade Three, Four & Five)
103
Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Agree
Strongly Agree
1
The selected topics are familiar to the students.
1
2
3
4
2
The selected topics enhance learners' motivation.
1
2
3
4
3
The course book has a list at the end for new or difficult words.
1
2
3
4
4
The course book contains self - check progress report.
1
2
3
4
5
Pedagogic texts and dialogues include new vocabulary and grammatical structures.
1
2
3
4
6
Language items (e.g. vocabulary, etc.) are presented in context to make meaning clear.
1
2
3
4
7
Pedagogic texts and dialogues include a variety of interesting subjects.
1
2
3
4
8
The paradigm used to introduce grammatical rules is clear and simple.
1
2
3
4
9
Grammar items suit students' language needs.
1
2
3
4
1 0
There is a balance between form and use.
1
2
3
4
1 1
Sentences and examples use words that are known by learners.
1
2
3
4
1 2
New lexical items are graded according to the principle of immediate use.
1
2
3
4
1 3
New lexical items appear in the following units.
1
2
3
4
1 4
Pronunciation is built through different types of activities, such as listening, dialogue practice etc.
1
2
3
4
1 5
There are cassettes/ CDs for pronunciation practice.
1
2
3
4
1 6
There is practice in the four language skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing.
1
2
3
4
1 7
The course book uses authentic (real - world) reading material at an appropriate level.
1
2
3
4
Critical Evaluation of Government Primary Grade English Course Books (Grade Three, Four & Five)
Please circle the best answer
104
1 8
The course book uses authentic (real - world) listening material at an appropriate level.
1
2
3
4
1 9
The course book discusses and identifies areas of student needs.
1
2
3
4
2 0
The course book encourages inductive approach to learning.
1
2
3
4
2 1
Accuracy is balanced with fluency.
1
2
3
4
2 2
The course book includes lessons that reflect on study techniques.
1
2
3
4
2 3
The course book contains advices on study skills development.
1
2
3
4
2 4
Students are encouraged to take some degree of responsibility for their learning.
1
2
3
4
2 5
There are some materials for independent work.
1
2
3
4
2 6
The visuals used in the book are an integral part of teaching.
1
2
3
4
2 7
The visuals are reasonably well produced and attractive.
1
2
3
4
2 8
The course book provides mechanical and meaningful exercises.
1
2
3
4
2 9
The course book provides communicative exercises that enable learners to carry out their communicative tasks in real - life situations.
1
2
3
4
3 0
There are directions to explain how every exercise can be done.
1
2
3
4
3 1
The number of exercises is suitable.
1
2
3
4
3 2
The textbook provides periodical revisions for diagnostic purposes.
1
2
3
4
3 3
The posters and flash cards accompanying the book are attractive and suitable.
1
2
3
4
3
The terminal goals are specified in the Teacher's Manual or the Pupil's Book.
1
2
3
4
105
4 3 5
The developmental objectives are specified at the beginning of each lesson.
1
2
3
4
3 6
Developmental objectives meet the needs of learners.
1
2
3
4
3 7
Developmental objectives suit the level of the learners.
1
2
3
4
3 8
Item selection reflects the objective of the course.
1
2
3
4
3 9
Item selection suits the level of the course.
1
2
3
4
4 0
Item selection suits the time limit allowed for the course.
1
2
3
4
4 1
The grading of items is suitable for the learners.
1
2
3
4
4 2
There is a systematic and balanced recycling of all items.
1
2
3
4
4 3
All teachers are provided with the Teacher's Manual.
1
2
3
4
4 4
The Teacher's Manual is informative.
1
2
3
4
4 5
The manual is written so as to be comprehensible enough for less experienced teachers.
1
2
3
4
4 6
The underlying learning approach of the authors is expressed clearly and explicitly in the Teacher's Manual.
1
2
3
4
4 7
Learning difficulties are predicted and appropriate advice is given.
1
2
3
4
4 8
The manual provides keys to exercises and other activities.
1
2
3
4
4 9
The manual contains regular progress tests.
1
2
3
4
5 0
There are guidelines for evaluating how well lessons went.
1
2
3
4
106
5 1
Time required to complete both course & work books is adequate.
1
2
3
4
5 2
Course & work books are at satisfactory level to help students reach expected competency level.
1
2
3
4
5 3
Work book activities are done in class & as homework.
1
2
3
4
Remarks:
107
Appendix 3
Frequencies and Percentages of Instructors’ and Teachers’ Responses to TET Category
State ment No. 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4
Content 1.5
1.6
1.7
2.1 Grammar 2.2 2.3
Statement The selected topics are familiar to the students. The selected topics enhance learners' motivation. The coursebook has a list at the end for new or difficult words. The coursebook contains self - check progress report. Pedagogic texts and dialogues include new vocabulary and grammatical structures. Language items (e.g. vocabulary, etc) are presented in context to make meaning clear. Pedagogic texts and dialogues include a variety of interesting subjects.
The paradigm used to introduce grammatical rules is clear and simple. Grammar items suit students' language needs. There is a balance between form and
Strongly Disagree
Response Disag Agree ree
Strongly Agree
Total
Strongly Disagree
Percentage Disag Agree ree
Strongly Agree
-
3
66
12
81
0%
4%
81%
15%
-
3
60
15
78
0%
4%
77%
19%
3
3
33
39
78
4%
4%
42%
50%
18
27
27
3
75
24%
36%
36%
4%
-
3
66
9
78
0%
4%
85%
12%
60
18
78
0%
0%
77%
23%
0%
4%
81%
15%
-
-
-
3
66
12
81
21
42
378
108
549
-
36
33
12
81
0%
44%
41%
15%
-
21
51 60
9 3
81 81
0% 0%
26% 22%
63% 74%
11% 4%
108
use. 2.4
Vocabular y
3.1 3.2
4.1 Phonology 4.2
5.1 Language Skills
5.2
5.3
6.1 Methodolo gy
6.2 6.3
Sentences and examples use words that are known by learners.
New lexical items are graded according to the principle of immediate use. New lexical items appear in the following units.
Pronunciation is built through different types of activities, such as listening, dialogue pracice etc. There are cassettes/ CDs for pronunciation practice.
There is practice in the four langugae skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing. The coursebook uses authentic (real world) reading material at an appropriate level. The coursebook uses authentic (real world) listening material at an appropriate level.
The coursebook discusses and identifies areas of student needs. The coursebook encourages inductive aprroach to learning. Accuracy is balanced with fluency.
18 -
9
60
6
75
0%
12%
80%
8%
-
84
204
30
318
-
30
51
81
0%
37%
63%
0%
-
9
63
9
81
0%
11%
78%
11%
-
39
114
9
162
-
9
63
9
81
0%
11%
78%
11%
24
36
9
12
81
30%
44%
11%
15%
24
45
72
21
162
-
6
54
21
81
0%
7%
67%
26%
-
3
63
15
81
0%
4%
78%
19%
-
15
57
9
81
0%
19%
70%
11%
-
24
174
45
243
-
15
60
6
81
0%
19%
74%
7%
-
3
72 51
6 6
81 81
0% 0%
4% 30%
89% 63%
7% 7%
109
24
7.1
Study Skills
7.2 7.3 7.4
8.1 Visuals 8.2
9.1
9.2 Practice & Testing
9.3 9.4 9.5 9.6
The coursebook includes lessons that reflect on study techniques. The coursebook contains advices on study skills development. Students are encouraged to take some degree of responsibility for their learning. There are some materials for independent work.
The visuals used in the book are an integral part of teaching. The visulas are reasonably well produced and attractive.
The coursebook provides machanical and meaningful exercises. The coursebook provides communicative exercises that enable learners to carry out their communicative tasks in real - life situations. There are directions to explain how every exercise can be done. The number of exercises is suitable. Workbook activities are done in class & as homework. The textbook provides periodical
-
42
183
18
243
-
12
60
6
78
0%
15%
77%
8%
-
33
39
6
78
0%
42%
50%
8%
-
15
57
3
75
0%
20%
76%
4%
3
21
45
12
81
4%
26%
56%
15%
3
81
201
27
312
-
9
60
12
81
0%
11%
74%
15%
-
6
63
12
81
0%
7%
78%
15%
-
15
123
24
162
-
6
66
9
81
0%
7%
81%
11%
-
21
48
12
81
0%
26%
59%
15%
3
12
54
12
81
4%
15%
67%
15%
-
12
6
81
0%
15%
78%
7%
-
3
54
18
75
0%
4%
72%
24%
63
6
81
0%
15%
78%
7%
110
63
revisions for diagnostic purposes.
Suppleme ntary
10.1
11.1
11.2
Objectives
11.3 11.4 11.5 11.6
12.1 Content Selection
12.2 12.3
Gradation &
13.1
The posters and flash cards accompanying the book are attractive and suitable.
The terminal goals are specified in the Teacher's Manual or the Pupil's Book. The developmental objectives are specified at the beginning of each lesson. Developmental objectives meet the needs of learners. Developmental objectives suit the level of the learners. Text and work books are at satisfactory level to help students reach expected competency level. Ttime required to complete both text and work books is adequate.
Item selection reflects the objective of the course. Item selection suits the level of the course. Item selection suits the time limit allowed for the course.
The grading of items is suitable for the learners.
12 3
66
348
63
480
-
12
54
3
69
-
12
54
3
69
-
3
69
9
3
27
45
-
21
-
0%
17%
78%
4%
81
0%
4%
85%
11%
6
81
4%
33%
56%
7%
54
6
81
0%
26%
67%
7%
21
45
15
81
0%
26%
56%
19%
-
18
51
6
75
0%
24%
68%
8%
6
39
30
6
81
7%
48%
37%
7%
9
129
294
48
480
-
6
66
9
81
0%
7%
81%
11%
-
12
60
9
81
0%
15%
74%
11%
-
42
30
6
78
0%
54%
38%
8%
-
60
156
24
240
-
9
69
3
81
0%
11%
85%
4%
111
Recycling
13.2
14.1 14.2 14.3
Teacher's Manual
14.4 14.5 14.6 14.7 14.8
There is a systematic and balanced recycling of all items.
All teachers are provided with the Teacher's Manual. The Teacher's Manual is informative. The manual is written so as to be comprehensible enough for less experienced teachers. The underlying learning approach of the authors is expressed clearly and explicitly in the Teacher's Manual. Learning difficulties are predicted and appropriate advice is given. The manual provides keys to exercises and other activities. The manual contains regular progress tests. There are guidelines for evaluating how well lessons went.
-
27
51
3
81
-
36
120
6
162
-
6
54
18
-
3
66
3
3
-
0%
33%
63%
4%
78
0%
8%
69%
23%
9
78
0%
4%
85%
12%
66
9
81
4%
4%
81%
11%
72
9
81
0%
0%
89%
11%
69
0%
35%
65%
0%
-
24
45
-
6
63
12
81
0%
7%
78%
15%
-
27
33
6
66
0%
41%
50%
9%
6
15
8%
20%
60%
12%
9
84
112
45
9
75
444
72
609
