Coursebook Evaluation Checklist 1

VICTORIA UNIVERSITY
& HANOI UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN STUDIES

FACULTY OF HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

SCHOOL OF EDUCATION

COURSEBOOK EVALUATION CHECKLIST

 Course: MTESOL

 Subject Code and Title: AEG 1502

EVALUATION

 Group members:

Nguyen Manh Thao 3843612 (Leader)

Nguyen Hong Thanh Lan 3843616

Nguyen Ngoc Thuc 3831774

Nguyen Ngoc Thanh 3831786

Nguyen Tuong Nhu 3832265

 Lecturer: Prue Morris

 Due Date of Assignment:

1. The professional context

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According to Brogan (2007), “The economic changes have demanded that more
Vietnamese citizens become proficient in English, in the English language domains of
Viet Nam. The type, number and size of these domains are increasing” (p.2). Pham
(2001) considers that the open door policy causes a tremendous growth of English centers
(p.31). In that scenario, choosing coursebooks becomes an urgent matter, especially for
universities. Those who are in charge of choosing cousebooks select the books from the
bookstores which they think are suitable for their students. Some lecturers find articles
from the internet and process them into a coursebook. Choosing coursebooks like this is
too subjective, because it may not be suitable to the users. It seems that there is no well-
established criteria for choosing the right coursebooks. A carefully worked-out
evaluation checklist is therefore essential for choosing the adequate coursebooks in the
status quo of Vietnam.
2. The evaluation checklist and its audience
In this paper, we would like to introduce an adjusted evaluation checklist which
can be utilized by teachers, students, and curriculum designers at universities in Vietnam.
The original checklist, designed by Tomlinson, Masuhara and Rubdy (2001), was divided
into 7 sections with 39 items (see appendix 1). To be contextually appropriate, we have
moved a number of items and modified some items to suit our situation. The new
checklist has 26 items (see appendix 2).
3. The justification for the adjustment
The following items refer to the ones in the original checklist. The changes made
or the adaptations to the checklist are highlighted (see appendix 1).
Section I: Flexibility

Items 1, 3, 4, 5 are irrelevant because they seem broad and can be applied to any
student groups in any context. We keep item 2 due to its connection to students’ cultural
background and knowledge. We made a slightly change to items 6 and 7 to suit
Vietnamese learning culture.

Section II: Syllabus

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This question in the scholars’ checklist: “8. Does the syllabus have sufficient
coverage?” does not specify what is meant by sufficient coverage and we do not know
how much the materials should cover to meet the need of Vietnamese learners unless we
change it to: “Does the syllabus have sufficient coverage that is useful in the Vietnamese
context?”. Items 9 and 10 look broad and can be applied to any student groups in any
context. Items 11, 12, 14 are of great importance, being an necessity in the learning
process. Item 13 should be changed to suit Vietnamese learning culture. For these
reasons, we have left out items 9 and 10 and made a slight change to items 8 and 13.

Section III: Pedagogic approach

Item 15 is related to the type of skills development which Vietnamese students

may find it hard to learn and which seems to require substantial training either for them
or for their teachers to make it happen. Items 16, 21, 23 can be applied to any student
groups in any context. Items 17 and 18 seem too Western and promote a cultural feature
not common in Vietnamese behaviour and mindset. These items have therefore been
taken away from the checklist. We keep items 19, 20 due to their essential necessity in
the learning process.

Section IV: Topic content

We think items 23, 24, 25 are of great importance in the learning process. They
are relevant to the Vietnamese context and connect to students’ cultural background. Item
26 is irrelevant and has been left out because it can be applied to any student groups in
any context and it promotes a cultural feature not common in Vietnamese behaviour.

Section V: Teachability

In this section, we keep items 27 and 28 because they are relevant to the situations
of EFL teaching and learning in Vietnam.

Section VI: Design and illustration

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We keep item 29 because it is a universal feature of a coursebook. It is important

that a course book be attractive and have sufficient variety of design to achieve impact.
Item 30 has been removed. No cultural issues are required for culturally homogeneous
students because they are all Vietnamese. This item works only with cultural diverse
groups. Item 31 has also been left out because it is not a key quality in course materials. It
is optional and it is not important for a coursebook to have enough white space to
achieve clarity. Item 32 is kept because it is a universal feature of a coursebook and it is
essential to task-based language teaching. We have deleted item 33 because it is optional
and unimportant. We keep item 34 because it is essential for a coursebook to have
various attractive illustrations. We also keep items 35, 36 due to their importance. In
addition to facilitating learner visualization, all illustrations in a coursebook must be
functional so that students can understand the meaning of a word as well as the
grammatical structure.

Section VII: Reading texts

Item 37 has been taken away from the checklist because it is optional and not
important. We agree to keep items 38 and 39 because they are of great important, being
an essential necessity in the learning process.

4. Conclusion

In general, our adaptation is both thoughtful and arbitrary- thoughtful in the sense
that every item is re-selected and modified with a clear reason in mind; arbitrary in the
sense that we repair the items based on our own perception and experience of what works
for Vietnamese students. Such decisions, however, may vary from teacher to teacher and
may not reflect the views of all teachers. On a similar note, what seems to be viewed by
the researcher as mostly suited to Vietnamese students may also vary as there are always
a number of students who veered away from the ways on which the majority of students
would prefer to learn.
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To sum up, our adapted coursebook evaluation checklist may provide

teachers, students and curriculum designers with an effective instrument to select
the right coursebook which is contextually appropriate.

(999 words)
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References
Brogan, M. (2007). Maintaining the Learning- EFL Teacher Education in Vietnam. In

Burns, A. and H. de Silva Joyce. Planning and Teaching Creatively Within a

Required Curriculum for Adult Learners. TESOL Inc. : USA, 59-92.

Pham, H.H. (2001). Teacher Development: A Real Need for English Departments in

Vietnam. Forum, 39(4), 30.

Tomlinson, B., Masuhara, H., Rubdy, R. (2001). Review of Adult EFL

Course in ELT Journal Vol.55/1. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

 Coursebook Evaluation Checklist 7

APPENDIX 1

THE ORIGINAL COURSEBOOK EVALUATION CHECKLIST

Adapted from Brian Tomlinson, Hitomi Masuhara & Rani Rubdy’s Review of
Adult EFL Course in ELT Journal Vol.55/1 Jan 2001. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

The items that our group has changed or adjusted are highlighted.

Coursebook Evaluation Worksheet (Total grade /200)

Flexibility (Total grade /35)

1. Would the course be appealing and useful to your students?

2. Does the course provide opportunities for you and your students to localize activities?

3. Does the course provide opportunities for extensive reading?

4. Does the course provide opportunities for extensive listening?

5. Does the course provide opportunities for informal acquisition as well as formal
learning?

6. Does the course cater for different preferred learning styles?

7. Does the course prepare your students for the realities of language use in their
situations?

Comments

Syllabus (Total grade /35)

8. Does the syllabus have sufficient coverage?

9. Does it likely to meet the needs and wants of your students?

10. Does the syllabus focus on language in use?

11. Does the syllabus pay attention to accuracy, fluency, and appropriacy of language
use?

12. Does the syllabus include communication strategies?

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13. Does the syllabus include learning strategies?

14. Are the syllabus components frequently recycled in different ways?

Comments

Pedagogic approach (Total grade /40)

15. Does the course challenge your students? For example, do the activities involve your
students in mental activity, thoughtful discussion, and help the development of high-level
skills?

16. Does the course help your students?

17. Does the course encourage independent learning?

18. Does it respect and treat your students as individuals? (Such as allowing learner
choice, helping students to personalize their language learning)

19. Does it help your students to revise what they have learned?

20. Are the activities likely to involve your students affectively?

21. Are the activities sufficiently varied to achieve impact?

22. Does the course aim at developing cultural awareness?

Comments

Topic content (Total grade /20)

23. Are the topic sufficiently varied and engaging to appeal to your students with
different interests and personalities?

24. Are the topics familiar to your students’ cultural background?

25. Does the course give any choice of topics, provoke personal responses, and encourage
your students to express their own views?

26. Does the course avoid potentially embarrassing or disturbing topics? Is the course
open-minded in its attitude towards the topic?

Comments
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Teachability (Total grade /10)

27. Does the course help you to minimize your preparation time?

28. Does the course help you to cater for mixed ability students and classes of different
sizes?

Comments

Design and illustration (Total grade /40)

29. Does the book retain visual appeal throughout? Is there sufficient variety of design to
achieve impact?

30. Does the book potentially attractive in view of your students’ cultural background?

31. Is there enough white space to achieve clarity?

32. Are tasks target clear to the learner?

33. Is there consistency in the use of icons, headings, labels, icons, italics, etc.?

34. Are the illustrations attractive and varied?

35. Are the illustrations functional?

36. Do the illustrations facilitate learner visualization without imposing complete visual
images?

Comments

VII. Reading texts (Total grade /15)

37. Is there a variety of text types, genres, and lengths?

38. Are the texts likely to interest your students?

39. Are the texts likely to engage your students both cognitively and affectively?
_______________________________________________________________________
_
 Coursebook Evaluation Checklist 10

Collation Sheet

Coursebook: Lessons evaluated:

Evaluators:

Total grade /200

Criteria Grade Comments and examples

Flexibility

Syllabus

Pedagogic
approach

Topic content

Teachability

Design and
illustration

Reading texts
 Coursebook Evaluation Checklist 11

Collation Sheet

Coursebook: Lessons evaluated:

Evaluators:

Total grade /200

Criteria Grade Comments and examples

Flexibility

Syllabus

Pedagogic
approach

Topic content

Teachability

Design and
illustration

Reading texts
 Coursebook Evaluation Checklist 12

APPENDIX 2
THE ADAPTED COURSEBOOK EVALUATION CHECKLIST

Coursebook Evaluation Worksheet (Total grade /200)

Flexibility (Total grade /35)

1. Does the course provide opportunities for you and your students to localize
activities?
2. Does the course cater for preferred learning styles of Vietnamese students?
3. Does the course prepare your students for the realities of language use in their
situations of English use in Vietnam?
Comments

Syllabus (Total grade /35)

4. Does the syllabus have sufficient coverage that is useful in the Vietnamese context?

5. Does the syllabus pay attention to accuracy, fluency, and appropriacy of language use?

6. Does the syllabus include communication strategies?

7. Does the syllabus include learning strategies which Vietnamese students can easily
learn and which do not require much training?

8. Are the syllabus components frequently recycled in different ways?

Comments

Pedagogic approach (Total grade /40)

9. Does the course help your students?

10. Does it help your students to revise what they have learned?

11. Are the activities likely to involve your students affectively?

Comments
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Topic content (Total grade /20)

12. Are the topic sufficiently varied and engaging to appeal to your students with
different interests and personalities?

13. Are the topics familiar to your students’ cultural background?

14. Does the course give any choice of topics, provoke personal responses, and encourage
your students to express their own views?

Comments

Teachability (Total grade /10)

15. Does the course help you to minimize your preparation time?

16. Does the course help you to cater for mixed ability students and classes of different
sizes?

Comments

Design and illustration (Total grade /40)

17. Does the book retain visual appeal throughout? Is there sufficient variety of design to
achieve impact?

18. Does the book potentially attractive in view of your students’ cultural background?

19. Is there enough white space to achieve clarity?

20. Are tasks target clear to the learner?

21. Is there consistency in the use of icons, headings, labels, icons, italics, etc.?

22. Are the illustrations attractive and varied?

23. Are the illustrations functional?

24. Do the illustrations facilitate learner visualization without imposing complete visual
images?
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Comments

VII. Reading texts (Total grade /15)

25. Are the texts likely to interest your students?

26. Are the texts likely to engage your students both cognitively and affectively?

_______________________________________________________________________
_
 Coursebook Evaluation Checklist 15

Collation Sheet

Coursebook: Lessons evaluated:

Evaluators:

Total grade /200

Criteria Grade Comments and examples

Flexibility

Syllabus

Pedagogic
approach

Topic
content

Teachability

Design and
illustration

Reading
texts
 Coursebook Evaluation Checklist 16

Collation Sheet

Coursebook: Lessons evaluated:

Evaluators:

Total grade /200

Criteria Grade Comments and examples

Flexibility

Syllabus

Pedagogic
approach

Topic
content

Teachability

Design and
illustration
 Coursebook Evaluation Checklist 17

Reading
texts