Chapter One Introduction
This chapter is composed of five sections. In the first section, it mainly reviews the research background, setting forth the necessity of doing this study. In the second section, the author explains her motivation of the present research. The next section shows the objective and research questions. Then, the author presents the significance of the research from different interested parties: textbook compilers, teachers and students. The last section gives the outline of this thesis.
1.1 Background
As one of the principal resources in teaching and learning in most pedagogical contexts, textbook evaluation has been emphasized as an important issue since 1980s. Grant (1987) thinks that the best textbook should suit: (1) the needs, interests, abilities of students; (2) the needs of teachers; (3) the needs of official public teaching syllabuses or examinations. Mc Donough and Shaw (1993) provide us with a working model for material evaluation which can be effectively used by teachers working in a variety of contexts. Cunningsworth (2002) finds textbook evaluation helpful for adopting a new course book or identifying particular strengths and weaknesses in course books already in use. Learners are the main users and service objects of textbooks. Therefore, when evaluating the textbooks, we should take learners’ views into consideration, and set the learners’ needs as one subject, which has been confirmed by Cunningsworth (2002). He proclaims that textbooks can be regarded as the best resource in achieving teaching objectives that have already been set up based on learners’ needs. Hutchinson and Waters (2002) divide needs into two items: learning needs and target needs. Gürkaynak states learning needs “involves motivational features, learning styles, Multiple Intelligences (MI), learning strategies, cultural needs, etc” (Gürkaynak, 2015, p. 286). In this way, learners have MI-based needs. MI Theory advocates that every individual possesses MI and has different MI combinations (Gardner, 1983). K?rkg?zsince (2010) proclaims that due to the varied intelligences that students have, it is of great importance that textbooks are designed to address as many types of intelligences as possible so as to cater for their needs. However, few studies about textbook evaluation investigated MI-based contents in primary English textbook and took primary students’ MI-based needs into account. Whether the textbooks reflect MI-based contents? What are the students’ MI-based needs? Do the textbooks cater for students’ MI-based needs? With such questions in mind, the author conducts the present study. In this paper, the research material-New Oxford English 7, which is Oxford-Shenzhen version published by Shanghai Education Press, is used in most of Shenzhen primary schools. In order to examine the extent to which this textbook caters for the MI-based needs as reflected by the third grade students and their teachers, the author firstly takes evaluation on the textbook to find its MI-based contents, and then analyzes students’ MI-based needs from the view of students and their teachers. Finally the author works out the research questions through comparing the results of MI-based contents in the selected textbook and MI-based needs as reflected by the students and teachers.
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1.2 Motivation
Personally, during English learning career, what impressed the author most is the massive exercises and tests. The students followed teachers to learn the sentences and words in classes, and copied those after class. Usually they skipped singing-songs and playing-game parts in the textbooks in order to spare more time to learn the key points. Of course, they learned a lot under this mode. However, it couldn’t be ignored that they learned English in a passive way, and some students even lost interest in English in an early phase. The author became a third grade English teacher in a primary school two years ago. She found that most cases were different from those in her past classes when she read through the textbook, observed other English teachers’ classes, and made teaching plans. In the later teaching, she realized their differences, and her teaching plan must be based on the students’ different learning needs. In Gardner’s words “we are all so largely different because we all have different combinations of intelligences” (Gardner, 1993, p. 12). The author appreciated and had interest in Gardner’s MI Theory, since MI Theory gives emphasis on individual differences which is deeply understood by the author in her teaching practice and gives her much guidance. She would like to do research to find MI-based contents in the textbook so as to have a deeper understanding of the analyzed textbook, students’ MI-based needs, and then identify to what extent it has accommodated the sampled students’ MI-based needs.
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Chapter Two Literature Review
This chapter defines such terms as textbook, textbook evaluation and Needs Analysis. Additionally, it reviews the studies about textbook evaluation abroad and in china. At last, the author lists some related studies which are conducted in other disciplines and give much enlightenment to the present research.
2.1 Textbook
A textbook can also be regarded as a course book, which plays a critical role in English language teaching. “As it acts as a visual record of progress and can thus be a psychological support to the students. It is also useful as a memory aid and for consolidation of class work at home; at the same time the textbook can be a syllabus for the teacher” (Seaton, 1982, p. 5). Textbook provides the main teaching contents of a course. Tomlinson defines the term “language-learning materials” (Tomlinson, 1998, p. 2) as anything that is used. It facilitates the teachers or learners in the process of language learning. When we mention textbooks in China, we usually call them a series of officially published books which belong to teaching materials. Cheng Xiaotang (程晓堂, 2002) defines textbook broadly and narrowly. In a broad sense, it covers all the teaching materials used to improve language learning for teachers and students inside and outside classroom, such as students’ books, teachers’ books, dictionaries, videos, on-line resources and so on. In a narrow sense, it just means the course book. The current study examines the textbook-New Oxford English 7 which is Oxford-Shenzhen version published by Shanghai Education Press according to its narrow sense. As one of the major teaching resources, textbooks not only give teachers reference and guidance in their teaching preparing, and help to set the teaching objectives, but help students learn languages in a direct way. In other words, textbooks facilitate both teachers and students in language teaching and learning. Cunningsworth (2002) proclaims that textbooks can be regarded as the best resource in achieving teaching objectives that have already been set up based on learners’ needs. They should not determine objectives themselves or become the objectives. We mainly concern language teaching not the textbook.
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2.2 Textbook Evaluation
Evaluating textbook is quite a necessary procedure. Hutchinson and Waters state that “evaluation is a matter of judging the fitness of something for a particular purpose” As Cunningsworth (2002) puts forward, textbook evaluation is a complex thing, for it includes many variables. Choosing appropriate criteria is critical, because the process of evaluation will witness to a general idea of the textbooks being examined. Tomlinson (2005) defines textbook evaluation as a process that involves measuring the value of learning materials and making judgments about the influence of these materials on the users. Sheldon (1998) has raised some reasons for textbook evaluation. A full-scale evaluation would enable administers and teachers of educational organization or detailed instruction to make distinction between all of the textbooks available on the market. Moreover, it would help educators to distinguish the particular advantages and disadvantages of textbooks already in use. Cheng Xiaotang (程晓堂, 2002) proposes textbook evaluation can bring some suggestions to make textbooks more in line with teaching requirements and judge whether the textbooks meet the needs of teachers and students.
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Chapter Three Methodology ....... 17
3.1 Context ...... 17
3.2 Research Material ....... 17
3.3 Sample....... 18
3.3.1 Third Grade Students-Users of the Investigated Textbook ....... 18
3.3.2 Third Grade Teachers-Users of the Investigated Textbook ....... 18
3.4 Research Instruments ........ 19
3.5 Research Procedure ..... 21
3.6 Data Collection ..... 24
3.7 Data Analysis ........ 24
Chapter Four Results ....... 26
4.1 Results of Textbook Evaluation .... 26
4.2 Results of Students’ MI-based Needs ....... 28
4.3 Results of Students’ MI-based Needs Reflected by Sample of Teachers ........ 35
5.1 Textbook Evaluation ......... 43
5.2 Students’ MI-based Needs ...... 44
5.3 Students’ MI-based Needs Reflected by the Teachers ...... 45
5.4 Answers to the Research Questions .... 46
5.5 Comparison with the Results in the Major References ..... 48
5.6 Personal Reflection ..... 49
Chapter Five Discussion
Chapter Five firstly discusses the results obtained in the previous chapter, namely MI-based contents in the target textbook, MI-based needs as revealed by the students and teachers. Next, it answers the research questions. Then, it compares the results in the present study with those in the major references. Lastly, the author gives her own reflection combined with her teaching experiences and results of this study.
5.1 MI-based contents in the Target Textbook
It can be seen from table 3 that the textbook covers all intelligence types with a fair percentage of distribution except naturalist intelligence. Obviously, the textbook stresses the importance of linguistic intelligence, logical/mathematical intelligence, spatial intelligence and bodily/kinesthetic intelligence. According to Piaget’s theory of cognitive development, the students aging from 6-12 are at concrete operations stage and their thinking activities need supports of concrete contents. In this way, the percentage of contents which reflect logical/mathematical intelligence can be reduced to some extent. Furthermore, maybe because outdoor teaching is rarely carried out except physical education or students can pick up the natural knowledge outside classrooms, the textbook compilers design few contents that catered for naturalist intelligence. Additionally, it is surprising that the musical intelligence is also given less attention, maybe musical class is taken in account by textbook.
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Conclusion
In this chapter, major findings are summed up around MI-based contents in the target textbook, MI-based needs as reflected by the students and teachers. Meanwhile, the limitations of the study are discussed through reviewing the whole study. Finally, it presents the recommendations for textbook compilers, teachers and students respectively.As for the MI-based contents in the target textbook, all intelligence types are covered with a fair percentage of distribution except naturalist intelligence. Linguistic intelligence and logical/mathematical intelligence are stressed and have more frequency, followed by spatial intelligence and bodily/kinesthetic intelligence, while musical intelligence, intrapersonal intelligence, interpersonal intelligence and naturalist intelligence have less frequency. There is only one point that reflects naturalist intelligence. In accordance with teaches’ reflection in the interviews and teaching activities, the contents reflecting naturalist intelligence don’t need to be designed so many like other types of intelligences. On the whole, the textbook is designed reasonably and well in arranging contents which reflected linguistic, spatial and bodily/kinesthetic intelligences in view of teachers’ reply in interviews. As the teachers saying, these contents can develop students’ ability in English speaking, arouse students’ interest and make classroom diverse. Imperfections in the textbook can be made up through teachers’ appropriate instruction, parents’ supports, and students’ building up knowledge from other resources.
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Reference documents (omitted)