[Podcast] An Evaluation Of Two Business English Course Books, Business Partner B1+ Business Partner B2: Students’ And Teachers’ Perspectives

Key words: books, Business students, criteria, EFL teachers, selection, textbooks

Teaching materials such as textbooks are crucial for learning and teaching because knowledge is displayed in them, and the classroom teacher or a peer can explain it. Nevertheless, careless textbook selection can impact this learning and teaching process negatively. Therefore, this study investigated teachers’ and learners’ perceptions of the textbooks that are in use at the university. The study also used semi-structured focus group interviews to obtain more specific participant information. Both groups agree that the books are practical and have videos to practice listening. However, many criteria, such as language skills, activities, and content, should be improved. Several suggestions are made for improving the situation.

Statement of the problem

According to Hasibuan and Fithriani (2022), “Course textbooks are very meaningful for teaching students how to communicate in the language of their field” (p. 290). “Since textbooks are one of the integral components of the learning process, their evaluation is essential to improve their correspondence to the learners’ needs and goals” (Karimnia & Jafari, 2017, p. 219). However, finding a quality textbook or textbook for a course of study can be challenging as it has to satisfy many criteria to reach a program’s goal. Thus, this project was conducted due to the need to analyze two textbooks used to teach Business students at X University in Vietnam. As declared, the two textbooks, “Business Partner B1+” and “Business Partner B2”, were designed for Business students who need Business English to fulfil their discipline. However, although the books have been used, they have yet to be evaluated. A book evaluation is essential to help curriculum designers, educators, and students adjudge their teaching and learning materials in time to satisfy their academic goals. According to Mukundan (2007), the quality of a textbook can be crucial in determining the success or failure of an English as a second language course. Still, textbooks are often purchased without careful analysis. Usually, selecting a textbook is based on something other than the value of intrinsic pedagogy but on the prestige of the author or publisher and even the reference by the rate of using that book in many institutions. Tomlinson (2010) writes that textbooks used in many educational contexts are chosen in advance by many teachers because those books are best-selling, and they think the books are outstanding. This subjective book selection may hinder the success of a course. Therefore, textbook evaluation plays a significant role in teaching and learning in ESL/EFL classrooms. Sheldon (1988) notes that textbook evaluation could help administrators and teachers to choose the best material among plenty of them in the market. Besides, textbook evaluation helps teachers develop and grow professionally by providing information to analyze their presupposition about the language and learning nature (Hutchinson, 1987). Tomlinson (2003) also claims that to have a successful program, many elements must be evaluated, such as language teaching methods, materials, textbooks, and the program design. This study hopes to contribute the necessary information to the Business major program at the school so that further consideration of the program design can be made. The two following research questions are devised to obtain the study’s objectives.

1. What are the Vietnamese EFL teachers’ perceptions of the textbooks “Business Partner B1+” and “Business Partner B2” concerning the criteria developed by Litz (2005)?
2. How do the Business students perceive the two books, “Business Partner B1+” and “Business Partner B2”, concerning the criteria developed by Litz (2005)?

Instruments

The study utilized two instruments to collect the data. The main instruments are two sets of questionnaires whose contents are adapted from the student textbook evaluation form and the teacher textbook evaluation form developed by Litz (2005). The study adapted 38 questions eliciting the student’s and teachers’ responses about the textbooks based on the seven criteria (practicality: 4 items, layout: 8 items, activities: 8 items, skills: 6 items, language: 5 items, topics: 4 items, and content: 3 items). Their responses are prompted to be given in the box that best describes them, applying a five-point Likert Scale, from 1: strongly disagree, 2: disagree, 3: neutral, 4: agree and 5: strongly agree. The author tested Cronbach’s alpha to determine whether the questionnaire questions were reliable.

Semi-structured interviews can be helpful as an adjunct to supplement and add further understanding of data from the questionnaires. Hence, the discussions with the participants circulating the seven criteria used to judge the textbooks, so their interview stories can be used to assist in correctly understanding the situation. 

Participants

The study recruited two groups of participants. The first group is 15 EFL teachers with experience using the two books as teaching materials (40% using Business Partner B1+ and 60% using Business Partner B2). The second group includes 122 Business students from various academic enrollment years. They are first- and second-year students majoring in various majors related to Business, such as Accounting and Business Administration. 

Findings

The quantitative results show that both participant groups, generally, are satisfied with the course books “Business Partner B1+” and “Business Partner B2”. The students tend to agree more with the statements than the teachers. With all the overall mean scores, the students tend to be greater than those provided by the teachers. However, in this study, the two groups’ means are different in terms of the criterion with the topics of the books. Another criterion that can be considered is the two groups’ perceptions of the activities designed in the books. Both groups are almost similar. 

In terms of interviews, the study will direct its discussion toward the three criteria used in this study. First, many ideas provided by the two groups are similar. For example, language skills are not balanced. Another example is that teachers and students complained that the listening exercises were too long, distracting them from understanding the main points. The books should be redesigned based on such ideas to balance language skills. Additionally, the current books lack in-class exercises, especially about reading skills. Hence, the book designers and other related stakeholders must reconsider this point. 

Another noteworthy remark is about the content and topics of the books. The mean score obtained from the teachers was not positive. They said the books are designed to help students better prepare for some international tests. However, the books’ content and topics do not match the university’s educational goals. For instance, the students in this university must take other international examinations, so the content and topics must be revised and updated. This response is aligned with the quantitative data. The teachers disagreed with this criterion (topics of the book with M= 3.3333). Frankly speaking, any selected textbook would receive less negative feedback if this answer were answered. The topics are very important since they decide on the content selection, which can impact students’ ultimate goals and motivation to use a book in the long run.  

Regarding the upsides of the books, most teachers like the books as they are practical and vivid, and the students like the books since they offer online listening exercises that they can practise flexibly. Such responses align with the results collected from the quantitative survey. Both students and teachers agreed with this criterion (Practical). 

To improve the situation of the textbooks, several suggestions are humbly made. Firstly, all related stakeholders should sit side by side to reevaluate the books after a course or a year of study. Some teachers in the interview complained that they did not want to have more ideas about the books as they had no authority to change anything about the books or find other suitable books. Secondly, students’ needs should be clearly stated, so the administrative board knows those needs and can proceed with book selection. Thirdly, in the interview, some teachers also stated that the books are designed for international test preparation. Nonetheless, the current international tests are different from those initially proposed. Finally, when selecting a textbook, the selection board should use a framework to guide the selection process as suggested by researchers like Cunningsworth (1995) and Ur (1996). 

Conclusion

The current study explores two groups of participants’ perceptions of the textbooks they used. More specifically, the teachers evaluated the books based on their experience using them to teach specialised English to students in economics. In contrast, the students evaluated the books based on their experience learning specialised English with the books. The study used a questionnaire with seven textbook evaluation criteria to elicit the participant’s perceptions of the books within this framework. The results are positive in a general sense; however, regarding the teachers, they regarded the topics of the books are not useful for students, and they disagreed with this criterion. Regarding the books’ designs, they tend to facilitate readers who have a jobs, not appropriate for students. Regarding interviews, the teachers have more ideas than the students. However, both groups agree that books need to balance language skills and add more exercises to practise necessary language skills. Then, although the videos in the books are useful, their length should be shortened to assist students in catching information easier and motivate them to learn.  Overall, they are satisfied with the books. 

Please refer to the full paper “An Evaluation Of Two Business English Course Books, Business Partner B1+ Business Partner B2: Students’ And Teachers’ Perspectives” HERE.

Author Group: Nguyen Huynh Trang – University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City (UEH)

This is an article in the series of articles spreading research and applied knowledge from UEH with the “Research Contribution For All” message, UEH cordially invites dear readers to look forward to the upcoming UEH Research Insight No. #118.