Copy of INVESTIGATING

• Research Design

• The Study Corpus

• Research Instrumentation

• WordSmith Tools Version 7.0

• R Software

• RANGE and Frequency Program

• Data Collection Procedure

• Data Analysis: Techniques and Tools for Measuring

A CORPUS-BASED EVALUATION OF VOCABULARY PRESENTATION IN SELECTED PRESCRIBED IRANIAN ENGLISH TEXTBOOKS

by

Reza Gholami

Members of the Supervisory Committee

Dr. Nooreen binti Noordin,

Prof. Dr. Shameem Rafik-Galea

Dr. Habsah Binti Hussin

November 23 2017

Background of the Study

• The former educational system of Iran suffered a lack of efficacy to meet the students’ needs, and did not keep pace with post-modernism, and remained stagnant (Chahardahcheriki & Shahi, 2012), top-down (Ghorbani, 2009), and continuously changing (Sabzian et al., 2013).
• Hence, the MoE announced a fundamental reform in 2010 which was ultimately ratified in the late 2012 (Kheirabadi & Alavimoghaddam, 2014b).
• This major reform in the educational system changed the number of grades and textbooks in schools accordingly (Safari & Rashidi, 2015).
• Regarding the ELT as a key component of this major reform, the state English textbooks, which were based on archaic methods, were entirely revised (Safari & Sahragard, 2015a).
• The fundamental reform in the educational system led to changes of grades in primary school (6 grades), junior high school (3 grades), and high school (3 grades) (Kheirabadi & Alavimoghaddam, 2014a).
• The former English textbook series was replaced by “English for School Series, Prospect” for the junior high school and “Vision Series” for the high school.
• The Prospect series, i.e. Prospects 1-3, was introduced into public schools from grade one to grade three of the junior high school. Prospect 1 has been designed for beginner students within the age range of 11-12 while prospect 2 is used for students with 13-14 years of age, and prospect 3 for students aged 14-15.
• To ensure the quality and efficiency of the newly-introduced ELT textbook in Iran, comprehensive and objective research has to be conducted to bring better understanding of the success of this reform.
• In the past decades a movement known as "textbook evaluation" began to emerge whose goal was to construct checklists based on which a book could be analyzed in detail for assuring its usefulness and practicality (Najafi Sarem et al., 2013).
• Indeed, textbooks are proclaimed to be the containers of vocabulary input as a possible concept in the EFL field (Thornnbury, 2002).
• Thornnbury (2002) has considered the textbooks as sources for words while claiming that the vocabulary input is realized in the actual content of the books through segregated vocabulary activities, integrated text-based activities, grammar explanations, and task instructions.
• According to the existing research work concerning the textbook evaluation, diverse ways have been so far proposed by the researchers to assist the instructors in being more methodical and unbiased (Allehyani, Burnapp, & Wilson, 2017a; Margana & Widyantoro, 2017).
• Concerning the need for evaluating the Prospect Series which has been newly introduced to the ELT curriculum of Iran and because of paucity of research to this date elaborating on vocabulary presentation in the Prospect textbooks (1-3), of the existing methods for evaluation, the current study adopted a corpus-based method to evaluate vocabulary presentation in the Prospect Series.

Statement of the Problem

• The problems associated with the Iranian system of ELT include identifying clear goals, the output, the causes, and the nature. Such problems are in part caused by the English education system’s performance or/and they may have stemmed from a rise in the diversity of the students’ needs, as well as the inefficiency of the English textbooks (Maftoon et al., 2010).
• The method of selecting English language textbooks prescribed for the Iranian students studying at different stages is unsatisfactory and away from being scientific (Janfeshan & Nosrati, 2014).
• Another issue is the students’ inability to speak English fluently; they are unable to communicate and handle English effectively after graduating from high school and their general English seems to be poor (Dahmardeh, 2009; Sadeghi, 2005; Vaezi, 2008;). Some researchers claim that such inability is because of the prescribed English textbooks they study in public schools.
• to tackle this issue, the “Prospect Series” was introduced with the aim of developing the students’ oral skills, language use, and communication proficiency in real life situations. Having emphasized that the ELT program in Iran has failed to promote learners’ lifelong communicative abilities, Safari and Rashidi (2015) blamed textbooks, status of English in the educational system, multi-level classes, and pre-service and in-service teacher training for this failure.
• To counter the effects of previous teaching methodology, communicative Language Teaching (CLT) was introduced by the MoE as the central method for application of the Prospect Series (Janfeshan & Nosrati, 2014).
• The Iranian language textbooks in public schools avoid presenting topics related to the culture of English speaking countries due to the pro-active strategies adopted to protect the national culture (Mahboudi & Javdani, 2012).
• Moreover, not all the four language skills are given adequate emphasis in the ELT curriculum. Instead, it is mainly concerned with reading and grammar. Sharifi and Khalkhali (2014) declared that one of the fundamental aspects of the education system is the issue of curriculum. Yet, research evidence suggests that less emphasis is laid on this aspect. Perhaps the most important cause of this research paucity is the emerging knowledge in the curriculum. Evidence suggests that in the recent years, the development of the curricula in Iran is in search of a new identity based on the past experiences, the current conditions, and the requirements of the international community. Thus, the formation of a comprehensive study on different aspects of the curricula and its relations with the other phenomena of the educational system seems inevitable.
• The changes in the levels of basic education since 2012, including the latest changes are effective for the efficient education system in Iran. Nevertheless, apparently coherent and balanced discussion concerning the effectiveness of this system requires further scrutiny (Sharifi & Khalkhali, 2014). Those involved in the management aspects of the curriculum in Iran are suggested to gain a deeper knowledge towards the balance of the elements of the curriculum and have respect to the balance in the subtlest layers of the design, implementation and evaluation of the curricula (Sharifi & Khalkhali, 2014).
• Having accentuated that the ELT program in Iran is newly revised by introducing the Prospect Series and the Vision Series in the junior high school and the high school respectively, evaluating the new textbooks is underscored with reference to many topics and issues. As mentioned earlier, the textbooks are blamed for the Iranian students’ incapability of fluent communication; of diverse skills and subskills being introduced by the textbooks to be evaluated, the current research is interested in analyzing the appropriateness of vocabulary presentation in the available Prospect Series in the Iranian junior high school.
• One of the merits of the vocabulary analysis in a second language textbook is that such an analysis is actually a countable or measurable quality that appears to be a meaningful sense (Milton, 2009). In addition, the ELT textbooks are recommended to be utilized sensibly because they are unable to supply the demands required by all the classroom contexts (Williams, 1983). Nonetheless, in case teachers are asked to evaluate the textbooks, they need a device to base their judgments on and qualify their decisions (Ansary & Babaii, 2002). There are instances that selecting the textbooks is done hastily and without taking into account systematic principles (Ansary & Babaii, 2002).
• In general, English textbooks are thought to be the most indispensable materials needed for enhancing the students’ language skills while they are also considered as the containers of the vocabulary input (Catalán & Francisco, 2008). In determining the appropriateness of the vocabulary presentation in English textbooks, there is a variety of criteria to be considered. Of all the existing criteria, this research was mainly interested in analyzing the words frequency, vocabulary loading within and across the studied textbooks, coverage of the 2000 most frequent words from the West’s General Service List (GSL) and the Academic Word List (AWL) (Coxhead, 2000), as well as recycling and distribution pattern of the words in the GSL and AWL within the studied textbooks, namely the Prospect Series (Prospects 1-3).
• Milton (2009) declares that the most essential way in which words differ is the frequency with which they occur in a textbook. The frequency rate is important as it determines which words a learner is likely to encounter and how often these words are to be encountered (Milton, 2009). Furthermore, a strong association exists between the frequency of a certain vocabulary and its learning likelihood according to Meara’s (1992) model of a frequency profile (Milton, 2009) i.e. the higher frequency for a word implies a higher chance for it to be acquired (Milton, 2009). To date, there has been no examination of the words’ frequency of the Prospect Series, comparing them with native references such as the GSL and the AWL.
• As asserted by Nation (2001a), the 2000 most frequent words in the GSL have been found to be so imperative in language learning that almost anything should be done to teach them and help learners learn them (Nation, 2001a). Milton (2009) declares that words in the GSL are the most beneficial to the learners because knowing these words will enable them to recognize about 80% of any normal text. Furthermore, it is underlined that a significant association exists between the text coverage and comprehension (Milton, 2009), implying that the students will be able to understand a foreign language more efficiently if they have the knowledge of more words. Therefore, identifying the extent to which the words in the GSL and the AWL are covered in addition to identifying the words from the two mentioned reference lists missing in the Iranian English textbooks of junior high school seems an inevitable task as it definitely reveals significant data on how the vocabulary is presented in such textbooks; an account which has never been examined in Iran to this date. Besides, knowing the missing words from the 2000 frequent word list can enable us to enhance the students’ learning by providing lists of the missing words for further classroom practices. To this date, it is not known what proportion of these vocabularies is actually missing in the Iranian textbooks.
• Moreover, there should be a report on whether the textbooks of different and varying educational levels in Iran have presented an acceptable increase in vocabulary loading and input. It is assumed that each book must increase in difficulty and vocabulary load within and across the whole textbooks of any educational systems. Indeed, there is no clear and informative analysis of the words load and distribution throughout all the Prospects Series (1-3), which motivates further research and investigation.
• Having discussed the importance of textbook evaluation, especially the Prospect Series being introduced as the latest English language textbooks prescribed for the Junior High School, and considering the fact that vocabulary presentation, as a side skill, provides insightful information about the learners’ performances and abilities, the current research was established to address the mentioned gaps and issues. In details, this research aims at running a corpus-based study of the appropriateness of vocabulary presentation in the Prospect series with reference to the words frequency, coverage of the GSL and AWL words, vocabulary loading, and distribution of the selected words in the entire Prospect series.

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Objectives

This study aimed to evaluate and examine the appropriateness of vocabulary presentation in the Iranian English textbooks of Junior High school known as the Prospect Series through a corpus-based investigation.

• To determine the characteristics of the frequency of the words contained in the Iranian Junior High School English Language Textbooks (Prospects 1-3)
• To investigate the characteristics of vocabulary loading within and across the Iranian Junior High School English Language Textbooks (Prospects 1-3).
• To identify the extent to which the words in the GSL and the AWL are covered in the Iranian Junior High School English Language Textbooks (Prospects 1-3).
• To identify the recycling characteristics of the words from the GSL and the AWL in the Iranian Junior High School English Language Textbooks (Prospects 1-3).
• To determine the distribution of the randomly selected words from the GSL and the AWL within and across the entire Iranian High School English Language textbooks (Prospects 1-3).

Research Questions

Research Question 1: What are the general characteristics of the frequency of the words contained in the Prospects Series?

• Subquestion 1: How many words are introduced in the Prospects Series?
• Subquestion 2: What are the most frequent words contained in the Prospects Series?

Research Question 2: What are the characteristics of vocabulary loading in the Prospects Series?

• Subquestion 1: What are the characteristics of vocabulary loading of each textbook of the Prospects Series?
• Subquestion 2: What are the general characteristics of vocabulary loading in the lessons in each textbook of the Prospects Series?

Research Question 3: To what extent are the words in the GSL and the AWL covered in the Prospects Series?

• Subquestion 1: To what extent are the words in the GSL covered in the Prospects Series?
• Subquestion 2: To what extent are the words in the AWL covered in the Prospects Series?
• Subquestion 3: Which words in the GSL are missing in the entire set of the Prospects Series?
• Subquestion 4: Which words in the AWL are missing in the entire set of the Prospects Series?

Research Question 4: What are the recycling characteristics of the words from the GSL and the AWL in the Prospects Series?

• Subquestion 1: How often are the words in the GSL being recycled in the Prospects Series?
• Subquestion 2: How often are the words in the AWL being recycled in the Prospects Series?

Research Question 5: How is the distribution of the randomly selected words from the GSL and the AWL within and across the entire set of the Prospects Series?

• Subquestion 1: How often are the randomly selected words from the GSL being distributed within and across the entire set of the Prospects Series?
• Subquestion 2: How often are the randomly selected words from the AWL being distributed within and across the entire set of the Prospects Series?