Thao Thanh Le LET: Linguistics, Literature and Language Teaching Journal Vol. 11 No. 2 2021 LET: Linguistics, Literature and English Teaching Journal ||Volume||11||Issue||2||Pages||1-23||2021|| |P-ISSN: 20869606; E-ISSN: 25492454| Available online at: http://jurnal.uin-antasari.ac.id/index.php MEDICAL STUDENTS’ EVALUATION OF AN ENGLISH FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSES COURSEBOOK: A CASE IN VIETNAM Thao Thanh Le lethanhthao110294@gmail.com Can Tho University, Viet Nam Que Thi Nguyet Phan Mail ptnquetcytag@gmail.com An Giang Health College, Viet Nam Mai Xuan Le Mail lxmai@ctu.edu.vn Can Tho University, Viet Nam Article History: Received: 26 August 2021 Accepted: 05 November 2021 The current study investigates students’ evaluation of the English for Specific Purposes (ESP) coursebook taught at a medical college in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam. After using it for a year, the users, including medical students and their teachers, have given some unofficial feedback on the book. This study provided insightful official information about how its student users perceive the coursebook they were adopting. Data on the evaluations of the ESP coursebook were gained from questionnaires administered to 166 students majoring in nursing and pharmacy in charge of ESP programs. Semi-structured interviews were employed with four students to get more specific apprehension. The results of this study indicated that students were satisfied with the ESP coursebook in terms of the covering of four skills, the presence of vocabulary and grammar, relevant content, understandable social and cultural context, suitability for mix-level students. In addition, participants perceived those communicative skills were not sufficiently presented, examples in grammar were not more interesting, the illustrations were not diverse and enough, and the cover was simple but not appealing. Corresponding Author: ptnquetcytag@gmail.com Keywords: ESP coursebook; medical college; coursebook evaluation; the Mekong Delta of Vietnam; http://jurnal.uin-antasari.ac.id/index.php mailto:lethanhthao110294@gmail.com mailto:ptnquetcytag@gmail.com mailto:lxmai@ctu.edu.vn mailto:ptnquetcytag@gmail.com P a g e | 2 Thao Thanh Le LET: Linguistics, Literature and Language Teaching Journal Vol. 11 No. 2 2021 INTRODUCTION Starting in the early 1960s and expanding greatly between the late 1960s and early 1970s, the English for specific purposes (ESP) genre met learners' particular demands in their professional work. Hutchinson and Waters (1987) emphasized that the acceptance of English as an international language of technology and commerce generated learners who desired to learn a language to serve their peculiar purpose. The role of ESP has become more and more vital in the era of globalization and integration when English is a means of daily and social communications and a necessary tool for professional development. In Vietnam, ESP is still a new concept but has received much attention at colleges and universities. Pham (2013) stated that ESP had proved its importance in language teaching since it adapts to learners’ needs for their professional and vocational purposes. In the Vietnamese context, although there is no particular regulation for ESP curriculum and materials for higher education students, it is required that the program for ESP is from 60 to 90 hours by the Vietnamese Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) at the tertiary level. Also, Vietnamese students who have graduated from vocational colleges must reach level 2 equivalent to level 2 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). Peacock and Flowerdew (2001) stressed the importance of choosing instructional materials that are both authentic and inauthentic. However, the availability of teaching resources is somewhat limited, which leads to the demand for modifying teaching and learning materials (Gatehouse, 2001). Therefore, the current study has brought a glimpse of hope that it will provide a general view on an ESP coursebook used in a medical college in a province of southern Vietnam. LITERATURE REVIEW ESP textbooks According to Hutchinson and Waters (1987), ESP is an approach concentrating on fields of language. Dudley-Evans and John (1998) affirmed that ESP belongs to a learner-centered approach, consisting of needs analysis, material development, teaching process, etc. Notably, Fiorito (2005) emphasized, “ESP students are usually adults who have some acquaintances with English and are P a g e | 3 Thao Thanh Le LET: Linguistics, Literature and Language Teaching Journal Vol. 11 No. 2 2021 learning the language to communicate a set of professional skills and to perform particular job-related functions.” Also, Cunningsworth (1995) indicated that most ESP learners are adults and young adults who have a professional foundation and knowledge. Dudley-Evans (1997) provided absolute and variable characteristics of ESP as follows: Absolute Characteristics • ESP is defined to meet the specific needs of the learners. • ESP makes use of underlying methodology and activities of the discipline it serves. • ESP is centered on the language appropriate to these activities in terms of grammar, lexis, register, study skills, discourse, and genre. Variable Characteristics • ESP may be related to or designed for specific disciplines. • ESP may use, in specific teaching situations, a different methodology from that of General English. • ESP is likely to be designed for adult learners, either at a tertiary level institution or in a professional work situation. It could, however, be for learners at the secondary school level. • ESP is generally designed for intermediate or advanced students. • Most ESP courses assume some basic knowledge of the language systems. Textbook evaluation The term “evaluation” is defined differently under the field of its existence. Lynch and Baynes (1996) described evaluation as the systematic attempt to collect information to judge or decide something. Evaluation determines the value of something based on evaluated information to measure its fitness in an exceptional setting. Rea-Dickins and Germaine (1994) considered evaluation as an intrinsic part of teaching and learning. Thanks to the valuable information gained from the P a g e | 4 Thao Thanh Le LET: Linguistics, Literature and Language Teaching Journal Vol. 11 No. 2 2021 evaluation process, educators can rectify and adjust the curriculum to suit learners’ needs and capacity. More importantly, Hutchinson and Waters (1987) emphasized that evaluation is a “matching process; matching needs to an available solution.” (p.97). Students’ needs should be satisfied, or the textbooks will be adapted or replaced. Checklists for evaluation The acceptance of the textbook’s value does not mean that it is perfect in every aspect. The qualifications at a reasonable rate conclude quality, usefulness, situational suitability, and learners’ needs. Various authors and educators suggest checklists for textbooks’ evaluation (Sheldon, 1988; Cunningsworth, 1995; Ur, 1996; McDonough & Shaw, 2003; Litz, 2005; Author, 2021). These checklists include the following criteria, language skills, grammar and vocabulary, contents, social and cultural context, layout and design, activities and exercises, teaching methods, and general appearance. Related studies Regarding the issues of ESP, several studies have been conducted, and some focused mainly on various types of ESP courses and materials. Ghalandari and Talebinejad (2012) evaluated the medical ESP textbook in Shiraz Medical College. They concluded that ESP textbooks in medicines were suitable for Iranian physicians’ purposes of medical English. The content and needs were assumed to be compatible with students. The textbooks were satisfactory. Mohebi et al. (2013) selected 175 medical students and 25 EFL instructors from four universities in Iran to respond to ESP materials. The findings showed that the difference between EFL students' and their instructors’ perceptions of their textbooks was not significant. Although they agreed with the cheerful face of the textbook, most instructors needed more sources of materials for the course. In a quantitative descriptive study, Nguyen and Nguyen (2017) explored the perceptions of eight teachers and 150 students at a Vietnamese vocational college. The results indicated that participants expressed their positive perceptions of the necessity of textbooks used for the ESP course. However, students strongly P a g e | 5 Thao Thanh Le LET: Linguistics, Literature and Language Teaching Journal Vol. 11 No. 2 2021 required the improvement in ESP course materials because the coursebook and their needs were not in alignment. METHODOLOGY Research design The current research designed as quantitative and qualitative mixed-method aims to explore the evaluation of teachers and students about ESP coursebook entitled “Tiếng Anh chuyên ngành dùng cho sinh viên khối ngành khoa học sức khỏe” (Specialized English for Medical-majored Students) published by Vietnam Education Publishing House in 2010. The book consists of 19 units focusing on health sciences. There are three sections in each unit. The content of each section is as follows: Section 1: Reading texts and comprehension questions Section 2: Dialogues with structures to practice the communicative skills in health science situations Section 3: Grammar exercises and further reading Research context Located in the center of a city in the Mekong Delta, the research site is the only public vocational school that trains students to become doctors and nurses. Therefore, students must be well educated and well trained to adapt to the demands of society. In recent years, there has been a growing demand for course design for specific needs. Medical students need to be equipped with sufficient background knowledge of English to utilize it in their future careers and study. Related to students’ needs, the college's teaching staff has made use of an in-house textbook. To evaluate the pros and cons of the book, the researchers administered the current study with the hope that it can provide meaningful and insightful information to improve the quality of this book. Participants The sample includes 166 first-year students in the three-year course at a medical college in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam. 72.3% of them were female, and P a g e | 6 Thao Thanh Le LET: Linguistics, Literature and Language Teaching Journal Vol. 11 No. 2 2021 27.7% were male. Their majors were nursing and pharmacy. Their schemata were having to accomplish three years and seven years English curriculum at public schools in Vietnam. The type of training was both full-time for nursing and part- time for pharmacy. ESP was a compulsory subject for the participants. Four out of 166 participants, including two males and two females, were kindly invited to participate in four different semi-structured interviews. Data collection instruments Questionnaire The study adopts a 4-point scale questionnaire (Strongly agree; Agree; Disagree; Strongly disagree) so that the respondents must choose positive or negative answers. The questionnaires have identical properties such as including 43 items in each to measure eight clusters: (1) language skills, (2) grammar and vocabulary, (3) contents, (4) social and cultural contexts, (5) layout and design, (6) activities and exercises, (7) teaching methods, and (8) general appearance. Because the participants were low in proficiency in English, bilingual versions were designed to circumvent misinterpretation so that the data obtained from the questionnaire was thoroughly reliable. Moreover, the questionnaire had been sent to an unofficial teacher who also taught one class with the same level students for proofreading before piloting. The questionnaires are described in detail in Table 1. Table 1 Questionnaires Clusters Items Total number Language skills 1-9 9 Grammar and vocabulary 10-15 6 Contents 16-19 4 Social and cultural contexts 20-22 3 Layout and design 23-32 10 Activities and exercises 33-36 4 Teaching methods 37-40 4 General appearance 41-43 3 Total: 43 P a g e | 7 Thao Thanh Le LET: Linguistics, Literature and Language Teaching Journal Vol. 11 No. 2 2021 The questionnaire was adapted and modified from previous studies by Sheldon (1988), Cunningsworth (1995), Ur (1996), Little John (1998), McDonough and Shaw (2003), Litz (2005), and Abdelwahab (2013). Semi-structured interviews As aforementioned, interviews were used to get participants’ more insightful perceptions to reinforce the data collected from the questionnaires. They allowed researchers to gather open-ended qualitative data. For interview design, a semi- structured interview was employed in the study to collect qualitative data. This genre of interview enriches the understanding of respondents’ perceptions while the researchers’ initial purposes still control the conversations. In the research, the interviews concentrated on these issues: • Participants’ perceptions on ESP coursebook. • The positive points of the coursebook. • The negative points of the coursebook. • Recommendations to make the coursebook better. • Challenges when using the coursebook. Procedures The procedures were administered as follows: Figure 1. Procedures Find the suitable framework Make decisions of fundermental elements of the questionnaire Compose valid items in a referent resource Choose and arrange items Pilot the questionnaire Revise the questionnaire Administer the actual questionnaire Analyze the collected data from the questionnaire Make interviewing questions based on the quantitative results Pilot the interview questions and revise Conduct the actual interviews Analyze qualitative data and compare to quantitative ones P a g e | 8 Thao Thanh Le LET: Linguistics, Literature and Language Teaching Journal Vol. 11 No. 2 2021 First and foremost, the researchers found as many possible sources to compare and select the most suitable framework for the study's objectives. After that, the research team decided on the contents and quantity of items. Then, the questionnaire was composed by using the modifications of previous frameworks. The piloting questionnaire aimed to check its validity and reliability. After revising the questionnaire, the actual ones were employed. After a few weeks, the data collection stopped to move on to the data analysis process. Based on the results of the quantitative data, the researchers planned the questions for the interviews. The research team invited three piloting interviewees to revise the questions. There was a comparison between quantitative and qualitative results. Finally, the results of the current study were displayed in this paper. RESULTS AND FINDINGS A Descriptive Statistics test on the whole questionnaires was run to check the average mean scores of participants’ evaluation of ESP course book to examine. Table 2 reveals the results of the test. Table 2 Participants’ evaluation of the book Criteria N Min. Max. M ean S D Content 1 66 2.00 4.00 3. 25 . 43 Activities and Exercises 1 66 2.00 4.00 3. 21 . 42 Layout and design 1 66 2.00 4.00 3. 20 . 40 General appearance 1 66 2.00 4.00 3.1 9 .4 8 Grammar and Vocabulary 1 66 3.00 4.00 3.1 9 .3 8 Teaching methods 1 66 2.00 4.00 3.1 8 .4 1 Language skills 1 66 2.00 4.00 3.1 7 .3 5 Social and cultural context 1 66 2.00 4.00 3.0 9 .4 8 Overall 1 66 2.00 4.00 3.1 9 .3 3 P a g e | 9 Thao Thanh Le LET: Linguistics, Literature and Language Teaching Journal Vol. 11 No. 2 2021 The mean score of the questionnaire is high (M= 3.19). It can be inferred that participants highly evaluated the coursebook. In order words, students had a positive evaluation of the ESP coursebook. Among the eight criteria, content (M=3.25) got the highest mean score, followed by activities and exercises (M=3.21), layout and design (M=3.20), general appearance (M=3.19), grammar and vocabulary (M=3.19), teaching methods (M=3.18), language skills (M=3.17), and social and cultural context (M=3.09). In other words, content is the most appreciated criteria; on the other hand, social and cultural context is the least one. Language skills Participants’ evaluation of language skills designed in the coursebook were surveyed on the cover of four skills, listening, reading, speaking, and writing. The results of the Frequency Descriptive Statistics test on the language use criteria were displayed in Figure 2. Figure 2. Participants' evaluations of language skills As presented in Figure 2, most of the items were agreed and strongly disagreed. The most approved items include “Useful writing tasks for developing writing skills” and “Useful activities in speaking for oral communication” (97%). As a result, the participants were appreciated with the writing tasks and the speaking activities for practising their oral communication. The most disagreed items include “Appropriate length of the reading texts”, “Useful listening exercises for linguistic competence”, and “Useful listening tasks 8.4 10.2 10.2 3 10.2 3 4.2 9.6 3 91.6 89.8 89.8 97 89.8 97 95.8 90.4 97 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 1. Adequately covering the four basic skills 2. Useful listening tasks for listening comprehension skills. 3. Useful listening exercises for linguistic competence 4. Useful reading tasks for reading comprehension skills 5. Appropriate length of the reading texts 6. Useful activities in speaking for oral communication 7. Sufficient material for spoken English 8. Appropriate writing tasks for students’ capacity. 9. Useful writing tasks for developing their writing skills Strongly disagree & Disagree Strongly Agree and Agree P a g e | 10 Thao Thanh Le LET: Linguistics, Literature and Language Teaching Journal Vol. 11 No. 2 2021 for listening comprehension skills” (10.2%). It is inferred that the participants want to shorten or lengthen the reading texts and improve the quality of the listening section. In the interviews, this cluster received a high degree of unanimity from four students that the book covered all four basic skills. Among four interviewees, one expressed satisfaction with how the four skills were presented. Still, the rest three would instead add more communicative exercises and activities to help them deal with real-life situations. “The book has all four skills, but in my opinion, it should update more in communicative skills including listening and speaking because they are quite important in life.” (Student 4; Male) In sum, the participants realized how essential communication skills were in their study and future career and hence requested the modification and update on these crucial skills. Grammar and Vocabulary A Descriptive Statistics test was employed to check the participants’ evaluation of vocabulary and grammar given in the coursebook. Figure 3 presents the results of the test. Figure 3. Participants' evaluation of vocabulary and grammar As observed in Figure 3, most items got a highly positive evaluation. The most appreciated thing is the “Appropriate presence of new vocabularies in each unit” (97.6%). As inferred, the book did provide appropriate new words from low- level to high-level talks. 6.6 12 9 7.2 3 2.4 93.4 88 91 92.8 97 97.6 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 10. The grammar rules with clear and simple explanations 11. Interesting examples in grammar 12. Increasing order of grammar difficulty 13. Logical presence of new vocabularies levels 14. Appropriate repetition of words for more vocabulary… 15. Appropriate presence of new vocabularies in each unit Strongly Disagree & Disagree Strongly Agree & Agree P a g e | 11 Thao Thanh Le LET: Linguistics, Literature and Language Teaching Journal Vol. 11 No. 2 2021 The least satisfied one is “Interesting examples in grammar” (12%). In other words, the participants did not think that the examples for learning grammar are interesting or authentic; or the standards disappointed the participants. It observed the conflict about the presence of grammar and vocabulary in the book in the interviews. Half of the interviewees liked the repetition of new words and grammatical points in each lesson, “I have no idea about this. They are clear and comprehensible. The vocabulary and grammar rules are repeated. It’s very good.” (Student 1; Male) Nevertheless, the others argued that the grammar was still hard to grasp when structures and tenses were not accessible. “It’s not easy to follow the grammar in some lessons. I find it hard to understand several grammatical points. I am not in high proficiency level. I sometimes feel frustrated.” (Student 2; Female) This demonstrates the inequivalence in proficiency levels among student respondents. Content Next, a Frequency Descriptive Statistics test was run to examine the participants’ evaluation of the content of the coursebook. Figure 4 presents the results of the test. Figure 4. Participants' evaluations of content The criteria related to contents were observed as the most positively evaluated one among all. Figure 4 also displays those results with no item under 90% Strongly Agree and Agree responses. The highest percentage belongs to “Relevant lessons 6.6 6.6 1.2 4.2 93.4 93.4 98.2 95.8 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 16. Interesting topics 17. Motivating topics 18. Relevant lessons to major 19. Up-to-date lessons and units Strongly Disagree & Disagree Strongly Agree & Agree P a g e | 12 Thao Thanh Le LET: Linguistics, Literature and Language Teaching Journal Vol. 11 No. 2 2021 to major” (98.2%). It can be seen as an example of an ESP book that serves what medical students need for their major. The items “Motivating topics” and “Interesting topics” got the highest percentage of disagreement (6.6%). Compared to other things in this criteria, although they got much negative feedback, it seemed acceptable that the book provides high-quality topics for the participants. All four student interviewees appreciated the topic's relevance to their major (health sciences) in the interviews. Thus, they felt interested in the subject, which motivated them to get involved in the lessons. “I think that all topics can transmit useful information and essential lessons. Besides, they can help me express my own ideas through the topics.” (Student 3; Female) This book was designed to serve medical students; therefore, the lessons concentrated on various medicines and were suitable for learners’ majors and interests. Social and cultural context A Frequency Statistics test was run on the coursebook to evaluate the participants’ evaluation of the social and cultural context criteria. The results were manifested in Figure 5. Figure 5. Participants' evaluation of social and cultural context Figure 5 shows that the participants highly appreciated the social and cultural context when no item got many disagreement responses. Two things, “Inner lives of the characters’ provision” and “Comprehensive social and cultural contexts”, got the same percentage of agreement (91%). It can be inferred that the participants were satisfied with the activities for practicing their inner lives and the 9 9 16.3 91 91 83.8 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 20. Comprehensible social and cultural contexts 21. Inner lives of the characters provision 22. Positive views of ethnic origins, occupations, age… Strongly Disagree & Disagree Strongly Agree & Agree P a g e | 13 Thao Thanh Le LET: Linguistics, Literature and Language Teaching Journal Vol. 11 No. 2 2021 establishment of comprehensible social and cultural contexts to understand multicultural contexts. On the other hand, the participants seemed disappointed with “Positive views of ethnic origins, occupations, age groups, social group and disability”. It can be concluded that the book did not provide enough views on these elements. In terms of the interviews, three out of four respondents had positive attitudes towards the social and cultural context in the book. Thanks to the detailed presentation of reading texts, they are entrusted to have learned something about the characters' inner lives. “I really liked the social and cultural context presented in the book, especially in reading passages. I not only know about their surface lives but also inner lives. It’s very clear and stimulating, which cannot be found in other books.” (Student 1; Male) On the other hand, one respondent showed her confusion about the sympathy of disadvantaged groups in society. “I don’t think that the book does a good job in showing their positive views of different groups of people with various origins, occupations, ages, or disabilities. We just know that these people have problems. And we don’t see any possible solutions or tolerance.” (Student 3; Female) As observed in the quote above, the book did not provide the solutions for each problematic case. It means that the participants did not observe the solving problem skills. Layout and design Then, a Frequency Statistics test was employed to check the participants’ evaluation of the layout and design of the coursebook. Figure 6 shows the results of the test. P a g e | 14 Thao Thanh Le LET: Linguistics, Literature and Language Teaching Journal Vol. 11 No. 2 2021 Figure 6. Participants' evaluations of layout and design Figure 6 shows the participants’ highly positive evaluation of the layout and design of the book. The highest satisfied item is “Appropriate titles” (98.2%). Compared to that item, “Appropriate layout and design” and “Clear layout and design” got 97.6%, following right after that. These results mean that the participants like the titles, layout, and design of the book. The participants did not feel satisfied with the illustrations of the book throughout the results of the two items, “Attractive illustrations” (13.9%) and “Varied illustrations” (11.4%). As a result, illustrations of the book did not very much attract the participants. In the interviews, there was no opposite opinion in terms of design and layout from four respondents. They all agreed that they were clear and appropriate. There were a glossary and detailed table of contents as well as a helpful glossary. On the other hand, illustrations were a complaint to be not diverse and attractive. “In my opinion, the layout and design are quite good. Everything is demonstrated clearly. What I don’t really like is the illustrations, you see, the pictures, graphs, etc. They are limited and boring. This should be improved.” (Student 2; Female) Illustrations could be the least preferable in this cluster, while all interviewees endorsed other facets. 2.4 2.4 7.2 9.6 7.8 10.2 6 13.9 11.4 1.8 97.6 97.6 92.8 90.4 92.2 89.8 94 86.1 88.5 98.2 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 23. Clear layout and design 24. Appropriate layout and design 25. Completed and detailed table of contents 26. Free of spelling mistakes. 27. Effective organization 28. Appropriate glossary. 29. Logical organization 30. Attractive illustrations 31. Varied illustrations 32. Appropriate titles Strongly Disagree & Disagree Strongly Agree & Agree P a g e | 15 Thao Thanh Le LET: Linguistics, Literature and Language Teaching Journal Vol. 11 No. 2 2021 Activities and exercises A Frequency Statistics test was run to check the participants’ evaluation of exercises and activities in the coursebook. Figure 7 displays the results of the test. Figure 7. Participants' evaluation of exercises and activities The majority of participants approved that the designed exercises and activities in each lesson helped them foster the spirit of independent learning and carry out their communicative tasks in real life. The results of all elements related to exercises and activities given in the book, including the direction for doing exercises (97%), the number of exercises (94.6%), authenticity of exercises (94.6%), and exercises for fostering users’ independent learning (94%) were reasonable to say that the participants feel good with them. Three out of four students perceived some positive points, such as transparent direction exercise and a reasonable number of practices. “Exercises in the book are logical. The instructions are clear, too.” (Student 1; Male) Only one interviewee disapproved of the sufficient number of exercises and activities. “I think exercises are rather few. We need to practice more.” (Student 2; Female) Moreover, four had reached a consensus on the inauthenticity of the activities. One of them stressed, “Particularly, activities in the book should be improved so that learners can deal flexibly with real activities in our lives.” (Student 4; Male) 3 5.4 6 5.4 97 94.6 94 94.6 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 33. Clear direction exercises 34. Reasonable and appropriate number of exercises 35. Independent learning fostering exercises 36. Authentic communicative exercises and activities Strongly Disagree & Disagree Strongly Agree & Agree P a g e | 16 Thao Thanh Le LET: Linguistics, Literature and Language Teaching Journal Vol. 11 No. 2 2021 Based on the sharing from the interviewees, although the quantitative results showed the participants’ high appreciation of the exercises and activities, this criterion needs more improvements. Teaching methods A Frequency Descriptive Statistics test was run to examine the participants’ evaluations of teaching methods. The results of the test were manifested in Figure 8. Figure 8. Participants' evaluation of teaching methods As observed in Figure 8, all items got a high percentage of agreement. The results from item “Self-study encouragement” show that the participants were encouraged to improve their learning using the book (97%). The least satisfied items, including “Categorizing sources for mixed-classes” and “Students’ talk activities provision”, got 91.6%, a high percentage. As a result, the participants still feel satisfied with these elements. The romantic point was that all four respondents recognized the students- oriented role according to the book design. The majority (three students) accepted that the student talk time was more than teacher talk time. One student provided his perceptions about teaching methods as follows, “According to the book design, students are the center. The speaking time of students is of an excessive amount. As for students with different levels, I think it depends on the self-study time of learners because if they spend more time exploring issues in the book, even low-level one can improve their English soon. And this book can be taught in big size classes.” (Student 1; Male) 6 8.4 3 8.4 94 91.6 97 91.6 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 37. Tasks incorporating individual, pair and group work 38. Students’ talk activities provision 39. Self-study encouragement 40. Categorizing sources for mixed-classes Strongly Disagee & Disagree Strongly Agree & Agree P a g e | 17 Thao Thanh Le LET: Linguistics, Literature and Language Teaching Journal Vol. 11 No. 2 2021 One rest student was concerned about their central role manifested in the book. She said, “I think we (students) don’t have many chances to speak English in class. The class size is so big for many of us to express our ideas.” (Student 2; Female) In short, the participants felt that even though the book is good to use for oral communication skills, they find it challenging to maximize the book's potential due to their mixed classes. General appearance A Frequency Descriptive Statistics test was run to check the participants’ evaluation of general appearance. The results of the test were displayed in Figure 9. Figure 9. Participants' evaluation of general appearance Figure 9 shows that the participants got no problem with the general appearance of the book. The highest agreed item was “Legible font type and size” with 95.8%. It means that the participants got good feelings with the font designed in the book. However, the cover seemed not appealing when the item “Appealing cover” got 88% in total. In the interviews, general appearance received similar assumptions about the simplicity but unattractiveness. All four respondents concluded that the font type and size were legible. They could easily find out the book’s name and authors. “For general appearance, the book is decorated and illustrated simply, not very impressive. But I can see the name of the book and authors with effortless. It’s a good thing.” (Student 3; Female) 12 4.2 6.6 88 95.8 93.4 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 41. Appealing cover 42. Legible font type and size 43. Enough white space to achieve clarity Strongly Disagree & Disagree Strongly Agree & Agree P a g e | 18 Thao Thanh Le LET: Linguistics, Literature and Language Teaching Journal Vol. 11 No. 2 2021 Based on the abovementioned results, the book's simplicity was highly appreciated; however, it should have some unique elements to catch the users’ eyes. Summary of the findings The book is not excellent, but it is acceptable to say that it is a good ESP book for medical students. Among eight criteria for evaluating a book, the content of this book was most satisfying. On the other hand, social and cultural context provision should be considered to have some adjustments. Regarding the language skills given in the book, the participants were satisfied with the writing tasks and speaking activities supporting their oral communication. However, the reading text, as well as the listening recordings, should be improved. Besides, participants were grateful for the language skills provision of the book because it is beneficial for their careers. For the vocabulary and grammar provision, the presence of the vocabulary got high satisfaction. On the other hand, grammar examples have some shortcomings. Regarding the content of the book, as known, it is used for instructing medical students. It is not surprised to indicate that most of the content is for med-content. As a result, the content of the book was highly agreed upon by the participants. Related to the social and cultural context, the book did provide a broad cultural context for students to acquire the knowledge, but the provision is still limited. Besides, except for the illustrations of the book, the layout and design were highly evaluated. The exercises and activities provided by the book did a good job when the participants highly agreed with the items in the questionnaire. However, the findings from the interviews showed that these elements have space to improve, especially their authenticity. In terms of teaching methods, the book was designed to help promote a student-centered approach. Therefore, the participants could recognize that they have many chances to practice their self-study. P a g e | 19 Thao Thanh Le LET: Linguistics, Literature and Language Teaching Journal Vol. 11 No. 2 2021 The participants highly evaluated the simplicity of the book related to its general appearance. However, they still felt it should be more well-design with some attractive graphics. DISCUSSION Tomlinson (2003) suggested that textbook evaluation certifies that the coursebook is selected and evaluated reliably and validly. Post-evaluation can bring the most precious data to measure its effects on learners. Fortunately, the results from the questionnaires and semi-structured interviews in this study provided valuable information about the evaluations of the ESP coursebook from the participants’ perceptions. The current study results align with the hypotheses proposed at the beginning of carrying out the research. In other words, the medical students had both positive and negative assessments of the textbook in eight aspects. The findings were in line with the evaluation administered by Mohebi et al. (2013). The language skills in the book were positively evaluated because they help the students’ careers in the future. According to Nastiti and Purwanta (2019), the material components should be introduced in accordance with the knowledge of the users’ careers. The participants were satisfied with the vocabulary and grammar presented in the book. However, related to grammar examples, it needs some improvements. Batstone (1994) claimed that various examples for instructing grammar are essential to help students acquire the grammar points. The content of a book used in education must be in line with the objectives of the curriculum and the expected outcomes of a program (Ariew, 1982). In this case, the ESP textbook used for the evaluation shows its potential in enhancing the specific needs of medical students. Besides, to enhance learners’ communicative competence in English, teaching materials need to provide pragmatic content to encourage them to express their ideas (Nu et al., 2020). Also, the participants were highly appreciated for the exercises and activities. This criterion needs more improvements. For that, Werner (2020) advised P a g e | 20 Thao Thanh Le LET: Linguistics, Literature and Language Teaching Journal Vol. 11 No. 2 2021 integrating several sources to illustrate different grammaticality in particular registers in a contextualized manner to enhance speaking. According to Bao-Jing et al. (2012), the aesthetic features and functional purposes enhance teaching quality and learning performance. However, the current study's book used for the medical students shows a lack of illustrations sources to help the content become more attractive. To implement the learner-centered approach, teaching materials, as well as teaching methods, play essential roles. Therefore, selecting a book promoting students’ talking time classes and their engagement in in-class activities is a must- have step (Sysoyev, 2000). Fortunately, the evaluated book is a good choice for that. IMPLICATIONS The evaluation contributed to the development of teaching materials for specific purposes in Vietnam. Based on the strengths and weaknesses explored in the study, the authors and publishers should use their creativity to improve the content and appearance of their products. Based on the findings of this study, ESP teachers can adapt several teaching techniques to fulfil what the textbook cannot cover. Thanks to that, they also improve their profession and creativity. Besides, ESP teachers are recommended to be more mindful of the book and share mutual experiences about using it most effectively. Additionally, the participants had an excellent chance to reflect on the materials they are learning and contribute to teaching materials adaptation in the learning institution and their learning performance. For ESP learners in general, they must be trained in some strategies such as learning autonomy to become more active and independent in their learning. School administrators were provided with an opportunity to examine the extent of suitability of the books they have been applying for teaching medical students. For that, they can adjust their teaching materials. In addition, they should host some workshops, seminars, and training so that teachers can learn from each P a g e | 21 Thao Thanh Le LET: Linguistics, Literature and Language Teaching Journal Vol. 11 No. 2 2021 other and broaden their linguistic and methodology knowledge about English language course books. Researchers who are interested in the field of textbook evaluation have a reliable framework to conduct their studies. LIMITATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS Firstly, the scope of the study was limited because of the time constraint. Additionally, the researchers still have had some teaching and studying responsibilities, which reduced their research time. Secondly, the population was not big enough to provide more information. 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