Name(s) :

1) Siti Nurainaa Afifah Binti Sulaiman 4) Muhammad Amirul Aiman Bin Anuar
2) Putri Safia Najwa Binti Norzeeshahrul 5) Sara Balkis Natasya Binti Samsudin
3) Nur Hidayah Binti Mohamad Affendy

ID Number
1) AM1905005548 4) AM1905005313
2) AM1905005586 5) AM1905005632
3) AM1905005415

Lecturer Lab group / Tutorial group / Tutor (if

applicable)
Miss Azidatun Noor binti Saidin

Course and Course Code Submission Date:

Material Selection and Adaptation (HED3093) 05/02/2021

Assignment No. / Title Extension & Late submission:

Allowed / Disallowed
Textbook Evaluation Year 2

Assignment type: % of Assignment Mark Returning Date:

GROUP /20

Penalties:
1. 10% of the original mark will be deducted for every one week period after the submission date
2. No work will be accepted after two weeks of the deadline
3. If you were unable to submit the coursework on time due to extenuating circumstances you may be
eligible for an extension
4. Extension will not exceed one week
Declaration: I/we the undersigned confirm that I/we have read and agree to abide by these regulations on
plagiarism and cheating. I/we confirm that this piece of work is my/our own. I/we consent to appropriate storage
of our work for checking to ensure that there is no plagiarism/ academic cheating.

Signature: Siti Nurainaa Afifah Putri Safia Najwa Nur Hidayah

Amirul Aiman Sara Balkis

This section may be used for feedback or other information

1
Course Code: HED3093

Course Title: Material Selection and Adaptation

Assessment: Textbook Evaluation (20%)

Evaluating Textbook:

English Language Teaching (ELT) textbook evaluation checklists are instruments that help teachers select
the most appropriate books for their learners. The choice of language teaching materials can determine the
quality of learning-teaching procedure. As a part of the materials used in the language classroom, the
textbook can often play a crucial role in students’ success or failure. Therefore, particular attention must be
paid to evaluate such materials based on valid and reliable instruments. One of the common methods to
evaluate English Language Teaching (ELT) materials are the checklist. An evaluation checklist is an
instrument that provides the evaluator with a list of features of successful learning-teaching materials. The
checklist was adapted from Jayakaran, Reza & Vahid (2011) and Miekley (2005).

GENERAL INFORMATION

Text: Super Minds Student’s Book 1

Author: Herbert Puchta, Günter Gerngross, & Peter Lewis-Jones

Publisher: Pan Asia

Publication Date: 1st January 2018

Target Users: Year 1 and 2 students

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A. ANALYSIS & COMMENTS

1. Content

From the table of content in Super Minds Student’s Book 1, the content is presented in an
organized manner. This textbook is very convenient to be use for both teacher and students for the
lesson as this book contain vocabulary, grammar, story and value, phonics, skills and others which had
been included under the content. There are actually nine units in the textbook but student Year 2 only
have to learn starting from Unit 5 to Unit 9 based on the syllabus of education. This textbook also consist
of three main themes which are World of Self, Family and Friends, World of Stories and World of
Knowledge. For the theme World of Self, Family and Friends can be categorized under Unit 5: Free Time
and Unit 7: Get Dressed. Meanwhile for the theme World of Stories can be categorized under Unit 6:
The Old House and The Robot and lastly for Unit 9: At the Beach is categorized under World of
Knowledge. Furthermore, all of the units are provided with page numbers which is easier for students to
review pages. Thus, the content from this textbook does applied the need of a material.

Appendix 1

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 The content contribute a lot in understanding the culture of target language because there are
some pages that illustrated the language in the form of dialogues to help the student in enhancing their
understanding of the target language. The content also mixed of vocabulary from British English and a
few from American English. The example of American English vocabulary that being used in the content
is in page 82 from Unit 7: Get Dressed! , because it use the word ‘sweater’ instead of ‘jumper’. Although
British English vocabulary is frequently used in the textbook however, there are not many British culture
that being mentioned throughout the content except for few festivals such as Halloween being mentioned
in the Unit 9: At the Beach from page 119.

Appendix 2- Page 82 Appendix 3- Page 119

The language in the textbook is natural and real because the language from the textbook is
suitable and appropriate for students. The application of natural and real language in the textbook can
help to encourage students to get along in generating materials from it. This textbook also varies easier
vocabulary and sentence structure which are very helpful to expand students’ proficiency in English. The
choice of words from the songs in the textbook below shows that it very simple and easy for students to
understand.

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 Appendix 4- Page 60 Appendix 5- Page 72

Authentic materials are prints, videos, poems, menus, voice mail messages, radio programs,
magazines, in other words, anything written in the target language that is not created or specified for
learning lesson but 100% originally adapted from the text itself in order to use it as a teaching material.
Using authentic materials to teach English language can make the learning process even more engaging
imaginative and motivating for students. Based on my observation, there is an authentic material used
in the textbook given which is poem.

Appendix 6- Page 65

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 The textbook covers several issues that helps and encourages the students to think critically and
think outside the box. The textbook covers issues like weather, people, health, and more. These kinds
of issues required students to analyse and relate to the situation properly before coming into conclusion.
These topics help students’ mind to develop critical thinking skills and help them to become more aware
of the certain issues. It is also seemed to be found quite plain for beginners to explore as their age are
the age where they can easily absorb new knowledge.

Appendix 7- Page 114 Appendix 8- Page 115

Based on the appendixes below, we can see that the textbook included several weather that
normally occur in our country or other countries. The textbook also asks some questions that can help
students to think critically and logically.

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 The language used in the textbook is natural and real as it is using natural dialogue and the real
language as it is the English of the United Kingdom of British. Understanding the content may be varying
due to students’ abilities but, natural language is an approach that ease the lesson. The usage of the
English in this Year 2 textbook is clearly natural and realistic. All the passages that provided in each unit
using the Standard English. It is appropriate for the textbook to use the right language. Hence, it is easy
for learners to communicate and understand at the same time. As for example, on page 86, it is a
dialogue about apologizing to others which is a very good value to be practiced in our life. It explains
about the benefits of saying sorry when we did something wrong. It is real and logic as the situations
does exist in our country.

Appendix 10

Appendix 9- Page 86

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 The activities in this textbook help the students to initiate meaningful communication between
them. Being able to communicate effectively is one of the most important life skills for students. It shows
that there are a lot of activities that need a group work which is the students need to talk in group in order
to finish the task. This includes where the students are required to upgrade their communication skills.
For example, in Unit 7, students need to sit in groups and play the game together. This activity can make
them having a great conversation with each other and this also can help students to learn how to
communicate in classroom. Other than that, in Unit 8, the students also need to do activities in groups.
This activity also help students to initiate meaningful communication because they need to ask their
friends about what they can do. Engaging with the students may be challenging and fundamental as they
might not have the confidence to speak out using new language. Overall, most activities in this textbook
using speaking skills for activities so that the students can initiate meaningful communication and learn
how to communicate in groups. Here is the example from textbook:

Appendix 11- Page 89 Appendix 12- Page 100

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 The task in the textbook have accomplished target and it does takes consideration of learners’
capabilities. This owning the fact that most of the exercises are really suitable for the low intermediate
students to improve their language abilities. In fact, all of the task given are accordingly set out by the
difficulty level on each topic. For instance, at the end of the topic, it has few tasks that sequence by easy
to hard type of exercise. Tasks given in the textbook are opportunities for teachers to build a meaningful
connection in their learnings. Thus, it is dominant for teachers to take consideration of learners’ capability
to build momentum and complexities over the lessons and not missing out any students. Thereupon, all
of the tasks can be completed by the learners with a correct answer and learners are able to learn step
by step with guidance of their teachers.

2. Vocabulary and Grammar

In terms of grammar rules, it is presented in a logical manner and increasing of difficulty. The
example below shows the presentation of the grammar rules. On page 59, it contains a grammar rule
about making a complete simple sentence (I + verb + on + day). Then, on page 74, the grammar rule is
about adjectives. Lastly, on page 85, the students will be taught about present continuous tense. So, this
shows that the grammar rules are presented in logical manner and also increasing in terms of difficulty
from one chapter to another chapter. The students started with making a simple sentence, then they will
learn about adjectives and then present continuous tense.

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 Appendix 14- Page 74
Appendix 13- Page 59

Appendix 15- Page 85

After that, the load, which is the number of new words in each lesson are presented appropriately
to this level, specifically for Year 2 students. In a simple way, this means that the new vocabularies in
each lesson in the textbook are fitting for Year 2 students’ level.

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 Appendix 16- Page 54 Appendix 17- Page 70 Appendix 18- Page 82

Appendix 19- Page 94 Appendix 20- Page 106

All these examples are extracted from each chapter which is from chapter 5 until chapter 9. For
instance, the new words presented in chapter 5 are Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and so on. It is about
the days of the week. After that, in chapter 7, the new words presented are the vocabularies of clothes
such as jeans, sweater, jacket and many more. To conclude, all the new words or new vocabularies are
appropriate to the level of Year 2 students.

11
 Next, the new vocabulary words are also presented in many ways. This is great to make the
students interested in learning the new vocabulary because each new word presented in such a fresh
way. Had it presented in only one way, the students might feel bored because there is no “freshness” in
the way the new vocabularies are presented. So, the diversity of the new vocabularies is presented
makes the students always find it interesting. On page 86, the new words are presented in a storyline
form while on page 106, the new words are presented in a colorful picture with every person on the
picture do their own work.

Lastly, the textbook also contains some repetitions of new vocabulary words to strengthen its
meaning and the use of it. It is because to ensure the students can remember the new words and know
how to use it in a sentence. This also can aid the students to memorize the new words because it is
repeated many times and the students will get used to it.

Appendix 21- Page 86 Appendix 22- Page 106

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 Appendix 23- Page 88

Appendix 24- Page 89

Appendix 25- Page 90

On page 88, 89 and 90, the new vocabulary word that is repeated many times is ‘wear’. So, with
this repetition technique it can make the students remember the word and know how to use the word in
a complete sentence.

In a conclusion, this textbook presents the vocabulary and grammar rules in such joyful, colorful
and constructive way. The grammar rules are presented in a very logical manner and increasing of
difficulty within chapters, the new vocabulary words are presented appropriately to Year 2 students and
shown in many ways. The new words are also repeated several times to make the students get used to
it.

13
3. Exercises and Activities

Based on Super Minds Student’s Book 1, the activities from the textbook demand students in
using new vocabulary especially to communicate in daily conversation. They will gain new at least one
or two unfamiliar words from every units. From what can be seen throughout the textbook, students will
be taught with new vocabularies that can enhance their knowledge. Vocabulary is very essential
especially in learning a foreign language as it is the basic development for all the skills such reading
comprehension, listening, speaking and writing.

Appendix 26- Page 67 Appendix 27- Page 85

There are interactive and several task-based activities that require the students to use new
vocabulary to help them in communicating with each other in the textbook. Vocabulary is very significant
for students to use English effectively and successfully. From page 80, the student need to communicate
with their friends to find out what the drawing that their friends imagined. They can communicate verbally
using new vocabulary which will help them to understand better and obtain more vocabulary.

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 Appendix 28- Page 80

After that, the students are given adequate number of examples to complete the exercises and
activities. There are plenty of activities in the textbook that involve comprehension and appropriate for
the level of the students in terms of vocabulary. These exercises allow students at all levels to have a
better understanding and use the new vocabulary words in everyday life. For example, we can find it in
textbook on page 101 in the textbook. The guidance really allows the students to answer the question
with simple instructions and explanations on their own.

Appendix 29- Page 101

15
 Based on the text, the exercises in the textbook encourage critical thinking. The answer can not
only be found by students by referring only to the information provided. However, to figure out the clues
and answer the question, they must think outside the box because the information does not provide
direct answers. For example, on page 64, the students can only answer the question if they focus on the
CD audio that will be played by the teacher. There is no text or specific information that can be obtained
by the students to answer the question.

Appendix 30- Page 64

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4. Attractiveness of the text

The cover of the book must be enticing enough to attract the students of Year 2. A book cover
should have stunning illustrations, a title that is easy to read and appealing as well. A book cover has an
important role and that is to attract the target students this is to ensure the students read or even open
the book, however the cover of this textbook is actually on average. The cover of this textbook has basic
illustrations of children and it seems a bit too simple to be captivated by. Further, the backdrop of the
cover is very plain although the contrast of the different shades of blue used is very nice. The title of the
textbooks is clear and the summary of the book is straightforward. The font used for the title is creative
and eye catching, but the color used could be too dull for the students.

This example is the cover of the English Year 2 of Sekolah Kebangsaan's textbook. The cover
immediately draws your eyes attention because of its large fonts. As a result, the possibility of a year 2
student reading this is quite high. The first assumption of the theme when you look at the cover is people,
but to be specific, the theme is people's everyday lives. The designer didn't really emphasize the fact in
creating this design, but you're still going to have a gist of what it's all about when you look at it.

Appendix 31

17
The pictures in the textbook add and fit well into the context. The illustrations are important and
necessary to increase the usefulness of the textbooks as a teaching material. The illustrations used in
the textbook are straightforward, so it is easier for students to understand the meaning of the text.
Students can read while looking at the pictures given, which will contribute to their comprehension of the
text.

The example below shows that the diagrams are fitting for the context of the text. The images on
page 61 are very detailed to help students answer the questions. It helps to offer a clear picture of what
the students have to answer and look out for, similar to the illustrations on page 66.

Appendix 32- Page 61

Appendix 33- Page 66

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 The illustrations in this textbook are straightforward and easy to understand for students in Year
2. Illustration should be understandable and not only should it be a tool to help clarify the text in a more
detailed manner, but should also be a means to expand and support it. Since the illustration is an
example that is used to make an argument or plot understandable, it adds well and in depth to its
significance. The illustrations are often fairly close to the text that helps students to visualize what the
text is all about.

As you can see in the example below, the images next to the texts give you a clear distinction on
which fits with which. The text is a postcard written by people, the images are there for students to
distinguish and get a visual of the information on the postcards. It gives importance to the key points of
the text, making it simple and easy for the target students.

Appendix 34- Page 115

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 Overall, the text in this particular textbook is fascinating and attracts students to read it. Even
though most of it are songs, it also has a decent amount of stories that encourage the young reader to
read. Target students are given the chance in increasing their grammar skills and gain a lot of
conversation starters about daily activities. The text used in this textbook has the appropriate vocabulary
for the target reader. All in all, the texts in this book will absolutely keep the student’s attention because
they can relate and talk about it with their peers.

As an example, the text below is a short story or comic strip about a couple of friends exploring
an old house. This kind of text will attract students to read because it's exciting and interesting for
students of their age. The vocabulary used in this are simple and appropriate for students' abilities, so
that they can enjoy the story more.

Appendix 36- Page 75

Appendix 35- Page 74

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5. Context

This specific textbook is very suitable because it is based on the curriculum and has certainly
met the target of the course. The purpose of the course is to equip students with basic language skills to
encourage them to do communicate easily which in fact suits this textbook in every way due to the fact
that the subject is the everyday life of people. A lot of the sections of this textbook cover listening, reading
and speaking skills. Writing skills are held to a minimum because these students are still new to the
language and the book allows them to learn the language with stories and songs. The curriculum states
that it is based on the fundamentals of imaginative and creative thinking. This textbook is also very
suitable for the curriculum since it includes a broad variety of interactive structures and activities that
fulfil the curriculum requirements. The evidence in the example below is very solid.

Below are the aims, objective and the structure of the course. In addition to these, our goal is to
help students to use English as a means of communication. This covers every aspect, from listening,
speaking and reading and gives focus to these skills throughout the textbook. This clearly indicates that
the textbook is very suitable since it actually incorporates the elements and objectives of the course.

Appendix 37

Appendix 38

21
 This is an example of why this textbook is so suitable for the curriculum based on its principles and
approach. This particular textbook covers many of the elements and aspects of a number of detailed
study plans. It enables students to address the pressures and demands of a diverse, globalized world as
stated in its curriculum focus. This year, 2 textbook have a lot of significant and purposeful vocabulary and
various types of units which genuinely illustrates that it is really suitable for the intent of the curriculum.

Appendix 39

Appendix 40

22
 This textbook is unquestionably suitable for students who will need it for their studies. The
explanation behind this assertion is that this particular textbook is specially crafted for year 2 students.
The content and context of the textbook are in line with their level of competence and their way of
thinking. This textbook also contains a number of subjects that they can apply to their life as new
language learners. Finding topics, you can relate to makes learning easier for these students. The
example below demonstrates an exercise that will assess their level of proficiency by reading and
interpreting the story to fill the blanks in the table

As mentioned above, this example illustrates that this textbook is very suitable for students of
year 2. Vocabulary skills are appropriate for students of their age because the question asked is short
and straightforward. The illustrations used to guide the students is also of well-known animals that will
not cause hardships or confusions for the year 2 students in answering the question.

Appendix 41- Page 79

23
 The examples and explanations given in the textbook are certainly easy to comprehend. Each
instruction is very simple and straightforward and will make it easier for students to understand the
meaning. The example below shows a text written in a song form and the students have to listen and
sing, after that they must draw lines to fit Tommy's food. The explanation and examples are very clear
for children their age.

Explanations and examples are often 1 line or 2 line sentences, as seen in the example below.
They are very easy to understand as follows the standard of proficiency of year 2 students. Although
this exercise requires listening and reading skills it doesn’t seem to be difficult for the students of this
age group because the text they have to read are short and the illustrations provided are clear and not
something out of the ordinary for a year 2 student. The text fits well with the picture making it easier for
the students to draw the lines to fit each image.

Appendix 42- Page 90

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 Students would certainly enjoy reading the text selections given to them in the textbook. The
reasoning is that each text is short, interesting and relatable. They are mainly stories and activities that
will interest the students of year 2. All of the text contains pictures as a reference to help attract students
to read the text even more as students of their age are easily attracted to pictures and colors instead
of just lengthy text. The example below serves as proof to the points given.

The image below demonstrates that the book is very vibrant with nice illustration of people,
and also the text is in text bubbles to make it appear more like a comic instead of a paragraph. Besides
that, the choice of words is also very easy to read and is appropriate for their vocabulary skills. The
example really shows that students will enjoy reading the text selected.

Appendix 43- Page 98

Appendix 44- Page 99

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B. CONCLUSION

In the final analysis, year 2 textbook has brought up to a very good use as a guidance
for students and teachers. Based from the content, vocabulary and grammar, exercises and activities,
attractiveness of the context of this book, altogether we can surmise that this textbook suits the
Malaysia’s educational syllabus exquisitely. The 21 st century education for young learners to begin
with has been successfully implied in the textbook, giving it more reasons on why it gained such high
recommendations to be used in class. It shows as one of the most effective ways to be inserted in
teaching and learning process. It does not only include a lot of fun activities and exercise to assist the
students to understand the English language better, but also provide a wide range of vocabulary
words suitable for their level to expand and improve their grammar knowledge, which is a good first
step for beginners of new language learning.

The textbook itself show a variation of attractiveness for kids, from visual, fonts to the
colour of choice used in the book has creatively captivate the student’s attention in reading it since
year 2 students are more likely to be interested in colourful pages with more pictures of cartoons or
animals rather than words. Nevertheless, although this textbook is as good as been told, teachers
and learners still play a huge role to produce an effective and potent teaching and learning process.
The textbook only works as a guidance of teaching aid that will support the students understanding
from time to time.

Before concluding everything, it is suggested for this book to have more challenging
activities that can bring the students to a higher level of thinking appropriate to their age. As many of
the activities turns out to be fun and exciting, however it did not give the students a somewhat
demanding task for them to complete. This may cause an average logical when it comes to test and
activities. With more thrilling task, learners are able to explore more and this will show a better product
of lesson.

All in all, this book is an excellent choice for year 2 students to have a good lesson in
class with creativity. It provides a suitable material as a guide for the students and will help improve
student’s performance in class. Thus, English Year 2 Super Minds textbook is a suitable textbook with
understandable material for students with many benefits for the targeted students.

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