AN EVALUATION OF ENGLISH COURSEBOOK FOR YOUNG LEARNERS ENTITLED ENGLISH CHEST

One of the English coursebooks used in the teaching and learning English in Indonesia is English Chest. This study was conducted to answer the questions: (1) To what extent does English Chest series fulfill the criteria of a good English coursebook for young learners in terms of: physical format, subject matter, page layout, vocabulary and structure, graphic elements and content?; and (2) Does this coursebook meet the requirements of the syllabus of teaching English in primary school in Indonesia? The terms were developed and modified based on the criteria proposed by Varella (2014) about the good coursebook for young learners. The design of the study is descriptive qualitative. Ten English teachers using the coursebook were asked to assess it based on a checklist and interviewed. After the data were analyzed, the findings revealed that English Chest coursebook the series is categorized as a good and appropriate English coursebook for EFL young learners. Furthermore, the syllabus proposed by English Chest coursebook the series is in agreement with the syllabus of Kurikulum Tingkat Satuan Pendidikan 2006.


INTRODUCTION
Worldwide, English is a means of communication in almost any field of life. It encourages countries to put English as one of the important 1 Author is a student of Widya Mandala Surabaya graduate school and Teacher at Santa Maria II Primary School Magister Scientiae -ISSN 2622-7959 146 Edisi No. 46 Oktober 2019 subjects which must be learned at school. Indonesia is one of the countries.
In Indonesia, pupils at the primary school level through high school learn English as a foreign language. Moreover, English is also taught at several kindergartens.
Learning and acquiring English as a foreign language is certainly not as simple as acquiring bahasa Indonesia, their native language and their mother tongue. They are similar in the acquisition process but the learning conditions are quite different. Brewster (2007) stated in case of learning condition of acquiring the foreign language, the pupils and students do not have as much time as in learning and acquiring the first language.
English Language Teaching coursebooks play a very important role in language learning and acquisition, especially in classrooms.
Coursebooks are considered the basis for many language inputs that learners gain and language practices that occur in the classroom (Richards, 2001). In addition to that, the basis for the content of the lessons, the skills being taught and the kinds of language practice the students take part in are also provided by coursebooks.
Since English in Indonesia is a foreign language, the coursebooks being used in Indonesia have to deal with the learners' needs. Park (2002) stated that in EFL situation, students hardly ever have chances to use English outside the classroom. That is why English coursebook seems to be the only source by which students receive input. It means also coursebook is the main instrument in teaching and learning process.
In fact, there are a lot of coursebooks which are offered and provided. Several aspects should be considered in choosing coursebooks.
One of the aspects which teachers should pay attention is the age of students. Coursebooks for high school students and for primary students must be different in many ways such as physical format, components, methods, etc. Since primary school students are categorized as young learners, everything should be sized and made 'special'. By nature, young learners are special. They have their own characteristics. They are curious,

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Magister Scientiae -ISSN 2622-7959 Edisi No. 46 Oktober 2019 mobile, active, full of imagination, like to talk, cannot think something abstract, are good in imitating, like to play and have fun activities and many more. Though they have limited vocabulary and grammar, they are good language learners.
There are many coursebooks which are used in teaching and learning English as foreign language in Indonesia. They come from local or even overseas publishers. The English Chest series is one of English coursebooks which are used in Primary School. It is a six-level coursebook which is designed for young EFL students in Indonesia. English Chest series was published in 2012. Several schools and English teachers have chosen this coursebook for their students. It is claimed as a coursebook which is fresh, interesting to study and is guaranteed that students of all learning styles will find entertainment and satisfaction in them. Yet, as far as the researcher's observation, there are limited studies which evaluate and analyze how far this coursebook meets the criteria of good EFL coursebook comprehensively. The goal of this study was to evaluate, analyze, and critique the English coursebook entitled English Chest series. It dealt with to determine to what extent English Chest coursebook meet the requirement of good level of EFL coursebook for young learners.
Moreoever, one of the significant aspects which must be considered in selecting coursebook is whether there is an agreement between the coursebook and curriculum applied. Curriculum has to do with syllabus. A syllabus is a plan showing the subjects or books to be studied in a particular course. Breen and Prabhu (in Gurbuz 2013) stated that syllabus can be seen as a plan of what we are going to do in the classroom in our teaching and learning process. In a straightforward definition, Ur (2012) stated that syllabus is a document which presents information on what topics or content are to be covered in a course of study. It is so important that it concerns with the specification and planning of what is to be learned and achieve in the end of learning. Since the curriculum applied is curriculum of unit lesson-based (Kurikulum Tingkat Satuan Pendidikan The question which appears are whether the English Chest coursebook meets the requirements of syllabus which is applied in elementary school in Indonesia and whether the coursebook is designed according to the principles of teaching English to young learners. In order to gain that answer, this study will evaluate English Chest coursebook in terms of physical format, subject matter, page layout, vocabulary and structure, graphic elements, and content. Related to the problems in the previous subchapter, this study was conducted to answer the following research questions: (1)

Coursebook, young learners and coursebook evaluation
Coursebook and instructional materials are one of important elements in ESL/EFL classroom and ELT program. There are some advantages for students as well as for teachers which are proposed by theorists. The importance of coursebook is, firstly, considered as the visible heart on those classroom and program (Sheldon, 1998;237). It makes the language input can be obviously received by learners. Cunningsworth (1995) identifies some additional roles in ELT curriculum. For students and teachers, they are a source of ideas and activities, an effective material and resource for self-directed learning, and a syllabus where they reflect predetermined learning objectives.
Intended or not, coursebook is an important tool which gives many benefits for teachers and students in the process of language teaching and learning. It can drive them in teaching and learning procedures. It also influences teachers' method in transferring the material and students' method in acquiring the target language.
Because of the importance, some features are addressed to a coursebook. Zohrabi (2012)  need, it will be hard indeed for coursebook to fulfill all of the needs and styles. Zohrabi (2011) answers this confusion. Materials, especially coursebooks, need to be evaluated at every stage of the course in order to find their weaknesses and improve them. No matter how good and suitable and appropriate the books are, evaluation is a must. The important ideas are that the evaluation provides an opinion about the materials' suitability to the particular purpose and good knowledge of a book's content and its merits and demerits (Hutchinson & Waters, 1989;Sheldon, 1988).
Several experts proposed criteria of EFL coursebook evaluation.
They are Sheldon (1988), Grant (1987), Cunningsworth (1995), Jahangard (2007, and the last but not least Harmer (2007). Each theorist and expert has their own criteria in evaluating or selecting a good EFL coursebook. It depends on their beliefs, point of views and the change of importance of coursebook over the years.

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Magister Scientiae -ISSN 2622-7959 Edisi No. 46 Oktober 2019 In addition, Cunningsworth (1995) proposes criteria for evaluating coursebooks as follows. There are four criteria. The coursebooks should correspond to learners' need (the match of the aims and objectives of the program). Afterwards, they should reflect the uses which learners will make of the language (as help for students to use the language for their own purposes). The third is they should take account of students' needs as learners and facilitate their learning processes. The last is the coursebooks should have a clear role as a support for learning.
It means teachers should choose the best book which will help them in the teaching process in classroom.
The pupils who use English Chest are categorized as EFL young learners. They learn English as a foreign language. Learning or acquiring a language for young learners is as complex as teaching a language to them.
Young learners have their own characteristics. Lobo (2003) proposes a very comprehensive list of characteristics of young learners. According to her, young learners are very receptive, curious, motivated, able to pick up new sounds accurately, spontaneous and willing to participate. They are also physically active, interested in themselves , deeply involved in the world of fantasy and imagination, highly linked to the teacher and developing their personality. Besides their preference of learning by doing, they cannot concentrate for a long time, do not analyze the language, cannot remember things for a long time if they are not recycled. The last one is they are happier with different materials depending on the natural language they have on the different intelligences. Choosing, developing and evaluating materials must notice those characteristics of young learners. Varela (2005) in her research states comprehensive and complete explanation of good coursebook for young learners. It deals with several aspects in the coursebook itself such as physical format, lay out, content, methodology, and so on. Edisi No. 46 Oktober 2019 The first aspect is the physical format. It involves the attractive and suitable cover for young learners; illustration which have basic and bright colors; information in front cover (title, author, level, school year, illustration, characters, etc) and in back cover (a list of elements of the course along with their description); big size of paper and big margin; and the type of paper which is not too shiny but has to be heavy enough.

Varela's criteria of good coursebook for young learners
Afterwards, it is about the page lay-out. It has to be clear and attractive. Clear and attractive means it using basic colors (red, yellow, blue and green). It also means all the pictures in the book have to be clear enough to give a context to the contents or activities. For young learners they have to show the basic elements and cannot add excessive details.
In case of its components, a course book must have Pupil's book, which can be at the same time work book (or activity book), teacher's book, puppet, audio CD/Cassette for both teachers and students with songs, stories, dialogues, rhymes, chants, flash cards to help introduce or review the course vocabulary, posters which help review every term, picture dictionary with illustrations of all the words studied in context, teacher's resource pack ( with transparencies, cut-outs, photocopiable activities, extra songs, little animals, fruits, etc, in plastic, large pictures of the family, clothes, house, furniture, etc), big book of stories for the classroom with a CD or cassette, video or DVD to contextualize the contents of the books, provide some cultural information and tellstories, and interactive CD that provides extra practice for students at home or at the study centre.
Apart from the format, lay out and component, the method is also important. It involves a variety of language activities or supplementary materials given, and also the methods applied by the author of the coursebook. The method must take into account the processes, teaching method and approaches which are involved in the cognitive and physical development of children. Varela (2005) stated that a course for very young learners should be based on the Total Physical Response method. It should offer an oral approach, emphasizing the use of songs, rhymes and games.
All those should be combined with orders or movements, typical from the TPR method.
The content is also one of the important aspects. The topics have to be familiar and significant for children. Regarding the topics, the materials should be very flexible and suitable with children's characteristics. They should offer songs, games, stories and interesting activities. Teachers should be provided with a large number of activities for students.
Comprehensive and complete instrument is a must in evaluating a coursebook. It will help researchers to analyze and then find the answer whether the coursebook is appropriate or not. Based on the previous aspects, Varela proposed a sample checklist for coursebook evaluation.
The checklist of Varela is considered as comprehensive instrument which can be applied in evaluating coursebook for young learners. Therefore, the researcher is going to apply Varela's checklist with several modification.

Syllabus
Syllabus is one of significant factors at any school or courses. It consists of descriptive list of concept that teachers will give to their students. It is usually delivered in the first day of class to give obvious description about the class to students. Ur (2012) stated that syllabus is a document which presents information on what topics or content are to be covered in a course of study.
It is so important that it concerns with the specification and planning of what is to be learned and achieve in the end of learning. The information could be what is taught in a national school system, in a specific course or in a course book.
According to Candlin (1984) syllabi are concerned with the specification and planning of what is to be learned, frequently set down in some written form as prescriptions for action by teachers and learners. They Edisi No. 46 Oktober 2019 are concerned with the achievement of ends, often, though not always, associated with the pursuance of particular means. Furthermore, it traditionally has the mark of authority. Yet, Candlin (1984:31) also stated that syllabuses are based on accounts and records of what actually happens at the classroom level as teachers and learners apply a given curriculum to their own situation. It means teachers may make and conduct their own syllabuses which consider situation at each class as far as they do not deviate from the curriculum.

Syllabus of Kurikulum Tingkat Satuan Pendidikan 2006 (KTSP 2006)
There are two objectives of teaching and learning English which are proposed by ministry of National Education of Indonesia. They are: (1) to develop competencies of students in spoken communication while they are doing something (language accompanying action) at school, and (2) to realize the importance of English in order to be survive in global citizenship.
By mastering English and great competencies in four language skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing), Indonesian students are able to communicate, to express their feeling and thought or opinion, to develop and master knowledge, to know and to introduce culture, and so on. The long-term goal is to prepare them to be ready and survive in global citizenship in the future.
The contents examined are words, structures, topics, skills and functions. In the terms of word, structures and topics, there are no specific aspects or ideas. There are only words of 'thank you, sorry, please and excuse me'. There are also only simple phrase and simple sentence in case of structure. While, the topic is actually not specific but in the opening of the curriculum/syllabus, it is stated that the topic is about thing which is near the students and thing which is experienced by the students.
In the term of function, there are several expressions which must be taught to students. They are asking permission, giving permission, agreeing, denying, asking explanation, giving example to do something, command, giving direction, asking for help, asking or giving something, introducing self, inviting, asking or giving permission, expressing prohibition and so on. They have to do with the students' competencies of delivering their feeling and thought. The data collections employed in this research were document analysis and interview. Since the reliability of a research is a must, to make the present research more reliable, several English teachers who were using English Chest coursebook in Sidoarjo were involved as respondents. There were ten evaluators of the coursebook and the researcher was one of them.
First, the data were obtained from English Chest coursebook by analyzing all elements of the coursebook. They were collected by using an instrument i.e. a checklist which was developed by Varela (2014)  coursebook in term of: the physical format (13 items), the subject matter (7 items), the vocabulary and structure (4 items), the graphic elements (3 items), the page layout (3 items) and the content (16 items).
In general there were five steps in analyzing data. The first step was (1) analyzing and interpreting the data based on evaluation criteria. It has a purpose to find out how much each item of the checklist met the requirement of good English coursebook for young learners. The second one was (2)  To answer the first research question, the researcher was going to gather information based on the checklist. Each evaluator put circle on the option '4' when he or she admitted the appropriateness of the aspects assessed and the option '1' when he or she observed the incompatibility of the aspects assessed (figure 1). The evaluators put circle on the appropriate choice to respond to the statements as follows: 1 for 'strongly disagree', 2 for 'disagree', 3 for 'agree' and 4 for 'strongly agree'. The example of the analysis done by an evaluator Figure 1 Then, the researcher was going to unite all of the evaluations in this table (table 2)   The example of evaluation on the physical format of Student book involved the investigation of their lesson objectives and the proportional of four language skills taught.

The first step:
N (total score of criteria fullfiled) X 100 % = x (percentage given) (total possible score of each criteria by evaluator)

Second step:
The sum of total percentage of each evaluator = the final calculation Total numbers of evaluators     Table 5 Note: 'Yes / no' shows the appropriateness of syllabus of English Chest series to syllabus of KTSP 2006 'Yes' means they match.
'No' means they do not match.

English Chest coursebook as a good English coursebook for young learners
Based on the data gained by the researcher, the average score for physical format of student book was 88.1 which is categorized as GOOD.
Then, the teacher book is classified as FAIR for the average score was 71.5. Illustrations and drawings are one of the media helping children to learn. Viewing images and arriving at interpretations help to train children's cognitive skills as well as creative experience, such as using information (Yu, 2007in Sovic, 2016. The drawing and illustration of There are some aspects analyzed in teacher book in this kind of term. The first is about the objectives of each lesson. In grade two when the students are introduced by the information question with how (How are you?), the objective is by learning the lesson students will be able to express their feelings. Another lesson where students are asked to identify kind of food and drink, the objective is students will learn some food items and talk about different meals.
Another aspect is about the activities in learning process. The teacher book provides the steps of activities in each lesson. There are two main activities i.e.: warm up activity and follow-up activity. Yet, in several lessons, it serves what it is called as 'extension activity' or activity which can be run as the additional one. It will enrich the students' ability. The steps, tips and explanations are so clear that teacher can easily apply them in classroom.
In addition to that there are also various activities. They all include activities of four basic language skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing). Some of the activities are filling in the blank, asking and answering questions, matching, completing, playing (board games, asking and answering, doing conversation, singing) and so on. They are certainly accommodating various types of learners and learning styles from visual to kinesthetic.
Another aspect is quite important. It has to do with the socio cultural learning. English Chest the series cares of this issue. It is obvious that in some lessons, there is a language note(s) which students and teachers must aware of. For instance is grade one. The language note is about calling someone; in English, we usually call our friends by their first names.
Culturally we don't have to give our friends titles of respect or avoid using their first names when our friends are older than us. In teacher book of grade three, there is another example: in most circumstances, it is mean to call someone fat or ugly. It is OK to describe object or fictional characters with these words, but not for actual people. Do not allow students to describe themselves or their classmates in negative terms.
One more aspect is the weakness of this coursebook. There are no photocopiable sheets for extra activities (arts and crafts, games, etc). The sheets are only in student book and it is just for game. There are no sheets for activities and even for exercise or examination.

English in primary school in Indonesia
The syllabus which is used in English Chest coursebook is a multistrand syllabus. It is a kind of syllabus which combines not only one but several aspects (such as: function, notion, grammar vocabulary and structure) in a table. There are six syllabi for Grade 1 through Grade 6.
While, the syllabus of teaching English in primary school in Indonesia is since English is started to be taught in grade 4.
In her book, Ur (2012) states that syllabus should consist of a comprehensive list of content items or process items; It is ordered from the easiest to most difficult; It has explicit objectives; It is accountable because it's a public document; It may indicate a time schedule; It may indicate a preferred methodology; and it may recommend materials.
Based on the criteria above, the researcher chose objectives and the contents as the aspects examined. After the objectives and contents were gathered, then the researcher was going to compare and contrast both syllabuses. Finally the answer of how far the syllabus of English Chest series meets the requirements of syllabus of KTSP 2006 was gained.

The objectives and content of syllabus of English Chest coursebook
English Chest coursebook is a series of coursebook specialized for EFL students. Since the target is EFL students, this coursebook has some objectives. They are: (1) to advance from simple phrases to complex sentences with ease and comfort, (2) to improve reading, writing, listening and speaking skills, and (3) to engage and facilitate students' language acquisition through lessons that tap into the multiple-learning styles of the class. Those objectives are driven into a bigger goal that is to make students master English even though it is not their first language.
The contents which are analyzed in this coursebook are in case of objectives, words, structures, grammar focus, topics, skills and functions.
The contents in the syllabus of English Chest the series are specific. Each lesson has its own objective, grammar focus, sentence pattern, functions and vocabularies. It is obvious for teacher and even students about what they are going to learn, achieve and master.
Yet, the skills are not mentioned in the syllabus. The four skills which are trained are clear and shown in the lesson plan. Each chapter has several sections which students must join and pass. Those are word chest, language chest, listening chest, talk chest, reading chest, writing chest and activity chest. They have their own ways and format.
The first skill is listening. It was found in listening chest. Here, the target language is used in a conversation that emulates a real-life situation. Some pictures help students to comprehend the conversation.
Students read and listen to the conversation. This activity helps motivate students to learn by showing them a practical application for the target language. It also helps students define the new words and concepts.
Next is in case of speaking. There are two sections which can encourage students to speak. They are language chest and talk chest.
Language Chest exposes students to some of the target language found in the lesson. Students can identify the pattern and the function of the expressions or sentences. After students review the material, they should practice talking to each other. This activity gets students acquainted with the target language. In addition, Talk Chest is also an activity which helps students in speaking skill. It presents the target language and new vocabulary. Previously, students were introduced to these concepts. But, Talk Chest is where students can memorize the new language. The students and teacher talk about the big picture first. Then, students try to fill in the missing words. This activity gives students their first chance to produce the target language.
Furthermore, Reading Chest recycles some of the vocabulary and/or target language in a written passage. The passages come in a variety of formats such as newspaper articles, diary entries, letters, e-mails, and magazine articles. The new context is interesting for students and applicable to their lives. This activity shows students how much they have learned. It also helps to increase reading proficiency.
Finally, in case of writing, Writing Chest is an activity that challenges students to use the skills they have learned. In order to remain interesting, the format varies from lesson to lesson. Students should be encouraged to proofread their work and correct any mistakes that they find. and English Chest series Table 7 In case of the functions and words, they do not match 100 percent.  Average score for all terms 82,03 GOOD Table 9 In addition, based on and English Chest are appropriate. Table 7 supports the previous statement.
They do not only focus on the spoken language skills (listening and speaking) but also written language skills (reading and writing).
Afterwards, according to the The findings of the present study offer useful information for language teaching and learning in context of EFL young learners.Teachers who teach English in context of EFL young learners, especially in Indonesia, are recommended to use English Chest coursebook the series since it is categorized as good coursebook based on the analysis. The materials and content proposed by the coursebook may enhance students' skills and encourage them to learn English. Besides, the coursebook provide several and useful aids for teachers in teaching and learning process. But, it is a must that teachers should find more supplementary materials to make the language teaching and learning more effective and fun when they use this series in their classroom. For the book publisher, though, the category of the coursebook is fair, the researcher suggest there will be some revision and addition which are so beneficial that teachers and students may get more exposure and help in the teaching and learning process.
The present study investigated an English coursebook for the EFL young learners. Although the study revealed some findings regarding the however, the other studies conducting a comparative study between English Chest coursebook and the other coursebook for EFL young learners are needed and a must. They should involve more aspects with more specific and deep analysis on them.
This study is also expected as the preliminary research for another study in case of applying appropriate coursebook for EFL young learners in Indonesia since coursebook is one of the important things which can help young learners achieving and mastering English.