Investigating High School Students’ Attitudes Towards Friends Global Textbook

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.54855/ijli.25425

Keywords:

General Education English Curriculum 2018, textbook evaluation, attitudes, learners’ needs, Friends Global textbook

Abstract

Vietnamese Ministry of Education and Training’s nationwide English educational reforms have introduced a new English textbook series aimed at enhancing students’ communicative competencies. Although extensive research has evaluated these English textbook series based on the General Education English Curriculum 2018, it has focused solely on educators’ perspectives. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the high school students’ cognitive, affective, and behavioral attitudes towards one of those series, the Friends Global textbook, regarding learners' needs. Utilizing a mixed-method design, the study combined questionnaire data from 226 grade-ten and grade-eleven students with insights from semi-structured interviews with eight participants. Findings reveal that students generally hold positive attitudes towards the textbook’s reading skills, vocabulary, and grammar but display ambivalence towards speaking, listening, and writing skills and are opposed to phonology. These results offer valuable insights for the Ministry of Education and Training, textbook authors, and ELT educators, supporting future curriculum development, textbook evaluation, and instructional planning.

Author Biographies

  • Tran Huynh Thinh, Vietnam-USA Society English Center, Vietnam

    Huynh-Thinh Tran holds a Bachelor’s degree in English Language Teacher Education from Saigon University. He works as an English teacher at Vietnam-USA Society English Center (VUS). His research interests include materials evaluation, curriculum development, and teacher education.

  • Huynh Duy Bao, Vietstar Language Informatics School, Vietnam

    Duy-Bao Huynh holds a Bachelor’s degree in English Language Teacher Education from Saigon University. He works as an English teacher at Vietstar Language Informatics School and IMAP Education & Training JSC. His research interests include materials evaluation and curriculum development.

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Published

16-06-2025

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Research Article

How to Cite

Tran, H. T., & Huynh, D. B. (2025). Investigating High School Students’ Attitudes Towards Friends Global Textbook. International Journal of Language Instruction, 4(2), 94-115. https://doi.org/10.54855/ijli.25425

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