ELT Textbook Evaluation in Iran, New Insights

Abstract

Textbooks hold a paramount status as an indispensible ingredient of language teaching profession; therefore, appraising and evaluating them seems to be imperative to assure their efficiency and consistency with the objectives defined and expected of the course. The current study was an attempt to evaluate suitability of the English textbook developed by Iranian Education Ministry for pre-university course. To this end, a modified version of World Language Standard Book Evaluation Form developed by Indiana Department of Education (2007) was utilized. The questionnaire was passed out among 30 male and female English teachers in pre-university centers. The form extracted teachers' outlooks on seven major criteria including gender representation, communication, culture, connections, comparisons, communities, and general elements pertaining to areas like skills, language components, attraction of the activities, and the like. The findings showed the moderate level of complacency with the textbook with reference to teachers' perspectives. Neverthless, the salient drawback with the book was its inadequacy in culture presentation. Further, t.test computed for male and female EFL teachers' attitudes indicated that gender played no significant role in this regard. The study ends with some suggestion to improve on the textbook.