Abstracts Evaluation of English Textbook “Prospect 2” based on Students’ Needs and Teachers’ Perceptions

Document Type : research article

Authors

1 Department of English, Faculty of Persian Literature and Foreign Languages, Tabriz Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tabriz, Iran

2 ِDepartment of English, Faculty of Persian Literature and Foreign Languages, Tabriz Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tabriz, Iran

Abstract

This study aimed to evaluate the English textbook “Prospect 2”, which is taught to the eighth-grade junior high school students in Iran in recent years, from teachers’ perspectives and needs analysis of students. To this end, 30 teachers and 60 eighth-grade students from the girls’ and boys’ high schools in Tabriz, Iran were randomly selected. A textbook evaluation checklist and a needs analysis questionnaire were distributed among the participated teachers and students, respectively. The results indicated that most parts of the content of the book matches with most of the students’ needs and can be used as a suitable textbook for the students. The teachers had also a positive view toward this textbook in general but they reported some problems. For example, they believed that there is not a balance of the four language skills, the language is not authentic, grammatical points are completely excluded, and the activities are not interesting and cannot be modified or supplemented by the teachers. Suggestions and pedagogical implications are presented.

Keywords

References

Ahour, T., & Ahmadi, E. (2012). Retrospective evaluation of textbook "Summit 2B" for its suitability for EFL undergraduate students'. The Journal of Educational and Social Research, 2(5), 176-185.
Ahour, T., & Golpour, F. (2013). Iranian new junior high school book (Prospect 1) weighted against material evaluation checklist from teachers’ perspective. The Journal of Applied Linguistics, 6 (13), 16-35.
Ahour, T., Towhidiyan, B., & Saiedi, M. (2014). The evaluation of English textbook 2 taught in Iranian high schools from teachers' perceptions. English Language Teaching, 7(3), 150-158. 
Alavi, B. (2013). Prospect 2. Tehran: The center for printing and publishing of textbooks.
Allwright, R. (1981). Perceiving and pursuing learners' needs. In M. Geddes & G. Sturbridge (Eds.), Individualization (pp.24-31). Oxford: modern English publications.
Ansary, T. (2004). An analytic look at high school English textbook and introducing a sample lesson based on communicative syllabus design (Unpublished master’s thesis). Islamic Azad University-Tabriz Branch, Iran.       
Arabloo, P. (2015). The Iranian junior high school English textbook Prospect 2 from the teachers' point of view. International Journal of Language Learning and Applied Linguistics World, 9(1), 85-91.
Azizifar, A. Koosha M., & Lotfi A. R. (2010). An analytical evaluation of locally produced Iranian high school ELT textbooks from 1970 to the present. English Language Teaching, 3(4), 132-141. Barcelos, A. M. F. (2000). Researching Beliefs about SLA: A Critical Review. EFL Journals, 12, 7-3.
Balaei, P., & Ahour, T. (2018). Information technology students’ language needs for their ESP course. International Journal of Applied Linguistics and English Literature, 7 (2), 197-203.
Balint, M. (2004). Assessing students’ perceived language needs in a needs analysis. Proceedings of the 9th Conference of Pan-Pacific Association of Applied Linguistics, Tokyo. Retrieved from http://paaljapan.org/resources/proceedings/2004/BalintMartin .pdf
Beydokhtinezhad, S., Azarnoosh, M., & Abdolmanafi-Rokni, S. J. (2015). The strengths and weaknesses of the Iranian junior high school English textbooks" PROSPECT 1 and 2" from teachers' attitude. Veda's Journal of English Language and Literature (JOELL), 2(2), 165-17.
Brown, J. (1989). The elements of language curriculum: A systematic approach to program development. ELT Journals, 13, 1-13.
Brown, J. (1995). The elements of language curriculum: A systematic approach to program               development. Journal of English and Education, 1(2), 23-34.
Cunningsworth, A. (1995). Choosing your course book. Oxford: Heinemann.                
Edwards, N. (2000). Language for business: Effective needs assessment, syllabus design and materials  preparation in a practical ESP case study. English for Specific Purposes, 19(3), 291–296.
Grant, N. (1987). Making the most of your textbook. London: Longman.
Hamidzadeh, M. (2014). Context analysis of new (English for schools, prospect1) for Iranian junior secondary students'. Enjoy Teaching Journal, 2(1), 10-14.
Hutchinson, T., & Waters, A. (1993). English for specific purposes: A learning centered approach. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Hutchinson, T., & Torres, E. (1994). The textbook as agent of change. ELT Journal, 48, 315- 328.  
Iwai, I. (1999). Japanese language needs analysis. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 5, 215-227.
Johns, A. (1991). English for specific purposes: Its history and contribution. In M.Celce-Murcia (Ed.). Teaching English as a second or foreign language (pp.67-77). Boston, MA: Heinle & Heinle.                                                
Jordan, R. (1997). English for academic purposes: A guide and resource book for teachers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Kheirabadi, R., & Alavi Moghadam, B. (2014). Meta-analysis of the researchers on evaluating English textbooks in Iran. International Journal of Economy, Management and Social Sciences, 3(12), 894-897.
Khodabandeh, F., & Mombini, R. (2018). Iranian EFL teachers’ and students’ perceptions towards the first grade high school English textbook (Vision 1). The Journal of English Language Pedagogy and Practice, 11 (22), 141-167.
Kiato, S. K. (1996). Testing communicative competence. The TESOL Internet Journal, 2(5), 30-42.
Littlejohn, A. (2011). The analysis of language teaching materials: Inside the Trojan Horse. In B. Tomlinson (Ed.), Material development in language teaching (pp.179-211). Cambridge: Cambridge University press.
Litz, D.R.A. (2005). Textbook Evaluation and ELT Management: a South Korea Case Study. International Journal of Research Studies in Language Learning, 3 (1), 223-240. Retrieved from http://www.pdfgeni.com
Lynch, B. (1996). Language program evaluation. ELT Journals, 17(2), 1-16.
Mackay, R. (1978). Identifying the nature of the learners' needs. In R. Mackey & A.J. Mountford (Eds.), English for Specific Purposes: A case study approach (pp.21-37). London: Longman.
Medlin, L. (2009). English for specific purposes. Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 13, 52-68.
Moslemi, F., Moinzadeh, A., & Dabaghi, A. (2011). ESP needs analysis of Iranian MA students: A case study of the University of Isfahan. English Language Teaching, 4 (4), 121-129.
Mottaghi, S. M. (2001). A language needs analysis of high school students' in Tehran (Unpublished master’s thesis). Islamic Azad University, Science and Research Campus.
Mukundan, J. (2011). Evaluation criteria of an English language textbook evaluation checklist. Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 3(6), 1128-1134.
Najafi, S., Hamidi, H., & Mahmoudi, R. (2013). A critical look at textbook evaluation. A case study of evaluating an ESP course book: English for international tourism. International Research Journal of Applied and Basic Science, 4(2), 312-380.
Nemat Tabrizi, A.R., & Mojoudi Renani, F. (2016). ESP Needs Analysis of Undergraduate Mechanical Engineering Students: A Case in Iran. International Journal of Humanities and Cultural Studies, 3 (2), 1696-1707.
Nunan, D. (1988). The learner centered curriculum. Cambridge: Cambridge university press.
Pouranshirvani, M. (2017a). The external evaluation of new English textbook "Vision1" for tenth-grade students in Iranian high schools from teachers' perspectives. Science Arena Publications Specialty Journal of Language Studies and Literature, 1(2), 11-21.
Pouranshirvani, M. (2017b). The internal evaluation of new English textbook "Vision1" for tenth-grade students in Iranian high schools from teachers' perspectives. Science Arena Publications Specialty Journal of Language Studies and Literature, 1(3), 1-14.
Rashidi, N., & Kehtarifard, R. (2014). A needs analysis approach to the evaluation of Iranian third- grade high school English textbook. SAGE Journals, 10(1), 1-9.          
Reviere, R, (1996). Needs assessment: a creative and practical guide for social scientists. Washington: Taylor& Francis.
Rezvani, V. (2015). An evaluation and analysis of school English textbook of grade 8 (Prospect 2). Language Teaching Research, 6(2), 50-58.
Riazi, A. M. (2003). What textbook evaluation schemes tell us? A study of the textbook evaluation schemes of three decades. Methodology and Materials Design in Language Teaching, 13, 68-84.
Richard, J, C. (1993).  Beyond the Textbook: The role of commercial materials in language teaching. RELC Journal, 24(1), 1-14.
Sheldon, L. (1998). Evaluating ELT textbooks and materials. ELT Journal, 42, 237-246.
Skehan P. (1996). A framework for the implementation of task-based instruction. Applied Linguistics, 17, 38-62.
Soleimani, H., & Shafie, N. (2014). Are ESP textbooks satisfying students?: A case in Iran. International Journal of Language Learning and Applied Linguistics World, 5(2), 1-9.
Stoller, F. (2002). Project Work: A Means to Promote Language and Content. In J. C. Richards & W. A. Renandya (Eds.), Methodology in Language Teaching: an anthology of Current Practice (pp. 107-120). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 
Tabaeifard, J. (2014). English language textbook evaluation "English for the students' of humanities". International Research Journal of Applied and Basic Science, 8(5), 571- 575.
Tomlinson, B. (2011). Materials development. In R. Carter, & D. Nunan (Eds.), The Cambridge guide to teaching, English to speakers of other languages (pp. 66-71). London: Continuum.
Wu, J. (2010). A Content Analysis of the Cultural Content in the EFL Textbooks. Canadian Social Science, 6(5), 137-144. 
Yarmohammadi, L. (2002). The evaluation of pre-university textbooks. The Newsletter of the Iranian Academy of Science, 18, 70-87.
Yu, G. (1986). Perception, Practice and Progress-Significance of scaffolding and zone of proximal development forsecond or foreign language teachers. Asian EFL Journal, 6(4), 12-23.
Journal of Foreign Language Research
Volume 9, Issue 3
January 2020
Pages 659-690

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics