USING COURSE BOOKS

Prof. Sherro Lee A. LagrimasKOREA NAZARENE UNIVERSITY SUMMER, 2016

WHAT IS A COURSE BOOK?Graves, 2000:175 defines a course book as

“… a book used as a standard source of information for formal study of a subject and an instrument for teaching and learning.”

Richards, 2015 describes course books or textbooks as

The key component in a language program, The basis for the language input learners

receive and the language practice that occurs,

The basis for lesson content and balance of skills taught

For the learners, the textbook is the most important source of contact they have with the language

Cunningsworth, 1995:7

states the roles of course books in ELT as:

a resource for presentation material a source of activities for learner

practice and communicative interaction

a reference source a syllabus a resource for self-access work a support for less experienced

teachers

Why teachers use textbooks:

Extremely difficult to develop materials

Time-consuming and demanding process to develop new materials

Textbooks lessen preparation time, provide ready-made activities and provide concrete samples of classroom progress through which external stakeholders can be satisfied.

ADVANTAGES & DISADVANTAGES OF TEXTBOOK USE

ADVANTAGES Provide structure and

syllabus Help standardize

instruction Maintain quality of

teaching Provide a variety of

learning resources Provide effective

language models and input

Train teachers Are visually appealing

DISADVANTAGES May contain inauthentic

language (may not be in accordance to real-world needs)

May distort content May not reflect students’

needs (may not match students’ level, background, etc. )

Can deskill teachers Are expensive

- Richards, 2015, The Role of Textbooks in a Language Program.

No ready-made textbook will ever perfectly fit every

language program!

There is NO IDEAL TEXTBOOK. IDEAL TEXTBOOK

Ideal for TEACHER

Ideal for LEARNER

Ideal for the TEACHING-

LEARNING CONTEXT

Cunningsworth,1984:6

“No course book will totally be suited to a particular teaching situation. The teacher will have to find his own way of using it and adapting it if necessary. So we should not be looking for the perfect course book which meets all our requirements, but rather for the best possible fit what the book offers and what we as teachers and students need.”

THREE OPTIONS FOR TEACHERS(Ansary & Babari, 2002)1. Teachers need and use textbooks.2. Teachers do not need and use textbooks. They produce their own materials.3. Teachers select a textbook and supplement some other materials to perfect it.

Graves, 2000:176

“ Be free to modify, evaluate, develop, change, eliminate, or add to the materials of the book.”

EFL vs. ESL ESL means “English as a second language”. People

usually use the word ESL to talk about teaching English to people who do not speak English. ESL teaching happens in an English-speaking country. Often, ESL students are people who came to live in an English-speaking country, and do not speak English very well.

Definition: A traditional term for the use or study of the English language by non-native speakers in an English-speaking environment. That environment may be a country in which English is the mother tongue (e.g., Australia, the U.S.) or one in which English has an established role (e.g.,Philippines, India, Nigeria).

EFL means teaching or learning English in a country where English is not spoken, this is the correct term and approach.

COURSE BOOK/TEXTBOOK EVALUATION

Sheldon (1988) mentions two basic reasons to evaluate course books. First, the evaluation will help the

teacher or program developer make decisions on selecting the appropriate course book.

Also, evaluation of the merits and demerits of a course book will familiarize the teacher with its probable weaknesses and strengths.

ISSUES TO BE ADDRESSED PRIOR TO COURSE BOOK EVALUATION

1. The role of the course book in the program

Curriculum? Class size? Requirement? Workbook?

2. The teachers in the programExperience/level of training? Native/Non-native speaker? English proficiency? Part of course book selection? Free

to adapt and supplement?

3. The learners in the programProficiency level? Required to buy the book?

Expectations? Readiness?

FOUR CRITERIA FOR COURSE BOOK EVALUATION

A course book 1. Should respond to learner’s needs2. Should reflect uses (present or future)

should equip learners to use the language effectively for their own purposes

3. Should take account of students’ needs as learners should facilitate learning processes without being rigid

4. Should have a clear role as support for learningshould mediate between target language and learner

APPROACHES TO COURSE BOOK EVALUATION

1. C.A.T.A.L.Y.S.T. TestGrant (1987) introduced a succinct evaluative approach called CATALYST test; an acronym in which the letters stand for Communicative, Aims, Teachability, Availibility, Level, Your impression, Students’ interest and Trying and testing.2. M.A.T.E.R.I.A.L.S.Tanner and Green (1998) offer a practical assessment form based on Method, Appearance, Teacher-friendliness, Extras, Realism, Interestingness, Affordability, Level and Skills.

3. MCDONOUGH AND SHAW’S TWO-STAGE MODEL McDonough and Shaw (1993) suggest that a. a brief external evaluation should be

conducted firstly to have an overview of the organizational foundation of the course book;

b. then, it should be followed by a detailed internal evaluation “to see how far the materials in question match up to what the author claims as well as to the aims and objectives of a given teaching program.”

4. CUNNINGSWORTH’S MODELCunningsworth (1995) proposes pre-use, in-use and post-use evaluations. a. Pre-use evaluation is intended to predict the

potential performance of a course book. b. In-use evaluation is conducted while using a

course book “when a newly introduced course book is being monitored or when a well-established but ageing course book is being assessed to see whether it should be considered for replacement” (Cunningsworth, 1995, p. 14).

c. Post-use evaluation provides retrospective assessment of a course book and also serves to decide whether to use the same course book on future occasions.

5. ABDELWAHAB’S MODELAbdelwahab (2013) suggests three basic methods to evaluate course books. a. The impressionistic method, as the name

suggests, involves analyzing a course book on the basis of a general impression.

b. He asserts that this method will not be adequate in itself and it needs to be integrated with the checklist method, which also covers the main idea of the present paper.

c. The third one, the in-depth method, requires a profound scrutiny of representative features such as the design of one particular unit or exercise, or the treatment of particular language elements.

COURSE BOOK EVALUATION CHECKLISTS

A checklist is an instrument that helps practitioners evaluate course books in an effective and practical way. According to Mukundan, Hajimohammadi and

Nimehchisalem (2011a), checklists allow for a more sophisticated evaluation of the course book in reference to a set of generalizable evaluative criteria.

Cunningsworth (1995) states, one major benefit of using checklists is that they provide a very economic and systematic way to ensure that all relevant items are considered for evaluation.

Checklists may be qualitative or quantitative. When designed in the form of quantitative scales, they allow for an objective evaluation of a given course book. Qualitative checklists, on the contrary, elicit subjective information on the quality of course books by directing open-ended questions(e.g., Richards, 2001).

COURSE BOOK ADAPTATIONADAPTATION allows you to ‘personalize’ the course

book and to ‘individualize’ it for a specific group of learners.

STEPS IN TEXTBOOK ADAPTATION1. PLANNING = needs analysis, course book

evaluation, designing adaptations

2. TEACHING = implementing modifications3. REPLANNING = plan again using conclusions made

in the previous course4. RETEACHING = implementation of new conclusions

and decisions

WAYS OF TEXTBOOK ADAPTATION

Modifying content Adding or deleting content Reorganizing content Addressing omissions Modifying tasks Extending tasks

- Richards, 2014

REFERENCES

Abdelwahab, M. M. (2013). Developing an English Language Textbook Evaluative Checklist. IOSR Journal of Research & Method in Education, 1(3), 55-70. Ansary, H., & Babaii, E. (2002). Universal characteristics of EFL/ESL textbook: A step towards systematic textbook evaluation. The Internet TESL Journal, 2, 1-8. Retrieved from http://iteslj.org/Articles/Ansary-Textbooks/ Cunningsworth, A. (1995). Choosing Your Coursebook. Oxford: Heinemann. Grant, N. (1987). Making the most of your textbook. Oxford: Heinemann

Publishers Ltd. Graves, K. (2000). Designing Language Course, A Guide for Teachers. Boston: Heinle, Cengage LearningRichards, J. C. (2001). Curriculum development in language teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Richards, J. (2014). The Role of Textbooks in a Language Program. Retrieved from http://www.professorjackrichards.com/articles/role-of-textbooks

TASKS1. Develop your own evaluation checklist based on

the four criteria of course book evaluation, and the different approaches discussed.

2. Objectively compare and contrast your evaluation criteria with the sample provided.

3. Evaluate the course book assigned to you using any of the approaches discussed or the sample checklist.

4. Present the result of your evaluation to the class. Make sure to indicate the evaluation approach/es you used.

5. Prepare a PLAN FOR COURSE BOOK ADAPTATION. After evaluating the course book assigned prepare a plan enumerating the ways you will adapt the book considering your identified group of learners. Use the six ways of course book adaptation by Richards.