An Analytical Evaluation of the Ninth-Grade High School English Textbook: from Teachers’ Perspective

English language teaching materials (textbooks) play a crucial role in the process of language teaching and learning, but in recent years there has been a lot of debate throughout the ELT profession on the actual role of materials in teaching English as a Second/Foreign Language. The present study aimed at evaluating the educational value of the ninth-grade English textbook ‘Prospect 3’ in Iranian high schools and its significance in the language program. In this research, the course book was evaluated in terms of ‘layout and design, activities and tasks, language type, subject and content, skills, and whole aspect’. In order to conduct the study, quantitative method was used. The data was collected from a sample of 68 English teachers, who were selected randomly for the purpose of the study. Both male and female teachers, with different age range, various academic majors and different academic degrees (B.A. and M.A.) took part in the study. Through a questionnaire (Litz, 2001) the textbook was evaluated from the teachers’ perspectives. After analyzing data, it was shown that the positive attributes far out-weighed the negative characteristics. Moreover, although the textbook had some shortcomings, it had met students’ needs and it could be a good book in the hand of a good teacher

Keywords:

English Language Teaching (ELT) , Teachers’ Attitude , Textbook Evaluation