Textbook Evaluation: Looking at Prospect Series through Teachers’ Perspective

Textbooks play a vital role in the realm of language teaching and learning particularly in formal contexts i.e. schools. In the investigation reported in the current paper, the researcher employed an eclectic checklist derived from previously utilized frameworks aimed to evaluate the textbooks taught in Junior high schools in Iran looking through teachers’ perspectives. To approach the aims of the study, 34 teachers from East and West Azerbaijan with 8- 28 years of teaching experience were asked to evaluate the textbooks on the basis of the provided checklist. Moreover, in order to gain a richer insight to their attitudes toward the textbooks, 8 teachers from the same provinces were interviewed to express their opinions with respect to strength and weak points of the textbooks as well as suggestions to improve the textbooks. The results of the study depicted that pronunciation and task and activities are the aspects of the textbooks that are in need of more improvement and revision. However, vocabulary was the most satisfactory dimension of the textbooks. The findings of the study could help material developers in the process of editing and improving the textbooks.

Keywords:

Evaluation , Checklist , Junior High school , Prospect Series , Textbooks