Introduction into the roles of course books in the classroom, the advantages and disadvantages of their use, and how to evaluate and adapt course books to a specific teaching-learning context.

1. USING
COURSE
BOOKS
Prof. Sherro Lee A. Lagrimas
KOREA NAZARENE UNIVERSITY
SUMMER, 2016

2. 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.”

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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

8. 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.”

9. 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.

10. Graves, 2000:176
“ Be free to modify, evaluate,
develop, change, eliminate, or add
to the materials of the book.”

11. 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.

12. 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.

13. 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 program
Experience/level of training? Native/Non-native speaker? English
proficiency? Part of course book selection? Free to adapt and
supplement?
3. The learners in the program
Proficiency level? Required to buy the book? Expectations?
Readiness?

14. FOUR CRITERIA FOR
COURSE BOOK EVALUATION
A course book
1. Should respond to learner’s needs
2. 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 learning
should mediate between target language and learner

15. APPROACHES TO
COURSE BOOK EVALUATION
1. C.A.T.A.L.Y.S.T. Test
Grant (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.

16. 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.”

17. 4. CUNNINGSWORTH’S MODEL
Cunningsworth (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.

18. 5. ABDELWAHAB’S MODEL
Abdelwahab (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.

19. 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).

20. COURSE BOOK ADAPTATION
ADAPTATION allows you to ‘personalize’ the course
book and to ‘individualize’ it for a specific group of
learners.
STEPS IN TEXTBOOK ADAPTATION
1. PLANNING = needs analysis, course book
evaluation, designing adaptations
2. TEACHING = implementing modifications
3. REPLANNING = plan again using conclusions made
in the previous course
4. RETEACHING = implementation of new conclusions
and decisions

21. WAYS OF TEXTBOOK ADAPTATION
 Modifying content
 Adding or deleting content
 Reorganizing content
 Addressing omissions
 Modifying tasks
 Extending tasks
- Richards, 2014

22. 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 Learning
Richards, 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

23. TASKS
1. 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.