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Coursebook evaluation

Svetlana Hanuov

Teaching a foreign language does not necessarily mean teaching from a coursebook. However,using a coursebook is probably the most common way of teaching nglish today. !irst of all, it is

good to establish what the role of coursebooks in the learning"teching process is or, better still,

should be. #any institutions present the syllabus in terms of the main coursebook to be used$ bya certain date teachers are e%pected to have covered a certain number of units in the book. Such

an approach obviously underestimates the role of learners, not taking their needs and specific

characteristics into consideration. Teachers simply have to struggle their way through a certain

number of lessons no matter how the learners respond.

&t is very important to reali'e that a te%tbook is an aid, not a sacred te%t. Teachers should work

out the best ways to use their books but they should never let the book use them. Coursebooksmust be at the service of teacher and learners, not their masters. (uite often teachers complain

about coursebooks that need supplementing. The truth is$ all coursebooks need supplementing.

The point is )ust to decide how much and what kind of supplementing a coursebook re*uires,always according to the needs and characteristics of a particular learner or a group of learners.

The coursebook can play several different roles in the teaching"learning process. They can be$+ a resource of presentation material

+ a source of activities for practice and communicative interaction

+ a reference book grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation-

+ a syllabus+ a resource for self+directed learning or self+access

+ support for less e%perienced teachers

ith a plethora of coursebooks on the market, teachers face a challenging task of selecting the

most suitable book for their learners. &t is easy to become overwhelmed by the variety. &nChoosing /our Coursebook, 0lan C122&23S45TH offers very helpful guidelines aimed at

assisting teachers in the process of coursebook selection.

hen selecting a coursebook, the aims and ob)ectives of a teaching programme have to beconsidered first. Then teachers can adopt a two+stage approach, the first stage being an

impressionistic overview general layout, visuals-, the second an in+depth evaluation can be

based on a checklist of key indicators 6 items you will look at in a new coursebook-. &t is good to

identify difficult areas nd compare how they are dealt with in different coursebooks 6 e.g.present perfect, the use of articles, intonation.

The impressionistic overview should lead to the selection of 7 6 8 titles. The following indepth

evaluation should be based on a reasonable number of criteria.

4bviously teachers will want to evaluate the whole coursebook package or coursebook set-, not

)ust the student9s book. The whole set usually consists of$

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+ Student9s :ook

+ Teacher9s :ook

+ orkbook+ 0ctivity :ook

+ Cassettes

+ Tests+ ;ideo < 0ctivity :ook < Teacher9s :ook

+ C0== materials C0== refers to Computer 0ided =anguage =earning-

+ &nternet support available e.g. for coursebooks published by #acmillan or by 41>. Teacherswho register can get materials regularly on their e+mail.-

?uring in+depth evaluation the following items can be considered$

TH 45302&@0T&42 4! C415S:44AS$

hat techni*ues are used for recycling and reinforcementB The term of recycling refers to the

situation when you meet one item more than once in the coursebook to be able to store it in long+term memory.-

0re there reference sectionsB &f so, are there pointers to them in the main te%tB

&s there a list of new vocabularyB&s the material suitable for use in a self+study modeB ?oes it have a key to e%ercisesB &t is

important as many learners will have to study on their own from time to time, eg. when absent

from school due to an illness.-How long are the unitsB Short units are believed to be more motivating than very long ones as

they give learners a sense of progress.-

TH =023103 C42T2T$

3rammar$

+ hat grammar items are includedB ?o they correspond to students9 language needsB+ 0re they presented in small enough units for easy learningB

+ How balanced is the treatment of form and useB

;ocabulary$

+ &s there any principled basis for selection of vocabularyB

+ &s there any distinction between active and passive vocabulary, or classroom vocabularyB+ 0re specific needs of C'ech or at least Slavonic- learners consideredB

+ 0re learners sensiti'ed to the structure of the le%icon through vocabulary learning e%ercises

based on semantic relationships, formal relationships, or collocationsB

>honology$

+ How thoroughly and systematically are each of the following aspects of the phonological

system covered$ individual sounds, word stress, sentence stress, intonationB+ 0re specific needs of C'ech or at least Slavonic- learners consideredB

+ &s the pronunciation work built on the other types of work, such as listening, dialogue practice

etc., or does it stand separatelyB

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+ 0re there C?s or cassettes for pronunciation practiceB

Style$&s there any attempt to match language style to social situationsB

hich geographical variety of nglish is taughtB :ritish, 0merican, other, &nternational nglishB

=anguage skills$

+ &s there practice in all four skills listening, speaking, reading, writing-B

+ &f so, is it balancedB+ &f not, which skills are omittedB

+ ?oes the coursebook use authentic reading material at an appropriate levelB

+ hat kind of comprehension *uestions are askedB Concept *uestions asking about the

meaning are always better than display *uestion that can be answered automatically withoutunderstanding the meaning.-

+ ?oes the coursebook use authentic listening material at an appropriate levelB

+ How is accuracy and fluency balanced in speaking and writingB 0re there both controlled andcommunicative e%ercisesB

T4>&C, S1:CT C42T2T, S4C&0= ;0=1S$

Topic can be real immediate- or imaginary made+up-. 5eal topics are usually more interesting.0re they included in the bookB Social and cultural values are usually unstated, values system is

not e%plicit, but the underlying values are at least as important as the language content. &t is

important to look at this aspect and try to identify the underlying values.

DHidden curriculumE is the image of life presented by coursebooks, the attitudes they convey 6

consciously or unconsciously and the social and cultural values they communicate. &n some

modern coursebooks only young and happy people are depicted, which leads to a distorted viewof reality.

Stereotyping can be another problem occuring in some coursebooks eg. a simplistic profile of atypical :ritish family is described-. e do not have to worry if we come across stereotyping

occasionally, we can always confront it and discuss it. However, as soon as it becomes pervasive,

we should consider choosing a different coursebook.

&t is illuminating to look at materials to see if and how the coursebook represents people

according to the following categories$

+ ethnic origin

+ occupation+ age

+ social class+ disability

0re characters in the book depicted in a kind of social structure family, peer group, workplace-

or notB

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#TH4?4=43/$

=earner needs$+ ?oes the material discuss and identify areas of student needB

+ &s the book sensitive to what students need in order to learn wellB

>rinciples and approaches$

+ ?oes the book encourage deductive or inductive approach to learning 6 or a balance of bothB

+ &s accuracy balanced with fluencyB+ 0re learners encouraged to use language creativelyB

+ hat is the attitude towards errorB

+ hat is the attitude towards the use of students9 mother tongueB

;&S10=S$

+ 0re the visuals in the book used as an integral part of teaching or are they essentially

decorativeB+ 0re they reasonable well produced and attractiveB

ST1?/ SA&==S$

+ &s there any reflection on study techni*uesB

+ 0ny advice on study skills developmentB+ 0re students encouraged to take some degree of responsibility for their learningB

+ 0re there any materials for independent workB

T0CH59S :44A$

hen evaluating a teacher9s book, you can ask the following *uestions$

F. hat components does the teacher9s book includeB

G. &s it written so as to be comprehensible enough to less e%perienced teachersB7. &s it suitable for native and non+native speakersB

. &s the underlying approach of the writers e%pressed clearly and e%plicitlyB

8. &s there cultural e%planation to enable teachers unfamiliar with, for e%ample, :ritish lifestyles

to interpret and e%ploit appropriately the situations portrayed in the coursebookBI. 0re learning difficulties predicted and appropriate advice givenB

J. 0re keys to e%ercises and other activities providedB

K. 0re there regular progress testsBL. 0re there guidelines for evaluating how well lessons wentB

FM. 0re there any photocopiable additional materialsB