Reconciling opposites to reach compromise during ELT textbook development

2021 ◽  
pp. 136216882110402
Author(s):  
Dawn Atkinson
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Qualitative Content Analysis ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Authentic Material ◽  
Research Perspective ◽  
Textbook Evaluation ◽  
Think Aloud Protocols ◽  
Concurrent Verbalization

Though reports of pedagogic materials production point to the range of compromises authors make when writing language teaching textbooks, many accounts are retrospective in nature. This study sought to expand the research perspective by interrogating writing episodes via qualitative content analysis to discover how two expert ELT (English language teaching) textbook writers managed compromises during ongoing coursebook development. The authors’ data sets – primarily composed of think-aloud protocols and transcripts of pre- and post-concurrent verbalization interviews – revealed that they applied pragmatic judgement when contemplating the incorporation of textually authentic material and reconciled continuity and variety when developing unit frameworks and content, all with textbook audiences, contexts, and purposes in mind. Further, one of the authors reached compromise with project partners to integrate monologue and dialog texts into his book, while the other squared pedagogic imperatives with publishing realities by skillfully navigating textbook length, design, and deadline parameters during her project. By reconciling ostensible opposites to reach compromise, the authors balanced complexities to see their books through to completion. This research may inspire neophyte textbook writers’ efforts as they examine the architecture of writing sessions and prompt teachers to weigh authorial choices and balances during ELT textbook evaluation.

scholarly journals Kuwaiti Instructors' Beliefs about English Language Teaching and Their Awareness of Global English

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 87
Author(s):  
Ahmad F. Alnwaiem ◽  
Abdullah M. Alazemi ◽  
Abdullah A. Alenezi
Keyword(s):  
Data Analysis ◽  
Data Collection ◽  
English Language ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Qualitative Content Analysis ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Global English ◽  
English Language Teachers

The beliefs of EFL teachers are an essential term perceived in a number of educational fields. Especially in teacher education and behavioural research, this term is usually related to teachers' habits and practices in classes, considering their impact on each other. The aim of this study is to add to prior studies on the subject of teachers' beliefs and to concentrate on English language teachers (ELT). The objective is to merge the theory of instructors' beliefs with Global English (GE). The research question 'what are the Kuwaiti instructors' beliefs about ELT and their awareness of Global English?' formalizes these aims. To accomplish the research: To discover teachers' beliefs about ELT and their awareness of Global English. This research concentrates on English language teachers at the university level. The collection of data has been conducted over two months. For data collection and interpretation, this study adopted a qualitative research methodology. Surveys were chosen as the instrument for data collection. The study used qualitative content analysis in relation to the data analysis method. Moreover, the findings were evaluated based on a deductive and inductive approach to qualitative data analysis. Results indicated various kinds of teachers' beliefs about ELT. Including views about the English language, ELT in relation to the standards, ELT with regard to the GE context. English-language beliefs played a central role in shaping two other views, which were considered secondary beliefs. Except for the content of teachers' beliefs, the study's findings have shown two significant categories of influences: internal and external, that affect the development and application of teachers' beliefs in classrooms. In this study, the internal factor referred mainly to English-language teaching beliefs based on its ability to influence other cognitive constructs (i.e., different convictions, behaviours, sensitivity) and teaching practices. As far as external factors are concerned, the teachers' diverse experiences with individuals (e.g., parents and retired teachers) and administrative legislation (e.g., policy and curriculum) are the main factors. Finally, it was possible to conclude the findings of this analysis in the same manner as previous studies, which combined teacher cognition theory with the field of GE. In other words, teacher beliefs play a crucial part in the teacher's cognitive system as a decisive role in their teaching practice. This study proposes further research to reinforce the results of contemporary research in this area.

scholarly journals Making a Case for New Directions in English Language Teaching Research at an Omani University: A Critical Qualitative Content Analysis Report

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ali Al-Issa
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Qualitative Content Analysis ◽  
Critical Dimension ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Sultanate Of Oman ◽  
Teaching English ◽  
Sultan Qaboos University ◽  
New Directions ◽  
Master Of Education

Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) has been the sole English Language Teaching (ELT) research enterprise in the Sultanate of Oman through the Master of Education (M.Ed.) in Curriculum and Methods of Teaching English degree program it launched in the early 1990s. Eighty-two theses have been completed so far about topics pertinent to ELT in the Sultanate of Oman. However, a review of those theses has shown that the discussion of these topics lacks a critical dimension that can advance Omani ELT at the micro and macro levels. This critical qualitative study, therefore, sets out to make a case for new directions in ELT research at the M.Ed. in ELT program at SQU. The discussion should lead to better understanding of the multiple ELT problems in the Sultanate of Oman and have implications for other similar contexts.

General English Textbook Evaluation: A Closer Look at “Four Corners”

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (12) ◽  
pp. 2325
Author(s):  
Nastaran Chegeni ◽  
Behrooz Kamali ◽  
Atousa Noroozi ◽  
Nasrin Chegeni
Keyword(s):  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Educational Materials ◽  
Teaching Materials ◽  
Textbook Evaluation ◽  
Four Corners ◽  
Language Classrooms ◽  
Materials Used

There is no doubt choosing specific language teaching materials can influence the quality of teaching and learning procedures. The textbooks can often play an essential role in students’ success or failure as a part of the materials used in the language classrooms. Consequently, special care should be taken in evaluating educational materials based on dependable and valid instruments. Some of the usual instruments to evaluate the English Language Teaching materials are the checklists. An evaluation checklist is an instrument that allows the evaluator with a number of features of successful teaching and learning materials. Regarding this, the present study is an attempt to evaluate the recent general English textbook by Richards and Bohlke (2012) titled “Four Corners” using Daoud and Celce-Murcia’s (1979) evaluation checklist. The finding of the study supports the strengths of the aforementioned textbook putting it in one of the reliable available textbooks.

scholarly journals Evaluating the Instructional Materials for Peer Assisted Learning Program (PALP)

2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 37
Author(s):  
Arilia Triyoga
Keyword(s):  
Quantitative Research ◽  
English Language ◽  
Instructional Material ◽  
English Education ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Instructional Materials ◽  
Learning Program ◽  
Peer Assisted Learning ◽  
Textbook Evaluation

ESL classroom implements the use of instructional materials to support instruction in classroom. Instructional material is defined as anything which is deliberately used to increase the learners’ knowledge and/or experience of the language (Tomlinson, 2011). Textbook, video, newspaper can be used as materials in the English instruction. This research aims to evaluate the instructional material for Peer Assisted Learning Program (PALP) based on Mukundan’s categorization in the form of English Language Teaching Textbook Evaluation Checklist (ELT-TEC) (2013) and to find whether the material is useful or not the material for PALP. Peer Assisted Learning Program (PALP) is a peer tutoring program initiated by the English Education Department to encourage the students to speak English fluently and to perform better. The data of this descriptive quantitative research are taken from the instructional material for PALP and these are classified based on the categorization checklist of Mukundan’s English Language Teaching Textbook Evaluation Checklist (ELT-TEC). The total score will be the consideration of the materials’ usefulness. Based on the analysis, it is found that the instructional material for PALP is on the moderate usefulness. This finding can give a significant contribution the PALP itself.

scholarly journals The use of Declaration of Illocutionary Acts of the Korean-English Drama “I Hear Your Voice”

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 30-42
Author(s):  
Endang Sartika ◽  
Sari Marzuqoh ◽  
Khoirul Majid
Keyword(s):  
Speech Acts ◽  
Qualitative Method ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Specific Result ◽  
English Drama ◽  
Authentic Material ◽  
Illocutionary Acts ◽  
Illocutionary Act

This study deals with the types of declaration of illocutionary acts in the Korean-English Drama “I Hear Your Voice”. The objectives of this study are (1) to find and classify the utterances in the English subtitle of the Korean drama entitled “I Hear Your Voice” that belongs to declaration of illocutionary acts, (2) to analyze the implication of the declaration of illocutionary act found in the Korean English drama “I Hear Your Voice”. This research applies descriptive qualitative method. The objects of this study are English Subtitles of the drama in episode 8 to 13 which is containing the utterances of Declaration of Illocutionary Acts. The researcher found 40 declaration of illocutionary act utterance which is divided into five types of Declaration of Illocutionary acts and the dominant types was Sentencing. For specific result, the researcher provided the percentage in detail; Resigning (5%) in 2 data, Demising (12,5%) in 5 data, Naming (17,5%) in 7 data, Appointing (20%) in 8 data, and Sentencing (45%) in 12 data. The implication of the result of this research toward English Language Teaching is that this research could be authentic material by teachers or lecturers to teach Pragmatic especially about Speech Acts.Key words: Declaration, Illocutionary acts, Speech acts.

scholarly journals Investigating cultural contents in English language teaching materials through textbook evaluation

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 127-145
Author(s):  
Amna Arshad ◽  
Syed Kazim Shah ◽  
Muhammad Ahmad
Keyword(s):  
Language Learners ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
English Language ◽  
Native Speaker ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Cultural Understanding ◽  
Textbook Evaluation ◽  
The Status ◽  
Target Culture

Abstract The shift in the status of English as a lingua franca has challenged native-speaker culture in English language teaching and learning. That is why it is not enough to expose language learners through monoculture language teaching. Rather being communicatively competent, learners may require inter-cultural understanding. Therefore, the aim of this research is to investigate the representation of cultures through different senses in Oxford Progressive English (OPE), Level-10 (Rachel Redford, 2016). As OPE caters the needs of Pakistani language learners, it is hypothesized that learners’ source culture prevails more than other two cultures (i.e. international, and target). To confirm this hypothesis, a detailed content analysis of cultural senses (prevailed in OPE) is carried out through Adaskou, Britten and Fahsi (1990). The results show that the frequency of reading texts in OPE is highly imbued with learners’ target culture that is followed by the international culture, and least by learners’ source culture. Moreover, culturally neutral texts lack in inter-cultural understanding, and appear to be disseminated to marginalize L2 learners from target and international cultures.

scholarly journals A critical review of literature on English language teaching textbook evaluation: What systemic functional linguistics can offer

2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 78-102 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaodong Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Critical Review ◽  
Literacy Development ◽  
English Language ◽  
Meaning Making ◽  
Systemic Functional Linguistics ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Academic Literacy ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Functional Linguistics ◽  
Textbook Evaluation

Abstract This paper, from the perspective of language learning as a meaning-making process, presents a critical review of the existing research on how pre-use, in-use, and post-use evaluation has investigated the relationship between English language teaching textbooks’ content and learners’ academic literacy development. The paper shows that previous research on these three types of evaluation examined English language teaching textbooks’ effect on English learners’ academic literacy development in an unprincipled and macro way. The research gap identified in these previous studies calls for an improved textbook evaluation framework that integrates a principled learning theory while simultaneously emphasizing macro-constructs (e.g., context) and micro-linguistic features needed for academic literacy development. To this end, this paper proposes a framework informed by Systemic Functional Linguistics-related constructs (e.g., genre, register, meta-meanings, and lexico-grammar system) to optimize the evaluation of English language teaching textbook content.

scholarly journals An Evaluation of Mastering English Series within the CBA Classroom in Cameroonian Secondary Schools

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. p79
Author(s):  
Amah Eyovi Ntongieh espe Njwe ◽  
Diangha Anthony Yuh
Keyword(s):  
Secondary Schools ◽  
Great Improvement ◽  
Dynamic Process ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Learning Context ◽  
Textbook Evaluation ◽  
Teachers And Students ◽  
Teaching Learning

Textbooks provide an indispensable framework on which teachers and students build upon. Evaluation on its part, is a dynamic process which investigates the suitability and appropriateness of an existing practice. It is a useful device for both teachers and material writers as an underlying element in the development of innovations and modifications within the teaching/learning context. Therefore, it is obvious that textbook evaluation constitutes a crucial factor in addressing cumulative deficiencies associated with our teaching/learning institution in general and in our English Language Teaching endeavours. It has been observed that Mastering English series pose several problems to both teachers and learners of English language in Cameroon. This article sets out to investigate the Mastering English series with a focus on the students’ book 5 to find out the extent to which the book aligns with the stipulations of the CBA in Cameroon. The analysis in this study was predicated on the hypothesis that Mastering English book 5 needs great improvement to really meet both the needs of learners and the requirement of the CBA. Both the theoretical and empirical findings reveal general misgivings about Mastering English book 5 and the implementation of the CBA in the context of Cameroon.

The Adaptive Expertise of Expert ELT Textbook Writers

RELC Journal ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 003368821989311 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dawn Atkinson
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Training ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Adaptive Expertise ◽  
Training Experience ◽  
Materials Development ◽  
Problem Solving Skills ◽  
Concurrent Verbalization ◽  
Textbook Writing

Although the ELT (English Language Teaching) materials development literature points to the influence of classroom experience on materials design, the literature is less specific about how such experience affects skilled textbook writing. Drawing primarily upon concurrent verbalization and pre- and post-concurrent verbalization interview data collected from two expert ELT textbook writers as they produced coursebook content, this study finds the participants tapped their English language teaching and teacher training experience – with experience operationalized here as knowledge and skills developed as a result of time and effort spent operating in a domain – during writing episodes when using problem-solving skills, navigating constraints, applying pedagogical reasoning skills, and engaging repertoire. The participants, in other words, were able to effect transfer from the neighbouring domains of English language teaching and teacher training to the expertise domain of ELT textbook writing, demonstrating adaptive expertise. This study demonstrates the usefulness of collecting data while participants are writing to discover how transfer effects and adaptive expertise are realized in real-time work and thus makes an important contribution to the research field of materials development. In addition, the results of this study may benefit teachers who look to textbooks for guidance as they develop pedagogic confidence.

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