A framework for characterizing communication-oriented ELT textbooks

Textbooks hold a fundamental position in English Language Teaching (ELT). Today, their main aim is to contribute to the development of the learner’s communicative competence. This paper sets out to set the basis for constructing a framework for characterizing ELT textbooks, in terms of their opportunities to promote communicative competence. In order to provide a theoretical foundation for the framework, it first introduces the notions of input (Krashen, 1989) and output (Swain & Lapkin, 1995). Then, it presents two influential models of communicative competence, i.e., those of Canale and Swain (1980), and the Common European Framework for Reference of Languages (Council of Europe, 2001, 2018). Following that, it presents two significantly quoted sets of principles for the study of learning materials in Communicative Language Teaching (CLT), i.e., the principles of Richards and Rodgers (2014) and Nation (2007). Building on the models and principles, the paper suggests eleven criteria for characterizing communication-oriented ELT textbooks, covering input in the form of topics and texts, and output in the form of activities. A short discussion of the main affordances of the suggested framework is provided at the end of the article. Keywords: Communicative Competence, ELT Textbooks, Textbook Analysis, Communicative Language Teaching (CLT).

A Comparative Analysis on Algebraic Questions in Chinese and Indonesian textbook

Textbook has a significant impact on students’ mathematical ability. This research aims to analyse algebraic questions in Chinese and Indonesian junior high school textbooks. This research was done at Guangxi Normal University, China from November to December 2020. The textbook analysis was done using a quantitative method on three aspects, which were presentation, context, and type of answer. Other aspects considered were proportional of algebra chapter in the textbook and how questions were presented. Chinese textbooks gave more contextual questions but there were a lot more of open-ended questions in the Indonesian textbook. From this research, we can conclude that both Indonesian and Chinese textbooks have their own advantages that can be adopted in both countries. Future research can talk about how class activity and teacher teaching method can affect students’ mathematical ability on algebra.

Perspectivas e direcionamentos de Algumas Pesquisas Apresentadas na Terceira Edição da Conferência Internacional em Pesquisa e Desenvolvimento de Livros Didáticos de Matemática

ResumoO livro didático como objeto de estudo tem despertado o interesse de pesquisadores na Educação Matemática e, como resultado disso, eventos específicos ou grupos temáticos foram desenvolvidos para atender a essa crescente demanda. Assim, identificar quais focos temáticos sobre livros didáticos de matemática têm emergido nos estudos apresentados na terceira edição da Conferência Internacional em Pesquisa e Desenvolvimento de Livros Didáticos de Matemática foi o objetivo que direcionou nossa investigação. Adotamos uma abordagem qualitativa de pesquisa numa visão interpretativa dos dados e empregamos um mapeamento nos trabalhos publicados na referida conferência. Identificamos quatro categorias temáticas: análise do livro, livro digital, uso do livro e outros, contudo, neste texto, a discussão é destinada às três últimas temáticas. Os dados obtidos nos permitiram ter um panorama de como esse campo de pesquisa vem se desenvolvendo em várias partes do mundo. Diferentes perspectivas teóricas foram apresentadas na conferência e destacamos duas que foram recorrentes: a ideia do tetraedro sociodidático e a Capacidade de Design Pedagógico. No que tange às abordagens metodológicas, é predominante o paradigma da pesquisa qualitativa com o uso de vídeos, entrevistas, observação de aulas, mapeamento, análise de conteúdo e/ou a combinação de alguns desses métodos. Do que levantamos, identificamos que o campo de pesquisas sobre livros didáticos de matemática está evoluindo, ampliando as vertentes teóricas e consolidando alguns dos métodos empregados para análise e produção dos dados. Esperamos contribuir, no sentido de trazer mais elementos que possibilitem a compreensão da produção de conhecimento sobre o livro didático de matemática. Palavras-chave: ICMT. Mapeamento. Uso do Livro Didático. Livro Digital. AbstractThe textbook as an object of study has aroused the interest of researchers in Mathematics Education and, as a result, specific events or thematic groups have been developed to meet this growing demand. Thus, identifying which thematic focuses on mathematics textbooks have emerged in the studies presented in the Third International Conference on Mathematics Textbook Research and Development was the objective that guided our investigation. We adopt a qualitative approach to research in an interpretative view of the data and employ a mapping in the studies published at the referred conference. We identified four thematic categories: textbook analysis, digital textbook, textbook use and others, however, in this article, the focus is given to the last three themes. The data obtained allowed us to have an overview of how this field of research has been developing in various parts of the world. Different theoretical perspectives were presented at the conference and we highlight two that were recurrent: the idea of the socio-didactic tetrahedron and the Pedagogical Design Capacity. With regard to methodological approaches, the paradigm of qualitative research is predominant with the use of videos, interviews, class observation, mapping, content analysis and/or the combination of some of these methods. From what we have found, we identified that the field of research on mathematics textbooks is evolving, expanding the theoretical aspects and consolidating some of the methods used for data analysis and production. We hope to contribute towards bringing more elements that enable the understanding of the production of knowledge about the mathematics textbook. Keywords: ICMT. Mapping. Textbook use; Digital Textbook.

AN ANALYSIS ON INDONESIAN ELT TEXTBOOK FOR GRADE XI FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF SLA PRINCIPLES USING LITTLEJOHN’S FRAMEWORK

This paper outlines a procedure for language textbook analysis from the perspective of second language acquisition (SLA) principles using a minimally modified version of Littlejohn’s three-level framework by Guilloteaux as a preliminary procedure to textbook evaluation for selection. The aim is to analyze to what extent does Indonesian ELT textbook for grade XI reflects the universal SLA principles. The universal SLA principles used as material analysis criteria in this paper were drawn from the literature selected by Guilloteaux. This analysis revealed that the Indonesian ELT textbook by the Ministry of Education and Culture reflected SLA principles closely. Although only in-use evaluation can determine the extent to which this textbook actually supports language acquisition, the evidence suggests that the textbook is potentially supportive to English language learning.

The Functions and Features of ELT Textbooks and Textbook Analysis: A Concise Review

Decades of research have established that most English Language Teaching (ELT) contexts rely on textbooks and corresponding materials to drive the education process. Textbook analysis as a vital quality control check of these products has also become a popular trend in applied linguistics and second language (L2) research. In the main, ELT textbooks have been conceptualized in past literature as supporting target language proficiency while also giving the teacher everything required to conduct a lesson. Textbook analysis has subsequently checked products’ utility and quality in relation to such proficiency development. Over time, the scope of textbook analyses has expanded to include issues such as cultural representations in these products to address how the products help students become better at English in a multicultural and globalized world. While teachers and researchers can reference numerous well-known books on these phenomena, a concise summary of how textbooks function within ELT contexts and the defining features of textbook analysis research appears to be lacking. This brief report meets this need and is useful to stakeholders in the ELT community, such as teachers and program managers, who might not have the time nor the resources to consult such extensive sources of information.

Gender Sensitivity in Textbooks in Secondary Education in Bhutan

This study was carried out to understand gender stereotype in the curriculum framework and textbooks which form the main curricular materials in schools in Bhutan. The curriculum framework for Accountancy, Economics, Mathematics, Science, Geography, History and English were reviewed by the researchers. Except for science curriculum framework which states that science curriculum should be gender-sensitive in terms of materials used, language used and ensuring the equal participation of boys and girls in activities, other frameworks were all silent on gender. Textbook reviews were carried out by teachers (22 female and 54 male) teaching classes IX to XII in the form of clustered workshops using the Blumberg model of textbook analysis which was employed to analyse gender biases in Vietnamese primary school textbooks. The findings revealed a presence of imbalance of gender among the authors, reviewers, editors and designer as well as the presence of gender biases, gender stereotyping in the content, illustrations and student activity. It calls for curriculum developers and textbooks authors to integrate gender in the curriculum framework which will then guide the development of gender-sensitive textbooks.

Junior High School Textbooks: An In-Depth Analysis

Textbooks are one of the primary sources of input in EFL classrooms (Northbrook & Conklin, 2018). Textbooks cannot, however, suit the needs of every teacher or student who uses them (McGrath, 2002). As such, the principled evaluation of prospective textbooks becomes an important function in EFL contexts. In this small-scale study, three Japanese junior high school textbooks are evaluated to assess the extent to which they meet the requirements set by MEXT and the teachers who use them. Littlejohn’s (2011) textbook analysis framework is employed to conduct an in-depth analysis of the textbooks. The results reveal that the junior high school textbooks are surprisingly homogenous in nature, however, they are well suited to the context for which they are intended and broadly satisfy the requirements of policy makers and teachers. The ensuing discussion identifies a number of strengths and weaknesses that can broadly be applied to all three textbooks. 教科書はEFL教育現場において、インプットの最も主要なもののひとつである(Northbrook & Conklin, 2018)。 しかしながら、教科書は使用者である教師や生徒のニーズをすべて満たしているわけではない (McGrath, 2002)。それ故に、使用される教科書を一定の観点で評価することは、EFL教育においてとても重要である。本論は、日本の中学校教科書が、文部科学省の設定する目標や使用者である教師のニーズにどの程度対応しているかを評価することを目的としている。Littlejohn (2011) による教科書分析の手法を用いて、異なる三社の教科書を詳細に分析した。結果として、当該の教科書は驚くほど同質でありながらも、中学校の英語教育の状況によく適合しており、また文部科学省と教師双方の要求に幅広く対応していることが明らかになった。さらに、先に分析した三つの教科書に共通する長所と短所についても論じる。

Usage Patterns and Meanings of High-Frequency English Verbs: A Multi-Word Expression Approach to Japanese High School EFL Textbook Analysis

This article aims to classify the overall uses of high-frequency English verbs in a novel methodology from both a pattern and meaning perspective, which has not be done in previous studies, with special reference to TAKE and MAKE. In the pattern-based analysis, all occurrences of these two verbs were collected from Japanese EFL textbook corpus, and the usage patterns of the extracted two target verbs were categorized into three major multi-word expression types: phrasal verbs, grammatical collocations, and lexical collocations. To further investigate the patterns of uses, some multi-word units consisting of three to seven words were identified as either semi-fixed expressions or fixed expressions. After the pattern-based classification, all the multi-word expressions identified were analyzed from a semantic perspective. This analysis revealed the new finding that all uses of TAKE (352) and MAKE (374) obtained from the corpus could be successfully classified into the three major multi-word expression categories. With respect to the pattern, the proportion of major multi-word expression categories showed similar results; lexical collocations were the most frequent, and phrasal verbs were the least frequent in both target verbs’ usage. In terms of meanings, the uses of TAKE were classified in a larger number of semantic categories (42) than MAKE (25). The obtained results have an implication that the novel methodology employed in this study is a valid way to the further investigation of the usage of high-frequency English verbs.