Anadolu University EFL teachers' reading textbook evaluation criteria before and after training

Abstract

A lack of training in evaluating textbooks is one of the drawbacks of teacher education. Many descriptive articles in the literature discuss how to evaluate textbooks, but few empirical studies have been conducted on teachers’ abilities to evaluate textbooks and the criteria that they use. Simply using a textbook is not enough since textbooks do not always meet the needs of learners or the teacher. Nor do they always complement the goals and objectives of the course and institution (Brown, 1995; Byrd, 2001; Pakkan, 1997). As a result, teachers need to know how to evaluate the textbooks that they are using and those that they may use. The aim of the study reported here is to determine teachers’ abilities to judge the appropriateness of language teaching textbooks for English language classes at a Turkish university. The data were collected through a Reading Material Evaluation Questionnaire, pre-training guided think-aloud protocols, and post-training guided think-aloud protocols. The results of the questionnaire revealed that the teachers evaluated their course materials inconsistently. Results of pre- and post-training guided think-alouds showed that textbook-evaluation training changed teachers’ textbook evaluation criteria by raising their consciousness and knowledge base about textbook evaluation. This research indicates a need for pre- and in-service teacher training on the evaluation of textbooks that are/may be/will be used in the classroom.