A Comparative Study of Iranian EFL Teachers’ versus Learners’ Perceptions of High School English Textbooks

Abstract

Textbooks play a very crucial role in the process of language teaching and learning. They affect the whole language learning/teaching process. The purpose of this study was to carry out an evaluation of English textbooks currently in use at high schools in Iran from teachers’ and learners’ points of view in a comparative way. To this end, the study employed a mixed methods design. The data were collected through questionnaires with 43 close-ended items consisting of nine different sections. The results showed that both the teachers and the learners believed that the high school English textbooks are highly ineffective in terms of actual activities, language functions section, pronunciation practice, physical make-up, reading texts, speaking and writing sections and are effective only in terms of vocabulary section, and grammatical points. It can be concluded that the English textbooks used in Iranian high schools cannot meet the Iranian learners’ and teachers’ needs and wants since they are grammar-based. The findings of this study can be used by the textbook designers in order to take account of the teachers’ and learners’ preferences and perceptions while designing new editions of the textbooks.