Coursebook Writers’ Orientations towards ELF: The Case of Coursebooks used in a Private University

Abstract

Coursebooks used in English language teaching play a significant roles for language learners. One way of determining whether the current status of English in language teaching, that is, English as a lingua franca (ELF), is taken into account in the globalized world is through coursebook analysis. The purpose of this study is to determine how listening, speaking and video sections of two intermediate level coursebooks used in a preparatory program of a private university in Turkey are approached in respect of ELF principles in the teaching of English. This descriptive research, based on a qualitative and quantitative content analysis, was conducted using Rose and Galloway’s (2019) framework for coursebook analysis. The findings demonstrate that in one of the coursebooks, ELF interaction was higher than the other regarding listening recordings, and there was only one video representing an ELF interaction in both of the coursebooks. RP (Standard British English) was the core reference in the listening files and videos. Cross-cultural and global topics were chiefly included in the speaking tasks; however, there was a lack of multi-cultural topics addressed within the books. Speaking activities included mainly the strategy of turn-taking and only two clarification communicative strategies, but guided speaking tasks were in contradiction with ELF features. The findings offer practical implications for coursebook designers/writers, curriculum designers and language teachers.