EFL teachers’ evaluation of the textbook “I Learn Smart World 6”: A study at Pathway School

Abstract

Textbooks are the main sources that can convey knowledge and information to learners in an organized way, so textbook evaluation plays a key role in any language teaching or learning program. This can help meet the learners' needs in the best way. The present research set out to investigate teachers’ perspectives towards the textbook "I Learn Smart World 6", which was used at Pathway School (PS), and teachers’ personal points of view on how to improve better the textbook "I Learn Smart World 6". The investigation elucidates the strengths and weaknesses of the textbook itself, and recommendations are made for both designers and teachers. The 12 teachers from the 2 campuses at Pathway School participated in this research. The research instruments were a textbook evaluation questionnaire adapted and modified from a variety of checklists developed by previous researchers, as well as semi-structured interviews. A 40-item questionnaire using a 5-point Likert scale rating from "1=Strongly Disagree" to "5=Strongly Agree" was employed to elicit participants’ responses to six main categories including Overall Assessment, Practical Considerations, Language Skills, Topic and Language Content, Layout and Design, and Culture. Descriptive statistics were carried out to interpret the quantitative data by utilizing the mean and standard deviation. The data analyzed from the semi-interviews was analyzed based on cross-case analysis. The results showed that teachers had active perspectives regarding the strengths and weaknesses of the textbook, and they thought that it was consistent with the English teaching and learning process at their school. In addition, it also revealed that the teachers had some problems and suggestions with the use of the textbook "I Learn Smart World 6" in the classroom.