The English language textbook for future automotive engineers: a case of assessment and self-assessment

Abstract

Introduction. Over decades, the profession-oriented foreign language textbook has been in the focus of researchers’ attention. In this regard, we carried out research to evaluate the effectiveness of the implementation of a previously elaborated concept of the profession-oriented textbook, which was based on the competency approach, taking the example of the author’s textbooks and using procedures of assessment and self-assessment. Materials and methods. Instructors, pre-service teachers and 1st-4th year engineering students of Togliatti State University (the Russian Federation) participated in the testing of pilot versions of English textbooks. For obtaining empirical data, the research adopted methods of interviews and an anonymous Likert scale survey. The data obtained from the procedure of assessment were then processed using analysis of interview recordings and texts of peer-reviews as well as a method of descriptive statistics. A procedure of self-assessment of textbook materials was also carried out to evaluate the realization of the concept of a profession-oriented textbook. Research results. Results of the survey indicate the success of the implementation of the concept of a profession-oriented textbook: 92 % of 56 questionnaires contained only positive responses. At the same time, the survey shows that the content of the textbooks meets students’ expectations (96 %), correlates with the content of their training (98 %) and the level of English proficiency (92 %). 94 % of respondents would like to recommend the textbooks for mastering professional communication. All the instructors and a reviewer also praised the quality of the textbooks. Conclusion. Assessment and self-assessment procedures allowed to effectively evaluate the quality of the textbooks, to receive students’ feedback and to identify ways of improving textbooks for engineering universities. The findings can be used in the development and evaluation of foreign language textbooks for other non-language majors.