EFL Textbooks Research Articles

A Comparative Study of Female Portrayals in Two EFL Textbooks

A Comparative Study of Female Portrayals in Two EFL Textbooks

An Assessment of the Readability Level of EFL Textbooks.

An Assessment of the Readability Level of EFL Textbooks.

Colourism and indigeneity: the portrayal of Tuareg Amazighs in EFL textbooks in Algeria

ABSTRACT There are quite a few studies that adopted a critical perspective to the analysis of the narrative of standardized school textbooks and their impact in the process of ‘the interpellation of individuals as subjects’. While these studies examined narratives on racial/ethnic identity in different national contexts, both the Global North and the Global South, they all address the way mechanisms of exclusion and inclusion play out to define ‘sense of belonging’ ersus ‘otherness’. In the Maghreb region, studies that depict the representation of Amazighs in school textbooks remain scarce. Therefore, guided by Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis conceptual framework, this study focuses on the textual and visual representation of Algerian Tuareg Amazighs in the textbooks that are currently used in Algerian Middle schools. The findings suggest that the portrayal of the Tuareg Amazigh Sahrawi ethnic group is characterized by the ‘markedness’ of their blackness. This visibility affirms their ‘local Otherness’ in three different ways: deagentialization, folklorization, and disempowerment. Some pedagogical recommendations are suggested to foster inclusive and equitable language learning materials and spaces.

Women in Saudi secondary school EFL textbooks: a critical study of women's empowerment as enshrined in the Saudi Vision 2030.

Since the launch of the Saudi Vision 2030, Saudi Arabia has undergone significant economic and social reforms in order to move away from the country's reliance on oil and toward a more diverse and sustainable economy. One of the important chapters in this endeavour is the empowerment of Saudi women whereby they are to be given opportunities equal to men. Against this new paradigm, this study investigates whether Vision 2030's transformative efforts surrounding women's empowerment are reflected in the country's EFL textbooks, or whether the traditional representation of Saudi women has remained unchanged. The analytical focal point is the pictorial representation of Saudi women in six textbooks which form part of the Mega Goal series, and which are used to teach English in Saudi secondary schools. The analysis examined the representations of females from three different angles: the percentage of appearances in the textbooks from the total human pictorials; the social roles and occupations depicted, and the activities that they are engaged in. Analysis along all three of these angles revealed that there is a remarkable imbalance between the depiction of men and women in these textbooks, in favour of men. The study concludes that the Mega Goal series' EFL textbooks fall short of providing a realistic representation of Saudi women and fails to include representative depictions of women who, like their male counterparts, have occupied senior roles and prestigious positions in the country. This conclusion points to the need to include such representation in EFL textbooks, so that the role of women as envisaged in Saudi's Vision 2030 complies with the Vision's determination to provide equal opportunities for both men and women.

The Structure and the Distribution of Phraseological Units in Intermediate and Upper- Intermediate EFL Textbooks

The knowledge of native phrases and idiomatic expressions is considered to be an essential aspect of one’s fluency in a foreign language and can advance learners toward more excellent proficiency in foreign language acquisition. However, not much research has been dedicated to how they are implemented in the school textbooks. This research work aims to examine the occurrence of phraseological units in the four selected English textbooks for B1 and B2 levels, which are recommended for use at secondary grammar schools and secondary vocational schools in Slovakia by the Ministry of Education. They aim to prepare the secondary school learners for their final school-leaving exams – which are based on and in line with the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages requirements for the specific proficiency levels. To fill the gap in present studies, a detailed analysis was implemented, which included not only the exercises explicitly aimed at phraseological units but also the parts of the textbook, which dealt with the formulaic language implicitly. The main question posed dealt with the categories of phraseological units and their distribution in the analyzed textbooks. Phraseological units were identified, classified, analyzed, and counted by quantitative content analysis. The results showed that although there were phraseological units found in all analyzed textbooks, their distribution and classification differed significantly. Once they were included in the very limited number and variety of exercises, they were never used or mentioned again. Moreover, their explanation was absent or insufficient. The listed findings indicate that learners might encounter significant issues when trying to advance toward higher EFL proficiency levels.

Moral Values Representation through Speech Acts in Indonesian EFL Textbooks: A Critical Discourse Analysis

Abstract: In the last ten years, studies of the representation of moral values in English textbooks have been growing. However, little empirical evidence reveals the use of speech acts to represent moral values through utterances. This study aims to investigate the representation of moral values depicted through utterances in English textbooks for elementary school grades 2 and 5 in Indonesia. By adopting a socio-cognitive critical discourse analysis (Van Dijk, 2015) framework integrated with Searle’s (1969) speech acts, this qualitative study elucidates the representation of moral values only in the verbal text. The data were analyzed by applying several steps, including unitizing, sampling, recording/coding, reducing, inferring, and narrating. The findings of this study showed that curiosity, honesty, and friendliness are the most dominant moral values depicted in two English textbooks for elementary schools in Indonesia. Dialogue/conversation, chapter cover, and instruction for students’ activity are the strategies to promote moral values in the textbooks. This study implies that teachers and textbook writers should provide students with more examples of moral values, particularly those related to daily life communication.

Critical Interculturality and EFL Textbooks: Examining the Tensions

This article aims to analyse the relationship between critical interculturality and textbooks for teaching English as a Foreign Language (EFL). To achieve this, I analysed 94 documents, including articles, dissertations, and book chapters published in several national and international databases in the period from 2013 to 2023. The review of these studies also serves as a means to understand how different scholars have analysed textbooks in their contexts. This article is derived from a doctoral study that stems from my personal and professional interests. The research presents seven tensions that reveal traditional ways of analysing textbooks over decades, the need for deeper critical intercultural views, biased cultural and intercultural representations, uncritical literacy practices, coloniality of being, bilingual policy hegemony, and controlled evaluation, selection, and use of EFL textbooks. All this means that there is a need to consider critical interculturality as an attempt to decolonize traditional ways of teaching at different educational levels of education. The result of this analysis further suggests a research gap regarding critical interculturality and EFL textbooks.

The Representation of Culture in Moroccan EFL Textbooks: An Investigation of Reading Texts

As language and culture cannot be isolated, the teaching of culture in foreign language textbooks has gained great attention from experts in the field. The issue of which culture to introduce and how to introduce it has been a subject of debate among practitioners. The present study examines the representation of culture and its potential influence on the development of learners' intercultural awareness in three popular Moroccan EFL textbooks, namely "Window on the World", "Ticket to English 1" and "Ticket to English 2". A quantitative research design is adopted to examine how the textbooks represent (i) learners' native culture, (ii) English-speaking culture and (iii) international cultures. The results show varying degrees of cultural integration across the three textbooks. While "Window on the World" emphasized English-speaking culture in particular, potentially shaping learners' perceptions of global diversity, "Ticket to English 1" showed a lack of cultural references, indicating a gap in integration. In contrast, "Ticket to English 2" relatively adopted a more comprehensive approach, incorporating learners’ native culture, English speaking culture and broader international cultures. Despite this variety, the study revealed that the textbooks did not integrate culture effectively to enhance learners’ intercultural awareness. These findings suggest that a systematic and balanced approach to cultural integration is essential for Moroccan EFL textbooks. A gradual approach is recommended, through introducing learners’ native culture first, followed by English-speaking culture and finally including international cultures. The present study provided some empirical evidence for the discourse on cultural integration in EFL contexts and offered insights into its impact on intercultural awareness. The findings have some implications for the pedagogical practices in Morocco and highlights the need to promote the learners’ cultural awareness in foreign language learning environments.

A comparative analysis of multiword units in the reading and listening input of English textbooks

This study examines the occurrence and function of multiword units (MWUs) found in reading and listening input within EFL textbooks commonly used at a Vietnamese university. Lists of MWUs were automatically extracted from this input based on frequency, range, and mutual information score criteria, followed by manual evaluation via a classification framework developed by Simpson-Vlach and Ellis (2010). A final merged list of English textbook MWUs which was used to compare the frequency and functions of MWUs across reading and listening input. The findings revealed significant differences in MWU occurrence and function between reading and listening input, with MWUs occurring more frequently in oral input compared with written input. High frequency spoken MWUs had higher frequency counts than their high frequency written counterparts. A wider range of MWUs were produced in written input, with fewer MWUs being repeatedly used. Reading input exhibited a notably lower presence of stance expressions when contrasted with listening input, while special conversational functions featured more prominently in listening input. The findings suggest EFL teachers and material developers should carefully consider the presence and functions of MWUs found in textbooks, and whether textbook input should be supplemented with other suitable input forms to help learners improve learners’ knowledge and use of MWUs.

An SFL perspective on EFL textbooks and its pedagogical implications in language teaching

Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) offers a framework for analyzing EFL textbooks by considering three metafunctions of language: ideational, interpersonal, and textual. This study aims to explore how SFL can provide insights into the linguistic features and discourse patterns that contribute to establishing these metafunctions in EFL textbooks, focusing on the pedagogical implications for language teaching. Specifically, the study investigates the transitivity pattern, mood system, and nominal group analysis, focusing on two selected EFL textbooks from different publishers. For the convenience of the research process, the researcher selected dialogue samples from the textbooks through convenience sampling and transformed them into clauses for analysis. The findings revealed that material process types were the most frequently employed, while interrogative forms predominated among the clause types. Additionally, the analysis of nominal groups indicated that the most common were nominal group types Thing (T) and Noun and Thing (NT). These findings shed light on the linguistic features of EFL textbooks and suggest that a closer examination of the metafunction of language can enhance our understanding of how language is utilized to achieve learning objectives. Consequently, to support students' language learning and proficiency development, EFL teachers should incorporate instructional focus, contextualized language teaching, integration of SFL concepts, promotion of language awareness, and differentiated instruction.

Dictionary Use Training in Secondary School EFL Textbooks in Taiwan

As a rare study on English language textbook design for dictionary use training, this research examines four series of secondary school textbooks available on the Taiwan market. The content analysis method was adopted in finding out (1) how effectively the existing secondary English textbooks can help learners develop the necessary dictionary skills based on the guidelines from the government; and (2) how the existing textbooks could be improved to better meet learn­ers' needs for dictionary skills training. The results show that none of the surveyed series follow the Curriculum Guidelines of the Ministry of Education (2018) regarding dictionary use training, although they all claim to have designed the book based on the government-set curriculum. Sug­gestions are made regarding how the present textbook designs could incorporate dictionary skills, with recommended resources. The study reveals the conspicuous neglect of dictionary use skills training in secondary school textbooks, and calls for similar review to be made in other countries to fully appreciate the (un)availability of dictionary use training in secondary schools. The study should provide useful information to relevant government authorities, dictionary compilers, text­book writers, and English language teachers and researchers alike for improving the situation. Keywords: dictionary use training, Taiwan, secondary school EFL text­book, content analysis

The Structure and the Distribution of Phraseological Units in Intermediate and Upper- Intermediate EFL Textbooks

The Structure and the Distribution of Phraseological Units in Intermediate and Upper- Intermediate EFL Textbooks

How Do Locally Produced EFL Textbooks Endorse Critical Thinking Skills in Indonesia? A Content Analysis

Critical thinking skills (CTSs) are acknowledged as essential abilities students should acquire in learning and have gained considerable attention over the past few years. Thus, the CTSs should be integrated into the curriculum and introduced to students to boost their capacity for critical thought. The current study attempts to diagnose critical thinking elements endorsed in localized EFL school textbooks as reflected within questions. A qualitative content analysis was employed by adopting Ilyas’s (2016) framework of critical thinking for the analytic categories. In actuality, the questions exhibited in the EFL textbooks are only apparent in a few critical thinking criteria, such as clarification, reasons and evidence, viewpoints or perspectives, and agreement and disagreement. On the other hand, assumptions, implications, consequences and alternatives, questions, predictions, and summary and conclusion are excluded. Instructors and authors of books are recommended to consider the critical thinking features when creating lessons to help students learn effectively and develop them into well-cultivated critical thinkers.

A Pragmatic Analysis of Vietnamese EFL Textbooks : The Case of Disagreement

A Pragmatic Analysis of Vietnamese EFL Textbooks : The Case of Disagreement

Multimodal Discourse Analysis of Figures Used in the English Textbook “Get Smart Plus”

The study analyzed the multimodality of the EFL textbook for elementary school students. A qualitative descriptive study has been employed to carry out this study. The source of the data is the textbook, namely Get Smart Plus. The data was visual and verbal elements within the textbook, including any text and images that explain each other. The study used the multimodal framework proposed by Krees Van Leuween’s visual grammar and Halliday’s transitivity system to analyze the data. The finding shows that the visual elements of the textbook contain representation, composition, and relational patterns. In addition, the dominant process in the textbook is the verbal mode of communication (42%). However, the material process based on the analysis of Halliday’s theory was not represented in the book. The visual and verbal elements relate to each other and can potentially support students’ learning and understanding of the content. Therefore, the textbook can be a multimodal resource for students’ English learning. This study hopes to benefit textbook developers and designers by improving the use of visual and verbal elements of the textbook to support students’ cognitive development. Further research can be conducted on the impact of textbook multimodality on students’ learning achievement to contribute more to the study of discourse.
 Keywords: Multimodal Discourse Analysis, EFL, English textbook

Resisting EFL Textbooks in the English as a Foreign Language Education System

A society's language reflects its values, norms, and other characteristics and is considered an integral component of these traits. This would be an incomplete language education, despite the fact that it is possible to teach a language without addressing the cultural aspects of the society that speaks it. This study aims to highlight the predominance of inner circle cultural and societal traits in English language education. The evaluation of a global EFL textbook revealed that the majority of the content reflected inner circle cultural characteristics. The efficacy of this method of language instruction is a subject of debate among academics. Critics argue that this approach may perpetuate linguistic imperialism and hinder the development of intercultural communicative competence. However, proponents suggest that a standardised curriculum can provide learners with a solid foundation in the language and facilitate communication with speakers from different parts of the world.

Moroccan EFL High School Teachers' Attitudes and Perceptions towards Critical Thinking Skills: Kenitra's Directorate as a Case Study

Critical thinking, as a 21st century skill, has become a pertinent skill in modern education. Critical thinking was first debated by Greek philosophers, namely Plato and Socrates. Moroccan educators believe that critical thinking needs to be included in educational curricula. Within this framework, the aim of this study is to investigate Moroccan EFL teachers’ perceptions and attitudes towards critical thinking skills in Moroccan school. The sample of the study consisted of 25 male and female EFL teachers who filled out an adopted questionnaire in Moroccan public schools, specifically in Kenitra’s directorate in the academic year 2022/2023. This study is categorized within the pragmatic worldview. It adopts a mixed-methods design that implements both quantitative and qualitative techniques to gather and analyse data. This research’s philosophy choice is based on a justified and grounded theory. Quantitative and qualitative data obtained from 55 EFL teachers from different high schools that belong to Kenitra’s directorate have been completely used to investigate and explore EFL teacher’s perceptions and attitudes towards Critical Thinking significance in Moroccan high schools. Findings show that Moroccan teachers perceive critical thinking as of paramount significance in EFL classrooms. Clearly, respondents literally held positive attitudes towards critical thinking skills. Yet, they believe that teachers should receive more training in this regard, and EFL textbooks need to include tasks and activities that stimulate students to learn the core skills of critical thinking. This study has many pedagogical implications, among which are the indoctrination of critical thinking skills in students and the assurance of quality education at the tertiary level.

Teacher Voices of Gender Representation in EFL Textbook: A case Study in a Senior High School

This research investigated teachers' perceptions regarding gender representation in two government-mandated English language textbooks used in Indonesian senior high schools. This research aims to examine the perceptions of teachers as users and implementers of textbooks regarding the existence of gender bias and stereotypes. This research used a qualitative method with a case study design. The research involved 2 participants, the English teachers who teach in grades 10 and grade 11. Semi-structured interviews were used as the instrument in this research. Analysis of interview data was transcribed manually and then interpreted critically in accordance with Creswell's theory. The findings from this study showed that both teachers expressed awareness of the gender bias and stereotypes present in the textbooks they used. Male representation is more dominant than female. Female roles tend to be placed in stereotypes constructed in society. The existence of certain ideologies is also the cause of unequal gender representation in textbooks. There is a need for continuous development and improvement of textbooks in order to promote equal gender representation. The pedagogical implications of the findings in this research proposed recommendations to educational institution sectors and language policy makers to prepare and publish textbooks that support the achievement of gender equality.

Perceptions of Saudi EFL Teachers on the Adequacy of Textbooks

This study evaluated elementary school EFL textbooks (We Can Series) from the perspectives of male and female teachers in Saudi Arabia. A quantitative approach was used, with data collected through a questionnaire. The questionnaire, adopted from Alharbi (2017), consisted of 49 items arranged into five textbook evaluation criteria: layout and design, textbook objectives, language methods and activities, language skills, and general evaluation. The questionnaire was administered online using Google Forms to 51 primary school teachers. The results of the study revealed that the primary-stage textbooks are efficient in terms of layout and design. The objectives are stated and highlighted in each section, all language skills are included, there are an appropriate number of activities and exercises, and there are instructions beside each part of the content. However, the study also found that the book's objectives, exercises, skills, and teaching methods are inappropriate for learners' needs at these levels; the number of lessons allocated each week is insufficient for the book's content; there is no logical progression between topics; and supplemental materials such as test models are not available. Additionally, there was a lack of cohesion and sequencing between textbooks in the "We Can Series." In light of these results, the researcher suggested some recommendations for addressing the drawbacks of the EFL primary school textbooks. These recommendations include: revising the objectives and exercises to better align with learners' needs; increasing the number of lessons allocated each week; providing a logical progression between topics; and developing supplemental materials such as test models. The study concludes that the We Can Series has the potential to be an effective EFL textbook series, but that some revisions are necessary to address the identified drawbacks. The recommendations made by the researcher should be considered by the publishers of the We Can Series in order to improve the textbooks and make them more suitable for use in Saudi Arabian elementary schools.

Exploring the integration of culture in Moroccan EFL textbooks: The case of reading texts

The intercultural communicative competence approach has recently become a crucial topic in the field of education and language teaching, and a new perspective of ELT in higher education. It is also considered a prerequisite approach for developing students’ intellectual and personal growth and their effective international integration. The present study investigates the integration of culture in Moroccan EFL textbooks and its effects on learners' intercultural competence. The study adopts a quantitative research design, focusing on the statistical description of the various cultural categories included in the textbooks. The study aims to answer two research questions, namely · To what extent is the cultural dimension included in Moroccan EFL textbooks, and what are its components? · What is the likelihood of the use of culture in Moroccan EFL textbooks to promote learners' intercultural awareness? Three textbooks were selected and analyzed in light of the different cultural categories selected, such as source culture, target culture, and international target culture. The results showed that the textbooks focused on the source culture, with limited representation of foreign cultures. The integration of culture in textbooks was found inadequate to promote learners' intercultural awareness. The study's findings suggest that Moroccan EFL textbooks need a more comprehensive and balanced representation of cultures. This would help learners develop a deeper understanding of diverse cultures and their own culture, and promote their intercultural competence.