Research Textbooks Research Articles

Missing methods: a call for holistic analysis of history textbooks

The purpose of this article is to call for a holistic approach to the study of history textbooks. We engaged in an extensive analysis of textbook studies for the purpose of developing our own textbook study framework for the Thinking Historically for Canada’s Future project. We found that scholars rely on a narrow scope of research methods and that the field lacks attention to a holistic approach that broadens the researcher’s capacity to dissect positionality and perpetuation of historical knowledge(s). We demonstrate why it is beneficial for scholars to expand beyond narrow methods in the field of history textbook studies. Specifically, we illustrate that a holistic approach enables textbook researchers to further contest the often uncritical embrace of history textbooks and expand upon our understanding of the textbook as an artefact of our societies. In this article we significantly extend the yet to be taken-up call for a holistic approach to textbook studies.

A Study of The Compilation in Chinese Teaching Materials for Malaysian Junior High Schools: Taking Ancient Poems as An Example

Ancient poem, which is an important part of Chinese literature in ancient China, contains rich cultural and educational values, and plays an important role in the process of Chinese teaching in Malaysia. It has become an indispensable part of Chinese textbooks. Mastering the selection and arrangement of ancient poem in textbooks not only helps with textbook research, but also has important significance for teachers' teaching and students' learning. This article takes the ancient poem textbook in Chinese (KSSM) as the research object to analyze and discuss its selection and arrangement of articles, and summarizes the selection and arrangement characteristics of ancient poem textbooks in Chinese (KSSM) .

스마트 교육과 디지털 교과서 연구 동향

This study extracted a total of 180 papers on digital textbooks published between December 2004 and July 2022, analyzing research topics, temporal patterns, research areas, research subjects, research methods, research abstract keywords, affiliated academic societies, and target subjects. The results of the study are as follows: First, research on 'digital textbook performance and educational activities' was the most prevalent, with significant concentrations during the periods of 2013-2015 and 2019-2021. Second, there were more empirical studies than theoretical studies, and quantitative analysis was more common than qualitative analysis. Third, the keywords in the abstracts were primarily focused on the digital textbook itself, teaching and learning research, and smart educational environments for digital textbook learning. Fourth, digital textbook research tends to concentrate on elementary school children and special education groups, indicating a need for more realistic and practical perspectives in expanding research.

“Minorities”, the nation and Europe in the history textbooks of Germany, Spain and Turkey

A feature of the concept of “minorities” is the invisibility and stigmatization of communities, more so within the idea of the nation. The European Union project stimulated new vistas, and offers challenges to reconcile peoples under a new political, social and economic concept. However, in the midst of crisis and war in Europe, mistrust and hostility are increasing, incited by right-wing populism and nationalism and these aims of the last century are slowly making their way into history textbooks. This article analyses the representation and construction of these complex concepts in eight German, Turkish and Spanish secondary school history textbooks. In times of strengthening nationalism, it is also discussed here whether the representations convey essentialist ideas and imperialistic structures hidden between the lines in school textbooks, or whether they reflect the concept of “minorities” as a component of a pluralistic and hybrid European society. The research is divided into two areas: 1) A quantitative analysis of textbooks: A comparative research will be carried out on the representation of 'minorities' in English, German, Turkish and Spanish history textbooks. The textbook research is temporally limited to the period from the sixteenth until the twenty-first centuries.

Applying phenomenography in textbook research

Applying phenomenography in textbook research

Gender constructions in Austrian RE textbooks – a comparative linguistic textbook analysis

ABSTRACT The contribution gives insights into a comparative linguistic textbook analysis of two Austrian Catholic Religious Education (RE) textbooks for colleges for higher vocational schools (‘BHS’) and vocational schools for apprentices (‘VocEd’). Gender constructions are still a desideratum in RE textbook research in Austria. Previous gender-oriented analyses mostly used qualitative content analysis or mainly questionnaires. This paper followed the approach of linguistic textbook analysis addressing gender constructions on a linguistic level by comparing both textbooks, asking which and how two selected chapters of Austrian RE textbooks in use construct gender on a linguistic level. A discussion of the main results, considering previous gender sensitive RE research, aimed to develop criteria for prospects of action with teaching materials in the current context of plurality of genders and sexualities in a democratic society.

Evaluating the International and Intercultural Orientation of an ELT Textbook in Cambodia through the Lens of Global Englishes Language Teaching

AbstractThe plurality of the use, users, and forms of English has prompted Global Englishes scholars to advocate the need for English language curricula to more accurately reflect the current sociolinguistic landscape of English and the intercultural nature of contemporary communicative exchanges. However, the scarcity of teaching materials has been identified as one of the key barriers to achieving meaningful change, leading to observations that the impact of Global Englishes on English language teaching (ELT) textbook design has been minimal. This paper challenges this perception via presentation of preliminary findings of a qualitative research project investigating a Cambodian secondary school ELT textbook. Analyses of textbook features reveal concrete instances of efforts undertaken by the textbook editors to steer the book away from privileging native speakers' lingua‐cultural norms. Findings reveal a non‐deficit portrayal of a diverse range of English speakers, exposure to more than a single variety of the English accent, minimal involvement of inner circle English speakers in the interactions between textbook characters, and a reduced reliance on Anglo‐centric cultural references. The voices of the editors are amplified in this study to further help justify the rationale behind the inclusions as well as exclusions, which are often missing in ELT textbook research.

Education for Buddhist Modernism: Buddhicised education and reform in Hong Kong schools

ABSTRACT Starting with an initiative called Buddhicised education, there have been calls to reform Chinese Buddhism for a century. Based on documentary research of textbooks and in-depth interviews, this paper examines the reform of Buddhicised education in Hong Kong since 2000. Facilitated by the Hong Kong government’s education reform, Buddhicised education has gone in a new direction. The promotion of character education and caring for the heart have become more significant than ever in addressing the daily life issues and social concerns of students. Buddhicised education can be broadly redefined as life education for whole-person development in terms of beliefs, values, morality, character, positive emotions and spirituality. Reforms have been made in both the formal and informal curricula by incorporating moral and life education, contemplative education and sustainable education, as well as taking a student-centred approach such as experiential learning. This paper also discusses the implications of Buddhist modernism and the prospects of Buddhicised education in the religious education context of Hong Kong.

PENGEMBANGAN BUKU AJAR BAHASA PRANCIS TINGKAT A1 BIDANG RESTORAN DAN DAPUR DI POLTEKPAR LOMBOK

Language is a verbal communication tool used by humans to convey ideas and desires. There are four language skills, they are (1) listening, (2) speaking, (3) reading, and (4) writing. French terminology is widely used in tourism and hospitality, especially in the areas of restaurants and kitchens. Examples: à la carte (single menu), gueridon service (chef serving guests cooking in front of guests using a pushcart), banquet, croissant (typical French bread shaped like a crescent moon), baguette (typical French bread shaped like a stick), chef (head cook), and so on. Until this date, France is the ancestor and is famous for its culinary centres and restaurants. A significant problem that needs to be addressed regarding French learning at Politeknik Pariwisata Lombok is the unavailability of A1 level French textbooks on restaurant and kitchen. The French books that are available are general French, while a French textbook specifically for restaurants and kitchens is highly needed. The methodology used in this study is Research and Development (R&D). In the 2022 research, the author has conducted research on analyzing the need for textbooks to be developed. The author analyzed the needs by interviewing four sources, including: students at the Politeknik Pariwisata Lombok, Food and Culinary Arts study program, French lecturers at Universitas Negeri Medan and at Perguruan Tinggi Negeri Pariwisata (PTNP) of the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy/Barekraf, and hotel industry based adjunct lecturers at Politeknik Pariwisata Lombok. The author's 2023 research focuses on developing A1 level French textbooks based on the need analysis from the four sources. The data obtained from developing textbooks is in the form of material that can be directly applied in restaurants and in the Politeknik Pariwisata Lombok practical kitchen. The textbook contains simple conversations supported by colorful pictures, YouTube links to watch videos or audio, and four basic language skills and vocabulary practice. The textbook has also been assessed by expert validators from lecturers who teach French in hotels and restaurants. The conclusion of the research and development of A1 level French textbooks on restaurant and kitchen at Politeknik Pariwisata Lombok is that the textbook can be used in two study programs, namely the Food Management and Culinary Arts study programs at Politeknik Pariwisata Lombok

행위자-네트워크 이론(Actor- Network Theory)을 활용한 초등교사의 발명 단원 교재 연구 모습의 이해

This study explores the socio-material network associated with elementary school teachers’ invention unit textbooks through the lens of Actor-Network Theory. Using a qualitative case study method, the research process involved basic research, interviewer selection, data collection, data analysis, and a summary of the results. The subjects were selected through purposive sampling, and the interview questions covered six areas: class focus, class community, media use, teacher experiences, curriculum restructuring, and class environment creation. Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC) verification and content validity verification were conducted. The data comprised transcribed interviews, which were analyzed via open coding and visualized as an Actor-Network Map. The results of this study are as follows. First, the study analyzed elementary school teachers' research on invention unit textbooks through an actor-network theoretical perspective, visualizing results through an Actor-Network Map. In the spaces of prescription and spaces of negotiation, various actors, including teachers who were the Obligatory Passage Point (OPP), were forming a network called “Textbook Research.” Second, based on the Actor-Network Map, the study analyzed the unique characteristics and significance of elementary school teachers’ research on invention unit textbooks. Actors were found to occasionally strengthen or weaken the cohesion of the network “Textbook Research” while also attracting other actors into the network. This study confirms that research on invention unit textbooks is not solely a measure of teacher competency but a complex web of relationships involving various non-human substances such as humans, objects, technologies, and institutions. In addition, it highlights the need for a more comprehensive understanding of invention education by examining the research on invention unit textbooks using various theories.

Approaches and Limitations of L2 Textbook Evaluation Research

The evaluation of L2 textbooks is an important aspect of curriculum development in L2 learning and teaching. It has been the subject of research since the 1970s. A large number of studies have been conducted to investigate the language skills, linguistic elements, or/and social factors presented in textbooks. However, even so, the issue of evaluation research approaches has not received very much critical attention. As a result, this research project is concerned with the methodology used in textbook research. It aims to provide an overview of current approaches to L2 textbook evaluation research, as well to highlight their major limitations. It reviews research methods used in previous studies targeting textbooks from grade one to grade twelve in various countries and reveals two main approaches. The first approach seeks to conduct a thorough assessment of one specific English textbook. L2 material researchers often use a Likert scale checklist to investigate the strengths and weaknesses of an entire English language textbook. The second approach evaluates an English textbook from a micro perspective, with a particular emphasis on one single aspect of it, such as reading or writing. These findings may help us to better understand current evaluation approaches used by textbook researchers and their limitations. It shows what needs to be done to improve this evaluation process in the future.

Context matters in history textbook studies: A call to address the socio-political landscape of textbook production

History textbooks are a tool of nation-building and often the only account of particular events, people and issues to which students will be exposed. This is one reason why it is important to examine, not only their content, but the context of their production. Research attention needs to be directed not only at disentangling the logics of textbook content, a purpose that dominates the field, but also at the social and political contexts of their development, including their production (publishing and authorship) and the processes by which they receive official approval. This work analyzed 100 history textbook studies in order to identify current trends in textbook research. This article focuses on one of the four major findings of the study: textbook studies often focus on the content of the textbook in isolation from the socio-political landscape of textbook production. The socio-political landscape refers, but is not limited to, the influence of local and geopolitics; the influence of the state, evident primarily in the official approval processes employed by governments; the economic dimension and publication parameters; and authorship factors. Among the relatively few studies that address the socio-political landscape, the authors often employ a historiographical or comparative perspective. The historiographical perspective, which is dominant, offers an analysis of textbooks over time in order to reveal both continuities and changes in the historical narratives produced by their authors. One example is a study by Yeow Tong Chia (2013), who examines conceptions of ‘Chineseness’ and China in Ontario high school history curricula and textbooks in the post Second World War to the 1980s period. More broadly, the paper locates the Ontario textbooks in the international context of the western-centric perspectives that were prevalent following the Second World War. The comparative perspective analyzes textbooks across regions in one historical moment. For example, Jason Nicholls (2006) addresses the role of national contexts in determining how the Second World War is portrayed in textbooks found in the United States, Italy, Sweden, Japan, and England.

A Review of Vocabulary Research in English Textbooks Based on Corpora

With the promulgation of high school New Curriculum Standards, various new textbooks have emerged, and the presentation of knowledge content for vocabulary that has a profound impact on English learning in these textbooks has also changed. Corpus linguistics often uses corpus software as a research tool to efficiently search and extract language patterns from numerous language examples. The research process is objective and the results are scientific. Therefore, more and more scholars are using corpus tools to study vocabulary in English textbooks. This study will summarize the current status of vocabulary research in English textbooks based on corpus and look forward to the development trends in this field. The study aims at revealing the distribution and development patterns of vocabulary in various English textbooks, provide inspiration for future textbook compilation, and provide reference for future vocabulary evaluation research in English textbooks.

The Integration of Islamic Values in English Language Teaching Context: Practices and Challenges

Studies on the integration of moral, cultural, and religious values in the non-religion subject have been greatly raised in these recent years. This research aims to find out the teachers’ strategy and challenges encountered in integrating Islamic values in English language teaching. The descriptive method with a qualitative approach is employed in this research. The subject of this research consists of three English teachers who teach in different grades from seventh to ninth at SMP Pesantren Modern IMMIM Putra Makassar. The data of this research are obtained from the observation sheet and interview guide. The data analysis technique in this research uses three steps, namely identification, classification, and explanation. The result of this research shows that there are four strategies employed by English teachers in integrating Islamic values in ELT. First, the teachers give direct advice to the students. Second, the teachers associate the lesson topic with pertinent Islamic teaching by quoting verses from the Qur’an and/or Hadith. Third, the teachers get the students used to worship through the habituation of religious activities. Fourth, the teachers refer to someone, or themselves to introduce some Islamic values to the students. The teachers also encounter several challenges in integrating Islamic values in ELT. First, the limited availability of English textbooks integrated to Islamic values. Second, the teachers have limited knowledge of how to optimally integrate Islamic values into the teaching and learning process. Third, the teachers have a limited time to provide and prepare the English learning materials associated to Islamic values. Further studies such as research and development of English textbooks that integrated to Islamic values for high school students are expected to be conducted in an attempt to solve the teachers’ challenges revealed in this research.

Towards a New Understanding of Swedish School Reforms: A Sociological Analysis of Textbooks’ Role in Reforms of School Mathematics, 1919–1970

This article sheds new light on the Swedish comprehensive school reform implemented in the 1960s (the Grundskolan reform) and the four decades preceding the reform. This reform was typical for the Nordic countries. The presented study concerns reforms in mathematics education and how change was initiated and driven before and during the comprehensive school reform. The analysis has a focus on the role of textbooks in educational governance. The analysis is based on Bourdieu’s field theory and concerns how a new way of preparing and driving reforms of school subjects restructured relationships between the state, textbook producers, and teachers. This article is mainly a synthesis of results from several previous studies on governance of Swedish mathematics education. The analysis reveals not only a new characteristic of the comprehensive school reform (swift and radical rather than slow and successive), but also a bottom-up movement in the school system, which has been commonly understood as top-down, very centralised, and slow moving. The results of the analysis help explain why the Swedish comprehensive school reform gained early acceptance and momentum. Another contribution of this article concerns historical textbook research, particularly regarding how fundamental changes in authorship of textbooks (from visible individual authors to anonymous collectives) can be related to educational governance and changes in power structures.

More than migrants? Representations of wo/men of colour in Dutch language textbooks

Textbooks constitute important learning tools in foreign language education and should depict ethnic and gender diversity. This article responds to calls for intersectional textbook research and addresses the following question: How diverse are representations of wo/men of colour in comparison with white wo/men in sparsely researched Dutch language textbooks? We performed content analysis of six frequently used textbooks for learning Dutch, examining pictures, texts and (audio-recorded) dialogues. Results show an underrepresentation of People of Colour (PoC) in comparison with demographic statistics. In contrast with white wo/men, PoC are featured in a limited range of low-status roles (e.g. migrant), except for in one textbook. Countries and cities are Eurocentric and Netherlands-centric, there is little variety in terms of accented speech in dialogues, and non-native speakers utter sentences that frame them as dependent. These findings build on the body of (Anglocentric) textbook research from a cultural studies’ perspective, help determine the degree to which educational materials meet diversity demands in language education policies, and what alternative ‘realities’ could arise.

Identity and conflict

The study sheds light on several important aspects in the field of textbook research and history didactics. The introduction presents the most significant professional events of the European history didactic discourse in recent years and new approaches to the scientific field, in all of which international cooperation plays an important role. Reasons for the general and professional interest in history teaching and history textbooks and the origin of textbook research are also presented. The history of international textbook revisions, interrupted by the world wars of the 20th century, the types, effectiveness, goals, and results of transnational cooperation are also introduced. Finally, the study details the changing results and products of some cross-border projects, paying special attention to the exemplary French-German textbook revision, the Polish-German, Scandinavian, Slovakian-Hungarian, European perspectives, and Asian and African examples that rarely appear in Hungarian textbook research. In the conclusion of the study more than a dozen collaborations are summarized based on continent, duration, nature of participants, and function. Among the results two categories are established as the main goals: regional identity building and conflict resolution.

The Trends and Highlights of Mathematics Textbook Research in Korea via Topic Modelling

The purpose of this study was to analyze the overall trends of mathematics textbook research in Korea. For this purpose, we collected 455 research articles on mathematics textbooks from all the articles published in seven domestic professional journals of mathematics education. We used topic modelling based on latent Dirichlet allocation algorithms to extract topics that reflected not only overall trends but also the trends by each curriculum revision period, including the top 10 words and three representative papers that best indicated each topic. The most frequent topic that appeared across almost all curriculum periods was concept and term, which focused on specific concepts and their definitions, examples, and representations used in textbooks. Another topic, comparing textbooks, was also popular, recently including more foreign textbooks. Topics such as storytelling and mathematical competency were emergent in a specific curriculum period, indicating the close relationship between textbook research and curriculum revisions. Based on these findings, this paper concludes by sharing several implications for future mathematics textbook research in Korea, discussing which topics continue to be studied and in what directions, as well as which topics need to expanded and why.

프랑스에서의 한국어교육에 대한 연구 동향

The purpose of this paper is to understand the trend of Korean language education research for French learners by analyzing the content and research methodological characteristics of research on Korean language education conducted in France. As a result of analyzing 57 papers selected for the study, French Korean language education research deals with the current status and problems of Korean language education institutions in terms of content, and mainly focuses on pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary. Teaching and learning research has a lot of elementary textbook analysis, and research on speaking areas and web-based education has been found to be insufficient. In terms of methodology, it has been found that there are mainly many qualitative and mixed studies, and the ratio of primary and secondary studies is equal, and case studies tend to be the main focus. Descriptive consideration is mostly based on textbook research and researcher's consideration, and overall, it was found that the diversity and expertise of research methods were insufficient.

An Evaluation of the Arabic Language Textbook for First Grade From the Teachers’ Point of View

The main purpose of this study is to evaluate the Palestinian Arabic Language Textbook, “Our Beautiful Language,” for first grade from the viewpoint of the teachers. The study also identified the significance of evaluating textbooks. For this purpose, a mixed methods research design was used to measure the extent to which the Palestinian Arabic language textbook meets the characteristics of a good textbook from the point of view of the teachers of Arabic language for the first grade of primary public schools. This method allows us to collect both quantitative (survey) and qualitative data (interview) data. According to the research results, the textbook still has a specific weakness and deficiency in the psycho-cognitive dimension despite the Palestinian Ministry of Education’s efforts to develop the curriculum. To improve textbooks through a national reform strategy, they must be freed from the constraints to which they are currently subject. To accomplish this, it is necessary to adopt the high standards for content creation established by textbook research centers.