Role Of Textbooks Research Articles

The Beginning of History: Japanese and Chinese views of the World

The teaching of history is an important way in which the older generation, who control education systems, curricula, content choice and so on, pass on to the younger generation ideas, especially the idea of nationhood, which they hope will form the basis for future national cohesion. The younger generation, however, receive these messages and interpret then through the lens of their own experiences, experiences that they do not share with the older generation. Consequently, the idea of history is re-formed and reformulated by each generation. This paper looks at the role of textbooks, principally history textbooks, in that process. The style of textbooks is to present history as uncontentious, a descriptive account of facts and events. In practice, however, textbooks can only present an arbitrary selection from history, and a crucial decision made by educators is when to start their account – the beginning of history – as this can radically affect the interpretation of events. This facsimile of neutrality stands in sharp contrast to the professional historians’ hope that the teaching of history can develop a critical sense of important and contested events in history. The discussion is illustrated with examples of how history is presented in China and Japan, and how the conflicting accounts serve the interests of the policies adopted by the older generation, but may have unanticipated consequences for the younger generation.

Teaching through textbooks: Teachers as practitioners of a discipline?

What is the role of textbooks in promoting teaching, and how does this role relate to teachers’ subject knowledge, qualifications and autonomy? In this article, we study one aspect of the relationship between the use of textbooks and good teaching by examining how teachers’ subject knowledge in the subject they are expected to teach relates to how they use and rely on textbooks. To do so, we draw on ethnographic data including classroom observation of geography lessons and teacher interviews in upper primary government school classrooms in Bihar, India. We analysed teaching episodes in terms of distinct pedagogical strategies, namely, ostensive teaching, acquaintance knowledge and memory. These categories were identified through normative content analysis which recognises the distinct forms of knowledge, and specifically, different types of inferential relationships. This categorisation enables us to distinguish between teachers with and without a postgraduate or undergraduate qualification in geography in their use of the textbook and pedagogical strategies. Our findings support the claims of those who maintain that textbooks can be a powerful pedagogical tool, and not simply a teaching script in the hands of poorly qualified teachers.

Dyskusja nad rolą i zadaniami podręcznika szkolnego w Polsce w latach 1918–1939

The subject of this article is a debate which took place in the community of teachers and educators over the period 1918–1939. Its topic related to the function and role of textbooks in the educational process. The analysis of the published articles and science books showed the evolution of views and opinions which developed from the extreme rejection of a textbook and the denial of its dominant position in a 19th century school, to a compromise that was reached in the 1930s and reconciled the “vivid teaching” of a teacher with students’ self-study with a textbook. Maturing and changing opinions and views on the issue of a textbook referred to its classification, role, function, contents structure and the language. The debate which took place in the Second Polish Republic did not result in developing the theory of a textbook although it was an important contribution to its shaping.

‘What a Wonderful Past’! Material Culture and Archaeological Representations in Greek Primary History Textbooks (1974–2020)

This paper explores the impact of archaeology in Greek formal education based on a research of the primary history textbooks of three different periods (1974–86, 1986–2006, 2006–20). The sample data was analysed using quantitative and qualitative methodologies in order to examine representations, perceptions, and attitudes concerning archaeology and material culture imprinted within their textual content. The research revealed a significant presence of archaeological information and a plurality of meanings with which archaeology is invested, reflecting the dominant role of textbooks as teaching tools and agents of official historical knowledge and the multifaceted impact of archaeology on Greek society.

Textbook interaction: A study of the language and cultural contextualisation of English learning textbooks

Abstract The impact and the role of textbooks in language learning and communication have not been paid enough attention. English textbooks have the potential to not just provide guidance for learning language but can be a platform for introducing cultural diversity and tolerance and as a medium for integrating cross-disciplinary knowledge. Building on a social learning and socio-cultural theory, this research considers whether English textbooks are contextualised enough to help with students' English learning and communication. This is achieved by analysing a set of secondary English textbooks Project English used in China and discovering textbook users' real experience of learning English and using English textbooks. The results show that topics, texts, and tasks of textbooks are decontextualised in terms of authenticity, levels of communication, diversity, and representation of cultures. Moreover, more attention is given to grammatical functions of English language rather than its communicative functions. Suggestions towards a more communicative and contextualised textbook content and pedagogy are provided.

Material Moments: Teacher and Student Use of Materials in Multilingual Writing Classroom Interactions

AbstractThis qualitative study examines moments in the multilingual classroom when materials become prominent in whole‐class interactions. Despite the critical impact that materials can have on classroom discourse and learning/teaching, research onactual usageof materials in second language (L2) classroom interactions has been scarce compared with the effort devoted to the development and assessment of L2 materials (Guerrettaz & Johnston, 2013). This study examines students’ and instructors’ use of materials in a multilingual writing classroom, focusing on the roles of textbooks, teacher‐prepared worksheets, and a projection screen. The study illustrates the relationship between materials and miscommunication—specifically, how materials can contribute both to resolving miscommunication among students and their instructor and to creating miscommunication when students employ materials differently than intended by the instructor. This study employs the concepts ofadaptation, improvisation, andattractor statesfrom complexity theory (e.g., Larsen–Freeman, 2017) to analyze L2 classroom interactions. A sequential, multimodal analysis demonstrates that students and their instructor seem to be aware of materials as interactional resources and actively coordinate them with speech and nonverbal, embodied resources for meaning making. The findings improve our understanding of how L2 teachers and students can attend to materials and adapt such interactional resources for their own purposes.

Research on Subject Teaching Knowledge with Information Technology Deconstruction Perspective

This paper proposes the method of professional knowledge to affect all aspects of teacher education and teaching, corresponding to teachers’ understanding of the curriculum and the role of textbooks. The methods also influence the choice and design of technology. Therefore, teachers should have a deep understanding of the reciprocity between this mechanism, which involves the relationship of roles that teachers need to know the existence form and basic composition of different technologies in the context of teaching and learning. Also, the subject teaching knowledge in the framework is an aggregation of content knowledge and pedagogy knowledge, in terms of the knowledge about courses, evaluations, and reports included in the subject teaching knowledge. In conclusion, we can have wisdom, flexibility, and tension to choose the appropriate teaching method for subject content, and support technology to promote the occurrence of learning and the deconstruction of intelligent behavior.

The Principle of Open Individuality as a Basis for Teenagers’ Creative Interaction with Lyric Poems

Background. Although lyric poetry contains enormous opportunities for personal development of teenagers, expanding the scope of aesthetic experiences available to them, students often respond to it with hostility, for it is rather hard for them to comprehend. While much prior research has stressed the importance of teaching poetry to adolescents, the psychodidactic foundations of developing their creative interaction with lyric poetry and the role of textbooks in this process remain virtually unexplored.

Szkolna nauka czytania i pisania z wykorzystaniem wybranych elementarzy – refleksje metodyczne

Tekst dotyczy nauki czytania i pisania na początkowym etapie nauczania szkolnegooraz roli elementarzy w procesie alfabetyzacji dziecka. Artykuł ma charakter przeglądowy. W części pierwszej wskazano psycholingwistyczne podstawy czytania i pisania oraz różnice między systemami językowymi, warunkujące zastosowanie określonych metod nauki czytania i pisania. Opisano strukturę, funkcję i metodyczne aspekty pracy z elementarzem, który potraktowany został jako efektywna pomoc dydaktyczna i skuteczna forma inicjacji dziecka w świat pisma. W części drugiej scharakteryzowano wybrane elementarze oraz proponowane przez ich autorów koncepcje nauki czytania i pisania. Do analizy elementarzy zastosowano podejście tradycyjne – dydaktyczne i nieoceniające. Na koniec wskazano przykłady współczesnych elementarzy polskich, niemieckich i jeden rosyjski. Kryterium ich doboru był długoletni okres wykorzystywania (blisko pół wieku) w pierwszych latach nauki szkolnej oraz dominacja metod analityczno-syntetycznych w nauczaniu czytania i pisania.

Sissies, Sportsmen and Moms Standing over Stoves. Gender aspect of readers and mathematics textbooks for primary education in Slovakia

Many studies have dealt with issues related to school textbooks as a significant vehicle of open or hidden gender signals, but in Slovakia this issue has only recently gained ground. To date, textbooks for lower secondary and secondary schools have been at the centre of interest of experts in this area. Ironically however, textbooks for primary schoolshave remained on the periphery of interest of Slovak experts. This study analyses primary level readers and mathematics textbooks in the Slovak Republic. Our aim was to provide a picture of gender stereotypes and gender preferences in given textbooks, through the qualitative research methodology, in particular the method of in-depth textual analysis. In the case of mathematic textbooks it was primarily the analysis the assignment of verbal tasks, readers’ analysis was focused on the content of artistic text. Our intention was not to map the frequency of occurrence of gender stereotypes, but rather the nature and content of displaying the culture-conditioned male and female roles as they are presented in the public and private sphere of life. We are convicted that such model depictions are rapidly, automatically and intuitively acquired by pupils of primary education, which also affects the perception of that subject during adulthood. We believe that our study will contribute to the initial discussion of the issue and the role of textbooks in the educational and general acculturation process of primary school pupils.

Opportunities to learn: Mathematics textbooks and students’ achievements

This study explores how textbooks function in education. It asked whether opportunities provided in math textbooks to engage in tasks demanding different levels of understanding correlate with students’ achievements on tasks demanding equivalent levels of understanding on a standardized exam. The textbooks evaluated were two 8th grade mathematics textbooks used by students in the Arab community in Israel, showing that Textbook A makes more cognitive demands than Textbook B. The study correlated textbooks’ cognitive demand with the scores of all 8th grade students in the Arab community who completed the national math test in 2015 and studied in schools using either Textbook A or B (N=4040), while attending to mediating variables. The findings show that if a textbook provides the opportunity to engage in tasks demanding higher levels of understanding, students using this book will have higher scores. The study shows that gender and SES play an important role in how opportunities provided in textbooks interact with students’ scores. Many factors influence variations in mathematics achievements within and between nations. The findings illuminate textbooks’ ability to provide opportunities to learn mathematics. As a result, they raise new questions about how teachers use textbooks and about the role of textbooks in promoting access and equity in mathematics education. Although the work explored specific textbooks, its findings shed light on how learning opportunities relate to achievements more generally.

The Linguistic Presentation of Speech Acts in Top-Notch Intermediate Textbooks

The role of textbooks as one of the main sources of language input in addition to the teacher and other learners cannot be ignored in the process of language learning, especially in EFL contexts since learners mostly rely on textbooks for second language learning. Therefore, more attention should be paid to the evaluation of the textbooks to meet the needs of both teachers and learners. As such, the purpose of this research is to analyze and evaluate the pragmatic information of Top-Notch Intermediate textbooks which are used in most EFL institutes in Iran. Specifically, the article investigates the linguistic presentation of speech acts in the textbooks and the provision of sufficient contextual and meta-pragmatic information for the facilitation of learning the speech acts. The results indicated that there are three typical ways of presenting speech acts in the textbooks 1) using dialogues in conversation models, 2) using lists of expressions, and 3) using dialogues as well as the grammar section. In addition, there is inadequate contextual and meta-pragmatic information in terms of the speech acts included in the textbooks. The article also has some implications for teachers, materials writers and textbook designers in terms of the pragmatic aspect of the target language.

Dutch learner English in close-up

AbstractThis study presents a longitudinal Bayesian analysis of pre-subject adverbial (PSA) use in a 571,174-word corpus of Dutch learner English. Overall, learners use more circumstance and linking adverbials, but fewer stance adverbials than both novice and expert native writers. Learners also use more ‘local anchors’, i.e. adverbials that serve a cohesive purpose by linking back to an antecedent in the directly preceding discourse. Interestingly, untimed essays are more native-like than timed essays in their use of each of the adverbial types considered. Although learners generally develop in the direction of native writing, the use of linking adverbials in learners’ literature essays develops in the opposite direction. L1 transfer may account for more frequent use of some categories of adverbials, particularly local anchors, but the widening gap between learners and native speakers (NSs) in the use of linking adverbials suggests that the potential role of textbook and curriculum design warrants further research.

THE EVALUATION OF PRAGMATIC CONTENT OF CUTTING-EDGE INTERMEDIATE TEXTBOOKS: THE CASE OF SPEECH ACTS

Ponte Academic JournalJun 2017, Volume 73, Issue 6 THE EVALUATION OF PRAGMATIC CONTENT OF CUTTING-EDGE INTERMEDIATE TEXTBOOKS: THE CASE OF SPEECH ACTSAuthor(s): Atieh Farashaiyan ,Paramasivam MuthusamyJ. Ponte - Jun 2017 - Volume 73 - Issue 6 doi: 10.21506/j.ponte.2017.6.1 Abstract:The role of textbooks as the one of the main sources of language input in addition to the teacher and other learners cannot be ignored in the process of language learning. Therefore, more attention should be paid to the evaluation of the textbooks to meet the needs of both the teachers and learners. As such, this article aims to analyze and evaluate the pragmatic content of Cutting Edge Intermediate textbooks intended for use in most Malaysian colleges. Specifically, the article investigates the range and distribution of the speech acts included in these textbooks, the linguistic presentation of the speech acts in the textbooks and the provision of sufficient contextual and meta-pragmatic information for the facilitation of learning the speech acts. The results indicated that there is two typical ways for the presentation of speech acts through dialogues and list of some expressions. In addition, there is inadequate contextual and meta-pragmatic information in terms of the speech acts included in the textbooks. The article also draws some implications for teachers, materials writers and textbook designers in providing realistic models of L2 pragmatics in ESL contexts. Download full text:Check if you have access through your login credentials or your institution Username Password

The Authenticity Gap between what is taught in Bangladeshi EFL Courses and the Reality of ‘authentic’ English

The issueI intend to discuss in this paper is one that frustrates teachers and students alike. Bangladeshi students diligently practice their English for varying degrees of time and make varying amounts of progress but seem to run into insurmountable difficulties when confronted with ‘native speaker’ (NS) English. These difficulties stem from the seeming lack of convergence between the language being used by NSs and the language our students are practicing. In short, there is something of a 'gap' between what is taught in English conversation classes in Bangladesh, and the reality of ‘authentic’ English. This paper, therefore, briefly focuses on what is meant by the term ‘authenticity gap’ and the ‘role of text books’ in relation to this ‘gap’. Problems associated with utilizing ‘authentic English’ in Bangladeshi classrooms will also be discussed in detail. Finally, there will be recommendations on how to bridge this gap.IIUC Studies Vol.12 December 2015: 101-110

Writing the Discipline

The historiography of physics has reached a great degree of maturity and sophistication, providing many avenues to consider the making of science from a historical perspective. However, the big picture of the making of physics is characterized by a predominant narrative focused on a conception of disciplinary formation through leadership transfers in research among France, Germany, and Britain. This focus has provided the history of physics with a periodization, a geography, and a fundamental goal commonly considered to be conceptual and theoretical unification. In this paper, I suggest the interest of reassessing this picture by analyzing the temporal, national, and epistemological viewpoint from which it is written. I use for this purpose an exemplary case study: Adolphe Ganot’s physics textbooks in France and their translation by Edmund Atkinson in England. In this context, I suggest future avenues for the study of the making of physics as a discipline, which consider the canonical role of textbooks in disciplinary formation beyond the Kuhnian paradigm.

The transformation of school knowledge in the late Ottoman Empire: conflicting histories

As a result of developments in public education in the nineteenth-century Ottoman state, pedagogic professionalism began to direct school studies by setting scientific discourse against conventional epistemology. However, the strong conviction that the late Ottoman Empire was secularised progressively over years leads to the neglect of the tensions and conflicts in active authorship, and nullifies the role of textbooks as battlefields for ideologies. This article examines the tensions and resistances to modern knowledge that were deemed to be transferred in a smooth transition from the old to the new epistemology, in the history of education literature. The article discusses the discursive views in the general history textbooks. The contrasting conceptions of history, the first man, civilisations and tribal societies demonstrate the failure to form standard school knowledge in the Second Constitutional Period.

The role of textbooks in Finnish upper secondary school mathematics: theory, examples and exercises

Textbooks are written mainly for students, but they can also be seen as mediators between the intended curriculum and teachers’ practices. The focus of the present study is on how students and teachers at Finnish upper secondary schools perceive and describe their use of the theory, examples, and exercises presented in their mathematics textbooks. Seventy-one students participated in a short survey, and six of them and three of their teachers were interviewed. The results indicate that the theory, examples, and exercises presented in their textbooks have a strong influence on teachers’ work, but for the students the textbooks primarily represent a source of exercises.

The Perception of the Greek in the Albanian National Identity-Building Process (1886-1938)

This paper presents the first findings of a longitudinal research to History School Textbooks in the Albanian-speaking Western Balkans, in Albania and outside it, from the Albanian National Awakening Movement to 2010s. The project aims at studying the Image of the 'Other' and its transformations during this time period and is, as far as we are aware, the first of its kind tracing all school history textbooks in a time-series spanning three centuries – Albania being a good example for a case-study. Longitudinal research on history textbooks, rarely pursued (Meyers 1976), seeks to add value to textbook research, as it provides an opportunity to trace the development of history-textbooks' production parallel to the history of a state and the construction of cultural 'remembering.' In doing so, the project, utilizing the idea of researching textbooks for traces of social controversy (Christophe 2010, Klerides 2010) and political conflict (Taylor, Guyver 2011), attempts to identify the role of textbooks in the historical origins and development of socio-political biases towards the 'Other' in Albania, a topic linked with cognitive aspects of collective memory (Beim 2007). One of the research project's facets is to investigate the image of the "Greek" in identifications and identification shifts of the study time and regions vis-a-vis majority/minority group, domestic and international developments, new states, bilateral and multilateral relations. We argue that the image of Greek as the ethnic "Other" in Albania school textbooks transforms in the frame of domestic developments in both countries and of bilateral relations. In this present paper we shall deal specifically with representation of Greek/Greece/Hellenes in the earliest recorded history textbooks in Albania until 1938, a period that corresponds with the first educational initiatives of Albania's national awakening movement (cultural awakening), the nascent Albanian state and its consolidation through mass educational movement until World War II. Our sampling units consist nine history textbooks including Naim Frasheri's Histori e Pergjithshme per Mesonjetoret e Para (General History for the First Schools) (1886, republished in 1920), the very first History textbook used in Albanian schools. In view of the noticeable differences between the various newer editions of older texts we deemed appropriate to code them, although this seemed to be the case more at Chekrezi 1935 as different from Cekrezi 1920, rather than the Frasheri example, where the two versions of the texts are identical. But we decided to include it nonetheless, since this book was reprinted and re-used in schools and one could argue it continued to have some impact.

Using Bloom’s Taxonomy to Evaluate the Cognitive Levels of Master Class Textbook’s Questions

This study aimed at evaluating the cognitive levels of the questions following the reading texts of Master Class textbook. A checklist based on Bloom’s Taxonomy was the instrument used to categorize the cognitive levels of these questions. The researchers used proper statistics to rank the cognitive levels of the comprehension questions. The results showed that the author of Master Class emphasized the cognitive level of Comprehension having 52% of the questions, which was much more than the expected frequency, while wrote only 3.7% and 6% of the questions on the cognitive levels of Knowledge and Application respectively. The frequency of questions on the cognitive levels of Evaluation and Analysis were much closer to the expected frequencies. The results indicated that about 40% of the textbook’s questions emphasized higher-order thinking skills, which goes with the requirements of the revised curriculum. Evaluating and choosing a good textbook that goes with the goals of the curriculum is recommended. Such a study would shed light upon the role of textbooks in developing cognitive skills among Arab students.