Series Of Textbooks Research Articles

The Vertical Context of Contemporary British Short Prose

The article is devoted to the study of vertical context in contemporary British short prose as the necessary prerequisite for the appreciation and accurate interpretation of fiction. The paper focuses on the socio-historical and philological vertical context of the short stories by contemporary British writers, which comprise Volumes I and II of “Story Time. Contemporary British Short Stories in the EFL Classroom”, a series of textbooks for tertiary education. The paper highlights realia, toponyms, anthroponyms, textual elements referring to characters’ social background and allusions as the most significant categories of vertical context. The authors draw the conclusion that the study of vertical context is of primary importance for achieving adequate understanding of literary texts and thus needs to be taught through practical assignments designed for students reading contemporary prose. They also comment on the current trend that consists in the restructuring of vertical context by shifting from allusions to classics to alluding to contemporary mass culture, quoting contemporary precedent names and titles.

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.

Intersection of Gender, Globalization, and Religion in Local and Globalized ELT Textbooks in Iran

This paper examines gender representation in two textbook series: Solutions, published by an international publisher, and the Iran Language Institute (ILI) series, written by local writers. Evidence of gender representation is drawn from the analysis of their religious content in the narrative texts and the illustrations. The analysis of gender representation is guided by six criteria: visibility in pictures, visibility in text, firstness, character activity, occupations, and topic dominance. The findings indicate that in both textbook series, males exhibit greater visibility and dominance in relation to character and occupation. The gender representation varies significantly. These results substantiate previous investigations conducted elsewhere, highlighting the gender imbalance in textbook representation. The examination of gender representation at the intersection of religion in local textbooks also revealed that intersectionality in social sciences can further perpetuate gender bias in educational materials. These findings serve as a call to action for textbook authors and education policymakers to prioritize gender equality representation within the context of religion and globalization in language education textbooks authored by local writers. This research holds implications for language teaching approaches fostering intercultural competence, specifically in English as a lingua franca.

Impediments to learning problem-solving in Malawian lower secondary mathematics textbooks

Background: In a culture where teachers follow the textbook prescriptively, Malawian students perform low in mathematics, and no students reach the problem-solving levels.Aim: To explore reasons for students’ low performance, this study aims at investigating opportunities to learn problem-solving in Malawian mathematics textbooks.Setting: This study focuses on Malawian mathematics textbooks in the lower secondary grades focusing on the areas of linear equations and simultaneous linear equations. These areas have a particular emphasis on problem-solving.Methods: Four textbooks from two of the most widely used series of mathematics textbooks in Malawian secondary school were analysed. The Mathematics Discourse in Instruction framework was used to analyse examples and tasks in the four textbooks.Results: Analysis indicates that the textbooks provide relatively few opportunities to learn problem-solving, and most of the opportunities are given through word problems. These word problems are typically presented towards the end of the chapters, and students are thus stimulated to apply already learned procedures to solve the problems rather than learn through problem-solving.Conclusion: Limitations in opportunities to learn problem-solving are particularly challenging in a context like Malawi, where teacher–textbook compliance is high, where there is a shortage of qualified mathematics teachers and where few students have access to their own textbook.Contribution: This study provides an overview of impediments to learning problem-solving in Malawian mathematics textbook, and knowledge about such impediments is necessary for change.

«Ssavtsi» (Mammalia): the story of a 100-year-old term

The use of the Ukrainian word «ssavtsi» (= «suctorial») and its synonym «zviri» (= «beasts») to designate the class Mammalia is considered. It is shown that the word «zviri» is traditional, but over time the share of publications with the term «ssavtsi» increases, an in general there are twice as many of them. The similar meaning of these terms is conditional, and the author adheres to the usage of «ssavtsi» for the class Mammalia and «zviri» for the subclass Theria (= «placental»). The analysis of previous literature sources showed that the term «ssavtsi» appeared in scientific circulation only in 1910, in the textbook «Zoology» by I. Verkhratsky, and precisely as a plural noun with an iotized «i» («ssavtsї»). The author explains the latter as underlining the emphasis of the syllable, in contrast to predecessor terms, which were participles. This format was later changed to an iotless «i» with the appearance of writing the nomen in singular («ssavets»). There is a number of words based on the verb «ssaty» (= «to suck»), in particular «ssushchi», «ssachi», and «ssawchi in the prehistory of the appearance of the term «ssavtsi». The latter variant is not found in Ukrainian-language sources, but it was coined in the Polish language by M. Novytsky, a native of Galicia and Podolia, who after defending his thesis (in Lviv in 1863) became a professor at the Jagiellonian University, where he published a series of textbooks changing the meaning of «ssące» («zwierzęta ssące») and the noun «ssąwce» (the modern form is «ssaki»). An analogous term was present in the Czech language («ssawci» modernised as «savci»), from which textbooks were translated by activists of the Ruthenian movements. Thanks to the educational activities of the Ukrainian Scientific Society (USS), it was included in textbooks and reference books (written by I. Rakovsky, M. Charlemagne, and I. Verkhratsky in 1919–1922). One of its first popularisers was V. Hnatiuk, the compiler of the ethnographic collection «Animal Epic» (1916), who listed the articles according to systematics and used the nomen «Ssavtsi» (Mammals) for the title of the section. The further distribution of this term can also be explained by the fact that the monosyllabic form has become fixed in all the neighbouring languages: Czech «savci», Polish «ssaki», Slovak «cicavce» and others. To some extent, it was also the answer to the Latin composite name Mammalia (mamma = «mammary gland», -alia = «the one possesses»), and the suffix «-ets» in Ukrainian is a completely corresponding formant.

Politicizing ‘Learning by Doing’: Shiono Naomichi and the Cultivation of the ‘Japanese Spirit’ in Primary and Secondary Science Education in Japan from 1931–1958

AbstractThis article traces the development of the wartime Japanese curriculum, which was deliberately designed to implement ‘Japanese’ approaches to science, and its relation to the previously dominant educational approach, learning by doing. It examines the work of Shiono Naomichi (1898–1969), who served as the curriculum and textbook revision director for science and mathematics in the Ministry of Education from 1924 to 1944 and also authored several important textbooks up to the 1950s. While authoring two textbook series in the 1930s and 1940s, respectively, Shiono used learning-by-doing methods to implement ‘Japanese’ ways of thinking within his texts, in response to the demand for the promotion of Japanese spirit. In the succeeding post-war era, Shiono attempted to conceal the relevance of his pre-war and wartime textbooks to the wartime promotion of ‘Japanese’ thought processes and insisted on the educational superiority of his own textbooks over post-war American-style progressive textbooks. By analyzing his shifting claims on wartime education in relation to progressive educational thought, this article portrays the political function of science education and its concealment in post-war Japan. The rediscovery of the political implications of wartime textbooks, as well as a re-examination of their influence in post-war science textbooks, will enable us to critically scrutinize the political features of contemporary Japanese science education.

High school mathematics texts construction of statistics practices

IntroductionA robust understanding of statistics has become crucial in our data centric societies. In the school setting the teaching of statistics is situated within the mathematics curriculum in the U.S. However, many mathematics teachers often have little to no past experiences with statistics before teaching it. Given such circumstances, textbooks likely play a strong role influencing the statistics curriculum teachers enact for students. In this study, I investigate how the discourse of two common high school textbook series form what the actions are for doing statistics.MethodsFor this study I used a Foucauldian discourse analysis to inductively analyze the texts for the actions they create.ResultsOne of the main results of the study was that the actions are very routinized/algorithmic in nature. Furthermore, most actions were associated with analyzing data. I also contrast the findings of the analysis to the discourse of the field of statistics education, namely through the Guidelines for Assessment and Instruction in Statistics Education, which highlighted some significant absences including statistical questions to drive investigation and discussion of collecting data.DiscussionThe findings have implications for teacher education in terms of topics to focus teachers’ attention on and to help provide them further support with teaching to their students.

Neoliberal discourse in locally developed Malaysian English language textbooks: a comparison between the pre- and post-neoliberal eras

ABSTRACT Studies on the discourse of neoliberalism in English language textbooks (ELT) concur that neoliberalism originated from the west: thus, its values are imported into the rest of the world through the textbooks produced by western global ELT producers. Instead, the current study shows that neoliberalism is not necessarily an entirely foreign concept in the non-western context and, in particular, in Malaysia, but is already present amongst the non-western local populace where the realities of the local society are subject to development, and this is reflected in the textbooks. Scrutinised through tools borrowed from the Discourse Historical Approach – an approach to Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) – this study contributes to the current body of literature by comparing two series of ELT textbooks, locally developed during the pre- and post-neoliberal eras in Malaysia, for their neoliberal content. The findings reveal that that these textbooks have evolved to solely picture the middle-class neoliberal subjects who go through a process of skillisation who have tendencies towards the neoliberal products and behaviours in recent years, influenced by the socio-political developments as opposed to the older books.

Themes of Consolidation in Eugene P. Odum’s Publicization of the Levels Concept in Ecology Textbooks, 1953–1975

Abstract Following its initial development in the 1920’s and 1930’s, by mid-century the concept of “levels of organization” began to disperse throughout the life science textbook literature. Among other early textbooks that first applied the levels concept, Eugene P. Odum’s usage of the notion in his textbook series Fundamentals of Ecology (and his later series Ecology) stands out due to the marked emphasis placed on the concept as a foundational, erotetically-oriented organizing principle. In this paper, I examine Odum’s efforts toward advocating the levels concept in ecology in light of the concept’s wider uptake in biology around that time.

Representations of gender and sexual orientation over three editions of a Japanese language learning textbook series

This study analyses a popular commercial textbook series for learning Japanese as a second or foreign language (JSL/JFL) and investigates how its textual and visual representations of gender and sexual orientation have changed over the three editions published over the last 20 years. Examining the interplay of text and images, the longitudinal analysis reveals that heteronormative representations remain dominant across the three editions, while observing some changes in representation over time. For instance, derogatory depictions of LGBTQ+ people have been removed and – albeit limited – representations that give consideration to gender and sexual diversity have been incorporated. Such changing representations indicate how language, gender and sexuality ideologies in Japanese society intersect with the globalised contexts of JSL/JFL, and suggest that stratified ideological values regarding gender and sexuality are enmeshed with the commercial viability of textbook publishers.

Visual images and image-text relations in ELT textbooks for young learners

Abstract A noteworthy change in China’s newly released national English language curriculum standards is the inclusion of ‘viewing’ ability, i.e., the skill of acquiring information conveyed in multimodal discourses like graphics, photos and animation (MOE, 2022a). To investigate how ELT textbooks are compiled to foster learners’ viewing ability, we conducted a descriptive content analysis of two ELT textbook series (N1 = 12, N2 = 6) for young learners. Informed by Fingeret’s classification of graphics (2012) and Martinec and Salway’s framework of image-text relations (2005), we coded a total of 7182 visual images to examine how different types of visual images and image-text relations were utilised in terms of frequency and distribution in the two textbook series. Results show that both textbook series feature the use of diverse visual images and the Chinese ELT textbook series exclusively uses cartoons, whereas the global ELT textbooks use photos in addition to cartoons. Regarding image-text status relations, equal relations constitute a larger percentage than unequal relations, and the expansion logico-sematic relations appear much more frequently than the projection relations. Implications for dealing with visual images and image-text relations in ELT textbooks for young learners are suggested in the conclusion section.

The Characteristics of Selected Topics and Content Innovation of Core Textbooks for English Teacher Training—Taking the New Century Teacher Training English Textbook Series as an Example

Teacher education is related to the future talent training of the country and has far-reaching significance. Teacher-training students majoring in English not only need to learn English well but also need to learn how to teach English. Therefore, teacher-training English majors should emphasize the cultivation of English subjects and teaching ability, which should not be limited to either language learning or teaching skills. At present, all levels and types of education attach great importance to the role of teaching materials, and education for future teachers is no exception. It can be said that the quality and level of teaching materials are directly related to teachers’ teaching and students’ learning, and directly related to the quality and specifications of talent training. The article takes the series of textbooks—“English for Teachers in the New Century”—published by Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press as an example. From the perspective of the characteristics of the selected topics and content innovation, it discusses the feathers of “teacher training” and “political thinking” of the core curriculum textbooks for English teacher training. Also, some scientific suggestions will be made to help teachers penetrate the concept of teacher education while cultivating students’ language abilities.

An Evaluation to the English for Libya ' Textbook Series at Libyan Primary Schools: An Evaluative Study

An Evaluation to the English for Libya ' Textbook Series at Libyan Primary Schools: An Evaluative Study

Representation of National Identity and Culture in the Saudi EFL Textbook Series Mega Goal: A Critical Discourse Analysis

Representation of National Identity and Culture in the Saudi EFL Textbook Series Mega Goal: A Critical Discourse Analysis

Korpuslinguistische Betrachtungen zum grammatischen Wandel in DaF-Lehrwerken. Zwischen Authentizität und Lernbarkeit

The grammar of a language constantly changes. Synchronically this change is manifest in the emergence of alternate grammatical constructions. The side-by-side of old and new variants is part of a speaker’s language competence. Thus, a greater awareness of variation, which would allow learners to contextualize different variants, at least receptively, is demanded for the teaching German as a foreign language. The present paper investigates how five different textbook series of German as a foreign language deal with five different language change phenomena: (1) explicitly in productive exercises and grammatical overviews, (2) (for three of the five textbooks) implicitly in their audio- and reading material, which was compiled into a corpus. The distribution of variants was compared with the distribution in authentic texts, available in corpora of written and spoken speech. It turns out that the productive exercises aimed at the acquisition of grammatical constructions are limited to constructions, which are typical for written language use, although some textbooks draw attention to grammatical variants. In audio-material and reading texts, grammatical variation between new and old constructions, which is manifest most clearly in the distinction between oral and written speech, is present, but remains uncommented. On the basis of these data the paper argues for a more authentic approach and a more tolerant attitude towards phenomena of grammatical change in teaching German as a foreign language, which also includes their adequate production.

A critical analysis of Vietnam-produced English textbooks for high school students: intercultural and multicultural perspectives

ABSTRACT In the twenty-first century, language users’ communicative competence needs to include a new dimension –intercultural and multicultural literacy – necessary for communication in multilingual and multicultural settings. This article aims to present a study answering the central research question ‘How are interculturalism and multiculturalism reflected in a series of Vietnam-produced English textbooks for high school students?’ In order to answer this question, a cultural content analysis was conducted with the foci on cultural knowledge and skills in intercultural communicative competence. The study found that interculturalism (inclusion of source cultures, international cultures, and target language cultures and of comparisons and contrasts among them) and multiculturalism (ethnic diversity, globalization, mutual understanding, and non-ethnocentrism and non-Western-centrism) are reflected in the textbooks, albeit with certain limitations. The study provides a sample cultural analysis framework and suggestions for English language teaching writers in the Expanding Circle in an era of interculturalism and multiculturalism.

Preliminary Investigation into the Affordances of Evaluative Resources in Multimodal Texts of an Established Textbook Series in Vietnam

The paper aims to initially examine the deployment of Attitude in multimodal reading texts in Solutions (Falla & Davies, 2013), an English textbook series being used as textbooks in most universities in Vietnam. To reach its aim, it first deployed the Appraisal framework proposed by Martin and White (2005) to examine evaluative resources in the fifteen verbal texts of the five genres of Anecdote, Biographical recount, Exposition, Narrative, and Review (Rose & Martin, 2012). A closer examination of how images contribute to articulating evaluation is then conducted on five of these multimodal reading texts in light of the Visual Appraisal frameworks suggested by Economou (2009) and White (2014) and the terms Convergence and Divergence proposed by Painter, Martin and Unsworth (2013). It was found that various aspects of Attitude are exploited with a range of frequency in different genres. It was also indicated that Convergence tends to be more frequently deployed than Divergence. In the same multimodal text, both cases of Convergence and Divergence may occur or only one of the two types. In any way, they all have the function of co-articulating attitude. The paper concludes by highlighting the necessity of selecting appropriate images in textbooks among editors and deploying images in effectively teaching multimodal texts among lecturers and teachers.

Cudzoziemiec w polskim świecie. Kreacja podręcznikowego bohatera w kontekście kształcenia świadomości interkulturowej¬ – na przykładzie serii Start

The article analyses the image of a foreigner, a recurring protagonist in Start, which is a series of contemporary textbooks for teaching Polish as a foreign language for levels A0-A2. The analysis aims to reveal the extent to which his native cultural background, reflected in the social behaviour, habits, preferences and interests, expressed views and emotions, self-awareness of identity, values and reaction to the encounter with Polish culture, is taken into account in the way he is shown, and to what degree this character has been culturally “Polonized”. The authors conclude that the resource presents a rather ethnocentric point of view and, as such, might undermine the teachers’ efforts to develop intercultural awareness among students.

의사소통 역량 증진을 위한 교수･학습 방안으로서 개인화와 초등영어교육과정 및 교과서에서 개인화

Acknowledging the value of personalization as an effective teaching and learning device to enhance competence in communication, this study aims to examine the 2015 Revised Primary English Curriculum and textbooks to investigate the contents and activities related to personalization. The study examined the curriculum related to speaking and writing for the contents that can be linked to personalization. It also examined three most popular textbook series of grades 3 through 6 to analyze the frequency, language function areas, the periods of a unit, and the types of personalization activities. The results of the study shows that personalization-related contents appear throughout the curriculum. However, more comprehensively and systematically written curriculum is desired in order to provide elementary learners a more personalization-rich learning environment. In terms of the frequencies, language function areas, and the periods of a unit of personalization activities, there was also room for improvement. Suggestions for writing a more comprehensive and systematic curriculum are provided and recommendations are made toward providing a learning environment that is more enriched in personalization activities, more balanced in speaking and writing, and more varied in the periods of units that personalization activities are utilized.

An analysis of Irish mathematics textbook tasks in the context of curriculum change

ABSTRACT This study is concerned with the analysis of mathematical textbook tasks at the second-level in Ireland, in the context of the introduction of the revised curriculum entitled ‘Project Maths’. A total of 7635 tasks on the topics of Pattern, Sequences and Series, and Differential Calculus were analysed; these tasks were selected from editions of three textbook series available before and after the curriculum change. The analysis was carried out using a framework specially formulated for the purposes of this study, based on an amended version of the Project Maths objectives centred on its representation/characterisation of ‘synthesis and problem-solving skills’. Our findings suggest that the post-Project Maths textbook tasks offer more problem-solving opportunities compared to those in the older textbooks, but that there is still much scope for further development. Based on our analysis, it would appear that all three textbook series have neglected important objectives of the Project Maths curriculum such as providing opportunities for students to devise models/techniques and translate information from written to mathematical form.