Hassan Soodmand Afshar; Alireza Sohrabi
Abstract
This study critically evaluated the newly published Iranian twelfth-grade English textbook, Vision 3, with a focus on ‘rights analysis’ and ‘culture’ adopting a mixed-methods design. To this end, 200 Iranian school English teachers and 200 twelfth-grade students were selected ...
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This study critically evaluated the newly published Iranian twelfth-grade English textbook, Vision 3, with a focus on ‘rights analysis’ and ‘culture’ adopting a mixed-methods design. To this end, 200 Iranian school English teachers and 200 twelfth-grade students were selected nation-wide from various Iranian high schools based on convenience sampling. The participants (both male and female) completed a validated 56-item researcher-made questionnaire both online and in the paper format. Moreover, 15 teachers and 15 students, whose informed consent was obtained, attended a semi-structured interview voluntarily. The participants’ rights and needs as well as the cultural aspects of the book were also analyzed subjectively by the researchers. The results of the descriptive statistics of the questionnaire and the content analysis of the interviews showed that despite the authors’ claim that the book enjoyed a mainly communicative approach in its design and preparation, the Vision 3 package has serious shortcomings, including failure to take into account the students’ needs, the negligence of the rights of the teachers and students in the process of designing and compiling the book, following a producer-consumer attitude in developing the materials, ignoring the equal distribution of power, and pursuing an extreme localization and Iranianization of the target language culture. Therefore, it is recommended that policymakers consider both teachers and students’ viewpoints to overcome these drawbacks in future editions of the book.
Hassan Soodmand Afshar; Fateme Hafez
Abstract
ESP textbooks play a fundamental role in the success of language teaching programs. According to Sheldon (1988), textbooks are the pivotal element of English language teaching programs. Every textbook should be evaluated before use with regard to the specific needs of the students and the classroom. ...
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ESP textbooks play a fundamental role in the success of language teaching programs. According to Sheldon (1988), textbooks are the pivotal element of English language teaching programs. Every textbook should be evaluated before use with regard to the specific needs of the students and the classroom. This study focuses on evaluating Special English for the Students of Computer published by SAMT from both the students’ and teachers’ viewpoints. The aim of the study was to evaluate whether this ESP (or Technical English Language) textbook taught in Iran for BA students of Computer satisfied students' objectives, needs, and wants from students’ and ESP teachers’ perspectives. Participants included three ESP teachers and 83 computer students who completed a Likert scale questionnaire, attended a semi-structured interview and were observed. The results of the analysis indicated that there was no significant difference between the students' and teachers' views regarding practical concern, subject matter, skills and strategies, exercises, design and content of the book. Their overall view was that the textbook, in spite of having certain merits, focused mainly on reading skills and overlooked other skills and sub-skills including speaking and grammatical structure.
