The Construction Of A Context-based Textbook Evaluation Model

In the context where the English language is designated as one of the three compulsory subjects from grade three to twelve, there are two major problems with the use of its textbooks. Firstly, teachers do not play any substantial role in textbook selection and evaluation though they are not only one of the groups of textbook users but also mediators between the target language and the learner (Cunningsworth, 2002:17). Secondly, there are no systemic, principled and China specific criteria on which textbook evaluation will be based.To work out the possible solutions to the problems, a review is made to formulate a framework for the present study. Various prior models on textbook evaluations at home and abroad are reviewed, from which basic principles for constructing the model are derived. An investigation is then made on the provincial scale. First of all, the present study mounts a probe of the ideas of teachers of English on the role of English textbooks in TEFL in the primary and secondary schools in Jiangsu, their comments on the quality of textbooks in use, their ideas and current practices of textbook evaluation and whether they think there is a need to develop a textbook evaluation model. The first hand information is obtained with the aid of 190 teachers of English from 19 schools across Jiangsu by means of a set of questionnaires and interviews. To compare and contrast the opinions about textbook use and criteria for evaluation, 6 subject supervisors from across Jiangsu contribute their ideas. To establish validity and reliability of the study, the head teacher of each school is requested to describe the policy of textbook use and textbook evaluation in his or her school in the interview.Consensuses are drawn from the data from the questionnaires and interviews on the role of textbooks. Teachers hold a positive perception of the role of textbooks though they generally believe that it is good for both students' learning and teachers' professional growth to use materials designed by themselves rather than just fully depend on the ready-made commercial textbooks. They depend heavily on the use of textbooks because they would have no idea of teaching without the designated textbooks in their everyday English instruction. The general comment on the quality of textbooks shows the textbooks in use are barely satisfactory mainly because the imposition of the textbook results in the negligence of the individual difference in student needs. This suggests that teachers have their own criteria derived from their experience to intuitively judge their textbooks. Regarding their ideas and current practices of textbook evaluation, the route of evaluation is top-down. Neither teachers nor subject supervisors have much idea about the policy of textbook use on account of the top-down decision-taking process. They do not think that existing textbooks have ever been formally evaluated at their school level. In other words, teachers do not have a substantial part to play in textbook selection and evaluation. The teachers have a fairly strong need for evaluation of textbooks. They believe that their participation in the process of textbook evaluation will enhance their professionalism so that they have the perspective to judge and use textbooks in the light of professional practice and educational objectives. The investigation confirms that equipping teachers with a set of specific and applicable criteria or guidelines is considered to be a practical step as it will give them more confidence in doing their job. Practicing teachers' priority of the criteria, eighteen in all, differs from that of the subject supervisors, yet both groups generally agree that textbooks should motivate learning and give learners opportunities for meaningful and appropriate use of English. The investigation indicates a growing desire among teachers to involve in the process of textbook evaluation. To yield the fruits of their participation in the process, both the head teachers and their fellow practicing teachers voice their pressing need for a set of guidelines or model.To reach practical solutions to the problems and answer the need of teacher participation in the process of textbook evaluation, we propose an interactive approach to textbook selection and a quantitative model of textbook evaluation with a two-dimensional hierarchy of criteria, based on the basic principles derived from the previous models reviewed. The decision-makers from the top keep their fingers on the pulse of textbook users at the bottom and make it have real meaning in the final decision—an interaction between the bottom-up and top-down approaches. In addition to the teachers' views, to construct a context-based evaluation model, analyses are attempted of both English Curriculum Standards (2001) and student needs since the model must be determined by the objectives and circumstances of the evaluation (Tomlinson, 1999:11). The former both determines the way in which textbooks will be exploited for teaching purposes and offers course teachers and writers an organizational framework for their work. It is the point of departure for instructional materials development and evaluation (Cheng Xiaotang, 2002:33). And the principal criterion to assess a textbook is to see whether it is conducive to the achievement of the goals and objectives set in the Standards. Textbooks should be not only compatible with the goals and objectives set in the Standards but substantially correspond to the needs of its intended consumers as well (Cunningsworth, 2002:15). An overall student needs analysis is therefore made by virtue of a questionnaire. It is found that students are mainly instrumentally motivated to learn English. They lend great weight to their production of English, their speaking ability in particular while no due significance is attached to their reception of rules and texts.The evaluation model is, in the first place, well grounded on the findings from the probe of the ideas of teachers of English concerning textbook issues, analysis of the Standards, and findings from the student needs analysis. In the second place, it originates in part in a series of principles discerned from the previous models. The model comprises five broad categories: layout, content selection, ideological validity, psychological validity, and pedagogical validity. And from them 22 evaluation criteria are subsequently derived in all. They do not have the same level of significance though each individual criterion is vital to the overall value of a textbook. Accordingly, a tentative two-dimensional hierarchy of criteria is constructed. The criteria at the horizontal level are equivalent whereas those at the vertical level are ranked into 6 levels, with 2 points at the bottom and 7 at the top. In such a way, a quantitative evaluation, which is systemic and principled rather than ad hoc, is likely to achieve. Upon validating two individual criteria and applying the model to Fun with English (9B), we conclude that the book will be substantially conducive to the improvement of its users' English competence as the book gets 89 points out of a possible 100 and that the evaluator has gained a clear and full insight into the book, which will, to a considerable extent, influence the way he or she deals with the book, eventually affccting teaching and learning significantly. On top of these, it is found that the books evaluated show obvious weakness in ideological validity.The interactive approach to textbook selection makes not only the selection democratic but also the textbook better satisfy the need of its consumers. And the quantitative model of textbook evaluation will be a framework for teachers to use their textbook critically so that the book will be a positive scaffold to the educational objectives. The findings of the investigation and the demonstration of the model, therefore, imply that teacher participation in the process of evaluating textbooks in use or before use will not only play a crucial role in teachers' professional growth but also affect teaching and learning substantially. Besides, it is necessary to look into textbooks of English in some detail in order to unearth what some of its unstated negative ideologies are. The underlying ideology or value system, a different perspective from that of language content or methodology, is equally important, because the value system hidden in a textbook can influence the perceptions and attitudes of its users generally and towards learning English in particular. In this sense, the model shows much originality in that the value of textbooks is quantitatively measured and culture and cultural awareness are definitely considered as one of the basic skills of any language learning, in additional to listening, speaking, reading, and writing.