DR Firas.273105840
DR Firas.273105840
DR Firas.273105840
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A Content Analysis of Teacher's Book of Action Pack Seven as a Textbook for Teaching English as a Foreign Language in Jordan
Dr. Firas Ali Suleiman Zawahreh
Directorate of Education of Ajloun Prince Hamzeh Bin Al-Hussien Basic School for Boys, Ajloun, Jordon Email: Zawahrehfiras@yahoo.com
Abstract This study aimed at analyzing Teacher's Book of Action Pack Seven to find out to what extent it agrees with the criteria of Miekley (2005).After analyzing it depending on that criteria, the findings of the study revealed that Teacher's Book fully agrees with the ten adopted criteria and in light of that the researcher recommended that studies should be conducted on the affect of the teacher's Book on teaching listening, speaking, reading and writing skills. Key words: Content Analysis, Teacher's Book 1-Introduction In some parts of the world the teachers book may be one Sources for the professional development of teachers. Cunningsworth (1995,p. 112). English Language teaching series usually consists of group of course levels. Each level usually consists of Students' Book, an Audio cassette, an Activity Book and a comprehensive Teacher's Book. Each one of these has its own importance in the process of teaching English for that level grade. In fact, Teacher's Book has special importance. Mostly, it is considered a key component in most language programs. Gearing (1999) listed group of reasons for evaluating teachers' guides: (a) helping teachers to decide on evaluating teachers' guide their selection of textbooks with teachers' guide. (b) Making them more aware of the content of the teachers' guide they use. (c) Helping them to make more effective use of it. (d) Making them more aware of its advantages and deficiencies and (e) generating ideas for its improvements. Tomlinson (2001) explained that there are three types of teacher's Books: (a) those that are uninteresting and of little use. (b) those that give detailed guidance for using the course, without giving ideas for adapting the materials and (c) those that also provide ideas for adapting the materials as well as giving the teacher extra activities. Cunningsworth (1995, p.115) showed in a checklist what a teacher's Book should include: First, Overview of the course and methodology. Second, aims and objectives of the course. Third, guidance on using the material. Fourth, linguistic information. Fifth, background cultural
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II Teacher's Manual A. General Features i. Does the manual help teachers understand the objectives and methodology of the text? ii. Are correct or suggested answers given for the exercises in the textbook? B. Background Information i. Are teachers shown how to teach students to use cues from morphology, cognates, rhetorical relationships, Copyright International Journal of English and Education
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C. Methodological Guidance i. Are teachers given techniques for activating students background knowledge before reading the text? ii. Are teachers given adequate examples for teaching students to preview, skim, scan, summarize, and to find the main idea? iii. Does the manual suggest a clear, concise method for teaching each Copyright International Journal of English and Education
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1. Textbook A. Content I. Is the subject matter presented either topically or functionally in a logical, organized manner? (1,2,3)ii ii. Does the content serve as a window into learning about the target language culture (American, British, ect.)? (2,18) iii. Are the reading selections authentic pieces of language? (5,10) iv. Compared to texts for native speakers, does the content contain real-life issues that challenge the reader to think critically about his/her worldview? (1,2,3,7,21) v. Are the text selections representative of the variety of literary genres, and do they contain multiple sentence structures? (1,13) B. Vocabulary and Grammar i. Are the grammar rules presented in a logical manner and in increasing order of difficulty? (1,2,3) ii. Are the new vocabulary words presented in a variety of ways (e.g. glosses, multi-glosses, appositives)? (2,3,12) iii. Are the new vocabulary words presented at an appropriate rate so that the text is understandable and so that students are able to retain new vocabulary? (1,2,3,5) iv. Are the new vocabulary words repeated in subsequent lessons to reinforce their meaning and use? (1,2,3,) v. Are students taught top-down techniques for learning new vocabulary words? (7,8,9,11) C. Exercises and Activities i. Are there interactive and task-based activities that require students to use new vocabulary to communicate? (1,2,3,5) ii. Do instructions in the textbook tell students to read for comprehension? (6) iii. Are top-down and bottom-up reading strategies used? (17) iv. Are students given sufficient examples to learn top-down techniques for reading comprehension? (7,8,9,10) v. Do the activities facilitate students use of grammar rules by creating situations in which these rules are needed? (1,2,3) vi. Does the text make comprehension easier by addressing one new concept at a time instead of multiple new concepts? (2,3) vii. Do the exercises promote critical thinking of the text? (2) D. Attractiveness of the Text and Physical Make-up i. Is the cover of the book appealing? (1,2,3) ii. Is the visual imagery of high aesthetic quality? (1,2,3,14) iii. Are the illustrations simple enough and close enough to the text
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