ISSN 1799-2591

Theory and Practice in Language Studies, Vol. 6, No. 2, pp. 260-267, February 2016
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17507/tpls.0602.06

EFL Teachers' Perceptions towards Textbook

Evaluation
Azam Ahmadi
English Language Department, Islamic Azad University, Science and Research Branch, Shahrood, Iran

Ali Derakhshan
English Language and Literature Department, Golestan University, Gorgan, Iran

Abstract—Textbook evaluation helps the teachers find appropriate course books and let them regulate and
modify them to meet the learners' needs and also allow for natural interaction to occur. The skilled teachers
have the opportunity to report and reflect their perceptions on the usefulness and weakness of the textbook
they use in a given class. Although there is a lot of research on textbook evaluation, the newly published
textbooks are paid less attention. Therefore, the aim of this study is to review the evaluation of various
textbooks which are conducted by EFL teachers all over the world to find out their perceptions toward the
strengths and weaknesses of the textbooks. Moreover, this study reviews some studies on Iranian teachers'
perceptions toward old and newly published materials "Prospect1"which are taught in schools, the role of
teachers in evaluating textbooks, weaknesses and strengths of textbooks and some arguments against materials.
This review research illustrates to what extent textbooks provide teachers and students' needs and empower
teachers to improve their knowledge about evaluation of each kind of textbooks. The evaluation of textbooks
reveals benefits and deficiencies of the teaching materials. Finally, it is recommended that it will be useful for
the syllabus designers, experienced and inexperienced teachers, materials developers and educational
authorities to evaluate and investigate the newly-published textbooks in order to realize new ways to improve
the quality of the materials and revise their contents.

Index Terms—teachers' perceptions, evaluation, textbook evaluation, EFL teachers

I. INTRODUCTION
Textbooks are valuable in each language classroom, and they have several roles in English Language Teaching(ELT)
curriculum and help the process of language teaching and learning. Hutchinson and Torres (1994) argue that a textbook
has a very virtual role in teaching and learning of English. They also mention that although the significance of the
textbook as a worldwide component of English language teaching is undeniable, it is hard to define the textbook role in
the language classroom perfectly and exactly. As stated by Zohrabi, Sabouri and Kheradmand (2014), "textbooks are
one of the elements that may promote or discourage learners depending on their materials. They are a kind of support
for both teachers and learners. Textbooks provide students a kind of consistency"(p.95). According to Ahour and
Ahmadi (2012), "textbooks are the main sources that can convey the knowledge and information to the learners in an
easy and organized way" (p.176).
Some researchers believe that textbooks and materials play a central role in every learning condition and help
teachers with their responsibilities. (Azizfar, 2009; Dudley-Evans & St. John, 1998). Textbooks have some advantages
which were highlighted by Brown (1995) as follows: a source of language, a learning support, motivation, stimulation,
and reference. Textbooks are among the most important resources utilized to achieve the aims of a course which are
based on the learners' needs. However, they should not become the aim of the course themselves and set those aims.
O'Neill (1982) introduces four reasons for the use of course books. Firstly, course book materials are useful for
students' needs. Secondly, the students can have a program for their future learning and a review of previous course
books. Thirdly, students can acquire valuable and reasonable materials. Finally, the teachers can have opportunities to
adjust and modify the course books according to students' needs. Alternatively, the content of any English language
textbooks influences the teacher how to teach and the learner how to learn. According to Razmjoo (2007), students feel
safe when they use textbooks and help them to progress and achieve their goals.
In fact, to find out whether a textbook is suitable for an English classroom or not, when should a textbook be revised
and how? The evaluation is necessary and vital. Knowing this can help the teacher to present the material for his /her
students better and more efficiently. Textbook evaluation has become an essential practice in the field of teaching. To
conduct an evaluation process, it is very important to use a suitable model and appropriate criteria.
As Cunningsworth (1995) notes," it is important to limit the number of criteria used and the number of questions
asked to manageable proportions" (p.5). According to Ahour and Ahmadi (2012), textbooks give suitable knowledge to
the learners. Subsequently, in order to collect an applicable textbook that provides the needs of the learners according to
their cultures, the textbook evaluation is required. Though there are different standard textbook evaluation framework,

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using a suitable framework according to the methods and approaches of that textbook is very important. Tomlinson
(1999) also suggests that" the obvious but important point is that there can be no one model framework for the
evaluation of materials; the framework used must be determined by the reasons, objectives, and circumstances of the
evaluation"(p.11). Moreover, Tomlinson, Dat, and Richards (2001) believe that before evaluating a textbook, some
information is necessary such as the role of the textbook in the program, the teachers in the program and also the
learners in the program.

II. REVIEW OF THE RELATED LITERATURE

In order to shed light on the issues in this area, the relevant literature that addresses the previous studies and activities
will be reviewed.
A. A Brief Historical Overview of Textbook Evaluation
Textbook evaluation provides the opportunity for the teachers, supervisors, administrators, and materials developers
to make judgment about the textbooks and how to choose them for the learners. MacGrath (2002) mentions that
evaluation is a significant enterprise for the development and administration of language learning programs. According
to Sheldon (1988), among several reasons for textbook evaluation, he has suggested that it is an essential need to
evaluate and analyze the various ELT textbooks which exist in the markets in order to select a suitable English language
textbook and find the advantages and disadvantages of them. It helps the educational decision makers to adapt the
suitable textbooks.
B. The Role of Teachers in Textbook Evaluation
Bhanegaonkar and Mahfoodh (2013) define the role of teacher in curriculum and assert that "teachers are a key factor
in the successful implementation of curriculum changes and particularly in textbook"(p.2). Nunan (1987) claims that
classroom teachers can design, implement, and evaluate their own curriculum and they see themselves as having
primary responsibility for all of above tasks. Some of them feel that syllabus development should be carried out by
experts and government authorities and believe that they were being asked to undertake tasks for which they were not
sufficiently trained. (p.8)
Teachers in their positions can manage, evaluate and administer the education program especially teaching textbooks.
Cunningsworth (1995) considers that the evaluation of the textbooks needs the most successful and effective procedures
to discuss the textbook users’ opinions. Since the major users of the textbooks are the students and teachers, their
opinions toward textbooks should be collected and analyzed. Similarly, teachers in any language classroom need to use
textbook to support their teaching. Using or adapting textbooks is an important part of teachers' professional knowledge;
furthermore, the textbook is provided mainly to match the teachers' instruction; evaluation of textbooks shows problems
with the teaching materials, leading to fact that textbooks should be taken into consideration. As Ansari and Babaii
(2002) state, teachers have the responsibility for evaluating textbooks, so the evaluation of teaching materials is an
integral part of a teacher’s work. Teachers in Iranian state schools have the responsibility for teaching the books
suggested and mandated by the Ministry of Education; therefore, they need to get acquainted with the principle of
textbook evaluation as well as the evaluation checklists and schemes. The skilled teachers have the opportunity to report
and reflect their views on the usefulness and weakness of the textbook they use in a given class. It may be useful for the
syllabus designers, inexperienced teachers, textbook developers, etc.
C. Benefits and Drawbacks of the Use of Textbooks
Different writers have investigated the advantages and disadvantages of textbooks (Lamie, 1999; Richards, 2001;
Richards &Renandya, 2002; ShafieeNahrkhalaj, 2012; Ur, 1996). In spite of various limitations in this area, textbooks
are a very central tool for the teachers in teaching a foreign language. They supply the teachers the opportunity to
present more time to other worthwhile pursuits and they can reduce potential professional overwork. Using textbooks
has some disadvantages. Teachers become less creative and over use the prescribed textbooks.
With regard to benefits of the textbooks, Ur (1996) notes course books have some advantages of course books as
follows: (a) they supply a clear outline for the teachers and the students in order to know how to use the textbook, (b)
they provide plan for the selection of the language context systematically,(c) they provide for the teachers to choose the
appropriate textbooks based on the students' level for most of the class, (d) they provide learning material for each
student cheaply and easily, (e) they supply appropriate packages whose components are bound in order, (f) Teachers'
guide help the teachers especially inexperienced teachers teach better, (g) They supply self-sufficiency for the students
to use them and learn new material, review and monitor progress.
Richards (2001) presents some principles for advantages of using textbooks:
1. They provide some programs based on structure and syllabus;
2. They help systematize instruction;
3. They preserve quality;
4. They supply various learning resources;
5. They can provide actual language models and input.

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6. Teachers can be trained;

7. They are visually attractive (p.1-2).
In a different view, Richards and Renandya (2002) indicate the disadvantages of textbooks as: (a) they are not
successful to present valid and realistic language models, (b) They decrease learner roles, (c) they are not succeed in
contextualizing language activities,(d) they provide inappropriate cultural understanding for the students, (e) they are
unsuccessful to provide discourse ability, (f) they cannot present idioms, (g) they are weak in presenting equity in
gender representation.
By the same token, Ur (1996) makes some disputes against the textbook:
1. There is not a suitable textbook for the students with different needs;
2. There is no a good textbook with good topics which can be relevant for and interesting to all;
3. A textbook prevents teachers' creativity;
4. A textbook planned the order and structure that may be genuine and situation friendly;
5. Textbooks provide their own principle, and they may not be suitable for the level of the students in class;
6. Teachers are the slave of the book and they are not free to regard the suitable teaching methods based on students'
level;
By considering the above mentioned benefits and limitation of using textbook in a program, adapting or
supplementing books or providing appropriate guidance and support for teachers are necessary to use the textbook
fittingly.
ShafieeNahrkhalaj (2012) notes that the advantages and disadvantages of EFL textbooks and explains two different
sorts of textbooks used in Iran; global materials and institutional or in-house materials. This study presents a framework
with two-phase scheme for evaluation which contains whilst-use and post-use evaluation. To obtain the greater
reliability, each norm was analyzed at a time by using planned instruments. It is necessary to pay attention to the values
of the materials in process and its actual effects on the users. He chose Top Notch series (Salslow & Ascher, 2006)
which has recently become very popular in main cities of the country to evaluate using a checklist with two phases. The
first phase includes the attractiveness and the availability of the materials, the suitability of the exercises and tasks, the
practicality of the textbook, the effectiveness in facilitating short-term learning, the clarity of instructions and the
comprehensibility of the text and in phase two, long-term effects of the materials on the students were examined.
Twenty teachers who had experience in teaching Top Notch series completed the questionnaire which includes
questions about the effects of using the material. With regard to the result of his study, the textbooks helped the learners
find their aims to a great extent and it could improve the linguistic proficiency of the learners. Based on the teachers'
opinions, it is concluded that all skills are covered in this textbook.
ShafieeNahrkhalaj (2012) believes that the evaluation of the ELT materials highlights some qualifications in
EFL/ESL teachers which are as follows:
a- it shows the disadvantages of the textbook;
b- it helps the teachers acquire knowledge and skill to adopt the suitable book based on the learners' needs;
c- it develops users' experience in adapting the textbook according to the students' needs , to personalize it to a group
of learners and to outfit it to the learners interests and skills;
d- it provides skilled qualification in thorough and exact evaluation of the results of the ELT materials;
e- it supplies the teachers to plan their own materials based on different and unaccustomed offer;
f- it provides for hold takers , evaluator and evaluation designer to articulate their theories and realize their tendencies
in order to create their criteria for evaluation.
g- it provides the ELT materials as a means of re-skilling themselves. They should focus on using their creative
skills and exploring innovative ideas hidden within the framework of the textbook heading off the textbooks to deskill
them (ShafieeNahrkhalaj, 2012, p.189).
On the whole, the outcomes of the evaluation can help ELT teachers decide to adapt or adopt the materials.
D. Arguments against Textbooks in English Classroom
Despite many extensive benefits for using ELT/ EFL textbooks in language classroom, Litz (2005) has pointed out
that textbooks may play a pivotal role in innovation. Rahimi and Hassani (2012) had an argument against textbooks.
They indicated that in spite of the values of using textbook in English classroom, using textbooks may have negative
effects. Textbooks may recommend the students with inauthentic language, they may provide incorrect content, and
they may pay no attention to students' needs or unskilled teachers (Richards, 2001). Due to these limitations, Grant
(1987) states that there is no complete textbook, however "the best book available for teachers and their learners does
exist" (p.8). In this regard, Tomlinson (2003) stated that the evaluation is still an gorgeous field of study in line with the
introduction of technological innovations that changed the development of teaching materials.
E. Research on Teachers’ and Students’ Perceptions towards the Textbooks
Teachers' attitudes toward textbooks are likely based on how they use them. McGrath (2006) examined teachers’ and
learners’ opinions toward the course books and claimed that our views and beliefs are according to the language we use,
it should be possible to achieve some vision into teachers’ prospects of English-language course books from the
attitudes they use to describe them. He selects a a mixture of metaphors and similes for English language course books

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which has been conducted over a two year period, mainly in Hong Kong, contains data from two sources: (1) nearly 75
secondary school English teachers in Hong Kong (2) several hundred secondary school pupils in Hong Kong. The
information was collected by the teachers of those pupils. They were asked to complete the framework to know their
attitudes toward the textbook. In conclusion, he concluded that it is better for the teachers to reveal their own metaphors
and how these affect their use of a course book, as well as the relationship between their own metaphor and those of
their students.
F. Teachers’ Perceptions toward Textbooks
In line with teachers’ perceptions, Zacharias (2005) investigated teachers' beliefs about internationally-published
textbooks. One hundred teachers participated in the study. Majority of these teachers were nonnative teachers of
English. A checklist, interviews and classroom observation were used to analyze the course book. The aim of the
questionnaire was to find out the teachers’ beliefs in relation to the materials used for teaching English, and the extent to
which their beliefs were present in the actual classroom practice. Thirteen teachers who were selected on the basis of
their teaching experience, gender, type of lessons taught and educational background and teaching in five universities in
Central Java, Indonesia participated in the interviews and classroom observation. On the basis of the findings, he states
the fact that locally-published materials are not available for the teachers. This is the cause of using
internationally-published materials by local teachers. However, the availability of such texts forces the teachers to use
international books. Consequently, administrators and EFL professionals need to develop programs or courses focusing
on materials developed for local teachers.
In the realm of teachers’ perspective, Riasati and Zare (2010) have done a study on the EFL teachers' perspectives on
the "New Interchange" textbook. The series selected for this evaluation was New Interchange series including Intro,
Interchange1, Interchange2, Interchange 3 and their own textbook, workbook, cassettes, teacher's manual and CDs.
They investigated this to find out the appropriateness of the series and found that whether or not teachers are satisfied
with the series then searched teachers' perception of the weakness and strength of the series. To this end, thirty five
EFL teachers both male and female with several years experiences in teaching the series participated and the instrument
to collect data which was used for the research was the questionnaire prepared by Litz (2000). With respect to the
results, the teachers were satisfied with the subject and the content of the series and have the same opinion that the
subject and content of the textbook is realistic, interesting, challenging, motivating and relevant to students' needs. The
teachers did not have a very positive prospective toward "layout and design of the series; moreover, the layout and
design is not appropriate and clear, and the textbook is not organized effectively. At the end, Riassati and Zare (2010)
listed some shortcomings of the textbooks.
1. Lack of supplementary teaching materials;
2. Some items and subjects within the series are not primarily based Iranian learners' culture;
3. Some elements of series are beyond the linguistic capability of the learners;
4. Several testing exercises;
5. Series do not pay enough attention to writing skills therefore, learners do not receive practice in this section;
6. Inappropriate number of teacher's manual (Riassati&Zare, 2010, p.59).
In this regard, Ahmadi and Derakhshan (2015) investigated and evaluated Iranian junior high school textbooks"
Prospect1" and its old version"RPE1".They analyzed one hundred Iranian teachers' perceptions using Razmjoo's (2010)
checklist which includes six criteria, namely language components, tasks, activities and exercises, language skills,
teacher's manual, general consideration and critical discourse analysis features. The results of the research indicated that
majority of teachers believe that Prospect1 followed CLT, and listening and speaking skills are paid more attention. In
addition, grammar is completely neglected. On the contrary, RPE1 did not follow the CLT approach.
G. Students’ Perceptions toward Textbooks
It appears to say that learners need to engage actively in processing the meanings of whatever they hear and read in
order to acquire the target language effectively. To highlight the trend, Sabzalipour and Mousavi (2013) conducted a
case study to evaluate English language textbooks taught at Iranian first grade high school from the students’
perspective. They used a questionnaire with 41 items including eight criteria namely content, physical appearance,
exercises and activities, clarity of instructions, level of textbooks, vocabulary, grammar, consideration of learning style
differences in the textbook. The participants of this study were 273 high school students from 4 high schools in
Tonekabon in Mazandaran Province. The purpose of the research was to know the students' positive and negative
attitudes toward the mentioned textbooks. On the basis of the results, the students are satisfied with their English
textbooks and agree with the criteria. The investigators also suggest convincing evidence that the English language
textbooks that are currently taught at high schools in Iran meet the students’ expectations.
H. Studies Related to Iranian Textbooks
First of all, Iranian EFL textbooks can be analyzed from different point of views. In Iran, the issue of textbook
evaluation has attracted the attention of several researchers (Azizfar, 2009; Riazi & Mosalamnejad, 2010; Rahimpour &
Hashemi, 2011, Ahmadi & Deakhshan, 2015). They have used various textbook evaluation schemes, models and
checklists for evaluating different textbooks and materials. Majority of textbook evaluation in Iranian contexts were on

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high school text books and few of them focused on junior secondary school textbooks. In order to shed light on the
issues in this area, the relevant literature that addresses the previous studies and activities will be reviewed.
Azizfar (2009) conducted his research on textbook evaluation. To do this, he used Tucker’s (1975) textbook
evaluation model. He modified, added, omitted some elements of the evaluating model and added some elements which
include pronunciation, grammar, content and general criteria in order to obtain the objectives of his study. He used this
model to evaluate two locally produced series of English textbooks "Graded English series (GE)" and Right Path to
English series (RPE) "used in Iranian high schools since 1970 and hoped the findings of his research can help English
teachers, students, material designers in order to improve the quality of textbooks and the quality of teaching and
learning English in Iran's educational system. The virtues and shortcomings of each series are evaluated, analyzed and
compared.
According to the results, he found that two textbook series are approximately the same. The main difference is on the
pronunciation part in which GE contains several serious weaknesses. GE and RPE are based on structure grammar. On
the other hand, the communicative aspects of language teaching are neglected in two series. In general, the results
revealed that RPE does not cover up most of inadequacies and deficiencies of GE. In addition, both of the series
emphasized the practice of the linguistic forms and cannot provide the students and teachers' needs with regard to the
Iranian educational system. Two series ignore the communicative role of the language. It is suggested that the textbook
developers can give opportunity the learners to communicatively practice language in the textbooks.
Moreover, Rahimpour and Hashemi (2011) evaluated the three English language high school textbooks in Iran from
the high school English teachers’ prospective. For this purpose, a 46-item checklist includes five sections. Fifty high
school teachers with more than five years of teaching experience were asked to complete the questionnaire. According
to the results, generally, the textbooks are not adequate from the teachers’ views considering their five sections, their
physical make-up, and some practical concerns.
In a study, Guilani, Yasin, and Hua (2011) aimed to evaluate the authenticity of the Iranian English textbooks at high
school level by using Dougill’s textbook evaluation checklist (as cited in Sheldon, 1987, pp. 29-36). It was given to 30
experienced English teachers who have already taught the three books. They were asked to give their opinions about the
books based on the checklist and their own personal comments and suggestions. Moreover, they selected some of the
items from the checklist and give to 200 students at three grades of high school. Then the data were analyzed and
compared with each other, Furthermore, they will be criticized according to certain principles of CLT approach which
attempt
1. To create real communication;
2. To provide opportunities for students to communicate, interact and negotiate the meaning;
3. To supply opportunities for learners to acquire what they know;
4. To provide the learners to improve their accuracy and fluency;
5. To make a connection among the different skills of speaking, reading, listening, and writing;
6. To make a connection between grammar and communicative tasks;
7. To select content based on students’ lives and interests;
8. To make opportunities for the students to personalize learning according to their own lives (p.27).
Based on the findings, the three high school English textbooks for Iranian schools pay attention to reading and
structure, and provide the students how to use words in sentences correctly. Furthermore, the learners' needs are
neglected. These books have taught for many years without any change, therefore the teachers do not try to improve
their knowledge. The teachers think that it is not necessary to prepare new questions for the test, because they have
already collected all the questions from first years of teaching experience. In other words, the teachers do not feel it
obligatory to be updated. On the basis of finding, the materials arrangement, the vocabulary and grammatical points,
and the appearance of the book need critical attention and revising and changing the books is necessary.
Shabani and MansooriNejad (2013) carried out an impressive study and evaluated the third grade high school English
textbook to seek its significance in the language program. To this end, a questionnaire adopted from Litz (2001) is used.
Two hundred thirty three students and 5 teachers teaching this book were chosen from some schools in Ilam. The results
obtained shocked the researchers showed that the textbook appears to need to revise in many parts of the textbooks
regarding its layout and design, activities, skills, language types, subject and context. Furthermore, this textbook was
unchanged for many years even the pictures of the book. The existence of institutes beside Iranian educational system
make problem for the teachers in their methodology. The last and most important problem is evitable revision of the
textbook and lack of modern technology such as computer, media tools and internets in the textbook. Everyone knows
that using modern technology not only increase the speed of learning but also intensifies the quality of the learning.
Ahour, Towhidian and Saeidi (2013) scrutinized the appropriateness of "English Textbook 2" for Iranian EFL second
grade high school students from the teachers’ perspectives. The textbook was analyzed based on a checklist proposed
by Litz (2005). The checklist was a 5-point Likert scale and three criteria such as subject and content, activities, and
skills out of seven criteria in Litz’s (2005) checklist were picked for this study. Twenty five teachers participated were
from different high schools in Boukan, Iran. On the basis of perception of teachers, this book has some disadvantages.
The subject and content of the textbook do not attract the students' interest, needs, and concerns. The exercises and
activities in the textbook do not involve and encourage sufficient communicative and meaningful practice. The textbook

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do not consider the listening, speaking, and writing skills and only the reading skill is emphasized. At the end,
according to the teachers’ view points, "English textbook 2" is not applicable for Iranian high school students in terms
of subject and content, activities, and skills.
I. The Strengths and Weaknesses of the Textbooks in Ministry of Education in Iran
In a study in Iran, Jahangard (2007) concentrated on the strengths and weaknesses of the textbooks. He evaluated
four Iranian EFL high schools textbooks. He stated that the students’ oral skills are neglected in Iranian EFL textbooks
and not tested in the final exams. Oral drills, pronunciation, listening and speaking abilities are not emphasized. On the
other hand the emphasize is on reading, writing, grammar and vocabulary. The main attention is paid to help students
pass final exams, and students' speaking skills are not tested.
In line with Jahangard' (2007) study, Moghtadi (2014) intended to review EFL Iranian textbooks and worked on
evaluating four high school textbooks in order to compare and find out the strengths and weaknesses of Iranian EFL
high school textbooks from completely different views. The findings showed that there are many visible differences
between the learners’ desires, and the materials of the textbooks. The textbooks presented the vocabulary knowledge in
context and concentrated on reading comprehension. The textbooks are based on structure and they ignore the
communicative role of the language. Furthermore, these textbooks are not considered based on CLT principles.
Integration of four language skills was ignored. There are more reading skill practices in the textbooks. In conclusion, it
is suggested that these EFL textbooks need to change. In revising the textbooks, good qualities of the textbooks should
be maintained and the insufficiencies ought to be removed. It is recommended that textbooks developers pay close
attention to these weaknesses and revise the textbooks in line with latest trends in the world.
J. Studies Related to the Developing Criteria for Textbook Evaluation
Developing criteria is a complex activity. There are many models, checklists and frameworks to evaluate any
textbooks. Many experts support a very detailed examination of a course book language content. A review of producing
the EFL material evaluation demonstrates that checklists all have a set of criteria. For example, Skierso's (1991)
checklist includes the features related to bibliographical data, purposes, subject matter, vocabulary and structures,
exercise and activities and layout and physical makes up. These fields are in keeping with those in Cunningsworth's
(1995) checklist which comprise of "aims and approaches", "design and organization", language content, skills, topic,
methodology and practical consideration. Some elements in the above checklists are the same and useful for the
evaluation of the textbooks.
Similarly, an Iranian checklist developer, Razmjoo (2010) conducted a study to develop an evaluative model. In
order to reach this, he investigated and reviewed the available textbook evaluation schemes and checklists and sought
the specialists’ viewpoints with the purpose of developing and designing a textbook evaluation scheme related and
beneficial to the expanding circle. He mentioned that the uses and users of English internationally could be classified in
terms of three concentric circles. The researcher provided a semi –structured interview including questions which were
borrowed from studies on proposing textbook evaluation schemes such as Littlejohn (1998), Sheldon (1988), Tuckers
(1975) and Ur (1996).The interviews lasted 30 minutes for the respondents to answer. Finally he proposed and
suggested a checklist with six major categories as follows: 1.Language components 2.Tasks, activities and exercises 3.
Language skills 4.Teacher's manual 5.General consideration 6.Critical discourse analysis (CDA) features for Iranian
contexts using expanding circles and consisting 41 items. The model is suitable for the stakeholders. The methodology
and content of the materials in a particular language-teaching context were taken into consideration in this scheme and
this proposed local checklist are appropriateness and adequacy of the textbooks and materials for specific situations
with regard to the institution and purpose, teachers, learners, curriculum, and socio-cultural context.

III. CONCLUSION
From the studies that have been carried out, it is possible to conclude that the evaluators try to find out the strengths
and weaknesses of textbooks and provide the opportunity to use English courses as a means of preparing students for
future life. So, it can help teachers to employ the textbooks which are suitable according to student’s needs.
On the basis of findings, this kind of research helps the materials developers pay critical attention to the materials
arrangement, the vocabulary and grammatical points, language skills, language teaching methods and the appearance of
the book. The researchers offer some suggestions for the writers of the textbooks that it is better to modify or revise
them to satisfy students’ needs. The present paper deals with different issues with which have great teachers'
perceptions of different textbooks. Further, it helps the teachers to obtain their aims and language classroom 'objectives.
In addition, the teachers need to know to what extent are the textbooks appropriate for different classes with different
number of the students and sexes. Finally, the researchers recommended the teachers, syllabus designers, material
preparers, curriculum developers, and course book designer evaluate the newly- published textbooks which will help the
Ministry of education to revise and modify the existence textbook or

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Azam Ahmadi was born in Gorgan, Golestan, Iran on September 7th, 1972. She is an MA holder. She
graduated from Islamic Azad University, Science and Research Branch, Shahrood, Iran. She has been teaching
English at Junior high school in Gorgan for 20 years. She received the third rank in the Third Festival of
Superior Teaching Practices in Tehran (2007). She was the Winner of Best Teacher Award in Golestan in
2005.
She is the head of English Language Teachers at Golestan Education Office at present. She has been the
head of English Language Teachers at Golestan Education Office from 2005-2009.

Ali Derakhshan is Assistant Professor at Department of English Language and Literature, Golestan
University, Gorgan, Iran. He received his PhD in Applied Linguistics from Allameh Tabataba’i University
(ATU), Tehran, Iran in 2014. He received his M.A. in Applied Linguistics from University of Tehran, Iran in
2009. He has been a visiting lecturer at Sharif University of Technology and Allameh Tabataba’i University
(ATU), Tehran, Iran. He was also awarded the best national teacher in two consecutive years. He has
coauthored 11 books and published many papers in inter/national journals including TESL-EJ, EUROCALL
Review, Applied Research on English Language, etc.. His research areas are Language Assessment,
Interlanguage Pragmatics Development & Assessment, Teacher Education, Focus on Form/s. He is a member
of the Editorial Board in more than 10 journals.

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