GRADO EN EDUCACIÓN PRIMARIA

CENTRO DE PROFESORADO SAGRADA

FAMILIA

ADSCRITO A LA UNIVERSIDAD DE JAÉN

[2013/2014]

TEXTBOOK ANALYSIS

Alumna: María Cecilia Chamorro Visa

Profesor: Don Jesús J. Risueño Martínez

Fecha: Úbeda, Mayo de 2014

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INDEX

1. Abstract …………………………………………………………………… Pág. 2

2. Introduction ……………………………………………………………….. Pág. 2

3. Theory

3.1. Teaching English: “Spain at the very bottom in Europe” ……….. Págs. 2-4

3.1.1. The role of English Language Teaching in Spain

3.1.2. The history of English Teaching in Spain.

3.1.3. An Eclectic Approach

3.2. The Spanish curricular design ………………………………….... Págs. 4-9

3.2.1. An introduction to the Spanish Curricular design in teaching English

3.2.2. The four divisions of the Spanish Curricular design of the English Teaching

3.2.3. The curricular design throughout the Primary Education

3.2.4. Madrid and McLaren principles in the Spanish Curriculum Design

3.3. The communicative competence ……………………………...…. Págs. 9-12

3.3.1. Classification of the communicative skills

3.4. The syllabus ………………………………………………........ Págs. 12- 15

3.4.1. Definition

3.4.2. Types of syllabi

3.4.3. A multidimensional syllabus

3.5. Foreign language learning materials …………………………... Págs. 15-19

3.5.1. What is didactic material?

3.5.2. Examples of didactic material in the classroom.

3.5.3. Advantages and disadvantages of using the coursebook.

3.5.4. A coursebook evaluation.

3.6. Coursebook evaluation ………………………………………..…Págs. 19-27

4. Conclusion ……………………………………………………………….. Págs. 27-28

5. Bibliography ……………………………………………………………... Págs. 29-30

6. Annex ………………………………………………………………..…… Págs. 30-36

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1. ABSTRACT

This work deals with English textbooks analysis. Namely, the first part of this

work goes through the theoretical body in which it is based the list of assessment

criteria (the treatment of the English language learning in Spain, the curricular design,

the communicative competence…). Then, three books are analyzed in order to

recognize the most appropriate for the language learning process in the first cycle of

Primary Education.

Likewise, before selecting the assessment criteria, it is necessary to support them

with a theoretical body. This theoretical part contains the most relevant aspects which

we have to keep in mind in order to evaluate didactic materials. I focused this analysis

in a specific type of material, textbooks. The choice is due to the great amount of

textbook oriented to the field of English learning and its subsequent necessity to know

which of these are the most adequate to this process.

Afterwards, some assessment criteria are extracted and selected through a

reflection about the theory. And finally, textbooks are analyzed in depth, extracting

conclusions and reflections about them.

2. INTRODUCTION

The educational work of teaching English in Spain is getting bad results

according to some researchers of the field. Both children and adults, Spanish people

have many problems to communicate in the language of Shakespeare. For instance, they

do not know how to express themselves, neither properly speaking nor writing, and also

they do not know how to listen at a normal speed to a native person. Furthermore,

Spaniards have problems in order to understand a written text in English because of a

complex vocabulary, the grammar that appears, etc. So, what is the Spanish treatment of

English as a foreign language in an educational view? That is the matter on which I am

going to focus the next point of my work.

3. THEORY

3.1. TEACHING ENGLISH: “SPAIN AT THE VERY BOTTOM IN EUROPE”

3.1.1. The role of English Language Teaching in Spain

First of all, it must be presented the role of the English Language Teaching

(ELT) in our country, Spain. Spain is structured in seventeen Autonomous Regions.

Some of them are bilingual communities, like: Balearic Islands, Basque Country,

Catalonia, Galicia, Navarre and Valencia. The regional languages that are used in these

regions had been included in their teaching programs. So, the curricular design of these

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regions assigns the teaching of the official language of the country (Spanish), the

teaching of the co-official language of the region (Catalonian, Valencian, Basque, and

Galician), and finally, the teaching of one or two foreign languages. The rest of the

Spain´s communities teach the official language of the country (Spanish) and one or two

foreign languages.

As we can work out, English is a foreign language according to the previous

paragraph. As Ellis (1994: 11) claim: “The acquisition of a foreign language takes place

in settings where the language plays no major role in the community and is primarily

learnt only in the classroom”. The context in which English is taught is in a non-English

Speaker context. Owing to this, the Spanish curricular design has to keep in mind the

context of Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL).

3.1.2. The history of English Teaching in Spain.

I consider that it is necessary to recall the history of the English Teaching in

Spain, as well. This summary will facilitate the comprehension of treatment of the

English subject in contemporary schools. This brief reference begins in the eighteenth

century when English took part in the curricular design for the first time. The way

schools taught English was the same in which Latin was taught. The method used to this

task was the Traditional method, in which it was fundamental the use of the grammar

and texts analysis or translation. However, this method was focused in the written

language, avoiding the oral one. As a result, the Direct method appeared, which worked

more the oral part of the language and resigned the written word. The language used in

the classroom was too artificial and the “English speakers” did not know how to interact

in real situations. That was one of the disadvantages of this method, and that was why a

new method appeared: the Audio-lingual method. It was based on the mechanical and

monotonous repetition of grammatical structures and artificial vocabulary. Finally, it

got negative results, as the previous method once did.

Since this moment, new approaches have appeared that attempt to improve the

results of the previous methods. Some of them were the Total Physical Response (TPR),

the Natural Approach, the Suggestopedia, and the Communicative Approach, for

example. They were cognitive and psychology based.

All the methods and approaches mentioned above tried to enhance the

educational treatment of the English at schools. All of them have contributed in the way

English is presented currently.

3.1.3. An Eclectic Approach

As we have seen, the history of the English Teaching has been evolved. There

are too much methodologies and approaches that are useful to teach English as a foreign

language. So, what is the method or approach to accomplish this task? According to

Larsen-Freeman (2000) and Mellow (2000) they claim the term Eclecticism on

reference to a much more varied approach of language teaching. This approach

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appeared due to the different strengths and weaknesses of each one of the earlier ways

to teach English. Then, how does this approach supply the negative aspects of the

previous?

Consequently, an Eclectic Approach considers all the positive aspects of each

English Teaching´s ways. Hence, people who teach English will use a mixture of all the

teaching techniques. In this way, teachers could take advantage of the benefits of each

one depending on the content they want to teach, the aim of the learning process, the

level of the students, the context in which the teaching take place, etc.

To sum up, in this first point of the work I address to the problems of English

teaching in Spain in order to continue analyzing the contextual situation of this language

in the country and the evolution of this in a didactic point of view. As well as, I tried to

explain the Eclectic Approach through the empty spaces of the previous teaching

methods and approaches.

3.2. THE SPANISH CURRICULAR DESING

3.2.1. An introduction to the Spanish Curricular design in teaching English

As a continuation of the first point, I am going to write about the curricular

design about the English in Spain.

First of all, the curriculum justifies the appearance of the English, as a foreign

language, in the Primary Education of Spain. Some causes are given to explain why

foreign language learning is necessary presently. Firstly, the expansion of the mass

media has facilitated the relationship among people from different points all around the

world. Which means that we can chat with people from overseas, to listen to the music

in other languages… so it is necessary that children acquire a foreign language to

communicate and receive information by the global context currently? It supposes the

use of English as the vehicular language between the member countries inside Europe.

The cause below is a mandatory key to keep in mind while the treatment of the

English teaching processes. The final aim because of the appearance of the English

learning in the curriculum of the Primary Education is due to we have to develop the

Communicative competence in the pupils. And what does it mean? I refer to the fact that

once the language is learned, the student has to be capable to communicate in the target

language in his/her real life. Subsequently, the communicative act needs to four

important skills: speaking, listening, writing, and reading and a lot of strategies of each

one. Learners have to acquire an efficient level in all this four skills to communicate

correctly. Simultaneously, the base over teachers construct the learning process is real

language in real situations. Thus, the language learners could communicate

competently.

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Owing to the lack of the English out of the schools, English academies, etc., the

classroom is the place in where learners have to use the language. In this way, the

curriculum suggests to bring into de schools situations about different real contexts in

which the learners will be involved. According to the age of Primary students, the

registers in which the pupils have to understand and participate are: family, friends, and

daily routines in the house, school, and literary adaptations.

Thirdly, the study of other languages implies the knowledge and respect to other

cultures, customs, and thus reaches to appreciate the differences between civilizations.

When someone acquire a new language not only learn how to speak, how to listen, the

words´ means… when someone acquire a language also learn how to address to

someone, the kind of vocabulary he/she has to use, the customs that people, the implicit

signify of some words and expressions, etc. Also it helps to value the own language and

culture. In brief, this is a nonlinguistic point but a different view of what encompass

learn a foreign language.

3.2.2. The four divisions of the Spanish Curricular design of the English

Teaching.

The curriculum divides the English teaching in four blocks:

Listening and speaking: the school is the first source of the foreign language that

the student has to confront. So the vocabulary, situations, and other aspects have

to be significant to the children.

Reading and writing: the acquisition of the written word is graduated, and

subsequent to the oral language acquisition.

Knowledge about the language: the inference about how the language is used is

an important point in the learning process. It is necessary to analyze the

language used in the classroom, the comparison between the mother tongue and

the target one, etc.

Sociocultural knowledge: actually, as I said before, students have to know about

the culture, customs, and different ways of life. Thus, they have to develop

tolerance, acceptance, and assessment towards the mother tongue and the new

language.

As a result, the English teaching enhances some of the competences planned to

the Primary Education. These competences are: the Communicative Competence in

order to acquire a new language and the tools that afford the learner´s communication;

also, the language is an important learning tool. Thus, this competence is designated as

Learning to Learn. Another competence that grows up into the English Teaching is the

Autonomy and Personal Initiative. As a matter of fact, learning a language requires

personal reflection about all its aspects and about the own learning. Owing to the

globalization, the mass media, and the recent technologies we are connected with an

infinite stream of information that contributes to real communicative situations. It

develops the Competence in processing information and use of ICT. As I said before,

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the language contains cultural aspects that learners acquire in an implicit way, so they

acquire the Cultural and Artistic Competence. To conclude, it must be mentioned the

Competence in social skills and citizenship. That is, the language is a social and cultural

tool. Language learners not only acquire a language but also its social and cultural

characteristics.

3.2.3. The curricular design throughout the Primary Education

At this point, it is necessary to analyze the elements that shape the curricular

design throughout the Primary Education in Spain. In order to do this, I must clarify that

the previous blocks have to be crafted gradually. The contents and skills will be

developed from the easier ones to the more complex ones till the third cycle of Primary.

I am going to focus the attention in the First Cycle of the Primary Education because

this is going to be the point in which I am going to carry out the analysis.

3.2.3.1. First cycle

Contents

Listening and speaking:

- Comprehension of simple oral messages to achieve tasks in the classroom.

- Listening and comprehension of simple oral messages from audiovisual sources.

- Oral interaction in real or simulated situations that requires communicative routines,

verbal and non-verbal communication.

- Production of oral text after knowing these communicative routines by songs,

representations, etc.

- Develop of the oral strategies that lead to the oral comprehension and oral

production.

- Valuation of the foreign language as a communicative instrument.

Reading and writing

- Reading simple words and sentences after knowing the communicative oral

routines. These communicative routines could be real or simulated.

- Initiation in the employment of reading strategies like: use of the contextual

knowledge, topic knowledge… in the mother tongue.

- Written words and sentences that are known by previous routines and the

subsequent reading of these.

- Initiation in simple computer tools that lead to the writing and reading of simple

messages.

- Attention to the appearance of the written texts.

Knowledge about the language

- Linguistic knowledge

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Initiation to some phonetic aspects: rhythm, intonation, emphasis of the

foreign language for a later comprehension and production.

Employment of the lexical structures of the foreign language previously

known.

Relationship between spelling, pronunciation and meaning of oral

knowing structures.

Employment of writing strategies attending to the reader, the purpose in

mind and the content.

The interest to use the language in various situations.

- Learning reflection

Employment of abilities and procedures: repetition, memorization,

relationship between words, expressions, and gestural and visual

elements, to acquire the lexical part of the language.

Employment some computer programs and mass media to look up

information.

Self-confidence and cooperative work.

Sociocultural knowledge

- Learning to be in contact according to the basic forms of the foreign language.

- Being receptive with people who speak other languages and other cultures.

Assessment criteria

1. Participate in controlled oral situations about simple and well-known topics (songs,

routines, habits, and role plays…).

2. Carry out scanning and skimming about simple oral text with linguistic and non-

linguistic elements (mimicry, repetition, gestures, and comprehension of keywords…).

3. Read and identify known simple oral words and sentences about closely topics (read,

read aloud, and comprehension about different activities with visual and verbal elements

in communicative activities or situations…).

4. Write known words and sentences with a purpose in controlled activities (learners

need patterns and they have to write notes, posters, complete a song or a poem…).

5. Recognize and produce sounds that learners usually use in communicative contexts

(rhythm, intonation, emphasis, reading aloud, and with patterns.)

6. Use strategies of learning to learn (asking for help, using body language, and using

visual dictionaries.).

7. Put interest in the foreign language learning and recognize the linguistic diversity

(learners have to be interested in the language learning and they have also to be aware

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about the importance of acquiring languages that permit us to communicate with other

people).

All the aspects that encompass the curricular design (the reasons of why is

important learning a foreign language (English), the competences that learning English

develops, the objectives, contents and assessment criteria) are important due to the later

analysis of the textbooks in the First Cycle of the Primary Education.

3.3.2.4. Madrid and McLaren principles in the Spanish Curriculum Design

According to Madrid and McLaren (1995: 18-20), there are some principles in

which the Spanish Curricular Design has to be based:

1. Language as communication: language is not a static system formed by structures

and rules but a dynamic system of structures and rules that learners manipulate

depending on the context, situation, and purpose to make an appropriate

communication.

2. Communicative competence: is defined as a set of subcompetences (Canale, 1983):

2.1. Linguistic or grammatical competence

2.2. Sociolinguistic or pragmatic competence

2.3. Sociocultural competence

2.4. Discourse competence

2.5. Strategic competence

3. The role of the L1: the mother tongue of the learners is not a negative aspect that

difficulties the second or foreign language process but learners can construct the second

language through their first language.

4. The importance of contextualization and discourse: the language learning need to be

based in a real and specific context in which learners have the opportunity to deal with it

in the future. All the aspects that involve the language have to be teach in a

communicative way.

5. The Learner-centred curriculum: as we saw before, the communicative situations

posed in the classroom have to fit the needs of the learners. What is more, they have to

be based on closely experiences of the pupils.

6. Constructivism and autonomous learning: as teachers, we need to integrate strategies

that allow the learners to be autonomous and responsible, and build up their own

learning.

7. Cooperative learning: communication is a social quality of the humans. Thus learners

have to work in class groups to enhance this social item.

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8. Concepts, procedures and attitudes: Nowadays, the curricular design is oriented to

the achieving of contents, as well as the obtaining of procedures and attitudes. This is

due to the Common European Framework.

9. Cross-curricular activities: we can include contents of various Areas into the Foreign

Language learning. Some of these Areas are: civic education, health, environmental

studies, geography, sexual education, etc.

3.3. THE COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCE

According to the curriculum, the English learning process has to support the

acquisition of four communicative skills: speaking, listening, reading and writing. This

acquisition requires the development of a large number of different abilities, and it is

also necessary to acquire all the four skills, not only one or two. The communicative

competence involves all: speaking, listening, reading and writing.

Canale (1983:5): “Communicative competence refers to both knowledge and skill in

using this knowledge when interacting in actual communication. Knowledge refers here

to what one knows (consciously and unconsciously) about the language and about other

aspects of communicative language use; skill refers to how well one can perform this

knowledge in actual communication.”

A person obtains the communicative competence when he/she is capable to

understand the messages he/she receives, and when he/she produces the language

correctly. Listening, writing, reading and speaking cannot be separated because when

we improve one of them, it is necessary to keep using the rest.

3.3.1. Classification of the communicative skills

Namely, I am going to define the communicative skills more in deep. Each skill

has strategies that help to develop listening, speaking, reading and writing of the target

language. Also, all of them have need to have into account some factors like: the

message, who are the emitter and receiver of this message, the context in which occurs

de communicative act, the purpose of the communicative act, the strategies and

knowledge that are needed to listen, to write, to speak and to read.

3.3.1.1. Listening

Rivers & Temperley (1978: 63) claims that “listening is an active process of

constructing a message from a stream of sounds with what one knows of the

phonological, semantic and syntactic potentialities of the language”.

Thus, listening consists on the interpretation of what it heard. We discriminate

sounds, redundant part of messages, the more important ones… and also, we have to put

into action our background knowledge to anticipate what is going to be listened, guess

the intended meaning, etc. So, depending on the situation, listening could be an active

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process (while listening someone telling us his/her holidays) or passive one (listening

music during making the homework).

According to Munby (1978), some of the required subskills to become a good

listener are:

“Ear-training” skills “Comprehension” skills

- Discriminating sounds in isolated

word forms and in connected speech.

- Discriminating stress patterns within

words.

- Recognizing variation and the use of

stress in connected speech.

- Understanding intonation patterns:

uses of tone; interpreting attitudinal

meaning through variation of tone,

pitch height and range, etc.

- Understanding explicitly stated

information and the general meaning.

- Skimming/Scanning

- Understanding both explicit and

implicit information.

- Understanding the communicative

value of different types of utterances.

- Understanding relation within the

components of the text.

- Recognizing connectors.

- Distinguishing the main idea from

supporting details.

- Summarizing and discriminate the

important and non-important parts.

- Transcoding information to, for

example, diagrammatic display.

- Internalizing what is communicated.

Finally, we can distinguish two types of listening strategies according to Risueño

(2013):

Bottom-up strategies: those that are text based. That is, the listener creates

meaning through the sounds, silences, words, and other message elements. Some

activities that help to develop this kind of strategy are: listening for specific

details, recognizing sounds, etc.

Top-down strategies: on the other hand, we can identify those strategies that are

listener based. The listener has to recover some knowledge about the topic, the

type of text, the language, the context, etc. Thus, this strategies include listening

for the main idea, predicting, inferring, summarizing, etc.

3.3.1.2. Speaking

Speaking: “is an interactive process of constructing meaning that involves

producing, receiving and processing information. Its form and meaning are dependent

on the context in which it occurs, including the participants themselves, their collective

experiences, the physical environment, and the purposes for speaking” (Cunningham,

1999).

From an educative view, speaking is the most difficult skill to teach because of

the number of subskills and abilities that it requires.

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Thus, is important to keep in mind the “Input Hypothesis” Krashen´s assertion.

This hypothesis claims that the only way of acquiring the language is by receiving

comprehensible input. As a matter of fact, teachers have to provide comprehensible

inputs to their students. If they hear the language then they will be able to produce it

correctly.

According to Risueño (2013), language learners have to develop some skills:

Producing connected speech looking after the grammatical rules, pronunciation,

and vocabulary (grammatical competence). Also, it is necessary the discourse

competence in order to create a meaningful text.

Adapting the speaking to the situation and the audience (sociolinguistic

competence).

Furthermore, it is important to use strategies that make communication and

comprehension to be possible (strategic competence).

Develop both, accuracy and fluency in order to make a fluently and

grammatically correct communication to be possible.

3.3.1.3. Reading

Reading, “is a written skill which activates a chain of cognitive processes in

making sense of the text. In this making sense readers draw inferences, construct

interpretations and responds actively to written texts” (Madrid & McLaren, 2004:220).

This task depends on the purpose of the reading and type of text. To achieve the

comprehension of what is being ridden, it is necessary to activate some of the strategies

and knowledge that people possess.

Reading is also considered as an active process between the reader and the text.

In fact, the person who reads has to activate his/her background knowledge about the

topic of the text, the grammar, vocabulary, etc.

The required strategies are:

According to Paran, (1997)… bottom-up models claim that the reader perceives

every letter, organizes the perceived letters into words, and then organizes the words

into phrases, clauses, and sentences… Thus the reader will process all the letters in a

word before the meaning of the word is accessed; likewise, the reader will process all

the words in a phrase or a clause before constructing its meaning.

On the other hand, as Madrid and McLaren (1995) claim that some skills that

favor a properly reading are:

Some “before-reading” skills

Identifying the topic of the text

Anticipating and predicting possible information to be included.

Remembering what kind of information he/she is asked to extract.

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Recalling relevant vocabulary items.

Using any available visual support (accompanying diagram, picture, photo,

table, etc.)

Some “while-reading” skills

Following the spelling.

Understanding information stated explicitly.

Making inferences.

Understanding the communicative function of sentences.

Understanding relations within the sentence and between parts of a text.

Summarizing.

Skimming.

Scanning.

Using reference works (dictionaries, glossaries) appropriately.

Distinguishing opinions from facts.

“After-reading” skills

Summarizing content.

Checking that the selected information is correct.

Transferring the information to another (e.g. diagrammatic) format.

Recoding information (understanding equivalence of meaning).

Answering a variety of comprehension questions.

3.3.1.4. Writing

Writing: According to Cancelas & Howard (2004) and Raimes (1983) we can

obtain the definition of writing bellow: writing is the process of expressing something in

written form for a purpose and with reader in mind. That is, the way people write

depend on the purpose they pretend and the receiver of the message. When someone

writes a text is necessary to adapt this text to the people who is going to read it. It is not

the same writing a story to the children that write a report.

In a didactic point of view, writing is a learning tool and its develop requires the

work of different abilities and knowledge.

As Risueño (2013) claims, there are specific skills to develop the writing they

are handwriting, spelling, punctuation, layout, forming sentences, writing longer texts,

connecting paragraphs, register or style and study skills.

3.4. THE SYLLABUS

3.4.1. Definition

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All the previous point of this work indicates the contents and necessary abilities

to educate children in a successful communication. But, how can we do this real? We

can achieve this with syllabus.

Firstly, it is necessary to do a definition of what “syllabus” means. As well as,

there are a lot of definitions about what a syllabus of English Language Teaching is.

These are some of them:

In Wilkins' (1981) words, syllabuses are "specifications of the content of

language teaching which have been submitted to some degree of structuring or ordering

with the aim of making teaching and learning a more effective process." Candlin (1984)

suggests a different perspective implying that syllabuses are "social constructions,

produced interdependently in classrooms by teachers and learners…They are concerned

with the specification and planning of what is to be learned, frequently set down in

some written form as prescriptions for action by teachers and learners." Finally,

Hutchinson and Waters (1987:80) define syllabus as follows: “At its simplest level a

syllabus can be described as a statement of what is to be learnt. It reflects of language

and linguistic performance.”

Focusing on the origin of the word, this term comes from the modern Latin word

“list”. That is, a syllabus is a list. In an educational context this list alludes to an ordered

group of contents that forms an annual course of any subject. In this case, the subject is

English. The syllabus is programmed by the professor of the target subject and serves

to control the teaching-learning process of the students.

Thus, this document is quite similar to the curriculum. The elements that

shape the syllabus are varied like the description of the course, the contents, the aim of

the subject, the assessment or evaluation of the students, the methods, resources that are

necessaries to the development of the course, etc. So, as we can see, in this document

we can include all the prier point in which the English learning is based.

The principal functions that the syllabus develops are: define the relation

between the teacher and the students, make obvious the teacher´s conception about the

subject and how it will be work through the course, it serve as a guide to the teacher

who need it to follow an order into the contents, etc.

3.4.2. Types of syllabi

On the other hand, there are several types of syllabuses, each one with

advantages and disadvantages. As teachers, we need to choose the appropriate syllabus

according to the content we need to teach and our students. These are some of the

syllabuses:

A procedural syllabus: in this syllabus tasks are graded conceptually and

grouped by similarity.

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A cultural syllabus: learning the cultural aspects which include the foreign

languages was important and need to be incorporated into the language learning.

A situational syllabus: the underlying premise is that language is related to the

situational contexts in which it occurs. The content of language teaching is a

collection of real or imaginary situations in which language occurs or language

is used. The main principle of a situational language teaching syllabus is to teach

the language that occurs in the situations.

A skill-based syllabus: although situational syllabuses combine functions

together into specific settings of language use, skill-based syllabi merge

linguistic competencies (pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, and discourse)

together into generalized types of behavior, such as listening to spoken language

for the main idea, writing well-formed paragraphs, for instance.

A structural or formal syllabus: this is recognized as the traditional syllabus

which is often organized along grammatical lines giving primacy to language

form.

A multi-dimensional syllabus: the underlying principle is that there should be

flexibility to change the central point of the teaching material as the course

unfolds. This will lead to a syllabus design which is flexible, less rigid and more

responsive to the various student language needs.

A task based syllabus: this syllabus supports using tasks and activities to

encourage learners to utilize the language communicatively so as to achieve a

purpose.

A process syllabus: it explicitly attends to teaching and learning and particularly

the possible interrelationships between subject matter, learning and the potential

contributions of a classroom.

A learner-led syllabus: provides support and guidance for the instructor. The

emphasis is upon the learner, who it is hoped will be engaged in the

implementation of the syllabus design as far as that is practically possible.

A proportional syllabus: its focus is upon flexibility and spiral technique of

language sequencing leading to the recycling of language.

A content-based syllabus: this syllabus is intended to design a type of instruction

in which the crucial goal is to teach specific information and content using the

language that the learners are also learning.

A notional/functional syllabus: the emphasis of this syllabus is upon the

communicative purpose and conceptual meaning of language (notions and

functions). In fact, the content of the language teaching is a number of the

functions that are performed on using the language, or of the notions that

language is utilized to express.

A lexical syllabus: it enabled the learner to experience a corpus of language

which is in many ways typical of the language as a whole, and to learn from

examining and analyzing this corpus.

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The knowledge of the different types of syllabi is important in order to recognize

them in the textbooks, or coursebook, that are going to be analyzed.

3.4.3. A multidimensional syllabus

As Mohseni (2008) claims, “the underlying principle is that there should be

flexibility to change the central point of the teaching material as the course unfolds.

This will lead to a syllabus design which is flexible, less rigid and more responsive to

the various student language needs.”

The Foreign Language Learning includes some goals, attitudes, contents, etc.

that can´t be worked from a specific syllabus. Instead of this, it is necessary to consider

a global syllabus called “multidimensional syllabus” that encompass some “sub-

syllabuses”. Thus, depending on the context, the learning purpose, the pupils and other

factors that condition the learning process, the multidimensional syllabus can be

adapted to theses aspects.

Concluding with this point, the multidimensional view of the syllabuses allows a

major level in the progression throughout the communicative competence. Also, all the

aspects that comprise the Foreign Language Learning are attained for the learner, from

the linguistic points to the sociolinguistic, cultural and strategic ones.

3.5. FOREIGN LANGUAGE LEARNING MATERIALS

3.5.1. What is didactic material?

Nowadays, teachers can get benefits using a great amount of materials or

resources in the educational world. We have a lot of resources in which we can base the

learning process and also, we can adapt them to the purpose we want to achieve, to the

pupils, to the content, and to the situation.

Firstly, is necessary to define what a didactic material is in an educative view.

There are some definitions according to what researchers think about it. For example,

according to Moreno (2004), didactic materials are designed products oriented to help to

teachers and learners in the learning process.

The use of the didactic materials depends on the teacher ideas as well. That´s

why teachers have to take into account all the materials they can use to enhance the

learning process according to the factors which influence the learning situation.

3.5.2. Examples of didactic material in the classroom.

As I previously said: teachers can use different types of materials that could be

authentic or non-authentic.

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First of all, the authentic material is defined as materials which are designed for

native speakers; they are real text; designed not for language students, but for speakers

of the language, according to Harmer (1991), cited in Matsuta.

On the contrary the non-authentic material is kind of resource specifically

created to the instruction. Thus, we can define this material as material designed to

support the learning and to show the interesting aspect of the target language (contents,

grammar rules, etc.) pupils have to learn, explicitly.

Inside the previous groups, we can distinguish the different resources that we

can use into the classroom, for example: flashcards, the blackboard, posters, realia, Cd

or Dvd player, the television, TIC´s, and the target of this work: the coursebook.

According to Loukotková (2009), she uses “the term `coursebook´ to apply to

textbooks and student´s books, which traditionally cover all the aspects of the language

and are followed in a systematic way throughout a language course.”

3.5.3. Advantages and disadvantages of using the coursebook.

The use of textbook or coursebooks in the Foreign Language Learning has

arguments for and against of this.

According to Loukotková (2009), a coursebook serves a framework that clarifies

the teaching and learning English process to both teachers and learners. Also, she is

agree with the next assertion: in Ur (1996: 184) words, “in many situations, a

coursebook can serve as a syllabus”.

Hutchinson and Torres (1994:232) identify four ways in which textbooks can

help: the first is what I said previously that this material helps both to teachers and

students; the second is that the coursebook supplies the search of other materials; the

third is that textbooks provide a complete picture of changes in the educational field;

and fourthly, they provide a psychological support to the teachers.

Ur (2006:184) claims the following arguments in favour of using coursebooks:

Coursebooks provide a framework in which teachers and students can know

what is coming next and the prior contents in a progressive way. Sometimes, the

coursebook serves as a syllabus due to the organization and the sections that includes.

Because of this, the knowledge of the types of syllabus is important in the sense that the

use of a specific one is not proper in all contexts, too. Ready-made tasks must be likely

the level of the major part of the class. Besides, Textbooks are the cheapest material that

we can provide to the learners in relation to the other types of material. What is more,

coursebooks are light and small. Also, they are easily packed and stacked. As I said

before, textbooks serve as a support to those teachers that are inexperienced or unsure.

Finally, learners are conscious on their own learning process with textbooks. Without

them, they are more teacher-dependents.

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However, the use of textbooks in the teaching-learning process has some

disadvantages. For example, according to Graves (2000), the use of this material could

be danger due to the appearance of irrelevant contents, the exclusion of some items that

teachers considers important, the types of tasks that evolves, and the unreal timetables.

3.5.4. A coursebook evaluation.

Finally, it is necessary to mention the importance of our role as teachers in the

selection of the correct materials. According to Kitao (1997), “You always need to

examine their materials carefully from the point of view of what is appropriate for your

students and the classes you are teaching”. That is, there is a great variety of materials,

and textbooks in the field. Because of this, we need to discriminate the disapproved

ones through a previous analysis which considers the vital points in which I have put the

emphasis during this work.

And why we analyze a textbook? I am going to cite some words of Sagrario

Salaberry. According to Salaberry (1996), selecting an appropriate coursebook depends

on some aspects which determine this task. First of all, we need to attend to the

curricular design and the interpretation that the school do of this official document (the

contents teachers have to develop in the Primary Education, the materials that lead to

this purpose and the assessment). So, teachers choose the correct materials and

textbooks after the contents and the evaluation criteria have been established.

Secondly, I am going to show the basic criteria to selecting a coursebook,

according to Salaberry (1996): The proposed objectives should be consistent with the

general objectives set for a certain educational level. About contents, they should reflect

the prescribed “blocks” for foreign languages at different levels: Oral/Written

Communication, Sociocltural Aspects, Language Awareness. Moreover, Units of work,

projects, etc. must respond to the proposed sequences of contents with their own

contextualization.

In addition, The activities/tasks to cope with diversity in class must be

incorporated including varied learning strategies and teaching procedures. According to

the assessment, instruments and techniques for evaluation should be coherent with the

established criteria.

Furthermore, there should be integration of cross-curricular contents such as

health, consumcrism, equality, etc. And finally, the proposed methodology should

conform to the guidelines set out in the official curriculum..

According to Dr.Hamad Al-sowat (2012) some criteria for this analysis are:

Layout and design: the organization of a textbook makes influence on the

learners. They are more concentrated and get better results when a coursebook is

well organized. According to Sheldon (1988: 8), some aspects teachers have to

take into account are the format, the typography and graphics. As

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Cunningsworth (1984:57), Sheldon (1988: 243) claims that the book should

have a balanced mixture of graphical material and text in each page. The

illustrations the book contains must be attractive to the learners and not

offensive for them. According to Dr.Hamad Al-sowat, there are two types of

illustrations: “Firstly, line drawings - which can either be in colour or simply in

black only. Secondly, photographs - which again can be in black and white or in

full colour.

Objectives: it is necessary to evaluate the objectives of the textbooks in order to

know their quality and adaptation of our students. Also, Hyland (2007:76) states

that objectives clarify if the learning process is achieved. Furthermore, if

students know the objectives of their learning, the activities and tasks will be

more meaningful for them.

Activities and tasks: as we can see previously, the development of the

communicative competence requires working the four skills. So it is necessary

that the textbook includes various types of activities and tasks that guarantee the

opportunity to practice the communicative skills. Also, Richards (2001:266)

says that tasks should be open to different styles and strategies. Besides, the

activities have to encourage the cooperative work.

Balance of skills: remembering one of the previous points of this work, the

communicative skills are listening, speaking, reading and writing. Good

coursebooks need to balance the practice of the four prior skills. Also,

McDonough and Shaw (2003:175) add that communicative materials involve

learners in authentic and realistic tasks in which they are more motivated.

Language type: the language has to be easier at the beginning of the material and

it complexity has to be progressive throughout the textbook. As O'Neill (1997:1-

3) indicates, “Progressive steps” are better in order to provide the students the

necessary problem solving skills. Firstly, these problems have to be simple; if

students are faced with difficult tasks at the beginning, they will get worried

about it through the course.

Subject and content: as in the curriculum appears, the content we provide to our

students need to be interesting for them. Cunningsworth (1995:8) claims that

textbook should be based on the learners´ needs and teach them to use the

language for achieve their purposes, using the target language. On the contrary,

Celce-Murcia (2001:417), says that a text book has to incorporate not just the

content demanded by the curricular design in the Foreign Language area, but it

must also introduce the needs of the English learners. Finally, Sheldon (1988:

243), argues that textbooks should be organized in order to that both teachers

and learners find it coherent. Thus, the components must be related and

progressive developed (theme, situation, topic, communicative skills, grammar,

lexis…)

Social and Cultural Values: the knowledge of a foreign language is not just

knowing the grammatical rules, the vocabulary, pronunciation, etc. but knowing

the culture and the implicit meaning of the language too. According to

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Dr.Hamad Al-sowat, “it is helpful to look at materials in terms on how they

represent people according to their ethnic origin, occupation, age, social class

and disability”.

Humanistic Nature: humanistic material are those that help the learners to learn

through meaningful experiences. As Tomlinson (1998:162) argues, in order tho

achieve the “acquisition” of a language, learners need to feel relaxed, and

develop self-confidence, positive attitude towards English learning experiences,

etc.

Teacher´s needs: teachers have needs and wants that have to be considered in

order to evaluate a textbook. Also, the opinion of the teacher has to be

transmitted to the students

3.6. COURSEBOOK EVALUATION

To continue with this document, I am going to analyze three coursebooks on the

first cycle of Primary Education. They belong to the second year of this phase of the

education. It is necessary to comment that the conclusions of this analysis and

subsequent reflection are based in the tables that are in a final section called “Annex”.

Also, the assessment points of the table are based in the theory of this work.

So, now I am going to attach the reflection of each coursebook:

English Adventure, 2

First of all I am going to begin explaining aspects of the format and layout of

this coursebook. It is necessary to say that the coursebook is well organized. That is, it

contains eight units, or chapters, of three pages each one. Also, it has three “review

units” in which learners start again to do activities of the previous units.

On the other hand, the format of the unit is the same in all of them. At the

beginning there is a big illustration in which students can anticipate the contents they

are going to work. What is more, these illustrations are reinforcing through a song,

children must sing.

Besides, each unit has six lessons. The major part of those contains activities that

work in the new content. The rest encompass the song, the use of stickers, and comics.

According to its components, the majority of the contents, activities, stories, and

illustrations are related in the sense that each unit of the coursebook is characterized

because of the presence of illustrations about a Disney film. However, the contents of

the different units are not related between them. So the only way in which all of these

are connected is through “review units”.

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The supplementary materials that this book gives are a CD-ROM and an activity

book. This activity book is an extension of the activity of each unit. Also, the kind of

activities is the same (they enhance written and listening skills).

Now, it is time to examine the typography of this material. It maintains the same

format as much in the class book as in the activity book. On the other hand, this

typography is suitable to the age of the learners.

Another important aspect of this first point of the criteria, addresses to

illustrations. There is a great amount of illustrations. The most repeated are line-

drawings about Disney characters and other drawings about other things and characters.

On the contrary, there are not much photographs in it. However, the way in which the

illustrations are used is not the better in order to develop the acquisition of the language.

This is because the absence of the written part to explain these pictures, sentences in the

comics, etc.

Even though the prior point, this book possesses a great advantage that serves to

motivate to the students. That is, the material uses illustrations, comics and visual

material of some Disney Characters. So, it could result too attractive for learners.

Finally, the quality of the paper is good because of it thickness.

Some general aspects analyzed are the next: I do not consider this book

appropriate to the level of students in a second year of the Primary Education. This is

due to the excess of illustrations in comparison with the absence of written texts. Also,

there is a great quantity of “over-easy” activities that are not adapted to the students.

There are a lot of drawings and coloring activities in which only is learnt vocabulary.

As a result, they do not know how to apply these in order to communicate in the real

life.

On the other hand, I think it is not appropriate to the school reality because it

does not achieve the major part of the curricular objectives. That is, students only

develop their writing and reading skills while listening and speaking receive a

supportive role here. Furthermore, it does not present the necessary strategies to obtain

the communicative competence, etc.

Moreover, the cultural knowledge that this coursebook offers only address to

Christmas, Halloween and Easter. These topics are introduced thanks to cross-curricular

activities.

Apart from that, the material used is non-authentic. The vocabulary, activities,

songs, and comics were created to the English learning process for young learners. So

there are not real texts or activities based in real situations that lead to the

communication in the target language.

It is necessary to reflect about the methodology. As a continuation of the prior

point, this book is not learner-oriented. Learners cannot do exercises without the help of

21

the teacher because they require the use of the CD-ROM and an explanation of the

schoolteacher.

In addition, this coursebook do not present real situations in which students can

take English as a communicative tool. Instead of this, it only work vocabulary about

different topics such as animals, the weather, clothes; but it does not lead children to

practice them in programmed real contexts or situations.

Finally, it could be thought that this book take into consideration the interest of

students because of count on Disney characters in its units. However, topics, activities,

type of stories (only using comics); are not motivational for them.

If we analyze the language of this coursebook, we can obtain the following

conclusions: first of all, the language used is not real but artificial; secondly, it does not

use the English as a vehicular language in the class because it does not provide

expressions and easy grammatical structures related to daily routines, the classroom…;

So I think the coursebook exclude vital aspects of the English. Finally, the level of the

language is lower that the cognitive language of students, so it is not appropriate.

If we pay attention to the activities the book provides, we can consider that it

maintains the lower level through all the units. It does not go from the easier activities

to the complex ones. Besides they are not contextualized in real and significant

situations.

Furthermore, there is not treatment to the diversity treatment and does not

develop neither speaking. On the contrary, reading is worked through reading simple

and disconnected words; and, finally, writing is worked through doing the activities and

listening while students hear the songs and some activities.

It must be added a little analysis about the grade of developing of the

competences. In my opinion, the Learning to learn competence is not well done. The

way, in which the coursebook pay out the learning process, does not favor the

acquisition of tools that allow students to communicate and learn through the language.

Given that the majority of the activities have to be worked individually, the Autonomy

and personal initiative competence is carrying out. But the learning of the English does

not lead to an autonomous use in this book.

To continue, this material does not promote the use of ICT and situations in that

it is necessary search, select, or treat information. Therefore, I think that the

Competence in processing information and use of ICT is not achievable. Another

competence that this material does not enhance is the Competence in social skills and

citizenship. As I said before, the methodology of the book does not focus on

cooperative and collaborative activities. Then students cannot develop social skills.

On the contrary, Cultural and artistic competence is well done because of the

amount of illustrations that children are exposed to. As well as they have to draw and

color in the major part of the tasks in this coursebook.

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And finally, it is important to claim that the communicative competence is not

successfully accomplished because of the different treatment towards listening, reading,

speaking and writing and its activities do not develop communicative situations.

Stay Cool, 2

First of all, I am going to analyze aspects related to the format and layout of the

book, such as the organization of this. Just at the beginning of the coursebook we can

notice that there is an index in which appears the vocabulary, structures and “classroom

English” that are going to be worked throughout six units. Also, there is a “starter unit”

in that English learners can review some basic contents like numbers, the weather,

simple structures (thanks, I´m fine…), and some expressions about daily routines in the

classroom.

If we go over each unit, we can deduce that the book is well organized. Firstly,

because some contents of the unit are presented and secondly, because learner can

practice the new content with the supporting activities. Each unit has the same structure,

as well:

1. Presentation of a new concept and then, activities about it.

2. Story (comics, texts, songs…) about the previous content, and comprehension

activities about it.

3. Review of the previous points through extra-activities.

4. Final point entitled “My world” (students can relate the previous contents with

some real photographs about places, things…) in this part of the unit.

As for the format of the book, it is a good point of this material. All the

illustrations and texts are well organized.

Continuing on a different vein, the general components of this book are not

related. That is, all the units start introducing new vocabulary, grammatical structures,

expressions… However, when the trimester ends, students work in a reviewing story

about what have been acquired during three months. This is a good point, because there

is some continuity, but only at the end of this period. Finally, it is necessary to point out

that the coursebook maintains certain connection among the components inside the

units.

Simultaneously, we need to analyze the components of the coursebook. Some of

them are illustrations and texts. Relating to illustrations, it must be said that there are

lots of them. We can distinguish two types of illustrations. The first are line-drawings.

They are more employed that the second kind of illustrations, photographs. In general,

the major part of the graphic elements of this coursebook is attractive to the learners.

Nevertheless, the number of illustrations is not balanced if we observe the

quantity of written components of the book.

23

According to the supplementary materials, this coursebook includes an Activity

Book, lots of flashcards, a CD-ROM and posters. So it provides more possibilities in a

didactic point of view.

Secondly, I am going to analyze the general aspects of this book. Firstly, it is

necessary to assert that it is appropriate to the level of the pupils, and so on to the reality

of the school.

What is more, this material leads to the achievement of part of the general

objectives. That is, some objectives like comprehend, read or listen to simple messages

are worked. By contrast, there are lots of objectives oriented to the communicative act

that are not presented in the units of the book such as: interact in real or simulated

situations that require communicative routines, employ some computer programs and

mass media to look up information…

Moreover, this coursebook doesn´t contain authentic material because it has

been created and adapted to English learners, from seven years old to eight years old.

On the contrary, it contains knowledge about cultures. For example, the main characters

are from different countries, this book introduce topics like Halloween, Easter, Mother´s

Day, Christmas…

Furthermore, I must say that the coursebook employs cross-curricular contents.

What is more, there are some topics that are related with other subjects of the Primary

Education and with personal cleanliness, protecting the environment, being respectful…

In short, according to the real communication, this coursebook allows students to

communicate in the real life, halfway. The language and contents that lead students to

communicate successfully are about the classroom and daily routines. This kind of

language learning permits learners to reach their objectives.

Now, I am going to continue talking about the methodology. First of all, the

learning process is focused on the learners. Secondly, the coursebook develops the use

of a multidimensional syllabus. Thirdly, it contains a lot of different situations.

However, the major parts are not real, but pretend to practice the language through

explicit grammatical structures, rules, etc. Finally, I need to add that the book does not

care about the interest of the pupils because of some topic of the material are the same

that long ago (clothes, animals, weather, parts of the body…).

Furthermore, there are lots of aspects of the language that determine the quality

of the coursebooks. For instance, the language used is not real. This is artificial because

there are a lot of repetitions, simple sentences, there are not texts, it is not

contextualized… However, the coursebook use the target language like a vehicle during

the learning process.

In my opinion, students need to know some vital expressions, vocabulary and

grammatical structures that this coursebook does not work. In spite of they could be

complicated learners need them in order to communicate successfully. The final

24

language item to keep in mind in this analysis is about the appropriation of the language

to the level of the students. This material presents an appropriate level of language

according to the level of a Second year of Primary Education pupils.

Attending on the activities of the class book, they are not much complicated at

the end of the book in comparison with the beginner ones. The complexity is similar

throughout the units.

On the contrary, the activities do not develop the cooperative learning. The

majority of the activities need to be worked individually. There are few tasks that

require cooperative work among the students. And, finally if we look at the assessment

criteria table of this coursebook, we can deduce that most of the activities are oriented

towards the development of the receptive skills (listening and writing). This is due to

the lack of written texts and the slight amount of activities which work the oral

production.

To put an end to this second analysis, it is necessary to think about the

competences the book develops during it work. Firstly, learning to learn competence is

not too developed throughout the coursebook. Certainly, students have to reflect about

the contents and the new information that the materials provide to them. Also, this

material does not provide children to acquire the strategies and tools to learn how to

communicate in English.

Secondly, the autonomy and personal initiative competence is developed. I mean

that the type of activities offered by the book promote an individual work, not a

cooperative one.

Thirdly, the competence in processing information and use of ICT is not

developed at all because the book does not encourage students to look for or selecting

information and work with computers, interactive whiteboard or other multimedia

material.

Fourthly, this material contains a lot of activities which implies drawing,

coloring, recognize illustrations, etc. So, in my opinion, the cultural and artistic

competence is well made.

Fifthly, the absence of a major number of collaborative and cooperative

activities makes competence in social skills and citizenship under-developed.

Sixthly, in spite of all, the communicative competence is well made if we refer

to the communication into the classroom through daily routines, classroom expressions,

vocabulary and simple structures. On the contrary, I think that students won’t be able to

communicate in other real situations.

Explorers, 2

25

According to its format and layout, this book is well organized due to its good

structure. As in the second analysis, this book has got and index in which teachers and

learners can see the progression in contents, main vocabulary, main structures, cross

curricular themes and a new part (Let´s explore!). Also, the first unit consists on a

review of the contents that learners already known such as the weather, numbers, and

vocabulary about the classroom.

If we analyze the organization within the units, we can say that they are good

structured and they follow the same organization. The book presents the contents

through stories, comics… and then, there are some activities that help to practice the

new content or to check the comprehension.

The format of the book is adequate due to it contains a good presentation of all it

components as well as texts and illustrations. Moreover, the format in which the units

are developed is adequate because of two different reasons: firstly, because the format is

the same in each unit of the coursebook; and secondly, thanks to the way in which the

components are presented is clear.

On the other hand, if we take into account the relationship among its

components and contents it could be deduced that it exist continuity beyond the

coursebook. For instance, according to the components (activities, texts, pictures,

stories…) they are related because each of these is reinforced by others. According to

the contents, there is a continuous reviewing of them. Each unit works with new

structures, vocabulary, contents, expressions, but also uses the previous ones. So, as

well as learners acquire new knowledge, they activate previous contents about the prior

units.

Next, attending to the supplementary materials that the book provides, the mark

of this aspect is positive due to the amount of different resources such as: flashcards,

posters, an activity book, stickers, CD-ROM…

The typography of the book is adequate to the age of learners. This kind of

typography is totally in black and with the same format in all the pages of the class book

and the activity book.

The quality of the paper is good due to it thickness and that is not easy to break.

Finally, according to the illustrations, they could be considered attractive to

students. There are lots of drawings, photographs, etc. Also, they have a lot of colors

and are about different topics with a lot of characters. In this case, the quantity of

illustrations is balance if we compare these with the texts, sentences, words…

According to the general aspects, firstly, I consider this coursebook appropriate

to the level of the learners and appropriate to the reality of the school. The contents and

the way they are worked in the units are adequate to the level of students and their age.

Though it promotes a high knowledge of the English language, the way the book

present and make use of illustrations, activities… facilitates its comprehension.

26

This book allows the achievement of the majority of the general objectives

through its components (activities, illustrations…).

The material presented in the book could be authentic and non-authentic. This is

due to these materials are created focused on the learning process of students. On the

contrary, though it is non-authentic material, the coursebook develops real situations

and contexts. So it could be defined as simulated material, because it tries to appear real.

Moreover, the treatment of other cultures is worked through topics like

Christmas, Halloween…Also, this coursebook contains cross-curricular contents. It

could be noticed in the first page of the book, although these contents are worked in

each unit. Some of these cross-curricular topics are “exercise is good for you”, “people

who help us”, “recycle”…

Now, it is time to make an analysis of the methodology. The book centers the

learning process in students. Teachers are guides in this process and lead students to the

language acquisition.

If we consider the presence of real situations it must be said that there are

stories, expressions and vocabulary about it. But also, there are some stories and

contents that are more artificial. These need to be developed though.

On the other hand, I think this book takes into account the interest of the learner.

It is due to the presence of content which leads to the communicative competence.

Despite of the contents are the same that in the other coursebooks (clothes, the weather,

parts of the body…) they are worked in a different way, through significant and

interesting topics (such as the study of the parts of the body through dinosaurs.

After that, I am going to comment some aspects of the language. The book use

both real language and artificial language. That is, there are many communicative

expressions that allow learners to communicate successfully. But also, there are some

vocabulary items not much significant in a communicative point of view. On the

contrary, the cultural meaning of the language appears in some parts of the unit through

the presence of expressions. Finally, I must state that the level of the language is

appropriate to the level of the pupils. This is due to the adaptation of it and because this

material does not present not much “over-easy” aspects of the language.

Now, it is time to comment the activities the book offers. First of all, the book

presents the easier activities and tasks at the beginning of the material (review unit) and

at the beginning of each unit. The last activities and tasks are gradually complicated.

Furthermore, these activities are not just a list of task that learners have to do but

they are based in previous texts, comics, songs, stories, and the topic of the unit…

Referring to the cooperative activities, this book does not develop the

cooperative work too much. Almost every activity enhances the individual ones. If we

27

want to carry out special activities which attend to the diversity of the class, there is not

much information and resources on it.

According to the activities, it is important that the book contains a great variety

which helps to develop all the four communicative skills. In this book, reading, writing

and listening are well done through songs, discriminating sounds and words, while

doing activities, reading texts... However, speaking that is also worked (through sounds,

repeating some vocabulary, structures, in some activities…) is not well improved.

Finally, it is necessary to comment the development of the competences, briefly,

this coursebook enhances the acquisition of the majority of the competences. The

learning to learn competence is developed because this material provides necessary

tools to students, which allow the employment of these. Also, the autonomy and

personal initiative competence is worked during learners do their activities or tasks in

the book. The cultural and artistic competence is well done due to the activities that

involve draws, colors, cut out figures… etc. Other competences that are well done are

the competence in social skills and citizenship, and the communicative one. That is, this

book supplies some materials, tasks, activities… that entail the use of the language as a

communicative tool. Consequently, the relationship among students is a little bit

encouraged. Finally, it is necessary to add that the competence in processing

information and use of ICT is worked through listening tasks in which learners have to

discriminate information, guess the general meaning of readings, and this kind of

activities. However, the other part of this competence, that implies the use of ICT, is not

worked lengthwise the units.

4. CONCLUSION

To conclude with this work, it is necessary to explain conclusions and reflections

obtained during its development.

Firstly, I think that the evaluation of textbooks is an important process which

guarantees part of the success in the language learning process. As a matter of fact, we

are exposed to a great variety of materials that pretend to enhance the acquisition of

English. The problem is presented when we have to choose the better one. Because of

this, we have to check that these materials are appropriate to our students according to

the context in which occurs the learning process, contents, objectives and competence

necessaries to develop in a specific stage of the education…

In the same way, we need a list of aspects that we consider relevant in order to

analyze the textbook. Hence, the process will be easier and successful.

After analyze textbooks I think that the better ones are those that present all the

necessary in a balanced way. That is, there are books which develop some parts in a

high level and omit the rest. For instance, some of them develop writing and listening

and they do not develop speaking and reading. If we present this material to our

28

students, they won´t be able to communicate correctly. Therefore, this aspect is one of

the more important.

Likewise, another reflection obtained during the elaboration of this work is that

learners need to acquire the communicative competence. It requires the development of

the four communicative skills through a great variety of activities. On the contrary, I

notice that the major part of the tasks and activities on coursebooks are always the same

and they do not develop a multidimensional syllabus. That is, in these activities learners

have to work individually and without the collaboration with their partners and, finally,

they have the same format.

Besides, coursebooks do not offer real situations related to the daily routines of

the student. The major part of the contents worked in books is referred to animals,

clothes, parts of the body... That is, these vocabulary and expressions are necessaries

according to the curriculum, but the way in which they appear is not the correct. This

language is not functional because learners are able neither to understand nor to produce

real messages.

Also, though the major part of the communicative skills are well done, speaking

is the lower developed. This skill is worked through songs and a little bit amount of

activities. On the contrary, writing is the more developed in all books.

On the other hand, I consider that the language presented in the coursebook need

to be not much high to the level of students. The level of language cannot be lower that

the level of learners because of it does not produce positive results in the learning

process.

According to the illustrations of the material, they need to be reinforced with

some text or activities, comments, etc. If learners work a lesson in which there are just

photographs without text, supplementary activities or resources, these illustrations are

not going to achieve any result.

Reflecting in cross curricular contents, the only topics that appears in these

books are Christmas and Halloween. However, in this stage of the education (second

year of the Primary Education) books do not include this kind of information.

In brief, coursebooks are a kind of materials that encompass lots of aspects

related to the learning process. I think that are a good support to both teachers and

learners. Though the aspects that characterized each textbook we can obtain different

results depending on it use. I think that the successful of some materials are due to the

teacher that uses it. Hence, if a really good textbook is worked by a teacher who does

not use it correctly, the learning results could be worse than other coursebook worked

by a teacher that adapt him/her teaching process to the aspects that determine it.

Though the previous points, I think that textbooks can be a good support in the

English learning process depending both quality and it use.

29

5. BIBLIOGRAPHY

Barroso, J.M. (2011, 23 de marzo). España a la cola de Europa de Inglés. ABC.

Recuperado de http://www.abc.es

Bruni, C. (2004). English Adventure, 2. Spain: Pearson Longman

Cant, A. (2011). Stay cool, 2. Hamilton, A., Griffin, D., Bazo, P., Peñate, M. (pp. 1-79).

China: Oxford

Hismanoglu, M. (2000). Language Learning Strategies in Foreign Language Learning

and Teaching. The Internet TESL Journal. Vol. VI, No. 8

Kitao, K. (1997). Selecting and Developing Teaching/Learning Materials. The Internet

TESL Journal, Vol. IV, No. 4

Loukotková, E. (2009). Using a Coursebook in Teaching English to Young. Bachelor

thesis. Masaryk University, Brno Faculty of Education.

Martín, M. A. (2009). History of Foreign Language Teaching Methodology.

Departamento de Ciencias de la Educación. Facultad de Formación del Profesorado.

Universiad de Extremadura.

McLaren, N. y Madrid, D. (2004).The Foreign Language Curriculum, en Madrid, D. y

McLaren, N. (eds.): TEFL in Primary Education. Granada: Editorial Universidad de

Granada, pp. 144-176.

Méndez García, M.C. (2000). La competencia cultural en la enseñanza del inglés como

lengua extranjera: supuestos teóricos, análisis de sus tratamientos en una muestra de

libros de texto de inglés de bachillerato y propuestas de un currículum sociocultural.

Tesis doctoral. Facultad de Filosofía y Letras. Universidad de Jaén, Jaén.

Ministerio de Educación y Ciencias (2006). Ley Orgánica 1513/2006, de 7 de

diciembre, por el que se establecen las enseñanzas mínimas de la Educación Primaria.

Boletín Oficial del Estado, 293, 43053.

Porto, M. (2014, 17 de enero). The role and status on English in Spanish-speaking. Sage

journals. Recuperado de http://sgo.sagepub.com

Risueño, J.J., (2013). A general Framework for curricular design. Metodología y

recursos para la enseñanza de (L.E.) INGLES. Centro de Profesorado “Sagrado

Familia”, Úbeda.

Rodríguez, J.L, Clemente, M., Roda, F., Beltrán R., Quintero, A. Evaluación de textos

escolares (pp. 139-151). Dpto. de Metodología Educativa. Facultad de Filosofía y

Ciencias de la Educación. Salamanca.

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Salaberry Ramiro, M. S. (1996). Audio-visual and technical resources. In N. MacLaren

and D. Madrid (eds.). A handbook for TEFL (pp. 421-444). Alcoy: Marfil.

6. ANNEX

Annex 1. Evaluation of the first book

ASSESSMENT CRITERIA TO EVALUATE COURSEBOOKS

Book: English Adventure, 2

Authors: Cristiana Bruni

Publisher: Longman

Format and layout 1 2 3 4 5

1. Is it well organized? X

2. Has it got good format? X

3. Are its components related? X

4. Does it provide supplementary materials (Activity Book, Cd, posters,

flashcards…)?

X

5. Has it got good typography? X

6. Is it good the quality of the paper? X

7. Has it got attractive illustrations? X

8. Is it balanced the number of illustrations and the texts? X

General aspects 1 2 3 4 5

1. Is it the coursebook appropiate to the level of the students? X

2. Is it appropiate to the reality of the school? X

3. Does it allow the achievement of the general objectives? X

4. Does it contain authentic material? X

5. Does it comprise cultural knowledge? X

6. Does it contain cross curricular activities? X

31

Methodology 1 2 3 4 5

1. Is the student the center of the learning process? X

2. Does it develop a multidimensional syllabus? X

3. Does it contain different real situations? X

4. Does it take into account the interest of the students? X

Language 1 2 3 4 5

1. Is the language real? X

2. Does it use English as the vehicular language in the learning process? X

3. Does it work the cultural meaning of the language? X

4. Does it exclude vital expressions, vocabulary items or grammatical

structures?

X

5. Is the language level appropriate to the level of the learners? X

Activities 1 2 3 4 5

1. Are the activities gradually complicated? X

2. Are the activities contextualized? X

3. Do the activities develop cooperative learning? X

4. Do the activities develop diversity treatment? X

5. Do the activities improve speaking? X

6. Do the activities improve listening? X

7. Do the activities improve writing? X

8. Do the activities improve reading? X

Competences 1 2 3 4 5

1. Learning to learn competence X

2. Autonomy and personal initiative competence X

3. Competence in processing information and use of ICT X

4. Cultural and artistic competence X

32

5. Competence in social skills and citizenship X

6. Communicative competence X

1… Do not agree

5… Completely agree

Mark: 93 (points)

Annex 2. Evaluation of the second book

ASSESSMENT CRITERIA TO EVALUATE COURSEBOOKS

Book: Stay Cool, 2

Authors: Amanda Cant, Plácido Bazo and Marcos Peñate

Publisher: OXFORD

Format and layout 1 2 3 4 5

1. Is it well organized? X

2. Has it got good format? X

3. Are its components related? X

4. Does it provide supplementary materials (Activity Book, Cd, posters,

flashcards…)?

X

5. Has it got good typography? X

6. Is it good the quality of the paper? X

7. Has it got attractive illustrations? X

8. Is it balanced the number of illustrations and the texts? X

9. Is it economically reasonable? X

General aspects 1 2 3 4 5

1. Is it the coursebook appropiate to the level of the students? X

2. Is it appropiate to the reality of the school? X

33

3. Does it allow the achievement of the general objectives? X

4. Does it contain authentic material? X

5. Does it comprise cultural knowledge? X

6. Does it contain cross curricular activities? X

7. Does the coursebook allow students to communicate in real

situations?

X

Methodology 1 2 3 4 5

1. Is the student the center of the learning process? X

2. Does it develop a multidimensional syllabus? X

3. Does it contain different real situations? X

4. Does it take into account the interest of the students? X

Language 1 2 3 4 5

1. Is the language real? X

2. Does it use English as the vehicular language in the learning process? X

3. Does it work the cultural meaning of the language? X

4. Does it exclude vital expressions, vocabulary items or grammatical

structures?

X

5. Is the language level appropriate to the level of the learners? X

Activities 1 2 3 4 5

1. Are the activities gradually complicated? X

2. Are the activities contextualized and discursive? X

3. Do the activities develop cooperative learning? X

4. Do the activities develop diversity treatment? X

5. Do the activities improve speaking? X

6. Do the activities improve listening? X

7. Do the activities improve writing? X

8. Do the activities improve reading? X

34

Competences 1 2 3 4 5

1. Learning to learn competence X

2. Autonomy and personal initiative competence X

3. Competence in processing information and use of ICT X

4. Cultural and artistic competence X

5. Competence in social skills and citizenship X

6. Communicative competence X

1… Do not agree

5… Completely agree

Mark: 135 (points)

Annex 3. Evaluation of the third book

ASSESSMENT CRITERIA TO EVALUATE COURSEBOOKS

Book: Explorers, 2

Authors: Charlotte Cavill, Mary Charrington, Paul Shipton

Publisher: OXFORD

Format and layout 1 2 3 4 5

1. Is it well organized? X

2. Has it got good format? X

3. Are its components related? X

4. Does it provide supplementary materials (Activity Book, Cd, posters,

flashcards…)?

X

5. Has it got good typography? X

6. Is it good the quality of the paper? X

7. Has it got attractive illustrations? X

35

8. Is it balanced the number of illustrations and the texts? X

General aspects 1 2 3 4 5

1. Is it the coursebook appropiate to the level of the students? X

2. Is it appropiate to the reality of the school? X

3. Does it allow the achievement of the general objectives? X

4. Does it contain authentic material? X

5. Does it comprise cultural knowledge? X

6. Does it contain cross curricular activities? X

7. Does the coursebook allow students to communicate in real

situations?

X

Methodology 1 2 3 4 5

1. Is the student the center of the learning process? X

2. Does it develop a multidimensional syllabus? X

3. Does it contain different real situations? X

4. Does it take into account the interest of the students? X

Language 1 2 3 4 5

1. Is the language real? X

2. Does it use English as the vehicular language in the learning process? X

3. Does it work the cultural meaning of the language? X

4. Does it exclude vital expressions, vocabulary items or grammatical

structures?

X

5. Is the language level appropriate to the level of the learners? X

Activities 1 2 3 4 5

1. Are the activities gradually complicated? X

2. Are the activities contextualized? X

3. Do the activities develop cooperative learning? X

4. Do the activities develop diversity treatment? X

36

5. Do the activities improve speaking? X

6. Do the activities improve listening? X

7. Do the activities improve writing? X

8. Do the activities improve reading? X

Competences 1 2 3 4 5

1. Learning to learn competence X

2. Autonomy and personal initiative competence X

3. Competence in processing information and use of ICT X

4. Cultural and artistic competence X

5. Competence in social skills and citizenship X

6. Communicative competence X

1… Do not agree

5… Completely agree

Mark: 166 (points)