Foreign Languages
Ayatollah Fazelimania; Shadi Donyaie; Moslem Yousefi; Nasser Ranjbar; Fatemeh Hafez
Abstract
With the central role of textbooks, particularly, in centralized educational systems such as that of Iran where a single textbook is recommended for nation-wide use, evaluation textbooks, especially whilst-use evaluation, can highlight points of strength and weakness in a book and pave the way for its ...
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With the central role of textbooks, particularly, in centralized educational systems such as that of Iran where a single textbook is recommended for nation-wide use, evaluation textbooks, especially whilst-use evaluation, can highlight points of strength and weakness in a book and pave the way for its improvement in later editions. The present study set to evaluate Vision 1, English textbook for grade 10 in the new Iranian educational system. To this end, a questionnaire taken from Ahmadisafa et al. (1396) was distributed among 150 English teachers (selected from different provinces of the country through convenience sampling). Furthermore, 20 of the above teachers responded to a researcher-designed semi-structured interview involving: 1) general evaluation of the book, 2) advantages of the book over those previously used, 3) viewpoints of the teachers' over realization of the aims of the book, 4) its points of weakness, and 5) the teachers' suggestions for improvements in its later editions. The results indicated that the teachers were relatively satisfied with: 1) supplementary materials and teacher's book, 2) grammar, vocabulary and language functions, 3) content and language skills, 4) tasks and exercises, 5) design and layout, and 6) teaching methodology. However, the interview revealed the teachers' relative dissatisfaction with the book, with most of them considering the book unsuccessful in fulfilling the set objectives.
Foreign Languages
Mohammad Ahmadi Safa; Shadi Donyaee; Shilan Sohrabi; Mojtaba Farahani; Dayan Khasemi; Elahe Saeedpanah
Volume 18, Issue 8 , December 2018, , Pages 1-24
Abstract
This study set out to evaluate a rather newly developed textbook entitled "Prospect I". The textbook is developed as the main text for the nationwide application at the first grade of high school English courses by the Iranian ministry of education. To this end, a researcher-made questionnaire was developed ...
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This study set out to evaluate a rather newly developed textbook entitled "Prospect I". The textbook is developed as the main text for the nationwide application at the first grade of high school English courses by the Iranian ministry of education. To this end, a researcher-made questionnaire was developed and pilot tested. Bartlett's test of Sphericity, Keiser-Meyer-Olkin sampling adequacy measure, exploratory factor analysis and factor loadings, and Cronbach's Alpha measure of internal consistency were all run on the pilot study data, and the results verified acceptable levels of validity and reliability for the questionnaire. The validated questionnaire was given to 188 high school English teachers chosen based on convenience sampling procedure from seven provinces of the country. Moreover, 146 teachers sat for a semi-structured interview. The questionnaire and interview data analyses results revealed that the participating teachers were not satisfied with several aspects of the text including layout and design, the exercises and activities, the integration of the four skills, teachers book, grammar, vocabulary, language functions, and the proposed teaching methodology of the text.