Foreign Languages
Mohammad Ahmadi Safa
Abstract
Textbooks are considered as one of the most essential requirements of any educational process (2003) and play an axiomatic role in many formal educational settings alongside other pivotal elements including teacher and learners. Undoubtedly, the evaluation and appraisal of such a critical component of ...
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Textbooks are considered as one of the most essential requirements of any educational process (2003) and play an axiomatic role in many formal educational settings alongside other pivotal elements including teacher and learners. Undoubtedly, the evaluation and appraisal of such a critical component of education is not only a permanent need in any such context but also it directly enhances the quality and efficacy of educational practices. The present study critically appraises a textbook entitled "Understanding Research in Applied Linguistics". For the stated purpose, both content and facial aspects of the text are meticulously reviewed and evaluated. The most notable merits of the book include a good variety of activities designed, an extensive use and review of the related literature, and highly acceptable mechanics of writing; however, lack of rigid consistency and coverage of the stated objectives in the main text, fluctuations in the difficulty level of the language used and the inconsistency observed between the already designed ministerial syllabus and the content of the text are among the most salient shortcomings.
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.
Foreign Languages
Mohammad Ahmadi Safa; Mojtaba Farahani
Volume 15, Issue 36 , November 2015, , Pages 1-21
Abstract
Abstract The present study aimed at investigating the Iranian EFL teachers’ perspectives on the Intercultural Competence development potentiality of an Iranian ELT textbook named “Prospect One”. To this end, 70 teachers were chosen for answering a researcher-made questionnaire, 22 of ...
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Abstract The present study aimed at investigating the Iranian EFL teachers’ perspectives on the Intercultural Competence development potentiality of an Iranian ELT textbook named “Prospect One”. To this end, 70 teachers were chosen for answering a researcher-made questionnaire, 22 of whom participated in the interview. The findings revealed that the evaluated textbook lacked the necessary potential for developing Intercultural Competence. Interview results showed that (a) both previous Iranian ELT textbooks and the current one demonstrated a weak performance for developing Intercultural Competence; (b) the current book lacked intercultural objectives; (c) with regard to its cultural and intercultural features, students did not consider the current book to be appropriate; (d) different tasks in the book did not intend to reinforce Intercultural Competence; and (e) the lack of foreign language culture and other cultures’ introduction, fanatical and dogmatic views on human relations, and over-nativization were among the major pitfalls of the Prospect One.
Foreign Languages
Mohammad Hadi Mahmoodi; Mohammad Ahmadi Safa
Volume 14, Issue 32 , February 2015, , Pages 113-133
Abstract
English, besides other things, is the language of science. In the academic system of the countries in which English is not the mother tongue of people, teaching English for specific purposes (ESP) is very important. Therefore, development and evaluation of effective instructional materials for teaching ...
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English, besides other things, is the language of science. In the academic system of the countries in which English is not the mother tongue of people, teaching English for specific purposes (ESP) is very important. Therefore, development and evaluation of effective instructional materials for teaching English and improving their quality is crucially important. On the other hand, evaluation of different instructional materials including books, which are the most frequently used type of materials, requires appropriate models and frameworks. In this paper, the authors have first critically examined some of the well-known textbook evaluation models. Next, they have proposed a model for evaluating ESP books and finally, as an example, an ESP textbook is evaluated based on the proposed model
