EVALUATION AND SELECTION OF ESL TEXTBOOKS

Abstract

The use of textbooks in English language classrooms especially in English as a second language (ESL) situation has been from of old of ten, programme directors and teachers are under pressure to adopt new reading textbooks on a fairly regular basis and the process of evaluating and selecting appropriate textbooks has not been easy for most of them. Despite the fact that textbooks are a staple in almost every English language class especially in the ESL situation, there has been surprisingly little investigation done in terms of how and why certain texts are selected by teachers. Some textbooks that appear sound on the surface may lack many of the criteria of a truly superior book. If a text is extremely sound pedagogically but if it is extremely expensive, difficult to follow or insensitive to ESL students' needs and concerns, it's value is limited. The primary aim of a text therefore, is to cater for the needs of the learner by providing the skills needed and the methodology that has distinctive activities taking into consideration other variables that may interfere in the learning process. The teacher must therefore be trained sufficiently to be able to acquire the skills involved in textbook evaluation and selection. Through this examination of textbook use and evaluation, it is hoped that administrators and language teachers will gain some knowledge on how to conduct this evaluation themselves regularly.