© 1988 by Oxford University Press
Articles |
Evaluating ELT textbooks and materials
Leslie Sheldon is Director of ELT, Pitman Education and Training Ltd. He has taught at schools, universities, and teacher-training establishments in Canada, Iran, Algeria, Italy, Sweden and the UK, as well as having been an ESP consultant. In 1989 Dr Sheldon will direct a British Council specialist seminar to be held in the UK, entitled ‘ELT Textbooks And Materials: Evaluation, Expolitation, Adaptation and Design’.
ELT coursebook publishing is a multi-million pound industry, yet the whole business of product assessment is haphazard and under-researched. Coursebooks are often seen by potential consumers—teachers, learners and educational purchasers—as market ephemera requiring invidious compromises between commercial and pedagogical demands. Some practical and theoretical reasons for such grassroots discontent are discussed, as are previous textbook studies and qualitative 'checklists'. The state of the informational assistance available to intending purchasers is also examined. Finally, as set of 'common core' qualitative criteria is advanced, whose purpose it would be to make evaluation and selection more systematic and informed.1