http://ejournal.
id/index.
php/JETLI ISSN 2963-9565 English language teaching textbook evaluation of curriculum 2013: TeachersAo perspectives Harni Jusuf English Education Department of Tarbiyah and Teacher Training Faculty IAIN Sultan Amai Gorontalo.
Indonesia Gorontalo.
Indonesia Aharnijusuf@iaingorontalo.
Article information:
Received Revised Accepted Abstract Four interrelated aspects in the teaching-learning process are teacher, students, materials, and evaluation and assessment.
The things that should be paid attention to related to materials are materials selection, development and design, and materials or textbook evaluation.
Regarding textbook evaluation, this article aims to investigate teachersAo perspectives on textbook of curriculum 2013 or K13 for the second Eighteen teachers both from public and private vocational schools in Gorontalo city were asked to assign their opinions about the textbook of K13 using a checklist method adapted from Al Harbi.
The five categories of Al Harbi in the questionnaire are layout design, the objectives of the textbook, teaching methods and activities, language skills, and evaluation.
The data from the checklist were analyzed entered into an excel program to find out the percentage, mean, and standard deviation.
Afterward, the findings of excel were analyzed The studyAos result revealed that the average mean score of layout and design was 4.
01, the objective of the textbook was 4.
teaching methods and activities was 3.
84, language skills was 3.
99, and evaluation was 3.
Therefore, from the perspectives of English teachers, they agree that the English textbook for the second grade of vocational high school is appropriate to be used.
Keywords: materials, textbook evaluation, teachersAo perspectives, curriculum 2013, checklist JETLI: Journal of English Teaching and Linguistic Issues Ae Vol.
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INTRODUCTION
The national educational curriculum in Indonesia has been revised many times.
The former is called curriculum 1947, and the latest is curriculum 2013 or K 13.
As its name, curriculum 2013 is a curriculum which is implemented on that year.
In curriculum 2013, the Ministry of Education and Culture has compiled English language teaching textbooks, both for teachers and students.
According to (Brown, 2000, p.
, a textbook is Aua book for use in educational curriculumAy.
Textbook has an important role in the teaching-learning process because it is a guide for teachers in conveying materials to be taught over a period of time.
For students, textbook makes them easier to understand what is being taught.
With a textbook, students can learn the lesson/topic at home.
Regarding the importance of textbook.
Bell and Gower state that Autextbook helps provide a route map for both teachers and learners, making it possible for them to look ahead to what will be done in a lesson as well as to look back on what has been doneAy .
ited in (Rubdy, 2003, p.
Talking about textbook, there is one interesting thing to be studied, and that is textbook According to (Ahour.
Towhidiyan, & Saeidi, 2.
Autextbook evaluation is a requisite to qualifying the content of the textbook and homogenizing it with the teaching/learning requirements in EFL/ESL settingsAy .
The textbook evaluation itself is not a new thing.
Many researchers have been conducted on different content and perspectives.
The difference between this study with others is this study focuses on the textbook used in Indonesian curriculum, especially the textbook for the second grade of vocational high school on curriculum 2013 or K 13.
As stated previously that textbook evaluation is not a new thing.
Many authors define it by various definitions.
(Tomlinson, 2.
defines a textbook as a book Auwhich provides the core materials for a language-learning courseAy .
(Nunan, 1.
states that Aua textbook is the main component of any instructional program and it is difficult to imagine a class without itAy .
Also, (Sheldon, 1.
declares that textbooks not only Aurepresent the visible heart of any ELT programAy but also offer considerable advantagesAifor both the student and the teacherAiwhen they are being used in the ESL/EFL classroom .
Concerning to evaluation.
Hutchinson and Waters .
3, p.
define evaluation as a Aumatter of judging the fitness of something for a particular purposeAy.
Meanwhile.
Dudley-Evans and St.
John .
5, p.
, declared that Auevaluation is a whole process which begins with Jusuf.
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determining what information to gather and ends with bringing about change in current activities or influencing future onesAy.
According to McDonough and Shaw .
3, p.
, the evaluation of textbooks deserves serious consideration because Auan inappropriate choice may waste time and funds and this may have a demotivating effect on both students and other teachersAy.
Hutchinson and Waters .
3, .
stated that textbook evaluation is basically a straightforward, analytical Aumatching process: matching needs to available solutionsAy.
Meanwhile, (Ahour et al.
, 2.
said that Authe textbook evaluation is a requisite to qualifying the content of the textbooks and homogenizing it with the teaching/learning requirement in EFL/ESL settingsAy .
It cannot be denied that a textbook has important roles in learning.
A textbook leads teacher in conveying materials to be taught over a period of time.
Also, for students, textbook make them easier to understand what is being taught.
With textbook, students can learn the lesson/topic at home.
Concerning to the importance of textbooks.
Cunningsworth .
5, p.
stated that:
course books have multiple roles in ELT and can serve as: a resource for presentation material .
poken and writte.
a source of activities for learner practice and communication interaction.
a reference source for learners on grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, etc.
a source of stimulation and ideas for classroom language activities.
a syllabus .
here they reflect learning objectives which have already been determine.
a resource for self-directed learning or self-access work.
and a support for less experienced teachers who have yet to gain in confidence.
Likewise.
Tomlinson .
3, p.
stated that Aua course book helps provide a route map for both teachers and learners, making it possible for them to look ahead to what will be done in a lesson as well as to look back on what has been doneAy.
Equally.
Sheldon .
, course books represent for both students and teachers the visible heart of any ELT programme.
Still relating to the functions or the importance of textbooks, (Nur Izyan Syamimi Mat Hussin.
Vahid Nimehchisalem.
Seyed Ali Rezvani Kalajahi, & Nurafazeera Yunus, 2.
stated that besides being the major sources of contact with the language for students other than the input they receive from teachers, textbooks can provide some indirect training for inexperienced teachers with the help of teacherAos guides .
Also, (Demir & Ertas, 2.
Demir declared that textbooks not only serve as the general framework for teachers to follow in accordance with the curriculum, but they also function as a guide through the courses offering a wide collection of relevant examples and practices regardless of the subject matter .
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There are some reasons why textbook should be evaluated.
(Hutchinson, 1.
stated that materials evaluation should be evaluated because it is not only serve the immediate practical aim of selecting teaching materials, but also can play a useful role in developing teachers' awareness of the assumptions as to the nature of language learning on which they operate .
Meanwhile, (Cunningsworth, 1.
declared that the reasons for evaluating textbooks are to take on new course book and to discover the precise strengths and weaknesses of course book that has been using.
It also serves as for comparative evaluation, boost teacher development and assist teachers in increasing valuable insights.
The three methods that can be used in evaluating textbook are the impressionistic method, the checklist method, and the in-depth method.
(McGranth, 2.
says that Auimpressionistic analysis is concerned to obtain a general impression of the materialAy .
AuThe checklist method is an instrument that helps practitioners evaluates course books in an effective and practical wayAy (Demir & Ertas, 2.
Meanwhile, (Sarem.
Hamidi, & Mahmoudie, 2.
state that checklist is an instrument that provides the evaluator with a list of features of successful learning-teaching materials .
According to these criteria, evaluators like teachers, researchers, as well as students can rate the quality of material (Saouri.
Kafipur, and Souri as cited in (Sarem et al.
, 2.
(McGranth, 2.
states that in depth method go beneath the publisherAos and authorAos claims to look at, for instance, the kind of language description, underlying assumptions about learning or values on which the materials are based or, in a broader sense, whether the materials seem likely to live up to the claims that are being made for them .
Researches regarding this issue have been studied previously, for instance (Mukundan & Nimehchisalem, 2.
conducted a study which discusses the results of a survey that investigated a group of English as a Second Language (ESL) expertsAo .
views on a checklist developed by himself.
Hajimohammadi, and Nimehchisalem.
The results showed an equal level of importance for all the items of the checklist.
Additionally, based on the findings of factor analysis, two items were removed from the checklist.
The study offers useful implications for ELT practitioners and researchers.
Further research is necessary to field test the checklist for its validity and reliability.
A study conducted by (Sarem et al.
, 2.
evaluate the specialized book of English for International Tourism based on the checklist developed by Daoud and Celce-Murcia.
The obtained results showed that the current book can be used as an acceptable textbook to teach to students who are interested in studying tourism.
The Jusuf.
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characteristics of the book were mainly analyzed in two general dimensions concerning the physical appearance and its content in such aspects as grammar, vocabulary, exercises, and Two studies in the same year .
conducted by Ahour et al.
and Rashidi and Kehtarfard.
(Ahour et al.
, 2.
investigate the appropriateness of AuEnglish Textbook 2Ay for Iranian EFL second grade high school students from the teachersAo perspectives.
The participants of the study consisted of 25 English teachers .
females and 17 male.
randomly selected from different high schools in Boukan.
Iran.
The evaluation of the textbook was conducted quantitatively through an adapted checklist developed by Litz.
The checklist was a 5-point Likert scale and three criteria including subject and content, activities, and skills out of seven criteria in LitzAos checklist were selected for this study.
The results of the study revealed that teachersAo perceptions about these criteria were not favorable in general.
(Rashidi & Kehtarfard, 2.
reports on the findings of a study conducted to evaluate an English textbook .
he third-grade high school English boo.
, which is being used in all state high schools in Iran by using a needs analysis framework.
First, the needs analysis questionnaires were administered among 180 third-grade female high school students for whom the textbook was designed.
Having investigated the studentsAo perceived foreign language needs the researcher then used it as the basis for evaluating the textbook.
The results of the textbook evaluation revealed that although all language skills and components were almost important for the majority of the students, the textbook could not fully support all of them together.
Finally, it was suggested that the textbook be revised or at least supplemented by other instructional materials, so that it could be more effective for the aforementioned learners.
Another study, (Alshehri, 2.
evaluate Cutting Edge, a textbook which is currently being taught at Najran UniversityAos Preparatory Year Programme.
Twelve EFL instructors were asked to share their perspectives about the target textbook, and a forty-item questionnaire, which was developed by Litz was used for the purposes of the evaluation.
The six areas of the textbook that the questionnaire assessed included skills, activities, layout and design, language type, subject and content, and practical considerations.
The studyAos findings revealed that the instructors were largely satisfied with a majority of the textbookAos features.
They were most satisfied with the textbookAos layout and design .
ean score=3.
, followed by its subject and content .
, its skills component .
, its activities .
, and its language type .
contrast, the respondents' opinions of the textbookAos practical considerations were unclear.
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Meanwhile, (Nur Izyan Syamimi Mat Hussin et al.
, 2.
evaluate the presentation of new vocabulary items in Form Three English language textbook used in Secondary Schools in Malaysia.
A group of purposively selected teachers .
= .
used a checklist to evaluate the presentation of vocabulary items in the textbook.
The findings showed that the textbook is weak in vocabulary presentation.
It was found that no specific method was followed to teach the new There was no index of the new vocabulary at the end of the textbook.
The results have implications for the learners.
English language teachers as well as textbook developers.
The findings are also expected to provide guidance to teachers for improving their pedagogical practices in teaching vocabulary and to compensate for the weaknesses of the presentation of vocabulary in the textbook.
A study entitled AuA Comparison of Teaching Materials (School Textbooks Vs Authentic Material.
from the Perspective of English Teachers and Educational Supervisors in Saudi ArabiaAy was conducted by (Allehyani.
Burnapp, & Wilson, 2.
They explore English teachersAo and educational supervisorsAo attitudes to using school textbooks and authentic materials in Saudi boysAo schools.
Specifically, it aims to determine the preferred teaching materials .
ither textbooks or authentic materials which are not usually recommended in the current textbooks .
r which are additional to the contents of the current textbook.
from the participantsAo points of view.
A mixed research approach - quantitative and qualitative - was used to investigate the favored teaching materials, while the contrastive research approach allowed both types to be evaluated.
The results showed that the participants had positive attitudes to using authentic materials and that most teachers preferred them to school textbooks.
The study contributes to the debate over how best to teach English as a Foreign Language, and concludes with the recommendation that school textbooks should include authentic materials in order to improve learnersAo communicative competence.
In 2017, (Muhsen Al Harbi, 2.
conducted a research which aims at evaluating EFL textbook for secondary stage in Saudi Public schools.
Participants consisted of .
male teachers and .
female teachers teaching secondary stage students in two cities: Madinah and Dowadmi.
The tool of the study was designed to cover five dimensions: layout and design, the objectives of the textbook, teaching methods and activities, language skills, and evaluation.
The results revealed that EFL textbook for Saudi secondary schools needs more development to be more effective in learning and teaching EFL.
Clarity of the textbook objectives was one of teachersAo negative comments about the current textbook especially female teachers who Jusuf.
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disagreed that the objectives were treated effectively in the current course.
The content of the textbook is not helpful in applying teaching theories and practices.
In addition, the content of the textbook has no helpful tests or procedures to evaluate the achievement of the students Apart from the research above, this current study aims to explore the vocational high school English language teachersAo perspectives on the textbook of curriculum 2013 or K 13 for the second grade based on the five aspects, namely the layout and design, the objectives, the teaching methods and activities, the language skills, and the evaluation.
The result of this study is worthy to give description of how the teachersAo perspectives on English language textbook in Gorontalo city.
This study also can be a source of comparison for other researchers to conduct studies using other models of checklist.
METHODS
Participants The data of this study was collected from 18 English language teachers of vocational high school in Gorontalo city.
They are 14 teachers from public school and 4 teachers from the private one who teaches English at the second grade.
The background information of the participants can be seen in the following table.
Table 1.
English Language TeachersAo Background Information Vocational High School Public Private Total Sex Level of Education Experience M (%) F (%) BA (%) MA (%) 6-10 (%) Over 10 (%) Instrument The data of this study was collected through a questionnaire that was adopted from Al Harbi.
Al HarbiAos checklist method is divided into five categories that are layout and design.
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the objectives of the textbook, teaching methods and activities, language skills, and evaluation.
The total items of in five categories are 49.
Method and Data Analysis This study used qualitative descriptive analysis.
I asked 18 English language teachers of vocational high schools to fill up the 5-point numerical rating scale questionnaire based on their opinions.
I also asked them to give comments that they feel are necessary to be added.
Then, the results of the questionnaires were entered into excel program to find out the percentage, mean, and average mean scores.
The explanation of average mean scores was cited from Alshehri .
6, p.
The explanation of average mean scores can be seen in table 2.
this case, the result of strongly disagree and disagree was categorized into AodisagreeAo, and strongly agree and agree were categorized into AoagreeAo.
Afterward, the findings of excel were analyzed descriptively.
Table 2.
The Explanation of Average Mean Scores Mean Score Value Average Explanation Between 1.
00 and 1.
Strongly disagree Between 1.
81 and 2.
Disagree Between 2.
61 and 3.
Undecided Between 3.
41 and 4.
Agree Between 4.
21 and 5.
Strongly agree RESULTS AND DISCUSSION This section illustrates vocational high school teachersAo appraisal on English language teaching textbook of the second grade.
Layout and Design Table 3.
Frequencies.
Percentages, and Means of the Items on Layout and Design Response Items Jusuf.
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Note.
1= strongly disagree.
2= disagree.
3= undecided.
4= agree.
5= strongly agree Based on the table 3, it can be seen that 88.
89% .
teachers who agreed that the cover of the textbook is an attractive and its information indicating its content, meanwhile, only 56% .
teacher declare his/her disagreement.
On items number 2 to 4, most of the teachers .
89% or 16 teacher.
stated their agreement.
A majority of the teachers .
45% or 17 teacher.
agreed that each lesson in the textbook has a title .
Eighty-eight points thirtythree .
teachers agreed that the paper quality used for this textbook is fit this stage .
tem On item 7, only 66.
67% .
teachers agree that the textbook contains a variety of attractive design.
78% .
teachers were on undecided degree.
56% .
teacher who stated his/her disagreement.
On item number 8, 72.
23% .
teachers declared their 78% .
teachers were disagreed.
About 77.
78% .
teachers agreed that there is consistency in the use of titles and designations and symbols, and 22.
22% .
teachers were on undecided degree .
About 83.
34% .
teachers have the same opinion that textbook illustrations are diverse and attractive, and 16.
67% .
teachers were in doubt .
On the last item of layout and design, 77.
78% or .
teachers declared their agreement, while 22.
22% .
teachers were unsure that picture inside the textbook are employed to facilitate the process of students learning.
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Based on the mean of the eleventh items of layout and design, the average mean score of it It means that mostly teachers agree with the layout and design of the English Objectives of the Textbook Table 4.
Frequencies.
Percentages, and Means of the Items on Objectives of the Textbook Response Items Note.
1= strongly disagree.
2= disagree.
3= undecided.
4= agree.
5= strongly agree Table 4 showed that only 5.
56% .
teacher who did not agree that the textbook objectives are clear and almost all teachers .
45% or .
declared their agreement .
About 83.
33% .
teachers agree with item number 13 and 16.
67% .
teachers who were unsure.
For items number 14 and 15, 88.
89% .
teachers stated their agreement, while 11% .
teachers were on undecided degree.
The two last items of the objectives of the textbook .
tems 16 and .
, only 5.
56% .
teacher who was in doubt, meanwhile, 94.
teachers declared their agreement.
The sixth items of the second category of English textbook for the second-grade vocational high school indicated that the average mean score was 4.
It means that mostly teachers agree with the objectives of the textbook.
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Teaching Methods and Activities Table 5.
Frequencies.
Percentages, and Means of the Items on Teaching Methods and Activities Response Items Note.
1= strongly disagree.
2= disagree.
3= undecided.
4= agree.
5= strongly agree According to table 5, about 83.
34% .
teachers agreed that teaching methods and activities textbook content takes into account the logical progression of topics .
For item 19, only 61.
12% .
teachers who were agreed that the organization of the textbook content takes into account the integration with previous stages, and 38.
89% .
teachers who declared their disagreement.
Seventy-seven-point seventy-eight percent .
teachers agree with the item number 20 and 22.
22% .
teachers who were in doubt.
For the two items .
tems 21 and .
, merely 72.
22% .
teachers have the same opinions and 27.
78% .
teachers who were unsure.
Roughly 94.
44% .
teachers declared that textbook content Jusuf.
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allows the link between teaching theories and practices .
About 24, 72.
22% .
teachers have the same opinions on item number 24 and 27.
78% .
teachers were in doubt.
For item number 25, about 83.
33% .
teachers declared their agreement.
A majority of the teachers .
89% or .
teachers agreed that the textbook content fits teaching process and professional development for teachers .
About 72.
22% .
teachers agree that teachersAo handbooks explain how to teach this book to students .
Approximately 45% .
teachers agree that the content encourages learners to use modern technologies .
For the item number 29, 77.
78% .
teachers stated their agreement, while 22% .
teachers were in doubt.
Finally, just 61.
12% .
teachers agreed that the content of the textbook fits the number of lessons allocated for each week, while 38.
89% .
teachers were unsure.
The average mean score of the thirteenth items of teaching methods and activities was It indicates that roughly the English teachers agreed with the third category of the Language Skills Table 6.
Frequencies.
Percentages, and Means of the Items on Language Skills Response Items Jusuf.
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Note.
1= strongly disagree.
2= disagree.
3= undecided.
4= agree.
5= strongly agree As table 6 point out, only 55.
55% .
teachers agreed that textbook content improves listening skill of learners, 27.
78% .
teachers were unsure, and 16.
67% .
teachers were disagreed .
Almost all teachers .
45% or .
teachers stated their agreement of item About 88.
89% .
teachers have same opinions on item number 33.
For item number 34, roughly 83.
33% .
teachers declared their agreement.
A majority of teachers .
89% or .
teachers stated that the textbook contains a variety of reading topics .
For item number 36, almost all teachers .
45% or .
declared their agreement.
Roughly 33% .
teachers declared their agreement for item number 37.
All of the teachers .
% or .
agreed that the content of the textbook raises thinking .
Almost all teachers .
45% or .
teachers stated their agreement of item number 39.
For the item number 40, 78% .
teachers stated their agreement, while 22.
22% .
teachers were in doubt.
For the last two items .
tems 41 and .
, 72.
22% .
teachers declared their agreement about the textbook.
Based on the mean of the eleventh items of language skills, the average mean score of it was 3.
It means that mostly teachers agree with the language skills of the English textbook.
Evaluation Table 7.
Frequencies.
Percentages, and Means of the Items on the Evaluation Response Items Jusuf.
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Note.
1= strongly disagree.
2= disagree.
3= undecided.
4= agree.
5= strongly agree The table above gives us an idea about items of evaluation of textbook evaluation.
For the item number 43, about 88.
89% .
teachers agreed that the textbook offers a variety of exercises and activities to use the vocabulary and practice their skills.
For the items number 44 and 45, roughly 83.
33% .
teachers declared their agreement.
Almost all teachers .
teachers concurred that the number of exercises and activities appropriate to the content of the textbook .
For the items 47 and 48, roughly 83.
33% .
teachers have the same opinions.
For the last item, 66.
teachers agreed that there are models for quarterly and final test.
78% .
teachers were unsure.
teacher was The seventh items of the fifth category of English textbook for the second-grade vocational high school indicated that the average mean score was 3.
It means that mostly teachers agree with the last category of the textbook.
CONCLUSIONS
Concerning to the criteria for textbook evaluation, the findings of this study revealed that layout and design of the textbook are clear and attractive.
For the objectives of the textbook, it reflects the needs of the learners.
Furthermore, the teaching methods and activities facilitate students to learn using technologies and environment also assist teachersAo professional For language skills, the textbook help students to increase their ability in English.
Finally, the textbook has various exercises that can be used to evaluate studentsAo competence and performance.
Based on the result of the study, it found that the averages mean score of layout and design was 4.
The average mean score of the second category was 4.
The average mean score of teaching methods and activities was 3.
The average mean score of language skills Jusuf.
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And, the average mean score of the last category was 3.
Therefore, from the perspectives of English teachers, they agree that the English textbook for the second grade of vocational high school is appropriate to be used.
REFERENCES