Textbook Evaluation of Four Corners Series Based on Socio Cultural Elements

Textbooks are one the main tools of learning in instructional setting. A significant part of the professional activity for all English teachers is the ability to evaluate teaching material effectively. The study aims at evaluating the contribution of socio-cultural in the Four Corners series, which is currently in use at language institutes in Iran. A checklist developed by Tomlinson (2001) was used for evaluation of the aforementioned series comprehensively. Twenty EFL instructors were asked to share their views about the target textbooks. They had experience of teaching Four corners series for several years at different institutes in Iran. The six areas of the textbook that the checklist assessed included intercultural knowledge and understanding, cultural awareness, cultural representation, aim and achievement and teachability. Frequencies and percentages were calculated for each item to describe the overall picture of how the teachers rated the textbook in terms of six criteria. In addition, chi-square for each criterion was calculated. The study’s finding indicated that the teachers were extremely satisfied with a majority of the textbook’s features. The result of the prepared checklist is added to the related sections. It is important to note that the textbooks suffer from a few drawbacks. Teachers did not feel positive regarding teachability. However, Four Corners series are suitable to be used as it has been used successfully for several years at language institutes in Iran.

کلیدواژه ها:

Four Corners series ، evaluation ، EFL ، checklist ، socio-cultural