A Study on a Textbook Anlaysis (A Case of 'Chinar I' English for PCL first year)

Abstract

The importance of textbook can hardly be exaggerated in Nepalese context. They are not only direct the way both to the teachers andstudents' in classroom interaction but also they represent and reflect theaims and objectives of the curriculum. They are the most commonly andwidely used instructional aids in schools, colleges, universities and evenat home. They are the instruments of instruction that facilitates teaching-learning process. They provide the core materials for a course whichtypically aims to cove all aspects of the language, and supplementarytextbooks devoted to particular topics or skill areas. They are the integralparts for the effective implementation of curriculum. But abovementioned facts have not been given proper attention while writing andimplementing textbook. This research work attempts to find out the qualities of 'Chinar I'a course book for PCL first year, in terms of its physical and academicaspects. In order to do so, the researcher collected data (for academicaspect) from the teachers teaching in different colleges of three differentdistricts: Kathmandu, Banke and Surkhet and the researcher's ownthrough observation of the textbook. The sample population of the studyconsists of 30 subject teachers who were selected by using judgementalor purposive sampling procedure. On the basis of the collecteddata, thequalities of the textbook were determined using simple statistical tool likepercentage. The major findings of the study show that the book is appropriatein its size, the printing is free from errors and it is appropriate to matchwith the cognitive and academic levels of the target learners. It includesauthentic and interesting reading texts from different social andprofessional settings. The listening tasks are provided with opportunities to listen to avariety of materials. These tasks are designed to provide the students with the opportunities to develop listening skill. The speaking activitiesare designed to promote communicative competence in students. Thewriting tasks help students to integrate their understanding of the textwith their need to make purposeful, personalized and often animaginative written responses. Similarly, the grammatical item in question is explained withreference to its use in the respective text, whenever relevant. Thevocabulary items have received systematic and regular attention and thenumber of these items are also sufficient enough to provide learners withadequate vocabulary exposure. Thus, varieties of exercises have beenincluded in this book to develop all the skills. The language used in thisbook is authentic and functional. This book still has some shortcomings too. The paper quality andthe binding do not seem to be good. Neither recorded audio-cassettes norprinted texts are there for listening. The given or mentioned glossarylacks the parts of speech and pronunciation of the words. The book lacksteacher's guide, test book and work book. The appendix, index andreference books have not been included in this book. The study consistsof four chapters which are given below: Chapter one deals with general background, English languageteaching in Nepal, defining curriculum, syllabus and course of study andtextbook. The textbook encompasses types of textbook, relationshipbetween curriculum and textbook, importance of textbook, roles ofEnglish language textbook in PCL, aims of teaching English at PCL,specific objectives of PCL first year English textbook, qualities of a goodtextbook, a theoretical framework for textbook analysis and need ofresearch in the field of textbook. Similarly, this chapter deals with reviewof the related literature, objectives of the study and significance of thestudy. Chapter two deals with methodology. It encompasses sources ofdata, the sample population of the study and sampling procedure, toolsfor data collection, process of data collection and limitations of the study. Chapter three deals with analysis and interpretation of data. Thedata are analyzed taking variables like teachers' opinions and theresearcher own observation into account on the basis of the designedframework. Chapter four deals with summary, findings and recommendations.The findings of the study are included under strengths and weakness ofthe textbook.