English as a Foreign Language materials: The case of textbooks

Abstract

Choosing the right materials for students can be a difficult task, particularly if the teacher lacks experience. Nowadays the choice is enormous, making the selection task even more challenging. What would be the most appropriate materials for a given group of learners? There is no easy answer. One of those materials, the textbook, constitutes one of the most widely used teaching/learning resources, as they provide a set of guidelines and materials that facilitate the teaching task, give a sense of security to the learners and follow educational guidelines. However, choosing a suitable textbook is deemed to be one of the most challenging tasks that EFL teachers often face. To get a good picture of the suitability of a textbook, a careful analysis of the material aspects of the text needs to be undertaken, which should then be followed by an evaluation of that text for a particular teaching/learning context. This chapter suggests a procedure to help teachers decide whether a textbook is appropriate for his/her classroom. Once this decision has been made, there are some examples of how to adapt the text, to adjust it to your needs and those of your classroom.