The 5th ELTLT CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS

October 2016

AN ANALYSIS OF THE 2013 CURRICULUM ENGLISH

COURSEBOOK FOR THE 11TH GRADERS
Sri Meiweni Basra
English Education Program
Indonesia University of Education
Bandung, Indonesia
srimeiweni.basra@yahoo.com

Abstract
Problems in using a coursebook (some coursebooks offer the activity which do not suit the
learners‘ level and are not flexible to be used due to the presence of too much exposure of the
target language culture) arose from the effect of selecting the wrong coursebook. The purpose of
the research is to find out how the 2013 curriculum English coursebook for the 11th graders meet
criteria of a good coursebook based on a checklist and to find out whether it is categorized into a
good coursebook. This research is categorized into descriptive qualitative research design. The
main object of the data was the content of the coursebook. Eclectic Checklist for ELT Coursebook
was used as the instrument to identify coursebook quality after the researcher overviews its
content. The findings of the research described that the coursebook needs improvement in terms of
the content. The study concluded that coursebook evaluation is needed to be conducted before
choosing a coursebook. Hopefully it is recommended for the practitioners to be aware of it and
make improvement toward the coursebook and it is hoped for teachers to be more selective to
choose a coursebook to be used in the teaching and learning process.

Keywords - Coursebook, the 2013 Curriculum, evaluation

Introduction to adapt the material. Cunningsworth in

Teaching and learning process requires a
number of components. According to the
Peraturan Menteri Pendidikan Dan
Kebudayaan Republik Indonesia No 65
Tahun 2013 Tentang Standar Proses
Pendidikan Dasar Dan Menengah, in chapter
four, it is stated that there are three
requirements needed to conduct the teaching
and learning process. One of them is the use
of coursebooks. Sheldon (1987) points out
that a coursebook is a book which
intentionally designed and published to be
used in the classroom teaching and learning
process to ensure the improvement of
students‘ knowledge and communicative
ability. O‘Neill (1982) states reasons why
coursebooks are considered important and
suitable to be used. They have a great deal of
material, make it possible for learners to
review the previous lesson and check out the
next ones, and make it possible for teachers
Tsiplakides (2011) also points out that
Coursebook is considered important to be
used in the teaching and learning process
because they play prominent roles in the
teaching and learning process, some of the
roles are; coursebooks becomes a source for
learners to practice and communicate and
self-access work, serves syllabus, and
become a support for less experience
teachers.
In implementing the 2013 curriculum, before
its suspension in 2014, the Ministry of
Education and Culture provided new changes
to the teaching and learning process
including the provision of coursebooks.
Therefore, coursebooks published by the
Ministry of Education and Culture play a
prominent role to guide the teaching and
learning process.

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 The 5th ELTLT CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS
However, there are problems regarding the
use of English coursebooks in teaching and
learning process. Based on the result of
interviewing three English teachers, different
issues about using coursebooks in the
teaching and learning process came up. First,
the coursebooks used sometimes do not give
balance exposure to the four language skills
(speaking, listening, reading and writing).
Second, coursebooks sometimes do not cover
a complete lesson for the whole semester or
year. It requires teachers to spare more time
to develop material such as handout. The
third one is that the coursebooks sometimes
do not give balance exposure toward the
target and local culture learning.
Since the 2013 curriculum is going to be
implemented again after the revision of its
elements (said Mr. Anies Baswedan in Press
Confrence in Jakarta 5 December 2014), the
2013 curriculum coursebooks are also going
to be used again in classrooms. Therefore,
the purpose of this study is to find out
whether the 2013 curriculum English
coursebook for the 11th graders meets the
criteria of a good coursebook suggested by
ELT experts by using an eclectic checklist,
investigates its strength and weakness and to
define whether the 2013 curriculum English
coursebook is categorized into a good
coursebook to be used in the learning process
using a checklist. Therefore, based on the
background, this study addresses the
following questions:
1. ―How does the 2013 curriculum English
coursebook for the 11th graders meet the
criteria of a good coursebook proposed
by the checklist?‖
2. ―Does 2013 curriculum English
coursebook for the 11th graders meet the
criteria of a perfect coursebook proposed
Demir and Ertas‘ (2014) research
published in The Reading Matrix
Volume 4 Number 2, September 2014?‖
This study is hopefully expected to give
enlightenment to the teachers about the
weakness and the strength of the 2013
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October 2016
curriculum coursebook for the 11th graders.
Therefore, by knowing the drawbacks and
the excellence of the book, teachers know
how to deal with it. Furthermore, the study
also intends to share ideas and information
about the criteria of a good English
coursebook which will be useful for the
ministry of education in Indonesia in the
attempt to revise the 2013 curriculum
English coursebooks.
Methodology
2.1 Research Design. Since the study was aimed
at finding out how the coursebook analyzed
meets criteria of a good coursebook and whether
the 2013 curriculum English coursebook is
categorized into a good coursebook, this research
was categorized as descriptive qualitative
research design. Richards (2003) states that this
type of research is conducted to make sense of
phenomena in a natural setting (not artificial)
based on how people perceive or make meaning
about the phenomena. Deeper understanding and
rich description were gathered, recorded and
written in conducting this qualitative research. In
other words, documents are interpreted to give
meaning about a topic of the research.
2.2 Data Source. The main object or source
of the data is the content of the 2013
curriculum English coursebook for the 11th
grade. The coursebook is published by Pusat
Kurikulum dan Perbukuan, Balitbang,
Kemendikbud. The coursebook is intended to
be used for the 11th graders at the first
semester. The coursebook consists of 111
pages which is divided into five chapters.
The data (the coursebook) is collected by
downloading it from
http://bse.kemdikbud.go.id/.
2.3 Instrument. The instrument of the study is
called Eclectic Checklist for ELT Coursebook
adapted from Demir and Ertas‘ (2014)
research published in The Reading Matrix
Volume 4 Number 2, September 2014
consisting of four major analyses (Subject
and Contents, Sub-skills and Skills, Layout
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The 5th ELTLT CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS
October 2016
and Phisical Make-up, and Practical
Consideration). There are 46 questions in the
checklist. There are three conditions defined
after conducting the checklist, first, if the
YES answer is more then 80% of the
checklist, it means the book is considered a
perfect one. Second, if the YES answer
ranges from 60% to 80%, it means that the
coursebook can be used but needs adaptation.
Third, if the YES answer is below 60% the
book is not suitable to be used in the teaching
and learning process.
2.4 Data Analysis. After over-viewing the
coursebook, the analysis focused on using the
eclectic checklist to identify and check the
quality of the 2013 curriculum English
coursebook for the 11th graders. In analyzing
the data collected, first the coursebook is
evaluated by matching its content to every
question in the checklist in the form of YES
or No answer. After that, the percentage of
the requirements met by the coursebook
analyzed is counted. At the end, the
interpretation about the findings is
descriptively described.
Finding and Discussion
This study was conducted under the
following research questions: ―How does the
2013 curriculum English coursebook for the
11th graders meet the criteria of a good
coursebook proposed by the checklist?‖ and
―Does 2013 curriculum English coursebook
for the 11th graders meet the criteria of a
perfect coursebook proposed Demir and
Ertas‘ (2014) research published in The
Reading Matrix Volume 4 Number 2,
September 2014?‖.
3.1 The first research question: ―How does
the 2013 curriculum English coursebook for
the 11th graders meet the criteria of a good
coursebook proposed by the checklist?‖
Subject and Content
Gebhart (2000) explains that one of the
disadvantages of a coursebook is that it is not
flexible because it is designed for a wide
638
variety culturally and geographically
audiences. It means that Gebhart agrees that
a coursebook should contain local culture
learning. This 2013 English curriculum
coursebook varies the content. Although the
most portion is about local culture learning,
this coursebook also serve target culture
learning. Beside that, Harmer (2007) also
states that insensitive text about religion,
racism, or politics should not be presented as
the content of a coursebook. The 2013
curriculum English coursebook for the 11th
graders does not contain such insensitive
topics or text.
A drawback of the coursebook in terms of
subject and contents is that there are less
variety of the activities. Most of the activities
are about filling the blanks or taking notes.
There are no games or songs to attract and
motivate students to learn while Litz (2005)
acknowledges that variety of activity helps
students learn better. There are very few
vocabulary of the target language in the
book.
The subject and content of the book is
interesting. It does not bore students with
many monologue text. The topics of the
content are closely related to students‘ daily
life. Gap filling activities provided with
colorful pictures can attract students more to
study. Every activity guides the students to
do well on learning.
The content is not challenging enough and
motivating. There is no listening activities,
there is only a few speaking activities.
Therefore, the communicative competence is
not emphasized by this coursebook. The
challenging content in the coursebook is in
terms of memorizing technical vocabulary
presented in some texts.
The coursebook does not offer variety of
activities. Every chapter has the same
activities putting on the same sequence, only
the topics which are different. The theme is
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 The 5th ELTLT CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS
culturally appropriate because the topics in
the activities are all general topics. There is a
relationship between the content of the
coursebook with real life situation.
Sub-skills and skills
There are good points that this coursebook
offers. Some of them are, first, reading
sections are always presented in every
chapter. Reading activities also challenging
because it is integrated with writing and,
sometimes, speaking. According to Ramzjoo
(2010) appropriate reading exercise are
needed to improve students‘ learning skills.
Second, writing skill is also emphasized. It is
proven by the presence of personal journal
writing in every chapter. Third, grammar
aspect is explained briefly and in a simple
way so it is understandable. Tok (2010)
acknowledges that the explanation of the
structure of grammar is understood by
learners if it is brief, clear and simple. There
are many transactional and interpersonal text
provided.
However, this coursebook does not help
students to achieve communicative
competence. Speaking and listening skills are
not emphasized in the book. There is only
very few activities to conduct speaking skills
while Demir and Ertas (2014) argue that the
adequate activities in speaking is vital
learning a language. There is no activity for
listening. The two skills are the primary
skills in doing communication.
Layout and physical make-up
Harmer (2007) agrees that layout and
physical appearance should be taken into
account in choosing a coursebook. He also
adds that one of the stages in choosing a
coursebook is by finding out students‘
preferences. Books filled with lots of pictures
in it and colorful and attractive layout is
preferred by students because they help
students understand the lesson better.
Physically, the layout of the book is
attractive. The quality of the picture is good.
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October 2016
It looks interesting because there are many
pictures, colorful and very tidy explanation
because explanation is placed in boxes. There
is no drawback for the layout and physical
make-up of this book.
Practical Consideration
Harmer (2007) acknowledges there are other
thing that should be consider of choosing a
coursebook. The first is availability. The
2013 curriculum English coursebook for the
11th graders is available as the government
publishes them and distributes them to
schools. The second is about add-on and
extra. Unfortunately, this coursebook does
not offer extra materials such as posters,
online learning site or free self-study CD
while extras will support students‘ learning.
Communicative language teaching is not
emphasized in the book. The book seems to
focus on reading skills, writing skills, and
transactional and interpersonal text in which
they are not acted out. Students are only
given the knowledge to construct a sentence
and given less chances to speak. Meanwhile,
the real objective in learning a language is
for communication. Furthermore, self
assessment part is given at the end of every
chapter. It eases the teacher to determine
whether students have understood the lesson.
.
3.2 The second research question: ―Does
2013 curriculum English coursebook for the
11th graders meet the criteria of a perfect
coursebook proposed Demir and Ertas‘
(2014) research published in The Reading
Matrix Volume 4 Number 2, September
2014?‖
The checklist yields 29 YES answers out
of 46 criteria and 17 NO answers out of 46
criteria.
The total of YES/NO answer
X 100%= Result
The whole criteria
Therefore the percentage of YES question is
63.04% .
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The 5th ELTLT CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS
October 2016
The 2013 curriculum English coursebook for
the 11th graders meets 29 criteria out of 46
criteria of the eclectic checklist. In short,
based on the requirements of result of the
checklist, the finding of the study falls into
the second category; 60% to 80%, as the
finding yields only 63,04%. It means the
coursebook is allowed to be used but needs
adaptation.
Conclusion and Recommendation
Selecting a good coursebook needs careful
consideration. As Harmer(2007) states, he
states that choosing a good coursebook
should consider four stages. The first one is
analyzing, consulting friends, consulting
students and piloting it. The analysis can take
much effort to match the content of the
coursebook with a number of criteria. This
study investigates the content analysis of the
2013 curriculum English coursebook for the
11th graders. It tries to find out how the
coursebook meets criteria of a good
coursebook and defines whether the
coursebook is categorized to a good
coursebook or need improvement.
By analyzing the content using an eclectic
checklist adapted from Demir and Ertas‘
(2014), the research has come to answer the
research questions mentioned earlier. There
are strengths of the coursebook. Some of
them are in terms of layout, the exposure of
reading skills, the availability, different
interesting topics of texts, the absence of
insensitive materials and the brief and
understandable concept of grammar.
However, there are also drawbacks of the
coursebook. Regarding the purpose of
learning a language that is for
communicating, the coursebook does not
expose students very much to speaking skills.
Besides, an obvious weakness is that the
coursebook does not have any single activity
for students to practice their listening skills.
640
After analyzing the content of the
coursebook, it was found that the criteria met
by the coursebook are only 63,04%. The
percentage draws the conclusion that teachers
can still use the book under adaptation. It
means the book needs improvement.
Analyzing the coursebook whether the
content meet the criteria of a good
coursebook before selecting one is necessary
and brings advantages for both teachers and
students. One example is that if the
coursebook meets criteria of the exposure of
the four English skills, then the learning
becomes meaningful. Therefore, selecting a
coursebook affects both teachers and
students.
References
Demir, Y and Ertas, A. 2014. A Suggested
Eclectic Checklist for ELT
Coursebook Evaluation. Vol. 14 No.
2, September2014.
Gebhart, Jerry G. 2000. Teaching English as
a Foreign or Second Language.
USA: The University of Michigan
Press.
Harmer, Jeremy. 2007. How to Teach
English. China: Pearson
Education Limited.
Kementerian Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan.
2013. Salinan Lampiran Peraturan
Menteri Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan
Republik Indonesia Nomor 65 Tahun
2013 Tentang Standar Proses
Pendidikan Dasar dan Menengah.
Litz, D. R. A. 2005. Textbook evaluation and
ELT management: a South Korean
case study. Asian EFL Journal.
Retrieved from
http://faculty.ksu.edu.sa/umerazim/D
ocuments/Litz_thesis.pdf
O‘Neill, Robert. 1982. Why Use Textbooks.
ELT Journal. Vol 36/2, pp. 104-111,
January 1982.
Http://eltj.oxfordjournals.org
Razmjoo, S. A. 2010. Developing a Textbook
Evaluation Scheme for the
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October 2016

Expanding Circle. Iranian Journal of Great Britain: Modern English

Applied Language Studies, 2(1), 121- Publications.
136. Tok, H. (2010). TEFL textbook evaluation:
Richards, Keith. 2003. Qualitative Inquiry in From teachers‘ perspectives.
TESOL. New York: PALGRAVE Educational Research and Review,
MACMILLAN 5(9), 508-517.
Sheldon, Leslie E. (Ed.). 1987. ELT Tsiplakides, Iakovost. 2011. Selecting an
Textbooks and Materials: Problems English Coursebook: Theory and
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