CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

English for specific purposes (ESP) has been around for about 70 years.

Dudley Evans and St John in Baleghizadeh and Rahimi (2011: 1009) stated that ESP

is part of a more general movement of teaching language for specific purposes (LSP).

ESP has attracted more attention within the teaching of English as a foreign or second

language. The other argue in Baleghizadeh and Rahimi, however Hutchinson and

Waters in (2011: 1010) said that ESP must be seen as an approach not as a product. It

does not consist of a particular type of teaching material, nor is it a particular kind of

language or methodology. From those views, ESP is designed for a particular group

of people in a particular context. The materials used are related to the learners'

specialized field of study. One of the important factors which is of the most

importance in language learning in general and ESP in particular is to see whether the

books and materials are useful for the purpose of the course or not. This is done

through the process of textbook evaluation, which is the aim of the current study.

It is commonly believed that textbooks play a importance role in a teaching

and learning process because textbooks could be a conveyor of the curriculum, a

source of language, a learning support, motivation and stimulation, and a reference,

from Sleeter & Grant in Baleghizadeh and Rahimi (2011:1011). In addition,

Hutchinson in Syaifulloh (2014: 237) stated that textbooks are not only media for
everyday activity in the classroom used by teachers and students but they are also an

embodiment of aims, values and method of the certain teaching and learning

situation. Therefore, from using the textbooks in the learning process could help

teachers to focus on what they should do in the classroom and not having their energy

wasted by preparation of teaching materials.

However, the availability of ready textbooks used whether at schools or

universities could provide drawbacks not only for teachers or lecturers but also for

students. Example, for teachers or lecturers, they could be demotivated because they

sometimes find that the materials provided in the ready textbooks could not be used

depend on their context and situation. For the students, the content of the ready

textbooks sometimes does not fit with their background. Therefore, designing

textbooks based on the context and situation of a specific area seems to be the best

alternative to obtain what they need. In Indonesian context, many universities or

colleges design their own books for their students because they consider that by

published books will not fulfill their learners’ needs. They have thought that

published books are not appropriate with a certain teaching context. Therefore, the

institutions assign their lecturers to design their own books, which suit a particular

group of students.

Even though many textbooks used at universities or colleges are designed by

the lecturers of those universities or colleges, however, it seems that many designers

are not encouraged to evaluate the quality of the materials being developed.
Evaluating textbooks is important because it could be used as a way to find the

problems during the use of textbooks in the teaching and learning process and to get

solutions from the problems.

Rea-Dickins and Germaine stated that evaluation is an intrinsic part of

teaching and learning in Syaifulloh (2014: 237). Therefore, conducting a research on

evaluating textbooks development by lecturers at a university or a college is

important. In Baleghizadeh and Rahimi (2011) conducted a research about Evaluation

of an ESP Textbook for the Students of Sociology at University of Tehran. The

findings indicated that the book, despite having merits, was not very suitable for the

course. They further give suggestions regarding the kinds of activities, strategies,

layout and other important issues.

Every teaching-learning situation has its specific requirements in terms of the

choice of materials, methodology and procedures. Dudley-Evan and St. John in

Karimnia and Jafari (2017:220) argue that materials in ESP programs should be

selected appropriately and creatively, and they should be modified and supplemented

to attune to the needs of students. Factors determining the selection of a textbook

include the usefulness of the textbook for the majority of the students, given that it is

supplemented by other materials, the methodological appropriateness, which is

congruent with the textbook, the consistency of the teaching materials with the level

of the students, and, finally, financial considerations.

 From here, textbooks are probably the one of the best option among other

sources of materials for teachers to guide both teachers and learners in process of

teaching the course. In the case of ESP materials, the choice should be made

carefully. We have to consider the learners’ needs, learning objectives of the study

course and methodology. Despite the increasing growth of ESP textbooks, it does not

seem that the systematic evaluation as well as assessment of their qualitative features

have gained enough attention. In other words, it seems that only few studies have

made an effort to evaluate this particular ESP textbook for the students of Biology

department. Thus, the question is whether it is wise to make use of this single ESP

textbook for all the biology related fields of study? The present research is an attempt

to determine if this textbook on Biology represents the universal and definable

characteristics of an ESP textbook suitable for all fields of Biology studies. This

activity is also aimed at finding out whether the students of biology feel any needs

towards language learning in their own field of study.

 CHAPTER II

THEORITICAL REVIEW

The central unit of the dynamic process of learning and teaching is usually

thought to be the textbook. Cunningsworth (1995) asserts that textbooks are part of

many activities such as:

1. Presenting a pre-set skill training in a well-framed format for a specific time

and target;

2. Providing the students with staged activities for communicative practice and

interaction to enforce and fix learning in a specific concise way;

3. Providing teachers and learners with different parts of speech to be taught and

practiced;

4. Being a source of stimulation and inspiration ideas for both teachers and

learners, encourage them to engage in and out of the classroom language

activities;

5. Acting as a guide for novice teachers and reflecting the pre-determined

learning objectives;

6. Being used as a self-access or self-learning source for preparation in advance,

compensation of missed sessions or follow up for learners;

7. Acting as a support for less experienced teachers to manage her/his class and

keep it in the right track.

 In Karimnia and Jafari (2017: 222) Robinson describes ESP textbook history

back to the 1960s. Developments in language theory indicated the need for ESP

courses; namely, students’specific needs led to the emergence of English for Specific

Purposes (ESP). Thus, the students of different professions are taught ESP to be able

to communicate successfully in English. These characteristics predominantly relate to

what learners will need in their working environments or what will be required by the

members of a chosen target group in their vocational and professional environment.

The need to learn a specific variety of the English language, which in turn creates the

necessity for preparing the narrowed-down materials, is in fact the origin of ESP

textbooks.

Development of materials is a crucial area in ESP, it is an area through which

learners will be equipped with the knowledge they will need in their future career,

depend on Vičič in Karimna and Jafari (2017: 223). Therefore, to identify strength

and weaknesses in ESP materials evaluation is indispensable. According to Ellis

(1997), evaluation generally plays a key role in education and it is important for

teachers since it can provide valuable information for classroom practice, for the

management of learning tasks and for teaching the students. Depending on the subject

matter, applied methodology evaluations are varied.

A. Materials and Books

In language teaching, materials are anything which is used to help to teach

language learners. Materials can be found in the form of a textbook, a workbook,

a cassette, a CD-Rom, a video, a photocopied handout, a newspaper, a paragraph

written on a whiteboard: anything which presents or informs about the language

being learned, Tomlinson in Khadivar (2015: 97)

Such a definition might also serve the purpose of ESP materials; however,

four main issues should be emphasised before proceeding any further: 1) There

are major and minor ESP areas/courses, and published materials are sensible to

this reality. Business English and Maritime English are examples of these. Some

courses that are tailor-made to suit a particular group of students would also fall

within the minor category (for instance, English for tourism to a group of taxi

drivers and policemen in a popular town for British tourists). 2) Subject-matter

content is fundamental to ESP materials. Also known as carrier content,

informative content, discipline-based knowledge, specific content, specialist

knowledge or expert knowledge, this refers to the information which is specific to

a particular discipline and which people, like students and future experts, possess

in their mother tongue. ESP teachers will need a reasonable understanding of the

specific discipline as well as “an interest in the disciplines or professional

activities the students are involved in” (Dudley-Evans and St John, 1998: 14). 3)

All too often, ESP teachers become evaluators, designers and developers of

materials, simply because “publishers are naturally reluctant to produce materials

for very limited markets” (Hutchinson and Waters, 1987: 106) and most ESP

areas conform to this reality.

 In every teaching context, textbooks play an important role in imparting

learning and assisting teachers to fulfill their responsibility. According to Riazi

(2003: 52), textbooks play a very crucial role in the realm of language teaching

and learning and are considered the next important factor in the second/foreign

language classroom after the teacher. The textbook is an almost universal

element of [English language] teaching.

O'Neill (1982) presents four reasons for the use of coursebooks. Firstly,

most parts of coursebook materials are appropriate for students' needs, even if

they are not specially designed for them. Secondly, they make it possible for

students to plan for future learning and also review the previous materials or

lessons. Thirdly, coursebooks provide students with high quality materials at a

reasonable price. Finally, suitable coursebooks allow teachers to adapt and

modify them to meet the learners' needs and also allow for natural interaction to

happen.

SAMPE SINI GAES

Coursebooks play an important role in the learning process, it should be

noted that a number of scholars argue that a heavy dependence on a book and not

using complementary materials can have negative consequences on the students

(Allwright, 1981; Cunningsworth, 1995; Stern, 1992; Swales, 1980). B.

Evaluation Textbooks are among the most important resources utilized to achieve

the aims of a course which are based on the learners' needs. However, they should
not become the aim of the course themselves and set those aims (Brown, 1995).

Regarding the importance of the textbooks, one should make sure that those

books meet appropriate criteria. In Cunningsworth’s (1995) words, we should

ascertain that "careful selection is made, and that the materials selected closely

reflect the aims, methods, and values of the teaching program" (p.7). One of the

methods which can help us in achieving the aforementioned goal is the evaluation

process. As Nunan (1991) observes: the selection process can be greatly

facilitated by the use of systematic materials evaluation procedures which help

ensure that materials are consistent with the needs and interests of the learners

they are intended to serve, as well as being in harmony with institutional

ideologies on the nature of language and learning. (p.209) Sheldon (1988) has

suggested several reasons for textbook evaluation. He states that the selection of a

textbook is indicator of an educational decision in which there is considerable

professional, financial, and even political investment. Through evaluation,

teachers will become familiar with the content of available textbooks and

recognize the weaknesses and strengths of each. One more reason for evaluation

is suggested by Cunningsworth (1995) and Ellis (1997). They argue that

evaluation can be considered as a means of conducting action research as well as

a form of professional empowerment and improvement. It can also be a

component of teacher training courses in which prospective teachers become

aware of important features which they should search in textbooks.

Cunningsworth (1995) and Ellis (1997) have proposed three types of materials
evaluation: predictive or pre-use evaluation in which the future or potential

performance of a textbook is examined, in-use evaluation designed to examine the

currently used textbook, and retrospective or post-use of evaluation, whereby one

can decide how to improve the given textbook for subsequent use. Dudley-Evans

and St John (1998) define evaluation as asking questions and acting on the

responses. They further argue that evaluation “begins with determining what

information to gather and ends with bringing about change in current activities or

influencing future ones” (p.128). They divide evaluation into formative and

summative types. They suggest that ESP practitioners should pay more attention

to formative evaluation which takes place during a course and at intervals. As

Dudley-Evans and St John put it, formative evaluation involves "mini-

evaluations." This kind of evaluation helps to make necessary modifications to the

course including materials and books. Summative evaluation takes place at the

end of the course or when the course is finished. Therefore, it does not affect the

course. This kind of evaluation is used to gauge the usefulness of the course and

make improvement in subsequent versions of the course or materials. Likewise,

Hutchinson and Waters (1987) define evaluation as a process of matching needs

to available solutions. They divide the evaluation process into 4 stages: a)

defining criteria, b) subjective analysis, c) objective analysis, and d) matching.

They further add that to make the best choice, different parties involved in the

course have to be considered: teachers, students, and sponsors. Robinson (1991)

distinguishes between three types of materials evaluation: a) preliminary (before

an ESP course begins), b) summative (takes place at the end of the course), and c)

formative (conducted while the course is ongoing). She states that evaluation can

be carried out by both outsiders and insiders. A further distinction made by

Robinson (1991) is between process and product evaluation. The former

addresses teaching and learning processes, strategies, administrative and decision-

making processes, while the latter is concerned with the students' product such as

examination results, essays, etc. By insiders she means teachers, students, and

course designers. Robinson lists a number of tools used to carry out evaluation:

questionnaires, checklists, rating scales, interviews, observation, and records.

Besides formative and summative evaluation, Richards (2001) suggests another

kind of evaluation, namely illuminative. He describes this kind of evaluation as

follows: This refers to evaluation that seeks to find out how different aspects of

the program work or are being implemented. It seeks to provide a deeper

understanding of the processes of teaching and learning that occur in the program,

without necessarily seeking to change the course in any way as a result. (p.289)

McDonough and Shaw (2003) suggest a model for textbook evaluation which

involves three stages. First, external evaluation that examines the organization of

materials stated by the author or the publisher including claims made on the cover

page and information in introduction and table of contents. This kind of

evaluation gives information about the intended audience, the proficiency level,

the context of use, presentation and organization of materials, and authors'

opinion about language and methodology, use of audio-visual materials,

 vocabulary list and index, cultural aspects, tests and exercises included in the

book. Second, internal evaluation in which the following factors are examined: a)

the presentation of the skills, b) the grading and sequence of the materials, c)

authenticity or artificiality of the listening materials, d) authenticity or artificiality

of the speaking materials, e) appropriateness of tests and materials, and f)

appropriateness of the materials for different learning styles and claims made by the

authors for self-study. The last stage is overall evaluation in which usability,

generalizability, adaptability, and flexibility factors are examined.

Such a definition might also serve the purpose of ESP materials; however, four main

issues should be emphasised before proceeding any further: 1) There are major and

minor ESP areas/courses, and published materials are sensible to this reality. Business

English and Maritime English are examples of these3. Some courses that are tailor-

made to suit a particular group of students would also fall within the minor category

(for instance, English for tourism to a group of taxi drivers and policemen in a

popular town for British tourists). 2) Subject-matter content is fundamental to ESP

materials. Also known as carrier content, informative content, discipline-based

knowledge, specific content, specialist knowledge or expert knowledge, this refers to

the information which is specific to a particular discipline and which people, like

students and future experts, possess in their mother tongue. ESP teachers will need a

reasonable understanding of the specific discipline as well as “an interest in the

disciplines or professional activities the students are involved in” (Dudley-Evans and

St John, 1998: 14). 3) All too often, ESP teachers become evaluators, designers and

developers of materials, simply because “publishers are naturally reluctant to produce

materials for very limited markets” (Hutchinson and Waters, 1987: 106) and most

ESP areas conform to this reality. These roles are not exclusive to ESP teachers but, if

compared with EFL/ESL teachers, they are more often engaged in the task of

evaluating, designing and developing materials for their classroom use. It is precisely

this additional role of materials providers/developers that has endowed ESP teachers

with the denomination of practitioners (Robinson, 1991)4. 4) Unlike EFL/ESL

teaching, there exists a mismatch between pedagogy and research; that is, there is a

gap between coursebooks and pedagogical practice, on the one hand, and research

findings, on the other. For instance, as Harwood (2005: 150) found, there is “a lack of

fit between how academic writers write and what the textbooks teach about writing”.

What does ESP materials development entail?

Materials are particularly useful in ESP because they play a key role in exposing

learners to the language of a particular discipline as it is actually used; in short, they

are a source of “real language” (Dudley-Evans and St John, 1998: 171). Developing

materials for the ESP classroom is a trade-off between learning needs, language

content and subject-matter content which implies the review of a number of issues: -

What is the target topic/what will be the carrier content? - Is this topic relevant for my

students/the discipline? - What do I, as an ESP practitioner, know about the carrier

content? - What are my students supposed to know about the carrier content? - To

what extent do materials reflect the language/conventions of the discipline? - What

are the learning goals? - What is the target language form/function/skill? - What

materials are available, suitable and accessible? - What teaching equipment is

required and available?

- How much time should be spent on the design, development and implementation of

activities? - Will materials be classroom-oriented or provide additional work?

At its most basic level, the process of ESP materials development is as shown in

Figure 1. Firstly, available materials are reviewed, evaluated and selected according

to different criteria and with reference to a particular ESP course. Then, if there is a

lack of materials, or if materials available are not suitable according to such

evaluation, practitioners might be required to develop materials from scratch or

abridge, extend, refine, rewrite – in short, adapt – the available materials for a

particular learning situation, ESP area, target group of learners, timing or set of

resources. There exists the possibility that, although there are materials available for

classroom use, practitioners feel the need to provide additional materials for out-of-

classroom work, self-study or the like. In this case, the process would not differ.

Lastly, because materials development is an ongoing process, those engaged in

creating or adapting materials will be required to pilot test or perform evaluative

reviews so as to adjust materials over time in response to implementation outcomes,

current trends in the field or research findings. This last step is a desirable practice
because “materials that undergo this evaluative review and revision process are likely

to serve student and teacher audiences more effectively than materials that do not”

(Stoller et al., 2006: 175). Developing materials is a matter of trial and error, and it

will be convenient to bear in mind that materials that are appropriate for a particular

ESP course/area may not prove so efficient for other ESP courses/areas.

A Checklist for Material Evaluation

SUBJECTIVE OBJECTIVE
SCORE SCORE
ANALYSIS ANALYSIS
AUDIENCE
1A Who are your 1B. Who is the material

learners ? intended for ?

AIMS
2A What are the aims of 2B What are the aims of

your course ? the material ?

CONTENT
3A What kind of 1B What type(s) of

language description do linguistic description

you require ? is/are used in the materials

Should it be structural, ?

notional, functional,

discourse-based, some

other kind, a combination

of one or more of these ?

4A What language points 4B What language points

should be covered ? do the materials cover ?

5A What proportion of 5B What is the proportion

work on each macro-skill of work on each skill-

(e.g reading) is desired ? integrated work ?

should there be skills-

integrated work ?

6A What micro-skills do 6B What micro-skills are

you need? (e.g deducing covered in the material ?

the meanings of

unfamiliar words)

7A What text-types 7B What kind of texts are

should be included ? there in the materials ?

8A What subject-matter 8B What is/are the

area(s) is/are required subject-matter area(s),

(e.g. medicine, biology) ? assumed level of

knowledge, and types of

topics in the materials ?

What level of

knowledge should be

assumed (e.g. secondary

school, first year

colledge/university, post-

graduate) ?

What types of topics

are needed ? (e.g. in

medicine, hospital

organization, medical

technology)?

What treatment What treatment are the

should the topics be topics given ?

given (e.g.

‘starightforward’,
factual; ‘human interest’

angle; humorous;

unusual perspective;

taking into account

issues, controversy)

9A How should the 9B How is the content

content be organized organised throughout the

throughout the course ? materials?

- Around language

points ?

- By subject-

matter?

- By some other

means (e.g. study

skills)?

- By a combination

of means?

10A How should the 10B How is the content

content be organised organised within the

within course units? units?

- By a set pattern

of components?

- By a variety of

patterns?

- By some other

means?

- To allow a clear

focus on e.g.

certain skill areas,

a communication

task?

11A How should the

content be sequenced 11B How is the content

throughout the course? sequenced throughout the

e.g. – From easier to book?

more difficult?

- To create variety?

- To provide

recycling?
 - By other criteria?

Should there be no

obvious sequence?

12A How should the

content be sequenced 12B How is the content

within a unit? sequenced within a unit?

e.g. – from guided to

free?

- From

comprehension to

production?

- Accuracy to

fluency?

- By some other

means?

Should there be no

obvious sequence?

METHODOLOGY
13A What theory/ies of 13B What theory/ies of

learning should the learning are materials

course be based on? based on?

Should it be behaviourist,

cognitive, affective,

some other kind, a

combination of one or

more of these?

14A What aspects of the 14B What aspects of the

learners’ attitudes to/ learners’ attitudes to/

expectations about expectations about

learning English should learning English are the

the course take into materials based on?

account?

15A What kinds of 15B What kinds of

exercises/tasks are exercises/tasks are

needed? included in the materials/

e.g.

- guided free?

- comprehension 

production?
- Language/skills

practice  language/skills

use

- one right answer 

many possible answers?

- whole class  group 

individual?

- language-/skills-based 

content-based?

- ‘mechanical’ 

problem-solving?

- role-play, simulation,

drama, games?

- ones involving visuals?

- self-study?

- some other kinds?

16B What teaching-

16A What teaching- learning techniques can be

learning techniques are to used with the materials?

be used?

e.g.
- ‘lockstep’?

- pair-work/

- small-group work?

- student presentations?

Work involving technical

subject-matter?

-other kinds?

17B What aids do the

17A What aids are materials require?

available for use?

e.g.

- cassette recorders?

- overhead projectors?

- realia?

- wallcharts?

- video?

- other?

18B What guidance do the

18A What materials provide?

guidance/support for

teaching the course will

be needed/

e.g.

- statements of aims?

- lists of vocabulary and

language-skills points?

- language guidance?

- technical information?

- methodological

directive or hints?

- suggestions for further

work?

- tests?

- other kinds?

19B In what ways are the

19A How flexible do the materials flexible?

materials need to be? e.g.

- can they be begun at

different points?

- can the units be used in

different orders?

- can they be linked to

 other materials?

- can they be used without

some of their components

(e.g. cassettes)?

OTHER CRITERIA
20A What price range is 20B What is the price?

necessary?

21A When and in what 21B When and how

quantities should the readily can the materials

materials be available? be obtained?

TOTAL TOTAL