TEXT BOOK

10 TEXTBOOKS, TECHNOLOGY, AND
THE CURRICULUM
CHAPTER OVERVIEW
This chapter examines the role of textbooks and technology in the language curriculum, focusing
on the following aspects:
• Textbooks as teaching resource

• Technology as a teaching and learning
• Criticism of textbooks resource
• Authentic versus created materials • Support provided by technology
• Evaluating textbooks • Examples of the use of technology in
• Adapting materials teaching the four skills
• Monitoring the use of materials • Determining the role of technology in the
curriculum
Case study 17 Using textbooks in a large-scale language program Eric Anthony Tejeda Evans
Case study 18 Using the resources of technology in a college English program Hiroyuki Obari
Introduction
Instructional materials and resources play a crucial role in developing and implementing a curriculum.
The resources that teachers typically employ in teaching include conventional print materials
such as coursebooks and worksheets, realia of different kinds, such as magazines, objects, and
posters, and digital resources such as tablets and computers. The landscape of language teaching
has been transformed in recent years. While only a few years ago the primary context and
resources used in language teaching were the classroom, textbooks, and the tape recorder or
video player, today’s learners inhabit a very different world. Interactive whiteboards, mobile
devices, computers, and the Internet are increasingly viewed as integral and necessary
components of the teaching and learning process, and teachers are challenged to discover effective
ways of integrating technology into their lessons. Furthermore, for many learners the classroom
might constitute only a minor feature of their learning environment, since they conduct much of
their learning outside of the classroom – at home, in a media lab, on the train or bus. Indeed, in
many cases the classroom has been “flipped” and may serve as just one of many learning sites rather
than the primary one, and often as a place to prepare for and review out-of-class learning. While
textbooks still play an important role in many contexts, today’s textbooks are not stand-alone
items. They are linked to technology-based and online components that provide greater
opportunities for meaningful and authentic language. In this chapter we will consider both
traditional book-based resources and technology-based resources.
How much of your teaching is dependent upon textbooks and technology?
244
10 Textbooks, technology, and the curriculum • 245
10.1 Textbooks as teaching resource

Textbooks (also referred to as coursebooks) and other kinds of specially prepared or
selected instructional materials are still an important component of the curriculum in many language
programs. Indeed, Hadley (2014, 205) suggests that the ELT textbook industry is “a major driver of the
global economy.” Textbooks may take the form of (a) printed materials such as books,
workbooks, worksheets, or readers; (b) non-print materials such as audio materials, videos, or
computer-based materials; (c) materials that comprise both print and non-print sources such as self-
access materials and materials on the Internet. In addition, materials not designed for
instructional use but from everyday life, such as magazines, newspapers, and TV materials (often
referred to as “realia”), may also play a role in the curriculum. Much of the language teaching that
occurs throughout the world today could not take place without the use of commercial materials,
primarily textbooks, and teachers generally have a choice of published materials for most kinds of
teaching situation. Below the owner of a large language school in Mexico describes the role of
textbooks in his institute:
In our language institute in Mexico, commercial textbooks provide the basis for all our courses. In this
sense, they ARE the curriculum. They provide us with a structured program that is tried and tested
and that works well with the different courses and levels we offer. I would say that the success of our
institute is due to the choice of the textbooks that we have been using over the last 15 years. Teachers
and students both enjoy them, since they come with all sorts of extras (DVDs, tests, etc.), but the main
thing I can say is that they deliver successful learning. Particularly at the lower levels, students who
had never thought they could master English find that after a few weeks they can really see progress,
and this gives them a real boost. Of course our teachers (who typically have a Cert-level qualification)
supplement the books with other activities, but the textbook series we use has been the basis for the
success of our school.
(Private institute owner, Pueblo, Mexico)
How similar is your experience with textbooks to that described in the vignette above?
Commercial textbooks are generally examples of expert-produced resources developed by publishers

for international as well as local markets (Lopez-Barrios and Villanueva de Debat 2014). In the
latter case, textbooks may also be produced by a country’s ministry of education to maintain control
over content. Prior to digital technology and the Internet, textbooks served as the basis for much of
the language input and practice that occurred in the classroom. Cooke (cited in Cooke and
Simpson 2008, 53–54) found that teachers gave a number of reasons for using textbooks. These
included the justifications that they are familiar to teachers, that suitable alternatives were not
available, that teachers’ workloads are too heavy to allow them to develop their own materials, and
that teachers’ job descriptions do not include materials preparation.
However, textbooks also have another role for some teachers. In the case of inexperienced teachers,
they may serve as a form of teacher training, providing ideas on how to plan and teach lessons
as well as formats that teachers can use for teaching different aspects of language. Moreover, as we
saw above, well-chosen textbooks can also help an institution achieve its goals, since they can provide
the basis for courses and tests, they can help support a coherent approach to teaching, and by
relieving teachers of much of the burden of developing materials, they enable teachers to spend
more time on other classroom activities.
In summary, textbooks can thus serve some of the following purposes for teachers, learners,
and institutions:
246 • Curriculum Development in Language Teaching
For teachers:
• A syllabus
• A source of content for lessons
• A teaching methodology
• A source for the development of teaching skills
• A basis for assessment
For learners:
• A corpus of spoken and written texts as input for learning
• A source for guided practice
• A resource for review and self-study
• A reference for information on English, e.g. for information on grammar, vocabulary,
pronunciation, and so on
For institutions:
• A coherent curriculum
• A basis for standardized instruction
• A basis for tests and assessments
• A resource for teachers
As already mentioned, in the past teachers often used textbooks and instructional materials as
their primary teaching resource. The materials formed the basis for the content of lessons,
determined the balance of skills taught, and the kinds of language practice students took part in.
For many teachers today, however, textbooks and instructional materials serve as a resource rather
than a source. They may serve as a springboard for the teacher to adapt, extend, and often in part replace
in order to align teaching more closely to the specifics of the teaching-learning context (al Majthoob
2014; Bosompem 2014).
What role do you think textbooks have played in your development as a teacher?
10.2 Criticism of textbooks

Commercial textbooks, particularly those aimed at an international market, have become a focus
of critical scrutiny in recent years (e.g., Gray 2013; Harwood 2014). Critics have raised issues
such as the following:
They contain inauthentic language. Textbooks have sometimes been said to fail to reflect
authentic language use, since they are usually written to a prescribed syllabus and texts and
dialogs are author- written to reflect specific examples of language use. Carter and McCarthy
(1988, 369) put this view rather strongly:
We know from our knowledge of our first language that in most textbook discourse, we
are getting something which is concocted for us, and may therefore rightly resent being
disempowered by teachers or materials writers who, on apparently laudable ideological
grounds, appear to know better.
They reflect a western view of teaching. Holliday (1994) argued that the communicative methodology
found in international textbooks reflects a view of teaching and learning that closely reflects
culturally bound assumptions derived from the cultures of origin – Britain, Australasia, and North
America. The kinds of learners who study in institutes and universities in these countries generally
have instrumental reasons for learning English, namely for academic or professional purposes or as
new settlers. Their needs, however, may be very different from learners learning English in state-based
educational programs (e.g., public schools) in other parts of the world – studying in tertiary, secondary,
or primary settings.
They do not match learners’ needs. Since international textbooks are designed for use in
many different contexts, they cannot adequately address the specific needs of students in local
contexts, which will vary greatly according to who the learners are and their teaching and learning
contexts.
They present a sanitized view of the world. Textbooks often reflect a middle-class lifestyle, with an
emphasis on travel and consumption, and avoid “real” issues that many students have to face in
their own lives. As Gray (2010, 142) reports:
The kind of English contained in coursebooks can be called “cosmopolitan English” because it
“assumes a materialistic set of values in which international travel, not being bored, positively
being entertained, having leisure and, above all, spending money casually, and without
consideration of the sum involved in the pursuit of these ends, are the norm.”
They can deskill teachers. If teachers use textbooks as their primary teaching resource,
leaving the textbook and the teaching manual to make their main instructional decisions, the
teacher’s role is reduced to that of a technician. There is little room for creative and improvisational
teaching (Thornbury 2013).
They represent a transmission-oriented approach to teaching. Thornbury (2013) argues that the pre-
packaged syllabus and content of textbooks is out of alignment with progressive, experientially based
theories of learning that emphasize the role of lived experience in learning. He and other
proponents of a Dogme-based approach to teaching reject the use of textbooks and advocate
ways of building conditions for learning out of opportunities that arise within the classroom,
reflecting learners’ needs, interests, and concerns.
Do you agree with the criticisms above? Which of the points raised do you think is the most serious?
However, in considering the objections that critics raise concerning the use of textbooks, a factor
that needs to be recognized is that for many learners in today’s world the classroom represents
only one component of their contact with English. As we noted above, learners increasingly make use
of language learning opportunities beyond the textbook and the classroom, and hence, the
textbook – whatever its strength or limitations – plays a less important role than it did for learners of
earlier generations (Richards 2015a). Moreover, it is interesting to note that although there has
been an expansion in the range of critical studies of the use of textbooks, the views of teachers
themselves – the users of textbooks – are seldom reflected in such critiques. The voices of
teachers who enjoy using textbooks and who find them helpful are seldom heard, and the same is
true for learners. A teacher’s view of textbooks is reflected in the following comments:
In any one week, I teach in three or four different institutions and also work with learners whose ages
range from 10 to 50. I have no choice but to use published materials for all of my classes. Before choos-
ing a textbook, I analyze it carefully to find out exactly what it contains, how it works, how well organ-
ized it is, and how relevant it will be to my learners. The better I know the book and understand what it
contains and how it is constructed, the better I am able to use it and know where I may need to adapt it
to my needs. I am constantly reminded of how fortunate we teachers are that we have such an amazing
range of published materials to choose from, many of an extremely high quality. Without them, for
many of us, life would be impossible.
(José Lema, teacher and teacher educator, Quito, Ecuador)
10.3 Authentic versus created materials

When textbooks and commercial materials were the primary sources of classroom teaching and
learning, a debate that emerged related to the use of authentic materials as opposed to created
materials. Authentic materials are materials such as texts, photographs, video selections, realia,
and other teaching resources that were not specially prepared for pedagogic purposes. Created
materials are textbooks and other instructional resources that have been specially developed to
include examples of specific grammatical items and discourse features. Dialogs in coursebooks, for
example, might be specially written to highlight certain grammatical choices or to illustrate specific
conversational strategies. Hence, it has often been argued that authentic materials are preferred to
created materials because unlike the often rather contrived content of much created material, they
contain authentic language and reflect real-world uses of language.
McGrath (2002, 105) also points out that authentic texts offer a better preparation for out-of-
class learning: “Authenticity is felt to be important because it gives learners a taste of the real world,
an opportunity to ‘rehearse’ in a sheltered environment; hence the less authentic the materials we
use, the less well prepared learners will be for that real world.”
A number of other points are typically raised in the debate about the role of authentic materials. In
support of the use of such materials, we might note the following assertions:
• They have a positive effect on learner motivation.

• They provide authentic cultural information about the target culture.
• They provide exposure to real language.
• They relate more closely to learners’ needs.
• They support a more creative approach to teaching.
Against the use of authentic materials, however, are the claims below:
• Created materials can also be motivating for learners.

• Authentic materials often contain difficult language.
• Created materials may be superior to authentic materials because they are generally built around
a graded syllabus.
• Using authentic materials is a burden for teachers.
What kinds of authentic materials do you use in your teaching?
In many language programs, therefore, teachers use a mixture of created and authentic materials
because it is recognized that both have their advantages as well as limitations. Furthermore, the
distinction between authentic and created materials is increasingly blurred because many published
materials incorporate authentic texts and other real-world sources. As Clark (1989, 79)
comments:
Such books [begin to] take on the aura, if not the actuality, of authenticity, containing
considerable amounts of photographically reproduced “realia,” in the form of newspaper
articles, maps, diagrams, memo pads, menus, application forms, advertisements, instructional
leaflets and all the rest. Some books, indeed, almost entirely consist of authentic material,
including illustrations, extracted from newspapers, or magazines.
In addition, as we noted above, this debate has become less relevant in today’s world,
since the Internet provides ready access to authentic materials of every kind. Classroom
teaching and classroom materials hence serve to prepare learners to navigate, explore, and
access authentic materials related to their needs and interest through the Web, as we discuss further
below. There is no reason, therefore, why textbooks and other classroom materials should not contain
a mix of authentic and created texts depending on the intentions of the materials.
10.4 Evaluating textbooks

The nature and role of textbooks – particularly those designed for global markets – has become an
area of increasing interest to researchers and applied linguists in recent years (Gray 2013; Garton
and Graves 2014; Harwood 2014). A number of checklists have been proposed for use in textbook
evaluation in an attempt to identify objective factors that can be used in textbook evaluation. (See
Appendix 1, for example.) These typically focus on factors such as the linguistic content of
books, the pedagogy they reflect, their ease of use, their relevance to the target audience including
teachers and students, their interest level, as well as on aesthetic factors such as design, and practical
factors such as their length and cost.
Cunningsworth (1984) proposed five criteria for evaluating textbooks, particularly coursebooks:
• They should correspond to learners’ needs.

• They should match the aims and objectives of the language learning program.
• They should reflect the uses (present or future) that learners will make of the language.
Textbooks should be chosen that will help equip students to use language effectively for
their own purposes.
• They should take account of students’ needs as learners and should facilitate their learning
processes, without dogmatically imposing a rigid “method.”
• They should have a clear role as a support for learning. Like teachers, they mediate between the
target language and the learner.
What are the main factors you look for when choosing a textbook?
Most such evaluation schemes, however, ultimately depend more on subjective impressions and
are unwieldy to apply. An important issue in evaluating textbooks is considering them against
the contexts in which they will be used. Evaluation can only be done by considering something in
relation to its purpose. A book may be ideal in one situation because it matches the needs of that
situation perfectly. It has just the right amount of material for the program, it is easy to teach, it
can be used with little preparation by inexperienced teachers, and it has an equal coverage of
grammar and the four skills. The same book in a different situation, however, may turn out to be
quite unsuitable. It contains too little material, it is not sufficiently challenging for teacher and
students, and it has elements in it (such as a grammar syllabus) that are not needed in the program.
Textbook evaluation schemes therefore need to be developed in relation to a specific teaching
context.
Hence, before one can evaluate a textbook, information is needed on a number of factors relating to
the institution where it is to be used, and the teachers and learners who will be using it.
Institutional factors:
• The type of curriculum and tests in place in the institution

• The organizational structure of the institution
• Length and intensity of the English course(s)
• Cost and availability of the various course components
• Resources in place, such as whiteboards, computers, and self-access facilities
• Support available to prepare new teachers for the use of textbooks
• Classroom conditions, such as class size and seating arrangements
Teacher factors:
• Proficiency in English
• Level of training and teaching experience
• Familiarity with different methodologies
• Attitudes toward use of textbooks
• Preferred teaching styles
Learner factors:
• Learners’ needs and aims

• Proficiency level
• Language learning experience
• Age range
• Interests
• Cultural background
• Language background
• Occupations
• Preferred learning styles
Most textbook evaluation schemes distinguish two stages: a description or analysis phase, and an
interpretation or evaluation phase (Riazi 2003). In the first phase, the contents of the book have
to be carefully described in terms of its aims, intended audience, level, syllabus, scope and
sequence, organization, components, design and layout, unit structure, types of texts and
exercises. This is distinguished from evaluation, which Riazi (2003, 67) describes as follows:
Evaluation: a professional interpretation of the information obtained in the analysis stage. The
evaluator(s) may use their experience and expertise – reflecting their views and priorities based
on a number of factors, such as learner and teacher expectations, methodological preferences,
the perceived needs of learners, syllabus requirements and personal preferences – and give
weights or provide value judgment to the obtained information.
When publishers’ representatives talk to teachers, they also often refer to the unique selling
points (USPs) of a textbook, that is, what makes a particular book different and more effective
than other books aimed at the same market.
10.5 Adapting materials

Most teachers are not creators of teaching materials but rather providers of good materials. Dudley-
Evans and St. John (1998, 173) suggest that a good provider of materials will be able to select
appropriately from what is available and be creative with it, modify activities to suit learners’ needs,
and supplement what is available by providing extra activities (and extra input). In fact, commercial
textbooks can seldom be used without some form of adaptation to make them more suitable for the
particular context in which they will be used. This adaptation may take a variety of forms, as detailed
below.
Modifying content. Content may need to be changed because it does not suit the target
learners, perhaps because of factors related to the learners’ age, gender, social class, occupation,
religion, or cultural background.
Adding or deleting content. The book may contain too much or too little for the program. Whole units
may have to be dropped, or perhaps sections of units throughout the book omitted. For example, a
course may focus primarily on listening and speaking skills, and hence writing activities in the book
will be omitted.
Reorganizing content. A teacher may decide to reorganize the syllabus of the book, arranging the
units in what he or she considers to be a more suitable order. Or within a unit the teacher may decide
not to follow the sequence of activities in the unit but to reorder them for a particular reason.
Addressing omissions. The text may omit items that the teacher feels are important. For example,
a teacher may add vocabulary activities or grammar activities to an existing unit.
Modifying tasks. Exercises and activities may need to be changed to give them an additional focus.
For example, a listening activity may focus only on listening for information, so it is adapted so that
students listen a second or third time for a different purpose. Or an activity may be extended to
provide opportunities for more personalized practice.
Extending tasks. Exercises may contain insufficient practice, and additional practice tasks may need
to be added.
The ability to adapt commercial textbooks in these ways is an essential skill for teachers to develop.
Through the process of adaptation, the teacher personalizes the text, making it a better teaching
resource, and individualizes it for a particular group of learners. Normally this process takes place
gradually as the teacher becomes more familiar with the book, because the dimensions of the text
that need adaptation may not be apparent until the book is tried out in the classroom. When a
number of teachers in a program are teaching from the same textbook, it is useful to build in
opportunities for teachers to share information about the forms of adaptation they are making.
If textbooks are used in your institution, how are they chosen?
10.6 Monitoring the use of materials

No matter what form of materials teachers make use of, whether they teach from
textbooks, institutional materials, or teacher-prepared materials, the materials represent plans for
teaching. They do not represent the process of teaching itself. As teachers use materials, they adapt
and transform them to suit the needs of particular groups of learners and their own teaching styles.
These processes of transformation are at the heart of teaching and enable good teachers to create
effective lessons out of the resources they make use of. It is useful, therefore, to collect information
on how teachers
use coursebooks and other teaching materials in their teaching. The information collected can serve
the following purposes:
• To document effective ways of using materials.

• To provide feedback on how materials work.
• To keep a record of additions, deletions, and supplementary materials that teachers may have
used with the materials.
• To assist other teachers in using the materials.
Monitoring teachers’ use of textbooks can take a number of forms:
• Observation: classroom visits to see how teachers use materials and to find out how materials
influence the quality of teaching and interaction that occurs in a lesson.
• Feedback sessions: group meetings in which teachers discuss their experience with materials.
• Written reports: the use of reflection sheets or other forms of written feedback in which
teachers make brief notes about what worked well and what did not work well, or give
suggestions on using the materials.
• Reviews: written reviews by a teacher or group of teachers on their experiences with a set
of materials and what they liked or disliked about them.
• Students’ reviews: comments from students on their experience with the materials.
An example of a longitudinal study of the effectiveness of a commercial textbook series is given by

Hadley (2014), whose study was partly a response to the fairly widespread criticism by academics
of the use of international textbooks. Hadley undertook a six-year study of the use of an
international textbook series in a university English language progam in Japan to try to determine
the impact of the textbook series on the students’ learning. The students’ contact with English was
primarily based on the classroom, and hence Hadley decided to investigate how much students
were learning. Students were tested before and after completing the first-year program. The author
concluded (2014, 230–231) that:
While other variables and limitations to this study should not be minimized, the fact that the
groups in this study spent five classes a week for over 30 weeks with [the global textbook] as
the core study materials suggests that, far from being detrimental, the GT [global textbook
series] appears to have played a major role in the students’ improvement.
10.7 Technology as a teaching and learning resource

In addition to textbooks, realia, and other resources that teachers use to support their teaching,
technology is changing the ways that language teachers teach and that language learners learn
and consequently is playing an increasingly central role in curriculum implementation (Warschauer
and Meskill 2000; Meskill et al. 2002; Lacina 2005; Woo et al. 2007; Levy 2010, 2012). Computers
and interactive whiteboards are increasingly common in schools worldwide, and the speed with
which schools can connect to each other and to the world constantly increases. For teachers and
students, technology is now mobile, and laptop computers, tablet devices, and smartphones are a
normal part of the teaching and learning context in many schools. In fact, tablets and smartphones
are replacing textbooks and dictionaries in many classrooms, and the way teachers and learners
use technology creates new modes of instruction. More and more teachers and school
administrators accept the role that digital resources and the Internet can play in raising levels of
motivation and engagement in
learners, supporting learners with different learning styles, and helping to improve the quality of teaching
and learning (Zhao 2005). (See “Digital language learning” below for a range of digital learning
options available.) Moreover, blended learning, which combines face-to-face instruction with
online-based learning, is now a crucial component of the curriculum in many contexts (Gruba and
Hinkelman 2012). Advocates of methods such as Task-Based Teaching argue that technology-
mediated communication is also an ideal application of the principles of TBT (Gonzalez-Lloret and
Ortega 2014).
Digital language learning
Digital language learning is a broad category that includes:
Online learning, whether self-paced or collaborative;
Digital learning resources (e.g., e-textbooks, e-gradebooks, interactive media);
Mobile learning apps, including educational games and other mobile services.
The ways in which language schools can apply any of these technologies are equally broad. For example,
a school may choose to offer online learning, whether as a stand-alone programme for remote students,
as a complement to classroom instruction for students on site, or a tool to use before or after studying
abroad.
Additionally, a school may choose to provide mobile devices or mobile apps to allow students greater
opportunity for independent study outside of class time. Teachers may bring technology into the classroom in
the form of new teaching tools, such as interactive whiteboards or computer-based assessments, and more.
(ICEF Monitor 2015)
The use of technology is no longer an option but a core requirement of today’s schools. Teachers
are expected to be technologically literate, just as quality schools are expected to make effective
use of the resources technology makes available, as seen in these standards for teachers developed
by the International Society for Technology.
Model digital age work and learning

Teachers exhibit knowledge, skills and work processes representative of an innovative
professional in a global and digital society.
a. demonstrate fluency in technology systems and the transfer of current knowledge to new
technologies and situations
b. collaborate with students, peers, parents and community members using digital tools and
resources to support student success and innovation
c. communicate relevant information and ideas effectively to students, parents, and peers
using a variety of digital age media and formats
d. model and facilitate effective use of current and emerging digital tools to locate, analyse,
evaluate and use information resources to support research and learning
Promote and model digital citizenship and responsibility

Teachers understand local and global societal issues and responsibilities in an evolving digital
culture and exhibit legal and ethical behaviour in their digital practices.
a. advocate, model, and teach, safe, legal, and ethical uses of digital information and
technology, including respect for copyright, intellectual property, and the appropriate
documentation of courses
b. address the diverse needs of all learners by using learner-centred strategies providing
equitable access to digital tools and resources
c. promote and model digital etiquette and responsible social interactions related to the use
of technology and information
d. develop and model cultural understanding and global awareness by engaging with
colleagues and students of other cultures using digital age communication and
collaboration tools
(ISTE 2008)
Similarly, the TESOL organization has developed technology standards for both learners and
teachers which consist of both goals and standards (Healey et al. 2011). The goal that describes
teachers’ use of technology states, “Language teachers integrate pedagogical knowledge and skills
with technology to enhance language teaching and learning” and describes four standards for this
goal (p. vii):
1. Language teachers identify and evaluate technological resources and environment for
suitability for their teaching context.
2. Language teachers coherently integrate technology into their pedagogical approaches.
3. Language teachers design and manage language learning activities and tasks, using
technology appropriately to meet curricular goals and objectives.
4. Language teachers use relevant research findings to inform the planning of language
learning activities and tasks that involve technology.
What kinds of technology is available in your school to support teaching and learning?
10.8 Support provided by technology

Levy (2010, 16–17) identifies five levels at which technology can support language teaching.
• The physical level, with tools such as mobile phones, digital cameras, laptops, and tablets.
• The management level, which includes learning management systems (LMSs) that enable the
administration, delivery, tracking, reporting, etc. of a language course.
• The applications level, including word-processing software, email and chat clients, social-
networking sites and blogs.
• The resource level, which includes access to authentic materials, such as online newspapers,
magazines, language tutors, and dedicated websites for learners.
• The component technology level, such as spelling checkers, grammar checkers, electronic
dictionaries, and other support tools.
More and more schools worldwide are now being challenged to embrace the new opportunities that
technology offers for learners, for teachers, and for the institution.
Support for learners

Today, the Internet, technology, and the media as well as the use of English in both face-to-face and
virtual social networks provide learners with greater opportunities for meaningful and authentic language
use than are available in the classroom. As Lankshear and Knobel (2003) and Jones and Hafner
(2012) point out, these learning opportunities are more likely to be interactive, social, and multimodal.
Learners can interact using English with people in almost every part of the world. They can download
apps that support many aspects of language learning and can use these while waiting for the bus or
train or traveling to school. Moreover, when they get home they may enter a chat room to interact
with other language learners or with native speakers, they may enter game sites and play video
games that require them to understand and use English, or they may watch a TV program or movie in
English, following with subtitles if necessary.
Technology therefore offers many potential benefits to learners, principal among which are those
detailed below.
Exposure. Technology provides a greater exposure to English than is possible in the limited amount
of time available in the classroom. The Internet allows contact with communities of learners and other
users of English worldwide, providing opportunities for authentic interaction and communication in
English. In addition, learners can access language as it used in the media as well as examples of
English as it is used globally as an international language, including varieties such as Indian English
and Singapore English.
Flexibility. Students can choose where and when they wish to learn and how much time they
want to spend on their learning. Furthermore, in the case of watching television, students can
choose different ways of watching, such as showing or hiding subtitles, and using repeated
viewing of scenes.
Autonomy. Many technology-based activities encourage autonomous learning. With the popular
site TED Talks, for example, students can decide what kinds of speech events to select, based
on their interests. Similarly, when reading texts on the Internet students can choose what kinds
of texts they want to read and what strategies to use to help them enjoy an extended reading
experience. In both cases learners can develop the skills involved in organizing and managing
their own learning.
Learning mode. Technology enables learners to choose a mode of learning that reflects their
preferred learning style, for example by allowing them to choose visual or auditory learning (as seen
in “Multimedia presentations” below).
Skills focus. Depending on their interests, learners can focus on a particular skill such as reading,
listening, or writing. Mahoney (2014), for example, describes how he uses blogging in a writing
course, making use of creative nonfiction (CNF), that is, creative literary techniques and devices
when writing about nonfiction events, such as diaries, memoirs, autobiographies, essays, obituaries,
journalism, and travel writing.
Active learning. With many technology-based activities, learners are more in control of the
process and the outcomes of their learning. They are engaged actively and purposefully in their
language- using experiences, setting goals for themselves and making use of the situations and
resources available to them to achieve their goals.
Interactive. Technology can provide a social context for learning, allowing learners to interact directly
with other learners. Social interaction is a feature of some chat room activities as well as blogging.
Participants can experience a social learning space that is made up of a community of learners with
shared interests, concerns, and needs.
Motivating. Learners are often sustained by experiences they find motivating and fulfilling.
Spending periods of time in chat rooms and playing digital games or watching YouTube clips can serve
a variety of social as well as cognitive purposes.
In your teaching context, what do you think are the three most important benefits of
technology for your learners?
Multimedia presentation
Peter loves a screen. It does not matter if it is a television, iPad, video console, or computer screen. He
loves to be engaged with technology. At school, since kindergarten, Peter has had to build some
form of communication skill. Usually, this is in the form of a news report, topic talk, or project
presentation. In Year 3, it was suggested that students could use Microsoft PowerPoint to present a
few slides while they were doing their presentations. Peter found this very easy, and by Year 4
became quite bored with the software. Peter’s mother found a few different iPad applications (“apps”)
and suggested Peter try them. Peter settled on Skitch and added text and drawings to the photo he
chose to use for his presentation. Peter was engaged for hours, doing something that he loved while
learning at the same time. Peter’s teacher had not seen Skitch before. She asked the school’s technology
support officer
to install it on the school’s iPads and then asked Peter to teach the class how to use the app. She
thought it would be a great app to use for the class’s next creative arts lesson.
(Eady and Lockyer 2013)
One could cite many other aspects of technology that have appeal for learners. Indeed learners today
need little encouragement to embrace technology, since it is already an integral part of their
daily lives. For example, digital games and social media are used by learners out of class for
entertainment and for social interaction. Through linking language learning to these resources, one
therefore builds on the learners’ everyday activities and experience, and from the learners’ point
of view these experiences can be said to be valid and authentic.
Support for teachers

Technology changes the nature of the classroom and the dynamics of teacher–student interaction as
well as the role of teachers and students. It enables teachers to expand their teaching strategies and create
new learning opportunities. It also adds another dimension to teachers’ existing classroom practices as
well as making possible a new range of learning opportunities. Moreover, it can help make connections
between what happens in the classroom and what happens outside of the classroom. Technology-
supported teaching can therefore potentially enhance teaching in a number of ways, as briefly detailed
below.
Learner-centered. Technology offers a more flexible resource than a textbook and one that
allows the teacher to connect with students’ lives and interests. Whereas in a textbook the
content is predetermined and fixed, with technology and the Internet the teacher can choose
activities and content that match the students’ interests and needs.
Mixed levels. It allows students to take more control of their own learning, which is particularly helpful
in mixed-level classes. Rather than all students working on the same materials, individual students
can be working on those skills that they most need to practice.
Real-world content. It can take students out of the classroom and into the real world. Furthermore,
the input they can experience – like real-world language use – is often multimodal. For example,
with online resources such as news sites and the global community offered by platforms such as
TED, learners can access both spoken and written forms of texts and both watch and listen as they
follow the talks. (See “Collaborating across countries” below for an example of how technology
takes learners beyond the classroom.)
Enriched content. Teachers have access to a huge and ever-changing range of content and resources
that enable them to develop a much richer and more varied curriculum.
More strategies. Technology offers teachers a much wider range of strategies to use in teaching.
For example, with an interactive whiteboard a teacher can present a lesson in a variety of
different ways and customize the lesson according to his or her needs.
Changed roles. Technology provides new roles for teachers, allowing them to become not just
transmitters of knowledge but facilitators who support and guide student learning; teachers are also
afforded greater individual responsibility for their courses.
Enhanced learning environment. Using technology can create a better learning environment where
students are engaged in interactions and communication among themselves. For example, teachers
can create a class wiki or a blogging site where students can post content and also respond to
comment from their peers.
Monitoring. Course and learning management systems (LMSs), as well as many computer-assisted
language learning (CALL) materials, include tools for monitoring students’ learning, allowing teachers
to provide early intervention where necessary.
Support. CALL environments can make the administration of assessments, the grading of papers,
and many other practical tasks more efficient. LMSs can help with the recording of student
information and the distribution of learning materials, and can also provide a means for learners and
teachers to communicate outside of the classroom.
However, in order for teachers to be able to develop the knowledge and skills needed to
use technology in their teaching, schools may need to provide training, mentoring, and ongoing
support. Indeed, while teachers are increasingly advised to make use of the potential offered by
tablets, iPads, whiteboards, digital cameras, and computers, they are sometimes less familiar with
these devices than their students. Hence, it is important that teachers have the opportunity to master
the use of new technologies. For example, if a school decides to deliver online tests through an LMS,
then this means all teachers need to know how the system works, how to create tests for it, and how
to use it effectively with their students in class. Similarly, if a school decides to offer part of its
courses online, then this will have a major impact on the teaching as well as the learning experience.
Collaborating across countries
In 2008, the Sioux Hudson Literacy Council held the first online collaborative learning experience
for students in Canada’s north and Australia’s outback, called Building Opportunities for Literacy
Development. This was an opportunity for students at distance to collaborate using an online, live-
time platform called CENTRA. The children in both countries worked together in groups to create
slide presentations about their part of the world. After months of preparation, each group presented
its work and took questions from online guests. One of the Australian students confessed, “I don’t
understand about snowmen and how you make the balls of snow.” The students in Canada worked
together to draw a picture on the white board and showed the students in Australia how a snowman
is built. In this example, the students worked collaboratively, using technology in their own schools and
classrooms, and then again with students at a distance, in the online synchronous environment.
In your teaching context, what do you think are the three main benefits of technology for teachers?
Support for institutions

While a move toward a technology-enhanced learning environment in schools has benefits for
both learners and teachers, an investment in technology can also benefit the school or institution itself.
It can create a better learning and teaching environment for learners and teachers as well as one that
reflects the role of technology in other spheres of life. Today’s learners expect their schools and
classrooms to reflect their engagement with technology outside of the classroom. In some
contexts, schools that embrace technology are known as “smart schools,” a term that captures the
nature of a technology- enhanced school learning environment – one where all teaching and learning
is facilitated through the use of appropriate technology and both teaching and school management
seek to prepare learners for the information age. The following are among the benefits of
technology for institutions.
Reputation. When technology is integrated into the curriculum, it enhances the reputation of the
school, showing that the school is up to date with developments in education. A commitment to
technology sends a message to students, teachers, and parents that the school is eager to stay
at the forefront of developments in education and is making efforts to connect with learners, many of
whom expect technology to play a role in their learning.
Individualized curriculum. Nutta (1998, 50) points out that in programs with open-ended,
open/exit enrollment, such as adult and vocational adult-education courses, students need not enter
the class in the middle of a linear instructional sequence. Instead, the syllabus could be based
on themes of interest and relevance to students, and individual students could follow a
grammatical syllabus in computer-based instruction outside the classroom.
Improved outcomes. Student achievement may be higher, since students receive additional learning
opportunities beyond the time scheduled on the timetable.
Flexible curriculum. With a mix of face-to-face and computer-mediated learning – i.e., through
so-called blended learning – schools can use the mix that best suits the needs of their clients.
Furthermore, a school may be able to offer a course delivered entirely online that is not offered
through face-to-face instruction.
Simplified administration. The use of an LMS removes much of the burden of organizing and
monitoring courses, attendance, and student learning.
Institutions that embrace technology and use it to enhance the nature and the quality of the
learning experiences that they provide are better placed to prepare their students for success in the
twenty- first century where digital literacy is a key skill for employability. The skills involved in
collaborating with others, using English as a medium of communication through the Internet, and
the ability to find creative solutions to problems not only help students learn in the classroom but
also prepare them to succeed in the world beyond the classroom.
10.9 Examples of the use of technology in teaching the four skills

Many technology-based learning opportunities are experiential in nature, providing opportunities for
comprehensible input and output and involving interactional processes that are likely to support the
learners’ overall second language development. However, they do not necessarily address a specific
learning outcome. In the examples that follow we will examine how technology and the Internet can
be used to foster the development of specific language skills.
Speaking and pronunciation skills

Some of the opportunities or “affordances” that technology provides can offer useful support
for both speaking and pronunciation. For example, synchronous (real-time) computer-mediated
communication, such as chat rooms and some other forms of near instantaneous
interaction (e.g., microblogs), shares many of the characteristics of spoken language, offering
conversational- skills practice, and in an environment that many learners experience as non-
threatening. Similarly, programs such as Microsoft Skype® and Google Hangouts® allow two or
more participants to interact. The inclusion of video in many of these programs can be particularly
helpful for learners, as the added visual information helps them to understand the message.
Pontese and Shimazumi (2014, 181), for example, describe how they used an online program to
improve their learners’ speaking skills in preparation for the Cambridge Proficiency Exam (CPE).
They made use of the online app VoiceThread to enable the students to improve their speaking
performance. The students were assigned a topic, asked to prepare a short recording on the
topic (an average of approximately two minutes each) and then to upload it to their restricted
area on VoiceThread.
Once all of the recordings had been uploaded, teachers and learners would listen to them and record
their comments, impressions, and general feedback. Learners would then listen to the comments
made on their production and record different versions each time, incorporating aspects they
considered relevant from their peers’ or teacher’s feedback. After having recorded and posted their
contributions, depending on how their peers reacted to their posts, they would revisit their work in
terms of grammar (accuracy), vocabulary (lexical appropriacy), or pronunciation (prosodic features),
which would then lead to improvements in their linguistic development.
Internet sites (such as YouTube) are also a rich source of examples of how spoken interactions take
place. For example, learners can watch video clips of real or simulated interactions (e.g., checking in
to a hotel), and then play the part of either of the participants in the interaction. (Sites such as Real
English® and YouTube provide examples of authentic greetings and descriptions: www.real-english.
com/new-lessons.asp; www.youtube.com/watch?v=5n2ma_4sy_8.)
Some websites allow learners to compare their spoken English with that of a native speaker.
They can record a spoken text, such as a story, a conversation, or an oral presentation, and then
compare their production with the speech of a native speaker.
Listening skills
Traditional teaching resources such as textbooks with accompanying audio or video generally provide
a limited source of listening input. However, sites are available with materials specially designed for
second language learners and offering a variety of graded listening or viewing texts, with aids
such as subtitles, glossaries, captions, transcripts, and comprehension quizzes. A number of
websites also provide access to a range of authentic listening text types (advertisements, movie clips,
YouTube videos), accompanied by listening-comprehension tasks. In addition, authentic listening
materials are readily available on the Internet in the form of news broadcasts, TED Talks,
interviews, and TV shows that a teacher can then create activities for.
Reading skills
The Internet provides access to a huge variety of written texts that can provide opportunities to
practice a range of skills, such as skimming, scanning, inferencing, and summarizing, with some
software highlighting key parts of the text accompanied by explanations. There are also numerous
sites with specially developed activities to promote reading skills. These include activities designed
to increase fluency and speed in reading using texts that progress in length and difficulty,
activities that develop awareness of the grammatical and discourse organization of texts, as well
as activities to prepare students for the reading component of standardized tests with timed
components,
immediate or delayed feedback, and model answers. Vocabulary development can also be enhanced
through the use of text-completion tasks where students see a text, guess missing words, and get
feedback on their choices.
Righini (2014) provides an example of how social media can be used to develop skills needed to read
authentic texts and news articles from the electronic media in an approach that integrates reading and
writing. News articles on topics of interest were taken from BBC News, CNN World, the Guardian,
the New York Times, the Australian and assigned at the end of each lesson as self-study. Students
were asked to choose one a week and teachers were encouraged to create a blog where
students would upload comments on their chosen news article and comment on their peers’
posts. In order to encourage student participation, teachers employed different forms of interacting
with students on the blogs and also with different social media tools, such as voice-based elearning
tools (VoiceThread or Voxopop, for example) and microblogging, mainly Facebook.
Writing skills
While word-processing software has often been used to auto-correct spelling, word choice, and
grammar, a range of more sophisticated types of support are now available to support learners with
written English. For example, learner support can be provided through web-based writing labs to help
students with writing assignments. Peer-feedback can be made more motivating through the use of
computer-mediated peer review: students can share drafts of written work, for example in the form
of blog posts that other students can then comment on. Technology also allows learners to share
and showcase their written work. They can share their compositions through desktop publishing
or via a blog or web publishing. They can also collaborate on writing tasks, making the process
of generating ideas, drafting, and revising a piece more interactive, such as in wikis. New forms of
writing, such as blogs, also enable students to create more personal and expressive writing and to
compare their blogs with those of other writers. Moreover, as they write, a variety of editing tools,
such as dictionaries, spell checkers, and model texts, are available to assist learners as they write.
(See “Blogging” below.)
Blogging
Journal writing has long been an activity utilised in the primary classroom. Journal writing allows
students to reflect on what they are learning and how they are learning. This traditional, notebook-
and-pencil activity can become digital when word-processing software is used. Or it can go online as
a blog. Blogs (a short form of the weblog) are personal journal websites on which a user can type an
entry, add images, video and links to other websites. Readers of a blog usually can post comments.
For primary school students, the use of blogs has been found to be an engaging and effective way to
promote writing skills … particularly when student peers provide feedback to the blog’s writer … It is
exactly this feedback and sharing mechanism that makes the blog different to the traditional journal.
In the notebook-and-pencil version, the contents of the journal are private to the student, apart from
the teacher and whomever the student decides to share the journal with. With the blog, access can be
provided to the teacher, the class, the student’s parents and the world.
What is the most recent use of technology you have seen or used for teaching any of the four skills?
10.10 Determining the role of technology in the curriculum

The success of a curriculum is increasingly dependent upon the affordances offered by
technology. However, the role of technology in the curriculum raises a number of important
issues (Staples, Pugach, and Himes 2005; Glazer, Hannafin, and Rich 2009; Honigsfeld et al.
2009). Some of the principal among these issues are described below.
The purposes for using technology

The role of technology in an institution will depend on a variety of factors including the nature of the
institution and its programs, who its teachers and students are, and the extent to which the resources
and learning culture of the institution can provide support for technology. The benefits for teachers
or learners and for the institution need to be considered, as well as how technology will change the
nature of teaching and learning, how it will support the goals of the curriculum, and in what ways it
is expected to lead to improvement in the learners’ knowledge and skills.
The technical skill needed by teachers and students

Students and teachers are often at different levels of skill in respect of technology and computer
software, with students sometimes at a higher skill level than their teachers. Both need to
be confident in using available resources and in learning about new software applications.
The infrastructure requirements

The assets and resources available to support the use of technology are also crucial. These include
the level of investment that has been made in specialist equipment or classrooms for the
technology curriculum and the extent to which students have access to computers and other
digital equipment either directly in their classroom or in a media or self-access center.
The technology resources available

The technology resources available for classroom use are extensive and changing. They include
computers, interactive whiteboards, mobile devices like smartphones and tablets, digital cameras, social
media platforms and networks, software applications, and the Internet. The availability and accessibility of
these resources need to be considered as well as whether items such as CD-ROMs and other support
materials, such as commercially produced learning resources, will be provided by the school.
Integrating technology with classroom teaching, learning, and assessment

There are many ways in which technology can be integrated with teaching, learning, and assessment,
and new possibilities become available almost weekly. Examples include the following:
• Project-based learning using technology.
• Use of mobile devices in the classroom.
• Electronic portfolio assessment.
• PowerPoint presentations.
• Learning with mobile and handheld devices such as cell phones, mp3 players, and tablets.
• Creative use of interactive whiteboards.
• Video-based final assessment.
• Web-based projects and collaborative online research.
• Student-created media such as podcasts, videos, and slideshows.
• Collaborative online tools such as wikis or Google Docs.
• Use of social media.
Balance of classroom-based face-to-face teaching with blended online learning

The kinds of teaching-learning options that are available can be summarized as in Table 10.1
(Grgurovic 2010).
Table 10.1 Language learning options

TYPE FEATURES
Fully face-to-face All teaching is classroom-based
Web-enhanced A minimum amount of online material used, such as posting syllabus,
assignments, and test scores
Blended Significant online component (e.g., 55% face-to-face, 45% online)
Hybrid Online replaces 45–80% of classroom teaching
Fully online Up to 100% of learning activities conducted online
Impact on teachers
Teachers who make use of technology find they need to change the way they teach. Technology
changes the role of the teacher who takes on different responsibilities such as that of adviser,
facilitator, and coach. As facilitator the teacher sets project goals, provides guidelines and resources,
and moves around the class providing suggestions and support for student activity. Technology
therefore changes the nature of the relationship between teacher and students. It creates the
possibility of different kinds of teaching strategies and provides new ways of engaging learners
with learning content and of interacting with the teacher and other students. It also encourages
more autonomy on the part of learners, requiring teachers to give learners more choices when
making their own decisions about how to search for and use content.
Provision of professional development opportunities

Teachers may need two kinds of support: technical knowledge about how to use the
various resources available and advice on how to integrate technology into their curriculum
(Reinders 2009). Without such support, teachers may hesitate to make full use of all the opportunities
that technology can offer. Support can include workshops, the assistance of a technology
coordinator, as well as help from other more experienced colleagues. Sharing information about the
successful uses of technology can be achieved through newsletters, bulletin boards, and informal
meetings. Teachers also need to know how to evaluate new technology resources as they
become available (see Appendix 2 for an evaluation checklist). Administrative support within schools
can also assist with problem solving and training.
What kind of support is provided in your institution to help teachers make the best use of the
resources of technology?
Conclusions
Teachers today have a wide range of resources available to them to support their teaching, including
traditional print and book-based resources and a growing range of digital ones. Teachers need to
develop the knowledge and skills required in order to select, evaluate, use, and adapt
conventional book-based materials. They may also need to prepare materials for their own
institutions and classes. Increasingly, however, they are also expected to make use of a variety of
digital and computer- based resources. Both kinds of resources can make a significant
contribution to the effectiveness
and success of a language program. While teachers are generally comfortable using textbooks and
adapting them to their own teaching contexts, they are not necessarily equally comfortable with
technology, which can offer both opportunities and challenges for many teachers. An important
aspect of curriculum development, therefore, is determining the role of teaching resources such
as textbooks and technology in a language program, as well as making provisions for the kinds
of support teachers may need to enable them to make the most effective use of them.
How successfully resources such as these are used in a language program is an issue that falls within
the scope of program evaluation, which we consider in the final chapter.
Discussion questions
1. Some institutions insist that teachers develop their own materials rather than using published
materials. What is your view of this policy?
2. In what ways do you think textbooks can serve as a source of teacher training for novice
teachers?
3. If you use textbooks in your teaching, how do you adapt them to make them more relevant to
your learners’ needs?
4. Do you make use of authentic materials in your teaching? What features of authentic materials
do you consider when choosing such materials?
5. Do you and your colleagues sometimes collaborate on the development of materials for your
classes? What has been your experience with materials development activities of this kind?
6. If you were evaluating a writing text for possible use with your learners, what criteria would you
use to evaluate it?
7. In what ways do you think technology improves or could improve the effectiveness of the courses
in your institution?
8. What advice would you give to a teacher who is planning to make more use of technology in his
or her teaching?
9. Has your experience with technology been (a) very positive or (b) somewhat mixed? Compare
your experiences with a colleague.
10. Read the two case studies at the end of this chapter. One describes a program that makes
extensive use of textbooks; the second describes one where no textbooks are used and
technology is used as the primary learning resource. In each case, what advantages do you think
using textbooks or technology has
(a) for the institution
(b) for the students
(c) for the teachers.
Are there any disadvantages in your opinion?
11. Imagine that the authors of each case study were to meet. What questions do you think they
might like to ask each other?
264 • Curriculum Development10
in Language
Textbooks,Teaching
technology, and the curriculum • 265
APPENDIX 1 ESL reading textbook evaluation checklist (from Miekley 2005)

Textbook Evaluation Checklist
Not Applicable
Totally Lacking
Mandatory
Adequate
Excellent
Optional
Good
Poor
I. Textbook
A. Content
i. Is the subject matter presented either topically or functionally in a
4 3 2 1 0 M O N
logical, organized manner? (1,2,3)
ii. Does the content serve as a window into learning about the target
4 3 2 1 0 M O N
language culture (American, British, ect.)? (2,18)
iii. Are the reading selections authentic pieces of language? (5,10) 4 3 2 1 0 M O N
iv. Compared to texts for native speakers, does the content contain
real-life issues that challenge the reader to think critically about 4 3 2 1 0 M O N
his/her worldview? (1,2,3,7,21)
v. Are the text selections representative of the variety of literary genres, and do
4 3 2 1 0 M O N
they contain multiple sentence structures? (1,13)
B. Vocabulary and Grammar
i. Are the grammar rules presented in a logical manner and in increasing

4 3 2 1 0 M O N
order of difficulty? (1,2,3)
ii. Are the new vocabulary words presented in a variety of ways (e.g.
4 3 2 1 0 M O N
glosses, multi-glosses, appositives)? (2,3,12)
iii. Are the new vocabulary words presented at an appropriate rate so that
the text is understandable and so that students are able to retain new 4 3 2 1 0 M O N
vocabulary? (1,2,3,5)
iv. Are the new vocabulary words repeated in subsequent lessons to
4 3 2 1 0 M O N
reinforce their meaning and use? (1,2,3,)
v. Are students taught top-down techniques for learning new vocabulary
4 3 2 1 0 M O N
words? (7,8,9,11)
C. Exercises and Activities
i. Are there interactive and task-based activities that require students to

4 3 2 1 0 M O N
use new vocabulary to communicate? (1,2,3,5)
ii. Do instructions in the textbook tell students to read for comprehension? (6) 4 3 2 1 0 M O N
iii. Are top-down and bottom-up reading strategies used? (17) 4 3 2 1 0 M O N
iv. Are students given sufficient examples to learn top-down techniques

4 3 2 1 0 M O N
for reading comprehension? (7,8,9,10)
v. Do the activities facilitate students’ use of grammar rules by creating
4 3 2 1 0 M O N
situations in which these rules are needed? (1,2,3)
vi. Does the text make comprehension easier by addressing one new
4 3 2 1 0 M O N
concept at a time instead of multiple new concepts? (2,3)
vii. Do the exercises promote critical thinking of the text? (2) 4 3 2 1 0 M O N
D. Attractiveness of the Text and Physical Make-up
i. Is the cover of the book appealing? (1,2,3) 4 3 2 1 0 M O N
ii. Is the visual imagery of high aesthetic quality? (1,2,3,14) 4 3 2 1 0 M O N
iii. Are the illustrations simple enough and close enough to the text that
4 3 2 1 0 M O N
they add to its meaning rather than detracting from it? (1)
iv. Is the text interesting enough that students will enjoy reading it? (15) 4 3 2 1 0 M O N
II Teacher’s Manual
A. General Features
i. Does the manual help teachers understand the objectives and

4 3 2 1 0 M O N
methodology of the text? (1,2,3)
ii. Are correct or suggested answers given for the exercises in the
4 3 2 1 0 M O N
textbook? (1,2,3,4)
B. Background Information
i. Are teachers shown how to teach students to use cues from

morphology, cognates, rhetorical relationships, and context to assist 4 3 2 1 0 M O N
them in lexical inferencing? (7)
ii. Is there a list of true and false cognates for vocabulary words? (1,2,3) 4 3 2 1 0 M O N
C. Methodological Guidance
i. Are teachers given techniques for activating students’ background

4 3 2 1 0 M O N
knowledge before reading the text? (8,9,22)
ii. Are teachers given adequate examples for teaching students to
4 3 2 1 0 M O N
preview, skim, scan, summarize, and to find the main idea? (8,11,6)
iii. Does the manual suggest a clear, concise method for teaching each
4 3 2 1 0 M O N
lesson? (1,2,3)
D. Supplementary Exercises and Materials
i. Does the manual give instructions on how to incorporate audio-visual

4 3 2 1 0 M O N
material produced for the textbook? (2)
ii. Does the manual provide teachers with exercises to practice, test, and
4 3 2 1 0 M O N
review vocabulary words? (1,2,3)
iii. Does the manual provide additional exercises for reinforcing grammar
4 3 2 1 0 M O N
points in the text? (1,2,3)
Ill. Context
A. Is the textbook appropriate for the curriculum? (1,2,19,20)
i. Does the text coincide with the course goals? (1,2,3,19,20) 4 3 2 1 0 M O N
B. Is the textbook appropriate for the students who will be using it? (1,2)
i. Is the text free of material that might be offensive? (1,6,16) 4 3 2 1 0 M O N
ii. Are the examples and explanations understandable? (1) 4 3 2 1 0 M O N
iii. Will students enjoy reading the text selections? (1,2,3,15) 4 3 2 1 0 M O N
iv. Will the content meet students’ felt needs for learning English or can it
4 3 2 1 0 M O N
be adapted for this purpose? (2,3)
C. Are the textbook and teacher’s manual appropriate for the teacher who will be teaching from them? (1,2,4)
i. Is the teacher proficient enough in English to use the teacher’s

4 3 2 1 0 M O N
manual? (1)
APPENDIX 2 Evaluating technology

Eady and Locker (2013) suggest a number of questions are involved when evaluating educational
software, applications, and resources, depending on the form of technology involved.
Age/year level:
• Is the application appropriate for the age and year/level of the students?
• Is the reading level of the text and type of media appropriate?
• Curriculum links: Are there links between the content/functions of the application and the
expectations of the curriculum?
• Are the content and examples relevant to the curriculum?
• Will this help teach the curriculum in new or different ways?
Instructional content:
• Is the information accurate, complete and current?
• Are sources reliable?
• Does the content encourage higher-order thinking?
• Is the content culturally appropriate? Does it present multiple perspectives? Is it engaging
and interactive?
• Will the learner(s) be actively involved in using the tool?
• Is feedback provided? Is the feedback appropriate and meaningful?
Assessment:
• Are assessment tasks included, or can the teacher develop relevant assessment tasks that
link to the use of the tool?
Flexibility:
• Can all aspects of the tool be integrated easily into classroom activities?
• Can the tool be used for multiple curriculum units?
• Media: Does the medium used support or distract from the learning activity?
Usability:
• Is the tool easy to use and intuitive?
Technical considerations:
• Does the tool work consistently?
• Are there special technical requirements for using the tool? Does the school have access to
those requirements?
Support materials:
• Does the tool have multiple forms of help (manuals, context-sensitive help, and tutorials)?
• Are teaching support materials or online resources available to help a teacher embed the
tool into lessons?
CASE STUDY 17 Using textbooks in a large-scale language

program Eric Anthony Tejeda Evans
What is the context of the course?
PROULEX (PROgrama Universitario de Lenguas EXtranjeras) was founded in 1987 as a private
language institution from the public University of Guadalajara, Mexico. PROULEX was created to
provide quality general English language classes for communication to students at the University
of Guadalajara and the rest of the community at an accessible fee. PDU is an intensive EFL
course, and it is offered at PROULEX’s 16 sites within the state of Jalisco with an average of
6,000 students. Six sites are in Guadalajara and three of these sites are in a university campus.
Each classroom has between 5 and 20 students, and upon class registration, students receive, per
level, a tailor-made textbook designed by an international publishing house.
What are the goals of the course?

The PDU course takes true and false beginners to a B1–B2 level (CEFR). The main goal of the course
is to instruct adults and young adults to communicate effectively in English with native and non-
native speakers within real-life situations. The specific objectives of the course describe what learners
are expected to achieve at the end of the course, that is, outcomes that can be observed and
measured; and these specific objectives are connected to the main goal as well.
Specific objectives:
1. To make use of L1 as a tool only when necessary or to contrast L1 and L2.
2. To develop learning and communicative strategies.
3. To develop strategies for use with purposeful language functions.
4. To connect learners to the real world’s context by integrating the linguistic skills and socio-
cultural fluency.
5. To provide learners with thorough pronunciation support and practice.
6. To make use of purposeful ICT tasks.
The goals of the PDU course reflect both cognitive and affective domains needed in order to
communicate in L2 effectively and understand standard and non-standard English varieties
(including male, female and different age groups). Learners are given the opportunity to participate in
interaction patterns, which are easy to personalize, and they are encouraged to view making
mistakes as part of the learning process. Even though American English is taught, non-native English
and the variations within American English, Canadian, Australian or British English is contrasted
accordingly.
What planning was involved in developing the course?

First, the academic secretary reviews ESL coursebooks in the market for adults and young adults that
comply with the following characteristics: current or previous year edition, American English, A1 to
B1–B2 levels including a true beginners’ level, and communicative, functional, and skills syllabus. The
coursebooks are evaluated using a checklist, and after analyzing the advantages and disadvantages
of each one, the top four coursebooks are selected. Second, the selected publishing houses are
invited to become part of a four-month pilot course where they agree to train a group of four to six
teachers to use their coursebook. Each coursebook is piloted at a different site with one or two
classes. The publishing houses are encouraged to take part as much as possible in the follow-up
of the pilot course in respect of observation, design of tests, use of coursebook components, and
so on. This action serves to determine how much a publishing house is interested in and capable
of providing ongoing training if selected at the end of the pilot course. Third, teachers and students
involved in the pilot course provide feedback regarding the coursebook materials through surveys,
interviews, and learning outcomes. The results are reported in a document to the general director of
the institution, who then makes arrangements with the selected publishing house in respect of the
adoption and adaption of the coursebook.
In order to implement the new course, a PDU course manual for teachers is designed by the academic
coordinator. The intention of the manual is for teachers to become aware of the importance of
unifying teaching criteria in relation to students’ exit level and evaluation, with the idea that by unifying the
teaching standards there is a greater probability that the students’ exit level at the end of each level is
basically the same. The manual includes the institution’s vision, mission, educational philosophy, teacher
and student roles and profiles, content correlated with the materials syllabus, evaluation system, time
distribution, and international exam exit level. Once the course is implemented, the following three months
can be used to make corrections and changes to components of the course as needed, for instance, to
the evaluation system. Six months after the course’s implementation, teachers receive a training update
based on their acquired experience of using the course components. The PDU course is updated every
five to six years following the same course design in response to both new trends in EFL and
community needs.
How is the course organized?

The PDU course is delivered in 12 levels of 40 hours each with a total of 480 hours. Instruction
is carried out in a face-to-face mode with two options: (1) during the week (2 hours daily) or (2)
Saturdays (5 hours daily), and 80% attendance is a requirement or else learners must repeat the level.
At each level, 4 hours are allocated for testing and 36 hours for instruction. Levels 10–12 include time
to prepare students for an international exam. If newcomers believe they have L2 knowledge and wish
to enter a level other than level 1, a placement exam is a requirement. The placement exam takes
around 40 minutes, and it includes a multiple-choice test and an interview. The multiple-choice test
includes grammar, vocabulary, social language, and reading comprehension.
What teaching and learning methods do you use?

The instruction approach is learner-centered and the methodology is eclectic, which means it is skills-
integrated using a communicative and constructive approach that takes account of learners’ needs,
styles, multiple intelligences, ages, and context. Conversation models assist the weaker learners and
are easy to personalize for any context. Content is also chosen to help connect learners to real-life
social contexts.
What is the role of materials and other resources?

The course’s syllabus is represented by a materials syllabus (Hutchinson and Waters 1987, pp. 80–
83), which in this case reflects the textbook series’ scope and sequence, but supported with the
PDU course manual for its effective implementation. The coursebook therefore plays an important
role and its features may be summarized as follows:
• Communicative English course for adults and young adults based on the needs of true
beginners.
• Model conversations using professional, social, and travel language that is easy to personalize.
• Cumulative vocabulary activities to reinforce vocabulary meaning in context.
• Activities to raise awareness and practice features of English pronunciation.
• Learning strategies and activities that promote critical thinking.
• Authentic content to connect students to the real world.
Regarding technology, the textbook includes a take-home CD-ROM with interactive practice for the
four skills and games linked to the textbook lessons. However, the CD-ROM is optional and only for
those students who feel they need extra practice.
Did you experience any difficulties in developing the course?

There were issues during the pilot course stage when some publishing houses did not have the
academic capability to provide support in respect of class observation and feedback or in adapting
the coursebook tests to match the institution’s time distribution and evaluation system. In addition,
the institution’s teacher observation-feedback system is a complex one, since it is time-consuming
and involves several academic coordinators observing and giving feedback to many teachers on
a monthly basis. However, it helps standardize the implementation of the PDU course and its essential
procedures.
What role does assessment play in the course?

The PDU course evaluation system keeps a balance between form and function, and accuracy
and fluency, and the pass mark is 80%. Preparing students to take tests is not a goal or interest of
the institution. Instead, students are trained linguistically and culturally to cope with situations
where language is the most important tool for successful communication. The evaluation system is
designed to provide learners and teachers with feedback for improvement. The evaluation system
includes a variety and balance of test types as follows: formative achievement, and summative;
however, the oral assessment consists of two types: (1) formal/achievement and (2)
informal/formative ongoing. The ongoing oral assessment, for instance, is formative and tests
the non-linguistic skills that are important for communication to occur, for example, testing that the
learner (1) is willing to interact with others, (2) tries to communicate in the target language, (3)
makes an effort to self-correct, etc. Learners are informed about this assessment at the
beginning of the level. The productive skills tests (speaking and writing) are evaluated through
qualitative informal/formative assessment, for instance, by means of portfolios, essays, reports,
articles, interviews, conversations, etc. which are marked by teachers following band descriptions.
When learners are weak and need extra help, the accompanying components of the textbook are
recommended (CD-ROM, workbook, audio CD) and one-on-one tutoring sessions are provided by
the teacher or academic coordinator. Achievement tests at every level measure three aspects of
language: social language (functions), vocabulary (lexis), and grammar (form), and each language skill
(and sub-skill) is also assessed through a variety of valid and reliable tests.
Eric Anthony Tejeda Evans has been in the language teaching field for over 20 years. He holds a
BA and a teacher-training qualification. He is a passionate language teacher, teacher trainer,
and curriculum developer and has co-authored three EFL coursebooks. He has been designing EFL
courses for adults and young adults for over 15 years. He is currently the Academic Secretary at
PROULEX Universidad de Guadalajara and is completing a master’s degree in teaching English as
a Foreign Language (MEILE) at the University of Guadalajara.
CASE STUDY 18 Using the resources of technology in a college English

program Hiroyuki Obari
What is the context of the course?
Teaching Worldview Study is an English for third year seminar course from the College of Economics
at Aoyama Gakuin University in Tokyo, Japan. Students have to take a four-credit course as part of
their degree program at the university. During this course students learn about the way they
look at the world and about scientific worldviews based upon science and theology while also
studying media using a digital text called “Lecture Ready II.” This course takes the students a stage
further by developing their language skills while broadening their worldviews and improving their IT
skills with mobile technologies.
What are the aims of the course?

• To introduce students to different worldviews of science and religion. Language as it relates to
worldviews.
• To compare Eastern and Western approaches and evaluate their comprehensiveness. (Global
Governance)
• To get a more cross-culturally sensitive understanding of human nature via ICT and through
social learning.
One of the main aims of this course is to enhance students’ IT skills and encourage them to become
more internationally minded as well as more independent learners. Students are given opportunities
to make many digital stories with their iPad and practice many presentations that help train
them to think in a more analytical way and give them some hands-on practice in dealing with
technical information relevant to their field of study.
The specific goals of the course are:
a) To develop students’ way of looking at the world, that is to say, their worldviews.
b) To help them learn how to give an effective presentation.
c) To get them to produce a wide range of digital storytelling, including summaries of “Lecture
Ready II,” their own research projects, and TED Talks.
d) To encourage them to acquire a more cross-culturally sensitive understanding of human nature
via ICT and through social learning, for example using Facebook and the communication app
LINE.
In order to achieve these goals, students learn to make use of different types of learning materials,
such as a lecture video series on science and theology prepared by lecturers from Oxford University,
TED Talks, and “Lecture Ready II” digital text in addition to making PowerPoint presentations
(PPTs) and preparing digital storytelling. They also develop their listening and speaking skills by
watching a variety of YouTube videos containing information on a variety of topics. In addition, they
prepare for a joint seminar with students from Aoyama Gakuin University and students from the
National University of Singapore (NUS) in readiness for a group project they have to complete. This
project has to be presented by each group when we visit NUS in September, and so the course
sensitizes students to the principles of giving a good presentation and facilitates effective
participation in a cultural exchange between two universities.
What planning was involved in developing the course?

First of all, all my seminar students use an LMS (Learning Management System) and their iPads for
doing research and making project movies, and they give many presentations as part of the course.
I also make use of videos of lectures by scholars at Oxford University. About ten years ago when I was
a visiting research fellow at the University of Oxford, I happened to meet two esteemed professors in
the field of science and theology, Dr Margaret Yee and Dr Rom Harré. The College of Economics at
Aoyama Gakuin University invited them to give several lectures about their specializations. The
lectures were videotaped for use in the “Learning the Worldviews” component of the course.
Students study the video materials with lecture notes, and I also give them several lectures both
in English and in Japanese in order to deepen their understanding of the course contents. All of the
seminar students are required to make PPTs about the lectures and to prepare digital storytelling with
their PCs and iPad. In the classroom, they use these resources to present and discuss the lecture
contents in more detail.
Secondly, social learning is very important nowadays, so all my students use Facebook. All assignments
(whether it is digital storytelling, PPTs, or Word documents) are uploaded and shared on Facebook. With
TED Talks they are required to write a 300-word summary of each TED Talk in English, to make PPTs of
each talk with their iPad, and to share the content of each talk every week with their classmates. Last
year they came up with 20 summaries of TED Talks and greatly improved their writing skills in doing so.
Thirdly, in order to provide ample amounts of comprehensible input, online e-learning materials such
as the Newton e-Learning TOEIC (Test of English for International Communication) Practice Kit for
learning, the LMS ATR CALL Brix for assessing their English Proficiency, and CASEC (Computerized
Assessment System for English Communication) computer test are used so that students can study
these materials anywhere, at any time, and even check their own progress using online
computer assessment. For speaking assessment purposes, the Oral Proficiency Interview by
computer (OPIc) test is also used.
Fourthly, Globalvoice English is used to improve students’ pronunciation. This CALL software is very
useful in helping students develop better mastery of both segmental features and prosody of English.
Finally, the digital English text “Lecture Ready II” is introduced together with Cooori [Artificial
Intelligence software] with mobile technologies. Students watch video lectures with their iPads and
complete a variety of types of exercises as well as preparing for digital storytelling
presentations. With mobile technologies, students use Cooori to study the vocabularies integrated
with digital texts.
These activities provide a range of sources of comprehensible input, and through the use of mobile
technologies students improve their overall English proficiency.
How is the course organized?

The course is offered over one 15-week semester. It is divided into two main parts: in the first 11
weeks of the course, the focus is on helping students develop their worldviews and presentation
or storytelling skills for this course. From Week 1 to Week 6, worldviews based upon science and
theology are emphasized with video lectures and lecture notes. The topic of each lesson is as
follows:
Week 1 What are the worldviews?

Lecture Ready II, Chapter 1
TED Talks (Teach how to
study)
Introduce students to the concept of the “flipped classroom” lesson, and how to
prepare for this course.
Week 2 Pre-OPIc Speaking Test

Worldview Study 1 and presentation
Lecture Ready II, Chapter 1 presentation, digital storytelling
TED Talks (1) group presentation
CALL ATR Brix TOEIC mini-test 2
Week 3 Worldview Study 2 and presentation
Week 6 Worldview Study 5 (establish their own worldviews) and presentation
Week 7 Lecture Ready II, Chapter 6 presentation, digital storytelling




The second part of the course (Weeks 12 to 15) focuses on preparing students to complete
a “Language Exchange Project with NUS.” Each group has to introduce a typical aspect of Japan
and Japanese culture in English. For this purpose, students have to do some research and make
several visits to places they would like to present and discuss using iPads. They make several digital
movies and also prepare PPTs. Some students also conduct interviews to collect data for their
project. The topic for each lesson in the second part of the course is as follows:
Week 12 Group Meetings (Simulation)

Plan a presentation project with NUS
Start preparing PPTs
Week 13 Preparing for PPTs
Sharing PPTs on
Facebook Discussion
Week 14 Preparing for PPTs
Sharing PPTs on
Facebook Discussion
Week 15 Presentation about their project
Assessment Tests
OPIc Speaking
Test TOEIC
CASEC
What teaching and learning methods do you use?

The course does not use one main teaching method. Instead, an eclectic approach is preferred. For
instance, in the first lesson of the course the teaching method is very much teacher-centered.
From Week 2 to Week 11, flipped lessons are introduced with students making a number of
preparations with a particular emphasis on group presentations. Students have to prepare the
worldview study with digital storytelling and PPTs. Every week during Weeks 2 to 11, students
have to prepare a summary and simple PPTs for TED Talks and PPTs and digital storytelling for
“Lecture Ready II” so that they can present their information with their iPads and discuss them
in more detail with their classmates. In Weeks 12 to 15, in addition, students are asked to
complete group project tasks, based on the information presented in the manual, to get them used
to working together to prepare for the Language Exchange Project with NUS. From Week 2 to Week
15, more group work and collaborative learning are emphasized. The teacher in this part of the
course becomes more of a facilitator and guide.
What is the role of materials and other resources?

Students are given a 50-page text as well as videos that accompany the course, which can be
downloaded from the LMS of Oxford University Press. All the material has been produced in-house
with some references to other sources as illustrative examples of reports. The manual provides a
series of tasks to accompany each of the ten chapters. These tasks can be used as a basis
for creating a presentation for each lesson as well as for checking comprehension of the lectures
(see examples below).
Learning English with TED Talks
In groups, brainstorm what you learn from the TED Talks and apply it to your life. Firstly, share the
content of the TED Talks and expand the content for further discussion about its relevance to your life.
This will be carried out in a small group of four or five.
“Lecture Ready II” task
1. What is the lecture all about in Chapter 1 of “Lecture Ready II”? What do you learn from this
lecture and how can it be applied to your life?
2. Share the content of Chapter 1 using your iPad and take turns in presenting what you prepare
including showing your digital storytelling.
3. Check all your answers to the comprehensions questions in Chapter 1.
4. Ask one group of four or five students to make a presentation of Chapter 1.
In addition to the students’ digital text, the tutor uses a variety of DVD materials related to the
topic of each chapter. When students are working on their group project, they are advised to use
the Internet for researching their project. They also naturally use social media to chat with each
other about their project – in our case, students use LINE and Facebook. This mediated source of
communication between the students for their group work has increased dramatically over the life of
the course.
Did you experience any difficulties in developing the course?

There are four main issues with the course. In the first instance, there are three different levels
of students (advanced, intermediate, false beginner). When the flipped lesson is introduced, we
therefore have to be careful about choosing authentic learning materials. If these are too difficult
for weaker students to handle, they tend to lose motivation for learning. Some students feel that
digital text is very difficult to understand because it involves authentic lecture listening, so some
scripts have to be provided in advance. Weaker students are scared to make oral presentations
without any scripts. They are required to rely on their PPTs without any written notes. I have to
prepare some support materials depending on the level of the students. Half of the students find
it difficult to understand the worldview study lectures given by the Oxford lecturers without
Japanese translation, so I have to always try to explain it more in detail in Japanese.
The second issue is the digital text. Sometimes online digital text does not work because of
connectivity or other online problems, and it is often difficult to write the answers on the online
digital text as well. Ideally speaking, we need to make use of both a paper and a digital text.
The third issue relates to the learning materials with mobile technologies. Some of these
learning materials are purely internet-based, and unless the tutor is always mentoring the
students and checking progress, students tend to get lazy about studying on a daily basis. Students
have to be taught thoroughly how to use mobile technologies and how to study online materials, and
they need good support from instructors.
The fourth issue is group work, as the main task on the course is a collaborative project, and this
can lead to some unhappy students. Fortunately, this problem does not happen often, but it is
something the tutors are made aware of and are asked to monitor as the course progresses.
About 10% of students are not actively engaged in flipped learning while they are doing the
group project.
What role does assessment play in the course?

The students are assessed both individually and for their group work. The individual assessment is the
comparison between pre-test and post-test, as measured using tests such as TOEIC, CASEC, OPIc
Speaking Assessment. Students take both pre-tests and post-tests and check their
improvement. Whenever my seminar students give many presentations, their presentations will
be assessed by tutors and their peers based on ten factors. (Assessment sheets are provided.) As for
the ATR CALL
Brix, evaluation of each practice will be shown on the Internet so that students can check their
weaknesses and strengths. Portfolio assessment has been introduced to this course, so every lesson
is filmed in order to observe what is going on around students’ learning and presentations. Last year,
the results were as shown in the graph below.
Improvements of TOEIC 181 points p<0.01 n=25

800
750 758
700
650
700
577
550
500
450
400
PreTOEO PreTOEO
Improvements of Each Level (Pre vs. Post Speaking Test)
UP and DOWN
–1 ±0 +1 +2
Advanced Low 1 – –
Intermediate High 3 –
Intermediate Mid(3) 1
Intermediate Mid(2) 4 3
Intermediate Mid(1) 1
Intermediate Low 1 7 1
Novice High 1 2
Number UP/DN UP1/2

My students 25 +9/–3 +6 +24.0%
Other Univ. 19 +3/–4 –1 –5.3%
Junior Colleges 14 +5/–4 +1 +7.1%
Evaluation Sheet for Presentation
Preparation 5 4 3 2 1
Organization 5 4 3 2 1
Clarity 5 4 3 2 1
Content 5 4 3 2 1
Pronunciation • Prosody 5 4 3 2 1
Volume 5 4 3 2 1
Speed 5 4 3 2 1
Eye Contact 5 4 3 2 1
Enthusiasm 5 4 3 2 1
Persuasiveness 5 4 3 2 1
Total score: 50 points
Holistic Assessment:
AA(45-50), A (40-44), B(35-39), C(30-34), XX (0-29)
Hiroyuki Obari is a professor in the College of Economics at Aoyama Gakuin University in Tokyo,
Japan. He obtained his PhD in Computer Science from the University of Tsukuba and an MA in
TESOL from Columbia University. Obari’s main areas of research have focused on CALL, speech
recognition, and educational technology. He was Visiting Research Fellow at the University of
Oxford from 1997 to1999 and 2007 to 2008.

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10 TEXTBOOKS, TECHNOLOGY, AND

• Textbooks as teaching resource

How much of your teaching is dependent upon textbooks and technology?

10.1 Textbooks as teaching resource

Commercial textbooks are generally examples of expert-produced resources developed by publishers

10.2 Criticism of textbooks

10.3 Authentic versus created materials

• They have a positive effect on learner motivation.

• Created materials can also be motivating for learners.

What kinds of authentic materials do you use in your teaching?

10.4 Evaluating textbooks

• They should correspond to learners’ needs.

• The type of curriculum and tests in place in the institution

• Learners’ needs and aims

10.5 Adapting materials

If textbooks are used in your institution, how are they chosen?

10.6 Monitoring the use of materials

• To document effective ways of using materials.

Monitoring teachers’ use of textbooks can take a number of forms:

An example of a longitudinal study of the effectiveness of a commercial textbook series is given by

10.7 Technology as a teaching and learning resource

Digital language learning

Digital language learning is a broad category that includes:

Online learning, whether self-paced or collaborative;

Digital learning resources (e.g., e-textbooks, e-gradebooks, interactive media);

Model digital age work and learning

Promote and model digital citizenship and responsibility

10.8 Support provided by technology

Support for learners

Support for teachers

Collaborating across countries

Support for institutions

10.9 Examples of the use of technology in teaching the four skills

Speaking and pronunciation skills

10.10 Determining the role of technology in the curriculum

The purposes for using technology

The technical skill needed by teachers and students

The infrastructure requirements

The technology resources available

Integrating technology with classroom teaching, learning, and assessment

Balance of classroom-based face-to-face teaching with blended online learning

Table 10.1 Language learning options

Provision of professional development opportunities

APPENDIX 1 ESL reading textbook evaluation checklist (from Miekley 2005)

iii. Are the reading selections authentic pieces of language? (5,10) 4 3 2 1 0 M O N

B. Vocabulary and Grammar

i. Are the grammar rules presented in a logical manner and in increasing

C. Exercises and Activities

i. Are there interactive and task-based activities that require students to

iii. Are top-down and bottom-up reading strategies used? (17) 4 3 2 1 0 M O N

iv. Are students given sufficient examples to learn top-down techniques

vii. Do the exercises promote critical thinking of the text? (2) 4 3 2 1 0 M O N

D. Attractiveness of the Text and Physical Make-up

i. Is the cover of the book appealing? (1,2,3) 4 3 2 1 0 M O N

ii. Is the visual imagery of high aesthetic quality? (1,2,3,14) 4 3 2 1 0 M O N

i. Does the manual help teachers understand the objectives and

i. Are teachers shown how to teach students to use cues from

i. Are teachers given techniques for activating students’ background

D. Supplementary Exercises and Materials

i. Does the manual give instructions on how to incorporate audio-visual

A. Is the textbook appropriate for the curriculum? (1,2,19,20)

i. Does the text coincide with the course goals? (1,2,3,19,20) 4 3 2 1 0 M O N

i. Is the text free of material that might be offensive? (1,6,16) 4 3 2 1 0 M O N

ii. Are the examples and explanations understandable? (1) 4 3 2 1 0 M O N