CHAPTER II - LITERATURE REVIEW
A. Theoretical Review
3. Concept of Textbook Evaluation
Rea-Dickens & Germaine (1992) defines that Evaluation is a dynamic process which investigates the suitability and appropriateness of an existing practice. It is a useful device for both teachers and material writers as an underlying element in the development of innovations and modifications within the teaching /learning context.
However, despite its important role in improving various aspects of teaching programs, evaluation is not still a well articulate and supported part of a project. In general, textbook evaluation refers to the process of making judgments of its appropriateness based on
certain criteria. Tomlison and Masuhara (2004) outline three types of textbook evaluation which cover pre-used evaluation, whilst-used evaluation, and post-used evaluation. Pre-used evaluation examines the future potential or performance of a textbook. It is normally impressionistic, subjective, and unreliable, but can be reduced by using criterion-referenced items. Whilst- used evaluation examines the textbook that is being used. It is objective and reliable, since it makes used of measurement rather than prediction. Post-use evaluation measures the actual effects of thematerials on the users. It provides data with which reliable decisions regarding the use, adaptation or replacement of the materials can be made.
This research basically took whilst-used evaluation, because it examined an English textbook that are being used in Indonesia. The evaluation is limited to several observable aspects such as content, language, and presentation. The result of the research can be expected to be objective and reliable, because it used clear measurement. The measurement for this research is a set of criteria for textbook evaluation based on Mukundan, Hajimohammadi, and Nimehchisalem (2011). This study only focused on the internal aspects of textbook only in term of content, language and presentation without examining the effects of textbook evaluation towards students and teachers.
4. Concept of Textbook Evaluation Criteria by Mukundan, Hajimohammadi, & Nimehchisalem (2011)
Since evaluation checklist is used as the main instrument, evaluators should use a well-defined evaluation checklist. However, many evaluation checklists proposed by some experts have problems in validity, reliability, and practicality; such as irrelevant with the context, unclarity of the items, and a large number of the criteria. To avoid those problems, Mukundan, Hajimohammadi, and Nimehchisalem (2011) who are experts in ELT material evaluation, proposed a new checklist named “English Language Teaching (ELT) Textbook Evaluation Checklist” that was developed after reviewing the literature of evaluation checklists within four decades. It is believed as a well-defined evaluation checklist since it is usedr friendly, cost effective, systematic, easy to understand, and ensure the elements that are considered to be important in textbook evaluation are covered. There have been a number of researches which used this checklist in evaluating textbooks, such as research conducted by Mukundan and Kalajahi (2013); Khoo and Knight (2015); Nazeer, Shah, & Sarwat (2015);
Jodai (2012); and Dulger (2016). After being evaluated and having done some refinement stages by some ELT experts and teachers, it becomes a new checklist by Mukundan, Hajimohammadi, and Nimehchisalem (2011) that can ensure its validity, reliability, and practicality.
Mukundan,Hajimohammadi & Nimehchisalem (2011) states that ELT Textbook Evaluation Checklist serves a complete package of
evaluation checklist. There is an instruction to use the checklist in order to make evaluator gets better understanding of the way evaluating textbook using this checklist. The checklist itself consists of two main categories including general attributes and learning teaching content:
a. General attributes
The general attributes category is divided into five sub-categories including:
1) The book in relation to syllabus and curriculum
This means that a textbook must relate to competency standards and basic competence. There must have three kinds of texts, that are interpersonal texts, transactional texts, and functional texts. Interpersonal texts are related to learners‟ daily life that means giving the learners the opportunity to interact with their closest environment, such as greeting, taking leave, saying thank you, and saying sorry. Transactional texts give the learners the opportunity to take and give things, service, information, and opinions related to their daily life, such as the name of the day, time of the day, months, objects, actions/functions of people, animals, and things, etc. Meanwhile, functional texts from various genres must be explored to improve the learners‟ skills, which are listening, speaking, reading, and writing related to their daily life and other subject matters, such as Descriptive text.
2) Methodology
Learning activities can embrace various methodologies in ELT, such as Community Language Learning (CLL), Communicative Language Teaching (CLT), Desuggestopedia, etc. In CLL, the teacher makes students in groups either small or big groups according to the needs. In CLT, the teacher makes games in the learning process so that the students can be enthusiastic, such as Kim game, calendar game, guess the flashcard, find the colour and so on. In the method, the students also practice conversations with their friends. They first listen and repeat to sentence by sentence of the conversations by the teacher.
Meanwhile, in Desuggestopedia, the students can do various pleasant activities, like singing, dancing, dramatizations, and games.
The activities should work well with the methodologies.
Guidances of the activities must be stated clearly for the students can do those, such as using language they can achieve, not unfamiliar words for them.
3) Suitability to learners
A textbook must be relevant to the age of the learners that are indicated on the themes of texts. The themes must relate to their daily life or school activities, such as playing football, studying in a friend‟s home, camping, picnic, things around the
environment, and so on. Meanwhile, learning activities must be relevant to their needs, such as listening and repeating to words, practicing conversations in groups, and walking around the school to find and identify the names of things, and so on. Whereas, to their interests, they are more interested in activities that require a lot of movement than a lot of thinking because their ages are still very young. They would be more enthusiastic about doing the activities that make them not boring in learning in the class.
4) Physical and utilitarian attributes
The layout of a textbook should be attractive, especially the picture of its cover so that the students can be the spirit in using the textbook. The used of texts and visuals should be also efficient in the textbook in each chapter. Those must be adequately provided in its chapters. Meanwhile, the textbook must be durable, either physic or material. In physical one, its sheets are solid, not easy to be ripped. In material, the textbook relates to the material of the previous education level. Its material is a continuity of material in elementary school if the textbook is for Junior High School. The price of the textbook should be also considered. Its price is achieved by the students.
5) Efficient layout of supplementary materials.
A good textbook ideally includes supporting materials like materials. For example, in an English textbook, the
audio-materials is useful in teaching listening. So, the learners do not always learn listening to their teacher‟s sound. But, most the english textbooks not include the audio-materials because. The most important one is the content of materials sufficiently provided, covering texts, pictures, themes, and so on. So textbooks, especially English, should include listening materials.
b. Learning-teaching content
On the other hand, the learning-teaching content is divided into nine sub-categories including:
1) General content
The tasks of a textbook can make the students enthusiastic about the learning activity. The tasks move from simple activities to complex activities for the students can do slowly. They do those step by step with clear guidance from the textbook and the teacher. The tasks can be achievable for them. Cultural sensitivities must have been considered for the students can respect everyone along with ethnic origin, occupation, age, religion, physical and character attributes, professional and social positions, and so on. The language and the situations of the dialogues in the textbook should sound natural and real. The textbook prepares the students to communicate independently in the real world by using daily language which is not too formal.
The situations of the dialogues must also relate to their real world
and communicated informally, such as joining parents to go shopping or market, learning with friends, playing with friends, and so on.
2) Listening
The appropriateness of listening tasks should be included in a textbook with well-defined goals that are stated clearly for the students can focus on those that would be achieved. The listening tasks have to be graded, by giving extra thinking time, for example. The students would think to respond well in the listening activities. The tasks should be also authentic and close to real language situations, using daily language they can reach.
They would be easier to understand what the tasks go.
3) Speaking
The activities in speaking must be communicated meaningfully. The language used is achievable for the students, using familiar words or the daily language they can achieve to understand the materials, like a conversation. The activities must be also balanced between individual response, pair work, and group work for not only they can respond individually but also collectively with their friends. The pair and group work can build a good relationship among them to be more intimate and also can exchange ideas, such as discussing a place or an object and showing their expression on the things.
4) Reading
The texts in reading should be graded and interesting. For example, the texts regard to increase vocabulary and have good themes which are relevant to their level and age. The students can increase their vocabulary mastery while reading. Not only they can understand the content of the text but also they get new vocabulary. Moreover, if the theme of the text is interesting, they would be more enthusiastic and not boring in reading. The reading texts can be also used as a model for written works, they are asked to write something based on the model by giving information in a different form.
5) Writing
The tasks in writing must have achievable goals and take into consideration the students‟ capabilities that are relevant to their age. The goals of the tasks should be stated clearly, for example, how to use pronouns, prepositions, verb agreements, and so on. Their abilities have to be also considered if the tasks can be done by them or not. The tasks should be also made interesting for them by designing varieties of task activities for they are not saturated. The thing that is also important is the used of writing guides. Those can be guidelines, tables, etc. They would be helped to achieve the goals of the tasks.
6) Vocabulary
Vocabulary loads or new words in an English textbook in each lesson have to be appropriate to the students‟ level. The vocabularies used familiar words or the daily language they can achieve. If using formal language, they would be difficult to understand. Although they can still understand it through a dictionary, it is not an appropriate language for their level. The distribution of the vocabulary loads in the textbook should be good, that is from simple to complex. In a simple way, for example, they learn vocabulary through pictures with the names of objects, buildings, animals, and so on. Meanwhile, in a complex way, they learn vocabulary through conversations, for example. They can also increase vocabulary outside the classroom because the vocabulary of English is so large.
Words in the textbook have to be also efficiently repeated and recycled across the materials. They would always remember the words if repeated and recycled in other materials. There would bring them an understanding learning activities in all of the materials of the textbook. Although the words are recycled, those are just in different forms from the basic forms
7) Grammar
The spread of grammar in an English textbook must be achievable for the students. The grammar materials are relevant to
their level, that is basic grammar, such as indefinite and definite articles, plurals, verb agreement, and so on. The materials would be easier to understand if contextualized in a form, like guidelines and tables. The forms are meant to them that grammar is not always hard to learn and considered a big problem in learning English. The examples of grammar have to be made interesting for they are spirit in understanding the examples in the materials.
The materials should be also introduced explicitly and reworked incidentally throughout the textbook. When Introducing the materials, it may focus on its used. For example, regular and irregular past simple tense forms are introduced through reading texts before the forms of the tense are explained to them, focusing on the used of the tense. They can also learn the materials through works or tasks for not only they can understand but also can practice.
8) Pronunciation
Pronunciation materials are also important to be included in an English textbook besides the four skills, grammar, and vocabulary. The materials have to be contextualized in various activities. Learning to pronounce English words usually can not be right once pronouncing. It must be repeated. Therefore, the learning activities should be made interesting so that the students can enjoy learning pronunciation. The materials must be also
learner-friendly without complex charts or diagrams. The complex charts work to show right or wrong stress and intonation which often confused the students and the teacher. A cassette is the best way of achieving stress, intonation, even rhythm. But, if being happy and not confused with the complex charts, they can use those.
9) Exercises
Exercises in a textbook must be learner-friendly which is relevant to the students‟ level. The exercises are not hard or complicated to do, have distinct instructions, and also not a lot for they are not tired to do those, moreover, if being done individually. The textbook should include adequate exercises in each chapter. It aims for they can practice materials that have been learned in the class. So, not only they receive and understand the learning materials but also they try to practice those. The exercises also have to help them who are under/over-achievers.
Those take into consideration different levels in every individual.
There is intended to give a chance to both achievers for doing the exercises.
Furthermore, the checklist has a rating scale from 0-4 (never true – always true) and also the choice of NA (Not Applicable) which must be checked if the sub-category is not applicable in the target teaching context.
The checklist is also provided with „Scores Interpretation Guide‟ that can
help the evaluator concludes the result of the evaluation whether the textbook is useful or not. However, this checklist is appropriate for retrospective evaluation or in-used evaluation only. It is an evaluation which is done after the textbook has been selected and while it is used.
Thus, it is appropriate to evaluate this textbook since this textbook has been used by some schools in Indonesia.
Figure 2.1
Classification of Textbook Evaluation Criteria Mukundan, Hajimohammadi, and Nimehchisalem (2011)
B. Previous Studies
Analysis of English Textbook is a famous topic that has been studied since years ago. Although it has been studied for many times in different objects, still it is interested to be done. Therefore, there are several studies that have been carried out in this field. Related to this study, the researcher prefers some references about previous studies which are close to analysis of English Textbook.
Textbook Evaluation Checklist I. General
Attributes 1. Relation to syllabus and
curriculum
2. Methodology
3. Suitable to Learners 4. Physical and utilitarian attributes
5. Suplementary Materials
II. Learning Teaching Content 1. General
Content
2. Listening
3. Speaking
4. Reading
5. Writing
6. Vocabulary
7. Grammar
8. Pronunciation
9. Exercise
First, a thesis from Nur Khumairoh (2014). Entitled “A Content Evaluation on When English Rings the Bell - an English Textbook for Seventh Graders of Junior High School”. The objectives of this research were to analyze how many percentages of this book meet the standards of a good book based on (1) national education content standards (2) methodology (3) language skills (4) topics (5) design and layout (6) and cultural aspects.
This research used qualitative research. The method used is a description of content analysis because this study discusses the contents of the book. This Research used a checklist as the main instrument from several experts such as Cunningsworth (1995), Harmer (2007) and Brown (2007). The result of this research is “When English Rings the Bell” qualifies as a good book because it gets a total score of 74.45%. First, this book got 66.67% in its achievement in its availability in the national content standards of education it is categorized as good. Both of these books get 55% in the methodological aspect so they are categorized as fair. These three books get 50% in the aspect of language skills so it is categorized as fair. These four books got 81.25% in the aspect of topics so they were categorized as excellent. These five books get 93.75% in terms of design and layout so they are categorized as excellent. Lastly, this book gets 100% in the cultural aspect so it is categorized as excellent.
Second, a Thesis by Nastiti Kurniasari Salsabilla, (2014) Entitled “An Evaluation of Tenth Grade Students‟ English Textbook Published by the Ministry of Education and Culture of The Republic of Indonesia”. The objectives of this research were to explore whether or not the English textbook
published by the Ministry of Education and Culture (focused on tenth grade students‟ textbook only) meets the criteria expected in the adapted version of Mukundan, Hajimohammadi, and Nimehchisalem‟s evaluation checklist and to know teachers‟ suggestions on how this textbook can be improved. It also gives information concerning the appropriateness, strengths, and weaknesses of the textbook. This research was retrospective evaluation study. It applied mixed method research design due to its ability to gain data quantitatively and qualitatively. Quantitative data were gathered through a checklist adapted from Mukundan, Hajimohammadi, and Nimehchisalem to answer the first research question which was to know whether or not the textbook meets the criteria expected in the checklist. Qualitative data were gathered by interviewing three tenth grade English teachers in three different schools to answer the second research question regarding their suggestions of improvement. The result of the research showed that the tenth grades students‟ English textbook published by the Ministry of Education and Culture 2016 has all criteria expected in the adapted version of Mukundan, Hajimohammadi, and Nimehchisalem‟s evaluation checklist. It was believed to be highly useful with the total average score of 2.95. All the criteria in the checklist got scores ranging from 2 – 4 (moderate usefulness – very high usefulness).
The next previous research by Nursakina Husedn, RR Hasti Robiasih, Imam Ghozali (2020) entitled “An analysis of Three English Textbooks for Eleventh Grade of Senior High School”. The objectives of this study were to:
(1) see whether the textbooks used for learning English meet the criteria of a good textbook and (2) reveal the strengths and weaknesses of the textbook.
This research was conducted using content analysis because the data were collected from textbooks. Observation data through and document analysis.
The data were analyzed through qualitative research. The object of this research is the English textbook used for class XI SMA students. The results of the study found that English to stop bullying currently fulfills the twelve criteria of a good textbook by Mukundan containing 1) Books related to syllabus and curriculum, 2) Methodology, 3) Suitability with students, 4) Physical and utilitarian attributes, and 5) Efficient spending of complementary materials, 6) General, 7) Speaking, 8) Reading, 9) Writing, 10) Vocabulary, 11) Grammar, and 12) Exercises. Furthermore, the study also found that the advantages of English in relation to current bullying are providing appropriate communicative activities with students, providing teachers' books, and samples of material that are familiar to students. Meanwhile, the weakness of this textbook is that it does not provide assignments to develop students' listening and pronunciation skills. Also, the text and images are not up-to-date.
Fourth, An analysis and evaluation of two English textbooks for second graders of junior high school written by Anita Nur Masyi'ah, Dyah Setyowati Ciptaningrum (2018). The objectives of this research were to (1) discovering the textbooks quality based on the criteria from some ELT experts and Pusat Perbukuan, and (2) identifying the strengths and weaknesses of students‟ textbooks entitled When English Rings a Bell and Bright for Grade
VIII. The data were collected using checklists distributed to two English teachers. The scores then were accumulated to find the average before the final score was rated using the category from Pusat Perbukuan and ELT experts. The results showed that When English Rings a Bell has fulfilled the criteria of a fair textbook (78.6%). The book has some strengths and weaknesses, such as providing materials covering the local culture, lacking some retention, and the like. Meanwhile, Bright is a good textbook (87.2%) with some strengths and weaknesses, such as providing materials containing target culture, lacking materials containing local culture. The results show that When English Rings a Bell is a fair textbook and Bright is a good textbook with their strengths and weaknesses.
Table 2.1The Similarities and the Differences Previous Study with This Research
No Title The Similarities The Differences
1. A Content Evaluation on When English Rings the Bell - an English Textbook for Seventh Graders of Junior High School
The similarities are analyzing of textbook evaluation, the research design and evaluation checklist as a main instrument.
The difference is the criteria of evaluation. The textbook was analyzed by using criteria of a good English textbook proposed by Cunningsworth, Harmer, and Brown. While in the researchers‟ study used Mukundan, et,al (2011) as a criteria evaluation. the book that as the object of this research is for VIIth grades while in the researchers‟ study for eighth grades.