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textbook, Aggarwal adds that all prescribed textbooks used for educational purposes are to be complete with all the pertinent fundamentals needed such as the content page, charts, illustrations, tables, references, definitions etc. Textbooks should be graded for the appropriate grade it will be used for. This means that textbooks should suit the learners of a particular grade matching to its appropriate level of content.
These attributes are not necessarily the core of the subject matter however are considered to be psychological attributes that trigger the interest of learners and subsequently boost the learner’s eagerness to teaching and learning. Aggarwal (2001) continued to suggest guidelines which will again have significance and capability of textbook features that could be evaluated together with-it constraints. These can be the Selection of content, Organization of content, Presentation of content, Verbal communication (language) and Visual Communication (illustration). For each of these specific features to evaluate the textbooks, there are also constraints that goes hand in hand with these textbook features.
According to Aggarwal (2001, p141), when the selection of textbook content is undertaken, the content must be relevant, it should have adequate coverage of the content, adequate content of each topic, authentic content, up-to date content, integrated content and content linked with real life situations. Aggarwal (2001) further suggested that for the organisation of textbook content to be successful, content should be divided into suitable units, suitable sections and should have a psychological approach to the content. He added that the presentation of the textbook content must have an attractive and appropriate title, motivating presentation, creative and interesting content. For verbal communication (language), he felt that it is important that textbooks have appropriate vocabulary, short and simple sentences, correct spelling and correct punctuation is a must include. Finally, he indicated that for textbook visual illustrations, it should be suitable for the mental level of learners, easily portable and up to date, the illustrations should motivate learners, be relevant and purposeful, accurate, simple and cheap;
and large enough for sight. Aggarwal (2001) also mentioned that these inner features of the qualities of textbooks can somehow affect the attitude of the learner towards education.
Abadzi (2006) has proposed the following yardstick for evaluating the quality of textbooks:
user-friendliness of the instructional materials, appropriateness of level of language;
appropriateness of suggested teaching, learning and assessment methodologies and resources;
and clarity of illustrations and their ability to support text. Abadzi (2006) has suggested some
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of the basic attributes of good textbooks. Abadzi (2006) indicates that in order for a textbook to be labelled a good textbook; it should have solemn concentration on content, which also has rich and wide-ranging explanation and expansion of concepts. Moreover, when engaging with the textbook, it should have a wide-ranging of the use of pictures, diagrams, drawings, and figures that apprehends the core of important concepts. “The pictures should not just be cartoon drawings of figures with bubble instructions or arbitrary images of some event, but rather skilled pedagogic distillations of the essential patterns, relationships and logic of a specific content area” argues Abadzi (2006, p.91). Plentiful space aimed at drilling and expansion that allows for categorized ascending progress is also needed in textbooks. Through textbooks or workbook attachments, this can be achieved. A well-organised layout that focuses meaning of topics which are efficient and clear is what a good textbook ought to have furthermore, the textbook should be simple to read to all aimed for it. Most importantly, Abadzi (2006) places emphasis on the clear and explicit structural links, it is essential for all textbooks to have flawless content coverage and should for an increasing level of difficulty, expansion and concentration.
On the contrary, many researchers emphasise the limitations of textbooks. According to Mahmood (2009, p.181), “it is imperative that the textbook writers have an additional responsibility to ensure that the textbook reflects basic characteristics of quality textbooks” as the education system is faced with difficulty emanating from textbooks not accommodating a range of learner’s with different barriers to learning mainly. Moreover, the irrelevance of topics in mostly used textbooks have caused the downfall in learning in most learning institutions as this is the main reason for boredom and paucity of inspiration among learners. The teacher’s initiative and creativity can be hinder or disturbed by the textbook sequence and structure.
Looking at the teacher’s ability to see what is suitable to be taught when and with which learners, reshuffling of the textbook structure and sequence will be needed. Mahmood (2009) adds that several teachers in the public sector have limited or no access to the document that holds the national curriculum. Teachers are only guided by the textbooks provided to them by the writer and Department of Basic Education (Bano, 2005). The Department of Basic Education, teachers and textbook writers are to at least work hand-in-hand for the benefit of all education stakeholders. Besides, Richards (2001) states that most textbooks are written for global market and not for the purpose of a specific set of users which need it, some textbooks might not suit all learners’ needs. “The poor quality of textbooks is a major factor of students’
low achievement in external examinations”, Oakes and Saunders (2002, p.3). With the correct
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alignment of the textbook content according to Department of Basic Education guidelines, students can be enabled to perform well in external examinations with the help of the textbooks.
Good textbooks, however, know how to contribute to student learning. Abadzi (2006) argues that for textbooks to be the key resource in any teaching institutions and a quality from top to bottom of textbooks is unmarketable. Textbooks must be evaluated by specialists over a procedure that is outside fraud, well-structured and well satisfied. To stabilize fraud in textbook evaluation or assessment, there must be more than one textbook evaluation board. Senegal has two textbook evaluation boards for each textbook, in order to stabilize fraud issues (Abadzi 2006).
For the purposes of this study, the focus is on alignment of textbooks and the curriculum, presentation and learning. Alignment of textbooks and the curriculum includes content coverage and scope of content specified in the curriculum, level of treatment of content, expertise for content development, accuracy of content and currentness of content. Presentation includes comprehensiveness of student and teacher resources, organization of instructional materials, logical structure and organisation, readability of instructional materials in the textbook. Learning includes motivational strategies, explicit instruction, guidance and support, instructional assessment strategies, instructional strategies and assessment techniques used in the textbooks.
In my study, I continually drew from the combination of Aggarwal (2001), the South African Department of Basic Education framework for analysing textbooks and basic attributes of quality textbooks as postulated by Abadzi (2006), who speaks on yardsticks for evaluating the quality of textbooks. This was done with the aim of exploring the teacher’s perceptions of the quality of the Grade 12 CAPS prescribed Business Studies textbooks.