The Importance of Text Books for Teachers of English as a Foreign Language

- Dammar Singh Saud

(Dammar Singh Saud is a lecturer of Darchula Multiple Campus, Tribhuvan University in

English since 2009. He is an M.A. in English Literature and M.Ed. in English Language
Education from Tribhuvan University. His fields of interests, expertise and research are English
Language Teaching, Literature, Academic Writing, Reading Writing and Critical Thinking and
Communication English. He has written a number of articles on English Language Teaching and
Literature.)

Abstract
This paper investigates the importance of text books for teachers of English as a Foreign
Language. In order to do this, it evaluates the relevance of adopting a textbook as one recourse
among other teaching materials or, alternatively, as the very backbone of the teaching practices
in the classroom. A crucial concern of this study is to examine whether teachers’ beliefs and the
influence of published materials guide the language teaching process. Data were collected
through written questionnaires of seven participant teachers. The analysis revealed that text
books represent the main language teaching material in the classroom and that the demands of
the teachers in relation to these materials are very similar.

Keywords: text books, teaching materials, EFL

Introduction
Much like water and air, today English language is being one of the very basic needs of the
world's people. It has global spread and is used globally. However, the way of using this
language differs according to the country to country. Different countries of the world use this
language for different purposes like the countries (Shrestha, 2015, p.1):

 Britain, the USA, Australia, etc. use English as the primary language for the purpose of
communication, teaching and learning and official purpose as well.
 In some others like India, Nigeria, Singapore, etc. use English as an official or widely-
used second language.
 Finally, some other countries use English as a foreign language like Nepal, Japan,
Poland, etc.

Foreign language learning is generally differentiated from second language acquisition in the
sense that the former refers to the learning of non-native language in the environment of learner's
native language and the latter generally refers to the process of learning of non-native of
language in the environment in which that language is spoken. Nepali speakers learning English
in Nepali context can be typical instances of foreign language learning. And obviously, Nepali
speakers learning English in the UK or in the USA is an instance of second language acquisition
(Shrama, 2010, p.15).

The term 'text book' is used to mean a course book which the teacher and the students use, and
which is to be followed systematically as the basis for language course. According to Harmer
(2008), course book is 'the main book used by teacher and students for a term, semester or year.
Often used as the basis for the syllabus' (as cited in Saud, 2011, 321).Different metaphors have
been used to offer useful insight into the way teachers perceive the course book. According to
McGrath, number of metaphors are suggested by teachers from very different contexts: As, a
course book is a recipe, a holy book, a crutch, a spring hood, a compass, a straitjacket, a survival
kit, a supermarket etc. (as cited in Pun, Upaddhaya&Gyawaly).

Teaching materials are the things that the teacher has to use with the students to his plan to make
his teaching effective. The materials might be text books, flash cards, cutouts, pictures, cassettes,
maps, flannel board, models, charts, etc.Among them, text book is very useful material prepared
for the purpose of teaching-learning process which gives information about particular subject and
is used in formal education at a particular class or level. It is meant for helping students learn the
target language for using it in their real life situation. It is equally important to both teachers and
students. It tells the teachers what to teach in what order, and it helps the students to know what
to learn at a given level.

Text book can be defined as a principal course of study material which is systematically selected
and arranged and is intended to a particular level or class; and it is completely based on the
syllabus. The teacher using the textbooks need to decide whether they are suitable for their
students. Unless the book is appropriate, the teacher need to decide what to do next to make it
appropriate. In this situation, according to Harmer (2008), the teacher has four alternatives:
Omit, add, adapt and replace (as cited in Subedi, 2010, p.279).

Course book provides different kinds of texts, activities and language items to be taught and
learned at a particular level. Teacher and the students can go through the course book to achieve
the objectives of the syllabus and make teaching- learning process successful. Ur (2005) presents
the following arguments in favor of using a course book (as cited in Saud, 2011, p.325):

i. Framework: A course book provides a clear framework: teacher and learners where they
are going and what is coming next, so that there is a sense of structure and progress.
ii. Syllabus: In many places the course book serves as a syllabus: if it is followed
systematically, a carefully planned and balanced selection of language content will be
covered.
iii. Ready-made texts and tasks: The course book provides texts and learning tasks which
are likely to be of an appropriate level for most of the class. This of course saves time for
the teacher who would otherwise have to prepare his or her own.
iv. Economy: A text book is the cheapest way of providing learning material for each
learner; alternatives, such as kits sets of photocopied papers or computer software, are
likely to be more expensive relative to the amount of material provided.
 v. Convenience: A book is a convenient package. It is bound, so that its components stick
together and stay in order; it is light and small enough to carry around easily; it is of a
shape that is easily packed and stacked; it does not depend for its use on hardware or a
supply of electricity.
vi. Guidance: For teachers who are inexperienced or occasionally unsure of their knowledge
of the language, the course book can provide useful guidance and support.
vii. Autonomy: The learner can use the course book to learn new material, review and
monitor progress with some degree of autonomy. A learner without a course book is
more teacher-dependent.

Text book is the main book used by teacher and students in schools and colleges as the basis for
the syllabus to make the teaching and learning process purposeful, effective and successful. The
perfect text book may not exist, but good book may be available. So a good text book should
have the following characteristics (Saud, 2011, pp.333-334):

 A good textbook should the needs, interests and abilities of the students.
 It should match the aims and objectives of the language learning program.
 It should contain different kinds of reading texts (such as poems, stories, advertisements,
etc.).
 It should contain different activities and exercises for listening, speaking, reading,
writing, grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation.
 It should have well selected and graded language items.
 It should contain good illustrations and pictures to make the subject matter clear.
 It should introduce appropriate vocabulary, structures and language functions.
 It should have contents at the beginning and a glossary at the end.
 It should provide sensible progression of language items, clearing showing what has to be
learnt and in some cases summarizing what has been studied so that students can revise
the previous learning.
 It should have appropriate language, content, activities and sequencing.
 It should have attractive topics and treatment of different language skills.
 It should be equipped with supplementary materials such as songs and rhymes, games
and puzzles, workbook, audio-visual materials, teacher's guide etc.
 It should have appropriate physical or peripheral features, such as reasonable price,
proper margin and spacing, good layout, durable binding, good printing appropriate font
size etc.
 It should follow a syllabus.
 It should be available everywhere.

It is realized that course books always have been an important, if not the most important,
teaching material for most EL teachers. Thus, this study is an attempt to detect whether this view
holds any truth or not. The present study is an attempt to examine how important teaching
materials, more precisely course books, actually are for teachers, by conducting interviews with
teachers.
Research Methodology
In order to examine the importance of text books for teachers and students of a second language,
a qualitative method was used in this study. It was qualitative because it was based on non-
numerical data, that is to say, linguistic units in written forms that were answers to a brief
questionnaire with three open questions (Appendix 1).

The participants in the research were seven teachers from different private schools and
governmental schools as well, chosen at random (because they happened to be available to
answer the questionnaire), who teach English youngsters in Darchula. One important criterion
for them to participate was the condition of adopting a text book as the main teaching material.
In order to protect the teachers’ identities, they are referred to by numbers and the names of the
educational institutions where they work are also omitted. Also, the teachers were given numbers
according to the alphabetic order of their first names.

The questionnaire consisted of three discursive questions to enable teachers to write freely.
Differently from multiple choice questions, the participants did not have a limited number of
options to choose from. This way, teachers were not led to express any particular opinion
because the questions were meant to be as impartial as possible.

In question number one: “What’s the importance of a text book for you as a teacher?” the teacher
could express the degree of importance from “none” to “very important”. Teachers were
expected to explain why a text book is important for them or why it is not important at all,
without being influenced by any element in the question. The secondary question “in what
aspects does it help you?” was introduced in the question because since they use text books,
although in some cases they might use it because it is assumed that the text book may behelpful
for them in some way. The teachers use text books although they might use them out of
obligation.

Question number two: “What features / benefits do you consider when choosing a text book?”
allowed any answer to appear. The choice “features / benefits” implies that every feature might
entail certain benefit. If not, what is the reason for that feature to appear in the book? Here again,
the question allowed open answers. Another factor was that the teachers were from different
places of work. With these two factors in mind, that is, the open answers and the various work
locations, any pattern that emerged would probably be a reliable sign of common perceptions.

In question number three: “What’s the importance of a text book for your students?” as in
question number 1, teachers could express any degree of importance within a scale from “none”
to “very important”. This question was supposed to consider the view of the teachers based on
their own experience and on their beliefs as teachers. It should be mentioned here that in order to
thoroughly investigate the importance of text books for students, a mirror image of the present
research is required to hear views and opinions of these same students.

The answers were analyzed by means of a semantic grouping of lexical items. Through the
semantic analysis of the main words chosen by teachers to express their opinions, the repeated
vocabulary was arranged in groups. These main words or key-elements include nouns (guide),
adjectives (useful),verbs (facilitates), noun-phrases (lots of pictures) and small chunks of
language (a way of studying for tests and exams).

Results and Discussion

Through the analysis of the written answers from the seven teachers of English who responded to
the questionnaires, it was possible to draw a very indicative and representative picture of the way
teachers interact with text books. This section presents a summary of the answers, with authentic
sentences, including mistakes, and they are all transcribed in Appendix 2.

The importance of a text book for a teacher

Concerning question number one, about the importance of text books for them as teachers, all the
participants, in a very analogous way, regarded them as an important resource.

Two different teachers (T2 and T4) used the noun phrase very important to evaluate the
relevance of a text book for them. The use of the noun guideline (T1), and the verb guides (T2),
along with the expressions gives me a line of work (T3), outlines the course (T5) and suggests
the order of the subject (T7), may indicate the use of the text book as a means to help them to
keep on track and keep focused on the course plan throughout the term.

The next series of statements mentioned by the teachers: almost impossible to prepare or select a
good material for each class and (…) already prepared (T4); facilitates a teacher’s work (T5);
makes the teacher’s work easier (T5) and no teacher (…) has time to prepare so much material
(T6) are very meaningful to this piece of work. All the sentences above along with the key-word
useful (T7) might signal the crucial need for a teaching resource that saves time for teachers who
would otherwise spend extra and non-paid time to prepare their own materials. Added to this
were other participants’ choice of words with the verb provide, for example, mentioned by T6
and T7, and also the adjective useful cited by T7.

Two references to the importance of a credible publishing house as institutions that validate and
make a coursebook a reliable material, were made by T6 ( extensive research behind it) which
might indicate the co-responsibility they expect from the writers and editors in such a time-
consuming job. These statements might signify that besides the convenience of having readily
available material, teachers also expect these resources to be produced by experts.

The features and benefits teachers consider when choosing a coursebook

Regarding this item of the questionnaire “What features / benefits do you consider when
choosing a coursebook?” a wide range of attributes was mentioned. Noticeably, the most
recurrent features cited were the visual appeal of the books, appropriate contents and supply of
extra activities and exercises.

References to the visual presentation occurred among four different participants. Although the
main characteristic of coursebooks is to present different kinds of written texts and statements,
the visual components seem to be very alluring. The analysis of the data about this feature
showed that T2 considers whether the coursebook has lots of pictures. T3 evaluates the lay-out
and whether it is attractive visually. T6 mentions visually attractive and T7 highlights visual
devices and not to be overcoloured.

These answers carry the idea that paralinguistic components like headings, pictures, illustrations
and diagrams are devices that may facilitate the process of absorbing information when they
accompany written texts. Based on the teachers’ criteria, visual elements seem to be of great
importance when evaluating a coursebook because meanings circulate visually in addition to
orally and textually.

According to the Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary (2000, p.266), the noun contents can be
defined as “the different sections that are contained in a book”. From the answers collected, it
was noticed that, when considering a coursebook for adoption, teachers do a general reading of
the book. When they have a prepared course plan to cover, they check whether the book
addresses such subjects. Therefore, teachers expect the textbook to provide the syllabus they
need. The participants in this study expressed their concern in relation to the contents of a
coursebook through words and expressions like: plan of the book and approach (T1), skills are
clearly shown (T2) and syllabus which help students “think” (T3). T2 takes into account the
contents and the plan of the book, besides the approach which is another really important point.
T3 values a syllabus which helps students “think” and which does not give closed answers.
Analyzing further, T2 considers when the skills are clearly shown. This means that the teacher
expects the students to clearly notice the kind of skill they are practicing: reading, listening,
writing or speaking. Also, T5 gives a compliment about exercises to practice all 4 skills, who
mentions cover all skills, which might show a preference for a skills-based approach.

Two teachers make reference to methodology: T6 expects a coursebook to be committed to my

methodological beliefs and have relevant issues of identity and culture. Through these sentences
T6 seems to be concerned about a good teaching performance through a methodology.
Additionally, he considers cross-cultural issues as part of the curriculum: relevant issues of
identity and culture.

T5 and T6 expect to find local cultural references to serve as background for teaching the foreign
language. T5 refers to units contextualized with student’s reality and T6 mentions appropriate to
students’ realities.

A commonplace among teachers is that a coursebook is expected to be a helpful and useful

instrument of work providing prepared materials. This consensus among teachers did not
surprise us. In fact, it just confirmed the impressions the teachers collected during the time they
worked with other teachers, who in general were always seeking extra exercises, readymade
materials, plenty of alternative activities and fresh tests. There are several statements that support
this idea. T1, for example, says that having appendix parts is important in a book. Expressing the
same view, T4 values extra materials and handoutsphotocopiable, while T5 cites extra-
curriculum activities as a feature to be considered when choosing a coursebook. This demand for
resourceful coursebooks is typical of teachers who do not have time to design their own material.
The importance teachers think coursebooks have for their students
In relation to question three “What’s the importance of a coursebook for your students?” from
the analysis of the data collected, there is a consensus among the teachers that coursebooks serve
as reference for students when they need to check the contents they have learned. T1 said that my
students use the coursebook as a guideline and T4 mentions: a guide at home. It seems that
according to the teachers a book functions as practical resource for study and as a real support
for students when they are studying by themselves at home. In accordance with this idea T1
mentioned that the coursebook is important for students making notes that are relevant for them.
T2 considers the book a resource to study while T4 thinks it gets easier to review the main
subjects studied in class. T5 refers to a way of studying for tests and exams and to organize
themselves [students] when studying is concerned. T6 considers that a coursebook is important
because students know what they are supposed to learn and to study. All these opinions reveal
that teachers consider a coursebook an important source for students to develop techniques and
strategies for management of study. Also, according to T7, a book is meant to help raise
students’ awareness about knowledge: start learning before the lesson and helps them when
preparing themselves for next classes.

Likewise key-sentences such as: students know what they are supposed to learn and to study
(T7) and a reference to study for tests […] at home (T6) might indicate the importance teachers
give to the students’ needs when choosing a coursebook. Teachers expect their students to find in
the coursebook a source of references to topics assigned to study. It should provide explanation,
exercises and review for the learners.

Conclusion
The paper has examined coursebooks as being the commonest kind of ELT material adopted, and
their widespread use makes them objects of great interest among professionals and scholars
within the pedagogic field.

This paper focused on some of the variables that influence teachers and educators when
evaluating a certain textbook. In the results of the research carried out with EL teachers, the
expected view that books are considered important resources for teachers proved to be true
among this particular group of participants.

This finding is significant, considering that many times coursebooks are the subject of negative
criticism in the educational environment. However, they still appear to be the main guidance for
lesson planning and the main source of teaching ideas, at least for these seven participant
teachers.
In this study the findings were consisting with the factthat teachers expect a coursebook to have
texts, written and oral activities and cultural references to the target and the source language.
Above all, it appears that a coursebook should be a resource of ready materials that helps
teachers in the time-consuming task of preparing lessons.

However, as coursebooks are unlikely to fulfill all the particular demands of different teachers
and learners, the wisest attitude for teachers of EL might be to use coursebooks as one resource
among many others to promote language learning.
In this sense such materials would be just a means to an end. Thus, the teacher would be free to
change tasks and exercises; rephrase instructions; adapt the assignments in terms of their lengths
of time, purpose and how they should be performed; deconstruct and reinterpret the texts along
with the students.

Finally, based on the knowledge concerning what teachers mostly expect from coursebooks, it is
agreed that textbooks should not be static, or rejected. Instead, such useful materials – because
they can be really useful – should be alterable to suit the learners’ and teachers’ needs and
choices.

References
Hornby, A.S. (2000).Oxford advanced learner’s dictionary.Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Pun, P.K., Upaddhaya, B.D. &Gyawaly, N.P. (2012). A handbook of advanced english language
teaching methodology. Kathmandu: GyankunjaPrakashan.
Saud, M.S. (2011). English language teaching methods. Kathmandu: M.K. Publishers &
Distributors.
Sharma, B. (2010). Readings in second language acquisition. Kathmandu: Sunlight Publication.
Shrestha, R. (2015). Resource material for secondary english teachers. Kathmandu: Sunlight
Publication.
Subedi H.L. (2010). A textbook on english language methods. Kathmandu: Pradhan Book House.

APPENDIX 1 – Questionnaire for teachers about the importance of coursebooks for

teachers and students of a foreign language.

Name:
Educational Institution:
Teaching grade / level:

1) What’s the importance of a coursebook for you as a teacher (in what aspects does it help you)?

2) What features / benefits do you consider when choosing a coursebook?

3) What’s the importance of a coursebook for your students?

APPENDIX 2 – Summary of the answers to the questionnaire about the importance of

course books for teachers and students of a foreign language.

Teacher Question 1 Question 2 Question 3

1
-helps me to have a - contents; -my students use the
From Secondary guideline of the course. - plan of the book; coursebook as a
Level Private - publisher; guideline;
School - the approach is another -making notes that
 really important point; are relevant for
- appendix parts; them.
-Somehelp for students to
have a self-study.

2
From Secondary - very important; -have lots of pictures; - good;
Level - it guides -the skills are clearly -resource to study;
GovernmentalSchoo shown. -very important
l
3
From Basic Level -helps me … gives me a - lay-out; -one more tool in their
PrivateSchool line of work; -attractive visually; development;
-not intended to be the -syllabus which help
only source for the students “think”;
students. -does not give closed
answers.

4
-very important; -extra materials; -a guide at home;
From Secondary -almost impossible to -handouts - gets easier to review the
Level Private School prepare or select a good photocopiable. main subject studied in
material for each class; class
-audio-visual already
prepared, exercises,
extra exercises

5
-outlines the course; -exercises to practice -way of studying for tests
From Basic Level -facilitates a teacher’s all 4 skills; and exams;
Private School work and lesson -updated; -homework;
planning; -have interesting -organize themselves
-in terms of exercise and material; when studying is
reading makes the -units contextualized concerned;
teacher’s work easier; with student’s reality;
-other resources should be -extra-curriculum
used; activities;
-should practice all 4
skills.

6
-providing teachers with -committed to my -sense of achievement;
From Higher material within the reach methodological - students know what they
Education and of their hands; beliefs; are supposed to learn and
English Course -no teacher … has time to -appropriate to to study;
prepare so much students’ realities; -the “spine” of their [the
material for so many -relevant issues of teachers’] teaching is in it.
different lessons; identity and culture; -a reference to study for
-extensive research -comprehensive; tests at home.
behind it; -covering most part of
 -interesting (and the syllabus of the
sometimes realistic) course;
material. -friendly;
-clear in its objectives
and tasks;
-visually attractive;

motivate students;
7
-useful; -visual devices; -facilitates the mnemonic
Trainer in English -provide exercises and -not to be process;
course other learning devices; overcoloured; -discuss what they see in
-suggests the order of -exercises and the book; why the
the subjects; dialogues; language is the way it is;
-helps students to -carefully elaborated. -start learning before the
remember the last lesson;
lesson; -preparing themselves for
-students can practice next classes.
more the past lessons and
take a look on the next
ones.