A Critical Look at Textbook Evaluation: A Case Study of Evaluating an ESP Course-Book: English for International Tourism

ABSTRACT: Teachers, students, and textbooks are considered as the three major elements in the process of education. Against the common belief that students are the key in this direction, many scholars hold the view that textbooks are the heart of education with regard to the fact that both teachers and students are to a large extent dependent on the books. Based on this view, textbooks control teacher, students as well as the dynamics of the classroom. Therefore, great care has to be taken in selecting the most appropriate textbooks capable of meeting such factors as teachers’ interests and expectations, students’ needs, and finally the course objective as well. This is not a goal achieved overnight; rather it requires careful scrutiny and analysis. One solution to this problem is opting for evaluation checklists which have been designed mostly by material developers based on which they can analyze available textbooks in order for the selection and development of the most perfect ones. In this respect, the current study has been developed in order to analyze an available specialized textbook for the students of Tourism on the basis of the evaluation checklist constructed by Daoud and Celce-Murcia (1979). The results of the current study have important implications both for language teachers and material developers which will be discussed here.