An Evaluation of American English File Series

Abstract

Textbooks play a pivotal role in language learning classrooms. The problem is that among a wide range of textbooks in market which is appropriate for a specific<br /> classroom and a group of learners. In order to evaluate ELT textbooks theorists and writers have offered different kinds of evaluative frameworks based on a<br /> number of principles and criteria. This study evaluates a series of ELT textbook, namely, American English File by the use of Littlejohn's (1998) evaluative<br /> framework to see what explicit features of the book are, what pedagogic values it has, whether it is in line with its claimed objectives, and what its merits and<br /> demerits are. Littlejohn believes that we should evaluate a textbook based on its own pedagogic values and we should see what is in it not what teacher and<br /> evaluators think must exist in it. Consequently his framework is claimed to be devoid of any impressionistic ideas and it is in-depth and objective rather than<br /> being subjective. Nine ELT experts and ten ELT teachers helped the researcher rate the evaluative checklists. The results of the study show that although a<br /> number of shortcomings and drawbacks were found in American English File, it stood up reasonably well to a detailed and in-depth analysis and that its pedagogic<br /> values and positive attributes far out-weighed its shortcomings. The internal consistency between ratings was computed via the statistical tool of Cronbach's<br /> alpha that indicated a desirable inter-rater reliability.