Investigating Iraqi EFL Teachers’ and Students’ Attitudes Towards English Book of Grade 6 of Primary School: Task-Based Language Learning in focus

Subject Areas : Research in English Language Pedagogy

Sedigheh  Vahdat ¹ (Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, Ahvaz, Iran)
Zohreh  Gooniband Shooshtari ² (Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, Ahvaz, Iran)
Kadhim  Waheeb Kadhim ³ (Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, Ahvaz, Iran)

Received: 2022-01-31 Accepted : 2022-03-12 Published : 2022-12-01

Keywords: attitudes, Iraqi EFL teachers and students, English book of grade 6,

Abstract :

This study investigated the attitudes of teachers and students toward the Iraqi primary school sixth grade task-based English textbook. Two hundred students and two hundred English teachers were invited to provide their opinions through questionnaires and interviews. Specifically, the focus was on the suitability of English textbook tasks in terms of the target age group, culture, customs, traditions, class duration, classroom capacity, the availability of teaching aids, as well as the capability of teachers to interact and communicate the textbook material to students to achieve the desired learning outcome. Two instruments were used in this study. The first instrument was two questionnaires to investigate the teachers’ and students’ attitudes toward the English textbook of sixth-grade primary level based on TB, and the second instrument was a semi-structured interview to investigate teachers’ attitudes. The semi-structured interview was used to survey the participants’ attitudes, feelings and intractability with the task-based English text. The results of questionnaires pointed to the negative attitudes of the teachers and students toward the English textbook of grade 6. Moreover, both the teachers and students faced difficulty understanding and following the tasks in the textbook, leading to their confusion and waste of time. That is, the tasks were believed to be difficult to complete, perform or even redo out of the class. Finally, the textbook content appeared unsuitable for both teachers and students in terms of cultural norms and their application in local daily life situations. The study concluded with recommendations for the Iraqi Ministry of Education to modify the textbook content to match the group age-targeted 12 years old, their cultural standards, the classroom capacity, and teaching aids.

References:

Akef, H. D. (2015). Evaluating the English textbook " Iraq Opportunities" book 6 for the 2nd intermediate stage. Alustath Journal for Human and Social Sciences, 215(1), 105–132.

Al-Ja'bari, N. A. (2010). Presentation of English culture in Palestinian high school English textbook. Unpublished M.A thesis. Hebron University, Hebron, Palestine.‏

Alkhateeb, M. M. A. (2013). Evaluating Iraqi primary EFL curriculum and textbooks. JPAIR Multidisciplinary Research, 12 (1), 16-18.

AL-Obaidi, L. (2015). The cultural aspects in the English textbook “Iraq opportunities” for intermediate stages. Unpublished Master’s thesis. Middle East University.‏

Altamirano (2018). Task-based language teaching: Challenges for its implementation in state secondary schools in Argentina. Journal for the Warwick Elte zine, 2515-3676.

Bruder, M. N. (1978). Evaluation of foreign language textbooks: A simplified procedure. Adaptation in language teaching. Appendix, 2, 209-218.

Crawford. J. (2002). The role of material in language classroom: Finding the balance. In Richards. J. C & Renandya, W, A (eds.), Methodology in language teaching: An anthology of current practice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Cunningsworth, A. (1995). Choosing your coursebook. Oxford: Macmillan.

Cunningsworth, A., & Tomlinson, B. (1984). Evaluating and selecting EFL teaching materials. Heinemann Educational.

Ellis, R. (2003). Task-based language learning and teaching. Oxford University Press.

Gravetter, F. J., Wallnau, L. B., Forzano, Lori-Ann. B., & Witnauer, J. E. (2020). Essentials of statistics for the behavioral sciences. Cengage Learning.

Jafar, F. (2006). The foreign cultural aspects embedded in the English textbooks of the basic stage in Jordan. Jordan Journal of Educational Sciences, 2(3), 201-207.‏

King, H. M. (2017). Teacher Affective Attitudes Inventory: Development and Validation of a Teacher Self-Assessment Instrument (Doctoral dissertation, Antioch University).

Krebt, D. M. (2017). An Evaluation of the" English for Iraq" course for the fifth grade secondary schools. Al-Adab Journal, (120), 51-58.

Mahmoud, A. (2006). Analysing ''English for Palestine 5th Textbook'' in terms of the characteristics of a good English textbook". The Islamic University Journal. Vol 15/1/2006.

Milena, A. (2018). Task-based language teaching: Challenges for its implementation in state secondary schools in Argentina. The Warwick ELT Journal, 639(10).

Mohammed, F. (2016). First grade intermediate teachers' evaluation of the textbook entitled (English for Iraq). College of Basic Education, 22(95).

Nunan, D. (1987). Communicative language teaching: Making it work. ELT Journal, 41(2), 136-145.

Nunan, D. (2004). Task-based language teaching. Cambridge University Press,

Prabhu, N. (1987). Second language pedagogy (Vol. 20). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Richards, J. C. (1990). The teacher as self-observer. In J. C. Richards, The language teaching matrix. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Richards, J. C., & Rodgers, T. S. (2014). Approaches and methods in language teaching. Cambridge University Press.

Rodríguez-Bonces, M., & Rodríguez-Bonces, J. (2010). Task-based language learning: old approach, new style. A new lesson to learn. Profile Issues in Teachers Professional Development, 12(2), 165-178.

Skehan, P. (1998). Task-based instruction. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 18, 268-286.

Swan, M. (2005). Legislation by hypothesis: The case of task-based instruction. Applied linguistics, 26(3), 376-401.

Tomlinson, B. (2012). Materials development for language learning and teaching. Language Teaching, 45(2), 143.

Tomlinson, B. (1998). Materials development in language teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Willis, J. (1996). A framework for task-based learning (Vol. 60). Harlow: Longman.

Willis, J., & Willis, D. (1996). Challenge and change in language teaching (p. 235). Oxford: Heinemann.

Zhao, B. (2011). How to enhance culture teaching in English language classes. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 1(7), 847-850.