Problematizing Locally-Produced Instructional Materials: The Case of Vocabulary in Iranian Pre-University English Textbook
محورهای موضوعی : Research Paper
Mahmood Dorahaki
1
(English Teacher in Bushehr)
Abdolmahdi Riazi
2
(Macquarie University, Australia)
کلید واژه: vocabulary load, high frequency words, text-book evaluation, vocabulary knowledge,
چکیده مقاله :
This paper reports a study which investigated if there was a match between students’ English vocabulary size and the vocabulary load of a locally produced textbook. The analysis of the passages of the pre-university English textbook currently in use in Iran’s education system using RANGE program indicated that in order to comprehend the texts, students need to know not only words from 2000 high frequency word list, but also words from academic and low frequency lists. On the other hand, results of the 2000 vocabulary level test administered to 464 Iranian pre-university students, male and female, showed that students did not possess sufficient vocabulary knowledge in order to comprehend the texts and that their vocabulary knowledge was limited far below 2000 words. Other analyses of the textbook, including exercises and word glosses provided more evidence for the inadequacy of the textbook. The paper concludes that the pre-university textbook is flawed in terms of the required principles and standards in materials development which results in students’ frustration and disappointment in learning English. The findings of the study are discussed, which should be of much interest to local and international ELT stakeholders, especially textbook writers.
Aliakbari, M. (2004). The place of culture in Iranian ELT textbooks. Paper presented at the 9th Pan-Pacific Association of Applied Linguistics Conference. August 19-20, 2004. Namseoul University, Korea.
Anderson , R. C. , & Freebody , P . ( 1981 ). Vocabulary knowledge . In J. T. Guthrie (Ed.) Comprehension and teaching: Research reviews (pp. 77 –117). Newark, DE: International Reading Association.
Chujo, K. (2004). Measuring vocabulary levels of English textbooks and tests using a BNC lemmatised high frequency word list. Language and Computers, 51, 231-249. Retrieved October 2009 from: http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~chujo/eng/data/rodopi.pdf
Coady, J., Magoto, J., Hubbard, P., Graney, J., & Mokhtari, K. (1993). High frequency vocabulary and reading proficiency in ESL readers. In T. Huckin, M. Hynes, & J. Coady (Eds.), Second language reading and vocabulary acquisition (pp. 217-228). Norwood, NJ: Ablex.
Cobb, T. (1997). Is there any measurable learning from hands-on concordancing? System, 3), 301-315.
Coxhead, A. (2000). A new academic word list. TESOL Quarterly, 34 (2), 213-238.
Chung, T. (2003). A corpus-comparison approach for term extraction. Terminology, 9(2), 221-246.
Dahmardeh, M. (2009). Communicative textbooks: English language textbooks in
Iranian secondary school. Linguistik online, 40, April 2009. Retrieved September from: http://www.linguistik-online.de/40_09/dahmardeh.html
Darali, Gh. (2007). Pragmatic dimension in Spectrum textbooks. Unpublished master’s thesis, Shiraz University, Iran.English for pre-university students (2006). Tehran: Iran. Ministry of education.
Goulden, R., Nation, P., & Read, J. (1990). How large can a receptive vocabulary be? Applied Linguistics,341-363.
Griffiths, C. (1995). Evaluating materials for teaching English to adult speakers of other languages. Forum, (3), 50.
Hazenberg , S. , & Hulstijn , J. H . ( 1996 ). Defi ning a minimal second language vocabulary for non-native university students: An empirical investigation . Applied Linguistics, 17, 145 –163.
Hee- Ko, M. (2005). Glosses, comprehension, and strategy use. Reading in a Foreign Language, 17(2), 125-143.
Hirsh, D., & Nation, P. (1992). What vocabulary size is needed to read unsimplified texts for pleasure? Reading in a Foreign Language, 8(2), 689-696.
Horst, M., Cobb T., & Meara, P. (1998). Beyond a clockwork orange: Acquiring second language vocabulary through reading. Reading in a Foreign Language, 11(2), 207-223.
Hu, M., & Nation, I. S. P. (2000). Vocabulary density and reading comprehension. Reading in a Foreign Language, (1), 403-430.
Jahangard, A. (2007). The evaluation of the ELT materials taught at Iranian public high schools. http://www3.telus.net/linguisticsissues/tefliranian.html
Kyongho, H., & Nation, I. S. P. (1989). Reducing the vocabulary load and encouraging vocabulary learning through reading newspapers. Reading in a Foreign Language, (1), 323-335.
Laufer, B. (1989). What percentage of text-lexis is essential for comprehension? In C. Lauren and M. Nordman (Eds.) Special language: From humans to thinking machines (pp. 316-323). Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
Laufer, B. (1991). How much lexis is necessary for reading comprehension? In P. J.L. Arnaud & H. Bejoint (Eds.) Vocabulary and applied linguistics (pp. 126-132). Basingstoke: Macmillan
Laufer , B . ( 1992 ). How much lexis is necessary for reading comprehension? In P. J. L. Arnaud & H. Béjoint (Eds.), Vocabulary and applied linguistics (pp. 126 –132). London: Macmillan .
Laufer, B. (1997). The lexical plight in second language reading. In J. Coady & T. Huckin (Eds), Second language vocabulary acquisition (pp.20-34). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Laufer, B. (2000). Task effect on instructed vocabulary learning: The hypothesis of ‘involvement’. Selected Papers from AILA ’99 Tokyo (pp. 47-62). Tokyo: Waseda University Press.
Laufer, B., & Nation, P. (1995). Lexical richness in L2 written production: Can it be measured? Applied Linguistics, 16(3), 307-322.
Laufer, B., & Paribakht, T. S. (1998). The relationship between passive and active vocabularies: effects of language learning context. Language Learning, 48(3), 365-391.
Maeda, J. (1998). An examination of the vocabulary load in three reading textbooks. The Journal of Tokyo International University, 19, 119-129.
Nassaji, H. (2004). The relationship between depth of vocabulary knowledge and L2 learners’ lexical inferencing strategy use and success. Canadian Modern Language Review, 61(1), 107-134.
Nation, P. (1990). Teaching and learning vocabulary. New York: Newbury House.
Nation, P. (2001). Learning vocabulary in another language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Nation, P. (2006). How large a vocabulary is needed for reading and listening? The Canadian Modern Language Review, 63 (1), 59-82.
Nation, P., & Heatley, A. (2002). RANGE: A Program for the analysis of vocabulary in texts [software]. http://www.victoria.ac.nz/lals/staff/paul-nation/nation.aspx
Nation, P., & Newton, J. (1997). Teaching vocabulary. In J. Coady & T. Huckin (Eds), Second language vocabulary acquisition (pp.238-254). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Nation, P., & Wang, K. (1999). Graded readers and vocabulary. Reading in a Foreign Language, 12(2), 355-380.
Ostovar Namaghi, S.A. (2006). Forces steering Iranian language teachers’ work: A grounded theory. Reading Matrix, 6(2), 90-105.
Otlowski, M. (2003). Ethnic diversity and gender bias in EFL textbooks. Asian EFL Journal, 5(4), 1-15. Retrieve: http://www.asian-efl-journal.com/june_03_mo.pdf
Qian , D. D. ( 1999 ). Assessing the roles of depth and breadth of vocabulary knowledge in reading comprehension . Canadian Modern Language Review, 56, 282 –307.
Qian , D. D. ( 2002 ). Investigating the relationship between vocabulary knowledge and academic reading performance: An assessment perspective . Language Learning, 52, 513 –536.
Read , J . ( 1993 ). The development of a new measure of L2 vocabulary knowledge . Language Testing, 10, 355 –371.
Read, J. (2000). Assessing vocabulary. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Riazi, A.M., & Aryashokouh, A. (2007). Lexis in English textbooks in Iran: Analysis of exercises and proposals for consciousness-raising activities. Pacific Association of Applied Linguists, 11, 17-34.
Schmitt, N. (2008). Review article: Instructed second language vocabulary learning. Language Teaching Research, 12(3), 319-345.
Schmitt, N. (2000). Vocabulary in language teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Schmitt, N., Schmitt, D., & Clapham, C. (2001). Developing and exploring the behaviour of two versions of the Vocabulary Levels Test. Language Testing, 18(1), 55-88.
Schmitt, N., & Meara, P. (1997). Researching vocabulary through a word knowledge framework: Word associations and verbal suffixes. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 19, 17-36.
Senior, R. (2009) “Korean Students Silenced by Exams”, in The Guardian Weekly,
Thursday January 15, 2009. www.guardianweekly.co.uk/?page=editorial&id=896&catID=5
Shahedi, S. (2002). Constructing an analysis framework for the analysis of Persian language texts for foreign learners with special reference to certain available tools and texts. Unpublished master’s thesis, Shiraz University, Iran.
Sokmen, A. J. (1997). Current trends in teaching second language vocabulary. In N. Schmitt & M. McCarthy (Eds), Vocabulary: Description, acquisition, and pedagogy (pp. 237-257). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Stæhr, L.S. ( 2009). Vocabulary knowledge and advanced listening comprehension in English as a foreign language. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 31, 577-607.
Takakubo, F. (2003). Analysis of vocabulary in English textbooks for student nurses. The Language Teacher, 27.11. http://www.jalt-publications.org/tlt/articles/2003/11/takakubo
Toolabi, J. (2002). Characterization of Language Functions in the Iranian High School English Textbooks. Unpublished master’s thesis. Shiraz University, Iran.
Vellenga, H. (2004). Learning pragmatics from ESL & EFL textbooks: How likely? TESL-EJ, 8(2), 1-18. from: http://www-writing.berkeley.edu/TESL-EJ/ej30/a3.html
Webb, S. (2007). The effects of repetition on vocabulary knowledge. Applied Linguistics, 28 (1), 46-65.
Wesche , M. , & Paribakht , T. S . ( 1996 ). Assessing second language vocabulary knowledge: Depth versus breadth . Canadian Modern Language Review , 53 , 13 –40.
West, M. (1953). A general service list of English words. London: Longman.
Yarmohammadi, L. (2000). Tahlil va naqdi Kolli bar Ketabha-ye darsi-ye Zaban-e Engelisi-ye qabl az daneshgah (A general analysis and review of English textbooks used before entering university). Name-ye Farhangestan- e Olum, 18, 67-80.
