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The Contribution of Selecting and Evaluating Textbooks to Language Teaching and… 267
Considering these central concerns, the fact remains that teachers should not be
reliant exclusively on the textbook but rather be selective in matching it to the particular
needs of students and the defined purposes of the course.
The Underlying Principles for Materials Evaluation and Selection
Before embarking on the task of selecting and evaluating textbooks in practical
terms, teachers are required, in theory, to take several steps towards familiarising
themselves with a set of guidelines for materials evaluation and selection. It is difficult
to provide a conclusive checklist although different writers offer invaluable checklists
that can be integrated into the process of materials evaluation.
Grant (1987: 119) regards materials evaluation as an ongoing process. He suggests
the three stages of evaluation as follows:
1. initial evaluation;
2. detailed evaluation;
3. in-use evaluation.
The initial evaluation, as it implies, refers to the quick process in which teachers are
only engaged in the preface, contents, and abstract of a textbook. The purpose is to
decide whether the book available is likely to be worth looking at more closely. In order
to accomplish this aim, Grant proposes a practical test called ‘CATALYST’. Simply
speaking, the eight letters contained in the word ‘CATALYST’ represent the eight
criteria by which we can decide whether a textbook fits the purposes and the particular
needs of students. For this reason, the teacher should shortly ask the key questions
represented by the word ‘CATALYST’ to himself as follows:
• Communicative?
• Aims?
• Teachable?
• Available?
• Level?
• Your impression?
• Student interest?
• Tried and tested?
The next stage of Grant’s suggestion is called ‘detailed evaluation’ by which
teachers can make their own value judgements in choosing new materials. In doing so, a
questionnaire is of great assistance to teachers. Several points emphasised in such a
questionnaire would surely help teachers decide how far a coursebook meets the
following conditions (Grant, 1987: 121):
March 2005 Vol:13 No:1 Kastamonu Education Journal