ABSTRACT
The use of published language-teaching materials is widespread at present, since textbooks provide language teachers with guidelines concerning syllabus, materials to be taught and teaching methodologies. They are often considered essential components of language courses and in many schools are compulsory for teachers and learners. Teachers for a range of reasons may rely on a textbook in their daily teaching practice. The choice of textbook is significant for both teachers and learners; therefore, this choice demands careful investigation. In this chapter, I examine from two perspectives—the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) and functional linguistics—the content of a recently published textbook that is currently used for teaching English to Year 5 students at a government school in Italy. The criteria for the evaluation of the selected textbook are based on the two perspectives in order to provide a systematic approach for the review of policies, programs and resources for teaching languages. The analysis of the content of the textbook suggests a need for a review and transformation of the curriculum. The textbook adhered to the tradition of grammatical teaching through dismantled structures and words extracted from context, restricting students’ capacity to communicate and ignoring students’ prior knowledge and experiences as meaning-makers. It is recommended that students should work with a textbook containing naturally occurring texts for knowledge and relationship building in social communication. Learning a language is learning to mean: applying connected or coherent language in texts aligned with context and with words and grammar studied in the context of texts.
