Textbook Evaluation

Checklist Rating* Weight**

4 3 2 1 0 A B N

A: 1. Author qualifications: To what extent are the

Bibliographic authors professionally qualified to write a
Data foreign/second language textbook for your
particular educational system and student
population?
2. Availability of accompanying materials: To what
extent are accompanying materials (e.g.
workbooks, audio-visual records, a teacher’s
edition, a teacher’s guide, sample tests) available?
3. Completeness: To what extent can the course be
taught using the student’s book. Or must all the
attendant aids (e.g. cassettes, CDs) be used?
4. Quality of supplementary materials: If there are
workbooks and audio-visual records
a. To what extent is the material truly
supplementary (and not mere duplications
of the main text)?
b. To what extent are the records of
professional quality (i.e. use authentic native
or near-native speakers representing male
and female adult as well as children’s voices
and/or actors, use voices speaking at an
appropriate rate, with accurate intonation,
avoiding extremes of high and low pitch, are
reproduced with high fidelity?
5. Cost-effective: To what extent does the price of
the text (plus accompanying materials) seem
reasonable and cost-effective (i.e. in terms of
saving time, labor, and money)
B: Aims and Regarding Language skills and Cultural
Goals Understanding
1. Targeted students’ specifications: To what extent
do the specifications of the text’ targeted
audience (age range, culture, assumed
background, grade level and background
knowledge) match those of the students?
2. Matching to student needs: To what extent to the
aims and objectives of the text correspond to the
needs and goals of the students?
3. Matching to syllabus requirements: To what
extent do the aims and objectives of the text
correspond to those delineated in the syllabus (if
there is one)?
4. Compliance with overall educational concerns:
To what extent does the text seem to be in tune
 with the broader educational concerns of the
school system?
5. Feasibility: To what extent are the amount and
type of material to be covered realistic and
adaptable toward the pace and time allotted for
the course.
C: Subject 1. Sustainability and interest level: To what extent
Matter does the subject matter cover a variety of topics
suitable to the interests of the intended audience,
as determined by age (youth, teenager, young
adult, adult, middle age, old age), sex,
socioeconomic levels (upper, middle, lower),
environment (urban, rural, small town), and
cultural orientation?
2. Ordering: To what extent is the ordering of
materials by topics or themes arranged in a logical
fashion?
3. Variety of text types: To what extent does the
textbook contain an assortment of suitable text
type (e.g. dialog, essays, poetry, drama, folk
tales)?
4. Content grading: To what extent is the content
graded according to the needs, background
knowledge, and life-style of the students or the
requirements of the existing syllabus (if there is
one)?
5. Level of abstractness: To what extent is the level
of abstractness appropriate?
6. Register: To what extent does the text teach the
register appropriate for the needs of the students
(e.g. formal or literary style vs. conversational
style vs. technical style)?
7. Cultural sensitivity: To what extent are
ideological, political, and religious constraints
taken into consideration?
8. Content accuracy, authenticity, currency: To what
extent is the material accurate, authentic, and
current? How well are stereotypes, factual
inaccuracies, oversimplification, and omissions
avoided? How appropriate is the language used to
the setting, characters, and relationships
portrayed?
9. Cultural integration: To what extent is the cultural
content integrated in the texts, dialogs, and
exercises?
D: Grammar
Vocabulary 1. Number and sequence appropriacy: To what
and extent is the number of grammatical points
Structure appropriate and how appropriate is their
sequence?
2. Accuracy: To what extent are the linguistic data
 accurate?
3. Clarity and completeness: To what extent are the
presentations clear and complete enough for the
students to have available a concise review
outside the classroom (e.g. models)?
4. Meaningful context: To what extent are the
linguistic items introduced in meaningful
contexts?
Vocabulary
1. Load suitability: To what extent does the
vocabulary load (i.e. the number of new words
introduced every lesson) seem to be reasonable
for the students of that level?
2. Appropriate context: To what extent is
vocabulary introduced in appropriate contexts?
Vocabulary and Structure
1. Suitable readability level: To what extent does
the text’s level of readability match that of the
class?
2. Inclusiveness per text: To what extent does the
text include the basic patterns and vocabulary
necessary for using the language up to the level of
complexity/mastery the book achieves?
3. Inclusiveness per syllabus: To what extent does
the text include the basic patterns and vocabulary
necessary for using the language up to the level of
mastery required by the syllabus (if there is one)?
4. Suitable sequence of progression: To what extent
does the presentation of vocabulary and structure
move gradually from the simple to the more
complex, except where functional load would
indicate otherwise?
5. Adequate control of presentation: To what extent
are new structures controlled to be presented and
explained before they appear in drills, dialogs, or
reading material?
6. Balanced distribution: To what extent is there an
even distribution of grammatical and vocabulary
material among the chapters (i.e. do some
chapters present too much material and other too
little)?
7. Presentation, practice, and recycling suitability:
To what extent does the presentation, practice,
and recycling of new linguistic items seem to be
appropriate for the level of language mastery (in
L1 or L2) of the students)?
8. Recycling for reinforcement and integration: To
what extent are new vocabulary and structures
recycled in subsequent lessons for reinforcement,
and integrated in varying contexts and situations
in order to portray their range of applicability in
 English?
9. Standard language: To what extent is Standard
English (sentence structures that follow normal
word order—including idioms—sentences, and
paragraphs which follow one another in a logical
sequence) used?
10. Suitability of sentence length and syntactic
complexity: To what extent does the sentence
length and syntactic complexity seem reasonable
for the students of that level?
11. Cultural presentation: To what extent does the
text distinguish between British and American
English with regard to vocabulary and
grammatical structures?
12. Accessibility: To what extent does the text make
the structure and vocabulary presented easily
accessible to the learner (e.g., summaries of verb
forms via paradigms and conjugations, and
summaries of new words and phrases via a
foreign-language dictionary section or bilingual
list)?

E: Exercises 1. Satisfaction of syllabus objectives: To what extent

and do the activities meet the behavioral objectives
Activities delineated in the syllabus, curriculum?
2. Fulfillment of student objectives: To what extent
do the activities meet the behavioral objectives of
the students?
3. Effectiveness: To what extent are the activities
provided the best calculated to achieve the stated
objectives?
4. Sequencing toward communication: To what
extent does the text develop a progression from
manipulative to communicative exercises?
5. Meaningful communication: To what extent do
the exercises promote meaningful communication
by referring to realistic activities and situations?
6. Communicative development: To what extent do
the exercises involve vocabulary and structures
which build up the learner’s repertoire and
develop his/her ability to communicate
increasingly independent of text or teacher
direction?
7. Internalization via active participation: To what
extent do the exercises and activities promote
internalization of learned material by providing
exercises which encourage a student’s active
participation?
8. Promotion of critical thinking: To what extent do
the exercises and activities promote critical
thinking (i.e. interpretation, application, analysis,
 synthesis, and evaluation)?
9. Instructional clarity and appropriacy: To what
extent are the instructions to the exercises and
activities clear and appropriate?
10. Stereotypes-free content: To what extent are the
exercises and activities free of stereotypes?
11. Suitability and interest level: To what extent do
the exercises and activities match the age, level,
background, interests of the students?
12. Provision for review: To what extent does the
book provide a pattern of review within lessons
and cumulatively test new material?
13. Development of study skills: To what extent do
the activities provide for the development of
study skills, such as skimming, note taking,
outlining, looking words in the dictionary?
F: Layout and 1. Motivational attractiveness: To what extent is the
Physical text attractive and appealing to the intended
Makeup student population?
2. Suitability of durability, book and type
dimensions: To what extent is the size convenient
enough, and the type size appropriate for the
learners?
3. Organizational clarity and function: To what
extent is the material clearly organized (i.e., with
functional typefaces, a detailed table of contents
—which include location of structures and their
respective exercises—an index of new vocabulary
items and their location, appendices and other
end matters with maps, verb summaries, a
glossary, etc.?
4. Effectiveness in presentation: To what extent are
simple graphic devices (e.g. boxes, shading, color,
arrows) effectively used to clarify the presentation
of grammatical structures?
5. Relativity, linkage, and integration: To what
extent is the artwork directly related to the
subject matter and printed near enough to it to
assist the learner in understanding the printed
text?
6. Stereotype-free, accurate, authentic portrayal: To
what extent is the artwork unbiased (free of
stereotype), yet accurately and authentically
conveying the culture content?
7. Suitability of artwork: To what extent is the
artwork geared to the age level and interests of
the students?
8. Illustrative clarity and simplicity: To what extent
are the illustrations clear, simple, and free of
unnecessary details that may confuse the learner?
9. Motivational atmosphere: To what extent do the
 illustrations create a favorable atmosphere for
practice in reading and speaking by depicting
realism and action?
Rating * Weight**

4 = excellent A = Required

3 = good B = Preferred

2 = adequate N = Not applicable

1 = weak

0 = totally lacking