ADDIS ABABA UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES AND LITERATURE

Teachers attitudes to and practices of adapting and Supplementing a textbook (Peacekeeping English Project: Addis Ababa and Debrezeit Centres in focus).

By ADDISU YILHAL

Addis Ababa May, 2012

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ADDIS ABABA UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES DEPATRMENT OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES AND LITERATURE

Teachers attitudes and practices on adapting and Supplementing a textbook (PEP: Addis Ababa and Debrezeit Centres in focus). By ADDISU YILHAL

Approved by the Examining Board _______________________ Advisor ________________________ Examiner ________________________ Examiner ____________ signature _____________ signature ______________ signature _______ Date ________ Date ________ Date

ABSTRACT This study investigates the attitudes and practices that teachers have regarding adapting and supplementing a textbook. The practice of adapting and supplementing a textbook highly rests on teachers attitudes towards it. This research is designed in a descriptive manner to best probe the existing teachers attitudes to and practices of adapting and supplementing a textbook. Both qualitative and quantitative methods were used to collect and analyze the data. And random sampling technique was employed to select centres and subjects for this particular study. However, there are some challenges that teachers might face while adapting and supplementing but, they are not insurmountable. It is true that textbooks are vitally important and at the focal point for the commencement of language learning. It is pretty good to point out the fact that textbooks give the structure and route map of the entire lesson. But they are not the only ones. This paper explores how EFL teachers adapt the activities and contents in the textbook or supplement their textbooks by designing meaningful, enjoyable, relevant and effective learning materials of their own. There are some guidelines that teachers need to follow when they try to produce their own materials to win trust from users. Hence, this study come up with findings regarding teachers attitudes towards textbooks, their experiences on adapting and supplementing a textbook to maximize language learning and to entertain variety and the challenges teachers face while executing these activities. Teachers attitudes to and practices of adapting and supplementing a textbook is negative. Teachers heavily rely on the textbook and they are textbook enthusiasts. Moreover, they lack the practice of adapting and supplementing a textbook as they described it useless and time taking.

Acknowledgements
In the course of this research, some people directly or indirectly involved and I am grateful to all. First of all, I would like to thank my advisor Amanuel Gebru (asst. Prof.), for his precious and constructive comments and continual encouragement. His contribution for the completion of this research was immense. I am grateful to all my friends who supported me morally and financially to carry out this research with maximum enthusiasm and effort. Last but not least, my heartfelt gratitude goes to my family for giving me endless support and encouragement during my two-year stay in the university.

Table of Contents Pages 1. Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 1 1.1. Background of the study ................................................................................................... 1 1.2. Statement of the problem .................................................................................................. 4 1.3. Objectives of the study ...................................................................................................... 7 1.4. Research questions ............................................................................................................ 8 1.5. Significance of the study ................................................................................................... 8 1.6. Scope of the study ............................................................................................................. 8 1.7. Limitations of the study .................................................................................................... 9 1.8. Operational definitions ...................................................................................................... 9 2.Literature Review ...................................................................................................................... 10 2.1. General overview of textbooks ...................................................................................... 10 2.2. What aspects of materials should we examine? ............................................................... 12 2.3. Connecting the course books to the students lives ........................................................... 12 2.3.1.Humanizing and personalizing the course book ...................................................... 13 2.3.2.Localizing the course book ...................................................................................... 14 2.4. Course books and teacher training ................................................................................... 15 2.4.1 Textbooks: help or hindrance ................................................................................. .16 2.5. Teachers attitudes towards textbooks ............................................................................. 17 2.6. Common phobias of teachers ........................................................................................... 18 2.7. The concept of adaptation ................................................................................................ 19 2.7.1 Reasons for adapting and supplementing textbooks ............................................... 21 2.8. Evaluating, adapting and supplementing a textbook........................................................ 23 2.8.1 Evaluating textbooks ................................................................................................... 23 2.8.1.1 Pedagogical factors to evaluate ............................................................................ 23 2.8.2 Adapting textbooks ...................................................................................................... 24 2.8.3 When to supplement .................................................................................................... 26 2.9. Arguments about using a textbook................................................................................... 26 2.10 Who is in charge? ............................................................................................................ 29 2.11. What are supplementary materials? ............................................................................... 30 2.12. Authentic materials and authenticity .............................................................................. 30
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2.12.1 Important factors in choosing authentic materials .................................................... 31 2.13 Teacher-made worksheets and task cards ....................................................................... 32 2.13.1 Guidelines for teacher-made materials ....................................................................... 32 2.13.2 Why do teachers design their own material ............................................................... 32 3.Research Design and Methodology............................................................................................ 35 3.1. Research design................................................................................................................ 35 3.2. Subjects of the study ........................................................................................................ 35 3.3. Sample size....................................................................................................................... 35 3.4. Sampling method ............................................................................................................. 36 3.5. Data collection instruments .............................................................................................. 36 3.51 Questionnaire ........................................................................................................... 36 3.5.2 Interview ................................................................................................................. 36 3.5.3 Observation ............................................................................................................. 37 3.6. Sources of data ................................................................................................................. 37 3.7. Methods of data analysis .................................................................................................. 37 4.Data Analysis, Presentation and Interpretation .......................................................................... 38 4.1 subjects background ......................................................................................................... 38 4.2 Data from the questionnaire .............................................................................................. 37 4.3 Interview Results ............................................................................................................... 53 4.4 Observation report ............................................................................................................. 55 5.Conclusions and Recommendations........................................................................................... 57 5.1. Conclusions ..................................................................................................................... 57 5.2. Recommendations ............................................................................................................ 59

List of Tables
Table-1. Metaphors that teachers use to describe the textbook..................................................... 39 Table-2. Who knows the students needs ...................................................................................... 40 Table-3. Teachers attitudes towards adapting and supplementing ............................................. 41 Table-4. The extent to which the textbook meets students levels................................................ 44 Table-5. Teachers experiences on evaluating a textbook ............................................................ 46 Table-6. The contents and skills in the textbook ........................................................................... 47 Table-7. Teachers practices on adapting and supplementing the textbook.................................. 50 Table-8. Teachers Challenges while adapting or supplementing ................................................ 52

CHAPTER ONE 1. Introduction 1.1Background of the study

Textbooks play a pivotal role in language classrooms in all types of educational institutionsschools and colleges. As most, if not all, scholars agree with, textbooks are at the heart of any educational setting. According to Spratt(2005:114) Course books are organized according to a syllabus, and they are often carefully graded and presented in a helpful sequence for learning, so that learners knowledge builds up step by step through the book. This emphasizes that textbooks are produced based on the syllabus and they are very good assets because they contain meticulously graded and structured language input. Materials play a key role in language teaching. According to Sheldon (1988:27)Textbooks are at the centre of educational enterprise, as they offer students a rich array of new and potentially interesting facts, and open the door to the world of fantastic experience. This, in clear terms, states that materials (textbooks) in the teaching situations play a great role as they give a route map and stability for both teachers and students. But they are not adequate by themselves and they need to be supplemented with materials of real life English as the students use real life English in the real world for day to day communication. Harmer,J (2008:32) states, when teachers open a page in their course book, they have to decide whether or not they should use the lesson on that page. Is the language at the right level? Is the topic/content suitable to the students? Is the sequencing of the lesson logical? This quote reflects that teachers need to ask several questions before the commencement of the actual class with the textbook and this happens when they leaf through the first page of the textbook. This is what teachers need to do as part of their job in the teaching learning scenario. It is true that text books play a very important role in many language class rooms, but they are not the only materials to help language learning as scholars pointed out. As Penny Ur (1992:136) states, The term course book is used here to mean a text book of which the teacher and, usually, each student has a copy, and which is in principle to be followed systematically as the basis for a language course. This tells us that both teachers and students have got a copy of the textbook so that they feel secured because they have carefully structured textbooks to help their learning and teaching. In some places course books are taken for granted. In others, they may not be used to the full. Spratt (2005:115) stresses, The teacher works according to a syllabus, or
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according to his or her own programme, using text books and supplementary materials as the need arises. This shows that there are two alternatives that teachers need to use in the course of their teaching. First, they can exploit textbooks to the maximum. Second, they can also complement their textbooks accordingly. Thus, teachers can use materials that best suit their students needs, interests and levels flexibly. Penny Ur (1992:136) stresses, There is a situation where a course book is used selectively, not necessarily in sequence, and is extensively supplemented by other materials. This explains the fact that teachers can use activities in the textbook selectively but not in sequence. They can skip or modify some activities. In addition to this, teachers can supplement the course book whenever necessary. It is vitally important to use a course book that is produced by experts consisting of contents in a language syllabus. However, text books might have some defects, and teachers are there to evaluate their students interest in relation to the activities and contents in the textbook. Teachers need to develop confidence in evaluating tasks and activities in the text book in relation to their students age, language competence, culture, and level of difficulty of the tasks. Cunnings worth (1995:25) suggests, While the decision to use and evaluate a particular text book is sometimes left up to the individual teachers they bring other materials to supplement the course book. This states that evaluating the textbook and making appropriate decision is left up to teachers who use textbook in the classroom. But there is a huge question here. How confident are teachers to evaluate, adapt and supplement the textbook? What do language teachers do when they find some topics or activities really unfit to their students level, culture, background, or age level? Here comes a challenge: they can skip it, or they go on teaching? This study will answer these questions. Most course books contain a number of activities in the four skills. This makes it difficult to judge how adequately each particular skill is dealt with, the balance between them, whether the skills activities are strategy-building, and, finally, how they are integrated. It can also be relevant to see how far different course books make use of varied and authentic listening texts (Allwright: 198, p.23). While teachers develop the idea of creativity, they may not entirely be dependent on the course books and they may supplement the course book with other tasks from other materials. Authentic materials can provide resources for EFL teachers and offer them the opportunity to expose learners to materials produced for real life and for out- of- class room context. If teachers use authentic and other materials sensibly, they provide learners with secure bridges into the real world of English.
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Sheldon (1988:28) stresses, No textbook or set of materials is likely to be perfect This reflects the fact that textbooks are not perfect teaching materials. It also emphasizes that no single material would be enough for effective language leaning. There are two different thoughts regarding textbooks. Larsen-Freeman (1983:45) states, Using course books has its own share of benefits and advantages such as having a well-organized content with a consistency in the topics and genres for the four skills. This quotation explains that teachers are at an advantage when they use a course book as it is well organized content. Teachers who adopt a course book may find it easier to teach since most of the preparations and activities are already done by the writer(s). Using course books would be a great help for inexperienced teachers as it gives them a direction where to go and what to do. However, nothing in the world is perfect and teachers need to somehow solve the issues and problems that may come with course books. On the other hand, Allwright (1990:78) suggests that text books are too inflexible, and generally reflect the pedagogic, psychological, and linguistic preferences and biases of their authors. More recent authors have criticized text books for their inherent social and cultural biases. Researchers such as Smith (1996) have demonstrated that many EFL text books still contain rampant examples of gender and cultural biases, sexism, and stereotyping. Some proponents of authentic classroom language models (Graves, 2000:12) have argued that the problems with many text books are not necessarily the fact that they are culturally or socially biased but that they are actually too contrived and artificial in their presentation of the target language. If teachers need to go beyond the course book, what materials are available? Of course, there are a lot of supplementary materials around them. Spratt (2005:115) states, Supplementary materials are books and other materials we can use in addition to the course book. This explains that supplementary materials are other published materials that are available around us. Teachers are supposed to exploit these materials to the maximum for a better teaching/learning. There are several reasons why we want to use supplementary materials and activities. Spratt (2005:114) configured it this way: To replace unsuitable material in the textbook To fill gaps in the course book. To provide suitable material for learners particular needs and interests. To give learners extra language or skills practice.
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To add variety to our teaching.

These are some of the situations that teachers need to use supplementary materials in the classroom. It is true that supplementary materials are pretty good for variety and they can easily catch the attention of students. Spratt (2005:115) stresses, Supplementary materials and activities can provide variety in lessons and useful extra practice, but it is important to make sure that they fit into the learners programme, are suitable for the class and match the aims for particular lessons. This quote reflects the fact that supplementary materials are vitally important in enhancing language learning but they should fit into the educational programme and suitable to the needs, levels, and interests of the students. Otherwise they may cause some failures in the entire educational aim. In order for teachers to be effective, they need to have some level of creativity. Supplementary materials like authentic materials need teachers to be creative because they should a judicious blend between the textbook and other materials. Prodromou (1992:22) again asserts,a creative teacher is the one who is able to use new and unusual approaches, methods and materials to reach the aims and motivate learners. As this scholar points out, creativity, in the sense of adaptability, is a key element to achieve the desired goal in the teaching-learning scenario. Moreover, adaptable teachers may use strange approaches to make their teaching effective. In general, this study embraces teachers attitudes and practices on adapting and supplementing a text book in language learning, how aware and confident are teachers to adapt and supplement the text book with authentic materials, what challenges they confront when adapting and supplementing it, when and how to supplement. It also assesses to what extent teachers devote time to select and grade supplementary materials to the level and interest of their students. And what guide lines teachers use when selecting, grading, and producing their own materials for classroom purpose.

1.2Statement of the problem

Ever since the beginning of modern education in Ethiopia, English language has been included in the syllabus, as far as the researchers knowledge and experience is concerned. Textbooks have been produced by experts for all grade levels so that teachers were/are expected to stick to them.

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According to Fuller (1994:134) Textbooks are produced by experts in the Ministry of education to adhere to curriculum guidelines, but in reality, it may not fulfill the objectives they set themselves. This states that though textbooks are produced by experts using curriculum guidelines and approved by Ministry of Education, learning objectives may not be met to the full. This indicates that sometimes textbooks may fail to meet the objectives set by experts and learners varied needs may cause this to happen.This is implies that producing a textbook may not be a guarantee to achieve the objectives. As Graves (2000:13) states, The contents in the textbook may go out of date and the sequence is lockstep This implies that the textbooks may incorporate contents that are outdated and sequence is rigid. In such cases, teachers should exercise their professional judgment. If such things are there, what do teachers do? Adapt, supplement or what? This study answered it the conclusion part. Again Fuller (1994:135) reflects,the needs of learners go beyond the need for achievement and approval, which are central in the minds of most textbook writers. This articulates the fact that

though textbook writers try to set achievable objectives in the teaching learning scenarios, students needs may go beyond the textbook objectives (i.e. achievement and approval) and textbook writers imaginations. If this really happens, teachers need to bring other materials to quench the needs of their students and to fill the gaps in the textbook or adapt the activities in the textbook in a way that best fits the students needs. Most students are not able to acquire the target language at the required level and so are the students in the target population. Semere, K (1996) states,teachers traditional methods, rigid textbooks, and lack of exposure to practice it outside the classroom are some of the factors that affect students slow performance in English language in the real world. This quote reflects the idea that students sluggish performance in the target language is caused by various factors of which one is the textbook. Although a textbook plays a pivotal role in language learning, it doesnt always play the same role. A textbook sometimes would affect learning in a way that sequences are lockstep and contents may not be up to date. Semere (1996) didnt see teachers practices and attitudes on adapting and supplementing a textbook to help their students learn language better. As a result, the researcher of this study wanted to see the attitudes and practices of teachers on using other materials than the textbook to add variety into their lessons and to maximize language learning at large. Sheldon (1988:29) states, No textbook or set of materials is
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likely to be perfect textbook This states that textbooks are not perfect components in the teaching learning scenario. If this is the case, can teachers say that they are successful by heavily relying on the textbook? Students in the target population of this study are soldiers who are supposed to communicate in English with peacekeepers from different parts of the world during their peacekeeping mission in any war-torn country in Africa. Therefore, the importance of English language is paramount for interoperability. Textbooks are imperfect components in the teaching learning scenario. Conversely, adapting and supplementing a textbook has tremendous share of benefits for effective language learning to take place. Do teachers in the target population really do this to help their students? Or they simply stick to one material (i.e. the textbook) all the time? To make a textbook fit to the students needs and levels, teachers may adapt it in any way or supplement it with other authentic materials. But do teachers do this in the target population? Adaptation and supplementation are important activities that teachers are expected to do in the course of their teaching. As McDonough (1992:113) states, The good teacher is constantly adapting and supplementing a textbook. This scholar explains that effective and good teachers spend much of their time adapting a textbook, and supplementing it with other materials because these activities do have tremendous benefits. Adapting is a very good practice to be effective in teaching. If adapting or supplementing enhances language learning, why teachers stick to the textbook all the time? As Andy (2002:10) points out, when teachers use variety of materials (i.e. authentic) for the classroom purpose, learning a language would be enhanced a great deal. This quote stresses on the importance of other materials than the textbook to enhance maximum language learning. There are varieties of ways that teachers need to go beyond the textbook. As scholars pointed out, teachers use supplementary materials for various reasons. As Spratt (2005:114) stated supplementary materials can be used to add variety in to their lesson to replace unsuitable material in the textbook

Before 2003, translators were travelling with peacekeepers to help them communicate with people from other English-speaking countries. But these days, since 2003 an attempt has been made to make all peacekeepers self-reliant for their own communication in English to accomplish their
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missions. As a result, PEP (peacekeeping English Project was set up by the Ethiopian ministry of national defence in close collaboration with the British Council Ethiopia to help these peacekeepers improve their language for communication. In spite of this, the UN feedback about Ethiopian peacekeepers language competency showed that Ethiopian peacekeepers language competency is regarded low. Since then the researcher has kept asking why? And this again instigated him to conduct a research on teachers attitudes and practices on adapting and supplementing a textbook, because this practice is able to add variety into the lessons and language learning can be enhanced a great deal. The researcher strongly believes that the practice of adapting and supplementing a textbook is vitally important to maximize language learning in any situation. He tried to adapt and supplement the course book in the course of his teaching, and was able to see some enthusiasms on his students faces. If students feel happy, how wrong is it to do this action as part of the actual teaching? The researcher keeps adapting and supplementing the textbook since then but he is unsure if other teachers are really conscious about it. The researchers experience is a big witness for this pressing problem.

1.3Objectives of the study 1.3.1General Objective:

The general objective of this study is: a) To find out teachers attitudes and practices on adapting and supplementing a course book in language teaching.

1.3.2 Specific Objectives:

The specific objectives of this study are: a) To find out teachers attitudes towards the textbook. b) To investigate teachers practices on supplementing the textbook. c) To probe teachers practices on adapting a textbook.

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1.4 Research Questions

a) What is teachers attitude towards textbooks? b) What attitudes do teachers have on adapting and supplementing a textbook? c) What do teachers do if a topic in the textbook is culturally inappropriate or an activity is redundant? d) Do teachers bring authentic materials into the classroom to complement their teaching? e) What challenges do teachers face while adapting and supplementing a textbook?

1.5Significance of the study

The researcher hopes that the findings of this study will benefit various stakeholders like, teachers, students, other potential researchers, schools and institutions and the community at large. First of all, students can maximize their learning with a wide range of topics and variety of materials so that most of their needs may be met. Secondly, teachers can get some insights about how to adapt and supplement a course book-especially when their students get bored of the activities in the course book. Third, other potential researchers can grab some ideas from this research finding for further study. As the researcher believes, since this topic is new, students can have some insights on how to maximize their learning, where as teachers can take a big lesson out of the findings of this research finding to be adaptable and productive. Last but not least, potential researchers can use the findings of this study for further research.

1.6 Scope of the study

Since the main aim of this study is to probe teachers consciousness on teaching beyond a course book in enhancing language learning, it revolves around teachers in two centres of peacekeeping English project in Ethiopian defence. This project aims to help Ethiopian peacekeepers to acquire basic level of communication in English during their stay abroad in peacekeeping missions. This study will be very much limited to teachers who teach there. The researcher guesses that students benefit a lot out of supplementation in a number of ways as most of these activities need the teachers effort and consciousness; however, students are not incorporated in the study.

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1.7 Limitations of the study

The researcher guesses that the study may be hampered by the following factors. First, time would affect the researcher as he spends shorter time with some subjects in Debrezeit, but in addiscentre time would not be a constraint as the researcher works with the subjects. Second, since there are five centres across the country, findings may not be perfectly representative. Last but not least, the sky-rocketing cost of stationary materials may possibly affect the research to some extent. In spite of all these potential problems, the researcher plans to show his maximum commitment to come up with genuine findings.

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CHAPTER TWO 2. Literature Review 2.1General Overview of Textbooks

Language instruction has five important components students, teachers, materials, teaching methods and evaluation. Allwright(1990:79) argues, Materials should teach students and they are sources for ideas and activities for instruction/learning, and they should give teachers rationales for what they do. This quote states that textbooks provide ideas for both teachers and students. For teachers, textbooks play a great role in giving them the direction where to go and what to do. Allwright (1990:79) states, Much of the language teaching throughout the world today couldnt take place without extensive use of published materials. This quotation clearly articulates the importance of materials (textbooks) in order for language teaching to happen. It also emphasizes the fact that any published material is an asset to enhance language learning across the globe. Tomlinson (1998:92) stresses, The textbook is not something we read from cover to cover like we do with a holy book. This reflects on the point that flexibility is the most important thing in using the textbook. Teachers shouldnt teach the textbook from cover to cover as an obligation. This emphasizes on the fact that teachers use textbooks flexibly and selectively. Followers of a holy book cant deviate from the principles and commandments but teachers can sometimes deviate from the sequence in their textbooks as there is no hard and fast rule to use the textbook all the time. Hutchinson and Torres (1994:112) stress, Textbooks are a convenient way of providing structure and direction to a learning program. This explains the idea that textbooks provide a guide and a route map for both teachers and students what to do, where to go and how to do it. It is true that in many cases teachers and students heavily rely on textbooks, methods, and procedures of learning. Students learn what is presented in the textbook, and the way the textbook presents is the way the students learn it. Penny Ur (1992:) stresses, the educational philosophy of the textbook will influence the class and the learning processes. This reflects that in many learning situations, materials (textbooks) are at the centre of instruction and one of the most important influences on what goes on in the classroom. Materials can influence language learning either in the positive or negative way.

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Sheldon (1988:28) states, No textbook or set of materials is likely to be perfect and even though it is clear that course book assessment is a subjective and a rule-of-thumb activity, and that no neat formula or grid. This scholar tells us that though course books are important elements in the language classroom, they are not a perfect element in language learning environment. It also states that textbooks are imperfect and assessment is very personal and a rule-of thumb activity. According to Grant (1987:19) Millions of textbooks are produced across the globe to assist the language learning process worldwide. This explains that language learning is heavily assisted by textbooks which are produced by various publishers across the globe. In Ethiopia, textbooks are produced and distributed by the ministry of Education. But there are commercially available language books so that teachers can create a judicious blend between textbooks and other materials for effective language teaching. As Richards, J (1998:67) states, A diversity of commercial textbooks is available to support practically every kind of language program, from general international courses to country specific textbooks. This shows that language program is assisted by various kinds of text books (i.e. commercial textbooks) without which language learning cant be as effective as its supposed to be. Thus materials play a great role in order for language learning to take place. Today there are fewer global course books and an increasing demand for country- specific textbooks as most countries produce their own textbooks. The case in our country is a good example to strengthen this idea. The design and production values of textbooks have also changed significantly. Contemporary textbooks are visually appealing, with full-color art and sophisticated magazine-like design, printed on high quality paper and supported by an assortment of supplementary resources, such as workbooks, cassettes, CDs, and videos (Richards, 1998). Todays textbooks are much more culturally sensitive than their predecessors. This may not be true in every circumstance as there is a difference in textbook writers professional experience and their understanding of culture may not be profound. As a result, there is no perfect textbook in the world. Other scholars also reflect their own view about textbooks. Such global course books aim to cater to the needs and wants of all learners at a specified level, but frequently they end up catering to the needs and wants of nobody (Tomlinson, B: 1998). This reflects the idea that global textbooks do not provide the needs and interests of students. But the researcher cant stand with this point due to the fact that global textbooks are vitally important to complement the country-specific textbooks but it would be ridiculous to say that they never cater the needs of language learners.
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2.2 What aspects of materials should we examine?

There are several aspects of materials that teachers should examine in the textbook. For instance, content, tasks and activities, methods and approaches as well. These are all central facets that teachers need to work on for the betterment of their teaching. Richards (1998:67) states,the content of language textbook is a useful activity in courses on curriculum design, methodology, and materials development. A wide variety of content issues can be examined, including cultural content, linguistic content, and pedagogical content of textbooks. These things should be done meticulously by teachers while textbooks are being used. This, of course, needs teachers to be committed, proficient, and have cultural knowledge. More importantly, teachers should work with contents as they are crucial aspects of the textbook. If teachers find the textbook unfit to respect the culture of the community it is being used, teachers can make some adjustments and can produce their own materials for classroom use/adapt it.It seems true that textbooks need some modification accordingly. And teachers certainly need help in making intelligent use of the textbook in the actual classroom with their students. Students should also be aware of the fact that textbooks serve as a springboard for further explanation into another source of language learning and textbooks are not the only sources.

2.3 Connecting the Course Book to Students Lives

It is generally true that textbooks should meet the needs and interests of students and it should also be connected to students lives. As scholars pointed out, there are three ways that teachers can connect the textbooks to students lives. These include, humanizing, personalizing and localizing. Without making connections between the course book and their own lives, language learners will fail to make full use of the learning opportunities offered by the book. Ideally, course books help learners make these connections, but if they do not, then teachers will need to do it for them. This is not as difficult as teachers may think, provided that they treat the learners with respect as intelligent human beings and add to the course book opportunities for the learners to think and to feel for themselves. For a course book to help a learner to acquire a language, it needs to be perceived as relevant to the learners needs and wants and to provide new learning experiences that connect with the learners previous experiences (Larsen-Freeman: 1983,p.46). Ideally, the course book should be
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designed to facilitate localization and personalization by teachers and learners, but unfortunately this is rarely the case, and it is left to the teacher to adapt and supplement the course book in ways that connect with their learners previous experiences. In order to achieve this, the teacher needs to develop ability in humanizing, localizing, and personalizing the course book.

2.3.1 Humanizing and personalizing the Course Book

This clearly articulates the importance of treating learners as intelligent human beings in lieu of considering them as subsidiary figures. It is very logical to guess that global textbooks do not perfectly cater the needs and interests of students and there will also be very little excitement to stimulate the emotions of learners. Many global course books present a sanitized world which is bland and dull and in which there is very little excitement to stimulate the emotions of the learner" (Tomlinson, 1998:93). In addition, many of the activities that learners are asked to do in global course books involve little motivation to students and they promote meaningless practice, and very few stimulate the learners to think and feel as human beings. Dullness would be one of the headaches of most course books across the globe. To deal with this problem adaptation and supplementation are quite crucial activities. Tomlinson (1998:92) states, If the teacher follows the course book as a script rather than using it as a resource (as many teachers do), then the learner is often reduced from an intelligent, individual human being to a mindless language learner This shows that when teachers use the textbook as script, students are considered as people without views, attitudes, and emotions and whose brain is dedicated to low-level linguistic decoding and encoding. The most dramatic way to humanize the course book is to replace it altogether with an activity that is more likely to engage the learners both affectively and cognitively (Tomlinson 2003:93). This happens when the learners threw away their course books and replace them with comics, magazines, and books of their own choice. But the researcher doesnt agree with this idea due to the fact that the textbook should not be replaced by another materials altogether. It is not a good idea as textbooks are produced to help both learners and teachers what to do and where to go. It is possible to adapt the activities or supplement it with other materials. A less dramatic way of humanizing the course book is to reduce the number of lessons dominated by it and to replace it by some authentic materials with extensive real reading, drama, storytelling,
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video viewing, and projects that involve the learners in using English to do things they want to do outside the classroom. Unfortunately, most teachers do not have the freedom to replace the course book and are expected to make use of it in every lesson. What they need to do is to reduce the non-humanistic elements of the course book and to expand and add to those sections that invite the learners to think, feel, and do in order to learn (Tomlinson: 2003). The learners were exposed to language in meaningful use, experience a lot of recycling of language without being aware of it, had many learning opportunities, and, above all, were involved as human beings rather than just as language learners. Students should also be encouraged to feel that their idea and experience is very important for language learning. They should also be aware that textbooks and teachers are not the only sources of language learning. Possibly the most effective thing teachers can do is to spend the first five or ten minutes of each lesson exposing learners to language in meaningful use by reading a poem, telling a story, recounting an anecdote, telling a joke, setting riddles, reading a clipping from a newspaper, or acting a scene from a play. This is of crucial importance in stimulating students and in arousing their interest. How far teachers in our context do this? This is the question left hanging. McDonough (1992:114) explains, We take personalizing here to refer to increasing the relevance content in relation to learners interests and needs. This states the concept of personalizing is all about making contents in the textbook to meet the needs and interests of students by adapting activities or supplementing it with more authentic materials so that personalizing will happen afterwards. If teachers try to personalize the activities in the textbook, students may feel that they are the integral parts of the lesson. This perfectly happens through personalizing and humanizing. Unless learners are personally engaged in the learning process, they cannot achieve success. Only individual learners can really personalize the course book by relating it to what is already in their minds (Maley: 2003, p.23).

2.3.2 Localizing the Course Book

A global course book can make sure that it locates its units in as many different locations around the world as possible, but unfortunately it cannot do what some local course books do and start
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each unit in settings familiar to the learners (Tomlinson, 2003:102). For example, focus on such global issues as tourist pollution, drugs, water supply, peace and war, and money versus morals, but they do so by focusing on the learners own country first. This gives idea an about the issue under discussion, otherwise it may fail. McDonough (1992:115) states, Localizing takes in to account the international geography of English language teaching. The above quote reflects the fact that a textbooks that work in some areas may not possibly work in another area for obvious reasons. For instance, the contexts in which its used, the culture of the students, the names of places and people etc. these are all important facts that are to be considered. Thus in cases of such kind, its up to the teacher to exercise his professional judgment to make it suitable to the context that s/he teaches. Although course books cannot do this, teachers can do it for their learners. They can think of ways in which a readiness activity can stimulate locally focused mental activity that could make relevant a text set in a distant country (Tomlinson: 2003, p.113).

2.4 Course books and teacher training

Grant (1987:20) states, New teachers always feel an obligation to complete all tasks in the textbook. This explains the point that novice teachers use the maximum of their potential to cover everything in the textbook and they feel that this is an obligation. For these groups of teachers, success rests on completing all tasks in the textbook. But as for the researcher, success should not be perceived as covering everything in the textbook. This kind of teachers perception can be altered through continuous professional development training sessions. According to Richards, J(1998:68) In order for textbooks to be able to serve as sources for creating teaching, teacher education programs need to provide participants with skills in evaluating, supplementing and adapting textbooks and other commercial materials. This quote still reflects the roles that teacher training centres play to produce competent teachers who can go beyond a textbook when it lacks variety and suffers from redundancy and these institutes prepare teachers for appropriate ways of using textbooks. Hence, teacher training institutes are supposed to consider the fact that the nature of textbooks and their role in teaching through the processes of analyzing what textbooks set out to do how they do it, developing criteria for evaluating textbooks, giving experience in adapting textbooks, and monitoring the use of materials in
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teaching. These are quite crucial tips that teachers need to get trained during their stay in the teacher training institutes. As the above scholar points out, such training sessions play a pivotal role on teachers professional development and effectiveness in their teaching. Richards,(1998:68) states, If teachers are required to modify their course book, they would need additional training in the preparation of other materials. This scholar explains that some professional development training sessions would help teachers tremendously to take an appropriate action on the textbook either to modify or supplement. Grant (1987:21) states, teaching without a textbook is a superb experience This explains the point that if teachers teach in situations where textbooks are absent, they can prepare their own materials in the time which their students get bored with the textbook.

2.4.1Textbooks: Help or Hindrance in teaching?

The most commonly found element in second language and foreign language classrooms around the world are teachers, learners, and textbooks. As Richards (1998:67) stresses, while the roles of teachers, teaching, and learners have been the focus of a vast body of discussion and research over the years, much less attention has been given to textbooks. This shows that no attention was given to textbooks as teachers and students were the focus of discussion. These are all important elements of the language teaching-learning process. Yet in many schools and language programs the textbooks used in classrooms are the curriculum. Richards (1998:67) explains, if one wants to determine the objectives of a language program, the kind of syllabus being used, the skills being taught, the content the students will study, and the assumptions about teaching and learning that the course embodies, it is often necessary to look no further than the textbooks used in the program itself. Textbooks and other commercial materials in many situations represent the hidden curriculum of many language courses. In some situations, textbooks are really a hindrance for some teachers as some research findings show. Textbooks affect adaptable teaching and teachers may not go beyond the textbooks. However, some teachers seem to go beyond the textbook to help their students learning. For these teachers textbooks help them what to do, where to go and how to get there. Therefore, textbooks hinder and help teachers. As Maley (2003:24) cited from Prabhu (1987),He has pointed out that published materials (textbooks) are the constraining effects of materials on the freedom of action of teachers. This tells us that textbooks may affect teachers to take action on the course book. contents, order of
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contents and procedures are predeterminedThis hampers the teacher to go beyond the textbook. Clearly, what happens in the classroom using textbooks is that there is a complex trade-off between the three major elements thats the textbooks, teachers, and students. Materials (textbooks)

Teachers

learners Source: (cunnings worth: 1995, p.114)

This indicates that these three components in language learning/teaching scenario are interwoven. Both teachers and students have got textbooks. Though textbooks are there at the centre of the learning-teaching process, teachers shouldnt heavily rely on the textbook and so do the students. In some cases there may be a relatively close fit between the three. This may occur when the materials have been designed for a relatively specific learning group (Maley, A: 2003). This study embraces some practices that teachers do in case these three elements do not agree each other. What do teachers do when they find materials unfit to students levels, needs and interests?

2.5 Teachers attitudes towards a course book

Scholars use metaphors when they compare one thing with another. Metaphors help us to express peoples feelings about the thing they are describing. Here are some metaphors teachers have used to describe course books. What does it tell us about how teachers feel about their course book? Andy (2002:13) pointed it out this way: A holy book that I must follow. A stick for a blind man An ocean which never dries up. A lifesaving jacket to a drowning man.

These metaphors show quite a traditional attitude to how course books are used. Traditionally, teachers felt it was very much the course book which was in charge: the course book that directed
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the content of each and every lesson, what topics were included in the lesson and how learners were organized during the lesson. The teachers job was to teach the course book- to interpret the holy book. The teacher didnt deviate from the path that was laid down by the course book- and just a blind man without his stick couldnt function without it. Here are also some more positive metaphors teachers have chosen to describe their relationship with their course book and metaphors which will help us plan throughout the activities that follow The course book as one tool amongst many in one situation we might want to choose one type of tool The course book as guide: the guide shows the way but it is the traveler who chooses where to go. The course book as safety net: it is the teacher who performs the acrobatics but the course book is there as a safety net in case of problems. The course book as a rope: it is the teacher who is climbing the mountain but course books can help to make the journey easier and safer. These metaphors are rated as positive. If teachers use one or more of these metaphors, their attitude towards the textbook is good. It implies that these groups of teachers can go beyond textbooks to add variety in to their teaching as it gives them the direction. McGrath (2002:55) surveyed the teachers views for course books. Some examples of teachers metaphors are the following: this is the reflection of McGraths study on the teachers attitudes towards English textbooks. He configured it this way: a course book is a map (and as such can be deceptive in its apparent simplicity of direction and explanation); a textbook is a thick wood, rich, you learn a lot, you see a lot [but] you get entangled, you get lost. a textbook is like a pair of shoes. It takes time to choose one that you feel comfortable to wear for a long time. A bad pair will kill you, give you blisters. A good one will give you confidence to run, to jump, and to fly high.

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2.6 Common phobias of teachers to supplement a course book

As a number of scholars pointed out, adapting and supplementing a course book is enormously advantageous. However, many teachers seem to fail to do that apparently for the following reasons. Andy (2002:14) states: What are the common phobias for using supplementary materials in class? I like the idea of using extra materials in class but I dont have time to do so in my class. The important issue is to cover the course book which includes what the learners need. Why should I bother with extras? I want to use supplementary materials in my lesson but the school owner disagrees. It is fun but time consuming to find and prepare materials. Students- and their parents do not consider them as a serious learning material.

These are some of the phobias that teachers on the ground reflected based on their experiences. It would be absolutely impractical to expect a teacher who says why should I bother with extras? to go beyond the textbook though supplementing and adapting is crucial. According to Littlejohn (1998:15), there are various factors that affect teacher not to go beyond the textbook. He reviewed it this way: Lack of preparation time. The demands from examination( i.e. .achievement type) Excessive institutional power. Lack of professional development training.

2.7 The concept of adaptation

Adaptation of a text or course book is a process of changing a text from being unproductive, boring and repetitive to more interesting, productive and appropriate to the level of students (Prabhu: 1987). This tells us that adaptation is an important activity by teachers to make it productive and interesting. The concept of adaptation is, therefore, very crucial to make fit to the interest and level of the students. Teachers may not necessarily need other materials than a course book. It is all about re-ordering, modifying etc.

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McDonough (1992:113) states, Adaptation, then, is a process of subsequent to, and dependent on, adoption. This explains that first teachers need to adopt the textbook and evaluate the nature of contents and activities and to what extent the activities arouse students motivation and meet the needs and levels of students. McDonough (1992:114) explains, It is more realistic to assume that, however careful the design of the materials and evaluation process, some changes will have to be made at some level in most teaching contexts.This quotation best explains the importance of adaptation no matter how a textbook is carefully designed and evaluated. There is no perfect textbook in this imperfect world; therefore, the concept of adaptation is vitally important to make a textbook interesting and productive. It is up to the teacher to adapt and supplement the activities in the book or simply stick to the activities as presented in the course book as a holy book. Effectiveness in teaching language is very much tied with the extent to which the teachers supplement and adapt the course book. The following are some of the strategies to make the course book bearable, or more effective. Adaptation and supplementation are different concepts used by scholars differently. The notion of supplementation may be about using any resources around us to complement contents in the textbook. But adaptation is all about dealing with tasks in any material. In almost every subject area, in nearly every grade level, students are expected to use a textbook as a resource. Many, however, are unable to access the content in their textbook due to struggles with reading and related skills such as information processing. Therefore, teachers in inclusive classrooms must adapt textbooks so that students with different reading and comprehension levels can learn classroom content. Adapting textbooks may involve making changes to the text itself, supplementing the text, or giving students strategies to learn the material in some other way. McDonough (1992:83) also stresses, Effective adaptation is a matter of achieving congruence. The good teacher isconstantly striving for congruence among several related variables: Teaching materials, methodology, course objectives, the teachers own personality and teaching style. This scholar explains variety of components ranging from methodology to teachers own personality. He mentioned the word congruence to emphasis the fact that in order for adaptation to be productive and fit well in with the objective, it should be done appropriately and meticulously.

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The ability to adapt common classroom materials such as main textbooks and commercial textbooks is an essential for teaching in a diverse, inclusive classroom. For some students, these adaptations are the difference between mere inclusion in a learning experience and true and meaningful participation in a learning experience. In addition, the adaptations created for some often cause deeper and more meaningful learning for many.

2.7.1 Reasons for Adapting and supplementing

As scholars did point out so far, teachers may adapt materials for various reasons in certain teaching situations. McDonough (1992:112) explains,one teachers priorities may well differ considerably from those of another. It is certainly true that there are some general trends common to a large number of teaching contexts. The priorities of tasks in the textbook vary considerably from teacher to teacher and situation to situation and this entails slight modification. McDonough (1992:113) again states, most obviously there appears to be a widespread perception that materials should aim to be in some sense communicative and authentic. This stresses the fact that communication and authenticity are the core points in the textbook. The primary objective of any teaching material is to promote communication and this partly happens through the involvement of authentic materials. If there is no touch of authenticity in the textbook, teachers need to adapt or supplement the course book. According to Spratt (2005:114)there are various reasons why we might want to use supplementary materials and activities. This clarifies the reasons why teachers need to use other materials than the course book. According to Spratt (2005), some of the main reasons are as follows. To replace unsuitable material in the textbook To fill gaps in the course book. To provide suitable material for learners particular needs and interests. To give learners extra language or skills practice. To add variety to our teaching.

Therefore, teachers can use supplementary materials when one or more of the above points are missing because these materials can add variety into their teaching. As scholars point out, there is no perfect single teaching material, so using supplementary materials creatively is one of the teachers vital skills.
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A frame work of adaptation Congruence

External Criteria Need to

Internal criteria (evaluation)

Localize

personalize

humanize

Techniques

Adding deleting modifying simplifying

re-ordering

Content areas texts skills class management language practice

Source: (McDonough, 1992:115) This explains thatadaptation aims to achieve congruence and this becomes apparent through evaluation of textbooks in use. Having evaluated the textbook, teachers need to humanize, personalize and localize to make it more effective. Again, in order for adaptation to take place, teachers should do one of the techniques. What do teachers adapt? They may adapt the content of the textbook like, reading texts, skills and the practice stage.Adaptation may not be enough to create effective language learning and teachers may go beyond adaptation and that is supplementing the textbook with other materials out of the textbook.
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2.8 Evaluating, adapting and supplementing Textbooks

2.8.1Evaluating textbooks The researcher wants to put a clear demarcation between textbook evaluation by teachers on the ground and by experts at the top level. McDonough (1992:82) stresses, An important perspective of evaluationis to see it as management issue whereby educational decision-makers formulate policy and work out for evaluating: In this sense, teachers do not have direct involvement if they are not part of the team. This reflects the fact that evaluation of materials can be carried out in different times by experts with objective checklists and by teachers discussing with their students. When teachers evaluate a textbook in use, they may not necessarily stick to objective criteria pointed out by scholars during evaluation of a textbook, but knowledge of these criteria is very important. The core of systematic textbook evaluation is to examine how well a given textbook matches the needs of a language programme and how effectively and efficiently it can realize the objectives of the programme. Therefore needs analysis has to be done prior to textbook evaluation. Due to space limitation, in this unit, we will focus on general features of good textbooks and how to evaluate textbooks based on these features. To further evaluate the chosen textbooks, Graves (2000:13) suggests two facets to evaluate a textbook. The first is the textbook itself: getting inside it to understand how it is constructed and why it is developed that way. Getting inside the textbook is important to know what the teacher is adapting and supplementing. The second is everything other than the textbook: the context, the students, and the teacher. The second facet is even more important because the teacher generally use the lenses of their experience and context to evaluate it. At this point, the second facet helps the teacher to be clear about what he/she is adapting it to.

2.8.1.1 Pedagogical factors to evaluation

According to Maley (2003:24) Teachers need to ask the following questions about the book before they adapt or supplement it and this can be done by individual teachers and it doesnt need a rigorous evaluation of textbooks by relying on checklists. This states the point that teachers can evaluate their course books in the course of their teaching and they may adapt or supplement

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afterwards. However, they take these actions only if the textbook fails to answer the following questions. Maley(2003:13) configured it this way: Does the rational of the book fit that of the local curriculum? How do the different components tie together? Think about exercises, units and books. What language is covered? Does the book give the students adequate practice in the language they are required to master. What skills are covered? Does the book give the students adequate practice in the tasks demanded by the curriculum? What topics are covered? Does the book cover topics included in the curriculum? Does the book avoid topics which are culturally unacceptable? How authentic is the material? Does the material give students realistic exposure to the language?

2.8.2 Adapting textbooks

Despite the great effort that textbook writers make to meet the needs of the intended users, textbooks are subject to adaptation when they are actually used in the classroom. After all, most commercial textbooks are not written for any particular class. Maley (1998) suggested the following options to adapt materials: Omission: the teacher leaves out things deemed inappropriate, offensive, unproductive, etc., for the particular group. Addition: where there seems to be inadequate coverage, teachers may decide to add to

textbooks, either in the form of texts or exercise material. Reduction: where the teacher shortens an activity to give it less weight or emphasis. Extension: where an activity is lengthened in order to give it an additional dimension. (For

example, a vocabulary activity is extended to draw attention to some syntactic patterning.) Rewriting/modification: teacher may occasionally decide to rewrite material, especially

exercise material, to make it more appropriate, more communicative, more demanding, more accessible to their students, etc.

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Replacement: text or exercise material which is considered inadequate, for whatever reason,

may be replaced by more suitable material. This is often culled from other resource materials. Re-ordering: teachers may decide that the order in which the textbooks are presented is not

suitable for their students. They can then decide to plot a different course through the textbooks from the one the writer has laid down. branching: teachers may decide to add options to the existing activity or to suggest alternative

pathways through the activities. Textbook adaptation can be done at three levels. The first level is macro adaptation, which is ideally done before the language programme begins. After comparing what is covered in a textbook and what is required by the syllabus or examination, the teacher may find that certain areas or even whole units of the book can be omitted, and certain contents need to be supplemented. Macro adaptation is very important because it helps to avoid waste of time and energy of the teacher and the students as well. It also helps the teacher to see in advance what he or she needs to supplement so that he or she can keep an eye on materials that could be used. The second level of adaptation is adapting a unit. This could be reordering the activities, combining activities, omitting activities, rewriting or supplementing exercise material, etc. Unit adaptation helps to make the classroom teaching more smooth and cohesive. It also helps the teacher to better fulfill the aims of a unit. The third level is adaptation of specific activities in a unit. Occasionally an activity is regarded as valuable, but it is not well-designed or it is not feasible in a particular class. If the teacher does not want to give up the activity, he or she needs to adapt it. Very often, adaptation involves supplementation, that is, teachers add materials from other resources to the textbook they are using. It is believed that authentic materials are better than nonauthentic materials for supplementation. So teachers who make a point of collecting authentic materials find it much easier to adapt textbooks. This is especially true in ELT contexts where authentic English materials are not always readily to hand. In this unit we have briefly talked about textbook evaluation, selection and adaptation. The value of these actions is so obvious that no one would argue against it. However, these actions can be done only when three conditions are met.
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Firstly, teachers need to have the authority to evaluate, select and adapt textbooks. In many cases, teachers are simply told to use a certain textbook. In worse circumstances, teachers are told how to use a book. Some teachers are even criticized for intentionally leaving out activities that they do not consider appropriate or necessary. Secondly, teachers have to have the initiative to evaluate, select and adapt textbooks. Very often, with a heavy workload, teachers simply do not have the time or energy to do anything beyond lesson planning and marking students homework. Without explicit encouragement from authorities, many teachers do not make an effort to evaluate and adapt textbooks. In this unit, we did not specifically discuss textbook creation, though some classroom teachers are already involved in it. However, most of the suggested ideas about textbook evaluation and adaptation are also applicable to textbook creation. Needless to repeat, the following scholars (Andy, 2002, Penny Ur, 1996, Tomlinson, 2001) suggested the same techniques of adapting a course book.

2.8.3 When to supplement?

Teachers may adapt the activities in the textbook whenever they think its appropriate to do. They may consider the following tips to evaluate the textbook. Andy (2002) configured it this way: When important topics are missed out, we may need to add a whole lesson which isnt covered in the textbook. When we realize that the activities in the book reflect cultural breach or gender discrimination. When the contents in the textbook are old and are not up-to-date, teachers can supplement it. When there is a repetition of tasks or activities in the textbook- we may go beyond the textbook to supplement and to help our learners learn best.

2.9Arguments about using a textbook

Littlejohn (1998) states, The debate has tended to be polarized between those who object to course books in principle, whether they see them as destroyers of teacher and student creativity and those who argue that course books provide teachers and learners with a range of professionally developed materials There are two big thoughts regarding the use of textbooks. One is in favour of textbooks and the other against the use of textbooks.
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Each of these (the reasons identified by Sheldon, 1988) is an accurate analysis of the strains teachers feel and using a textbook is one of the most efficient and readily available ways in which to relieve some of these pressures. They lessen preparation time, provide ready-made activities, and provide concrete samples of classroom progress through which external stakeholders can be satisfied. Graves (2000) lists the following as some of the advantages of using a textbook: It provides a syllabus for the course It provides security for the students because they have a kind of roadmap of the course It provides a set of visual, activities, readings, etc., and so saves the teacher time in finding or developing such materials It provides teachers with a basis for assessing students' learning It may include supporting materials (e.g., teachers guide, cassettes, worksheets, and video) It provides consistency within a program across a given level, if all teachers use the same textbook. If textbooks follow a sequence, it provides consistency between levels. Graves (2000) also discusses the disadvantages of using a textbook as well. He identified a list of eight disadvantages: The content or examples may not be relevant or appropriate to the group you are teaching. The content may not be at the right level. There may be too much focus on one or more aspects of language and not enough focus on others, or it may not include everything you want to include. There may not be the right mix of activities (too much of x, too little of y). The sequence is lockstep. The activities, readings, visuals, etc. may be boring. The material may go out of date. The timetable for completing the textbook or parts of it may be unrealistic.

Proponents of the course book argue that it is the most convenient form of presenting materials, it helps to achieve consistency and continuation, it gives learners a sense of system, cohesion and progress and it helps teachers prepare and learners revise. Opponents counter that a course book is inevitably superficial and reductionist, in its coverage of language points and in its provision of
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language experience, it cannot cater for the diverse needs of its users, it imposes the uniformity of syllabus and approach, and it removes initiative and power from teachers. McGrath (2002) states that a textbook is important because it sets the direction, content, and to a certain extent how the lesson is to be taught. Similarly he asserts it is significant to view the images that teachers have as this reflects their attitudes and beliefs toward textbooks which will impact on how they use textbooks. Penny Ur (1992) again categorizes the arguments this way:

A- In favour of using a course book

1. Framework A course book provides a clear framework: teacher and learners know where they are going and what is coming next, so that there is a sense of structure and progress. 2. syllabus In many places the course book serves as a syllabus: if it is followed systematically, a carefully planned and balanced selection of language content will be covered. 3. ready- made texts and tasks The course book provides texts and learning tasks which are likely to be of appropriate level for most of the class. 4. Economy A book is the cheapest way of providing learning material for each learner. 5. Convenience A book is a convenient package. It is bound, so that its components stick together and stay in order. 6. Guidance For teachers who are inexperienced or occasionally unsure of their knowledge of the language, the course book can provide useful guidance and support. 7. Autonomy The learner can use the course book to learn new material, review and monitor progress with some degree of autonomy. A learner without a course book is teacher- dependent.

B- Against using a course book

1. Inadequacy
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Every class- in fact, every learner- has their own learning needs; no course book can possibly provide these satisfactorily. 2. Irrelevant, lack of interest The topics dealt with in the course book may not necessarily be relevant or interesting for the class. 3. Limitation A course book is confining: its set structure and sequence may inhibit a teachers initiative and creativity, and lead to boredom and lack of motivation on the part of the learners. 4. Homogeneity Course books have their own rationale and chosen teaching/learning approach. They do not usually cater for the variety of levels of ability and knowledge, or of learning styles and strategies that exist in most classes. 5. Over- easiness Teachers find it too easy to follow the course book uncritically instead of using their initiative; they may find themselves functioning merely as mediators of its content instead of as teachers in their own right.

2.10 Who is in charge?

There are so many things that a course book is not capable of doing things that teachers do every day, as part of their usual classroom practice. Andy (2002) stresses, Text book writers are people who do not know the needs of students on the ground. This explains that textbook writers do not know the actual needs of the students. But its the teachers who know the needs and interests of their students, so if they find the textbook a bit sluggish and dull, its up to the teachers to exercise their professional judgment through evaluation, adaptation and supplementation. Course books are not and cannot be ever written specifically for our learners, and so they can never cater for their specific needs and interests. A course book can never know the learners in the way that a teacher can: Similarly, the course book can never build the links to learners lives or culture which a teacher often can do. Textbook writers are not able to know the real needs of students as teachers do on the ground. Andy (2002).
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This shows that teachers know their students needs more than textbook writers do.As these points explain, teachers are the best people to know the needs and interests of learners on the ground. The writer gives a textbook a human attribute and reflects that a textbook never knows the needs of the students and so do the writers.

2.11 What are supplementary materials?

Supplementary materials are materials which do not exist in the book/s which teachers can use with their group of learners. Spratt (2005) states, Supplementary materials are books and other materials we can use in addition to the course book. Any material out of the textbook is called a supplementary material. They are free standing materials and they are there to make the teachers life easier and the learners a bit more interested. Supplementary materials may be of various types. A song, an authentic film, a cut- out from a magazine or newspaper, a poem, a game, a project etc. may become extra tools in the hands of the trained teacher who wishes to teach effectively and professionally. As scholars agree with, supplementary materials have tremendous benefits. There will be times of course when we feel that the course book is not appropriate at all and we want to turn to other sources of materials. These materials may be other materials published for language learning purposes or authentic materials which introduce real world language. Andy (2002) summarized it as follows. Using supplementary materials can Provide extra opportunities for learners to use language. Make the lesson more interesting and memorable. Provide new contexts for language. Facilitate learning more effectively. Be adaptable to the learners culture and level. Revise and recycle language in an effective way.

2.12 Authentic Materials and Authenticity

Authentic texts have been defined as real-life, not written for pedagogic purposes (Wallace: 1999). They are written for native speakers and contain real language. They are materials that have been produced to fulfill some social purposes in the language community, in contrast to non37

authentic texts that are specially designed for language learning purpose. An example of nonauthentic materials is a textbook.According to Breen (1985)The language in non- authentic texts is artificial and unvaried, concentrating on something that has to be taught and often containing a series of false- text indicators. This tells us that non-authentic materials lack variety and they are too contrived. The sources of authentic materials that can be in the classroom are infinite, but the most common ones are newspapers, magazines, TV programs, movies, songs, and literature. Authentic materials should be the kind of materials that students will need and to be able to read when travelling, studying abroad, or using language in other contexts outside the classroom. Authentic materials enable learners to interact with the real language and content rather than the form. Learners feel that they are learning a target language as it is used outside the classroom. Wallace (1999) gives three main criteria when choosing texts to be in the classroom. These are: content suitability, exploitability and readability. Content suitability can be considered as the most important element of the three, as scholars pointed out. Variety and presentation also influence the choice of authentic materials. Authentic materials are vitally important to supplement a textbook. They are more of fun, interesting, motivating, and lively and about real life. Using supplementary materials for classroom purpose needs a teacher to be committed, wise and methodical.

2.12.1 Important Factors in choosing authentic Reading materials

The concept of authenticity is central to CLT, with the learner being exposed to the same language as a native language Widdowson (1983). Four types of authenticity within the classroom have been identified as follows: Authenticity of texts which we may use as input data for our students. Authenticity of learners own interpretations of such texts. Authenticity of tasks conducive to language learning. Authenticity of the actual social situation of the classroom language.

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One of the main ideas of using authentic materials in the classroom is to expose the learners to as much real language as possible. Wallace (1999) explains, It has been argued that by taking a text out of its original context, it loses its authenticity. This quotation stresses on the fact that texts taken from their original context are contrived materials and the best example for this is textbooks.

2.13 Teacher-made worksheets and task cards

Penny, Ur (1992)explains, Even with an excellent course book and a wide variety of other materials available, there comes a point at which many teachers find they have to make their own occasional supplementary worksheets and work cards: because they can find what they need nowhere else, because they want to provide for the needs of a specific class. It sounds true, therefore, that good teacher-made materials are arguably the best in terms of personalization and relevance, and answering the needs of the learners in a way no other materials can.

2.13.1 Guidelines for teacher teacher-made materials

Penny Ur (1992) states them as follows: Work sheets, work cards and other materials should be: Be clean: neat, with level lines of neat writing, clear margins and different components. Begin with clear and short instructions. Be clear and attractive to look at. Be clearly do-able by the learners. (Optionally) include a self check facility.

According to the above scholar, work sheet is a page (or two) of tasks, distributed to each student to do either in class or at home, intended to be written on, and usually taken in by the teacher to be checked. And work cards are made in sets, each card offering different, fairly short tasks.

2.13.2 Why Do Teachers Design Their Own Materials?

According to Wallace (1999)There are times when teachers may be forced to produce their own materials to complement the textbook. Some experienced teachers can produce materials to best fit the needs of their students in case of boredom or repetition in the textbook. It explains that there are times teachers may be obliged to produce their own material to complement their teaching.
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When they find some of the tasks in the textbook redundant, teachers can prepare their own material, and experienced teachers can easily do it. A. Advantages Discussions about the advantages and disadvantages of teacher-designed materials usually centre on a comparison with using textbooks. Rather than focusing on textbooks, scholars seem to focus on teacher-produced materials and consider that the disadvantages of course books can become advantages for teacher-produced materials (Harmer: 2001). Here are some of the advantages that scholars pointed out: a. Contextualization: An important advantage of teacher-produced materials is

contextualization. A key criticism of commercial materials, particularly those produced for the world-wide EFL market is that they are necessarily generic and not aimed at any specific group of learners or any particular cultural or educational context. The possible lack of fit between teaching context and course book has been expressed. (Block: 1991) states, Our modern course books are full of speech acts and functions based on situations which most foreign-language students will never encounter. As most scholars do agree with, for many teachers, designing or adapting their own teaching materials enables them to take into account their particular learning environment and to overcome the lack of fit of the course book. Another aspect of context is the resources available. Some teaching contexts will be rich in resources such as course books, supplementary texts, readers, computer, audio-visual equipment and consumables such as paper, pens and so on. Other contexts may be extremely impoverished, with little more than an old blackboard and a few pieces of chalk. Lack of text books forces teachers to fall back on their own resources and designing their own teaching materials from materials around them. b. Individual needs: A second area in which teacher-designed materials are an advantage is that of individual needs. Modern teaching methodology increasingly emphasizes the importance of identifying and teaching to the individual needs of learners. English language classrooms are divers places not only in terms of where they are situated, but also in terms of the individual learners within each context. Teacher-designed materials can be responsive to the heterogeneity inherent in the classroom.
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In designing their own materials teachers can also make decisions about the most appropriate organizing principle or focus for the materials and activities. Most course books remain organized around grammar elements and the PPP (presentation, practice and production) model of teaching, often with an unrelenting format which can be deeply engaging (Harmer, 2001). By taking more control over materials production, teachers can choose from the range of possibilities, including topics, situations, notions, functions, skills e t c or a combination of these principles, as a starting point to develop a variety of materials that focus on the developing needs of their particular group of learners. c. Personalization: this is another advantage of teacher-designed materials. Block, (1991) argues in favor of home-made materials saying that they add a personal touch to teaching that students are likely to increase motivation engagement in learning. Prodromou (2002) further suggests that there is also a greater choice, freedom and scope for spontaneity when teachers develop their own materials. d. Timeliness: A further advantage of teacher-designed materials is timeliness (Block; 1991). Teachers designing their own materials can respond to local and international events with up-to-date, relevant and high interest topics and tasks. In conclusion, the advantages of teacher-designed materials can be summed up in the idea that they avoid the one- size-fitsto all approach of most textbooks.

A- Disadvantages There are a number of potential pitfalls for teachers who would be materials designers. These can be considered under three headings, the first of which is organization. Textbooks are usually organized around an identifiable principle and follow a discernible pattern throughout. While this can be rather dull and boring (Harmer: 2001). Teacher-designed materials may lack overall coherence and progression. Teacher-designed materials may be difficult to locate for ongoing use, or end up damaged or with parts missing. The question of quality is another headache in teacherdesigned materials. Since many people may not involve in producing these materials, there is a possibility to make mistakes. Teacher-made materials may be produce to take advantage of authentic text. However, if not guided by clear criteria and some experience, teachers may make inconsistent or poor choices of texts. Yet another disadvantage of teacher-made materials and perhaps the key factor inhibiting many teachers from producing their own materials is time.
41

CHATER THREE 3. Research Design and Methodology 3.1. Research Design

Research can be designed differently by different researchers based on several factors such as time and the nature of data. Cook (1979:39) states, the major purpose of descriptive survey research method is to describe the states of affairs as they exist. In order to achieve the desired objectives, a descriptive type survey research method was used. The researcher also employed both quantitative and qualitative methods to investigate teachers attitudes and practices on adapting and supplementing their course books or textbooks. The quantitative data was gathered through questionnaire and was quantitatively analyzed. And the qualitative data was gathered through interview and observation was analyzed qualitatively.

3.2 Participants of the study

The subjects of the study were teachers in peacekeeping English Project in two centres in the Ethiopian Ministry of National Defence (i.e. Addis and Debrezeit). There are totally five centres across the country and the researcher employed random sampling method to select these two centres.

3.3Sample Size
In the above two centres(i.e. Addis and Debrezeit), there are totally 28 teachers and the researcher again used random sampling technique to select 12(i.e., 6 subjects in each centre) subjects for the study. Hence, the total number of subjects of this study is12 teachers in both centres. For the observation, 4 randomly selected teachers (i.e. 2 in each centre) involved.

42

3.4Sampling Method
As stated above, the researcher employed random sampling technique to select two centres out of five centres. Having done this, random sampling technique wasalso employed to select 12 subjects to gather the necessary information. The researcher again randomly selected 6 subjects for an interview and 4 for an observation within the total subjects.

3.5Data Collection Instruments

Basically three techniques were employed to gather the necessary information for the study. These include questionnaire, interview and observation. There was also document analysis (i.e. lesson plans in accordance with the textbook). Questionnaires were administered for teachers in both centres. Interview questions were also administered to teachers to find out their attitudes and practices on adapting and supplementing a textbook. Due to time constraint, sample sizes for the interview and tended to be smaller than the questionnaire. And only 3 subjects in Addis Ababa centre and the other3 in Debrezeit centre were interviewed altogether.

3.5.1 Questionnaires
The questionnaire was prepared in English as all the subjects were English teachers. No translation into their first language was made. In designing the questions, every possible caution was taken to avoid some inaccuracies. They are all choices. Questionnaires were administered to 12 teachers to gather the necessary information about their attitudes on textbooks and adapting and supplementing the textbook.

3.5.2Interview
Semi- structured interview was used to collect information. To fulfill this, the researcher randomly selected 3 subjects from Addis Ababa and 3 from Debrezeit and 6 subjects were interviewed altogether. The researcher interviewed these subjects to complement the data gathered through the questionnaire five days after the questionnaire was administered. It has been recorded, transcribed and attached at the end of the paper as an appendix.

43

3.5.3 Observation
The third one was observation in accordance with lesson plans to check to what extent teachers plan authentic materials to help their learners and modify some parts of the textbook. The researcher observed 4 teachers in both centres and two sessions for one teacher and 8 sessions were observed altogether for this particular purpose. Their lesson plans were checked during observation in accordance with the textbook.

3.6 Sources of Data

Data was gathered from both primary and secondary sources. Primary sources were teachers on the ground and data was collected through interview, questionnaire and observation. And the secondary data were accompanying documents like lesson plans, textbooks, other supplementary books and internet, so the researcher spent some time dealing with these materials to get some information. Lesson plans, textbooks and other authentic materials around helped the researcher much during his observation session, in addition to the actual lessons. Therefore, these two were major sources of data for the study.

3.7 Methods of Data Analysis

Soon after data collection was completed, the researcher organized the data and proceeded to the analysis and interpretation. The qualitative and quantitative data were analyzed separately, but in a coherent manner. The researcher tried to triangulate the findings of the in all instruments with the scholars view point.The quantitative data was presented in tables and analyzed by simple statistics like percentages (%) and proportions in a quantitative method. Secondly, the data that was gathered through interview was transcribed and thematically organized. The third one was data from the observation and this was also qualitatively analyzed.

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CHAPTER FOUR

4. DATA ANALYSIS, PRESENTATION AND INTERPRETATION

This section deals with the analysis, discussions and interpretations of the data gathered though the instruments used for this particular study. The data gathered through the questionnaire was interpreted quantitatively using percentages (%) and proportions. Based on the figures, the researcher summarized each questions responses in a vivid manner. And the data collected through interview was analyzed qualitatively and the researcher tried to relate the responses in all instruments. The final section dealt with reports of the observation session. 4.1 Subjects Background As it is stated in the previous unit (i.e. Unit three), there are 12 respondents who involved in the study. These subjects work in the Ethiopian Ministry of National Defence in two centres. They work in peacekeeping English project which is jointly funded by the ministry of defence and the British Council to help peacekeepers improve their English language for communication while executing their mission on the ground. The subjects are all English language teachers. Unfortunately there were no female teachers. Six (6) of them were from Addisababa and the other 6 were from Debrezeit Air Force College. Most of the subjects (i.e.8) were employed two years ago. And the other 4 joined the project about five years ago. Most of them are novice teachers. The subjects teaching experiences vary a great deal and range from two to ten years. Their current qualification also varies from BA to MA. Two (2) teachers hold MA and the other 10 are BA holders in teaching English.

4.2Presentation and discussion of the questionnaire

This section solely presented and discussed the data gathered through the questionnaire, interview and observation. The percentages and proportions were used to show the reactions of the subjects to each question.

45

Table 1: Metaphors that teachers use to describe a textbook. Responses No Item Like a map for a Like a stick for Like safety net traveler in the a blind man

unknown place 1. Which metaphor best reflects No your view about a textbook? 2 % 17% No 7 % 58% No 3 % 25%

Item-1: Different teachers described textbooks using metaphors differently. For some teachers, textbooks dominate their classroom. As Andy (2002) pointed out that some teachers feel that textbooks are like a stick for a blind person, a map for a traveler, and a safety net . Some of these metaphors are negative and some of them are positive. The above table was about the metaphors that teachers used to describe the textbook. The respondents of this study reacted in different ways. For instance, 58% of the subjects replied that textbooks are like a stick for a blind man. It sounds true that a blind man never moves without his stick and the same is true for this group of teachers that they never move a single step forward to teach without a textbook. The other 25% and 17% of the respondents answered that textbooks are like a safety net and a map for a traveler respectively. These teachers reflections showed that textbooks are safety nets. And for teachers who replied like a map, these teachers only need a map to get there. Teachers who describe textbooks as a safety net and a map for a traveler can use the textbook more flexibly than those who described it as a stick for a blind person. As scholars pointed out, if textbooks are described as like a stick for a blind person it has a negative implication, but if teachers describe textbooks as like a map for a traveler in the unknown place and like a safety net, these metaphors are regarded positive. But the findings indicated that majority of the teachers described the textbook as a stick for a blind person, this showed that majority of the subjects have described the textbook negatively. Hence, majority of the subjects are course book enthusiasts. If teachers are course book enthusiasts, they dont go beyond the textbook because this metaphor has a negative connotation. During the interview, informants also stated that textbooks are enough and no need to go beyond the textbook. The results of the observation session again clearly indicated that teachers heavily relied on the textbook and no
46

attempt was made to modify or reorder the tasks or activities in the textbook. This result substantiated the finding in the questionnaire. Table 2: This table tells us about who knows the students needs. Responses No Item Textbook writers 2 Who knows students needs much No better? 7 % 58% No 5 % 42% Teachers Any other No % -

Item-2: The question that the subject were asked was Who do you think knows the students needs much better?Concerning this question, 58% of the subjects replied that textbook writers know the students much better than their teachers. It showed that textbook writers know students because they know what is to be included in the textbook and in the syllabus at large, but it would be hard to wholeheartedly say that textbook writers know the students needs and interests more than teachers do. And the other 42% of the subjects responded that its the teacher not textbook writers who know the needs of the students on the ground. Hence, if majority of the teachers think that textbook writers know the needs of the students much better than teachers do, it is very unlikely to expect them to take any action against the textbook either to adapt or supplement the textbook. Andy (2002) Textbook writers dont know the real needs of students as teachers do. But there is a big gap between the findings and the literature. And this may happen because of teachers attitude towards textbook writers. The findings in the interview also confirmed the results of the questionnaire.

47

TABLE-3: Teachers attitude towards adapting and supplementing a textbook. Responses

No

Item

SD

SA

UD

No 3 The textbook provides comprehensible input and adequate contents 4 I couldnt teach 9

No

No

No

No

75%

25%

without a textbook 5 Adapting and

17%

17% 8

66%

supplementing is a useful activity 6 Effectiveness in

58%

25% 2

17%

teaching is a matter of everything textbook 7 Supplementing textbook the with covering in the

17%

75%

8%

25%

75%

authentic materials is a waste of time 8 I avoid adapting and supplementing the 3 25% 6 50% 2 17% 1 8%

textbook for fear of being called lazy, and

48

irresponsible

incompetent

The textbook affects my creativity 3 25% 7 58% 2 17%

Item-3: The subjects were asked about the textbooks contribution in providing comprehensible input for the learners. As their responses showed, 75% of the respondents replied that the textbook never catered comprehensible input for learners to enhance their learning. And the other 25% of the subjects were very positive about this question in a sense that textbooks contribute a lot in providing sufficient input for effective language learning to take place. It needs to be complemented with other materials to best meet the needs of the students. Results from the interview also substantiated this finding. But Sheldon (1988) stated that there is no perfect and complete textbook in the world. The literature and the findings showed some controversy. Hence, the textbook that the subjects currently use failed to provide sufficient input for language learning. Item-4: The subjects were asked if they teach without the absence of the textbook. As item-4 indicated, 66% of the respondents do not teach English without a textbook and the other 17% of the subjects also have similar view in spite of the degree. The remaining 17% of them replied that they can teach English without a textbook. Hence, majority of the subjects cant stand teaching without a textbook. Item-5: The respondents reacted differently to the question regarding adapting and supplementing a textbook. As has been shown on the above table, 58% of the subjects cant stand with the concept of adapting and supplementing a textbook as they replied disagree. They dont agree with the point that adapting and supplementing is a useful activity. The other 25% and 17% of the subjects stated agree and strongly agree respectively and this disclosed that these groups were very positive towards adapting and supplementing a textbook. In spite of the degree of their responses, 42% of the subjects have got optimistic view towards the benefits of adapting and supplementing a course book. Interview results also confirmed that adapting and supplementing is a useless activity as it takes much more time than allocated to deal with the textbook. Hence, majority of the subjects responses revealed that the concept of adapting and supplementing a
49

textbook is not useful. There is still some gap between the literature and the findings in such a way that literature strongly advocates the practice of adapting and supplementing a textbook. This happens may be because of lack of awareness. Item-6: The other question that the subjects were asked was about their attitude towards teaching effectiveness with regard to covering everything in the textbook. As the responses revealed, 75% of the respondents answered that teaching everything in the textbook is vitally important to succeed in teaching. Hence, it would be very ridiculous to expect these teachers to go beyond the textbook because of their polarized view regarding success. Success in teaching for this group is covering every language item in the textbook from the front cover to the back cover of the textbook. And only 17% of the subjects replied that covering everything in the textbook is not a guarantee to be effective in the teaching scenario as their response was disagree. The other 8% of the subjects remained undecided for unknown reason. Informants of the interview also stated that success is all about covering everything in the textbook because performance evaluation based on the extent to which they complete from cover to cover. McDonough (1992) stated that teaching the textbook from cover to cover doesnt ensure success. But the findings came up with different result. This difference happens may be because of the trend they passed through. Hence, as the responses indicated, majority of the subjects view success in teaching in light of covering everything in the textbook, these groups of teachers strive to cover all the portions in the textbook to be rated as a successful teacher so that they never move a step forward to adapt or supplement the textbook because their feeling of success is integrally tied with completing everything in the textbook. Item7: Subjects were asked about supplementing a textbook with authentic materials in relation to time. As shown on the above table, 75% of the subjects stated that using authentic materials is a waste of time. Because as the responses on teaching effectiveness implied most of the subjects strive to cover all the portions in the textbook so they never go out of the textbook to complement the textbook and time is their constraint as the responses disclosed. And only 25% of the subjects stated that supplementing a textbook with authentic materials is not a waste of time. The results from the interview and observation sessions confirmed that teachers do not bring authentic materials for the classroom purpose. Therefore, majority of the respondents viewed supplementing a textbook with authentic materials is a waste of time, as a result; they dont go a step forward to bring authentic materials for a classroom purpose.
50

Item-8: The other most important point is concerning the teachers challenges when adapting and supplementing a textbook. About 50% and 17% of the respondents replied that they avoid adapting and supplementing for fear of being rated lazy or incompetent as their responses were agree and strongly agree consecutively. This showed that a lot of respondents avoid adapting and supplementing because when they try to modify or omit parts of the textbook in some ways, students may consider them incompetent or lazy. But only 25% of the subjects disagree with this point. These groups of respondents seemed to adapt and supplement their textbooks as far as their actions of such kind benefits their learners. The rest 8% of the respondents remained undecided about this issue. The results in the interview and the observation session substantiated the findings in the questionnaire. Therefore, majority of the subjects are not in a position to adapt and supplement the textbook to avoid being considered as lazy and incompetent. Item-9: The subjects were asked about creativity and the influence of textbooks. As Prodomou(1992) states,a creative teacher is one who is able to produce and use new and effective ideas This quote strongly emphasizes what creativity is all about and its effects on the teaching-learning atmosphere and what creative teachers do in the classroom. As the responses on table-2 show, 58% of the subjects confirmed that textbooks really affect their creativity. It implied that these teachers want to be creative but the textbook affects them not to be. As scholars argued, textbooks are lockstep and this witnessed that teachers creativity and flexibly could be affected by the textbooks. The other 25% of the respondents have got different ideas about creativity and the textbook. They replied that textbooks do not affect their creativity. And the rest 17% of them remain undecided. During the observation sessions, the researcher didnt see any creativity. Hence, as the data collected disclosed, majority of the subjects are not creative because of the textbook and the textbook is responsible for this to happen. Table 4: This table deals with the extent to which the textbook meets the students needs. Responses No Item Greater extent 10 The extent to which the No contents and activities meet 3 the students level
51

To some extent

Lesser extent

Never

No

% 17%

No 7

No

% -

25% 2

58% -

11

The extent to which the 1 textbook incorporates real life English

8%

25%

67% -

Item-10: The other question subjects encountered was if the contents and the activities in the textbook meet the levels of students. The respondents reacted differently. As the above table revealed, 58% of the subjects stated that the contents and the activities in the textbook meet students level to a lesser extent. And the other 25% and 17% of the subjects replied that the contents and the activities are to the level of their students and meet their students level to a greater and some extent respectively. As the results showed, the contents and activities in the textbook do not meet the students level. If most of the subjects stated that the contents and the activities meet their students level to a lesser extent, its meant that either the activities are ridiculously easy or incredibly difficult. Interview results also substantiated the findings in the questionnaire. Scholars stated that when the contents and activities and in the textbook are inappropriate to the level of their students, teachers can add, replace, modify the contents and the activities or supplement the textbook with other materials. But from the above responses, teachers do not have such kinds of practices in their teaching. Item-11: The other question that respondents asked was about real life language inclusion in the textbook. About 67% of the subjects stated that there is a little touch of real life language in the textbook, and the other 25% of the subjects pointed out that there is some touch of real life English in the textbook. And 8% of the subjects also answered that the textbook comprises with real life language. Results in the interview also came up with the point that the textbook doesnt have some touch of real life language. Scholars argued that the inclusion of real world language is pretty good in textbooks as students use real world language for communication in the outside world. Hence, the finding revealed that the textbook that teachers use at the moment lacked real life language tremendously.

52

Table 5: This is about teachers experiences on evaluating the textbook. Responses No 12 Item Do you evaluate the textbook? Yes No 2 % 17% No No 10 % 83%

13 What aspects do you evaluate?

Contents and activities No 2 % 17%

Methods approaches

and

Any other

No -

% -

No 10

% 83%

Item-12: McDonough (1992) explains, The ability to evaluate teaching materials effectively is a very important professional activity for all EFL teachers. The subjects were asked about their experience in evaluating the textbook. Adopting and evaluating are the first two steps that all teachers should do at the very beginning in their teaching. Evaluation, in this sense, doesnt mean that teachers follow standardized checklists to evaluate the textbook as experts do, but simply by realizing their students needs and interests, the contents and activities. As the above table showed, 83% of the subjects responded that they never evaluate the textbook and it implied that they either lack confidence, competence or lack experience to do this activity. But the rest 17% answered that they evaluate the textbooks in relation to the context of their teaching. Results in the interview also substantiated that teachers never evaluate any aspects of the textbook. Harmer (2008) stresses, when teachers open a page in the textbook, they have to decide whether or not they should use the lesson on that page. Is the language appropriate? Is the content suitable? This quote explains about the importance of evaluating a textbook. But the findings are far and wide. Although evaluating a textbook and making some modifications accordingly is a high level performance, majority of the respondents failed to do this. Item-13: The subjects were asked about what aspects of the textbook teachers evaluate. According to the subjects responses, 83% of them said that they dont evaluate any aspects of the textbook as they simply stick to the language given in the textbook. And the rest 17% revealed that they
53

mostly evaluate the contents and activities in the textbook. Evaluating the textbook is the first step before adapting and supplementing take place as scholars like McDonough (1992) stated. Interview results also substantiated the findings in the questionnaire. This finding disclosed that majority of the subjects never evaluate the textbook and it seems that they teach the textbook as it is presented by textbook writers. Although evaluating, adapting and supplementing are crucial activities that all teachers need to do in their class to best meet the needs of their students and the objectives of learning, most of the subjects failed to do so. Table 6: It is about the contents and skills in the textbooks Responses No Item Yes No 14 Is there a balanced inclusion of all the four skills in 4 the textbook? 15 Have you ever taught English language without a 2 textbook? 16 Have you ever adapted or supplemented a textbook Responses 17 If you are inexperienced in adapting or supplementing, what are your reasons The textbook is more than enough I dont have any idea about it Why should I bother with extras with a meager salary No 4 % 33 % Any other 2 17% 10 83% 17% 10 83% % 33% No No 8 % 67%

No 4

% 33%

No 2

% 17%

No 2

% 17%

Item-14: The subjects were asked if there was a balanced inclusion of all the four language skills in the textbook that they are currently using. And, 67% of them reacted no in a sense that all the skills are not treated equally and incorporated fairly. The other 33% of the subjects replied yes and this witnessed that all the four language skills are incorporated in the textbook. Results of the interview also substantiated results from the questionnaire. During the interview, informants
54

explained that much space was given to listening and reading skills. Based on the information obtained through this question, it is possible to conclude in such a way that all the four skills are not incorporated in the textbook and their treatment is not fairly equally. Item-15: The next question was about teachers experiences whether they have ever taught English without textbooks. As the table indicated, 83% of the subjects replied that they have never taught English language in the absence of a textbook. It is, of course, true that nearly all educational settings have textbooks which teachers are supposed to use in their classroom according to scholars point of view. And the other 17% of the subjects answered that they have taught English language without textbooks, and this implied that these teachers can teach English in the absence of textbooks which they probably prepare their own materials. As the figure showed, majority of the teachers are inexperienced in teaching English language without a textbook. This group of teachers may tremendously lack the experience to teach English language without a textbook. Scholars pointed out that teaching without a course book is a very good practice as teachers prepare their own materials. During the interview most of the subjects also explained that they have never taught English without a textbook. But the findings disclosed that majority of the subjects are not experienced in teaching English language in a situation where textbooks are absent. Item-16: McDonough (1992) states, Effective teachers usually adapt and supplementThe other point was about teachers experiences on adapting and supplementing the textbook practically. The result revealed that 83% of the subjects are inexperienced in adapting or supplementing a textbook. The other 17% of the subjects are experienced in adapting or supplementing the textbook. As stated above on the table, 42% of the subjects have got an idea about adapting and supplementing a textbook but they dont seem to go further to adapt the activities or supplement it with other materials. They only have the idea but they fail to put their ideas in to practice. They dont even consider it as a serious activity as their responses revealed. A lot of subjects replied that adapting and supplementing are not useful activities. The results from the interview confirmed that teachers do not adapt or supplement their course book. This was also what was observed during the observation sessions. Hence, one can conclude that majority of the subjects have never adapted the textbook or supplemented it with other authentic materials. Item-17: As the above table showed, majority of the teachers do not adapt or supplement their textbooks for various reasons. For instance, 33% of the respondents replied that contents or
55

language items in the textbook are enough. This is meant that they dont need other materials than the textbook as the textbook consists of every language item, according to their responses. The other 33% of the subjects stated that they dont want to bother with extras. Their salary is low and they dont want to do other activities than presented by textbook writers and obviously the reason why they dont adapt or supplement the textbook is because their salary is not commensurate with such kinds of activities beyond the textbook. It seems true that using textbooks doesnt need extra effort and money and more importantly, its not demanding as it consists of well-organized content. And 17% of the subjects replied that they dont have the idea about adapting or supplementing and this happens may be because they lack the necessary experience. But the other 17% answered that they adapt or supplement the textbook. Hence, as the responses showed, majority of the subjects do not adapt or supplement their textbook for various reasons ranging from lack of idea on adapting and supplementing to salary complaint. On top of this, respondents polarized view towards effectiveness in teaching has immense contribution for teachers not to go beyond textbooks as stated so far. Table-8: This table revolves around the teachers practices regarding adapting and supplementing the textbook.

No 18

Item I just follow the textbooks methods, contents and activities as they stand I try to find out other

SD No %

D No 2 % 17%

A No 8 % 66%

SA No 2 % 17%

UD No %

19

materials and methods that best suit the students needs I adapt the contents

50%

25%

17%

8%

20

and activities in the textbook

42%

33%

17%

8%

56

I omit an exercise in 21 the textbook if its irrelevant or unsuitable. I replace the 22 contents and activities if I find it unsuitable to my students. 7 58% 2 17% 3 25% 9 75% 2 17% 1 8%

Item-18: There was a crucial question about teachers experiences if they follow all the contents, methods and activities in sequence in the book. As the responses showed, 66% and 17% of the respondents responded that they agree and strongly agree respectively. This witnessed that majority of the subjects follow the contents, methods and activities in the textbook as they stand. They make no changes in the sequence. And only 17% of them replied that they dont follow all the contents and activities in the sequence and it showed that they may make some modifications or adaptations. This is really a great practice that all teachers need to do in their classroom but the results showed that majority of the teachers never do this at all and more importantly, they dont adapt the textbook. Interview results also confirmed that teachers follow all the sequences as presented by textbook writers. Thus, if majority of the teachers follow all activities and contents in sequence as they are presented by textbook writers, it is very difficult to expect them to adapt the activities or supplement the textbook with other materials. As scholars stated, sequences are lockstep in the textbook and this affects the flow of the lesson. Item-19: The other question that the subjects asked was about their experiences in bringing some other materials in the outside world than the textbook and other methods than recommended. Their responses indicated that 50% and 25% of the subjects stated strongly disagree and disagree respectively. This implied that most of them are completely alien about such experiences-thats bringing other materials into the classroom and using other methods than recommended. The other 17% of the subjects stated that they bring other materials into the classroom to assist the textbook and use methods which they think could best fit in well with the situation of their actual classroom. And the rest 8% of them remained undecided. Interview results substantiated the
57

results in the questionnaire and so did the observation session. But scholars stated that using supplementary materials has some share of benefits. Therefore, regarding using other materials and methods in the classroom, majority of the respondents were not in a position to use other materials and methods than the textbook as they heavily rely on their textbooks. Item-20: The subjects were asked about their experience in adapting the contents and activities. The figures indicated that 42% and 33% of the subjects do not adapt either the contents or activities as their response was strongly disagree and disagree respectively. And the other 17% of them do adapt the contents and activities in the textbook accordingly. It showed that only these groups of the subjects are really aware of the benefits of adapting an activity. The rest 8% of the respondents remained undecided. The results from the interview and the observation sessions also revealed that teachers teach materials in the textbook as it stands. Thus, majority of the subjects do not adapt the contents and activities in the textbook as they teach everything as it stands. Item-21: Respondents were also asked if they are experienced in omitting irrelevant or unsuitable activities in the textbook. As the responses indicated, 75% and 17% of the subjects replied agree and strongly agree respectively. This implied that majority of the subjects do omit irrelevant activities. And the other 8% of them remained undecided. Therefore, it is possible conclude that majority of the subjects omit irrelevant and unsuitable activities but the subjects stated that these omitted activities are not replaced by another activities. The interview result also substantiated this finding, but during the observation session the researcher didnt observe any of the subjects doing this activity. It may be because of the smaller number of sessions observed. Item-22: There are varieties of techniques to tailor textbooks in any way. For instance, replacing, adding, omitting etc. Regarding this, subjects were asked if they do some of these in their teaching. As the table showed, 58% of the subjects replied that they dont replace any of the materials in any situation. It implied that they teach as it is presented by textbook writers. Whether the contents and the activities in the textbook are relevant or not, they teach it without any modification. The other 17% of the subjects really replace activity if it is irrelevant to the students. This group of teachers is really committed and aware on the importance of adapting a textbook. But the rest 25% of the respondents remained undecided for unknown reasons. Hence, one can conclude that majority of the subjects do not replace irrelevant activities by another pertinent materials of their own in any way.

58

Table 9: This table shows teachers challenges while adapting or supplementing. Responses No Item From authorities From exam- From oriented students 23 What challenges you No 1 % 8% No 2 % 17% students parents No % No 9 % 75% Any other

face while adapting?

Item-23: The other question that subjects asked was about challenges that they possibly face while adapting or supplementing a course book. As the table shows, 75% of the subjects replied that they dont have any idea about the challenges. It sounds true that these groups of teachers dont adapt and they face no challenges. This again confirmed that these groups of teachers simply stick to the textbook and they never move any step forward to adapt and supplement it and they avoid challenges through avoiding the practices of adapting and supplementing. The other 17% and 8% of the subjects replied that they confronted various challenges from different sources, vis--vis from exam-oriented students, and authorities respectively. These are the challenges that few teachers faced when they try to adapt and supplement the textbook. However, majority of the teachers avoid challenges by avoiding the practices of adapting and supplementing the textbook.

4.3 Interview Results

This section discussed the data that was gathered through interview. The researcher again interviewed 6 subjects who involved in the questionnaire to ensure validity of data. The subjects reacted to different set of questions differently. And the researcher used proportions to generalize the results. The informants were interviewed was about their opinions regarding the course book that they are currently using with their group of students. Almost all of the interviewed subjects were very positive about the textbook currently in use. As their responses implied, they need textbooks and these books play a pivotal role in their teaching and almost all teachers are course book dependents. There are striking similarities of results among the three tools (i.e. questionnaires, interviews and observation). Teachers attitude towards textbooks is extremely
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positive. If teachers have polarized view with textbooks, it would be difficult to expect them to go beyond it through adapting and supplementing. It is invariably true that the textbook benefits both the teachers and students as it provides them a sense of security and confidence. And the informants stated that they need a textbook in every bit of their lesson, they explained, a textbook is a life and soul of my lesson. The next point was about content adequacy in the textbook. Regarding this, majority of the subjects explained that the contents are inadequate in the textbook. For instance, they stated that the textbook lacks some touch of real life language and some of the topics are not up-to-date. And only insignificant number of the informants explained that the contents are adequate. In relation to this question, they were also interviewed about remedial actions that they take to compensate if contents are inadequate. Their reaction witnessed that majority of the subjects never exert any effort to take any action against what the textbook recommends them to do. Of course this was clearly stated in the questionnaire and substantiated the questionnaire result. Thus, the findings disclosed that majority of the respondents take no action and they simply teach what is presented in the textbook by textbook writers. They were also asked about the techniques that they use to adapt but surprisingly, people who have got the idea of adapting or supplementing do not know the techniques of adapting. Maley (1998) stated that the techniques of adapting are adding, replacing, deleting or extending. These are some of the techniques of adapting a textbook but majority of the respondents specially who have got the idea of adapting or supplementing fail to clearly articulate these techniques. They also faced the question about their practical experience in adapting or supplementing a course book. As the responses show, majority of the subjects are inexperienced in adapting or supplementing their course book. And the other insignificant portion of the subjects is really experienced in adapting and supplementing a textbook. Thus, on the basis of the subjects responses, one can conclude that majority of informants do not adapting or supplementing a textbook. They were also asked why? As their explanations showed, most of them do have their own reasons and their reasons vary considerably. For some of them, challenges from exam-oriented students and others still confront some challenges from school principals. The other reason pointed out by the informants was time constraint. They dont have time to deal with extras. Since the time was allocated in accordance with the contents in the textbook, no need to waste my students time by
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doing something which is not recommended by textbook writers. Hence, we can say that for various reasons majority of the subjects do not seem to adapt or supplement their course books. The other point that the informants interviewed was about the availability of authentic materials in their centres. Concerning this, all of the respondents witnessed that authentic materials like, magazines, newspapers etc, in the target language, are available in their centres. This helps the teachers manage their time because they dont spend much time looking for these materials outside their work place. This is really a very important asset. But majority of the subjects avoid using these materials for a classroom purpose. In relation to this, they were also interviewed about the role of authentic materials in teaching language. Majority of the subjects are very optimist about the roles that these materials play in the language teaching/learning scenario. In spite of their optimistic view, majority of the subjects do not exploit these resources to the maximum to help their students exposed to real life language. Informants were interviewed about their experience in evaluating the contents and the activities in the textbook. Evaluating a textbook is the first step as it demands the teachers professional judgment what to do next, scholars pointed out. Regarding this, most of them were inexperienced in evaluating the textbook. Cultural appropriacy of the contents in the textbook was discussed during the interview. And majority of the respondents answered that there are some elements that are not culturally appropriate in the textbook. One of the respondents experience helps the researcher to strengthen his idea. In the textbook the he uses, there are some items that are totally rubbish. He said the text in one of the units in the textbook was about Kenya. Let alone my students, it was terrible and I faced some difficulty understanding what it was about he added. And this happened because of cultural inappropriacy. This is a very good example about how cultural differences tremendously hamper language learning.

4.4Observation Report
There was absolute freedom for the researcher to visit the library and the SAC (i.e. Self-Access Centre). The researcher randomly chose four teachers (i.e. two in each centre) and observed two lessons in each and the total number of lessons observed was about eight lessons. Two teachers in DebreZeit air force centre and the other two teachers in Addis centres were observed. The span of each lesson was about 30 minutes and the time spent watching one teacher is an hour in two
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lessons and the time spent to observe all teachers altogether was about four hours. On the observation sessions, the researcher has got a very good impression about teachers actual practices on adapting and supplementing their textbooks in the classrooms that they were teaching. The researcher first politely asked the teachers to give him their lesson plans and he was grateful for that as well. The researcher took two days ahead of the actual observation sessions to check the lesson plans in accordance with the textbook and other supplementary materials. And what he saw on their lesson plans throughout was only items in the textbook and there was no pre-planned authentic or some other supplementary materials on their lesson plans. This witnessed that teachers do not use authentic materials for a classroom purpose. And only one of the observed ones had included some authentic materials in his lesson plan. As the observation sessions showed, majority of the teachers who were observed never used any techniques of adapting and supplementing a textbook in any way. In all lessons, the researcher observed almost all the four teachers using their textbook in the sequence they are presented by textbook writers. And the researcher never saw any of the subjects exercising their professional judgment either prioritizing or modifying some parts of the textbook in any way. As a matter of chance, all of the observed teachers were novice teachers and they lack the experience of teaching a great deal. For example, three of them who were observed have got less than three years of the teaching experience. The observation sessions confirmed that much space was given to listening ad reading skills. This substantiated the data gathered through interview as majority of the informants sated that little space was given to speaking and writing. The observed teachers were course book enthusiasts as their lesson plans and their actual lessons disclosed. There were supplementary books (i.e. New inside out, cutting edge, head way, and authentic materials like, magazines, newspapers, pamphlets, etc) in plenty in the library which were brought by the British council but teachers didnt make any effort to bring them into the classroom. For this group of teachers adapting and supplementing seemed a daunting and arduous task. As observed from all sessions, the textbook lacks a real touch of authenticity and most of its parts were contrived. Authentic materials are available in their centres. The researcher can be the witness for this. But majority of the subjects never devoted their time to make use of these authentic materials for their classroom. As the responses from both the questionnaire and interview indicated, most of the respondents have got the idea of adapting and supplementing a course book but practically they never put it into the ground. The data gathered through all the instruments is consistent. Hence, we can conclude that though the subjects have got the idea of
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adapting and supplementing a textbook, majority of them never do it practically in their classroom. This is what was observed on the ground.

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CHAPTER FIVE 5. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 5.1 CONCLUSIONS

This section tried to draw conclusions on the findings. In this study an attempt was made to investigate teachers attitudes towards adapting and supplementing a textbook. Scholars use metaphors to best describe teachers attitudes towards textbooks. The first thing that the study came up with is regarding teachers attitudes towards textbooks. If teachers are course book enthusiasts, it would be difficult to expect them to go beyond it. Hence, the study found out that teachers in the research population heavily rely on textbooks and the metaphor they use to describe the textbook is a textbook is like a stick for a blind person, so the research disclosed that informants are course book enthusiasts. This is regarded as negative, so teachers attitude towards the textbook is negative. Teaching without a textbook is a big headache for them as their response indicated. The other point that the research disclosed is regarding knowing the real needs of students. As the subjects responses indicated, its not the teachers who know the real needs of the students and it is textbook writers who know the needs of the students. Hence, the study found out that teachers in the target population feel that the textbook writers know the students needs much better. If teachers think that textbook writers know the learners needs much better than themselves, its less likely to expect them to adapt or supplement the textbook because textbook writers for them are people who know the real needs of students. Different institutions and teachers use various parameters to measure success in educational setting. But for the teachers in the target population of the study, success is all about relying heavily on the textbook and completing all tasks in it. Therefore, success in teaching for these teachers is covering everything in the textbook bit by bit regardless of the nature of tasks and contents (i.e. either ridiculously easy or incredibly difficult) and their learners needs at large.

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Creativity is one the most important qualities that all teachers need to possess. Scholars stress on the fact that creative teachers are more successful than those who are not. But the subjects revealed that the textbook highly impeded their creativity. Thus, teachers creativity is stifled by the textbook. Textbooks are graded as good if they meet the students level, culturally sensitive and incorporate real life English, as scholars stressed. But, the study came up with the conclusion that the textbook that the subjects currently use doesnt meet the students levels and is not culturally sensitive. On top of that, the textbook has no touch of real life English and contents are not up to date. Moreover, all the four skills are not treated fairly equally as much emphasis was given to listening and reading skills. There are some steps that teachers should follow in the course of their teaching. First adopting, evaluating the contents and activities in light of their students interests and levels as scholars stated. Then, they can exercise their professional judgment either to adapt the contents and activities until it fits well in with the students needs and levels or supplement it with authentic materials. However, teachers who participated in the study revealed that they dont evaluate, adapt and supplement their course book. Therefore, teachers are totally alien about these activities. There are also techniques that teachers use while adapting a textbook. These include, adding, replacing, omitting, expanding etc. However, teachers do not use any of these techniques to adapt the textbook. Hence, teachers who took part in the study disclosed that they never use any of the techniques to adapt their textbook and teach them as it stands. Scholars stated that adapting and supplementing a textbook has tremendous share of benefits which teachers on the ground should do as part of their teaching. Although adapting and supplementing a textbook is a crucial activity, the findings didnt confirm this as teachers stated it as useless activity. Hence, the study came to conclude in such a way that teachers attitude towards adapting and supplementing a course book is negative. And teachers avoid adapting and supplementing for fear of being called lazy and incompetent. Moreover, teachers feel that adapting and supplementing is time consuming.

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To sum up, teachers perceptions and attitudes towards the use of the textbook along with their negative attitudes towards adapting and supplementing a textbook emerged as one of major factors that hindered them from adapting and supplementing the textbook practically. Teachers attitudes towards effectiveness also contributed a lot for their practical experience as they viewed success in terms of covering everything in the textbook. Teachers also pointed out various reasons for failing to adapt and supplement the textbook. For instance, lack of sufficient time, challenges from exam-oriented students, and authorities, and salary complaint as well, were some of these reasons.

5.2 RECOMMENDATIONS
This section recommends some possible options based on the conclusions drawn. First of all, teachers should avoid their polarized view of describing the textbook. They should consider the textbook as one of the materials amongst many. And textbooks are written by people and teachers should think that their ideas are vitally important even to produce a course book. Thus, they should avoid the mentality that textbook writers are people who know the students needs much better than themselves. No, that is not always true. These experts do not write a textbook on the vacuum. And teachers ideas are invaluable assets for textbook writers to produce a textbook and it is the teachers who know the real needs of the students, not textbook writers. Teachers are main actors, not subsidiary figures.This is how teachers should feel about themselves. On top of this, one very important point that teachers should realize is that there is no perfect and complete textbook in the world of teaching-learning scenario. And the textbook that they are currently using is imperfect and incomplete. If this is the case, teachers should do a lot of things to fill these gaps by adapting parts of the textbook using some techniques (i.e. adding, replacing, expanding, etc.) or complementing it with other materials. Teachers should use the textbook flexibly and selectively with some sort of creativity but not necessarily. Teachers should not think that textbooks are the only resources that they have for teaching. Authentic materials play a pivotal role to supplement the textbook and to enhance language learning at large. Thus, teachers should create a judicious blend between the textbook and these materials to entertain variety and maximize language learning. Teachers can produce
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their own materials like task cards. But, when teachers try to produce their own materials, they should consult their colleagues ahead of the time to avoid some slips and win trust from their students. Adapting and supplementing a textbook is a superb activity that all EFL teachers need to do as part of their actual teaching. And teachers avoid this practice for fear of some challenges. Of course, there are obvious challenges that need to be acknowledged, but these are not insurmountable. Teachers shouldnt avoid adapting and supplementing for fear of criticisms and challenges because they again tremendous benefits to build up their confidence and competence out of it apart from assisting their students learning. However, they should take the necessary care to avoid some inconveniences. There are situations in which adapting and supplementing would be of crucial importance. For instance, when the textbook fails to meet the culture of the users, skills are not treated fairly equally, contents are not adequate and not up to date, etc. these are some of the situations that teachers should go beyond the textbook. Although adapting and supplementing a textbook is a useful activity, it needs a coordinated effort, and teachers are still the main actors. Schools and institutes should support teachers in a number of ways. For instance, teachers should be free, and materials should be available up on request. On top of this, professional development training sessions should be organized to help teachers think beyond the curtain. Schools and institutes should encourage teachers to bring new and unusual approaches that benefit their students. School authorities should also encourage teachers when they come up with clear aims of using supplementary materials. Their moral and financial encouragement is also vitally important for teachers to think on their feet for the betterment of their teaching. The nature of exams should also be changed from achievement type to proficiency because if it is achievement, teachers may face challenges from exam-oriented students, but in proficiency types, students only need input for real life communication in the real world. Last but not least, textbook writers should also recommend teachers to sometimes use other pertinent materials. This becomes realistic in close coordination with schools and institutes and the community at large.
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Appendix- A

Dear teachers, First of all, I really admire your kind cooperation to answer these questions. The purpose of this study is to investigate teachers attitudes and practices on adapting and supplementing a textbook. Thus, the researcher believes that without your genuine cooperation, this study will not achieve its intended objective(s). One thing that the researcher assures you is that your responses will not be disclosed to a third party without your consent in any way and will be kept confidential. This questionnaire has two parts. The first part is choice and the second part is ticking in the box that best reflects your opinion and experience. Title-----------Centre------------Employment year-------------Qualification--------------------Experience -----------------A. QUESTIONNAIRE

Circle the letter of your choice that best reflects your experience. PART-1
1. Which metaphor best reflect you opinion about textbooks? Textbooks are A- Like a map for a traveler in the unknown country B- Like a stick for a blind man. C- Like a safety net 2. Who do you think knows the needs of students much better? A- Textbook writers B- The teachers State if any---------------------------68

3. To what extent the contents and activities in the textbook meet the students level? A- To a greater extent B- To some extent C- To a lesser extent D- Never meet students level 4. Have you ever taught English language without a textbook? A- Yes B- No 5. Is there a balanced inclusion of the four skills (i.e. reading, speaking, writing and listening) in the textbook? A- Yes B- No 6. Do you evaluate your textbook? A- Yes B- No 7. If yes to Q. 8, what aspects of the textbook do you evaluate? A- Contents and activities B- The methods and approaches State if any------------------------------------------

8. Have you ever adapted or supplemented the textbook in a way that best suits your students? A- Yes B- No

9. If you are inexperienced in adapting or supplementing, what are your reasons, for failing to do so? A- The textbook is more than enough B- I dont have any idea about it and unsure how to do C- Why should I bother with extras with this meager salary State if any___________________________
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PART-2

Read the questions very carefully and put numbers from (1-5) in the table that best reflects your point. If you strongly agree(SD)=5, disagree(D)=4, agree(A)= 3, strongly agree(SA)=2, undecided(UD)=1 SD 1 The provides comprehensible input for language learning 2 I couldnt teach textbook D A SA UD

without a textbook 3 Adapting and

supplementing is a very useful activity 4 Effectiveness in

teaching is a matter of covering everything

in the textbook 5 Supplementing textbook a with

authentic materials is a waste of time 6 I avoid adapting and supplementing a

textbook for fear of being called lazy or

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incompetent 7 The textbook affects my creativity 8 I follow the

textbooks

methods,

contents and activities as they stand 9 I try to find out other materials and

methods that best suit the students needs 10 I adapt the contents and activities in the textbook 11 I adapt the methods suggested textbook 12 I omit the exercise in the textbook if it is irrelevant unsuitable. 13 I replace the contents and activities if they are unsuitable 14 If my students do not like an activity, I skip it without replacing it by another one. or in the

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B. INTERVIEW QUESTIONS First of all, I would like to thank you for your kind cooperation for this interview on behalf of Addisababa University and myself.

1. What is your opinion about language textbooks? 2. What benefits do you think textbooks have for a. Teachers (i.e. novice teachers)? b. Students? 3. Are the contents adequate in the textbook to enhance language learning? 4. What remedial actions do you take in case of the textbook lacks a balanced inclusion of the four skills and some contents 5. What is your experience in evaluating a textbook? 6. What is your opinion about adapting and supplementing a textbook? 7. What benefits do you think students get from adapting and supplementing a course book? 8. What techniques do you use to adapt the textbook? 9. What challenges do you think teachers face while adapting or supplementing the textbook? And can you tell me your experience regarding this? 10. What is your opinion about authentic materials and their role in language learning? And what authentic materials are available in your base? 11. Some teachers argue, We dont go beyond the textbook. Why should we suffer looking for extras? Do you agree?

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Appendix C

Observation Checklist The researcher used these points to observe teachers pre- or while teaching activities in the classroom. How well they incorporate other materials in their lesson The practice of modifying some parts in the textbook. If teachers bring authentic materials to supplement the textbook Whether other supplementary materials are available or not in the cenrtres. To what extent the lesson plan matches up with the textbook and the extent to which teachers stick to their lesson plans.

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Appendix- D

INTERVIEW SCRIPT This is entirely the transcription of what the teachers replied to the set of questions. The number of questions may vary from teacher to teacher accordingly as some of their explanations breed another question. The researcher tries to put what the respondents explained in black and white. Teacher-1 Place of work addisababa Responsibility- teaching Q1. What is your opinion about language textbooks that you are currently using? Reaction: language textbooks in my opinion the one which is published here in Ethiopia. Some of them they are good and some of them are not that much good. Q2. What benefits textbooks have for both teachers and students? Reaction: actually, textbooks have equal opportunity for both teachers and students. The language which the teachers to teach and the language which students can easily follow. Q3. Are the contents adequate in the textbook? Reaction: the contents in my opinion, its not that much good. Because some of them are out of the culture. Some of them are something students cant understand and teachers cant understand it properly. Q4. What remedial actions do you take when contents are not adequate? Reaction: Are you saying with the syllabus? Explanation: The contents or skills? Reaction: if such kinds of things are there, the teacher has to adapt or have to refer to different books that the students can easily understand. They cant like that. Q6.Do you evaluate textbooks? Reaction: yes, I evaluate it. Q7. What do think about adapting and supplementing a textbook? Reaction: Adapting needs time. It needs you have to read a lot of books to adapt because sometimes too difficult. By considering those things teachers need to adapt.
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Q8.what benefits students get from adapting? Reaction: yes. Sometimes the students get bored if you follow the same kind of materials. When you adapt from magazines from the newspapers, you are including varieties into your lesson. The students will be eager [] Q9. Have you ever adapted or supplemented a textbook? Reaction: yes. Q10. What authentic materials are there in your centre? Reaction: magazines, newspapers etc. Q11. Do you think language can be taught using authentic materials? Reaction: yes. Q12. What challenges do you think teachers face while adapting or supplementing a course book? Reaction: yes. Thats the problem when they adapt. It needs as I have got time. follow the textbook. Q13. Some teachers argue we dont want ot go beyond the textbook. Why should we suffer looking for extras?Do you agree? Reaction: no. sometimes adapting teaching beyond the textbook, it will be good for students and good for teachers. Students would get bored if teachers teach the same book again and again and again. If you go beyond the textbook ,thats you have to use other materials from different newspapers for extra materials, thats for himself, he has to read for the students they will be teaching different materials in the classroom. Teacher-2 Place of work: Debrezeit Responsibility: teaching Q1. What is your opinion about language textbooks that you are currently using? R. oh..Well. I think they are very excellent and very good. Q2 What advantages R Well, for teachers, textbooks make life easy. Because text books are ready made and excellent. Everything is good. So there is no extra job that I can do..I do not think there are disadvantages of course book for the teacher.I mean, life is easy for the students in the course book They have their own course book They can do it at home as a home work or class work. No problems.
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Q3 Do you think contents.. R I think so.Ya.. They are adequate. Q4 Are all skills included R. Ya.There are even vocabulary tasks, there are passages, her are Pronunciations works. So everything is included. Q4 Do you follow in sequence./ R Yes. Page by page task by task. Q5 What is your opinion about adaptation and supplementing? R. Well In my case, I have a very good text book, so I think I have no idea about adapting or supplementing. Q6 Do you know what techniques..? R I am not sure about that Q7 What challenges do you think teachers face while adapting or supplementing? R Ok. Well. The first thing is If you consider my case, I never thought of adapting because I have got a very good text book and there is no need to worry about adaptation and supplementation. I dont know about others, because you have to think adaptation or supplementation may be if you have a course book like mine []. Q8. Have you ever adapted or supplemented your textbooks? Reaction: No. never. Not at all. Q9. Can you tell me your reasons for failing to adapt or supplement? Reaction: Ask I told you earlier, my book is nice no need to adapt and even I try my best []. The textbook is excellent, so no need to worry about adapting or supplementing. Q10. Are the contents culturally appropriate? Reaction: as I see it, yes. Everything is incorporated. The students like it. I also like it. It seems life is easy for me. Q11. Are there authentic materials in your centre? Reaction: yes. There are many authentic materials. Like magazines, newspaper, Ethiopian herald, these are some of the examples. Q12. Do you use authentic materials to teach language?
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Reaction: what for? As I said, my course book is nice. Q13. Some teachers argue, We dont want to go beyond the textbook. Why should we suffer looking for extras do you agree? Reaction: partially I agree. Because the reason why you dont go beyond the course book is maybe you dont have time. The other reason is because I have a nice course book. If you have such books, what is the need for [] plus to that payment. The job you do and the money you get may not encourage you to go beyond the course book. Q14. Do you mean salary complaint? Reaction: yes. If they dont pay you much, you may not go beyond it. Teacher-3 Place of work: Debrezeit Responsibility: teaching Q1. What is your opinion about the language textbooks that you are currently using? Reaction: they are ok, more or less. The problem is you cant cover the contents with the allotted time and always find this difficulty. Thats the problem. Otherwise they are ok with the content and other aspects. Q2. What benefits do you think textbooks have for both teachers and students? Reaction: for example, for teachers, they have benefits. The teacher shouldnt worry about what he has to teach, so the content everything the exercise, all things are there. Therefore, the teacher has to follow the textbook. Students are also benefited from the textbook because you know ahead of time they can have text book in their hands, and they can read it, they can do exercises, so I think text book has benefit for both teachers and students. Q Do you all the.. R. I can say yes. You know the reason? As you know sometimes the grading system is not good. Some topics could be, they can be put at front and the other at the end. So you can get difficulties when you teach and you should expect that they should be sequentially from simple to difficult. But you know? If you jump, from the beginning and start the last one, it will be confusing. In the first place students do not accept you. They will have question about what the teacher is doing, so even though you see the difficulties follow the sequence from the beginning to the last. Q Are the contents adequate? R What do you mean when you say adequate? Q Adequate means..
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R I know it means enough. In what terms in content wise or Q Content wise. To enhance language learning R I think so As far as the text book I am using, they have verity and they have context Q To what extent .. R sometimes this has lack. As you see, many of the contents of the passage are copy past. They have taken some where without considering familiarity for example, I remember when I teach English. The topic was about the Kenyan people. You know, Ethiopians were not familiar about these issues. Even I was not familiar with that. So I dont know it tells me and I couldnt. I face problemthe topics are not familiar. Q What remedial action.. R. As myself, I should work be. I should be

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Declaration I, the undersigned, declare that this is my original work and has not been presented for any degree in any university and all the sources of materials used for the thesis have been duly acknowledged. Name_______________________ Signature__________ This thesis has been recommended for oral examination.

___________________________ Advisor

____________ Signature

_____________ Date

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