Topics of reading passages in ELT coursebooks: What do our students really read?

ARIKAN A.

The Reading Matrix, vol.8, no.2, pp.70-85, 2008 (Peer-Reviewed Journal)

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Volume: 8 Issue: 2
  • Publication Date: 2008
  • Journal Name: The Reading Matrix
  • Journal Indexes: ERIC (Education Resources Information Center)
  • Page Numbers: pp.70-85
  • Akdeniz University Affiliated: No

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to shed light on the nature of the topics of the reading passages in 
ELT coursebooks. To find out the content of the topics, a total number of 15 ELT 
coursebooks are studied by using both quantitative and qualitative measures. The 
discrepancies found are discussed and recommendations are made to underline the 
importance of topic selection in any second and foreign language teaching classroom. As 
for conclusion, English language teachers are invited to consider issues related to the 
topic selection processes in their coursebooks as they assess, choose or use them.