Investigating EFL Coursebook Research in Turkey: Trends in Graduate Theses of the 2001-2013 Period

Abstract

The transformation of coursebook publishing into an industrial giant has brought about variety, choice, and difficulty of decision making. As coursebook selection profoundly influences the quality of foreign language instruction in Turkey, it is essential to investigate what kind of instruments are used, which method is followed, what criteria are sought and how relevant parties are affected by its results. Therefore, 54 graduate theses evaluating EFL coursebooks in the 2001-2013 period were taken from the CoHE Thesis Center. The documentary data were subjected to content analysis by using the thesis categorisation form for describing research trends, determining shared evaluative criteria and variable patterns, and providing recommendations for the future. It was revealed that: (i) studies dealing with EFL coursebook evaluations accelerated after MoNE' s program changes, (ii) while not even half were designed with mixed methods research, qualitative theses concentrated on document analysis of coursebooks, (iii) teacher and student views were surveyed by means of similar Likert scales adapted from previous checklists, (iv) other sample groups like parents, administrators, authors, and publishers were either underrepresented or not represented at all, (v) correlational descriptive studies frequently compared teacher and student views against similar categorical variables, (vi) the need for deeper, experimental, and innovative research was completely overlooked and multivariate analyses were never employed, (vii) despite their variety, local coursebooks received more focus but were met with user disapproval due to persistent deficiencies in design, content, methodology, and skills, (viii) whereas global coursebooks were appreciated for their communicative methodology, integrated skills instruction, authenticity, and cultural content, and (ix) instead of exploratory research, they tended to recommend replications with larger or different populations and on different coursebooks.

2014 Yılında Eğitim Teknolojileri Alanındaki Yayımlanan Makalelerin İncelenmesi

“…Other than the aforementioned ones, the least used methods were the ones that the researchers applied for introducing the technologies they developed. Similar to this study, there are some other studies in the relevant literature which found that the majority of the studies applied quantitative method most (Şimşek et al, 2008;Gülbahar and Alper, 2009;Şimşek et al, 2009;Göktaş et al, 2012;Kiliç-Çakmak et al, 2013;Kılıç Çakmak et al 2015). It can be concluded from these findings that quantitative methods have been applied quite sufficiently in educational technologies, and researchers should give weight to qualitative, mixed and literature review methods as well.…”

Öğretmenlerin Bakış Açısından MEB İngilizce Ders Kitaplarının Etkililiği

“…The activities do not motivate students for autonomous responses; instead, they encourage students to work in pairs or groups. Şimşek and Dündar (2017) note that teachers should study their content after choosing a textbook and make preparations accordingly. An adaptation process generally follows this.…”

Pre-service English Teachers’ Views on Coursebook Evaluation and Designing Supplementary Materials

“…Regarding the theses conducted on coursebook use in Turkey, Şimşek and Dündar (2017) investigated how graduate theses tacked the issue of coursebook use and evaluation in Turkey between 2001 and 2013. The authors analyzed 54 graduate theses, and in the light of the findings, it was determined that the studies mostly focused on the evaluation of the coursebooks used in the schools and obtained teachers' and student views on varied coursebooks through similar questionnaires and checklists.…”

“…This activity seemed to enable them to consider the general teaching principles as well as the language teaching practices. As indicated by Şimşek and Dündar (2017), it is of vital importance that teachers be trained in the evaluation and adaptation strategies. Despite the promising benefits of designing supplementary activities, some concerns were also voiced by the participants such as the amount of time needed.…”