TESL In-Service Teachers' Experiences When Evaluating an Oral History Workbook

Abstract

The implementation of the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) in English curriculum has led to the use of CEFR aligned foreign textbooks in Malaysian schools. However, the application of CEFR English textbooks from the United Kingdom has encountered a few oppositions as the advocates of Malaysian-based textbooks believe that English should be written contextually by emphasizing the local cultures and histories. In lieu of this, a group of in-service teachers in a Master's course had developed and evaluated each other's Oral History materials. The research objectives are to find out what are the material evaluation criteria frequently attended to by in-service TESL teachers when evaluating an oral history workbook and to what extent the inservice teachers have gained from evaluating oral history workbook developed by their peers. A mixed methodology research approach using basic frequency count, percentage value and qualitative data was employed in this study. Data was gathered from 109 in-service TESL teachers via their Personal Reflective Journal (PRJ), which they had written after evaluating an oral history workbook based on Tomlinson's and Mukundan's evaluation checklists. The findings identified the frequently attended criteria by the in-service teachers and that there are new criteria that can be added to the evaluation checklists. It is anticipated that this study could encourage educators to develop their own classroom materials, and material evaluators to consider the use of locally based English textbook and a revision to the material evaluation checklists to reflect current 21 st century pedagogy.

The Use of CEFR-Aligned Textbooks among English Language Teachers: A Systematic Literature Review

“…This is because many teachers believe that learning that requires students to communicate in English can improve students' English proficiency. This is also supported by Abdul ; Abdul Aziz and Makhtar (2021); Ahamat and Kabilan (2022); Calafato (2021); Calafato and Simmonds (2022); Gopal, Maniam and Nallaluthan (2023); Ustunbas and Ortactepe (2016); Oi (2016) who said that teaching strategies that require students to communicate such as 'retelling' or 'role-play' can help improve the level of English mastery even by using textbooks. In addition, teaching strategies that emphasise communication at the same time force students to use the English language they have mastered and, at the same time, increase students' confidence to use English as well as the language knowledge they have (Abdul ).…”

“…In general, these three sub-themes are among the challenges faced by English teachers from various countries and can have negative impacts on the effectiveness of CEFR-Aligned English textbooks. The first sub-theme identified is the challenge of cultural and contextual differences found in the textbook (Abdul Abdul Aziz & Makhtar, 2021;Calafato, 2021;Gopal et al, 2023;Lukas et al, 2020;Oi, 2018). This challenge is the highest expressed finding of the three sub-themes that have been identified in the 13 selected articles.…”

“…The highest strategy used by teachers from various countries is to use a communication-centred strategy during the teaching process. Overall, there are ten articles that state that teachers have challenges with cultural or context differences found in textbooks (Abdul Abdul Aziz & Makhtar, 2021;Calafato, 2021;Gopal, Maniam & Nallaluthan, 2023;Lukas et al, 2020;Oi, 2018). Five articles state the challenges of teachers in the diversity in abilities and language level of the students (Calafato & Simmonds (2022); Gopal, Maniam & Nallaluthan (2023); Oi (2018); Towns (2020); Ustunbas & Ortactepe, (2016) and two articles stating time constraints as a challenge for teachers in using CEFR-Aligned English textbooks (Calafato (2021); Towns ( 2020)).…”

“…contexts from the local culture make the level of student's mastery of the English language low (Abdul Aziz & Makhtar, 2021). Other than that, cultural differences and contradictions with local cultures found in CEFR-Aligned English textbooks also have a negative impact on the teaching and learning process if the foreign culture discussed is too foreign to students (Towns, 2020).…”

Malaysian English Language Teachers’ Willingness, Readiness, Needs and Wants to Develop Graphic Oral History ELT Materials

“…Malaysia's aspiration to upgrade the quality of English language education in its public schools has led the Ministry of Education to adopt the Common European Framework for Reference (CEFR) as a performance benchmark, ensuring that Malaysian students achieve a level of English language proficiency aligned to the international standards (Abdul Aziz & Makhtar, 2021;Don et al, 2015). The CEFR entailed utilizing ELT materials that align with its guidelines and objectives; thus, the local ELT textbooks were deemed inadequate, and the Ministry of Education decided to rely on imported UK-published coursebooks produced by Cambridge University Press and MacMillan (Abdul Ahamat & Kabilan, 2022).…”