Résumé:
The present study aims at evaluating the reading component of the Algerian first year
secondary school textbook „At the Crossroads‟. It also attempts to find whether the reading
content of the textbook is in accordance with the principles of the competency-based
approach, and whether it is designed with relevance to learners‟ needs and interests. This
study is directed by the hypothesis that teachers should apply the CBA principles and the
reading componentshould correspondto the learners‟ interests and needs for
effectiveteaching and learning of reading using the textbook.Put into practice, both
qualitative and quantitative research tools have been utilized. An adapted version of a
reading textbook evaluation checklist has been adopted to evaluate the strengths and
weaknesses of the textbook in terms of the reading component.In addition to that, a
questionnaire was submitted to a sample of 21 out of 114 secondary school teachers of
English in Jijel, in hope to know about their views on the suitability of the reading
component in the first year secondary school textbook and on the correspondence of
teachers‟ practices to the principles of the CBA. The research findings revealed that
teaching reading was not all the time done as suggested by the CBA, and that the reading
component presented in the textbook doesn‟t meet the learners‟ needs and interests, the
teachers expectations, and most of the criteria the checklist suggested. Thus,the
findingsconfirm the previously made hypothesis and revealed that teachers were not very
satisfied with the teaching of reading using the textbook. On the basis of these results,some
pedagogical recommendations are suggested for more efficient and effective teaching of
reading to take place.
