An Evaluation of the Reading Component in the Algerian First Year Secondary School Textbook of English “At the Crossroads”

Abstract

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.