An Investigation of the Textbook Adaptation Strategies Used by Middle School Teachers of English

Abstract

The current study has investigated the textbook adaptation strategies used by middle school teachers of English as a foreign language. The research departed from the assumption that middle school teachers of English practise adapting textbook materials in their classes, and it strived to explore the different types of textbook adaptation strategies they use. Also, it investigated whether there is a difference between novice and experienced teachers in terms of their use of these adaptations, as well as their rationale behind adapting textbook materials. Therefore, in order to achieve the aims of the study, a descriptive quantitative approach was used for both data collection and interpretation by using a questionnaire responded by 70 second year middle school teachers of Jijel in order to investigate their perceptions of the currently used textbook (2MS My Book of English) and the way they adapt it to cope with the learners needs and interests. The research results revealed that the most frequently used textbook adaptation strategies are respectively: simplification and replacement. The main reasons for textbook adaptations are basically related to some teachers’ factors, time factors, materials nature and students’ factors respectively.