CRITICAL ESP TEXTBOOK EVALUATION: THE CASE OF VISUAL ARTS TEXTBOOK

Abstract

http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/sm-2017-0020

Since textbooks are one of the integral components of the learning process,their evaluation is important to improve their correspondence to the learners’ needs andgoals. Particularly, in societies in which English is used as a foreign language, ESP textbooksplay a crucial role in developing students’ skills of English in job-related situations. Thepresent paper discusses the quality of ESP textbooks by performing a case study of anEnglish for Specific Purposes (ESP) textbook “English for the students of Visual Arts(Painting, Graphics, & Sculpture)” developed and published by SAMT as the pioneer indeveloping ESP textbooks in Iranian academic setting. The study tries to investigate theoverall suitability and pedagogical value of the ESP textbook and the features which make itdistinguishable among its global counterparts. The study was carried out by drawing on amodel proposed by McDonough and Shaw (2003), with an intention to evaluate the presentquality of the Visual Arts ESP textbook critically. Both visual and content-based aspects ofthe book were thoroughly evaluated to identify their general pedagogical value by using themethod of qualitative descriptive analysis. In that way, the Visual Arts textbook wasanalysed on the basis of the framework and guidelines suggested in the available checklist.In addition, semi structured interviews with graduate students, English instructors, subjectspecificinstructors, and experts in Visual Arts Courses such as Painting were performed toclarify their opinions about the need for ESP and to analyze their perceptions of Englishlanguage in general and English for special purposes in particular. The findings of thepresent study have revealed that there is a fundamental necessity for revision anddevelopment of future ESP textbooks in Iranian context. Moreover, the findings imply thattraditional materials and frameworks are not responsive to students’ needs and genreknowledge in majors of the Visual Arts.