A TEXTBOOK STORY FROM THE ‘HOUSE OF TESEP’

1. Skip to content Skip to navigation A TEXTBOOK STORY FROM THE ‘HOUSE OF TESEP’ ALICE KIAI Department of English Catholic University of Eastern Africa Centre for Applied Linguistics 46th IATEFL ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ELT Coursebooks: past, present and possible symposium 21 March 2012

2. MAPPING THE TERRITORY IDEOLOGY IN TEXTBOOKS PRODUCTION OF TEXTBOOKS USE OF TEXTBOOKS • Place of materials in the TESOL curriculum; • Content analyses; • Accounts of the design process from authors and publishers • Need for research on materials production and use • Need for research that facilitates exchange among syllabus planners, authors, publishers, teachers and learners What does a ‘conceptualization to the classroom’ research perspective reveal about textbook development in a TESEP context? Alice Kiai Centre for Applied Linguistics The University of Warwick

3. AIM • To contribute a TESEP perspective to textbook research arising from the particularities of the educational publishing context of this study Holliday’s (1994) BANA/TESEP distinction helps distinguish the instrumental/languageschool orientation found in much of the textbook literature from the institutional orientation arising from this study which focuses on locally produced secondary level school textbooks for Kenyan learners Alice Kiai Centre for Applied Linguistics The University of Warwick

4. MY MOTIVATION • Participation in authorship of secondary school English series for local publisher (2002-2005) • Post - authorship experience of materials in use while observing my BEd. students on Teaching Practice • Post - authorship experience of interacting with teachers through textbook promotion by publishers • Change in educational publishing: a shift from state monopoly towards liberalization of the textbook market Alice Kiai Centre for Applied Linguistics The University of Warwick

5. EARLY VISUALIZATION OF THE STUDY KIE Curriculum and Syllabus English Textbook Form and Content The Classroom Teachers and Learners The Publishers Editors and Authors Alice Kiai Centre for Applied Linguistics The University of Warwick

6. OBJECTIVES • To analyze the textbook as a teaching and learning resource. • To describe the life cycle of a textbook from conceptualization to the classroom. • To explore interrelationships evident among the different stakeholders in textbook development. Alice Kiai Centre for Applied Linguistics The University of Warwick

7. APPROVED SECONDARY ENGLISH TEXTBOOKS(MoE, 2010) Alice Kiai Centre for Applied Linguistics The University of Warwick

8. METHODOLOGY • Preliminary Work • Preliminary Survey questionnaire to teachers (103 responses) • Content analysis of the 2002 English syllabus (current) • Analysis of Textbook • Content analysis using Littlejohn’s (1992, 1998) framework • (4 students’ books and teachers’ guides) • Interviews • Curriculum developer (KIE) (1 participant) • Publisher and authors (2, 4 participants) • Teachers (17 participants) • Classroom Observation • 4 English lessons with 4 different teachers and their learners using the selected textbook Alice Kiai Centre for Applied Linguistics The University of Warwick

9. PROCESSES IN THE CIRCUIT OF CULTURE Components were held together and explored by adopting and adapting the Circuit of Culture (Gray, 2010) as a theoretical framework • Representation: how meaning is inscribed in the way artefacts are represented, either visually and/or verbally. • Identity: social identities and lifestyles associated with the artefact. • Regulation: how political, economic and other factors regulate the circulation of meanings. • Production: how the artefact is designed, produced and marketed. • Consumption: how consumers can identify themselves as members of a group or make identity statements about themselves through their consumption and use of commodities. Alice Kiai Centre for Applied Linguistics The University of Warwick

10. SOME FINDINGS • RQ1: WHAT DOES EACH PROCESS (MOMENT) IN THE CIRCUIT OF CULTURE CONTRIBUTE TO THE TEXTBOOK BIOGRAPHY? Outstanding Features • Representation/Identity: • Prevalence of reading texts; • Learner as decoder of meaning, seeker and producer of knowledge; • Teacher as authority, guide, decision maker. • Regulation/Production: • Syllabus designers overtly focused on ‘integration’; • Syllabus designers focused on 3 hypothesis in Krashen’s Monitor Model; • Producers generated own reading content as the fulcrum for each unit. • Consumption: • Teachers and learners appreciated most the reading content; • Suggested learner-to-learner interactional opportunities in the classroom were often sidestepped. Alice Kiai Centre for Applied Linguistics The University of Warwick

11. SOME EVIDENCE FOR RQ1 General format for a unit in the textbook One of the things that emerged from the students is that the books were boring ...boring passages, long passages.... ...virtually every passage is new...something fresh...It was more based on the research...people want interesting things. ... Editor, speaking on pre-writing research findings and subsequent decision for authors to generate reading content Alice Kiai Centre for Applied Linguistics The University of Warwick

12. SOME EVIDENCE FOR RQ1 (Cont.) Why is it that they are taking more interest in this Close Shave? Teacher on the capacity of Close Shave to engage his learners My textbook is: exciting, funny, entertaining, a comic book, a friend... Learners describe their coursebook in relation to Close Shave In our moments of story telling...somebody would tell a funny one... Authors on genesis and rationale for Close Shave ...to sweeten the pill of language learning ...the bait on the hook Alice Kiai Centre for Applied Linguistics The University of Warwick

13. THE POSSIBLE? • The Linkage Model (Havelock, 1969) • Links users, near and remote resource systems in problem-solving • Implies need for: • Strengthening of research among participants in all groups • Greater and sustained collaboration and feedback across different groups Alice Kiai Centre for Applied Linguistics The University of Warwick

14. CONCLUSION • A textbook journey from conceptualization to the classroom via the circuit of culture shows the potential for textbook development studies to be part of a problem-solution and good practice dynamic drawing input from regulators, producers and consumers of materials. • Further study, especially of teacher-textbook-learner relationships within the consumption moment is required of practitioners and researchers. Alice Kiai Centre for Applied Linguistics The University of Warwick

15. Thank You Alice Kiai Centre for Applied Linguistics The University of Warwick