Sustainable Suitability of Q Skills for Success EFL Listening and Speaking Textbook 1 at PSAU in the KSA

Abstract

Textbooks play a crucial role in English Language Teaching (ELT) classrooms by providing teachers and students with reliable, valuable, and self-directed information. A sustainable evaluation of ELT textbooks is essential for effective language teaching and learning. Therefore, it is necessary to conduct careful and ongoing evaluations to determine whether textbooks meet the needs of students, instructors, administrators, textbook publishers, and curriculum developers. This paper discusses the process of textbook evaluation in depth and offers a brief overview of various approaches for assessing ELT textbooks and content, drawing on the perspectives of McDonough et al. (2013), Richards (2014), and Tomlinson (2013). Additionally, this paper outlines criteria for evaluating materials and explains how to develop criteria for assessing English language textbooks. The evaluation checklist utilized in this study is a modification of Cunningsworth’s (1995) checklist, as adapted by Al-sowat (2012). This checklist includes nine key aspects of textbook evaluation: (1) layout and physical appearance; (2) content; (3) objectives; (4) language type; (5) skills; (6) activities and tasks; (7) structure and vocabulary; (8) cultural values; and (9) teacher's needs. In conclusion, the analysis revealed that while the textbook was suitable for level-1 EFL university students, it had weaknesses in language type, skills, structures, vocabulary, teacher's needs, activities, tasks, and cultural values. The teacher's manual helped teachers understand the objectives, but the layout and physical appearance were inadequate.