It cannot be denied that the textbook production starts from the textbook users’
needs. As Figure 1 indicates, the identification of need for materials is the first stage of the production of new or adapted materials. After the needs of textbook users are explored, the publishers begin to compile new materials or revise them. Then, after the materials are used, the evaluation starts its way and offers feedback to the other stages of the material production. The purpose of the present study is to elicit textbook users’ post-use evaluation of the current English textbooks and thus the evaluation will offer feedback to the adaptation or production of textbooks.
Figure 1. A Teacher’s Path through the Production of New or Adapted Materials (Adapted from Bolitho & Jolly, 1998: 98)
In addition to Figure 1, Nunan (1988) cited Richards’ suggestion in 1984:
“[N]eeds analysis serves three main purposes: to provide a means of obtaining wider input into the content, design, and implementation of a language program; to be used in developing goals, objectives, and content; and to provide data for reviewing and evaluating an existing program” (p.43).
For these reasons, Masuhara (1998: 240-1) further classified needs into three main categories by the ownership: learners’ needs, teachers’ needs, and administrators’ needs. Among these three groups, learners’ and teachers’ needs are the focuses of the present study. Thus, the following list excludes the administrators’
needs, as shown in Table 5:
Table 5. Needs Identified in Needs Analysis Literature (Masuhara, 1998: 240-1) Ownership Kind Source
Personal
needs Age; sex; cultural background; interests; educational background
Learners’
needs
Learning
needs Learning styles; previous language learning experiences;
gap between the target level and the present level in terms of knowledge (e.g., target language and its culture);
(continued)
Learning
needs gap between the target level and the present level in terms of proficiency in various competence areas (e.g., skills, strategies); learning goals and expectations for a course
Requirements for the future undertakings in terms of knowledge of language, knowledge of language use, L2 competence
Personal needs
Age; sex; cultural background; interests; educational background; teachers’ language proficiency
Teachers’
needs
Professional needs
Preferred teaching styles; teacher training experience;
teaching experiences
Dubin and Olshtain (1985) further proposed that it is necessary to specify objectives for expected achievement at each stage. For example, after students graduate from junior high school, most of them may continue to study in academic senior high schools, while there are still others who have different purposes of learning English. Therefore, the expected needs of JHS English textbook users become a significant issue for the present study to examine through questionnaires and interviews with teachers and 9th graders. In particular, 9th graders are going to graduate from junior high school, and it is possible that they have different learning needs and goals in junior high school.
Moreover, Masuhara (1998: 242) differentiated three kinds of teachers’ needs based on how they are identified: self-perceived needs, needs perceived by others, and objectively measured needs. These perceptions were suggested to be collected through questionnaires and interviews. The details are as follows:
(1) Self-perceived needs:
the needs which are reported by the teacher. These are what teachers themselves can articulate.
(2) Needs perceived by others:
the needs of the teachers which they are not aware of and thus cannot articulate themselves and which are perceived by others (e.g., colleagues, teacher-trainers, researchers) in response to qualitative data (e.g., observation of the teacher’s training, analyzing the
tendency in interview and questionnaire responses of the teacher).
(3) Objectively measured needs:
the needs which are identified in objective studies in which quantified data is collected, analyzed, and interpreted by a third party who tried to be detached, unbiased, and accurate.
(Masuhara, 1998: 242)
In addition, Graves (2000) as well as Richards (2001) both proposed some instruments to assess textbook users’ needs. Both of their proposals include questionnaires and interviews. These suggestions help the present study to establish a rationale in the construction of questionnaires and interviews to analyze textbook users’ needs. Davies (2006) also agreed that questionnaires designed for learners could obtain helpful information to contribute to better course provision.
Based on these insights, in order to elicit textbook users’ self-perceived needs of textbooks, the questionnaires in the present study offered open-ended questions for participants to describe their suggestions for future textbook compilation. As for the collection of the other two types of needs, closed-formed questionnaires and semi-structural interviews were conducted to gather participants’ perceptions which were further quantitatively and qualitatively analyzed. The details of questionnaires and interviews are described in Chapter Three.
With regard to learners’ needs, its significance lies in the textbook writers’
minds, as the introduction of JHS English textbooks claims: “this set of English textbook is designed to develop students’ language skills and cultivate their learning interests” (Joy Enterprises Organization, 2010; Kan Hsuan Educational Publisher, 2010). From their claims, we can perceive that students’ interests and needs are textbook writers’ priorities. To understand students’ needs more, they must be involved in the textbook evaluation. For this reason, questionnaires and interviews were conducted to stimulate students to articulate their needs.
To sum up, in the process of textbook evaluation, needs of textbook users cannot be excluded. To offer more comprehensive information for future textbook compilation, it is necessary to gather both teachers’ and students’ perceptions through the use of questionnaires and interviews.