ATTITUDES OF EFL TEACHERS TOWARDS ADAPTING AND

SUPPLEMENTING COURSEBOOKS

Thesis Proposal

enol Okumu
KTU-DELL Applied Linguistics

1. INTRODUCTION
Coursebooks are one of the most important units of language
education. Thus, they are considered as significant for the studies related
to language learning and teaching. According to Demir & Erta (2004), as
they are the unique contributors to content learning, coursebooks are at
the core of any curriculum and they are, perhaps, the most widely used
materials in order to transmit knowledge and skills. Tomlinson (2003)
states that a coursebook helps provide a route map for both teachers
and learners, making it possible for them to look ahead to what will be
done in a lesson as well as to look back on what has been done (p. 39).
That is to say, coursebooks provide a plan for both teachers and students
informing them what to do, what to learn or what to teach.
In addition, coursebooks guide teachers and students in the
education process and mark out the limits and boundaries of the
curriculum supplying standardization throughout a region or a country.
Coursebooks not only serve as the general framework for teachers to
follow in accordance with the curriculum, but they also function as a guide

through the courses offering a wide collection of relevant examples and

practices regardless of the subject matter. (Demir & Erta 2004, 243).

1.2. Statement of the Problem

Coursebooks are widely-used materials in language teaching. EFL teachers
use coursebooks to present the topics in the syllabus because the syllabus
is represented in coursebooks, in other words, coursebooks are prepared
according to the syllabus. For this reason, teachers are supposed to teach
the activities in coursebooks to their students by taking their needs and
interest into account. As Soares (2005) states, there will always be some
aspect in any book in terms of approach, content and presentation that will be
subject to improvement, updating and adaptation. (p.22) Therefore , EFL

teachers need to adapt and supplement the coursebooks with various

activities and make necessary alterations in order to meet students
learning needs
There are many spesific reasons teachers

1.1. Significance of the Study

Since language is essential for people to communicate, people
consider it as an inescapable part of our lives. For this reason, there has
been much research for years on the field of language to find ways to take
more advantage of it as well as learning and teaching it effectively. For this
purpose, English, as the international language is taught by teachers at
schools in almost all the countries throughout the world.
While teaching language, teachers make use of various kinds of
materials. Among these materials, coursebooks are the most referred ones
by teachers in their teaching setting. Thus, teachers generally base their
teaching on the activities included in coursebooks.
As coursebooks play an important role in teaching a language,
teachers are expected to do their best to make more use of the
coursebooks. For this purpose, EFL teachers try to make the coursebooks
more

functional

by

making

necessary

adaptations

on

them

and

supplementing them according to learners needs and interests because it

can be said that there is no perfect coursebook appealing to the interests
and all the needs of students in their learning process. Considering all
these, this study will focus on teachers preferences and attitudes of
adapting and supplementing coursebooks they use in their teaching
process.
Conducting such a research can be regarded as significant because
since the teachers are the implementers of the coursebooks in ELT
settings, their preferences and attitudes on how to adapt and supplement
a coursebook are valuable to have a general idea about the quality of their
teaching considering the extend they take students needs and interests
into considerations while implementing a coursebook.
This study can make a contribution the development of coursebooks
presented to schools by Ministry of National Education (MNE) in Turkey as
this study is expected to show teacherss attitudes on when, why, and
what type of adaptations and supplementations teachers employ while
they are teaching coursebooks in classroom setting.

1.2. Purpose of the Study

The aim of this study is to determine the attitudes of EFL teachers
about adapting and supplementing coursebooks as an important material
they use in their teaching process. The study will seek answers to the
following questions:
1. To what extend EFL teachers adapt and supplement
coursebooks according to students needs and interests?
2. What kind of adaptations and supplementations teachers
employ while using a coursebook to make their teaching more
efficient?
3. What do the adapting and supplementing a coursebook mean
for EFL teachers?

4. What are the EFL teachers barriers/reasons to adapt and

supplement coursebooks?

5. To what extend the attitudes of EFL teachers towards

coursebook adaptation and supplementation change over as
they become more experienced in time?

2. LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1. The Role of Coursebooks
In

teaching

English,

coursebooks

are

indispensable

materials

representing the visible heart of any ELT program (Sheldon 1988). In this
sense, ELT coursebooks have multiple roles in the process of language
teaching.

As

to

Cunningsworth

(1995),

ELT

coursebooks

promote

interaction, serve necessary vocabulary and grammar, provide written and

spoken materials, act as a source for classroom activities and supply the
learners with the chance of self-access and self-directed learning.
The significant role of coursebooks cannot be denied in terms of
language education. According to Harmer (1991):
Where a textbook is involved there are obvious advantages for
both teacher and students. Good textbooks often contain lively
and interesting material; they provide a sensible progression of
language items, clearly showing what has to be learnt and in
some cases summarizing what has been studied so that students
can revise grammatical and functional points that they have
been concentrating on. Textbooks can be systematic about the
amount of vocabulary presented to the student and allow
students to study on their own outside the class. Good textbooks
also relieve the teacher from the pressure of having to think of
original material for every class (p. 257).
2.2. Advantages and Disadvantages of Coursebooks

Coursebooks are one of the most referred language teaching materials by

the EFL teachers. Therefore, it can be regarded plausible to discuss their
advantages and disadvantages in language education.

Ur (2009) states some advantages of coursebooks as: a) coursebook

provides a clear framework, includes a sense of structure and progress
allowing teachers and learners where they are going to and what is
coming next. b) in many cases, coursebooks represent the syllabus. It
includes carefully planned and balanced selection of language content if it
is followed systematically. c) the coursebook includes learning tasks and
text that are suitable for the level of most students in a class, helping the
teachers save time. d) coursebook is the cheapest learning material for
the learners and other materials such as kits, sets of photocopied papers
or computer software are more expensive in terms of the amount of
materials provided. e) a book is a package bringing components together
and make them stay in order. It is portable, having a shape that is easily
packed and stacked. f) coursebooks provide a guidance for inexperienced
teachers and the teachers who occasionally unsure of their knowledge of
language. g) they provide learners with some degree of autonomy as it
allows them to learn new material, review and monitor their own progress
so that they become less teacher-dependent.

Graves (2000) also points out some advantages of using a textbook as follows:
It provides a syllabus for the course because the authors have
_made decisions about what will be learned and in what order.
It provides security for the students because they have a kind of
road map of the course: they know what to expect, they know what
is expected of them.
It provides a set of visuals, activities, readings, etc., and so saves
the teacher time in finding or developing such materials.
It provides teachers with a basis for assessing students' learning.
Some texts include tests or evaluation tools.
It may include supporting materials (e.g., teacher's guide,
cassettes, worksheets, video).

 It provides consistency within a program across a given level, if all

teachers use the same textbook. If textbooks follow a sequence, as
within a series, it provides consistency between levels. (p.174)
When it comes to the disadvantages of using a coursebook, it can be said
that there is no coursebook suitable and satisfactory for meeting the needs of
every class, in other words a coursebook can be inadequate in some cases.
Likewise, the topics covered in a coursebook may not always appeal to students
interests and these topics may not essentially be relevant and convenient for
every class. Moreover, a coursebook may prevent teachers initiative and
creativity with its set structure and sequence, and it may hinder motivation and
cause boredom among learners. Coursebooks have their own teaching/learning
approach; as a result they may not always appeal to learners various kinds
learning styles and strategies. Another problem that can be faced using a
coursebook is its over-easiness; sometimes it is too easy for teachers to follow
the coursebook uncritically instead of using their initiative and the teachers
function as mediators of its content instead of as teachers in their own right.
(Ur, 2009: 185)
The content and examples in coursebooks may not always be appropriate
for studentslevel; some aspects of language may be more focused than others,
or some activities may be more represented in them but others may be ignored
or not equally stressed. Teachers also may have problems while changing the
sequence of the units in the coursebook. The materials included can be out of
date and boring for students. Another important problem with the coursebooks is
that there may be too much activities, heavy load of work, making it unrealistic
to finish/complete the book in the expected period of time. (Graves, 2000)

2.3. Significance of Adapting Coursebooks

Learners are regarded as more important in the teaching process

than teachers, materials, curriculum, methods, or evaluation. Thus,
learners needs should be taken into consideration while designing the
curriculum, materials, teaching methods, and evaluation. In line with this,
teachers are supposed to check the function and suatability of all the

elements in the learning process and if it necessary, they should take the
responsibility to adapt them according to students needs and interest.
(Kitao and Kitao, 1997)
Kitao and Kitao (1997) further discuss the teachers roles in
language instruction. They state that the role of teachers in language
teaching is to provide, make, or choose materials while following the
curriculum. While doing this, they are expected to supplement, adopt and
elaborate on those materials because the choice of deductive vs
inductive learning, the role of memorization, the use of creativity and
problem solving, production vs. reception, and the order in which materials
are presented are all influenced by the materials. (p. 2)
As the coursebooks are most referred teaching materials in language
teaching, it is crucial for teachers to manipulate coursebooks efficiently by
adapting and supplementing them according to students level, needs and
interests. It can be said that there is no perfect coursebook that can meet
the all the needs of students in the process of language learning. Hence,
as Soares (2015) states the heavy reliance on the syllabus of a
coursebooks should be questioned by language teachers. The teachers are
expected to make some adaptations on coursebooks taking the students
needs into account and they should consider all aspects of the learning
process

while

making

adaptations

such

as

curriculum,

classroom

interaction, school regulations and the educational polices.

It is fortunate, as

Soares (2015) points out, that there are

professional teachers who teach with the coursebook instead of teaching

through it. As a result, they can generate new content from within and
from outside the materials by skipping sections, tasks and activities or,
conversely, by modifying and adapting these elements to the real purpose
of the group and concentrate on interpersonal relationships in the class as
well. (p.22)

3. METHODOLOGY
3.1. Participants
The participants in this study include 50 EFL teachers teaching at
different public secondary schools in Turkey. The teachers have different
work experiences, novice and experienced teachers, thus the study is
expected to show whether or not, or to what extend the attitudes of EFL
teachers towards coursebook adaptation and supplementation change
over as they become more experienced in the process of time.
3.2. Data Collection and Instruments
This is a descriptive research study. As Ruane (2005, 12) states
descriptive research offers a detailed picture of some social phenomenon,
setting, experience, group, etc. Descriptive research is also considered as
a survey research and it is defined as a procedure for systematically
collecting

information

about

the

attitudes,

beliefs,

background,

experiences, and behavior of a sample of people by using interviews and

questionnaires (Gray, Williamson, Karp & Dalphin, 2007, 146).
This study aims to examine the views of 50 EFL teachers about
adapting and supplementing coursebooks, so descriptive research design
is selected as the most suitable design for the study. This study employs
purposive sampling because participant group is restricted to the teachers
working at public secondary schools in Turkey.
In order to elicit EFL teachers attitudes towards the adaption and
supplementation of coursebooks, a five-point Likert type questionnaire is
used to collect the necessary data. In addition, 10 voluntary teachers
general conceptions are gathered by using open-ended interviews
prepared by the researcher with the purpose of comparing the results with
the questionnaire to gather more in-depth results for the research.

3.3. Data Analysis

The responses taken from 50 secondary school EFL teachers are

analyzed and the quantitative data collected from the Likert Scale is
analyzed by SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) Software.
Then the results are calculated and shown on tables. Finally, necessary
conclusions are deduced from the tables and interpreted as qualitative
data.
The date obtained from the open-ended interviews will be analyzed
qualitatively by the researcher by explaining the related issues under the
same title. Then, the two groups (novice and experienced teachers) are
compared to see whether there are differences between their attitudes
towards

adapting

and

supplementing

coursebooks.

To

reveal

this

comparison clearly, independent samples t-test is applied to analyze if

there was a difference between the mean scores of the groups. Finally,
necessary conclusions were drawn from the data and interpreted by the
researcher.

REFERENCES

Cunningsworth, A. (1995). Choosing your coursebook. Oxford: Heinemann.

Demir, Y. & Erta, A (2004) A Suggested eclectic checklist for ELT
coursebook evaluation. The Reading Matrix, 14 (2), 243-252
Gray, P. S., Williamson, J. B., Karp, D. A. & Dalphin, J. B. (2007), The
Research
Imagination: An Introduction to Qualitative and Quantitative Methods,
USA: Cambridge University Press.
Graves, K. (2000). Designing Language Courses: A Guide for Teachers. (D.
Freeman, Ed.) Boston: Heinle Cengage Learning.

Harmer, J. (1991). The Practice of English Language Teaching: London.

Longman.
Kitao, K., & S. K. Kitao. (1997). Selecting and Developing
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Soares, M.L.F. (2015). The importance of coursebooks for teachers of
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Catolica: De Rio De Janeiro
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