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A Content Analysis of the Reading and Listening Activities in the EFL Textbook of Master Class

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Sun, 2014-02-02 08:21 — Abdul Kareem Igbaria
Journal Title, Volume, Page: 
Education Journal. Vol. 3, No. 2, 2014, pp. 24-38. doi: 10.11648/j.edu.20140302.11
Year of Publication: 
2014
Authors: 
Ibtihal Assaly, The Department of English, Al-Qasemi Academy – Academic College of Education, Baqa al-Gharbiyye
Abdul Kareem Igbaria, The Department of English, Sakhnin Academic College for Teacher Education, Sakhnin
Preferred Abstract (Original): 

This study dealt with analysis of the textbook Master Class for 10th-grade students studying English at the 5-unit level. Content analysis was performed to determine to what extent the activities in the reading and listening units emphasize high and low-level thinking. The study attempted to answer the following questions: 1. To what extent are the cognitive levels of the activities in the Mastering Reading and Mastering Listening sections of the textbook Master Class varied? 2. To what extent do the activities in the two sections of reading and listening of Master Class textbook lead students towards levels that demand higher thinking such as analysis, synthesis, and evaluation? Content analysis was conducted for the Mastering Reading and Mastering Listening sections of each unit. The activities that were defined as units for analysis were Wh-questions, Yes/No questions, Multiple Choice questions, Complete the sentence, and statement and request questions. The activities were collected, listed, and analyzed according to Bloom's Taxonomy: low order thinking skills: knowledge, comprehension, and application, and high order thinking skills: analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. The researchers then calculated the percentage and frequencies in which each level of cognition appeared for each separate unit and for all six units combined. The results indicated that the research tools used by the two researchers were valid and reliable. The results showed that 114 activities emphasized levels of cognition representing lower order thinking skills, while only 59 activities emphasized the three higher order thinking skills. The activities in the Master Class textbook place a great deal of emphasis upon comprehension, which is one of the lower order thinking skills. Additional studies are recommended in the area of content analysis of English instruction textbooks intended for various age levels in the Arab Sector. Such studies would shed light upon the role of textbooks in developing cognitive skills among Arab students.