GEN TEFL Journal Volume 3 (2018)
E-ISSN 2520 209X
The Learnability of Grammar Instruction: A Processability Approach to Textbook Evaluation in EFL Settings
XIAOFEI TANG, Wuhan University of Technology, P. R. China
This study conducts an acquisition-based evaluation of four primary-school English textbook series used in mainland China. The evaluation aims to determine whether the sequencing of grammatical structures in the series is compatible with the L2 learning sequence stipulated in Processability Theory (PT). The results show a partial agreement between the sequencing of structures as teaching objectives in the series and the PT-based processability hierarchy. The sequencing of structures in the initial stages is consistent with the learning sequence of L2 English stated in PT. However, several structures in the intermediate or high stages are taught in a deviant way against their sequencing in PT. The deviant grading of those structures is possibly associated with the theme-based guidelines adopted in the textbooks. It appears that concerns with the utility of grammatical structures in a given context takes precedence over concerns for the natural L2 development. A number of suggestions are offered to textbook writers in terms of the role of input, the learners' developmental readiness and the issue of heterogeneity in L2 classrooms.
Date of publication: 15 December 2018
E-ISSN 2520 209X
The Learnability of Grammar Instruction: A Processability Approach to Textbook Evaluation in EFL Settings
XIAOFEI TANG, Wuhan University of Technology, P. R. China
This study conducts an acquisition-based evaluation of four primary-school English textbook series used in mainland China. The evaluation aims to determine whether the sequencing of grammatical structures in the series is compatible with the L2 learning sequence stipulated in Processability Theory (PT). The results show a partial agreement between the sequencing of structures as teaching objectives in the series and the PT-based processability hierarchy. The sequencing of structures in the initial stages is consistent with the learning sequence of L2 English stated in PT. However, several structures in the intermediate or high stages are taught in a deviant way against their sequencing in PT. The deviant grading of those structures is possibly associated with the theme-based guidelines adopted in the textbooks. It appears that concerns with the utility of grammatical structures in a given context takes precedence over concerns for the natural L2 development. A number of suggestions are offered to textbook writers in terms of the role of input, the learners' developmental readiness and the issue of heterogeneity in L2 classrooms.
Date of publication: 15 December 2018
