The traditional textbook model is problematic for students who either buy expensive textbooks and add to their already considerable student debt, opt out of buying expensive textbooks, or opt out of enrolling in courses known to require expensive textbooks. Switching to open textbooks directly addresses these problems by decreasing costs, removing…

This paper investigates three English textbooks for primary classes 4, 5 and 6 in Ghana from the "Gateway to English for Primary Schools" series, and their complementary teachers' guides, in order to determine the assumptions about teaching and learning which the books embody. The paper pays particular attention to the approach to…

Selecting textbooks can be a difficult and overwhelming process. Inundated with choices of texts and supplemental materials, teachers have many factors to consider. This brochure is designed to assist with the process by offering both key questions for discussion and criteria for evaluating textbooks.

Listed in this catalog of instructional materials in English and the use of dictionaries are those materials adopted by the California State Board of Education for use in public schools from 1983 to 1985. Materials listed include those published by (1) Allyn and Bacon; (2) Bowmar/Noble; (3) Ginn and Company; (4) Glencoe; (5) Harcourt, Brace…

Too frequently textbooks used in class are criticized heavily by educators. In and of itself, a textbook is neither good nor bad. If the text has been carefully chosen, there may be reasons for criticizing its use. Textbooks should always be carefully evaluated when new basals are chosen so that the very best one(s) are selected for a class.…

The first roadblock encountered in an effort to develop an interdisciplinary communications skills course at the university level was the discovery that no suitable textbooks exist for such a course. First, texts widely used for basic speech courses do not attempt to incorporate written and spoken communication, much less computer skills. Second,…

This book is intended as a resource for teachers and curriculum developers who select textbooks for secondary English courses. It includes a compilation of 32 factual textbook reviews obtained from the application of a review instrument, which was based on the California "Model Curriculum Standards: Grades Nine through Twelve, English…

Study reveals the stress teachers place upon instructional materials and their use in teaching a variety of subjects. (RK)

Entries in this selected annotated bibliography of instructional literacy materials are divided among three stages of prevocational or adult basic education: (1) the introductory stage (readability levels 1-3); (2) the elementary stage (Levels 4-6; (3) the intermediate stage (levels 7-9). Areas covered include English as a second language,…

This document considers the language arts instructional materials in use in the primary schools of Trinidad and Tobago and questions how effectively these materials cater to the development of competence in the English language by children whose vernacular language differs structurally in a fundamental way from Internationally Acceptable English.…

The Canadian cultural focus of contemporary education in Canada is examined, with particular emphasis on language arts, literature, and social studies. Conclusions of the first two chapters are that language arts instructional materials frequently present powerful American and British (and only occasionally Canadian) themes; many reading series,…