The Tomlinson’s (2011) Principles-Based Assessment of the Textbook “Pathway to English” for the Twelfth Grade Students at Senior High Schools

Abstract

The present research was done to know whether or not the materials in textbook “Pathway to English” for the twelfth grade students met Tomlinson‟s (2011) principles. In Indonesia, textbook becomes one of the most popular learning materials used in English Language Teaching (ELT). But at some points, the use of textbook has problems. First, textbook developers sometimes develop the textbook based on commercial purposes only. Second, the textbooks are not always appropriate with classroom condition. Therefore, assessing textbook is necessary to be done to know the value of the textbook. In assessing the materials, the researcher used ten principles of the sixteen principles that did not require any direct observation of the implementation of the materials. The principles were: (1) materials should require & facilitate learners‟ self-investment (2) materials should expose learners to language in authentic use (3) the learners‟ attention should be drawn to linguistic features of the input (4) materials should provide learners with opportunities to use target language to achieve communicative purposes (5) materials should take into account that the positive effects of instruction are usually delayed (6) materials should take in account that learners differ in learning style (7) materials should take in account that learners differ in affective attitudes (8) materials should permit a silent period at the beginning of instruction.” (9) Materials should not rely too much on controlled practice (10) materials should provide opportunities for outcome feedback, especially feedback on the effectiveness of use of language rather than accuracy of language. The findings showed that chapter 9 met the ten Tomlinson‟s (2011) principles. The fifth principle was met as the chapter consisted of various learning activities, small project and involved the students to find supplementary materials. It met the seventh principle as it provided authentic, rich and varied materials. The chapter met the eighth principle because it applied form focus approach that required the students to focus on the texts before moving to the language feature of the text. The chapter met the ninth principles by providing information gap activity, post reading and creative writing for the students. It met the tenth principle because it exposed the students with many learning activities before asking the students to produce language. The chapter applied the eleventh principle because it contained many types of learning activities for visual, auditory and kinaesthetic learners. It also met the twelfth principle since the chapter exposed the students with many texts and provided them with stimulating activities. The thirteenth principle met because the materials in the chapter 9, beginning with comprehension activity and also introducing the students with new structures and vocabularies usually used in news. The chapter met the fifteenth principle as it did not provide much controlled practice. It also met the sixteenth principle since it provided activities that enabled the students to gain feedback. Based on the findings, it can be concluded that the materials in the textbook, especially chapter 9, met the principles of material development of Tomlinson (2011). It confirms that the textbook was not developed based on commercial purposes only since it was theoretically appropriate with the principles of material development from Tomlinson (2011). The textbook can be a useful learning source for the students to help them learn English.