Developing an English Language Textbook Evaluative Checklist

In the selection of a new textbook, it is important to conduct an evaluation to ensure that it is suitable. Evaluation is widely acknowledged as a powerful means of improving the quality of education. There are three methods of evaluation that can be used for evaluating English Language Teaching (ELT) textbooks. An evaluative checklist is one of these methods that can be used to help select the most appropriate ELT textbooks for their learners. This paper presents an overall view of evaluating an ELT textbook with a focus on the instrument of a checklist. It tried to develop a valid, reliable and practical checklist. The paper refined checklists previously developed by different researchers. More specifically, the comments and suggestions given by a large number of TEFL professors helped the researcher improve the items of the checklist in reference to their clarity and inclusiveness. They were provided with a copy of the checklist. They were free to reword, delete or add items that they considered necessary. The findings are expected to be useful for English language teachers, ELT material developers and evaluators as well as curriculum developers. Further study is required to improve the instrument.