Open AccessIranian EFL Learners’ Perceptions with Respect to Speech Acts in Comparison with the Actual Content of the Textbooks
Author(s) -
Mohsen Sa'di Khosroshahi,
Farahman Farrokhi
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
theory and practice in language studies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2053-0692
pISSN - 1799-2591
DOI - 10.4304/tpls.3.2.345-356
Subject(s) - perception , psychology , content (measure theory) , linguistics , mathematics education , computer science , mathematics , philosophy , neuroscience , mathematical analysis
The perceptions of the EFL learners have been ignored in most of the textbook evaluation studies in Iran. This study aimed to make a comparison between the attitudes of Iranian EFL learners towards speech acts and the actual content of their textbooks. To this end, a descriptive and survey-based design was employed. A questionnaire was distributed among 100 first-year high school students in four schools. The first-year high school English textbook was also carefully analyzed with respect to the different types of speech acts. A comparison was made between the results obtained from the questionnaire analysis and the results of the content analysis of the textbook, which revealed the fact that the students generally had a positive attitude towards the teaching of speech acts. On the contrary, they rated the Language Functions Section in their textbook to be ineffective in terms of the teaching of speech acts. A closer examination of the dialogues in the Language Functions Section revealed that the range of speech acts covered in the textbook is extremely limited. These findings show that there are gaps between the Iranian learners’ perceptions and the actual content of their textbooks. The findings can be useful to the textbook designers as well as language teachers