The Higher Secondary English Textbooks in Odisha : An Assessment of Content Suitability (Journal Article)

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Abstract: Teaching and learning of English in the Indian context is predominantly textbook-driven. In a developing country like ours where language classrooms are unusually large and crowded, with defective seating arrangements, and where supplementation of modern teaching aids, workbooks, and teachers’ and learners’ guides are a far cry, textbooks enjoy a status of indispensability as the primary teaching tool for language learning. In Odisha, English textbooks for higher secondary students is prescribed in the form of anthologies, that is, a collection of writings (prose and poems) by eminent writers, without any specific target audience in mind. In order to make the materials suitable to classroom situations, the topics are adapted and simplified by the editors. The purpose of the study is to evaluate the reading materials in relation to ELT components prescribed in the detailed text, ‘Invitation to English-1’. Adopting the in-depth internal (McDonough and Shaw, 1993) evaluative method, the materials brought to our study are found to be defective and inappropriate on a variety of fronts. The findings aim at highlighting the significance of modifying existing texts, which are meant for intensive study.