EVALUATING THE COMMUNICATIVENESS OF GRADE 8 ENGLISH FOR ETHIOPIA STUDENTS’ TEXTBOOK: WRITING TASKS IN FOCUS

Abstract

The main purpose of this study was evaluating the communicativeness of writing tasks in grade 8 English students’ textbook based on evaluation criteria set for evaluating communicative tasks. The study was particularly aimed to evaluate components of communicative tasks, suitability of writing tasks for cooperation and communication and the appropriateness of writing tasks with regard to suitability to enhance learners’ communicative ability. The descriptive case study was employed in the study. Textbook analysis and structured interview were used as instruments of data collection. Grade 8 English students’ textbook and four English language teachers were used as sources of data for the study. The teachers were selected using purposive sampling whereas the writing tasks were selected using systematic sampling technique. The researcher used qualitative approach to analyze data. The findings of the study revealed that most of the objectives of the writing tasks are clearly stated in the teacher’s guide. However, the objectives of writing tasks in some units of the students’ textbook lack clarity. Most of the inputs of writing tasks are presented in the form of instruction and seem to lack motivational value. The writing activities are well designed regarding with the relationship of activities with objectives and input. The roles of students’ are clearly explained in the textbook in which students have more roles of active participant and high responsibility of their own learning. Similarly, the roles of teacher are stated clearly in the writing tasks of the teacher’s guide. Most of the writing tasks in the textbook were designed to be done in the classroom rather than inviting students to do outside classroom. Moreover, the writing tasks in the textbook emphasize on individual works rather than pair or small group works. Apart from this, most of the writing tasks are designed well with regard to consideration of students’ background knowledge and cultural background. Some of the writing activities are designed in eliciting real communication. Furthermore, writing tasks in the textbook are well integrated with other language skills. Therefore, it is recommended that curriculum designers and textbook writers should give emphasis for communicative nature of writing tasks when designing tasks. In addition, English language teachers should try to see writing tasks critically and make a certain modifications when students face some confusion in doingtasks