Education Journal

| Peer-Reviewed |

A Content Analysis of the Reading and Listening Activities in the EFL Textbook of Master Class

Received: 16 December 2013    Accepted:     Published: 20 January 2014
Views:       Downloads:

Share This Article

Abstract

This study dealt with analysis of the textbook Master Class for 10th-grade students studying English at the 5-unit level. Content analysis was performed to determine to what extent the activities in the reading and listening units emphasize high and low-level thinking. The study attempted to answer the following questions: 1. To what extent are the cognitive levels of the activities in the Mastering Reading and Mastering Listening sections of the textbook Master Class varied? 2. To what extent do the activities in the two sections of reading and listening of Master Class textbook lead students towards levels that demand higher thinking such as analysis, synthesis, and evaluation? Content analysis was conducted for the Mastering Reading and Mastering Listening sections of each unit. The activities that were defined as units for analysis were Wh-questions, Yes/No questions, Multiple Choice questions, Complete the sentence, and statement and request questions. The activities were collected, listed, and analyzed according to Bloom's Taxonomy: low order thinking skills: knowledge, comprehension, and application, and high order thinking skills: analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. The researchers then calculated the percentage and frequencies in which each level of cognition appeared for each separate unit and for all six units combined. The results indicated that the research tools used by the two researchers were valid and reliable. The results showed that 114 activities emphasized levels of cognition representing lower order thinking skills, while only 59 activities emphasized the three higher order thinking skills. The activities in the Master Class textbook place a great deal of emphasis upon comprehension, which is one of the lower order thinking skills. Additional studies are recommended in the area of content analysis of English instruction textbooks intended for various age levels in the Arab Sector. Such studies would shed light upon the role of textbooks in developing cognitive skills among Arab students.

DOI 10.11648/j.edu.20140302.11
Published in Education Journal (Volume 3, Issue 2, March 2014)
Page(s) 24-38
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

EFL Textbooks, Bloom's Taxonomy, Content Analysis, Activities

References
[1] Abu Alaa, H. Mohammad. (1979). Analysis of the questions of the geography textbook for the first secondary class in the light of curriculum objectives and learning outcomes. From Studies of the educational research center, No. 4. Qatar University.
[2] Abu Halu, Y. (1986). A comparison study of the cognitive processes within university male and female students in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. University of King Abdul Aziz. Educational Journal. 2, 246-264.
[3] Alcala, A. (1971). Cognitive level of questions in new social studies textbooks for grades III-VI. Doctoral dissertation. Berkeley: University of California.
[4] Andre, T. (1979). Does answering higher-level questions while reading facilitate productive learning? Review of Educational Research, 49, 280-318.
[5] Asfur, W. (1987). Levels of history teachers’ questions in junior high school grades in Jordan and their relation with teachers’ experience and their understanding to the nature of history. Unpublished M.A. thesis. Amman: University of Jordan.
[6] Bloom, B., Englehart, M. Furst, E., Hill, W., & Krathwohl, D. (1956). Taxonomy of educational objectives: The classification of educational goals. Handbook I: Cognitive Domain. New York: Longman.
[7] Bull, S. G. (1973). The role of questions in maintaining attention to textual material. Review of Educational Research, 43, 83-88.
[8] Elsuidi, W., Ali. (1992). Values implied in the questions of Islamic education textbooks for primary school sixth grade in Qatar. Educational Journal. 101. Qatar.
[9] Holsti, O., R. (1969). Content analysis for the social sciences and humanities. USA: Addison Wesley Publishing Company.
[10] Ibrahim, F., Abdul-Latif. (1998). Curricula foundations, organizations, and Evaluation. Cairo: Egypt Library.
[11] Igbaria, A., K. (2013). A Content Analysis of the WH-Questions in the EFL Textbook of Horizons. International Education Studies; Vol 6, No. 7: Canadian Center of Science and Education.
[12] Karns, J., Burton, G. and Martin, G. (1983). Learning Objectives and Testing: An Analysis of Six Principles of Economics Textbooks, Using Bloom's Taxonomy. The Journal of Economic Education. Vol. 14, No. 3, 16-20
[13] Krippendorff, K. (1980). Content analysis: An introduction to its methodology. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
[14] Marksberry, M. Lee. (1963). Foundations of creativity. New York: Harper & Row Publishers.
[15] Riazi, M. and Mosalaejad, N. (2010). Evaluation of Learning Objectives in Iranian High-School and Pre-University English Textbooks Using Bloom’s Taxonomy. Volume 13, Number 4.
[16] Razmjoo, S. A. and Kazempourfard, E. (2012). On the Representation of Bloom's Revised Taxonomy in Interchange Course books. The Journal of Teaching Language Skills 4(1)
[17] Torrance, E. Paul. (1962). Creative thinking through school experiences. New-York: Charles Scribner’s Sons.
[18] Zaki, S. Yasin. (1973). An analytical study of the questions of the required Science textbooks. The Library Journal. Vol. 5, No. 3.
Author Information
  • The Department of English, Al-Qasemi Academy – Academic College of Education, Baqa al-Gharbiyye, Israel

  • The Department of English, Sakhnin Academic College for Teacher Education, Sakhnin, Israel

Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Ibtihal Assaly, Abdul Kareem Igbaria. (2014). A Content Analysis of the Reading and Listening Activities in the EFL Textbook of Master Class. Education Journal, 3(2), 24-38. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.edu.20140302.11

    Copy | Download

    ACS Style

    Ibtihal Assaly; Abdul Kareem Igbaria. A Content Analysis of the Reading and Listening Activities in the EFL Textbook of Master Class. Educ. J. 2014, 3(2), 24-38. doi: 10.11648/j.edu.20140302.11

    Copy | Download

    AMA Style

    Ibtihal Assaly, Abdul Kareem Igbaria. A Content Analysis of the Reading and Listening Activities in the EFL Textbook of Master Class. Educ J. 2014;3(2):24-38. doi: 10.11648/j.edu.20140302.11

    Copy | Download

  • @article{10.11648/j.edu.20140302.11,
      author = {Ibtihal Assaly and Abdul Kareem Igbaria},
      title = {A Content Analysis of the Reading and Listening Activities in the EFL Textbook of Master Class},
      journal = {Education Journal},
      volume = {3},
      number = {2},
      pages = {24-38},
      doi = {10.11648/j.edu.20140302.11},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.edu.20140302.11},
      eprint = {https://download.sciencepg.com/pdf/10.11648.j.edu.20140302.11},
      abstract = {This study dealt with analysis of the textbook Master Class for 10th-grade students studying English at the 5-unit level. Content analysis was performed to determine to what extent the activities in the reading and listening units emphasize high and low-level thinking. The study attempted to answer the following questions: 1. To what extent are the cognitive levels of the activities in the Mastering Reading and Mastering Listening sections of the textbook Master Class varied? 2. To what extent do the activities in the two sections of reading and listening of Master Class textbook lead students towards levels that demand higher thinking such as analysis, synthesis, and evaluation? Content analysis was conducted for the Mastering Reading and Mastering Listening sections of each unit.  The activities that were defined as units for analysis were Wh-questions, Yes/No questions, Multiple Choice questions, Complete the sentence, and statement and request questions. The activities were collected, listed, and analyzed according to Bloom's Taxonomy: low order thinking skills: knowledge, comprehension, and application, and high order thinking skills: analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. The researchers then calculated the percentage and frequencies in which each level of cognition appeared for each separate unit and for all six units combined.   The results indicated that the research tools used by the two researchers were valid and reliable. The results showed that 114 activities emphasized levels of cognition representing lower order thinking skills, while only 59 activities emphasized the three higher order thinking skills.  The activities in the Master Class textbook place a great deal of emphasis upon comprehension, which is one of the lower order thinking skills. Additional studies are recommended in the area of content analysis of English instruction textbooks intended for various age levels in the Arab Sector.  Such studies would shed light upon the role of textbooks in developing cognitive skills among Arab students.},
     year = {2014}
    }
    

    Copy | Download

  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - A Content Analysis of the Reading and Listening Activities in the EFL Textbook of Master Class
    AU  - Ibtihal Assaly
    AU  - Abdul Kareem Igbaria
    Y1  - 2014/01/20
    PY  - 2014
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.edu.20140302.11
    DO  - 10.11648/j.edu.20140302.11
    T2  - Education Journal
    JF  - Education Journal
    JO  - Education Journal
    SP  - 24
    EP  - 38
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2327-2619
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.edu.20140302.11
    AB  - This study dealt with analysis of the textbook Master Class for 10th-grade students studying English at the 5-unit level. Content analysis was performed to determine to what extent the activities in the reading and listening units emphasize high and low-level thinking. The study attempted to answer the following questions: 1. To what extent are the cognitive levels of the activities in the Mastering Reading and Mastering Listening sections of the textbook Master Class varied? 2. To what extent do the activities in the two sections of reading and listening of Master Class textbook lead students towards levels that demand higher thinking such as analysis, synthesis, and evaluation? Content analysis was conducted for the Mastering Reading and Mastering Listening sections of each unit.  The activities that were defined as units for analysis were Wh-questions, Yes/No questions, Multiple Choice questions, Complete the sentence, and statement and request questions. The activities were collected, listed, and analyzed according to Bloom's Taxonomy: low order thinking skills: knowledge, comprehension, and application, and high order thinking skills: analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. The researchers then calculated the percentage and frequencies in which each level of cognition appeared for each separate unit and for all six units combined.   The results indicated that the research tools used by the two researchers were valid and reliable. The results showed that 114 activities emphasized levels of cognition representing lower order thinking skills, while only 59 activities emphasized the three higher order thinking skills.  The activities in the Master Class textbook place a great deal of emphasis upon comprehension, which is one of the lower order thinking skills. Additional studies are recommended in the area of content analysis of English instruction textbooks intended for various age levels in the Arab Sector.  Such studies would shed light upon the role of textbooks in developing cognitive skills among Arab students.
    VL  - 3
    IS  - 2
    ER  - 

    Copy | Download

  • Sections