Sánchez López Alejandrojesús-Textbookanalysis PDF

Textbook analysis/ Materiales y Recursos para la enseñanza del inglés
Prof.ª. Gloria Luque Agulló

A. Alejandro Jesús Sánchez López
INDEX
1. Textbook analysis…………………………………………………...….…...2
2. A proposal for one unit………………………………………………....….10
3. Conclusion…………………………………………………….………........15
4. Appendix…………………………………………………………………….16
1
I am working with an exemplar as a resource for my textbook analysis that I

was using in high school in the last course, before accessing university. The one
chosen is ‘BRIDGES For Bachillerato 2, Student’s Book’ and it is an edition by
‘Burlington Books’. Its authors are Alan Williams and Margaret Baines, and it was
published in 2008, and it is intended for pre-university students (B1 level).
It is an user-friendly book for the student because it maintains the typical

shape of the most common textbooks that pupils use in primary school and then in
high school (20,32cm width and 24,40cm length), so it is familiar enough for them to
feel comfortable with the material. Apart from that, it is full of representative and
well-topic connected illustrations throughout the textbook and it maintains a
well-adjusted layout taking into account that it keeps the same colours and fonts for
the topic names, for the activities and also for the theory and test sections so as to
the students do not feel lost or disoriented. It also should be noted that this copy
belongs to a series (‘Bachillerato 1’ and ‘Bachillerato 2’) so, as in my case, the
student will already know how the book works and how it is divided when he or she
first see it in the second course of Bachillerato, thanks to the previous experience
with it in the first course. Besides, it is appropriate for both levels because the first
one helps the student to recapitulate all the contents needed to settle the knowledge
to guarantee the precise preparation that is required in order to pass the previous
exam that gives you access to university (which is fully developed in the second
textbook).
It is value for money because it is not dealing with nonsense activities or

topics and also, the student will be able to use supporting materials to fix
knowledge and feel confident thanks to an extra activities book and, of course, a CD
which lets them listen as many times as they want the different suitable recordings
that this book includes. As regards the illustrations, as I have already mentioned
before, they are helpful because they complete the information and help to better fix
and understand the topic contents, apart from helping the teacher contribute to
students understanding. For example, the unit chosen for this paper is unit 2 and it
deals with jobs. In the very first page you will find several representative images
dealing with different kinds of jobs so the student will have to mentally connect each
2
picture to a word or a concept. It means that they are valuable aside from clear,
attractive and exploitable because they can be useful for the teacher to expand the
information or to create a conversational environment in the classroom giving extra
information, or providing more examples that the images may elicit in the students or
in the teachers themselves (See figure 1).
Focusing on other components, the workbook facilitates the teacher to give

extra exercises if needed. Moreover, diverse recordings are in the CD that comes
with the student’s book so the teacher may apply them to reinforce listening skills on
the students. It is worth mentioning that the recordings have topic maintenance and
they are perfectly integrated in the units. For example, in the unit that I am working
in, where topics concerning jobs are developed, students may listen to a job
interview in which the vocabulary they are taught will be used in a real context. So I
can conclude that it is definitely helpful and suitable to help students connect
concepts and usage in real situations within their brain and cognitive processes.
The materials fit my syllabus taking into account the purpose of this course,
because they are balanced and connected with the requirements of access exams to
university. They are neither too difficult nor too easy because the type of exercises
and contents have to do with the previous experience in the first book and students
are supposed to have the proper base to be able to adapt themselves and have a
successful development; they are just adequate to the required level. It is true that I
personally miss pronunciation activities for them to produce output and connect
mouth and tongue movement techniques to sound realisations in their mental
processes, but the educational system sticks to the rest of skills and components to
assess students before entering university so, in this case, I will not be belabouring
this aspect, although I would probably provide extra exercices and advices in class
devoting pronunciation. It is true that at the end of the textbook there is a brief
section dealing with pronunciation, but I do not consider it to be enough; although it
is just my personal perception.
3
Figure 1.
The textbook itself keeps the following proportions:
-Six units: Health, Jobs, Shopping, Relationships, Tourism and Celebrations.

-Around 12-14 pages each, so it is well balanced and fairly even throughout the
book; it depends on if the unit contains a cross-curricular/interdisciplinary section
or not. I am going to develop this aspect: for example, unit two, which is the one I am
focusing on, includes a section which is interdisciplinary because, in this case, it
gives students content about literature. It is called ‘Bridge to Literature’ this time (see
figure 4), but we can also find environmental education, for example (see figure 5).
These sections make reference to the title of this textbook ‘Bridges’, as they are like
bridges that help students connect different disciplines and cross from one
knowledge area to another. Apart from that, we will find through the whole book a
series of little squares which contain brief cultural questions (see figures 2 and 3).
4
Figure 2. Figure 3.
-At the end of the book:

-Exam preparation (Exam practice, Listening Practice, Speaking Practice,
Exam Tips).
-Several appendices: Grammar Appendix, Wordlist, Preposition List, Phrasal
Verbs, Irregular Verbs, Writing Guide, Answer Key, Exam Strategies Appendix and
Pronunciation Practice.
5
Figure 4.
Figure 5.
As it is a textbook for pre-university students it does not contemplate a

storyline (which is common for younger learners), but it is more focused on
6
synthesizing and collecting a good amount of activities and contents which

corresponds to the interests of the students at this educational stage, taking into
account that they will be needing such competences and knowledge in order to pass
the university access exam. Moreover, this textbook is well distributed bearing in
mind the time available to encompass all the contents and topics that are
contemplated in the ‘BOE’ (Boletín Oficial del Estado). Each unit is elaborated in
such a way so that the teacher may work with it for a month and a half
approximately, if he or she relies on the supporting material (considering vacation
periods). Apart from covering all the required contents, it is also suitable for all the
students that are supposed to be part of such a course. The textbook is developed
taking into account what the students have overcome in the previous year so, if they
are in the second course they will be surely ready to tackle properly the contents and
activities of this one. Into the bargain, the student will notice that he or she is
progressing due to the length of the units; they are not very length and let them
properly acquire the ideas and materials relying on really appropriate activities,
listenings and also, the ‘Looking Back’ sessions at the end of several units, letting
the students check themselves.
The level of this textbook is the one required for this stage of education: B1. It
includes general objectives and competences considered in the CEFR (Common
nd all of them
European Framework of Reference for Languages) and in the ‘BOE’, a
are covered in the textbook by means of language activities, role-plays, interactions,
and listenings about real situations in life…
“The global scale of the common reference of the CEFR defines level B1's user
capable of the following linguistic skills:
-Can understand the main points of clear standard input on familiar matters regularly
encountered in work, school, leisure, etc.
-Can deal with most situations likely to arise whilst travelling in an area where the
language is spoken.
-Can produce simple connected text on topics which are familiar or of personal
interest.
7
-Can describe experiences and events, dreams, hopes and ambitions and briey
give reasons and explanations for opinions and plans.”
(Delfdalf.fr. 2020. Level B1 Of CEFR. [online] Available at:

<http://www.delfdalf.fr/level-b1-cefr-common-european-framework-of-reference-for-languages.html> [Accessed
26 November 2020].)
This textbook comprises sections for vocabulary, for reading, for grammar, for
writing and for listening. All of them are clearly delimited and well organised, so this
responds to the different blocks, and also it includes concepts and procedures
which helps the student to unwind his or her abilities to get contact with real life in
real linguistic situations, such as, for example, in unit two, where adequate
vocabulary and expressions will be provided to address properly when searching for
a job, highlighting the most striking aspects that may help you in the interview.
The progression is cyclical because it goes from most general and basic
grammar aspects, for example, to more complex ones (it begins with perfect tenses
and ends up with modal perfects). Moreover, at the end of each unit we have the
‘Looking Back’ section that emcompasses and deals with activities and tests of the
topics related to that unit. The ‘Looking back’ section of unit two will comprise unit
one and unit two, the one of unit three will include aspects related to unit one, unit
two and unit three, and so on, so that the students may learn and evaluate
themselves progressively.
Regarding communicative competence the student will receive input by

means of texts and recordings and he or she will be asked to interact with other
students on several occasions; not that much to produce. It is more common to
encounter co-operation scenarios, encouraging this way of learning through
interaction (which I personally consider the better manner to improve). So, students
will be required to use the language in activities that have this concrete purpose: to
get them involved into role-plays and act-like activities that will help them in acquiring
the language.
8
With respect to grammar contents, they are presented progressively, as I

have commented before, and they are practiced in different situations throughout the
book, not explained once and then ‘left’. Additionally, it is reinforced with the ‘Looking
Back’ sections and with the workbook. It is frequent to find advice and tips through
the whole book, helping students with possible grammatical problems. It depends
on the students that the teacher must expand these tips and explanations. On the
other hand, vocabulary is presented at the very beginning of each unit, then it is
practiced in the middle and finally, it is consolidated in the ‘Looking Back’ section.
Besides, students can rely on the vocabulary appendix, at the end of the textbook.
All of these activities tend to be varied, asking the student to get involved directly in
several of them, by means of role-plays or letting him or her develop them with a
personal perspective. The activities and revision sections respond to a
criterion-based approach; students will always know what they are asked in the
diverse exercises and they will be assessed taking into account what type of
activities and input they have received.
As regards registers: there are a wide range of them. The students will find in
the book from a formal conversation about a job interview, to a girl talking indistinctly
about her trips or a radio programme about festivals, among others.
I have not been able to get the teacher’s book, but a friend of mine who is an
English teacher in a high school in El Ejido, Almería, has told me that she were using
it ten years ago and as far as she can remember it was helpful because she was
given extra ideas to make questions to the students in certain activities, she
remembers content maps, variety of extra activities... Sometimes she had doubts
about corrections because she usually checked the same mistakes in the students to
such a degree that she could make the same misunderstandings, so she had to refer
to the answer key. She has also told me that “this series was compatible with the
recommendations, guidelines and objectives of the Common European Framework
of Reference for Languages, and textbooks in high school are normally good for both
teachers and students” in the last few years.
9
A proposal for one unit
Just as I have been mentioning, the unit I am working on is unit two, ‘Jobs’. I
have selected this one because it includes all the possible sections that we can find
within the book (test and multidisciplinary sections). Also, I think that the topic ‘jobs’
is interesting to deal with, taking into account that it is intended for students that are
searching their own career path. In this unit every single image appearing on it has
to do with the topic, and they all help consummate the information.
I am analysing this unit by means of this following table:
Figure 6.
The first part deals with density, variety and length, which are aspects that I
have previously commented on. Then I am going to discuss the total amount of
10
activities in unit two as well as the percentages of each skill and component. There
are 49 activities in total, of which 12 are devoted for vocabulary, 8 for grammar, 5 for
listening, 7 are for speaking, 11 for reading, and 6 of them are for writing:
- Vocabulary: 12x100/49= 24,48%

- Grammar: 8x100/49= 16,32%
- Pronunciation: 0%
- Listening: 5x100/49= 10,20%
- Speaking: 7x100/49= 14,28%
- Reading: 11x100/49= 22,44%
- Writing: 6x100/49= 12,24%
Concerning vocabulary activities we find presentation, consolidation and

revision. These stages correspond to different steps. Firstly, we find a presentation
of the vocabulary, then, in the middle of the unit, we find exercises that help students
consolidate the new words previously learnt, and finally, a revision section in which
students' acquisition of vocabulary is checked. In the first page of this unit, page 16,
we can find the very first example of presentation: exercise 1, where students are
presented with different kinds of jobs. In page 22 we notice that exercise 1 is
devoted to consolidation; students are asked to match words and expressions that
previously have been commented in class. Lastly, in page 27, in the ‘Looking Back’
section, at the end of the unit, we encounter exercise 1, which is a revision of the
topic (see appendix).
Grammar activities can be seen both, as deductives or inductive. On page

20 we have a chart covering some necessary changes and aspects of reported
speech, but it is not explaining all the issues that must be considered. For that
purpose the book suggests the students go to page 107 (grammar appendix). I
would say activities on page 20 and 21, for example, are deductive in a sense,
because the student is previously given a rule and then he or she has to practise, but
this chart, as I have explained, does not cover all the issues concerning grammar. In
this view, as students have to infer some rules by doing previous exercises, they
would be partly inductive. I personally would state that they are deductive because
11
the chart urges the teacher to fully explain the theory previously to then let the
students do the exercises, so a previous explanation and rules come before the
activities themselves; but it depends on the teacher, I think.
Regarding pronunciation
, as I have previously mentioned, there are no
exercises for this component in this unit, neither receptive nor productive. I would
provide pronunciation exercises on my own, and also I would lean on pronunciation
practice on page 177-119.
Figure 7.
12
Listening parts are divided into three types: pre, while and after. We can
identify a pre-listening activity on page 26, exercise one, for example. Students are
introduced to different manners of addressing to clarify information on a job
application form and CV. It serves as an introductory debate to get ready for the
incoming listening activities just after. This activity serves for accuracy since the
students just have to select if one expression is for clarifying or for more information.
Activity number two is a while listening type since students have to listen to a
phone conversation and mark the expressions that are used in the recording at the
same time; it is for fluency, I think, because students have to listen to the recording
carefully in order to fully understand what is being said, focusing on the content more
than in precise correct grammatical aspects, for example. We have a clear follow-up
activity after a listening in this unit, page 29, exercise 5: students have to answer
some questions after having listened to Sting’s ‘Moon Over Bourbon Street’, and
they are questions that will make students reflect on some aspects, not just to
answer comprehension questions; it would. I also consider that activity number 4, on
page 26 is a follow-up activity, although it is a mere speaking activity, it can work as
an after listening because students will need to use expressions developed in the
previous listening activities; so they are directly related and connected.
Now it is time to deal with speaking activities. They can be interactive or

productive exercises. In this unit we can not find productive exercises (individual
output and production), but we can mention interaction ones (which, from my point of
view, are more enriching for students to learn). For example, on page 23 there is a
speaking activity in the bottom right corner which lets the students interact and ask
some questions to each other, giving and receiving information at the same time.
Another interaction activity is presented in page 17, exercise 6, it is a role-play
connected with the topic ‘jobs’. All of these activities are intended for interaction and
fluency; students will produce and they will be allowed to have some mistakes and
errors because it is not the main point of these kinds of activities (what would be
more, but to interact and acquire fluency.
Reading activities are divided into pre, while and post. Reading is one of the
most practised skills in this unit, along with vocabulary. I did not notice any
13
pre-listening in this unit, but we can appreciate several examples of while and post;
for example, in page 18 should be mentioned exercise 1, in which students have to
read the text and choose the correct answer (multiple-choice, while reading). Also,
exercise 4, among others, asks students to read lines 19-20 ‘again’ and to choose
the correct answer below. They have to work with the text while they are doing the
activity, it is simultaneous. Concerning post listening we should move on to page
19, the activity which is a yellow square makes students reflect on ideas that have to
do with the text that they have read before; but it takes place without the necessity of
being reading the text at the same time, so it is not a while reading. Besides,
exercise 3 on page 18, for example, also requires students to answer questions once
they have read and fully understand the text, without making use of the text directly.
Finally, writing activities. This category might be controlled, guided or free

.
In this unit we are not going to find controlled writing, which is something more
commonly used in primary students. Conversely, we will have guided and free
activities. A crystal-clear example of guided writing would be exercise 4 on page
25. Students are asked to rewrite some parts of given sentences taking into account
that they should use a more formal register. So, they are given some words in bold
and they just have to rewrite them with a guide. On the other hand, an example of
free writing is found on the same page, 25, exercise 7. Here they should write a
letter of application for a given advert. They are free here to use the constructions,
expressions, verb tenses or vocabulary they desire, noy only to change some words,
or fill some gaps.
This unit considers cultural content constantly. We have on page 18, for
example, on the right corner in the bottom, a yellow square that instills American
culture about politics and elections on the students. They have also ‘Bridge to
Literature’, pages 28-29, which teaches them about Bram Stoker’s novel, Dracula,
among others. Besides, game-like acts are developed: on page 17, exercise 6,
students will role-play an interview for one job, for example.
Concerning classroom dynamics, students will develop the unit by means of

pair work, as for example on page 26, exercise 4, where students will have to
14
interact by developing a role-play for a job interview, or exercise ‘Bridge to

Speaking’, on page 23, in which they have to ask and answer the questions with a
partner. Besides, the student will have some advices throughout the unit that will
help him or her in acquiring grammar notions, vocabulary ones, as for example on
page 22 we have two green sections for that purpose, or how to organise a letter of
application, as on page 25, in the right corner in the bottom (getting organised).
Now that I have covered all the sections, I would like to include the checklist
with the data belonging to unit two.
Figure 8.
Conclusion
A textbook is a good resource for the teacher to have many advantages when
teaching. It is a guide for him or her, but the problem appears when teachers just
15
stick to the book. Every single classroom is an independent universe and, as such, it
should be observed and managed having variations in the syllabus. This is a good
textbook and a good unit to use. I think that it is balanced and full of different
activities. I would probably include some more listening activities on my own,
because I think that this kind of input is essential when learning English, especially
the one that comes from a real situation in life that students may connect or apply to
their own experience.
APPENDIX
16

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Textbook analysis/ ​Materiales y Recursos para la enseñanza del inglés

Prof.ª. Gloria Luque Agulló

I am working with an exemplar as a resource for my textbook analysis that I

It is an ​user-friendly book for the student because it maintains the typical

It is ​value for money because it is not dealing with nonsense activities or

Focusing on ​other components​, the workbook facilitates the teacher to give

The textbook itself keeps the following proportions:

-Six units: Health, Jobs, Shopping, Relationships, Tourism and Celebrations.

-At the end of the book:

As it is a textbook for pre-university students it does not contemplate a

synthesizing and collecting a good amount of activities and contents which

(Delfdalf.fr. 2020. ​Level B1 Of CEFR.​ [online] Available at:

Regarding ​communicative competence the student will receive input by

With respect to grammar contents, they are presented progressively, as I

A proposal for one unit

I am analysing this unit by means of this following table:

- Vocabulary: 12x100/49= 24,48%

Concerning ​vocabulary activities we find presentation, consolidation and

Grammar ​activities ​can be seen both, as deductives or inductive. On page

Now it is time to deal with ​speaking activities​. They can be ​interactive or

Finally, ​writing activities. This category might be ​controlled​, ​guided or ​free​

Concerning classroom dynamics, students will develop the unit by means of

interact by developing a role-play for a job interview, or exercise ‘Bridge to

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Textbook analysis/ Materiales y Recursos para la enseñanza del inglés

It is an user-friendly book for the student because it maintains the typical

It is value for money because it is not dealing with nonsense activities or

Focusing on other components, the workbook facilitates the teacher to give

(Delfdalf.fr. 2020. Level B1 Of CEFR. [online] Available at:

Regarding communicative competence the student will receive input by

Concerning vocabulary activities we find presentation, consolidation and

Grammar activities can be seen both, as deductives or inductive. On page

Now it is time to deal with speaking activities. They can be interactive or

Finally, writing activities. This category might be controlled, guided or free