UNIVERZITA KOMENSKÉHO V BRATISLAVE

Transcripción

PEDAGOGICKÁ FAKULTA
RAISING ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS’
METACOGNITIVE AWARENESS:
FOCUS ON LEARNING STYLES
ZVYŠOVANIE METAKOGNITÍVNEJ UVEDOMELOSTI
PRI UČENÍ SA ANGLIČTINY:
UČEBNÉ ŠTÝLY
DIPLOMOVÁ PRÁCA
2013
Jana Pastorková
PEDAGOGICKÁ FAKULTA
RAISING ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS’
METACOGNITIVE AWARENESS:
FOCUS ON LEARNING STYLES
ZVYŠOVANIE METAKOGNITÍVNEJ UVEDOMELOSTI
PRI UČENÍ SA ANGLIČTINY:
UČEBNÉ ŠTÝLY
DIPLOMOVÁ PRÁCA
Študijný program: Učiteľstvo psychológie a učiteľstvo anglického jazyka a literatúry
Študijný odbor: 7819 Učiteľstvo akademických predmetov
Školiace pracovisko: Katedra anglického jazyka a literatúry
Vedúca práce: doc. PhDr. Gabriela Lojová, PhD.
BRATISLAVA 2013
Mgr. Jana Pastorková
ABSTRAKT
PASTORKOVÁ, Jana: Zvyšovanie metakognitívnej uvedomelosti pri učení sa
angličtiny: Učebné štýly. Diplomová práca. Katedra anglického jazyka a literatúry.
Vedúca diplomovej práce: doc. PhDr. Gabriela Lojová, PhD. Bratislava:
Pedagogická fakulta Univerzity Komenského, 2013. 89 s.
Kľúčové slová: metakognícia, učebné štýly, učebné stratégie, hodnotenie učebníc,
vyučovanie angličtiny ako cudzieho jazyka, učebnice angličtiny, metakognitívna
výučba
Cieľom tejto diplomovej práce bolo zistiť, do akej miery učebnice anglického jazyka
pre stredné školy odporúčané Ministerstvom školstva, vedy, výskumu a športu SR
obsahujú nástroje k výučbe metakognitívnych zručností, predovšetkým učebných
štýlov. Prostredníctvom obsahovej analýzy 16 setov učebníc (spolu s metodickými
príručkami a pracovnými zošitmi 47 publikácií) sme zisťovali výskyt nástrojov na
rozvíjanie učebných štýlov, stratégií a iných metakognitívnych zručností. Štúdia
odhalila, že iba 3 zo 16 setov obsahovali veľmi dobré inštrukcie k problematike
učebných štýlov. Podobne aj z hľadiska učebných stratégií dosiahli najvyššiu
úroveň práve 3 tituly. Štyri testované sety preukázali rozvoj ďalších
metakognitívnych zručností v požadovanom počte a variabilite. Ostatné učebnice
ich obsahovali výrazne menej na rôznych kvalitatívnych úrovniach, s výnimkou
jednej učebnice, ktorá nezaradila také nástroje vôbec. Výskum taktiež testoval
kvalitu metakognitívnej výuky, a to najmä z hľadiska systematicity a hĺbky
zaangažovania uvedomelého myslenia žiakov. Štúdia poskytuje odporučenie
slovenským učiteľom, ako aj tvorcom vzdelávacích štandardov, aké knihy si môžu
zvoliť, aby napomáhali k rozvoju metakognitívnych schopností svojich študentov.
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ABSTRACT
PASTORKOVÁ, Jana: Raising English language learners’ metacognitive awareness:
Focus on learning styles. Master’s thesis. The Department of English Language
and Literature. Thesis advisor: doc. PhDr. Gabriela Lojová, PhD. Bratislava: The
Faculty of Education, Comenius University in Bratislava. 2013. 89 p.
Key Words: metacognition, learning styles, learning strategies, textbook
assessment, TEFL, EFL textbooks, metacognitive training, metacognitive
instruction
The objective of this thesis is to identify the scope of metacognitive training in EFL
textbooks recommended by the Slovak Ministry of Education for secondary
schools in Slovakia. Sixteen sets of textbooks (in all 47 publications incl.
workbooks and teachers’ manuals) were examined by means of content analysis
with the aim to determine the presence of learning styles, learning strategies and
other techniques supporting metacognitive learning. The study revealed that only
3 textbook sets proved to contain very good training in learning styles. Another 3
sets showed an excellent level of learning strategy instruction, and 4 out of 16
sets provided with outstanding range of techniques developing other
metacognitive skills. The rest of the tested books employed significantly fewer
metacognitive instruction tools on various quality levels, except for 1 book which
did not use any at all. In addition, our research also examined the quality of
metacognitive techniques, especially in terms of their systematic use and
conscious involvement of students in the learning process. The outcomes of this
study should provide Slovak language teachers and policy-makers with
recommendation which teaching materials they may choose in order to facilitate
metacognitive learning of their students.
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PREFACE
They know enough who know how to learn.
Henry B. Adams, 1905
Teachers in contemporary society are facing a great challenge. Living in ‘information era’
they are no longer the sole providers of information. Even the smartest and most
professional ones cannot possibly keep up with the information flow and their role is
changing from conveying knowledge to facilitating learning. Knowing how to learn is more
important than any piece of knowledge itself, claimed Henry B. Adams more than a hundred
years ago. Are we able to utilize this wisdom today?
Many teachers these days believe that teaching their students how to learn (i.e. raising their
metacognitive awareness) is a worthwhile investment. Unfortunately, each one of us who
has ever been teaching in an institutional context is familiar with the common problems:
time pressure to cover curriculum, school authorities strictly prescribing textbooks, everyday dealing with learning disabilities, drilling for tests, extensive groups, lack of funding, etc.
All of these factors often result in teachers being worried to spend time on metacognitive
instruction which does not bring along immediate measurable results.
For this reason I assume that training in metacognitive skills is not realistic unless proper
instruction manuals are provided and widely spread. I believe that such material should be
embedded directly in textbooks and metacognitive instruction would then become a regular
topic of curriculum. Teachers would not have to make choices between metacognitive and
language learning, as both would happen simultaneously.
The aim of my thesis was to explore to what extent do EFL textbooks used in Slovakia at
secondary school intermediate level contain techniques for metacognitive instruction. The
research was focused predominantly on learning styles instruction, which would enable
students to get to know their qualities related to learning. However, other aspects of
metacognition were mapped simultaneously, because they are an inseparable part of the
same concept.
My analysis has shown that there are some materials supporting metacognitive learning
available for Slovak teachers. Unfortunately, they are not widely spread yet and only a few
teachers use them. These titles are relatively unknown, while metacognitive training is still
neglected in the well-established and best-selling textbook brands.
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Comparing and selecting textbooks is a very complex process and it requires a lot of energy
and time. That might be a reason why lecturers remain loyal to traditional trademarks. I am
convinced that if they are offered an understandable comparison of various titles, they
might consider using new textbooks, which facilitate metacognitive tuition.
Acknowledgements
I would like to sincerely thank Darina Marčeková from Oxford University Press, Gréta
Korpádiová from Macmillan and Peter Bojo from Cambridge University Press for their
willingness to lend me textbooks and for our discussions which helped me to understand the
process of publishing EFL textbooks. Without their help and the help of the employees of
OXICO it would have been very difficult to obtain the newest editions of all tested textbooks.
My deepest gratitude goes to my advisor Gabriela Lojová, who gave me a guidance as well
as freedom to explore on my own. I would also like to thank her for the greatly inspiring
psycholinguistics lectures and for giving me a direction how to become a better teacher.
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CONTENTS
ABSTRAKT ....................................................................................................................................................... 3
ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................................................................... 4
PREFACE .......................................................................................................................................................... 5
CONTENTS....................................................................................................................................................... 7
List of Tables ................................................................................................................................................. 8
List of Figures ............................................................................................................................................... 9
List of abbreviations and acronyms ............................................................................................................. 10
1
INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................................... 11
2
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ........................................................................................................... 13
2.1 TERMINOLOGY AND BACKGROUND THEORY............................................................................................... 13
2.1.1 Metacognition ..................................................................................................................................... 13
2.1.2 Learning Styles ................................................................................................................................... 14
2.1.3 Learning Strategies............................................................................................................................. 18
2.2 METACOGNITION IN LANGUAGE LEARNING ................................................................................................. 19
2.2.1 Why is it useful to encourage metacognitive thinking? ...................................................................... 19
2.2.2 How to teach metacognition? ............................................................................................................. 20
2.2.3 Mesh or mismatch?............................................................................................................................. 22
2.2.4 Practical implications for TEFL ......................................................................................................... 23
2.3 PREVIOUS RESEARCH .................................................................................................................................. 23
2.3.1 Research on metacognitive instruction in textbooks ........................................................................... 24
2.3.1 Research on EFL textbook assessment ............................................................................................... 24
2.3.3 Research on metacognitive strategy training models ......................................................................... 25
2.3.4 Research on metacognitive instruction and learning styles other than in textbooks .......................... 26
3
RESEARCH DESIGN ............................................................................................................................... 28
3.1. PRELIMINARY RESEARCH ........................................................................................................................... 28
3.2. RESEARCH PLAN ......................................................................................................................................... 32
3.2.1 Research question ............................................................................................................................... 32
3.2.2 Methodology ....................................................................................................................................... 33
3.2.3 Selection of Data Corpus .................................................................................................................... 36
3.2.4 Checklist design .................................................................................................................................. 38
4
ANALYSIS & RESULTS ......................................................................................................................... 39
4.1 LEARNING STYLES ....................................................................................................................................... 39
4.1.1 Quantitative analysis .......................................................................................................................... 39
4.1.2 Qualitative analysis ............................................................................................................................ 41
4.2 LEARNING STRATEGIES ............................................................................................................................... 47
4.3 OTHER METACOGNITIVE SKILLS .................................................................................................................. 54
5
DISCUSSION & PEDAGOGICAL IMPLICATIONS .......................................................................... 64
5.1 SUMMARY ................................................................................................................................................... 64
5.2 PEDAGOGICAL IMPLICATIONS ...................................................................................................................... 66
5.3 LIMITATIONS ............................................................................................................................................... 68
5.4 SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH ...................................................................................................... 69
6
CONCLUSION .......................................................................................................................................... 70
7
RÉSUMÉ .................................................................................................................................................... 71
REFERENCES ..................................................................................................................................................... 73
APPENDICES ...................................................................................................................................................... 78
7
List of Tables
Table 3-1 List of textbooks forming a corpus material
Table 4-1 Criteria related to learning styles
Table 4-2 Summary table of learning styles
Table 4-3 Quality of learning styles’ instruction
Table 4-4 Criteria related to learning strategies – part 1
Table 4-5 Summary table of learning strategies – part 1
Table 4-8 Quality of learning strategies’ instruction
Table 4-9 List of criteria for other metacognitive skills
Table 4-10 Summary table of other metacognitive skills
Table 5-1 Overall summary of research results
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List of Figures
Figure 1 Opportunities, SB p.81
Figure 2 Success, SB 34
Figure 4 Success SB 35
Figure 5 English Unlimited SB 24-25
Figure 7 Inspiration SB 17
Figure 6 Inspiration, SB 7
Figure 8 Gateway, brochure
Figure 9 Horizons SB 75
Figure 12 Opportunities TB 101
Figure 11 Opportunities SB 88
Figure 14 Inspiration TB 61-62
Figure 15 Gateway SB p. 12
Figure 17 Gateway SB 150
Figure 19 Gateway TB p.29
Figure 22 CODE SB 33
Figure 23 Opportunities WB 72
Figure 30 Face2Face SB back cover
Figure 31 Inspiration SB p.27
Figure 33 Face 2 face SB 27
Figure 38 New Horizons SB 7
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List of abbreviations and acronyms
CALLA
Cognitive Academic Language Learning Approach
CEFR
Common European Framework of Reference
CUP
Cambridge University Press
EFL
English as a foreign language
ELT
English language teaching
ESL
English as a second language
LS
Learning Styles
LStr.
Learning Strategies
MBTI
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (learning styles typology)
OUP
Oxford University Press
PL
Pearson Longman
SB
Student’s book, Course book
Ss
Students
SSBI
Styles- and Strategies-Based Instruction
ŠPÚ
National Institute for Education (Slovakia), Štátny pedagogický ústav SR
TB
Teacher’s book, Teacher’s manual, Teacher’s guide
TEFL
Teaching English as a foreign language
VAK
Visual-auditory-kinaesthetic (learning styles typology)
VAKT
Visual-auditory-kinaesthetic-tactile (learning styles typology)
VARK
Visual-auditory-read/write-kinaesthetic (learning styles typology)
WB
Workbook, Practice book
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1 INTRODUCTION
We often hear that the primary objective of modern education is to teach students how to
learn. Nevertheless, many teachers still do not know how to develop such skills in their
students. The overall aim of this thesis is to promote the use of metacognition, which is still
a rather unexplored notion, as an integral part of institutional language education in
Slovakia.
Our research objective is to find out whether Slovak textbooks for teaching English as a
foreign language (hereinafter ‘TEFL’) provide tools for teaching metacognitive skills. We
tested books for secondary school students which were recommended by the Ministry of
Education, Science, Research and Sport of the Slovak Republic (hereinafter ‘Ministry’ or
‘Ministry of Education’) for secondary school intermediate level.
The practical outcome of this research is to provide Slovak EFL teachers with the list of
textbooks which contain metacognitive instruction and thus make the process of textbook
selection easier. In addition, such list would contain information about specific
metacognitive functions supported by particular textbooks.
Within our study we focused mainly on exploring instruction on learning styles. The reason is
that while students are likely to reflect on their learning or memory strategies, they rarely
explore their own personality and individual characteristics that influence learning. By
concentrating on learning styles, we can ‘dig deeper’ into the background of their learning
preferences and difficulties which they have in studying.
Another reason for paying special attention to learning styles is that our schools are still
strongly biased towards visual, reflexive, well-organized (i.e. left-hemisphere dominant)
learners with an eye for detail (field independent). Teaching methods and techniques are
adjusted to their learning preferences, while other students lag behind and become less and
less successful as they grow up. Unfortunately, so far we have not fully adopted the idea
that there are many ways of learning and that no learning style is good or bad. In fact, no
such thing as bad learning style exists. There are only inappropriate methods for particular
learner types.
Naturally, the theory on learning styles is inseparable from the theory on learning strategies,
learner’s autonomy, planning own learning or getting to know oneself as a learner.
Therefore we also thoroughly studied these factors.
Accordingly, our analysis was focused on three areas.
1 Learning styles
2 Learning strategies
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3 Other metacognitive skills.
Each of these categories was assessed from the qualitative and quantitative point of view by
means of content analysis. The sixteen textbook sets were evaluated by strictly set criteria
summarized in a form of checklist, which was filled for every book separately.
These criteria were developed in two stages. First, criteria were chosen as a result of our
needs and the analysis of previous research in this field. Subsequently, a pilot study was
conducted on 4 textbook sets with the aim to make sure that the criteria are answerable and
they cover whole range of metacognitive techniques used in EFL textbooks. The complete
set of criteria adjusted by findings of the pilot research is summarized in Appendix 1.
The qualitative content analysis was further supported by unstructured interview with the
representatives of publishers – Mr. Peter Bojo for Cambridge University Press (hereinafter
‘CUP’), Ms. Gréta Korpádiová from Macmillan and Ms. Darina Marčeková from Oxford
University Press (hereinafter ‘OUP’).
This thesis consists of 7 chapters. Following the introductory chapter, theoretical framework
of the study is thoroughly examined in Chapter 2. It consists of terminology, theoretical
background of metacognition related to TEFL and an overview of previous research relevant
to our inquiry. Chapter 3 reveals in great detail our research design, namely the type and
nature of content analysis, ways of choosing the corpus material and setting of evaluation
criteria. In this chapter we also describe the coding procedures and further details of their
interpretation.
The results are presented in Chapter 4 where raw data are categorized and interpreted.
Moreover, the authors provide many samples from textbooks as a support for qualitative
part of the analysis. These are further adapted into pedagogical implications and
recommendation for teachers in Chapter 5. Moreover, we acknowledge limitations of our
study and suggest ideas for further research. Finally, in Chapters 6 and 7 the reader may find
overall summary and conclusion, the former being written in English, the latter summarized
in Slovak.
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2 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
2.1 Terminology and Background Theory
2.1.1 Metacognition
Metacognition is broadly defined as cognition about cognition, in other words thinking
about thinking. The notion was introduced by John Flavell in the 1970s, at the time when the
foundation of cognitive psychology were laid. He defined metacognition as “knowledge and
cognition about cognitive phenomena” (Flavell in Shaughnessy et al. 2008 : 46).
Flavell (1979 : 906) further specifies metacognitive knowledge as “one's stored knowledge or
beliefs about oneself and others as cognitive agents, about tasks, about actions or strategies,
and about how all these interact to affect the outcomes of any sort of intellectual
enterprise.“
He understood metacognition on two interrelated levels:
- metacognitive awareness (awareness of one’s thoughts; ‘monitoring of thought’); and
- metacognitive regulation (the ability to control and manage own thinking processes;
‘control of thought’)
Subsequently, psychologists and educationists (e.g. Papaleontiou-Louca 2008 : 1 ; Martinez
2006 : 696) broke down this notion to separate “skills” or “elements” such as:
metaperception, metacomprehension, metamemory (thinking about one’s own perceiving,
understanding, remembering), autonomy, independence and self-regulation. Metacognition
remains an umbrella term for any kind of conscious development of one’s cognitive abilities.
Furthermore, Efklides (2002 In Papaleontiou-Louca 2008 : 7) lists other metacognitive skills
such as planning, monitoring of the progress of processing, effort allocation, strategy use
and regulation of cognition. Ridley et al. (1992, in Coskun 2010 : 36) adds other
“metacognitive abilities” such as selecting strategies, correcting errors, monitoring the
progress of learning, analyzing the effectiveness of learning strategies, and changing
learning behaviours and strategies when necessary.
For a purpose of this thesis, we understand metacognition as active and deliberate thinking
about thinking and learning of English as a foreign language.
In addition, we use terms metacognitive abilities and metacognitive skills interchangeably
for all of the above listed metacognitive “elements”.
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In the results analysis we grouped our findings to three categories – learning styles,
strategies and “other metacognitive skills”. In this category we gathered techniques
supporting any metacognitive skills except for styles and strategies.
Within this study we often refer to metacognitive techniques, by which we mean any
techniques, activities or tasks which have a potential to enhance students’ metacognitive
skills and raise their metacognitive awareness and/or metacognitive regulation.
Last but not least, by metacognitive instruction (or tuition) we mean deliberate and
systematic development of students’ metacognitive skills.
2.1.2 Learning Styles
Learning styles (often referred to as ‘cognitive styles’ or ‘learner types’) can be defined in
many distinct manners. Pritchard (2009: 42) lists the following definitions:
- “a particular way in which an individual learns”;
- “an individual’s preferred or best manner(s) in which to think, process information and
demonstrate learning”
- “an individual’s preferred means of acquiring knowledge and skills.”
Rebecca Oxford (2003 : 2) defines learning styles as “general approaches – for example,
global or analytic, auditory or visual – that students use in acquiring a new language or in
learning any other subject.”
In addition to the cognitive aspects, James and Gardner (1995 : 20) added also the
dimension of environmental factors, defining learning styles as "the complex manner in
which, and conditions under which, learners most efficiently and most effectively perceive,
process, store, and recall what they are attempting to learn".
Lojová and Vlčková (2011: 23-27) further define nature and characteristics of learning styles.
They consider them to be holistic, multidimensional (composed of cognitive, personality,
affective, physiological, social, self-regulatory and other factors), highly individual and
relatively permanent characteristics. Styles can be conscious, unconscious or combined.
They may be perceived as predispositions (inclinations, tendencies, preferences)
determined by biological, psychological and social (environmental) influences, which can be
altered by appropriate stimulation and training.
Learning style typologies
There is no unitary agreement on the amount and validity of specific learning style
typologies. The field is extremely complex, offering all kinds of typologies from those on
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a bipolar continuum (convergers/divergers, holists/serialists, field dependent/independent,
sensing/intuition, left/right brainers, etc. 1) to complex multidimensional models (e.g. Dunn
– Dunn’s model containing 24 elements grouped under environmental, emotional,
sociological, physiological and psychological categories) 2.
Coffield – Moseley – Hall – Ecclestone (2004 (1)) have recently conducted an impressive
research evaluating 3800 references and studies on learning styles, out of which 838 papers
were thoroughly reviewed. They claimed that they were surprised by the „the extensive
nature of the field“ (2004 (1) : 2) when they defined 71 models of learning styles. They
confirm that even more of them exist (often as outcomes of doctoral theses, which have not
gained much experimental verification yet). Coffield’s team finally defined 13 “most
influential“ typologies, which were examined in detail.3
Slightly different approaches are preferred in Slovak ELT environment (Mareš (1998) in
Homolová 2003, Homolová 2003, Lojová-Vlčková 2011, Pokrivčáková et al. 2008). Local
authors focus especially on the following typologies:
-
Visual-auditory-kinaesthetic (VAK/VARK/VAKT) perceptive preferences typology
(designed by Fleming)
-
Field dependence/independence (by Herman Witkin)
-
Impulsiveness/Reflexiveness
-
Ambiguity tolerance
-
Brain hemisphere dominance (based on Sperry and Torrance)
-
Individual/group learners
-
Gardner’s multiple intelligences
-
Myers – Briggs model (MBTI)
-
Holists/serialists (by Gordon Pask)
It is clear that no mutual agreement about the learning style typology exists. Theory of
learning styles is rather an umbrella term for very distinct conceptions. For the purpose of
our study, we will consider any of the above mentioned typologies to be appropriate for
learning style instruction, notwithstanding the reservations of some authors about their
psychometric validity.
1
For more bi-polar classifications see Coffield et al. 2004 (1) p. 136.
Number of elements is different for children and adults. For more information see the official web site of Dunn&Dunn:
http://www.learningstyles.net/en/about-us
3
Allinson and Hayes’ Cognitive Styles Index (CSI), Apter’s Motivational Style Profile (MSP), Dunn and Dunn model and
instruments of learning styles, Entwistle’s Approaches and Study Skills Inventory for Students (ASSIST), Gregorc’s Mind
Styles Model and Style Delineator (GSD), Herrmann’s Brain Dominance Instrument (HBDI), Honey and Mumford’s Learning
Styles Questionnaire (LSQ), Jackson’s Learning Styles Profiler (LSP), Kolb’s Learning Style Inventory (LSI), Myers-Briggs Type
Indicator (MBTI), Riding’s Cognitive Styles Analysis (CSA), Sternberg’s Thinking Styles Inventory (TSI), Vermunt’s Inventory of
Learning Styles (ILS).
2
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Criticism of learning styles
We are aware of the fact that learning style theories have many opponents. The core of their
argumentation is lack of appropriate empirical evidence proving that learning style
instruction positively influences performance and brings along measurable improvement of
students’ results (e.g. Pashler et al. 2008: 116)
This issue is well addressed by Coffield et al. (2004 (1)), who repeatedly points out that many
typologies lack scientific justification. Even in case of the thirteen most influential
classifications, only one model matched the minimal criteria for internal consistency,
reliability and validity (Coffield et al. 2004 (1) : 139).
According to Coffield et.al (2004 (2) : 46), learning styles receive “unjustified prominence”
and their “appeal” among practitioners is unreasonable. On the other hand, he mentions the
“enormous size of the research literature” which “presents very particular problems for
practitioners, policy-makers and researchers who are not specialists in this field”. It is very
improbable that teachers will ever review the original research papers and assess their
quality appropriately.
Other group of critics states that the learning style theory is misused for commercial
purposes, pointing out especially private schools based on certain typology approach and
expensive managerial and soft-skills trainings (Pashler 2008: 106). Probably most of criticism
was received by Dunn & Dunn model, which is widely used all around the world in business
sphere.4 Nevertheless, commercialization itself, in our opinion, is not harmful unless it
attempts to manipulate the research findings.
Even more serious is the fact that learning styles may contribute to labelling students in
certain groups corresponding with a particular inventory. Once the student is marked to be
impulsive, the teacher may perceive him or her that way for a long time, even though the
results of psychological test might have been an outcome of a momentary situation. On the
other hand, such label is much more convenient than being labelled as ‘unintelligent’ or
‘unwise’.
Finally, learning style tuition is claimed to be too expensive taking into account that many
other factors influence student’s performance to a greater extent and more significantly
than learning style, though they are not being facilitated. Too much effort brings along too
little results. Coffield et al. (2008 (2): 46) aptly summarizes that:
“For more than 40 years, hundreds of thousands of students, managers and employees have
filled in learning style inventories, their scores have been subjected to factor analyses of
4
See offical web-page of the Dunns. Online: www.learningstyles.net
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increasing complexity, numerous learning styles have been identified, and what are the
conclusions that stem from such intensive labour? We are informed that the same teaching
method does not work for all learners, that learners learn in different ways and that teachers
should employ a variety of methods of teaching and assessment. Comenius knew that and
more in seventeenth century Prague and he did not need a series of large research grants to
help him find it out.”
In spite of the above mentioned reservations, we are convinced that learning style
instruction can significantly contribute to students' results and their attitude towards
studying. Validity is in our view the most serious problem. Although this issue is very serious
in pedagogical research, in may sometimes be secondary in educational practice. A student’s
textbook, for example, may contain an inventory which is not scientifically valid, however it
helps students to comprehend their own characteristics. The message to be conveyed is that
it is perfectly acceptable if each one of us approaches learning differently. For this purpose
we do not need a standardized psycho-diagnostic technique.
Furthermore, we do not agree with the argument that teaching based on learning styles is
ineffective. It depends on how we design education process once we know the learner types
of our students. There are basically two options. So-called meshing hypothesis (Pashler
2008: 105) says that tuition should be tailored to each student’s particular needs (in that
case it really can be expensive). Another approach, called mismatched hypothesis, says that
teachers should help students to unveil their individual characteristics and show them how
to utilize them in learning process. However, at the same time, they expose students to
techniques which do NOT match their learning style, in order to reduce their weaknesses.
While with the meshing hypothesis we agree that its effectiveness may be questionable, we
assume that the latter approach is certainly beneficial for students from the long-term view.
Any discussion which leads students to get to know themselves better is worth to invest in.
Even Coffield et al. (2004 (2): 3) acknowledge the importance of learning style based
education by seeing value in “better self-awareness [which] may lead to more organised and
effective approaches to teaching and learning.”
Nevertheless, we stress the need to notify students about these reservations and present
the learning style theories as hypotheses and tools rather than ‘ultimate truth’. Critical
thinking, both on the side of teachers and students is the key to prevent from spreading
misunderstandings about learning theories.
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2.1.3 Learning Strategies
In ELT terminology we need to differentiate between learning styles and learning strategies
(also called ‘study strategies’). ‘Strategy’ comes from Greek ‘strategia’, which means art of
commanding or leading a war; style relates to manner, preference or individual
predetermination.
One of the greatest experts on learning strategies in language teaching, Rebecca Oxford
(2003 : 1) distinctly defines styles as “general approaches to learning a language” and
strategies as “specific behaviours or thoughts learners use to enhance their learning”. In this
sense, styles are relatively stable and build-in characteristics of an individual. Strategies, by
contrast may be learned, developed and the learner may vary their usage in time.
Interconnection of styles and strategies is not symmetrical. While strategies can function
even without knowledge of one’s learning styles (such strategies are not metacognitive),
styles can be put into practice only via strategies.
On the other hand, we can often observe that our students acquire and use strategies
inconsistent with their learning styles, as a result of their teacher’s insistence. (Teachers
unaware of this theory unconsciously prefer their dominant learning style and make
students use the same strategies as they do). Even inappropriate strategies may become
‘natural’ for a student if they become a habit (as a result of reinforced, learned behaviour).
Oxford and Scarcella (in Oxford 2003: 2) further explain strategies as “a useful toolkit for
active, conscious and purposeful self-regulation of learning”. According to them, strategies
are supposed not only to increase efficiency of learning, but also ensure that the learning
will become easier, faster and more amusing.
In our research we need to keep in mind that learning styles and strategies are inextricably
intertwined with each other. Learners with a similar style tend to pick similar strategies.
Learning style instruction without practice (i.e. without tools in sense of strategies) would be
useless.
When digging deeper, one comes across unlimited number of strategies used by learners in
various situations. Some of them may be simple (e.g. selective attention on a specific
language input or improving listening by sitting closer to a learner), the others are more
complex (e.g. using mind maps and own graphic schemata to learn grammar).
Oxford classified study strategies into 2 groups, each of them with 3 sub-categories (1990:
pp 16-21):
-
DIRECT: cognitive, memory, compensation;
-
INDIRECT: metacognitive, affective and social.
18
Her classification is unique, because it points out that strategies are not purely cognitive (or
memory-related) processes, but they can contain all kinds of compensations for learner’s
inability to use the target language (e.g. coinage of new words, conscious guessing, avoiding
the communicative situation, etc.). Moreover, they involve also affective and social elements
(e.g. students deliberately encourages themselves, or seek for social interaction to practise).
Although Oxfords’ classification is most widely used, the author herself admits its drawbacks.
She mentions that this system is “in its infancy”, it is “only a proposal to be tested through
practical classroom use and through research” and that “classification conflicts are
inevitable” (1990 : 16).
It is mostly for the overlapping categories why we could not use her classification in our
checklist. We would have come across too many double-assigned items, which would make
our interpretation too difficult. Therefore, in our research, we categorized strategies
according to their use in textbooks (see criterion 2.1 in Appendix 1).
We need to clarify that our use of the term ‘metacognitive strategies’ differs from Oxfords
understanding. She defines them as a subgroup of indirect strategies, which encompasses
centering, arranging, planning, and evaluating one’s learning. However in this sense they
overlap with other 5 subcategories. For example, conscious analyzing and reasoning
(cognitive strategy) can be at the same time a metacognitive strategy (when the analyzing is
a result of student’s planning how to learn). Metacognitive strategies are always performed
by conscious thinking, whereas the other 5 sub-categories can be used either consciously or
subconsciously (as an imitation or following orders).
In our understanding, metacognitive strategies are any deliberate and conscious actions,
behaviours or techniques used by students to enhance their own learning. Please note
that the strategies which are used subconsciously, or which are passively passed from
teachers to students without further explanation of their meaning and purpose, are not
considered to be ‘metacognitive’ (we call them just ‘learning strategies’).
2.2 Metacognition in language learning
2.2.1 Why is it useful to encourage metacognitive thinking?
Extensive research findings are available to support the hypothesis that metacognition is
essential for effective learning and inevitable for acquiring whole-life motivation and ability
to learn. As an old Chinese proverb states: “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day.
Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” Teaching a child how to think and learn
gives him or her an invaluable tool for the rest of his or her life.
19
O’Malley et al. (1985 in Coscun 2010 : 36) state that “learners without metacognitive
approaches have no direction or ability to monitor their progress, accomplishments, and
future learning directions.” Similarly Hauck (2005 in Coscun 2010 : 36) claims that learners
with developed metacognitive awareness became more autonomous.
The same conclusions are proposed by Chamot (2005), Goh (2002) and Anderson (2002) (in
Coskun 2010 : 36-39). According to these authors, learners with metacognitive skills are
more successful, show better performance, are able to think strategically and work out their
own tactics for learning. Furthermore, they are more confident and do not hesitate to ask
for help when needed.
In addition, Ann Brown (1978 in Martinez 2006 : 697) justifies the generality of
metacognitive functions claiming that “The skills of metacognition do appear to have
recognizable counterparts in ‘real world, everyday-life’ situations. (…) economy and
commonsense reality is a metacognitive skill applicable whether the task under consideration
is solving a math problem, memorizing a prose passage, following a recipe, or assembling an
automobile.”
Studying separate elements of metacognition (e.g. particular learning styles) also brought us
to general conclusions that metacognitive training improves students’ performance (see
research overview by Boudah and O’Neill (In Kerka (ed.) 2007 : 60-61) 5.
2.2.2 How to teach metacognition?
Once teachers acknowledge the need of metacognitive instruction, they most probably face
the question how to develop metacognitive skills and strategies.
Although metacognition comprises of various sub-skills (metamemory, autonomy, learning
styles, raising metacognitive awareness), most of the practitioners focus their instruction
almost exclusively on learning strategies.
In our opinion, there are two basic problems related to such approach. Firstly, strategies are
only a part of metacognition (though the most applicable one) and the other skills shall not
be neglected. Secondly, not all strategies are used deliberately and consciously (i.e. they are
not metacognitive) and they are passed from teachers to students without deeper
understanding.
Ellis (1999: 5) address this issue by describing fruitless experimenting with strategies by
practice (e.g. matching, predicting, guessing, classifying, comparing or sequencing) which
5
Researches were focused on reading strategies (Lenz & Hughes, 1990), text taking strategies (Hughes & Schumaker, 1991),
strategies for improving the quality of student compositions, planning processes, and revisions (Graham, Harris, MacArthur,
& Schwartz, 1991), reciprocal teaching (e.g., Palincsar & Brown, 1986), mnemonics usage (Scruggs & Mastropieri, 1992)
20
“rarely informs students explicitly about why they are using certain strategies or get them to
reflect on how they are learning. In other words, the metacognitive dimension is missing, so
students are not helped to understand the significance of what they are doing. (…) The
emphasis here is ‘on learning something rather than learning to learn’”.
Ehrman, Leaver and Oxford (2003 In: LaBelle 2010 : 359) summarise that no strategy is good
or bad (they are “necessarily neutral”) and it needs to be considered in broader context. The
usefulness of strategy depends on a) whether it is relevant to adjoining language task, b)
whether it fits student’s individual learning style, and c) whether the student uses the
strategy effectively and in connection to other strategies.
Classroom practice for implementing strategies should according to Oxford (2003: 15)
consist of 4 phases: “assessing styles and strategies in the L2 classroom, attuning L2
instruction and strategy instruction to learners’ style preferences, remembering that no
single L2 instructional methodology fits all students, and preparing for and conducting
strategy instruction.”
Similarly, Veenman et al. (2006 : 9) presents 3 fundamental principles for successful
metacognitive training: first, to connect metacognitive instruction in the content matter;
second, explain learners why metacognitive activities are useful; third, ensure prolonged
training to maintain application of metacognitive activities. He refers to these rules as a
WWW&H principle – What (to do), When, Why and How.
At this point we can see that strategy training without connecting with the learning styles
theory is rather ineffective. Ellis (1999 : 5) adds that there is a need to explain reasons for
learning and its process. Furthermore, she recommends to introduce materials for learning,
discuss why is learning beneficial, what activities will be done and why and encourage selfassessment and self-correction of learners.
Instruction focused predominantly on learning styles is (unlike with strategies) inevitably
metacognitive. It does not allow us to serve students ready-made solutions and it requires
deeper introspection. Moreover, learning styles develop abstract thinking, awareness of
learner’s own mental and cognitive processes, which are very useful skills in other areas of
their lives.
Styles and strategies are two interconnected elements, two sides of the same coin and we
can not separate them and study them in isolation. In Flavell’s division of metacognition on
awareness and regulation, styles roughly correspond to metacognitive awareness, while
learning strategies relate to regulation. Focusing solely on strategies would be reduction of
the concept of metacognition and getting stuck on the application level without
understanding the underlying principles.
21
2.2.3 Mesh or mismatch?
Shifting attention to learning styles, the scientists argue vigorously whether it is beneficial to
teach according to student’s preferred styles or not. They either recommend instruction in
line with student’s learning style (i.e. meshing hypothesis, see Pashler et al. above), or
intentional mismatching, with the aim to develop students’ non-dominant skills.
The proponents of meshing are convinced that when using methods corresponding to
individual’s learning styles, one learns faster, more efficiently and with a prolonged effect.
Those who object mashing claim that the most successful students are not the ones
‘matched’ but those who are able to use techniques appropriate for various learning styles in other words those who are more flexible.
Bandler – Grinder’s research (1979 in Pritchard 2009: 54) sheds some light on this dispute,
claiming that “70 per cent of learners will be able to cope however a lesson is presented; 10
per cent will be unable to learn whatever method is employed, for reasons largely unrelated
to learning style; but the remainder will only be able to learn in a visual, auditory or
kinaesthetic way.” Those 20 per cent of students require matching, but their orientation on
solely one way of processing information might probably limit them in the future anyway.
A partial solution might be teaching to all types (Pritchard 2009: 54), when the teacher
employs various styles of teaching and activities based not solely on his or her own
preferences, but appropriate to all styles.
In addition, students should gain ability to identify (diagnose) their own learning style.
Furthermore, they need to apply this knowledge into their learning processes. This means,
firstly, to connect their previous learning experience with the newly introduced knowledge
on learning styles (i.e. to interpret student’s previous endeavours and its effectiveness
through learning style theory), secondly to define which learning strategies correspond to
their learning style, thirdly to apply corresponding strategies in learning, and finally to be
aware of the non-preferred learning style (i.e. their weakness) and decide how the student is
going to develop his non-dominant ways of learning.
Students need to understand that some learning styles are more appropriate for certain
kinds of tasks than other. E.g., even the strictly auditory learners, find it easier to use visuals
to localize a country on the map than to struggle with verbal explanation. Thus students
comprehend that they should not only utilize their dominant learning style, but also
develop their non-dominant predispositions. The first step is to get to know oneself, one’s
strengths and weaknesses. Then the student can develop a repertoire of styles. 6
6
For an example of a reasonable balance between meshing and mismatching, see Figure 6 in Chapter 4.2.1
22
2.2.4 Practical implications for TEFL
To sum up the above mentioned theoretical concepts we may conclude that metacognitive
instruction is inevitably needed and it is currently heavily neglected in teaching. Emstack
(2001 in Kerka (Ed.) 2007 : 18) clarifies that teachers, under pressure of curricular standards
and requirement focus on content rather than teaching skills.
Coffield (2004 (2) : 12) emphasized the need to improve initial teacher education and
continuing professional development, because teachers do not possess enough knowledge
in the field of metacognition.
Furthermore, Ellis (1999 : 4) expresses her disappointment that many teaching materials do
not support development of metacognitive skills and strategies, therefore the burden of
responsibility on teaching such skills is completely on the teacher.
Subsequently, the need for embedding strategies directly into curricula is explained by
Cohen (2003 in Kerka 2007: 72-74). Especially in EFL learning, some textbooks already
provide strategy-embedded activities. Nevertheless, without metacognitive awareness,
students “may not be aware that they are using strategies at all”.
In case the metacognitive training is a part of a textbook, there is no need for extracurricular
training, and students may develop such skills while learning the target language. In such
case, the pressure of meeting curricular standards is eliminated, as the metacognitive
instruction becomes both the process of learning language and the aim of learning.
Both teachers and students need to adopt Kolb’s persuasion that (1999 Coffield 2004(2): 38)
“Understanding your learning style type, and the strengths and weaknesses, inherent in that
type, is a major step toward increasing your learning power and getting the most from your
learning experiences.”
2.3 Previous Research
Our research is focused on mapping metacognitive instruction in the EFL textbooks with a
focus on learning styles. We will concentrate predominantly on studies with identical or
similar objectives, however there are also several other research areas which are relevant
for us. These can be found in journals related to education, pedagogy, psychology and
language learning. In addition we found many interesting sources also in periodicals dealing
with psycholinguistics, human resources and neuroscience.
23
2.3.1 Research on metacognitive instruction in textbooks
There is an abundant research available on textbook evaluation, metacognition in language
learning and learning strategies. Nevertheless, when it comes to assessment of
metacognitive instruction in textbooks the amount of research papers decreases rapidly.
Even those few deal mostly with learning strategies (La Belle 2010, Coskun 2010), or other
metacognitive skills (such as autonomy, self-assessment), but not with learning styles.
We have not found a single study which would evaluate the extent and/or quality of learning
style instruction in ELT textbooks. We assume that the reason why this field is rather
unexplored is that while learning strategies are usually observable (and therefore easier to
measure), it is difficult to observe (and examine) styles directly.
From the researches focused on learning strategies, we found a lot of inspiration in Jeffrey
La Belle’s (2010) content analysis of ELL textbooks. The author examined 33 books and
searched for learning strategies in written texts and illustrations. However, his approach is
rather quantitative, as he focused solely on frequency of strategies.
Furthermore, there is a group of scholars who deal with evaluating metacognitive training in
textbooks on a theoretical level –e.g. introducing criteria for its measurement. Unfortunately
they have not been empirically validated yet. To our great pleasure, such papers occurred
also among Slovak and Czech authors, who present fairly good sets of criteria.
Homolová (2003: 19) has emphasized the need to include learning styles into textbook
evaluation criteria. In addition, she performed a small study examining whether New
Opportunities Upper Intermediate textbook includes tasks both for all VAK-types of learners
(2003: 20-29). By examining two units (modules) of this textbook, she came up to the
conclusion that the tasks are well-balanced in terms of VAK typology.
Janíková (2007 in Maňák – Knecht (Eds.) 59-60) enumerates several very specific
metacognitive criteria which should be included in textbooks assessment checklists. She
introduces a well applicable model for language textbook assessment. She sorted criteria
into 5 categories, namely: A: Orientation in the learning process, B: Taking responsibility for
one’s own learning; C: Learning process itself; D: Other forms of learning; E: Sociocultural
aspects of learning (intercultural learning).
2.3.1 Research on EFL textbook assessment
Due to the fact that resources on textbook evaluation in terms of metacognitive instruction
are scarce, we focused also on researches examining other aspects of EFL textbooks and
teaching materials. This research area is profoundly developed. Not only researchers, but
also state authorities and publishers have many evaluation schemes developed at hand.
24
There is an excessive number of studies, therefore we focused on secondary sources,
whereof we recommend especially the overview of Mukundan and Ahour (2011 : 336-352)
who published a comparative study summarizing how textbook evaluation checklists evolved
during four decades (1970 – 2008). They examined 48 checklists, which give us a fairly good
overview of evaluation methods, although metacognition aspect is unheeded.
Another useful guide to textbook evaluation is available in well-known Ur’s ‘A course in
language teaching’ (2009 : 184-186), where he enumerates several criteria which need to be
included. Similarly, Williams (1983 : 255) analyzes the aspects of textbook evaluation
checklist which were taken into consideration when evolving our evaluation tools.
Specifically for Slovak foreign language coursebooks, there is a list of evaluation criteria
developed by National Institute for Education (ŠPÚ) 7. They are discussed in detail in the
following chapter and the full list is available in Appendix 2.
Highly relevant in Slovak conditions is also an edited book of Maňák and Knecht (2007).
Thereof, we closely examined the contribution of Staudková who points out from the view of
a textbook publisher that a textbook shall support student’s metacognitive competence
(2007: 49); and the above mentioned contribution of Janíková.
In spite of the abundance of resources on textbook evaluation, teachers often
underestimate the selection of textbooks, and they rather obediently wait for orders from
the school authorities or advice of their colleagues. Nevertheless, Wallace (2000: 181) alerts
them that if they ask colleagues for a suitability of a textbook used in particular situation,
they are most likely to receive a statement that the book was “very useful”. As a result, they
may “feel confident in using it”, although more systematic evaluation would be needed. We
hope that the above mentioned sources might help the practitioners to do so.
2.3.3 Research on metacognitive strategy training models
Strategy training models bring along endless resources on how should metacognitive
training be designed in general, therefore they are interesting for setting criteria of our
research. The methods are very often universal, and can be applied to other metacognitive
aspect than strategies, including learning styles.
Basically all of the strategy training models (SSBI 8, CALLA 9 and Genfell & Harris’ model)
follow similar patterns and common principles, comprising techniques such as planning,
awareness raising, using of previous knowledge, presentation, general practice, monitoring,
7
‘Kritériá na hodnotenie kvality učebnicovej sady pre cudzí jazyk‘ issued by ŠPÚ, Edičný portál;
Styles and Strategies-Based Instruction Model (SSBI) – Cohen 1998
9
The Cognitive Academic Language Learning Apprach – Chamot 2005
8
25
evaluation and providing of feedback ((Cohen 1998, Chamot 2005 and Grenfell and Harris
1999): In Chamot 2004 : 22).
Very similar strategy training model is proposed by Anderson (2002 in Coskun 2010 : 38) and
consists of 5 successive stages: preparing and planning, deciding when to use particular
strategies, monitoring strategy use, learning how to organize and coordinate various
strategies (practising) and evaluating their use.
More specific metacognitive training model for listening strategies was developed and also
validated by Vandergrift et al (2006). This model was based on Metacognitive Awareness
Listening Questionnaire (MALQ) and involves categories such as problem identification,
planning, monitoring, and evaluation.
Although we do not present these approaches in detail, we have adopted many of their
features into our research checklist.
2.3.4 Research on metacognitive instruction and learning styles other
than in textbooks
The last research area is the most general and it suggests which aspect from the theory of
metacognition and learning styles are most relevant for TEFL.
We would like to emphasize again that the number of research entries in this area is
overwhelming. To every LS typology, one can find thousands of research papers (often with
contradictory results), not to mention that there are tenths of generally accepted (and
taught) learning style typologies. 10 This makes the original papers practically inaccessible for
the educationists-practitioners, who devote most of their time to teaching itself.
For this reasons, we decided to approach the research overviews worked out by expert
teams, e.g. the two in-depth studies of Coffield et al. (2004 (1) and 2004 (2)), who reviewed
over 3800 papers. Moreover, we recommend review by Cassidy (2004), which is more
focused on application. For a quick overview, research outline by Oxford (2003) and Lojová Vlčková (2011) are equally helpful.
10
To Illustrate the extent of research, Coffield (2004 (1) : 2) summarizes that David and Alice Kolb (authors of LSI – Learning
Style Inventory) collected a database of 1004 studies examining their theory. Furthermore, Dunn and Dunn‘s website on
Learning Styles Questionnaire (LSQ) presents a bibliography of 1140 sources. Estimated 2000 entries were noticed about
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) between 1985 and 1995.
26
To sum up Chapter 2.3, we would like to review the most important findings which can be
inferred from above mentioned research overview:
-
metacognitive instruction is beneficial for students
-
metacognitive instruction is currently neglected at schools, in curricular standards and
teaching materials
-
textbook evaluation criteria, in general, do not contain metacognitive aspects, except for
sporadic use of learning strategies
-
metacognitive instruction shall be embedded in the curriculum, ideally with a textbook
supporting such instruction by means of specific tutorials, diagnostic tools and
instruction techniques.
Regarding the aspect of student competence, we observed that there are some common
patterns repeatedly emphasized by researchers. First of all, students need to understand
why the metacognitive instruction is important for them. They should be encouraged to
reflect on their previous learning experience and become aware of their abilities. Moreover,
they need to comprehend their own learning preferences (and styles). Subsequently, they
need to understand which learning strategies correspond to these styles and use them.
Teachers should present learning strategies in connection with corresponding learning
styles. It is beneficial if they ‘provoke’ students to think critically about strategies and
evaluate their use in particular situations. It is the responsibility of teachers to help students
identify their own problems, choose their own strategies, plan their learning, set goals and
monitor (self-evaluate) their progress.
Policy makers shall remember that metacognitive instruction is the most effective if
embedded directly into EFL materials
27
3 RESEARCH DESIGN
3.1. Preliminary research
Our research is specifically focused on Slovak EFL teaching environment. For this reason, we
conducted a preliminary research which would map current situation in Slovakia before the
research plan was fully designed. We focused on analyzing primary resources relevant to
Slovak language education (research papers, education legislation, regulations of school
authorities, etc.).
Another part of preliminary research was done by interviewing representatives of EFL
textbook publishers. The unstructured interviews were made with Ms. Marčeková from
Oxford University Press, Ms. Korpádiová from Macmillan and Mr. Bojo from Cambridge
University Press in June 2012.
The representatives of Pearson Longman were unavailable for interviewing at that time. We
also tried to obtain information from representatives of Slovak Ministry, National institute
for Education (ŠPÚ) and Edičný portál, however, competent officials were repeatedly
unavailable or if reached, they claimed not to possess any information about textbook
selection or evaluation criteria.
Availability of ELT textbooks in Slovakia
Our preliminary research revealed that a relatively wide selection of textbooks is currently
offered to Slovak teachers. These are both books issued by Slovak and renowned
international publishers.
The Ministry measures the quality of textbooks through National Institute for Education
(ŠPÚ) and its branch Editorial Portal (Edičný portál).
Together, as many as 77 publications were on the list of recommended textbooks for
secondary schools as of June 2012. These were grouped into 21 textbook series. Each of
these comprises of several textbook sets 11 for different proficiency level. One textbook set
usually consists of a student book or course book (hereinafter ‘SB’), workbook or practice
book (hereinafter ‘WB’) and teachers book or manual (hereinafter ‘TB’). There may be other
publications included, such as additional dictionaries, test preparation material,
supplementary practice books etc.
Such wide selection undoubtedly offers teachers to choose books freely. On the other hand,
they may often find themselves in a difficult situation, because they may not be able to
11
rd
th
Headway textbook for example consists of 2 series: Headway 3 ed. and NEW Headway 4 ed.
rd
The 3 ed. consists of 4 textbook sets – Headway Elementary, Pre-Intermediate, Intermediate and Upper-intermediate
28
make a choice easily. They may also lack experience with textbook evaluation, or do not
have time and access to textbook samples. As a result, they may often simply accept the
book used in their institution.
In addition, it is still quite common that teachers accept any ‘foreign’ textbook to be a good
textbook. They can mistakenly consider the textbooks of the renowned international
publishers (OUP, CUP, PL, Macmillan) to be appropriate for their particular class, without
questioning its suitability under specific cultural and institutional circumstances or their
aims. As Homolová (2003 : 19) states, in our conditions many teachers still “teach the book”,
not the students. 12
National criteria for foreign language textbook evaluation
Slovak Editorial portal chooses the textbooks on the basis of a set of criteria which are
published on their web-site 13 (see Appendix 2). The positive aspect is that there is a special
set of criteria applied solely for foreign language textbooks. Thus EFL textbooks are not
evaluated according to the same criteria as textbooks for other subjects, as it is the case in
Czech Republic14, where only one general checklist exists.
When taking a closer look at the evaluation criteria of Slovak authorities, we have found the
following facts:
−
The textbooks are evaluated as a complete textbook set consisting of SB, TB and WB.
−
The SB is evaluated by 53 criteria grouped into 8 groups and it can obtain maximum of
255 points. Maximum for TB is 65 points, ideal WB can get 60 points.
−
The current set of criteria does not sufficiently take into account metacognitive aspects.
Reviewing the criteria, we have found that eight of them were somehow related to
metacognition. (We labelled them as “#category/#criterion”with ref. to Appendix 2).
In case of student books, only criterion 4/5 15 fully addressed metacognition. The other
partially relevant criteria were 4/4, 4/6, 5/15, 6/15 and 7/6. Unfortunately they mix
metacognitive abilities with other skills, such as computer-assisted learning, critical thinking,
ability to guess unknown vocabulary and something called “other skills”. Therefore they are
rather unclear and we do not consider them to measure metacognitive instruction.
12
Slovak polysemantic expression which is not easy to translate to English: “Mnoho učiteľov stále učí učebnicu a nie žiakov.”
http://www.statpedu.sk/files/documents/ucebnice/kriteria_ucebicova_sada_cudzi_jazyk.pdf
14
http://www.msmt.cz/vzdelavani/schvalovaci-dolozky-k-ucebnicim-cervenec-2009
15
Criterion 4/5: „There is enough attention paid to self-assessment, self-reflection, development of metacognitive skills,
etc“. In Slovak: „Dostatočný priestor je venovaný sebahodnoteniu, sebareflexii, rozvoju metakognitívnych zručností a pod.”
13
29
In case of workbooks, we noticed criterion 4/3 16, which measures whether activities in
workbook respect various learning styles. Nevertheless, this criterion relates to the textbook
design, not to the ‘message’ which the book conveys to students, because it does not
require the workbook to address students with presenting learning styles theories to raise
their metacognitive awareness.
In case of teachers’ books, national set of criteria requires the book to “provide the teacher
with sufficient stimuli for developing of creativity, autonomy, learning strategies and selfassessment of the students (crit. 4/4)”. 17 Similarly to the criteria in SB, this one also mixes
many different aspects together. The problem is that we are not sure, whether a TB which
supports creativity and at the same time does not support self-evaluation or autonomy,
would fulfil the criterion 4/4 or not.
In our opinion, many of the criteria attempting to measure metacognition are rather
inconsistent. For example, in crit. SB 4/5 two distinct aspects (study skills and ICT) are
blended. It is not clear, how many points should a researcher assign to a book which has
excellent ICT background but poor study skills development or vice versa.
Another disadvantage of this checklist is that metacognitive instruction is fragmented within
categories 4 - Skills, 5 - Selection and processing of the content and 6 - Didactic processing of
the content.
Moreover, some of the criteria are simply unclear. For example, what are “other skills” in
4/4 for SB? In addition, categories are often overlapping (e.g. the concept of “selfassessment” is presented both in SB 4/5 and SB 6/7).
Our most serious reservation is that the above mentioned criteria do not match our
requirement that metacognition is understood as a conscious and deliberate process. Those
criteria refer to strategies, autonomy or self-assessment, but they do not require their
conscious development and critical thinking related to their use. Any learning strategy
presented to a student is not necessarily metacognitive, unless the students really
understands why, when, how and under which condition he or she could use it.
Only the criteria SB 4/5 and TB 4/4 fully correspond with our understanding of metacognitive
instruction. Thus we end up with a conclusion that only 10 out of 380 points in the currently
used evaluation checklist are related to metacognitive instruction. That accounts for less
than 3 per cent weight of metacognition in evaluation criteria of ŠPÚ, in spite of the mutual
16
Criterion 4/3: Activities and tasks respect the variability of learning styles of the students.“ In Slovak: Aktivity a úlohy
rešpektujú rôznorodosť učebných štýlov žiakov.“
17
Criterion 4/4 in Slovak: „Poskytuje učiteľovi dostatok podnetov pre rozvíjanie tvorivosti, autonómie, stratégií učenia sa a
sebahodnotenia žiaka.”
30
consensus of researchers that metacognitive instruction is a crucial element in language
learning.
As for the learning style instruction, only criterion SB 5/15 addresses this concept, which
accounts for 1.3 per cent of the overall assessment. Unfortunately, there are 4 other aspects
mentioned in this criterion, which make it rather inconsistent.
To sum up, we assume that the current set of criteria for ELT textbook evaluation used by
Slovak Edičný portál do not validly measure metacognitive instruction. On the other hand,
we are still way ahead of other countries (e.g. Czech Republic) where no specific series of
criteria exist for language books. Czech evaluation toolkit contains only a criterion of
“supporting learner independence and autonomy”, while the Slovak model introduces at
least several fragmented and incoherent metacognitive criteria. Whether such status quo is
satisfactory we let the reader decide.
Metacognition in teacher training in Slovakia
Coffield’s et al. (2004 (2) : 12) observation that neither initial nor lifelong teacher education
involves sufficient metacognitive training aptly reflects the conditions in Slovakia. As a result,
metacognitive awareness of EFL teachers in Slovakia is, in general, insufficient.
In spite of this deficiency, the situation could be offset by including such techniques in
teachers’ manuals. If teachers were given such guidance, they might slowly adopt this
approach to teaching. Nevertheless, without proper initial training, it may happen that even
if textbooks contain metacognitive instruction, teachers might underestimate them and skip
these methods when teaching, because they might not be able to appreciate their value.
Teachers’ training, however, is beyond the scope of this study, which is focused
predominantly on teaching materials.
Statistics of ELT textbook use on the Slovak market
In the preliminary research we tried to obtain official statistics on textbook use in Slovak
secondary schools. The government authorities18 refused to share this information and they
referred us to publishers. According to unofficial figures for June 2012, the most popular
textbook on secondary school level was Headway. The second one was Solution followed by
Opportunities. Furthermore, there are several titles with significantly smaller market share –
Matrix, Horizons, Face2Face, Success and Real Life. 19
18
We directly contacted the Ministry, National institute for education and Edičný portál (MSSR – Ms. Poliaková)
Partial data were provided separately for CUP, where number one was Face2Face followed by English Unlimited (which
appeared on market recently) and English in Mind.
19
31
3.2. Research plan
3.2.1 Research question
As we discussed in the preceding chapter, we assume that the most effective way for
promoting and facilitating metacognitive training of Slovak students would be to include
such material into EFL textbooks. Therefore, we examined textbooks recommended by the
Ministry for secondary school intermediate students (aged 15-19 y.).
We seek the answer to the following research questions:

To what extent do secondary school ELT textbooks recommended by Slovak Ministry
of Education contain material to raise metacognitive awareness of their students?

To what extent do these textbooks contain instructional material related to
learning styles?

To what extent do these textbooks support learning strategy use?

To what extent do these textbooks facilitate development of other metacognitive
abilities of student?

What is the level of quality 20 of metacognitive instruction in these textbooks?
The first research question reflects the overall aim of our research. It encompasses four
partial problems:
The first one examines which of these books educate the students on learning styles
theories. We find this aspect of metacognition to be of extreme importance because
learning style instruction elicits students’ understanding of their inner characteristics and
study preferences.
The second and third sub-questions focus on learning strategies and ‘other metacognitive
skills’. These encompass raising students’ independence as learners, their autonomy, their
ability to plan, set goals, assess their own performance and think about the external
(environmental) factors that influence their learning.
In the fourth partial question we want to provide some insight into the quality of
metacognitive instruction. Firstly, we will study whether it is systematically used (i.e. present
on a regular basis or not). Secondly, we will focus on variability of metacognitive techniques.
Thirdly, we will examine whether textbook requires students to employ active and conscious
understanding, or the students are expected to be only passive receivers of such instruction.
20
systematicity, variability and conscious use
32
3.2.2 Methodology
Apart from the methods used in preliminary research (unstructured interviews and analysis
of primary sources related to Slovak EFL teaching environment), we decided to conduct our
research by means of content analysis.
Krippendorff (2004, p.18) defines content analysis as a “research technique for making
replicable and valid inferences from texts (or other meaningful matter) to the contexts of
their use”.
Weber (1990, p.12) further explains this definition and emphasizes that the procedure itself
has to be reliable, consistent and it must “generate variables that are valid”. In other words,
different people should code specific text in the same way and they should not obtain
different results.
At the same place he concludes that “A variable is valid to the extent that it measures or
represents what the investigator intends it to measure.” Weber, furthermore, introduces
variety of methods for content analysis and points out that, surprisingly, the best results are
often produced by using the simplest procedures.
There has been a great discussion among researchers whether content analysis is a
quantitative or a qualitative method. With the rise of popularity and availability of computer
technologies, the quantitative variations of this method flourished. However, in the last 20
years, most of methodologists have accepted the qualitative modifications of content
analysis.
Tuomi and Sarajärvi (in Lappalainen 2011 : 35), for example, define content analysis as “one
of the basic methods for qualitative research” which can be at the same time used in
quantitative research. In addition, Weber (1990 in Hsieh and Shannon 2005: 1278) clarifies
that “qualitative content analysis goes beyond merely counting words to examining language
intensely for the purpose of classifying large amounts of text into an efficient number of
categories that represent similar meanings”.
Hsieh and Shannon (2005: p.1277) describe this method as a “widely used qualitative
research technique” and define three types of qualitative approaches to this method. The
first one – conventional - derives coding categories directly from the data corpus. The second
- directed content analysis - sets up the initial coding categories on a theory or research
findings. In the third – summative approach – the keywords are counted, compared and
subsequently analyzed and interpreted.
Similarly, Tuomi and Sarajärvi (in Lappalainen 2011 : 36) differentiate three distinct
approaches to content analysis: data-based, theory-guided and theory-based. These three
33
approaches differ in the extent to which they are based on some specific theory. While in databased, the theory emerges on the basis of the analysis, theory based approach is already
founded on a specific theory with a purpose to verify it by means of content analysis.
Krippendorff (1989 : 405) claims content analysis to be a suitable method in education research,
especially for evaluating various aspects of textbooks.
Successful utilizing of this method assumes that researcher fulfils certain sequence of
procedures. Methodologists agree that the first step is collecting texts, audiovisual or other
verbal material for analysis. This material needs to be reduced to the relevant data (data
corpus) and, if needed, categorized into subgroups and properly labelled.
Consequently, the decision on recording units has to be made. Such units could be words,
clauses, sentences, paragraphs, or even more extensive passages. The process follows with
defining the coding schemes that will ensure reliable categorizing and storing of the material
as well as provide a key to the original corpus (an easy retrieval and tracking of the original
data). If some of the data are relevant but can not be coded according to the existing codes,
they need to be stored and reconsidered later whether they create a new category or not.
An elaborate overview of these procedures (steps following corpus material selection) is to
be found in Colorado State University manual for content analysis (CSU Writing, 2013)
containing 8 steps:
1. Decision on the level of analysis (whether the examined unit is a single word, set of
phrases, sentences, etc.)
2. Decision on how many concepts to code for. (Develop a pre-defined or interactive set of
concepts and categories and establish how much flexibility will be allowed when coding)
3. Decision on whether to code for existence or frequency of a concept
4. Decision on how to distinguish among concepts. (Set the level of generalization, i.e.
whether concepts appearing in different forms can be recorded as the same.)
5. Developing rules for coding texts. (Creating rules which ensure consistent coding, i.e.
that researcher is coding exactly what he or she wants to code for)
6. Decision how to deal with "irrelevant" information (whether to ignore it or use it to reexamine and/or alter the coding scheme )
7. Coding (manually/by hand or via computer programs)
8. Result analysis (drawing conclusions and generalizations from the data; deciding how to
utilize the parts of the text that were not coded (deleting, skipping or reassessing coding
scheme))
34
As a method of our research, we decided to choose a directed content analysis. That means
we initially based our coding categories on existing theory of metacognitive techniques and
subsequently adjusted them by the findings of our pilot study.
For a data corpus, 47 textbooks were selected out of the textbooks recommended by the
Ministry (more information on textbook selection is available in chapter 3.2.3).
The examined material of each set was a whole student’s book, a whole workbook and
some selected chapters of teachers’ guides. Regarding the TBs, our analysis was conducted
on introductory chapter incl. preface and all notes to teachers, Unit 1, Unit 3 and last Unit.
In addition, if there were any units dealing with education, learning, or school system as a
main topic, we also examined these. Other material (additional brochures, CDs, iPod and
Android phone applications 21, etc.) were categorized and labelled for the purposes of
potential further research. However, some of them were analyzed in those cases when SB or
WB contained a direct reference to these materials.
When we collected these textbooks, we gathered data by means of self-designed coding
technique (in line with above mentioned 8 steps of the CSU manual):
Regarding the “level of analysis” we have set the whole exercises and other individual
activities as primary units. Secondly, we focused on paragraphs (mainly in TB) and separate
sentences which expressed meaningful information regarding metacognition.
Then we defined set of concepts and categories (we call them criteria in our checklist). Their
reliability and consistency were examined by means of the pilot study, which was performed
on randomly selected 4 textbook sets. As a result, the checklist was adjusted to its final form
(see Appendix 1) which was used for analysis of all 16 textbook sets.
Consequently, we decided to code for existence (and not for frequency) of the concepts.
Due to the extensive number of criteria as well as the aims of our research, the incidence
was not as important as the fact that a particular metacognitive technique simply appeared
in a particular textbook. Coding for frequency was also inappropriate due to the fact that we
did not examine whole teachers’ manuals, but just selected units.
The level of generalization was set relatively benevolent, respecting the above mentioned
Weber’s notion 22. For example if a particular criteria occurred in a book in an incomplete
form, we counted it in, however we labelled it with a note, which was further discussed in
qualitative analysis of results.
21
22
Available for Solutions 2012, OUP
„A variable is valid to the extent that it measures or represents what the investigator intends it to measure.“
35
As for the rules for coding texts, we had our own system – using post-its for marking single
metacognitive techniques in the books. All of them were scanned and labelled with a
criterion number (e.g. 1.1.6 for MBTI learning style). Thus, all collected data were viewed
three times (first during reading a textbook, then when scanning selected pages and finally
when analyzing them), which ensured consistency and triple-check of coding.
Irrelevant information or data which did not correspond to any of our categories were
recorded separately and further analyzed in the qualitative part of our discussion.
Coding was performed manually, because due to the partially qualitative nature of our
research, computer analysis was not possible.
Last stage of our project was the result analysis, which we conducted separately for every
textbook set. Each of them was analyzed first on quantitative level, where we examined the
existence of particular metacognitive concepts in the textbook set and its parts (SB, WB and
TB) separately. Furthermore, qualitative analysis was conducted for those concepts where it
was appropriate. Data which were considered as ‘irrelevant’ (or relevant but not fitting to
any of our criteria) were also subject of deeper qualitative analysis.
These procedures were conducted over a period of 3 months from June to August 2012
(with pilot study in June 2012). All of them were done by one researcher, which ensures
certain level of consistency.
Nevertheless, one might object that coding was to some extent based on the researcher’s
judgement and her interpretations might be unreliable. Therefore we decided to store the
data in a databank for the possibility to track them back to the original sources and for
reassessment. This databank is available at the authors of this study. Moreover, the study is
easily replicable, as no interaction with human beings was involved and conditions of the
study remain invariable.
3.2.3 Selection of Data Corpus
As a corpus of our content analysis we selected EFL textbooks recommended by Slovak
Ministry of Education for secondary schools as of June 15, 2012. Although, according to our
preliminary research, many schools use other materials than those recommended by the
Ministry, we assume that the books from this list are still the first-choice teaching materials
for most Slovak language teachers.
Out of the complete list of 77 textbooks (see Appendix 3) sorted within 21 textbook series,
we focus only on those appropriate for intermediate level (B1-B2 according to CEFR). At this
age, students have already developed abstract thinking abilities and they are able to make
36
realistic and mature self-reflection. At the same time, their level of English is already
sufficient to comprehend abstract notions.
We narrowed the choice from 21 textbook series to only 16 by eliminating older editions
(e.g. for Headway and Horizons both older and newer editions were listed). Furthermore, we
excluded 3 textbooks: Brána do sveta (because it was focused exclusively on students of
tourism and gastronomy), Blockbuster and Chill out (because these textbooks were
unavailable on Slovak market) 23.
Out of the 16 intermediate textbook sets, we examined SB, WB and selected chapters of TB
(introduction, Unit 1, Unit 3, last unit and possibly other units if their main topic was
education, school system or other relevant issues).
Angličtina pre 3. roč. SŠ does not contain a workbook, therefore we only examined 2
textbooks of this set. Therefore the total number of analyzed textbooks was 47 24.
Some of the publishers often provide additional materials on CDs, online web-sites, mobile
phone applications or so-called skills books or practice books. However, our research will
take them into consideration only in case that SB or WB contains direct reference to these
materials (i.e. if they are inseparable part of SB or WB).
The complete list of tested textbooks is in Table 3-1, listed in the same order as on Edičný
portál. The same order is used hereinafter in the results analysis and most tables.
Nr.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
Textbook
Anglický jazyk pre 3. roč.
New Opportunities. Intermediate
Success. Intermediate
New Matrix Intermediate
Horizons 3
Solutions Intermediate
Face 2 Face Intermediate
English in Mind 3
25
Real Life Pre-intermediate
English Unlimited Intermediate
New Headway Intermediate 4thEd.
New Inside Out Intermediate
Code Green
Straightforward Intermediate
Inspiration 4
Gateway B1+
Publisher
SPN
PL
PL
OUP
OUP
OUP
CUP
CUP
PL
CUP
OUP
Macmillan
Macmillan
Macmillan
Macmillan
Macmillan
Table 3-1 List of textbooks forming a corpus material 26
23
We were initially trying to get samples of these textbooks, however after contacting the publisher repeatedly we did not
receive any. Finally, we concluded that textbooks which cannot be easily obtained on our market are irrelevant for us.
24
Within the Pilot Study, we also examined 2 additional books – 1st edition of English in Mind. Later on, we received
samples of newer (2nd) edition, which were used for proper analysis.
25
Due to unavailability of intermediate book at the time of testing, we analyzed the pre-intermediate set
37
3.2.4 Checklist design
Selected textbook material was analyzed by the researcher according to the set of strictly
defined criteria. These are summarized in a checklist (see Appendix 1) used separately for
each textbook set.
The criteria were set on the basis of two main sources in two subsequent stages: First,
criteria validated by other research studies on textbook assessment (see Chapter 2.3); and
second, empirical data from our pilot study (see Chapter 3.1).
The checklist provided space for recording both quantitative and qualitative observations. In
the quantitative part (page 1 of Appendix 1), the occurrence of examined phenomena
(matching our criteria) was registered separately for SB, WB and TB.
The qualitative part (page 2 and column “Notes” on page 1) was designed to record whether
metacognitive instruction was systematic, regular and whether it required conscious
involvement of student. Moreover, it provided space for noting down any further remarks to
SB, WB or TB separately. Such observations related to specific criteria (e.g. a criterion was
only partially matched) were registered into the column “Notes” on page 1 of the inventory.
The checklist was divided into 3 main categories with several subcategories:
CATEGORY 1 – Learning styles – with criteria 1.1.1 – 1.1.9 for recording learning style
typologies present in textbooks; and criteria 1.2.1 – 1.2.4 for instruments used for
comprehension of these learning styles.
CATEGORY 2 – Learning strategies – was focused on recording strategies for specific
language or cognitive functions (criteria 2.1.1 – 2.1.12); and methods for presenting such
strategies (2.2.1 – 2.2.3).
CATEGORY 3 – Other metacognitive skills – examined other techniques for raising selfawareness as a learner (3.1.1 – 3.1.4); tools supporting planning and self-evaluation (3.2.1 –
3.2.3) and finally methods for stimulating autonomy and independence of learners (criteria
3.3.1 – 3.3.3.)
When analyzing recorded data from checklists for 16 textbook sets, we constructed a
summary table which shows how each textbook set fulfilled all criteria. Such tables are
available in the following chapter (see tables 4-2, 4-5, 4-7, 4-10) and they enable further
comparative analysis for isolated criteria.
26
Adjusted according to http://www.edicny-portal.sk/sk/objednavanie-ucebnic/_stredne-skoly/vyucovaci-jazykslovensky/vseobecno-vzdelavacie-predmety. Complete bibliographical data available at the end of this study.
38
4 ANALYSIS & RESULTS
In general terms, the results of our study revealed that textbooks recommended by the
Slovak Ministry of Education vary significantly in the extent and quality of metacognitive
instruction.
We classified the research findings into 3 groups:
1. Learning Styles,
2. Learning Strategies, and
3. Other metacognitive skills.
Each of these concepts was further analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively. The
quantitative analysis was focused on occurrence of metacognitive instruction techniques in
the textbooks (separately for SB, WB and TB) and their variety. In terms of quality, we
observed how deep and profound the metacognitive instruction is, i.e. whether it elicits
conscious understanding, critical thinking and creativity of students and whether it is varied
and systematic.
4.1 Learning styles
4.1.1 Quantitative analysis
The quantitative analysis was prepared by data from part 1 of the checklists (see Table 4-1)
In category 1.1 we registered any entries from the textbooks where different types of
learning styles occurred.
The second category examines how learning styles are presented and taught. It can be either
as a questionnaire (1.2.1) or an article in textbooks (1.2.2). Some textbooks presented LS
through various social techniques, such as exchanging practices and dialogues (1.2.3) or
writing learning diaries, essays etc. (1.2.4). In other words, in 1.2 we cast an eye on the tools
and instruments which were used for LS tuition.
Some textbooks presented interesting instruments for assessment of individual
characteristics other than learning styles (e.g. personality traits). These were noted in
criterion 3.1.3 (Chapter 4.3).
39
1
LEARNING STYLES (LS)
Textbook presents the following LS
1.1
1.1.1 - VAK / VARK / VAKT
1.1.2 - hemisphere dominance
1.1.3 - reflexiveness / impulsiveness
1.1.4 - field dependence / independence
1.1.5 - ambiguity tolenrance
1.1.6 - MBTI
1.1.7 - multiple intelligence
1.1.8 - Dunn&Dunn
1.1.9 - other
1.2
Instruments for assessment and comprehension of LS:
1.2.1 - questionnaires, quizzes, psychological tests
1.2.2 - supplementary text
1.2.3 - social techniques (e.g. exchange of practices amongst Ss)
1.2.4 - essays, learning diaries, other writing tasks
Table 4-1 Criteria related to learning styles
The summary of all learning styles and techniques used for their presentation is provided in
the table 4-2. If a particular type of learning style or technique was present, we have market
it with a tick (). If it was present in some extent (e.g. textbook presented only 1 out of 4
dimensions of MBTI), we labelled it with a question mark (?). If it did not occur in the
textbook, the corresponding field is empty.
1
1.1
1.1.1
1.1.2
1.1.3
1.1.4
1.1.5
1.1.6
1.1.7
1.1.8
1.1.9
1.2
1.2.1
1.2.2
1.2.3
1.2.4
1
2
Angl.3 roč Opportun.
3
4
5
Success
Matrix
Horizons
6
7
8
Solutions Face2Fac E. in Mind
9
10
11
12
Real Life E.Unlimited Headway Inside Out
13
Code
14
15
16
Straightfor. Inspiration
Gateway
SB WB TB SB WB TB SB WB TB SB WB TB SB WB TB SB WB TB SB WB TB SB WB TB SB WB TB SB WB TB SB WB TB SB WB TB SB WB TB SB WB TB SB WB TB SB WB TB

? ? ?

? ? ?
?
?


?
?
 



 


?
  
? ? ?
? 











Table 4-2 Summary table of learning styles
There were together 9 textbooks where no instruction on learning styles occurred
(Angličtina pre 3 roč.SŠ, Horizons, Solutions, Face 2 Face, English in Mind, Real Life,
Headway, Inside Out and Straightforward).
Other 7 textbooks presented some learning style theories in different quality (Opportunities,
Success, Matrix, English Unlimited, Code, Inspiration, Gateway).
40
We were surprised that none of the books discussed the theories on reflexiveness/
impulsiveness, field (in)dependence and ambiguity tolerance, which are normally included in
didactic courses27.
Only two textbooks mentioned the well-known VAK theory and the theory on left-right
hemisphere dominance. The famous theory of Howard Gardner on multiple intelligences
was presented in all 3 parts of English Unlimited (i.e. SB, WB and TB).
MBTI, popular especially in the USA, was mentioned twice, although not in its full form. It
occurred in an article about Jungian personality types (English Unlimited workbook) and also
in a questionnaire including one of its 4 dimensions (Perceiver/Judger - in Matrix). A part of
Dunn & Dunn’s conception (so called Environmental and Physiological elements) occurred in
Inspiration. In the table 4-2 all of these were marked with ambiguous “?” sign, because they
are not complete.
As many as 5 of the books presented their own concept of learning styles. In Opportunities,
an analytical, visual, self-testing and oral style was defined in relation to memory.
Furthermore, Success TB introduced a Simon Baron-Cohen’s theory of Empathising,
Systemising, Balanced (brain types) combined with gender-specific characteristics. His theory
slightly resembled left-right hemisphere dominance theory.
Moreover, Matrix examined social aspect by defining individual and group learners.
Inspiration introduced own theory of reflective, active, constructive and interactive learning.
Although being generally unknown, this theory was thoroughly adapted in every chapter of
the inspiration 4, supported both by WB and TB.
Success, Matrix and English Unlimited introduced 2 theories, although not in desired quality.
Inspiration was the only textbook introducing as many as 3 different learner typologies.
4.1.2 Qualitative analysis
For the pedagogical implications of this research, occurrence itself does not provide enough
information. Our aim was to find out whether textbooks help students build background
knowledge and understanding by presenting various learning styles. Therefore the aspect of
quality of such understanding is more important for us than just the pure fact that LS in the
textbooks simply occurred.
We were mostly interested in how profound and systematic the tuition was, but we also
recorded other aspects which were noteworthy. Based on the collected data, we set up 4
levels of quality:
27
E.g. in Brown 2007 : 309, Lojová – Vlčková 2011: 55-80
41
LEVEL 1: There was a reference on learning styles (usually in the introductory part of TB)
where teachers got guidance on how to teach them.
LEVEL 2: LS theory was implicitly embedded in the nature of tasks in the textbook (e.g.
textbook provided activities for visual, auditory and kinaesthetic learners;
textbook included projects, activities for less confident students and mixed
abilities classes, and the like).
LEVEL 3: Learning styles were a topic of an article or activity, however the implications for
students were not further discussed. The task served only as a language means,
the metacognitive aim was missing.
LEVEL 4: Learning styles were presented as independent activity. The task required
conscious understanding of the student. The textbook explained the importance
of LS, students were encouraged to reflect on their own LS and/or a questionnaire
or a test was provided.
1.
6.
9.
11.
12.
14.
5.
7.
8.
13.
2.
16.
4.
3.
10.
15.
Anglický jazyk pre 3. roč. SŠ
Real Life Intermediate
New Headway Intermediate 4th Ed.
Horizons 3
English in Mind 3
Code Green B1+
Gateway B1+
Inspiration 4
LEVEL 1
LEVEL 2











reference on LS in LS embedded in
TB
the nature of tasks
LEVEL 3
LEVEL 4










LS w/o implication
on learning
LS as indep.
conscious activity
Table 4-3 Quality of learning styles’ instruction
Levels 1 and 2
The Table 4-3 shows that six textbooks exhibited neither reference to learning styles as such,
nor their implicit use within the tasks 28.
Horizons 3, Face2Face and English in Mind contained significant amount of activities for
students with less common LS (e.g. tasks for kinaesthetic learners, teamwork exercises,
project based tasks, role-plays, presentations). The authors of English in Mind also explicitly
28
Angličtina pre 3.roč.SS - contains only one sentence in TB p.4 claiming that „Teacher should respect learning styles of their
students“
42
stated in the introductory part of the TB that the methodology is based on Brain-based
learning style theories and multiple intelligences 29.
Level 3
A significantly better instruction is provided by the textbooks on the level 3, which contains
useful material for those teachers who are already aware of LS. Learning styles are
presented directly to students, however the implications on the process of learning are not
clearly explained. The authors’ intention was not to instruct student on LS, because the
material is used purely for language-development purposes (e.g. for teaching vocabulary
related to brain, aspirations, psychology etc). Metacognitive instruction is only a by-product
of language instruction. Therefore it requires a very smart teacher who is ready to prepare
additional activities to further develop metacognition of their students.
A typical example of such instruction is a listening exercise in
New Opportunities SB p. 81, where four learners discuss how
they remember vocabulary. Students are asked to match the
speakers with their strategies (analytical, visual, self-testing,
oral), however no other discussion follows on the students’
own learning preferences. An experienced teacher may
introduce his own activities (questionnaires, supplementary
articles, discussions) to draw students’ attention to their own
Figure 1 Opportunities, SB p.81
way of learning.
Another example can be found in workbook of Gateway B1+ which contains the article on
hemisphere dominance. As we can see (in Appendix 4A), the article discusses the notion of
„artistic thinking“, nevertheless, the following exercises are focused exclusively on the
language and vocabulary comprehension. None of the follow-up activities brings up
a question of students‘ own learning styles or the use of the information from the article in
their studying.
Level 4
Only three of the textbooks presented LS theory on a deliberate and conscious level. The
full-scale instruction on LS should contain a presentation material (e.g. explanatory article),
tools for diagnostics (e.g. inventory) and the discussion about implications for students. In
addition, language textbooks usually include language and vocabulary comprehension
exercises. Only 3 textbooks reached this level, therefore we will analyze them closely.
29
For further details see English in Mind 1st ed. TB p.6
43
Example 1: Success
The student book presents an article
introducing the theory of 3 brain types empathising, systemising, balanced. The
authors of the article associate these types
with gender, ascribing empathising type to
women and systemising to men. This
attribution is repeatedly questioned in the
following
exercises.
(Empathising
and
systemizing types roughly correspond with
right and left hemisphere dominance.)
Subsequent exercises do not focus solely on
reading comprehension but they also raise
questions of students’ identification with the
theory. They are invited to discuss whether
men and women think the same way and to
realize that none of the brain types is
“better” than the other.
Moreover, the SB presents a questionnaire
for diagnosing students’ types. In the following pages, broader context is introduced (e.g.
students are given a task to analyse an essay on gender separated schools, pp. 38-39).
The teachers’ book fully supports the instruction by explaining the background of the theory,
introducing its author Simon Baron-Cohen and giving ideas for further discussion topics
related to the article.
The weakness of Success textbook is that it
does not indicate implications of theory on
learning. The main message is not the
Figure 3 Success SB 35
learning process, but becoming tolerant to the people with a different brain type. The
authors’ intention was not to instruct students on LS and the material was not fully utilized.
44
Example 2: English Unlimited
Famous Gardner’s theory on multiple
intelligence is presented in SB pp 24-25.
On the top of the page we can see that
the goal is “to talk about abilities and to
talk about achievements”.
The theory is reasonably explained in
the article. Discussion topics facilitate
understanding perfectly (see exercise 4
in the Figure 5 where students are
encouraged
to
discuss
which
intelligences they possess).
What is missing, though, is the direct
connection
with
learning
process.
Although the book proposes the best
occupations for each style, it does not
suggest any strategies suitable for
particular types of learners. What is
more, the textbook does not even
mention that the intelligences have a
direct impact on learning process and
Figure 5 English Unlimited SB 24-25
can be of a great help to students while studying. For a better tuition, a questionnaire and
more support from the TB would be needed.
Example 3: Inspiration
Inspiration 4 (which is unfortunately recommended only for vocational schools) is the best
example of the instruction on learning styles that we found in ministry approved textbooks.
The SB opens with the unit called “Thinking skills. Maximize your brain power.” On the p. 7, it
presents in a very understandable way 4 learner types and asks the student to assess their
own LS. At the same time, it emphasizes that “it’s good to know your own learning style, but
it’s also good to experiment with other ways of learning”.
45
Every unit contains a revision page, where students are given a choice on how to review a
given unit, by choosing one of 4 activities corresponding to their learning style or related to
their non-preferred style (if they choose to “experiment” – see Figure 7).
Figure 7 Inspiration, SB 7
Moreover, the teachers’ book explains the aims of such instruction by the statement: “We
believe that it is important for students to ‘learn how to learn’. We have provided
opportunities for students to experiment with different learning styles and develop language
learning strategies which suit them. We have tried to make students aware that, while they
may have a preferred learning style, they could benefit from experimenting with others in
order to become better language learners. ” (TB p.4)
Teachers book also offers additional activities for better explanation of learning style theory
and for better use of ‘Your choice’ sections in every unit. (see TB pp. 11, 17, 32, etc.)
Inspiration is the only textbook where the learning styles were directly linked with the use
of learning strategies. Moreover, once the theory was explained, it was used throughout the
book in every chapter, so that the students would learn to think in terms of their individual
differences. As for the quality of instruction on LS, Inspiration is undoubtedly a leader,
therefore we are disappointed that it was not recommended for other than vocational
schools.
46
4.2 Learning strategies
As we already mentioned in the theoretical part, the instruction on learning strategies (LStr)
should respect and reflect on student’s individual learning styles. However, due to the fact
that the learning style instruction proved to be insufficient in most of the tested books, the
only textbook which associated styles with strategies was Inspiration.
The main aim of quantitative analysis was to find out whether each of the textbooks
presents learning strategies related to specific language skills or functions (criteria 2.1).
2
LEARNING STRATEGIES
2.1
2.1.1
2.1.2
2.1.3
2.1.4
2.1.5
2.1.6
2.1.7
2.1.8
2.1.9
2.1.10
2.1.11
2.1.12
Textbook presents learning strategies related to:
Speaking
Listening
Reading
Writing
Vocabulary learning
Grammar
Memory
Pronunciation
Presentation skills
Compensation (e.g. guessing, creating new words, getting help, using clues)
Exam skills or strategies (explicitly)
Other strategies …………………..
Table 4-4
Criteria related to learning strategies – part 1
Criteria grouped in 2.1 measure occurrence of strategies for 4 language skills (2.1.1 – 2.1.4),
learning vocabulary, grammar, memory and pronunciation (2.1.5 – 2.1.8).
After the pilot study, we added categories 2.1.9 presentations skills, 2.1.10 compensation
strategies 30 and explicitly taught exam skills (2.1.11), which occurred in several textbooks.
1
2
2.1
2.1.1
2.1.2
2.1.3
2.1.4
2.1.5
2.1.6
2.1.7
2.1.8
2.1.9
2.1.10
2.1.11
2.1.12
2
3
4
5
Success
Matrix
Horizons
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
Code
15
16
Gateway
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30
LStr such as “guessing intelligently” and “overcoming limitations in speaking and writing” (Oxford 1990: 19)
47
As it is obvious from table 4-5, only two of the textbooks showed no tuition on learning
strategies.
Other 14 books contained at least some instruction on learning
strategies 31, mostly embedded in SB. However in some cases they
contained a separated material, where the strategy instruction was
presented. Such supplements (usually for maturita preparation) are
either printed in Slovak edition of the textbook or attached to the
international edition in a form of brochure. (See Headway, Solutions
WB and Gateway – see Figure 8)
The strategies were mostly related to the following areas:
Figure 8 Gateway,
brochure
Language skills (2.1.1 – 2.1.4) – developing of strategies for better listening, speaking,
reading and writing – present in 13 textbooks
Exam skills (2.1.11) – this category is often overlapping with 4 language skills (e.g. a textbook
offered a listening strategy with the aim to prepare students for listening test exercises).
These strategies were explicitly named as “exam” or “test” strategies in 9 textbooks.
Compensation strategies (2.1.10), mostly variations of guessing exercises, occurred in 12
textbooks.
As Table 4-5 shows, strategies for development of vocabulary (2.1.5) and pronunciation
(2.1.8) were present frequently. High quality vocabulary sections occurred in InsideOut SB,
which offers many dictionary strategies (intertwined with Macmillan dictionaries).
On the other hand, grammar (2.1.6), (meta)memory (2.1.7), and presentation skills (2.1.9)
strategies were quite rare.
Other strategies (2.1.12) were present only seldom and they included:
- project management strategies (instruction on how to do a research, surveys and to
present results) in English in Mind;
- problem-solving strategies in English Unlimited;
- dealing with misunderstandings/mistakes/cultural differences in Opportunities; and
- negotiating in Gateway.
In addition, Table 4-5 showed the presence of various strategies in the textbooks
researched. Strategies are frequent especially in student books (with an appropriate
31
They are observable especially in the new editions. Please note that the older editions of the same textbooks may not
contain any instruction on strategies!
48
methodological support in TB). Workbooks usually put the strategies in practical use.
However, we might even find books where strategies are not present in SB and they occur
only in WB (e.g. English in Mind).
For New Headway, 4th ed. we marked an ambiguous “?” sign, because the strategies are
present solely in the supplementary brochure written by Danica Gondová, which was
designed solely for Slovak market (preparation for maturita exam) and it might be missing in
international impressions.
To our great satisfaction, strategy explanation was usually preceded or followed by a
corresponding exercise, where the students could immediately apply what they had just
learned.
It is important to point out that during recording of strategies, we
had to distinguish those ones which were not consistent with our
definition of learning strategy. Textbooks often incorrectly presented
vocabulary or phrase lists as “strategies”. An example is so called
“study strategy” from New Horizons (SB 13 – see Figure 10), which is
in fact a „language bank“ or a „vocabulary bank“.
On the other hand, real study
strategies were very often not marked
at all and they were implicitly
included in the exercises. See “Exam
Tip“ from Horizons (Fig.9) which is
consistent
with
our
definition
of
learning strategies, although it is not labelled as a strategy.
Analogous to learning styles, we are interested in the depth and systematicity of the
instruction, more than just the occurrence of strategies within the text. We examined
whether the students were just passive receivers of strategies or whether they were
encouraged to analyze them critically, to evaluate the effectiveness of their use and to
invent their own. Another observed aspect was whether the instruction was systematic and
regular, or rather a random phenomenon, used just occasionally.
We collected these data in the criterion 2.2 and in the qualitative part of our checklist. The
criterion 2.2.1 examines whether strategies were taught inductively, i.e. whether there were
examples and debriefing provided. The other two criteria explore if student was given a
49
choice (2.2.2) and encouraged to evaluate how well the strategy works for him/her (2.2.3).
The summary of our findings is provided by table 4-7.
2
LEARNING STRATEGIES (LStr)
2.2
2.2.1
2.2.2
2.2.3
Methods for presenting LStrat
LStr are introduced by experiential (inductive) learning methods and/or debriefing is provided
Ss are encouraged to choose strategies independently
Ss are encouraged to evaluate their own strategies use (how well a strategy works for them)
2
2.2
2.2.1
2.2.2
2.2.3
1
2
3
4
5
6
Angl.3 roč
Opportun.
Success
Matrix
Horizons
Solutions
7
8
Face2Fac E. in Mind
9
10
11
Real Life E.Unlimited Headway
12
13
Inside Out
Code
14
15
16
Gateway
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   ?
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On the basis of our observations, we divided textbooks containing some LStr. into 4 levels:
LEVEL 1:
LStr. are not explicitly presented as “strategies”, “tips” or similar labels.
However, they correspond in their nature to our definition of LStr. and they are
embedded directly in the instruction to the exercises.
LEVEL 2:
LStr. are introduced as independent activities (sometimes even systematically
throughout a book). Students are not asked to reflect on them, express critical
opinions or choose them according to their individual needs.
LEVEL 3:
Students are required to reflect on their strategy use and show conscious and
critical understanding. Tuition does not have to be systematic.
LEVEL 4:
Students are required to reflect on their strategy use and show conscious and
critical understanding. Tuition has to be systematic.
LEVEL 1
1.
14.
12.
6.
5.
8.
9.
13.
11.
3.
7.
4.
10.
2.
15.
16.
Horizons 3
English in Mind 3
Code Green B1+
New Headway Intermediate 4th Ed.
Inspiration 4
Gateway B1+
LStr embeded in the
nature of the task
LEVEL 2
LStr as independent
activities
LEVEL 3
Conscious, not
systematic
LEVEL 4
Systematic and
conscious
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?
?
?
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?
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Table 4-8 Quality of learning strategies’ instruction
50
Level 1
As we might see from table 4-8, only New Inside Out textbook included some strategies
within vocabulary and pronunciation exercises on the level 1. Anglický jazyk pre 3.r. and
Straightforward did not even reach level 1, although the latter one exhibit slightly advanced
writing instructions in WB.
Level 2
First independent strategies occurred on this level, although student is a passive receiver.
The strategies were presented in a dogmatic way, as a common belief, which should be
implemented by everyone, regardless their individual differences and learning styles.
Although being sometimes systematic, this level is not really interesting for us, due to the
lack of conscious understanding. We can see an example in Fig. 9 (New Horizons SB 75).
There are 7 textbooks which reached level 2: New Headway, Solutions, Success, Horizons,
English in Mind, Real Life and Code. Although Success and Headway showed an attempt to
elicit discussion on strategy use, this happened extremely rarely and only in TB. Therefore
we listed these two titles within the Level 2.
Level 3
Textbooks on level 3 require students to use strategies deliberately, provide feedback and
show some level of criticism towards the presented material. Although the instruction is not
systematic (i.e. not regular), they are a valuable and high-quality source of metacognitive
learning. We found three such textbooks: Face2Face, Matrix and English Unlimited.
The last one shows very systematic tuition in the workbook, but not in SB, therefore we still
listed it on the third level. On the other hand, Face2Face lacks listing strategies
independently in SB, however, they occur in ‘Study Skill’ photocopiable material of TB (See
Appendix 4D) and their quality is high (therefore we skipped level 2 in the table 4-8).
Another examples can be find in English Unlimited (e.g. a fully conscious writing strategy note taking in SB 28, where authors invite students to discuss: a) when it is useful to take
notes, and b) what technique do students usually use. The explanation comes in the
following 7 seven exercises (with the support of TB)).
Level 4
Textbooks on this level demonstrate highly organized approach to strategy learning.
Strategies are presented as independent activities, require conscious involvement of
51
students and they are systematically allocated in relevant parts of the textbook. Therefore it
is very easy to follow them.
Furthermore, textbook elicits students to invent their own strategies or evaluate their
efficiency for particular students. It offers more alternatives for one task and gives students
a choice. We find it reasonable to outline the basic principles of the best three books which
adopted the best practices.
Example 1: Opportunities
New Opportunities present systematically Listening, Speaking, Reading and Memory
Strategies in separate textboxes and also other strategies on irregular base. It is an excellent
example how the TB complements the student’s book.
As we can see in Figures 11 and 12, SB shows possible strategies for dealing with
misunderstanding. The TB encourages students to share strategies which students use and
suggest other (compensatory) strategies. The same pattern works with all the strategies in
the SB, so the teacher does not have to feel insecure if he or she is not familiar with some of
these techniques.
Exercise 2
Read the Strategies with the class. Ask students if
they use any of these Strategies and discuss any
other ways of expressing yourself clear if people
don’t understand you, e.g. searching vocabulary in
dictionary, writing down a spoken word if it is not
pronounced correctly.
Figure 11 Opportunities TB 101
Example 2: Inspiration
Strategy instruction in Inspiration is presented in the sections ‘Learner Independence’ which
are regularly distributed within 8 units.
For examples see Figures
13 and 14 where SB
presents a metamemory
strategy.
starts
The
with
session
a
quick
memory test (experiential
learning),
which
is
followed by a question
(“Which
words
were
Figure 14 Inspiration TB 61-62
52
easier to remember?”) and explanation. Moreover, teacher gets very direct and
understandable instruction in the TB, where the aim is set “to raise students’ awareness of
their own strategies for remembering vocabulary and possibly introduce a new strategy”.
The experiential learning is followed by a whole-class- and a pair- discussion.
Inspiration is an example of excellent strategy instruction. Learner independence sections
are further explained and practiced on real-life examples and exercises in WB. The only
disadvantage is that there is usually only one such section in every unit. However, the depth
and consistency of this approach offsets this drawback. Moreover, Inspiration contains many
other strategies, implicitly used within the exercises.
Example 3: Gateway
Gateway is another outstanding, systematic and consistent example of strategy instruction.
The textbook follows an approach: LEAD-IN (optional)  QUESTION in SB  DISCUSSION
(optional)  PRESENTATION OF STRATEGY  PRACTICE  EVALUATION (optional). The
whole activity is supported by “Teacher Development” section in the TB. Let us demonstrate
this pattern on a real example of listening strategy.
LEAD-IN: in our case students are encouraged to
guess some of the facts important for the listening
exercise.
Please
(compensational)
note
that
strategy
guessing
itself
(i.e.
is
a
other
strategies are embedded in strategy instruction
QUESTION: Students are asked what listening
strategies they already use
PRESENTATION OF STRATEGY: Students follow the
instruction to read the strategy on p. 150 of the SB.
They are given useful tips and various options, so
that they could choose which strategy works best
for them. Please note that by placing the strategy
instruction to the back of the book, students have
to give their own proposals without getting any
hint in the preceding discussion.
PRACTICE – students practise the new strategy
while doing the listening task.
53
EVALUATION – students discuss whether the
strategy was efficient.
TEACHER
DEVELOPMENT:
The
textbook
provides with further background for a teacher,
in order to facilitate discussion effectively (see
Fig. 20).
From this example we can see how smoothly
the strategy instruction was embedded into the
practical task based on experiential learning.
The same pattern is used in all strategies
presented in the textbook.
Moreover, similarly to Headway, Gateway contains a supplementary material for Maturita
exam developed by Czech authors. This brochure contains the same strategy instruction, in
Czech language, which makes the instruction available also for weaker students.
In addition, Gateway also contains some unique strategies, e.g. maximizing student’s
memory, or in-depth understanding of grammar structures and special sections in TB called
“Teacher development: Student training”
For this reasons, we find Gateway to be a leader in strategy instruction among all the
textbooks recommended by Slovak Ministry for secondary school education.
4.3 Other metacognitive skills
The third part of our research examined all methods and techniques used in textbooks that
facilitated “thinking about learning”, but could not be classified as learning styles or
strategies.
Techniques falling under these criteria significantly vary, therefore we categorized our
findings into 3 groups (see also Table 4-9):
In the Criteria grouped under 3.1 we focused on qualities which support students to get to
know themselves as learners. The second group of criteria (3.2), focuses on planning the
54
learning, learning to plan and self-assessment. Facilitation of autonomous and independent
learning is measured by criterion 3.3.
3
OTHER METACOGNITIVE SKILLS
3.1
3.1.1
3.1.2
3.1.3
Getting to know oneself
Students are encouraged to reflect on their previous learning experience
Students learn to become aware of their capabilities, strengths and weakness as learners
Textbook offers instruments for assessment and comprehension of students' individual
characteristics and personality traits (other than LS)
Students are encouraged to reflect on external (environmental) factors which influence their
learning and broader educational context
Planning and self-assessment
Authors directly address students with the aim to explain basic metacognitive concepts used
in textbook and/or set objectives explicitly
Textbook encourages students to plan their own learning
Textbook provides instruments for self-assessment, monitoring own learning and identifying
own problems
Autonomy and independent learning
Independent learning is supported by explicit instructions in textbook
The answer keys and/or transcripts are provided to support autonomous learning
Extension materials for fast finishers and/or remedial materials for less-able students are
provided
3.1.4
3.2
3.2.1
3.2.2
3.2.3
3.3
3.3.1
3.3.2
3.3.3
Table 4-9
List of criteria for other metacognitive skills
From the quantitative point of view, we only examined the occurrence of the above
mentioned qualities and their total count for each textbook set (see table 4-10).
Our observations have shown that highest variability of “other metacognitive skills”
appeared in Inspiration (total of 22 skills in textbook sets), followed by Opportunities, English
Unlimited (both 21), Gateway (17) and Face2Face (13). Please note that these numbers
measure variability of metacognitive techniques, not the total count of detected techniques.
In other words, we recorded how many of the 28 measured aspects were present, but we
did not record how many times each of them occurred.
1
2
3
3.1
3.1.1
3.1.2
3.1.3
3.1.4
3.2
3.2.1
3.2.2
3.2.3
3.3
3.3.1
3.3.2
3.3.3
#
3
4
5
Success
Matrix
Horizons
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
Code
15
16
Gateway
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- 
?     
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0
Table 4-10
  
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21

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-
? -
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8
 
? -
8
 
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  
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4
- 
- ?
- 
- ?
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            ?

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-     
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4
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13
6
6
21
-
3
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- 
- ?
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      
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-
  
-   -   - 
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-   
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6
8
4
22

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17
Summary table of other metacognitive skills
55
The category ‘other metacognitive skills’ is heterogeneous in its nature, therefore we will not
set ‘levels’ as we did in previous two categories. We have chosen three main areas which
were examined in detail (these are represented by criteria 3.1 – 3.3).
Category 3.1 Getting to know oneself
The first criterion in this group (3.3.1) measures students’ previous learning experience, their
background metacognitive knowledge and reflection on their own learning (3.1.1; for an
example see Figure 21).
Students’ individual abilities, strengths, weaknesses, talents, predispositions are measured in
3.1.2 and 3.1.3. The first one uses explicit questions, discussions or writing assignments for
this purpose. The second one is done by means of tests, questionnaires or inventories.
Therefore, the criterion 3.1.3 slightly overlaps with learning styles, because it helps students
to become aware of their personality traits (which may result in their specific learning
styles).
Although the reliability and validity of such tests and their debriefing often resembles
teenage popular magazine inquiries rather than scientific research, they served a good
purpose, because they inspired students to examine their own learning processes.
Criteria 3.1.1 - 3.1.3 are internal, observable by introspection or examined by using explicit
questions such as “How do I study best?” or “What kinds of tools help me learn?”.
56
External conditions (e.g. daytime, physiological factors, layout of classroom, etc) and broader
context of education that influences students’ learning (e.g. school system, methods,
homework, testing, textbooks, etc.) are measured in criterion 3.1.4. These were not
originally included in our checklist. However, pilot study had shown that the discussion on
environmental factors was very frequent in EFL textbooks and it was highly relevant to
learning process. Students need to understand how these variables influence their own
learning (and how they can be controlled).
Several examples can be found in Real
Life,
which
examines
temperament
personality trait (SB p.6: ”Are you chilled
or hyper“), or in Inside Out, which
measures attitudes to time and other
characteristics (SB p.48 and p.25). Other
textbooks offer tools for reflecting on
attitudes to success, sense of organization
or different types of abilities and skills. We
can see one of the examples in Figure 22,
where students are asked to think of ways to improve their school.
According to the table 4-10, five textbooks have shown no tools for getting to know one’s
own learning processes.
Other 11 textbooks contained such techniques. Some of them included whole units focused
on learning (e.g. unit 7 in Opportunities; introductory unit in Inspiration; 6-pagephotocopiable material in Face2Face TB; etc.). Overall, the highest achievers in this category
were Opportunities, English Unlimited, Inspiration and Gateway. The best practices are
illustrated by the following examples.
Opportunities SB p. 83 presents a speaking exercise which elicits reflection on motivation,
skills, effectiveness and problems with learning (see Figure 24).
Furthermore, in workbook ‘Skills Corner’ students are confronted with various learners and
their individual learning preferences. The material provides a good base for a further
discussion on learning (Figure 23).
57
Figure 23 Opportunities WB 72
An excellent example of criterion 3.1 is a regular column
‘MYEnglish’ in English Unlimited Workbook. The section
begins with a brief statement of a woman talking about her
learning and is followed by an activity where students are
required to present their opinions on a given topic. Our
second example of ‘MYEnglish’ column is even more
psychological and presents a theory that language learning
changes personality (for both see Appendix 4B).
58
Good examples of criteria 3.1.4 can be found in Code and Inspiration. Code offers interesting
techniques for examining the external factors (see Figures 25 and 26 above). Inspiration
shows explicit questions about learning: “How about you? Where do you work best?“ in a
listening exercise in (Figure 28). This exercise reflects a part of Dunn & Dunn model of
learning styles. Other explicit questions occurred on p. 27 and lead students directly to the
nature of education and challenges its meaning (see Figures 27).
Figure 28
Inspiration SB 27
Category 3.2 Planning and self-assessment
Textbooks can facilitate planning in two ways: either the authors explicitly set goals and
address students directly to explain learning concepts used in textbook (3.2.1); or they
provide various tools for planning (3.2.2).
Students were directly addressed in 4 student books – Opportunities, English Unlimited,
Inspiration and English in Mind 32. Other textbooks, such as Success, Matrix, Solutions, Real
Life, Headway and Gateway introduced certain planning elements, although not directly in
the textbook, but in the supplementary material (e.g. handout by Danica Gondova in
Headway and Solutions).
The best example of 3.2.1 occurred is the old version of English in Mind SB pp. 60-61, where
students became aware of topics, language skills (reading, listening, speaking, writing),
grammar and vocabulary included in the following module (see Appendix 4C).
32
nd
Addressing the student was present only in the first edition. Unfortunately, the 2 ed. omitted division into
st
modules (which grouped chapters into meaningful context units in 1 ed.). Thus the planning part was significantly
reduced. English in mind is the only tested book, which reduced metacognitive training in newer edition.
59
Other tools used for planning (criterion 3.2.2) were found in 7 textbooks (see Table 4-10) –
either in student book (see Figure 29 for regular module planning in Opportunities) or
interactive CD-ROMs attached to the book (see Figure 30 –back cover of Face2Face and
introduction of interactive practice activities). Some of these CDs enable students to create
their own portfolio of exercises and activities, fitting to their own needs (e.g. Face2Face,
English Unlimited).
Figure 30 Face2Face SB back cover
Planning is an inevitable precondition for effective assessment (measured by criterion 3.2.3).
Therefore, these two aspects should be examined together. However, while only 4 books
set explicit goals (see 3.2.1. in Table 4-10), as many as 13 books provided self-assessment
techniques (see 3.2.3).
Self-evaluation tools are relatively common 33. Six of the textbooks even present assessment
tools in all parts of the textbook sets – i.e. in SB, WB and TB (Face 2 Face, English in Mind,
Real Life, English Unlimited, Inspiration and Gateway). These tools usually contain both
elements of planning and evaluation.
We have also noticed that many of the textbooks on Slovak market already provide with
CEFR
34
assessment reference sheets. These help teachers to find out whether the textbooks
are in compliance with CEFR framework and thereby also with the requirements of the
Ministry (and state curriculum), which is partially based on CEFR.
35
33
Anglictina pre 3.roc, Matrix and Headway contain none. There is one assessment sheet called STUDY RECORD on a
Headway CD, however no reference in the textbook is provided.
34
The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages
35
Due to the fact that teachers find it extremely difficult to assess compliance of textbooks with CEFR, Slovak branches of
international publishers prepare such comparison as a part of Slovak editions (information provided by Ms. Marčeková –
OUP Slovakia)
60
As a result, we can find labels “CEFR B1-B2” in the back cover of Slovak edition of Headways.
Code and Gateway even abandoned the traditional levels and instead of ‘intermediate’ uses
‘B1+’. Self-evaluation sheet for students in these books are based on CEFR standards too.
For better understanding, see examples of self-assessment techniques in Figures 31-35.
In Figure 31 students fist evaluate their knowledge and then set a plan for next week. At the
end of Inspiration SB (Figure 32) students express also their affective attitude to the
textbook. Not only students, but also teachers get beneficial feedback (in a form of a letter
from students) and thus can improve their tuition.
Figure 33 Face 2 face SB 27
Figure 32
Inspiration SB p.105
61
Progress Portfolio (Figure 33) can be found in
every chapter of Face2Face student book.
Opportunities use concise and effective
evaluation and planning activity at the
beginning (Figure 29) and the end (Figure 34)
of each module.
Gateway offers regular ‘Can Do‘ Progress
Check, which contains also goal setting and
reference to Workbook exercises for further
practice. The assessment is based on CEFR
(see Figure 35).
In addition to the inventories, questionnaires and tables, three of the textbooks presented
an assessment through learning diaries (Opportunities, Inspiration and Gateway). See
example from Inspiration in Figure 36.
Category 3.3: Autonomous and independent learning
The long-term goal of metacognitive tuition should be raising an autonomous student.
However, becoming independent in learning is a long term process.
Textbooks can support such process by explicit instructions in exercises or via individual
activities, giving students choice and encouraging them to make own decisions (criterion
3.1.1). Furthermore, the textbook may offer students answer keys, transcripts of recordings
(3.3.2) or supplementary activities for fast-finishers or poor-performing pupils (3.3.3).
All of these tools can help students work more independently and without permanent help
of teacher.
62
As we can see from the results (Table 4-10), only 7 out of 16 textbooks facilitate autonomous
learning by direct instruction or activity. Thereof, we can find such tools in all parts of
textbook set (i.e. SB, WB and TB) in case of Opportunities, English Unlimited and Inspiration.
Independent learning can be induced by a single
question, as we can see in example from
Gateway. In this case, students are also given
possible solutions (strategies) on the referenced
page 148.
Another example of independent learning could be found in learning portfolios on
interactive CD-ROMs or in Face2Face teacher’s book (See Appendix 4D).
The presence of answer keys (criterion 3.3.2) is a very important aspect facilitating
autonomy of students, because it enables them to work at their own pace without teacher‘s
help. Without the answer keys (i.e. answer key is present only in the TB), students are
unable to get immediate feedback. In case of homework, this can result into a great delay
between doing an exercise and checking answers.
We focused on answer keys to workbooks and transcript of recordings in the SB (which
support listening activities). Both of them occurred only in Face2Face, English Unlimited,
Headway and Straightforward. Moreover, Inside Out contains transcripts of recordings, but
no workbook key. Statistically, only a quarter of the tested books contained any of them.
Regarding the supplementary activities for stronger or weaker students (3.3.3), thirteen of
the tested teacher’s books proposed either variations to SB-activities, or separate, new
activities (not previously mentioned in SB). This way the teacher gets a portfolio of
alternative activities (and B-plans), which can be used in heterogeneous classes.
Unfortunately, such activities are not available to students without teachers’ assistance if
they are not printed in SB or WB. Only six of the tested SBs and WBs presented
supplementary materials directly to the students.
A typical example is from New Horizons, which
contains additional tasks for almost every lesson
(usually on every other page). Except for a short task
(e.g. ‘write 6 sentences about…’), it includes also a
reference on WB exercises. Thus, the fast finishers get
several extra exercises and they do not get bored
waiting for their classmates.
Figure 38 New Horizons SB 7
63
5 DISCUSSION & PEDAGOGICAL IMPLICATIONS
5.1 Summary
An overall objective of this study was to identify which textbooks recommended by Slovak
Ministry of Education for secondary schools contain instruction on learning styles. However,
learning styles and other metacognitive aspects are inseparable issues which must be
tackled together.
The research findings were therefore categorized into 3 groups:
1. Learning Styles,
2. Learning Strategies, and
3. Other metacognitive skills.
Whereas learning strategies and other metacognitive skills were observed in most of the
textbooks in various forms and quality, the fist category – learning styles – occurred in less
than half of them. Except for the incidence (quantitative analysis) we focused our attention
on quality of metacognitive instruction.
Although our study identified seven books where learning styles occurred in some form, only
three of them presented them on a conscious basis (Success, English Unlimited and
Inspiration).
On the other hand, 14 out of 16 textbooks showed at least some use of learning strategies,
though often lacking a conscious involvement of students.
Only two of the examined books showed absolutely no use of styles or strategies instruction
(Angličtina pre 3.roč. SŠ and Straightforward).
At least one ‘other metacognitive skill’ occurred in 15 out of 16 tested books.
Each of the textbooks has different qualities. Some of them are more focused on learning
styles, others are better at planning or self-assessment tools. Therefore it would be
oversimplified, if we recommended one or two books as the best ones.
Every teacher should be aware of what does his or her particular class need at particular
time and choose the textbook accordingly. To make such choice easier, we summed up the
main findings for each tested textbook in Table 5-1.
For learning styles (column I) we reflected the quality of instruction presented in table 4-3
(above). The textbooks reaching level 4 are marked with 4 stars (****), the textbooks which
achieved no level of metacognition, received no star. Similarly, we rated learning strategies
(column II), which were based on results in table 4-8 (range: 0 – 4 stars).
64
For other metacognitive skills (column III), we based our rating on incidence (see the last row
of Table 4-10). The textbooks with 0 occurrence got no star, up to 7 - one *; 8-14 were rated
with two **, 15-21 – three ***, more than 22 – 28 - four****.
Column I and II are rather qualitative, while column III is a quantitative measure.
I
Learning
styles
Nr. Textbook
II
Learning
strategies
III
Other meta.
skills
1
Anglický jazyk pre 3. roč.
2



3



4



5
Horizons 3



6


7



8
English in Mind 3



9


10


11
th
New Headway Intermediate 4 ed.


12


13
Code Green


14
15
Inspiration 4



16
Gateway B1+






Table 5-1 Overall summary of research results
As we can see in Table 5-1, Inspiration 4 was the only textbook reaching 4-star rating in all
three categories (total 12*). Opportunities lost 1 star in learning styles, English Unlimited
and Gateway missed 2 stars.
Success and Matrix (8*) together with Face2Face and Code (7*) also display reasonable
level of metacognitive instruction. The other textbooks are rather left behind, although
they may have other significant qualities. For more detailed data we refer the reader to
Chapter 4.
In spite of the fact that these results may seem to be encouraging, the quality of
metacognitive instruction was very low in many of the books where such instruction
occurred. The strategies were often presented in prescribed, dogmatic way, saying ‘do it
65
this way’ instead of letting students decide what really works for them and what fits their
individual needs. Students were very rarely encouraged to invent their own metacognitive
concepts or to evaluate on how effective was a strategy for them.
The same problem was observed in relation to learning styles. Their introducing was not
followed by other exercises, which would allow students to process this information
consciously. Texts about learning styles often served only as a tool for learning language and
had no attempt to elicit metacognition.
Comparing the market data from the publishers and sellers 36, the most widely used
textbooks on Slovak market are: 1. Headway; 2. Solutions; 3. Opportunities; 4. Matrix,
Horizons; Real Life; Success; Face2Face.
Moreover, the market share of Headway, Solutions and Opportunities is by far exceeding
market shares of the other textbook (rate 4).
Reader may have noticed that the best-rated books such as Inspiration, English Unlimited
or Gateway do not reach interesting sales numbers. The only textbook which stood our
testing and is widely used by students is Opportunities.
This comparison clearly shows that metacognitive instruction is currently not the leading
criterion in choosing textbooks. Rather than risking experimenting with new material,
teachers rely on traditional brands which, unfortunately, performed poorly in our study.
There is no doubt that these books have many qualities to make them attractive for teachers
or directors to choose them. On the other hand, due to the fierce competition of the
publishers, the quality of books is rising continually and most of other books reach very
similar level.
5.2 Pedagogical implications
The pedagogical implications of our analysis are addressed to teachers, head-teachers,
leaders of English language departments at schools, directors, publishers and government
institutions.
Firstly, all of the involved parties should understand the importance of metacognition.
Although from the short-term perspective, learning to learn may be time consuming, the
36
Unofficial data were obtained from Oxford University Press, Macmillan, Cambridge University Press and the web-page of
Martinus.sk – the biggest online book seller.
66
long-term reward is invaluable. Independent classes and self-reliant students who can
express their needs and help each other will enable us to teach faster and more effectively.
Teacher’s book of New Opportunities (p.13) serves the teachers explanation: “See learner
development as investment. Time spent at the start of a course to organise vocabulary
books, getting students used to the self-study features of the Student’s Book or increasing
student awareness of reading or writing will pay dividends throughout the year as learner
became more effective students.”
Teachers are provided with several good sources for metacognitive instruction and they
should consider using them. If they have power to choose their own books, they should
consider books with similar parameters as we recommended in previous chapters.
In case they decide to stay loyal to well-known brand names (such as Headway or Solutions),
they should seek additional supplementary material to develop their students’
metacognitive awareness.
Head-teachers and school directors should promote metacognitive instruction and provide
the teachers with sufficient support when employing these methods (consultations,
trainings, etc.). They also need to be aware of the possibilities which are offered on EFL
textbook market to be able to make more informed selection of materials. The supply of
books for EFLT is much bigger than with other subjects and thus it is more difficult to choose
the most suitable one. Therefore, teachers need ranking overviews of textbooks. Headteachers should not be afraid to experiment with new material. However, any such changes
should be well-supported and communicated to their staff.
The role of publishers is to further develop metacognitive techniques in EFL and ESL
textbooks in new titles or newer editions of well-established books. They might consider
creating manuals for teachers to support metacognition in their classes, which could be sold
as a supplementary material to textbooks 37.
Our recommendation for government institution (Ministry of Education, ŠPÚ) is to promote
metacognitive learning. It would be beneficial if Edičný portal revaluated their criteria for
English language textbooks assessment and put more weight on metacognitive learning as a
criterion for textbook quality.
Last but not least, the niche on textbook market is developing an instruction material which
could be used along with any other language textbook. That would allow teachers to use
such techniques any time when they are appropriate. It is highly probable that textbooks in a
printed form shall soon be a thing of the past, therefore such material might be in electronic
37
To a lesser extent, some of them already do so – e.g. exam training - brochures in some of the books.
67
version. Computerized tools are quickly updateble and they enable more individualized
tuition tailored to each student’s needs.
5.3 Limitations
Due to restricted extent of this study, our research suffers from many limitations.
Firstly, the sample of examined books was restricted. We focused mostly on student books
and workbooks while the teachers books were examined only to a certain extent (selected
chapters). With the aim to equalize the results, we did not take into account any other parts
of the book series, because they occurred only in some titles (e.g. video DVD, extra
dictionaries, writing guides, etc.). However, we were trying to examine all materials directly
attached to the textbooks (e.g. brochures, extra chapters available only in Slovak edition,
etc.).
Secondly, we focused only on the intermediate level. That means we usually examined part
3 or 4 out of the whole textbook series). Theoretically, it might have happened that more
metacognitive techniques occurred in lower levels of some textbook series, although we find
it rather improbable (once the authors employ metacognitive techniques, they probably
would not omit them in the other sequels).
Thirdly, the collection of data was conducted in summer and autumn 2012 and by the time
of publishing this study in university database, we might expect Ministry to adjust the list of
recommended textbooks for secondary schools. Some of them may be replaced by newer
editions, removed from the list or the new titles may appear.
We need to be cautious when interpreting results, because the only factors taken into
consideration were the metacognitive ones. If we wanted to conduct complete analysis,
other factors would have to be taken into consideration (e.g. grammar instruction, sociocultural background, intercultural learning, layout and graphic design, etc.). However, we
assume that, to some extent, good metacognitive instruction implies a good textbook. (If
e.g. grammar or language skills are taught by using metacognitive approach, they are most
likely to be at least as good as the instruction in the books with no metacognitive tuition).
Last but not least, the greatest limitation is that we did not verify the results in practice, i.e.
in the classes. We believe that our criteria reflect the practical needs of teenage students,
however it does not automatically mean these books would prove to be most appropriate
for them. In common use, many variables which may influence the results may occur. This is
certainly a field for further research.
68
5.4 Suggestions for further research
As we mentioned above, there is a need to verify our research findings in common use in
Slovak classrooms. It would be interesting to see how these students (with different learning
styles and individual characteristics) respond to the best-performing books.
The practical follow-up of this study could be creating the above mentioned material which
could be a supplement to any EFL textbook with the aim to provide teachers a package of
metacognitive techniques.
Further study is needed to determine which of the learning styles are the most relevant ones
for Slovak students. Such study should reveal also culture-specific factors related to our
learners.
In addition, we need to examine the long term influence of metacognitive instruction on
students who received it and their future results at school and in their working life. Data
from a longitudinal study comparing students who have received such tuition and who have
not would answer many questions.
For practical purposes, similar study on textbooks should be made for lower levels
(elementary to pre-intermediate) and other age groups (young learners, adult learners), in
order teachers of other levels and age groups get their own guide on choosing textbooks.
69
6 CONCLUSION
The aim of this study was to examine how can Slovak teachers of English as a foreign
language teach students how to learn. For this purposes we examined 16 textbooks sets
recommended by the Slovak ministry of education for secondary school students. We
focused mainly on learning style theories, however, we also studied employing learning
strategies and other metacognitive skills in EFL textbooks.
The results of our study have shown that most of the textbooks do not have satisfactory
level of metacognitive instruction, especially in the field of learning styles. Although there
are several satisfactory titles available on the market, the most widely used books did not
contain enough metacognitive skills.
Most recommended books for learning styles instruction are Inspiration 4, English Unlimited
Intermediate and Success Intermediate.
Regarding the learning strategies, the best performing textbook was Gateway B1+ followed
by Inspiration 4 and New Opportunities Intermediate.
Other metacognitive skills - such as getting to know oneself as a learner, planning and selfevaluation, autonomous and independent learning – most frequently occurred in Inspiration
4, New Opportunities Intermediate, English Unlimited and Gateway.
These titles are certainly examples of the best practices in terms of metacognitive learning.
We intentionally did not stipulate which of these books is the best one, because a textbook
should always be chosen by respecting the characteristics and settings of a given class.
We hope that despite its limitations, this study will help Slovak teachers of English to choose
textbooks which best fit the needs of their classes and individual students.
70
7 RÉSUMÉ
Cieľom tejto štúdie bolo preskúmať, aké možnosti ponúkajú súčasne používané učebnice
angličtiny na Slovensku na uplatňovanie princípov metakognitívneho učenia vo výučbe
anglického jazyka. Za týmto účelom sme zanalyzovali 16 učebnicových setov (spolu 47
učebníc) odporučených Ministerstvom školstva, vedy, výskumu a športu Slovenskej republiky
pre stredné školy s vyučovacím jazykom slovenským s mierou pokročilosti „intermediate“.
Zamerali sme sa predovšetkým na uplatňovanie teórií učebných štýlov, no taktiež sme
testovali, ako učebnice podporujú rozvíjanie učebných stratégií a iných metakognitívnych
schopností.
Výsledky našej štúdie ukázali, že väčšina skúmaných učebníc nezabezpečuje dostatočnú
úroveň metakognitívneho učenia. Najväčšie deficity boli zjavné v oblasti učebných štýlov.
Hoci na trhu je niekoľko vhodných titulov, ktoré takúto výučbu podporujú, paradoxne, práve
tieto sa najmenej predávajú.
Naopak, väčšina z najpoužívanejších učebníc v metakognitívnych technikách zaostáva.
Výnimkou je iba publikácia New Opportunities, ktorá dosahuje aj vysokú úroveň nami
merateľných aspektov, a zároveň sa pohybuje na prvých troch priečkach neoficiálnych
štatistík predajnosti.
Učebnice, ktoré na základe tejto štúdie najviac odporúčame pre výučbu učebných štýlov sú
Inspiration 4, English Unlimited a Success.
V učebných stratégiách sa najviac osvedčili tituly Gateway, Inspiration 4 a New
Opportunities.
V rozvoji ostatných metakognitívnych zručností (ako napríklad spoznávanie vlastných
charakterových vlastností ovplyvňujúcich učenie, plánovanie, sebahodnotenie alebo
autonómne učenie) dosiahli najlepšie výsledky Inspiration 4, New Opportunities, English
Unlimited a Gateway.
Všetky
vyššie
uvedené
tituly
považujeme
za
najlepšie
publikácie
pre
podporu metakognitívnho učenia. Zámerne sme nemenovali jednoznačného lídra na trhu
s učebnicami, nakoľko pre každú triedu môže byť v daných podmienkach dôležitá iná z troch
vyššie uvedených skúmaných oblastí.
Pre výučbu špecifických metakognitívnych aspektov odporúčame nahliadnúť do čiastkových
tabuliek v kapitole 4, kde sme zosumarizovali, v ktorých učebniciach sa tá ktorá technika
nachádza. Učiteľ si na základe týchto sumárnych prehľadov môže buď zvoliť vhodnú
71
učebnicu pre svoju triedu, alebo z danej publikácie vyberie tému, ktorá sa pre neho
momentálne hodí.
Dúfame, že navzdory limitáciám tejto štúdie, slovenskí učitelia v nej nájdu dostatok
informácií na to, aby si vedeli vybrať dobrú učebnicu, vyhovujúcu individuálnym potrebám
svojich tried a študentov.
72
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List of textbooks used as corpus material:
BENEŠOVÁ et al.: Anglický jazyk pre 3. roč. SŠ. 1995 SPN - Mladé letá, s.r.o.
BENEŠOVÁ, A.- REPKA, R. - HOLEČKOVÁ, L: Metodická příručka k učebnici Angličtina pro 3. roč.
středních škol 1986 Bratislava : SPN
HARRIS, M - MOWER. D - SIKORZYŃSKA, A: New Opportunities. Intermediate. Students' Book. 2nd ed.
2011 Pearson Longman
SHARMAN, E. et al.: New Opportunities. Intermediate. Language Powerbook. 2nd ed. 2011 Pearson
Longman
MUGGLESTONE, P.: New Opportunities. Intermediate. Teacher's Book. 2nd ed. 2010 Pearson
Longman
McKINLAY, S. - HASTINGS, B.: Success. Intermediate. Students's Book. 2010. Pearson Longman
WHITE, L. - FRICKER, R.: Success. Intermediate. Students's Book. 2010. Pearson Longman
FRICKER, R.: Success. Intermediate. Teachr's Support Book. 2009 Pearson Longman
GUDE, K. - WILDMAN, J.: New Matrix Intermediate. Student's book. 2006 Oxford University Press
WILDMAN, J - GUDE, K.: New Matrix Intermediate. Workbook. 2007 Oxford University Press
CONYBEARE, A. - BETTERTON, S. - GUDE, K. - WILDMAN, J.: New Matrix Intermediate. Teacher's book.
2006 Oxford University Press
RADLEY, P. - SIMONS, D. - McGUINNESS, R.: New Horizons 3. Student's book. 2011 Oxford University
Press
RADLEY, P. - SIMONS, D.: New Horizons 3. Workbook. 2011 Oxford University Press
RADLEY, P. - SIMONS, D. - MATOLCSI, G.- McGUINNESS, R.: New Horizons 3. Teacher's book. 2011
FALLA, T. - DAVIES, P.A.: Solutions. Intermediate Student's Book. 2nd ed. 2012 Oxford University
Press
HUDSON, J - FALLA, T. - DAVIES, P.A. - GONDOVÁ, D.: Solutions. Intermediate Workbook. 2nd ed.
KRANTZ, C. - BEGG, A. - FALLA, T. - DAVIES, P.A.: Solutions. Intermediate Teacher's Book. 2nd ed.
REDSTON, Ch.- CUNNINGHAM, G.: Face2Face Intermediate Student's Book. 2011 Cambridge
University Press
TIMS, N. - REDSTON, Ch.- CUNNINGHAM, G.: Face2Face Intermediate Workbook. 2011 Cambridge
University Press
76
REDSTON, Ch.- WARWICK, L. et al.: Face2Face Intermediate Teacher's Book. 2011 Cambridge
University Press
PUCHTA, H. - STRANKS, J. et al.: English in Mind 3. Student's book. 2nd ed. 2010 Cambridge University
Press
PUCHTA, H. - STRANKS, J. et al.: English in Mind 3. Workbook. 2nd ed. 2010 Cambridge University
Press
HART, B. et al.: English in Mind 3. Teacher's book. 2nd ed. 2010 Cambridge University Press
PUCHTA, H. - STRANKS, J. et al.: English in Mind 3. Student's book. 2005 Cambridge University Press
TIMS, N. et al.: English in Mind 3. Teacher's book. 2005 Cambridge University Press
CUNNINGHAM, S. - MOOR, P.: Real Life. Pre-intermediate. Student's book. 2010 Pearson Longman
REILLY, P. - DAWSON, R - UMINSKA, M. - CHANDLER, D.: Real Life. Pre-intermediate. Workbook. 2010
Pearson Longman
WILLIAMS, M.: Real Life. Pre-intermediate. Teacher's Handbook. 2010 Pearson Longman
REA, D. - CLEMENTSON, T. et al.: English Unlimited B1+ Intermediate Coursebook. 2011 Cambridge
University Press
BAIGENT, M. - ROBINSON, N.: English Unlimited B1+ Intermediate Self-study Pack. 2011 Cambridge
University Press
CLEMENTSON, T - GRAY, L - SMITH, H..: English Unlimited B1+ Intermediate Teacher's Pack. 2011
SOARS, L. - SOARS, J.: New Headway Intermediate. Student's book. 4th ed. 2012 Oxford University
Press
SOARS, L. - SOARS, J.: New Headway Intermediate. Workbook with key. 4th ed. 2012 Oxford
University Press
SOARS, L. - SOARS, J. - MARIS, A.: New Headway Intermediate. Teacher's book. 4th ed. 2009 Oxford
University Press
KAY, S. - VAUGHAN, J.: New Inside Out Intermediate. Student's book. 2009 Macmillan
KERR, P.: New Inside Out Intermediate. Workbook. 2009 Macmillan
KAY, S. - VAUGHAN, J. et al.: New Inside Out Intermediate. Teacher's book. 2009 Macmillan
ARAVANIS, R. - COCHRANE, S.: CODE Green B1+. Student's Book. 2010 Macmillan
STILES, E.: CODE Green B1+. Workbook Plus. 2010 Macmillan
ARAVANIS, R.: CODE Green B1+. Teacher's Book. 2010 Macmillan
KERR, P. - JONES, C.: Straightforward. Intermediate Student's Book. 2006 Macmillan
WATERMAN, J.: Straightforward. Intermediate Workbook with key. 2006 Macmillan
SCRIVENER, J - BINGHAM, C. et al.: Straightforward. Intermediate Teacher's Book. 2006 Macmillan
GARTON-SPRENGER, J. - PROWSE, P.: Inspiration 4. Student's Book. 2007 Macmillan
GARTON-SPRENGER, J. - PROWSE, P.: Inspiration 4. Workbook. 2007 Macmillan
BAILEY, A. - McKEE, S.: Inspiration 4. Teacher's Book. 2007 Macmillan
SPENCER, D.: Gateway B1+. Student's Book. 2011 Macmillan
CORNFOLD, A.: Gateway B1+. Workbook. 2011 Macmillan
COLE, A.: Gateway B1+. Teacher's Book. 2011 Macmillan
77
Appendices
Appendix 1: Evaluation Checklist
Appendix 2: Criteria for evaluation of textbooks for teaching languages issued by ŠPÚ
Appendix 3: List of ELT textbooks recommended by the Ministry as of June 15, 2012
Appendix 4: Selected samples from tested textbooks
Appendix 1: Evaluation Checklist
Evaluation Checklist
Textbook name:
1
1.1
1.1.1
1.1.2
1.1.3
1.1.4
1.1.5
1.1.6
1.1.7
1.1.8
1.1.9
1.2
LEARNING STYLES (LS)
Textbook presents the following LS
- VAK / VARK / VAKT
- hemisphere dominance
- reflexiveness / impulsiveness
- field dependence / independence
- ambiguity tolenrance
- MBTI
- multiple intelligence
- Dunn&Dunn
- other
Instruments for assessment and comprehension of LS:
1.2.1
1.2.2
1.2.3
1.2.4
- questionnaires, quizzes, psychological tests
- supplementry text
- social techniques (e.g. exchange of practices among Ss)
- essays, learning diaries, other writing tasks
2
LEARNING STRATEGIES (LStr)
2.1
Textbook presents LStr related to specific functions:
2.1.1
2.1.2
2.1.3
2.1.4
2.1.5
2.1.6
2.1.7
2.1.8
2.1.9
2.1.10
2.1.11
2.1.12
2.2
2.2.1
2.2.2
2.2.3
speaking
listening
reading
writing
vocabulary learning
grammar
memory
pronunciation
presentation skills
compensation (e.g. guessing, creating new words, getting help, using clues)
exam skills or strategies (explicitly)
other strategies …………………..
Methods for presenting LStrat
LStrat are introduced by experiential (inductive) learning methods and/or
debriefing is provided
Students are encouraged to choose strategies independently
Students are encouraged to evaluate their own strategies use (how well a
strategy works for them)
3
OTHER METACOGNITIVE SKILLS
3.1
Getting to know oneself
3.1.1
3.1.2
3.1.3
3.1.4
3.2
3.2.1
3.2.2
3.2.3
3.3
3.3.1
3.3.2
3.3.3
Ss are encouraged to reflect on their previous learning experience
Students learn to become aware of their capabilities, strengths and
weakness as learners
Textbook offers instruments for assessment and comprehension of students'
individual characteristics and personality traits (other than LS)
Students are encouraged to reflect on external (environmental) factors which
influence their learning and broader educational context
Planning and self-assessment
Authors directly address Ss with the aim to explain basic metacognitive
concepts used in textbook and/or set objectives explicitly
Textbook encourages students to plan their own learning
Textbook provides instruments for self-assessment, monitoring own learning
and identifying own problems
Autonomy and independent learning
Independent learning is supported by explicit instructions in textbook
Answer keys and/or transcripts are provided to support autonomous learning
Extension materials for fast finishers and/or remedial materials for less-able
students are provided
SB
WB
TB
Notes
QUALITATIVE PART
Regularity and systematicity of metacognitive instruction
Overall quality of metacognitive instruction
Additional comments to SB
Additional comments to WB
Additional comments to TB
Other comments
Appendix 2: Criteria for evaluation of textbooks for teaching languages issued by ŠPÚ
Appendix 3: List of ELT textbooks recommended by The Ministry of Education,
Science, Research and Sport of the Slovak Republic as of June 15, 2012
TEXTBOOK
AUTHOR
PUBLISHER
Repka a kol.
SPN - Mladé letá, s. r. o.
Repka a kol.
Benešová a kol.
Benešová a kol.
New Opportunities. Beginner, A1
Harris, Mower, Sikorzyńska
Pearson Longman
New Opportunities. Elementary , A2
Pearson Longman
New Opportunities. Pre-intermediate, B1
Pearson Longman
New Opportunities. Intermediate, B1- B2
Pearson Longman
New Opportunitites. Upper-intermediate, B2
Pearson Longman
Opportunities. Beginner, A1
Pearson Longman
Opportunities. Elementary , A2
Pearson Longman
Opportunities. Pre-intermediate, B1
Pearson Longman
Opportunities. Intermediate, B1 - B2
Pearson Longman
Opportunities. Upper-intermediate, B2
Pearson Longman
Success. Beginner, A1
McKinlay, Parsons
Pearson Longman
Success. Elementary , A2
McKinlay, Parsons
Pearson Longman
Success. Pre-intermediate, B1
McKinlay, Parsons
Pearson Longman
Success. Intermediate, B1 - B2
McKinlay, Parsons
Pearson Longman
Success. Upper-intermediate, B2
McKinlay, Parsons
Pearson Longman
Blockbuster 1, A1
Dooley, Evans
INFOA, s. r. o.
Blockbuster 2, A2
Dooley, Evans
INFOA, s. r. o.
Blockbuster 3, B1
Dooley, Evans
INFOA, s. r. o.
Blockbuster 4, B2
Dooley, Evans
INFOA, s. r. o.
Headway 3E Pre-Intermediate, A2 - B1
Liz a John Soars
Headway 3E Elementary
Liz a John Soars
Headway 3E Intermediate, B1 - B2
Liz a John Soars
Headway 3E Upper-Intermediate, B2
Liz a John Soars
New Matrix Pre-Intermediate, B1
Gude, Wildman, Duckworth
New Matrix Intermediate, Upper-Intermediate, B2
Gude, Wildman, Duckworth
Horizons 1, A1
Radley, Simons, Campbell
Horizons 2, A2
Horizons 3, B1
Horizons 4, B2
Solutions. Elementary, A1 - A2
Tim Falla, Paul A. Davies
Solutions. Pre-Intermediate, B1
Solutions Intermediate, B1, časť B2
Solutions Upper-Intermediate, B2
Face 2 Face Starter, A1
Redston, Cunningham
Face 2 Face Elementary, A1/A2
Redston, Cunningham
Face 2 Face Pre-Intermediate, B1
Redston, Cunningham
Face 2 Face Intermediate, B1.2- B2.1
Redston, Cunningham
Face 2 Face Upper-Intermediate, B2.2
Redston, Cunningham
Face 2 Face Advanced, C1
Redston, Cunningham
English in Mind Starter , A1
H. Puchta, J. Stranks a kol.
English in Mind 1, A1.2 - A2.1
English in Mind 2, A2.2 - B1.1
English in Mind 3, B1
English in Mind 4, B2.2
English in Mind 5, C1.1
Real Life Elementary , A1
Martyn Hobbs, Julia Starr Keddle
Pearson Longman
Real Life Pre-Intermediate , A2/B1
Sarah Cunningham, Peter Moor
Pearson Longman
Real Life Intermediate , B1 - B2
Sarah Cunningham, Peter Moor
Pearson Longman
English Unlimited Starter , A1
Clementson, Tilbury, Hendra a kol.
English Unlimited Elementary, A2
English Unlimited Pre-Intermediate, B1
English Unlimited Intermediate, B1+
English Unlimited Upper-Intermdiate, B2.2
New Headway Intermediate 4th Edition , B1 - B2.1
Liz a John Soars
New Inside Out Pre-Intermed., len 8. a 4.r-. gymn., bil.SŠ, A2.2 -B1.1
Sue Kay, Vaughan Jones
Macmillan
New Inside Out Intermediate, len 8. a 4. roč. gymn., bil. SŠ, B1
Macmillan
New Inside Out Upper-Intermediate, len 8. a 4. roč. g., bil.SŠ,B2
Macmillan
New Inside Out Advanced, len bil. SŠ, C1
Macmillan
Code Blue B1, 8. ročné a 4. ročné gymn., SOŠ, B1
Aravanis, Vassilakis
Macmillan
Code Code Green B1+, 8. ročné a 4. ročné gymn., SOŠ, B1+
Aravanis, Cochrane
Macmillan
Code Red B2, 8. ročné a 4. ročné gymn., SOŠ, B2
Crawford, Nicholas, Cochrane
Macmillan
Straightforward Elementary, len 4. ročné gymnáziá, A1.1-A2.1
Lindsay Clandfield
Macmillan
Straightforward Pre-Intermadiate, len 4. roč. gymn., A2.2-B1.1
Philip Kerr
Macmillan
Straightforward Intermediate, len 4. ročné gymnáziá, B1
Philip Kerr, Ceri Jones
Macmillan
Inspiration 1, len SOŠ, A1/A2
J. Garton-Sprenger, P. Prowse
Macmillan
Inspiration 2, len SOŠ, A2/B1
Macmillan
Inspiration 3, len SOŠ, A2/B1
Macmillan
Inspiration 4, len SOŠ, B1
Macmillan
Gateway A2
Spencer
Macmillan
Gateway B1
Spencer
Macmillan
Gateway B1+
Spencer
Macmillan
Chill out 1 - anglický jazyk pre SOŠ
Brána do sveta - Gate to the World (AJ pre SOŠ hotelierstvo a
gastronómia)
Tkadlečková a kol.
Klett
Tecoma Contract s.r.o.
Source: http://www.edicny-portal.sk/sk/objednavanie-ucebnic/_stredne-skoly/vyucovaci-jazyk-slovensky/vseobecno-vzdelavacie-predmety
Appendix 4: Selected samples from tested textbooks
Appendix 4A: Selected samples from tested textbooks - Gateway
Source: Gateway WB p.65
Appendix 4B: Selected samples from tested textbooks – English Unlimited
Source: English Unlimited, sections My English in WB p.6 and p. 37
Appendix 4C: Selected samples from tested textbooks – English in Mind
Source: English in Mind, 1st Ed. SB pp. 60-61,
Appendix 4D: Selected samples from tested textbooks – Face2Face
Source: Face2Face TB Photocopiable material 189-191 SB

UNIVERZITA KOMENSKÉHO V BRATISLAVE

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