Abstract

Textbooks are an essential aspect of most EFL/ESL classrooms around the world. Within Omani schools that follow the Basic Education curriculum, the government-produced ELT textbooks “English for Me” and “Engage with English” are used. Existing evaluations of these textbooks are few, and those that are available tend to report mixed results. Almost all of the current textbook evaluations are either based on studies conducted by university researchers who have little direct experience of using these books in ELT classrooms, or are derived from teacher action research and are generally somewhat limited in nature. The current study, therefore, conducted an evaluation of all government-produced ELT textbooks employed in Omani government schools from the perspectives of ELT teachers and supervisors. One hundred and seven teacher and supervisor participants were asked to complete a sixty-nine-item, fourteen category evaluation checklist about the textbooks they were currently using and/or were most familiar with. Results suggest somewhat positive evaluations of the textbooks in terms of curriculum coherence, physical attributes, and the availability of supplementary materials, while most of the remaining evaluation categories also received either somewhat or slightly positive results. However, participants offered more negative evaluations of the way writing and pronunciation tasks were presented. The article concludes by suggesting that a limited revision of the textbooks may be beneficial for improving the quality of English-language learning and teaching in Omani government schools.