Analyzing Culture of Learning and Teaching in the Iranian Secondary Schools English Language Course Books: Prospect

Abstract

Knowing and analyzing the "culture of learning and teaching" in a coursebook or series of course books can contribute to teachers' and students' success in the educational and pedagogical goals and objectives. Cultures of learning and teaching refer to the perspectives of teachers and learners towards learning and teaching. Most of the research studies conducted in this field have referred to values and attitudes related to good learning and teaching as reflected through observations, interviews and questionnaires. However, just few studies have examined this term with regard to language teaching materials, and course books. Thus, the purpose of the present study was tointroduce, investigate, and analyze the cultures of learning and teaching in Iranian secondary school course books entitled Prospect series. Based on the model used in this study, the cultures of learning and teaching in Prospect series were investigated as reflected in their external features including aims and objectives cited in the introduction, tables of content, and layout of the students' books, and internal features including task instructions and visual images in students' book plus the instructions in the teacher's book. Each of these features as well as the pedagogical issues of the Prospect series were provided and elaborated.