This study aims to suggest a checklist for teachers and researchers to analyze English as a second or foreign language textbooks from a sociolinguistic perspective. In the literature there is not a checklist or framework by which English textbooks can be evaluated considering the sociolinguistics issues raised in this study. After obtaining expert…

Presents results of a content analysis of 46 postsecondary reading textbooks to assess the texts' incorporation of features that enhance learning. Describes the use of a modified version of Singer's Friendly Text Inventory to analyze the texts in terms of organization, explication, conceptual density, metadiscourse, and instructional devices. (DMM)

Compares a content analysis of 60 college introductory psychology textbooks published or revised between 1969 and 1975 with another analysis of 52 texts published or revised between 1980 and 1989. Finds recent texts more voluminous and more comprehensive, yet more readable than their predecessors. (CFR)

This report analyzes the 1988 edition of the Silver Burdett & Ginn (SBG) "World of Music" elementary music textbook series and in particular critiques the materials for grades 1-6. The study was guided by a large set of framing questions requiring a detailed examination of the series' goals, rationale, and structure; content…

Content weakness in textbooks is a major obstacle to effective social studies teaching. Chapters 1-3 of this book provide the Education for Democracy Project's Statement of Principles, a consideration of history's role as the core of social studies education, and the role of textbooks in teaching world history. Chapters 4-14 examine five selected…

Reconsiders the place of Peter Berger's "Invitation to Sociology," in teaching undergraduate sociology courses. Traces the success and intellectual impact of the work. Describes the image of sociology it presents. Reviews its treatment of human freedom as a sociological issue. Examines its world vision and evaluates its usefulness in…

Explores the history of social studies instruction. Reports findings of an analysis of 1,217 lessons contained in 5 social studies textbooks. Concludes that geography, history, and anthropology receive the greatest coverage in the books, whereas sociology and political science are stressed least. Identifies differences among the five books.…

Presents a review of five textbooks available for a one-semester undergraduate course in the history of economic thought. Includes method of approach taken by the authors, content, and features such as indexes and lists of suggested readings. Suggests how the texts differ with respect to content without recommending any particular book. (DK)

Reviews 14 international economics textbooks to help instructors with selection. Includes organization and structure, topics covered, and characteristics of the texts. Suggests considerations such as course length, level of abstraction desired, opinion of numerically based graphical analysis, extensiveness of examples and applications, and whether…

This report describes a project which analyzed science and social studies textbooks to determine how well they accommodate the learning needs of mainstreamed hard-to-teach students. A textbook analysis tool was developed, and eight teacher-reviewers examined the instructional design of teachers' and students' editions of 12 leading elementary and…

Offers a critique of existing methods of assessing the human interest of basic writing textbooks, contending that most are abstract and subjective and that the more objective Flesch formula inflates texts' human-interest level. Advocates modifying existing formulas and guidelines. Suggests criteria (e.g., appropriateness of readability level) for…

Reports that a goal and item analysis of eight history and systems of psychology textbooks and their accompanying test item files showed that the majority of the essay test items are too narrow in scope to measure the commonly stated course goals. Presents some integrative and goal-relevant essay questions to rectify this shortcoming. Includes a…

Social studies textbooks need careful inspection with regard to how they treat ethnicity. Although there have been several studies of possible bias in textbooks, there are methodological concerns that need further deliberation. Content analysis has been called a "technique for systematic inference from communications," and it may be viewed as a…

Analyzes seven college-level U.S. history survey texts to determine the deteriorating quality of college history textbooks. Focuses on three areas: (1) the simplification of style and content, (2) indications of implicit censorship, and (3) the lack of a thematic structure which would contribute to the students' understanding of history. (LS)

Analyzes the content of chapters on education in 22 introductory sociology textbooks. Argues that the texts focus on the northern industrialized nations to the exclusion of developing nations' educational issues. Suggests that textbook coverage of northern influence, cultural factors, alternative developing nations' educational models, inadequate…