Retrospective Evaluation of Textbook “Summit 2B” for its Suitability for EFL Undergraduate Students

Abstract

The literature of materials evaluation indicates the lack of the evaluation of the textbook “Summit 2B” for teaching purposes.
This study aims to present the retrospective evaluation of this textbook for its suitability for Undergraduate University Students (UUSs). A
survey using a checklist and a semi-structured interview were carried out. The data were collected from the TEFL instructors and
students after one semester of using the “Summit 2B” as their textbook at Islamic Azad university, Tabriz branch, and Jahad daneshgahi
in Urmia, Iran. Out of 150 participants of the study 10 were instructors and 140 were students. For the survey the checklist of Doaud and
Celce-Murcia (1979) based on five criteria of subject matter, vocabulary and structure, exercise, illustration, and physical make-up was
employed and distributed among the instructors and students; while, for the interview the researcher-designed questions were used for
interviewing the instructors. The quantitative data obtained from the survey were analyzed using descriptive statistics and the qualitative
data of the audio-recorded interview were analyzed using the descriptive interpretation of the responses given by the instructors. The
results of the study, in general, revealed the suitability of the textbook for UUSs. The findings, in particular, indicated that there are some
problems related to the criteria of vocabulary and structure, and physical make-up in relation to the over-loaded pages. The implications
and necessary suggestions for strengthening the weak areas of the textbook are presented