CC:(6553) Unit # 1

LANGUAGE TEXTBOOK

unit reviewed by
Dr. Shaukat Ali Siddiqui
Presented By:
Emaad ud Din
Introduction
1. Issues in Language Textbook
Development 2. Language Textbook
Designing
1) Three Kinds of Language Textbooks.
2) Western Apache and our Experience 1) Basic Models of Language Textbook
3) Language Arts (Primary) Design
4) Language Arts and Textbooks (Secondary) 2) Full Language Lessons
 (1)
Issues in Language
Textbook
Development
▪Pakistan has more than one languages to teach but her textbooks are not worthy
teachable from a pedagogical technical point of view.
▪Because of the lack of text book development know-how.
▪“Teaching Indigenous Languages” a book edited by Jon Reyhner, North Arizona
University (U.S.A) find some experimental studies on this topic.
▪One experiment is stated as bellow:
▪Two experimental language learning textbooks were developed in collaboration with
Apache speaking scholars from the San Carlos and White Mountain reservations.
▪One was written in the grammar-translation tradition and modeled after Wilson’s
Conversational Navajo Workbook and Zepeda’s Papago Grammar.
▪The other text was a guide to teaching Apache with the Total Physical Response (TPR)
method, based on Asher’s (1982) teacher’s guidebook.
▪Both can not be declared successful separately but rely upon each other for success to
some extent.
▪The best way towards achieving successful language renewal is to convince parents
(and grandparents) to speak the language and nothing but the language to their
children.
▪No textbook, no school curriculum program is ever going to replace this.
▪1. Textbooks that Teach Native Speakers something about the grammar of the
language, or teach them to read and write, but do not teach the speaking and listening
skills necessary for oral communication;
▪2. Second Language Textbooks that teach the language to speakers of other
languages but avoid grammar to some extent; and
▪3. Textbooks that try to do a little bit of both, i.e., they teach the language, but at
the same time try to be of interest to Native speakers or linguists by teaching
something about the grammar.
▪In the United States, Type 1 textbooks are not very common and often unpublished,
while Type 2 and 3 textbooks are more common, Type 2 being more often published
than Type 3.
▪In Pakistan English is a foreign language but the textbooks reveal it as 1st or 2nd
language. So why it is being taught from grade 1 level. Same is the case for Urdu.
▪There are four kinds of students of Urdu: (1) Native speakers, (2) bilingual (3) Urdu as
second language students and (4) Urdu as foreign language students.
▪The textbooks published by the boards reveal Urdu as 1st native language only and
only the Sindh textbook board published Easy Urdu but not really as 2nd language for
Sindhi students.
▪The Western Apache language is a Southern Athabaskan language spoken among the 14,000 Western
Apaches in east central Arizona.
▪There are approximately 6,000 speakers living on the San Carlos Reservation and 7,000 living on the Ft.
Apache Reservation.
▪Goodwin (1938) claims that Western Apache can be divided into five dialect groupings:
1. Cibecue
2. Northern Tonto
3. Southern Tonto
4. San Carlos
5. White Mountain
▪Other researchers do not find any linguistic evidence for five groups but rather three main varieties with
several subgroupings:
1. San Carlos
2. White Mountain
3. Tonto
▪Western Apache is most closely related to other Southern Athabaskan languages like:
▪1. Navajo, 2. Chiricahua Apache, 3. Mescalero Apache, 4. Lipan Apache, 5. Plains Apache, and 6. Jicarilla
Apache.
▪In 2011, the San Carlos Apache Tribe’s Language Preservation Program in Peridot, Arizona, began its
outreach to the "14,000 tribal members residing within the districts of Bylas, Gilson Wash, Peridot and Seven
Mile Wash,“ only 20% of whom still speak the language fluently.
▪The Western Apache language is endangered and drastic steps will have to be taken to preserve and renew
it.
▪This case depicts the same situation of English and Urdu language textbooks in Pakistan.
▪While the main purpose of our text is to teach elementary conversation with some
emphasis on reading and writing, we wanted it to be used to teach some of the
linguistics to the students.
▪Linguistic should be the part of our language textbooks.
▪Linguistics is the scientific study of human language.
▪Linguistics tries to be a more responsible study of grammar, in three ways.
▪First, it tries to explain why things are the way they are, by trying to discover general
rules.
▪Second, it tries to accurately describe the way people speak.
▪Third, linguistics is not committed to a particular language.
▪There are three basic ways in which linguistics can be useful to Native educators.
▪First, most educators interested in the contents of this text deal with bilingual
situations.
▪Second, Native languages have not been codified in language academies or
authoritative textbooks or dictionaries. Thus, linguistics can be a tool for teaching the
principles of scientific inquiry.
▪The third and final motivation for teaching linguistics is to get Native students
interested in the field.
▪The problems can be solved by a combination of the two approaches.
▪The classificatory handling verbs are best taught by a grammar-translation method,
supplemented by TPR style exercises.
▪Straightforward syntactic structures, such as negation and yes-no questions, can be
taught through TPR exercises and supplemented by grammatical explanations.
▪Native experts should monitor any text to avoid culturally sensitive or politically
inappropriate material.
▪Finally, decide how much linguistic terminology can be handled in each particular
curriculum.
▪For our own languages, the grammar translation method and the conversational
methods even in Urdu or Sindhi textbooks must be reflected.
▪The Learner should be able to understand:
▪3.1- Genres: Short Story: Analyzing; Genre/Cultures: Selecting Literature; Author
Technique: Evaluate; Author Intention: Evaluate; Short Story: Construct Meaning; Point
of View: Evaluate.
▪3.2- Language Expressions (Language Expressions Description): Noun: Forms/Edit;
Subject-Verb: Agreement; Pronoun: Case/Edit; Sentence Structure: Identify Complete;
Sentence Structure: Grammar/Effective; Run-On: Identify; Fragment: Identify; Sentence
Combining; Grammar: Use; Sentence Structure: Length/Variety.
▪3.3- Language Mechanics (Language Mechanics Description): Mechanics: Bonding
Elements; End mark: Use; Capitalization: Use; Punctuation: Use;
▪3.4- Listening (Listening Description): Response: Story/Analyze/Discuss; Evaluating:
Student/Teacher Criteria;
▪3.5- Reading Operations (Reading Operations Description): Predict Outcome; Story
Elements: Analyzing/Connecting; Strategies: Monitoring; Reading Behaviors: Apply;
Comprehension: Display Skills;
▪3.6- Speaking (Speaking Description): Persuasion: Devices/Utilize; General: Guidelines/
Follow; Story: Retell/Summarize;
▪3.7- Spelling (Spelling Description): Edit: Contextual; Strategies; Consonants; Vowels;
Suffixes; Affix; Root Words;
▪3.8-Study and Research Skills Description : Dictionary: Identify/Locate Information;
Outline: Titles; Encyclopedia: Locate Information; Diagrams: Keys.
▪3.9- Vocabulary (Vocabulary Description): Analogy; Word Relationships; Synonym;
Antonym; Sentence Completion; Context; Vocabulary; Strategies.
▪3.10- Writing (Writing Description): Paragraph: Topic Sentences; Style: Selecting;
Writing as a Process: Expository; Edit: Adjectives/Adverbs; Revise: Content; Conclusion;
Main Idea/Supporting Details;
▪4.1- Language Expressions/Mechanics: Usage: Identify/Standard; Sentence Structure:
Recognize Errors; Culture: Diversity/Respect; Conventions: Print/Non print; Subject-
Verb Agreement; Pronoun.
▪4.2- Media and Technology: Media: Read/View/Write/Create; Media Aids:
Communication; Media Message: Content/Concept; Media: Reliability/Sort; Multimedia:
Create/ Use/ Display/ Explain; Technology: Communication Tool/Discover; Technology:
Content/Concept/Use.
▪4.3- Reading and Literature: Purposes: Community Needs/Occupation/
Cultures/Human Experiences; Response: Interact/School/ Self/Understand; Prior
Knowledge: Connecting; Strategies: Variety/Type/Content/Reading Skills/Develop;
Textual Features: Influence Meaning; Word Recognition: Meaning; Interpretation:
Personal/Interact; Reading Behaviors: Independent.
 (2)
Language Textbook
Designing
▪ A languages textbook design for Urdu was created in the Middle School Project of the
Ministry of Education in 1998.
▪ It was based on peer discussion and interactive elements.
▪ The eclectic approach was used to design the lesson/units.
▪ Pre-lesson, pre-listening/speaking, pre-reading, pre-writing and post- reading/writing
activities were introduced.
▪ The layout was specially designed to depict the basic theme of the lesson.
▪ Language items, dramatization, discussions and research assignments along with the
further readings were also added to the lesson.
▪ The division of the reading text, the illustrations, the icons, the line drawings and the
page layout were given special attention.
▪ Their design is basically for conversations, interaction etc.
▪ 1. The basic guidance for a language lesson design is to
▪ “Teach the same text for speaking, listening, writing, reading, language learning etc.”
▪ 2. The second point of the lesson is the “Activities” (pre and post, interactive,
exercises etc.) where no abstract grammar learning is made a part of this
lesson/unit.
▪ The lesson is divided into the following parts:
▪ 1. Pre-lesson; 2. Pre-listening/speaking; 3. For listening/speaking;
▪ 4. Pre-reading; 5. For reading(part.1); 6. Comprehension activities; 7. Questions;
8. Language learning activities;
▪ 9. Pre-reading(part.2); 10. For reading; 11. Thematic/Morale; 12. Questions;
Comprehension; 13. Important points/Repeat;
▪ 14. Language learning;
▪ 15. Additional reading;
▪ 16. Pre-writing; 17. Writing;
▪ 18. Research/Seminar/Discussion; 18. Interactive elements; 20. Student’s diary
▪ A full lesson depicting these points “Kala Teetar” written by Mr. Ubaid Ullah Baig is a
good example to provide the practical instance of the basic guidance.
▪ The reading text is divided into two parts. The activities of the 1st part are repeated
after the 2nd part.
▪ Illustrations are added for teaching/pedagogical objectives.
▪ The whole lesson is a compact unit for all the necessary skills to be acquired in a
language lesson.

▪ 2nd example is from GTZ’ Peshawar’s lessons for class V, I, and III.
▪ Their design, layout, and illustrations are worth-living in action oriented illustrations
and with good discourse and genres.
▪ 1. Pakistan is a country having more than one languages to teach but its language textbooks are not teachable.
▪ 2. Language textbooks are often prepared for two methods of teaching: 1. Grammar-translation, 2. Conversational
method.
▪ 3. There are at least three and in Pakistan four kinds of textbooks for language teaching are needed.
▪ 4. Western Apache language textbooks can become exemplary textbooks in Pakistani situation.
▪ 5. Linguistics should be the part of our language textbooks.
▪ 6. The language items/objectives at the primary level are: genres, expression, mechanics, listening, reading,
speaking, spelling, study and research skills, vocabulary, writing etc.
▪ 7. Language Arts and textbooks are related only by the language items: Mechanics (students, sentence structures,
culture diversity, print or non print conventions, verb, pronoun, conjunction, experience, correct use), media and
technology (read, write, communication, information, content, speech, daily life), reading and literature at the
secondary level.
▪ 8. The language items/objective must be observed is the language textbooks.
▪ 9. Language textbook design should pay attention to the activities, illustrations, icons and layout of the pages.