August 2009 Volume 5 Issue 2
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Article Title
The ESP Textbook Problem: The Evaluation of ESP Textbooks in Humanities in the Undergraduate Program of Iranian Universities

Author
Ebrahim Zangani
Zanjan Islamic Azad University

Bio Data
Ebrahim Zangani is a lecturer of TEFL at Zanjan Islamic Azad University and an English Language teacher in the Ministry of Education. He received his M.A in TEFL from Tehran Science and Research Campus. He has been teaching General English and ESP for 12 years. He has written two general English books for university students and two papers on English language teaching. His areas of interest include Language Testing, SLA and ESP

Abstract
The importance of the textbook is undeniable for it determines the major part of classroom teaching and student learning. To make the most effective use of textbooks, it is necessary to carefully examine all aspects of the text and compare it against an assessment tool. Therefore, one of the issues that a language teacher has to deal with is material selection or adaptation. The intent of the present study was to evaluate ESP textbooks in Humanities in the undergraduate program of Iranian universities. In trying to achieve this goal, two types of questionnaire were administered among participating students and professors. The results were analyzed both descriptively and inferentially. The results indicated some parts of the ESP textbooks used in Iran are inappropriate and need to be improved. Accordingly, the results of z tests also indicated these textbooks should be modified in terms of new approaches in language learning and teaching, as well as student needs. Finally, some suggestions were presented as guidelines for selection or adaptation of ESP textbooks.

Key Words: ESP, Textbook, Evaluation, New approaches, Student needs