August 2009 Volume 5 Issue 2
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Article Title
Using a Commercially Developed ESP Textbook: A Classroom Dilemma

Author
Khaled Jebahi
The Higher Institute of Applied Biology, Medenine, Tunisia

Bio Data
Khaled Jebahi is a teacher of English at the Higher Institute of Applied Biology, Medenine, Tunisia. He holds an MA in Applied Linguistics and he is currently undertaking Doctorate studies in the same field

Abstract
This paper discusses an academic experience of using Science Vistas by Dean Curry (1981) as a textbook to teach English for first year students of Biology at the Higher Institute of Applied Biology, Medenine, Tunisia. The paper focuses on: (i) the emotional and intellectual reactions of the students towards this textbook, (ii) the rectifications made in the lessons contained in this textbook in light of students’ attitudes, current research on textbook evaluation, and Communicative Language Teaching (CLT). Results show that learners are dissatisfied with topics, tasks, listening, pronunciation, how to take part in conversation, skill coverage, skill integration, recycling, and revision.  This implies the need to modify materials to suit the needs and levels of specific learners in specific contexts.

Keywords: ESP; Textbook; Evaluation; Attitudes; Modification; CLT