English Varieties in Iranian Junior High School Course books: Consistency Matters

There is no denial that learning English has become an absolute necessity in today’s globalized world. Globalization in various fields, has led many countries to implement language policies that put more emphasis on communication ability. Based on these policies, new national curricula were implemented and new textbooks have been published accordingly to meet the implementation. It goes without saying that textbooks are looked upon as an indispensable vehicle for foreign language learning and textbook analysis can play a crucial role in the realm of language teaching and learning. The present study evaluates the English language textbook series for Iranian Junior High Schools entitled Prospect 1,2,3 which were introduced for the middle school students as fresh learners in English by the Ministry of Education in 2013,2014 and 2015 respectively. This research project evaluates the new textbooks that are considered to be the foundation stone in the English language program in Iran.This article analyzes the textbook in terms of American and British English usage. Generally, both varieties are taught in most ESL/EFL programs, however, there are certainly preferences in use. The most important rule of thumb is to try to be consistent in your usage. The present research in a descriptive-evaluative design analyzes the textbooks – Prospect Series – in various areas such as pronunciation, grammar, lexis, spelling and punctuation. The results indicate that the textbooks were not consistent in employing a single variety of English. However, it can be understood that the authors preferred American English in designing the books

کلیدواژه ها:

Textbook ، American English ، British English ، Junior-high School ، Prospect