Farahnaz Taheri - Department of English Language Teaching, Golestan Science and Research Branch,Islamic Azad University, Gorgan, Iran & Department of English Language Teaching, Golestan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Gorgan, Iran
Ali Derakhshan - Assistant Professor, Golestan University, Department of English Language and Literature, Gorgan, Iran

It is generally believed that instruction plays a definitely important role in the acquisition of pragmatics (Alcon-Soler, 2005; Derakhshan & Eslami, 2015; Kondo,2008; Taguchi, 2007). Moreover, there is a general agreement that the interacti on opportunities for students in the language learning classroom are rather limited (Kasper, 2001; Kasper & Rose, 1999; Lyster, 1994), and the materials to which the students are exposed are decontextualized (Bardovi-Harlig, Hartford, Mahan-Taylor, Morgan, & Reynolds, 1991), and they may not produce the sociolinguistic input that is essential in order for learning to take place. Alternatively, some researchers propose that textbook conversations are really limited and unreliable source of input to tap upon pragmatics learning (Arabmofrad, 2014; Bardovi-Harlig et al., 1991; Boxer & Pickering, 1995; Gilmore, 2004; Lo¨rscher & Schulze, 1988). In most classrooms, the most important component of curriculum is the textbook. But, to what extent are our textbooks enriched with sociopragmatic and pragmalinguistic features of the target language. Therefore, the present review paper aims to bring to the fore different models of textbook evaluation based on pragmatic frameworks. It also summarizes the frequency and types of pragmatic features manifested in different textbooks taught in Iran. Finally, it reviews the challenges and opportunities which can pave the way for further research.

Pragmatics, Sociopragmatic and pragmalinguistic competence; Textbook evaluation