An analysis of advanced ESL composition textbooks

This study aims at a thorough analysis of advanced ESL composition textbooks. There are several goals: to categorize the basic elements in the textbooks; to identify the theoretical bases and instructional approaches adopted in the books; and to investigate how textbook development is related to the history of ESL composition and other ESL research. Since there is not a systematic method for textbook evaluation, the last goal of this study is to develop a protocol for textbook analysis. Three advanced ESL composition textbooks were chosen. The three texts are analyzed from four perspectives: grammar, textual organization, writer strategy and exercise types. Simple statistics and in depth narration are used to illustrate the findings. The results indicate that a great deal of attention is given to the form of written texts, such as grammar and textual organization. This remains true across textbooks that claim different instructional approaches. In addition, there is no consensus about the appropriate dose of grammar. The results also indicate that the textbooks recycle elements and approaches that were popular in the past. However, some textbooks show a clear tendency to accommodate elements from competing approaches and thus in fact are a mix of approaches. Also, the textbooks pay different degrees of attention to issues prominent in recent ESL research, such as plagiarism and writing examinations, indicating an updated concern about the needs of the ESL population is necessary