14 Last, Harmer 2007 proposes criteria for textbook evaluation. There are
ten criteria in his checklist. Those criteria are price and availability, add-ons and extras, layout and design, instructions, methodology, syllabus, language skills,
topics, cultural appropriacy, and teacher’s guide. Cunningsworth 1995 proposes checklist for evaluating textbook. There
are eight aspects along with the explanation of each aspect. Those aspects are aims and approaches, design and organization, language content, skills, topic,
methodology, teachers’ books, and practical consideration. The following is the description of each aspect of Cunningsworth’s checklist.
a. Aims and approaches aspect
To reach the aims, textbooks should provide all what is needed in teaching learning activities. Cunningsworth 1995: 15 says, “The content of the material
should correspond to what students need to learn, in terms of language items, skills and communicative strategies”. Another statement is stated by Riddell
2003: 206, “An ideal textbook should have variety and balance-language work, skill work, pronunciation, review units or sections, and grammar summaries”.
Those parts can also help the students to comprehend the materials. Students’ learning style is also another important aspect in order to
accomplish the aims. According to Jordan 1997: 95, “Learning style is the particular approach by which a student tries to learn”. Every student has different
learning style, so textbooks should provide various activities to make different teaching and learning style possible. Cuningsworth 1995: 16 states,
15 Textbooks also embody certain learning styles and strategies, which can
influence how individual students go about their own learning. The approach taken by a textbook towards learning strategies may not be explicit
but certain learning styles and strategies will be promoted in the book, explicitly or implicitly, and it is important to identify what they are and how
they are put forward.
Felder and Henriques 1995 propose the ways people receive sensory information as visual, verbal, and other touch, taste, and smell. Visual learners are those
prefer that information is presented visually, in pictures, diagrams, flow charts, time lines, films, and demonstrations, rather than in spoken or written words.
Verbal learners are those who prefer spoken or written explanations to visual presentations. The last ones are touch, taste, and smell. This category plays little
part in language instruction, so it will not be addressed further.
b. Design and organization aspect
