Referring to the 2013 curriculum, the presence of textbooks in the teaching process in the classroom is very vital. Because of the important roles,
governments need to take control of the textbook content, production, and distribution, as what happens in Indonesia. Jazadi 2003 states that textbooks in
Indonesia need to pass several political and also evaluation process to maintain security.
“The content of books should be in line with and not contradictory to Pancasila
The State Philosophy, UUD 1945 The 1945 Constitution, Government policies, national unity and security, laws, regulations,
ethics, and that the content not exploits the sensitive issue of SARA ethnics, religions, race, and intergroup relations. Judgement of this
aspect is made by evaluators coming from Mabes ABRI Armed Forces Headquarter, Kejaksaan agung Office of Attorney General, Lemhanas
National Defence Institute and Inspectorate General of MOEC Ministry of Education and Culture.
” Jazardi, 2003 Table 2.2. The List of Elective Subjects Based on Curriculum 2013
The aforementioned statements then can be the reason why Indonesian governments take control in deciding, providing, and distributing the Curriculum
2013 textbooks to be used in schools. The governments provide an English textbook for the compulsory English.
Each senior high school implementing the Curriculum 2013 has to purchase the textbook by using BOS, as many as the number of the students. Meanwhile, the
governments decide a publisher, which is Erlangga, to provide an English textbook to be used in teaching elective English in senior high schools. Though
the textbook for elective English should also be purchased using BOS, the number of the textbook purchased depends on the
schools‟ financial condition.
e. Criteria of Good Textbooks
Before selecting a textbook to be applied in the class, teachers have to be familiar with the criteria of a good textbook. Masuhara 1998 points out that a
good book is a book which meets teachers, students, and administrators needs and wants. The following is the more detail elaboration on those needs and wants.
1 Textbooks that meet the learners needs
Learners personal needs include age, sex, cultural background, interest, and educational background Masuhara, 1998. Learners learning needs can be
identified from various aspects as learning styles, language learning experience, language proficiency, learning goals and learning expectations. In addition,
learners‟ needs also include the needs of exciting and advantageous materials, the example of proper language use as well as various language learning activities.
Besides, the learners‟ needs also cover the future professional needs, which are likely required for the future job.
2 Textbooks that meet the teachers needs
Teachers needs can be divided into two, personal needs and professional needs. As aforementioned learners‟ needs, teachers personal needs also cover age,
cultural background, interests, educational background and teachers language proficiency. Teachers‟ preferred teaching styles, teachers‟ training experience and
teachers‟ teaching experience belong to teachers professional needs Masuhara, 1998. For teachers, certain textbooks can be said they are good if they present
explanations on the content, examples and exercises. Besides, the availability of a variety of activities in teaching is also one of the considerations.
3 Textbooks that meet the administrators needs
Administrators needs cover institutional needs which involve sociopolitical needs, market forces, educational policy, and constraints such as
time, budget and resources Masuhara, 1998. It is easy to find the fact that a number of schools in Indonesia do not have sufficient budget to provide books for
the students so that they tend to wait for the governments support to facilitate their needs for textbooks. Discussing about educational policy, it should be firmly
stated that one of the most important policies is curriculum. It should be thoroughly examined whether the textbooks are in line with the curriculum being
applied. In addition, Cunningsworth 1995 proposes four criteria for evaluating
textbooks: a
They should correspond to learners‟ needs. They should match the aims and objectives of the language learning program
b They should reflect the uses present or future which learners will make of
the language. Textbooks should be chosen that will help equip students to use language effectively for their own purposes
c They should take account of students‟ needs as learners and should facilitate
their learning processes, without dogmatically imposing a rigid “method” d
They should have a clear role as a support for learning. Like teachers, they mediate between the target language and the learner
f. Textbooks Selection
Textbooks selection can be considered as a subjective practice. Textbooks selection is a process of selecting certain textbooks which is conducted before a
teacher employs a textbook. Due to that, textbooks selection is also called pre-use evaluation. Pre-use evaluation is the first stage of evaluation before whilst-use and
after use selections. This stage is usually done by teachers or director of the studies, but in Indonesia this activity is usually conducted by those two or even
only by the administrators.
Pre-use evaluation focuses on obtaining an impression as to the potential educational value of the textbook Tomlinson, 2003: 23. In other words, during
the pre-use evaluation, teachers actually use impressionistic evaluation in order to be able to judge the textbooks and make a prediction on how well the textbooks
will perform in class Harmer, 2001: 301. Impressionistic evaluation is conducted
by quickly looking through the textbooks cover to cover, trying to gain an overview of the strengths and weaknesses of the books Cunningsworth, 1995: 1.
To be more specific, impressionistic evaluation enables teachers to gain information on the design and structure of the textbooks, how attractive the covers
are, how good the materials presented are, how the activities and exercises are sequenced and how they meet the syllabus as well as the students‟ needs, also how
the balanced language skills are exposed.
As discussed in the previous part, good textbooks are those which meet students, teachers, and administrators needs so that in the process of textbooks
selection those needs have to be considered very well. Yet, in Indonesia the price of a textbook is regarded as a considerable issue especially when the school has
many students who come from lower class and consider it is hard to buy textbooks. Furthermore, some teachers and administrators may consider discount
and other additional benefits in the process of purchasing textbooks. The other bad possibilities are when teachers only have very limited choices because of the
limited school budget or even when administrators have already decided a textbook to use in class.
Teachers‟ autonomy takes an important role in textbooks selection. Autonomy is generally described as being responsible and independent in making
choices. Benson 2000: 101 describes autonomy as the right to freedom from control by others. Yet, in the reality it seems to be difficult to achieve. It is a fact
that teachers are restricted by school regulations, demands of the administrators, and also curricula.
In addition, Littlewood 1997: 428 defines an autonomous person as someone who has an independent capacity to make and carry out choices which
govern his or her actions. The capacity demands two important components, which are ability and willingness. Becoming an autonomous teacher has
something to do with the commitment to explore, reflect, and change in order to
be able to achieve not only personal but also the community goals. In this study, teachers‟ autonomy in selecting textbooks means the teachers‟ awareness of the
professional needs as well as of the demands of the administrators and curricula which then lead them to the responsibility to select textbooks which best suit to
the needs and demands.
6. Lived Experience
Clarifying the term lived experience used in this study is significant to attain the readers‟ understanding. Lived experience covers the significant events
in the past which make a person what he she is today. This kind of experience accumulates over time, teaches us lessons and has effects by shaping or
influencing our responses to the world. Manen 1990 reveals that each person has a unique set of experiences which are regarded as truth and influence the behavior
of the individual. In line with this, individual lived experience refers to the lived experience of an individual which is considered as unique from one individual to
another. To be more specific, the teachers‟ individual lived experience in selecting textbooks can be said as the lived experience of the teacher himselfherself,
without being compared or related to the lived experience of the other teachers. Further, Manen 1990 explains that the most fundamental part of the
study of lived experience is the narrative reflections on the meaningful lived experiences and daily real practices in the real world reality in order to enhance
someone‟s understanding and knowledge. In addition, he mentions that lived experience can be seen from a phenomenological perspective by questioning
What does a phenomenon mean? or What is the essence of a phenomenon? It does not just clarify How does someone do about a phenomenon? Related to
