23 Besides social and cultural context, textbooks should cover topics where
women are portrayed equally with men. The other aspects that can be discriminated such as ethnic origin, occupation, age, social class, and disability
must be presented equally in the textbooks. Cunningsworth 1995 agrees that equal presentation of those aspects will give a better perspective to the students
and will avoid negative stereotyping.
f. Methodology aspect
Every textbook has its own way in delivering the materials. According to Cunningsworth 1995: 97, “One of the functions of textbooks is to present the
language in such a way that it is learned as effectively and quickly as possible”. Textbook should be prepared for some teaching-learning situations so that it can
be used widely. Cunningsworth 1995: 99 mentions some principles to be implemented in textbooks, which are:
1 There should be controlled presentation of language
2 Rules need to be learned, either inductively or deductively
3 There should be balance of accuracy and fluency
4 Skills need to be learned both separately and in an integrated way
5 Communicative practice should resemble real-life language use
6 Learning activities should be varied
By joining teaching learning activities, students are expected to be more confident in using language they are learning. Textbooks are provided to support
teaching learning activities and help the students to understand the materials and not to make the students become dependent on the textbooks. Cunningsworth
1995: 105 states that, Textbooks have anything very explicit to say about the learner’s role in the
language-learning process, but it is clear from the nature of the material that students are expected to hypothesize about rules, participate actively in
24 leaning activities, relate material to their own experiences and personal lives
and undertake a variety of tasks which involve problem solving of one sort or another.
Textbook should concern to students’ learning style. Every student has different learning style and it should be respected by teachers or textbooks. They
cannot be forced to use certain method because as stated by Cunningsworth 1995, “individuals have different learning strategies and will not respond to
methods which they distrust” p. 106. One of solutions to overcome it is by providing advice and guidance for the students. According to Cunningsworth
1995, it will help the students to know the best learning technique for them and support them in improving skills. He also states that by providing guidance,
“students are encouraged to take some degree of responsibility for their own learning” p. 108.
g. Teachers’ books aspect
