EVALUATING THE APPROPRIATENESS OF ESL TEXTBOOK OF NON-NATIVE SPEAKER COUNTRY IN TEACHING ENGLISH AND PRAGMATICS FOR COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCE

Abstract

In Pakistan, English textbooks prescribed by the government continue to evidence a lack of conceptual clarity and logic, and tend to be teacher-centered and examination-led (A. H. Nayyar & Salim, n.d.).Textbook evaluation for its suitability as ESL instructional is inevitable in this context to find out its overall affectivity in general and coverage of all integral aspects of communicative competence particularly for Non-native Speakers. Literature on English Language Teaching suggests that pragmatics is an important aspect of language for developing communicative competence (Chomsky, 1980; Palmer 2000; Canale & Swain, 1980; Bachman, 1990; Rose, 1999). Although almost forty years have passed since the notion of “pragmatic competence” was first introduced in the field of second language acquisition (Chen, 2011). Qualitative method approach is adopted to study the current state of pragmatics in English language textbook of Intermediate (Punjab Textbook Board), and to examine whether it is adapt existing materials to improve the pragmatic competence of learners. Sheldon’s (1988) suggested framework has been used as the theoretical framework for evaluating the textbook of intermediate level. Sheldon discussed seventeen factors, which play pivotal role in the textbook evaluation. The study aims to find out the gaps in ESL Teaching material. Identification of these gaps definitely leads towards the improvement of English Language teaching in Non- Native speakers’ countries along with a number of recommendations for incorporation of pragmatics in existing materials to enhance the communicative competence.