An Evaluation of Vocabulary Tasks in Moroccan EFL Textbooks

Abstract

A sufficient vocabulary knowledge is one of the key factors to success in language development. In any EFL context, textbooks are one of the first sources of exposure to English. Most certainly, this explains the vast amount of scholarly attention that has been invested in research on English textbooks’ evaluation. In this regard, a wide array of studies have recently provided evidence suggesting that textbooks contain a number of issues. Such studies have adopted different approaches to evaluate the contents of EFL textbooks. However, very few studies have attempted to evaluate vocabulary tasks in Moroccan EFL textbooks and chart the progression of these tasks across consecutive educational levels. To contribute to this debate, the present study aims to evaluate vocabulary tasks across two Moroccan EFL textbooks. The corpus is analyzed using Nunan’s (1999) taxonomy. The study adopted a mixed-methods approach and used content analysis as an analysis tool. Findings revealed that the two textbooks contain some pedagogical inconveniences. The two textbooks do not feature some task types. Also, several imperfections related to the sequencing, gradation, and recycling of vocabulary tasks were identified. Nonetheless, a remarkable development in the frequency of some vocabulary tasks types was observed across the two textbooks.