Level One English Language Teachers’ Evaluation of the Quality and Suitability of the Super Minds CEFR Textbook for Local Use by Malaysian Pupils

Abstract

In 2017, the Ministry of Education decided to use Super Minds (Student’s Book 1), an imported textbook published by Cambridge English in the UK, as the English Language textbook for Year 1 and Year 2 pupils in all public schools in Malaysia. The adoption of the book garnered much attention and debate as Malaysians presented opposing views regarding the necessity and usefulness of using an imported textbook rather than a local one. The ongoing debate prompted the researcher to conduct the present study a year after the book came into use, with the aim of evaluating the content, physical and overall quality of the Super Minds textbook. The respondents were 180 Level One primary school teachers who had been actively using the textbook in their English classes for at least a year prior to the study. The instrument was a self-developed rating scale with 25 items measuring the three quality constructs. It was converted into a Google Form and administered as an online survey via several social media platforms. The data were analyzed using exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and descriptive statistics. The EFA results supported the existence of content, physical and overall quality as three mutually exclusive constructs. Overall, the Level One English teachers rated the content quality and physical quality of Super Minds as average and good, while endorsing its overall quality to be moderate. A major contribution of the study is the production of a rating scale with relevant language learning criteria—such as practice activities, content relevance to the target audience, graphics, use of vocabulary and cultural appropriateness—for evaluating the quality of English language textbooks. For future research, the study recommends that Super Minds be assessed for usefulness and relevance to rural students and students from various ethnic groups.