Investigating humanistic elements in global textbooks: The case of New Headway Intermediate (4th Edition) Student’s Book

Santos (2008) and Tomlinson and Masuhara (2010) point out that an extensive literature on materials development has focused on the debate surrounding the value of using global textbooks (i.e. textbooks which come from British or American roots) in both English as second or foreign language contexts (e.g. Allwright, 1981; Harwood, 2005; O’Neill, 1982; Richards, 2001; Shawer, 2010). The table 1 summarises the principal pro- and anti-textbook arguments. Although the theoretical discussion about the advantages and disadvantages of utilising global textbooks for language learning might illuminate some issues, there is a dearth of research on evaluating these textbooks in depth (Chapelle, 2008; Tomlinson, 2011). Therefore, more empirical investigations are needed to capture the actual use of global textbooks by both teachers and their learners inside the classroom, with suggesting some practical recommendations. This paper reports on an inquiry that stressed the need for the humanisation of language-learning materials through evaluating the extent to which New Headway Intermediate (4th Edition) Student's Book (NHI4SB) enhances a humanistic approach.