Evaluation of Contemporary ELTTextbooks in Light of the Recent Developments in Language Pedagogy

Materials play an indispensable role in the teaching and learning of languages. However, the research to date has noted that recently materials have not received sufficient attention in applied linguistics. Moreover, very few related studies have explored contemporary ELT materials in light of the recent developments in language pedagogy.Thisstudy therefore, surveyed 10 contemporary ELT textbooks for the primary level, published by Oxford, Pearson and Cambridge, respectively. The ELT textbooks were reviewed in terms of the representation of the English language use and users as well as the 21st century skills and cross-curricular learning. Evaluation of the contemporary English instructional materials revealed that the mostly feature the fictional young language learner, of the Caucasian origin, in the familiar contexts of English use. This representation does not reflect the current socio-linguistic status of the language. Further, the textbooks under review appear, although to a different extent, to develop and promote a range of the 21st century skills as well as contribute to young English language learners’ cross-curricular learning. In this regard, the study offers some implications and makes suggestions for future research. Keywords: contemporary ELT textbooks, English language use, users of English, the 21st century skills, cross-curricular learning