Evaluation of an ESP Textbook for the Students of Accounting: Learners’ Views in Focus

The significant function of textbooks in teaching English for Specific Purpose (ESP) cannot be ignored as they are considered as an essential part of teaching, and evaluating them is important in the future success of programs (McGrath, ۲۰۰۶). This study was an endeavor to evaluate ESP accounting textbook of Payamnoor University. To achieve this end, the researcher adopted survey research as a quantitative method with a sample of ۴۰ students majoring accounting. That is to say, Miekley's (۲۰۰۵) checklist was used to evaluate the book considering five related criteria. In other words, the selected sample were provided with the mentioned checklist and they were asked to answer the items carefully within a specified time. The data were collected and moved to SPSS software and the output were discussed and represented. Descriptive statistics including frequency, percentage, and mean were calculated for each item. Findings of this paper indicated that despite having pedagogical values, the textbook suffers from attractiveness and physical make-up. However, the context and content represented in a good manner. That is to say, the content can meet students’ needs for learning and the book is suitable for its addressee. Moreover, vocabulary and grammar parts as well as exercises and activities of the English textbook were acceptable in the students' points of view. Finally it is worthy to note that the analyzed textbook can be appropriate for accounting students but it should be revised in some cases to meet the course objectives.