The selection of an appropriate textbook has always been a great concern of teachers and students. Frameworks for the evaluation of textbook in previous researches are too complex to help a quick decision. This paper firstly gives an account of Chinese students' needs in learning EAP [English for academic purposes]. It then proposes a framework…

Undoubtedly, foreign language teaching intends to make students obtain the required competence so as to get the linguistic knowledge needed in a foreign language. With this respect, a textbook should supply to the users as much as possible, be satisfactory to fit into the syllabus, and meet all the needs and expectations of the students during the…

Materials development in English for Science and Technology (EST), particularly for English-as-a-Foreign-Language university students, is discussed with reference to the current EST situation in Taiwan. Issues include content vs. skills approach, textbook selection or innovation, process- vs. product-oriented materials, and authentic vs.…

This collection of columns on teaching English as a Second Language in Japan appeared on the English education page of a Japanese English-language newspaper over a period of almost 4 years. Article topics include these: principles of second language learning; differences between language skills; standards of usage; avoiding stereotypes; school…