The Pedagogical Value of UAE English Skills Textbooks as Perceived by Supervisors and Teachers in Al-Ain Educational Zone in the United Arab Emirates

Abstract

This study examines the potential pedagogical value of UAE English Skills for seventh, eighth and tenth grade students in Al-Ain Educational Zone in the United Arab Emirates from the perspectives of (11) supervisors and 304 teachers who taught the series during the academic year (2007/2008). The authors adapted Al-Barakat, Bataineh, Al-Karasneh, and Bataineh’s (2006) evaluation checklist along the dimensions of content, layout, assessment, the Teacher Book, and teaching/learning resources. The findings suggest general agreement among supervisors and teachers on the pedagogical value of UAE English Skills to its target audience with no statistically significant differences (α=0.05) along the five dimensions of the Checklist. The findings further reveal that only the teachers poorly perceive the pedagogical value of the accompanying software, CD-ROM, DVD and laserdiscs. The authors conclude with relevant recommendations to those who are interested in UAE English Skills textbooks.