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In:Broadening the Horizon of TBLT: Plenary addresses from the second decade of the International Conference on Task-Based Language Teaching
Edited by Martin East
[Task-Based Language Teaching 17] 2025
► pp. 60–79

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Chapter 4
The coursebook in TBLT

Lost cause or launching pad?

 | Victoria University of Wellington
Published online: 24 April 2025
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/tblt.17.04new
Abstract
Coursebooks are the mainstay of language classrooms around the world but are often dismissed in the TBLT community for perpetuating synthetic syllabi and for an undue focus on the language code. In this chapter, I review the case against and for coursebooks and argue for a more contextualised understanding of the limitations and affordances of coursebooks from a TBLT perspective, drawing on case studies of coursebook use in Thailand, China, and Vietnam. National language curricula in these contexts stipulate tasks and therefore provide an opportunity to investigate how tasks are being realised in mandated coursebooks and in classroom teaching based on these coursebooks. I conclude by offering a response to the question posed in the title of this chapter.
Article outline
  • Introduction
  • Materials evaluation
  • The case against coursebooks
  • The case for coursebooks
  • Coursebooks, teacher agency, and mentoring
  • Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
References (46)
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