Reincarnating textbooks for the 21st century

Abstract

This report argues against the death of language textbook programs. It highlights the need for them to serve as the agents of change needed for language programs to remain viable in higher education today. Although commercially published language teaching materials are often cast as obstacles to progressive change, we argue that available materials can serve as transformative models for language teaching. Drawing on our own experiences as educators, researchers, and textbook authors, we discuss why we need these materials and how the textbook program itself can and should serve as an agent of change.