Secondary English straitjacket textbooks : why practitioners cannot loosen the straps

Abstract EN

The Algerian educational system imposes on both secondary English teachers and learners institutional textbooks which, as widely noticed by practitioner teachers, cannot match all the different teaching/learning contexts.

Creative teachers continuously engage themselves in evaluating the teaching/learning material in their hands and adapting it when necessary to match their learners' level and interests.

The present work investigates teachers' practices in adapting the content of Algerian secondary English textbooks, and the constraints that prevent them from undergoing such task.

It also aims at providing suggestions to overcome the restraints.

217 closed ended questionnaires were administered to secondary English teachers from Mascara, Mostaganem, Oran, and Relizane.

The investigation reveals that most teachers rarely adapt the contents of secondary English textbooks due to many administrative and pedagogical constraints.