The Evaluation of Navigate Coursebook (Advanced→C1

The Evaluation of Navigate Coursebook

（Advanced→C1）

作者：邸岩

来源：《校园英语·中旬》2019年第02期

1. Brief Introduction to Navigate C1

The coursebook I evaluate here Navigate is the third level of the series coursebooks Navigate.

Designed for young adult or adult English learners， Navigate C1 consists of 12 major units

（topics）， each topic with five relevant sections. The first two sections are generally two articles

related to the topic， then the vocabulary and skills development. The fourth section is about four

basic language skills freely grouped in each unit， and Video comes to the last. Under each topic，

there are several specific items showing the key aims or activities of this unit. Every unit even every

section has independent tasks and goals. The selected topics and themes are very appealing and up-dated to modern learners and immerse them in questions or issues from all over the world. Each unit

has different focus on the following aspects， grammar， vocabulary， pronunciation， listening，

reading， speaking and writing. Built up from Oxford 3000 and linked with the CEFR， this course

book provides a vocabulary syllabus which helps learners with the most relevant， frequent and

important words they need to communicate in the world today.

2. Theories of English language teaching materials evaluation

2.1 The definition of course book evaluation

Activities like perhaps a quick glance through the pages of a course book， taking in the

topics， illustrations and the main language points and so on， are intuitive evaluation. Tomlinson

（2003b：17）put it with these words “ad hoc and impressionistic”. However， he also defines

material evaluation in a principled way， as his definition （2003b：15） states that course book

evaluation is a procedure that involves measuring the value （or potential value） of a set of learning

materials. It involves judgments about the effect of course book on the people using them. Hutchinson

and Waters（1987：96） refers to evaluation as a matter of judging the fitness of something for a

particular purpose. In similar vein， course book evaluation is a matter of judging whether the course

book can fit the teachers’ teaching goal and the learners’ learning need.

2.2 The approaches to course book evaluation

McGrath （2002） mentions in his book， that there are three basic approaches of course book

evaluation， namely， the impressionistic， the checklist and the in-depth approach.

2.2.1 The impressionistic approach