A Comparison between the Israeli and Palestinian Twelfth Grade Textbooks in Reading Comprehension

Abstract

This study aimed at evaluating the reading texts in student Book ,English for Palestine-Grade 12 and TOP MARKS " Israeli 12th Grade textbook in order to find out to what extent the reading texts in English for Palestine-Grade12 and TOP MARKS " Israeli 12th Grade match the suggested criteria. It also aimed at identifying the areas of similarities and differences in these reading texts. To fulfill the aims of the study, the researcher followed the descriptive analytical approach. He used a content analysis card to collect the needed data. Reliability was examined through the help of two colleague researchers who volunteered to analyze the reading texts. For the reading texts many tasks were designed to help students grasp the ideas and questions were graded and sequenced. English for Palestine and TOP MARKS aimed to make students learn intensively; however TOP MARKS paid more attention to extensive reading than did English for Palestine . Referring to culture both textbooks tackled issues related to culture. Higher order thinking skills were more clearly employed in TOP MARKS than English forPalestine. All texts in TOP MARKS were authentic. On the other hand, only one unit of English forPalestine was authentic. In English for Palestine Grade 12 there was no much employment of exercises that require students to infer the author's attitude, or activities that demand the students to distinguish between facts and opinions .similarly, there were no exercises that require students to find meanings of new vocabulary in contexts or relate the text to their personal experience and work out answers in pairs and groups, however in TOP MARKS these tasks and activities were much more employed. Concerning highlighted or coloured new vocabularies, they were apparently employed in the whole units of English for Palestine Grade 12; however, they were completely neglected in TOP MARKS Grade 12. Information gap activities were clearly introduced in the whole units of TOP MARKS Grade 12, but in English forPalestine few activities were used. Concerning presentation and layout, all items in the content of the two books were approximately similar. Both textbooks contained charts, graphics and maps. In TOP MARKS Grade 12, students were left for further information or titles to be searched .The objectives were found out to be more clearly presented in TOP MARKS. In English for Palestine the use of prerequisite was employed but in top marks it was totally neglected. The study recommends that interactive task and activities should be introduced for the reading in English for Palestine.