English Language Textbooks in Iran

The textbook factor is extremely important in countries like Iran where English is considered as a foreign language. After the Iranian Revolution (1979) an organisation in a Ministry of Education was established in order to design textbooks. Unfortunately, it is believed that with respect to its duty, this organisation has been failed. This paper reports on research which is a pioneer within the Iranian Educational System. It tries to show students' needs and teachers' perspectives in learning and teaching English, which was explored by means of questionnaires distributed among some of the Iranian English language teachers. This aspect was considered because of the importance of learners' and teachers' needs and perspectives and its important and vital role in Communicative Language Teaching. Having considered the students' lack of success in communicating in English with colleagues in different parts of Iran and according to the questionnaire survey it is concluded that almost all the problems teachers and learners encounter could be traced to the textbooks. Furthermore, based on current literature and the results of the questionnaires, this paper tries to present possible modifications and strategies that could be applied, bearing in mind the lack of facilities and the Iranian context, to make these course books communicative.