Emancipating SLA Findings to Inform EFL Textbooks: A Look at Indonesian School English Textbooks

Much empirical research on textbook analysis has been undertaken. However, little evidence with regard to the adoption of SLA findings in the textbook analysis was reported, particularly for the Indonesian EFL textbooks. To fill this void, this study aimed at analyzing a textbook endorsed by the Indonesian Ministry of Education and Culture, “Bahasa Inggris, When English Rings a Bell” revised edition 2017 for grade VII, to reveal as to how the activities in the textbook provide learners with the opportunities that facilitate second language acquisition. We employed content analysis (Mayring, 2000) in this study. Informed by Ellis’ (2016) SLA framework and ten generalizations, the study’s findings portray that all activities receive support from SLA theory. Most activities are output-prompting, and language learning is mostly intentional. In addition, the textbook exposes learners with language input (e.g., target language skills and linguistic forms) exclusively, although they are not required to process the input further (e.g., enacting more social interaction activities). The implication of this study suggests that although second language learning input is penetrated into a textbook, the role of interactional activities in the classroom that bridges the input into practice is worth-considering. Thereby, English teachers are encouraged to innovatively and creatively design learning activities in the class.