FRAMEWORKS AND METHODS FOR ANALYZING ESL/ EFL TEXTBOOK CONSUMPTION: A METHODOLOGICAL REVIEW

Abstract

Textbooks continue to play a central role in ESL and EFL classrooms, yet the concept of textbook consumption remains methodologically underdeveloped and inconsistently examined in existing research. This article presents a methodological review of the major frameworks and research methods used to analyze ESL and EFL textbook consumption, with particular attention to how these approaches conceptualize teachers’ engagement with textbooks in classroom practice. Drawing on studies from applied linguistics, materials development, and teacher cognition, the review systematically discusses widely used frameworks, including textbook evaluation models, curriculum enactment perspectives, sociocultural and ecological approaches, and teacher mediated use frameworks. Each framework is critically examined in terms of its analytical focus, data requirements, and capacity to capture the dynamic, selective, and context dependent nature of textbook consumption in ESL and EFL settings. The analysis identifies key limitations in existing approaches, notably the tendency to privilege textbook content over classroom enactment and the limited integration of teacher decision making with textual analysis. In response, the article proposes a more integrative analytical framework that combines textbook features, teacher cognition, and classroom practices to provide a comprehensive account of textbook consumption. By synthesizing existing methodologies and advancing a refined analytical framework, this article offers practical guidance for researchers seeking to design more context sensitive and theoretically grounded studies of ESL and EFL textbook consumption.