An Evaluation of Cultural Contents and Activities in the General English Textbook

Abstract

This is an evaluation of cultural contents and activities in the textbook, General English, published by the Curriculum Project, Thabyay Education Foundation, used in the migrant learning centers in the Thailand-Myanmar border. The evaluation was done to support Thabyay Education Foundation, a non-profit organization. General English has been adapted from Language in Use (1991) and developed for the post-secondary who are between the age of 16 to 25.This research was conducted to find out whether the materials were appropriate with regard to the social lives of the refugee students. The evaluation was done in four categories: topics, illustrations and activities. To evaluate these four categories, the researcher analyzed the textbook and interviewed the participants. The interviews were conducted with 15 participants from three different learning centers in three different refugee camps. The findings reveal that the subject content of the material is generally appropriate and potentially engaging to the young adult Myanmar migrant learners.