| dc.description.abstract | A number of studies have evaluated high school English textbooks in recent years. However, three gaps have not been addressed. The first gap is research has evaluated English textbooks by implementing a Likert-scale checklist approach (Aljouei & Alsuhaibani, 2018). Researchers successfully inform educators about weaknesses and strengths of textbooks, but this approach has limitations. It disregards interactions between activities in textbooks, creating a simplified understanding of how activities contribute to language development. Checklists also neglect to show how textbooks can boost language skills, specifically writing, because they contain either general statements (Alharbi, 2015) or no specific statements (Almalki, 2014) about writing. The second issue is research indicates that high school students lack writing skills (Ahmad, 2015); this concern may relate to ineffective materials in language classrooms. The third issue is studies have not identified how textbooks in Saudi Arabia are planned using L2 writing teaching approaches: content, linguistic, process, genre, and audience (Hyland, 2014). To address these gaps, this study investigated the incorporation of writing activities in high school English textbooks in Saudi Arabia from an ecological perspective using a multiphase design (Creswell & Clark, 2011). Van Lier (2004) suggested examining language learning from an ecological perspective to understand the interrelationships between elements in a context and how they may contribute to language learning. The findings have important contributions. Firstly, it records the present fifth stage of the historical development of English textbooks in Saudi Arabia. Secondly, building on recent research commenced by Guerrettaz and Johnston (2013) and Vanha (2017), this study demonstrated an ecological perspective is at the heart of our understanding of how L2 textbooks strengthen writing skills through three relationships: skill-thematic content connections, linguistic-content connections, and skill-linguistic connections. Thirdly, it provides the first comprehensive assessment of English textbooks from an ecological perspective in Saudi Arabia and among earlier studies globally, laying the groundwork for future research by establishing a textbook ecology approach. This dissertation provides deeper insight into how textbooks are mainly designed using the genre approach, supported by content and linguistic approaches. Theoretical, methodological, and practical implications for teachers, textbook developers/researchers, and other professionals are suggested. | |
