Choosing Materials that Do the Job. The ACTFL Foreign Language Education Series, Vol. 10.

The importance of text materials in foreign language classrooms is a crucial issue and choosing a textbook and supplementary materials becomes a major area of concern for every foreign language teacher. While factors both external and internal to the school narrow the possibility of choice, several points must be considered in the selection process. The procedure suggested here includes the following items: (1) some pre-evaluation and pre-choice considerations affecting the reality of materials selection, including external and internal factors that may govern choices to be made; (2) a case study detailing the procedures followed in a fairly large metropolitan school district's organizational approach to textbook evaluation and choice; and (3) the practical realities of the evaluation process for the teachers who are evaluators, choosers, and users. These include considerations for evaluating the content itself and considerations beyond content, as compiled from reports of the most commonly used evaluative instruments for foreign language materials selection in the United States. Also included are some further considerations and recommendations in choosing materials for the future that will help the teacher do the job. (Author/AMH)