Grammar in disguise: the hidden agenda of communicative language teaching textbooks

Abstract

This study analyzes the treatment of grammar in current foreign language textbooks in order to find out whether textbooks that claim to adhere to the tenets of Communicative Language Teaching really do so. We looked at eight introductory foreign language textbooks, four in Spanish and four in German, commonly used in the United States at the university level, and we analyzed the activities included in them. We looked at whether the activity focused on input or output, and whether it represented communicative language practice, or it was simply a drill. Drills were further subdivided into mechanical, meaningful and communicative. Results indicate that the primary focus of language instruction is still on output and that drills still have a strong presence in the beginner-level classroom.