Cunningsworth Coursebook Evaluation
A widely cited checklist framework for assessing ELT coursebooks, set out by Alan Cunningsworth in Choosing Your Coursebook (Heinemann, 1995). The framework gives teachers and course designers a structured way to compare candidate books against learner needs and programme aims rather than relying on impression alone.
The eight categories
Cunningsworth organises evaluation around eight headings: aims and approaches, design and organisation, language content, skills, topic, methodology, teacher's book, and practical considerations. Each heading expands into a list of yes/no or rating prompts that surface what the coursebook actually offers — for instance whether the syllabus matches stated aims, whether grammar is presented inductively or deductively, whether the four skills are integrated, and whether the topics suit learner age and culture.
Pre-use, in-use, post-use
Cunningsworth distinguishes three moments at which the checklist can be applied. Pre-use evaluation supports adoption decisions before a book enters the classroom. In-use evaluation tests whether the book is delivering on what it promised once teaching begins. Post-use evaluation reflects on outcomes — student performance, teacher and learner satisfaction, coverage gaps — and feeds the next adoption cycle.
Impressionistic versus in-depth
The framework accommodates a quick impressionistic scan when a teacher only needs a first read of a book, and a slower in-depth analysis when stakes are higher (institutional adoption, large print runs, multi-year commitments). McGrath later formalised this distinction.
Place in the field
Cunningsworth's checklist remains a baseline reference in Materials Evaluation courses and in published evaluation studies, often adapted with categories added for digital components, cultural representation, or Authenticity. Critics note its descriptive bias — checklists report what is present, not whether it works — which is why most institutions now pair it with Materials Piloting and learner feedback.
References
- Cunningsworth, A. (1995). Choosing Your Coursebook. Heinemann.
- McGrath, I. (2002). Materials Evaluation and Design for Language Teaching. Edinburgh University Press.
- Tomlinson, B. (Ed.). (2011). Materials Development in Language Teaching (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press.