Teaching Albanian Language at School: Textbook Evaluation

Gentjana Taraj, Rami Memushaj 

(1. Department of Foreign Languages, Aleksander Moisiu University, Albania; 2. Department of Linguistics, Tirana University, Albania)

Abstract: Despite the studies on first language acquisition, we know little about how languages are learnt. During the five years children learn the language, not by imitating adults, but by building their own grammar. Studies have shown that oral language competence plays an important role in respect to early academic success. However, not all learners enter school with the same receptive skills. Children who are not able to manage adequately the first years of formal teaching at school, struggle a lot with their academic progress (Hay I., & Fielding-Barnsley R., 2009). The present paper aims to provide a critical analysis of textbook’s role in the process of improving and developing the receptive and expressive skills of learners as part of their academic progress. Different problems regarding the structuring of knowledge in textbooks are discussed. In addition, we make suggestions on how the disadvantages in the textbooks can be improved. This paper concludes that grammar textbooks and the teaching methodology in Albanian classrooms are focused towards the realization of linguistic knowledge independent of the ability to use them in real life contexts.

Key words: competence, textbooks, classroom activities, teaching and learning process.