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This article distinguishes two types of materials evaluation: a predictive evaluation designed to make a decision regarding what materials to use, and a retrospective evaluation designed to examine materials to use, and a retrospective evaluation designed to examine materials that have actually been used. Retrospective evaluations can be impressionistic or empirical. It is suggested that one way in which teachers can conduct empirical evaluations is by investigating specific teaching tasks. A procedure for conducting a task evaluation is described. Finally, it is suggested that task evaluations constitute a kind of action research that can contribute to reflective practice in teaching.
Rod Ellis (Wed,) studied this question.