Content Analysis of the EFL Textbook Units According to Bloom’s Taxonomy: Between Theory and Practice

This study analyzed the units of the textbook “Just Imagine” for 9th grade Arab students for English teaching in Israel. The study was conducted to understand whether the Wh-Questions used in the textbook emphasized high-level thinking and cognitive skills development (HOTS). The research question of this study was: To what extent do the Wh-Questions in the textbook “Just Imagine” emphasize higher order thinking skills? Content Analysis was performed. Wh-Questions were chosen as the unit of analysis for this research. Percentages and frequencies of each cognition level were calculated for each book unit separately. The results showed that 167 out of the 219 questions emphasized cognition levels that develop Low-Order Thinking Skills, while only 52 questions emphasized the three levels that use High-Order Thinking Skills. Findings of this research recommended that the textbook authors should further develop the textbook’s content, and maintain a balance between the lower-order and higher-order questions. Evaluating and choosing a good textbook that fits the goals of the curriculum is also recommended.