Analysis of the Speech Acts in the Conversation Models of Selected EFL Textbooks for Iranian Learners

Language learning in EFL settings, which aims to promote mastery in target language skills and impart natural communicative competence close to those of native speakers using the books, has always called for authentic EFL textbooks written by native English authors. In view of this, it is important that EFL books be examined to see if these textbooks meet the needs of the target learners not only on the surface but also on their deep structures. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the distribution of five speech acts Searle (1976) in the EFL textbooks used by Iranian Learners in Iran. These speech acts are Directive, Assertive, Expressive, Commissive, and Declarative. Thirty randomly selected conversation models totaling to 305 sentences were extracted from three Top-Notch series EFL textbooks. Analysis proceeded by identifying the speech acts incorporated into the conversations using Searle's (1979) Categorization Model. After classifying all the sentences into categories, based on the concept of Searle (1976) that all languages have five macro speech acts in common, the same sentences were then evaluated for their cultural appropriateness (Vaezi, Tabatabaei, & Bakhtiarvand, 2014). Results showed the unequal distribution and to a great extent paucity of some speech acts throughout the conversation models which confirm the inappropriateness of these series. While Iranian learners take to Commissive speech acts, the Conversation Models in the EFL textbooks that were analysed used more assertive and directive speech acts. To overcome the shortcomings of these textbooks, EFL material designers and teachers need to introduce complementary resources in EFL settings to fit the pragmatic conventions of the EFL culture.