A CASE STUDY ON READING BOOK TOPIC PREFERENCES OF STUDENTS: WHEN IT IS GRIPPING, IS IT WORTH LEARNING?

By considering the fact that the topics in ELT coursebooks studied by L2 learners must have some effects on their motivation in the light of some substantial researches, this study aims to find out whether low intermediate level prep-class students of Anadolu University find the book topics catchy, and whether these topics help them use their own world knowledge and feel themselves closer to the target language or isolated from their own culture. Last but not the least, this study questions what kind of topics our students would like to deal with in their reading classes. The participants of this study are 50 Turkish lower intermediate level ESL students at prep school of Anadolu University. Students are asked to answer for a questionnaire related to their likes, dislikes and preferences of reading skill book topics . The data is analyzed and evaluated statistically and the consequences are presented to be taken into consideration so as to develop materials for the benefit of students.