1. Introduction Nowadays, a lot of teachers use textbooks as a main source of teaching l anguage process.

A recipe, a holy book, a springboard, a compass, a straitjack et, a survival kit, a supermarket, and a crutch are metaphors for textbooks for those kinds of teachers (McGrath, 2002). But, some others teachers use textboo ks only for supporting media in their instruction. For those who adapt the tex tbooks as a main source, they should be careful in selecting textbooks. It can be misleading for students who learn English as foreign language. For that re ason, textbooks evaluation is necessary to do. Textbooks are useful for them b ecause they can identify what should be taught or learnt, indicates the method s hould be used, useful learning aid for students, provides materials attractively and economically. Textbooks are designed to take the differences of learners l earning style. Some learners like a written text in front of them. They feel that written word is a kind supports for them. Textbooks also support learner s in learning by themselves. In the other side, nowadays, English becomes an important subject in Ele mentary school level. English is a subject which is implemented as local curri culum in elementary school. The government concerns that English is necessary for global communication even since young ages. Thus, English competence stand ards for primary school have formatted. English textbook is expected to be one of guidance for children to get a great knowledge about English to get attainme nt which everybodys hope. A numerous of studies have identified some weaknesses and find the crite ria of English as Foreign Language textbooks. For example, previous research c onducted by Sundayana and Gustine (2008) stated that several English textbooks f or young learners were still inappropriate to the learners characteristic. They found that most of English elementary school textbooks did not include physic a ctivities in using English. The textbooks also presented the speaking material s in lower size. Then, Yusuf (2008) stated some weaknesses which were found in senior high school textbook. He found that there were inappropriate materials for senior high students and it could not give much help to teachers in designi ng their own instruction which have impact to students comprehend to do activitie s or to get new information in learning process. The fact above shows that the textbook evaluation is necessary and important to help all textbook consumers find a proper textbook. Evaluation process is the first step forward in deciding how textbook should be profitable used in classro om. Therefore, this research aims to analysis suitability of elementary school English textbooks to young learners characteristic.

2. Purposes of Research In accordance with the background, this research has aims to find out informatio n covering these areas:

1. To find out the fulfillment of the textbook Lets Make Friends with English for sixth grader to the criteria of an ideal textbook for young learner. 2. To find out the strengths and the weaknesses of the textbook Lets Make Fri ends with English for sixth grader.

3. Research Questions The inquiry is guided by the following general questions. 1. How does the textbook Lets Make Friends with English for sixth grader fulfi ll the criteria of an ideal textbook for young learner? 2. What are the strengths and the weaknesses of the textbook Lets Make Friend s with English for sixth grader?

4. Clarification of Terms The clarification of the terms is used to avoid misinterpretation and misunderst anding of the research. There are several definitions of terms: Textbook is a course books which aim to cover all respect of language, topics, a nd skills (Grant, 1987). Ideal is the best possible, or perfect (Cambridge Dictionary) Young Learners are those whose age range from seven to eleven (Pinter, 2006).

5. Review of Related Literature Textbooks are books for used in an educational curriculum (Brown, 2001). Textb ook is very important for both teachers and students. It contains educational texts which are proposed for teaching learning process in classroom and being th e description of standard curriculum used in a country at the same time (Ansari & Babaii, 2002). As Hutchinson and Torred (1994) stated that textbook has vita l and positive role in English Language Teaching. It is primary materials in t eaching language process and act as teaching aids (Cho, 2007, cited in Wu, 2010) . The explanations before are concluded that textbooks are useful to teacher b ecause textbooks give instructions systematically in class. Textbooks are the picture of the curriculum which presented indirectly in its materials that are s tudents learn in classes. Textbooks offer considerable advantage to both students and teachers (). There are several advantages are defined by Cunningworth (1995 cited in Ansari & Babai i, 2002). He argues that textbooks contain direction which can be learned by th e reader, it reflects learning objectives, textbooks as a reference source for s tudent, a source of ideas and activities, support sources for less experienced o r inexperienced teacher to be gain in confident. McGrath (2002) has his own opi nion about advantages and disadvantages of textbooks. He believes that textboo ks have advantages as following: Textbooks can be motivating for learners Textbooks can be superior Textbooks provide structure and syllabus for program Textbooks can standardize instructions Textbooks maintains quality Textbooks provide variety of learning process Textbooks is efficient Textbooks provide effective language model and input Textbooks is visually appealing He state also disadvantages of textbooks: Textbooks contain inauthentic language Textbooks can deskill teachers Some textbooks are expensive There are no absolute standard for good or bad textbooks. Hutchinson and Water s (1987) summarized some criteria that textbooks supposed to do: Good textbooks contain interesting texts and enjoyable activities which interest learners to learn. These also give opportunities for learners to practice wha t they learnt. Good textbooks provide a clear and systematic unit structure which guide teacher and learner through various activities but these are still flexible to allow fo r creativity. Good textbooks should reflect the nature of language and learning process. Good textbooks provide model of correct, appropriate language use. Good textbooks do not teach. These should encourage learner to learn Kitao and Kitao (1997) also stated some description of good textbooks. They sa y that good textbooks should have clear instructional procedure and method so th ese help teacher conduct their lesson and should support for learning such as th ose contains vocabulary list, visual aid, and exercise or task. Furthermore, H armer (2001) in his book mentions some criterion in assessing textbooks. He ar gue that textbooks have reasonable price and easy to get in market. There are syllabus type, language skill activities, topic, cultural acceptability, and tea chers guide. Harmer believed that a coherent syllabus control language learnin g. Teaching aids such as CD-room, video, picture card, etc can develop student

s motivation in learning and it designs an interesting teaching language process. Moreover, he adds that teacher guides not only provide procedures of lesson i n students book but also give suggestion, alternatives activities, and extra reso urce such as link or web related the topics. For young learners, textbooks sho uld be of colorful illustrations, it will motivate pupils to study (Ur, 1996 cit ed in Ansari and Babaii, 2002). For attracting students, textbooks contain rel evant pictures to the topics, in basic and bright colors. The size, weight, co lor, shape, general layout, and style of textbooks also should be consideration. Young learners are those whose age range from seven to eleven (Pinter, 2006). Young learners are different from adult learners. Pinter (2006) summarized bas ic features of differences between young learners to older learners. She argues that generally, children have a holistic approach to language, which means that they understand meaningful messages but cannot analyze language yet. Children have lower levels of awareness about themselves as language learners as well as about process of learning. They have limited reading and writing skills even in their first language. From Pinters description above, the textbooks for young learners should not contain long texts or dialogues and consist of playing acti vities. She added that children enjoy fantasy, imagination, and movement. So , activities for young learners in textbooks should be interesting and attractive for them. In details, Harmer (2001) describes different characteristic of young learners f rom older learners as following: Children respond to meaning even if they do not understand individual word. They learn indirectly rather than directly. Their understanding comes not just from explanation but from what they see and h ear, and crucially, have a change to touch and interact with. Generally, they display an enthusiasm for learning and a curiously about the wor ld around them. They have a need for individual attention and approval from the teacher. They are keen on talking about themselves and respond well to learn that uses th emselves and their own lives as main topics in the classroom. They have a limited attention to span, unless activities are extremely engaging they can easily get bored, losing interest after ten minutes or so. According to the characteristics for young learners above, it can be concluded t hat good textbooks for young learners should be interesting, attractive a contex tual for them. Textbooks should be designed based on the learners background an d environment which are made the contextual and meaningful activities for young learners. Reading activities will suitable using short texts or dialogues than serious long texts or dialogues. Textbooks also should be emphasizing in list ening and speaking skills than reading and writing (Grant, 1987 cited at Ansari & Babaii, 2002).

6. Research Methodology 6.1. Design This research will use qualitative method. Qualitative research is approach of social phenomena. This research use qualitative approach that applied a descr iptive study as its framework to give a deep explanation about the research itse lf. 6.2 Data Collection Elementary School English textbook sixth grade which title Lets Make Friends with English written by Bambang Sugeng and published by ESIS is chosen to be the subje ct of this research. There are some instruments to collect the data: 6.2.1. The Checklist Checklist is the one of the instrument to evaluate textbook or material in this research. Using of the checklist in this research is considered more effective and helpful in evaluating the textbook to be analyzed. The checklist which wi ll be used in this research is developed based on some best-known researchers; t

he TALFSS framework by Moon (2001) and Textbook Evaluation Checklist by Scott an d Yterberg (1990). 6.2.2. Document Analysis This research uses document analysis to analyze the data from textbook and mater ials. Document analysis is useful for analyzing or evaluating the textbook. 6.3. Data Analysis The research uses documentary analysis to analyze content of the English textboo k. Several theories on good textbooks criteria for young learners are importan t. In addition, the textbook evaluation checklist that will be used is combine d from the TALFSS framework by Moon (2001) and Textbook Evaluation Checklist by Scott and Yterberg (1990). The checklist is indicate by checking yes for agreeme nt to the item, and no for responding disagreement to the aspects. The aspects i tself focus on layout, activities, situation, and sequence. There are a number of procedures to analysis of the data; first, categorizing th e data into several components which suit to young learners (layout, activities, situation, and sequence). Second, analyzing the materials of the textbook bas ed on the criteria of an ideal textbook using the textbook evaluation checklist to find out their fulfillments on it. Third, find the strengths and the weakne sses aspect of the textbook to the criteria of an ideal textbook. Finally, repo rting the result of the research in descriptive way.

7. References Ansari, H & Babaii. Universal Characteristics of EFL/ESL textbooks: a step towar ds systematic textbooks evaluation. TESL journal. Vol. VIII, No. 2 (2002). June 3rd, 2011. Available at: http://iteslj.org/Articles/Ansary-Textbooks/ Brown, H.D. (2001). Teaching by Principles An Interactive Approach to language P edagogy. New York: Longman Cameron, L. (2001). Teaching Language to Young Learners. United Kingdom: Cambrid ge University Press Emilia, Emi. (2009). Menulis Tesis dan Disertasi. Bandung: Alfabeta Harmer, J. (2001). The Practice of English Language Teaching. England: Longman Hutchinson, T & Waters, A. (1987). English for Spesific Purposes: A Learning-Cen tred Approach. United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press Kitao, K & Kitao, S. K. Selecting and Developing Teaching/Learning Materials. TE SL Journal. Vol. IV, No. 4. (1997). June 5th, 2011. Available at: http://aitech. ac.jp/-iteslj/Articles/Kiato-Materials.html McGrath, I. (2002). Materials Evaluation and Design for Language Teaching. Edinb urgh: Edinburgh University Press Moon, J. (2005). Children Learning English. United Kingdom: Macmillan Pinter, A. (2006). Teaching Young Language Learners. Oxford: Oxford University P ress

Sugeng, Bambang (2006). Lets Make Friends with English. Jakarta: ESIS Sundayana, W & Gustine, G. Kesesuaian Buku Ajar Bahasa Inggris di Sekolah dasar dengan Karakteristik Pembelajaran Usia Dini. Journal Bahasa dan Sastra Vol.8. (2 008). Fakultas Pendidikan Bahasa dan Seni, Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia: Ban dung Wu, J. A Content Analysis of the Cultural Content in the EFL Textbooks. Ebscohos t journal. Canadian Social Science. Vol. 6, No. 5. (2010). June 10th, 2011. Avai lable at: http://ebscohost.com Yusuf, F.N. Strategies of Using Tetxbooks: A Case of School-Level Curriculum Imp lementation. Educationalist Journal kajian filosofi, teori, kualitas dan managem en pendidikan. Vol. Vii, No. 1. (2008). Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia.