Wang, Wei Pei2026-03-192026-03-192007-021175-3099https://hdl.handle.net/10289/18096This article focuses on one of the problems faced by one Pacific rim country, Taiwan, in coming to terms with the increasing globalization of English, that is, the production of textbooks that are appropriate for young learners. Increasing pressure to ensure that its citizens achieve a high level of proficiency in English has led Taiwan, in common with many other countries, to reduce the age at which children are introduced to English in schools. This has lead to the proliferation of English textbooks for young learners. The Taiwan national English curriculum guidelines recommend that teaching materials should cultivate communicative ability and should include varied activities, a range of different types of text, and interesting, practical and lively topics and themes. Three textbook series produced in Taiwan are analyzed and discussed here in terms of a range of effectiveness criteria. It is concluded that the textbook writers have not yet come to terms with the recommendations in the English curriculum guidelines. In that these recommendations are similar to recommendations included in national curriculum guidelines for the teaching of languages in many other parts of the world, it is suggested that language teaching materials produced elsewhere might usefully be analyzed in a similar way.enAttribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 Internationalhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/TaiwanTextbooksEnglish as a foreign languageSecond language acquisition -- Social aspectsNational curriculumTeaching aidsEducation policyJournal Article10.15663/K10.141333021-5668