ISSN: 2277-5536 (Print); 2277-5641 (Online) DAV International Journal of Science Volume-4, Issue-2 June 2015 Page | 120 NEED-BASED AND OBJECTIVE-ORIENTED EFL TEXTBOOK CONTENT DEVELOPMENT (THE CASE OF IRANIAN JUNIOR & SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL LEVELS) Mohsen Masoomi 1 *, Vida Rahiminezhad 2 , Gholam-Reza Abbasian 3 1 Department of English Language, Sanandaj Branch, Islamic Azad University, Sanandaj, Iran 2 Assistant professor in Research Institute for Education in Iran and a Board Member of Iranian Association for Sociology of Education, Tehran, Iran 3 Imam Ali University and Islamic Azad University, South Tehran Branch, Tehran, Iran Corresponding author: Mohsen Masoomi, PhD; Department of English Language, Islamic Azad University, Sanandaj Branch, Sanandaj, 6616935391, Kurdistan, Iran ABSTRACT The content of the English textbook as one of the main elements of the educational curriculum is the subject of this research. It aims at developing and identifying criteria to design and plan the content of Middle and high school English textbooks coordinated with the needs of students and the objectives of the higher level documents. This research is conducted based on mixed approach in which students' need is surveyed and data gathered. Also, exploring the goals and objectives of the higher level documents, the criteria are obtained and determined by which the content was developed. In addition, the Delphi method is applied to measure the validity of the developed content. The study population at this research consisted of accessible experts and practitioners in English curriculum planning and English teaching professionals, as well as students in five provinces of Iran, including Tehran, Semnan, Kurdistan, Khuzestan and East Azarbaijan. The sample population consists of all students in the seventh grade (first grade of high school), the third grade middle school and the first grade high school counting 394 boys and 396 girls who completed the questionnaire. One of the findings of this research, ranked in a table from most desirable to the least favorite, is focused on the students' needs and interest expected to be studied in the textbook. The materials in relation to arts, entertainment and sports are considered as the most indicated needs, taking the first place while the subjects on economic issues has found its place at the end of the rating column. KEYWORDS: curriculum, content, the higher level documents, need and interest of students. INTRODUCTION In the realm of language acquisition and development and ELT, a considerable number of language scholars have maintained the substantial role of textbooks, alongside with that of teachers and learners. In fact, such emphasis is at the core of the same assertions of the prodigious function of the content in the design of curriculum or syllabus which is itself an important tool in any EFL teaching/learning program. Richards (1990) pinpoints that many language programs specify their objectives in relation to content while further, asserting that all language courses must include some form of content (Richards, 2001). Such predominant function of content in relation to curriculum design has been viewed from the perspective of a traditional domain where the situational model of curriculum is built upon four major elements of content, objectives, methods and evaluation (White, 1988). The prime aim of the current study is to investigate the amount of appropriateness of the content of ELT textbooks in the curriculum design of primary high schools in Iran and to propose the most suitable standards in case of deficiencies.