To achieve this objective, we assessed geography textbooks using conceptual maps, which can be used to conceptualise this topic.

The aim of this study is to identify the key terms used by textbook authors when presenting desert biomes and, subsequently, to visualise the relationships between them using a conceptual map. Textbook analysis is particularly important to support educational reform and hence this chapter sets out to establish the significance of conducting textbook research and highlighting best practice in the area. The author is hence using her own research on mathematics textbooks to develop and highlight aspects of textbook analysis. The author in her research on mathematics textbooks has established a framework for textbook analysis based on the work of Halliday (1973), Morgan (2004), the TIMSS study (Valverde et al., (2002)) and Rivers (1990) which comprises four key elements Content, Structure, Expectation and Language. Textbook analysis is a means by which these features can be identified and hence the effectiveness of textbooks be established. Such features can have positive or negative impacts on learning. There are many features of textbooks, some which go unknown to the authors, which have a significant impact on their target audience. Consequently their content and structure are very important for the promotion of a specific vision of curriculum. Textbooks are widely accepted as a common feature of classrooms worldwide and are important vehicles for the promotion of curricula.

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