This study conducts an acquisition-based evaluation of four primary-school English textbook series used in China. The evaluation aims to determine whether the sequencing of grammatical structures in the series is comp...This study conducts an acquisition-based evaluation of four primary-school English textbook series used in China. The evaluation aims to determine whether the sequencing of grammatical structures in the series is compatible with the L2 learning sequence stipulated in Processability Theory (PT). The results show a partial agreement between the sequencing of structures as teaching objectives in the series and the PT-based processability hierarchy. The sequencing of structures in the initial stages is consistent with the learning sequence of L2 English stated in PT. However, several structures in the intermediate or high stages are taught in a deviant way against their sequencing in PT. The deviant grading of those structures is possibly associated with the theme-based guidelines adopted in the textbooks. It appears that concerns with the utility of grammatical structures in a given context take precedence over concerns for L2 development. A number of suggestions are offered to textbook writers in terms of the role of input, the learners, developmental readiness, and the issue of heterogeneity in L2 classrooms.展开更多
This study investigates the existing General English textbook focusing on the cultural contents to enhance the intercultural awareness cultivation of Non-English major students in China.The findings of this study can ...This study investigates the existing General English textbook focusing on the cultural contents to enhance the intercultural awareness cultivation of Non-English major students in China.The findings of this study can provide the valuable information of cultural contents adaptation in the textbook.It also can reveal teachers’expectation and their awareness of teaching General English together with integrating cultural contents.Apart from the textbook analysis,10 English teachers participated in the study.Data were collected using New Century College English Zooming In:An Integrated English Course,checklist,and in-depth interview.The findings from the checklist verified that the cultural contents of the existing textbook are insufficient.Moreover,the in-depth interview uncovered that though the cultural contents appear in the textbooks,however,they are somewhat minimal expressions that deficient to support the effective intercultural cultivating.Based on the results of the analysis and exploration,this study provides a guidance on the types of intercultural content to be adapted in this course.The findings of this study can be beneficial to the intercultural textbook adaptation for academic institutes and individuals interested in the field of English language teaching and learning.展开更多
By examining recent studies on grammar instruction, which reflect the waxing and waning of grammar instruction in history, and some new teaching approaches and techniques in grammar teaching, this paper concludes that...By examining recent studies on grammar instruction, which reflect the waxing and waning of grammar instruction in history, and some new teaching approaches and techniques in grammar teaching, this paper concludes that grammar instruction does make a difference to foreign language teaching and thus is important and necessary for Chinese leamers, especially English majors, to develop their ability of using the language accurately and fluently in real life. And on the basis of it, this paper evaluates an EFL textbook of China in terms of some grammar teaching approaches and techniques to illustrate the application and practice of these new perspectives and new teaching approaches and techniques in Chinese foreign language teaching and leaming.展开更多
In this study,an evaluation of the presentation of speech acts in six oral English textbooks is conducted from both qualitative and quantitative perspectives to see how speech acts are presented and whether enough and...In this study,an evaluation of the presentation of speech acts in six oral English textbooks is conducted from both qualitative and quantitative perspectives to see how speech acts are presented and whether enough and explicit meta-pragmatic and contextual information are provided.Results show that 1)there is a paucity of speech acts and the average percentage of the six textbooks including speech acts is only 28.3%.And some speech acts like‘threatening’,‘warning’,‘declaring’,‘welcoming’are not presented at all.2)Meta-pragmatic and contextual information is too general and far from enough.Among all the six textbooks,from Book 1 to Book 5,contextual information is deduced by learners through reading conversations.Only in Book 6,a contextual description is provided before the conversation begins.Contextual information such as the age,gender and social status of Speaker and Hearer is never presented.Contextual information like the relationship between Speaker and Hearer and the place where the conversation happens is inferred from reading the conversations.Meta-pragmatic information like the degree of formality,politeness strategy,indirect speech act strategy,and social norms are not at all involved.Only in Book 1,a cultural tip is provided.Since oral English textbooks are one of the main sources for Chinese EFL learners to enhance their pragmatic competence,it is much expected that they should present a wide variety of popularly-used speech acts with rich contextual information as appropriate language input.展开更多
Textbook evaluation is of great importance for both teaching and learning. A review on several previouslypopular evaluation systems makes us believe that a more objective and quantitative evaluation approach isdespera...Textbook evaluation is of great importance for both teaching and learning. A review on several previouslypopular evaluation systems makes us believe that a more objective and quantitative evaluation approach isdesperately needed. Thus a new exploration to evaluate textbooks via corpus is discussed in this paper in lightof Second Language Acquisition studies.展开更多
The necessity of the textbook can not be neglectedalthough problems do exist with our teaching materi-als.As teachers it is important for us to evaluate,se-lect and adapt teaching materials to meet our teachingand stu...The necessity of the textbook can not be neglectedalthough problems do exist with our teaching materi-als.As teachers it is important for us to evaluate,se-lect and adapt teaching materials to meet our teachingand students’ learning needs in order to maximizelearning potentials.The case study of one particularEFL textbook provides us with more insights into theunderstanding of our teaching materials.The processof evaluating the teaching materials helps us make de-cisions in selecting textbooks,as well as allowing us toreflect on our teaching and learning experience.展开更多
基金supported by the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities(WUT:2018IVA078)the Teaching Research Funds of Wuhan University of Technology(w2018130)
文摘This study conducts an acquisition-based evaluation of four primary-school English textbook series used in China. The evaluation aims to determine whether the sequencing of grammatical structures in the series is compatible with the L2 learning sequence stipulated in Processability Theory (PT). The results show a partial agreement between the sequencing of structures as teaching objectives in the series and the PT-based processability hierarchy. The sequencing of structures in the initial stages is consistent with the learning sequence of L2 English stated in PT. However, several structures in the intermediate or high stages are taught in a deviant way against their sequencing in PT. The deviant grading of those structures is possibly associated with the theme-based guidelines adopted in the textbooks. It appears that concerns with the utility of grammatical structures in a given context take precedence over concerns for L2 development. A number of suggestions are offered to textbook writers in terms of the role of input, the learners, developmental readiness, and the issue of heterogeneity in L2 classrooms.
文摘This study investigates the existing General English textbook focusing on the cultural contents to enhance the intercultural awareness cultivation of Non-English major students in China.The findings of this study can provide the valuable information of cultural contents adaptation in the textbook.It also can reveal teachers’expectation and their awareness of teaching General English together with integrating cultural contents.Apart from the textbook analysis,10 English teachers participated in the study.Data were collected using New Century College English Zooming In:An Integrated English Course,checklist,and in-depth interview.The findings from the checklist verified that the cultural contents of the existing textbook are insufficient.Moreover,the in-depth interview uncovered that though the cultural contents appear in the textbooks,however,they are somewhat minimal expressions that deficient to support the effective intercultural cultivating.Based on the results of the analysis and exploration,this study provides a guidance on the types of intercultural content to be adapted in this course.The findings of this study can be beneficial to the intercultural textbook adaptation for academic institutes and individuals interested in the field of English language teaching and learning.
文摘By examining recent studies on grammar instruction, which reflect the waxing and waning of grammar instruction in history, and some new teaching approaches and techniques in grammar teaching, this paper concludes that grammar instruction does make a difference to foreign language teaching and thus is important and necessary for Chinese leamers, especially English majors, to develop their ability of using the language accurately and fluently in real life. And on the basis of it, this paper evaluates an EFL textbook of China in terms of some grammar teaching approaches and techniques to illustrate the application and practice of these new perspectives and new teaching approaches and techniques in Chinese foreign language teaching and leaming.
文摘In this study,an evaluation of the presentation of speech acts in six oral English textbooks is conducted from both qualitative and quantitative perspectives to see how speech acts are presented and whether enough and explicit meta-pragmatic and contextual information are provided.Results show that 1)there is a paucity of speech acts and the average percentage of the six textbooks including speech acts is only 28.3%.And some speech acts like‘threatening’,‘warning’,‘declaring’,‘welcoming’are not presented at all.2)Meta-pragmatic and contextual information is too general and far from enough.Among all the six textbooks,from Book 1 to Book 5,contextual information is deduced by learners through reading conversations.Only in Book 6,a contextual description is provided before the conversation begins.Contextual information such as the age,gender and social status of Speaker and Hearer is never presented.Contextual information like the relationship between Speaker and Hearer and the place where the conversation happens is inferred from reading the conversations.Meta-pragmatic information like the degree of formality,politeness strategy,indirect speech act strategy,and social norms are not at all involved.Only in Book 1,a cultural tip is provided.Since oral English textbooks are one of the main sources for Chinese EFL learners to enhance their pragmatic competence,it is much expected that they should present a wide variety of popularly-used speech acts with rich contextual information as appropriate language input.
文摘Textbook evaluation is of great importance for both teaching and learning. A review on several previouslypopular evaluation systems makes us believe that a more objective and quantitative evaluation approach isdesperately needed. Thus a new exploration to evaluate textbooks via corpus is discussed in this paper in lightof Second Language Acquisition studies.
文摘The necessity of the textbook can not be neglectedalthough problems do exist with our teaching materi-als.As teachers it is important for us to evaluate,se-lect and adapt teaching materials to meet our teachingand students’ learning needs in order to maximizelearning potentials.The case study of one particularEFL textbook provides us with more insights into theunderstanding of our teaching materials.The processof evaluating the teaching materials helps us make de-cisions in selecting textbooks,as well as allowing us toreflect on our teaching and learning experience.
