Evaluation Of Cultural Content In Current College English Textbooks

As a significant part of language learning, culture has a profound impact onlearners. The overall targets of intercultural foreign language teaching are: to improvelearners’ foreign language communicative competence (the primary target) and toimprove the intercultural communicative competence of learners (advanced target)(Zhang,2007), which makes the status of culture be further confirmed in languageteaching, and also provides new goals and direction for theoretical research andteaching practice of foreign language teaching in China. According to the aboveguidance, domestic authoritative presses of education have successively published theirown college English textbooks for intensive reading courses, which are widely usedacross the country.Based on Buttjies’ and Byram’s view that cultural teaching content should beconsidered from the angle of macro-level culture, micro-level culture, internationality,intercultural perspective and the authors’ own view and writing styles, this paperanalyzes and evaluates cultural content of New College English (Foreign LanguageTeaching and Research Press,1999), New Horizon College English (Foreign LanguageTeaching and Research Press,2001), New Century College English (Shanghai ForeignLanguage Education Press,2007), New Standard College English (Foreign LanguageTeaching and Research Press,2008) and New Vision College English (ForeignLanguage Teaching and Research Press,2011) for the purpose of cultivating students’intercultural awareness and enhancing students’ intercultural communicativecompetence.At first, this paper introduces the research background of culture teaching inforeign language teaching and current situation of college English teaching in China,and presents the necessity of evaluating cultural content of current college Englishtextbooks. In Literature Review, the development of textbook evaluation theory,methods of textbook evaluation and criteria of textbook evaluation are summarized.After that, based on Buttjies’ and Byram’s theory and the above two aspects mentioned,the author employs the qualitative research method to analyze the content of Book I ofthese five current college English textbooks for intensive reading course, for instance,cultural background materials, texts, exercises, etc. from the following five aspects: macro-level culture (society, history, politics and some other related culture content),micro-level culture (figures’ daily life and activities in the textbooks), internationality,intercultural perspective and authors’ own view and writing styles.The results of this research can provide some reference for amendment of currentcollege English textbooks and compilation of new college English textbooks, andsuggestions from the author, to a certain extent, can play a guide role in culturalteaching practice for college English teachers and learners.