A Corpus-based Comparative Analysis Of Senior Middle School English Language Textbooks In China And Japan

English language textbooks reflect high standards of English education.Although new English language textbooks are released continuously,there has been little in-depth,quantitative research on the English language textbooks currently used in senior middle schools in China,particularly with relation to the textbooks used by other non-English-speaking countries.While both China and Japan study English as a foreign language,the types of English language textbooks used in these countries differ in significant ways.This paper quantitatively examines the similarities and differences in the English language textbooks used in these two countries.Corpus linguistics is used to compare two specific textbooks series in terms of textual and cultural contents,the edition “New Senior English for China(NSEC)published by People’s Education Press and the other edition “Unicorn” by BUN-EIDO Press.The main findings of this study are as follows:(1)Words used in the Japanese Unicorn series exhibit more depth and breadth than in the Chinese NSEC version,and both series exhibit deficiencies in the volume of words commonly used by native speakers(i.e.natural speech).(2)While the NSEC series focuses on the target language cultures(American and British),the Unicorn series is more oriented toward world culture.There are also some notable differences between the two series in the ways that national identities are constructed.Comparative analysis is employed to intuitively identify respective strengths and deficiencies in the two English textbook series used in senior middle schools of China and Japan.Based upon a qualitative and quantitative analysis of the selected series,this paper constitutes a useful reference for the preparation,application,and evaluation of English language textbooks by associated educators and teachers.