A Comparative Analysis Of High School English Textbooks Based On The Cultivation Of Cultural Awareness

Cultural self-confidence is an essential part for supporting our country from past to future.Nowadays,the competition of countries extends to every aspect,while we catch up with each other in material terms,we must keep pace with each other in spiritual and cultural terms.Culture can not be separated from education,it is developed in the inheritance of generations.Therefore,English Curriculum Standards for Senior High Schools(2017 Edition)takes cultural awareness as an essential part of students’ English learning,cultural knowledge has also become one of the six elements of English curriculum content.The teaching textbooks carries the cultural knowledge which the student needs,it is also the main link between teachers and students in class.Therefore,the presentation of cultural content in teaching material is related to the development of students’ cultural consciousness.In this thesis,the author choose the compulsory books of People’s Education Press(PEP)and Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press(FLTRP)as the research object which are popular in Shandong Province.It takes the text evaluation theory as the main theoretical basis.Firstly,using the text analysis method to analyze how the two versions of high school English textbooks have reached the established goal of cultural consciousness of core literacy and their embodiment in the textbooks.Secondly,using comparative study method to distinguish their similarities and differences.Finally,the author interviews teachers about their feelings of the cultural knowledge of textbooks in cultivating students’ cultural consciousness.This thesis aims to answer the following problems: 1.What are the culture detailed demonstration in the two versions of high school English teaching textbooks in the aspect of cultivating cultural awareness? 2.What’s the similarities and differences of two versions of English teaching textbooks among these cultural factors?The author analyzes and compares the cultural type,the extent to which the textbooks reflect the cultural requirements in the new curriculum standard,the unit structure and the design purpose,and draws the following conclusions:(1)In the cultural type,PEP focuses on the presentation of the target language culture,and FLTRP focuses on the display of world culture.(2)Both versions of the textbooks reflect the cultural content required by the new curriculum standard comprehensively,but it’s not present evenly,each has its own emphasis.(3)The overall design purpose of the unit structure and cultural factor of the two editions is basically the same,but the concrete presentation is different.The arrangement and classification of PEP are more detailed,the links are diverse,and the cultural content is scattered in each link.the integration of FLTRP is strong,and its presentation of cultural content is more concentrated.(4)In the process of teaching,teachers can realize that the textbooks attach great importance to the cultivation of cultural awareness,they also express satisfaction with the selection of cultural meterials and strive to arouse students’ cultural awareness in the classroom.The cultivation of students’ cultural consciousness has become a link that can not be ignored in the teaching process.In addition to the various cultural elements presented by the textbook writers in the textbook arrangement,what is more important is that teachers guide consciously in the classroom,help students set up cultural stand,cultivate cultural consciousness and improve their cultural quality.