An Investigation And Research On The Moral Elements And Their Teaching Practice In Junior High School English Textbooks(PEP Edition)

The position of moral education is highlighted after Minister of Education issued Opinions on Deepening the Reform of Curriculum in an All-round Way and Implementing the Fundamental Task of Corralling and Cultivating of People.English,as one of the major subjects in different learning stages,is in urgent need of moral education in teaching.Currently,the research of moral education in English teaching are most commonly found in the literature of university rather than that of primary and secondary school,and to a certain extent,the investigation and research is insufficient.Based on Lawrence Kohlberg’s theory of stages of moral development,Herbart’s educational teaching theory and Dewey’s moral education theory,combined with the researcher’s own experience and reflection in teaching practice,the thesis focuses on the moral elements in junior high school English textbooks(PEP edition),and how teachers use them to promote their understanding,mastery and application of moral education in English teaching.In order to fully grasp the moral elements in textbooks and explore its influence on the moral education in English teaching,the thesis puts forward three research questions:(1)What moral elements are included in the junior high school English textbooks(PEP edition)? What is the distribution proportion?(2)How do teachers understand the moral elements? What are the factors that affect understanding?(3)How do teachers integrate the moral elements in textbooks into teaching?In order to answer the above questions,the thesis adopts the following research methods:(1)the researcher used UAM Corpus Tool to analyze 110 texts in 55 units in five textbooks to obtain the distribution proportion of moral elements;(2)the researcher selected 15 front-line junior high school teachers to conduct semi-structured interview to explore teachers’ understanding of moral teaching;(3)the researcher selected 10 offline classes and 10 online classes for class observation to investigate teachers’ integration of moral elements in their teaching.The results show that:(1)the distribution proportion of moral elements in five textbooks is relatively even,but the proportion of such elements as Socialism,labor education,socialist democracy and law-abiding are lower in individual textbooks.(2)Teachers’ understanding of the moral elements is comparatively different,and such personal factors as higher education,more teaching experience,higher professional title,being a headteacher or a CPC member,etc.have positive influence on the moral education;besides,the support from school plays an important role in the moral education.(3)When teachers integrated moral elements in their teaching,in terms of the teaching design,the design of goal and teaching for moral education needs to be improved;in terms of the teaching process,teachers were good at using information technology to conduct moral education,but the time for moral education was shorter and students’ participation was less;in terms of the activity models,teachers more often used the educational model and the didactic model;in terms of the roles of the teacher,teachers were more likely to act as role models and curriculum developers;in terms of the teaching effectiveness,teachers need to pay more attention to students’ achievement and attitudes in moral education.The thesis helps teachers and scholars to understand the current situation of moral education in junior high school English teaching,and makes suggestions for moral education on updating the teaching notion,reforming the teaching mode and innovating the teaching strategy,which has certain enlightenment for the theory and practice of moral education in junior high school English teaching.