Context Analysis Of Primary Longman Express Textbook Based On Linguistic Adaptation Theory

The quality of English textbooks for young English learners plays a vital role in English language teaching.Therefore,the study of English textbook compilation has enjoyed wide attention from researchers and language teaching professionals.A significant body of the literature on English textbooks has been devoted to showing the important role of teaching context.Although a number of studies have investigated the integration of context in English textbook compilation,much less is known about the reflection of contextual elements in teaching content based on linguistic adaptation theory.The objective of this study is to find out the context manipulation in the compilation of Primary Longman Express.To achieve this goal,Oxford English(Shanghai Edition),as the most widely used English textbook in Shanghai,is selected as a reference point in this thesis.Therefore,this study can compare the reflection of contextual characteristics in the compilation of two popular English textbooks,including Oxford English and Primary Longman Express.To conduct this study,four teaching sections of these textbooks are selected by the author for indepth analysis on the distributions of physical world,social world and mental world in the teaching contents.Furthermore,Chi-square test,text analysis and semi-structured interview are used to conduct quantitative and qualitative analysis.This thesis demonstrates variability,negotiability and adaptability are much more clearly embodied in the teaching contents in Primary Longman Express than Oxford English as a whole.In addition,qualitative analysis also proves that the distributions of contextual characteristics in the teaching contents of English textbooks may be affected by linguistic expressions,picture,culture,type of teaching content and educational agency of compiling the textbook.The research on linguistic adaptation theory is expanded to the field of elementary English textbook in this study.The difference in the idea of compiling teaching contents between Oxford English and Primary Longman Express is disclosed in the thesis.Therefore,comprehensive reflection of physical world,social world and mental world,as well as compliance with variability,negotiability and adaptability,in Primary Longman Express may provide referential meaning for compilation of high-quality elementary English textbooks.