英语AContrastingReviewofAdvancedEnglishTextbooksWord文档下载推荐.docx

1、Key words: input output Advanced English Integrated Skills of English高级英语教材对比分析摘要：阅读材料在语言学习中起着举足轻重的作用，因为外语学习者主要靠它们获得输入信息，创造语言环境。本文研究分析了外语教学与研究出版社1995年出版的张汉熙先生主编的高级英语和高等教育出版社2002年出版的邹为诚先生主编的综合英语教程这两套教材，目的在于评价出哪一套教材更适合21世纪的英语学习者。通过讨论优秀的输入输出的评价标准，以及以此标准对两套教材进行的对比分析，作者得出以下结论：尽管高级英语包含了很多典范的文章，但是其内容过于陈旧、语

2、言不够实用。相对而言，综合英语教程目标语针对性强、难度适宜、语言地道、文化学术信息丰富，在输入信息的提供上表现得更为出色。在练习题方面，高级英语侧重于文章内容和语言的训练，大部分为学生独立完成的题目。反观综合英语教程，它的练习通常为交际型、探索型任务和实用型语言的训练。通过讨论分析，本文认为综合英语教程更加适应现代学生英语学习的需求。关键词：输入 输出 高级英语 综合英语教程1. IntroductionTextbooks play a crucial role in English teaching as a foreign language, because it is the major

3、 source for students to receive input. However, quality textbooks are scarce in China. Even though the National standards have been set up with regard to the educational goals, but not enough good textbooks have been produced to meet the goals, which puts a great deal of emphasis on students communi

4、cative competence.It certainly brings problems: a few outdated popular textbooks were always published more than ten years ago. Although they were revised when reprinted, they did not change a lot. Undoubtedly, these textbooks were once popular and had played a significant role, but with time advanc

5、ed to a new age, they do not meet learners needs any more. Textbooks must change with time. Most textbooks of certain days only represent the concept and method of teaching in that certain period. Therefore, modern students need the kind of textbooks that can reflect and match the changing world, so

6、 as to meet the needs of our age. Now with Chinas modernization on full swing, and with globalization making the world smaller, we need books that can best inform and prepare students for the change. Students will need the skills of the language for their future job, which should be taken care of wh

7、en professionals design textbooks. New textbooks that appear more recently usually use communicative principles and tasks that train their language competence and therefore prepare students better for their language and communicative skills for their future job.Among the few advanced English textboo

8、ks used in China, two stand out: Advanced English and Integrated Skills of English. Advanced English （AE） was compiled by Zhang Hanxi, first published in April, 1980, by Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press in Beijing. It is authoritative and classical, once used by thousands of English majo

9、rs in China and had dominated the textbook market of this field for about 12 years. It contains many classical articles. The Integrated Skills of English （ISE） appeared much later. It was published in July of 2002, by Higher Education Press in Beijing, and compiled by Zou Weicheng. The articles in i

10、t are theme based, with communicative and inquiry based principles, and the book has been widely used in China in the past five or six years. This thesis is to examine the two textbooks by a contrastive analysis and to discuss what kinds of textbooks are more helpful to learners of the 21-century. 2

11、. Literature reviewGenerally speaking, a good English textbook is embodied in three aspects: good input, goods output and flexibility. In this chapter, I will first review the importance of reading, and reading materials; then I will look into the criteria of a good textbook concerning these three a

12、spects respectively.2.1 The importance of reading and the reading materialsReading is defined as a process during which a reader draws information from a text, and combines it with the information and knowledge that he / she already possesses to form an understanding of the text （Grabe & Stoller, 20

13、01）. Reading is very important for a few reasons. First of all, being able to read the written form of a language is the sign of literacy, which is important for almost all EFL learners who study English for academic purpose. Secondly, reading is the principle means for independent study, with which

14、 one does not have to depend on other people or other means in achieving his / her academic goals. It is especially true to EFL learners who are seriously lack of target language input in a L1 environment. While ESL learners can get abundant input outside of classroom from various media, the way mor

15、e accessible to EFL learners is through reading materials about the target language. （Wang, 2004）. Therefore, reading course is considered as the most important one in a foreign language curriculum.Reading materials are crucial for learning to take place because they provide learners with target lan

16、guage input. A variety of sources have been used as text in todays classrooms. Text is defined as “words of something written or printed; a single sentence, a paragraph, a passage of several paragraphs, a chapter or a book that represent sets of potential meanings （Vacca & Vacca, 2002, p. 34）.” The

17、major types of reading text include textbooks, trade books, pamphlets, articles from newspapers, journals and magazines, as well as electronic texts. Textbooks account for most of the texts used in the classrooms, especially in EFL （English as a foreign language） programs. Trade books, which are pub

18、lished books, such as fictions, nonfictions and picture books, distributed to general public through publishers, are also widely used and recommended for the reasons that they offer a variety of choices that can match learners ability and interest levels; that they have informing and entertaining co

19、ntents with engaging formats and writing styles; that they are relevant to learners experience and prior knowledge, and that they can better help learners to make sense and develop concepts （McGowan & Guzzetti, 1991）. Electronic text is another very promising source for reading materials. Similar to

20、 trade books, this new medium renders reading variety, interest, relevance and comprehensibility. But better than trade books, it provides in addition a multimedia environment, in which students extend their comprehensions with the assistance of images, and sound. 2.2 Criteria for good inputThe noun

21、 input has been used as a technical term for about a century in fields such as physics and electrical engineering, but its recent popularity grows out of its use in computer science, where it refers to data or signals entered into a system for processing or transmission. （/input） In general discours

22、e input is now widely used to refer to the transmission of information and opinion. In TESOL （Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages）, it is defined as the sources of target language. It is self-evident that the quality and quantity of the input are extremely important to the acquisition of

23、 the target language. The criteria of the good input are cited as follow: （Wang, 2004, p. 199）1） It provides intended target language input, whether it is structure or vocabulary.2） It fits learners level of difficulty in the sense that it is neither too much above nor too much below their intellect

24、ual levels. The input it provides should be comprehensive, just “slightly more advanced than the learners current level of grammatical knowledge （Gass & Selinker, 2001, p. 452）”3） It is authentic, the real language used by native speakers so that learners have the opportunity to use and cope with th

25、e real language. It may not always be possible for beginners to read the original. For them, simplified texts tuned to their level and need should work better, but it can serve as a goal since the ultimate purpose of learning the language is to read the original text.4） It is informative about cultu

26、re, society and / or science.5） It is interesting.2.3 Factors that promote good outputJust like the input, the word output now is widely used in many fields, especially the Computer Science, in which it means that information in a form suitable for transmission from internal to external units of a c

27、omputer, or to an outside medium. （/output） In TESOL, outputs are the things that learners produce through speaking and writing. It is widely agreed that the following factors, in the exercise of a textbook, can incite good output from the learners, namely its communicativeness; whether it is inquir

28、y and task based, and whether it has the consolidation practice.First of all, the output tasks that a textbook provides should be communicative. Specified as grammatical competence, discourse competence, sociocultural competence and strategic competence, communicative competence require a learner not only being able to use （not necessarily consciously know） the linguistic aspects of a languag