Textbook Analysis

LIANG　Shu-na

【Abstract】This thesis proposes the evaluation of the textbook- An Eglish Video Course on the basis of analyzing the students and conducting interviews among related teachers and students.

【Key words】Textbook analysis；English；Evaluation

0.Introduction

Many challenges had been met in the process of teaching English Video Course. This thesis aims to analyze the textbook for the sake of getting a better understanding of the course and helping students to improve their listening and speaking abilities.

The following questions will be discussed：role of textbooks in teaching English from the teachers` perspective； a brief analysis of the students； introduction of the textbook；students` comments on the textbook； evaluation of the textbook.

1.Role of textbooks in teaching English from the teachers` perspective

Almost all the teachers regard that textbooks are vital and indispensable in foreign language teaching&learning.Similarly;，the teachers almost unanimously agree that textbooks are the most convenient means of resources in teaching.They think using textbooks gives them confidence，guidance，security and support，so they heavily account on them.

Theoretically， teachers are instilled into their minds the idea that it is better to use a great variety of materials designed on their own in terms of the needs of their students in particular.However，it is found that in practice only a small percentage of the teachers use other supplementary materials except the designated textbooks.Eventually，it goes without saying that a larger number of the teachers feel that their teaching is generally dominated by the use of textbooks.

2.A brief analysis of the students

The students who use the text book-An English Video Course major in International Trade. The major requires the students to have a good command of English speaking and listening.While most of them are not good at English； some can write in English but fail to communicate well with foreigners. So there is a great need to encourage them to improve English listening， especially their oral English.

3.Introduction of the textbook

Taking students` English level into account， the author adopted the textbook： Learning to Speak：An English Video Course， it aims to improve students` listening and speaking abilities.There are 8 units in total；each unit focuses on one topic， from daily life or work place.Each lesson is further divided into 2 parts.Lesson A and Lesson B.For lesson A，there are the following 4 parts：Vocabulary Link；Listening；Speaking； communication. For Lesson B， there are 2 parts： Global Viewpoints and City Living.

4.Students` comments on the textbook

The feedback from the students can help teachers to adjust teaching methods accordingly. According to a survey， most students prefer the textbook. For the textbook is quite appealing， but they also require teacher to find more related materials to enrich the course. And more activities are preferred to activate the atmosphere.

5.Evaluation of the textbook

According to the interviews with teachers， the author believes the textbook mainly exists the following problems：

（1）The effect of the language.The materials are mostly recorded by native speakers， and some are not professional broadcasters， and thus the recording is unnatural， for example， tends to exaggerate the tone， accent is too pure， pronunciation is too clear， the structure is too monotonous， Prefer to use a complete sentence，no expression of error， such as hesitation，repetition，hesitation，the above features are lost for a real dialogue.This material can not truly reflect language environment of native speakers.

（2）The exercise design.Too much use of multiple-choice，right or wrong identification，fill in the blank，answer questions and reading Curricula.Practice only focuses on the training of language comprehension and memory while ignores the training of interpersonal skills.The traditional teaching method emphasizes on listening activities done on the basis of multiple choices or answering questions.In this way，students may ignore the practical communication skills.

（3）In the output part for the exercises， the original design of oral practice materials provided can not satisfy the need of real life， there is a great distance from the requirement of the course.

（4）It is quite difficult to adjust the teaching methods for the designed activities of the textbooks.

Thus there is a great demand for the teachers to adjust the textbooks.To resolve the above problems，teachers need to get rid of the idea of being loyal to textbooks.Instead，teachers should make full use of the textbooks and choose the very contents according to the actual needs of students. However， teachers in the adjustment of the listening and speaking materials should not be reckless， Gelei Fu（2004） proposed 15 principles for adjusting the textbooks，which，though not made for listening and speaking， but they have great similarity.They all need to achieve a good balance between textbooks and the supplement materials.The following adjustment should be made for the textbook- An English Video Course according to the above principles.

（1）Take full consideration of students` actual level and help students to build their confidence.Since if the material was too hard，which would damage their confidence；while if the material was too easy，it would be hard to activate students` interest in learning.

（2）Teaching materials should be able to train students for independent learning.Suitable corpus can often stimulate students` interest in learning to explore and deepen the understanding of the subject，develop their own sense of language learning.

（3）Testing standards need further reform，the current-oriented examination of teaching and learning environment is often brief， which will easily kill the enthusiasm of teachers in teaching and students in learning. With flexible testing form and attaching greater importance to students` ability to make full use of the language will be a great help.

6.Conclusion

The teacher should choose the suitable textbook in accordance with students` actual level and characteristics， and make full use of the textbook； meanwhile teachers should be able to find more interesting and useful material to supplement the textbook.

【References】

[1]Anwright，R.L.1981，What Do We Want Teaching Material for？，ELT Journal.

[2]刘道义.浅议英语教材的评价标准[J].课程教材改革，2004.

[3]许蜂.英语教材评估研究：回顾与前瞻[J].西北工业大学学报，2004.