A Cross-Cultural Perspective: An Integration of Traditional Chinese Culture into College English Textbooks

Teaching language is teaching culture. English is an international language with local and global significance.In"New Horizon College English", Chinese culture elements are deficient, which is not conducive to our country's higher education and cross-cultural communication skills and to achieve the goal of innovation of Chinese culture. As an important part of world culture, Chinese culture should be integrated into college English education. College English teaching materials should include not only western cultural elements but also fully present Chinese culture elements.

Cultural Components in EFL Textbooks

The appraisal of textbooks not only before selection, but also after they have been used, is a valuable exercise for any teacher. It provides a greater perception of the book's strengths and weaknesses, which enables the teacher to focus on the weak points and adapt or supplement them accordingly. The paper will provide a detailed evaluation of an EFL textbook focusing on cultural assumptions considering the cultural content and methodology with reference to a specific teaching context by discussing the various aspects of culture reflected in the various components as well as the type of methodology and syllabus design the book follows. Finally, implication and adaptation of this textbook will be argued.

Winds of Change in Saudi English Textbooks： A Cultural Perspective

The paper investigates Saudi English textbooks in order to trace the ways in which culture was dealt with in the English curriculum in the last 33 years. To this end, the three textbooks which were published one after another for the third-grade secondary school students in the last three decades were analyzed. The paper finds that in the first book published in 1982, the writer introduced only those cultural elements from outside Saudi Arabia, which could be subordinated to the self-enclosed cohesive Saudi national culture that rested and was shaped on and around the faith of Islam. The same cultural pattern is maintained in the second book published in 1998, but in the third book published in 2013, a huge number of western and multicultural elements were accommodated without any attempt to assimilate them to Saudi national culture. The paper concludes that in these textbooks, culture was taken either as Parsons＇s ＂system＂--pattern-maintaining national culture-or as Rothkopf＇s and Friedman＇s ＂pattern-breaking＂ western culture, but it was seldom treated as Bauman＇s ＂matrix＂.

Cultural and Socio-economical Dimensions a- Human Reproduction and Sex Education in the Biology Textbooks of Eight Countries

This study was carried out within the European research project ＂Biology, Health and Environmental Education for Better Citizenship＂. It is a comparative analysis of textbooks from eight Mediterranean countries which differ by their cultures, their socio-economical levels, and their religions. This work is focused on the sensitive educational topic ＂Human Reproduction and Sex Education＂. And 43 biology textbooks are analyzed among eight countries： four are in Europe and four in Africa and Middle East. Grids were built to identify implicit values in the texts and images. It is a more precisely explicit or implicit presence of cultural, socio-economical, and ethical dimensions. The investigation concerns whether the authors of textbooks present differently this theme depending on the socio-cultural, ethical, and religious contexts. The content of the textbooks was analyzed as reflecting the conceptions of their authors and publishers. The outcomes of the analyses show that several textbooks present images of human beings restricted to only one ethnic type, usually white-skinned and with fair hair. The social, cultural, economical, and ethical dimensions were generally absent, except for some interest for them in few European textbooks.

An Empirical Survey of the Chinese Cultural Aphasia in University English Textbooks

Under the text of Xi’s call for“Chinese culture to go abroad”and the international craze for Mandarin,the article aims to reveal the relationship between college English textbooks and Chinese cultural aphasia,based on an analysis of a survey of a university in southern China.The specific research questions are:What is the attitude of English majors toward integrating English textbooks into Chinese culture?Do English majors have“Chinese cultural aphasia”?To what extent?Is there an imbalance between Chinese and western culture in College English textbooks?Through a test,questionnaire,and textbook analysis,a survey on Chinese cultural aphasia in university English textbooks among English majors was conducted.The research results show that English textbooks have a serious lack of Chinese culture;English majors have severe Chinese cultural aphasia;English majors have a positive attitude towards integrating Chinese culture into English textbooks,and they are willing to learn the English expressions of Chinese culture.The author believes that the study has the following practical significance:First,the statistics in the study offer a thought for textbook editors;second,the study can stimulate English teachers to cultivate students’cross-cultural communication skills;and third,research may inspire students to learn more about Chinese culture and enrich their knowledge.

An Analysis of Cultural Contents in Middle School English Textbooks GO FOR IT

The Chinese EFL textbook GO FOR IT is widely used in most state-owned middle schools of China.According to the national English Curriculum of in China,cultural contents should be provided.The cultural contents are analyzed from two aspects—cultural awareness through verbal communication and the cultural awareness through non-verbal communication.Specifically,appellations and greetings,polite expressions,the dining patterns,cultural imageries of animals are analyzed in this thesis.

The Evaluation of the Cultural Contents in the English Textbook for Non-English Major Students:A Case Study at Independent College in China

This study investigates the existing General English textbook focusing on the cultural contents to enhance the intercultural awareness cultivation of Non-English major students in China.The findings of this study can provide the valuable information of cultural contents adaptation in the textbook.It also can reveal teachers’expectation and their awareness of teaching General English together with integrating cultural contents.Apart from the textbook analysis,10 English teachers participated in the study.Data were collected using New Century College English Zooming In:An Integrated English Course,checklist,and in-depth interview.The findings from the checklist verified that the cultural contents of the existing textbook are insufficient.Moreover,the in-depth interview uncovered that though the cultural contents appear in the textbooks,however,they are somewhat minimal expressions that deficient to support the effective intercultural cultivating.Based on the results of the analysis and exploration,this study provides a guidance on the types of intercultural content to be adapted in this course.The findings of this study can be beneficial to the intercultural textbook adaptation for academic institutes and individuals interested in the field of English language teaching and learning.

Cultural Infiltration of Foreign Literary Works in Senior High School Chinese Textbooks

Foreign literary works are an important part of Chinese textbooks in high schools.However,the exam-oriented education results in a marginalized and unsatisfactory teaching of foreign literary works.Based on the high school Chinese textbook by PEP(People's Education Press),teaching practices,and requirements of the new curriculum standards,this article analyzes the foreign literary works in the textbook,explores its value and the infiltration of cultural spirit in teaching,discusses the problems in teaching,as well as provides suggestions to them in hope to gain attention in the teaching of foreign literary works,broaden students' horizons,and cultivate their humanistic spirit.

An Analysis of Reading Materials in New Senior English for China Based on Cultivation of Cultural Awareness —A Case Study of Compulsory Book 3

China is in the era of rapid development of information technology and the era of close cultural communication between countries, which requires English teaching to cultivate students’ cultural awareness, develop their intercultural communicative competence. Based on Byram’s checklist, this paper analyzes the cultural contents in reading materials of New Senior English for China (NSEFC) Compulsory Book 3. The research indicates that the textbook is rich in cultural content and the selected reading materials are authentic. However, there are two shortcomings: the uneven distribution of themes as well as cultural contents and the lack of cultural content comparison in the textbook. According to the findings, this paper provides some suggestions for textbook editors and English teachers, aiming at realizing the improvement and a better use of the textbook, so as to cultivate students’ cultural awareness.

A Variety of Cultures Represented in English Language Textbooks： A Critical Study at Saudi University

Textbooks material is one of the important issues that are worthy to investigate in order to enrich student＇s engagement and interaction in EFL （English as a Foreign Language） classrooms. In this study, the author argues that textbooks materials used in academic institutions may well take a significant part in generating an active environment in EEL classrooms. It is believed that more opportunities will be created for students to be more involved, active, and able to understand the content being addressed more effectively. Yet, by looking at the textbooks being utilised （at a university context where the author teaches）, one can notice that student＇s culture （Eastern） is to a large extent missing in these textbooks, most of these books instead represent dominantly ＂Western＂ culture namely American and British cultures. This can deafly be depicted by topics discussed, pictures, clothing, names, and many other issues portrayed in these textbooks. This study is an attempt to challenge and problematize such domination of Western cultures portrayed in the content of English textbooks used in academic institutions not merely within Saudi Arabia but also extended to other countries and nations in the world.

An Analysis of Cultural Awareness in Advance with English(下)

The Curriculum Standards for Senior English( CSSE) issued by the Ministry of Education adds cultural awareness into the original four major teaching objectives.This thesis aims to examine the quality of cultural awareness embodied in the senior high school textbook and tries to provide some useful suggestions for textbook compilers and users.

An Analysis of Cultural Awareness in Advance with English(上)

The Curriculum Standards for Senior English ( CSSE) issued by the Ministry of Education adds cultural awareness in-to the original four major teaching objectives. This thesis aims to examine the quality of cultural awareness embodied in the senior high school textbook and tries to provide some useful suggestions for textbook compilers and users.

On Affective Communication——From Perspective of Cultural Context

Nowadays, cross-cultural study is turning to pragmatic fields concerning communication, such as business negotiation,overseas life and language teaching, etc. This paper reviews previous studies of culture and communication, attempting to reveal how to have affective communication from perspective of cultural context by case studies. As a result, theoretical foundation and case studies prove that although we have cooperative principles as general guidelines for communication, cultural awareness, especially awareness of High Context(HC) and Low Context(LC), still plays a key role in cross-cultural communication by making up for the lost of meaning while transmission.

Textbook Evaluation

More and more researchers realized that what happened in classrooms was deeply influenced by the social and culturalcontexts outside and various articles and researches have been written or done to address this problem.The essay evaluates a teach-ing material from the perspectives of culture,society and politics by suggesting a few adaptations to the teaching material to make itmore culturally appropriate for Chinese learners.

Some Suggestions of Solving the Problem of Chinese Culture Aphasia of English Education in Vocational College

Nowadays,it cannot be denied that most educators constantly emphasize on target language culture teaching,which results in the phenomenon of Chinese Culture Aphasia.some feasible suggestions on how to achieve the integration of native culture with target culture and solve the problem of Chinese Culture Aphasia are put forward.The suggestions include some reforms in teaching syllabus,textbooks,test and curriculum.Besides,teachers' self-improvement and students' cultural awareness improvement are also very essential.

以教材为中心的教学文化:中国经验与全球意义

中国基础教育教学最突出的特点是重视教材。我们把这种教学概括为“以教材为中心的教学”,这既是一种教学活动,又是一种教学文化。为确保以教材为中心的教学的有效运行,我国教育工作者又创造性地建构了重要的保障及引领体系:考评体系和教研体系。以教材为中心的教学、以教材为中心的考评、以教材为中心的教研,构成了中国特色的以教材为中心的教学文化。以教材为中心的教学文化反映了教育教学的初心与规律,是中华优秀传统文化的集中体现,既是立足中国大地的中国经验,也具有广泛而重要的全球价值。当今,以教材为中心的教学文化需要抓住中华民族伟大复兴的时代机遇,从知识立意转向素养立意,实现自身的创造性转化和创新性升华,为全球教育提供超越欧美课程教学模式的重要思想资源。

扎根文化记忆厚植家国情怀——以新牛津译林版高中英语教科书为例

教科书是学生理解课程标准、获得系统知识、传承优秀文化的示范性材料。通过对新版牛津译林英语教科书56则语篇进行统计,结果显示,新教材以学科育人为导向,将中华优秀传统文化置于突出地位。基于此,本研究以文化记忆理论为指导,将教材传统文化文本视为“文化记忆的集合体”,从知识、时间、情感三层面进行内容分析。最后,提出发展类比思维、补充文化素材、螺旋更新认知、丰富文化体验四点教学建议,以期为高中英语文化教学提供借鉴与参考。

大学英语教材文化呈现研究--以《全新版大学高阶英语》为例

研究运用内容分析法,从地域维度对某套大学英语教材中的主题文章和练习部分的文化内容呈现进行分析。研究发现,教材主题文章以目标语国家文化为主,中华文化呈现比例仍然较低;练习部分明显增加了中华文化相关内容,有利于提高学生的中华文化目标语表达。研究建议外语教材中的中华文化比例至少保持在20%—30%之间,从而保证适量的母语文化的目的语表达输入;提高教材的文化多样性,以培养学生多元文化意识;教师应充分发挥主观能动性,针对教材内容进行二次开发,实现文化内容的合理供给。

革命文化进入高中语文统编教材的情境创设

“情境”是高中语文新课标中的高频词,任务、活动、情境是新版高中语文教材的三个支点。情境创设对语文活动开展和任务完成具有重要作用。革命文化进入高中语文统编教材的情境创设体现了分类创设、真实创设、综合创设的理念,凸显了鲜明的建构性、实践性和整体性,但也存在个人体验情境进阶性不够清晰、社会生活情境创设不够具体、学科认知情境创设不够深入等不足。新版高中语文教材中革命文化情境创设的优化,需要明晰个人体验情境的层级,适当限定社会生活情境创设的场域,提升学科认知情境的深度。

长镜头呈现:革命传统进语文教材的一种新方式

调研发现,作为革命传统进语文教材的主要载体,革命文化课文的教学难点集中于学生对革命人物崇高言行举止不理解甚至不相信,而“理解”恰恰是文化传承的关键。溯源获得统编小学语文所有革命文化课文的原文后,发现课文与原文的最大差异是情境虚化。这种虚化主要缘于文质兼美、篇幅适度的改编常规要求,但革命文化课文的“教材位”在于文化传承,深入理解是焦点任务。“长镜头”因其能够呈现更真实而连续的情境,并形塑出更可信可亲的英雄形象,成为实现该焦点任务的首要路径。为此,革命文化课文改编应更多关切指向革命传统主题理解的难易度要求,针对革命文化文本的现象历史性、情感崇高性和内涵抽象性,保留充盈的相关情境并基于教材容量以相应形式合理呈现。