Research On The Composition Of Culture In NSE Textbooks And Its Embodiment In Teaching Process

There is an inextricable connection between a language and the culture it represents.When learning a language,it’s important to learn about the culture it represents as well.In the2011 edition of English Curriculum Standards,the importance of cultural components in English curricula was made very clear,which subsequently caused adjustments and changes in textbooks.To determine whether the cultural components in real-life English teaching have met the requirements in the Standards,one must examine not only how well the textbooks are written,but also how well they are used by the teachers.By consulting the literature,the author finds that the previous research on English courses is more about the study of learning strategies,language skills,language knowledge,etc.,but the research on cultural awareness is not good enough.In order to enrich the study of cultural awareness in English courses,the author selects the New Standard English(short for NSE)textbooks published by Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press as the research subject,and analyzes the cultural composition in NSE textbooks.The research questions are as follows:(1)Do the cultural contents in NSE textbooks meet the requirements of the Standard?(2)Do the teachers meet the requirements of cultural teaching in the lectures?(3)Do the students form English culture awareness?The author selects a bilingual primary school(named School K)in Linfen City as the research subject,and retrieves 30 valid teachers’ questionnaires and 146 valid students’ questionnaires for analysis.At the same time,interviews are conducted with 10 teachers who have different teaching ages.To make sure the research results closer to the facts,the author conducts class observations for 5 teachers from different grades.There are 20 lessons being observed.It’s found that the cultural contents in NSE textbooks basically conform to the requirements of the Standard,but it is only slightly insufficient in the amount and arrangement of cultural content.In the implementation of cultural teaching,it’s found that the cultural teaching ability of teachers needs to be improved,and the English cultural awareness of students needs to be strengthened.The main factors influencing the implementation of cultural teaching are: the teachers’ own cultural literacy,the school’s educational philosophy and the evaluation system of Educational Administration Department.In response to research questions,the author proposes some constructive suggestions for the textbook writers,Educational Administration Departments,schools and teachers.Firstly,in creating the textbooks,the writers should be as diversified as possible and have broad cultural visions,and the contents should include more historical,geographical and non-verbal communicative elements of English-speaking countries.Secondly,the administrative departments of education should pay more attention to English culture teaching.They should take advantage of the position they’re in to “force” schools and teachers to take a more serious view on English culture teaching through certain administrative measures such as increasing the percentage of culture-related questions in tests and exams.Thirdly,schools should pay attention to adopting more progressive educational views and creating a distinctive culture environment of their own.Lastly,teachers should reflect on their own thinking and action in culture teaching and strive to improve their own knowledge and understanding.