A Comparative Study Of Grammar Section In PEP Version And Korean Version Of English Textbooks In Junior High Schools

English grammar plays an important role in English teaching and learning and is a basis of English listening,speaking,reading and writing.English Textbooks,which are written according to English Curriculum Standards,are important media for education,helping teachers and students carry out teaching and learning activities.Different versions of textbooks have their own advantages that are worth discussing and learning.Scientific and reasonable comparison of the characteristics of these textbooks will help promote the development of English textbooks.Chinese scholars have conducted some comparative studies on the grammar section of different versions of English textbooks in China,but there are few comparative studies on the grammar section of English textbooks in China and grammar section of English textbooks in other countries.Therefore,this thesis chooses two sets of textbooks from China and Korea because of their similar cultural consensuses and English teaching background.Based on Chinese and Korean English Curriculum Standards,Memory Rules of Cognitive Psychology and Freeman’s Three-Dimensional Grammar Theory,this thesis compares and analyzes the grammar section of PEP version and Korean version of English textbooks in junior high schools from the perspectives of overall structure of the grammar section,grammar item presentation and grammar exercise presentation.The research questions to be addressed in this study are as follows:(1)How is the overall structure of the two sets of English textbooks’grammar section presented in accordance with English Curriculum Standards and Memory Rules of Cognitive Psychology?(2)How does the grammar item presentation of two sets of textbooks follow the three dimensions of grammar?(3)How does the grammar exercise presentation of two sets of textbooks follow the three dimensions of grammar?The major findings from this study are as follows:Firstly,as for the overall structure of the grammar section of the two sets of textbooks,on one hand,the grammar items listed in PEP version is more comprehensive than those in Korean version;on the other hand,the topics related to the sentence structures of grammar items of PEP version and Korean version both meet the objectives of English Curriculum Standards respectively.In addition,for one thing,both sets of textbooks adopt circulating presentation on grammar items,which can help students repeatedly practice the new learned knowledge in time and master grammar points step by step;for another,the reiteration of grammar items of PEP version is more reasonable than that of Korean version from the perspective of the repeat of important grammar items.Secondly,as for the three dimensions of the grammar item presentation of the two sets of textbooks,in terms of the form dimension,Korean version of textbooks highlight the grammar items that need to be mastered more clearly;in terms of the meaning dimension and use dimension,for one thing,both sets explain the meaning and usage of the grammar items in detail,but PEP version of textbooks explain them more clearly and systematically;for another,Korean version have explained all the grammar items which can be explained,but PEP version don’t provide the necessary explanations for some grammar items.Thirdly,as for the three dimensions of the grammar exercise presentation of the two sets of the textbooks,although the grammar exercises of both sets are more biased towards the use dimension,the Korean version of textbooks only involve one grammar exercise for each grammar item,which can’t provide suitable output exercises for learners.While in the PEP version of textbooks,the number of exercises is sufficient and the types of exercises are various,which focus on the three dimensions of grammar.This study provides some suggestions for the improvement for the two sets of textbooks.For PEP version,they can present and highlight the grammar items of each unit more clearly in the modal of Grammar Focus.For Korean version,on one hand,they should pay more attention to the reiteration of some important grammar points;on the other hand,they should provide more types and numbers of exercises focusing on the three dimensions,thus giving students sufficient opportunities to communicate by using grammar knowledge.