A Comparative Study Of The Representation Of Cultural Contents Between NSEC (2019) And NSE (2019)

The integration of culture into English as a second/foreign language textbooks used for teaching and learning has attracted considerable attention at home and abroad in recent years.A large number of previous studies have illustrated that the representation of different types of cultural contents in English textbooks was unbalanced and failed to reflect multicultural values,which greatly affected learners?intercultural awareness and intercultural communication competence(ICC).Though recent years have witnessed a growing interest in cultural issues in English textbooks at the tertiary level in China,less is known about the representation of cultural contents in senior high school English textbooks,especially the new editions of textbooks.To this end,the current study aimed to investigate the representation of cultural contents in senior high school English textbooks,namely New Senior English for China(NSEC,2019 Edition)published by People?s Education Press(PEP)and New Standard English(NSE,2019 Edition)by Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press(FLTRP).English compulsory and optional compulsory students? books 1-7 of NSEC and NSE were chosen respectively as the selected textbooks.Based on Cortazzi and Jin?s(1999)classifications of culture and by employing content analysis,the present research analyzed the cultural contents from three aspects.The overall distribution of cultural contents was compared between the two series of English textbooks used in Chinese senior high schools regarding the similarities and differences of the representation of all cultural types and themes,and to explore how cultural contents embodied different cultural awareness.The major findings demonstrated that: 1)The cultural contents and themes of two series of English textbooks were diversified,including themes like travel,dieting,festivals,celebrities,literature works,and so on;2)In terms of the representation of cultural types,four types of culture occupied a certain proportion in both textbooks.The most representation of cultural contents were culture-neutral contents,which refer to no specific culture.Meanwhile,international cultures were represented insufficiently when compared with other types of culture.NSEC tended to represent more source culture(Chinese culture).In contrast,there was a balanced representation of Chinese culture and target culture in NSE;3)The representation of cultural contents in NSEC and NSE was in line with their revised requirements for cultural awareness,that is,NSEC aims to cultivate students? identity of Chinese culture by displaying colorful types of culture,while NSE aims at comparing cultural similarities and differences.Both two series of English textbooks may cultivate students? cultural awareness and may enhance intercultural communication competence.This study contributes to a better understanding of and keeps a watchful eye on the representation of cultural contents in the two new series of senior high school English textbooks.The findings shed light on textbook writers and senior high school English teachers.This thesis ends with limitations and research suggestions for future study of cultural contents in textbooks.