A Study Of Tasks In The Comprehensive English Textbooks For English Majors

Of all the courses for English majors in colleges and universities in China, Comprehensive English Course plays a unique role in improving students'overall English proficiency and enhancing their personal growth. Its teaching material, the Comprehensive English Textbooks, is a main source of language input for them, as English is taught as a foreign language in China, rather than a means of communication. As an indispensable part of the textbooks, tasks of high quality can not only provide good input for students and help them improve their English proficiency, but help them learn how to learn and cultivate a positive view on life and the world as well. However, there is not much literature on tasks in English textbooks either at home or abroad, let alone tasks in the Comprehensive English Textbooks. This paper is intended to probe into this area by conducting a comparative study of the tasks in two influential Comprehensive English Textbooks for English majors in China. One is"Contemporary College English"published by Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press in 2001. The other is"An Integrated English Course"published by Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press in 2005. The reason why the two sets of textbooks are chosen is that they are widely used by English majors in China, hence representative to a certain extent, and that they are published by two established publishing houses in China, which is a guarantee of quality in a certain sense. This paper is expected to"cast a brick to attract jade".Firstly, having briefly reviewed the researches into the English textbooks and their tasks at home and abroad, this paper puts forward a theoretical framework of designing tasks in Comprehensive English Textbooks, drawing from such theories as the Communicative Competence Theory, Input Hypothesis, Output Hypothesis, Constructivism and Humanism. The framework comprises five interrelated dimensions. They are English language knowledge and skills, knowledge of liberal arts and science, English teaching and learning principles, the development of learner autonomy and the development of positive world outlook and view on life. The dimension of English language knowledge and skills covers both knowledge of English language such as pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary, and language skills such as listening, speaking, reading and writing. The dimension of knowledge of liberal arts and science covers topics on society, culture, politics, history, literature, art, education, psychology, family, science and technology etc. The dimension of English teaching and learning principles covers the principles that are drawn from second language acquisition, education, psychology etc. and that are related to English materials development such as principles of authenticity, variety and novelty, to mention just a few. The dimension of development of learner autonomy covers such factors as learning how to learn, setting up learning objectives and learning pace on one's own, choosing learning methods that match one's own learning style, self evaluation etc. The dimension of development of positive world outlook and view on life covers elements of moral qualities, such as being honest, responsible, loyal to one's duty, optimistic and so on. Of the five dimensions, the dimension of English language knowledge and skills occupies a key position, as English proficiency is the most important yardstick of success for English majors. They are not only expected to speak and write accurately and fluently, but with rich ideas and in a convincing way as well. Meanwhile, they are also expected to learn how to learn and hold a positive world outlook and view on life. English textbooks and their tasks should be designed to meet the above requirements.Secondly, based on the above theoretical framework, the paper has conducted a comparative study of the tasks in two influential Comprehensive English textbooks for English majors. The research method used for analyzing the tasks is qualitative, though the calculation of the tasks might be quantitative. The paper has all together covered 3155 tasks in two sets of textbooks. Findings in favor are as follows: 1)Tasks in both sets of textbooks put emphasis on the training of language skills, thus helping learners lay a solid foundation of English language. 2) The speaking, reading and writing tasks are all connected with the theme of Text A and cover topics on society, culture, politics, history, science and technology, environmental protection, family and friendship, literature, art, education and psychology etc. The tasks are rich in content and thus contribute to broadening learners'horizons. 3) The tasks of the above skills are also close to students'life, thus conducive to stimulating their learning interest and motivation. 4) Translation tasks are designed to practice the words and expressions in Text A, thus helping them consolidate what they have just learned. However, tasks in both sets of textbooks bear the following defects:1)The grammar and vocabulary tasks are largely mechanic drills with a focus on form, lacking in the context where language is genuinely used. 2) The contents of the tasks lack hot topics, thus failing to follow closely the latest development in the modern world. 3) There are few tasks cultivating students'autonomous learning ability or helping them establish a positive world outlook and view on life. Findings also reveal that the main differences between tasks in the two sets of textbooks are as follows: 1) There are more grammar, listening, reading, writing and translation tasks in"Integrated English Course"than in"Contemporary College English"while there are more vocabulary tasks in the latter. 2) There are integrated skills training such as listening integrated with speaking or writing, reading with writing or speaking in"Integrated English Course", while there is none in the latter. 3) The speaking and reading tasks in"Integrated English Course"are less controlled and more interactive than those in"Contemporary College English"while the vocabulary tasks in the latter are more varied. 4) Tasks in"Integrated English Course"are more meaning focused and close to students'life and also to the theme to Text A. 5) There is an introduction to text structure following each text in"Integrated English Course"raising students'awareness of textual knowledge while there is none in the latter.Thirdly, based on the above theoretical framework, this paper designs a questionnaire composed of 42 questions. A survey is conducted to elicit the views of teachers and students who have used the textbooks. The subjects are 599 English majors in Shanghai International Studies University and Shenzhen University. An interview is also done among 10 teachers and 20 students. Findings reveal that the subjects are generally satisfied with the two sets of textbooks but are somewhat disappointed with the tasks in them. The major problems are as follows:1) The listening, speaking, reading, writing and translation tasks are considered disproportionate by half of the subjects. The grammar, vocabulary, reading and translation tasks are viewed as unsatisfactory by one third of the subjects. Neither are speaking, writing and listening tasks viewed as satisfactory by half of the subjects. 2) Half of the subjects think that tasks are not rich in topics on society, culture, education and psychology. 3) According to most of the subjects, tasks are not interesting, lacking in variety and novelty; and most of the tasks are form focused, rather than meaning focused. 4) Most subjects think both sets of textbooks are lacking in tasks cultivating learner autonomy and tasks helping learners develop a positive world outlook and view on life. The main differences between the tasks in the two sets of textbooks are as follows: 1) Generally speaking, the subjects are more satisfied with the tasks in"Integrated English Course"than those in"Contemporary College English". And they are more satisfied with the grammar, vocabulary, writing and translation tasks in"Integrated English Course"while speaking and reading tasks in"Contemporary College English"are more satisfactory. 2) There are more tasks covering topics on society, culture, science, environmental protection, family, education and psychology in"Integrated English Course"than in"Contemporary College English", while there are more tasks covering topics on politics, history and literature in the latter. 3) Tasks in"Integrated English Course"are generally more interesting and close to students'life while the tasks in"Contemporary College English"are more varied. 4) There are more tasks encouraging students to be optimistic and honest in"Integrated English Course"than in"Contemporary College English"while the latter has more tasks encouraging students to make unceasing efforts for self improvement and to be loyal to one's duty.Fourthly, this paper puts forward some suggestions concerning the design of tasks in textbooks. The author proposes that an ideal task should fulfill the following functions: 1) Help improving students'overall English proficiency, esp. their ability of using English in genuine contexts; 2) Help broadening students'horizon and enrich their knowledge of liberal arts and science; 3) Help cultivating students'ability of learner autonomy; 4) Help students develop a positive world outlook and view on life. To fulfill these functions, tasks in textbooks ought to meet the following requirements: 1) Tasks should expose learners to language in authentic use and provide them with opportunities to use the target language to achieve communicative purposes;2) Tasks should not rely too much on controlled practice; 3) Tasks should provide opportunities for outcome feedback; 4) Tasks should be rich in ideas concerning both liberal arts and science and at the same time be up to date; 5) Language in the tasks need to be authentic ; 6) Tasks need to be interesting and motivating; 7) Tasks should be close to students'life; 8) Tasks should be varied and their degree of difficulty be gradual.Finally, the paper recommends some areas of research into tasks of comprehensive English textbooks for further study. The author predicts that future research will be centered on needs analysis, the role of teachers, design of autonomous learning tasks, establishment of a scientific and operable system for designing and evaluating tasks in comprehensive English textbooks.