Research On Students’ Use Of Textbooks From The Perspective Of Activity Theory

From "textbook-dominated"to "the criticism on textbook-dominated" by the perspective of progressivism, "textbook use"’has sinceforth been a controversial topic in academic research field. Within the background of curriculum reform, the highlight on curriculum implementation process gives rise to the importance and the academic research interest on textbook use, considered as an integral part of curriculum implementation. However, the current research status quo reveals that too much exposure on teacher textbook use versus over-igorance on student textbook use is in sharp contrast to the promotion of "student-centered philosophy" of curriculum reform. In consequence, over-simplification for students’ purpose of textbook use, low efficiency and low level of textbook use becomes a common phenomenon for students. What’s worse, it could hinder the classroom teaching process in some cases. Thus, the study on student textbook use is an inevitable choice. However, the shortage of research with regard to its theory, practice and the complexity of its methodology makes it a state to be explored.By reviewing and comparing the three theoretical basis in this field with two chapters, the theoretical framework of student textbook use by activity theory is put forth and it is found that:First, the conception of "student textbook use" from the perspective of text reading theory has transformed from being defined as "how much textbook content student could memorize" to being as an interaction among readers" prior knowledge, text structure and reading strategies in the guidance of connectivism and constructivism. Research on student textbook use within the framework of text reading theory does great contribution to improving students reading skills but this theorectical perspective is forsaken to be used as an analytic framework due to its ignorance on the teaching and learning pecularity of student textbook use, breaking away from its natural using context and mere focus on student reading behavior.Second, reader response theory defines student textbook use as an interaction between reader and text. The consistency between intended reader and implicit reader is used as a criterion to measure the efficiency of textbook use. Henceforth, it could promote readers’activeness in reading textbook to some extent. However, it is not taken as a theoretical background to analyze the reality of student textbook use for its narrowed view of textbook use as student reading behaviors, simplified interpretation of the definition of "interaction" and lack of empirical research.Third, activity theory is what is adopted to analyze student textbbook use within this study. Activity theory advocates that student textbook use is a two-way process within an activity, that is, textbook instrumentalization and instrumentation. Within the instrumentalization process, the potential funtions of textbook are gratually making itself manifest while its functions could also be altered or transformed. In the instrumentation process, students form their own usage sheme. This two way process reveals the intrinsic nature of the interaction between student and textbook. Activity is a basic and complete unit used to analyze student textbook use, consisting of students, artefact(textbook), object, learning aims, community, labor division and regulations, among which, interactions take place.The empirical case study is carried out to compare four students using textbooks. By this, it is found that:first, the behavior patterns of students" use of textbooks are substantially similar and variance within the specific patterns of textbook use remains, but deep-reading behaviors lack among all cases; second, although students express their different purposes of textbook use, but the essence of their purpose in increasing vocabulary to improve test scores is the same; third, instrmentalization happens to the textbook while students" using but the functions of textbooks haven’t been fully explored. Fourth, students form their unique textbook usage scheme and gain different levels of textbook use, but the feature of low-level textbook use is shared among them. Fifth, students’use of textbooks varies in differnt activity contexts(labor division, rules and community) but the difference is not significant.The result shows:First, students with different academic achievement needs to expore a state of full understanding, full use, high and deep level use of students" textbooks. Second, teachers play an important role in students" use of textbook as it is revealed in the exploration of three factors, rules, labor division and community within activity context. Third, students’effective use of textbooks is not automatically acquired and more training and guidance is needed.The present study suggests that:First, in order to promote more efficient use of students’ textbooks, we need to improve our understanding of students’ textbooks, as an intermediary artefact, with regard to their structures, functions and intended usage,,and more introduction for these factors is demanded for its own sake; second, add more extra-resource links in the textbook and strengthen the students’motivation and needs in textbook use to improve their usage level; third, rules, labor division and community in activity context reflects the obvious impact of teachers on students’ using textbooks, so teachers’training in textbook use is needed in order to better help students use textbooks effectively; and finally, in textbook design, data should be analyzed not only from textbook analysis, but also from more research on textbook-in-use ".