Exploration On Value Orientations In English Textbooks For Chinese Junior High Schools From The Perspective Of Language Education Planning

Textbooks embody knowledge of human culture and reflect the values of different nations and states.English textbooks are the carrier of foreign language education policy and planning in China.The purpose of this study is to investigate the value orientations in Chinese English textbooks,to examine the degree to which national educational goals are presented and the degree of convergence between textbook development and language education policies and planning.The study seeks to answer the following three research questions:(1)What kind of value orientation changes have our English textbooks of junior high schools shown?(2)What are the motivations that affect the value orientation of English textbooks for junior high schools in China?(3)How to adjust the value orientation of English textbooks from the perspective of language education planning? According to the research questions,such methods as content analysis,interview,literature research and text analysis are used.The study uses 9 sets of junior middle school English textbooks as samples with a time span from the year 1949 to the present,analyzes the content of 1262 articles,and finally determines that 693 articles present different value categories.Three trends are found in the results of the study.First,the value orientation of the rising type includes cultural and intellectual value orientations.The cultural value orientation is in a low proportion in the textbooks of the 1980 s,and gradually increases after the reform and opening up.The proportions of emotion and creative thinking in the category of intellectual value also rise rapidly.Second,a relatively stable value orientation includes economic,social,and moral ones.Third,the value orientation that has shown a downward trend includes political value orientation.Based on data collected from textbook content analysis and interviews,it is found that the factors that affect the value orientation of textbooks mainly include explicit foreign language education policies such as syllabuses and curriculum standards,as well as different subjects of foreign language education planning that play an invisible role.People from national education department with power;linguists,teachers,and other textbook writers,they belong to people with professional knowledge;English teachers,students,and parents who have neither power nor professional knowledge.From the perspective of language planning,the values of foreign language education policies and planning subjects are affected by ideology,identity,image,insecurity,instrumental and integration factors.Based on the findings,this study builds an analytical model for the value orientation of junior high school English textbooks.From the perspective of language education planning,this study also provides constructive suggestions for English textbook writing.This dissertation is divided into eight chapters.The first chapter mainly introduces the research origin,core concepts,research significance,the overall structure of the dissertation.The second chapter is a literature review,which reviews the value orientation of language education planning at home and abroad,relevant achievements of textbook value orientation research,and summarizes existing findings and deficiencies.Chapter III is the theoretical basis,systematically explaining the value orientation theory of educational value theory,language planning theory,and language education planning theory.By combining content in the second chapter,a theoretical framework of this research is constructed.Chapter IV is the research design part,explains research subjects,research questions,research methods,data collection and analysis process.Chapter V is about the research findings,mainly analyzing changes in the overall value orientations of English textbooks and changes in various value categories.Chapter 6 analyzes six main factors that affect the value orientations of English textbooks in junior high schools: ideology,identity,insecurity,image,integration and instrumentality.Chpater7 puts forward the corresponding construction of textbook value orientation from the perspective of language education planning.Chapter 8 reviews the main findings of this study,its innovation and research limitations and implication.