Needs Analysis Of Countryside High School Students For English Textbook

Satisfying learners’ needs is the starting and the end of educational reform ofEnglish. Given the reality that learners vary across various internal and externalfactors, learners’ English levels differ in the diversified areas of China. Students incities are always the center of textbook reform, while little attention is paid to theneeds proposed by the countryside students.The purpose of the study is to identify countryside high school students’ needsfor Englishtextbook in terms of content and structure based on questionnaire amongstudents and interviews with10teachers. Two research questions are listed asfollows:What are countryside high school students’ needs for English textbook incontent?What are countryside high school students’ needs for English textbook instructure?Both qualitative and quantitative researches are employed in the study. Aquestionnaire, which includes personal information and questions in terms of contentwas delivered to200students in Grade One, No.5Middle School(certaincountryside school). Additionally, interviews were conducted among10teachersfrom No.5and6Middle schools to obtain data to answer the research questions withreasons explored at the same time.Results show that the current textbook is inappropriate for countryside students.Students feel that the difficulty of the current textbook from reading to writingshould be decreased to meet the needs of countryside students. The structure of thetextbook is relatively reasonable and the proportions of the five parts can satisfy theneeds of teachers and learners. According to specific situation of countrysidestudents, teachers gave some valuable suggestions about the adaptation of Englishtextbook as well as reasons for such needs. Based on the students’ needs for Englishtextbooks in content and structure, the author found out three big challenges forEnglish education in the countryside: suitable textbooks, the inspiration of interestand motivation as well as the cultivation of self-confidence.Situations in different areas and different schools in the countryside vary fromeach other, so more attentions should be paid to countryside students’ needs forEnglish textbook. The awareness and investigation of students’ needs for English textbooks by teachers and administrators wil contribute to the development ofschool-based English textbooks and accordingly inspire students’ greater motivationto learn English and finally restore students’ confidence in English learning.