A Study On The Development Of English Textbooks For Senior High Schools Since1949

In school education, textbooks, as important resource, basis and media, are theessential parts of curriculum and the carrier to put curriculum into practice. They arealso the embodiment of the nation will, national spirit, cultural traditions and the levelof subjects’ development as well as the basic means of achieving cultivation targetsand the important basis of teaching and examination. As one type of special texts,English textbooks not only work as the important language teaching tool but also as acritical carrier of knowledge. Formal English education in China began with TongWen Guan in June1862. English teaching developed rather quickly after theestablishment of the People’s Republic of China since1949. But the development ofEnglish textbooks in China has undergone through a hard and tortuous developmentprogress because our national foreign language policy appeared unsteady. In the early1950s there were almost no English textbooks, and Russian was identified as the mainforeign language in China. However, in1960s English became a main foreignlanguage instead of Russian. English was given prominence again in schools whichmade it as important as Chinese and math since1978. English is the major foreignlanguage of foreign language education for senior high schools. Therefore, it is veryimportant and significant to study the development of English textbooks for seniorhigh schools since1949.This paper provides an account of the development of school English textbooksfor senior high schools in China from1949to2013by literature research method. Inaddition, ten teachers of senior high schools were interviewed about the factorsaffecting the development of English textbooks for senior high schools and thedevelopmental trend of English textbooks for senior high schools. The teacher’sopinions were analyzed and concluded in this study.The development of English textbooks for senior high schools can be dividedinto six major periods:1) The Soviet Influence (1949-1960). The place of English wastaken by Russian which had become the dominant foreign language taught in mostChinese schools. English as a foreign language (EFL) continued in a few senior secondary schools and institutions of higher education.2) Preliminarily ResumingPeriod (1960-1966). English began to replace Russian in educational prominence.Textbook contents were based on basic knowledge and skills, strongly politicized.3)Disrupting Period (1966-1976). English was viewed as the language of the enemy.In the first half of the decade, almost all English teaching programs were abolished inthe school system. There was no syllabus available for middle schools. The Englishtextbooks at that time just copied ideas from the1960s.4) Recover, Exploration andReform Period (1977-1993). The textbooks stressed grammar and the materials ofreading showed strong link to political nature.5) Integrating with GlobalizationPeriod (1993-2003). The contents were not political overt, but textbooks mainlyfocused on moral education, and also fostered patriotism and socialism.6) NewCurriculum Textbook Period (2003-the Present). The contents are closed withstudents’ real life and modern social life; they mainly focus on students’ learningstrategies, cultural awareness and cross-cultural communication.In this study, most of the ten teachers thought that the factors affecting textbookdevelopment for senior high schools are examination system. The development ofEnglish textbooks in the future should match the system of college entranceexamination and students’ all-round development. This study mainly analyzed andsummarized the features of English textbooks for senior high schools in every stagewas based on teachers’ roles, teaching methods, teaching contents, teaching hours andvocabulary. The conclusions of this study are as follows:1）The factors mainlyaffecting development of English textbooks are the needs of social and educationaldevelopment.2) The development of English textbooks for senior high schools in thefuture should keep pace with the time and social economic development; meet theneeds of different students’ learning; and pay more attention to cross-culturalcommunication, students’ critical thinking and students’ all-round development.