An Analysis And Evaluation Of Language Knowledge And Language Skills In English (Yilin Edition) For Junior High School Students

The development of a good set of English textbooks requires many interactive aspects, among which textbooks evaluation is necessary. With the deep reform of the new curriculum and the development of English teaching, an increasing number of English textbooks have been pouring into the market. And many options are provided for teachers and students. Under this circumstances, how to evaluate and select textbooks has become a big concern for us all.This thesis focuses on English (Yilin edition) and addresses two questions:1. How well does the arrangement of language knowledge and language skills in English (Yilin edition) meet the principle of compilation?2. How well does the arrangement of language knowledge and language skills in English (Yilin edition) meet the needs of students?The first question is based on the four principles of textbooks evaluation, which contains the ideological principle, the scientific principle, the interesting principle and the flexible principle. It aims to check how well the language knowledge and language skills of English (Yilin edition) meet the principle of compilation.The second question is probed according to the needs of students. It attempts to check how well the language knowledge and language skills of English (Yilin edition) can stimulate students’interest, fit students’English level and meet their cognitive characteristics.This thesis adopts a systematical method which combines a quantitative and a qualitative research. And the above two questions are analyzed through the data collected from the questionnaire of 200 Grade 9 students and the interview of 10 teachers in Xinghua Daize Junior High School. After the analysis and evaluation, the author draws the following conclusions:Firstly, the arrangement of language knowledge and language skills is consistent with the ideological principle, which can help students form correct outlooks on the world, life and values as well as cultivate cross-cultural communication awareness. However, compared with the abundant introduction of Western culture, our Chinese culture is somewhat neglected. This is something to be improved.Secondly, the selection of language knowledge and language skills is consistent with the scientific principle. The language knowledge is arranged from easy to complex and pays attention to the combination of the old and new language points as well as the reiteration of key language points. However, the size of vocabulary is a little too big, to which editors should pay much more attention.Thirdly, the presentation of language knowledge and language skills is consistent with the interesting principle. The selected topics are close to students’ daily life and keep pace with the times. What’s more, the textbooks provide students with many opportunities to use English to express their ideas and opinions, which is attractive and interesting to students.Fourthly, the arrangement of language knowledge and language skills is consistent with the flexible principle. The textbooks provide enough opportunities for students’autonomous learning. Thus students are free to choose what they are interested and have an in-depth study.Fifthly, from the perspective of students’ needs, the selection of language knowledge and language skills is helpful in stimulating students’ interest in English learning. However, the topics of writing part are not varied enough, which may reduce some students’ enthusiasm of English learning.Sixthly, the presentation of language knowledge and language skills pays much attention to fit students’present English level. The majority of them think it is easy for them to finish the listening part and reading activities, but the grammar exercises and speaking activities are hard for them.Seventhly, the arrangement of language knowledge and language skills conforms to the students’ cognitive rules, which is from the easier to the more advanced, from simple to complex. The reasonable learning process lays a solid foundation for their future study.At the end of the thesis, some suggestions for textbook compiling and teachers’ teaching are put forward on how to improve and better use the textbooks.