A Contrastive Analysis Of Chinese Culture And Western Culture In New Senior English For China(Book 1 To Book 5)

In the 1980s,culture got attention in foreign language teaching in China,but the'culture' referred to target language culture.In the 1990s,many scholars began to realize the importance of mother tongue culture in foreign language teaching in China.With the increasingly rapid development of globalization,Chinese culture and western culture have contacted and collided frequently.For Chinese students,one of the important purposes of learning English is to conduct cross-culture communication successfully.Not only target language culture but also mother tongue culture is needed in cross-culture communication.Previous studies suggest that Chinese students' ability to express Chinese culture in English is very limited.Developing students' culture awareness has been one of the teaching objectives in senior high school in the new National English Curriculum(Test Version).On the one hand,English textbook is a vital tool for English teaching and learning.On the other hand,it also works as an important medium to transmit culture.A good English textbook not only provides students language knowledge,but also provides them abundant culture knowledge.Starting from this view,the author chooses New Senior English for China(Bookl to Book5)published by People's Education Press in 2007 as the research subjects,with the purpose of conducting a contrastive analysis of Chinese and western culture.There are three research questions in this study.First,what are the categories of Chinese and western culture in New Senior English for China(Book 1 to Book 5)?Second,what are the ratios of Chinese and western culture in New Senior English for China(Book 1 to Book 5)?Third,how are Chinese and western culture distributed in New Senior English for China(Book 1 to Book 5)?Through using large quantities of tables and charts,the author collects Chinese and western culture in New Senior English for China(Book 1 to Book 5)and organizes the data.The results of this study are the followings.(1)Culture categories listed in the new National English Curriculum(Test Version)are basically included in New Senior English for China(Book 1 to Book 5).(2)The ratio of western culture is 58.73%while the ratio of Chinese culture is 17.47%in New Senior English for China(Book 1 to Book 5).(3)Chinese and western culture are not distributed in a balanced way,specifically reflecting in presentation forms,culture categories,etc.Based on the research conclusions,some suggestions are made for classroom English teaching and textbook compiling in China.For classroom English teaching,the suggestions are the followings.First,English teachers are supposed to use textbooks in a creative and flexible way.Second,English teachers are supposed to continuously enhance their professional knowledge.Third,English teachers are supposed to make full use of students' initiativeness in culture learning.Fourth,students should be led to establish the awareness that all cultures are equal.For English textbook compiling,the suggestions are the followings.First,Chinese culture should be increased in English textbooks.Second,the presentation forms of culture should be enhanced in English textbooks.Third,culture should be distributed in a more balanced way in every part in English textbooks.Finally,the author reflects the limitations of this thesis and makes some suggestions for future researches on this topic.