A Comparative Investigative Study Of Two Sets Of English Text Books For Primary Schools

In the present situation of the deepening education reform,curriculum reform,as the core of the education reform,puts forward new requests for the creativity and integration of textbooks in different areas.According to the Curriculum standards,"Teachers should have the ability to explore curriculum resources and complete teaching tasks creatively.Curriculum standard is the main basis for teaching and evaluation.Textbooks are the tools or media to complete teaching objectives.Teachers should have a deep analysis of the textbooks based on the requirements of the curriculum standard and have an overall comprehension of students' needs and learning abilities.Besides,teachers should add and revise teaching materials,according to their teaching conditions and environment,to complete the tasks creatively.The traditional idea that "textbooks are the priorities and cannot be challenged" could hardly meet the needs of the curriculum reform any more.This study selected two sets of primary school English textbooks(i.e.Oxford English[Shenzhen Edition]and New Magic)which are widely used in Xili Primary School in Nanshan District in Shenzhen.On the basis of Constructionist Theories,documentary method,comparative analysis method and analytical method are adopted in this study to make a systematic analysis about composition systems,language contents,emotional attitudes,and culture awareness reflected in these two sets of English textbooks.Based on the curriculum differences of Shenzhen and Hong Kong,a systematic elaboration of the teaching goals and teaching contents of the two sets of English textbooks is made,and the advantages and disadvantages of the two sets of English textbooks are summarized.It is hoped that the present study can provide scientific basis and guidelines to the integration of textbooks afterwards and offer reliable suggestions for developing proper curriculum to meet the needs of the development of schools.