A Comparative Analysis Of Cultural Contents Between The Old And New Edition Of Senior High School English Textbooks Published By PEP

Since the 21st century,with the continuous advancement of globalization,the rapid development of science and technology,and the implementation of "the Belt and Road Initiative",cultural exchanges between countries have become more frequent,and the role of national cultural soft power in the comprehensive national power is particularly prominent.Language,as an important carrier and medium of culture,has rich cultural connotations.It can be said that mastering language is also mastering culture.Thus,foreign language teaching is strongly associated with culture teaching.In China,English Curriculum Standard for Senior High School(201 7)proposes the general goal that is developing students' core competence of English subject.The core competence of English subject includes language competence,cultural awareness,thinking quality and learning capacity.Obviously,cultivating and developing students'cultural awareness is clearly listed as one of goals in the new curriculum standard.In senior high school English teaching,as the main tool for students to learn English,textbook is undoubtedly an important medium to achieve this goal.Based on the concept of the new curriculum standard,China People's Education Press(PEP)issued the latest version of senior high school English textbooks in 2019 which shows some differences from the old version(2007)in terms of content and structure.Based on textbook evaluation theory,by text analysis,data analysis and comparative analysis,this study is going to make an internal evaluation of cultural contents in the reading part of New Senior English for China(2007)(Compulsory Book 1-5)and Senior English for China(2019)(Compulsory Book 1-3)both published by PEP in order to answer the following questions:1.What are the cultural awareness objectives in different curriculum standards referenced by NSEFC(2007)and SEFC(2019)respectively?2.What is the overall distribution of cultural contents in NSEFC(2007)and SEFC(2019)?What are the similarities and differences?3.Does SEFC(2019)meet the requirements of cultural awareness in the core competence of English subject proposed by English Curriculum Standard for Senior High School(2017)?Through the research,the following results are founded.Firstly,the new curriculum standard issued in 2017 put forward new requirements of cultural awareness objectives in the new textbooks,not only emphasizing the study of cultures from British and American countries and other foreign countries,but also asking students to perceive the beauty of language and culture,and can briefly introduce Chinese and foreign cultural phenomena in English.Secondly,the cultural contents of the reading part in NSEFC(2007)and SEFC(2019)are rich and diverse,but the proportion of cultural types is different.Based on the cultural region,the old version is oriented towards target language culture and other culture while the new version is oriented towards international culture,and the proportion of native language culture increases.In addition,comparative culture is ignored in two editions of textbooks.Based on the cultural structure,NSEFC(2007)and SEFC(2019)are oriented towards C culture,but compared with the old version,c culture in the new version increases and it focuses on cultivating students virtues and right values.Based on the language function of culture,two editions of textbooks are oriented towards knowledge culture,but compared with the new version,the old version has a larger proportion of social communication culture,and pays attention to both linguistic and non-linguistic culture which affect communication directly.Thirdly,the cultural contents in reading materials of SEFC(2019)meets the requirements for cultivating culture awareness in the new curriculum standard to some degree,but there is still room for improvement.For example,it ignores the importance of comparative culture in cultivating students' cross-cultural awareness;it lacks c culture to explore the reasons behind the cultural phenomena;it reduces the proportion of social communication culture.In view of these shortcomings,the study makes some suggestions for the editors and users of the new textbooks.Before the new textbooks are not widely used throughout the country,the comparative study of cultural contents in reading materials between SEFC(2007)and SEFC(2019)has great significance in senior high school English teaching.The author hopes that it can provide reference for editors to compile cultural reading materials in textbooks,help teachers and students use textbooks in a proper way in the process of real teaching and learning English,so as to achieve the educational goal of broadening students'horizons and developing students' cultural awareness.