A Comparative Study Of Textbook Use Between Experienced And Novice English Teachers In Grade Eight

According to the English curriculum standard of compulsory education,textbooks are not only the carrier of the curriculum and the main teaching and learning materials for classroom teaching,but also the important materials for achieving teaching objectives.Teachers should be able to use textbooks creatively according to the practical teaching needs.Meanwhile,teachers are required to make rational use of various teaching resources to enhance students' learning efficiency.However,for the same set of textbooks,teacher with different teaching experience deals with the textbook differently from each other.Therefore,it is of great theoretical and practical significance to understand the current situation of grade eight English teachers' use of textbooks,find out the differences between novice teachers(NT)and experienced teachers'(ET)textbook use,analyze the reasons for the differences,and put forward some constructive suggestions for improving middle school English teachers,especially novice teachers' textbook using ability.The study aims at answering the following two questions:(1)What are the similarities and differences of textbook use between grade eight ETs andNTs?(2)Why are there many similarities and differences of textbook use between grade eight ETs and NTs?In order to solve the above two research questions,33 grade eight English teachers were chosen from Hohhot Experimental Middle School,including 18 ETs and 15 NTs.The research instruments include the questionnaire,classroom observation and interview.After analyzing the results of the research,the author draws the following conclusions:(1)Both ETs and NTs believe that textbooks and the curriculum standard have great impacts on English class teaching.However,ETs' understanding and attitudes toward textbooks and curriculum standard are more comprehensive and positive than NTs;Both ETs and NTs think that it's necessary to make addition,deletion,replacement and adjustment to textbooks,while in practical teaching,ETs are better at integrating and using textbooks creatively than NTs;For the problems and requirements in textbook use,both ETs and NTs are eager for getting more systematic supports of teaching resources and being trained in textbook use,integration and redevelopment.However,NTs want to enhance their own textbook use abilities and teaching skills.(2)ETs and NTs have above differences in textbook use are mainly because of ETs' richer class management and teaching experience,more sufficient professional and pedagogical content knowledge,longer-term accumulated teaching materials,more various teaching styles and multipleteaching beliefs,stronger confidence and ability in the creative use of textbooks.At last,the author put forward some effective suggestions on how to improve middle school English teachers creative use of textbooks from the perspectives of teachers,textbook compilers and schools.For example,NTs ought to enrich their knowledge of textbook,textbook use concepts and curriculum standard,evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of textbooks scientifically,improve their teaching abilities and professional knowledge.ETs are required to update their teaching concepts and learn modern teaching technologies...Both ETs and NTs should teach creatively according to the requirements of different students and the curriculum standard.Textbook compilers should update the content of textbooks in time and design more available teaching resources for teachers.School ought to provide more equipment and facility supports for teachers and invite more experts to provide on-the-spot guidance in teacher's textbook use strategies.