A Comparative Study On The Types And Sources Of Cultural Content In Middle School English Textbooks Between China And South Korea

In 2011,the Ministry of Education promulgated the "English Curriculum Standard for Compulsory Education",which adds the goal of cultural awareness.Textbooks are not only an important embodiment of cultural transmission,but also the main means for students to learn.In the process of learning English,it is beneficial to contact and understand foreign culture to understand and use English,deepen the understanding and love of the excellent traditional culture,strengthen students’cultural self-confidence,and cultivate cross-cultural awareness and ability.China and South Korea have the same language environment which belong to the same EFL countries,the curriculum standards have set the goal of cultural awareness,stressed the importance of cultural teaching in English classroom.It can be seen that cultural teaching has become one of the key tasks that can not be ignored in the future English education.Therefore,it is very important to pay close attention to the cultural content and design of cultural teaching activities in English textbooks.This study uses the methods of literature,text analysis and comparison to compare the cultural content of the most widely used middle school English textbooks(People’s Publishing House "Go for it" and Dong—A "Middle School English")in China and South Korea.According to the Hammmerly’s(1982)cultural analysis model and the Kachru’s(1990)three-circle theory,the types of cultural content are divided into history and geography,local customs,traditional customs,lifestyle,literature and art,values;the sources of cultural content are divided into target language culture,native language culture,ESL culture,EFL culture and comparative culture;then compares the authenticity,scientificity and autonomy on the design of cultural teaching activities in the textbooks.Through comparative study,this paper tries to answer two research questions:(1)What are the similarities and differences on the types and sources of cultural content between Chinese and Korean middle school English textbooks?(2)What are the similarities and differences in the design of cultural teaching activities between two textbooks?Through the research,it is found that in terms of the types of cultural content,the cultural content of middle school English textbooks in China is single than that in South Korea;in terms of the sources of cultural content,both two countries attach importance to the target culture,but Chinese textbooks pay more attention to the content of native culture,while Korean textbooks focus on the guidance of multicultural sources.In the design of cultural teaching activities,textbooks of China lacks authenticity,scientificity and autonomy.According to the findings of the study,some suggestions are put forward for English cultural teaching and compilation of textbooks.