An Ecological Discourse Analysis Of SHE

With the increase of ecological problems,ecological protection has become one of the focuses of the whole world.Continuous efforts are being made for ecological improvement in every field in China.In the field of senior high school English education,more and more attention is being paid to the cultivation of students’ correct values and excellent personal qualities.The penetration of ecological education in English teaching not only answers the need for the development of the times,but also is a necessary condition for self-development and self-improvement.In accordance with the requirements of the times and English teaching,this research attempts to make a deep ecological discourse analysis of Senior High English(SHE)textbooks published by Beijing Normal University Press.It focuses on three research questions:(1)Do the textbooks contain the three types of ecological discourse(beneficial,ambivalent and destructive ecological discourse)? If yes,how are the three types of discourse distributed in the textbooks?(2)How do high school students understand ecological discourse in the textbooks?(3)How does ecological discourse in the textbooks affect high school students?Under the guidance of scientific ecological views,this article comprehensively classified and analyzed the ecological discourse in the SHE textbooks to understand the manifestation of the three types of ecological discourse.We also selected some students from the Second Senior High School of Zhenping County,Henan Province,as our research subject to investigate high school students’ understanding of the ecological discourse in the textbooks and to clarify the impact of such discourse on high school students.The results of the research are as follows:(1)Senior High English textbooks manifest not only beneficial ecological discourse,but also ambivalent and destructive discourse by conveying "growthism," "humanism" and "hedonism";(2)High school students have a high degree of recognition of the beneficial ecological discourse in textbooks,but most of them lack a dialectical perspective on ambivalent ecological discourse,and some students cannot recognizeor even agree with destructive ecological discourse;(3)Some of the opinions in the beneficial and ambivalent ecological discourse of the textbooks can help students to establish the viewpoint of "respecting nature","benevolence in all things" and the realization of "harmony between people",but ambivalent and destructive ecological discourse may encourage students to damage ecological environment.In order to make the textbooks further develop their strengths and avoid their weaknesses,this study makes recommendations for both textbook writers and teachers respectively.First of all,textbook writers should examine discourse and dialogue choices from an ecological point of view,improve the guidance of textbooks on ecological education,and integrate correct ecological concepts into textbooks.Secondly,teachers should infiltrate ecological education into daily teaching activities,inspire students to think more about ecological aspects of teaching materials,and create opportunities for students to carry out ecological practice.