The Evaluation On The Cultural Knowledge Content In The Senior High School English Textbooks Of BNUP

In recent years,with the development of cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries and the increasing awareness of the importance of telling the Chinese story,compiler and users of high school English textbooks have been paying more and more attention to the cultural knowledge in the textbooks.Under the guidance of the General Senior High School English Curriculum Standards(2017),Beijing Normal University Press published a series of English textbooks for general high school in 2019.In order to facilitate teachers and students to better use the textbooks,this research studies the cultural knowledge content in this series of textbooks,and mainly answers the following three questions:1.What is the classification and distribution of cultural knowledge in the required and required elective textbooks?2.Based on the requirements of GSHSECS(2017),what is the evaluation on cultural knowledge content of this series of textbooks?3.What are teachers' and students' evaluations on the cultural knowledge content of this series of textbooks?To achieve these,this research categorizes and analyzes 147 texts in 7 textbooks from Required 1 to Required Elective 4 of BNUP based on the classification and requirements of cultural knowledge in the GSHSECS(2017).To better understand the evaluation of the users of the textbooks,this research conducts questionnaires among 211 English teachers in Anqing city and 200 students in a secondary school.And 5 teachers and students are also randomly selected to be interviewed separately.Based on statistics and questionnaire analysis,the research finds that: first,the cultural knowledge in this series of textbooks is various and abundant in categories.It covers a wide range of content and has reasonable distribution.There is a focus on the types of cultural knowledge in both required and required elective textbooks.And the proportion of each classification is broadly balanced in general.In addition,‘Life and Society' is the highest percentage in the textbooks,‘Literature and Art' is the second highest,and ‘Costume culture' is the lowest;second,the composition of cultural knowledge in the textbooks meets the requirements of the GSHSECS(2017),and the arrangement of skills training in listening,speaking,reading,writing,and viewing for cultural knowledge learning also meets the requirements;third,through the teachers' and students' questionnaires,they are satisfied with the selection,design and founction of cultural knowledge content in this series of textbooks.Among other things,they feel that the cultural knowledge content of the textbooks enabled the selection of authentic texts and the corresponding activity illustrations are well designed.The cultural knowledge content also helps students to develop intercultural communication skills.Based on the findings of the research,some suggestions are also given for the development and using of textbooks:The content selected by the textbook writers should pay attention to the latest achievements in social development,technological progress,and the latest research in foreign language education,as well as to the absorption and promotion of the excellent Chinese traditional culture;teachers should develop an awareness that language and culture are mutually reinforcing in teaching and guide students to explore,experience,compare and contrast the knowledge of Chinese and foreign cultures in a variety ways.The internalization of cultural knowledge into cognition,behavior,and character with the correct values is then further achieved;students should absorb the essence of Chinese and foreign cultures based on understanding of the culture in different countries.Students should actively develop the ability of cross-cultural communication and strengthen their cultural confidence.