A Comparative Study on English Textbooks for the Elementary Schools of Taiwan and Hong Kong

Autor: Cheng-Yi Shih, 施丞苡
Rok vydání: 2013
Druh dokumentu: 學位論文 ; thesis
Popis: 101
This study aims to investigate whether current English textbooks used for Taiwan and Hong Kong elementary schools correspond to the principles of Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) in an attempt to make a contribution to English education in Taiwan. In this study, qualitative and quantitative methods were both used to explore the use of English textbooks. A total of 20 English textbooks were analyzed and categorized based on William Littlewood’s evaluation and Giles’ ten features. Results showed that the percentage of non-communicative learning in English textbooks either published in Taiwan or in Hong Kong is the highest compared with other learning units according to William Littlewood’s classifications. In the advanced learning levels, however, the percentage of non-communicative learning decreases, whereas pre-communicative language practice increases. Nevertheless, the distributions of learning types are similar between Taiwan and Hong Kong. Five categories of learning types emerged in the textbooks of Hong Kong while only three learning types existed in the textbooks of Taiwan. On the basis of Giles Witton’s ten features, the findings revealed that the contexts of the textbooks Welcome to English preferred language-focus courses but the contexts of the textbooks Hello, Darbie! tended to be language-based. Though both contents of the series textbooks correspond to CLT, language teaching in Taiwan still put more emphasis on forms than on meaning while Hong Kong textbooks changed the main teaching principles already to learning levels. To sum up, to cultivate the basic language ability is important. Furthermore, how to trigger EFL students learning motivation and make learning useful and meaningful to them is essential for English teachers.
Databáze: Networked Digital Library of Theses & Dissertations
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