摘 要

在中国大学英语专业课程中，教材作为知识传递的主要载体，扮演着至关重要的角色。目前，针对中国大学本科英语专业学生的英美文学教材数量和种类日趋丰富，但专门针对英美文学教材的研究却寥寥无几。毫无疑问，教材的质量高低与否对学习效果起着十分重要的作用。因此，研究这些教材是否真正适合学习者使用，符合教学要求，非常具有现实意义。本文以乔·麦克多诺与克里斯托弗·肖（Jo McDonough and Christopher Shaw）的教材评估理论为基础，对《美国文学欣赏》和《英国文学选读》这两本经典教材进行系统性的评估，通过评估分析得出两本教材的优势及存在的问题，结合问题提出可行的解决方法，并为未来英美文学教材编写提出建议。本文主要分为三个部分：第一部分回顾了国内外经典教材评估理论和重要研究；第二部分根据乔·麦克多诺与克里斯托弗·肖的教材评估模型对两本教材进行系统性的评估；第三部分通过分析结果得出结论，对英美文学教材更新和改进提出详细建议，最后希望能为今后教材发展提供帮助。

关键词：教材评估；大学英语专业；英美文学教材

Abstract

In Chinese college English course, textbooks play a vital role as the main carrier of knowledge transmission. At present, the quantity and variety of British and American literature textbooks for college English majors in China are booming, however, there have been little research specifically focusing on those textbooks. Undoubtedly, the quality of the textbooks plays a very important role in the learning effect. Therefore, it is a sensible idea to investigate whether these materials are suitable for learners to use and can meet the teaching requirements. Based on McDonough and Shaw's (2013) textbook evaluation theory, this paper evaluated two classic textbooks, Selected Readings in British Literature and Appreciating American Literature. The analysis drew the merits and problems of the two textbooks, proposed feasible solutions to the problems, and made recommendations for the compilation of future British and American literature textbooks. This thesis is mainly divided into three parts: the first part reviewed domestic and foreign classic evaluation theories and important research; the second part evaluated the two target textbooks on the basis of McDonough and Shaw’s (2013) textbook evaluation model; and the third part drew conclusions from the analysis results, and put forward some detailed suggestions for improving British and American literature textbooks, finally hoped to help the development of textbooks in the future.

Key Words: textbook evaluation; college English majors; British and American literature textbooks

Contents

1 Introduction 1

2 Literature Review 4

2.1 Previous studies on textbook evaluation 4

2.1.1 Previous studies on textbook evaluation abroad 4

2.1.2 Previous studies on textbook evaluation at home 8

2.2 Previous studies on college American and British literature textbooks for English majors in China 10

3 Research Methods 13

3.1 Research questions 13

3.2 The textbooks 13

3.3 Evaluation criteria 21

3.4 Research procedure 22

4 Results 24

4.1 External evaluation 24

4.2 Internal evaluation 27

4.3 Overall evaluation 29

5 Discussion 32

5.1 Summary of major results 32

5.2 Strengths and problems of two textbooks 33

5.2.1 Major strengths 33

5.2.2 Existing problems 33

5.2.2.1 Monotonous mode of compilation 33

5.2.2.2 The lack of inclusion of literary theory 34

5.2.2.3 Cover design, catalogue and appendix 34

5.3 Pedagogical suggestions to textbook compilation 35

5.3.1 The innovation of compiling sequence 35

5.3.2 The inclusion of theoretical guidance 35

5.3.3 The visual design 35

6 Conclusion 37

References 39

Acknowledgements 41

An Empirical Study of Two-stage Evaluation of College American and British Literature Textbooks for English Majors in China

1 Introduction

With the trend of globalization, the frequency and degree of cultural input and output are increased. English majors in English as a foreign language settings (EFL) such as Mainland China should have comprehensive knowledge of American and British cultures, including history, great figures, and so forth. Insights into American and British literature contribute to cultivating English majors’ cultural attainment. Through learning literary works across different eras, Chinese English majors can have a basic understanding of western civilization, history, social customs and etiquette, religions, rational characteristics, and so on.

The Guide to College English Teaching (Ministry of Education, 2017) was launched to offer a set of pedagogical advices for college English education in China. This document was developed in line with the guidelines of the National Program for Medium-and Long-term Educational Reform and Development (2010-2020) and Some Opinions on Improving the Quality of Higher Education in All-round Way (2006). The Guide to College English Teaching (Ministry of Education, 2017) pointed out that textbooks are the main carrier of teaching content and also the basic guarantee for achieving teaching objectives. The guiding ideology, material selection, design style and carrier form of college English textbooks should be kept up to date and fully reflect the characteristics of higher education in China. College English teaching is required to choose national level planning textbooks and other excellent teaching materials to actively promote construction of college English teaching materials. Universities should also pay attention to the selection or preparation of teaching reference materials, especially in the modern and abundant network resources, and select high-quality teaching resources according to the requirements of the curriculum.

L2 acquisition cannot occur without some sort of language input. It is the fact that in Mainland China, college students do not have various accesses to practicing English in daily life. Textbooks serve as the primary source of language learning materials. Obviously, as the connection between learners and knowledge, learning efficiency and effectiveness would be significantly improved by choosing appropriate textbooks.

For the sake of improving English majors’ language skills, academic knowledge and cross-cultural awareness, the selection of teaching materials is essential and time-consuming. Currently in China, textbooks are the main teaching material of American and British literature courses. Appreciating American Literature (Wu, 2014) and Selected Readings in British Literature (Wang, 2014) are widely used as core teaching materials in Chinese universities for English majors. Teachers’ teaching arrangements are based on textbooks, and textbooks are the main carrier, which conveys most of the information to EFL learners. Therefore, the in-depth analysis of American and British literature textbooks is valuable. Some studies about American and British literature textbooks have been done from different perspectives (Lei, 2018; Lu, 2013); however, none of them evaluate a textbook from specific criteria based on a textbook evaluation theory. Therefore, this study is systematically organized to evaluate two target American and British literature textbooks based on McDonough and Shaw’s (2013) evaluation models. Through the analysis, merits and shortcomings of two target textbooks will be concluded, and finally, feasible suggestions to the problems are expected to be proposed.

The research purpose of this study is to evaluate two college American and British literature textbooks based on the criteria adapted from McDonough and Shaw’s (2013) evaluation scheme. Three research questions are proposed as shown below. The first question is about the working effects of McDonough and Shaw’s (2013) textbook evaluation model in practical application. The second question is about the merits and demerits of British and American literature textbooks for English majors in terms of external, internal and overall evaluations. The third question is about the problems of the domestic British and American literature textbooks, and some solutions for these problems. At the first stage, the study will adopt three-stage assessment to evaluate target textbooks, including external evaluation, internal evaluation, and overall evaluation. Later, the study will conclude the merits and demerits of the textbooks according to the analysis results. Finally, the study attempts to propose several constructive suggestions to the problems.

This study analyzes two college American and British textbooks on the basis of McDonough and Shaw’s (2013) evaluation theory, which is systematic and logical. The evaluation results are evidence-based and reliable, which reflect some existing problems and insufficiency. The analysis of merits and demerits is helpful for future textbooks compilation. Also, the feasible solutions propose some creative ideas for updating and improving literature textbooks. Moreover, this study helps teachers to make full use of textbooks in a more flexible way. Teachers can delete unnecessary parts of the textbooks or add supplementary materials as knowledge points to fill the gaps according to the evaluation results. Compilers should update the content of textbooks on the foundation of users-oriented assessment and the results of this study.