San-Min Series - 臺灣高中英文教科書文化內容之分析研究

Table 10 illustrates the results of Macro Culture categories of the reading sections in the 95 San-Min series. English-speaking Cultures occupied the largest percentage (43.06%), followed by Multiple Cultures (22.22%), Universal Cultures (13.89%), Non-English-Native Foreign Cultures (11.11%), and Chinese Cultures (9.72%). Although Chinese Cultures still comprised the smallest proportion in 95 SM series, the percentage was higher than the double of that in the 95 Lung-Teng series and the 95 Nan-I series. Moreover, there was at least one lesson in each volume including the content of Chinese Cultures in 95 SM.

Table 11 displays the results of Micro Culture categories of the reading sections in the 95 San-Min series. “LLPS” comprised the largest percentage (41.67%), which was much higher than the other subcategories. The two subcategories which both ranked second were “PNE” (15.28%) and “VBCM” (15.28%), followed by “O”

(9.72%), “NPLS” (6.94%) and “DEE” (6.94%). The same as the previous two sets of textbooks, 95 LT and 95 NI, “PD” accounted for the lowest percentage (4.17%).

Table 10 Macro Culture Categories of the Reading Sections in the 95 San-Min Series

95 San-Min Volume

Macro Culture Categories B1 B2 B3 B4 B5 B6 Total Percentage Rank

Chinese Cultures 1 1 1 1 1 2 7 9.72% 5

English-speaking Cultures 5 5 7 4 5 5 31 43.06% 1

Non-English-Native Foreign

Cultures 1 1 1 4 1 0 8 11.11% 4

Multiple Cultures 2 3 3 1 4 3 16 22.22% 2

Universal Cultures 3 2 0 2 1 2 10 13.89% 3

Total 12 12 12 12 12 12 72 100.00%

Table 11 Micro Culture Categories of the Reading Sections in the 95 San-Min Series

95 San-Min Volume

Micro Culture Categories B1 B2 B3 B4 B5 B6 Total Percentage Rank

NPLS 1 0 1 0 1 2 5 6.94% 5

PD 0 0 2 1 0 0 3 4.17% 7

PNE 1 1 2 3 3 1 11 15.28% 2

DEE 1 0 1 1 1 1 5 6.94% 5

LLPS 5 7 4 4 5 5 30 41.67% 1

VBCM 2 2 2 1 2 2 11 15.28% 2

O 2 2 0 2 0 1 7 9.72% 4

Total 12 12 12 12 12 12 72 100.00%

NPLS = natural phenomena and living surroundings; PD = products; PNE = people, national identity, and ethnicity; DEE = discoveries, events, and engineering accomplishments; LLPS = language, literature, proverbs, and sayings; VBCM = values, beliefs, customs and manners; O = others

The 99 Lung-Teng Series

Table 12 presents the results of Macro Culture categories of the reading sections in the 99 Lung-Teng series. The ranks of the percentage of the five subcategories in 99 LT were the same as those in the 95 Lung-Teng series but with different percentages. English-speaking Cultures occupied the largest proportion (33.82%), but the percentage was much lower than that in 95 LT (45.59%). Thus, the proportions of other subcategories rose slightly. Multiple Cultures occupied 25%, followed by Universal Cultures (19.12%), Non-English-Native Foreign Cultures (14.71%), and Chinese Cultures (7.35%).

Table 13 shows the results of Micro Cultures categories of the reading sections in the 99 Lung-Teng series. “LLPS” still comprised the largest percentage (32.35%), followed by “O” (19.12%), “NPLS” (16.18%), “PNE” (16.18%), “DEE” (8.82%), and

“VBCM” (5.88%). “PD” represented the smallest proportion (1.47%), and there was only one lesson regarding “PD” throughout the six volumes.

Table 12 Macro Culture Categories of the Reading Sections in the 99 Lung-Teng Series

Table 13 Micro Culture Categories of the Reading Sections in the 99 Lung-Teng Series

The 99 Nan-I Series

Table 14 displays the results of Macro Culture categories of the reading sections in the 99 Nan-I series. The same as the 95 Nan-I series, the percentage of English-speaking Cultures (28.17%) was outnumbered by Universal Cultures (33.8%).

However, both of the percentages of English-speaking Cultures and Universal Cultures in 99 NI decreased compared to those in 95 NI. Thus, the proportions of Non-English-Native Foreign Cultures and Multiple Cultures increased. Multiple

Cultures accounted for 22.51%, which was slightly higher than the percentage (17.14%) in 95 NI. Similarly, compared with its counterpart for 95 Curriculum, Non-English-Native Foreign Cultures slightly rose to 12.68%. Chinese Cultures comprised the smallest proportion (2.82%), with merely two occurrences, and the percentage was even lower than that in 95 NI.

Table 15 shows the results of Micro Culture categories of the reading sections in the 99 Nan-I series. The same as the other series, “LLPS” accounted for the largest proportion (30.99%), followed by “O” (21.13%), “VBCM” (12.68%), and “NPLS”

(11.27%). The distribution of the other subcategories presented similar proportions with “PNE” (9.86%), “PD” (7.04%), and “DEE” (7.04%).

Table 14 Macro Culture Categories of the Reading Sections in the 99 Nan-I Series

99 Nan-I Volume

Macro Culture Categories B1 B2 B3 B4 B5 B6 Total Percentage Rank

Chinese Cultures 0 0 0 1 1 0 2 2.82% 5

English-speaking Cultures 5 3 3 3 3 3 20 28.17% 2

Non-English-Native Foreign

Cultures 1 2 2 1 2 1 9 12.68% 4

Multiple Cultures 3 1 3 3 3 3 16 22.54% 3

Universal Cultures 3 6 4 4 3 4 24 33.80% 1

Total 12 12 12 12 12 11 71 100.00%

Table 15 Micro Culture Categories of the Reading Sections in the 99 Nan-I Series

99 Nan-I Volume

Micro Culture Categories B1 B2 B3 B4 B5 B6 Total Percentage Rank

NPLS 1 2 2 0 2 1 8 11.27% 4

PD 1 0 2 1 0 1 5 7.04% 6

PNE 1 0 1 1 4 0 7 9.86% 5

DEE 0 1 0 1 0 3 5 7.04% 6

LLPS 4 6 5 4 1 2 22 30.99% 1

VBCM 3 1 0 1 3 1 9 12.68% 3

O 2 2 2 4 2 3 15 21.13% 2

Total 12 12 12 12 12 11 71 100.00%

The 99 San-Min Series

Table 16 illustrates the results of Macro Culture categories of the reading sections in the 99 San-Min series. English-speaking Cultures comprised the largest proportion (32.86%), followed by Universal Cultures (24.29%) and Multiple Cultures (21.43%). One difference from the other series was found in the proportion of Chinese Cultures (11.43%), which slightly outnumbered Non-English-Native Foreign Cultures (10%). Among all the textbooks under investigation, 99 SM contained the highest proportion of Chinese Cultures.

Table 17 displays the results of Micro Culture categories of the reading sections in the 99 San-Min series. “LLPS” accounted for the largest proportion (30%), which was much lower than the percentage (41.67%) in 95 SM. Another obvious change between 95 SM and 99 SM was in the proportion of “O.” The percentage of “O” in 99 SM was 21.43%, which increased by nearly 12% compared with that in 95 SM. The proportions of the other subcategories did not vary significantly. The following were

the percentages of the other subcategories: “VBCM” (14.29%), “PNE” (11.43%),

“DEE” (10%), “NPLS” (7.14%) and “PD” (5.71%).

Table 16 Macro Culture Categories of the Reading Sections in the 99 San-Min Series

Table 17 Micro Culture Categories of the Reading Sections in the 99 San-Min Series

Comparison of the Three Textbooks for 95 Curriculum

Table 18 displays the comparison of Macro Culture categories of the reading sections in the 95 Lung-Teng series, the 95 Nan-I series, and the 95 San-Min series.

On average, English-speaking Cultures occupied an overwhelming proportion

(40.98%) for 95 Curriculum, which indicated that the target culture played a major role in the English textbooks. As can been seen, 95 LT put the greatest emphasis on the English-speaking Cultures (45.59%). However, English-speaking Cultures was less emphasized in 95 NI, because the proportion of it (34.29%) was slightly surpassed by Universal Cultures (37.14%). The average proportions of Multiple Cultures and Universal Cultures were close, 19.49% and 22.89% respectively, but the distribution of the proportions for the two subcategories varied in different series. For Multiple Cultures, 95 SM contained the highest percentage (22.22%) among the three series, and the proportions of the other two series were slightly lower, 19.12% for 95 LT and 17.14% for 95 NI. The proportion of Universal Cultures (37.14%) in 95 NI was much higher than 95 LT (17.65%) and 95 SM (13.89%) and even outnumbered English-speaking Cultures in 95 NI. The high percentage of Universal Cultures in 95 NI revealed that a largest percentage of reading articles did not involve specific cultures. Non-English-Native Foreign Cultures also played a role in the textbooks but the percentage was 10.5% on average, and 95 LT contained the highest percentage (13.24%). Lastly, Chinese Cultures accounted for the smallest proportions among the three series, which indicated that Chinese Cultures seemed to be the most neglected aspect. Nevertheless, 95 SM included the highest percentage of Chinese Cultures among the three series. As illustrated in Table 10, although the proportion of it (9.72%) was the lowest compared with the other subcategories, 95 SM contained at least one lesson regarding Chinese Cultures in each volume. That is to say, comparatively speaking, 95 SM emphasized Chinese Cultures the most.

Table 19 shows the comparison of Micro Culture categories of the reading sections in the 95 Lung-Teng series, 95 Nan-I series, and 95 San-Min series. On average, “LLPS” comprised the highest proportion (36.18%), and it remained the

highest percentage throughout the three series. However, both 95 LT and 95 SM contained about 41% of “LLPS” while 95 NI included only 25.71% of “LLPS”. “O”

accounted for 14.29% on average, and 95 NI contained the highest percentage of “O”

(22.86%), which was approximately the double of that in 95 LT (10.29%) and 95 SM (9.72%). “PNE” accounted for 14.24%, and “VBCM” occupied 12.81%. “DEE”

contained 10.05% on average, while 95 SM contained the smallest percentage of

“DEE” (6.94%). “NPLS” and “PD” accounted for less than 10%, and “PD” contained the smallest proportion of the three series.

Table 18 Comparison of Macro Culture Categories of the Reading Sections in the Three Textbook Series for 95 Curriculum

Categories Series

Macro Culture Categories

95 LT 95 NI 95 SM Average Rank

Chinese Cultures 4.41% 4.29% 9.72% 6.14% 5

English-speaking Cultures 45.59% 34.29% 43.06% 40.98% 1

Non-English-Native Foreign Cultures

13.24% 7.14% 11.11% 10.50% 4

Multiple Cultures 19.12% 17.14% 22.22% 19.49% 3

Universal Cultures 17.65% 37.14% 13.89% 22.89% 2

Total 100.00% 100.00% 100.00% 100.00%

Table 19 Comparison of Micro Culture Categories of the Reading Sections in the Three Textbook Series for 95 Curriculum

Categories Series

Micro Culture Categories

95 LT 95 NI 95 SM Average Rank

NPLS 8.82% 5.71% 6.94% 7.16% 6

PD 7.35% 4.29% 4.17% 5.27% 7

PNE 10.29% 17.14% 15.28% 14.24% 3

DEE 11.76% 11.43% 6.94% 10.05% 5

LLPS 41.18% 25.71% 41.67% 36.18% 1

VBCM 10.29% 12.86% 15.28% 12.81% 4

O 10.29% 22.86% 9.72% 14.29% 2

Total 100.00% 100.00% 100.00% 100.00%

Comparison of the Three Textbooks for 99 Curriculum

Table 20 shows the comparison of Macro Culture categories of the reading sections in the 99 Lung-Teng series, the 99 Nan-I series, and the 99 San-Min series.

Similar to 95 Curriculum, English-speaking Cultures comprised the highest percentage (31.62%) on average for 99 Curriculum; however, the percentage dropped by nearly 10% compared with 95 Curriculum. The decrease revealed that the emphasis on English-speaking Cultures was distributed to the other cultures. In other words, the proportions of the other subcategories increased due to the drop of English-speaking Cultures. On average, Universal Cultures accounted for the second greatest percentage (25.74%), followed by Multiple Cultures (22.99%).

Non-English-Native Foreign Cultures comprised 12.46%, and Chinese Cultures still occupied the smallest percentage (7.2%) but with slight increase compared to textbooks in the 95 series. 99 SM contained the highest proportion of Chinese

Cultures (11.43%), while 99 NI contained the lowest proportion (2.82%), which was even lower than the percentage (4.29%) in 95 NI.

Table 21 illustrates the comparison of Micro Culture categories of the reading sections in the 99 Lung-Teng series, the 99 Nan-I series, and the 99 San-Min series.

“LLPS” still remained the largest proportion (31.11%) even though the percentage declined by about five percent compared with 95 Curriculum (36.18%). Moreover, “O”

remained the second largest proportion (20.56%), which increased by about six percent compared with 95 Curriculum (14.29%). By contrast, “PD” represented the smallest proportion (4.74%). The ranks of the other subcategories varied in different series. The following were their proportions on average: “PNE” (12.49%), “NPLS”

(11.53%), “VBCM” (10.95%), and “DEE” (8.62%). Compared with Micro Culture categories for 95 Curriculum, the proportions of Micro Culture categories for 99 Curriculum all decreased except for “NPLS” and “O.” There were significant increase of “O” in the 99 series, especially in 99 LT and 99 SM, in which the proportions of “O”

even double those in the 95 series.

Table 20 Comparison of Macro Culture Categories of the Reading Sections in the Three Textbook Series for 99 Curriculum

Categories Series

Macro Culture Categories

99 LT 99 NI 99 SM Average Rank

Chinese Cultures 7.35% 2.82% 11.43% 7.20% 5

English-speaking Cultures 33.82% 28.17% 32.86% 31.62% 1

Non-English-Native Foreign Cultures

14.71% 12.68% 10.00% 12.46% 4

Multiple Cultures 25.00% 22.54% 21.43% 22.99% 3

Universal Cultures 19.12% 33.80% 24.29% 25.74% 2

Total 100.00% 100.00% 100.00% 100.00%

Table 21 Comparison of Micro Culture Categories of the Reading Sections in the Three Textbook Series for 99 Curriculum

Categories Series

Micro Culture Categories

99 LT 99 NI 99 SM Average Rank

NPLS 16.18% 11.27% 7.14% 11.53% 4

PD 1.47% 7.04% 5.71% 4.74% 7

PNE 16.18% 9.86% 11.43% 12.49% 3

DEE 8.82% 7.04% 10.00% 8.62% 6

LLPS 32.35% 30.99% 30.00% 31.11% 1

VBCM 5.88% 12.68% 14.29% 10.95% 5

O 19.12% 21.13% 21.43% 20.56% 2

Total 100.00% 100.00% 100.00% 100.00%

Configuration of Macro Culture and Micro Culture Categories in the Reading Sections in the Textbooks for 95 and 99 Curriculums

Table 22 displays the configuration of Macro Culture and Micro Culture categories in the reading sections. The highest percentage (22.2%) was found in the category of English-speaking Cultures-LLPS, which indicated that the source culture was presented mostly through “LLPS.” The second highest percentage (12.17%) was Universal Cultures-O. Then, the category of English-speaking Cultures-PNE was 6.21%. The following was Non-English-Native Foreign Cultures-LLPS, which was 5.73%. Similarly, Multiple Cultures-VBCM accounted for 5.73%. The percentages of other categories were less than 5%.

Table 22 Configuration of Macro Culture and Micro Culture Categories in the Reading Sections for 95 and 99 Curriculums

Chinese

Discussion on the Cultural Content of the Reading Sections

In the present study, the investigation of the cultural content in the senior high school textbooks aims to shed light on the differences among the textbooks for different curriculums. To begin with, English-speaking Cultures comprised the largest proportion throughout the investigated textbooks except for the 95 Nan-I series and the 99 Nan-I series. Although the content of the English-speaking Cultures in 95 NI and 99 NI was outweighed by Universal Cultures, the percentages of that in the two series were still prominent, 34.29% and 28.17% respectively. The result reveals that English-speaking Cultures plays a significant role in the senior high English textbooks.

The findings are not surprising since English-speaking Cultures is the target culture in the English class. Providing the milieu or context of the target culture in the reading articles enables students to learn English in a meaningful and authentic way. In addition, the great coverage of English-speaking Cultures was found in textbooks in other EFL countries. Matsuda (2002) investigated beginning Japanese EFL textbooks and found that “these textbooks tended to emphasize the inner circle” (p. 195); that is,

English-speaking cultures were stressed in these Japanese beginning EFL textbooks.

Yuen (2011) also found similar results in the English textbooks for Hong Kong secondary schools. According to Yuen, an obvious imbalance of the distribution of various cultures occurred, and the cultures of English-speaking countries represented a great amount of coverage in these textbooks.

With respect to the native culture, namely Chinese Cultures, it accounted for the smallest proportion across almost all series, excluding 99 SM, where Chinese Cultures slightly outweighed Non-English-Native Foreign Cultures. The minor percentage of Chinese Cultures showed that the native culture seemed to be marginalized compared with the target culture. However, the importance of using English to express or introduce the native culture cannot be neglected. According to the Senior High School Curriculum (2004 & 2010), namely 95 Curriculum and 99 Curriculum, both guidelines stated that students should be equipped with the ability to understand and introduce their native culture. As illustrated in Table 18, in the textbooks for 95 Curriculum, 95 SM contained the highest proportion of Chinese Cultures. Moreover, there was at least one lesson in each volume of 95 SM introducing the content of Chinese Cultures, which suggested that 95 SM underscored Chinese Cultures more than the other two series, 95 LT and 95 NI. Similar results were displayed in the textbooks for 99 Curriculum, 99 SM contained the largest percentage of Chinese Cultures. Based on the results, San-Min consistently put more emphasis on Chinese Culture than the other two publishers.

Another important ability that students should be armed with is to compare and comprehend native and foreign cultures with an aim to foster cross-cultural competence. Therefore, this might explain why the proportions of Multiple Cultures in both 95 Curriculum and 99 Curriculum remain the third highest.

73 reading section between the 95 series and the 99 series. The significant decrease was shown in the proportion of the English-speaking Cultures of the 99 series. In contrast, the proportion in every other subcategory of the 99 series increased slightly. The variations may result from several reasons. First of all, English-speaking countries, such as America, have gradually lost their economic and political dominance while economies in other countries start to emerge. The rise of economies in other areas can be illustrated by an example called “BRIC.” O’Neill (2001) coined a term “BRIC”, the acronym for Brazil, Russia, India and China, to describe the rapid economic development in these emerging markets. One economic report also indicated that Asia’s growing economic power was translating into greater political and military power (Hoge, 2004). Therefore, cultures in countries other than English-speaking Cultures began to receive more attention, which caused the decrement in the percentage of English-speaking Cultures and the increase of Non-English-Native Foreign Cultures in the 99 series. Secondly, the decline of the English-speaking

Cultures has to do with the rise of the Chinese Cultures. Hoge (2004) also stated that

“China is the most obvious power on the rise.” As a result, the proportions of Chinese Cultures in 99 LT and 99 SM increased, and the percentage of Chinese Cultures in 99 SM even outweighed that of Non-English-Native Foreign Cultures. That is, the role of Chinese Cultures in 99 LT and 99 SM was emphasized more than their counterparts for 95 Curriculum. Thirdly, as the concept of globalization rapidly spreads, the traditional boundaries are being blurred as well. As global citizens, students should be equipped with the knowledge of foreign and native cultures which can contribute to successful cross-cultural communication. This resulted in the increase of Multiple Cultures and Universal Cultures and the decrease of English-speaking Cultures.

The result of the present study also echoed part of the findings in Ke’s study (2011). Ke conducted a study to investigate Macro Culture categories in the senior high English textbooks and learning magazines over the past fifty years. In his study, Ke also examined three sets of textbooks for 95 Curriculum but the selected textbooks were partly different from those in the present study. That is, only one of the three sets of textbooks overlapped that in the present study. However, it was still feasible to compare the results between Ke’s study and the present study since they were written based on 95 Curriculum. There were similarities and differences between Ke’s study and the current study. The similarities consisted in the distribution of the three subcategories: Chinese Cultures, Non-English-Native Foreign Cultures, and Multiple Cultures. The terms used in the current study were different from Ke’s, but the definitions of them were basically identical. Both studies found that Chinese Cultures comprised the smallest percentage and that Non-English-Native Foreign Cultures slightly outweighed Chinese Cultures. Moreover, the proportions of Multiple Cultures in both studies were higher than Chinese Culture and Non-English-Native Foreign

Cultures. On the other hand, English-speaking Cultures and Universal Cultures occupied the two highest proportions in both studies, but their respective ranks were different. In the present study, English-speaking Cultures accounted for the highest percentage, while the result in Ke’s study showed that the proportion of Universal Cultures outweighed English-speaking Cultures by over 10%. The discrepancy might result from the investigation of different textbooks. For example, the result of 95 NI in the present study was similar to that of Ke’s study, in which the percentage of Universal Cultures was higher than English-speaking Cultures, but 95 LT displayed a different result from 95 NI as illustrated in Table 18. The above findings revealed that there were huge discrepancies in the selections of materials among different publishers.

Despite the dissimilarities among the publishers, the result of the current study and Ke’s study revealed a similar tendency in the selection of reading materials. That is, the selection of articles is closely related to the transition of the world. As the concept of Global Village takes shape, citizens in the village become more connected to each other. English is no longer regarded as the language belonging to English-speaking Cultures but a global language (Ke, 2010). People use English as a tool to learn more about other cultures. Therefore, it explains the reason why the percentage of English-speaking Cultures declined while the percentage of other cultures increased.

The results of Micro Culture categories illuminated the distribution of the cultural topics in the textbooks under analysis. “LLPS” comprised the largest proportion in both the 95 series and the 99 series. The large percentage of “LLPS” is apparently understandable. The elements in “LLPS” include language, literacy, proverbs, and sayings, which are essential in building the literacy of English language.

In addition, one important component in language learning is the appreciation of poetry and classical literature. Therefore, there is at least one lesson introducing poetry in each volume of the six series. Moreover, classical literature such as ancient mythology, fables, and Shakespearean literature can be found in textbooks. Stories of contemporary writers or inspiring stories from Chicken Soup for the Soul can also be found in the textbooks, which enable students to connect the reading materials to their real life. “O” accounted for the second largest proportion in both the 95 series and the 99 series. The result of the average percentage displays that “LLPS” and “O”

comprised nearly half of the cultural content in the textbooks. However, the distribution of the two subcategories varied in different series.

As shown in Table 19, 95 NI contained the lowest percentage of “LLPS”

(25.71%) but the highest percentage of “O” (22.86%). The distribution of the two subcategories in 95 NI was different from those in 95 LT (41.18% and 10.29%) and in

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