한국과 핀란드의 중학교 영어 교과서 비교 연구

Abstract

Objectives The study aims to compare middle school English textbooks in Finland and Korea in terms of the structure of a unit, its contents, and the readability of reading texts. Methods To show the differences and similarities in the structure of a unit, the organization of textbooks was comparatively described. Then, the sequence of sections and the length of each section were examined. For the comparison of the content of the textbooks, communicative functions, language forms, and topics were analyzed. In addition, text readability scores were measured at the discourse level using Coh-Metrix version 3.0. Results English textbooks in Finland and Korea showed considerable differences in organization, length, types of activities, etc. First of all, in Finnish English textbooks, the same characters appeared throughout the textbook, while Korean English textbooks showed different characters in every unit. Therefore, Finnish textbooks mainly used narratives and dialogues centered around the characters, while Korean textbooks showed a relatively high proportion of informative texts. In Korean textbooks, communicative functions and language forms are clearly separated and act as the axis of the textbook, but Finnish textbooks utilize language forms for communication practice. There were no salient differences in the level of readability between the two countries. Conclusions This study gives the following implications for developing Korean middle school English textbooks. Using colloquial narrative texts can increase the authenticity of input without increasing the vocabulary in the national curriculum. The dichotomy between language forms and communicative functions needs to be moderated for the development of oral communicative competence. It is also worth considering adding extra reading materials to textbooks to encourage students' autonomy and give teachers flexibility in the selection of teaching materials. Also, it is necessary to think about ways to creatively utilize the positive effects of translation activities for lower-level students.