The Evaluation of the College English Textbook in China: From the Perspective of Second Language Acquisition

Abstract

Textbooks play critical roles in promoting learning. Thus, analyzing the content and structure of textbooks can shed light on education. English language education has always been attached with paramount importance in China. This study, therefore, evaluated a widely used college English textbook: Contemporary College English 2 second edition (CCE2) from the perspective of second language acquisition to maximize the learning outcome of students using this textbook. This study started with a description of the textbook. Secondly, the study presented an analysis of the content and structure of the textbook. Thirdly, the author discussed the textbook from the perspective of input and output skills underpinned by theories of second language acquisition. The findings illustrated that CCE2 had pros and cons. It provides authentic input and pedagogical tasks for students, which would benefit students’ English proficiency development. However, the difficulty level of each unit is imbalanced, which might hamper students’ understanding of the reading texts. Based on these advantages and disadvantages, suggestions for both compilers and teachers about how to utilize CCE2 effectively were elaborated.