A Corpus-Assisted Analysis of Learning Strategies in Curriculum-Based English Textbooks in China

Abstract

Although the significance of EFL textbooks has been widely acknowledged, previous analyses of textbooks have paid little attention to learning strategies implied or presented in textbooks. By a corpus-assisted method, the present study aims to examine how instrumental texts in mainstream high school English textbooks in China are used to construct learning strategies both implicitly and explicitly. The study found an imbalance in the representation of strategies in the textbooks which partially fulfilled the requirements of the latest English Curriculum Standards for Senior High School in China. It also reveals typical patterns of learning strategies displayed in the textbooks which may shed light on cultivation of learning strategies and English textbook writing in the Chinese EFL contexts.