A comparative analysis of the frequency of infinitive verbs in five Asian EFL textbooks

Uenishi Koji

Fujiwara Yoko

Miura Seishin

Ozasa Toshiaki

Studies in Language and Textbook Analysis

This paper reports on the simultaneous analysis of English textbooks from five Asian countries (Thailand, China, Korea, Japan and Mongolia). The motivation behind this work lies in our belief that these analyses shed important light on the content of English teaching as a foreign language. Our study aims to make a comparison of the frequency of infinitive verbs found in the English textbooks of Thailand, China, Korea, Japan and Mongolia. The textbooks were first digitized and then analyzed in terms of one of their use of the infinitive. From the analyses, we surmise that, in terms of the infinitive use, English textbooks in four considered countries were not strictly controlled, whilst the Japanese counterpart was rigidly regulated and controlled, and we conjecture that in Thailand, Korea, China and Mongolia, communication-centered English lessons are undertaken, using less controlled textbooks, while in Japan English tended to be instructed, utilizing controlled, grammar-based textbooks.

eng

University of Strathclyde Publishing

Weir, G. R. S., & Ozasa, T. (Eds.), Studies in Language and Textbook Analysis, 2008, University of Strathclyde Publishing isPartOf