Diverse English·Book 1 (Student's Book)

Author: He Guangkeng, Editor-in-Chief
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2005-01-01
Features: Designed to promote the implementation of the Ministry of Education's "Education Revitalization Plan for the 21st Century," this book aims to comprehensively improve the English proficiency of secondary school teachers and administrators. It emphasizes systematic training of learners' listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills, as well as their overall language application abilities. The materials are diverse and reflect contemporary life, enhancing learners' interest in studying. Fully considering learners' actual situations, the difficulty level is moderate, progressing step by step, and is convenient for self-study. This textbook is used for advanced English training for secondary school teachers pursuing undergraduate studies in higher normal education. The Ministry of Education's Department of Normal Education, to implement the "Education Revitalization Plan for the 21st Century" and comprehensively improve the quality of secondary school teachers and administrators, formulated the "Teaching Plan for Secondary School Teachers Pursuing Undergraduate Studies in Higher Normal Education" after extensive research. The development of this textbook is precisely to promote the implementation of this plan. Below are the principles and usage instructions for this textbook:
The target audience for this textbook is secondary school teachers pursuing undergraduate studies in higher normal education. They have been engaged in teaching for many years and need to continue learning English to improve their proficiency and ability to communicate in English. This will enable them to further their studies using English, a widely used language, to better master advanced scientific and technological knowledge and modern educational theories related to their fields. Their goal in learning English is to use it as a tool for effective communication. To help them achieve this, we have developed this textbook. In the process of writing, we have strived to focus on the following methods:
1. Emphasizing fundamentals and practicality. This textbook focuses on cultivating students' four language skills—reading, listening, speaking, and writing—and integrates them into a systematic framework rather than treating them in isolation.
2. Moderate difficulty, progressive learning, and self-study convenience. The target audience has already undergone preliminary training in reading, listening, speaking, and writing during their associate degree studies and is expected to have mastered basic phonetics and grammar, as well as approximately 2,000 words, reaching a level comparable to College English Level 2. However, due to the passage of time since graduation, the actual English proficiency of most individuals has declined. Therefore, the difficulty level of this textbook is slightly lower than that of College English Level 2. The textbook takes into full account students' time and energy, with appropriate reading and exercise volumes. The content of the texts and exercises progresses from easy to difficult, in a step-by-step manner. The textbook is accompanied by a self-study guide to facilitate independent learning.
3. Alignment with relevant syllabus requirements. This textbook is based on the "College English Teaching Syllabus" and references the "Basic Requirements for English Course Teaching in Adult Higher Education" and the "Basic Requirements for English Course Teaching in General Higher Vocational Education." Before writing the textbook, we conducted a questionnaire survey among more than 400 associate degree students from nearly 10 normal universities in Guangdong Province to understand their situation and specific needs. During the writing process, we strictly adhered to the Ministry of Education's Department of Normal Education's clear teaching objectives and class hours, with the aim of cultivating students' comprehensive language application abilities in reading, listening, speaking, writing, and translation.
The vocabulary level of this textbook matches that of the undergraduate syllabus. For example:
- The entire textbook consists of ten units.
- Each unit includes Text A and Text B.
- Text A averages 605.9 words, with 98.5% at College English Level 4 vocabulary and 1.5% at Level 6 or above.
- Text B averages 710.1 words, with 98.8% at College English Level 4 vocabulary and 1.2% at Level 6 or above.
- The entire textbook contains 871 new words, accounting for 6.6% of the average word count in the texts.
- Among these, 454 words are at College English Level 4 (3.6%) and 216 words are at Level 6 or above (1.7%).
The structure of this textbook has the following features:
1. Textbook content
2. Teaching objectives
3. Text teaching
4. Exercises and self-study
5. Review, consolidation, and improvement