Probe on Compiling of English Linguistics Textbooks for Independent Colleges

苏琴　仵宁　孙瑞

【Abstract】The paper mainly focuses on two textbooks that widely used by students of English in independent colleges. One is Linguistics. A New Course book edited by Professor Hu Zhuanglin of Peking University， the other is A New Concise Course on Linguistics for Linguistics for Students of English， which was written by professor Dai Weidong and He Zhaoxiong. What will be discussed are the suggestions on the compiling of English linguistics textbooks for students of English in independent colleges.

【Key words】English linguistics textbooks； compiling

1. Priority to Problem-solving

According to “the syllabus for English majors in universities and colleges” （2005）， students of English in 21st century are required to have such abilities： the ability to acquire knowledge， apply knowledge， analyze problems， show viewpoints independently and ability to innovate something. Among those abilities， ability of innovation is particularly important. As far as Linguistics textbooks are concerned， for cultivating students ability of acquiring knowledge， it is necessary to point out some important references and list some useful linguistic websites， in order to supply sources for further knowledge acquisition. At the same time， it is indispensable to introduce some research methods of linguistics， enable students to obtain first-hand knowledge.

To cultivate students ability of applying knowledge， the fundamental way is to put theory into practice. Based on it， the content of linguistics textbook should own practicality. The materials or examples that are familiar or interesting to students should be selected to explain linguistic theories. The author found textbooks compilers often directly quote original sentences in academic works without taking the cultural backgrounds differences between textbooks users and foreign students into account （Zhou Jun， 2007）.

2. Readability and Workability for Independent Study

Attention should be paid to the readability of textbook， with the aim to be convenient for student to learn by themselves. For being readable， compilers may be aware of avoiding “too simplified”， because excessive simplification often causes students misunderstanding and may not promote students self-study. Compilers may learn from foreign teaching materials， which put the clarity and readability in significant position. Narrative language should be simple， avoiding using obscure language as far as possible. Each chapter and their internal structure should also be closely linked in order to be a whole system. The difficulty of questions set in the beginning and ending can be slightly higher than the level of students. Moreover， it is necessary to take the content of instruction of linguistics extracurricular practice into consideration， which may enhance the practicability.

In addition， while retaining the original essence of teaching content， absorbing the latest achievements in the development of linguistics is essential. Thus， teachers can reference the original system， and add new knowledge in preparing lesson plans.

3. The application of multimedia technology

In the traditional linguistic teaching， because of limited hardware condition， the multimedia course wares which support the concerned textbook are rare. There is just one way to solve the problem. That is developing the multimedia courseware of linguistics， and applying it to linguistic teaching. By the means of multimedia teaching in linguistics course， students senses of sight and sound may be cultivated. Not only will the language information input increases greatly in quantity， but the quality has greatly improved （Zhang Yining， 2006）. Teachers should make courseware according to their own will， textbooks and linguistic teaching content， connecting the content of courseware with teachers teaching complement closely.

Thus， for the construction of linguistics textbooks， the application of multimedia technology should be taken into account. Currently， linguistics textbooks that make full use of modern education technology in teaching process are very rare. Linguistics. A New Course book （Third Edition） provides Chinese edition and network edition， which fills the blank of network textbooks of English linguistics and meets the need of multimedia teaching of English linguistics course（Li Ke， Li Shukang，2008）.

References：

[1]高等学校英语专业大纲[M].外语教育出版社，2005.

[2]李克，李淑康.高校英语语言学教材的建设与思考[J].外语界，2008（6）：81-89.

[3]周君.浅议英语语言学教材建设[J].成功（教育版），2007（8）.

[4]张一宁.多媒体技术在语言学教学中的应用[J].长春理工大学学报社会科学版，2006（11）.

*该论文系延安大学西安创新学院校级科研计划资助项目（No. JG1511）“基于语料库的独立学院非英语专业英语词汇教学模式探究”阶段性成果。