高中英语教材中国家形象的呈现——从批判话语视角分析

The Presentation of National Image in Senior High School English Textbooks—From the Perspective of Critical Discourse Analysis

摘要: 教材是塑造和传播国家形象的重要媒介。高中英语教材兼具语言教学和价值引导功能，本研究旨在探究高中英语教材中的国家形象，揭示教材是如何通过语言这一载体以传递深层的价值观念与意识形态。基于费尔克拉夫的三维理论，本研究从文本、话语实践和社会实践三个角度对人教版高中英语必修教材进行分析。研究结果表明该教材呈现了一个文化延续、科技崛起、迅速发展的中国形象以及多元文化、科技领先、个人主义的美国形象。研究发现，教材并非简单的知识传输者，而是通过使用不同的语词、语法、文本结构等方式构建不同的国家形象以达成传递文本深层含义、传播价值取向与一定思想的目的。本研究揭示了教材在国家形象建构中的能动作用，对思考如何通过教育更全面、更自信地讲述中国故事提供了有益启示。

Abstract: Textbooks serve as crucial mediums for shaping and disseminating national images. High school English textbooks, in particular, fulfill the dual functions of language teaching and value guidance. This study aims to examine the national images portrayed in high school English textbooks, revealing how textbooks convey underlying values and ideologies through language as a medium. Based on Fairclough’s three-dimensional theory, this research analyzes the People’s Education Press (PEP) high school English compulsory textbooks from three perspectives including textual analysis, discursive practice, and social practice. The findings indicate that this textbook presents an image of a culturally sustained, technologically rising, and rapidly developing China and an image of a multicultural, technologically advanced, and individualistic America. The study demonstrates that textbooks are not mere conduits of knowledge but actively construct distinct national images through varied vocabulary, grammar, and textual structures in order to convey deeper meanings of the texts, disseminate value orientations, and promote specific ideologies. This study reveals the dynamic role textbooks play in nation-image construction, offering valuable insights for exploring how education can more comprehensively and confidently tell China’s story.