| Im, Hyun Sun. “Genres and Proficiency: An Analysis of Reading Passages in Middle-School English Textbooks Used in Korea, France, and Hong Kong.” Studies in English Language & Literature 49.2 (2023): 215-234. With the overall goal of improving English language education in Korea, this study conducts an analysis of the texts used as reading passages in three middle-school English textbook series, one each from Korea, France, and Hong Kong. Textbooks play a very important role in English education, especially in EFL settings such as Korea. Such texts, tasks, and activities can be very different, with effects on learning outcomes. Therefore, the contents of textbooks, such as the reading passage texts and the related tasks and activities, must be carefully selected and designed. In this study, all of the reading passage texts in each of the three textbook series were extracted and classified according to genre. The study compares (1) the numbers of texts in each textbook series, (2) the numbers of genres and the types of genres of the texts, and (3) overall English proficiency in each locale. The Hong Kong textbook series has the most texts and genres, while the Korean textbook series has the fewest texts and genres. Hong Kong also ranks the highest in terms of the overall English proficiency of the population. The data thus show a correlation between general proficiency levels and the diversity of genres. This study suggests that Korean English textbooks should be revised to make them more useful, helpful, and practical. It further suggests that the quality of textbooks, as the main source of English input in EFL settings, eventually influences the overall English proficiency of a country, and therefore argues that more research should pay attention to textbook development in Korea. (Cheongju University) |