Selected Papers of the 17th Conference of Pan-Pacific Association of Applied Linguistics

English Textbook Analysis in China, Japan, Malaysia and Thailand:
A Focus on Wh-interrogative Questions
Koji Uenishi1, Yoshio Hosaka2 and Masaki Akase3
1

Institute for Foreign Language Research and Education, Hiroshima University,

2

Faculty of Foreign Language Department of English Language, Takushoku University,
3

Nagano Prefectural Akaho Senior High School

uenishi@hiroshima-u.ac.jp, yhosaka@ner.takushoku-u.ac.jp,
makase1112@yahoo.co.jp

Abstract
This paper reports the simultaneous analysis of English textbooks from China, Japan, Malaysia and Thailand.
The motivation behind this work lies in the belief that these analyses shed important light on the classroom
content of teaching English as a foreign or second language. This study makes a comparison of the frequencyof the wh-interrogative questions taught in English textbooks in the above-mentioned countries. This paper
focuses on the textbooks at the primary and secondary educational levels in Japan and the ones (Book 1 toBook 5) at primary educational level in China, Malaysia and Thailand. The aim is to analyze the corpora to
identify some of the differences among the textbooks and to explore the findings which reflect English
language teaching curriculum in Japan. Each textbook was first digitized and the total number of words andinterrogatives were counted in Word 2010. Then the number of times that each interrogative appeared every
1000 words in each textbook was calculated. As a result, it is revealed that in China and Thailand, newwh-interrogative questions are introduced in a well-organized way from Book 1 to Book 5 in the primaryschool textbooks and they are also regularly recycled. Also, regarding the frequency of wh-interrogative
questions, the wh-interrogative what is the highest frequency in almost all the textbooks in the four countries.
Then the second most frequently taught wh-interrogative from Book 1 through Book 5 is how in Malaysia,
Japan and Thailand, while in China where shows the second highest frequency.

Keywords: English textbook, wh-interrogative questions
1

Introduction

In some Asian countries, such as China, Korea and Thailand, where they teach English as a Foreign
Language (EFL), English teaching at primary schools was introduced much earlier than in Japan.
In China, it was announced that English teaching would be formally introduced at primary schools in 2001.
As a result, nationwide English education has been implemented at primary schools since 2005. At present,in urban cities, such as Beijing and Shanghai, English language is taught as a formal subject from the first
grade.
In Korea, English became a regular subject in 1997 and third to sixth graders have been learning English
once or twice a week since 2000. In Thailand, English language as a required subject started for all pupils at
primary schools in 1996 and it is based upon the ‘English Education Curriculum in 1996’ that wasannounced by the Ministry of Education. Systematic English teaching has been implemented from primaryschools to secondary schools (until the twelfth grade), and Thais utilize formal, authorized textbooks (Suzuki,2009).
In Malaysia English is considered to be the second language following Malay as an official language andEnglish language is taught from the first grade at primary school through secondary and tertiary education. In
the Pre-school National Curriculum introduced in 2003, the target language is taught twice a week as one of
the compulsory subjects at kindergartens in order to develop four basic skills before entering primary school.
When it comes to English language teaching, the level of language teaching in Malaysia is much higher thanthat of Japan’s English education. One of the reasons is that the content of English teaching at primary

12Selected Papers of the 17th Conference of Pan-Pacific Association of Applied Linguistics

schools in Malaysia corresponds to Japan’s junior high school level. Also, English teaching to lower graders
at primary school is orally based. But they tend to put an emphasis on grammatical items, reading
comprehension of long passages and English composition at higher grades, from the fourth grade and above(Teshima, 2005).
In Japan, foreign language activities (Gaikokugo Katsudo) were introduced, in principle, once a week, forthe fifth and sixth grades at all primary schools in 2011. However, English had already been informallytaught once a week at some primary schools. After the introduction of English teaching, some or manyteachers are very concerned about English teaching at primary schools for various reasons: 1) curriculum,2) teaching staff training, 3) adequate textbooks, and 4) integration with other junior high school textbooks.
According to Okuno (2009), it was already indicated that there was a wide range of problems on
introducing English education at primary schools during the Meiji Era in Japan (1868-1912). Some of thoseformer problems were the relationship between English and Japanese, the need for training the teaching staff,
and the integration with junior high school textbooks. Similar problems remain to be unresolved at present.
In China, as mentioned earlier, the Ministry of Education announced that English language teaching would
be formally introduced at primary schools in 2001, and it has been implemented at primary schools
nationwide since 2005. However, the policy of English teaching at primary schools seems to have been
implemented by the Ministry of Education without enough preparation for the relevant issues such as
preparing the teaching staff and educational funding (Hu, 2007). As a result, like the primary schools inJapan, the Chinese have experienced problems such as a teacher shortage and the disparity in policy
implementation among different schools. With an insufficient number of qualified teachers, English teaching
was implemented by untrained teachers in many primary schools.
With regard to textbooks, MEXT proposed that teachers utilize the so-called English Notebook (i.e. Eigo
Noto) at primary schools. Unfortunately, the use of these textbooks during English lessons is left toindividual primary schools to implement. Therefore, “… some Boards of Education have opted not to haveschools use those textbooks, while schools in other areas selectively plan to use them. Therefore, it will
likely be difficult to iron out differences in teaching approaches among schools nationwide” (Torikai, 2009).
The MEXT announcement resulted in confusion about how to teach future junior high school students.
In this paper, the textbooks at primary and secondary schools in Japan and the primary school textbooks
from Chinese and Thailand are analyzed. At present, although the Eigo Noto textbooks are called workbooks,
they are utilized as formal textbooks at primary schools in Japan. However, MEXT announced that it is theteacher’s choice whether the Eigo Noto is put to use or not. English language is not taught as a formal school
subject at primary schools, but as an activity called ‘foreign language activities’. Therefore, by analyzing thecurrent authorized English teaching materials, it is hoped that the results and the discussion will contribute to
the rationale behind future materials development in formal textbooks for English lessons at primary schools.
Surely, the sentences including the wh-interrogative questions are essential in interaction among learners or
between a teacher and learners during English lessons.
Therefore, in this paper, with an emphasis on communication-based teaching techniques in Japan, thewh-interrogative questions taught at primary and secondary schools in Japan are examined. Then, Chinese,
Malaysian, Thai, and Japanese textbooks are analyzed and discussed. More specifically, this paper aims tofirst find how each wh-interrogative question is treated in the above countries in terms of the frequency, andthen to explore similarities or differences among the four countries’ textbooks regarding the frequency andappearance of each wh-interrogative question.

2

MethodEach textbook was first scanned and the total number of words and interrogatives were counted in Word
2010. Next, the number of times that each interrogative appeared every 1000 words in each textbook was
calculated. Then, wh-interrogative questions were analyzed in terms of frequency. Also, this research makes
a distinction between wh-interrogative questions and relative pronouns or adverbs, based upon the sentence
structure and the meaning of the sentence with the target term or phrase. The Eigo Noto textbooks1 used in‘foreign language activities’ at Japanese primary schools were analyzed, aiming at investigating thefrequency of the wh-interrogative questions. Also, the same process was performed with the junior highschool textbook called New Horizon. The reason why the particular textbook series was selected is that it is1

The Eigo Noto textbooks are produced with a lot of pictures and few English words and sentences. This is based upon
MEXT’s belief that fifth and sixth graders would take more interest in the target language and familiarize themselvesmore with English at primary school with this format. Therefore, based upon the teaching manuals of the textbooks, theEnglish words and sentences were digitized and analyzed.

13

Selected Papers of the 17th Conference of Pan-Pacific Association of Applied Linguistics

one of the most popular authorized textbooks at junior high schools in Japan. Likewise, Chinese, Malaysian,and Thai textbooks were analyzed with a focus on the same wh-interrogative questions as in the textbooks inJapan. The direct wh-interrogatives analyzed in this research are: what, where, how, who, when, why, andwhich. Below are the textbooks analyzed in this paper.
(1) Eigo Noto 1 and 2 at primary schools in Japan (Books 1 and 2)(2) New Horizon English Course 1, 2, and 3 at junior high schools in Japan (Books 3, 4 and 5)(3) Primary school textbooks in Thailand (Book 1 through Book 5)(4) Primary school textbooks in China (Book 1 through Book 5)(5) Primary school textbooks in Malaysia (Book 1 through Book 5)
Regarding the learning stages of each textbook, in Japan Eigo Noto 1 and 2 (Books 1 and 2) are used by
5th and 6th graders at primary schools, and New Horizon English Course 1, 2 and 3 (Books 3, 4 and 5) areused by 1st-year, 2nd-year and 3rd-year students at junior high schools, respectively. On the other hand, in thethree other countries, Books 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 are used by 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th graders at primary schools,
respectively.

3

Research & Discussion

3.1
Research Question (1)Research question 1 asks ‘How is each wh-interrogative question treated among the textbooks in China,
Japan, Malaysia and Thailand in terms of the frequency?’ The data were analyzed and the results werediscussed.
3.1.1
What-interrogative
The frequency of the what-interrogative is the highest among all the interrogatives in the textbooks in China,
Japan, Malaysia and Thailand. This implies that the what-interrogative is very frequently spoken or written
in communication. That is, the what-interrogative question is needed when people interact with each otherand also the use of what facilitates smooth communication.

25.00

Frequency

20.00

Thailand

15.00

Japan

10.00

Malaysia

5.00
China

0.00
Book 1 Book 2 Book 3 Book 4 Book 5

Figure 1: Frequency of What-questions
Figure 1 shows that in China the frequency of what-questions tends to be higher and thewhat-interrogative seems to appear regularly in Books 1 through 5. Only in Thailand is the frequency of what
quite low in Book 1. However, the frequency from Book 2 through Book 5 stands at almost the same inJapanese, Malaysian and Thai textbooks.
3.1.2
Where-interrogative
According to Figure 2, in Book 1 the graphs of the where-interrogative show both extremes of either
frequent use or no use. In other words, in China and Malaysia the where-interrogative is frequently taught,
while in Japan and Thailand the interrogative is never used in the first volume. However, the frequency ofwhere in Japan and Malaysia are similar from Book 2 to Book 5.
On the other hand, in Thailand the where-interrogative is hardly used in communicative activities inEnglish lessons from Book 1 through Book 2 and Figure 2 shows the graph of Thailand is unusual among thefive textbooks. Also, the frequency of where is the highest in China in all the volumes of the four counties,
except for Book 1. It seems desirable that the where-interrogative is shown to students, like in China andMalaysia, because lower graders should often learn English using communicative texts, while higher graders
14Selected Papers of the 17th Conference of Pan-Pacific Association of Applied Linguistics

Frequency

gradually read longer passages.

7.00
6.00
5.00
4.00
3.00
2.00
1.00
0.00

ThailandJapan
Malaysia
China

Book 1 Book 2 Book 3 Book 4 Book 5

Figure 2: Frequency of Where-questions
3.1.3
How-interrogative
It depends on the textbook how frequently the how-interrogative is shown in all four countries. In Figure 3,
in Japanese textbooks, how appears over seven times per one thousand words in Book 1, while in Book 2 itnever appears. Then how is introduced five times, three times and once per one thousand words in Books 3, 4
and 5, respectively. In China, the frequency of how gradually decreases from Book 1 through Book 3 and it
increases in Books 4 and 5, while in Thailand the frequency increases from Book 2 to Book 4, even though
there is no appearance of it in Book 1. In Malaysia the frequency gradually decreases from Book 1 throughBook 5.

Figure 3: Frequency of How-questions
3.1.4
Who-interrogative
Judging from the graphs in Figure 4, generally speaking, the frequency of the who-interrogative in Thailand
is the highest among the four countries. The frequency of the who-interrogative in China and Malaysia tends
to be lower from Book 2 through Book 5. This implies that the who-interrogative is taught well enough sostudents have learned it. On the other hand, in Japanese primary school textbooks for fifth and sixth graders,
the who-interrogative questions had not been taught. It appears for the first time in Book 3; then thefrequency gradually becomes lower.

Figure 4: Frequency of Who-questions

15

Selected Papers of the 17th Conference of Pan-Pacific Association of Applied Linguistics

3.1.5
Which-interrogative
The frequency of the which-interrogative is quite low in all of these countries. Except for Malaysia, thewhich-interrogative is never taught in Books 1 and 2 in the other countries (Figure 5). In Japan thewhich-interrogative is taught only in Book 4 of all the volumes, in spite of the fact that thewhich-interrogative seems to be often used when asking about limited choices in real communication.

Figure 5: Frequency of Which-questions
3.1.6
When-interrogative
The when-interrogative graph looks quite similar for both Japan and China (Figure 6). In particular, inThailand the frequency of the when-interrogative is much lower in all the five volumes. This may imply that
this when-interrogative is not regarded as an important structure at primary schools in Thailand. Unlike thewhere-interrogative, the total frequency of the when-interrogative is lower, and the frequency of when inBook 4 is quite low in all of these countries.

Figure 6: Frequency of When-questions
3.1.7
Why-interrogative
Figure 7 indicates that the frequency of why occurrences in these countries looks quite different. In China,
the why-interrogative first appears in Book 2 and it is constantly reviewed from Book 3 to Book 5. However,in Thailand the why-interrogative is not taught in either Book 1 or Book 2, but it is treated from Book 3 toBook 5. Looking at the frequency for Japan, there are no why-interrogatives in any of the first three volumes,
but it is taught gradually in Books 4 and 5.
The responses to why in communication is generally difficult, because when asked why, students have todescribe the reason or opinion on their own, unlike the fact-based questions what-, who- andwhich-interrogatives. In EFL countries such as China and Thailand, it is understandable that why-questions
lag behind what- and who-questions because the answers to why-questions are more demanding for
beginning EFL learners to produce.

16Selected Papers of the 17th Conference of Pan-Pacific Association of Applied Linguistics

Figure 7: Frequency of Why-questions
3.1.8
Token of Wh-interrogatives
As Figure 8 shows, it is evident that the number of wh-interrogatives in English textbooks from Book 1 toBook 5 in Japan is much smaller than that of the wh-interrogatives in three other countries’ textbooks.
Although the frequency depends on the volume of each textbook whether the number of thewh-interrogatives is larger or not, the total number of the wh-interrogatives in each textbook in Japan is too
small compared to that of other countries’ textbooks.
Furthermore, when you think that the textbooks in China, Malaysia and Thailand are primary schoollevels, we cannot help but say that English textbooks and English teaching contents in Japan remain far
behind the other countries in terms of communication-oriented English teaching.

Figure 8: Token of Wh-interrogatives

3.2
Research Question (2)Research question 2 asks, ‘Are similarities or differences present among the four countries’ textbooks
regarding the frequency and appearance of each wh-interrogative question?’ For Japan, the directinterrogatives what and how begin to be introduced in Book 1. In Book 2, where and when are introduced,
and then, who is taught to students in Book 3. It looks as if the introduction of the wh-interrogatives intextbooks is well-organized in consideration of Japanese students’ learning stage.
Table 1: Frequency of the Wh-interrogatives in Japan (per 1000 words)
What
Where
How
Who
When
Why
Which

Book 1
22.00
0.00
7.33
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00

Book 2
7.80
1.95
0.00
0.00
1.95
0.00
0.00

Book 3
7.36
2.21
5.15
1.47
1.47
0.00
0.00

Book 4
6.06
0.34
3.03
0.34
0.00
0.34
0.34

Book 5
2.16
0.00
0.86
0.00
0.43
1.73
0.00

Table 1, however, shows that the data for wh-interrogatives is not well ordered from Book 1 to Book 5.
For example, although the how-interrogative is taught in Book 1, it is neglected in Book 2 for the sixth
graders. Also, the why- and which-interrogatives are never taught in three consecutive years from Book 1
through Book 3, especially the which-interrogative is treated only in Book 4 of all the textbooks.
17

Selected Papers of the 17th Conference of Pan-Pacific Association of Applied Linguistics

As stated in Uenishi (2010), in Malaysia, what, where, how and who are treated at the same time in Book 1
at primary schools in Malaysia. In Book 2 when, why and which are taught to second graders in Malaysia,
and after that, all these wh-interrogatives are treated in all volumes in this country. In a sense, theintroduction of all these wh-interrogatives to the first and second grades at primary schools can be viable in
Malaysia as an ESL country. In EFL countries, however, it might be doubtful if they teach all thewh-interrogatives at the first and second grades at primary schools.
Table 2 : Frequency of the Wh-interrogatives in Malaysia (per 1000 words)
What
Where
How
Who
When
Why
Which

Book 1
12.71
5.73
5.48
3.74
0.00
0.00
0.00

Book 2
6.54
2.13
2.62
4.09
0.16
1.80
0.98

Book 3
7.33
1.59
2.23
0.64
1.49
1.70
1.17

Book 4
4.70
0.30
1.80
0.30
0.30
0.70
0.30

Book 5
3.30
0.57
1.39
0.57
0.08
0.94
0.41

As stated in Uenishi et al.(2009), the introduction of the wh-interrogatives in Thai textbooks seems to bebetter-organized than in Japanese textbooks. Specifically, in Book 1 what and who are introduced, and inBook 2 how and who are taught to students at primary schools. Moreover, in Book 3, where, why and which
are introduced as new wh-interrogative questions. Then the when-interrogative is introduced in Book 4
despite the fact that the numerical value is small. This consistent teaching seems to be typical for EFL
countries’ textbooks. Even though the frequency of the when-interrogative is much lower in all volumes, theteaching of the wh-interrogatives is considered to have been done well in primary school textbooks in
Thailand.
Table 3Frequency of the Wh-interrogatives in Thailand (per 1000 words)

What
Where
How
Who
When
Why
Which

Book 1
1.45
0.00
0.00
5.82
0.00
0.00
0.00

Book 2
10.47
0.00
2.46
1.23
0.00
0.00
0.00

Book 3
5.53
0.77
4.25
2.32
0.00
0.77
1.29

Book 4
6.24
2.02
7.09
0.51
0.17
2.02
0.84

Book 5
3.47
0.84
2.53
1.69
0.09
0.84
1.03

In China, the what-interrogative is taught most frequently, then followed by the where-interrogative fromBook 1 through Book 5. Then, the how-interrogative is brought up as the third most frequent interrogative in
Chinese textbooks. Generally speaking, the introduction of the wh-interrogatives is better organized in China,
compared to Japanese textbooks. More specifically, in English teaching at primary schools in China, in Book
1 what, where, how and who are introduced, and then in Book 2 when and why, and in Book 3 which starts tobe taught as a new interrogative.
Table 4: Frequency of the Wh-interrogatives in China (per 1000 words)
What
Where
How
Who
When
Why
Which

Book 1
14.21
5.25
4.32
0.62
0.00
0.00
0.00

Book 2
16.00
3.59
1.38
2.48
2.21
1.10
0.00

Book 3
12.12
2.57
0.80
0.53
1.33
0.53
0.35

Book 4
8.45
3.06
2.48
0.51
0.15
0.95
0.07

Book 5
10.49
0.95
3.95
0.00
1.50
0.60
0.60

As for similarities among these four countries, the frequency of the what-interrogative is the highest in allof the textbooks. Furthermore, it can be said that the which-interrogative tends not to be taught so frequently
from Book 1 through Book 5. The frequency of the how-interrogative is the second highest of all of thewh-interrogatives in Japan, Malaysia and Thailand, and in China it is frequently taught even if the frequencyof how-interrogative is the third highest.
Regarding differences among the four countries, the frequency of each interrogative varies from country to18

Selected Papers of the 17th Conference of Pan-Pacific Association of Applied Linguistics

country. For instance, in Thailand the when-interrogative is treated in Books 4 and 5, but it shows quite asmall numerical value. Although it depends on the textbook of each country, four countries’ textbooks arediverse in the token of wh-interrogatives. Especially, in China the number of the interrogatives is much larger,
compared to the three other countries.

4

Conclusion

In this paper, selected textbooks from China, Japan, Malaysia and Thailand were analyzed and discussed interms of the frequency of the teaching of the direct wh-interrogative questions. As a result, the following
findings were identified.
First, looking at the frequency of each wh-interrogative question, there are similarities and differencesamong the four countries. For example, the frequency of the when-interrogative from Book 1 through Book
5 in China is quite similar to that found in Japanese textbooks. On the other hand, the where-, how- andwho-interrogatives were introduced in a quite different order in these countries.
Next, regarding the consistency of the wh-interrogatives in the textbooks in these four countries, theintroduction of the wh-interrogatives in China and Thailand seems to be better organized as a EFL country
than in Japan. In China four wh-interrogatives are introduced at the first-grade level. In the case of Chinese
urban cities like Beijing, many children seem to start to learn the sound and rhythm of English words at
kindergarten by listening and mimicking. However, the introduction of the wh-interrogatives in Japan does
not seem to be consistent or well-organized. Like in China and Thailand, the direct wh-interrogative
questions in Japanese textbooks should be taught in a continuous way in order for students to improve theircommunicative skills.
Third, the token of the wh-interrogatives in English textbooks in Japan should be reviewed as well. To
promote communication-oriented English teaching in Japan, the wh-interrogatives should be more frequently
taught in the textbooks. For that purpose, the number of pages of the textbooks should be larger and more
wh-interrogatives should be treated in Japanese textbooks, like those in Thai or Malaysian ones.
Further research should be promoted to contribute to production of better textbooks and lead to thedevelopment of students’ communicative skills.

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English Instructional Textbooks References
Chinese textbooks
Ministry of Education, China. (2001). Starting Line Students’ Book 1 (1st volume). Lingo Media, Canada andPeople’s Education Press, China.
______. (2001). Starting Line Students’ Book 1 (2nd volume). Lingo Media, Canada and People’s Education
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______. (2002). Starting Line Students’ Book 2 (2nd volume). Lingo Media, Canada and People’s Education
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______. (2003). Starting Line Students’ Book 3 (1st volume). Lingo Media, Canada and People’s Education
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______. (2003). Starting Line Students’ Book 3 (2nd volume). Lingo Media, Canada and People’s Education
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______. (2003). Starting Line Students’ Book 4 (1st volume). Lingo Media, Canada and People’s Education
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______. (2004). Starting Line Students’ Book 4 (2nd volume). Lingo Media, Canada and People’s Education
Press, China.
______. (2004). Starting Line Students’ Book 5 (1st volume). Lingo Media, Canada and People’s Education
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______. (2005). Starting Line Students’ Book 5 (2nd volume). Lingo Media, Canada and People’s Education
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Japanese textbooks
Ministry of Education, Science and Culture. (2009). Eigo Noto 1 [English Workbook 1]. Tokyo: Kyoiku
Shuppan.
______. (2009). Eigo Noto 2 [English Workbook 2]. Tokyo: Kyoiku Shuppan.
______. (2005). New Horizon English Course 1. Tokyo shoseki Publishing company.
______. (2005). New Horizon English Course 2. Tokyo shoseki Publishing company.
______. (2005). New Horizon English Course 3. Tokyo shoseki Publishing company.
Malaysian textbooks
Afiza Binti Idris & Hasbi Bin Mohd. (eds.) (2003). English Year 1, Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan
Pustaka.
Mutia Kurniawati binti Che Ismail & Faridah Hanim binti Aziz. (eds.) (2003). English Year 2, Kuala
Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka.
Noor Fuzana binti Ya’akub. (ed.) (2004). English Year 3, Kuala Lumpur: Utusan Publications & Distributors
Sdn Bhd.
Nor Syila binti Aziz & Sharifah Madiha binti Syed Abd. (eds.) (2005). English Year 4, Kuala Lumpur:
Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka.
Nor Syila binti Aziz & Mariati Josepha binti Mustafa. (ed.) (2006). English Year 5, Kuala Lumpur: Dewan
Bahasa dan Pustaka.
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Department of Education, Ministry of Education, Thailand. (2003). Projects: Play & Learn 1. Teacher’sCouncil of Thailand, Bangkok.
20

Selected Papers of the 17th Conference of Pan-Pacific Association of Applied Linguistics______. (2003). Projects: Play & Learn 4. Teacher’s Council of Thailand, Bangkok.
Office of Basic Education, Ministry of Education, Thailand. (2004). Projects: Play & Learn 2. Teacher’sCouncil of Thailand, Bangkok.
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______. (2005). Projects: Play & Learn 5. Teacher’s Council of Thailand, Bangkok.

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