한국과 아시아권 고등학교 1학년 영어 교과서 코퍼스 대조 분석: 지문 난이도와 유형을 중심으로

Based on the text type list and CohMetrix analysis, this study aims to compare text difficulty and genres of reading passages in 10th Grade English textbooks which are being used in Asian countries (Korea, China, Singapore, and India). Each textbook is looked through 14 indices under 7 categories in CohMetrix. These indices indicated that Singaporean textbooks had the top scores in text difficulty, followed by Korean textbooks. Second, according to the 7 categories of text genres, Korean textbooks contained only 3 text genres; the least among 4 countries. The most frequently presented genre in Korean textbooks was expository texts. Third, although the countries in the same circle (Kachru, 1992) had similarities in number of word, number of sentences, and LSA (Latent Semantic Analysis) indices, they were not directly related to text difficulty. In text types, textbooks in the Expanding Circle countries (Korea and China) contained expository texts the most while the Outer Circle countries (Singapore and India) contained descriptive and narrative texts each. Results of this study suggest that Korean textbooks include more words and sentences to promote learners’ exposure to English, providing more various text genres.