Middle/High School English Textbooks: How to Teach Verb Use to ESL Students

Starting from the view that English textbooks of middle and high schools lay a cornerstone for middle/high school students to learn English, this paper purposes to take a close look at some verbs inherent properties and sentences based on a four-verb category, exemplified in the three English textbooks. Following the belief that middle and high school textbooks are not absolved of the responsibility for the grammatical and structural mistakes arising from the inappropriate use of verbs, we think that school English textbooks should involve every bit of verb behaviours and usage to be any service to improving students English ability. This will then tug students heartstrings, giving them an impulse to hone English skills. The awkward expressions in the structure, arising from not being conscious of their grammaticality, are no longer a fig leaf. To scrutinize how the four-categorized verbs are exemplified and explained in the middle and high school textbooks, we randomly sample three English textbooks and peer into their structures, finding out that the crux of the problems concerning textbook components lies in the lack of proper exemplifications of major verbs.