《美国语文》是中国大陆第一套系统引进的西方中学语文教材。这套教材按“编年体”方式编排,取材于不同时代各个阶段美国具有广泛社会影响及文学代表意义的文章,体现了语文教育的人文性、综合性和开放性,从选文到课后练习设计都给人耳目一新之感,引发了国内同行的普遍关注。我们选取其中的斯坦贝克《乌龟》一文,从选文系统、导学系统、练习系统三个方面管窥这套美国教材的编排。 “U.S. Chinese Language” is the first western high school language textbook introduced in mainland China. This set of textbooks is organized according to the “Corporate Years” approach. It draws on the United States’ wide range of social influences and literary representations at all stages of different eras. It embodies the humanity, comprehensiveness, and openness of Chinese language education, from text selection to after-class. The practice design gave people a fresh feeling and caused widespread concern among domestic counterparts. We selected one of Steinbeck’s “Turtles” article to examine the arrangement of this set of American textbooks from three aspects: the text selection system, the instruction system, and the practice system.