英語教學學者相信唯有藉由語言文法性與實用性雙管齊下的教學，才能全面提升外語學習學生的溝通能力。英語教學法也因此由文法導向轉變成溝通導向，希望學生除了熟悉語言的文法正確性，在溝通能力上也能相對提升，進而具備與英語為母語的人士順利溝通的能力與技巧。
由於高中英文教科書是台灣所有高中生學習英文的共同依據，也深深影響台灣學生學習運用英文之各種語言行為的成敗，本研究特別針對四種日常生活中基礎而常用的語言行為「讚美」、「請求」、「道歉」以及「贊同和不贊同」，來檢視高中英文教科書中對語言行為的教學，是否符合過去文獻中分析的語言行為之形式與頻率。
本研究的主要探討問題共有下列兩項：一、台灣的高中英文教科書，包含遠東、龍騰和南一共三套書當中如何呈現四種語言行為「讚美」、「請求」、「道歉」以及「贊同和不贊同」的教學？二、此四種語言行為的形式與出現頻率是否符合英文語言行為文獻的分析？三、台灣的高中英文教科書中是否給予足夠的情境訊息，來協助外語學習者了解對話者關係、對話主題以及對話方式對於各種語言行為的形式之運用？
研究結果指出，三套高中英文教科書皆盡力呈現所有語言行為之可能常用形式，唯獨各家著墨不一。而且在課文後的簡短對話中呈現語言行為的形式，難免出現同一種形式的語言行為出現頻率偏低的情形。另外，三套教科書皆偏向呈現英文的語言行為常用之形式，卻遺漏了補充相對應的中文語言行為之常用形式，難免造成學生只知其然，卻不知其所以然的窘境，因而容易造成不適合的語言行為形式之誤用。最後，三套教科書對情境訊息的提供不一，多半具備讓學生充分了解情境的訊息，但是有些侷限於熟識平輩間的對話，可能會造成學生在其他情境下對話的困難。

More and more researchers in ESL/EFL acquisition are convinced that successful language acquisition involves not only linguistic accuracy, but also pragmatic fluency. It is believed that the teaching of speech acts and sequences can help second language learners master the pragmatic usages and enable them to carry on smooth communication with native speakers.
This study aims to explore the teaching of four speech acts and sequences (giving / responding to compliments, making / responding to requests, giving / responding to apologies, as well as giving agreements and disagreements) in three series of high-school textbooks (Far East, Lung Teng, and Nan I) used in Taiwan. The data is categorized into different speech acts, which are scrutinized in the following two respects. First, the elements and structures of each speech act and sequence are examined to see if the textbook designers have covered enough information for students to learn. Second, a close examination is made on the cross-cultural aspect to determine if Chinese learners are taught to be aware of the differences between Chinese and English pragmatic usages on speech act sequences and responses.
The strengths and weaknesses of the three series of high-school textbooks in terms of the teaching of speech acts are proposed according to the two investigations above. The findings of this study reveal that all three series of high-school English textbooks strived to cover all the patterns and responses of four speech acts, with different focus and proportions on each of the four speech acts. However, to present the diversity of speech act patterns and responses in limited space of conversation restricted the opportunities for students to practice each type of speech acts in a more meaningful context. Moreover, all three series of textbooks have the tendency of presenting the Western uses of speech act without explanations, which may cause students problems of distinguishing the differences between Western and Chinese uses of speech acts. Lastly, all three series of textbooks mostly provide context description before each conversation, but some of them are too brief that might hinder students’ comprehension toward the specific use of speech act patterns in diverse situations. In addition, the majority of conversation situations occurs between friends and acquaintances and therefore might confine students’ learning on other conversation situations, such as those between people of unequal status.

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