Cultural Representation in Efl Textbooks for the Seventh Graders: A Multimodal Analysis (original) (raw)
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A number of studies have highlighted the important role of textbooks in promoting language learners' linguistic and intercultural communicative abilities. Responding to the aforementioned investigations, this research paper aims at exploring intercultural representation in the dialogues compiled from two specially chosen EFL (English as a Foreign Language) textbooks used in Thailand and Laos. More specifically, the current work has investigated two major cultural models which play a crucial role in intercultural communication, namely Individualism and Collectivism, to see how they manifest themselves in the textbooks for Thai and Lao EFL learners. In so doing, results obtained from the analysis are capable of revealing in addition its possible link to some cultural problems, such as gender bias or inequality of power in both Thai and Lao societies. As one may recognize, EFL textbooks can be one of the great impacts in contributing to intercultural prejudices and biases that learners can, unfortunately, absorb in their learning.
Analyzing culture in foreign/second language textbooks: Methodological and conceptual issues
Introduction The role of culture in foreign language teaching has long been discussed in the professional literature and views on what, how, and why language teachers should do in the classroom have changed significantly over the decades. What most scholars agree on is that language and culture cannot be separated from one another even if they disagree on how to determine what culture needs to be studied (e.g. high culture vs. low culture, subcultures of different kinds, national vs. ethnic cultures, etc.) or whether culture(s) can be monopolized or owned by any particular groups in a globalized world. Discussions on the subject often reveal that very often strong ideological perspectives - either in covert or overt ways - influence how language teaching is carried out and what language teaching materials contain. Although the professional literature dealing with teaching culture in the foreign language classroom displays “multiple theoretical and philosophical positions” (Risager, 2011, p. 485), three major periods can be identified in how perceptions about the role of culture have changed (Weninger & Kiss, 2013). The first period stretches from the 1950s till the first years of the 1990s and it is characterized by a view of culture as an object of study. Factual information of national cultures was thought to help learners assimilate into and become a member of the target language society. However, the strengthening globalization processes and changing learner needs in the 1990s brought about a new approach to culture teaching. In this second period authors (e.g. Kramsch, 1993, 1998) pointed out that cultural information needs to be more than facts about famous people, places and historical events in the language learning process. They argued that successful language acquisition entails cultural awareness, thus the cultural behavior, habits, the everyday practices of speakers of the target language - which some called culture with a small “c” (e.g. (Pulverness, 1995; Tomalin & Stempleski, 1993) – should be incorporated in the language curriculum. Others even questioned the validity of talking about a ‘target language culture’ when teaching a global language like English (Prodromou, 1992), and the movements which promoted an inter-, cross-, and trans-cultural approach as opposed to the single, national culture model gained prominence. Byram (1997), for example, argued that the goal of language teaching should be the development of intercultural competence that enables people to successfully communicate with others from different cultural and geographical contexts. Finally, the current trends treat culture as an increasingly complex and hybrid phenomenon. The role of language education is being reinterpreted requiring classroom teachers to move beyond the mere teaching of language structures and vocabulary. Now it is expected that learners are critically reflective (Kumaravadivelu, 2008) and they learn to become politically conscious and engaged citizens (Byram, 2011); a movement which is mirrored in general education by the promotion of 21st century skills (Trilling & Fadel, 2009). The fact that a rather rigid, factual view of culture based on simplified and stereotypical images has been replaced by dynamic and complex interpretations had an impact not only on teaching, but also on language teaching materials, especially on commercially produced language textbooks. Textbooks are often considered as one of the most accessible artifacts of language teaching which lend themselves easily for evaluation and analysis. They are static and observable; they provide an insight into language pedagogy at some point in time (through the activities they offer, the teaching guides they provide, etc.). They are time capsules in that they use texts as representational samples of the language and culture they focus on which, together with the use of visual materials, provide useful information on values, ideologies - the ‘hidden curriculum’ (McGrath, 2002; Snyder, 1970) that they are promoting. Whose values or ideologies these are is difficult to pinpoint given the multiple stakeholders in the publishing industry (textbook authors, publishers - including editors, visual designers, etc., educational authorities). Therefore, it is not surprising that there has been a continuous interest in the analysis of language textbooks to uncover how they promote cultural learning in the language classroom. Before we move on, however, we need to distinguish textbook evaluation from textbook analysis. In this chapter we prefer to use the term ‘textbook analysis’ which implies a more theoretical and principled approach to the examination of language teaching materials. Textbook analysis in our interpretation points further than judging the appropriateness of a particular book in a given educational context for use with specific students in mind. Analysis is concerned with identifying general trends using different theories as the framework of investigation, while evaluation is situated in the practice and context of the language teacher to offer practical and immediately applicable answers. Both analysis and evaluation are important but they are different in their purpose. It is possible to create four categories among the numerous studies that aimed to analyze foreign language teaching textbooks. Some analyses focus on identifying and describing pedagogical and methodological principles that form the underlying design of the materials. These aim to uncover how language teaching materials are aligned with current theories of language teaching, language testing, curriculum design, or language acquisition. Other studies focus on the linguistic approach of textbooks; they look at how and what vocabulary is presented in the materials; they investigate the phonetic and phonological content, looking at pronunciation activities or scrutinizing the accents and language varieties provided in the accompanying audio materials, or study the syntactical structures in the texts and activities the textbook provides. Some researchers investigate the ideological foundations of the teaching materials in order to understand the sociopolitical implications, the values, and beliefs the textbooks seem to promote. Finally, there are some studies which do not seem to provide a very clear aim or orientation in their approach of analysis. The authors of these studies fail to inform the readers why they want to carry out the analysis in the first place and how their work may contribute to the professional discussion on language pedagogy, linguistics, or materials design. They actually remind us of the famous words of George Mallory, a British mountaineer, who - when asked why he wanted to climb Mount Everest – said: “Because it’s there”. The aim of this chapter is not to pass judgments about the reasons why textbook analysis is conducted in the first place. Rather, we wish to offer a critical overview of methodological approaches and trends in the analysis of culture in foreign language teaching textbooks by looking at studies published in the past two decades. We investigate what theoretical frameworks researchers adopted in their work, what methodologies they used in order to explore whether the analysis of cultural content in foreign language materials shows a similar level of complexity and interdisciplinary nature as the teaching of culture, and how research findings and previous studies contribute to the development of the field. Byram, M. (1997). Teaching and assessing intercultural communicative competence. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. Byram, M. (2011). Intercultural citizenship from an international perspective. Journal of the NUS Teaching Academy, 1(1), 10-20. Kramsch, C. (1993). Context and Culture n Language Teaching. Oxford: Oxford Univeristy Press. Kramsch, C. (1998). Language and Culture. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Kumaravadivelu, B. (2008). Cultural globalization and language education. New Haven: Yale University Press. McGrath, I. (2002). Materials evaluation and design for language teaching. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. Prodromou, L. (1992). What culture? Whose culture? Cross-cultural factors in language learning. ELT Journal, 46(1), 39-50. Pulverness, A. (1995). Cultural Studies, British Studies and EFL. Modern English Teacher, 4(2), 7-11. Risager, K. (2011). The cultural dimensions of language teaching and learning. Language Teaching, 44(4), 485-499. Snyder, B. R. (1970). The Hidden Curriculum. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. Tomalin, B., & Stempleski, N. (1993). Cultural Awareness. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Trilling, B., & Fadel, C. (2009). 21st century skills: Learning for life in our times. San Francisco, CA: John Wiley & Sons.
Multimodality Of Cultural Content In English Coursebooks For Primary Education
2017
Young learners (YLs) learn languages and experience multimodality, being exposed to various resources of meaning from the early age. They are challenged by modes while learning from English language teaching (ELT) materials. The materials are the important semiotic resources as well as cultural and social artefacts that influence children’s perception and holistic development. They serve both as a mirror and window reflecting the current educational policy, linguistic and didactic approaches, culture and social behaviours. The aim of the paper is to identify the multimodal aspects of cultural content offered in ELT coursebooks in primary schools. There are two major questions of the research project. What are the characteristic features of multimodality in English coursebooks for older YLs? What are the image-language relations in cultural content of English coursebooks for older YLs? The project involves multimodal discourse analysis (MDA) and follows Stȍckl’s framework. There are ...
Researching Cultural Elements in Primary School Textbooks for EFL setting
2014
This paper deals with incorporation of cultural elements in language teaching, especially English. It starts off with defining the concept of culture, followed by the historical overview of teaching culture. Inseparable connection between language and culture is explained, from which is concluded that language is culture and culture is language. Importance of building cultural awareness is also explained and the importance of helping learners broaden their mind, increase tolerance and achieve cultural empathy and sensitivity is introduced. Possession of intercultural skills and aiming for becoming a successful intercultural speaker are introduced and discussed; the same as inclusion of culture into the classroom. In addition to this, ideas are suggested of how teachers can approach the matter of culture teaching. Moreover, importance of textbooks for language teaching, together with ideas for evaluation of textbooks and culture as an integral part of every successful language textbo...
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