The emergence of a purpose-specific model: culture in English language textbooks

• Published in: Intercultural education (London, England) Vol. 32; no. 5; pp. 547 - 561
• Main Authors: Mostafaei Alaei, Mahnaz, Parsazadeh, Hossein
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Routledge 03.09.2021
• Subjects: Advanced Students; Benchmarking; Classification; Content Analysis; Cultural Awareness; Cultural Traits; Diversity; English (Second Language); Foreign Countries; international textbooks; Language Teachers; Likert Scales; local textbooks; localised textbooks; Minority Groups; Second Language Instruction; Second Language Learning; Source culture; Student Attitudes; target culture; Teacher Attitudes; Textbook Evaluation; Textbooks; Iran
• DOI: 10.1080/14675986.2021.1878111
• ISSN: 1467-5986

As there is no well-established benchmark in terms of the representation of culture in English Language textbooks, culture representation has often been treated as a matter of opinion. To address this gap, having classified the textbooks in an EFL context into three types, namely local, localised, and international, the researchers drew on the teachers and students' points of view as a point of reference. To this end, two sets of interviews and a questionnaire comprised the main means of data collection. As regards the teachers, 15 well-experienced teachers, mainly PhD holders and students of English, took part in a semi-structured interview containing six questions. Accordingly, a questionnaire embodying nine issues was developed and filled out by 225 English teachers. As regards the students, 13 highly advanced students of English expressed their ideas about different English language textbooks. As a result, the teachers voiced their concern on the biased representation of the target culture and marginalisation of the minorities' cultures in the international textbooks as well as the poor representation of culture in local and localised textbooks, a fact which was later echoed by the students. Lastly, a purpose-specific model for the representation of culture in English Language textbooks was proposed.