An analysis of the representation of cultural content in English coursebooks

Abstract

PurposeThe aim of this article was to understand about cultural representation in these coursebooks and if it is reflected the status of English as a lingua franca.Design/methodology/approachThis article is a report on a case study in the form of content analysis of different categories of culture represented in English language coursebooks used in schools of Iran. In order to do so, references to source, target, international and universal cultures were classified into four aspects: perspectives, products, practices and persons.FindingsGenerally, the findings suggested that despite the high frequency of cultural elements, the representation favoured the source culture, while the target, international and universal cultures were heavily under-represented.Research limitations/implicationsApart from the valuable contributions of the study, the implications of the study are that despite the high frequency of cultural elements, the representation favoured the source culture, while the target, international and universal cultures were heavily under-represented. Therefore, the imbalance in the content of materials on different cultures needs to be redressed. While the main concern of this investigation is the frequency of appearance, which replicates the extent of source, target, international and universal cultures represented in the coursebooks, the impact of the materials, affected by how the cultural elements are used and perceived by teachers and pupils, is beyond the scope of the present study; hence, future studies in this area are deeply encouraged, and it is recommended for further research.Practical implicationsThe implications for resolving the imbalance in cultural representation are also being explained.Originality/valueBearing in mind the importance of coursebooks as well as the role of culture in teaching the English language, this article aims at understanding about cultural representation within the newly developed Iranian English language coursebooks for schools, an issue that has never been studied by Iranian scholars with respect to the newly published materials.

Critical discourse analysis of cultural representations in EFL national commercial textbooks

“…Only target culture in the eleventhgrade textbook indicated 26%, and the others are under 20%. Because target and international culture are under-represented in these textbooks, the results of this study supported past research in other contexts (Dahmardeh & Kim, 2020;Lee & Li, 2020;Rahim & Daghigh, 2020). The textbooks' quality of cultural content proved that it was designed to equip students' intercultural competence with Indonesian multicultural content.…”

“…Unlike other previous studies, Dahmardeh and Kim (2020) indicated that coursebooks used in formal Iran schools were favored in source cultures. The target, international, and universal cultures were heavily under-represented.…”

“…no culture is superior or inferior, richer or poorer, bigger or smaller than any other" (p. 22). However, a lack of culture of student's countries included in an ELT material can worsen students' prejudices, making them feel inferior to the source culture (Dahmardeh & Kim, 2020). Even, learning the English language while studying its culture will foster a sense of love and respect for their own country.…”

“…For the perspectives, only two were found in the eleventhgrade book, and only one appeared in the tenth-grade textbook. The universal culture is concerned with the linguistic element of language without reference to any specific country or culture (Dahmardeh & Kim, 2020). Although the proportion in these textbooks is arguably tolerable and does not belong to any cultures, this information about other cultures might benefit language learners as they help them become familiar with the culture (Arslan, 2016).…”

“…The scholars indicated that 80% of English communication used in globalization is between speakers in non-English speaking countries (Cogo, 2012;Rahim & Daghigh, 2020). In addition, it has led to the growth of the foreign language teaching business (Dahmardeh & Kim, 2020). As a result, people believe that mastering English skills and knowledge will assist them in socializing worldwide.…”