Can We Learn about Culture by EFL Textbook Images? A Semiotic Approach Perspective

Abstract

A close look at the education system reveals that too much attention is attached to text while visuals, such as pictures and cartoons, are often deemed as "decoration", or are not incorporated in the textbooks at all. Visual texts constitute a part of daily communication, which can potentially bear many layers of meaning. Such a complexity involved in visuals turns them into an ideal resource for not only L2 learning but also the improvement of intercultural communicative competence (ICC), along with cultural awareness. The status of cultural elements and representation of culture in English instruction has proved to be a tricky issue. This is mainly because of the diverse range of contexts where English is used on an international scale globally. Given the integral relationship between language and culture, it is essential to teach cultural elements in L2 classes, in particular, the representation of cultural values and elements as an integral part of the L2 curriculum of English language teaching (ELT). Furthermore, from a critical linguistics viewpoint, language textbooks should be viewed as social and cultural vehicles. Therefore, the incorporation of cultural symbols and raising cultural awareness are considered essential issues in ELT textbooks, particularly in the context of English as a Foreign Language (EFL). Furthermore, multiple approaches to the analysis of textbooks and cultural contents have been adopted by different researchers. Here, the present study is based on the core principles of semiotic analysis which implies that texts, pictures, and other modes of communication can be used as potential semiotic resources. This review study can yield important theoretical and pedagogical implications for researchers, L2 instructors, and the developers of ELT textbooks to take the images into account to represent culture in the textbook.

Analyzing the English Comic Version of The Analects of Confucius Based on Visual Grammar

“…In terms of applied research, Chinese scholars are committed to applying "Visual Grammar" to case studies of specific genres. At present, various genres have been involved, such as advertisements (Liu, 2020;Mu & Zhang, 2022), websites (Wang & Yu, 2022), textbooks (Liu, 2019;Wang & Hemchua, 2022), videos (Wen, 2019), picture books (Teng & Miao, 2018), posters (Wang, 2020), political comics (Mo, 2020). This research attempts to apply the analytical framework of Kress and van Leeuwen's "Visual Grammar" to Tsai Chih-Chung's English comic version of The Analects of Confucius, exploring the realization of three meta-meanings of images in this English comic version.…”

The moderating effect of participation in online learning activities and perceived importance of online learning on EFL teachers’ teaching ability

“…Moser and Wei [ 63 ] investigated L2 teachers retention in the job and argued that online teachers “felt untrained, marginalized, and emotionally overworked” (p. 26) during the pandemic. Another flourishing line of inquiry in this domain has focused on various pedagogical activities that may improve classroom interaction like telecommunication, virtual literature circles, telecollaboration, and intercultural projects [ [64] , [65] , [66] , [67] ]. The required facilities and institutional supports for online education have also been widely studied [ 68 , 69 ].…”

Chinese EFL learners’ empowerment: does teacher care and confirmation matter?

“…Furthermore, some inquiries (e.g., Yujing, 2015 ; León and Castro, 2017 ; Pan, 2022 , among others) have assessed the impact of context-related factors on this motivation-based construct. Likewise, a body of research (e.g., Ledbetter and Finn, 2013 , 2016 ; Cakır, 2015 ; Diaz et al, 2016 ; Wang et al, 2022 ; Wang and Hemchua, 2022 ; Wang and Derakhshan, 2023 ; Zhi and Wang, 2023 ) has looked into the effect of teacher-related factors on learner empowerment. Yet, the role of some teacher-related factors, including teacher care and teacher confirmation, in promoting or impeding learner empowerment has remained underexplored.…”