Cultural representation in German as a foreign language textbooks used in Indonesia: A critical social semiotic analysis

Abstract

Informed by an integrated critical social semiotic approach, the present critical discourse study investigates the semiotic relations of image–text and the cultural meanings encapsulated in two German language textbooks: Studio d A1 and Netzwerk A1 widely used in Indonesia. Adopting Xiong and Peng's semiotic relation model, the findings demonstrate that Netzwerk A1 provides learners with opportunities to learn, think, and reflect critically on German culture through pedagogical questions regarding image–text‐pedagogy discussion. However, the image–text in Studio d A1 emphasizes the acquisition of linguistic knowledge and does not engage learners in exploring and negotiating their cultural repertoire. This empirical evidence suggests that language textbook writers should consider designing culturally responsive language learning tasks to engage learners in the active construction of cultural knowledge in practice.

“The Statue of Venus with a Broken Arm Shows Us the Beauty of Incompleteness”: University Student Diversity and Experience in Chinese Well-Being and Mental Health Education Textbooks

“…Many textbook analyses have demonstrated that there is often a risk of producing or reproducing power relations but also stereotypes and prejudices in textbooks and that this needs to be addressed when researching textbooks [27,28]. In our study, the two textbooks deal with students' mental health and well-being, and since they need to follow economicpolitical "orders" (e.g., what is considered acceptable behaviour and thought in mainland China), it is to be expected that students' experiences of Chinese higher education as well as the way their diversity is portrayed could be generalised, stereotyped, and even simplified.…”