Investigating cultural contents in English language teaching materials through textbook evaluation

Arshad, Amna; Shah, Syed Kazim; Ahmad, Muhammad

doi:10.2478/jolace-2020-0017

Cited by 8 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 44 publications

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“…As known, the use of English as an international language (Mckay, 2004), along with its popular culture, has influenced ELT pedagogical practices and materials development. The developed materials and textbooks currently used for students' learning in Thailand are more likely based on Thai culture (Nomnian, 2013;Kanoksilapatham & Channuan, 2018), target cultures, international cultures (Arshad et al, 2020;Saemee & Nomnian, 2021), and global cultures (Xu, 2013;Melliti, 2013) in order to contextualize nationalization and internationalization rather than ethnicization. The evidence has shown that the use of ethnic cultural materials is very limited and that ethnic cultural materials are not well-known to international audiences.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ethnic folktale-based materials development for secondary students’ learning

Songsirisak,

Jitpranee,

Saejao

et al. 2024

HASSS

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Despite scholarly literature’s attempts to promote cultural inclusiveness in education, school textbooks are being contextualized with globalization, rather than ethnicization, which is far beyond many ethnic students’ cultural backgrounds. In response to this exclusion, 15 folktales were collected from four ethnic groups in Chiang Rai province, Thailand to develop ethnic folktale-based multilingual materials. 30 secondary ethnic students were asked to respond to the importance of the materials for their learning using a set of questionnaires and open-ended questions. Data was analyzed by descriptive statistics and open and axial coding techniques. The results indicated that the students had highly positive attitudes towards the ethnic folktales. They expressed that they could learn multicultural knowledge from these folktales which related to their ways of life, ideologies, beliefs, identities, and moralities. Through the learning of these ethnic folktales, they felt that they were able to better improve their ways of thinking, attitudes about the real world, appreciation of their ethnic cultural values, and local wisdom, which lead to their better multicultural understanding and a stronger sense of belonging. These were reflected in their positive desire to sustain, revitalize, and to make these folktales accessible to others. Additionally, this study advocates developing multilingual cultural materials to benefit students’ learning in schools.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ethnic folktale-based materials development for secondary students’ learning

Songsirisak,

Jitpranee,

Saejao

et al. 2024

HASSS

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“…Such studies could also investigate other factors that determined how the teachers introduced foreign cultural content in the English textbooks to their students, like teachers' own readiness. It was reported earlier by Wong and Lui (2017); Ahmad and Mustafa (2019) that while Malaysian English teachers mostly recognized and valued the importance and value of teaching foreign culture content, many needed more knowledge and confidence to do so effectively.…”

Section: Recommendationmentioning

confidence: 92%

Introducing Foreign Cultural Content from PULSE 2 to Students: Malaysian ESL Teachers’ Experiences

Ya Shak,

Arumugam,

Yashak

et al. 2023

IJARBSS

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Including cultural content in teaching English as a Second Language (ESL) is believed to benefit students learning the language. It is also claimed that Malaysian English language teachers generally use textbooks as the primary resource in their lessons. However, there are concerns about how to introduce foreign cultural content to students, especially with the introduction of imported English language textbooks to be used in Malaysian schools since 2017, in conjunction with the roll-out of a new CEFR-based English language curriculum in the country. Therefore, this study investigated how Malaysian ESL teachers introduced foreign cultural content from one such textbook, PULSE 2, to their Form 1 student. Semi-structured interview sessions with these teachers revealed that they employed various strategies with their students, like collaborative learning, sharing and reflecting, and exploiting multimedia resources. They also utilized authentic reading materials to supplement their lessons on the foreign cultural content in PULSE 2. Some even went the extra mile in adapting suitable materials compatible with their students' varying English proficiency levels. It is recommended that the teacher's style, the needs of the students, and the cultural content being taught should be central to any foreign cultural content introductory strategies being used with the students.

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“…In Pakistan, English is the official language of the state, while Urdu is the national language. There are at least five major local languages, including Punjabi, Pashto, Sindhi, Siraiki, & Balochi (Arshad et al, 2020), competing for supremacy in this diverse national context. Similarly, like most of the other developing countries, "English as the language for development" and "English as the passport to success and upward social mobility" (Setyono, 2018) are recurrent themes in the political and scholarly discourses in Pakistan.…”

Section: Language Culture and Politics In Pakistanmentioning

confidence: 99%

Preparing Learners for a Global Experience: An Analysis of Intercultural Contents in Government School Efl Textbooks in Pakistan

Khan

Memon

Khan

et al. 2021

HSSR

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Purpose of the study: This study aims to build the capacity of a learner as a "global citizen," language teaching needs to focus on building the 5 C's of Communication, Cultures, Connections, Comparisons, and Communities along with language proficiency. The present study analyzes English language textbook contents taught at the secondary school level in Pakistan's postcolonial and multilingual context. Methodology: Identity and otherization are used as key heuristic tools to analyze the ideological texture of the focal texts and their influence on adolescent learners' emerging identities. Main Findings: Data analysis in the current article shows that texts in the textbook promote strong in-group identities. Exercises and activities for students focus on lexico-syntactical aspects of the texts. The communicative and intercultural skills of the students are not stimulated in the textbook. Applications of this study: This study can be useful for improving English language textbooks, and classrooms need to move beyond traditional language teaching and incorporate active critical thinking and intercultural awareness to suit the needs of the students in the globalized world of our present times. Novelty/Originality of this study: To create a more stable world in this age of interconnectedness, mobility, and globalization, our young generation needs to develop fluid identities open to dialogue with the Other and seek complexity instead of simplification and stereotyping in intercultural encounters.

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Investigating cultural contents in English language teaching materials through textbook evaluation

Cited by 8 publications

References 44 publications

Ethnic folktale-based materials development for secondary students’ learning

Ethnic folktale-based materials development for secondary students’ learning

Introducing Foreign Cultural Content from PULSE 2 to Students: Malaysian ESL Teachers’ Experiences

Preparing Learners for a Global Experience: An Analysis of Intercultural Contents in Government School Efl Textbooks in Pakistan

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