Investigating Cultural Content Representation in the Algerian EFL Textbooks Case of third-year primary school textbook
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Date
2023-06
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
UNIVERSITE MOHAMED BOUDIAF M'SILA
Abstract
Textbooks play significant roles in English language teaching (ELT) and are considered as
one of the key sources of cultural representations. Thus, it is recognized that language and
culture are interrelated, intertwined and interdependent aspects of second language teaching.
The present research is an attempt to investigate the way culture is represented in teaching
English in the Algerian primary schools’ textbook. Throughout the study, this issue is
examined with reference to the relevant theoretical background, the third year primary
school textbook “My Book of English”, and the teachers’ cultural knowledge. It also deals
with determining whether there is a cultural balance between the local and the target cultures’
representations. According to the research nature a descriptive analytical methods were
employed. The content of the teaching material is analyzed and evaluated based on the
theoretical framework advocated by Cortazzi and Jin (1999) besides Yuen’ model of cultural
content analysis (2011). The thoughtful analysis of the research findings indicate that the
textbook is shallow and superficial with respect to its treatment of culture. Therefore, it
shows that there is no balance between the local and target culture representation. Likewise,
the results of the teachers’ interview reveal that most of them find that the cultural
component is not adequately covered within the textbook “My Book of English”. The result
of this study is significant to EFL textbook designers in the field of English language
teaching and some recommendations have been directed to them in order to make the
textbook meets teachers’ and learners’ expectations to accomplish intercultural competence.
Description
Keywords
EFL textbook, cultural representation, cultural balance