Đánh giá bước đầu các yếu tố văn hóa trong sách giáo khoa “tiếng anh 3”, “tiếng anh 4”, “tiếng anh 5”

The main findings reveal that both local and non-local cultural references are presented in the textbooks and among the four cultural dimensions disseminated in the textbooks, sociologic

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGE AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

DEPARTMENT OF POST GRADUATE

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English linguistics Code: 60220201

HA NOI, 2015

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGE AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

DEPARTMENT OF POST GRADUATE

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English linguistics Code: 60220201

Supervisor: Assoc Prof Dr Nguyen Van Do

DECLARATION

I hereby state that I, Do Thi To Nga, being a candidate for the Degree of Master of Arts, accept the requirements of the University relating to the retention and use of M.A Thesis deposited in the library

In terms of these conditions, I agree that the origin of my thesis deposited

in the library should be accessible for the purposes of study and research, in accordance with the normal conditions established by the librarian for the care, loan or reproduction of the thesis

Hanoi, July 2015

ACKNOWLEGEMENTS

First of all, I would like to express my deep gratitude to Assoc Prof Nguyen Van Do, my supervisor, for thorough reading, critical comments, invaluable suggestions, various sources of reference and precious corrections on

my writing Furthermore, I am grateful to his close guidance and generous help, which have been great encouragement to me during the process of writing up the thesis

I, hereby, would like to express my sincere thanks to lecturers of Faculty

of Post Graduate Studies, University of Languages and International Studies of Vietnam National University, Hanoi for their interesting lessons and suggestions, which aroused the thesis for this study to be realized

My appreciation is also extended to the authors of English primary

textbooks Tiếng Anh 3, Tiếng Anh 4, Tiếng Anh 5 for their assistance in data

analysis

Finally, I would like to thank my family, especially my parents and my husband for their constant source of love, support and encouragement in times of difficulty and frustration

ABSTRACT

The study on ―Cultural elements in English textbooks “Tiếng Anh 3”,

“Tiếng Anh 4”, “Tiếng Anh 5” A preliminary evaluation‖ is a Minor Programme

Master thesis It is aimed at examining the cultural elements presented in the

textbooks Tiếng Anh 3, Tiếng Anh 4, Tiếng Anh 5 and suggesting some hints to

improve it in the future

Based on quantitative methods, the study gives a brief account of how culture is treated according to the modified checklists designed by two groups of authors Adaskou, Britten and Fahsi and Cortazzi and Jin, Hirsch et al The main findings reveal that both local and non-local cultural references are presented in the textbooks and among the four cultural dimensions disseminated in the textbooks, sociological sense is the most dominant dimension From the findings, some suggestions are given with the hope that they might be a reliable source of

about how cultural element is presented in the English primary textbooks and provide some hints on how to improve it in the future

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

Part A Introduction 1

I Rationale 1

II Aims of the study 2

III Research questions 2

IV Methods of the study 3

V Scope of the study 3

VI Design of the study 4

Part B: Development 5

Chapter I Literature Review 5

1 Definition of culture 5

2 Culture and foreign language learning 8

3 Textbook and its role in foreign language teaching 11

4 Classification of cultural contents in foreign language textbooks 12

5 Checklist for evaluating the cultural elements in foreign language textbooks 17

Chapter II Methodology 20

1 Material used for analysis 20

2 Procedures of conducting the study 22

2.1 Method of the study 22

2.3 Data analysis 23

Chapter III Findings and Discussion 24

1 Data analysis of the presence of local and non-local cultural reference disseminated in the textbooks 24

2 Data analysis of cultural dimensions presented in the textbooks 26

2.1 The occurrences of local culture reference 26

2.2 The occurrences of non-local culture reference 29

3 Discussion 33

4 Some suggestions to improve the cultural contents in English textbooks 35

Part C Conlusion 37

1 Summary of main findings 37

2 Limitation of the study and suggestions for further research 38

Reference

Appendix

40 I

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1: The distribution of cultural items with Vietnamese and non-Vietnamese

culture reference in dialogues and reading passages 24

Table 2: Frequency of Local Culture Distinctive Occurrences in the textbooks 26 Table 3: Frequency of Non-Local Culture Distinctive Occurrences in the textbooks 29

PART A INTRODUCTION

1 RATIONALE

In this 21st century, when the world has become ―flat‖ and closely integrated, effective communication seems to be one of the crucial concerns In order to communicate well and successfully, people need to understand not only each other‘s language, but also each other‘s culture This can open the door to better international understanding and ensure successful relations

Language and culture are indivisible elements in the field of language teaching According to Peck (2012), ―language learning should be more than the manipulation of syntax and lexicon‖ It means that just learning four skills (speaking, listening, reading and writing) may not lead to the proper understanding of the hidden meanings of a language Thanasoulas (2001) also confirms that ―teaching a foreign language is not tantamount to giving a homily

on syntactic structures or learning new vocabulary and expressions, but mainly incorporates or should incorporate, some cultural elements which are intertwined with language itself.‖

Inevitably, the role of textbooks in English Language Teaching cannot

be underestimated and cannot be separated from language learning in classroom They are considered the key component in most TEFL programs, which is essential for both teachers and learners (Tok, 2010) It is the visible heart of any English Language program (Sheldon 1988) McGrath (2002) also states that a textbook is like oil in cooking, it is a useful base ingredient Cortazzi and Jin (1999) confirm that: A textbook can be a teacher, a map, a resource, a trainer, an authority, a de-skiller and an ideology Hence textbook can be a major source of cultural elements beside providing linguistic and topical contents …

In accordance with the National Foreign Languages 2020 Project, on 12 August 2010, Ministry of Education and Training issued Decision No 3321/QĐ-BGDĐT on the Promulgation of the Pilot English Curriculum for Elementary, and one of its objectives is providing a basic knowledge of English-speaking countries, their peoples and cultures; as well as fostering pupils‘ love and respect

of their own language and culture Hence, it can be seen clearly that the English syllabus explicitly emphasizes the development of pupils‘ cross-cultural awareness right at the beginning of learning English

It may be supposed that, in foreign language textbooks used in primary schools, whether the teaching of culture is implicit or explicit, cultural aspects of textbook content as well as the improvement of pupils‘ cultural awareness should

be given adequate attention Since 2011, the Vietnam Education Publishing House, in line with the Decision No 3321/QĐ-BGDĐT, has introduced a new set

of English textbooks for primary students which provides a good opportunity to include cultural content into the teaching syllabus, and thus enriching pupils‘ cultural knowledge along with developing their four language skills

2 AIMS OF THE STUDY

The purpose of this study is to analyze and evaluate the cultural elements in three

English textbooks Tiếng Anh 3, Tiếng Anh 4, Tiếng Anh 5 used at primary school

level in Vietnam, compiled by Hoang Van Van et al., published by Vietnam Education Publishing House This study is hoped to assist teachers, educators and English textbook authors to have general view about how cultural element is presented in English primary textbooks and provide some hints on how to improve it in the future

3 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

In this study, the cultural analysis of the textbook is supposed to answer the following questions:

Research question 1: Are both local culture and non-local culture

disseminated in the English primary textbooks Tiếng Anh 3, Tiếng Anh 4, Tiếng Anh 5? Which is the most prominent culture presented in the textbooks?

Research question 2: What is the most prominent cultural dimension presented in the textbooks? How is culture disseminated in the textbooks?

4 METHODS OF THE STUDY

In this study, quantitative method is much resorted to To collect data for analysis and evaluate, two checklists focusing on the kinds of cultural categories are designed The collected data is be analyzed using comparing and contrasting techniques to find out the quantitative account of references to different cultural categories in the textbooks

5 SCOPE OF THE STUDY

In Vietnam, there exist two official sets of English textbooks for primary

level compiled by Vietnamese authors They are Let’s learn English 1, Let’s learn English 2, Let’s learn English 3 and Tiếng Anh 3, Tiếng Anh 4, Tiếng Anh

5 The initial set was first published about 10 years ago and the latter has just

been developed in line with the Project 2020 since 2011 In this study, I just focus on the contents in the second set

The study just makes an attempt to conduct a preliminary evaluation about cultural elements in the primary English textbooks It is believed that a good cultural evaluation of a textbook can be made only when the goal of cultural instructions is clearly stated in the syllabus In the national primary school English syllabus there are no appropriate guidelines for cultural instructions although the stress on pupils‘ cross-cultural awareness is emphasized

6 DESIGN OF THE STUDY

The study is composed of three parts:

Part I: Introduction: presents the rationale, aims, scope, research question, and

methodology of the study

Part II: Development: This part consists of three chapters:

Chapter 1: Literature review:

- Literature review: discusses the notions of cultures, the relationship between

culture and language learning, the classification of cultural elements in foreign language textbooks and checklists for evaluating the cultural elements in foreign language textbooks

Chapter 2: Methodology: This chapter states the chosen methods to carry out the

study and to analyze the collected data It also deals with informants and procedures of the data collection

Chapter 3: Findings and Discussion: This chapter analyses collected data to find

out different cultural elements in the textbooks Then, a preliminary evaluation is made based on the results from three research questions

Part III: Conclusion: This part summarizes the main findings of the study and

offers suggestions for further research

is contributing to the changes of culture(s) which means that it is difficult to just stand aside and observe culture as a phenomenon Culture must therefore be regarded as a process rather than as a product

The diversity of the term culture has led to a debate about whether it can be defined at all Kramsch provides a general definition of the term, a definition similar to the modern anthropological view of culture, ―In summary, culture can

be defined as membership in a discourse community that shares a common social space and history, and common imaginings Even when they have left that community, its members may retain, wherever they are, a common system of standards of perceiving, believing, evaluating, and acting These standards are what is generally called their culture‖ (Kramsch, 1998, p 10)

In Vietnam, the Vietnamese view culture as a broad concept relevant to human life and civilisation In daily life, culture is understood as literature and the arts, such as poetry, fine arts, theatre, films, etc In some Vietnamese dictionaries,

―culture‖ is explained as follows:

humans in history (Great Vietnamese Dictionary, published by the

Ministry of Education and Training, 1998)

Binh culture, Dong Son culture (Hoàng Phê, Vietnamese Dictionary,

Institute of Linguistic Studies, 2004)

One of the most common definitions of culture is defined by the late President

Hồ Chí Minh: ―…human created and invented language, script, morals, laws, science, religions, culture and arts and daily tools for clothing, eating, accommodation … using methods All these creativenesses and inventions are

culture.‖

Lots of words and sayings have been given to define culture In the field of language teaching, the term ―culture‖ has been defined in many different ways Adaskou, Britten and Fahsi helped us defined culture on a more specific level by outlining four meaning of culture According to them, culture has dimensions and is distinguished into four senses: The aesthetic, the sociological, the semantic, and the pragmatic

Samovar, Porter & Stefani (1998) define culture as the deposit of knowledge, experience, beliefs, values, actions, attitudes, meanings, hierarchies, religion, notions of time, roles, spatial relations, concepts of the universe, and artifacts acquired by a group of people in the course of generations through individual and group striving They claim that this definition ‗covers most of the major territory of culture on which scholars currently agree‘

Culture is also defined in terms of intercultural communication (Lustig & Koester, 1999), the capacity and ability to enter other cultures and communicate effectively and appropriately, establish and maintain relationships, and carry out tasks with people of these cultures With the rapid increase in foreign language learning/teaching recently, the concept of ‗intercultural competence‘ has gained much more significance in relation to the role of culture in EFL learning/teaching According to Meyer (1991), this competence refers to ―the ability of a person to behave adequately in a flexible manner when confronted with actions, attitudes and expectations of representatives of foreign cultures‖ This definition, in fact, adds to the notion of communicative competence and enlarges it to incorporate intercultural competence

The important point we must take into account when defining culture is that the most frequent definition of culture in language teaching is related to two expressions, culture with capital ―C‖, or formal culture, and culture with small

―c‖ ,or deep culture Writers in cross-cultural studies often distinguish between two uses of the word culture as: 1) the total way of life of a group of people, and

2) a refinement or sophistication within a society The first use has been called little /small ―c‖ culture, and the second, big ―C‖ culture Little ―c‖ culture includes the routine aspects of life, such as how common people greet one another, what they wear, what they eat, and their myriad daily habits Little ―c‖ culture encompasses everything as a total way of life, so big ―C‖ culture is necessarily part of little ―c‖ culture A cultured (big ―C‖) person knows the finer points of manners and customs, and can distinguish between the common and the refined In summary, on one hand culture can be seen as civilization, the great achievements of a people as reflected in their history, social institutions, works of art, architecture, music, and literature, commonly referred to as big ―C‖ culture (Hu, 2002) On the other hand, culture can be viewed as the customs, traditions, or practices that people carry out as part of their everyday lives, i.e little/small ―c‖ culture (Halverson, 1985)

Talking about local culture, there are different definitions too However, it all seems that the term local culture is ―commonly used to characterize the experience of everyday life in specific, identifiable localities It reflects ordinary people‘s feelings of appropriateness, comfort, and correctness—attributes that define personal preferences and changing tastes‖ (Britannica Encyclopedia) In this thesis, ―local culture‖ refers to the typical traditions, customs and traits of Vietnamese people in Vietnam, and the term ―non-local culture‖ refers to any other cultures that can be from English speaking countries, from Asian countries

or the universal culture

2 Culture and foreign language learning

The perception of the relationship between language and culture has definitely changed over time Earlier it was assumed that one needed to learn the language

language and culture in teaching is an emphasis on communication', as Byrnes (1991, 205) declares The reason for this is that 'whatever the motivation for an emphasis on language usage and use, the inclusive frame of reference is culture, not language' Simply, culture is the context for language use As a result, many L2 and FL teachers recognise, as Valdes (1990, 20) writes, that 'there is no way

to avoid teaching culture when teaching language'

Whether we are thinking of written, spoken or body language human interaction relies to a large extent on language communication When language is used in communication it is connected to culture in many complex ways Claire Kramsch (1998) writes that these many ways can be summed up in three different points When people are speaking they usually refer to things they have experienced and to facts and places around the world The spoken language also reflects their beliefs, attitudes and values In both cases language expresses cultural reality Human beings do not only express their experience through words, they also create experience using their language They can give language its meaning through their way of communicating it, such as tone of voice, additional body language and facial expressions Whether language is communicated in a verbal or non-verbal way, language embodies cultural reality Finally, Kramsch says that language is a system of signs that is seen by people as having a cultural value which is why language symbolizes cultural reality (p 3) Culture is always present in the background from the very first day of learning a new language It exposes the learner‘s restriction of developing a communicative competence and challenges his/her ability to understand the world around him/her (p 1)

The link between foreign language learning and culture learning, therefore, has been established by the linguists and anthropologists a long time ago We all know that understanding a language involves not only knowledge of grammar, phonology and lexis but also a certain features and characteristics of the culture

The American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages has concluded that through the study of other languages, students gain a knowledge and understanding of the cultures that use that language Moreover, students cannot truly master the language until they have also mastered the cultural contexts in which the language occurs Linguistic competence alone is not enough for learners of a language to be competent in that language From simple, everyday things, like forms of address to appropriate ways of expressing disagreement, culture forms an integral part of the language learning curricula In any case, in order for communication to be successful, language use must be associated with other culturally appropriate behavior, not only linguistic rules in the narrow sense

Culture is often taught implicitly, as a part of the linguistic forms that students are learning To make students aware of the cultural elements reflected in the language, teachers can make those cultural elements an explicit topic of discussion and bring them to the forefront when appropriate It is of utmost importance that cultural information be presented in a nonjudgmental way which doesn‘t evaluate the distinctions between the students‘ native culture and the culture explored in the classroom Claire Kramsch uses the term ―third culture‖

of the language classroom to describe an ideal learning environment, one where learners can explore and reflect on their own and the target culture and language

At any rate, foreign language learning is foreign culture learning, and, in one form or another, culture has, even implicitly, been taught in the foreign language classroom—if for different reasons What is debatable, though, is what is meant

by the term ―culture‖ and how the latter is integrated into language learning and teaching Kramsch‘s keen observation should not go unnoticed:

Culture in language learning is not an expendable fifth skill, tacked on, so to

when they expect it least, making evident the limitations of their hard-won communicative competence, challenging their ability to make sense of the world around them (Kramsch, 1993: 1)

3 Textbook and its role in foreign language teaching

Textbook is defined by Stray (1994) as "a book designed to provide authoritative pedagogic version of an area of knowledge‖ (p.2) Textbooks are parts of a system enforcing a sense of responsibility, morality, and cultural coherence As such, textbooks used in EFL classrooms provide the primary source of information on cultural and moral values as well as e language for those studying

a language Researchers like Venezky (1992 cited in Lebrun et al., 2002, p 437), views the textbook as "a cultural artifact and as a surrogate curriculum" However, it was not until the 1990s, textbooks were given more weight as a research topic (e.g Hutchinson & Torres, 1994; McDonough & Shaw, 1993; Sheldon, 1988)

Considering textbooks as the core resources in language learning programs (Richards, 2010), Norton and Toohey (2005) emphasize the need not only to create instructional materials, ―but also to broaden the range of what are considered appropriate materials‖ (p 12) from the critical pedagogy perspective Thus, a critical analysis of the moral values presented in the ELT textbooks could inform local materials developers and classroom teachers of how to develop ELT materials that can help learners to construct and reconstruct their moral identities as agents of transformation in their own society

The significance of textbooks are seen in the many roles textbooks play in facilitating the second language teaching and learning process in the classroom According to Cortazzi and Jin (1999), the textbook ―can be a teacher, a map, a resource, a trainer, an authority, a de-skiller and an ideology.‖ As a teacher, the textbook can provide explanations and guide the learners through parts of the

course, thus relieving the teacher of some of the time-consuming and tedious work, leaving him or her to focus on the parts of the job that only a teacher can

do As a resource, the textbook can provide teaching and learning materials as well as suggestions and ideas for the classroom, and thus facilitate the work that needs to be done to find suitable materials and approaches for a given group of learners As a trainer, the textbook can provide step-by-step instructions for the inexperienced or untrained teacher

Hence, the textbook can be a major source of cultural elements beside providing linguistic and topical contents which necessarily reflect the ideology inherent in the ESL context of a particular circle Cunningsworth (1995, in Tok 2010) summarizes the roles of a textbook as follows: (1) a resource for presentation materials (both spoken or written), (2) a resource of simulation and ideas for classroom activities, (3) a support for less experienced teachers who have yet to gain in confidence and (4) a syllabus (where they reflect learning objectives which have already been determined)

The different roles that a textbook can play in the teaching and learning situation may, of course, be a result of characteristics of the textbook itself and the educational system of which it is a part However, the role that a textbook has in any given situation also depends on the expectations and the capacities of the teachers and learners who use it Most important here is probably the teacher‘s awareness of the textbook‘s many possible functions, not least of the possible limiting functions that it may have if it is used uncritically as a trainer, a ‗pillow‘

or if it is looked upon as an unquestionable authority

4 Classification of cultural content in foreign language textbooks

There exist several classifications of cultural content in foreign language

focus on the target language culture and leave few possibilities for comparison,

―unless the teacher injects a question, such as, ‗This is what American do What

do you do?‘ or ‗This is the American view What is your view?‖ (Dunnet, Dubin and Lezberg (1986: 153) Two dimensional textbooks encourage cross-cultural understanding They treat culture-related themes from two different perspectives, thus stimulating both comparison and contrast between the target and the source cultures

When analyzing a textbook, Cortazzi and Jin (1999) distinguish three types of cultural information that can be presented in language textbooks and materials:

- Source culture materials that draw attention on the learners‘ own culture

These textbooks mirror only the learners‘ culture The purpose of this kind of textbook is to prepare the language learners to introduce their own culture to English-speaking visitors

The figures above illustrates in which the source culture may be used in an English language classroom For example, a textbook published and used in America and with American students and teacher might ask the students to describe annual American events like Thanks Giving holiday with the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and/or a variety of football games on television, with the next day one of the busiest shopping days of the year ('Black Friday') Clearly such a context provides the students with an opportunity to learn more about their own culture and to learn the language needed to explain these cultural

elements in English The source culture texts can also be used in contexts where students come from source culture but the teacher is from another culture The teacher might pose questions to the students, asking them to explain what meaning

a particular cultural element has for them, and share with students his or her personal reaction to the cultural information and behavior presented in the text

- Target culture textbooks that refer to the culture of the country where a

foreign language is used as a first language Students using such textbooks might have more competence when talking to people from the target culture or visiting the target country They could also be aware of cultural differences between their own culture and the target culture, so students‘ awareness of the target culture is thus enhanced

There are two possible contexts in which information about a target culture can

be introduced in the teaching of a language classroom One very common type,

is that the teacher and students come from the same cultural background, but the materials used in the classroom present cultural information from a target culture This could be the case, for example, in a classroom in Vietnam with a Vietnamese teacher using materials dealing with American or English culture A second situation that can arise in using target culture is when the students are from the source culture (Vietnamese, for example) and the teacher is from the target culture (English or American teacher, etc)

15

- International target culture textbooks that employ a variety of cultures

where the target language is used as an international language, namely lingua franca Students not only learn the target culture from such textbooks but also learn about more than one culture Their knowledge of other cultures may help smooth their communication with citizens of those countries and enhance their awareness of other culture

Adaskou, Britten and Fahsi view culture in a different way According to them, the cultural contents can be classified into ‗four separate sorts of ―culture‖ that language teaching may involve‘ According to Adaskou, Britten and Fahsi (1990, 3), culture has dimensions and is distinguished into four senses: The aesthetic, the sociological, the semantic, and the pragmatic They can be seen in the following chart:

CULTURE

The Aesthetic The Sociological The Semantic The Pragmatic

The Aesthetic Sense: Culture with a capital C; the media; the cinema, music

(whether serious or popular, literature-the-study of which used often to be one of the main reasons for language teaching Many of these forms of culture are at the same time sources of information on culture in our second sense

The Sociological Sense: Culture with a small c; the organization and nature of

family, of home life, of interpersonal relations, material conditions, work and leisure, customs and institution

The Semantic Sense: The conceptual system embodied in the language,

conditioning all our perceptions and our thought processes, time and space relations, emotional states, colors

The Pragmatic (or sociolinguistics) Sense: The background knowledge, social

skills and paralinguistic skill that, in addition to mastery of the language code, make possible successful communication:

 The ability to use appropriate exponents of the various communicative functions

 The ability to conform to norms of politeness, where different from the learners‘ culture, including taboo avoidance

 Awareness of conventions governing interpersonal relations-question of status, obligation, license, where different from the learners‘ culture

 Familiarity with the main rhetorical conventions in different written genres e.g different types of letters and messages, form-filling, advertisements

Based on different classification of cultural contents in foreign language

such as a research on the cultural contents in locally published English textbooks

in Turkey made by Yasemin, Agcam and Reyhand (2011) They analyzed the cultural contents in terms of source, target and international culture to analyze the cultural elements in textbooks In Vietnam, there is also a research on this theme, carried out by Nguyen Thi Ngoc Hien (2007) The author modified the checklist of Cortazzi and Jin and investigated the cultural contents in reading passages of English textbook for grade 10 There is another approach following Adaskou, Britten and Fahsi‘s classification This can be seen in a research on Indonesian English language textbooks (2012), the author Bernadeta Ririn investigated nine English textbooks by different publishers and based on the four dimensions proposed by Adaskou et al to find out the cultural elements in pictures of family value theme

5 Checklists for evaluating the cultural elements in foreign language textbooks

There have been different checklists for analyzing foreign language textbooks which can help teachers to choose the teaching materials that best meet the aims of the course as well as the students‘ needs However, as far as the cultural content of textbooks is concerned, it is noticeable that in some checklists the cultural dimension is missing According to Cortazzi and Jin (1999: 204), other checklists focus only on certain aspects of culture (for example, stereotypes) or varieties of target culture (for example, Britain or USA), or leave out uncomfortable social issues such as unemployment, poverty, racism, … Quite often, questions about culture ―nearly always placed at the end

of a checklist, almost as an afterthought‖

Thorough checklists have been developed by a number of scholars in a more systematic way, such as Huhn‘s (1978) list of criteria, Cunningsworth‘s (1995) checklist, Sercu‘s (1998) set of questions, … Below is an example of Kilickaya‘s guidelines to analyze a textbook for cultural information