An investigation into intercultural components in three piloted english textbooks for vietnamese high schools under national foreign language 2020 project

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES ********************* KIỀU THỊ HÀ AN INVESTIGATION INTO INTERCU

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES

*********************

KIỀU THỊ HÀ

AN INVESTIGATION INTO INTERCULTURAL COMPONENTS IN

THREE PILOTED ENGLISH TEXTBOOKS FOR VIETNAMESE HIGH SCHOOLS UNDER NATIONAL FOREIGN LANGUAGE 2020 PROJECT

(Tìm hiểu các yếu tố liên văn hóa trong sách giáo khoa Tiếng Anh thí điểm

ở cấp trung học phổ thông)

M.A MINOR THESIS (Type I)

Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 8140231.01

Hanoi - 2019

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES

*********************

KIỀU THỊ HÀ

AN INVESTIGATION INTO INTERCULTURAL COMPONENTS IN THREE PILOTED ENGLISH TEXTBOOKS FOR VIETNAMESE HIGH SCHOOLS UNDER NATIONAL FOREIGN LANGUAGE 2020 PROJECT

(Tìm hiểu các yếu tố liên văn hóa trong sách giáo khoa Tiếng Anh thí điểm

ở cấp trung học phổ thông)

M.A MINOR THESIS (Type I)

Field : English Teaching Methodology Code : 8140231.01

Supervisor : Professor Nguyễn Hòa

Hanoi - 2019

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I have taken efforts in this study However, it would not have been possible without the tremendous support and help of individuals I would like to extend our sincere thanks to all of them

I am highly indebted to my honor supervisor, Professor Nguyễn Hòa, for his guide, advice and suggestions as well as correction during the course of my writing Secondly, I would like to express my gratitude to my close friend for helping me get access to necessary information regarding the topic and their support in completing the study Thirdly, my thanks go to Ms Nguyễn Huyền Ly for her comment and corrective feedback on my work Last but not least, I also would like to thank my family for their indispensable support and encouragement Therefore, it is possible

to state that without the help from the aforementioned people, this paper would never have been finished

ABSTRACT

As the rise in demand for intercultural communication, using language appropriately in social and cultural contexts is becoming a concern of the teaching and the learning process Textbooks, as the main source of teaching material, provide learners with not only language input and practice but also intercultural knowledge and skills to build up learners‟ intercultural communication competence For those reasons, I conducted this study to find out whether textbooks under the NFLP 2020 implemented in high schools include intercultural elements and help students in improving students‟ intercultural communication competence through learning tasks To achieve the aims of the study, I employed both qualitative method

to analyze the content of the textbooks and quantitative method to report the results

of the textbook analysis procedure and to discuss further the findings of the research

The results of the study indicate that textbook compilers integrated cultural information from various sources including intercultural interactions in the textbook series On examining learning tasks presented in three textbooks, I found that textbook writers included tasks to develop students‟ intercultural competence in different dimensions according to Byram‟s model of IC The textbook series was developed in a rather efficient way to help students improve their international communication skills through diverse activities

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

IC : Intercultural competence ICC : Intercultural communication competence

SC : Source culture

TC : Target culture InC : International culture ICI : Intercultural interaction

UC : Universality across Culture CEFR : Common European Framework of Reference for Languages NFLP : National Foreign Language 2020 Project

LIST OF TABLES

Table 2.3: The categories and the criteria to classify culture (adapted Chao (2011))

……… 17

Table 3.1.1: Topics presented in the textbooks for high school students 20

Table 4.1.a: Numbers of aspects of analysis on cultural-related content 41

Table 4.1.b: Percentage of Source Culture, Target Culture, International Culture, Intercultural Interaction and Universality across culture in three textbooks 42

Table 4.1.c: Frequency of Source Culture, Target Culture, International Culture, Intercultural Interaction and Universality across culture 43

Table 4.2.1: Dimensions of IC addressed in the learning tasks of three textbooks 48

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 2.2.2.: Factors in intercultural communication (Byram, 1997, p 34) 12

Figure 2.2.2.d: Byram‟s Model of intercultural communication competence (1997) 14

Figure 3.2.1.a Tieng Anh 10 representing source culture (Unit 3, p 32) 23

Figure 3.2.1.b: Tieng Anh 11 representing target culture (Unit 7, p.22) 24

Figure 3.2.1.c: Tieng Anh 11 representing international culture (Unit 5, p 62) 25

Figure 3.2.1.d: Tieng Anh 10 representing intercultural interaction (Unit 4, p 42) 26

Figure 3.2.1.e Tieng Anh 12 representing universality across culture (Unit 7, p.22) 27 Figure 3.3.3.a: An example of the learning task developing knowledge (Tieng Anh 11, p 64) 36

Figure 3.3.3.b: An example of the learning task developing attitudes ( Tieng Anh 10, p.16) 37

Figure 3.3.3.c: An example of the learning task developing attitudes (Tieng Anh 11, p.11) 37

Figure 3.3.3.d: An example of the learning task developing attitudes 37(Tieng Anh 12, p.24) 37

Figure 3.3.3.e: An example of the learning task developing skills of interpreting and relating (Tieng Anh 10, p.24) 38

Figure 3.3.3.f: An example of the learning task developing skills of discovery (Tieng Anh 11, p.41) 39

Figure 3.3.3.g: An example of the learning task developing skills of discovery (Tieng Anh 10, p.11) 40

Figure 4.2.1: Ratio of learning tasks aiming at increasing learners‟ IC 47

APPENDICES Appendix 1: Coding scheme- Sources of cultural information I Appendix 2: Coding scheme- Learning task analysis II Appendix 3: An example of a learning task aiming at developing students‟ attitude

in Tieng Anh 10 (p.10) III

Appendix 4: An example of a learning task aiming at developing students‟ attitudes

in Tieng Anh 10 (p.45) IV

Appendix 5: An example of a learning task aiming at developing students‟ skills of

discovery in Tieng Anh 11 (p.54) V

Appendix 6: An example of a learning task aiming at developing students‟ skills of

discovery in Tieng Anh 10 (p.11) VI

TABLE OF CONTENTS

DECLARATION i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii

ABSTRACT iii

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS iv

LIST OF TABLES v

LIST OF FIGURES vi

APPENDICES vii

TABLE OF CONTENTS viii

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Rationale for the study 1

1.2 Aims of the study and research questions 3

1.3 Methods of the study 4

1.4 Significance of the study 4

1.5 Scope of the study 4

1.6 Structure of the thesis 5

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 6

2.1 Role of textbooks as a source of cultural inputs 6

2.2 Intercultural communication competence 10

2.2.1 Intercultural communication competence in English language teaching 10 2.2.2 Model of intercultural communication competence 12

2.2.3 Intercultural dimensions 14

2.3 Sources of cultural information 15

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 18

3.1 Textbook description 18

3.1.1 Textbook structure 19

3.1.2 Structure of ONE unit 20

3.2 Addressing research question 1 21

3.2.1 Research instruments 21

3.2.2 Data collecting procedure 28

3.2.3 Data analysis 28

3.3 Addressing research question 2 32

3.3.1 Research instruments 32

3.3.2 Data collecting procedure 33

3.3.3 Data analysis 34

CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS 41

4.1 The findings for the first research question 41

4.1.1 Findings 41

4.1.2 Discussion 44

4.2 The findings for the second research question 46

4.2.1 Findings 46

4.2.2 Discussion 48

4.2.2.1 Knowledge of cultures 48

4.2.2.2 Attitudes toward cultures 50

4.2.2.3 Skills of interpreting and relating 51

4.2.2.4 Skills of discovery 52

4.3 Concluding remarks 54

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION 56

5.1 Recap and conclusion of the study 56

5.2 Implications and recommendation 59

5.3 Limitations 60

5.4 Suggestions for further studies 60

REFERENCES 62 APPENDICES I

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

1.1 Rationale for the study

In today‟s world, globalization has brought nations, cultures, and people closer English becomes the language for international trade, commerce, and communication and its teaching and learning become growing needs (Farzaneh, Konhandami, & Nejadannsari, 2014) Language does not exist in a vacuum but it is

a part of society and culture Therefore, teaching and learning a language also means learning about the culture of that language The relationship between language and culture in English language classrooms has been the focus of many studies (Kramsch,1993; Byram,1989)

Communication among people from different cultural backgrounds may cause misunderstanding in intercultural situations as people may base on their cultures for interpretations (Kramsch, 1993) Therefore, there is a hidden risk of false impression and conflict if one uses a language without the understanding of culture background (Woflson, 1989) To avoid misinterpretation in international situations, learners of foreign languages should draw attention to cultural differences when communicating Apart from that, they should be equipped with knowledge and skills to deal with conveying their messages in an intercultural environment while learning foreign languages

Teaching materials have a powerful influence on the process of teaching and learning a language According to Tomlinson (1998), materials can be instructional, experiential, elicititative and exploratory for learners to discover the language Textbooks are one of the main sources of inputs for learners and the language practice that takes place in classrooms Since the contents of textbooks have a significant association with the learning of the students, it is supposed that textbooks should include intercultural knowledge which can help learners communicative successfully in intercultural contexts In other words, apart from language skills, textbooks also provide intercultural knowledge and provide chances

for learners to improve intercultural communication skills so that they can build up their intercultural communication competence

Recently, there is an increasing trend of high school students applying for other high schools, colleges or universities in English speaking countries after finishing at least a semester Therefore, teaching and learning English are given significant attention to help students with sufficient skills to be independent and confident especially when studying abroad It is necessary to raise awareness and equip students with knowledge of cultural differences, skills to communicate with people from different cultures to avoid misunderstanding That would help them survive in international environments

There are numerous studies on intercultural communication in many aspects Walinski (2012) focused on the way to enhance ICC in an online assessment environment using the CEFcult project Reid (2015), on the other hand, exploited techniques that develop ICC in English lessons It is a brief guidance to teachers on how to integrate ICC in English language lessons Moeller and Nugent (2014) were also interested in developing ICC in classrooms They reviewed and summarized models of intercultural competence and examples of tasks that promote ICC and can

be practiced in classrooms

In Vietnam, a new English textbook series has been implemented in some Vietnamese high schools under the National Foreign Language 2020 Project for 5 years The new English textbook series shows their improvements in many aspects

as compared with the previous ones such as book structure, unit structure, component heading, and time allocated Since the English textbook series was piloted in high schools, there exists a question about whether the textbooks can server the objectives of teaching and learning English at the school context There are some studies to investigate some aspects when implementing the series in some schools Hoang (2017) looked into teachers‟ and students‟ attitudes toward the piloted textbook in a high school in Nam Dinh In 2018, Nguyen dug into how source culture, target culture, and international culture were represented in the

textbook series for high schools in visual forms, texts or listening, and speaking tasks There has also been much research related to analyzing cultural and intercultural elements and components in textbooks For example, Farzaneh et.al (2014) sought social-cultural contexts in Top Notch series However, there has not been any study on intercultural components and learning tasks in the piloted English textbooks under the 2020 project The above-mentioned reasons motivated me to investigate intercultural components presented in the new pilot textbooks implemented at high schools to find out whether those textbooks could foster intercultural communication in students through learning tasks and the dimension of

IC that can be found in learning tasks

1.2 Aims of the study and research questions

In order to seek the answer to whether English textbooks under the national project 2020 launched by the Ministry of Education and Training foster ICC, the study sets out to investigate intercultural components and the learning tasks presented in the textbooks With a view to enhancing students‟ ICC, it is important that textbooks should provide inputs as well as practice for students to develop all dimensions of ICC knowledge, attitudes and skills Therefore, the research also aims at investigating intercultural elements and the dimensions of intercultural communication competence that the learning tasks in the textbooks address The results of the study can be a reference for teachers for appropriate adaptation and adjustment of the material to suit their teaching contexts as well as to meet their students‟ needs

The research will try to find the answer for the following questions to serve above-mentioned objectives:

 What proportions of intercultural components can be found in the analyzed textbooks?

 What dimensions of intercultural communication do the learning tasks in those textbooks address?

1.3 Methods of the study

This study is conducted mainly as a qualitative method that is descriptive in design, accompanied by quantitative analysis of the intercultural elements and the learning tasks in the textbooks The data were coded in explicit categories and then described using statistics In content analysis, I used existing theories and prior research to aid in the identification of the variables in order to develop the coding scheme or the initial coding categories for data analysis

After building a coding scheme, I identified culture-related content in Tieng

Anh 10, Tieng Anh 11, and Tieng Anh 12 Cultural-related content can be in visual

forms such as pictures, maps, charts, photographs, and illustration; in written form like name of characters, places, themes of written text or in a list of cultural references Apart from that, learning tasks in textbooks such as follow-up exercises, questions following listening recordings or reading texts were also analyzed Exercises or learning tasks which provide students with knowledge about vocabulary or pronunciation were not counted to analyze because those tasks aim at improving their language skills only

1.4 Significance of the study

The result of the study would be expected to draw English teachers in high schools to the issue It is a reference for them to consult when adopting the textbooks to involve cultural knowledge as well as intercultural communication skills and integrate them into teaching language skills It is anticipated that this would ultimately improve the teaching and learning environment so that it can meet the students‟ needs These answers to the research questions also are expected to be

a theoretical background for any changes or plans implemented at school in English subject

1.5 Scope of the study

In point of fact, the Ten-year English Textbook Series for Vietnamese Secondary Schools under the National Foreign Language 2020 Project consists of primary textbooks, lower secondary textbooks, upper secondary ones As a series,

there is complete integration and articulation among the textbooks for three levels Therefore, it is far better to investigate the entire textbook series from grade 3 to grade 12 so that a general overview of intercultural content and learning tasks can

be evaluated Nevertheless, this research study only Student‟s books for high school level for reasons of space and time

Particularly, the study only focused on exploiting intercultural elements in correlation with other sources of cultural information presented in students‟ books for grades 10, 11, 12 in all forms of information such as reading texts, listening recordings, conversations, learning tasks, pictures After investigating the knowledge of cultures, the learning tasks presented in three books are also analyzed

to find out whether they address the dimensions of intercultural competence such as attitudes or skills

1.6 Structure of the thesis

Chapter 1 Introduction: presents the rationale, aims, methodology, significance and

scope of the study

Chapter 2: Literature review – covers the overview of the literature which includes

relevant theoretical background, and framework for the study

Chapter 3: Methodology - in this chapter, the introduction of the research method

including, data collection instruments, data collection procedure, and data analysis procedure are presented

Chapter 4: Findings and discussion – demonstrates the findings accompanied by

data analysis and discussion

Chapter 5: Conclusion: which is the last chapter, followed by references is the

summary of the whole study The limitation of the study and suggestions for further study are also recommended

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

In this chapter, a review of the literature on theory and models of analyzing tasks is provided First, the role of the textbooks as a source of cultural inputs was introduced Second, intercultural communication competence in language teaching, models to understand ICC, as well as intercultural dimensions, was presented Following this, the study reviewed sources of cultural information

2.1 Role of textbooks as a source of cultural inputs

Textbooks are among the essential components in language classrooms They serve as basic input of the language learners receive and the language practice that occurs in classrooms They may provide the basis for the content of the lessons and for students, textbooks are major sources of contact that they have with the target language apart from teachers For language teachers, textbooks serve as a guide which supplies systematic and comprehensive cultural perspectives With the shift

in linguistic theories, people have tended to focus on teaching language in contexts Social contexts, everyday life and the natural environment of the target culture have been gradually paid attention to in the textbooks as linguistic inputs Therefore, foreign language classes should include cultural components incorporated within classroom materials or real-life experiences

Textbooks are important inputs to create cultural contact for learners, in consideration of the impact of authentic material (Ihm, 1996) Nowadays, the spread

of English has resulted in its becoming a lingua franca (Canagarajah, 2006) and, as

an international language, is said to have more non-native speakers than native speakers (Maley, 2009) This has made the relationship between language and culture more complex, changeable and emergent (Baker, 2008), with interactions by people from different cultures To communicate successfully with people from different countries and cultures, students‟ linguistic competence is not enough As language does not exist in isolation but is part of a society and culture, it is vital for language learners to be aware of cultural differences to avoid misunderstanding in

an intercultural setting, since interpretations are based on assumptions and perceptions from their own culture (Kramsch, 1993) For many students who take English as a foreign language, classrooms may be the main place for them to experience some connection with the culture and practice using the target language

in contexts provided in textbooks However, because other goals of foreign language teaching such as four language skills - listening, reading, speaking, writing, grammar, vocabulary takes so much time Hence, it is possible that there is not enough time for intercultural teaching Although Kaikkonen (1994) indicated that the aims of teaching foreign languages seem to be internationality and a better understanding of target culture, Byram & Morgan (1994) stated that the full potential of language and culture is not fulfilled Kaikkonen (1994) continued that people might feel suspicious and afraid of foreign cultures One aim of intercultural teaching is to practice the understanding of diversity: while learning foreign languages One also has to change one‟s view of the world and develop a new level

of consciousness, as he is expose to authentic contexts as well as information about the world described in the textbooks This new way of thinking enables language learners to understand other cultures better, survive in the international environment, and develop their sense of justice further

To be effective in promoting intercultural communication competence, it is suggested that textbooks be designed accordingly and that both linguistic and cultural objectives should overlap Students should be equipped with the knowledge

of not only their own culture but also the target culture as well as other countries‟ cultures Apart from that, the intercultural approach in foreign language teaching promotes linguistic competence as well as intercultural communicative competence, and aims at developing the awareness of the cultural differences, which may interfere with communication and understanding between the learners‟ own culture and the target culture (Byram, 1997) Nowadays, it is assumed that the knowledge

of one‟s own and foreign cultures broadens one‟s worldview and in general and

enriches one‟s life by providing access to new cultures

Language expresses the thoughts, belief, and assumptions of a community hence language reflects the way of looking at the world and understanding reality Byram (1989) believed that language is a tool to express the speaker‟s knowledge and perception of the real world, thus it reflects their cultural concepts and values

He continued that one cannot learn a language and neglect its culture because speaking a language means expressing its culture, exchanging a language embodies

a particular way of thinking and living Moreover, according to Byram (1989) cultural awareness is very important in language teaching because it contributes to language proficiency He insisted that any language curriculum should include either implicitly or explicitly elements of its culture because language reflects the speaker‟s values and perception of the world Therefore, textbooks, as considered a curriculum guideline, are effective instruments for educational practice, language resources and sets of cultural values

According to Kramsch (1993), the problem in the previous approaches to culture has been the promotion of facts over meanings instead of enabling the learners to understand foreign attitudes and values Corbett (2003) stated that the aim of the intercultural approach is to gain intercultural communicative competence which means the ability to understand the language and behavior of the target culture and the ability to act as a diplomat between one‟s own culture and the target culture In this approach, it is more important for learners to achieve ICC rather than native-like speaker proficiency Corbett also pointed out that intercultural understanding should be considered an equally important aspect of language learning

In 1997, Byram pointed out three dimensions of intercultural competence- knowledge, skills, and attitudes Having an intercultural attitudes means being curious and open towards foreign cultures and being able to understand that one‟s own attitudes are not the only possible way to perceive the world and reality Secondly, having intercultural knowledge includes not only knowing about how

social groups and identities of foreign culture function and one‟s own culture function but also understanding the norms and values in every culture Thirdly, there are intercultural skills that should be taught to learners that are comparing, interpreting and relating their own culture as well as the foreign cultures Therefore, it is necessary

to include these aspects in textbooks to provide students with models and inputs to practice the language in social contexts Apart from that, textbooks are also a guideline

to teach language learners to search for information on their own since teachers cannot anticipate all the knowledge that they might need in the future

In language classrooms under the intercultural perspective, students are encouraged to learn languages for cultural understanding to be able to cognitively analyze foreign cultures, people and the cultural artifacts Integrating linguistic and cultural learning enables the critical assessment of the mainstream culture into which the pupils are socialized According to Elomaa (2009), textbooks have a critical role in promoting the principles of intercultural learning and teaching as they have a significant influence on pupils‟ attitudes towards foreign cultures Ideally, the textbooks would get students interested in the target culture by presenting the culture, language, and mentality of the target countries in an interesting and motivating way Additionally, the textbook contents should also be meaningful in order to support the intercultural approach For example, learners should be able to use the learned information in real life The aim of the intercultural approach is that students would realize that there are no better or worse cultures but just culture-specific features, which direct the use of language and behaviors Therefore, the teaching of one‟s own culture and comparing it with other foreign cultures are also a very important aspect of intercultural learning Textbooks, in order to be effective, have to include activities such as role-plays, project work, discussion and so on which should result in understanding, discussing and writing in the target language rather than memorizing information Moreover, textbook activities should support critical thinking via comparing and contrasting, which leads students to analyze the information including local and international

characteristics, and their relevance to language learners‟ experiences

2.2 Intercultural communication competence

2.2.1 Intercultural communication competence in English language teaching

Language teaching and learning about target culture are so deeply embedded that one cannot be fully accomplished without considering the other When teaching

a foreign language such as English, teachers must take different aspects into account including the role of culture in language and the role language plays in the cultural expressions we make One of the major goals of teaching English as an international language is to make it easier for learners to communicate their ideas and cultural understandings in the medium of English Intercultural competence, the ultimate aim of acquiring language, cannot be attained if the textbooks focus solely on the learners‟ native culture or the target culture

According to Fantini (2009), intercultural competence is defined as the complex abilities that are required to perform effectively and appropriately when interacting with others who are linguistically and culturally different from themselves He emphasized the ability to use language to convey interlocutor‟s messages and make them understood by people speaking different languages However, the choice of language forms should be appropriate in certain social contexts In Fantini‟s definition, he claimed on the effectiveness and appropriateness of conversation when communicating with people from different cultures According to Huang, Rayner and Zhuang (2003), a person who has intercultural competence can develop relationships with people from different cultures, manage to solve complicated conflicts by crossing the barriers that arise as

a result of cultural differences and improve the ability to do business with counterparts from different cultures Hence, learning to deal with different cultures effectively requires cultural awareness, communicative competence, personal attitudes like empathy and flexibility, self - awareness and understanding others‟ values, norms and beliefs

One of the major goals of teaching English as an international language is to make it easier for learners to communicate their ideas and cultural understandings in

the medium of English Therefore, communicative competence is highlighted under the communicative language teaching theory To develop students‟ communicative competence, learners have to improve their foreign language in four dimensions Firstly, linguistic competence refers to the ability to produce and interpret meaningful utterances with the rules of the languages Secondly, with sociolinguistic competence, students should also be taught to be aware of the ways in which the choice of language form is determined by the condition of setting, religions, gender, social status, and the relationship between communication partners or communicative intention The third competence refers to the ability to use appropriate strategies in the construction and interpretation of spoken or written texts - discourse competence Students with strategic competence may find suitable strategies to overcome difficulties when communicating due to a lack of linguistic ability

Intercultural communication competence has been endorsed by many educational organizations around the world and it is essential that ICC be integrated into language teaching as well as English language teaching Intercultural communicative competence refers to an individual‟s ability to navigate within a given society appropriately in a foreign language In other words, individuals are able to use appropriate language, understand the unspoken meaning in words, appreciate the cultural underpinnings in any communication, and make appropriate cultural references to aid in understanding the messages hidden in conversation

To improve ICC, students are expected to acquire competences in knowledge, attitudes, and skills related to IC while using a foreign language (Byram, 1997) He also stated that teachers may lead students through activities in classrooms to use target language that structure new discoveries about others from different cultures and about themselves rather than fostering them to use foreign language like native speakers Therefore, textbooks would be a significant resource for both teachers and language learners The learning tasks presented in those textbooks should exemplify the best practice in ICC and cover multicultural information to meet the growing

need for the development of ICC

2.2.2 Model of intercultural communication competence

There are several models of ICC has been conceptualized to suit diverse contexts In a foreign language teaching context, some models of ICC can be taken into consideration

The best-known model of ICC in foreign language teaching is the one developed by Byram (1997) It is considered the most comprehensive framework to develop and assess learners‟ ICC in various contexts Byram‟s model is based on Hymes and van Ek‟s model of communication competence Similar to the two models above, his model also started off with the analysis of core factors which are knowledge, skills, and attitude In his model, he also highlights the IC is related to other competences like linguistic competence, sociolinguistic competence, and discourse competence

Attitude

Relativizing self-valuing other (savoir être)

Skills

Discover and/or interact (savoir apprendre/faire)

Figure 2.2.2.: Factors in intercultural communication (Byram, 1997, p 34)

Based on this model, he built up a specific educational objective designed for language and culture learning and they are also guiding criteria to develop and assess learners‟ IC in language classes According to Byram, curious and open

attitude are essential and pre-condition for successful IC as if there is no desire to communicate with people from different languages and cultural backgrounds, there will never be any development in skills and knowledge He also stated that attitude does not necessarily have to be positive Another precondition individuals bring into

IC is their knowledge Byram divided knowledge into two categories The first knowledge about social groups in one‟s own country and their culture and the second one is the knowledge of concepts and processes in interaction This knowledge takes into account the linguistic and cultural behaviors of the participants Finally, he mentioned two skills which were dependent on the participants‟ knowledge and attitudes Skills of interpreting and relating refer to the ability to interpret a document or an event from other countries to explain and relate its to documents and events on one‟s own culture Those skills require existing knowledge to understand and relate specific examples in the target language The second set of skills, discovering and relating are described as the ability to use existing knowledge to detect and respond to new knowledge of cultural practices as well as to manage these different interpretations and discoveries in a real-time conversation influenced by time and perception (Byram, 1997) Both skills require the active engagement of participants in intercultural communication

In Byram‟s model, there is a combination of intercultural competence and communicative competence, thus it is considered the most comprehensive model of intercultural communicative competence in language teaching

Figure 2.2.2.d: Byram’s Model of intercultural communication competence (1997)

In this study, Byram‟s model is used as a framework to analyze intercultural elements and learning tasks in the textbook

2.2.3 Intercultural dimensions

As mentioned in the previous part, learners have to acquire necessary competences in terms of knowledge, skills, attitudes, and awareness to develop ICC (Byram, 1997) The foundation of IC is the attitude of intercultural speakers and mediators It refers to the ability to see other cultures and one‟s own culture from different prisms with curiosity, openness, readiness to suspend disbelief about other cultures and belief about own culture It also involves cultural awareness, the understanding and the acceptance of other cultures It is also necessary for one to be capable of seeing their own culture from an outsider‟s perspective who has different sets of beliefs, values, and behaviors

Another significant factor is knowledge Although it is not possible to acquire

or to anticipate all the knowledge one might need in interacting with people of other cultures, it is essential to gain knowledge about a specific culture as well as knowledge of how social groups and identities function and what involves in

intercultural interaction Learners need to understand the processes of society and individual interaction in the target language and their own culture That would enable them to recognize the diversity in the ways of living and the social-culture contexts in the target language

Intercultural skills are also as important as attitude and language During intercultural communication, misunderstanding can arise Therefore, it is essential

to use various language strategies to adjust to different contexts and resolve problems When putting ideas, events, and documents from different cultures together and seeing how they might look from a different perspective, learners can see how people might misunderstand what is said or written by other people from different social identities The skills of interpreting and relating are important to reduce or avoid conflict situations In addition to that, neither learners nor teachers can anticipate all their knowledge needs Therefore acquiring the skills of discovery and interaction is vital to find new knowledge and integrate it with what they already have so that they can operate their knowledge, attitudes, and skills under real-time constraints in conversation and interaction

In the present study, the learning tasks in investigated textbooks were divided into intercultural dimensions that they address Learning tasks that present exploration in target culture and learner‟s own culture towards the development of intercultural knowledge, skills, attitudes and awareness through activities and tasks, such as discussion on comparison of the similarities and differences between target culture and learners‟ own culture, intercultural problem-solving tasks, etc The intercultural elements investigated from the textbooks were based on the theory of Byram (1997)

2.3 Sources of cultural information

The basis for classifying cultural information presented in a textbook is based

on Cortazzi & Jin‟s work They distinguish cultural information used in foreign language textbooks into three types

Source culture materials refer to the learner‟s own culture as content In the

case of Vietnam, this involves using materials based on Vietnamese society and Vietnamese culture, thus it gets learners familiar with the content in textbooks The main purpose of this category of textbooks is to enable learners to talk about their own country to people from different countries

Target culture materials include the culture of a country where English is spoken as the first language such as countries in the inner circles of Kachru‟s circles

of English These textbooks of this category provide learners with cultural information about English speaking countries The integration of target cultural information into textbooks to help to enhance learners‟ motivation and develop their attitude toward language learning (McKay 2002)

International cultural information relates to cultures that do not belong to source culture nor target culture It refers to the culture of countries where English

is used as a foreign or international language In other words, it refers to the cultures

of the countries in the outer circle in Karchu‟s model English is frequently used in international situations

Apart from the three categories of cultural information proposed by Cortazzi and Jin, some other types can be found in foreign language textbooks In 2004, McKay reveals some benefits of using content from international target culture in the teaching of English as an international language According to her research, learning cultural information from international cultures allows learners to expose

to a variety of cultures and develop cross-cultural sociolinguistic competence They have more chances to acquire their own notions about the ways to communicate appropriately with native and non-native speakers of English in international settings Additionally, more exposure to international culture materials will support learners in internalizing the cultural norms of non-native speaker‟s cultures rather than native English speakers when communicating and exchanging information This will lead to the development of ICC Therefore, English textbooks in a foreign language context should provide learners with various opportunities to effectively develop their ICC through the contents and learning tasks

Based on categories of culture by Cortazzi and Jin (1999) and McKay (2004), Chao (2011) adds two more categories, intercultural interaction and universality cross-culture which relates to culture-neutral contents as the following table The content designed to help university English learners compare or reflect on the differences or similarities between their local and target/international cultures was coded under Intercultural Interaction (ICI) In general, the content, which is mainly related to linguistic knowledge and practice without focusing on any particular culture or country, was coded under Universality across Culture (UC)

In the context of this research, I adapted Chao‟s (2011) to classify cultural contents in textbooks However, when applying to English textbooks in Vietnam, some changes should be taken into consideration to suit the context of the research

SC refers to Vietnamese culture To see the correlation between intercultural components and other sources of culture, culture-neutral contents would not be counted, thus there are only four types of cultures as followed

Table 2.3: The categories and the criteria to classify culture (adapted Chao (2011))

Source Culture (SC) It refers to Vietnamese culture

Target Culture (TC) It includes English-speaking countries in the inner circle (Australia,

Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, the UK and the USA)

International Culture

(InC)

It includes cultures of all countries in the world (European countries, countries in Latin America, Africa, and Asia) except for Vietnamese and English-speaking cultures

Intercultural

Interaction (ICI)

It includes the comparison, reflection, intercultural communication or awareness of the differences and similarities

between the local/source and the target /international culture through activities such as case studies, problem-solving, and role play to help students develop positive attitude, knowledge, skills and awareness in international communication

Data consisted of three textbooks series for three grades and each textbook

series has two volumes which are entitled Tiếng Anh 10, Tiếng Anh 11, and Tiếng

Anh 12, published by Vietnam Education Publishing House These books are the

results of the collaboration of Vietnam Education Publishing House and Pearson Education It is expected that after finishing high school, students will achieve

CEFR level B1 Compared to the previous textbook series, English textbooks under the NFLP are developed from multi-component approach, taking topics as starting point, the development of four macro-skills, linguistic elements (pronunciation, vocabulary, and grammar) and intercultural aspects as the means to be taught so that together these components will contribute to the development of the school student‟s comprehensive communicative competence (Hoang, 2016)

3.1.1 Textbook structure

In the textbook series under the National Foreign Language 2020 Project, high school textbooks differ from lower secondary and primary textbooks in textbook structure, the number of units, the unit structure, the number of components of each unit, and how a unit begins and ends

The textbook series for high school students consists of student‟s books and workbooks and CDs In terms of textbook structure, each textbook for high school students is organized around 10 units and 4 reviews which are separated into two volumes for each semester of a school year

Each book provides a book map which presents the topics of each unit, language functions and notions, phonological and lexical items related to the topic, and grammatical structures realizing the functions and notions, and cross-cultural contents for the textbook of each grade There is a consistent structure for each unit and each review Each unit is presented in 10 pages Topic, language focus, reading, speaking, listening, writing, communication & culture and project are incorporated across eight lesson titles Each of the titles consists of varying exercises and communicative tasks or activities which require individual work, pair work, group work, class discussion, and different patterns of interaction among teacher and students

In each textbook volume, there are two reviews: one after the third unit, and the other after the fifth unit In this section, students have a chance to revisit grammar points, lexical items and phonological patterns from the previous units as well as four language skills focusing on topics in previous units

In terms of content, in each grade, textbooks concentrate on 10 different topics

as in Table 3.1.1 There are a number of activities to support students to explore the topics in forms of exercises, individual works, group or pair works, discussions, projects

Table 3.1.1: Topics presented in the textbooks for high school students

1 Family life The generation gap Life stories

2 Your body and you Relationship Urbanization

4 For a better

community

Caring for those in need The mass media

5 Inventions Being part of ASEAN Cultural identity

6 Gender equality Global warming Endangered species

7 Culture diversity Further education Artificial intelligence

8 New ways to learn Our world heritage The world of work

3.1.2 Structure of ONE unit

As mentioned above, there are two textbook volumes for each grade including 10 units and four reviews A consistent structure is applied for all units

in the English textbooks for three grades Each unit includes eight sections which are equivalent to eight periods/ lessons In terms of components, each unit in textbooks for high school students consists of eight headings: Getting Started, Language, Reading, Speaking, Writing, Communication & Culture, and Looking back & Project

Each heading contributes to develop students‟ communicative language areas

as well as improve the level of proficiency Getting started aims at introducing the

topic of the unit, eliciting student‟s existing knowledge of the topic In Language

period, students are provided with grammar points, lexical items related to the topic Apart from supplying the knowledge, four skill-based lessons create a learning environment for students to develop communicative language use In

Communication & Culture, students learn to use English in social-cultural contexts

and read about an aspect of a specific culture In the last lesson of each unit, students revise language patterns and produce real work about the topic they have learnt

A unit of grade 10 through to grade 12 begins with a dialogue about the topic

of which incorporates phonological and lexical items related to the main topic, grammar points, and specific function and notions These language elements and language functions are enhanced, practiced, expanded and integrated into four following lessons which aim at developing four macro skills: reading, speaking, listening, writing and some cultural contents related to the topic The unit ends with

a project which provides students with opportunities to use the language learned throughout seven lessons to perform communicative tasks in real contexts

3.2 Addressing research question 1

3.2.1 Research instruments

In order to answer the research questions, the qualitative method and quantitative methods were applied Content analysis is a research technique which provides new insights, increases the researcher‟s understanding of particular phenomena, and informs practice Therefore, a content analysis of textbooks for high school students was conducted to determine intercultural elements in textbooks The culture-related contents in these textbooks, exercises and the learning tasks are used as the baseline data for content analysis

When it comes to the proportion of intercultural contents in the textbook series The textbook culture- related contents were coded according to the adaptation of Chao‟s (2011) categories of sources of cultures Under this scheme, cultural information was divided into four groups: source culture, target culture, international culture and intercultural interaction, universality across culture as

presented in Table 2.3 SC refers to Vietnamese culture TC includes English- speaking cultures such as England, America, Australia, New Zealand, ect InC represents the cultures of all countries other than SC and TC On the other hand, ICI includes content that reflects the similarities and differences in cultures among the

„SC‟, „TC‟, and „IC Culture- neutral or culture-free contents were counted as Universality across culture

A coding scheme was developed to analyze data and categorize data according

to the existing framework based on Chao‟s (2011) categories of culture

The source culture: native cultural representations of learners In this situation,

the source culture is Vietnamese cultural representations, which can be found in three textbook series

Figure 3.2.1.a Tieng Anh 10 representing source culture (Unit 3, p 32)

This example describes a Vietnamese musician‟s biography His social life and career represent an aspect of art and culture

The target culture: culture representations of the cultures where English is the

first language, for example, the United States, the UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand An example is shown in figure 3.2.1.b

Figure 3.1.1.b: Tieng Anh 11 representing target culture (Unit 7, p.22)

This figure shows the British education system from nursery school to higher education

The international source: cultural representations of non-Vietnamese culture

and non-English speaking countries in Africa, Asia, or Europe An example of this kind of cultural representation is illustrated in figure 3.2.1.c

Figure 3.2.1.c: Tieng Anh 11 representing international culture (Unit 5, p 62)

In this example, the origin of ASEAN as an association among Southeast Asia countries which is not from source culture or target culture

The intercultural interaction: there is a comparison, reflection, intercultural

communication or awareness of the differences and similarities between the local/source and the target/international culture An example of cultural representations of this kind is shown in figure 3.2.1.d

Figure 3.2.1.d: Tieng Anh 10 representing intercultural interaction (Unit 4, p 42)

In this passage, an English person travels to Thailand and experiences a tsunami in Maikhao Beach This example shows the interaction between people from a different country and the environment of another country

Universality across culture: it includes general knowledge or general contents,

which do not belong to any specific culture The example of this kind is shown in figure 3.2.1.e

Figure 3.2.1.e Tieng Anh 12 representing universality across culture (Unit 7, p.22)

This passage describes ideas about artificial intelligence with no specific cultural references Therefore, this reading perfectly exemplifies UC

When all texts, listening transcripts and visual were investigated and classified into each category, a quantitative tool was conducted to calculate the proportion of Intercultural elements in three textbooks and its correlation with other sources of cultural information

3.2.2 Data collecting procedure

First of all, each unit in each book has eight Four reviews were counted as four headings Therefore, each textbook was divided into 84 smaller headings In total, there are 252 headings which were coded In each textbook, 84 sections were analyzed to collect relevant data

In every heading, visual elements and written forms were analyzed separately Pictures, maps, charts, graphs, signs, photographs and illustrations were classified into visual elements Written form such as names of characters, places, themes of written texts or any culture references were put into one group General contents such as culture-free statements or scientific facts which did not belong to any specific cultures and could not determine their specific source of culture were grouped as Universality across culture

In order to classify cultural elements into different categories, names of countries appearing in each analysis unit were highlighted and coded into different categories such as Target culture, Source culture, International culture, or Intercultural interaction For those which could not determine any cultural references would be put into Universality across culture The analysis units of the study included reading passages, notes, text, listening transcript and pictures, and all other activities in the student‟s books

The frequency of each cultural elements in each section of each unit was counted and recorded in a coding table

3.2.3 Data analysis

To answer the first research question, after making the data units selected and excluded in phase one, I carried out the second phase to examine the main ideas of the texts, recording, activities, exercises and visual elements Then I coded them with categories and types of culture using framework as presented in the previous section The collected data were recorded in the first content analysis table This analysis could enable me to count the frequency of cultural sources In order to determine the cultural categories, the name of countries mentioned in each text and

visual was noted and put into different sources of cultural information Then the main ideas of each reading, pictures, and other visuals were determined and coded according to guidelines to identify intercultural components

In terms of written forms, it was not difficult to realize that almost all sources

of culture, source culture, target culture, international culture, intercultural interactions, and university across culture were focused through the topics presented

in the textbooks

The first domain of the textbook analysis was source culture Most examples

of Vietnamese culture were contextualized in Vietnam in modes of social addressing system All over the textbook series, the use of first names instead of surnames was found In almost all situations of all units, characters use first names

in communicating with others such as “Mai, Nam, Quan, Hieu, Phong, Anna, Scott…” Besides, Vietnamese culture was also presented in the textbooks through different features as Geography, Architecture, Economics, Historical features…; for instance, a brief biography of Van Cao, a reading text about Ha Long Bay, or a listening recording about Phong Nha Ke Bang Apart from that, Vietnamese

“values” cultural elements, through the introduction of health beliefs such as

“Ailments are caused by an imbalance of yin and yang” (Tieng Anh 10, p.24) Additionally, a few Vietnamese festivals were describes in the textbooks such as

“Elephant racing festival”, “Forest worshipping festival” in Tieng Anh 12 A

number of introductions of musical works or art forms also illustrated source culture such as “Tien quan ca”, “Noi vong tay lon”, and Quan Ho singing

Regarding target culture, there were a lot of written texts which describe features of culture in countries in the Inner Circle In some cases, the target culture was described separately In particular, most instances of target culture were contextualized in England, Britain, The USA, the UK, and Australia An introduction of the British educational system, curriculum, subject descriptions, and

discussing the education structure, institutions and organizations in Tieng Anh

11was an example Besides, some customs and superstitions in target culture were