An investigation into teachers and students attitudes twoards the cultural content in tieng anh 11 at tran khai nguyen high school hcmc m a

However, the new status of English as an International Language EIL nowadays interestingly implies that besides the target cultures referring to the culture of countries in which English

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY – HOCHIMINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES & HUMANITIES

FACULTY OF ENGLISH LINGUISTICS & LITERATURE

AN INVESTIGATION INTO TEACHERS’ AND STUDENTS’ ATTITUDES TOWARDS THE CULTURAL CONTENT IN “TIENG ANH 11” AT TRAN KHAI NGUYEN HIGH SCHOOL - HCMC

A thesis submitted to the Faculty of English Linguistics & Literature

in partial fulfillment of the Master’s degree in TESOL

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I am greatly indebted to a number of people without whom this thesis would

have been impossible

First and foremost, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Dr Le Thi

Thanh, my supportive supervisor, for understanding my difficulties, knowing my

strengths and weaknesses, sharing useful materials, giving me constructive remarks,

and providing me with illuminating insights and invaluable expertise Her patience,

encouragement, and support greatly contributed to the completion of my thesis

I am also immensely grateful to the Faculty of English Linguistics and

Literature as well as all my teachers in my MA courses at the University of Social

Sciences and Humanities of Ho Chi Minh City for giving me a chance to follow

this postgraduate programme, widening my knowledge, developing my language

skills, and improving my teaching methods

I acknowledge the great contribution of the school administrators, my

colleagues in the English group, and 11th graders at Tran Khai Nguyen High school,

where I am currently working as a teacher of English Without their help, I could

not get valuable information and data that played an extremely important role in this

study

Last but not least, my heartfelt thanks also go to my beloved parents who

always be there for me, love me unconditionally, encourage me endlessly, support

me wholeheartedly, and strongly believe in my ability to write the thesis to the end

STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY

I certify my authorship of the thesis submitted today entitled:

AN INVESTIGATION INTO TEACHERS’ AND STUDENTS’

ATTITUDES TOWARDS THE CULTURAL CONTENT IN “TIENG ANH

11” AT TRAN KHAI NGUYEN HIGH SCHOOL – HCMC

in terms of the statement of requirements for theses in Master’s Program

issued by the Higher Degree Committee No other person’s work has been used

without acknowledgement in the content of this thesis The thesis has not been

submitted for a degree or diploma in any other institution

Ho Chi Minh City, October 29th , 2016

DO THI THANH AN

RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS

I hereby state that I, DO THI THANH AN, being the candidate for the degree

of Master of TESOL, accept the requirement of the University relating to the

retention and use of Master’s Theses deposited in the Library

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

in the Library should be accessible for the purposes of study and scholarly research,

in accordance with the normal conditions established by the Library for the care,

loan or reproduction of the thesis

Ho Chi Minh City, October 29th , 2016

DO THI THANH AN

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS i

STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY ii

RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS iv

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ix

LIST OF TABLES x

LIST OF FIGURES xii

ABSTRACT xiii

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Background to the study 1

1.1.1 Theoretical issues 1

1.1.2 Practical issues 4

1.2 Aim of the study and research questions 5

1.3 Significance of the study 6

1.4 Scope of the study 7

1.5 The organization of the study 7

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 9

2.1 Language and culture 9

2.1.1 Definition of culture 9

2.1.2 Cultural components 13

2.1.3 The relationship between language and culture 16

2.1.3.1 Through linguistic areas 18

2.1.3.2 Through non-linguistic areas 20

2.2 The cultural content in EFL textbooks 22

2.2.1 Cortazzi and Jin (1999)’s framework 24

2.2.1.1 Target cultural content 25

2.2.1.2 Source cultural content 26

2.2.1.3 International target cultural content 28

2.2.2 The presentation of the cultural content in EFL textbooks 29

2.2.2.1 Topic 30

2.2.2.2 The cultural content 30

2.2.2.3 Picture 31

2.2.2.4 Task 32

2.2.3 Related studies of the cultural content in EFL textbooks 32

2.2.4 The cultural content in EFL textbooks in Vietnamese context 34

2.3 Strategies for teaching culture in EFL classrooms 36

2.3.1 Valette (1986)’s purposes of culture learning in foreign language classrooms 39

2.3.2 Hughes (1986)’s techniques for increasing learners’ cultural awareness 39

2.3.3 Ryffle (1997)’s activities to teach culture in foreign language classrooms 40

2.3.4 Moran (2001)’s cultural knowings framework 40

2.4 Teachers’ and learners’ attitudes towards culture learning in EFL classrooms 43

2.5 Conceptual framework of the study 46

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 51

3.1 Research site 51

3.2 Sample and sampling procedures 52

3.2.1 Student subjects 52

3.2.2 Teacher subjects 54

3.3 Research design 56

3.4 Research tools 58

3.4.1 Textbook analysis 58

3.4.2 Classroom observation 59

3.4.3 Questionnaire 60

3.4.3.1 Student questionnaire 60

3.4.3.2 Teacher questionnaire 61

3.5 Data collection procedure 62

3.6 Framework of data analysis 64

CHAPTER 4: DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION 66

4.1 Data analysis 66

4.1.1 Textbook analysis 66

4.1.1.1 Topic 67

4.1.1.2 The cultural content 67

4.1.1.2.1 Target cultural content 68

4.1.1.2.2 Source cultural content 69

4.1.1.2.3 International target cultural content 72

4.1.1.3 Picture 72

4.1.1.4 Task 73

4.1.2 Classroom observation 75

4.1.2.1 Class A 75

4.1.2.2 Class B 76

4.1.2.3 Class C 77

4.1.3 Questionnaire 78

4.1.3.1 Students’ and teachers’ attitudes towards how the cultural content is presented in TA11 78

4.1.3.1.1 The cultural content presented in TA11 78

4.1.3.1.2 Pictures illustrating the cultural content in TA11 80

4.1.3.1.3 Tasks in culturally-loaded units in TA11 82

4.1.3.2 Students’ and teachers’ attitudes towards culture learning through TA11 84

4.1.3.2.1 Cortazzi and Jin (1999)’s three types of cultural content 84

4.1.3.2.2 Moran (2001)’s stages of cultural knowings 85

4.1.3.2.3 Effects of culture learning through TA11 on students 88

4.1.3.2.4 Difficulties in culture learning and teaching through TA11 90

4.1.3.2.5 Strategies for teaching and learning the cultural content in TA11 93 4.1.3.2.6 Cultural topics that should be included in TA11 96

4.2 Findings and discussion 101

4.2.1 Students’ and teachers’ attitudes towards how the cultural content is presented in TA11 101

4.2.1.1 The cultural content presented in TA11 102

4.2.1.2 Pictures illustrating the cultural content in TA11 103

4.2.1.3 Tasks in culturally-loaded units in TA11 104

4.2.2 Students’ and teachers’ attitudes towards culture learning through TA11 105

4.2.2.1 Cortazzi and Jin (1999)’s three types of cultural content 105

4.2.2.2 Moran (2001)’s stages of cultural knowings 107

4.2.2.3 Effects of culture learning through TA11 on students 109

4.2.2.4 Difficulties in culture learning and teaching through TA11 111

4.2.2.5 Strategies for teaching and learning the cultural content in TA11 113

4.2.2.6 Cultural topics that should be included in TA11 114

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 115

5.1 Conclusions 115

5.1.1 Students’ and teachers’ attitudes towards how the cultural content is presented in TA11 115

5.1.2 Students’ and teachers’ attitudes towards culture learning through TA11 116

5.1.2.1 Cortazzi and Jin (1999)’s three types of cultural content 116

5.1.2.2 Moran (2001)’s stages of cultural knowings 117

5.1.2.3 Effects of culture learning through TA11 on students 117

5.1.2.4 Difficulties in culture learning and teaching through TA11 118

5.1.2.5 Strategies for teaching and learning the cultural content in TA11 119

5.1.2.6 Cultural topics that should be included in TA11 119

5.2 Suggestions 120

5.3 Limitations of the study 125

5.4 Recommendations for further research 126

REFERENCES 128

APPENDICES 136

APPENDIX 1: SYLLABUS FOR ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING 136

APPENDIX 2: CLASSROOM OBSERVATION 141

APPENDIX 2A: Class room observation form A 141

APPENDIX 2B: Classroom observation form B 145

APPENDIX 2C: Classroom observation form C 150

APPENDIX 2D: A summary of 3 classroom observations 154

APPENDIX 3: QUESTIONNAIRE 156

APPENDIX 3A: Student questionnaire (English version) 156

APPENDIX 3B: Student questionnaire (Vietnamese version) 159

APPENDIX 3C: Teacher questionnaire (English version) 162

APPENDIX 3D: Teacher questionnaire (Vietnamese version) 165

APPENDIX 4: CRITERIA FOR TEXTBOOK ANALYSIS 168

APPENDIX 4A: Huhn (1978)’s criteria for evaluating treatment of cultural contents in textbook 168

APPENDIX 4B: Kilickaya (2004)’s guideline to evaluate cultural content in textbooks 169

APPENDIX 4C: Kristiawan (2012)’s five principles to evaluate ELT materials 171

APPENDIX 4D: Olajide (2010)’s questions to assess the cultural content of two EFL textbooks popularly used in Nigeria primary schools 172

APPENDIX 4E: Reimann (2009)’s criteria for evaluating examples of cultural information in textbooks 173

APPENDIX 4F: Sercu (1998)’s criteria to evaluate the adequacy of textbooks for teaching intercultural competence 174

APPENDIX 5: THE ENGLISH TEXTBOOK TA11 177

APPENDIX 5A: Textbook analysis 177

APPENDIX 5B: Culturally-related units in TA11 179

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

CLT Communicative Language Teaching

EFL English as a Foreign Language

EIL English as an International Language

ELT English Language Teaching

HCMC Ho Chi Minh City

TA11 Tieng Anh 11

UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization VTEs Vietnamse teachers of English

LIST OF TABLES

Table 2.1 Moran (2001)’s Cultural Knowings 41

Table 2.2 Strategies and Questions for Culture Learning 42

Table 3.1 General Information About the Student Subjects 53

Table 3.2 General Information About the Teacher Subjects 55

Table 4.1 The Cultural Content in TA11 Closely Relates to Students’ Daily Life 79 Table 4.2 The Cultural Content in TA11 Is Updated 79

Table 4.3 The Cultural Content in TA11 Interests Students A Lot 80

Table 4.4 The Pictures in TA11 Illustrate the Cultural Content Well 80

Table 4.5 The Pictures Illustrating the Cultural Content in TA11 Are Beautiful 81

Table 4.6 The Pictures in TA11 Help Students Visualize Cultural Concepts and Words 82

Table 4.7 The Pictures in TA11 Give Students Clues to Talk About the Given Cultural Content 82

Table 4.8 The Tasks in Culturally-loaded Units in TA11 Are Fun 83

Table 4.9 Students’ and Teachers’ Attitudes Towards Three Types of Cultural Content (Cortazzi & Jin, 1999) 85

Table 4.10 Students’ and Teachers’ Attitudes Towards Stages of Moran (2001)’s Cultural Knowings 87

Table 4.11 Culture Learning Through TA11 Helps Students Realize Similarities and Differences Between Vietnamese Culture and Other Cultures in the World 88

Table 4.12 Learning About Vietnamese Culture Through TA11 Helps Students Introduce Their Own Culture to Foreigners or Visitors 89

Table 4.13 Culture Learning Through TA11 Provides Students With Vocabulary Needed to Communicate With Members of Other Cultures 89

Table 4.14 Learning About Cultures Through TA11 Increases Students’ Interest in

Learning English 90

Table 4.15 Strategies for Teaching and Learning the Cultural Content in TA11 95

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 2.1 Hofstede (1997)’s Onion Diagram 14

Figure 2.2 Weaver (1986)’s Cultural Iceberg 15

Figure 4.1 Students’ and Teachers’ Attitudes Towards How the Cultural Content Is Presented in TA11 83

Figure 4.2 Students’ and Teachers’ Attitudes Towards Three Types of Cultural Content (Cortazzi & Jin, 1999) 85

Figure 4.3 Students’ and Teachers’ Attitudes Towards Stages of Moran (2001)’s Cultural Knowings 87

Figure 4.4 Students’ and Teachers’ Attitudes Towards the Effects of Culture Learning Through TA11 on Students 90

Figure 4.5 Difficulties in Culture Learning Through TA11 92

Figure 4.6 Difficulties in Culture Teaching Through TA11 92

Figure 4.7 Students’ Top Ten Favourite Cultural Topics 96

Figure 4.8 Teachers’ Favourite Cultural Topics 97

Figure 4.9 Students’ Less Favourite Cultural Topics 99

Figure 4.10 Students’ Favourite Countries 99

ABSTRACT

It is a truism that language and culture has an undeniably intertwined relationship as language is everywhere in a culture and culture is everywhere in a language That is to say, learning a foreign language will be nonsense if learners know nothing about the culture associated with that language and members living

in that culture For this reason, including the culture of Britain and the United States

in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) materials is a commonly-held belief permeating the practice of learning and teaching English in many EFL classrooms However, the new status of English as an International Language (EIL) nowadays interestingly implies that besides the target cultures referring to the culture of countries in which English is spoken as the first language, learners should be introduced to the source culture or learners’ own culture and the international target cultures where English is used as an international language Although the need to integrate elements of diverse cultures into EFL textbooks and effects of culture learning in EFL classrooms on learners have become worldwide concerns, these issues did not receive much attention in the context of Vietnam, especially in Vietnamese high schools Therefore, this study aims at finding out the attitudes of

11th graders and their Vietnamese teachers of English (VTEs) towards the

presentation of the cultural content in the English textbook Tieng Anh 11 (TA11) and

culture learning through this textbook with the participation of 259 students studying

in grade 11 and 9 VTEs in charge of 11th graders at Tran Khai Nguyen High school

Despite some problems existing in TA11 as well as the teaching practice in this

context of study, a majority of the participants gave positive responses to the way

the cultural content is presented in TA11 and culture learning through this textbook

In accordance with the aims and the findings of this study, some suggestions and recommendations for further research were put forward to enhance students’

motivation in learning the cultural content in TA11, improve the quality of culture

learning through this textbook in the context of study, and provide a springboard for

those who are interested in this issue

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION

In the first section of this chapter, the background to the study is thoroughly described Theoretical issues and practical issues provided in the background to the study help to identify the need to conduct this study The second section presents the aim of the study and two research questions The significance of the study is mentioned in the next section This is followed by the scope of the study The last section of this chapter is used to outline the organization of the study

1.1 Background to the study

1.1.1 Theoretical issues

Language is undoubtedly considered as a window to the world Through linguistic activities such as writing, reading, listening, and speaking, we can get access to a variety of information and knowledge not only about our own country but also about other countries in the world It is a deep-rooted belief that learning a language entails learning about vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation of that language However, even if someone has a good grasp of these aspects of language, there is no guarantee that that person will get the information he or she wants or understand the intended message of the text and the conversation Regarding the purpose of learning a foreign language as a means to communicate with other speakers of that language, it is an undeniable fact that effective communication takes place only when the receiver interprets the message in exactly the same way as intended by the sender

According to Nida (1998), “every language form we use has meanings, carries meanings that are not in the same sense because it is associated with culture and culture is extensive than language” (p 29, as cited in Jiang, 2000, p 329) For this reason, the process of communication is never an easy job, especially in situations involving cross-cultural communication If sender and receiver do not know the underlying meaning of the language form which is largely dependent on the culture of the speakers using it, sooner or later misunderstanding will occur

Apart from the impact of culture on vocabulary, it has been explored through other studies that there is also a close relationship between culture and other aspects

of language such as structures, four skills, and communication Therefore, culture undeniably plays a critical role in foreign language teaching and learning and has been a concern among researchers, linguists, and educators in this field (Assemi, Zadeh, Asayeshh, Janfaza, & Abbasi, 2012; Byram & Kramsch, 2008; Cortazzi & Jin, 1999; Freitmuth, 2006; Jiang, 2000; Kirkgoz & Agcam, 2011; Kramsch, 2001; McKay, 2002; Moran, 2001)

Despite the important role of cultural knowledge in foreign language learning, in the 19th century and until the first half of the 20th century when Grammar-Translation approach dominated foreign language teaching, culture learning did not receive much attention During this period when foreign language was regarded as a tool to get access to classical literature of the target language country, culture was reduced to formal aspects of the country where the target language is spoken as a first language including works of art, facts, figures, life and institutions of the target culture (Allens, 1985, as cited in Purba, 2011, p 138; Marczack, 2013) Kramsch (2001) came to a conclusion that “before the Second

World War, the term culture meant knowledge about great works of literature, social

institutions and historical events, acquired through the translation of written texts” (p 201)

Due to the development of linguistics, social sciences, and the need of the economy after the Second World War, the role of spoken language, intercultural or cross-cultural comunication became more and more important (Kramsch, 2001) Steele (1989) went even further by emphasizing that “culture then became essential not only for the study of literature but more importantly for language learning where the term ‘small c culture’ came into the picture” (as cited in Abdullah & Chandran,

2009, pp 2-3)

Concerning the nature of CLT approach implemented in the late 70s and met with widespread support from educational community, Purba (2011) claimed that because the purpose of CLT is to encourage learners to communicate effectively in

the target language, it “made the negligence of culture became worse” (p 46) As previously explained, without an understanding of the interlocutor’s cultural background, misunderstandings between learners and members of other cultures are likely to happen even if they speak the same language Hence, learners need not only linguistic knowledge but also cultural knowledge in order to communicate appropriately with other speakers of the target language in a variety of contexts (Purba, 2011) The importance of culture learning in foreign language learning has been supported by Byram (1989) as “communicative competence involve

‘appropriate language use which, in part at least, is culture specific’” (p 61, as cited

in Hinkel, 1999, p 6)

As culture affects almost all aspects of the language used by its members, it

is undeniable that learning English is inevitably learning about British or American culture Taking into consideration the present-day status of EIL, because of the globalization, English is used as a tool for interaction not only with native speakers

of English but also with members of other cultures From McKay (2003)’s point of view, along with the target cultures where English is spoken as a first language, learners’ own culture and other cultures should be incorporated into the content of EFL materials for learners to realize the status of EIL and use English to communicate inter-culturally

Even though it is widely agreed that culture and language is interrelated and diverse cultures should be included in EFL education, the process of bringing cultures to EFL classrooms will turn out to be a complete failure if learners do not have favourable attitudes towards the cultural content in their English textbook Besides the critical role of learners’ attitude, the attitude of their teacher of English towards the cultural content in the EFL textbook is also of great importance because

if teachers are not interested in teaching such content, there is no way they can help build learners’ favourable attitudes towards the content

In addition to the way cultures are portrayed in the EFL textbook, strategies employed by teachers of English or how these teachers deal with the given cultural content plays an undeniable role in keeping learners engaged or losing their interest

in both culture and English language learning Accordingly, knowing the attitudes

of both learners and their teachers of English towards the presentation of cultural information in EFL textbooks as well as culture learning and teaching through EFL textbooks is undoubtedly one of the greatest keys to success in culture and English language learning as Valdes (1986) said, a positive attitude is considered as “a boon

to any learning situation” (p.2)

1.1.2 Practical issues

In Vietnamese high schools, students are learning English through the

English textbook Tieng Anh published by The Ministry of Education and Training

(MOET), which comprises 16 units Each unit is about an issue in real life and divided into five main sections Through reading, speaking, listening, and writing based on the main topic of that unit, Vietnamese high school students gradually develop their language skills as well as expanding their vocabulary related to that

topic At the end of each unit, there is always a section named Language focus in

which students learn about grammar and how to pronoun English sounds

It can be recognized that the focus of the English textbook Tieng Anh is on

equipping students with vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation so that they can

use English as a means of communication As claimed in the Preface of TA11: Teacher’s book, TA11 not only helps develop students’ English proficiency but also

helps increase their understanding of and build positive attitudes towards the language, people, and cultures of some English-speaking countries (Hoang et al., 2007b) Another aim of EFL education in Vietnamese high schools as stated by the textbook authors is to make students appreciate, respect and be proud of their own language and culture (Hoang et al., 2007b)

In spite of the fact that there are manifestations of culture in Tieng Anh,

teaching and learning culture through this EFL textbook in the context of Vietnamese high schools is somewhat neglected According to the curriculum time allocation for EFL learning given by MOET, VTEs have only one period (45 minutes) for teaching one section in each unit The real purpose of EFL education

English exams primarily focusing on checking students’ vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation, and reading skills To put it another way, there is not enough time for

VTEs to give enough attention to cultural information in Tieng Anh The negligence

of culture teaching in EFL classrooms prevents Vietnamese high school students from being aware of the underlying message or the deeper layers of cultural phenomena which effectively help them communicate appropriately with other speakers of English

Despite the fact that there are a few articles realizing the importance of teaching a variety of cultures in EFL classrooms in Vietnamese context (Ho, 2009;

Nguyen, 2013), these articles paid little attention to the English textbook Tieng Anh

for Vietnamese high school students

For this reason, the study aims to find out 11th graders’ and their VTEs’

attitudes towards the cultural content in the Basic English textbook TA11 at Tran

Khai Nguyen High school, Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC), where the researcher is currently working Since the process of teaching and learning cannot take place successfully without appropriate strategies, some solutions to handle the cultural

content in TA11 effectively in the context of the study are suggested in the last

chapter The participants are 259 11th graders and 9 VTEs at Tran Khai Nguyen High school, HCMC

1.2 Aim of the study and research questions

Because the EFL textbook is regarded as the major source in which aspects

of different cultures are manifested, the study aims at investigating the attitudes of

11th grade students and their VTEs towards the cultural content presented in TA11 Aside from the presentation of cultures in TA11, the second aim of this study is to find out VTEs’ and their students’ attitudes towards culture learning through TA11

at Tran Khai Nguyen High school, HCMC

To achieve aforementioned aim(s), the study attempts to answer two following questions:

1) What are 11th graders’ and their VTEs’ attitudes towards how the

cultural content is presented in TA11?

2) What are 11th graders’ and their VTEs’ attitudes towards culture

learning through TA11 at Tran Khai Nguyen High school, HCMC?

1.3 Significance of the study

Using TA11 to teach 11th graders English, the researcher realizes that when she asked her students to make a presentation basing on topics they liked the most

in their English textbook, the ones related to culture were always their first choice

Therefore, by analyzing the cultural content in TA11, the researcher hopes that

people will have a clearer view of the way cultural information is presented in the English textbook for 11th grade students In addition to textbook analysis, classroom observations plays an important role in providing a truthful picture of the practice

of teaching and learning cultural information given in TA11

As attitudes is undeniably considered as one of the major factors determining the success of both English language learning and culture learning through the EFL textbook, the researcher strongly believes that it is of great importance for VTEs to

know about what their students think and feel about the cultural content in TA11 as

well as culture learning through this textbook so that they can employ appropriate strategies to improve not only students’ attitudes but also the quality of culture and

English language learning through TA11 Apart from students’ attitude, teachers’

attitude should not be marginalized in the process of learning and teaching as if teachers are not interested in teaching the cultural content, they cannot make students engage in learning This is the reason why the study strives to investigate the attitudes of both 11th graders and their VTEs at Tran Khai Nguyen High school,

HCMC, towards the cultural content in the English textbook TA11

Findings from the participants’ attitudes towards the cultural content in the

English textbook TA11 serve as a basis for effective strategies to best present such

content to 11th grade students, especially cultural issues VTEs and 11th graders feel confused and uncomfortable dealing with, in the context of Tran Khai Nguyen High

developing students’ attitudes to the cultural content in TA11 and culture learning

through this English textbook, increasing their cultural awareness, and helping them use cultural knowledge to communicate with other speakers of English successfully, which is regarded as the ultimate purpose of EFL learning

1.4 Scope of the study

The study confines itself to the attitudes of 259 11th graders and 9 VTEs

towards the cultural content in TA11 as well as culture learning through this English

textbook at Tran Khai Nguyen High school during the school year 2015-2016 Because the focus of this study is on a particular grade in Vietnamese high school curriculum (11th grade) and a specific area in the English textbook TA11 (culturally-

related units), the findings cannot be applied to other grades in the high school

curriculum and to other areas of TA11 The sampling size with only 9 VTEs and the

characteristics of the research site in which one-third of the 11th graders are from Chinese families are two other factors affecting the generalization of the result

1.5 The organization of the study

This thesis is separated into five main chapters as follows:

Chapter 1 provides the background to the study including theoretical issues

and practical issues leading to the need to carry out this study, the aims and two research questions, the significance, and the scope of the study

Chapter 2 presents, analyzes, and synthesizes theoretical issues and related

studies concerning language and culture, the cultural content in EFL textbooks, strategies to teach culture in EFL classrooms, teachers’ and students’ attitudes towards culture learning in EFL classrooms, and conceptual framework of the study

Chapter 3 outlines the research site, explains the sample and sampling

procedures, gives a detailed description of research design and research tools This

is followed by a discussion of how data are collected and analyzed

Chapter 4 presents and analyzes information collected from the textbook

analysis and classroom observations as well as comparing the results obtained from

the two sets of questionnaires: one for 11th graders and one for their VTEs This chapter is concluded with a discussion of the research findings

Chapter 5 summarizes major findings, makes suggestions on how to deal

with the cultural content in TA11 effectively in the context of study, reveals

limitations of the study, and finally offers some recommendations for further research

CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW

In this chapter, existing literature that is relevant to the focus of this study is critically reviewed Language and culture - the very first part of this chapter - is a summary of various definitions of culture, cultural components, and the relationship between language and culture The second part of this literature review presents a synthesis of theories relating to the cultural content in EFL textbooks comprising three types of cultural content, the presentation of culture in EFL textbooks, previous studies of the cultural content in EFL textbooks, and the cultural content in the English textbooks in Vietnamese context Strategies employed to deal with culture teaching in EFL classrooms, students’ and teachers’ attitudes towards culture learning in EFL classrooms, and finally the conceptual framework of the study are also carefully discussed in this review

2.1 Language and culture

2.1.1 Definition of culture

Despite the fact that people can feel and realize what culture is in their everyday life, there are many opinions with respect to the definition of culture Although a lot of efforts have been made to provide a watertight definition of culture, there is a substantial agreement among researchers and linguists that it is too difficult or even impossible to find a perfect definition of culture which can please all Because culture is everywhere in our life and different definitions of culture depend on different areas on which researchers and linguists focus their study, culture “has been many things to many people” (Olajide, 2010, p 256) According to Zu and Kong (2009), culture ranges from all-encompassing concepts like “it is everything ‘to some narrowly-viewed concepts like ‘it is opera or ballet’” (p 112)

Concerning the origin of the word culture, Kramsch (1998) found that the

term culture stemmed from the Latin word “colere” meaning “to cultivate” Thus, culture is understood as “what has been grown and groomed” (p 4) As regards culture in foreign language learning, Kramsch (1991) noted that culture was far more

complicated than “the four Fs” including foods, fairs, folklore, and statistical facts, which are frequently used to talk about culture in many language classrooms (as cited in Hinkel, 1999, p 236)

Regarding the concept of culture, there are a lot of researchers trying to give general definitions of culture which seem to be too abstract to understand In the 1980s, Lado (1986) viewed culture as “ways of a people” (p 52) In the same vein, Kramsch (1998) vaguely described culture as “membership in a discourse community that shares a common social space and history, and common imaginings” (p 10) She further insisted that one should learn the language spoken

in a particular culture as through language, people know about attitudes, beliefs, and values shared by members of that culture as well as mediating the imaginings In a similar fashion, Olajide (2010) associated culture with “knowledge derived unconsciously and utilized as a social property”, which helps reveal how people live

in a society as well as their attitudes towards the language used in that society (p 656) In general, it can be recognized that these theorists follow the anthropological point of view in which culture is regarded as “the way of life of a people, the social constructs that evolve within a group, the ways of thinking, feeling, believing, and behaving that are imparted to members of a group in the socialization processes” (Hinkel, 1999, p 3) Obviously, through these definitions, culture is synonymous with the way of life or the society in which people live

While many researchers have attempted to establish a connection between the definition of culture and the society in which members belonging to that culture live and interact with each other, some focus their definitions on other areas such as meaning or thought According to Ilieva (2000), culture is related to the process of encoding and decoding meaning as “a process of making sense of the world and a site of social differences and struggles over meaning and representation of people with multiple and shifting identities” (p 52) Culture, seeing from a different angle,

is “the totality of a people’s socially transmitted products of work and thought” (Jandt, 2007, p 10) Jandt further emphasized that “culture also includes all the things that guide a group of people through life, such as myths, language and

gestures, ways of communicating, economic systems, what kinds of things to eat, and how to dress” (p 4) Clearly, the main drawback of these abstract and general definitions is that it excluded important elements of culture which are appropriate and helpful for those who begin to learn a foreign language and its culture

In contrast to the foregoing general definitions of culture, other authors have made every effort to provide all-encompassing or more concrete definitions by listing all elements which can be understood as culture From Cortazzi and Jin (1999)’s point of view, culture consists of cultural products referring to “literary works or works of art”, historical or geographical facts of a particular country, behavior, attitudes, and the social knowledge used to “interpret experience” (p 197) Ting-Toomey (1999) conceptualized culture as “a complex frame of reference that consists of patterns of traditions, beliefs, values, norms, symbols, and meanings that are shared to varying degrees by interacting members of a community” (p 10) Ting-Toomey also maintained that traditions, beliefs, and values are elements hardly seen

as they belong to deeper layers of culture On the other hand, what we could easily recognize are “the uppermost layers of cultural artifacts” including fashion, trends, pop music, verbal and nonverbal symbols (p 10)

In an attempt to find out what culture is, Rajabi and Ketabi (2012) discovered that culture is “the systems of knowledge shared by a group of people, including a group’s values, beliefs, and attitudes, notions of appropriate behavior, statuses, role expectations, and worldview (notions of time, space, and cosmology)” (p 705) Material objects as well as knowledge about their purposes and usage are also added

to Rajabi and Ketabi’s definition of culture These definitions obviously help illustrate the view that culture is “an enigma” and “multifaceted phenomenon” which comprises both concrete and abstract elements (Ting-Toomey, 1999, p 9) Ironically, although numerous cultural aspects are mentioned in such inclusive definitions, it may lead to considerable overlap among aspects Furthermore, no one can be sure that whether these definitions cover all aspects of culture or not

In Moran (2001)’s view, culture is defined as follows:

Culture is the evolving way of life of a group of persons, consisting of a shared set of practices associated with a shared set of products, based upon a shared set of perspectives on the world, and set within specific social contexts (p 24)

With regards to products, Moran (2001) explained that products refers to all

tangible and intangible artifacts “produced or adopted by members of the culture, including those in the environment, such as plants and animals” (p 25) The second

element practices embraces “the full range of actions and interactions that members

of the culture carry out, individually or with other” (p 25) Culture is also manifested

in perspectives including “the perceptions, beliefs, values, and attitudes, that

underline the products and that guide persons and communities in the practices of

the culture” (p 25) Last but not least, communities is associated with “the special

social contexts, circumstances, and groups in which members carry out cultural

practices” while persons refers to “the individual members who embody the culture

and its communities in unique ways” (Moran, 2001, p 25)

It can be seen that Moran (2001)’s view of culture is one step ahead of previous definitions as it identifies the interrelationship between elements of culture

as well as the dynamic nature of culture expressed through “the evolving way of life

of a group of persons” (p 24) The view that culture is dynamic is widely agreed and supported by many researchers in the field (Assemi et al., 2012; Harklau, 1999;

Ho, 2009; Seelye, 1997; Ting-Toomey, 1999; Usaquen, 2012; Zu & Kong, 2009) because culture has to constantly change in response to the need of the society and people During the adaptation processes, “surface-level cultural artifacts such as fashion or popular culture change at a faster pace than deep-level cultural elements such as beliefs, values, and ethics” (Ting-Toomey, 1999, p 14)

In summary, the manifestations of culture can be found anywhere in any society This is clearly expressed in the definition of culture suggested by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization [UNESCO] (2002) as

“the set of distinctive spiritual, material, intellectual and emotional features of

society or a social group, and that it encompasses, in addition to art and literature, lifestyles, ways of living together, value systems, traditions and beliefs” Besides, it

is a truism that cultures “are always changing because individuals, groups, and the surrounding environment are always changing This is the reason why Assemi et al (2012) considered culture as a concept that “everybody implicitly understands but nobody can define precisely” (p 79)

2.1.2 Cultural components

In addition to what culture is, the question then arises as to what should be considered as aspects or components of culture As defined by Benahnia (n.d.), cultural components in EFL textbooks refer to “the number of cultural elements manifested or represented throughout a textbook (when dealing with language teaching)” (p 2)

Concerning this issue, a lot of theorists and linguists have made every effort

to list all aspects related to culture as much as possible This can be clearly seen through Benahnia (n.d.)’s list of cultural components including language and communication style, food and drinks, clothing, music and dance, happiness and sorrow, health beliefs, family relationships, gender roles, religion, status, politics, power, identity and pride, prejudices, shared history, geography, monuments, etc (pp 2-3) In the same vein, Valdes (1986) also attempted to provide a list of 62 cultural topics used in foreign language education Although these lists undoubtedly cover numerous aspects of culture, they are definitely by no means exhaustive and unavoidably lead to considerable overlap among cultural elements since culture is

an extremely complicated entity This is the reason why nowadays very few researchers try to draw up a list of cultural components or identify which aspects should be regarded as cultural elements (Byram & Feng, 2004)

To make the list of cultural components more orderly and prevent overlap among cultural aspects, other researchers try to put these cultural components into

small groups Hofstede (1997) used the onion diagram to illustrate which elements

should be included in a particular culture

Figure 2.1 Hofstede (1997)’s Onion Diagram

(McKinzie, 2013)

The outermost and easily changed layer of this diagram symbols comprises

“words, gestures, pictures or objects that carry a particular meaning which is only

recognized by those who share the culture” (p 7) Heroes - the second layer - refers

to “persons, alive or dead, real or imaginary, who possess characteristics which are highly prized in a culture, and who thus serve as models for behavior” (p 8) The

deeper layer of this diagram rituals encompasses collective activities, for example

how to greet and respect others as well as “social and religious ceremonies” (p 8)

The core of a particular culture in Hofstede’s diagram is values defined as “broad

tendencies to prefer certain states of affairs over others” (p 8) As values are learned very early, they are not easily observed or subject to change (Hofstede, 1997)

Another well-known categorization of cultural components that should not

be ignored is Weaver (1986)’s cultural iceberg which includes surface or external culture referring to visible cultural elements and deep or internal culture referring

to invisible ones which cannot be easily recognized and changed According to

Weaver, behavior is regarded as the uppermost layer of culture, which is above the water surface and can be easily recognized The second layer is beliefs described as something “half-tacit and half-observable” The innermost layer is values and thought patterns usually hidden from our eyes (as cited in Marczack, 2013, p 3)

Figure 2.2 Weaver (1986)’ s Cultural Iceberg

(Li & Umemoto, 2013, p 231)

In a similar fashion, Valette (1986) divided culture into two components The

first component termed anthropological or sociological culture consists of “the

attitudes, customs, and daily activities of the people, their ways of thinking, their

values, their frames of reference”, whereas the second component the history of civilization is illustrated through “geography, history, and achievement in the

sciences, the social sciences, and the arts” (p 179) According to Valette, the second

component of culture is also understood as cultural products usually considered as

the only representative of culture in many EFL classrooms

Based on the view of culture as civilisation or facts-oriented approach, the

division of cultural components into Big C (Capital C) and little c (small c) culture

becomes one of the most commonly used categorizations in which cultural components are put into “small segments which are listed as topics for teaching” (Byram & Feng, 2004, p 160) Although this categorization of culture has been widely used in many studies of the cultural content in EFL classrooms, there are

some discrepancies concerning which elements should be viewed as Big C and which should be viewed as small c among linguists According to Tomalin and Stempleski (1993), Big C embraces visible achievements of a particular country

such as “history, geography, institutions, literature, art, and music” (p 6) Lee (2009)

added that Big C is a term widely used to talk about easily memorized cultural

elements consisting of “a set of facts and statistics relating to the arts, history, geography, business, education, festivals and customs of a target speech society”, which have been traditionally used to teach culture in many EFL classrooms (p 78)

In Byram and Feng (2004)’s view, Big C encompasses “style of dress, cuisine,

customs, festivals and traditions, institutionalized aspects of culture (social, political, economic, educational, religious, etc.), geographical monuments,

historical events, sciences, and artistic products” (p 68) On the contrary, little c or small c refers to invisible cultural elements which play an important part in EFL

learning These elements can be values, norms, world views, and beliefs (Byram & Feng, 2004; Lee, 2009) or behaviors, beliefs, and perceptions (Tomalin & Stempleski, 1993)

Considering the application of Big C and small c to EFL classrooms,

Kramsch (2001) and Purba (2011) claimed that educators should pay more attention

to small c as behavioral patterns belonging to small c contribute a great deal to the success of communication in EFL education In spite of the fact that small c plays

an important role in EFL learning, it is also necessary to learn about cultural

knowledge or Big C as “to begin to understand a culture, you need to understand all

the experiences that guide its individual members through life” (Jandt, 2007, p 8)

2.1.3 The relationship between language and culture

As mentioned in the previous chapter, one cannot learn a foreign language successfully without paying attention to the culture in which the target language speakers grow up and live Jandt (2007) used the word “mirrors” to describe the inseparability of language and culture as “each one reflects and is reflected by the other” (p 146) As a result, Valdes (1986) asserted that it was the “isolation of language from culture” that gave a reason why Esperanto – an artificial language –

is unacceptable since “no one can feel, or therefore think deeply, in an artificial language” (p 1) Accordingly, Kramsch (1993) stressed that “it is a truism to say that teaching language is teaching culture” (p 177) This view is in the same line with many researchers and educators all over the world

It can be seen that although there are various ways to describe the relationship between language and culture, there is an agreement among the majority of linguists and educators that it is impossible to separate language from culture or vice versa

As regards the fact that language is an integral part of culture, Morgan (1998) adds

language to the tip of Weaver (1986)’s cultural iceberg (p 135) implying that

language is the most easily recognized component of culture, reflects culture, and cannot be separated from the culture in which it is spoken

Knowing about the literal meaning of a word or the form of a structure in a particular language is just the first step as anyone can find it in a dictionary or in a grammar book What is more important is the knowledge of the underlying meaning

of the word or the structure when they are used in the target country as well as a thorough understanding of how, why, when, where, and with whom this word or this structure is used This is mainly dependent on the culture which the native speakers

of the target language come from In Brown (1986)’s view, culture is considered as

“a deeply ingrained part of the very fiber of our being” while language plays a major role as “the most visible and available expression of that culture” (p 34)

Besides, according to Moran (2001), language is also known as “a window

to the culture” (p 35) created to serve cultural purposes and regarded as a “central means” to learn about culture in a foreign language classroom (p 38) With the help

of language, people can read about festivals or holidays in a faraway country, speak

to members of other cultures to understand more about their interlocutors’ behaviour, thought, or values, listen to a dialogue between foreigners or a passage about life in a foreign country To put it differently, language is “a vehicle of realization for culture” (Asgari, 2011, p 892), “the interfering glosses that connect

us to another culture” (Byram & Kramsch, 2008), “a connector among cultures as translation among words and sentences”, “a cultural component”, and “a cultural communicating system” (Assemi et al., 2012, pp 78-79)

2.1.3.1 Through linguistic areas

Regarding the relationship between language and culture, it is widely agreed that vocabulary of a language is one level strongly affected by its surrounding environment as Jandt (2007) said, “If a language has a particularly rich vocabulary for a thing or activity in comparison to other languages, that thing or activity is important in that culture” (p 137) Obviously, the impact of culture on vocabulary has been a concern among theorists (Boas, 1986; Jandt, 2007; Valdes, 1986) Regarding this issue, Boas (1986) gave a notable example of various forms of the

word snow more frequently used in Eskimo than in any other languages

Regarding the interrelationship between culture and vocabulary of a language, Jin and Cortazzi (1998) proposed the concept “language to talk about culture”, which refers to a set of lexical terms in the first language (L1) or second language (L2), including “folk-linguistic terms with varying degrees of accuracy or understanding” (p.100) There is no denying that culturally-loaded words and expressions prove to be extremely useful to learners whose purpose of foreign language learning is to introduce their own culture to foreigners or access another culture which is different from their own However, understanding terms locally used in a foreign country or making speakers of the target language understand words and expressions only existing in our own country is regarded as one of the major obstacles in communication Concerning this issue, Asgari (2011) explained that it is because “one-to-one equivalences can rarely be established between words and expressions in two languages” due to cultural differences (p 889)

Even when people speak the same word, many researchers have found that misunderstanding is likely to occur because people who belong to different cultures have different ways to interpret that word It was interestingly revealed from Jiang

(2000)’s survey of word associations that when hearing the word lunch, most

English people were likely to associate this word with “harmburger” or “pizza” while most Chinese thought of “steamed bread” or “rice” (p 329) Saville-Troike (1996) maintained that “except in scientific and technological domains, many words

do not mean the same thing as their translation equivalents in other languages” (p

360) Aside from the influence of culture on vocabulary, other linguists believe differences among cultures also lead to differences in structures and grammar or vice versa (Bennett, 1997; Jandt, 2007)

Because of the strong impact of culture on vocabulary and grammar, culture learning plays an important role in the development of learners’ English skills, which was revealed in Genc and Bada (2005)’s research into the effect of the culture course on Turkish student-teachers of English The study highlighted the positive impact of cultural knowledge on the participants’ speaking, reading and listening, and writing skill with 42.6%, 25.3% each, and 5.3% respectively Moreover, culture learning also greatly contributed to the success of the participants’ teaching career

by assisting them in teaching grammar, expanding their vocabulary, and improving their communicative competence in L2 The positive effects of culture on language skills are further elaborated by Naqueeb (2012) with an emphasis on “cultural literacy” in reading, Hinkel (1999) focusing on the influence of culture on the structure of written text and rhetorical paradigms, and Kachru (1999) analysing the relationship between the culture of the writers and the ways they organize ideas in writings

As culture influences almost all aspects of language, it plays an undeniable role in the success of learners’ ability to communicate with other speakers of English, which is considered as the ultimate goal of English learning With the help

of interesting metaphors, Jiang (2000) provided very enlightening views about the inseprability between culture, language, and communication From the

philosophical point of view, culture is considered as blood shaped by language considered as flesh, which means both culture and language are vital to a living organism The fact that culture is also viewed as water and language as swimming skill implies “without language, communication would remain to a very limited

degree (in very shallow water); without culture, there would be no communication

at all” (p 11) By associating language with vehicle, culture with traffic light, and communication with transportation in the pragmatic view, Jiang (2000) wished to

convey that culture helps regulate communication while language “makes

communication easier and faster” (p 329) It can be clearly seen that without one, the other cannot work well or even die

As regards the impact of culture on communication, Cortazzi and Jin (1999) contended that “communication is rarely culture-free” as it is never out of context (p 197) This view is supported by Jandt (2007), who further noted that “culture is also context”; therefore, knowing about culture helps “assign meaning to symbols” (p 33), thus forecasting how communication takes place In addition to the role of context, the success of communication is determined by the interactants whose culture is also of great importance Hence, the first thing needs to be done is to increase learners’ awareness of rules about behavior, especially in situations in which they have to interact with people from other cultures (Gallois & Callan, 1997) Aside from the mutual relationship between language and culture through verbal communication, Morain (1986) observed that culture also plays a critical part in non-verbal communication including the use of body language, object language, and environmental language

2.1.3.2 Through non-linguistic areas

Apart from the effect of culture on linguistic areas, McKay (2003) found that culture also exerted a strong influence on non-linguistic ones as “cultural knowledge often provides the basis for the content and topics that are used in language materials and classroom discussions” regarded as determining factors that help motivate learners and increase their knowledge about the world (p 10) This is widely agreed

by many researchers and authors that incorporating culture into English language learning has a “motivating” and “humanizing” effect (Bataineih, 2009; Kitao, 1991; McKay, 2000)

Considering the motivating effect that culture learning brings to EFL classrooms, McKay (2000) indicated that integrating various cultural elements into foreign language teaching materials helps develop learners’ interest in foreign language learning, thus motivating learners Besides, according to Kitao (1991), culturally based activities also contribute a great deal to learners’ movitation as

skits, doing research on countries and people, etc.” (p 299) Consequently, learning about cultures not only intrigues students’ curiousity and interest in the target countries but also increases their motivation in English language learning (Kitao, 1991)

In addition to the motivating effect, humanizing effect is another benefit of learning about cultures Having a wide knowledge of foreign cultures helps increase students’ empathy for members of other countries while learning about learners’ own culture makes them proud of being a member of their own country (Kramsch, 1998) To put it another way, learning about other cultures and our own culture minimizes stereotypes we hold about other countries and increases our social identity respectively

In general, culture and language influences each other linguistically and linguistically Linguistically, culture affects vocabulary, grammar, and four skills, which are factors fostering learners’ ability to communicate with other speakers of English Non-linguistically, content and topics in EFL materials are often about something which in most cases relates to aspects of culture Such cultural content and topics make leaners curious about the world, thus motivating them in learning English It is also of great importance to realize that culture brings humanizing effects to EFL classrooms as it helps learners understand values and beliefs of cultural phenomena, take great pride in their own country, minimize stereotypes, and have positive attitudes towards foreigners and other cultures

non-In conclusion, the mutual relationship of language and culture is described as

“the dialectical connection” (Genc & Bada, 2005, p 73) and introducing culture into EFL textbooks has become “a widely accepted phenomenon” (Kirkgoz & Agcam,

master the language until they have also mastered the cultural contexts in which the language occurs

Through a lot of studies, most of the researchers, linguists, theorists, and educators come to an agreement that knowledge of vocabulary and syntax is no guarantee of successful communication with other speakers (Gen & Bada, 2005; Hall, 1999; Hinkel, 2012; Purba, 2011) In Gen and Bada (2005)’s view, “language

study seems senseless if they [L2 learners] know nothing about the people who

speak the target language or the country in which the target language is spoken” (p 73) For this reason, Lantolf (1999) proposed the concept of “cultural proficiency” which is “more difficult to assess than linguistic proficiency” (p 29) Ekawati & Hamdani (2012) once again confirmed the role of culture in foreign language

learning as “without it [culture] the students and teacher could experience the

cultural mismatch” (p 58) Regarding the importance of culture teaching in EFL classrooms, Valdes (1986) interestingly identified that culture is everywhere in EFL classrooms as EFL learners can listen to a passage or read a text about cultural aspects of a particular country, then discuss and write about that aspect in speaking and writing sections In conclusion, it is “virtually impossible to teach a language without teaching cultural content” (Valdes, 1986, p 121)

2.2 The cultural content in EFL textbooks

As previously stated, it is impossible to teach a foreign language without giving careful consideration to the culture of that language because “the focus of a lesson may be on syntactic or phonetics features, but the content is cultural” (Valdes,

1986, p 61) It is also widely agreed that EFL textbooks should be used as the major source through which cultural information is transmitted to learners (Abdullah & Chandran, 2009; Hermawan & Noerkhasanah, 2012; Kirkgoz & Agcam, 2011; Nguyen, 2013; Olajide, 2010)

Concerning the beneficial effects of EFL textbooks on both language and culture learning, Usaquen (2012) insisted that EFL materials really keep students engaged in their lesson, increase their interest in English learning, and arise their

out that because social and cultural values are often implicitly integrated into EFL textbooks, it is of great importance to “detect and examine such unstated values” (p 90)

In spite of the fact that introducing culture into EFL textbooks is very useful

to learners, there are many problems with respect to cultural introduction in language teaching materials Reimann (2009) identified four main reasons why it is too difficult to incorporate cultural elements into the language textbook Firstly, including the target culture and learners’ own culture into the EFL textbook may not

be very beneficial for publishers in terms of economic efficiency Additionally, it takes a lot of time and efforts to design materials whose contents really “engage students and provide relevant and unbiased information” (p 86) The third reason concerning the role of language teachers as they may not feel comfortable in dealing with unfamiliar cultures presented in the EFL textbook Last but not least, because different students have different purposes of foreign language learning, “it would be equally useless to create a text geared towards an assumed target culture and designing culture general materials without understanding level, interests, background or goals” (p 86)

Another problem explored by Ryffel (1997) is most of the materials for second or foreign language learning are “primarily written for native English speakers in mind” and “based on U.S values”, which requires “a high level of expertise on the part of the faciliator” and seems unsuitable for most second or foreign language learners belonging to collectivist cultures which emphasize group harmony and good relationship (p 29) In brief, there is a lack of materials used for teaching culture in EFL classrooms or suitable EFL textbooks for second or foreign language learners in terms of culture learning (Benahnia, n.d.; Peterson & Coltrane, 2003; Ryffel, 1997)

The fact that many EFL textbooks do not reflect learners’ own culture, depict very few cultures, or portray only one culture is another challenge facing cultural introduction in EFL textbooks The question then arises as to which countries’ culture or whose culture should be integrated into EFL textbooks (Benahnia, n.d.;

Kim, 2012; Zu & Kong, 2009) Taking into account the inseparable relationship between culture and language, Asgari (2011) highlighted the need to learn about cultural values of Britain and the United States, where English is spoken as the first language

English users are not always native speakers, but they can be members of other countries besides Britain or the United States using English for international purposes Nowadays due to the effect of globalization, the number of non-native speakers of English far outweighs that of native speakers of English Moreover, due

to the development of “popular music, the media, large population movements, tourism, and the multicultural nature of many societies”, sooner or later students will have a chance to meet and interact with members of different cultures (Cortazzi & Jin, 1999, p 198) For this reason, Alptekin (2002) asserted that “the conventions of the British politeness or American informality proves irrelevant” (p 76) In a similar fashion, Nakamura (2002) suggested that “one doesn’t need to become more Western or change one’s morals to use English well in international situations” (p 43) Since a particular language can be used in a variety of contexts, it does not necessarily mean that culture learning in EFL classrooms should be limited to the culture of the language being taught To put it differently, it is important for students

to learn about other cultures besides the target cultures so that they can communicate effectively in intercultural situations (Alptekin, 1992; Byram, Gribkova, & Starkey, 2002; Cortazzi & Jin, 1999; Ho, 2009; McKay, 2003; Nguyen, 2013)

2.2.1 Cortazzi and Jin (1999)’s framework

In Cortazzi and Jin (1999)’s view, there are three types of cultural content usually found in EFL/ESL textbooks including the content about the source culture

or learners’ own culture, the target cultures where the target language is “used as the first language” (p 204), and the international target cultures where the target language is “used as an international language” (p 209) Cortazzi and Jin (1999)’s framework has been widely accepted by many authors in the field (Kirkgoz & Agcam, 2011; McKay, 2000; Munandar & Ulwiyah, 2012) as it gives careful consideration to various countries where English is used, thus developing learners’

intercultural awareness as well as helping them explore specific and general information correctly and appropriately (Munandar & Ulwiyah, 2012, p 68)

culture-2.2.1.1 Target cultural content

Target culture is defined as “the culture where the target language is used as

a first language” (Cortazzi & Jin, 1999, p 20) There’s no denying that learning a foreign language inevitably entails learning about the people and the culture of that language as it brings several benefits to learners Bataineih (2009) explained the reason why the target culture should be introduced in EFL textbooks as “language forms are best understood in their cultural settings motivatand that without the cultural context language forms are lifeless and meaningless” (p.292) Kirkgoz and Agcam (2011) argued that it is plausible to teach the target culture along with the target language since it “allows students to compare and contrast their culture with other global cultures, increasing their awareness of the social conventions of other cultures and thereby expanding their cultural knowledge” (p 157)

Nonetheless, McKay (2003) claimed that although information about the target culture may motivate students, some target cultural references seem to be

“irrelevant, uninteresting, or even confusing for students”, especially for those whose purpose of learning English is to use it as a tool to introduce their own culture

to foreigners or visitors Additionally, Kristiawan (2012) agreed that target cultural content usually contains unfamiliar words as well as alien cultural references which make it difficult for non-native English speaking students to understand because such cultural information “contradicts students’ schema or prior knowledge” (p 175) Interestingly, findings from Adaskou, Britten, and Fahsi (1990)’s study on motivation and attitudinal factors towards the cultural content of a secondary English course in the context of Morocco revealed that some behavioral patterns in the target countries are not appropriate for Moroccan young learners

McKay (2003) also identified that integrating target cultural elements into EFL textbooks might get bilingual teachers of English into trouble due to their lack

of understanding of some cultural issues in the target society In other words, there

is an agreement among many researchers that source cultural content helps motivate students as well as making students and teachers of English feel more comfortable and confident as it directly relates to their lives or experiences (Adaskou et al., 1990; Kristiawan, 2012; McKay & Bokhorst-Heng, 2008, as cited in Kim, 2012) Bataineih (2009) further emphasized that source culture or learners’ own culture should not be marginalized because “language training should enable learners to express themselves on topics related to their culture where the whole content focuses

on the foreign culture” (p 292)

2.2.1.2 Source cultural content

Source culture is described by Cortazzi and Jin (1999) as “learners’ own culture” (p 204) Along with the target culture, the issue of introducing learners’ own culture into EFL curriculum has attracted worldwide attention as it brings about

a lot of advantages

Participants in Nguyen (2013)’s study stressed that having a good grasp of their source culture can help learners introduce their own culture to members of other cultures (p 4) This view is also recognized and accepted by Zu and Kong (2009) and McKay (2003) Another key point to note is that without a sound understanding of their own culture, EFL learners cannot identify the similarities and differences between their own culture and other cultures

In a similar fashion, McKay (2002) emphasized that if teachers, students, and the text share the same source culture, it is considered as a great opportunity for students to have a better understanding of their own culture as well as equipping them with useful language for talking about cultural facets of their country in English Obviously, source cultural materials have undeniable advantages such as

“minimizes the potential of marginalizing the values and lived experiences of the learners”, “encourage learners to gain a deeper understanding of their own culture

so that they can share their insights when using EIL with individuals from different cultures”, and “does not place local teachers in the difficult position of trying to teach someone else’s culture” (Mc Kay, 2003, p 19)