cultural representation

A close look at the education system reveals that too much attention is attached to text while visuals, such as pictures and cartoons, are often deemed as “decoration”, or are not incorporated in the textbooks at all. Visual texts constitute a part of daily communication, which can potentially bear many layers of meaning. Such a complexity involved in visuals turns them into an ideal resource for not only L2 learning but also the improvement of intercultural communicative competence (ICC), along with cultural awareness. The status of cultural elements and representation of culture in English instruction has proved to be a tricky issue. This is mainly because of the diverse range of contexts where English is used on an international scale globally. Given the integral relationship between language and culture, it is essential to teach cultural elements in L2 classes, in particular, the representation of cultural values and elements as an integral part of the L2 curriculum of English language teaching (ELT). Furthermore, from a critical linguistics viewpoint, language textbooks should be viewed as social and cultural vehicles. Therefore, the incorporation of cultural symbols and raising cultural awareness are considered essential issues in ELT textbooks, particularly in the context of English as a foreign language (EFL). Furthermore, multiple approaches to the analysis of textbooks and cultural contents have been adopted by different researchers. Here, the present study is based on the core principles of semiotic analysis which implies that texts, pictures, and other modes of communication can be used as potential semiotic resources. This review study can yield important theoretical and pedagogical implications for researchers, L2 instructors, and the developers of ELT textbooks to take the images into account to represent culture in the textbook.

Culture, intercultural interaction, and language have often been described as indivisible and the relation between them is quite intricate. This study was conducted to evaluate Iranian and Afghan secondary English textbooks. Two aspects, representation of culture and intercultural interaction, were focused on in the conversation parts of Iranian and Afghan secondary English textbooks. First, 172 conversations in Iranian textbooks and 160 conversations in Afghan textbooks were analyzed based on Byram’s (1994) framework to investigate the frequency of representation of culture. Second, all the conversations were analyzed based on Song’s (2013) model to investigate the frequency of intercultural interactions. Results revealed that Social Interaction was the most frequent category for the representation of culture and Superficial Interaction was the most frequent category for intercultural interactions. In the same vein, National History was largely ignored in the representation of culture within these 12 books while Critical Reflection was the category that was not paid due and sufficient attention to throughout the books regarding the intercultural interaction. The study implies that teachers, materials developers, and coursebook designers might be able to make more informed and proper decisions regarding the way and the extent cultural elements are to be incorporated in English textbooks.