Ayşe Yılmaz is an undergraduate student in the ELT Department at Kahramanmaraş Sütçü İmam University, Türkiye. She has recently taken part in various projects both related to and outside her department. She is interested in research, writing, qualitative research, and designing engaging materials using technology and considers becoming a researcher. Email: aysegulyilmaz271@gmail.com

 

Abstract

There is a consensus that language and culture are inseparable and should be integrated into foreign language teaching materials. This study aims to examine culture representations in a local EFL coursebook for use at Turkish middle schools. Examining people, places and practices, and objects, cultural elements identified were coded as belonging to the source culture (i.e., Turkish), the target culture (i.e., cultures with English as the predominant language), international target cultures (others than the source or target culture) and no reference to any cultural context. The findings revealed that representations with reference to the source culture dominate. Also, there were differences in distributions depending on the element examined. Conclusions for material design in ELT are drawn.

 

Introduction

Culture is a term difficult to define entirely. Discussed by a great number of researchers from past to present, different definitions have been proposed. For instance, Tylor (1871), a British anthropologist, states that culture is the complex whole that includes knowledge, beliefs, art, morals, laws, customs and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society. Hofstede (1991) has defined culture as the collective programming of the mind that distinguishes the members of one group or category of people from another. According to Johnson & Brown (2020), culture is a shared structure formed by the accumulation of common knowledge, behaviours, and symbols among individuals. Based on these various definitions, it is safe to say that culture is interwoven with language. As a consequence for language teaching, culture has to be a part of language teaching materials not only to enhance learners’ language awareness but also to develop their intercultural competence.

One of the ways of teaching culture in language teaching is making it coursebook content. Undoubtedly, coursebooks play an important role in language teaching (Gül & Sevim, 2021; Rathert & Cabaroğlu, 2022), and language teaching is delivered worldwide in public schools over local coursebooks. For this reason, coursebooks play an important role in the familiarisation of learners with cultural diversity, thereby developing their intercultural competence. Based on these considerations, this study attempts to examine the representation of cultural elements in a local coursebook used at Turkish upper-secondary schools.

 

Intercultural competence

Intercultural competence is the capacity to effectively use language in a range of social contexts across cultures. It refers to the ability to communicate in one’s own language with people from various cultural backgrounds (Byram, 2021). Byram’s intercultural competence model is visualised in Figure 1.
 

attitudes

 

C critical cultural awareness

 

knowledge

 

        skills of discovery and interaction

skills of interpreting and relating

 

Figure 1. Byram’s (2021) Model of Intercultural Competence

Byram (2021) highlights that the model provides a basis for planning teaching and assessment rather than a model of learning. As Figure 1 shows, Byram’s model of intercultural competence is directed to the domains of attitudes, critical cultural awareness, knowledge, skills of discovery and interaction and skills of interpreting and relating. There is a hierarchy in that appropriate attitudes are needed before other competences can be learned, but it is also possible that attitudes will develop as skills are taught. Byram (2021) also emphasises that intercultural competence may be acquired in the classroom. Moreover, with this competence, educators can teach students the elements of their own or other cultures in the books used in the lessons through language.

 

Representation of culture in ELT coursebooks

There is general agreement in modern foreign language methodology that language and culture should be taught together, which means that culture ought to be integrated into ELT materials. Culture in ELT materials should not be a superficial addition but an integral component that fosters intercultural competence (Kramsch, 1995). For language learners, ELT coursebooks are the main source of language and culture. The representation of culture in ELT materials plays a crucial role in shaping learners’ perceptions and understanding of the target language community (McKay, 2004). Coursebooks potentially allow students to get to know cultures. Rathert and Cabaroğlu (2022) make the point that coursebooks include materials that engage learners in the comparison of their own linguacultural backgrounds with those of speakers of the target language. Furthermore, localising and personalising coursebook content is a way to enhance the relevance of materials for learners (McGrath, 2013). However, according to Nunan (2003), ELT coursebooks should strive for a balance between presenting familiar cultural aspects and introducing learners to new and diverse cultural experiences. As long as these are balanced, the integration of diverse cultural viewpoints in coursebooks can help language learners increase empathy, tolerance, and understanding.

To evaluate representation of culture in language materials, an important contribution was made by Cortazzi and Jin (1999) in their study on the reflection of culture in coursebooks used for teaching English as a foreign language (EFL) and English as a second language (ESL). They separate the culture into three categories. The first one is the source culture. That is the learners’ own culture. The second one is the target culture, which is the culture or are the cultures of countries whose native language is English, e.g., the American, British, or Australian culture. The third category refers to international target cultures. These belong to countries that use English as an international language as a means of communication.

There are several studies on how local coursebooks include cultural content. A common trend is the observation that cultural elements are considered (Kırkgöz & Ağçam, 2011), but representations may not be balanced (Saraç & Arıkanç, 2010; Toprakçı & Özaydınlı, 2021; Yiğit & Dolgunsöz, 2022) or insufficient to prepare language learners’ intercultural competence (Rathert, 2023). 

 

Methodology

The study aimed to determine cultural representation in a local coursebook used at Turkish secondary schools. The study aimed to answer the following research questions:

1. What is the distribution of the source culture, the target culture, international target cultures and cultural elements without reference in reading and writing texts in the coursebook analysed?

2. What is the distribution of culture elements represented through people, places and practices and objects in reading and writing texts in the coursebook analysed?

 

Coursebook

The coursebook analysed in this study was Mastermind English Student’s Book (İlter et al., 2022) (henceforth: Mastermind). Mastermind is a local EFL coursebook prepared for the use at secondary schools (Grade 8) in Türkiye. The level of the coursebook is A2 and it is in line with the curriculum issued by the Ministry of National Education (Ministry of Education, 2018). It is distributed free to teachers and students in state schools and can be accessed on the Internet.

 

Mastermind consists of 10 different theme-based units. The book has a multi-component syllabus with emphasis on communicative functions, e.g., accepting and refusing, making excuses. The units contain idioms or proverbs from different cultures. At the end of each unit, there are sections with various activities called ‘study boxes’ reviewing functions, vocabulary, grammar, and self-assessment activities.

 

Analysis

The book was analysed through identification and coding of cultural elements in reading and writing texts. The following steps were followed. First, the reading and writing texts in the Mastermind (indicated through a book and a pencil icon) were identified. Then, Cortazzi and Jin's (1999) framework was used to conduct the analysis. In this framework, cultural information in English coursebooks is divided into three categories: the source (Turkish) culture, the target (British, American, New Zealand) culture, and international target cultures (e.g., German, Italian, and French). The identified texts were coded accordingly. Following procedures by Rathert (2023), no reference was added as a further coding category to capture cultural elements that were not related to any specific cultural background.

To exemplify the analysis procedures, in a reading text about Hezarfen Ahmed Çelebi, an Ottoman scientist (Mastermind, p. 77), there were certain source culture elements such as Galata Tower and Üsküdar district, places in Istanbul. The elements included in a reading text about the firsts of the Internet (Mastermind, p. 64) were associated with the target culture category, which is the culture of countries whose native or predominant language is English. A reading text about an earthquake in Japan (Mastermind, p. 127) was coded as international target cultures. An example for a cultural element with no reference is a text about the telephone (Mastermind, p. 53) as the text does not refer to any linguacultural background.

The specified cultural categories were examined in terms of people (e.g., John), places (e.g., Antalya, a province in Türkiye), and practices and objects (e.g., festivals or traditional meals).

As this study was part of an undergraduate course on coursebook evaluation, reliability and validity were considered through having other course participants analyse part of the data and regular meetings with the supervisor.

 

Results

In the following sections, the results obtained from the analysis are given in two sections. Initially, the distribution of culture in reading and writing texts is shown. Then, the distribution of cultures according to people, places and practices, and objects is displayed.

 

Distribution of culture in reading and writing texts

A total of 190 cultural elements were found in the reading and writing texts. Figure 1 shows the distribution of the source, target, international target cultures and no reference in Mastermind.

 

Figure 2. Distribution of Source, Target, International Target Culture and No Reference in Reading and Writing Texts in Mastermind

As Figure 2 shows, more than half of the culture types (111) belonged to the source culture. Some examples are given below:

• Mete Gazoz (Mastermind, p. 28), a Turkish sportsman who became a world champion by winning gold medals at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and the 2023 World Archery Championship, 

• Kaş, a district of Antalya province, Türkiye (Mastermind, p.74), 

• Kebab that is a dish (Mastermind, p. 85), 

• Safranbolu houses (Mastermind, p. 90), 

• Sacrifice Feast Eve (Mastermind, p. 97), which is a religious holiday celebrated every year by sacrificing animals such as cattle.

Giving cultural values such as Sacrifice Feast Eve is of great importance for students to internalise the values of the source culture directly or implicitly through the coursebook.

Secondly, 19% of the culture types (37) belonged to the target culture. Some examples are:

• Justin Hall, an American journalist, known as a pioneer blogger (Mastermind, p. 64),

• Edinburgh Castle (Mastermind, p. 91),

• the USA (Mastermind, p. 109),

• Grace Hopper known as the “mother of the computer” (Mastermind, p. 111).

There was a considerable number of inventors belonging to the target culture. Including these people in the book is of great importance for students to learn about important people from the target culture.

Thirdly, the international target culture had a rate of 11% (21). Some of the examples from the book are:

• Spanish (Mastermind, p. 61),

• Felix Baumgartner, an Austrian skydiver (Mastermind, p. 77),

• Rome (Mastermind, p. 86),

• the Amazon Forest (Mastermind, p. 122). 

The number of elements belonging to that cultural element is significantly low.

Finally, as shown in Figure 2, there were 22 cultural elements that had no cultural reference. This means, these elements were not associated with any cultural origin.

 

Distribution of culture according to people, places and practices and objects in reading and writing texts

The data was also examined to determine to what extent people, places and practices, and objects were used for cultural representation. The results are shown in Figure 3. 

 

Figure 3. Distribution of Culture according to People, Places and Practices and Objects in Reading and Writing Texts

As seen in Figure 3, the number of people in the source culture was more than twice the number of people in the target culture. The number of people in international target cultures and without reference were equal. On the other hand, the source culture had the highest number in places and practices and objects. 

In terms of people, the coursebook displayed both fictional coursebook characters and people known by the public:

•  Kemal (Mastermind, p. 49), İlknur (Mastermind, p. 90), Oktay Sinanoğlu who is internationally known as “The Turkish Einstein” (Mastermind, p. 118) as members of the source culture,

• John (Mastermind, p. 41), Bob Thomas, an engineer who created the first virus called as Creeper (Mastermind, p. 64), Newton (Mastermind, p. 110) as members of the target culture,

• Albert Einstein (Mastermind, p. 115) as a person belonging to the international target cultures.

 

When looking at places, some examples are shown below:

• Fethiye which is a district of Muğla province, Türkiye (Mastermind, p. 25), Atatürk Street (Mastermind, p. 52), Black Sea Region known as one of the regions of Türkiye (Mastermind, p. 88) as examples of the source culture,

• Green Street (Mastermind, p. 16), Scotland (Mastermind, p. 91), USA (Mastermind, p. 109) as examples of the target culture,

• Egypt (Mastermind, p. 91), Japan (Mastermind, p. 100), Germany (Mastermind, p. 115) as examples of the international target cultures,

• Marina Hotel (Mastermind, p. 57) as an example that has no specific reference.

 

Practices and objects encompassed, for example:

• Tandır, a traditional Turkish dish (Mastermind, p. 85), Trojan Horse located in Çanakkale, Türkiye (Mastermind, p. 86) (source culture),

• the Mars project (Mastermind, p. 115) as an example from the target culture,

• the Nobel Prize (Mastermind, p. 109) (no reference). 

 

Discussion and conclusion

The aim of this study was to examine the cultural references in reading and writing texts in Mastermind, a local coursebook for use at Turkish middle schools. In addition, the cultural entities were coded in terms of people, places, and practices and objects. The results of this study are in line with studies evaluating ELT coursebooks published locally in Türkiye. Some studies (e.g., Çelik & Erbay, 2013; Saraç & Arıkanç, 2010) indicate that elements of Turkish culture are dominant and that elements of the target culture are not included sufficiently. Demirbaş (2013) found that elements of the target culture are more dominant in dialogue and visuals than other cultural elements. Similarly, Kırkgöz and Ağçam (2011) reported on a dominance of elements of the local and target culture, while international target cultures are less considered.

While the cultural elements used in Mastermind cover a wide range, it should be critically noted that there is a strong focus on people. A stronger consideration of places, and practices and objects of origin other than the source culture would contribute to a more diverse representation of culture in the local coursebook analysed.

 

References

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