Ebru Öksüz is an undergraduate student in the ELT Department at Kahramanmaraş Sütçü İmam University, Türkiye. She has recently joined projects and can imagine herself a researcher in the future. Email: ebruoksuz482@gmail.com

Ayşe Büyükeryılmaz is an undergraduate student in the ELT Department at Kahramanmaraş Sütçü İmam University, Türkiye. As a pre-service teacher, she is interested in developing materials that engage learners. Email: Email: erbuyuk1415@gmail.com

Hande Harmankaya is an undergraduate student in the ELT Department at Kahramanmaraş Sütçü İmam University, Türkiye. Although her future path may lead her into the study of literature, the experience of collaborating in this study gave her a new perspective on material design in language teaching. handeharmnky@gmail.com

 

Abstract

This study aimed to evaluate a local English as a foreign language coursebook produced in Türkiye in terms of cultural diversity in texts in reading and writing activities. The analysis included visuals accompanying the examined activities. Therefore, the study sought to evaluate the suitability of the coursebook for teaching English as a lingua franca. Drawing upon content analysis, the results show that the coursebook provides elements related to cultural diversity, however at varying degrees. The coursebook encounters a diversity of cultural elements, including artefacts, practices, places and persons. Additionally, the analysis revealed that different elements were related to different contexts. These are the Expanding Circle, the Inner Circle, the Turkish Circle and the Outer Circle. There were also considerable elements that were associated with an international context or had no reference to any context. This study can potentially inform language educators, school administrators and textbook writers who are involved in English language teaching coursebook publication to be more sensitive to designing materials that appreciate English as a lingua franca by considering cultural diversity.

 

Introduction

Coursebooks have great importance in the teaching of English as a Foreign Language (EFL), because they can empower teachers to manage their teaching, while providing students with a solid record for their studies and learning (Haycroft, 1998). Therefore, selecting a coursebook is crucial for teachers because well-designed coursebooks enhance EFL instruction quality (Gezer, 2022; Halliwell, 1992). As Cunningsworth (1995) and Ellis (1997) point out, textbook evaluation is necessary to go beyond impressionistic evaluations and measure whether a book is compatible with the context. The importance given to evaluation has increased in recent years because in the past EFL coursebooks' main aim was supporting target language proficiency along with helping teachers to conduct their lessons. However, the scope of coursebooks has been extended by adding issues such as cultural diversity to prepare students to become better at English and develop intercultural competence (Vitta, 2023). Enriching reading activities through content that mirrors cultural diversity is particularly important because reading texts are permanent and students can return to take the information whenever they want unlike listening or speaking. Therefore, incorporating cultural diversity into EFL coursebooks goes beyond the teaching of linguistic elements, providing students with insight into various cultural perspectives. These ideas have great importance as they enrich students' learning experiences and prepare them to use the language in a globalised world where English has become the lingua franca. English as a lingua franca (ELF) means usage of English in international communication, as a tool to communicate content that does not exclusively refer to the English target cultures.

To approach cultural content in coursebooks, uses of English in the world and classifications of cultural elements are appropriate. Kachru (1992) has categorised English in terms of areas of usage in his model of World Englishes. These are the Inner Circle, which refers to the place where English is used as the dominant native language, the Outer Circle where English is used as official language as a result of colonial history, and lastly the Expanding Circle where English is used as foreign language and mostly learned in schools. Furthermore, Yuen's (2011) classifications of cultural elements as products, persons, practices, and perspectives is conducive to understanding culture in ELT coursebooks. The term "product" describes physical cultural materials, such as manufactured items. A "person" is someone who embodies a certain national culture. Cultural elements such as ceremonies, celebrations, customs, and activities are referred to as “practices”. The term "perspective" describes how particular groups of people view objects that can be contrasted and compared to those of other societies.

Recent studies examining cultural diversity in local textbooks underscore the need for further investigation. Uğurlu and Taş (2020) examined cultural content in reading passages from three different coursebooks (local, localised, and global). The findings showed that Turkish EFL instructors are open to incorporating varieties of cultures. In a recent study, Azimzadeh Yiğit and Dolgunsöz (2022) compared the cultural elements in local EFL textbooks and revealed that the Turkish EFL coursebook excessively focused on Inner Circle countries (the UK and USA). Toprakcı and Özaydınlı (2021) looked at the cultural aspects of EFL textbooks for ninth graders. Three different types of EFL textbooks were examined: local, global, and glocal ones. The authors report that cultural content was inadequately covered in the local EFL textbook. Kırkgöz and Ağçam’s (2011) study findings about culture in English textbooks used in Turkish primary schools suggest that they aim to provide a well-rounded cultural education, incorporating both local and international cultural elements to enhance students' cultural awareness and understandings. Another study of the exploration of culture in English high school coursebooks from Türkiye revealed that while there is some representation of cultural diversity and intercultural topics in the materials, there is a need for more comprehensive integration of content to raise learners’ intercultural awareness (Rathert, 2023). Based on such research, this study focused on cultural diversity in reading text in reading and writing activities along with accompanying visuals by employing the frameworks proposed by Kachru (1992) and Yuen (2011).

 

Method

This study aimed to evaluate Uplift (Yadigar Artıran et al., 2022) (henceforth Uplift) a 9th grader local EFL coursebook produced in Türkiye in terms of cultural diversity in the reading texts and visuals in reading and writing activities. Thus, the study aimed to evaluate the suitability of the coursebook for teaching ELF. The outcomes of this study were conducted by undergraduate students of Kahramanmaraş Sütçü Imam University as part of the assessment in a coursebook evaluation course.

Uplift has been designed based on the state curriculum (Ministry of National Education, 2022) and received approval from the ministry. It is accessible to the public on the Internet and distributed for free at state schools in Türkiye.

The book covers all four skills, and has sections named as lead-in, pronunciation, idiom/proverb of the day, game time, ‘did you know?’ and e-portfolio. The proficiency level is A1/A2 according to Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) in line with the curriculum.

This study adopted Kachru’s (1992) model of World Englishes to categorise cultural aspects represented in ELT textbooks presented as the three, namely, the Inner Circle, Outer Circle and Expanding Circle. Furthermore, this study made use of categories determined by Rathert (2023). In his study, Rathert (2023) added three more categories to the categories established by Kachru (1992). These are the Turkish context as the coursebook examined is produced for learners in Türkiye, international context to refer to cultural elements such as UNESCO that have no reference to specific countries, and no context referring to cultural content of some kind without reference of origin. The definitions of these six terms are shown in Table 1.

 

Table 1. Framework to identify context in the current study

This study also used Yuen's (2011) classifications of cultural elements as products, persons, practices, and perspectives in ELT coursebooks with some changes. For this study, the product category has been changed to artefact and also instead of perspective, place is used as 4th category following procedures suggested by Nomian (2013). The definitions of these terms are shown in Table 2.

 

Table 2. Framework to identify cultural elements in the current study

Using these categories, the reading and writing texts were categorised based on their dominant references to categories. A text with a strong focus on a practice even if it gives references on location (e.g. Uplift, pp. 68-69, about dining etiquette) was referenced as practice. Furthermore, if a reading activity consisted of two or more texts (e.g. Uplift, p. 32, three brochures about cities), the different parts of these texts were counted as one text. In addition, if there were visuals connected to a text in a reading or writing activity but did not belong to one of the specific context categories (e.g. Uplift, p. 37, seven types of movies), it was counted as no context. Lastly, if the same person appeared more than once within the same text, the name was counted only once (e.g. Uplift, p. 78, with three mentions of Dede Korkut, a mythological character).

The whole analysis was conducted repeatedly by the three researchers. Analysis procedures involved collaborative initial inspection of the coursebook and analysis procedures to get familiar with the research methodology. Then the analysis was carried out individually followed by group meetings to compare preliminary results and negotiate different findings. By following this path, it was aimed to make the findings accurate and reliable. During the analysis process, the researchers also met with their course supervisor and discussed the analysis.

 

Results

This study includes two sections. First, the findings for reading texts in reading and writing activities are presented. Then, the findings for visuals which are connected with reading texts in reading and writing activities are displayed. 

 

Cultural diversity in reading text in reading and writing activities

Figure 1 shows the distribution of cultural diversity elements in reading text in reading and writing activities.

Figure 1. Distribution of cultural diversity elements according to contexts in reading and writing texts

As it can be seen in Figure 1, the Expanding Circle is dominant in usage of cultural aspects; on the contrary, the international and the Outer Circle are limited in the whole of the coursebook.  Regarding the Turkish context, it can be said that all cultural elements are considered. For the Inner Circle, artefacts and practices are rarely mentioned while place and person are considered considerably. So, there is no balanced distribution in this context. The Outer Circle has a quite balanced distribution like the Turkish one, but when we look at the general distribution, this context is less considered. The Expanding Circle, which is the most featured context in the coursebook, does not display a balanced distribution. The most prominent element in this context is places while the least one is practice. In the international context, which has very few elements, the three aspects given are balanced, but there is no element for person. Finally, no context, only people are included in this context and they are relatively few in number.

Cultural elements are included throughout the book, and there are examples that explicitly explore cultural content. An example referring to Greece (the Expanding Circle) is shown here and discussed under the excerpt. The cultural elements are highlighted in bold.

As a lover of old things and places, I always dreamt of going to Greece to see its historical places. I was thrilled when I learnt that my school arranged a trip to Athens for the spring break. I couldn’t sleep the night before the trip because I was so excited. The next day, we set off very early and had a comfortable journey of three hours. Before noon, we were able to arrive at our destination, and we left our luggage at the hotel. Then we went to a traditional restaurant to eat brunch. I had Greek salad with feta cheese and some loukoumades, a dessert made of round fried dough and honey syrup. After brunch, our guide took us to the most well-known tourist attraction, the Acropolis of Athens, a complex with many monuments of architectural and artistic excellence. The monuments on the Acropolis were important and influential in antiquity; they also inspired many modern-age architects worldwide. When we reached the top of the hill, we saw the Parthenon, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It dates from the 5th century BC, and it has been a landmark of the city since then. My friends and I were amazed by its beauty, and we took many photos there. Then we walked down the hill to the Agora; there were trees, so we could have some shade and a little rest on the benches. Before we ate dinner, we went sightseeing in the Pláka and Anafiotika neighbourhoods and had a great time walking in the quiet, peaceful streets. Everything was perfect, and this was a trip I can never forget. (Uplift, p. 82; emphasis added)

To demonstrate the framework used for analysis, the cultural element category (artefact, person, place, practice) marked in bold is indicated:

Place: Greece, Athens, Acropolis of Athens, Parthenon, Agora, Pláka and Anafiotika

Artefact: Greek salad with feta cheese and Loukoumades

Practice: UNESCO

All places belong to the Expanding Circle except for UNESCO, which belongs to the international context. 

 

Cultural diversity in visuals of readings text in reading and writing activities

Figure 2 shows the distribution of cultural diversity in visuals of reading text in reading and writing activities.

Figure 2. Distribution of cultural diversity elements according to contexts in visuals

As Figure 2 shows, the most prominent context in the visuals is no context, followed by the Expanding Circle, as in the texts. There is no international context in the visuals, and again, the Outer Circle has the fewest elements. For the Turkish context, place and person come to the fore in the visuals, unlike the more balanced Turkish cultural elements in the texts. When looked at as a whole, visual elements of Turkish culture are more represented than in the texts. The Inner Circle is more balanced in the visuals but the categories person and practice come to the forefront. The Outer Circle visuals are even less than elements in the texts and it is the least mentioned context after international elements. The Expanding Circle displays a balance in visuals even if people come to the front slightly more. The context with the highest element density is no-context, but there are no elements for place.

Although the book is rich in visuals, they do not always support the learners' language learning in a cultural sense but focus on other aspects of language. For example, in a coursebook activity about films (Uplift, p. 38) images of film posters can be (and, in this study, were) considered as cultural elements; their function, however, is to teach children about film genres, while reference to cultural aspects of the films are not given.

 

Discussion and conclusion

This study examined a local textbook (Uplift) prepared by the Ministry of Education for use at 9th grade classes in terms of its suitability to teach ELF. The focus of the study was reading texts in reading and writing activities and visuals which are connected with texts. The findings in this study reveal that Uplift conveys a variety of cultural aspects, including artefacts, practices, places and persons. Furthermore, diverse contexts (Turkish, Inner Circle, Outer Circle, Expanding Circle, International and No context) are included. In other words, the study showed that cultural diversity elements have been integrated into the coursebook. The distribution of types of cultural elements, however, is not even. Place and person are at the forefront as aspects and the Expanding Circle is the most considered context. Although the book contains various findings in terms of cultural diversity in general, there are some points to discuss.

When the entire book is examined, it may be concluded that, although cultural elements are included, Turkish cultural elements are underrepresented in the general picture for a book used in Türkiye. Moreover, it is seen that while there are many examples under the headings of the Inner and the Expanding Circles, the book contains very few items belonging to the international context. To have elements in this regard would be preferable because international elements are values known to almost everyone. Knowing these values is likely to make a great cultural contribution to children as their intercultural competence and awareness of the globalised world is enhanced.

A further problem is that the items categorised under the heading of No context may not increase students' cultural awareness. Thus, the elements could be included in the cultural content to release learners' interest in terms of cultural diversity. However, this does not mean that these elements are dysfunctional.

Finally, a book's rich visual content makes learning more interesting. However, although the Uplift includes a lot of visual elements, it lacks visuals that contain cultural elements or allow learners to reflect on cultural diversity. The book could have included more visuals containing cultural elements that provide learners with opportunities to compare their own culture with other ones.

On the whole, the results of this study have similar findings with other studies evaluating local ELT coursebooks in Türkiye (Azimzadeh Yiğit & Dolgunsöz, 2022; Çakır, 2021; Khan & Taş, 2020; Rathert, 2023; Toprakcı & Özaydınlı, 2021). Related to the coursebooks analysed in Türkiye, it can be said that, while elements are not absent in the materials, they are unlikely to elicit dialogues about cultural diversity (Rathert, 2023). Furthermore, this study’s findings show that, while some cultural elements are mentioned considerably, some others are rather neglected. That means cultural elements have not distributed equally in Uplift’s reading text and visuals in reading and writing activities.

This study can inform language educators, school administrators and textbook writers who are involved in ELT coursebook publication to be more sensitive to integrate cultural diversity to raise learner awareness of ELF. That said, the examination of other coursebooks used in public and private schools in Türkiye (and elsewhere) is necessary since this study only examined the 9th grade coursebook Uplift. Also, it should be noted that this study analysed only reading texts and visuals in reading and writing activities. To get results that are more accurate on the suitability of the coursebook as a medium to foster cultural diversity and the idea of ELF, other parts of the coursebook (listening, speaking etc.) should be examined. 

 

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