A Cultural Content Analysis of the EFL Textbook for Primary Education in Indonesia

Nelly Mustapidaturrohmah; Putu Dian Danayanti  Degeng; Widya Caterina Perdhani

doi:10.15642/NOBEL.2022.13.1.67-82

Authors

Nelly Mustapidaturrohmah Universitas Brawijaya, Malang, Indonesia
Putu Dian Danayanti Degeng Universitas Brawijaya, Malang, Indonesia
Widya Caterina Perdhani Universitas Brawijaya, Malang, Indonesia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15642/NOBEL.2022.13.1.67-82

Keywords:

cultural content analysis; English textbook; aspect of culture; dimensions of culture

Abstract

This study attempts to investigate the cultural contents of two EFL textbooks entitled English for Elementary School Students Grade 6 and Grow with English Book 6. This research is qualitative descriptive research, particularly content analysis. This study uses the categorization of cultural aspects by Cortazzi and Jin (1999), including source culture, target culture, and International culture. Adaskou’s et al. (1990) categorization of cultural dimensions covering sociological sense, aesthetic sense, semantic sense, and pragmatic sense is also employed. The findings show that the two English textbooks present the cultural aspects and dimensions differently. English for Elementary School Students Grade 6 textbook carries out more source culture than target culture and international culture. In comparison, Grow with English Grade 6 textbook carries out more target culture than source and global cultures. The findings also reveal that the sociological sense is the most prominent sense occurring in the two textbooks compared to the aesthetic, semantic, and pragmatic senses. Therefore, from the results, it can be inferred that the proportion of the cultural content in the two textbooks is imbalanced.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Adaskou, K., Britten, D., & Fahsi, B. (1990). Design decisions on the cultural content of a secondary English course for Morocco. ELT Journal, 44(1), 3–10. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1093/elt/44.1.3

Al-Sofi, B. B. M. (2018). An evaluation of the cultural aspects in the university English textbook, Well Read 1. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 8(2), 184. https://doi.org/10.17507/tpls.0802.02

Amara, M. (2017). The representation of cultural elements in English-language textbooks in Israel: Implications for Arab students. Israel Studies in Language and Society, 10(1), 101–128. http://www.chaimnoy.com/Articles/ArticleKatrielReview10-2017IsraelStudiesLanguageSociety.pdf#page=101

Arslan, S. (2016). An analysis of two Turkish EFL books in terms of cultural aspects. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 232(10), 217–225. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2016.10.049

Brown, H. D. (2007). Teaching by principles: An interactive approach to language pedagogy. Pearson education.

Cortazzi, M., & Jin, L. (1999). Cultural mirrors: Materials and methods in the EFL classroom. In E. Hinkel (Ed.), Culture in Second Language Teaching and Learning (pp. 196–220). Cambridge University Press.

Faris, I. N. I. (2014). Cultural content analysis of an English textbook for senior high school grade three in Cianjur, West Java. Journal of English and Education, 2(2), 14–25. https://web.archive.org/web/20180509184635id_/http://ejournal.upi.edu/index.php/L-E/article/viewFile/4599/3200

Frankel, J., Parsley, D., & Wei, S. J. (2012). Slow pass-through around the world: A new import for developing countries? Open Economies Review, 23(2), 213–251. https://doi.org/10.1007/S11079-011-9210-8/TABLES/11

Gunantar, D. A. (2017). Textbooks analysis: Analyzing English as a foreign language (EFL) textbooks from the perspective of Indonesian culture. Language Circle: Journal of Language and Literature, 11(2), 173–182. https://doi.org/10.15294/lc.v11i2.9590

Hermawan, B., & Noerkhasanah, L. (2012). Traces of cultures in English textbook for primary education. CONAPLIN JOURNAL Indonesian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 1(2), 49–61. http://jurnal.upi.edu/file/Budi_Hermawan_final_49-61.pdf

Khodadady, E., & Shayesteh, S. (2016). Cultural and linguistic imperialism and the EIL movement: Evidence from a textbook analysis. Educational Research, 26(4), 604–622. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1117989

Krippendorff, K. (2004). Reliability in content analysis. Human Communication Research, 30(3), 411–433. https://doi.org/10.1111/J.1468-2958.2004.TB00738.X

Liddicoat, A., & Crozet, C. (1997). Teaching culture as an integrated part of language teaching: an introduction. Australian Review of Applied Linguistics, Series S(14), 1–22. https://search.informit.org/doi/abs/10.3316/ielapa.980808181

Liddicoat, A. J. (2004). Intercultural language teaching: principles for practice. New Zealand Language Teacher, 30(2004), 17–24. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Anthony-Liddicoat-2/publication/281571069_Intercultural_language_teaching_principles_for_practice/links/5bc7152fa6fdcc03c7899754/Intercultural-language-teaching-principles-for-practice.pdf

Liddicoat, A. J., & Crozet, C. (Eds.). (2000). Teaching languages, teaching cultures. Language Australia. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED471407

Lund, A. (2006). The multiple contexts of online language teaching. Language Teaching Research, 10(2), 181–204. https://doi.org/10.1191/1362168806LR191OA

Mckay, S. L. (2000). Teaching English as an international language: Implications for cultural materials in the classroom. TESOL Journal, 9(4), 7–11. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ621483

Moran, P. R. (2001). Teaching culture: Perspectives in practice. Heinle & Heinle.

Mukarto, F. X. (2017). Grow with English: A thematic English course for elementary students Book 6. Penerbit Erlangga.

Nashriyah, N., Maulida, R., Ningsih, Y. S., & Yusuf, Y. Q. (2020). Addressing gender bias issues in elementary school EFL textbooks: An analysis of grow with English. Humanities & Social Sciences Reviews, 8(3), 56–63. https://doi.org/10.18510/hssr.2020.837

Nurjanah, I., & Umaemah, A. (2019). An analysis of cultural content in the textbook “Pathway to English” for second grade in senior high school. ELT-Echo, 4(1), 83–92. https://doi.org/http://dx.doi.org/10.24235/eltecho.v4i1.4536

Rachmawati, I. (2020). Language and culture in multicultural society of English language course. NOBEL: Journal of Literature and Language Teaching, 11(1), 55–68. https://doi.org/10.15642/nobel.2020.11.1.55-68

Radić-Bojanić, B. B., & Topalov, J. P. (2016). Textbooks in the EFL classroom: Defining, assessing and analyzing. Collection of Papers of the Faculty of Philosophy in Priština, 46(3), 137–153. https://doi.org/10.5937/ZRFFP46-12094

Ratri, D. P., & Puspitasari, I. (2019). Need analysis for developing course book for English for elementary school students with local-content values. IJEE (Indonesian Journal of English Education), 6(1), 1–9. https://doi.org/10.15408/ijee.v6i1.9908

Razavi, M., & Gilakjani, A. P. (2020). The effect of teaching cultural content on intermediate EFL learners’ reading comprehension ability. Teflin Journal, 31(2), 302–321. https://doi.org/10.15639/teflinjournal.v31i2/302-321

Schreiber, J., & Asner-Self, K. (2011). Educational research: the interrelationship of questions, sampling, design, and analysis. Wiley.

Songbatumis, A. M. (2017). Challenges in teaching English faced by English teachers at MTsN Taliwang, Indonesia. Journal of Foreign Language Teaching and Learning, 2(2), 54–67. https://doi.org/10.18196/ftl.2223

Suryarini, D. Y. (2019). Evaluasi buku teks bahasa Inggris "Stairway: A fun and easy English book” grade VI elementary school. Trapsila: Jurnal Pendidikan Dasar, 1(2), 33–46. https://doi.org/http://dx.doi.org/10.30742/tpd.v1i02.811

Sya, M. F., & Helmanto, F. (2020). Pemerataan pembelajaran muatan lokal bahasa Inggris sekolah dasar Indonesia. DIDAKTIKA TAUHIDI: Jurnal Pendidikan Guru Sekolah Dasar, 7(1), 71–81. https://doi.org/10.30997/dt.v7i1.2348

Tim Masmedia Buana Pustaka. (2020). English for elementary school students Grade 6. Masmedia Buana Pustaka.

Wu, J. (2010). A content analysis of the cultural content in the EFL textbooks. Canadian Social Science, 6(5), 137–144. https://doi.org/http://dx.doi.org/10.3968/j.css.1923669720100605.016

Zarei, G. R., & Khalessi, M. (2011). Cultural load in English language textbooks: An analysis of interchange series. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 15(June), 294–301. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2011.03.089