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As are the senses of culture, elements of culture are also essential in understanding the culture. In fact, culture is not only
the products, but it also covers way of life practice, communication among its people to express their thought
perspective. Therefore, to better understand a culture, learners need to be introduced to perspective, practice and the persons.
Kramsch adds that the impact of culture on language learning, teaching and using is
far more complex than ―the four Fs‖ and language teaching needed to link ―the teaching of culture to that
culture‖
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To sum up, the examined textbooks contain four Fs but are lack of information about cultural perspective and practice.
5. The Implication of the Cultural Presentation towards intercultural competence
This study discusses what cultures disseminated in two series of in-use English textbooks used at Madrasah Tsanawiyah in
DKI Jakarta. It results that source culture is presented as frequently as the target culture. Besides, international target culture is also
appeared. The presence of various culture products in the textbooks is surely a good initiative for intercultural information. To this
level, the textbooks support the learners to be aware of different cultures around them.
Textbooks, eventually, have a big role in facilitating the intercultural competence of the learners. According to Byram
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the three components of intercultural competence are knowledge, skills
and attitudes. Having an intercultural attitude means being curious and open towards foreign cultures and being able to understand that
one‘s own attitudes are not the only possible way to perceive the world. Secondly, having intercultural knowledge includes knowing
about how social groups and identities of the foreign culture and
one‘s own culture function. Thirdly, there are intercultural skills that should be taught to learners. These skills are e.g. comparing,
interpreting and relating one‘s own culture as well as the foreign
154
Claire Kramsch, Context and Culture in Language Learning Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1993, p. 236.
155
Michael Byram, Adam Nichols and David Stevens, Developing intercultural competence in practice Clevedon: Multilingual Matters, 2001, pp.
5 —6.
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cultures. Since the examined English textbooks do not contain descriptions on the attitudes of target culture or international target
culture explicitly, these textbooks cannot be categorized as successfully
promote the learners‘ intercultural competence. Elomaa
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asserts that textbooks have a critical role in promoting the principles of intercultural learning and teaching
because they have the power to affect learners ‘ attitudes towards
foreign cultures. The ideal aim would be that the textbook would get learners interested in the target culture by presenting the
culture, language and mentality of the target countries in an interesting and motivating way. On the same view, Bredella
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points out, being intercultural means basically in its simplest form the learners‘ ability to encounter something new and exciting.
People grow up in one culture, often in a belief that our own cultural system is natural and normal and perhaps even superior to
others. An intercultural approach makes us realize that aspects that seem irrational for us are actually rational for
other people‘s perspective and vice versa. Furthermore, being intercultural also
includes acknowledging that we belong to a certain culture and that we should learn to explore how we are shaped by our culture, just
as other people are shaped by their culture. This notion is essential to adapt in order to be able to increase the tolerance between
different cultures.
Byram, et al mentions that intercultural competence is an ―ability to ensure a shared understanding by people of different
social identities, and [the] ability to interact with people as complex human beings with multiple identities and their own
individuality
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‖ having these all notions, Byram‘s classification of intercultural competence cosists of three levels of cultural
156
E. Eloma, Textbook cheer : theoretical and practical aspects of language teaching materials reform, Jyväskylä Studies in Humanities 122
University of Jyväskylä, 2009, pp. 109 —110.
157
L. Bredella, ―What does it mean to be intercultural?‖ in Geof Alred,
Michael Byram, and Michael P. Fleming eds., Languages for Intercultural Communication and Education Clevedon: Multilingual Matters., 2003, pp.
225 —239.
158
Michael Byram, B. Gribkova, H. Starkey. Developing the intercultural dimension in language teaching: a practical introduction for teachers Strasbourg:
Council of Europe,2002, p. 10.
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competence. First level is basic cultural awareness, consisting an awareness of: 1 culture as a set of shared behaviours, beliefs, and
values; 2 the role culture and context play in any interpretation of meaning; 3 our own culturally induced behaviors, values, and
beliefs and the ability to articulate this; 4 other‘s culturally induced behavior, values, and the ability to compare this with our
own culturally induced behavior, values, and beliefs. Second level is advanced cultural awareness where the students are aware of
identifying multiple perspectives among culture. And third, intercultural awareness level, refers to the awareness of negotiating
and mediating between culturally communication.
By looking at the types of culture, elements of culture, and senses of culture presented in the two English textbooks, it can be
concluded that the intercultural competence is on level 1 the lowest level. Though the researcher decides that the intercultural
competence is in level 1, the real presentation on the textbooks do not comply all the criteria mentioned by Byram in level 1 basic
cultural awareness. The results of textbook analysis can be summarized as follows.
Table 4.4 The Level of Intercultural Competence of the Textbooks
Criteria of basic cultural awareness
level 1 Status of the
textbooks under study
Note
1 culture as a set of shared
behaviours, beliefs, and values;
Not mentioned
There is no comparisons among culture and there is no information
about culture-related behaviors, beliefs, and values which is
explisit and noticable for the students
2 the role culture and
context play in any interpretation of
meaning Mentioned
There are some texts about family life and jobs in target culture which
is different from source culture
3 our own culturally
induced behaviour, values, and beliefs and
the ability to articulate this;
Mentioned This is mentioned in the form of
contextualized writing task writing a letter email to a pen pal in
Melbourne
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Criteria of basic cultural awareness
level 1 Status of the
textbooks under study
Note 4
others‘ culturally induced behaviour,
values, and beliefs and the ability to compare
this with our own culturally induced
behaviour, values, and beliefs.
Not mentioned
There is no information nor comparisons and contrast among
cultures.
Achieving all level of intercultural competence seems a too high standard for Indonesian context. Besides the fact that English
is taught as a Foreign Language, the available English textbooks in local market have not been approved or examined for their
intercultural aspects. Therefore, basic cultural awareness is enough for analyzing textbooks in MTs level. From the table above, it can
be inferred that intercultural competence should be more facilitated by 1 promoting behavior, values, and beliefs of different cultures.
2 describing own culture to other speakers, 3 promoting the awareness on the similarities and difference among cultures.
To achieve this level, textbook authors ideally consider cultural information, elements of culture and senses of culture to be
presented in the textbooks. Cultural information should vary, from descriptive texts to sound recording, from attitudes of foreign
culture to visual illustration. This information should not be just presenting the products and persons of culture, but also the
practice and the perspective. Regarding EIF and EOS series, there are some descriptive texts that can be inserted, which describe the
practice of target culture, such as: some descriptive texts about different celebrations in Indonesia, America, and Japan. In addition
to aesthetic sense of culture, sociological, and semantic sense should also be added, in a right proportion for MTs level. Finally, a
model of awareness raising by Liddicoat is a good reference for English teachers. It consists of: 1 input, 2 noticing, 3 reflection,
4 output, 5 noticing, 6 reflection, and 7 output.
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The above scheme points out that the input should be noticeable to the students. The descriptive texts about Japanese
school for instance, should be placed in a separate section like Cultural Note. Later, the students should be stimulated to reflect
this culture to their own culture. Some questions after the texts are
some examples. ―What is similar between Japanese schools and your school?‖, ―What is different from Japanese schools?‖, ―What
can you learn from Japanese students?‖ are some leading examples to this reflection stage.
The next stage, output, is in the form of discussion, essay writing, or group presentation, presenting their discussion results of
the above questions. This output is then put explicitly, lead by teachers in the form of notes on board, new posting on classroom
wall magazine, or new post on classroom blogs. After that, the next meeting, another reflection can be done by reviewing the previous
lesson.
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CHAPTER V CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION
