Cultural Content in English Textbooks Used in Madrasah Tsanawiyah in DKI Jakarta
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CULTURAL CONTENT IN ENGLISH TEXTBOOKS USED AT MADRASAH TSANAWIYAH NEGERI
IN DKI JAKARTA
THESIS
By Arnis Silvia NIM. 2111014000017
GRADUATE PROGRAM OF ENGLISH EDUCATION
FACULTY OF TARBIYA AND TEACHERS’ TRAINING
UIN SYARIF HIDAYATULLAH JAKARTA 2014 M/1435 H
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CULTURAL CONTENT IN ENGLISH TEXTBOOKS USED AT MADRASAH TSANAWIYAH NEGERI
IN DKI JAKARTA
THESIS
submitted as a partial requirement for a completion of Master‘s Degree at English Department, the Faculty of Tarbiya and Teachers‘ Training
UIN Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta
By Arnis Silvia NIM. 2111014000017
GRADUATE PROGRAM OF ENGLISH EDUCATION
THE FACULTY OF TARBIYA AND TEACHERS’ TRAINING
UIN SYARIF HIDAYATULLAH JAKARTA 2014 M/1435 H
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STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY
I hereby declare that the thesis entitled ―Cultural Content in English Textbooks Used at Madrasah Tsanawiyah in DKI Jakarta‖ represents my original work and that I have used no other sources except as noted by citations. All data, tables, figures and text citations which have been reproduced from any other sources have been explicitly acknowledged as such. I have read and understood
the Ministry of National Education (MoNE) of Indonesia‘ Decree
No.17 Year 2010 regarding plagiarism in higher education, therefore I am responsible for any claims in the future regarding the originality of my thesis.
Signed
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CULTURAL CONTENT IN ENGLISH TEXTBOOKS USED AT MADRASAH TSANAWIYAH NEGERI IN DKI
JAKARTA
A Thesis
Presented as a Partial Fulfillment of a Completion for a Master’s Degree (M.Pd)
at Faculty of Tarbiya and Teachers’ Training UIN Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta
Written by ARNIS SILVIA NIM. 2111014000017
Approved by:
Supervisor I Supervisor II
GRADUATE PROGRAM OF ENGLISH EDUCATION
FACULTY OF TARBIYA AND TEACHERS’ TRAINING
UIN SYARIF HIDAYATULLAH JAKARTA 2014 H/1435 H
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ENDORSEMENT SHEET
This is to declare that the thesis entitled CULTURAL CONTENT
IN ENGLISH TEXTBOOKS USED AT MADRASAH
TSANAWIYAH NEGERI IN DKI JAKARTA has been examined by the committee at Faculty of Tarbiya and Teacher‘s Training, UIN Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta on Tuesday, 7th of January 2014. The thesis has been revised as suggested by the examiners, and therefore fulfilled one of the requirements for the academic title
―M.Pd.‖ (Magister Pendidikan) in Graduate Program of English Education.
Jakarta, January 7, 2014
Date Signature
Examiner I
Dr. Soepriyatna Examiner II Dr. Alek, M.Pd.
NIP. 19690912 200901 1 008 Examiner III
Nurlena Rifa‘i, M.A., Ph.D.
NIP. 19591020 1986032 001
Acknowledged by:
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ABSTRACT
Silvia, A. Cultural Content in English Textbooks Used at Madrasah Tsanawiyah Negeri in DKI Jakarta, 2012
This study was aimed at analyzing the cultural content of English textbooks used at MTs Negeri in DKI Jakarta and its implication in facilitating intercultural communicative competence. Two series of English textbooks namely English on Sky and English in Focus were chosen as the subjects of research. Content analysis was employed by using some checklists. Theories of culture by Adaskou, et al (1990); Cortazzi & Jin (1990); and Yuan (2011) were used to develop the checklists. Additionally, classification of intercultural competence level by Byram (1997) was used to analyze the status of English textbooks in terms of intercultural communicative competence. Interviews with English teachers and
teacher‘s group (MGMP) were also employed to support the data. The study finds that the in-use English textbooks portray cultures mainly in the form of visual illustrations, thus cultures are represented mostly by their products and persons. On the other hands, other media of cultural representation, such as: descriptive texts, idioms, collocation, and texts presenting foreign opinions which contain more practices and perspectives are minimally found.
Subsequently, source culture, target culture and international target culture are found in a balance proportion where source culture is more dominant than target culture and international target culture. This finding supports Kramch & Sullivan (1996) and Alptekin
(2002)‘s theories that the EFL pedagogy should prepare learners to
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Later on, the study also points out that the textbooks represent more
―surface culture‖ compared to ―deep culture‖. Aesthetic sense and pragmatic sense are presented more frequently than sociological sense and semantic sense. Cultures are mainly represented by people names, food, landmarks, dances (products) and language forms (expressions of showing symphaty, asking for opinion, et cetera). On the contrary, values, opinions, and perspectives among cultures are not represented.
Lastly, the study concludes that the examined textbooks do not support intercultural communicative competence as the cultural
content is at the level 1 of Byram‘s classification (basic cultural
awareness). It implies that the textbooks provide the various existence of culture which enable the learners to be aware other culture than theirs. Level 1 also means that comparison and contrast among cultures are not found, therefore intercultural competence is not facilitated.
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ص
تك ف ف قث ا تح ا .أ ، ف إا غ ا
ا ا ف ت ا
، ت ك ح ا ط ت ا 2012
.
تك ف ف قث ا تح ا حت إ ف ث ح تح ا حت ثح ا ا ه تع ت ا ا ا ف ت ا إا غ ا ف حقإ ت ك ح ا ط
( ف قث ا ف ا ت intercultural competence
ت ا ت ص ا ا .)
( ء ا ف إا غ ا" تك ه
English on Sky
ع ط ا إ ")
( ك ت ا ف إا غ ا" تك ،ع ت ا ش ا
English in Focus
")
ت ا ا ا جه ا ك ع قت ت ا عجا ا ئا ق ت تت ا ع ج ا أك.
خ ا ا أ ع ف قث ا ظ ا
Adaskou, et al
( 1990 ج ت ك ،)
Cortazzi & Jin
( 1990 ا ،)
Yuan
( 2011 ع ق ا ق أ ت ت ،)
أ إا غ ا
( ا ى ش ا ء ع
Musyawarah
Guru Mata Pelajaran (MGMP)
.)
ف ث ت ك ا ت ا ف ف قث ا تح أ صا ا ع ثح ا ا ه صح إا ف قث ت ، جأا ت ت ا اخ ه حف ص ا ص ا
ف قث ا ع ا ف قث ا ش ف ت ، إا غ ا ع طتت ت ا غ ا
ثكأ ت جا ا/ ا ت ا ا ا ا ع تش ، ق ع حط ت ك ف . ف قث ا فاتخاا ق ا ف ت ا ، ا ا ع تجاا ا ا
ا ك ا ت ا أ ع ثح ا ا ه . ف قث ا ف ا ت ع
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
Praise be for Allah for His continuous blessings which enable me to have an opportunity for a study and finally complete my Master‘s Degree. This research is merely a dot among His immense knowledge.
The completion of this thesis is indeed supported by a lot of help. Therefore, I would like to offer my highest appreciation to some contributing parties. First of all, I would like to thank the Dean of Faculty of Tarbiya and Teachers‘ Training, Mrs. Nurlena Rifa‘i, Ph.D for her kind support and encouragement. Secondly, I also thank the Vice Dean I, Mr. Didin Syafruddin, Ph.D., for his advice and motivation. Thirdly, for the secretary of graduate program, Dr. Jejen Musfah, I thank you for facilitating my examination and giving suggestions.
I also want to express my gratitude for the supervisors and friends. For my first supervisor, Dr. Muhammad Farkhan, thank you so much for your kind words and motivation so I can make it. My second advisor, Dr. Suparto, please accept my gratitude for your thorough and developing suggestions, quality hours of consultation and the best proofreading ever. I do appreciate your concern on my thesis. For Bu Ade and Mbak Lia, thanks for inspiring me to keep going and stay focused.
A sincere thank is also for all curriculum heads of MTs Negeri and the interviewees from English teachers whom I interviewed and asked survey from, thank you for helping me completing this research data. This research will be nothing without your help.
I also want to extend my gratitude for families, teachers, colleagues, and students for always encouraging me to run until the finish line.
May Allah bless you all.
Ciputat, December 2013
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TABLE OF CONTENT
Cover Page ... i
Title Page ... ii
Statement of Originality ... iii
Approval by Thesis Supervisors ... iv
Approval by Examiners ... v
Abstract ... vi
Acknowledgement ... ix
Table of Content ... x
List of Charts ... xiii
List of Pictures ... xiv
List of Tables ... xvii
List of Figures ... xviii
Glossary ... xix
Chapter I Introduction ... 1
A. Background of the Research ... 1
B. Problem Identification ... 7
C. Research Question ... 7
D. Research Objectives ... 8
E. Research Significance... 8
Chapter II Literature Review ... 12
A. The Nature of Culture in Foreign Language Teaching ... 12
B. Culture and EFL materials ... 16
C. The Role of Textbooks in EFL Learning ... 27
D. The Nature of English Textbooks in MTsN in Jakarta ... 29
E. Textbook Evaluation Focusing on Cultural Content 33 F. Previous Related Studies on Cultural Content in English Textbooks ... 37
Chapter III Research Methodology ... 40
A. Research Method ... 40
B. Research Frame ... 41
C. Data and Data Resources ... 42
D. Research Instruments ... 43
E. Trustworthiness ... 46
F. Unit of Analysis ... 47
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Chapter IV Findings and Discussion ... 54
A. Findings ... 54
1. English in Focus 1 ... 55
a. Types of Cultural Information ... 55
b. Types of Culture ... 57
c. Senses of Culture ... 60
d. Elements of Culture ... 61
2. English in Focus 2 ... 63
a. Types of Cultural Information ... 63
b. Types of Culture ... 65
c. Senses of Culture ... 67
d. Elements of Culture ... 69
3. English in Focus 3 ... 71
a. Types of Cultural Information ... 71
b. Types of Culture ... 74
c. Senses of Culture ... 75
d. Elements of Culture ... 77
4. English on Sky 1 ... 78
a. Types of Cultural Information ... 80
b. Types of Culture ... 81
c. Senses of Culture ... 83
d. Elements of Culture ... 85
5. English on Sky 2 ... 86
a. Types of Cultural Information ... 86
b. Types of Culture ... 88
c. Senses of Culture ... 89
d. Elements of Culture ... 92
6. English on Sky 3 ... 92
a. Types of Cultural Information ... 93
b. Types of Culture ... 95
c. Senses of Culture ... 97
d. Elements of Culture ... 97
7. Overall Cultural Content in the Textbooks ... 99
8. Intercultural Communicative Competence of Textbooks ... 102
B. Discussion ... 104
1. Culture and the Media of Presentation ... 104
2. Which Culture? Whose Culture? ... 108
3. Senses of Culture in EFL Textbooks ... 113
4. Elements of Culture in EFL Textbooks ... 116
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Chapter V Conclusion and Suggestion ... 122
A. Conclusion ... 122
B. Suggestion ... 124
Reference ... 127
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LIST OF CHARTS
Chart 4.1 Types of Cultural Information in English in Focus 1 ... 52
Chart 4.2 Types of Culture in English in Focus 1 ... 54
Chart 4.3 Senses of Culture in English in Focus 1 ... 56
Chart 4.4 Elements of Culture in English in Focus 1 ... 57
Chart 4.5 Types of Cultural Information in English in Focus 2 ... 59
Chart 4.6 Types of Culture in English in Focus 2 ... 61
Chart 4.7 Senses of Culture in English in Focus 2 ... 62
Chart 4.8 Elements of Culture in English in Focus 2 ... 64
Chart 4.9 Types of Cultural Information in English in Focus 3 ... 66
Chart 4.10 Types of Culture in English in Focus 3 ... 69
Chart 4.11 Senses of Culture in English in Focus 3 ... 70
Chart 4.12 Elements of Culture in English in Focus 3 ... 72
Chart 4.13 Types of Cultural Information in English on Sky 1 ... 74
Chart 4.14 Types of Culture in English on Sky 1 ... 76
Chart 4.15 Senses of Culture in English on Sky 1 ... 77
Chart 4.16 Elements of Culture in English on Sky 1 ... 78
Chart 4.17 Types of Cultural Information in English on Sky 2 ... 80
Chart 4.18 Types of Culture in English on Sky 2 ... 81
Chart 4.19 Senses of Culture in English on Sky 2 ... 82
Chart 4.20 Elements of Culture in English on Sky 2 ... 84
Chart 4.21 Types of Cultural Information in English on Sky 3 ... 86
Chart 4.22 Types of Culture in English on Sky 3 ... 87
Chart 4.23 Senses of Culture in English on Sky 3 ... 88
Chart 4.24 Elements of Culture in English on Sky 3 ... 89
Chart 4.25 Types of Cultural Information in Both Books ... 91
Chart 4.26 Types of Culture in Both Books ... 96
Chart 4.27 Senses of Culture in Both Books ... 101
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LIST OF PICTURES
Picture 2.1 Source Culture Materials ... 15
Picture 2.2 Target Culture Materials ... 16
Picture 2.3 International Target Culture Materials ... 17
Picture 2.4 Cultural Element: Products ... 17
Picture 2.5 Cultural Element: Person ... 18
Picture 2.6 Cultural Element: Practice ... 18
Picture 2.7 Cultural Element: Perspective ... 19
Picture 2.8 An Example of Aesthetic Sense Presentation ... 19
Picture 2.9 An Example of Sociological Sense Presentation ... 20
Picture 2.8 An Example of Semantic Sense Presentation ... 20
Picture 2.8 An Example of Pragmatic Sense Presentation ... 21
Picture 3.1 English in Focus 1-3 ... 46
Picture 3.2 English on Sky 1-3 ... 47
Picture 4.1 Descriptive texts and contextualized writing task representing source culture ... 54
Picture 4.2 Descriptive texts and contextualized writing task representing target culture ... 55
Picture 4.3 Descriptive texts and contextualized writing task representing international target culture ... 56
Picture 4.4 Elements of Culture in EIF 1: Products... 58
Picture 4.5 Visual Illustration of Culture in EIF 2... 60
Picture 4.6 Descriptive Texts of Target Culture in EIF 2 ... 61
Picture 4.7 Culture Free Descriptive Texts in EIF 2 ... 62
Picture 4.8 Aesthetic Sense in EIF 2 ... 63
Picture 4.9 Sociological Sense in EIF 2 ... 64
Picture 4.10 Elements of Culture: Products in EIF 2 ... 65
Picture 4.11 Visual Illustrations of Culture in EIF 3 ... 67
Picture 4.12 Descriptive Texts of Culture in EIF 3 ... 68
Picture 4.13 Source Culture Representation in EIF 3 ... 69
Picture 4.14 Aesthetic Sense of Target Culture in EIF3 ... 71
Picture 4.15 Visual Illustration Presenting Source Culture ... 75
Picture 4.16 Sound recording in EOS 1 ... 75
Picture 4.17 Descriptive Texts of Culture in EOS 1 ... 76
Picture 4.18 Aesthetic Sense in EOS 1 ... 77
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LIST OF PICTURES (continued)
Picture 4.19 Sociological Sense of Target Culture in EOS 1 ... 78
Picture 4.20 Dialogues about Daily Life in EOS 2 ... 81
Picture 4.21 Aesthetic Sense in EOS 2 ... 83
Picture 4.22 Pragmatic Sense in EOS 2 ... 83
Picture 4.23 Sociological Sense of Target Culture in EOS 2 ... 84
Picture 4.24 Sociological Sense in EOS 3 ... 89
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LIST OF TABLES
Table 2.1 Types of Cultural Information in EFL Materials ... 22
Table 2.2 Level of Intercultural Competence ... 29
Table 3.1 Titles of English Textbooks:Preliminary Survey ... 43
Table 3.2 Worksheet 1: Types of Cultural Information and Types of Culture ... 43
Table 3.3 Worksheet 2: Cultural Senses and Cultural Elements .... 48
Table 4.1 Themes, Topics, and Text Genres in EIF1 ... 52
Table 4.2 Themes, Topics, and Text Genres in EIF2 ... 60
Table 4.3 Themes, Topics, and Text Genres in EIF3 ... 69
Table 4.4 Themes, Topics, and Text Genres in EOS1 ... 74
Table 4.5 Themes, Topics, and Text Genres in EOS 2 ... 80
Table 4.6 Themes, Topics, and Text Genres in EOS 3 ... 87
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LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1.1 Scheme of the Research ... 11 Figure 2.1 Points of Articulation between Culture and Language .. 13 Figure 3.1 Order of Research Approaches ... 40 Figure 3.2 Scheme of Sampling ... 41
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LIST OF APPENDICES
Appendix 1 Printed Survey, Cover Letter, and Preview 135 Appendix 2 Transcipts of Telephone Interview with the Vice
Principles of Curriculum Affairs
146 Appendix 3 Online Survey and Data Resume 161 Appendix 4 Transcripts of Telephone Interview with the
English Teachers
164 Appendix 5 Worksheet of Content Analysis, Blueprint 175
Appendix 6 Results of Content Analysis 179
Appendix 7 Directory of Madrasah Tsanawiyah Negeri in DKI Jakarta
193 Appendix 8 Excerpt of Standard of Competence
English Teaching at Madrasah Tsanawiyah
196
Appendix 9 Textbook Evaluation by BSNP 197
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GLOSSARY
Culture Products, values, practices, habit, norms and beliefs mutually shared by a group of people.
Cultural content
The occurence of cultural elements (products, persons, practices and perspectives).
Products Cultural elements that are physical, including man-made products which refer to particular culture. Example: historical sites, songs, folklores, books/ novels, comics, inventions, foods, such.
Persons Figures or famous people (singers, poets, writers, national figures, athletes, artists, heroes) which refers to particular culture.
Practices Cultural elements in the forms of rituals, activities, and cultural practices which refer to certain culture. Example: holiday celebrations, ceremonies, passed traditions, and the like.
Perspectives The way certain group of people see something which differs them from other cultures.
Example: native speakers consider that giving gift to teachers is unprofessional.
Source culture
Local cultures, Indonesian culture
Target culture
The cultures of native speakers, refers to the United States and the United Kingdom.
International target culture
The cultures of English speaking countries other than US, UK, and source culture. Example: the culture of Japan, Greece, Egypt, India, and such.
Aesthetic sense
Sense of culture which relates to arts, popular products, literature.
Sociological sense
Sense of culture which relate to social structure and relationship
Semantic sense
Sense of culture related to perspectives, thoughts, and perceptions
Pragmatic sense
Sense of culture related to language code, language forms.
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CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION
This chapter encompasses the background of the research, problem identifications, research problems, research objectives, and the significance of the research.
A. Background of the Research
Like other languages, English as a Foreign Language (EFL) has been introduced inseparably from its culture, either source culture (cultures from origin countries the learners coming from), target culture (cultures from origin countries where English is coming from, like US and UK), or international target culture (cultures from English speaking countries other than US and UK). These cultures are naturally embedded in English, either in the form of habits, food, norms, values, general beliefs, or life styles. Often found when learners learn English through some media, such as television, newspaper, novels, books, or textbooks, at the same time they got a new cultural knowledge of English speaking countries. Students in the remote area of Kalimantan, for instance, read about Valentine Day, Thanksgiving, or Halloween Day in their English textbooks when they are learning English at schools.
In an EFL setting, English has been the ‗carrier‘ of culture.
Consequently, TEFL (teaching English as a Foreign Language) materials load the cultural content. Culture can be big C and little c as Adaskou, Britten & Fahsi classifies, that culture1 in foreign
language teaching as ‗big C‘ referring to the media, cinema, music,
or literature that commonly become the initial interest of the
learners in learning English; and ‗little c‘ which relates to the
organization of family, home life, interpersonal relations, work and leisure, customs and institutions that needs a closer look compared to big C. EFL learners at the first time of their period of learning English might be interested by the trending or popular cultures such as: songs, TV shows, English movies, and so on. As they learn a lot
1
Adaskou, et al., ―Design Decisions on the Cultural Content of a Secondary English Course for Morocco‖ELT Journal Volume 44/1 January 1990: pp. 3— 10.
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more and deeper, they learn closer to the ‗small c‘ such as: the
relationship between teenagers/ adolescents in western countries, school life, customs in western, or the system of education there. EFL learning materials ideally facilitate this grading cultural knowledge of their learners, so that foreign language learning can be a medium of intercultural learning as well. This intercultural competence as a component of communicative competence, is essential in this era as the learners are ‗connected‘ each other in the almost borderless world. At school only, learners encounter various local cultures among tribes, like Javanese, Betawi, Batak, Padang, Sunda, and such. Not to mention other contexts these learners are communicating such as: online social media, cross-national community, virtual peers or even pen pals. In this respect, cultural understanding is essentially needed.
Cultural understanding is the core of language acquisition2. Culture carriers in EFL teaching and learning are greatly the instructional materials. These materials are represented by textbooks or course books, video and audio materials, computer software, and visual aids. Among these materials, textbooks appoint the favored use among the teachers in Indonesia. Apart
from the notion that textbooks are ‗a resource for presentation
material, a source of activities for learner practice and communicative interaction,... a resource for self-directed learning or self-access work, and a support for less experienced teachers who have yet to gain in confidence3‘, they are still the most accessible and practical learning materials. It is also supported by the fact that textbooks do not require tools, electricity, or other equipments to make it usable. This favored use of English textbooks suggests that there should be a careful and thorough process in the process of textbook selection. English textbooks should be not only attractive in terms of its visual presentation, but most of all, it should consider some other factors such as its
appropriateness to learners‘ socio-economic background, cultural
2
Norhana Abdullah and Sanda Komari Chandran, ―Cultural Elements in a Malaysian English Language Textbook‖, retrieved online at October 21, 2012 from ddms.usim.edu.my/handle/123456789/713
3
Alan Cunningsworth, Choosing Your Coursebook (Oxford: Heinemann, 1995), p. 7.
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background, and also their goals of EFL learning. Otherwise, English textbooks will not be the good cultural agents which support intercultural and communicative competence. When learners are not exposed to enough cross-cultural knowledge, they are prone to be misinterpreting other cultures or stereotyping. Thus, EFL textbooks are expected to provide rich cultural exposure mentioning not only source culture, but also target culture and international target culture. Nevertheless, in spite EFL textbooks are generally expected to contain aspects of target culture where the English is introduced, number of studies suggest that target language is not always presented4.
Drawing from above situation, cultural consideration is urgent to investigate. The urgency of considering the culture representation on the English textbooks in Indonesia is based on some arguments. To begin with, the representation of source culture, international culture, and target culture all at once in a textbook may lead into a cultural mismatch5. Some celebrations like Halloween or Valentine Day, for instance, could be culturally mismatched to Indonesian students. Boy and girl, man and woman relationship or pattern of interaction could be mismatched to Indonesian students who are commonly Muslims. Later, the locally published English textbooks are less preferable compared to internationally published textbooks. Indonesian teachers in well-funded schools prefer to use internationally published books for their students, like Cambridge University Press, Pearson Longman, and such which surely contain less source culture (Indonesian culture). These internationally published textbooks are more favored as they provide ‗perfect‘ English to teach the four language skills and contain richer materials than those do by the locally
4
M. Aliakbari, ―The Place of Culture in the Iranian ELT Textbooks in High School Level‖ in PAAL Japan 17th Conference Proceedings 2004, pp.1—14
accessed at October 21, 2012 from
http://www.paaljapan.org/resources/proceedings/2004/Aliakbari.pdf
5
Dian Ekawati and Fakry Hamdani, ―Cultural Mirrors: Materials and Methods in English as a Foreign Language‖ in International Journal of Basic and Applied Science Vol. 01, No. 01 (July 2001): pp. 53—59.
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published books.6 This case indicates that locally published textbooks need improvement in order to compete with internationally published ones, especially in the visual representation, phonological accuracy, rich cross-cultural material, and various challenging activities for the students.
Dealing with the English textbook standard, Indonesian Board of National Education Standard (BSNP) has constructed some criteria for approved English textbooks to be used at schools in Indonesia. Decree No. 22 year 2006 concerning the content standard is trying to set standard for standardized EFL materials. Further, BSNP also developed some instruments of English textbook evaluation for every level of schools from primary schools (SD/MI) to high schools (SMA/MA). However, this instrument only touches some physical aspects of the English textbooks without analyzing the cultural appropriateness as one of the criteria of evaluation. Three components that are assessed comprise: 1) the language appropriateness (appropriateness with
the level of students‘ cognitive development and socio-economic factor, communicativeness, cohesiveness and coherence); 2) presentation of the book (technique of presentation and presentation of learning activities); and 3) the completeness of presentation (all the chapters are complete from introduction to closing).
To compare with, some other Asian countries through their Ministry of Education are concerning this cultural content in EFL
textbooks in order to raise the students‘ cultural awareness of their
own culture as well as to raise the intercultural competence so that they can reflect their own culture by learning other cultures from English speaking countries. Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), for instance,
maintains that ―the understanding of cultures‖ should be regarded
as one of the main objectives in teaching English at the secondary
6
Nugrahenny T. Zacharias, ―Teachers‘ Beliefs about Internationally-Published Materials: A Survey of Tertiary English Teachers in Indonesia‖ in
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school level7. Even, Ministry of Education of People's Republic of China took a big step by asking an internationally standardized publisher (Longman) to work together with the academics of China to develop EFL materials which portrait the daily life of Chinese and Western children living in Beijing as they interact in school or engage in more culturally-specific activities at home8. Additionally, English culture is limited to some descriptions of food, festivals, and places of interest, sport and language. These two examples suggest that cultural preservation needs to be considered in selecting and evaluation EFL materials (textbooks).
EFL textbooks in Indonesia are used in both public schools and private schools. Among these public schools, there are also some state Islamic schools which use the same standard of EFL textbooks from the MoNE of Indonesia. Consequently, these schools use the similar English textbooks as those used by state high schools (SMP Negeri and SMA Negeri). Apparently, the need of these schools cannot be generalized as similar to public schools since the students of Islamic schools possess some additional need of more appropriate English textbooks which comply with the Islamic values. Rohmah mentions that the English teachers, by survey, mention that they also need Islamic values in the English textbooks9. This might be caused by the fact that in daily EFL practices, students of state Islamic schools encounter various cultures, such as: their inherited cultures (Javanese, Betawese, Sundanese, etc.), local cultures (Indonesian culture/ eastern culture), Islamic values, and added by cultures from English speaking countries represented in the English textbooks. A preliminary survey towards English teachers of Madrasah Tsanawiyah in DKI Jakarta also suggests that 63% of the respondents state that they need the English textbooks loading
7
Nobuko Yamanaka, ―An Evaluation of English Textbooks in Japan from the Viewpoint of Nations in the Inner, Outer, and Expanding Circles‖ in JALT Journal, Vol . 28, No . 1 (May, 2006): pp. 57—76.
8
Bob Adamson and Paul Morris, ―The English Curriculum in the People's Republic of China‖ inComparative Education Review (41) 1, (December 1997): pp. 3—26.
9
Zuliati Rohmah, ―EFL Materials in Madrasah Tsanawiyah: What Do They Really Need‖ inTEFLIN Journal, Volume 20, Number 1 (February 2009):pp. 104—117.
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source culture, target culture, international culture, and also Islamic values10. Further, these teachers want that the source culture should be dominantly presented, while the other cultures and Islamic values can be inserted as a complementary.
Drawing from this fact, the writer concludes that a textbook evaluation, particularly on cultural content is essential to conduct in Indonesian setting in order to better select EFL materials which
suitable to the students‘ need. More specifically, cultural content
analysis on English textbooks used in Islamic schools need to be carried out. The students of Islamic schools, like the other students at public schools are ideally being proportionally exposed to the different cultures outside their own. This aimed at raising their cultural awareness of their own identity as well as enriching it with good values taken from the other cultures. At the same time, the proportional portion of cultural representation on the English textbooks are hoped to aid the students to be culturally wise and smart, by adapting the suitable values from other cultures and eliminating the bad ones. Particularly for Islamic school students, they are expected to be culturally aware in comparing and contrasting as well as filtering the presented cultures in their English textbooks with their Islamic values and cultures.
This research limits the scope of the study to the Madrasah Tsanawiyah level in DKI Jakarta. The choice of this scope is based on some considerations. First, the selected region (DKI Jakarta) is a good sample of multicultural area where there are various ethnics of the learners. This aspect might generate different result than the previous research conducted in East Java, Lombok, and Bandung which are supposed as more homogeneous. Second, this level of schools and the region has not yet been investigated by the similar research on cultural content of English textbooks11.
10
See Appendix 3
11
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B. Problem Identification
From above research background, there are some researchable issues mentioned as follows.
1) Do the current English textbooks in DKI Jakarta provide the learners with adequate intercultural knowledge?
2) Do MTs Negeri in Jakarta need English textbooks with Islamic values?
3) Should intercultural communicative competence be taught in MTs Negeri?
4) What culture to be taught in MTs Negeri in DKI Jakarta? 5) Is the significance of intercultural communicative competence
supported by the final assessment (National Exam)?
6) Which English textbooks contain intercultural communicative competence?
7) How do the English teachers deal with the foreign culture which is not suitable for their students?
8) Is there any difference of cultural presentation in English textbooks written by Indonesian authors and native speakers?
C. Research Questions
Among the previous formulated problems, the researcher picks one problem to study. This research is intended to answer
main question ―To what extend the cultural content in English textbooks at MTs Negeri support main goal of EFL teaching (which is intercultural communicative competence)?‖ Following this main question, there are some additional questions that will be investigated, as follows.
1) How cultures are represented in the English textbooks?
2) What types of culture are represented in the English textbooks? 3) What culture senses are included in the English textbooks? 4) What elements of culture are featured in the English
textbooks?
5) To what extent the cultural content in the English textbooks in Madrasah Tsanawiyah support the main objective of EFL teaching, which is intercultural communicative competence?
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D. Research Objectives
By revisiting the research questions and reviewing the previous relevant studies on the similar cultural content analysis in some countries, this current research is aimed at achieving these objectives.
1) to describe the types of cultural information presented in the textbooks
2) to describe the types of culture in the textbooks (source culture, target culture, international target culture, culture free) 3) to describe the senses of culture in the textbooks
4) to describe the elements of culture included in the textbooks 5) to analyze the implication of in-use English textbooks‘ cultural
presentation towards the intercultural competence of the MTsN learners.
E. Significance of the Research
Although culture is an essential element that is inseparable from English teaching and learning, many English textbooks seem to present the English without explicit exposure to the culture. Thus, language is usually presented as a discrete component, while culture is another point of learning. As textbooks are mainly the cultural agent, good English textbooks should provide rich cultural information so that the learners gain enough intercultural knowledge. Surely, a careful textbook selection should be taken, and this study result can be an advantage for reference. Therefore, this current research is expected to give significant contributions for these particular parties.
1. English teachers
In this research context, English teachers play the most important role related to the English textbooks as they are the ones who use textbooks for their students, the ones who present the materials on the textbooks, and the ones who adopt/ adapt the cultural content. The findings of this research could provide the English teachers with the comprehensive data about the cultural load in their in-use English textbooks which later could assist them to better select English textbooks, or better adapt the current
textbooks so that it can raise the students‘ cultural awareness. In the
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prior to the selection of English textbooks for their schools, using the textbook evaluation checklist this research suggests. More
importantly, this research is aimed at raising the English teachers‘
awareness and sensitivity towards the culture represented in their English textbooks so that these teachers could be the agent of intercultural competence teaching for their students.
2. School policy makers
School policy makers (principle or vice principle of
curriculum affairs) are the ones who will finalize the teachers‘
suggestion on requested/ needed English textbooks. This research finding suggests that some English textbooks provide more various cultural information compared to others. It is hoped that the school headmasters will be more careful and look more comprehensively towards some English textbooks offered by local/ international publishers by considering this cultural appropriateness to the MTs students.
3. Publishers
The issue of cultural content carried out in this research challenge the publishers as the material developer (either government publishers or commercial publishers) to better develop the English textbooks that used specifically for Islamic school students. A balance representation between source culture, target culture, and international culture, particularly those who contain good values relevant to Islam cultures and values need to be actualized in the form of qualified English textbooks which meet
the standard of BSNP and also the MTs students‘ need. 4. Future studies
This research takes a small scale of research area (DKI Jakarta) by picking up MTs level only. Further studies can be conducted in a larger scale (Indonesia) with various level of schools, such as MI (Madrasah Ibtidaiyah/ Islamic primary schools) or MA (Madrasah Aliyah/ Islamic senior high schools). It would be beneficial if the similar study is conducted by analyzing cultural content in all titles of English textbooks used in all MTs in Indonesia, as it could be a productive input for BSNP, MoRA (Ministry of Religious Affairs), and MoNE (Ministry of National Education) to reconstruct additional standard for textbook evaluation (by adding cultural content consideration) as well as to
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develop a more suitable and culturally appropriate English textbooks for Islamic schools in Indonesia.
Further studies can be undergone within these topics:
1) Cultural presentation of English textbooks and students‘ attitudes
2) Cultural presentation of English textbooks and teachers‘ response in adapting to MTs students
3) Cultural presentation of English textbooks written by Indonesian authors and native English authors: a comparative study.
The scheme of the research is presented on page 11. Additionally, the following chapter discusses the theoretical frameworks related to culture, EFL teaching, and intercultural competence which further developed into research instruments.
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CHAPTER II LITERATURE REVIEW
Having discussed the research problems and research objectives in the previous chapter, this chapter discusses further about the theoretical frameworks underpinning this reserch, as well as putting the position of this research among the similar previous studies on cultural content in English textbooks.
A. Culture and Foreign Language Teaching
Culture is widely defined from various perspectives. From sociology perspective, culture can be defined as the product of civilization12. It does not limit to the products, but also comprises some various aspects of certain groups of people. Liddicoat et al
define culture as ‗a complex system of concepts, attitudes, values,
beliefs, conventions, behaviors, practices, rituals and lifestyles of the people who make up a cultural group, as well as the artifacts they produce and the institutions they create.13 This definition suggests that culture is community-bounded as it is shared by the group members or community, which is different from another community in terms of culture14. Long way before, Koentjaraningrat defines the culture in a global perspective as ―the whole system of ideas, actions, and human creations within the social context which is possessed by human and is acquired by learning process‖ 15 Therefore, culture is represented by the ideas, the activities of the society, as well as the artifacts.
12
Mary Jill Brody, ―A Linguistic Anthropological Perspective on Language and Culture in the Second Language Curriculum‖ In D.L Lange and R. Michael Paige, eds., Culture as the Core: Perspectives on Culture in Second Language Learning (Greenwich: Information age Publishing Inc., 2003), p. 39.
13
Anthony J. Liddicoat, et al., Report on intercultural language learning.
(Canberra: Commonwealth of Australia, 2003), p. 45.
14
RagnhildLund, ―Questions of Culture and Context in English Language Textbooks‖ (thesis published by University of Bergen, 2006), p. 26.
15
Translated ―keseluruhan sistem gagasan, tindakan dan hasil karya
manusia dalam rangka kehidupan masyarakat yang dijadikan milik diri manusia dan belajar.‖ Koentjaraningrat, Manusia dan Kebudayaan di Indonesia (Jakarta: Djambatan, 1979), p. 193.
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In a broader sense, culture can be defined as the two sides of coin, as Kramsch mentions that there are two definitions from the sides of humanities and social science. The first side refers to
‗the way a social group represents itself and others through its material productions, works of art, literature, social institutions, or artifacts of everyday life, and the mechanisms for their reproduction and preservation through history.16 And the second side refers to "ground of meaning", i.e. the attitudes and beliefs, ways of thinking, behaving and remembering shared by members of that community17. To this point, culture teaching seems to be the responsibility of historians or social scientists. However, to some extent, culture becomes the responsibility of language teachers, as culture manifests itself is through language. The existence of culture is recorded by language either in prints or spoken and culture itself has language as its component among other components. Therefore, language reflects the self and other culture, along with the views of moral values, notions of good and bad, right and wrong, beautiful and ugly.
Culture, by its nature, cannot be separated from language as language expresses, embodies and symbolizes cultural reality. Language determines thoughts and culture; language influences
thought and culture; culture influences people‘s language; and
language and culture influence each other18. Mitchel & Myles
support this notion as ‗language and culture are not separate, but
are acquired together, with each providing support for the development of the other19. Therefore, it is unavoidable that ‗the person who learns language without learning culture risks
16
Claire Kramsch, ―The Cultural Component of Language Teaching‖ in
Language, Culture and Curriculum, 8(12)(September,1995): pp. 83—92.
17
‘ground of meaning‘ is a phrase coined by educator Howard Nostrand in
defining culture. See H. Nostrand, ―Authentic texts and cultural authenticity: An editorial‖, Modern Language Journal, 73(1), (Spring,1989), pp. 49—52.
18
Ronald Wardhaugh, An Introduction to Sociolinguistics 4th Edition (West Sussex: Wiley-Blackwell Publishing, 2002), pp. 219—220.
19
Rosamund Mitchell and Florence Myles, Second Language Learning Theories 2nd Edition (London: Arnold, 2004), p. 235.
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becoming a fluent fool‘20 and that ‗the cultural dimension to
language has always been present in language pedagogy‘21 .
Liddicoat, et al further articulates the relations between language and culture as follows.
Figure 2.1. Points of articulation between culture and language22 Since language and culture are not two different teaching subjects, foreign language learning is at the same time cultural learning. Kramsch emphasizes that ‗culture in language learning is always in the background in classrooms when language learners are looking for a good communicative competence and challenging
their ability to make sense of the world around them.‘23
Further, Adaskou, Britten & Fahsi mention four senses of culture that language teaching may involve, namely the aesthetic sense, the sociological sense, the semantic sense, and the pragmatics (for sociolinguistics sense) which further formulated below.
20
Milton J. Bennett, et al, ―Developing Intercultural Competence in the Language Classroom‖ D.L Lange and R. Michael Paige, eds., Culture as the Core: Perspectives on Culture in Second Language Learning (Greenwich: Information age Publishing Inc., 2003), p. 237.
21
Karen Risager, Language and Culture Pedagogy (Clevedon: Multilingual Matters, 2007), p. 238.
22
Anthony J. Liddicoat, et al., Report on intercultural language learning.
(Canberra: Commonwealth of Australia, 2003), p. 9.
23
Claire Kramsch, Context and Culture in Language Teaching (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1993), p. 1.
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135 1. the aesthetic sense
Aesthetic sense relates to so-called ‗big C‘ which means the culture that commonly becomes the main reasons for language teaching/ learning, including the media, the cinema, music (either serious or popular) and literature. 2. the sociological sense
Sociological sense includes culture with ‗small c‘ such as
the organization of a family, a home life, interpersonal relations, material conditions, work and leisure, customs and institutions. Culture in this term is a vast area which only some parts can ever be selected by the learners.
3. the semantic sense
Semantic sense associates with the concepts, perceptions, or thought towards the culture.
4. the pragmatic sense
Pragmatics sense deals with the background knowledge, social and paralinguistic skills and language code which are necessary for successful communication, including:
the ability to use appropriate exponents of the various communicative functions;
the ability to use appropriate intonation patterns;
the ability to conform to norms of politeness, where
different from the learners‘ culture, including taboo
avoidance;
awareness of conventions governing interpersonal relations – questions of status, obligation, license,
where different from the learners‘ culture;
familiarity with the main rhetorical conventions in different written genres, e.g. different types of letters and messages, form-filling, advertisements.24
Later, Yuen mentions some cultural elements in Four Ps namely products, practices, perspectives, and persons. Products refer to tangible culture objects, such as: movies, TV programs,
24
K. Adaskou, D. Britten and B. Fahsi. ―Design Decisions on the Cultural Content of a Secondary English Course for Morocco‖ in ELT Journal Volume 44/1(January, 1990): pp. 3—10.
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food, merchandise, prints, travel destinations, etc. Practices are related to customs, daily life, sports, school life, and celebrations. Perspectives are about inspirations, values, myths, world views, beliefs, etc. Lastly, Persons are about famous individuals (fictitious or real), figures, characters, etc.25 The four senses are employed in this study to classify the culture presented in the investigated textbooks. Additionally, the four Ps are used to explain the cultural elements the textbooks contain.
B. Cultural Content in EFL materials
In general, learning a foreign language involves learning different aspects of the culture in which the language is used and sometimes also how other cultures are represented in that particular culture because language depicts culture of its own and other cultures too26. In Cortazzi and Jin‘s classification, EFL materials load source culture, target culture, or international target culture.27 These three categories of culture suggest that EFL materials can load cultural information from various cultures. EFL materials that contain source culture means that they present language learners‘ own culture, such as textbooks produced at national level. This type of materials is aimed at enabling learners to talk about their own culture to foreign visitors instead of preparing the students encounter other culture.
25
Ka Ming Yuen, ―The Representation of Foreign Cultures in English Textbooks‖ inELT Journal Advance Access (March, 2011): p. 2.
26 Ibid .
27
Martin Cortazzi and Lixian Jin, ―Cultural Mirrors, Materials and Method in the EFL Classroom‖ in Eli Hinkel, Culture in Second Language Teaching and Learning (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999), pp. 204—205.
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Picture 2.1. A folklore Representing Source Culture28
The above text contains source culture (Indonesian culture) indicated by some local names of figures, places, and cities such as: Takatuliang, Simbau island, Sulawesi, etc.
Second, EFL materials that contain target culture means that they present the culture of United Kingdom or United States. The example is shown below.
Picture 2.2 Cultural Note Representing Target Culture29
In this Cultural Notes section of a textbook, target culture is presented by an informative text about the obesity problems in the USA. In other examples, target culture materials also present
28
Mukarto, et al., English on Sky 2 (Jakarta: Erlangga, 2007), p. 124.
29
Nina Bates, Real Time: An Interactive English Course for Junior High School Students Year VIII (Jilid 2) (Jakarta: Erlangga, 2007), p. 31.
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British culture, such as: afternoon tea party, how to say time in British English, and such.
Third, EFL materials which contain international target culture means that they involve the culture of English speaking countries where English is their international language, such as: some African countries, some Asian countries, European countries, and such. This kind of cultural material is pointed out below.
Picture 2.3 A Descriptive Text Representing International Target Culture30
In the above picture, international target culture is represented by a descriptive text about the habit of reading bed time stories to children in English speaking countries. These countries do not limit only in the USA or UK, but also apply to other countries, like Germany, French, Singapore, so on.
Besides containing information on source culture, target culture, and international target culture, EFL materials also contain four elements of culture: products, persons, practices and perspectives. In the EFL materials, products are indicated by some form like pictures, illustration or realia which show tangible cultural objects like foods, movies, songs, news or fashion. Here is an example of an EFL material section that contains products of culture.
30
Nina Bates, Real Time: An Interactive English Course for Junior High School Students Year VIII (Jakarta: Erlangga, 2007), p. 6.
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Picture 2.4 Cultural Elements: Products31
The second element, persons, refers to figures, publicists, and other famous people either real or fictitious which are included in the culture. It could be popular artists, movie actors, pop singers, characters in a movie, comedians, et cetera. The presentation of Persons element in EFL materials is illustrated below.
Picture 2.5 Cultural Element: persons32
The third element of culture, practices, refers to the real life activities which are inherited to a particular group of community and passed from generation to generation. It could be in the form of celebration or particular activities. The presentation of practices element in an EFL material can be seen below.
31
Nina Bates, Real Time: An Interactive English Course for Junior High School Students Year VIII (Jakarta: Erlangga, 2007), p. 109.
32
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Picture 2.6 Cultural Elements: practices33
Lastly, the fourth element of culture, perspectives reflect the way of certain group of people see some aspects of life, like family relationships, friendships, concepts about money, time, et cetera. To illustrate, please see an example below.
Picture 2.7 Cultural Element: perspectives34
Additionally, there are also senses of culture that can be carried out by EFL materials, namely aesthetic sense, sociological sense, semantic sense, and pragmatic sense. Aesthetic sense of
33
Nina Bates, Real Time: An Interactive English Course for Junior High School Students Year VIII (Jakarta: Erlangga,2007), p.14.
34
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culture in EFL materials refers to elements of products and persons which usually attract the learners‘ two senses (hearing and sought).
This sense is usually presented in the forms of movies, TV programs, pop songs, novels, comics, and et cetera. An example of aesthetic sense in EFL material is shown below.
Picture 2.8 An Example of Aesthetic Sense Presentation35
Secondly, sociological sense in EFL materials commonly expresses about family life, work and leisure, neighborhood, and such. The representation of sociological sense enables the learners to reflect the way other people communicate and interact in their culture context. To illustrate, in Indonesian culture, students
commonly kiss their teachers‘ hands when they meet their teachers
anywhere. However, in target culture context, students do not kiss
teachers‘ hands, they just simply wave hands or just say Hello.
Below is an example of sociological sense presentation.
Picture 2.9 An Example of Sociological Sense Presentation36
35
Nina Bates, Real Time: An Interactive English Course for Junior High School Students Year VIII (Jakarta: Erlangga, 2007), p. 99.
36
Bates, Real Time: An Interactive English Course for Junior High School Students Year IX (Jakarta: Erlangga, 2007), p.76.
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Thirdly, semantic sense of culture reflects the concepts, perceptions, or thought towards culture. This can be in the forms of opinion, general belief, norms, and such. Giving present to teachers is common in Indonesian context. However, it is not common in other English speaking countries as it is considered as unprofessional treat. Semantic sense of culture is illustrated below.
Picture 2.10 An Example of Semantic Sense Presentation37
Lastly, pragmatic sense of culture covers background knowledge, paralinguistic skill, social skill and conventions. In EFL materials, this sense is usually presented in the forms of intonation patterns, norms of politeness, writing conventions in various forms, and notes on taboo avoidance. An example of pragmatic sense presentation is shown below.
Picture 2.11 An Example of Pragmatic Sense Presentation38
37
Nina Bates, Real Time: An Interactive English Course for Junior High School Students Year IX (Jakarta: Erlangga, 2007), p. 56
38
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The abovementioned types of culture (source culture, target culture and international target culture), elements of culture (products, persons, practices, perspectives), and senses of culture (aesthetic, sociological, semantics, pragmatics) are conveyed by so-called cultural information. This information takes some forms, such as: 1) descriptive texts, 2) texts presenting foreign attitudes and opinions, 3) dialogues about everyday life, 4) contextualized writing tasks, 5) idioms and collocations, 6) realia, 7) visual illustrations, or sound recordings39. Descriptive texts refer to informative texts which provide the readers with information about particular culture. In some textbooks, these descriptive texts are dedicated separated section to distinguish between the information and the learning activities. Then, texts presenting foreign attitudes and opinions refer to any texts which focus particularly on how people from different cultures see and react to certain issues. For instance, a Cultural Note about how Americans consider a gift giving as inappropriate in academic context. After that, dialogues about daily life refer to natural conversation among illocutors which mention cultural elements, such as: a dialogue about traditional dances in Indonesia. Subsequently, contextualized writing tasks refer to gap filling, sentence writing, or dialogue completion which mentions one or some elements of culture in it, like names of the people, food, songs, et cetera.
Idioms which represent culture mean some words whose meaning is different from the written form. In English textbooks, idioms usually represent target culture. Later on, realia refers to real objects either in real or in picture which refer to particular culture, such as: email, post card, invitation, notice, et cetera. Lastly, sound recordings refer to audio like songs, recordings, podcasts and such that represents particular culture. To see the example of cultural information, please see table below.
39
K. Adaskou, D. Britten and B. Fahsi. ―Design Decisions on the Cultural Content of a Secondary English Course for Morocco‖ in ELT Journal Volume 44/1(January, 1990): p.5.
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Table 2.1. Type of Cultural Information in EFL Materials
NO. TYPES OF
CULTURAL INFORMATION
ILLUSTRATIONS
1. Informative texts 40
2. Texts presenting
foreign attitudes and opinions41
3. Dialogues about
everyday life42
40
Nina Bates, Real Time: An Interactive English Course for Junior High School Students Year VIII (Jakarta: Erlangga, 2007), p.96.
41
Ibid., p. 111.
42
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NO. TYPES OF
CULTURAL INFORMATION
ILLUSTRATIONS
4. Contextualized
writing tasks43
5. Idioms and
collocations44
6. Realia or pseudo
realia45
43
Nina Bates, Real Time: An Interactive English Course for Junior High School Students Year IX (Jakarta: Erlangga, 2007), p. 57.
44
Ibid., p. 94.
45
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NO. TYPES OF
CULTURAL INFORMATION
ILLUSTRATIONS
7. Visual illustrations46
8. Sound recordings47
In the context of EFL learning, learners generally expect that they will need to become familiar with the culture of those who speak English as their mother tongue48. Learners expect to learn how other teenagers or adolescence at their age, at different part of the world, talk, dress, think, or belief. It urges that learning materials should provide target culture information in any aforementioned forms.
Textbooks are the most common EFL materials widely used
by the teachers and students around the globe. Textbooks‘
important role in facilitating the second language teaching and learning in the classroom makes it as the most convenient EFL materials. Despite the fact that textbooks are the most convenient
46
Ibid., p.11.
47
Mukarto, et al., English on Sky 1 (Jakarta: Erlangga, 2007), p.75.
48
Jinliang Xiao, ―Cultural Contents of an in-use EFL Textbook and English
Major Students‘ Attitudes and Perceptions towards Culture Learning at Jiangxi
University of Science and Technology China‖ (Unpublished thesis Prince of Songkla University, 2010), pp.1—115.
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EFL materials, ―the information in language textbooks is generally fragmented and highly generalized, indicating only the norms of behavior.‖ Therefore, a good cultural and intercultural competence is urgently needed to encounter such kind of condition. When EFL learners do not possess actual experience of the culture presented in the textbooks, they may assume that the information applies to the culture as a whole. This easily leads to prejudice or stereotype. Consequently, EFL materials should be carefully selected. From
this point forwards, the term of ‗English textbooks‘ is used in favor
to ‗EFL materials‘.
C. The Role of Textbooks in Foreign Language Learning
Textbook is an effective instrument for the educational practice and it can reflect values and senses for individuals and nations49. Further, textbooks are crucial tools which serve various functions50. On the other hand, textbooks are also commodities, political objects, and cultural representations and therefore, are the site and result of struggles and compromise in order to determine how and by whom they will be produced, how and by whom the contents will be selected, how and to whom they will be distributed, and how teachers and students will make use of them51. The content of textbook significantly affects learners. Further, textbooks directly or indirectly transmit cultural values to a
certain degree thus called ‗hidden curriculum‘52
. In terms of intercultural issue, textbooks are believed to have several roles for students53. Textbooks can provide valuable input when it comes to
49
Eli Hinkel, Culture in Second Language Teaching and Learning
(Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press, 2005), p. 135.
50
J.M. Kobia, ―Feminity and masculinity in English Primary School Textbooks in Kenya‖ in The International Journal of Language Society and
Culture pp.57—71 Retrieved at November 1, 2012 from
www.educ.utas.edu.au/users/tle/JOURNAL/
51
P. Shannon, ―Textbook Development and Selection‖ in International Encyclopedia of Education (third edition), (Elsevier, 2010): pp.397—402.
52
Alan Cunningsworth, Choosing your Coursebook (Oxford: Heinemann, 1995), p. 8.
53
RagnhildLund, ―Questions of Culture and Context in English Language Textbooks: A Study of Textbooks for the Teaching of English in Norway‖ (A Dissertation in Universitet I Bergen), pp. 1—350.
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exposing students to new cultural expressions and to the diversity of cultures. Reflecting a worldview of a cultural system and a social construction, textbook is considered to be an ideology54. Thus, it influences the way how students and teachers perceive the view of culture.
Because of the essential role of textbooks in EFL teaching, the EFL materials choice could determine the quality of teaching and learning instruction. Particular attention is paid off by the material selector/ textbook selector by conducting an evaluation to towards some English textbooks to rate their quality before finally choose one as the most appropriate EFL materials. Cunningsworth proposes four stages of choosing textbooks namely analysis, interpretation, evaluation, and finally selection.55 Analysis deals with the process of seeking information in a range of categories, and provides sufficient data for interpretation. Next, Interpretation refers to the process of interpreting the obtained data in the previous stage. Later on, Evaluation has to do with professional judgment and experience to consider the different aspects of textbooks. In this stage, some factors are taken into account, such as: learners and teacher expectations, methodological preferences, the perceived needs of the learners, syllabus requirements and personal preferences. Lastly, Selection is the last stage where all requirements are cross-checked to the particular teaching and learning situation.
Some countries tried to develop the English textbooks to be used nationally to facilitate their learners‘ intercultural competence. To mention some, there are Contemporary College English for Listening56 for Chinese universities, Interchange57 and Headway58 used by Iranian college students, and such. These textbooks contain very rich cultural information and provide the learners with
54
Mohammad Aliakbari, ―The Place of Culture in the Iranian ELT Textbooks in High School Level‖ inPAAL Japan 17th Conference Proceedings, pp. 1—14.
55
Cunningsworth, Choosing your Coursebook (Oxford: Heinemann, 1995), p. 9.
56
Published by the Foreign Languge Teaching and Research Press of China in 2009.
57
Jack C. Richards, et al., Interchange series. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010.
58
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the insights of target culture and international target culture. In other words, these textbooks facilitate the learners to gain intercultural competence.
D. English Textbooks at Madrasah Tsanawiyah in DKI Jakarta
Like other Madrasah Tsanawiyah, MTs Negeri in DKI Jakarta serve as another formal basic school which incorporate Islamic values in its nature compared to public junior high schools. As a consequence, in the daily praxis of EFL teaching and learning, the values of Islam is (or should be) integrated. Islam is not so much about believing in the faith but how Muslims respond to the
faith, that is, ‗not so much a noun but a verb, an action‘59 . It suggests that, all component of the learning institution should be supporting the integration of Islamic values in daily practice, including EFL teaching and learning.
In EFL classrooms at MTs, either teachers, students, teaching methods and teaching materials are expected to facilitate the aim of EFL teaching which is intercultural communicative competence. It implies that students of MTsN are expected to be culturally aware of their culture while they are learning some other cultures (and embedded values in them). This is a challenge of MTsN English teachers as they need to preserve Islamic values, while at the same time presenting target culture and international target culture for their EFL learners‘ knowledge.
Based on the documents emerged by the Ministry of National Education, the goals of English teaching at MTsN level are:
i. to improve communicative competence both in oral and written to gain functional literacy level,
ii. to raise the awareness about the importance of English to raise the competitiveness of the nation, and
59
Caroline Ball and Akhlaque Haque, ―Diversity in Religious Practice: Implications of Islamic Values in the Public Workplace‖ in Public Personnel Management, 32 no.3 (September 2003): p.317.
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iii. to develop students‘ understanding about the connection between language and culture.60
To support these goals, the teaching of English subject at MTsN is covering some scopes, such as discourse competence, text production (in various genres) and some supporting competences (linguistic competence, socio-cultural competence, strategic competence, and discourse competence).
Revisiting these goals of English teaching at MTsN, it can be seen that the ultimate goal of EFL teaching is the communicative competence. As what defined by Dell Hymes and followed by Canale & Swain61 communicative competence covers linguistic competence, socio-cultural competence, strategic competence, and discourse competence. This study focuses on the socio-cultural competence where intercultural communicative competence is the ultimate goal.
Ideally, the culture representation on English textbooks, either in the forms of products, practices, perspectives, or persons should raise the EFL learners‘ intercultural awareness. Baker defines intercultural awareness as ―a conscious understanding of
the role culturally based forms, practices, and frames of understanding can have in intercultural communication, and an ability to put these conceptions into practices in a flexible and
context specific manner in real time communication‖62
. Savignon calls this as intercultural communicative competence (ICC) which refers to the complex ability needed to perform effectively and appropriately when interacting with others who are linguistically and culturally different from oneself.63
60
Badan Standar Nasional Pendidikan, Panduan Penyusunan Kurikulum Tingkat Satuan Pendidikan Jenjang Pendidikan Dasar dan Menengah. Downloaded on January, 10 2013. from http://bsnp-indonesia.org/id/wp-content/uploads/kompetensi/Panduan_Umum_KTSP.pdf
61
Michael Canale, ―Theoretical Bases of Communicative Approaches to Second Language Teaching and Testing” in Applied Linguistics, 1 (1980): p. 1.
62
Michael Byram in W. Baker, ―From Cultural Awareness to Intercultural Awareness: Culture in EL‖ in ELT Journal Volume 66/1 (January 2012):p. 66.
63
Savignon in Jianliang Xiao, ―Cultural Content of an in-use EFL Textbook
and English Major Students‘ Attitudes and Perceptions towards Culture Learning
at Jiangxi University of Science and Technology, China‖. Unpublished thesis University of Prince Songkla Thailand, 2010.
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This intercultural communicative competence is developed through some stages namely: basic cultural awareness, advanced cultural awareness, and intercultural awareness. To better comprehend these features of intercultural awareness, each stage is presented below.
Table 2.2 Level of intercultural competence64
Level Description
Level 1
basic cultural
awareness
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 behaviour, values, and beliefs and the ability to articulate this;
4. others‘ culturally induced behaviour, values, and beliefs and the ability to compare this with our own culturally induced behaviour, values, and beliefs
Level 2
advanced cultural
awareness
An awareness of:
5. the relative nature of cultural norms;
6. cultural understanding as provisional and open to revision;
7. multiple voices or perspectives within any cultural grouping;
8. individuals as members of many social groupings including cultural ones;
9. common ground between specific cultures as well as an awareness of possibilities for mismatch and miscommunication between specific cultures.
Level 3 intercultural awareness
An awareness of:
10. culturally based frames of reference, forms, and communicative practices as being related both to specific cultures and also as emergent and hybrid in intercultural communication;
11. initial interaction in intercultural communication as possibly based on cultural stereotypes or generalizations but an ability to move beyond these through
12. a capacity to negotiate and mediate between different emergent socio-culturally grounded communication modes and frames of reference based on the above understanding of culture in intercultural communication.
64
Byram in Will Baker, ―From Cultural Awareness to Intercultural Awareness: Culture in ELT‖in ELT Journal Volume 66/1 (January 2012): p. 66.
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As a matter of fact, the representation of culture in English textbooks play essential role in supporting students‘ intercultural competence. When textbooks present not only aesthetic sense (products, persons) but also sociological sense, semantic sense and pragmatic sense; students learn target culture deeper. Textbooks with rich cultural information enable the students to gain more knowledge about other cultures. As an illustration, students are not only presented to Pop musics, TV shows and pop singers. Further, they also learn the norms and attitudes of other culture and later will reflect the common ground of cultural understanding. By this means, intercultural competence will be achieved.
To achieve this intercultural awareness, Baker suggests some proposals to be implemented in the ELT classrooms, such as: a. Exploring local culture, which is exploring the diversity and the complexity of different local and national cultural groups. A discussion with other students from different local cultures or nations can enrich the students with the cross cultural understanding.
b. Exploring language-learning materials, by evaluating or criticizing the presented images or descriptions of the culture on the textbooks whether or not they are match with the
students‘ real experience/ knowledge.
c. Exploring the traditional media and arts through English, including film, television, radio, newspapers, novels, magazines, to explore the images of local and other cultures. d. Exploring IT/ electronic media through English, by using some
internet features such as email, chatting, instant messaging, online learning management systems/ LMS (such as Moodle, Blackboard, Edmodo, etc) to share cultural view with other students from different countries.
e. Cultural informants, by inviting an informants (persons who have intercultural experience) to share their stories and to provide information about their experiences of other cultures. f. Face-to-face intercultural communication, if it is possible, by
inviting non local English teachers (foreign teachers).65
65
Will Baker, ―From Cultural Awareness to Intercultural Awareness: Culture in ELT‖in ELT Journal Volume 66/1 (January 2012): p. 66.
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F. Cultural Content Analysis of English Textbooks
Looking at the importance of cultural information in English textbooks, a process of textbook evaluation is essentially needed before textbooks are chosen to use in classrooms. Byram in his study of textbook evaluation developed criteria for textbook evaluation which focuses on cultural content. In his criteria, cultural content in textbooks should include a focus on eight areas as mentioned in the following list:
1. Social identity and social group (social class, regional identity, ethnic minorities)
2. Social interaction (differing levels of formality; as outsider and insider)
3. Belief and behavior (moral, religious beliefs, daily routines) 4. Social and political institutions (state institutions, health care,
law and order, social security, local government)
5. Socialization and the life cycle (families, schools, employment, rites of passage)
6. National history (historical and contemporary events seen as markers of national identity)
7. National geography (geographical factors seen as being significant by members)
8. Stereotypes and national identity (what is typical symbol of national stereotypes)66
However, the most common used criteria to analyze the representation of culture in English textbooks is those that were developed by Adaskou, Britten, and Fahsi by classifying the culture into four senses: aesthetic sense, sociological sense, semantic sense, and pragmatic sense.67
66
Michael Byram, ―Language and Culture Learning: The Need for Integration‖ In Byram, ed. Germany, Its Representation in Textbooks for Teaching German in Great Britain( Frankfurt am Main: Diestered), pp. 5—10.
67
K. Adaskou, et al., ―Design Decisions on the Cultural Content of a Secondary English Course for Morocco‖ inELT Journal Volume 44/1 (January 1990): pp. 3—10.
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Indonesian Board of National Education Standard (BSNP) has constructed some criteria for accredited English textbooks to be used at schools in Indonesia.68 BSNP developed some instruments of English textbook evaluation for every level of schools from primary schools (SD/MI) to high schools (SMA/MA). However, this instrument only touches some physical aspects of the English textbooks without analyzing the cultural appropriateness as one of the criteria of evaluation. Three components that are assessed comprise: 1) the language appropriateness (appropriateness with
the level of students‘ cognitive development and socio-economic factor, communicativeness, cohesiveness and coherence); 2) presentation of the book (technique of presentation and presentation of learning activities); and 3) the completeness of presentation (all the chapters are complete from introduction to closing).
Other countries through their Ministries of Education are concerning this cultural content in EFL textbooks. It is aimed at
raising the students‘ cultural awareness of their own culture as well
as to raise the intercultural competence so that they can reflect their own culture by learning other cultures from English speaking countries. Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science
and Technology (MEXT), for instance, maintains that ―the understanding of cultures‖ should be regarded as one of the main
objectives in teaching English at the secondary school level69. Even, Ministry of Education of People's Republic of China took a big step by asking an internationally standardized publisher (Longman) to work together with the academics of China to develop EFL materials70. This partnership is aimed at developing textbooks which preserve Chinese culture as well as introducing target culture and international target culture to Chinese students.
68
Badan Standar Nasional Pendidikan, Instrumen Penilaian Buku Teks Pelajaran Tahun 2011 retrieved from http://bsnp-indonesia.org/id/?p=734
69
Simon Humphries, ―Western-published versus MEXT-mandated: A comparative textbook analysis‖ inDoshisha Studies in English Vol. 90 (January 2013): pp. 217—238.
70
Bob Adamson and Paul Morris, The English Curriculum in the People's
Republic of China, retrieved on January 2013 from
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For secondary level, EFL textbooks for SMP Negeri and Madrasah Tsanawiyah are similar. Apparently, the need of these schools cannot be generalized as similar to public schools since the students of Islamic schools possess some additional needs of more appropriate English textbooks which comply with Islamic values and cultures. In daily EFL practices, students of state Islamic schools encounter various cultures, such as: their inherited culture (Javanese, Betawese, Sundanese, etc.), local culture (Indonesian culture/ eastern culture), Islamic culture, and added by cultures from English speaking countries represented in the English textbooks.
A recent study on need analysis of EFL materials in Islamic schools in Indonesia was conducted by LAPIS-ELTIS (Learning Assistance Program for Islamic Schools – English Language Training for Islamic Schools) under the Indonesia Australia Partnership. This research indicates that some common used
English textbooks are English on Sky, Effective English, Let‘s Talk
and English for Junior High Schools. From these books, 54% of English teachers who are the respondents stated that there is no Islamic content in the available course books. Therefore, it implies that EFL materials should also discuss Islamic values besides the representation of English culture and international culture71.
Cultural content analysis in EFL textbooks usually focuses on one aspect of culture, for instance: the elements of culture (such as Rajabi & Ketabi in 2012), and one type of culture (such as Yuen in 2011, Zakaria & Hashim in 2002). The cultural content analysis is firstly conducted through tabulating the types of information based on the constructed frameworks and analyzing the content based on the theories used.
71
Zuliati Rohmah, ―EFL Materials in Madrasah Tsanawiyah: What Do They Really Need?‖ inTEFLIN Journal, Volume 20, Number 1 (February 2009): pp. 104—117.
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APPENDIX 7 (continued)
DIRECTORY OF MADRASAH TSANAWIYAH NEGERI IN DKI JAKARTA
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DIRECTORY OF MADRASAH TSANAWIYAH NEGERI IN DKI JAKARTA
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STANDARD OF COMPETENCE
ENGLISH TEACHING AT MADRASAH TSANAWIYAH
LAMPIRAN PERATURAN MENTERI PENDIDIKAN NASIONAL NOMOR 23 TAHUN 2006 TANGGAL 23 MEI 2006 STANDAR KOMPETENSI LULUSAN (SKL)
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APPENDIX 9
TEXTBOOK EVALUATION INSTRUMENT BY MoNE
INSTRUMEN PENILAIAN I
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APPENDIX 9 (continued)
TEXTBOOK EVALUATION INSTRUMENT BY MoNE
Badan Standar Nasional Pendidikan (BSNP). 2011.
Instrumen
Penilaian Buku Teks Bahasa Inggris Tingkat SMP/MTs
Tahun
2011
.
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from
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