233
by following some celebrations in his hometown and asking about the holiday celebration in Australia. McKay
141
asserts that ‗by not portraying second language speakers of English in dialogue with
one another, educators are missing an opportunity to provide learners with models of second language speakers of English
communicating effectively with each other‘. What can be concluded from this phenomenon is that
English textbooks lack of more passages that reflect the culture of other English speaking countries; content of Indonesian culture is
presented more deeply, not only focusing on the products but also the practice and perspective; the comparisons and contrasts
between different cultures should be added; and the cultural knowledge in the part of exercise in EFL textbooks should be
addressed
142
.
3. Senses of Culture
Senses of culture are essential English textbooks since ―textbook is the effective instrument for the educational practice
and it can reflect values and senses for individuals and nations.‖
143
In these two series, aesthetic sense appears most frequently on both textbooks. Arts, pop culture, buildings, and food are some of the
theme. Sociological appears less than aesthetic sense, which focuses on the source culture Indonesian culture. Pragmatic sense
is also presented explicitly as the grammar section, pronunciation section, vocabulary section, and speech act sections. Pragmatic
sense only appears in target culture. Lastly, there is no presence at least, explicitly of semantic sense in both textbooks.
The predominant appearance of aesthetic sense in this study is inconsistent with Hermawan Nurkhasanah
144
and Abdullah
141
Sandra Lee McKay , ―Western Culture and the Teaching of English as an
In ternational Language‖ in English Teaching Forum. 42,2 2004: pp. 10—15.
142
Wu Juan , ―A Content Analysis of the Cultural Content in the EFL
Textbooks‖ in Canadian Social Science Vol. 6, No. 5, 2010: p. 142.
143
Eli Hinkel, Culture in Second Language Teaching and Learning Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press, 2005, p. 135.
144
Budi Hermawan and Lia Noerkhasanah, ―Traces Of Cultures In English
Textbooks for Primary Education‖ in Conaplin Journal Indonesian Journal of Applied Linguistics, Vol. 1 No. 2
January 2012‖ pp. 49—61.
234
Chandran
145
‘s findings about the cultural content on English textbooks which report that sociological sense is the most
prominent dimension in the textbooks. Similarly, it is also contradictive to Rajabi Ketabi
146
‘s finding which mentions that pragmatic sense is the dominant dimension in the examined
English textbooks. Sociological sense appear in the textbooks, but in a smaller
number than the aesthetic sense. Despite the notion that almost all the culture distinctive occurrences are sociological in nature
147
, the appearance of sociological sense is less dominant than aesthetic
sense. Sociological sense can be identified by the presence of: a
Social identity and social group social class, regional identity, ethnic minorities
b Social interaction differing levels of formality; as
outsider and insider c
Belief and behavior moral, religious beliefs; daily routines
d Social and political institutions state institutions, health
care, law and order, social security, local government e
Socialization and the life cycle families, schools, employment, rites of passage
f National history historical and contemporary events seen
as markers of national identity g
National geography geographical factors seen as being significant by members
h Stereotypes and national identity what is ―typical‖
symbol of national stereotypes
148
145
Norhana Abdullah and Sandra Kumari Chandran, Cultural Elements in a Malaysian English Language Textbook, retrieved at October 20, 2012 from
ddms.usim.edu.myhandle123456789713
146
Soraya Rajabi and Saeed Ketabi, ―Aspects of Cultural Elements in
Prominent English Textbooks for EFL Setting ‖ in Theory and Practice in
Language Studies, Vol. 2, No. 4 April 2012: pp. 705 —712.
147
Abdullah Chandran, Cultural Elements in a Malaysian English Language
Textbook, retrieved
at October
20, 2012
from ddms.usim.edu.myhandle123456789713
148
Michael Byram , ―Language and Culture Learning: The Need for
Integration ‖ in Michael Byram ed., Germany, Its Representation in Textbooks
235
Among other senses, pragmatic sense is the most explicit presentation as it is dedicated as separated section namely
Grammar Pit Stop and Speech Act. This sense is intended to develop the learners‘ pragmatic competence. Nguyen
149
defines pragmatic competence as ‗the knowledge that enables a speaker to
express hisher meanings and intentions via speech acts e.g. requests, invitations, disagreements and so on appropriately within
a particular social and cultural context of communication‘. It is typical that in Indonesian English textbooks, section of grammar is
explicitly presented. This might be caused by the legacy of grammar-based teaching method that requires the learners to
memorize the patterns of sentences and remember the vocabularies.
On the other hand, semantic sense which deals with perceptions and thought processes which differentiate between one
culture to the others is not presented in the textbooks. For instance, there is no information about how native speakers think about
giving present to their teachers. There is no kind of explicit section describing this semantic sense in both books. According to
Corbett
150
, learners may not want to adopt the practices or beliefs of the target culture, but they should be able to understand them if
they want to achieve a high proficiency in the target language. The absence of semantic sense therefore supports what Aliakbari
151
posit s that ‗current materials or textbooks are shallow and
superficial with respect to their treatment of culture. They are therefore inadequate to the task of teaching culture specifics in the
deeper sense value, norms, beliefs, etc. or culture-general skills such as intercultural
communication and understanding.‘
for Teaching German in Great Britain Frankfurt am Main: Diestered,193, pp. 5
—10.
149
Min Thu Tuy Nguyen , ―Learning to Communicate in a Globalized World:
To What Extent Do School Textbooks Facilitate the Development of Intercultural Pragmatic Competence?
‖ in RELC Journal 42 2011: pp. 17—30.
150
John Corbett, Languages for Intercultural Communication and Education Clevedon: Multilingual Matters, 2003, pp. 19
—20.
151
Muhammad Aliakbari, ―The Place of Culture in the Iranian ELT
Textbooks in High School Level ‖ in PAAL Japan 17th Conference Proceedings,
2004: pp. 1 —14.
236
4.2.4 The Elements of Culture
Yuen
152
mentions that language can be considered an ‗artefact‘ or a system of code products used, to signify thoughts
perspectives, for communication practices, by different people persons. From four elements of culture, the two examined books
show products as the dominating culture element followed by persons. Practices also appears but in a very small number, only in
EOS series. Both books do not explicitly present perspectives of culture throughout their chapters.
Chart 4.29 clearly points out that it is dominant almost the whole culture presentation in English in Focus series 93 while
it occupies 65 of the whole cultural presentation in English on Sky series. This big percentage implies that culture is mainly shown
by tangible objects instead of intagible objects. Products are shown by foods sandwich, sushi, kebab; landmarks Spinx, Borobudur,
Merlion Statue, Great Wall; arts and crafts woodcraft, batik, sculpture; dances tari piring, tari janger, tari jaipong. Practices
are shown by target culture celebrations Halloween, Valentine Day, Suprise Party, Baby Shower. And lastly, persons are shown
by famous figures of source culture, target culture and international target culture Krisdayanti, Nidji, Thomas Alva Edison, Pasteur.
Perspective is not presented explicitly in both books.
This dominant presence of product element is in line with Kramsch‘s survey showing that in many language classes, culture
was frequently reduced to ―the four Fs‖, which means ―foods, fairs, folklores and statistic
facts‖
153
Similarly, it also supports Yuen 2011‘s study which shows that products relating to entertainment
appear most frequently, followed by practices celebrations like Halloween,
Thanksgiving, Sapporo
Festival, perspectives
presented in myths, stories, folklores, and lastly persons Au Sung Kyii and Stephen Hawking.
152
Ka Ming Yuen, ―The Representation of Foreign Cultures in English
textbooks ‖ in ELT Journal Advance Access March 2011: p. 1.
153
Claire Kramsch, Context and Culture in Language Learning Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1993, p. 218.
237
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‖
154
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
