Cultural content of an English textbook in Indonesia: text analysis and teachers’ attitudes

Sihombing, Tahan HJ and Nguyen, Mai Xuan Nhat Chi (2022) Cultural content of an English textbook in Indonesia: text analysis and teachers’ attitudes. Asian Englishes. pp. 1-23. ISSN 1348-8678

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Abstract

This study investigates the types of culture (e.g. source culture, target culture, and international culture) that are presented in a high school level English textbook in Indonesia and teachers’ attitudes toward this cultural presentation. Data were obtained from an English textbook nationally prescribed for Grade 10 senior high school students in Indonesia and semi-structured interviews with five English teachers who had used the textbook in their English classroom. The textbook analysis showed that the textbook was dominated by source culture (Indonesian culture), followed by target culture (USA and UK), international culture (e.g. India, Singapore, Argentina, and Italy), and culture-neutral content. The interview analysis showed the teachers’ contrasting views toward the domination of source culture in the textbook. These findings suggest important implications for English language teaching curriculum makers, textbooks writers, and English teachers regarding culture teaching.