An analysis of cultural contents represented in reading sections of EFL textbooks: a case study of "Access 3" and "New World 3"

The purposes of this study were to investigate the categories and aspects of cultures represented in reading sections of “Access 3” and “New World 3” textbooks used by grade 9 students and to compare which textbook’s contents better promote students’ intercultural awareness. This study analyzed data using qualitative research methods. Qualitative information focused on the relative details of cultural content and information. The cultural content from reading sections was analyzed and categorized according to types of culture. The frequency and percentage of cultural categories -source, target, and international cultures - and cultural aspects (big C and small c domains) were used to compare the cultural contents promoting intercultural awareness in the two EFL textbooks. The results of the study found both textbooks paid a great deal of attention to the target and international cultures while the source culture was least represented. In addition, both of the two EFL textbooks represented the large portion of Big C culture with a history/ geography theme found to be most common. On the other hand, both textbooks neglected small c cultures. In terms of cultural awareness, the “New World 3” textbook presented well-balanced categories of culture and emphasized the source culture, which may help foster students’ intercultural awareness.