A STUDY ON THE INTERCULTURAL CONTENTS IN THE COURSE BOOKS “ENGLISH 10, 11, 12’’

i MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING VINH UNIVERSITY NGUYỄN VĂN LUÂN A STUDY ON THE INTERCULTURAL CONTENTS IN THE COURSE BOOKS “ENGLISH 10, 11, 12’’ Major: Teaching English to Speakers of Other Language (TESOL) Code: 60.14.01.11 MASTER’S THESIS IN EDUCATION Supervisor: Tran Ba Tien, Ph.D Nghệ An, 2017 i STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP I certify that the thesis entitled “A study on the intercultural contents of the course books English 10, 11, 12” is the result of my own work The data and findings discussed in the thesis are true, used with permission, and have not been submitted to any university or institution Nghệ An, August 2017 Author’s signature Nguyễn Văn Luân ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First of all, I would like to acknowledge and express my deep gratitude and sincere appreciation to my supervisors, Dr Tran Ba Tien, for his intensive revisions, patient guidance, encouragement, insightful suggestions and kind support throughout my research Secondly, I truly wish to thank Prof Ngo Dinh Phuong, Dr Tran Thi Ngoc Yen, Dr Nguyen Gia Viet who gave me some precious guidance at the beginning of my research I would also like to thank the teachers of English at High Schools at Nong Cong where my interview and my questionnaires were carried out for their willingness to answer all my questions Last but not least, my sincere thanks are due to my dear family and my friends who always stand for me with their consideration and encouragements iii ABTRACT My study aims are to get the teachers’ evaluation of the intercultural contents in the course books English 10,11,12 and how the intercultural contents presented in the coursebooks as seen from the EIL perspective The study adopts the qualitative ethnographic method with interpretive orientation combined with a survey, making use of triangulation methods of data collections: questionnaires, document reviews and interviews The study shows that EIL and the teaching of EIL seemed still connected with the native-English-speaking cultures in some ways In addition, in the context under investigation Vietnamese teachers perceived English as a language used for intercultural communication With such perceptions of EIL, the teachers at high schools approached the establishment of a sphere of interculturality in the classroom from different perspectives In general, they aimed to mediate the course books to overcome what they considered as shortcomings in the cultural contents of the textbooks: the course books present a picture of cultures rather Western centric, which does not reflect a diversified use of EIL nowadays However, under the structural and functional constraint of the textbooks, culture was treated as a means of reinforcement or development skills rather than a priority in the EIL classroom The study suggests practical implications to the issue of language and culture education in the context of high schools at Nong Cong of Thanh Hoa province iv TABLE OF CONTENTS STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP i ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ………………………………………………….…ii ABTRACT iii TABLE OF CONTENTS iv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS vii LIST OF TABLES viii LIST OF CHARTS ix CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale 1.2 Aims of the study 1.3.The significance of the study 1.4.The organization of the thesis .3 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 English as an international language 2.2 Characteristics of EIL 2.3 Rationale for culture teaching in EIL teaching 2.3.1 Definition of culture .8 2.3.2 Definition of interculture 2.3.3 The relationship between language and culture 2.4 Rationale for culture teaching in EIL education 10 2.5 Culture contents in EIL materials 12 2.5.1 Source culture in EIL textbooks versus textbooks based solely on source culture 15 2.5.2 Target cultures in EIL textbooks versus textbooks based solely on target culture 17 2.5.3 Textbooks with international target culture 20 2.6 Culture teaching 20 2.6.1 An overview of culture teaching 20 v 2.6.2 Culture teaching as seen from the perspectives of the teacher, the text books and the students 23 2.6.3 The use of English as an International language in Viet Nam 23 CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY .30 3.1 Research Methods 30 3.1.1 Triangulation 30 3.1.2 Building an audit trail 31 3.1.3 Member checking 31 3.2 Data collection tools 31 3.2.1 Document review 31 3.2.2 Questionnaires 32 3.2.3 Ethnographic in-depth interviews 32 3.3 Participants 33 3.4 Description of the content analysis card 33 3.5 Applying the content analysis card 33 3.6 Procedures of the study 33 CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 33 4.1 Document review 36 4.2 The teachers’perceptions of cultural contents in EIL and EIL teaching 38 4.3 The teachers’ priority in English learning and teaching and their evaluation toward culture in the EIL classroom 39 4.3.1 The teachers’ priority in English learning and teaching 39 4.3.2 The teachers’ evaluation toward culture in the English language classroom 41 4.4 The teachers’ evaluation towards the cultural contents in the course books 45 4.5 Culture teaching and learning in the classroom .49 4.6 Culturally oriented contents in the course books .50 4.7 Cultural representation in the course books .51 4.8 Cultural distribution in the text books .52 4.8.1 Vietnamese culture in the text books 52 4.8.2 International culture in the course books 54 4.8.3 Target culture in the course books 55 vi CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS 57 5.1 Conclusions .57 5.2 Implications .58 5.3 Recommendations 59 5.4 Limitations of the study 61 5.5 Suggestions for further research 61 REFERENCES .62 APPENDIX 66 APPENDIX 70 APPENDIX 71 APPENDIX 72 APPENDIX 73 vii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS Abbreviations ASEAN CLT EFL EIL ELF ELT ESL FLT MOET 10 SLA 11 TESOL 12 WTO 13 WEs 14 FDI 15 VC 16 IC 17 TC 18 OC Full phrases Association of Southeast Asian Nations Communicative Language Teaching English as a Foreign Language English as an International Language English as a Lingua Franca English Language Teaching English as a Second Language Foreign Language Teaching Ministry of Education and Training Second Language Acquisition Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages World Trade Organization World Englishes Foreign Direct Investment Vietnamese Culture International Culture Target Culture Other Contents viii LIST OF TABLES Tables Table 1.1 Table 1.2 Table 1.3 Table 4.1 Table 4.2 Table 4.3 Table 4.4 Table 4.5 Table 4.6 Table 4.7 Table 4.8 Table 4.9 Table 4.10 Table 4.11 Table4.12 Table 4.13 Table 4.14 Table 4.15 Content Total FDI in Vietnam from 2011 to 2016; (http://kinhtevadubao.vn/chi-tiet/92-7662-nhin-lai-gia-tricua-fdi-o-viet-nam-sau-gan-30-nam.html) Sources of Vietnam’s FDI in 2016 10 countries and areas leading in FDI in Vietnam in 2017 (Ministry of Foreign Affairs collected) The structure of each unit in the textbook English 10, 11, 12 Units and Themes in the textbook 10 Units and Themes in the textbook 11 Units and Themes in the textbook 12 What culture to talk about in cross-cultural communication (Some participants circled more than one choice in their questionnaire) Priority in teaching and learning communication (Some participants circled more than one choice in their questionnaire) The teachers’cultural preference in classroom (Some participants circled more than one choice in their questionnaire) T he teachers’ thought about the students’ cultural preference in the classroom The teachers’ evaluation towards the cultural contents in the course books Frequency and percentage of the cultural contents related to the whole contents of the text books English 10,11,12 Frequency and percentage of Anglo-Saxon culture and nonAnglo-Saxon culture in the course books English 10,11,12 Frequency and percentage of three types of cultures in the course books English.10,11,12 Frequency and percentage of Vietnamese culture in the course books English10,11,12 Frequency and percentage of International culture in the course books English 10,11,12 Frequency and percentage of the Target culture in the course books English 10,11,12 Page 26 27 28 35 36 36 37 38 40 41 41 45 50 51 51 52 53 54 ix LIST OF FIGURES AND CHART List of figures Figure Figure Figure Figure Content Kachru’s concentric circles where English is used Target culture in EIL teaching Source culture in EIL teaching International target culture in EIL teaching Figure The dialogue between Vietnamese teacher, Anglo-American Figure target culture textbook and Vietnamese students Page 24 25 25 48 List of chart chart Chart Content The teachers’ evaluation of the intercultural contents in the course books English 10,11,12 ix Page 47 59 on the teaching of culture They should be guided in designing culture-oriented contents which allow students to compare and examine cultural content critically Another point, they should be sensitive to their students' culture of learning and "employ methods that are culturally sensitive and productive" (McKay, 2002, p.129) in their students' learning of English rather than stick to a particular method, say CLT method Third, students have no obligation to accept Anglo-Saxon culture nor are they obliged to behave in accordance with its conventions (McKay, 2002) They should be aware that all cultures, especially their own culture and identity have fully equal rights to be expressed in an English medium Knowledge of a wide range of cultures is not the goal in itself; rather, it serves as a basis for them to become intercultural capable and develops cultural awareness if their motivation is to participate in a growing global community 5.4 Limitations of the study The study bears some limitations Namely: - The analysis included most of the activities in the textbooks English 10, 11,12 basic excluding Language Focus - The analysis did not deal with illustrations and other visuals in the textbooks - The analysis did not consider authenticity of written texts in the textbooks - The analysis did not consider contents in the Work Book and the Teacher's Guides Despite these limitations, the present study has provided some useful insights into the evaluation of a particular group of teachers in relation to current theoretical positions regarding the culture contents in course books 5.5 Suggestions for further research The present study was conducted on a small scale and over a short time It represents merely the views of a small number of Vietnamese teachers at high schools 60 at Nong Cong, Thanh Hoa province and cultural contents analysed from the course books English 10, 11, 12, In EIL context, determining cultural basis for teaching materials is important However, I agree with McKay (2002) that it is only a part of the issue Equally important is how to deal with this content in a particular context Because EIL today is taught in such a wide variety of contexts, involving teachers and students from various cultural backgrounds and textbooks that include information on different cultures, it is necessary to consider how these various dynamics can be used to establish a sphere of interculturality and contribute to students' use of EIL in crosscultural encounters (McKay, 2002, p.88) Therefore, a careful examination of a particular context in which the textbooks are used and/or a survey to figure out how teachers and students perceive and deal with the cultural content of the textbooks all deserve to tackle 61 REFERENCES  Acar, A (2010) On EIL competence English as an International Language Journal, 5, 11-26  Alptekin, C (1993) Target-language culture in ELT materials ELT Journal, 47, 136-143  Ary, D Jacobs, L.C and Razavieh, A (2002) Introduction to Research in Education Sixth edition Belmon: Wadsworth/ Thompson Learning  Brown, G (1990) Cultural values: the interpretation of discourse ELT Journal, 44, 11-24  Brown, H.D (2000) Principles of Language Learning and Teaching London: Longman Pearson Education Limited  Brutt-Griffler, J (2002) World Englishes: A Study of its Development Clevedon: Multilingual Matters  Byram, M (1989) Cultural Studies in Foreign Language 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Which culture? ELT Journal, 46, 39-50  Pulverness, A (2003) Distinctions and dichotomies: Culture-free, culturebound Teacher’s Forum  Pulverness, A (2004) Here and there: Issues in materials development for intercultural learning Teacher’s Forum  Risager, K (1991) Cultural references in European textbooks: An evaluation of recent tendencies In D Buttjes and M Byram (Eds.), Mediating Languages and Cultures: Towards an Intercultural Theory of Foreign Language Education (pp 180-192) Clevedon,UK: Multilingual Matters  Risager, K (2006) Language and Culture: global flows and local complexity 64 Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters Ltd  Roberta, Z (Ed.) (2001) Beyond the Boundaries: Changing Contexts in Language Learning Boston: McGraw-Hill  Saville-Troike, M (1996) The ethnography of communication In S.L McKay and N.H Hornberger (Eds), Sociolinguistics and Language Teaching (pp 351382) Cambridge: Cambridge University Press  Smith, L (1976) English as an international auxiliary language RELC Journal, 7, 38-43  Soars, J & Soars, L (2007) New Headway (3rd ed) Oxford: Oxford University Press  Stapleton, P (2000) Culture’s role in TEFL: An attitude survey in Japan Language, Culture and Curriculum, 13, 291-305  Timmis, I (2002) Native-speaker norms and international English: a classroom view ELT Journal, 56, 240-249  Tomalin, B & Stempleski, S (1998) Cultural Awareness Oxford: Oxford University Press  Valdes, J.M (Ed.), (1986) Culture Bound: Bridging the Cultural Gap in Language Teaching Cambridge: Cambridge University Press  http://fia.mpi.gov.vn/News.aspx?ctl=newsdetail&aID=1043 http://www.mofa.gov.vn/vi/tt_baochi/nr041126171753/ns050118103018#D2A A82BZi1bs 65 66 APPENDIX QUESTIONNAIRE The purpose of this questionnaire is to understand about what English language instructors think of the cultural content in language teaching materials and how the cultural content could be dealt with in the context of English classroom in Vietnam I will take measures to make sure that all the information obtained will be anonymously presented in my research I sincerely appreciate your help in completing this form Please circle your choice or tick or write your own information where applicable (Sometimes if you wish you may circle more than one choice) What is your gender? A male What is your age? B female What is your educational background? A Bachelor in English B Master in English Other:……………………………………… How long have you been teaching English? A less than years B from to 10 years C over 10 years What you think your students are likely to talk about in their communication with people from other countries? A People, places and life in English-speaking countries such as the UK or the US B People, places and life in other countries in the world C Local Vietnamese places, people and life Other: ……………………………………………………………………… Are you willing to make any adjustment in using the course books? A Yes B No What is your priority in teaching? A Language structures / grammar B Language functions C Cultural content Other:……………………………………………………………………… Why? Which type of cultural contents would you prefer to use in your class? A Contents that deals with local Vietnamese places and people 67 B Contents that deals primarily with aspects of United States or British life and culture C Contents that deals with the life and culture of various countries around the world Other:……………………………………………………………………… Why? Which type of cultural contents you feel that your students like best? A Contents that deals with local Vietnamese places and people B Contents that deals primarily with aspects of United States or British life and culture C Contents that deals with the life and culture of various countries around the world Other: ………………………………………………………………………… Why? 10 Have you ever been asked questions about cultural information in the textbooks that you could not answer? A Yes B No If yes, what did you do? A I ignored the question B I quickly invented an answer C I told the students that I didn’t know but that I would try to find out Other: ……………………………………………………………………………………… … 11 Have you brought aspects of Vietnamese culture (e.g: people, places, way of life) into the classroom? A Yes B No If yes, what did you do? A I asked students to talk or write about Vietnamese places, people and life B I introduced supplementary materials about Vietnamese places, people and life to students C I asked students to compare Vietnamese culture and the target culture D I presented various situations in which students must make choices, and they were given feedback on the cultural consequences of their choices Other: ………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………… 12 How much would you agree with each of the following statements? (Please tick the appropriate box If you agree strongly, 68 mark a5 on the scale, if you strongly disagree mark a on the scale, if you have no idea, mark on the scale.) strongly agree → → No idea → → strongly disagree Cultural contents in the course books English 10,11,12 are up-to-date and accurate Culture in the course books English 10,11,12 is Hanly about Vietnamese culture Cultural contents in the English 10,11,12 are representative in top ten countries leading in FDI Cultural contents the course books in the English 10,11,12 are Anglicism culture biased Characters in the course books English 10,11,12 are representative enough in terms of age Characters in the course books English 10,11,12 is representative enough in terms of gender Topics in the course books English 10,11,12 seems simple and problem-free (no violence, no poverty, no disaster, etc.) Cultural contents in the course books English 10,11,12 are non Anglicism culture biased 13 What you think of the way in which English 10,11,12 deals with linguistic choices in different situations? (For example: Do the books give different language structures for apologies in different situations?) A It deals systematically with the ways in which linguistic choices are constrained by setting, situation, status and purpose B It sometimes deals with the ways in which linguistic choices are constrained by setting, situation, status and purpose C It doesn’t deal with the ways in which linguistic choices are constrained by setting, situation, status and purpose Other:………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………… 69 15 Other comments on the cultural contents of the course books : ………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………… 16 What would you to deal with the cultural contents of the course books? ………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………… Thank you very much for your thoughts and help 70 APPENDIX INTERVIEW QUESTIONS What is your priority in teaching English to your students? Why? Culture can be defined as what binds people together It can be visible such as geography, history or food, and it can be also invisible like behaviors, attitudes or belief What you think about dealing with culture in English language teaching? It is important or not? Why? What you think of the cultural content in the course books English 10, 11, 12 Can you give some illustrations from the books for what you think? 71 APPENDIX CULTURAL CONTENT ANALYSIS CARD IN THE COURSE ENGLISH 10 Culture Skills Unit Unit Unit Test yourself A Unit Unit Unit Test yourself B Unit Unit Test yourself C Unit Unit 10 Unit 11 Test yourself D Unit 12 Unit 13 Unit 14 Test yourself E Unit 15 Unit 16 Test yourself F Total Notes: Reading(R) Speaking(S) Listening(L) Writing(W) VC R S L x x x x x x x x x x x x W TC IC R S L WR S L W x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x 10 x x 33 x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x 7 22 64 x x 2 Notes 72 APPENDIX CULTURAL CONTENT ANALYSIS CARD IN THE COURSE ENGLISH 11 Culture Skills Unit Unit Unit Test yourself A Unit Unit Unit Test yourself B Unit Unit Unit Test yourself C Unit 10 Unit 11 Test yourself D Unit 12 Unit 13 Unit 14 Test yourself E Unit 15 Unit 16 Test yourself F R W R x x x x x x W R x x x x W x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x 21 Notes x x IC S L x x x x TC S L x x Total VC S L x x x 19 64 x x 24 73 APPENDIX CULTURAL CONTENT ANALYSIS CARD IN THE COURSE ENGLISH 12 Culture Skills Unit Unit Unit Test yourself A Unit Unit Unit Test yourself B Unit Unit Test yourself C Unit Unit 10 Test yourself D Unit 11 Unit 12 Unit 13 Test yourself E Unit 14 Unit 15 Unit 16 Test yourself F VC R S L x x x x x x IC W R S L x x x x x x x x 20 x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x W x x x x x x Notes x x Total x x x TC W R S L x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x 10 28 77 x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x 12 29 ... phrases Association of Southeast Asian Nations Communicative Language Teaching English as a Foreign Language English as an International Language English as a Lingua Franca English Language Teaching... evaluation of the intercultural contents in the course books English 10,1 1,12 and how the intercultural contents presented in the coursebooks as seen from the EIL perspective The study adopts the. .. Vietnamese employees and non-native English partners such as Korea, Japan, China and so on It is one among reasons that English is considered as an international language, especially in the integrating