An Analysis of Cultural Factors in the Textbook English 12 from the Perspective of English as an International Language = Phân tích các yếu tố văn hóa trong sác

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES    NGUYỄN THỊ HƯƠNG GIANG AN ANALYSIS OF CULTURAL FACTORS IN T

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

  

NGUYỄN THỊ HƯƠNG GIANG

AN ANALYSIS OF CULTURAL FACTORS IN THE TEXTBOOK ENGLISH

12 FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF ENGLISH AS AN INTERNATIONAL

LANGUAGE

PHÂN TÍCH CÁC YẾU TỐ VĂN HÓA TRONG SÁCH GIÁO KHOA TIẾNG ANH 12

THEO QUAN ĐIỂM TIẾNG ANH LÀ NGÔN NGỮ QUỐC TẾ

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

FIELD: ENGLISH TEACHING METHODOLOGY

CODE: 60 14 10

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

  

NGUYỄN THỊ HƯƠNG GIANG

AN ANALYSIS OF CULTURAL FACTORS IN THE TEXTBOOK ENGLISH

12 FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF ENGLISH AS AN INTERNATIONAL

LANGUAGE

PHÂN TÍCH CÁC YẾU TỐ VĂN HÓA TRONG SÁCH GIÁO KHOA TIẾNG ANH 12 THEO QUAN ĐIỂM TIẾNG ANH LÀ NGÔN NGỮ QUỐC TẾ

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

FIELD: ENGLISH TEACHING METHODOLOGY

CODE: 60 14 10 SUPERVISOR: Dr LÊ VĂN CANH

HANOI - 2013

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

TABLE OF CONTENTS

DECLARATION I ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS II ABSTRACT III LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS IV TABLE OF CONTENTS V LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES VIII

PART I - INTRODUCTION 1

1 Rationale of the study 1

2 Research aims, objectives and research questions 2

3 Scope of the study 3

4 Significance of the study 3

5 The structure of the thesis 3

PART II - DEVELOPMENT 5

CHAPTER I THEORY AND LITERATURE REVIEW 5

1.1 The concept of culture 5

1.1.1 Definition 5

1.1.2 Relationship between language and culture 6

1.2 Culture in second/ foreign language teaching 7

1.3 English as an International Languge 8

1.3.1 Kachru's Three Circles Model and English varieties 8

1.3.2 What is English as an International Language (EIL)? 10

1.4 The issue of culture in the context of teaching English as an International Language 12

1.5 Cultural content in materials for EIL teaching 14

1.6 Previous studies 17

CHAPTER II: METHODOLOGY 20

2.1 The Vietnamese English teaching context 20

2.2 Overview of the National Curriculum and Syllabus for ELT 21

2.3 Research methodology 22

2.4 Content analysis 22

2.5 The conceptual framework of the study and criteria for analysis 23

2.5.1 The conceptual framework 23

2.5.2 Criteria for analysis 23

2.6 Content analysis procedure 24

2.6.1 Purpose of the analysis 24

2.6.2 Sample of the analysis 24

2.6.3 Elements of the analysis 26

2.6.4 Units of analysis 26

2.6.5 Instrument of the analysis 26

2.6.5.1 Constructing the content analysis card 26

2.6.5.2 Description of the content analysis card 26

2.6.5.3 Applying the content analysis card 27

2.7 Procedures of the study 28

CHAPTER III: FINDINGS ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION 29

3.1 Culturally oriented activities in the textbook 29

3.2 Cultural representation in the textbook 30

3.3 Cultural distribution in the textbook 31

3.3.1 Vietnamese culture in the textbook 31

3.3.2 International culture in the textbook 33

3.3.3 Target culture in the textbook 34

3.4 Opportunities for students to compare and contrast cultures 35

PART III - CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 37

1 Conclusion 37

2 Recommendations 38

3 Limitations of the study 40

4 Suggestions for further research 40

BIBLIOGRAPHY 41 APPENDIX 1 CONTENT ANALYSIS CARD I APPENDIX 2 ADAPTATION 1 IX APPENDIX 3 ADAPTATION 2 X APPENDIX 4 ADAPTATION 3 XII

LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES

Figures

Figure 1 Kachru's categorization of countries in which English is used 8

Figure 2 The organization of 16 topics in the textbook English 12 25

Tables

Table 2.1 The structure of each unit in the textbook English 12 25

Table 3.1 Frequency and percentage of the cultural activities related to the

Table 3.2 Frequency and percentage of Anglo-Saxon culture and

Table 3.3 Frequency and percentage of three types of cultures in the

Table 3.7 Frequency and percentage of activities that provide

opportunities for students to compare and contrast cultures 35

PART I - INTRODUCTION

This part introduces the rationale of carrying out this study, its aims and objectives as well as its scope and significance The part also presents the structure

of the thesis

1 Rationale of the study

Unlike any other language which normally rests itself in its homeland, English has stepped beyond the boundary of its first settlements, initially the United Kingdom, later the United States of America, Australia, Canada and New Zealand, travelling to every corner of the world, being used by people of all kinds of nationalities and ethnic backgrounds as a common language for most of their international encounters (Crystal, 1997; Graddol, 1997; McKay, 2002) and has actually grown into "a world property" (Talebinezhad, 2001), used "by the world" and "for the world" (Ngo, 2012) One of its lengthened names: English as an International Language (henceforth EIL) indicates an attempt to reflect such global scale usage of the language

English has become a global language with so many implications for the teaching and learning of the language McKay (2002: 1) points out that "the teaching and learning of an international language must be based on an entirely different set of assumptions than the teaching and learning of any other second or foreign language" These assumptions give rise to changes in teaching methods, learners' goals, materials, assessment and the view on the cultural content in the teaching and learning materials

One of the questions arising from the context of EIL teaching is: Is totally (or extremely) native English-speaking cultures oriented approach to teaching and learning materials still reasonable with the advent of EIL? This question implies changes in approach to cultural content of materials for EIL teaching As a high

school teacher of English, I have noticed that the new set of textbooks introduced nationwide in 2006 by MOET shows a great deal of improvement as compared with the old grammar-based one However, I wonder whether it keeps pace with changes

in terms of cultural content required by the advent of EIL Whose cultures are presented in the textbooks? How are they distributed? Do they provide learners any opportunities to compare and contrast cultures? Therefore, there has arisen a strong need to tackle a study to find answers to those questions, figuring out to what extent the textbooks can equip learners with adequate cultural instruction in the context of EIL This is my motivation in conducting this research

2 Research aims, objectives and research questions

This study aims at analyzing the cultural content in the textbook English 12

to figure out whether or not it provides students with adequate cultural instruction in EIL context The objectives of the study are to define whose cultures are more presented in the textbook so that decisions on modification or supplementation of the cultural content can be made In order to achieve the above-mentioned aims and objectives, the study was designed to find answers to the following overarching research question:

- To what extent does the textbook English 12 meet the criteria for the cultural content from the perspective of English as an International Language?

The above question encompasses three sub-questions that this study aims to answer:

1 What cultures are embedded in the textbook English 12?

2 Which culture predominates in the textbook English 12?

3 To what extent does the textbook English 12 provide opportunities for students to compare and contrast the target culture, the home culture and the international culture?

3 Scope of the study

Given the aforementioned aims and objectives, this study is limited to the analysis of the cultural content embedded in the textbook English 12 for

Vietnamese high school students

4 Significance of the study

Findings of this study will help to raise cultural awareness among textbook writers, classroom teachers and students They also suggest pedagogical solutions to the challenge of addressing the issue of culture in the context of teaching English as

an international language Those suggestions will help to develop better Vietnamese high school students’ intercultural awareness so that they can use English for international communication more effectively in their personal and career life

5 The structure of the thesis

This thesis is divided as follows:

PART I is Introduction This part presents general details that serve as the

rationale of the study. It also introduces the scope of the study, research objectives

and research questions, its significance, and outlines the thesis

PART II - Development is divided into three chapters

Chapter 1 - Theory and Literature Review clarifies important theoretical

issues: the concept of culture, the concept of EIL and the issue of culture in EIL and cultural content in materials for EIL teaching as well as reviewing previous studies on the topic

Chapter 2 - Methodology presents the method used to analyze the cultural

factors of the textbook It also describes setting and sample of the research, data collection instrument, and data collection procedure and data analysis

Chapter 3 - Findings Analysis and Discussion presents the results from the

data collected and a discussion of the findings

PART III is Conclusion and Recommendations It presents the

recommendations drawn from the findings of the study and concludes the thesis

Summary:

This part has introduced general details which serve as research background

leading to the formation of research needs The impetus for the study has arisen from the fact that today English has gained the status of an international language, entailing changes in approach to basis of cultural content in EFL teaching materials Therefore, a study to examine cultural content of current EFL textbooks should be conducted The research aims, objectives and research questions, the scope and significance of the study as well as the structure of the thesis have also been clarified in this part

PART II - DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER I THEORY AND LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter presents the concept of culture in terms of its definition and its

relation to language which leads to the inclusion of culture in language teaching It

also clarifies the key concept of EIL before discussing the issue of culture in EIL

teaching which serves as basis to determine cultural content in materials for the

teaching of EIL After that, some previous studies on the topic of EIL are reviewed

1.1 The concept of culture

1.1.1 Definition

There are numerous ways to define the concept culture On a general level,

culture has been referred to as "the ways of a people" (Lado, 1957, cited in

Thanasoulas, 2001) Chastain (1988, p 302, cited in Saluveer, 2004) defines

culture as "the way people live", Brown (2000, p.176, cited in Saluveer, 2004) sees

culture as "a way of life" and includes" the ideas, customs, skills, arts and tools that

characterise a given group of people in a given period of time"

Moran (2001, p.3, cited in El Shawa, 2011) provokes five dimensions of

culture: products (food, clothes, tools), practices (verbal and non-verbal language,

actions and interactions), perspectives (values, beliefs), communities ( race, gender,

religions ) and persons (individuals) and adopts the following definition (p.34, cited

in El Shawa, 2011): Culture is the evolving way of life of a group of persons,

consisting of a shared set of practices associated with a shared set of products, based

upon a shared set of perspectives on the world, and set within specific social

contexts

Also, according to Oguro (2008, cited in El Shawa, 2011), the latest

categorization of culture in foreign language pedagogy is devised by ACTFL

(American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Language) Standards for Foreign Language Learning in the 21st century (National Standards for Language Education Project, 2005) In these standards, any culture is divided into "Three Ps": Perspectives, Products, and Practices Perspectives are "traditional ideas and attitudes, beliefs and values", Practices are "the knowledge of what to do when and where", and Products are "the manifestations that reflect the perspectives of the culture."

The current study adopts this definition as it is related to foreign language education

1.1.2 Relationship between language and culture

Language is a part of culture and it also reflects culture Brown (2000, p

177, cited in Saluveer, 2004, p.11) contends that "a language is a part of culture and

a culture is a part of a language; the two are intricately interwoven so that one cannot separate the two without losing the significance of their language or culture" Byram (1989, p 94, cited in Saluveer, 2004, p.11) adds that "the language holds the culture through the denotations and connotation of its semantics", which is why it is important to teach culture through its language Kramsch (1998, p.3, cited in Saluveer, 2004, p.11) identifies three ways how language and culture are bound together First, language expresses cultural reality (with words people express facts and ideas but also reflect their attitudes) Second, language embodies cultural reality (people give meanings to their experience through the means of communication) Third, language symbolizes cultural reality (people view their language as a symbol

of their social identity) (Saluveer, 2004, p.11)

Language reflects culture, or it is a vehicle to carry culture, as it is often said

In fact, the forms and uses of a given language reflect the cultural values, cultural conventions and pragmatic strategies of a society "Lexical and grammatical categories of a language have been assumed to determine how its speakers

conceptualize the world around them" (Thanasoulas, 2001, p.8) For instance, under the influence of a hierarchy culture, addressing forms/personal pronouns in Vietnamese are not fixed but dependent on a particular context, while those of English are unchanged regardless of situational contexts Moreover, Thanasoulas (2001) discovers that culture has grammar of its own He clarifies the idea by giving

an example: When an American sees a bus coming, he almost always uses the present progressive (" the bus is coming"), but a Japanese uses the present perfect ("the bus has come") He concludes that "the difference between the two cultures lies in the conceptual organization of experience which they choose, or rather are conditioned, to adhere to"(Thanasoulas, 2001, p.9)

Due to the relationship between language and culture, teaching a language involves or even means teaching its culture

1.2 Culture in second/ foreign language teaching

"It has been emphasized that without the study of culture, teaching L2 is inaccurate and incomplete" and "for L2 students, language study seems senseless if they know nothing about the people who speak the target language or the country in which the target language is spoken" ( Genc & Bada, 2005, p.73) Therefore, the L2 culture is presented in many L2 curricula designs and materials (Sysoyev& Donelson, 2002, cited in Genc & Bada, 2005, p.73) Some consider knowledge of target culture the fifth skill alongside with reading, speaking, listening and writing skills in the process of foreign language acquisition (Tomalin, 2008, cited in Ngo, 2012) In this principle, learners are encouraged to use the target language in

conformity to norms and cultural conventions of the target community "Cultural

adjustment" and "acculturation" are considered essential factors in determining how

successful an L2 learner is in his or her process of language acquisition Thanasoulas (2001) remarks:

On a practical note, culture teaching should allow learners to increase their knowledge of the target culture in terms of people's way of life, values, attitudes, and beliefs, and how these manifest themselves or are couched in linguistic categories and forms More specifically, the teaching of culture should make learner aware of speech acts, connotations, etiquette, that is appropriate or inappropriate behaviour, as well as provide them with the opportunity to act out being a member of the target culture (p.17).

Thus, a learner of Chinese learns about Chinese culture, a learner of English learns about Anglo-Saxon culture and tries to imitate it This practice remained unchanged in ELT until English has spread worldwide, developing into different varieties and gained a status of an international language

1.3 English as an International Language

1.3.1 Kachru's Three Circles Model and English varieties

The beginning point of EIL forum seems to have emerged in 1985 when Kachru proposed his famous three concentric circles model:

(a) The Inner Circle: where English is the primary language of the country and

where the ownership of English was claimed and norms originated;

(b) The Outer Circle: where English serves as a second language in a multilingual

countries as a means of intranational or local communication;

(c) The Expanding Circle: where English is widely studied as a foreign language

In accordance with Kachru's three concentric circles model, Kirkpatrick (2007) categorises English varieties into three groups: (1) Native varieties refer to English in Kachru's Inner Circle; (2) Nativised varieties are English in the Outer Circle; and (3) Lingua Franca varieties are English functioning as a foreign language used by all remaining countries in the Expanding Circle

One noticeable contribution of Kachru's model, as Graddol (1997) remarks,

is that it highlights the unique development of English in these three contexts In the Inner Circle, the spread of English was a result of a migration of English speakers with each settlement establishing its own national variety In the Outer Circle, however, English has spread largely due to colonization by English-speaking nations The spread of English in the Expanding Circle is largely as a result of foreign language learning within the country

Another contribution of Kachru's model is that it instantly shows the number

of English users worldwide, which is no fewer than three billion However, more importantly, it exposures the imbalance in the number of native and non-native speakers of English at present and in foreseeable future Today, the number of non-native English speakers exceeds that of native speakers and in the next 50 years, as Graddol (1999) concludes, the imbalance will be far greater:

based solely on expected population changes, the number of people using English as their second language will grow from 235 million to around 462 million during the next 50 years This indicates that the balance between L1 and L2 speakers will critically change, with L2 speakers eventually overtaking L1 speakers

(Graddol 1999: 62, cited in McKay, 2002, p.11)

The model, however, bears a drawback in that it advocates "the connotation

of linguistic superiority in the model's core" (Do, 2012) Regarding the Inner Circle communities as norm-providing, the Outer Circle communities as norm-developing

and the Expanding Circle communities as norm-dependent, Kachru accidentally denied "the right to their own variety-development" of the Expanding Circle communities and treated Inner Circle English as the "model of correctness" ( Do, 2012) In fact, "English has developed into local varieties by adopting and adapting

to local languages and cultures in its process of inevitable localization and internalization" (Yano, 2006, ), or speaking more briefly "is being shaped, in its international uses, at least as much by its non-native speakers as its native speakers" (Seidlhofer, 2004, p.211) The "norm-provider" status of Inner Circle speakers is no longer ensured but should be seen as "used-to-be"; and rather, "if they wish to participate in international communication in the 21st century, they will too have to learn EIL"(Jenkins, 2000, cited in Seidlhofer, p.228) Logically, if the world once witnessed the emergence of "New Englishes" in Outer Circle countries, then, in the not too distant future it is sure to welcome the appearance of more and more "New

Englishes" in the Expanding Circle countries (Still More Englishes, Gorlach, 2002,

cited in Seidlhofer, 2004) The word "new" and the suffix "es" here are nothing more than an evidence that English today is no longer a "monolithic" entity but as

"a heterogeneous language with multiple norms and diverse grammars" (Canagarajah and Said, 2009, cited in Do, 2012) Hence, the co-existence of a number of world varieties of English ( British, American, Indian, East African, European, South-East Asian, to name just a few) with all of their distinctive features both linguistically and socio-culturally, and especially with their own equal rights should be seen as an inevitable outcome of the worldwide spread of English in the era of globalization It is this outcome that has both created a demand for and helped to clarify the notion of English as an International Language

1.3.2 What is English as an International Language (EIL)?

Naturally, when the above question is heard, one would expect an answer that describes EIL as a single standard international English which may have the

higher prestige and function than the existing British and American standard Englishes Such a single EIL, however, "is not possible to establish nor necessary to

do so" (Yano, 2006) EIL can be seen as the core of world varieties of English, sharing basic grammar and vocabulary, pragmatic strategies, and intelligibility, "a loose league of regional standards Englishes with mutual intelligibility which are spoken and understood by the educated speakers of any of varieties" ( Yano, 2006) Precisely speaking, by EIL, most people emphasize the use of English on global scale In other words, EIL is, actually, nothing more than any variety of English when used for international communication The following definitions of EIL may support the aforesaid argument:

 EIL refers to the use of English by people of different nations in order to communicate with one another ( Talebinezhad Mohammad Reza & Aliakbari, 2001 )

 The role of English as a language of international communication, for example, when a Brazilian and a Japanese businessman use English to negotiate a business contract The type of English used on such occasions need not necessarily be based on native speaker varieties of English (e.g American English or British English) but will vary according to the mother tongue of the people speaking it and the purposes for which it is being used (Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics, 1992, p.124)

However, it does not mean that English has no necessary features for it to

be called an international language In her book "Teaching English as an International Language: Rethinking Goals and Approaches" (2002), Sandra Lee McKay contends that English meets all features of an international language: (1), English is used by people of different nations to communicate with one another (Smith, 1976); (2), English owns a special status recognized in every country (Crystal,1997); and (3), English spreads largely by many individuals acquiring it, but not through speaker migration ( Brutt-Griffler, 2002)

The growing number of bilingual users of English, however, does not characterize it as an international language Other equally significant features need

to be taken into account as well These features, as Smith elaborated in 1976, are that:

(a) its learners do not need to internalize the cultural norms of native speakers of that language

(b) the ownership of an international language becomes de-nationalized, and

(c) the educational goal of learning it is to enable learners to communicate their ideas and culture to others.(cited in McKay, 2002, p.12)

Hence, EIL is cross-border; its primary function is to enable speakers to share ideas and cultural views, and is no longer connected to the culture of the Inner Circle countries (H.H, Cindy Lee) It can be any variety of English used "by the world" and "for the world” (Ngo, 2012)

One point with regard to terms should be mentioned is that whenever English

is referred to as the preferred option for communication among people from different first language backgrounds, the denomination English tends to get modified by the addition "as a(n) x" Besides "English as an international language" (Jenkins, 2000; McKay, 2002) there are also "English as a lingua franca" (ELF) (Gnutzmann, 2000; Seidlhofer, 2001) or "English as a global language" (Crystal, 1997; Gnutzmann, 1999a) and so forth (Seidlhofer, 2004) These terms, however, all refer to English used for intercultural communication by people of different ethnic backgrounds and cultures

1.4 The issue of culture in the context of teaching English as an International Language

An international language by definition is not linked to any particular culture

as Smith (1976) contends: (a) its learners do not need to internalize the cultural norms of native speakers; (b) the ownership of an international language becomes de-nationalized; and (c) the educational goal of learning it is to enable learners to share their ideas and culture to others Thus, in the case of EIL, the typical relationship that exists between language and culture needs to be re-examined (McKay, 2002) No one can deny British or American culture of EIL, however this

culture is not the only one that EIL carries and reflects All languages, let alone an international language like English, always take on new cultural meanings, or

"languaculture" (Risager, 2006: 110) while functioning in intercultural communication The relationship between language and culture is not fixed but depends on the users and the contexts Therefore, Risager (2006) concludes that a language such as English will have as many "languacultures" as there are speakers

of the language, and in this sense, the English language is unnecessarily closely associated with English-speaking cultures (Do, 2012) And as Yano (2007, p 32) contends, the new owners of English use it in their way "to express themselves, their society, and their culture":

In Southeast Asia, telephone operators say "Come again" instead of "Would you repeat it again?” In Malaysian English, sex difference is added to the word

"cousin" and hence, "cousin brother" and "cousin sister" are commonly used When

people in the Philippines are nervous, they say "I have a mouse in the chest" When asked why they do not use the idioms used by native speakers, they say 'If Americans can say "I have butterflies in my stomach" why can't we say "I have a mouse in the chest?" (Yano, 2007) In Africa, redundant pronouns are inserted to

echo the subject as in "Robert he is currently working for the government" (Kachru

and Nelson, 2006, cited in Yano, 2007) In Vietnam, "Good morning teacher" is used by most students to greet their teachers (1)

These aforesaid examples help to consolidate a fact that when used globally English does not bear in it merely the culture of its native speakers (Anglo-Saxon culture) but also the culture of non- native speakers (non- Anglo- Saxon culture)

(1) Brian Stott, a British Council agent working in Vietnam in the early 2000s, was surprised by this greeting and proposed that Vietnamese students should not say "teacher" However, his proposal has not been accepted because in Vietnam it is considered rude not to mention a teacher's career in greeting or any other communicative setting

- Source : Magazine "English Now", British Council

This has also proved that, to date, gaining global status, English is no longer completely controlled by norms of its originators albeit those originators established the linguistic rules Rather, today English native speakers merely play a participant role in the global communication in an English medium

Given the relationship between an international language and culture made

by Smith (1976), Mc Kay (2002) contends that the users of English whether in a global or local sense do not need to internalize the cultural norms of Inner Circle countries in order to use the language effectively as a medium of wider communication Furthermore, when EIL is used by speakers from Outer and Expanding Circle countries to communicate across borders, one of its main uses is

to allow speakers to tell others about their ideas and culture She concludes:

1 As an international language, English is used in a global sense for international communication between countries and in a local sense as a language of wider communication within multilingual societies

2 As it is an international language, the use of English is no longer connected to the culture of Inner Circle countries

3 As an international language in a local sense, English becomes embedded in the culture of the country in which it is used

4 As English is an international language in a global sense, one of its primary functions is to enable speakers to share with others their ideas and culture (p 12)

Hence, EIL is not linked to any one country or culture; rather it must belong

to those who use it EIL does not reflect culture of its originators alone, but reflectsculture of anyone who uses it EIL functions as a vehicle to carry such a wide range

of cultures that some call it a "free-culture" language (Alptekin, 2005, cited in Penny Ur, 2009)

1.5 Cultural content in materials for EIL teaching

Cortazzi and Jin (1999) distinguish three types of information that can be used in language textbooks and materials: source culture (the learner's own culture)

Target culture (culture of a country where English is spoken as a first language) and International target culture ( a great variety of cultures in English and non-English speaking countries) Which type is appropriate for EIL teaching materials?

Determining the cultural basic of EIL is one of the most complex problems (McKay, 2004) For some, it is impossible to teach a foreign language without its culture base (Steward, 1982; Valdes, 1986; Byram, 1998, cited in McKay, 2004) For others, however, EIL is not linked to any particular culture ( Smith, 1976) but belongs to numerous cultures and identities, becoming "the major language of a developing mass culture" ( McKay, 2002, p 15), so it is not simple to decide on what culture(s) to be included in EIL materials as in any other foreign language materials Kirkpatrick (2007) remarks:

"As many learners of English worldwide are learning English to communicate with

fellow non-native speakers, the appropriateness of native-speaker models and the cultures associated with them needs to be questioned" (p 3)

Obviously, in the context where far more interactions are between non-native speakers (1), a conformity to discourse conventions or rhetorical styles of native speakers does seem of "little value and of extreme inappropriateness to the local context" (Pennycook, 1988, p.20, cited in Pham, 2001, p.7)

The researcher argues that, by and large, the basis of cultural content in EIL materials is greatly influenced by two factors: (1) characteristics of EIL, namely, the special relationship between EIL and culture and (2) learners' need to establish asphere of interculturality in the context of globalization and intercultural communication

(1) Beneke (1999) Gnutzmann (2000) estimate that about 80 percent of verbal exchanges in which English is used as a second or foreign language do not involve any native speakers of English ( Barabra Seidlhofer, 2004 : 209 )

These factors demand that "the cultural content of EIL materials should not

be limited to native English-speaking cultures" (McKay, 2003, p.140) Namely:

 Regarding the relationship between EIL with culture, the use of cultural content in EIL teaching should warrant the following characteristics of an international language:

1 As it is an international language, the use of English is no longer connected to the culture of Inner Circle countries

2 One of the primary functions of English, as in the case with any international language, is to enable speakers to share their ideas and cultures (McKay, 2002, p.81)

 Regarding the cultural "pluralism" nature of English today, "it cannot be assumed that the culture of any one particular country, especially an Inner Circle country should provide the basis for cultural content when teaching EIL" (McKay, ibid., p.82) and "English needs to

be used as a vehicle to raise awareness of three types of cultures: the "home" culture, international culture(s), and the culture of ( native) English - speaking peoples", therefore, cultural content in materials should be a combination of "source and international, not just that of the English-speaking peoples." (Penny Ur, 2009, pp 5-6)

 "If one of the goals of using culture in EIL teaching is to help individuals interact in cultural encounters, then merely knowing about a culture will not be sufficient to gain insight into how to interact in these encounters." (McKay, ibid., p.82)

cross- "In certain contexts, it may be that the local or lingua franca model should be used as a classroom model and regional cultures - at least the cultures of the learners - should constitute the curriculum In short, the curriculum should comprise the cultures of the people using the language for cross-cultural communication rather than Anglo-American cultures."(Kirkpatrick, ibid., p.3)

All things considered, it can be concluded that the basis of cultural content in materials for EIL teaching in all circles should be a combination of both Anglo-Saxon culture and non-Anglo-Saxon culture The model will give students chance

to establish a sphere of interculturality, get familiarized with a diversity of cultures, reflect on their own culture, compare and contrast cultures, thus developing their critical cultural awareness (Aguilar, 2007) and intercultural competence: the sensitivity to other cultural norms and the ability to adapt and function appropriately when interacting with people from other cultures (Alptekin, 2005).

1.6 Previous studies

The advent of EIL has created a new wave in the ocean of English pedagogy

If in the early half of the 20th century, such phrases as World Englishes (WEs) and EIL or ELF (English as a lingua franca) almost never sounded in linguistic forums and conferences, nowadays, they echo almost everywhere Actually, the unprecedented worldwide spread of English in the last five decades has created heated issues attracting a broad spectrum of TESOL professionals not only of non-Anglo-Saxon origin (Kachru, David Nunan, Canagarajah ) but also Anglo-Saxon origin (McKay, David Crystal, Kirkpatrick, Mc Arthur ) The vibrant area of study

on WEs, EIL, and ELF has resulted from an objective demand and natural trend of globalization and intercultural communication, by no means from subjective willingness or desire of some group of non-Anglo- Saxons seeking for their equal linguistic status to Anglo-Saxons Accompanying with the boiling forum of EIL is a growing body of publications and research concerning the full global dimension of English today

World Englishes, English Today, and Asian Englishes are some of linguistic

journals which have been published to exclusively focus on WEs There are other

excellent introductory texts to WEs such as The Other Tongue ( Kachru, 1992),

Oxford Guide to World Englishes (McArthur, 2002) which Kirkpatrick (2007)

commented as "extremely valuable background and reference materials" Other scholars, Brutt-Griffler (2002), Melchers and Shaw (2003), Jenkins (2000, 2005), Kirkpatrick (2002, 2007) also edited series and books on WEs which provide a summary of current development and key debates A wide range of other publications are thickening the corpora that accept EIL/ ELF and advocate EIL

perspective Among them are Seidlhofer's corpus projects (2001) Vienna Oxford

International Corpus of English (VOICE) that captures the use of ELF by speakers

from a variety of first language backgrounds and The Macquarie Dictionary (1997)

incorporating words from a range of Southeast Asian Englishes (cited in Do, 2012) Later in recent years, texts focus more on Asian Englishes Hong Kong University

is currently publishing a series on Englishes in Asia (Adamson, 2004; Stanlaw, 2004; Kachru, 2005) Other works can be listed as: Bolton (2002) and Groves (2009) on Hong Kong English; Bolton (2003) and Adamson (2004) on China's English; Stanlaw (2004) on Japanese English, and so forth (cited in Kirkpatrick,

2007 and Do, 2012) Along with invaluable discussions on development and distinctive features of varieties of WEs, almost all the publications provide implications for their teaching and learning Those implications concern all domains

of English pedagogy including the possibility of using a lingua franca model and

skills required by English language teachers (Kirkpatrick, 2007), features of EIL and cultural content in EIL materials (McKay, 2002), discussion on learners' goals and general approaches to ELF education (Penny Ur, 2009)

Cultural content of EIL materials has been elaborated by noted scholars of Anglo-Saxon and non Anglo-Saxon origins: Smith (1976), Widdowson (1994),

McKay (2002, 2003, 2004), Kirkpatrick (2007), Penny Ur (2009), Jenkins (2005), Talebinezhad Mohammad Reza & Aliakbari (2001), Prodromou (1988, 1992) In their books and articles, these authors restrict or even deny the hegemony of

Anglo-Saxon culture in EFL textbooks and highlight the importance of inclusion of non-Anglo-Saxon culture, especially learner's culture in the curriculum

Locally speaking, the first sewers of WEs and EIL/ELF in the Vietnamese English teaching context are Do, H T (1999); Pham, H.H (2001); Tran, L.(2000); Ton, N.N.H & Pham, H.H (2010); Vo, T.T.L (2009); Luong, T.H.T (2011); Ngo, H.H (2012); Do, T.M.N (2012) Their studies, albeit few in number, have made significant contribution to the issue, paving the way for WEs approach and EIL/ELF perspective in ELT of the context Ton & Pham (2010) conducted survey studies to discover the preferred varieties of English from the Vietnamese teachers' and learners' point of view Pham (2001) and Ngo (2012) step further from these

findings by asserting that English used as a global language needs to be diversified and to become "a truly international language which people around the globe can use equally to serve their varying purposes" (Pham, 2001, p.9) Ngo (2012) conducts research on global English suggesting a culture and English variation diverse approach to English education Vo (2009) analyzes to what extent world Englishes perspective norms are adapted in the Vietnamese situation of English teaching by examining cultural information compiled in textbooks for lower secondary schools Later in 2011, Luong evaluated intercultural competence development of textbook English 11 from EIL perspective Do (2012) conducts a survey to examine how teachers and students at the faculty of English language teacher education perceive native and non-native approaches to English teaching Overall, up to present, no single study focuses mainly on cultural content of the textbook English 12 for high school students from EIL/ELF perspective, thus leaving a research gap for this investigation

Summary: This chapter has dealt with theoretical background of the study It

discussed the concept of culture and the relationship between language and culture which leads to the inclusion of culture in second language education It presented Kachru's three concentric circles model which serves as a background to the notion

of EIL It has been made clear that EIL carries in its culture of anyone who uses it, not culture of native speakers alone Next, the chapter discussed the issue of culture

in EIL teaching and cultural content in materials for EIL teaching which suggests criteria and guidelines for analysis It has been contended that basis of cultural content in EIL materials should not be restricted to English-speaking communities The final part reviewed some previous studies on the issue of EIL claiming a research gap for the current study The practical aspect of the thesis is dealt with in the next chapter: Methodology

CHAPTER II: METHODOLOGY

The chapter describes the practical aspect of the study including the employing a tool to collect data, the techniques of gathering and describing the data to achieve the purpose of the study It also briefly describes the Vietnamese English teaching context and the textbook English 12 which serve as the setting of the study and the sample of the analysis, respectively

2.1 The Vietnamese English teaching context

Since Vietnam's opening policy in the 1990s and its participation into the WTO; under the pressure of globalization and the demand of intercultural communication, the number of English learners in Vietnam is on vast increase English is taught at most lower and high secondary schools, both state and private, from grade 6 to grade 12 Like any other country in the Expanding Circle, Vietnam needs English as a linguistic medium to participate in a "global village", especially for "lingua franca communication" in the region In a sole economy domain this fact

is obvious Foreign investment into Vietnam is mostly from countries in the region

or Asia According to the Radio Free Asia (RFA-28/2/2005) investment from

Singapore, Taiwan, Korea, Japan into Vietnam accounted for 75% (Vo, 2009) In

2013, Japan and Taiwan are the two biggest overseas investors into Vietnam

(Source: BBC- Vietnamese Business 26/2/2013)

However, the status of a lingua franca of English in Vietnam (Kirkpatrick,

2007; Luong, 2011; Ngo, 2012) is fully recognized by the Vietnamese themselves

or not is still in doubt Although more and more Vietnamese are learning English as

a global linguistic means, only a few realize its lingua franca status This paradox is greatly due to the fact that in Vietnam the teaching and learning of English has been influenced by Inner Circle countries The influence is vastly expressed in training programs making English nearly impossible to be "a neutral medium unlinked with

Western cultural and ideological values" (Pham, 2001, p.8) Some feel that in the Vietnamese context native speakers norms are still mythically "worshipped" (Do, 2012) and considered "standard" (Vo, 2009); almost all pedagogical activities are quite native speaker-oriented (e.g learning materials are stubbornly Anglo-centric designed; other varieties of English are marginally reflected in EFL curricular and teaching materials; assessment tend to focus on how closely learners conform to the

native norms, mostly American and British) (Do, 2012) (See entrance examinations

in English by MOET since 2002) as if most Vietnamese learn English to immigrate

to an Inner Circle country If so, is there a mismatch between curriculum and natural demand from reality? How is EIL perspective reflected in teaching materials? Is cultural content in teaching materials Anglo-Saxon- centric? These questions also contribute to the reason why the study on the cultural content of the textbook English 12 is being conducted

2.2 Overview of the National Curriculum and Syllabus for ELT

Before an analysis of the cultural factors of textbook English 12 takes place,

an overview of the national curriculum for ELT in secondary school education and the syllabus for ELT in Vietnam is provided

In 2006 MOET issued a new curriculum which defines English as a compulsory subject, which is “instrumental to the access of world science and technology as well as world cultures” (Hoang, 2011) The aims for ELT at secondary school level for the basic programme are described as enabling students to:

1 “Use English as a means for basic communication relatively proficiently both in spoken and written channels to meet the specific demand related to socio- science and humane

2 Master basic and relatively systematic knowledge of English suited to their levels of proficiency and ages and the specific demand related to socio- science and humane

3 Acquire some general understanding of the people and cultures of some English-speaking countries and develop a positive attitude towards the people, cultures and language of these countries; cultivate the pride in, love for and respect

to the Vietnamese culture and language” (Hoang, 2011)

2.3 Research methodology

To conduct this study the researcher uses the descriptive analytical method of research which is defined by Brown and Rodgers (2002:118) as "any research that describes a setting or events in numerical terms" (cited in El Shawa, 2011) Being descriptive in nature, the study aims to identity and then quantifies the cultural content of the textbook English 12 Data were collected through a content analysis process

Neuman (1997: 272-273, cited in El Shawa, 2011) defines content analysis

as "a technique for gathering and analyzing the content of the text" (content refers

to any messages that can be communicated such as words, meanings, symbols, or themes; text is anything written, visual or spoken that serves as a medium for communication such as books, articles, photographs, and so on and text includes books, newspapers, speeches, or films, and so on ) and in such a kind of analysis,

the researcher uses systematic and objective counting to produce a quantitative

description on the text content analyzed ( El Shawa, 2011) On the other hand, there

is also a qualitative approach of content analysis conducted for exploratory purposes Yen (2000:66, cited in El Shawa, 2011) concludes that content analysis is

"a systematic and objective technique, which can be used to identify specific characteristics of message and to make inferences" In this sense, content analyses can be qualitative in nature Therefore, the best content analyses should adopt both qualitative and quantitative approaches (El Shawa, 2011) However, due to the subjective and in- depth discussion of the researcher in the process of analysis and evaluation of the cultural content of the textbook, and as the study does not claim that what it discovered in the process is universal; rather, it only develops a theory, not testing it (John.D, 2006), this study is a type of qualitative research, meanwhile, quantitative content analysis is applied as an instrument

2.5 The conceptual framework of the study and criteria for analysis

2.5.1 The conceptual framework

A specific and operational definition of culture need to be adopted to decide

on cultural dimensions included in the textbook

I adopted definition of culture by Moran (2001:3, cited in El Shawa, 2011) which identifies five dimensions of culture as products (food, clothes, tools), practices (verbal and non-verbal language, actions and interactions), perspectives (values, beliefs), communities (race, gender, religions) and persons (individuals) to conduct

this study

2.5.2 Criteria for analysis

I set my own criteria for analysis The first two criteria are based on the discussion made by Smith (1976) on the relationship between culture and an international language; arguments made by McKay (2002), Penny Ur (2009) on basis of cultural content of materials for EIL teaching, and on the reality of the

Vietnamese context All these discussions, arguments, and the reality of the context are presented in Chapters 1, 2 of the thesis The third category is implied from McKay's discussion on the process of establishing a sphere of interculturality The process comprises two essential steps First, learners need to acquire knowledge about another culture Second, they need to reflect on how their own culture contrasts with it (McKay, 2002) Specific criteria for analysis of the study are as follows:

1 Does the textbook include both Anglo-Saxon culture and non-Anglo-Saxon culture?

2 Which culture predominates, Anglo-Saxon culture or non-Anglo-Saxon culture?

In other words, how are they distributed?

3 Does the textbook provide students with any opportunities to compare and contrast cultures?

The research questions and specific criteria in analysis card of the study are based

on these criteria

2.6 Content analysis procedure

2.6.1 Purpose of the analysis

The analysis aims to identify to what extent the cultural content of the textbook English 12 matches the suggested criteria on cultural content of teaching materials in EIL context

2.6.2 Sample of the analysis

The book is claimed to adopt a theme-based syllabus The methodologies presented in the book are the “learner-centered approach and the communicative approach with task-based teaching being the central teaching method” (Hoang, 2011) The teaching contents for each unit are summarized in a book map which is provided on the first page of each book There are 16 teaching units and six review

units in each book Each teaching unit covers a topic and is structured into five sections: Reading, Speaking, Listening, Writing and Language Focus Each unit is supposed to be taught in 5 periods with 45 minutes per one The 16 topics in the book are organized as follows:

Figure 2 The organization of 16 topics in the textbook English 12

Unit 1 Home Life

Unit 2 Cultural Diversity

Unit 3 Ways of Socializing

Unit 4 School Education System

Unit 5 Higher Education

Unit 6 Future Jobs

Unit 7 Economic Reforms

Unit 8 Life in the Future

Unit 9 Deserts Unit 10 Endangered Species Unit 11 Books

Unit 12 Water Sports Unit 13 The 22nd SEA Games Unit 14 International Organizations Unit 15 Women in Society

Unit 16 The Association of South-east Asian

Nations

Sixteen units in the textbook English 12 constitute the sample of the analysis However, six Test Yourself units are not analyzed Each unit in the textbook consists of five lessons: Reading, Speaking, Listening, Writing and Language Focus However, all Language Focus lessons in the textbook are not analyzed The structure of each unit is illustrated in the table below:

Table 2.1 The structure of each unit in the textbook English 12

Reading

Focus

2.6.3 Elements of the analysis

I established four elements for analysis They are:

1 Activities that provide opportunities for students to learn about Vietnamese culture

2 Activities that provide opportunities for students to learn about International culture

3 Activities that provide opportunities for students to learn about Target culture

4 Activities that provide opportunities for students to compare and contrast cultures

2.6.4 Units of analysis

Each task in the four lessons excluding Language Focus lesson in the textbook is considered a unit for analysis In reading and listening lessons there are three stages: before you read/listen; while you read/listen; and after you read/listen Learning activities in pre- and post- stage of reading and listening lessons are also considered units for analysis Each unit is equated to an activity In total, the textbook contains 239 activities

2.6.5 Instrument of the analysis

2.6.5.1 Constructing the content analysis card

To conduct a quantitative content analysis for the textbook I used one tool to collect, describe and analyze data: an analysis card The criteria to fit into four domains of the analysis card were designed in the light of the criteria for analysis The criteria for analysis were made in the light of the discussion and arguments concerning relationship between EIL and culture and cultural content in materials for EIL teaching by Smith (1976) and McKay (2002)

2.6.5.2 Description of the content analysis card

Coding scheme