A critical overview of the cultural elements in four EFL textbooks used in Croatian secondary schools

Abstract

The significance of integrating cultural elements into foreign language (FL) teaching has been widely recognized by many researchers (Kramsch, 1998; Byram, 2008; Sercu, 2010). Consequently, in recent years, cultural content analysis of English textbooks has received considerable attention. Impelled by the newly reexamined pedagogical standards and the existing National Curriculum in Croatia, this paper provides a critical overview of the cultural elements in four English textbooks for secondary schools used in Croatian EFL classrooms. As one of the three existing domains in the English Language Curriculum, intercultural communicative competence (ICC) is perceived as an inevitable and integral part in successful foreign language learning. The paper is divided into a theoretical and an analytical part. The former gives a brief overview of the previous and contemporary research in the field of textbook analysis and the importance of intercultural communicative competence in the foreign language learning. The second provides both qualitative and quantitative results of the representations of cultural elements such as topics, visuals, audio material, values and cultural activities. Qualitative analysis of the textbooks is elaborated separately, and quantitative results are presented collectively for all four textbooks. Textbook material is examined against Amanda Hilliardʼs analytic kit, which combines three frameworks for the most appropriate multi-layered analyis of the cultural content. The results of the analysis corroborate some of the previous research findings pointing at the overemphasis of specific topic areas, representation of ethnic minorities in the visuals, accents in audio materials and overly positive perspectives of the target culture. The article concludes with some practical suggestions for further modernization of the intercultural activities which would strengthen studentsʼ skills such as tolerance for ambiguity, empathy and adaptability.