People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria

Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research

Larbi Ben M’hidi University-Oum El Bouaghi

Faculty of Letters and Languages

Department of English

Cultural Issues in Algerian EFL Materials: An Evaluation of the

Algerian Secondary School 3rd Year Textbook

A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree

of Master in Language Sciences and Teaching English as a Foreign Language

by: LAROUK Abdeldjalil

Supervisor: Dr. MERROUCHE Sarah

Examiner: Mr. BOULEMAIZ Djalal

2014-2015
 DEDICATION

IN THE NAME OF ALLAH, THE MOST GRACIOUS, THE MOST MERCIFUL

THIS WORK IS DEDICATED TO MY MOTHER WHO LOVES ME UNCONDITIONALLY AND SUPPORTS ME

UNLIMITEDLY.

THIS WORK IS ALSO DEDICATED TO ALL MY LOVED ONES ESPECIALLY MERIEM, RANIA, SOFIA, MY

FIANCÉ FAHIMA AND THE REST OF MY FAMILY, MY TEACHERS ESPECIALLY DR MERROUCHE, MRS

BOURICHA, MRS KHALDI, MISS ZAIDI, MISS ZERROUKI, MISS GUENDOUZ, MRS HADJRISS, MR

FILALI, MR BOULEMAIZ, MR AYADI, MR CHAIRA, MR MELGANI AND MR BOURI, MY COLLEAGUES

AKRAM, LINA, REDHA AND ALL MY FRIENDS.

i
 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I WOULD LIKE TO EXPRESS MY DEEPEST GRATITUDE TO MY SUPERVISOR DR. MERROUCHE FOR HER

GUIDANCE, ADVICE, HELP, AND PATIENCE IN READING AND REVIEWING THIS DISSERTATION. IT IS

THANKS TO HER PATIENCE AND SUPPORT THAT THIS WORK REACHED COMPLETION. I OWE HER A LOT

ESPECIALLY FOR DEVOTING HER PRECIOUS TIME TO ME AND MY WORK.

I WOULD LIKE TO EXPRESS MY SINCERE THANKS TO THE SECONDARY SCHOOL TEACHERS FOR THEIR

WILLINGNESS TO ANSWER THE QUESTIONNAIRE. I ALSO THANK MY CLASSMATES AND FRIENDS FOR

THEIR ENCOURAGEMENT AND MORAL SUPPORT.

FINALLY, I WOULD LIKE TO EXPRESS MY GRATITUDE TO MY EXAMINER MR BOULEMAIZ FOR

ACCEPTING TO READ AND EXAMINE MY WORK.

ii
 ABSTRACT

This work is concerned with the evaluation of the Algerian secondary school third year textbook

for English, ‘New Prospects’, which was introduced by the Ministry of Education under the

general educational reform in 2007. The study focused on the book’s cultural contextualisation

on both the linguistic level (texts) and the visual level (images), which is very important in

developing pupils’ intercultural competence. More particularly, the study investigated which of

the target language cultures are portrayed in the textbook and how the suggested activities

contribute to raising the learners’ awareness of culture. In addition to that, an attempt is made to

investigate the teachers’ perspective on the cultural content of the textbook. The evaluation is

based on an adapted evaluation model Yassine (2008) that tackles the major facets of culture, in

addition to a questionnaire addressed to secondary school teachers who are currently using the

textbook. The results obtained reveal that ‘New Prospects’ favours the British and American

mainstream culture as the main context for teaching English, as opposed to other English

speaking cultures, with focus on the national culture. Although the textbook mostly presents

culture as facts, the attempt to provide intercultural learning is sometimes encompassed by the

activities but not to the point that makes students think critically.

iii
 List of Abbreviations

C1: Local culture (Algerian culture)

C2: Foreign/ Target culture (British/American)

C3: International/Global culture

CBA: Competency-Based Approach

Q: question

NP: New Prospects

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 List of Diagrams

Diagram 1 New Prospects Unit Structure 44

Diagram 2 Teaching Experience of Teachers 67

Diagram 3 Teachers’ Credentials 68

Diagram 4 New Prospects Cultural Focus 69

Diagram 5 New Prospects Target Culture Focus 70

Diagram 6 New Prospects’ Aim 71

Diagram 7 New Prospects’ Introduction of Cultural Elements 72

Diagram 8 Cultural Elements Not Represented in New Prospects 73

Diagram 9 New Prospects role in creating a Positive View about the Speakers of English 74

Diagram 10 Teaching English Communicatively in New Prospects 75

Diagram 11 The Textbook Preferability by the Learners 78

Diagram 12 The Textbook Appeal 79

Diagram 13 Visuals Role in Teaching Culture 80

Diagram 14 The Harmony of the Visual and Linguistic Components 81

Diagram 15 The Use of the Visual Components 82

v
 List of Images

Image 1 New Prospects Front and Back Cover 40

Image 2 New Prospects Previous Front and Back Cover Pictures 41

Image 3 Unit 2 Front Page 51

Image 4 Unit 3 Front Page 52

Image 5 Unit 5 Front Page 52

Image 6 Representations of Old Celebrities 53

vi
 List of Tables

Table 1 Themes and Topics in New Prospects 43

Table 2 Listening Scripts and Reading Texts in New Prospects 48

Table 3 Image Distribution in New Prospects 50

Table 4 Teachers’ Justifications about the View the Textbook represents of English speakers 75

Table 5 Teachers’ Justifications about the Textbook and Teaching Communication 76

Table 6 Teachers’ Justifications about the Textbook and Teaching Structure 77

Table 7 Teachers’ Justifications about the Textbook Visual Representation of Culture 80

Table 8 Teachers’ Further Suggestions 83

vii
 CONTENTS

General Introduction

1. Statement of the Problem 01

2. Aims of the Study 02

3. Research Questions and Hypotheses 02

4. Methodology 04

5. Structure of the Dissertation 04

Chapter One: Culture in the Foreign Language Class

Introduction 07

1.1. Language and Culture 07

1.2. Culture and Ideology 09

1.3. Culture and Identity 10

1.4. Major Conceptions of Culture 11

1.4.1. Culture as a Body of Knowledge 13

1.4.2. Culture as a System of Social Practices and Shared Values 14

1.4.3. Culture as Communication and Discourse 15

1.5. Culture in Foreign Language Teaching 16

1.6. Intercultural Awareness and Cross-Cultural Communicative Competence 18

Conclusion 20

Chapter Two: The Textbook in the Foreign Language Class

viii
Introduction 22

2.1. Textbook’s Roles in EFL Classrooms 22

2.2. Textbook Evaluation 24

2.2.1. Importance of Textbook Evaluation 24

2.2.2. Evaluation vs. Analysis 25

2.2.3. Types of Textbook Evaluation 26

2.2.3.1. Pre-use evaluation 26

2.2.3.2. Whilst-use or In-use evaluation 26

2.2.3.3. Post-use evaluation 27

2.3. Textbook evaluation Models 27

2.3.1. Skiero’s Model 28

2.3.2. Bayram and Escarte-Sarries Model 28

2.3.3. Sercu’s Model 30

2.3.4. Cortazi and Jin’s Model 31

2.3.5. The Need for a New Model 32

2.3.5.1. Identification of the textbook 32

2.3.5.2. The cultural contextualization of texts 33

2.3.5.3. The cultural contextualization of images 35

Conclusion 36

Chapter Three: Evaluation of ‘New Prospects’

Introduction 39

ix
3.1. Description of the textbook 39

3.1.1. New Prospects’ Structure 39

3.1.2. New Prospects’ Content 43

3.1.3. Structure of the Unites 44

3.2. Introduction of the textbook 46

3.3. Culture in the Linguistic and Visual Components 46

3.4. In Depth Evaluation of Unit Three 54

Conclusion 64

Chapter Four: Secondary School Teachers’ Views about ‘New Prospects’

Introduction 66

4.1. The Sample 66

4.2. Description of the Questionnaire 66

4.3. Presenting the results of the questionnaire 67

4.3.1. Background information 67

4.3.2. Nature of the cultural content of “New Prospects” 68

4.3.3. The visual component of “New Prospects” 68

4.4. Interpreting the results of the questionnaire 84

4.5. Pedagogical Implementations 84

Conclusion 84

General Conclusion 85

References

x
Appendices

Appendix 1: Reading Texts in New Prospects

Appendix 2: Questionnaire to Teachers

xi
 GENERAL INTRODUCTION

1. Statement of the Problem

2. Aims of the Study

3. Research Questions and Hypotheses

4. Methodology

5. Structure of the Dissertation

1
1. Statement of the problem

In Algeria, English is taught as a foreign language after French. The most popular

material for teaching languages remains the textbook and it more or less determines the

curriculum; both teachers and learners consider it as the heart of the program and the main

teaching/learning aid. Hence, a case of educational failure can be attributed directly to the

textbook at hand and its replacement would be the first answer to the problem. Since the textbook

represents the official syllabus and remains the main teaching source, a change of the curricula

will inevitably result in a change in the textbook.

The Latest change made to the Algerian secondary school 3rd year textbook of English

was in 2007 under the general education reform, where Comet (2001) was replaced by New

Prospects (2007). Textbooks in general carry the values and ideologies of the nation, or to be

more precise, they carry the attitudes of their designers, which make them the subject of scrutiny.

In Algeria, however, the new school textbooks of English designated to the secondary school

were the reaction to a decision of the Ministry of Education to improve the process of

teaching/learning in Algeria.

Little attention is paid to evaluating textbooks based on their cultural content or cultural

issues, and since culture is one of the most important factors in the teaching of a foreign

language, this situation has urged us to do this research. Through this research, we attempted to

evaluate the cultural content of the secondary school 3rd year textbook New Prospects (2007) in

the hope that the authorities in the Ministry of Education will take this research and others into

consideration when they plan to replace the current textbook with a new one.

2
2. Aims of the Study

In the Algerian school, where the competency-based approach is adopted, educators hope

to make learners use their skills effectively in a wide range of real life situations, a condition

which by implementation means that EFL courses must be culturally contextualized. Since the

textbook is the most important material used, we aim to evaluate its cultural content and see if

there is any methodological deficiency in meeting the learners’ needs for an effective

teaching/learning process. We also aim to discover the attitudes and ideologies behind it. We

specifically chose the third year textbook because pupils can be considered as intermediate at

such a level and have the ability to use their skills in culturally contextualized situations. Since

the content of the textbook influences how teachers teach and the content of the textbook is

similarly influenced by the teachers’ methodology, we made of teachers’ attitudes another target

in this work attempting to unveil how teachers perceive culture and the cultural aspect of the

textbook in the teaching/learning process.

3. Research Questions and Hypotheses

The present research aims at answering the following questions:

-Which culture(s) is/are represented in the textbook textually and visually?

-What is the purpose of the textbook cultural content?

-Do the visual culture representations match those of the linguistic ones?

-How do teachers perceive the place of culture in the textbook and in the foreign language

teaching and learning process?

In attempt to answer these questions we advance the following hypotheses:

H1: The textbook would favour a British and an American mainstream culture that shows on

both the linguistic and visual levels.

3
 H2: The textbook may be a source of cultural facts to learn and does not encourage reflection

upon them.

H3: Teachers would be aware of the importance of the cultural aspect in the teaching/learning

process.

4. Methodology

This research examines the cultural content of an Algerian EFL textbook, taking into

consideration that the traditional textbook evaluation models do not fully account for the cultural

aspect in the textbook and consider it of less importance:

Published textbook evaluation checklists do not always adequately consider the cultural
aspect. In fact, questions about the latter are, in many cases, totally disregarded, indirectly
implied in other questions, or relegated to the end of the checklist, as if of secondary
importance. Some checklists refer to one particular cultural focus, such as possible
stereotypes of races and cultures, learners' values and attitude (Merrouche, 2006: 234).

Thus an elaborated model that combines what is relating to all aspects, or at least the major ones,

is the answer to this predicament.

The need of a toolkit that accounts for the cultural content at the visual level and takes

into consideration the layout of the pages and any pictures, drawings, maps and even diagrams

urges us to use the tools of social semiotics.

Verbal language is being displaced as a communicational mode by images, in many sites

of public communication: whether in school textbooks, in newspapers, in reports
produced in institutions of all kinds, in the electronic media, and in information and
communication technologies in general. Image has ceased to be there as mere illustration;
that is, an embellishment of the central, the written text. Image is now fully
communicational in very many forms of text (Kress, 2001; as cited in Yassine 2008).

Hence, our evaluation model elaborated serves this purpose.

4
 On the other hand, a questionnaire is addressed to teachers for the purpose of conducting

a field investigation to understand how their take on culture is in a foreign language class and to

provide answers to the research questions.

5. Structure of the Dissertation

This work is presented in four chapters. Chapter one is dedicated to the theoretical part

dealing with culture as a major concept in language teaching and learning. Textbook evaluation

as an approach and the elaborated model of evaluation are covered in chapter two. Chapter three

deals with the practical part where the analysis and evaluation of the textbook are presented. An

explanation of the methodology and an analysis of the data from the questionnaire are the core of

chapter four. The work will end with a conclusion that contains comments relating to the

textbook at hand and its issues of contextualization.

5
 CHAPTER ONE

Culture in Foreign Language Teaching

Introduction

1.1.Language and Culture

1.2.Culture and Ideology

1.3.Culture and Identity

1.4.Major Conceptions of Culture

1.4.1. Culture as a Body of Knowledge

1.4.2. Culture as a System of Social Practices and Shared Values

1.4.3. Culture as Communication and Discourse

1.5.Culture in Foreign Language Teaching

1.6.Intercultural Awareness and Cross-Cultural Communicative Competence

6
Introduction

It has become increasingly known that teaching English as a foreign language must be

accompanied with teaching intercultural knowledge and understanding and a sense of cultural

awareness, due to the attention the world is paying to English in education as a result of

globalization. Since almost all language teaching contexts such as the classroom are very limited

in terms of materials to the textbook, it is essential that the textbook do the job appropriately.

This has been problematic when deciding whose culture to be targeted, how, and how much of it

should be addressed in the classroom. Those considerations and others will be the core in this

chapter, but before that we must define the word ‘culture’ as conceptualized by scholars.

1.1.Language and Culture

The close relationship that holds between language and culture needs no longer to be

demonstrated. Language is essentially rooted in the reality of culture to the point that social life

cannot be explained without constant reference to the broader contexts of verbal utterances

(Malinowski, 1923). For many scholars and anthropologists,“ Language is a social institution,

both shaping and shaped by society at large, or in particular by the ‘cultural niches’ in which it

plays an important role” (Armour-Thomas & Gopau-McNicol, 1998).

Halliday (1975) considers language a quintessential cultural tool, an embodiment of the

social system of meanings that enables its users to coordinate activities with others, and, at the

same time, learn the knowledge and practices, beliefs, and values of their culture. While the child

participates in communicative events of daily life, s/he builds up a potential for exchanging the

meanings that are engendered by the system. In Halliday’s view, children come to learn language

by learning how to behave in situations, not by learning rules about what to say since “Language

is the essential condition of knowledge, the process by which experience becomes knowledge”

7
(Halliday, 1990: 94 ). This is the reason why for him the essential role of a theory of language is

to explain the social foundations of the language system.

Hall (2002) adopts a similar conception of the relation of language to culture according to

which language is seen as a social institution. Following Halliday who states that language is

made of “a range of possibilities, an open-ended set of option in behaviours that are available to

the individual in his existence as social man” (Halliday, 1973: 49), he defends the idea of

language as social action. “Because culture is located not in individuals but in activity, any study

of language is by necessity a study of culture” (Hall, 2002: 19). He further asserts that language

is first and foremost a ‘Sociocultural Resource’.

On the same line of thought, Swiderski (1993) claims that “culture is usually seen

emerging directly out of the language and seems to be derived from it. It appears as a corrective

to habits of speech guiding the use of forms in actual conversation”. (Swiderski, 1993: 19) In

fact, language is not a culture-free code, distinct from the way people think and behave; but

rather, it plays a major role in the perpetuation of culture. Through all its verbal and non-verbal

aspects language embodies and enhances cultural reality because “Linguistic signs do not signify

in a social vacuum. Sign making and sign interpreting practices are motivated by the need and

desire of language users to influence people, act upon them or even only to make sense of the

world around them” (Kramsch, 1998:21) Drawing on this strong relation that exists between

language and culture many scholars consider language teaching as culture teaching.

Despite the fact that the relation of language to culture is undeniably tight, the issue of

culture remains far from being settled. The old and legitimate question of ‘what is culture?’ is

still asked as Agar (1994) insists. However, culture is not only related to language. It is also

intimately related to ideology and otherness. Both provide insights to the understanding of the

culture of a given social group. They are also important questions in foreign language education.

8
1.2.Culture and Ideology

Ideology is another concept that is often evoked in the study of culture. The relationship

between the two is so strong that it becomes sometimes difficult to distinguish clearly between

them. Like culture, ideology lacks a ‘universal consensus’ on what it means.

It has been defined in numerous complex and sometimes conflicting ways. However,

most of the definitions available in the literature, drawing on the historical uses of the term, relate

it in certain ways to culture. In an attempt to elucidate the difference between culture and

ideology, Holland (2006) proposes to think of culture as ‘relatively unconscious’ and ideology as

‘relatively conscious’ systems of ideas.

He defines ideology as “a relatively conscious system of ideas/beliefs about social life

and organization which lays claim to some rational or scientific basis” and culture as “a relatively

unconscious system of ideas/beliefs about social life and organization which relies upon

conventions, assumptions, and a sense of common identity, shared among social subjects”

(Holland, 2006: 39 – 40). These definitions show how the concepts are related.

However, in Western history culture often connotes positive meanings while ideology

connotes more negative meanings. Culture calls for positive responses relating to a sense of

history, tradition, pride of shared achievements, and somehow absolute values.

From a critical linguistic perspective, ideology describes the ways in which what

individuals say and think interacts with society. Ideology therefore “... derives from the taken-

for-granted assumptions, beliefs and value-systems which are shared collectively by social

groups. And when an ideology is the ideology of a particularly powerful social group, it is said to

be dominant.” (Simpson, 1993: 05) Other scholars belonging to the critical discourse analysis

(CDA) school locate ideology rather in texts. For them ideology is a system of representations in

9
discourse. It stands for the set of “propositions that generally figure as implicit assumptions in

texts” (Fairclough, 1995: 14).

Looking for a more general and workable definition of ideology, Payne (1996) proposes

to place it along four general categories:

(i) the epistemologically negative – ideology as a type of disturbed, false thought (for example,

the ‘consciousness’ of human subjects in capitalist society);

(ii) the socially relative – ideology as any set of opinions, beliefs, attitudes (for example, the

‘world view’ of a social group or class);

(iii) the restricted – ‘theoretical ideology’ (a more or less conscious system of ideas);

(iv) the expanded – ‘practical ideology’ (the more or less unconscious medium of habitual

behaviour). (Payne, 1996: 253 – 253)

Though all these categories contribute to the understanding of ideology, when it comes to

the ideology in language education curricula the second category seems a more appropriate

definition. In fact, combined with the definition provided by CDA which focuses on texts it

would serve the purpose of highlighting the different attitudes towards issues of cultural

contextualisation and representations of the self/other included in textbooks. Actually, any

choices in material design are also ideological choices.

1.3.Culture and Identity

Although identity construction is a long life process which aims at making life more

coherent and easier to understand, the concept of identity is often linked to language, ethnicity, or

culture in attempts to give it a kind of fixed meaning. The relationship between identity and

culture is very strong though relatively mediated by language. In reality, “... culture, however it is

constructed, relies upon some sense of shared identity among a particular group of social subjects

and that this sense of identity is intimately connected to a complex of conventions and

10
assumptions similarly shared – and typically taken for granted – by members of the group”

(Holland, 2006: 40)

Foreign language learning can be seen as a process of identity formation and at the same

time as a process of becoming a full member of the ‘community of practice’ at school as well as a

member of the L2 speaking community at large. In addition to this, learning a foreign language

can be seen as becoming a member of a new culture. It is then a process of constructing

multilingual identities (Huhtala & Lehti-Eklund, 2010). This process can be explained by

sociocultural dimensions of language learning as theorised by Vigotsky (1978) and Bruner

(1966).

1.4.Major Conceptions of Culture

Though the study of culture is a well-documented field investigated from different

perspectives such as anthropology, social psychology, ethnography, and linguistics it is still

difficult to say what culture is (or is not?). A review of the different studies dealing with the

concept reveals that there lacks in the literature a homogeneous or an established satisfactory

definition which can be applied in every context. Culture is “… multifaceted and complex and

there is no consensus on what [it] is” (Moran, 2001: 13). It means different things to different

people depending on their disciplines. There are, indeed, many standpoints from which it can be

considered (Duranti, 1997). It is a concept which needs to be handled carefully.

Before starting the examination of different conceptions of culture, it is worthwhile to

point to an important and well established distinction in the literature between “High Culture”

and “Low Culture”. Emerging principally from the humanities, High Culture conceives of culture

as a body of knowledge and achievements. “It focuses on the way a social group represents itself

and others through its material productions, be they works of art, literature, social institutions, or

artefacts of everyday life and the mechanisms for their reproduction and representation through

11
history.” (Kramsch, 1998:00) Low Culture, on the other hand , comes from the social sciences

and relates mainly to what Nostrand (1900) calls “the ground of meaning, the attitudes and

beliefs, ways of thinking, behaving and remembering shared by the members of that community”.

Such a distinction keeps all its relevance because it helps categorizing the myriad of conceptions

and definitions met when looking for the concept of culture.

In an attempt to provide a general definition, Moran (2001) proposes thinking of culture

as a whole that has five dimensions. These dimensions include each a category of components

specific to a social group. They can be described as consisting of;

1) Products: tools, food, cloths

2) Practices: verbal and non-verbal language, actions and interactions, taboos

3) Perspectives: values, beliefs

4) Communities: race, gender, religion

5) Persons: individuals

Combining these different dimensions, culture can be thought of as “… 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 a specific social

context.” (Moran, 2001: 24)

Despite such attempts to find out what culture is, its conceptions remain numerous

overlapping at times and conflicting at others. However, the most fundamental way of thinking

about culture remains contrasting it with nature, as is the tradition among anthropologists.

(Duranti, 1997 and Kramsch, 1998) Furthermore, the various conceptions though emerging from

different disciplines can be gathered under three major categories:

1) Culture as a body of knowledge,

2) Culture as a system of social practices, shared values and beliefs, and

12
3) Culture as communication and discourse.

Each category highlights a specific idea of culture and puts forward a view of the language as a

sociocultural practice.

1.4.1. Culture as a Body of Knowledge

A widely admitted way of defining culture, spread among anthropologists and social

psychologists, is to consider it as a body of knowledge. This view is known as the cognitive view

of culture and finds its justification in the fact that culture is learned. The implications of such a

conception are numerous. For example, members of a given culture “…must know certain facts

or be able to recognise objects, places, and people” (Duranti, 1997: 27). It also implies that they

have to share certain patterns of thought, ways of understanding the world, and making

inferences and predictions. Goodenough’s famous statement provides an eloquent summary of

this view of culture as a cognitive concept:

…a society’s culture consists of whatever it is one has to know or believe in order

to operate in a manner acceptable to its members, and so in any role that they
accept for anyone of themselves. Culture, being what people have to learn as
distinct from their biological heritage, must consist of the end product of meaning:
knowledge, in a most general, if relative, sense of the term. By this definition, we
should note that culture is not a material phenomenon; it does not consist of
things, people, behaviours, or emotions. It is rather an organization of these things.
It is the forms of things that people have in mind, their models of perceiving,
relating, and otherwise interpreting them.
(Goodenough, 1964:36)

From this stand point, it is clear that knowing a culture resembles knowing a language as

both can be seen as mental realities. It is possible then, and even feasible, to describe a culture the

same way as language is described. The aim of ethnographic descriptions is the writing of

‘cultural grammars’ paralleling language grammars. (Keesing, 1972)

13
1.4.2. Culture as System of Social Practices and Shared Values and Beliefs

Another influential trend in the study of culture is one that prefers to look at culture as a

system of social practices and shared values and beliefs. The notion of culture as a system of

practices, owes a great deal to the European intellectual movement of the 1960’s and 1970’s

known as Post-structuralism. According to this movement “the Subject or human actor can

culturally exist and function only as a participant in a series of habitual activities that are both

presupposed and reproduced by his individual actions” (Duranti, 1997:45)

Holding the same view, Brislin plainly puts it that culture refers to “ …widely shared

ideals, values, formation and uses of categories assumptions about life, and goal-oriented

activities that become unconsciously or subconsciously accepted as “right” and “correct” by

people who identify themselves as members of a society” (Brislin, 1990: 11). Rose (2004)

extends this adding that “culture is a set of social practices, a system of beliefs, a shared history

or set of experiences. A culture may be synonymous with a country, or a region, or a nationality

or it may be synonymous with a religion” (Rose, 2004)

According to the social theorist Bourdieu (1982) who conceives of language in terms of

‘habitus’, like culture language is itself a set of practices that imply not only a particular system

of words and grammatical rules, but also an often forgotten or hidden struggle over the symbolic

power of a particular way of communicating, with a particular system of classification address

and reference forms. Bourdieu (1982), therefore, emphasises the importance of language not as

an autonomous and abstract system –as the structuralists often do - but rather as a system that is

actively defined by socio-political and cultural processes.

For him, it is not possible to study language without taking into consideration the social and

cultural conditions which allow for its very existence.

14
1.4.3. Culture as Communication and Discourse

A third major trend of theories about culture considers the latter as communication and

discourse. Claiming that culture is communication means seeing it as a system of signs. This is

what is commonly known as the Semiotic theory of culture. In its early stages, this trend

basically held that culture “is a representation of the world, a way of making sense of reality by

objectifying it in stories, myths, descriptions, theories, proverbs, artistic products and

performances” (Duranti, 1997:33). One of the founders of this theory is the French anthropologist

Levi-Strauss (1963) for whom “all cultures are sign systems”. In other words, culture is a

semiotic network constructed by a social group and historically transmitted within it. This

semiotic network provides the members of the social group means by which they communicate

and perpetuate their knowledge, beliefs, and attitudes about the world. It allows them to construct

their specific discourses.

Later views of culture as communication were informed by work on indexicality. An

illustration of this may be Silverstein’s (1976) expansion on Peirce’s and Jakobson’s (1971)

theoretical works. Within this new perspective, the communicative force of culture works not

only in representing aspects of reality, but also in connecting individuals, groups, situations,

objects with other individuals, other groups and other situations. It includes intersubjective

interactions as central components of the social life.

Starting from the 1990’s, and due to advances in semiotics studies, culture is also being

conceived of in terms of ‘Discourse’ since discourse stands as a notion which entails words, acts,

values, beliefs, attitudes and social identities. Indeed, “…Discourses,…, are more than just

language, they are ways of being in the world, or forms of life that integrate words, acts, values,

beliefs, attitudes, and social identities” (Kramsch, 1998: 61)

Kramsch states:

15
 Culture can be defined as membership in a discourse community that shares a

common social space and history, and common imaginings. Even when they have

left that community, its members may retain, wherever they are, a common system

of standards for perceiving, behaving, evaluating and acting. These standards are

what is generally called their culture. (Kramsch, 1998: 10)

So, culture seems to be constituted along three axes;

1) a diachronic axis of time, which relates to the material achievements such as arts,

literature, science, and institutions a given social group developed through history.

2) a synchronic axis of space, which relates to ethnographic everyday practices of a social

group constituting its accepted behaviour, attitudes, shared traditions, and common system of

beliefs.

3) a metaphoric axis of imaginings, which relates to a social group’s symbolic

representations of the world. These representations figure both real and imaginary worlds, what

allows thinking of other ways things could be.

In sum, culture is always a linguistically mediated membership into a discourse community,

which is both real and imagined as Kramsch (1996) explains. It is through sharing frames of

interpretation that individuals recognize that they share the same culture.

1.5.Culture in Foreign Language Teaching

As highlighted previously, culture is often a matter of language, and learning the one

relates to the learning about the other either explicitly or implicitly. Issues concerning the

teaching and learning of culture have, indeed, attracted considerable interest from researchers on

foreign language teaching and learning in recent years. However, before addressing the question

of how to teach culture it seems relevant to briefly examine what differences there are, if any,

between foreign language learning and culture learning.

16
Swiderski (1993) believes that “saying that we can learn about culture is saying that we should.

Language learning is the starting point and the focus but culture learning is the aim” (Swiderski,

1993: 09). In fact, it is often the case that one acquires a second culture in learning a second

language mainly because second culture acquisition parallels second language acquisition nearly

in the same way that first language acquisition parallels first culture acquisition. However, the

two processes of learning a second language and acquiring its culture are not completely

identical. “Culture is not learned as language is, yet language is not learned until culture is. There

is both knowledge about and skill in language and culture” (Swiderski, 1993: 06). Besides,

“…culture learning is not a discardable option for language learning, and … that all language

learning (really all learning) takes place in a cultural milieu” (Ibid: 09)

What comes out from such a position is that the main and recurrent argument for teaching

culture as part of foreign language instruction seems to be a linguistic one. In order to understand

language fully and use it fluently, learners need not only linguistic, pragmatic, discourse and

strategic competences but also socio-cultural and world knowledge (Willems, 1996). Put

differently, to become proficient target language speakers, foreign language learners need to be

aware of the cultural dimension of the language they are learning. This awareness stands as a

prerequisite for any successful interpersonal interaction the learners may engage in.

Even if language and culture transmission are quite separate, they remain interrelated. The

language classroom offers the possibility of culture transmission that coordinates with language

‘transmission’. Nevertheless, the whole issue remains problematic and challenging because if

“language learning is gaining a skill, culture learning as assimilation is transforming identity”

(Swiderski, 1993: 23). Exposure to a foreign culture always involves rethinking one’s identity by

comparing one’s culture to that of the target language either explicitly or implicitly. It is one of

the central concerns in many foreign language contexts where attitudes towards the target culture

17
are sometimes controversial ranging from total rejection to reluctant acceptance. Kramsch (1998)

explains that the teaching of culture as a component of language teaching has traditionally been

caught between the striving for universality and the desire to maintain cultural particularity. What

is certain is that each language classroom can be seen as an experiment in learning culture.

1.6.Intercultural Awareness and Cross-Cultural Communicative Competence

Intercultural awareness can be viewed as the process of becoming more aware of and

developing better understanding of one’s own culture and others cultures all over the world. It

aims mainly at increasing international and cross-cultural understanding. For Byram (1997) the

implicit theory of culture learning can be defined as follows;

Exposure to documents and interaction with people from another country leads learners to

notice similarities and differences between themselves and others;

Noticing differences leads to taking up the perspective of others and beings able to understand

how they experience the world;

Experiencing the world from a different perspective leads to a new understanding of one’s own

experience. (Byram, 1997: 06)

Seen from such a perspective, foreign language teaching that aims to raise cultural/intercultural

awareness, starts from the learners’ point of view and takes their experiences as a starting point.

“[It] is no longer relevant to merely present the target culture from within. One has also to

provide for the perspective of the learner”. (Wallner, 1995: 09)

Wallner goes on to suggest that the selection, presentation and treatment of material “should take

into consideration the learners’ conception of the “other” as well as their indigenous culture”

(Ibid)

Then, better described as a competence in itself, intercultural awareness consists of a set of

attitudes and skills among which Rose (2004) lists the following:

18
Observing, identifying and recording

Comparing and contrasting

Negotiating meaning

Dealing with or tolerating ambiguity

Effectively interpreting messages

Limiting the possibility of misinterpretation

Defending one’s own point of view while acknowledging the legitimacy of others

Accepting difference.

This competence (intercultural awareness) is more than a set of knowledge about various and

distinct cultures that language learners need to master. It is rather “an attribute of personal

outlook and behaviour…it emerges as the central but diversely constituted core of an integrated

curriculum.” (Crawshaw, 2004: 00).

As Kramsch (1996) rightly points out, a fundamental methodological problem

confronting language educators aiming to develop this intercultural competence, is whether the

emphasis should be placed on stressing commonalities or the differences between native and

target culture. Hence, the move towards exploring culture through personal contact with native

target language speakers can be seen as a necessary consequence of viewing intercultural

education as a dialogic process. That is why “Other forms of intercultural education refer to a

process of decentring, of relativising self and other in an effort to understand both on their own

terms and from their own perspective, as well as from the outsider’s perspective” (Kramsch,

1996:00) as something between individuals and something

“at the rupture or disjuncture between interlocutors’ assumptions and expectations” (Kramsch,

1996: 07)

19
 In the same vein, Bakhtin (1986) views intercultural competence as “intercultural

understanding”, simultaneously entering another culture and remaining outside it. The concept

of “outsideness” allows him to consider intercultural dialogue in such a way that it does not

threaten the identities of participating cultures. For Bakhtin (1986) outsideness is not a limitation

but an incentive toward the broadening of one’s perspective and subsequently the development of

an intercultural competence.

In conclusion, in order to implement intercultural understanding, one could only adopt a

cross-cultural approach to foreign language teaching. Kramsch (1998) believes that such an

approach implies the crossing of any boundaries between generations, ethnic groups, and social

classes. The single possible way to build a more complete and less partial understanding of both

native culture (C1) and target foreign culture(s) (C2) is to develop a third perspective, that would

enable learners to take an insider’s and an outsider’s view on C1 and C2.

Conclusion

Culture remains linked to language no matter how differently it is defined by scholars in

different fields. Its importance has always been the highlight of the design of the textbook and it

has always been a part of foreign language teaching. The learners’ local culture along with the

target language culture have been always involved in the cultural contextualization of the

materials.

20
 CHAPTER TWO

The Textbook in the Foreign Language Class

Introduction

2.1. Textbook’s Roles in EFL Classrooms

2.2. Textbook Evaluation

2.2.1. Importance of Textbook Evaluation

2.2.2. Evaluation vs. Analysis

2.2.3. Types of Textbook Evaluation

2.2.3.1. Pre-use evaluation

2.2.3.2. Whilst-use or In-use evaluation

2.2.3.3. Post-use evaluation

2.3. Textbook evaluation Models

2.3.1. Skiero’s Model

2.3.2. Bayram and Escarte-Sarries Model

2.3.3. Sercu’s Model

2.3.4. Cortazi and Jin’s Model

2.3.5. The Need for a New Model

2.3.5.1. Identification of the textbook

2.3.5.2. The cultural contextualization of texts

2.3.5.3. The cultural contextualization of images

Conclusion

21
Introduction

Textbooks are instruments of extraordinary power in the field of education. In fact, they

may be the most effective of educational technologies yet invented, and there is no reason why

we should imagine the future of educational systems without textbooks taking the lead role. Thus,

it is in our best of interest to pay close attention to their role and function but most importantly

their content. In this chapter, we shall review the different roles textbooks play in foreign

language classrooms; we shall also shed light on the positive and negative views of basing

language teaching on textbooks. The core of this chapter will be devoted to textbook evaluation

with a particular focus on evaluating the culture content.

2.1.Textbook’s Roles in EFL Classrooms

A textbook is, according to Johnsen (1993: 24), a book whose purpose is “instructional

use”. English language teaching relies heavily on textbooks as their role is undeniable. “The

textbook is an almost universal element of ELT teaching.” (Hutchinson and Toress 1994: 315).

The textbook has a vital and positive role to play in the teaching and learning process

“Textbooks, we shall argue, survive and prosper primarily because they are the most convenient

means of providing the structure that the teaching-learning system requires.” (ibid).

The use of textbooks is a fact in the field of English language teaching since their first

appearance as early as the “1830s” (Johnsen,1993:p24) because they are regarded as “the visible

heart of any ELT program” (Sheldon,1988: 237).

Cunningsworth (1995) argues that textbooks are an effective resource of self-directed

learning, presentation materials, ideas and activities, and a reference source for students. They

also support less experienced teachers who have to gain confidence. They help boost the learners’

confidence which is clearly and concretely shown while measuring their level of achievements
22
during their use of textbooks, textbooks are essential on the psychological level according to

Haycroft (1998).

Hatchinson and Toress (1994) claim another role for textbooks in that they help teachers

during the threatening periods of change, demonstrate new/or untried methodologies, introduce

change gradually, and help teachers build creative methodologies of their own. Learners tend to

show positive attitudes towards the use of textbooks because they think that published materials

are more credible than the materials generated by their teachers according to Sheldon (1988).

To sum up the textbook’s main role is to serve as the principal source of information and

knowledge. That being said, the information and knowledge provided are from a certain

ideological perspective. The textbook then presents selected items of knowledge on specific

subjects within organized and limited themes. The textbook breaks down those items of

knowledge in order to simplify them and render them clear for pupils to understand and acquire.

The textbook organizes the learning process making it structured in blocks or units. It offers an

organization of learning from what is theoretical to what is practical or vice versa, from

statements to illustrations or from illustrations to observation and analysis to name a few

However, some theorists choose to warn about the heavy use of textbooks in language

teaching. Allwright (1982) for one warns about the fact that textbooks represent a reflection of

their authors’ values and pedagogic, psychological, and linguistic preferences. In recent years

researches turned their focus from criticizing textbooks to criticizing their content, especially that

which is related to culture. Renner (1997) for example, has carried out a study that showed that

so many EFL textbooks contain extensive examples of sexism and cultural stereotyping.

Prodromou (1988) and Alptekn (1993) consider that teaching a language without

embedding it in its cultural bases is simply not possible and that the culture of the target language

23
should serve as a vehicle for teaching the language; otherwise, the learning experience may result

in resistance to learning.

The cultural content is not the only problem with many EFL/ESL textbooks, some

researchers argue that textbook are so artificial in presenting the target language, to the point that

even when studied, they do not make effective interlocutors of the language.

According to Tomlinson (2003), numerous textbooks are marketed by their authors all over the

world with claims to their great effectiveness while in reality they contain many flaws and

shortcomings.

Although there is no consensus and the controversy continues among authors as to the

importance, validity and role of textbooks, foreign language teaching is still based heavily on the

use of textbooks. Their role, nevertheless, should not be overemphasized because there is no

perfect textbook that meets the needs of learners, teachers, and schools according to

Cunningsworth (1995).

2.2.Textbook Evaluation

2.2.1. Importance of Textbook Evaluation

The importance of evaluating textbooks is due to the significance of the textbook in the

first place as demonstrated in the previous section. Evaluating textbooks is a vital task to

maximize learning potentials. It is basically judging the content of the textbook in terms of its

appropriateness, validity and suitability for the pupils as well as the learning process. This

decision is given by providing arguments and evidence to otherwise the deficiency of the

textbook in achieving its purpose. Hutchinson and Waters (1987:98) state “evaluation is a matter

of judging the fitness of something for a particular purpose “. Hutchinson (1987: 37) believes that

“…materials evaluation plays such an important role in language teaching that its potential for
24
influencing the way teachers operate is considerable”. Asking the question ‘why teaching

materials are the way they are’ is a crucial question to investigate the underlying deeper level of

materials.

2.2.2. Evaluation vs. Analysis

Understanding the difference between textbook evaluation and textbook analysis is highly

important because they are closely related but different. Despite the distinction, however, the

material evaluators generally mix evaluation with analysis. According to McGrath (2000) the

discovery of whether what one is looking for is in the textbook and when found one needs to put

a value on it is the basic explanation of textbook evaluation, taking into account that evaluation is

subjective because it is based on judgment-making. Textbook analysis, on the other hand,

involves looking for what is already in the textbook and it is objective because the description is

verifiable. The textbook analysis needs to be performed before commencing the textbook

evaluation.

According to Tomlinson (2003) evaluation is a procedure that involves measuring the

value of a set of learning materials and making judgments about their efficiency as well as effects

on the people using them by means of questionnaires and interviews. Analysis, on the other end,

focuses more on the material and its aims. It is based on pre-established set of questions, such as

checklists, about what the material contains, what it achieves and what it asks learners to achieve.

Thus, ideally, analysis is objective but analysts are often influenced by their ideology which

makes their questions biased, which will not guarantee complete objectivity.

Cunningsworth (1995) argues that ‘checklist of evaluation criteria’ is a toolkit that

combines evaluation with analysis. Even if evaluation is different from analysis the toolkit can

include an analysis or result from one.

25
2.2.3. Types of Textbook Evaluation

Unlike the importance of textbook evaluation, the best time to conduct the evaluation of a

textbook is still controversial amongst materials evaluation specialists especially when the aims

are stated early in the procedure. Tomlinson (2003) distinguishes the different types of evaluation

based on when it will be carried out and what it aims to evaluate in the textbook. These

categories of evaluations are: Pre-use evaluation, Whilst-use evaluation and Post-use evaluation.

2.2.3.1.Pre-use evaluation

The Pre-use evaluation “involves making predictions about the potential value of

materials for their users” (Tomlinson, 2003: p23). According to Cunningsworth (1995) this type

of evaluation is impressionistic and predictive, it aims at establishing the future potential of a

newly designed textbook. Tomlinson, (2003) recognizes three types:

It is 1) context-free when it is a review of materials for a journal, 2) context-influenced when it is

a review of draft materials for publisher with target users in mind and 3) context dependent when

a teacher selects a coursebook for his/her class.

This evaluation relies either on implicit or explicit models, the first is highly dependent

and based on the evaluators intuitions and impressions and the second is usually based on the use

of instruments such as checklists which makes it in most of the times subjective focusing on

some aspects while leaving some out.

2.2.3.2.Whilst-use or In-use evaluation

The whilst-use evaluation measures the value of a textbook by either observing it being

used or by using it, which means that this process takes place while the textbook is in use and it is

a long-term process. According to Mukundun (2007) This process can be done for the purpose of

evaluating a textbook, that has already been selected, throughout the period of its use to

determine its suitability as such the results of the evaluation process can determine whether the

26
textbook is appropriate for classroom use or not. The results of the whilst-use evaluation process

can help teachers also in making the book more productive as well as making teaching effective

by identifying the parts of the textbook that need adaptation.

The whilst-use evaluation is more objective compared to the pre-use evaluation as it relies

on tools such as checklists which measure what is observable. However teachers and observers

can be misled by whther the activities seem to work or not according to Tomlinson (2003).

2.2.3.3.Post-use evaluation

Post-use evaluation allows for the evaluators to measure the real effects of the textbook

on the users showing its intrinsic value which makes it more valuable than the two previous

evaluations. Cunningsworth (1995) states that this type of evaluation assesses the performance of

the coursebook retrospectively and can identify its strengths and weaknesses that only emerge

after a long period of use. In addition to that Tomlinson (2003) adds that this type of evaluation

can highlight some aspects such as motivation, instant learning, impact and achievability which

are short-term effects as well as application which is a long-term effect.

Hence, post-use evaluation provides reliable data on the material which will help taking decisions

on whether to carry on using the coursebook or replace it.

2.3.Textbook evaluation Models

There is a wide range of checklists and models elaborated by many authors but these

models focus more on the linguistic content, the structure and the methodology and do not

emphasize the cultural content despite its importance in teaching materials. The questions related

to the cultural content are often discarded or left at the end and asked in an implicit way as if of

secondary importance. Some checklists refer to some cultural focus warning against stereotypes

related to race, social values, gender roles or national culture representations. The following

review highlights how some of the models approach the cultural content.

27
2.3.1. Skiero’s Model

The interest of Skiero’s (1991) model is the integration of the cultural content in the

structural parts of the textbook like texts, dialogues and exercises. It aims at showing whether

learners understand the social situations described in the textbook and whether the cultural

contextualization help in doing so. The main concern in this model is the type of the the cultural

knowledge provided to the learners and it produces stereotypes. Developing the cultural skills of

the learners with the use of authentic texts is a necessity according to Skiero.

The questions that relate to the cultural content of the textbook in this evaluation model

focus on whether the information given is up-to-date; stereotypes of gender, race and culture are

avoided; the society is drawn realistically and not filled with different ideologies; and either

cultural contextualization is presented or isolated facts are advanced. Other aspects such as which

foreign culture is the dominant and how it is portrayed are not included in the model.

2.3.2. Bayram and Escarte-Sarries Model

Bayram and Escarte-Sarries’ (1991) model focuses on the representation of the target

culture as a homogenous whole. Hence, this model focuses on the portrayal of culture in foreign

language textbooks because the latter gives an accurate image of a society to the learners.

Bayram and Escarte-Sarries (1991) put it clearly that textbooks should portray culture as it is

lived and talked about by the people who are recognizable as real human beings in addition to

this the interaction between the local culture and foreign culture must be emphasized because of

its important role in promoting learners’ linguistic and social development.

Their models contains four levels of analysis:

 Micro-social level: The examination of the social and geographic identities of

characters depicted in the textbook are the main constituents of this part. These

characters must represent the target culture social realities while not focusing only

28
 on one group which may give the impression that other groups are less

representative of the culture. The social interactions of these characters must be

taking into consideration while avoiding stereotyped ones, in other words the

characters must display emotions, defend values and talk about problems to best

represent the social realities of the culture.

 Macro-social level: This level is concerned with the representations of general

facts that draw on the target culture making its general picture. In other words, the

cultural identity of the country that is made up by the historical facts is what the

evaluation targets. It takes into consideration other aspects that make up the target

culture such as the socio-political and economic aspects. So the aim is for foreign

learners to function properly in the target culture society the thing that can only be

done by understanding a real image of the target society.

 Intercultural level: In this level a comparison between the learners’ local culture

and target culture takes place as it is in their language textbook. The evaluation of

the local culture and the target culture is what the evaluation is concerned about

because it aims at developing intercultural tolerance and understanding but it is

limited to identifying stereotypes.

 Authors standpoint: The textbooks’ designers choices of texts and contexts

which are part of the ideology chosen to represent the target culture are what the

evaluation aims to inspect along with any statements that might reinforce

stereotypes. It also tries to discover which type of image the textbook coveys

about the target culture.

29
 This model investigates how culture is represented and the intercultural interaction that

exists between the local and target culture however its focus is on realism in the presentation of

culture.

2.3.3. Sercu’s Model

Secru (1998) suggests a model the looks at teaching culture from different perspectives,

and it assesses the cultural content of foreign language textbooks from four dimensions. The

following elements show the cultural weight of the teaching content:

 Representativeness and realism: deals with how the target culture is pictured

and how much it fits in the reality of the country. It questions whether the cultural

facts are represented in a realistic and up-to-date way or rather biased and

stereotyped. Learners when presented with a biased image of the target culture

with no problems or conflicts would run the risk of misunderstanding the beliefs

and values of the target culture because the aspect of the everyday life is

neglected. Instead what is required is a comprehensive depiction that is based on

realism.

 Characters depiction: finding out how characters are representative of the target

culture and scrutinizing them is the core of the this criterion. Questions about age,

social background, general interests, family situations and attitudes are generally

asked. Biased expectations can be drawn by the learners when the characters are

depicted only as happy and always succeeding in their actions the thing that does

not does not mirror the truth about the target society.

 Linguistic content: the linguistic content of the textbook must be examined

because the language used in the textbook to describe people and their actions can

carry some stereotypes that relate to gender, race and culture.

30
  Type of cultural content: what type of cultural information and what does the

textbook expect learners to do with it after presenting it are the main concern of

this criterion. Usually learners are presented with factual knowledge about the

target culture and are expected to absorb it without presenting them with

challenging situation or challenging their critical thinking, this is why the

examination of the activities also is a must to show whether the learners are asked

to think about the target culture in a way th at helps them develop positive

attitudes about it.

This model examines culture from its linguistic and non-linguistic aspect focusing on

realism in representing cultural knowledge. Yet, the intercultural dimension of foreign language

learning is not emphasized.

2.3.4. Cortazi and Jin’s Model

Cortazi and Jin (1999) suggest a model that evaluates the place of culture in foreign

language teaching. This model has two aims; first, it examines the type of the cultural content of

the textbook by investigating all cultural elements concerning any culture, and second, it

examines the extent to which the cultural content helps develop learners’ cultural skills by

showing how learners potentially perceive and categorize socio-cultural situations because

recognition and production are what develops the learners’ cultural skills. Thus, foreign language

learners must recognize cultural elements and then use them in contexts if they want to

communicate effectively. In other words, asking about how cultural fact included in texts,

dialogues, tasks and exercises contribute to learners understanding of the target language is a

necessity.

31
 This evaluation model also takes into consideration the place of the local culture or the

culture of the learners and its relation to the target culture or cultures. In addition to this, it

analyses the ideology of the designers by questioning their selection of cultural elements.

This model is more comprehensive than the previous two ones, however, it views culture

in a traditional way as portrayed through language overlooking the visual representation of

culture in textbooks.

2.3.5. The Need for a New Model

The review of the previous textbook evaluation models that focus on the issues of EFL

teaching textbook reveals that they focus on the linguistic content as the main vehicle of cultural

contextualization. They do not provide hints or toolkits as to how to analyse the visual

representation of culture. The numerous checklists are not meant to evaluate cultural content on

both the linguistic and visual levels.

In this work we are interested in evaluating cultural contextualization on both the

linguistic and visual components, the new model needs to be comprehensive and serve the

purpose of our work. The following is a model adapted from Yassine (2008)

2.3.5.1 Identification of the textbook

General information about the textbook will be identified in this part such as:

a. Name of the textbook:

b. Date of publication:

c. Authors:

d. Publishing house:

e. Type of the textbook:

 Global teaching material meant for teaching material meant for use in different contexts

 Locally designed material meant for use in a given context

32
  ESP teaching material meant for particular learners in different contexts

f. Target learners:

g. Teaching methodology:

h. Number of pages:

2.3.5.2.The cultural contextualization of texts

This part is divided into three subsections, and it aims at exploring the cultural

contextualization of the linguistic texts through:

Identification of the text:

The general context of the text will be covered in this subsection by answering the

following:

a. Title of the text:

b. Author(s) of the text:

c. Source of the text:

 When was the text produced?

 Where is the text taken from?

 Is it an original complete version or a selected extract?

d. Type of text in terms of authenticity:

 Is the text an authentic one?

 Is the text an adapted/simplified one?

The cultural content of the text:

The cultural content of the text will be categorized by answering the following:

a. Is the text cultural specific dealing with one culture?

33
 b. If yes, which culture does it represent?

 The learners’ local/national culture?

 The target/foreign language culture? British or American?

 Other English speaking country culture?

c. Is the text non culture specific and not referring to any particular culture?

d. Is the text portraying universal/global culture?

e. Which conception of culture does the text include?

 Culture as facts

 Culture as meanings

 Culture as dialogue

f. Does the text refer to “big culture”?

g. Does the text refer to “small culture”?

The pedagogic cultural value of the text

Answering the following questions will determine the pedagogic cultural value of the text:

a. How does the text represent the self?

 Positively

 Negatively

 Stereotypically

 Realistically

 Idealistically

b. How does the text represent the other?

 Positively

 Negatively

34
  Stereotypically

 Realistically

 Idealistically

c. Does the text through its activities aim at reinforcing the differences between the self and

the other?

d. Does the text through its activities aim at minimizing the differences between the self and

the other?

e. Does the text through its activities challenge the students for intercultural interaction?

2.3.5.3.The cultural contextualization of images

This part is divided into two main subsections. It deals with the cultural contextualization

in the visual pictures.

Identification of the image

We will identify the image by answering the following:

a. Type of the image

 Photograph

 Map

 Drawing

 Diagram

b. Source of the image: where is the image taken from?

c. What is the role of the image?

 To introduce a new topic/them/unit

 To illustrate a linguistic text

 To explain a linguistic text

35
  To serve as an aid to the comprehension/production follow up exercises

 To represent a scientific fact

 To add new information or illustrate a new situation to entertain the text book

users

 No particular role

Cultural content of the image

The following questions will help determine the cultural content of the image:

Who/what is represented in the images? Does it represent local/foreign people, local/foreign

elements, local/foreign settings?

a. Who/what does the image represent?

 Local/foreign characters

 Local/foreign settings

 Objects

 Scientific data

b. How is the local culture represented?

c. How is the foreign culture represented?

d. How are the local social actors depicted?

 Individuals

 Groups

f. How are the foreign social actors depicted?

 Individuals

 Groups

36
 The pedagogic cultural value of the image

a. Does the text through the activities challenge the students for intercultural interaction?

Conclusion

Textbooks evaluation is a field that has been given much importance due to the central

role textbooks play in foreign language teaching. There’s a distinction drawn between evaluation

and analysis taking into consideration both the aims and means of the two processes but the

majority of evaluators agree on the necessity of doing both. Learners’ needs and the teaching

methodology were the main target of the process of materials evaluation but developments

introduced the cultural content as it is essential to the success of foreign language learning.

Numerous models were developed to assess the cultural content of textbooks but most of them

fail to account for the visual development of textbooks especially that they are rich in terms of

visual content. There is a need for new approach to textbook evaluation that caters for the latest

developments in teaching material as linguistic and visual artefacts.

37
 CHAPTER THREE

Evaluation of ‘New Prospects’

Introduction

3.1. Description of the textbook

3.1.1. New Prospects’ Structure

3.1.2. New Prospects’ Content

3.1.3. Structure of the Units

3.2. Introduction of the textbook

3.3. Culture in the Linguistic and Visual Components

3.4. In Depth Evaluation of Unit Three

Conclusion

38
Introduction

The evaluation of the cultural content of New Prospects will be presented in this chapter

using the evaluation model that was presented in the previous chapter. The evaluation takes into

consideration the visual component of the textbook as well as the linguistic one. It mainly aims at

defining the dominant culture represented and how the different activities raise pupils’ awareness

about cultures. The chapter begins with presenting the textbook then providing an overview of

the cultural content of the six teaching units before moving to an in-depth evaluation of one unit.

It is worth mentioning that an in-depth evaluation of all the textbook units would require to much

space and time, adding to that the fact that all units have the same structure and approach

repeated even at the level of activities; thus evaluating every singal component of every unite

would be redundant.

3.1.Description of the textbook

3.1.1. New Prospects’ Structure

The Ministry of Education introduced a new textbook New Prospect (2007) in the

framework of the General Educational Reform to replace the previous textbook of English for

third year, Comet (2001). The competency-based Approach is the new paradigm the textbook is

meant to implement.

The front page of the textbook is characterized by a photograph representing what appears

to be men and women of different occupations. A woman in a white apron using the computer, a

chemist holding a beaker, a physician examining a patient, a business man on his laptop and a

man using the radio are what the photograph denotes. We read the name of the country ‘The

people’s Democratic Republic of Algeria’ and that of the Ministry of National Education in

Arabic at the top of the page. The name of the textbook is right at the top of the photo written in

39
bold letters. ‘Secondary Education, Year Three’ is written at the very bottom in Arabic and

English. The background of both the front and back pages is striped. The back page is empty

containing only the logo of the printing office, the price of the textbook and copy right

information at the bottom of the page, written in small font in Arabic (see image1).

Image 1: New Prospects Front and Back Cover

The cover of the textbook has witnessed some changes from the first year it was

introduced (2007). The first edition had pictures of The University of Algiers on the front cover

and The University of Bejaia on the back cover (see image 2). We find that the previous pictures

on the cover of the textbook are more suitable because on the one hand, they represent Algerian

universities especially that students are at their final year and they are expected to be university

students after passing their baccalaureate exam and on the other hand it represents the learners’

culture and it is relatable to education more than the current pictures on the current cover. We

40
find no convincing reason for its change. The textbook itself has witnessed some changes in its

size as well as its price since the first year it was introduced.

Image 2: New Prospects Previous Front and Back cover pictures

The textbook contains 270 numbered pages. The first page contains general information

about the textbook. In the middle of the page we read the name of the textbook, the level and the

names of the designers of the textbook. The content of the textbook is presented in pages 02 and

03. A forward and a book map are the opening to the textbook followed by 6 units. The book

closes with Listening scripts, Grammar references, Resource portfolio, and Acknowledgments.

The designers’ foreword is introduced in pages 04 through 07. It contains a description of

the syllabus and the content along with the goals the textbook aims to achieve. The book map

then follows and extends from pages 08 to 13 in which we find the summary of each teaching

unit divided in terms of outcomes: language outcomes that include functions, grammar and

vocabulary, and sound system; skills and strategies outcomes that include listening and speaking,

reading and writing; learner’s outcomes; intercultural outcomes; and finally project outcomes.
41
 The six successive teaching units represent the body of ‘New Prospects’ and they extend

from page 14 to 195. Each unit, spreading over almost 30 pages, deals with a main theme around

which all the teaching and learning activities revolve. Moreover, all of the six units share the

same sections following the same pattern.

At the end of the textbook, going from page 196 to 210, we find sections devoted to the

listening scripts, grammar references, phonetic symbols, and irregular verbs. The Listening

Scripts section that goes from page 196 to 210 is related to all the sections dealing with listening

activities throughout the textbook, ordered according to their appearance in the units. Grammar

References is another section that extends from page 210 to 235 and reviews the main

grammatical points mentioned in the teaching units like prepositions, articles, quantifiers…etc.

Phonetic Symbols is the following section in pages 236 and 237 and it provides tables of

consonant, vowel, diphthong and triphtong sounds followed by pronunciation rules for the final -

ed and -s. Finally, the section of Irregular Verbs that is located in pages 237 and 238 provides

lists of irregular verbs classified into two different categories: irregular verbs with the same past

and past participle forms, and with different past and past participle forms.

Resource Portfolio extends over three pages, from 239 to 270, is an appendix for

authentic texts for further reading in relation to the themes covered in the units. The texts are

extracts from different newspapers and magazines or adapted literary works. Finally, the textbook

closes with the acknowledgment of the designers over the two last pages. We find in it the names

of the persons who helped designing the textbook with credit for the copyright texts and pictures

used in the textbook.

42
3.1.2. New Prospects’ Content

As mentioned previously, the units of the textbook are represented in the book map that

provides a detailed description of the whole contents of the textbook. The following table

contains the themes and topics of the six units.

Teaching Unite Theme Topic

Unite 1 Exploring The Past Ancient Civilizations

Unite 2 Ill-gotten Gains Never Prosper Ethics in Business: Fighting Fraud

and Corruption

Unite 3 Schools: Different and Alike Education in The World: Comparing

Educational Systems

Unite 4 Safety First Advertising, Consumers and Safety

Unite 5 It’s A Giant Leap for Mankind Astronomy and The Solar System

Unite 6 We Are A Family! Feelings, Emotions, Humour and

Related Topics

Table 1: Themes and Topics in New Prospects

43
3.1.3. The structure of Units

Unit

Listen and Read and Listening and Readind and

Time For...
Consider Consider Speaking Writing

Before
Getting Started Getting Started Before Reading
Listening

Taking a Closer
Let's Hear It As You Listen As You Read
Look

Around The Around The

After Listening After Reading
Text Text

Saying It In Writing
Take a Break
Writing Devolopment

Research and Project

Reports Outcome

Assessement

Diagram 1: New Prospects Unit Structure

On the front page of each unit we find two photographs that represent the title and what

the unit is about. A joint note of the Project Outcome is drawn on the top picture and it

summarizes what the pupils are asked to do at the end of the unit.

‘Listen and Consider’ is the first section with which the unit begins and it has three

subsections. The ‘Getting Started’ subsection is usually questions about a picture and what it

44
denotes, intended to warm up students for the topic. ‘Let’s Hear It’ is the following subsection

where the students are supposed to listen to a script (the teacher reads from the listening scripts at

the end of the textbook) and answer some questions relating to the topic; the aim of it is to get the

students involved in the topic of the unit. ‘Around the text’ rubric follows, and its focus is

revising the grammatical rules along with vocabulary and, pronunciation and spelling. The rubric

ends with an assignment work that aims towards making students acquire and internalize

language elements.

‘Read and Consider’ is the second section where we find the ‘Getting Started’ subsection;

the latter contains some general questions about the topic. ‘Taking a Closer Look’ follows it;

here, we find questions about the text around which the unit revolves. The text is presented under

a picture that illustrates the main idea; the text is presented with a margin on the right that

contains all the words that might be difficult to pronounce for pupils transcribed phonemically.

‘Around the Text’ rubric, then, presents the new grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation and

spelling elements that are intended to be taught with reference to the grammar references at the

end of the textbook that contain the rules. The rubric ends with an assignment. In the middle of

the unit we find ‘Take a Break’ along with ‘Research and Report’

‘Listening and Speaking’ is the third section that contains four subsections: ‘Before

Listening’, ‘As You Listen’, ‘After Listening’ and ‘Saying It in Writing’ these subsections targets

the pupils’ listening skills.

‘Reading and Writing’ is the last section that contains four subsections as well. The first

one which is ‘Before Reading’ contains pictures and questions about the pictures; then comes

‘After Reading’, ‘Writing Development’, ‘Project Outcome’ and finally ‘Assessment’. Every unit

closes with a song or poems in the section entitled ‘Time For…’

45
3.2.Introduction of the textbook

a) Name of the textbook: New Prospects

b) Date of Publication: 2007

c) Authors: S. A. ARAB, B. Riche and M. Bensemmane

d) Publishing House: The National Authority for School Publications

e) Type of The Textbook: Material designed to teach English at the Algerian Secondary

Schools

f) Target Learners: Third year secondary school learners

g) Teaching methodology: Competency Based Approach to Language Teaching

h) Number of pages: 270

3.3.Culture in the Linguistic and Visual Components

Designed by Arab, Riche and Bensemmane, New Prospects (2007) includes teaching

units characterized by a rich visual design that includes loads of images with much cultural

content in the form of colored photographs. Each unit has two listening scripts in the section of

‘Listen and Consider’ under the rubric of ‘Let’s Hear It’ that are meant to be heard by the pupils

to be used in answering different questions. Furthermore, there is a reading text in each unit in

the section of ‘Read and Consider’ under the rubric of ‘Taking a Closer Look’. In addition to

that, there is another text in the section of ‘Reading and Writing’ under the rubric of ‘As You

Read’. The two texts in each unit have questions about their content; the first one serves as an

illustrative instance and the second usually aims to develop the pupils’ language skills. Finally,

we have the further reading texts in the resources portfolio at the end of the textbook; they range

from 3 to 6 texts per unit grouped thematically according to each unit. The listening scripts, and

the two reading texts are the ones used by the teacher, and most often the further reading texts are

ignored in the classroom; thus, they will not be part of our study.

46
Teaching Unit Listening Script Reading Texts Writing and Reading

texts

Exploring The Script 1 (adapted from “Algeria in the crossroad Untitled text about

Past Victor Skipp, Out of the of civilization” from the Ancient Egyptian

Ancient World) Encyclopedia of Africana Civilization by Victor

Script 2 (adapted from Skipp from Out of The

Victor Skipp, Out of the Ancient World

Ancient World)

Schools: Script 1 (Adapted from Education in Britain from Untitled text about the

Different and Cambridge First guide to British and American school

alike Certificate English, American culture system by D. K.

p.69) Stevenson; American

Script 2 (Adapted from life and institution,

Eva Meushaw, ed. USLA.

Adventures Ahead,

Harcourt)

We Are a Script 1 (Adapted from Feelings from the British The Unicorne in the

Family! the Reader’s Digest, and American Culture garden by James

2002) Thurber, Fables of

Script 2 (Adapted from Time

Skills in English, Level

3)

47
 Ill-gotten Script 1 no reference “Imitating property is Untiteled text about

Gains never Script 2 no reference theft” from The business and social

prosper Economist (2003) audit by Bill Mascull;

Business Vocabulary

English

Safety First Script 1 (No reference) “How Is Your Energy A Small Multimodal

Script 2 (No reference) Balance” Advertisement About;

In touch with tomorrow

TOSHIBA

Are we Alone Script 1 (Adapted from “The Solar System” Untiteled text about

Modern English Alen E Nourse The comets collision with

International p.33) giant planet in book of Earth from

Script 2 (Adapted from Popular Science international Herald

The good News) tribune 2005

Table 2: Listening Scripts and Reading Texts included in New Prospects

From the table above we can see that the texts with references are simplified and adapted

versions of original ones written by British and American authors, except for “How Is Your

Energy Balance?”, a reading text in “Safety First”, unit 4 which was written by the designers of

the textbook for the purpose of teaching the unit. A general assessment of the six teaching units

reveals that each unit presents culture differently from the others.

Culture is presented as a historical fact in unit one, where the local culture serves as a

vehicle to teach the foreign language. In fact, unit one explicitly deals with the Algerian culture

48
which shows both on the linguistic and visual levels. Unit one sets the Algerian culture amongst

other cultures such as the Egyptian and the Phoenician. Positive diversity can be said to be the

highlight of this unite and even the inclusion of the local culture invites the pupils to value their

culture and consider it as part of the human culture.

Culture is presented as a set of shared values, facts and traditions in unit three, and as

social behaviours and attitudes specific to the target language culture in British and American

societies in unit six. Both unit three and six contain linguistic and visual materials that favour the

target language culture as the context in which the target language is taught and the sources of the

texts are a clear evidence of that. Although focus on a foreign culture may put at risk the pupils’

identity and create a desire that may lead them to identify themselves with the target culture

model, it is beneficial in removing some of the stereotyped ideas that make pupils view culture as

a set of facts or behaviours common to all English-speaking countries. Thus, creating a

contrasting view between the British and American culture helps the pupils in accepting cultural

diversity within the same English culture. Moreover, this contrasting view will lead the learners

to review their conceptions of culture and eventually accept the diversity in their local culture

seeing it similar to the different cultures of the world.

Culture is presented as shared values in unit two which is about ethics in business;

practices and behaviours defining a life style in unit four which is about advertising, consumers

and safety; and finally human achievements and scientific discoveries in unit five which is about

space. The thing that is in common between these three units is that they rely on universal themes

representing transcultural materials to teach the foreign language within a cross-cultural

perspective. Hopefully, this would lead the pupils to find their place in the modern world which

is characterized by a growing globalization. It is worth noting, however, that the focus on the

49
British and American cultures is explicit as compared to other English speaking cultures which

are almost non-existing in the book.

We notice a pattern in the activities related to the reading texts and listening scripts, when

the text/script is of the culture-general type, questions usually are about the content with no

reference to culture. However, when the text/script is of the culture specific type, especially target

culture, questions sometimes challenge the learners’ cross-cultural understanding by comparing

the target culture to the local one, although, this is not always the case.

On the visual level, the textbook has a total of 95 images of different types to serve

different purposes. The images are categorized in the following table:

Images in New Prospects Photographs Diagrams Maps Cartoons Total

Number 62 16 02 15 95

Table 3: Image Distribution in New Prospects

Most of the pictures in New Prospects portray foreign people both famous and unknown

as representatives of their countries in comparison to Algerian ones; the textbook also includes

images of foreign setting representing different cultures and countries. The way in which the

pictures are represented implies a kind of relationship between the local culture and the foreign

one. The pictures of foreign people and settings are set on the same page as those of Algerian

people and settings; usually, on the front page of each unit, we find this relationship between the

self and other portrayed. For instance, the front page of unit two (see image3) represents one

picture representing the logo of an organization that fights corruption and right under it a picture

representing a group of Algerian lawyers standing in front of the Algerian accountant court

whose role is to fight corruption also.

50
 Image 3: Unit 2 Front Page

Similarly, unit three (see image 4) has on the front page a picture representing British

students at a university lecture theatre followed by a picture of Algerian students at a university

library. Unit five also falls in the same pattern (see image 5) with a picture of the British Old

Royal Observatory and the Algerian National Institute of Astronomy. This suggests that the

designers of the textbook try to create an equivalence if we might say between the foreign culture

and the local. They assume the identity of the pupils remains a determining factor in a learning of

the foreign language.

51
 Image 4: Unit 3 Front Page Image 5: Unit 5 Front Page

Overall, the visual component of the textbook conveys a positive representation of the

local as well as the foreign culture. Where the cultural content of the images is prominent we find

that the local and foreign cultures are balanced. The visual component of the textbook, however,

does not challenge the pupils’ conceptions of what is stereotypical about the foreign culture. In

addition, we find that some of the pictures are old representing celebrities from the 60s and the

80s (see image 6), learners may find themselves distant from what they represent, and eventually

from their culture. This may be due to the designers’ search for authenticity or their ignorance to

modern popular culture.

52
Image 6: Representations of Old Celebrities

53
3.4.In Depth Evaluation of Unit Three

This section will be devoted to the in-depth evaluation of unit three which was randomly

selected. The pictures and texts are organized according to the order of their occurrence in the

unit. We start with the front page of the unit which contains two pictures then move to the image

under the rubric of “Getting Started’ then listening scripts, other images, and reading texts.

Identification of image 1:

a. Type of image: photograph

b. Source of image: not mentioned

c. The role of the image: introduce theme

of Unit 3: Schools Different and Alike

Cultural content of the image:

d. What does the image represent? A

lecture presented in an amphitheater

(what appears to be foreign characters)

e. How is the foreign culture represented? The norm and tradition of lecturing in western

culture.

f. How are the social actors depicted? As a group of foreigners and they are not interacting

with the viewer.

Pedagogical role of image:

No activity or question is suggested to work on this image.

54
Identification of image 2:

a. Type of image: photograph

b. Source of image: not mentioned

c. The role of the image: introduce theme

of Unit 3: Schools Different and Alike

Cultural content of the image:

d. What does the image represent? Students

reading and doing their assignments at a

university library (local characters)

e. How is the local culture represented? Algerian students making use of the resources of

their university library. It provides a positive image of the self (local culture) because

Algerian universities are depicted as providing opportunities to develop themselves while

aspiring for good achievements and valuing higher education.

f. How are the social actors depicted? As a group of local students focusing on their studies

and they are not interacting with the viewer.

Pedagogical role of image:

No activity or question is suggested to work on this image.

55
Identification of image 3:

a. Type of image: photograph

b. Source of image: Suzan Sheerin et. al.

Spotlight on Britain , OUP, 1990, p.89.

Encarta.

c. The role of the image: illustrate the

pre-reading activity and extract

information from the learners.

Cultural content of the image:

d. What does the image represent? A biologist, two musicians, a cook, a welder, and a

biologist engaging in their respective activities (foreign characters -except for the

biologist-)

e. How is the local culture represented? Different job perspectives the learner can consider

doing in the future provided by education and required in the job market with manual and

intellectual competencies. It provides a positive view of the self and other which are both

represented in the pictures by members working as effective members of their

communities.

f. How are the social actors depicted? As individuals of local and foreign actors each

represented as an icon for a specific type of work.

Pedagogical role of image:

Four questions are attributed to this group of photos as the instruction asks the learners to

look at the pictures and answer the questions. However, some of the questions asked are

irrelevant to the content of the pictures. Question 1 asks what the learners will study at the
56
university but the pictures represent jobs not students, and even as such, some of the jobs do not

need college education like the cook and the welder. Question 4 asks why should a parent ask to

meet the headmaster, which is related to following listening activity about discussing the future

of a parent’s child with the headmaster.

Listening Script 1: A School Child’s Parent in the Headmaster’s Office

Identification of the script:

The listening script is entitled “A School Child’s Parent in the Headmaster’s Office”, it is

adapted from Cambridge First Certificate English, page 69. There is no information about the

author or the date of publication. The script is not authentic.

The cultural content of the script:

The script is a dialogue that takes place in an office between the headmaster and Mr.

Harris, who is the parent of a pupil, about the future of his child. The text is culture specific and it

portrays the target language culture (British) in a dialogue format. We can say that this dialogue

demonstrates the cultural values of British people in terms of which decision is best for a future

member of the society, in this case, Mr. Harris’s son portraying a positive image of the other.

This falls in the category of life style which refers to small c culture.

The pedagogic cultural value of the script:

The questions related to the listening script focus on developing the learners’ listening

skills but they do not target the cultural aspect of the meeting so as to challenge the students to

develop intercultural competence.

57
Identification of image 4:

a. Type of image: photograph

b. Source of image: not mentioned

c. The role of the image: introduce the

following reading text and elicit

information from the learners

Cultural content of the image:

d. The image represents: British students

at their graduation ceremony holding their degrees (foreign characters)

e. How is the foreign culture represented? The image portrays success and the sense of

achievement in the prestigious education system of Britain that emphasizes tradition and

heritage by the traditional formal graduation clothing. It provides a very positive image of

the other.

f. How are the social actors depicted? As a group of British students at their graduation

(foreigners) looking at the viewer as if waiting for congratulations.

Pedagogical role of image:

The 4 questions related to the photo are challenging to the students and they open a

dialogue between the target language culture and foreign (British) culture asking about education

in Britain and for equivalents for British degrees in Algeria and Algerian institutions in Britain.

58
Text 1: Education in Britain

Identification of the text:

The text is entitled “Education in Britain”. It is an extract from “Guide to British and

American Culture”. There are no further indications about its author, when and where it was

published. There is reference to the page from which it is extracted (p 66). The text is an adapted

extract and, thus, not authentic.

The cultural content of the text:

This text falls into the category of the culture specific genre and it portrays the target

language culture through a particular aspect of the British society, which is education. It also

portrays some of the aspects of American education as well. Both of which are English speaking

countries. The text compares the schooling system of British people to that of the Americans and

also provides facts about its importance for the people. The text then refers to large culture and

does not account for instances of small culture and it presents culture as a set of facts.

The pedagogic cultural value of the text:

The text represents British people as valuing education and considering it as the most

important subject. This is a positive view of the other. In addition, it points out the differences

between the views of British and American people to private schooling; hence, it reinforces the

differences that exist between cultures. Although most of questions devoted to the text target

other aspects than the cultural ones, all the pedagogic cultural value points mentioned are self-

evident. However, there is a question that aims to raise awareness about the differences between

the local culture and the target one asking about the differences and similarities between the

British and Algerian educational system.

59
Identification of image 5:

a. Type of the image: real image

b. Source of the image: Encarta

c. The pedagogic role of the image:

illustrate the Cultural content of the

image

Cultural content of the image:

d. The image represents: a group of British

girls in their uniforms at a girls secondary school in Britain (in the 1960s) (foreign

characters)

e. How is the foreign culture represented? The image portrays the traditional, prestigious

and long history of schooling in Britain. Although stereotypical, it provides a positive

image of the other representing discipline.

f. How are the social actors depicted? As a group of British students not interacting with the

viewers

Pedagogical role of image:

No activity or question is oriented or concerned with this image.

60
Identification of image 6:

a. Type of the image: real image

b. Source of the image: Eva Meushaw

Pumphrey, Adventures Ahead, Companion

Series, Hrcourt.

c. The pedagogic role of the image: illustrate

the listening script and introduce the topic.

Cultural content of the image:

d. The image represents: the scientist Marie

Curie in her laboratory (foreign character).

e. How is the foreign culture represented? The image portrays the importance of scientific

discoveries to humanity and their contribution to modern life. It provides a positive image

of the other.

f. How are the social actors depicted? As an individual looking at the viewers as if

presenting herself.

Pedagogical role of image:

The 5 questions related to the picture are about historical facts about Marie Curie such as

her place of birth, nationality, job and education. They do not challenge any intercultural

interaction.

61
Listening Script 2: Untitled

Identification of the script:

The second listening script is not entitled. It is adapted from Adventures Ahead, Harcourt,

the author is Eva Meushaw. There is no indication to its date of issue. There is no reference to the

page from which the script is extracted which means that the text is modified, thus it is not

authentic.

The cultural content of the script:

The text is non-culture specific and it does not portray any particular culture explicitly.

The script is divided to two parts and it is about the early life of Marie Curry when she was

young and after running away from Poland to France. The text includes the conception of culture

as facts and it refers to instances of small culture portraying some aspects of the main character’s

life style.

The pedagogic cultural value of the script:

The script talks about the early life of a scientist depicting the sufferance she went

through but that didn’t stop her from following her childhood passion in science. This is a

positive view of the other. The 3 questions devoted to the script are about linked to the previous

image of Marie Curry and about note taking. No question engages the learners in intercultural

interaction. It is worth noting though that the listening script is too long, in fact it is longer than

any other script in the textbook which might be the reason for choosing it to practice note taking

skills.

62
Identification of image 7:

a. Type of the image: diagram

b. Source of the image: D.K.

Stevenson, American Life

Institutions, U.S.L.A.

c. The pedagogic role of the image:

introduce the reading text and

illustrate the pre-reading activity.

Cultural content of the image:

d. The image represents: the scientist

Marie Curie in her laboratory (foreign character).

e. How is the foreign culture represented? The image portrays different types of schools and

education in the United States of America and how their conception of education is.

f. How are the social actors depicted? There are no social actors.

Pedagogical role of image:

The diagram raises questions and decelope a role for dialogue about the differences

between the Algerian educational system and the one of the United States of America thus it

opens the intercultural interaction between the two cultures through the only question related to

the image.

63
Text 2: Unentitled

Identification of the text:

The text is not entitled, it is an extract from American Life and Institutions published by

USIA and the name of the author is D.K. Stevenson. However; there is no indication to the

number of the page or when it was issued. The text is not authentic but an adapted one meant for

the purposes of the teaching unit.

The cultural content of the text:

The text is of the culture specific genre, it portrays the target language culture

(American). It portrays culture as facts about the educational system in the United States. It refers

to large culture.

The pedagogic cultural value of the text:

The text represents the other positively yet the questions related to it do not tackle any

cultural aspect and are strictly related to reading skills.

Conclusion

New prospects’ cultural contextualization presents a balanced representation of the

national and target culture providing positive views of both the local and target language culture.

It is visible due to the explicit visual representations yet it gives more prominence to the British

and American cultures by not including other elements from other English speaking countries

cultures. In addition to that the textbook provides some instances of cross-cultural interaction

through the activities.

64
 CHAPTER FOUR

Secondary School Teachers’ Views about ‘New Prospects’

Introduction

4.1. The Sample

4.2. Description of the Questionnaire

4.3. Analysis of the Results of the Questionnaire

4.3.1. Background Information

4.3.2. Nature of the Cultural Content of ‘New Prospects’

4.3.3. The Visual Component of ‘New Prospects’

4.4. Interpreting the Results of the Questionnaire

Conclusion

65
Introduction

This chapter is practical and is devoted to the questionnaire that aims to shed light on how

teachers view the textbook and its cultural content. First the sample of teachers will be described

then the results of the questionnaire addressed to the group of teachers will be presented and then

they are discussed in relation to the questions and hypotheses advanced at the beginning of this

dissertation.

4.1. The Sample

The target population in our study is Secondary School teachers of English. Our study

population is that of Secondary School teachers at the level of the wilaya of Oum El Bouaghi. We

approached teachers of different schools all over the wilaya including both rural villages and

urban cities to get an even perspective on the matter. We were unable to retrieve all the

questionnaires that were distributed due to the strikes and problems the Ministry of Education

was witnessing at that time. We collected 20 questionnaires back out of 35, 15 of which belong to

female teachers and 5 to male teachers.

4.2.Description of the Questionnaire

The questionnaire was addressed to Secondary School teachers. In the introduction we

explained that its aim is to investigate teachers’ perspective on the cultural content of the

textbook. The questionnaire (see appendix II) includes 21 questions presented in four parts:

‘Background Information’, ‘Nature of the Cultural Content of New Prospects’, ‘The Visual

Component of New Prospects’, and ‘Further Suggestions’.

The first part aims at gathering information about the teachers’ experience, credentials

and time of using ‘New Prospects’. The second part investigates teachers’ perception of the

66
nature of the cultural content of the textbook in terms of the cultural focus of NP (Q4); the

foreign culture that is most emphasized (Q5); the aim of the cultural content (Q6); the nature of

the cultural content (Q7, Q8, Q9 and Q10); and whether the textbook teaches the structure and

communication effectively (Q11, Q12, Q13 and Q14). The third part is about the visual

component of the textbook and it informs us about of the design and whether it helps teach and

raise awareness about culture. Finally, the last part is for teachers suggestions where they can add

their comments.

4.3.Presentation of the Results of the Questionnaire

4.3.1. Background Information

Q1: How long have you been teaching English at the secondary school?

60

50

40

30

20

10

0
1 - 10 years 10 - 20 years Over 20 years
N 4 6 10
% 20.00 30.00 50.00

Diagram 2: Teaching Experience of Teachers

From this diagram, it is clear that the highest percentage (50%) belongs to teachers with

more than 20 years of experience. A less percentage (30%) goes to teachers’ experience that

67
ranges from 10 to 20 years. The presence of novice teachers, however, is inevitable due to the

change the sector is witnessing, given that many teachers have reached their retirement.

Q2: What are your credentials?

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0
Lisence Master Magistere ENS Graduate
N 1 4 0 15
% 5.00 20.00 0.00 75.00

Diagram 3: Teachers’ Credentials

From the diagram it is clear that the majority of teachers are graduates of L’Ecole

Normale Superieure (ENS) with 75% while novice teachers who have the Master Degree

represent (20%) and are all new recruits in the field as Diagram 2 depicts. We note that there are

no teachers in our sample who have the Magistere Degree and one teacher with the Lisence

Degree with an experience that exceeds 20 years.

4.3.2. Nature of the cultural content of “New Prospects”

Q4: Do you think that ‘New Prospects’ focuses more on (you can choose more than one
answer):

a) Local culture (Algerian)

b) Foreign culture(s)

68
 c) Other

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0
a b c
N 7 13 0
% 35.00 65.00 0.00

Diagram 4: New Prospects Cultural Focus

As the diagram shows, a high percentage of the teachers surveyed (65%) think that

foreign cultures prevail in NP while the rest (35%) think that local culture is highlighted more.

The textbook, from the teachers perspective, manifests both local and foreign cultures but in

many instances the foreign culture dominates. The presence of the local is recognizable more on

the visual level than it on the linguistic texts yet references are often made to the local culture in

the follow-up activities (see chapter III)

Q5: Which foreign culture do you think the textbook emphasizes the most?

69
 90

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0
British American Other
N 17 6 0
% 85.00 30.00 0.00

Diagram 5: New Prospects Target Culture Focus

The diagram shows that 85% of the teachers think that the British culture is emphasized

the most in the textbook while 30% think that both British and American culture are emphasized.

The analysis of the textbook shows that along with international culture both British and

American cultures are prominent but references to British culture elements are always mentioned

first which is why the majority of teachers think it is emphasized.

Q6: Do you think the textbook through both the linguistic and visual components aims at

a) Raising awareness about the target-language culture

b) Raising awareness about the local culture

c) Raising awareness about the differences between the foreign and local
culture

d) Raising awareness about the importance of culture learning in learning

the language

70
 50
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
a b c d
N 13 6 11 0
% 43.33 20.00 36.67 0

Diagram 6: New Prospects’ Aim

Through the answers of the surveyed teachers and as the diagram shows, it is clear that

the aim of New Prospects is raising awareness about the target language culture (43.33%) and at

the same time raising differences between it and the local one (36.67%). A less percentage of

teachers (20%) think that it aims at raising awareness about the local culture.

Q7: Do you think that the cultural elements introduced in the textbook are introduced with
refinement?

71
 100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Yes No
N 19 1
% 95.00 5.00

Diagram 7: New Prospects’ Introduction of Cultural Elements

Although the themes chosen by the designers represent topics of shared values and are

specifically chosen for a specific group of learners (Algerian schools) the majority of teachers

think that the cultural elements are introduced with refinement. This could be due to the believe

that British and American cultures have some elements that may not be considered as acceptable

in the local culture.

Q8: Which of the following cultural elements are not represented in the textbook?

a) Beliefs

b) Values

c) Assumptions

d) Behaviours

e) Rituals

f) Superstitions

g) Symbols and Myths

h) Taboos
72
 i) Stereotypes and Prejudices

120

100

80

60

40

20

0
a b c d e f g h i
N 15 0 4 0 16 18 5 20 20
% 75.00 0 20.00 0 80.00 90.00 25.00 100.00 100.00

Diagram 8: Cultural Elements Not Represented in New Prospects

The ranking of cultural elements from ‘not represented at all’ to ‘represented the most’ is

as follows: Stereotypes and Prejudices (100%), Taboos (100%), Superstitions (90%), Rituals

(80%), Beliefs (75%), Symbols and Myths (25%), Assumptions (20%), which makes Values

(0%) and Behaviours (0%) the most represented. This is in correlation with the previous question

and the fact the cultural elements are introduced with refinement.

Q9: Do you think the textbook creates a positive view about the speakers of English?

73
 90

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0
Yes No No answer
N 16 3 1
% 80.00 15.00 5.00

Diagram 9: New Prospects role in creating a positive view about the speakers of English

The diagram shows that a considerable number of teachers (80%) think that NP creates a

positive view about the speakers of English while a small number (15%) have an opposing

opinion as to whether New Prospects creates a positive view about the speakers of English. One

teacher chose not to answer the question.

Q10: Please justify your answer

Justifications advanced by teachers

yes “The textbook focuses on representing what is best in the target language culture, and

that is positive values mostly”

yes “The textbook reflects the English speaking countries’ culture, their ethical issues and

civilization positively”

yes “Through the topics it treats like: ethics, food safety and education… They are all

current related to the modern world and this may have a positive impact on how

learners view English speakers”

74
no It simply does not give us neither a positive nor a negative view about the language

and its speakers. We cannot develop a clear picture about them depending on the

content of the textbook.

No “It is neutral”

answer

Table 4: Teachers’ Justifications about the View the Textbook represents of English

speakers

The majority of teachers think that the textbook creates a positive view of the speakers of

English through the topics chosen; the latter manifests the good values of the people who speak

the language. On the other hand, a minority of teachers think that this question cannot be

answered simply because the content does not show so. One teacher chose not to answer the

question because she thinks that the textbook is neutral. We can say that some teachers still find

the content of the textbook a bit vague; this can be attributed to the lack of teaching experience.

Q11: Do you think the textbook achieves its purpose of teaching English communicatively?

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0
Yes No
N 6 14
% 30.00 70.00

Diagram 10: New Prospects Teaching English Communicatively

75
 A considerable number of teachers (70%) think that the textbook does not achieve its

purpose of teaching English communicatively, while the rest (30%) think that it does.

Q12: Please justify your answer

Justifications advanced by teachers

Yes “Because it includes listening texts which aim at improving learners' speaking abilities.”

No “Because the tasks are all in front of the pupil which gives the impression of solving an

exercise rather than discussing issues using the language. This is an important matter

about textbooks, I think tasks should be available to teachers only not to make pupils

slaves for the book”

No “Many elements that are most needed in communication are simply missing in this

textbook, it focuses more on grammar and pronunciation, the focus is more on accuracy

not fluency.”

No “The textbook does not provide many communicative tasks and the listening texts are too

long that they make the learners lose interest in both listening and eventually speaking.”

No “The textbook presents the language points in a static manner, isolated and without a real

context for the learners to fit them in”

Table 5: Teachers’ Justifications about the Textbook and Teaching Communication

The arguments advanced by the teachers fall in favour of the textbook not achieving it

purpose of teaching English communicatively although it is culturally contextualized. This may

be due to the manner in which exercises are presented to learners in a way that does not engage

students in speaking rather than repeating some extracts of the reading texts or listening scripts as

some of the teachers explained.

76
Q13: Do you think the textbook achieves its purpose of teaching the structural components
of English?

All the target group of teachers thinks that the textbook achieves its purpose of teaching

structural English this might be due to the focus on grammar within the teaching unites in

addition to the grammar references at the end of the textbook.

Q14: Please justify your answer

Justifications Advanced by Teachers

Yes “The textbook relies heavily on presenting the language points in a structural manner,

much like that of the natural order of acquisition”

Yes “The textbook is very rich in terms of teaching structures though it lacks practice.”

Yes “Somehow it did yet there is no enough practice and depending on the lessons provided

in the textbook only and the learners level the teaching and learning objectives may not

be achieved”

Yes “The texts it includes target each time specific structures to be taught to language

learners.”

Table 6: Teachers’ Justifications about the Textbook and Teaching Structure

As table 6 denotes all teachers believe that the textbook is rich in terms of teaching

grammar, however, the lack of practice is mentioned this might be due to the large number of

items including grammar, writing, vocabulary and pronunciation which makes it hard for teachers

to cover everything when the textbook does not provide enough activities.

Q15: Do you think your pupils like using the textbook?

77
 80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0
Yes No Not sure
N 6 0 14
% 30.00 0.00 70.00

Diagram 11: The Textbook Preferability by the Learners

As the diagram shows (30%) of teachers affirm that their students like using the textbook

on the other hand the majority (70%) are not sure. However, no teacher thinks that students

dislike using the textbook.

4.3.3. The visual component of “New Prospects”

Q16: Do you think the textbook is appealing and motivating to pupils based on its design
and layout?

78
 50
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Yes No Not sure
N 9 4 7
% 45.00 20.00 35.00

Diagram 12: The Textbook Appeal

As Diagram 13 denotes (45%) of teachers think that the textbook is appealing to their

students, (20%) believe that it is not appealing and motivating yet learners do not dislike using it

(based on question 12) and the rest (35%) are not sure whether their students find it motivating.

The reason why some teachers think that the textbook is not motivating might be due the length

of the listening scripts which makes learners lose interest in them also because the reading texts

are hard and sometimes surpass the level of the average student.

Q17: Do you think the visual component of the textbook helps teach about culture?

79
 90

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0
Yes No No answer
N 16 1 3
% 80.00 5.00 15.00

Diagram 13: Visuals Role in Teaching Culture

Nearly all the teachers (80%) who answered the question believe that the visual

component of the textbook help teach about culture except for one teacher. 3 teachers chose not

to answer the question. This might be due to the rich visual design of New Prospects including

real photographs, diagrams, maps, and drawings that are incorporated to contextualize the

linguistic texts.

Q18: Please justify your answer

Reasons advanced by teachers

No “It takes more than static pictures, which the book relies on, to help teach about

culture.”

Yes “The visual components enrich the themes of the units.”

Yes “Pictures like the ones in pages 106-107 and others help learners know about foreign

cultures (English in particular).”

Table 7: Teachers’ Justifications about the Textbook Visual Representation of Culture

80
Q19: To what extent do you think that the linguistic component of the text book goes in
harmony with the visual one with relation to culture?

a) To a very large extent

b) To a moderate extent

c) To a very small extent

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0
a b c
N 8 12 0
% 40.00 60.00 0.00

Diagram 14: The Harmony between the Visual and Linguistic Components

As shown in the diagram above the majority of teachers (60%) think that the linguistic

and visual components go in harmony to a moderate extent the remaining (40%) think that they

go in harmony to a very large extent. What is important to note, though, is that no one of them

think that they are not in harmony.

Q20: What is the reaction of your pupils towards the visual components of the textbook?

a) They make use of the illustrations to understand the texts

b) They ask about the people, places and things represented in the
illustrations

c) They ask about the cultural value of the people, places and things
represented in the illustrations
81
 d) They make a correlation between the represented illustrations about the
foreign culture and the local one

e) They do not show much interest in the illustrations

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0
a b c d
N 6 0 0 14
% 30.00 0.00 0.00 70.00

Diagram 15: The Use of the Visual Components

As shown in Diagram 16 above, learners do not react as expected to the different

illustrations included in the textbook. The majority of teachers (70%) think that their learners do

not show much interest in the different visual aids of the textbook and the remaining (30%)

believe that the learners use the illustration to understand the texts.

Although visual components play a huge role in the learning of a foreign language

learners do not pay much attention to them. This might be due to the learners’ ignorance of using

the textbook and also to the teachers’ inability to cover every item including discussing the

pictures when needed due to the length of the teaching units.

82
Q21: Do you have any comment that may help us in our study?

Suggestion by Teachers

T1 “The cultural component takes an important portion of the aims to be achieved on a

theoretical basis, but it is practically neglected in practice for two main reasons:

- Teacher neglect it completely due to the pressure put to finish the program.

-Teachers neglect it because they don’t believe it matters that much , not as much as

grammar anyway.”

T2 “The textbook "new prospects" is very rich as far as the variety of themes, structures and

vocabulary are concerned. However, it still lacks an emphasis on worldwide range of

cultures to widen LLs' horizons and to enable them not to have prejudices.”

T3 “It would be better if the current textbook is revised and corrected. Many things are

irrelevant to the learners’ reality and aren’t interesting and worst most of the components

are demotivating. If they revise it taking into consideration the opinion of the teachers

facing all the learners’ problems not depending on those sitting behind their desks trying

to apply things that don’t fit here in our society with our learners that would be a huge

leap for our way of thinking”

T4 “Learners' level doesn’t help us teach using the communicative and competency based

approaches. Also, their level doesn’t allow them understand what we teach about the

different aspects of language including culture.”

Table 8: Further Suggestions by Teachers

83
4.4.Interpreting The Results of the Questionnaire

Some important and unexpected facts were revealed in the teachers’ questionnaire.

Although the sample of surveyed teachers contains some novice teachers, 4 to be exact with an

experience less than 10 years but combined with the more experienced teachers we can consider

the results as solid and deep. Thus showing whether the changes brought about the education

reform as quest for a better learning experience of English as well as the culture it vehicles within

it reach their goals. These repeated quests through the third change in curricular shows how much

English is given a great importance as a compulsory subject matter all over the nation.

The answers of the surveyed sample of teachers show their respective attitudes

concerning some issues about culture representation, unequal goals of teaching all language skills

and the structural and communicative components.

Cultural contextualization is important to teaching English as a foreign language in

Algerian secondary schools. The answers of the teachers revealed that the designers focused only

on British and American cultures as target language cultures. Setting aside international culture

and local culture, no other English speaking cultures are represented.

4.5.Pedagogical Implementations

Taking into consideration the research findings and their subsequent, this element aims at

providing a set of suggestions which would illuminate textbook design and open perspectives to

further research to improve cultural contextualisation in locally designed EFL teaching materials.

Therefore addressing the multifaceted concerns relating to cultural contextualisation, its

underlying ideologies, and its subsequent influences it suggests that education policy makers

reconsider their choices and syllabus designers rethink the contents of the materials both as

concerns linguistic texts and visual images. It also highlights the importance of reconsidering the

84
linguistic theory which underlies the teaching methodology in an attempt to reinforce the

functional aspects of social interaction through which language and culture are intricately related.

By doing so the designed materials will come closer to social reality of the learners and

open new perspectives for heteroglossia with multiple voices interacting to create a Third Space

where the Self engages in an enriching dialogue with the Other. Moreover, they will contribute to

developing the learners’ multiliteracies by promoting a transformative pedagogy and

implementing cultural humility.

Conclusion

The analysis of the questionnaire provides important elements concerning the way

cultural contextualisation in the textbook is perceived by the teachers who are/have been using it.

The teachers’ answers to the different questions constitute an insightful evaluation of the

materials. They reveal how the teachers are sensitive to the linguistic, visual and cultural contents

of the textbook.

85
General Conclusion

Our thesis has investigated the cultural contextualization of a locally designed textbook

‘New Prospects’ with focus on culture. Culture constitutes the hidden curriculum of any teaching

material and it is essential for the promotion of an EFL class, thus, it is important that the cultural

contents of the teaching material provide a healthy learning environment to construct the learners

intercultural communicative competences.

Taking into consideration the competency based approach brought about by the general

Education Reform the dissertation has attempted to shed light on the types of cultural content

used in the textbook. It enquired about the attitudes towards the cultural content both and how

they are depicted both visually and linguistically. We hypothesized that the textbook favours

British and American language cultures as the only context for learning English while at the same

time keeping the national/local culture into perspective. The main objective of the dissertation

was assessing the cultural content of the textbook with a look on the representation of the self and

other, it further addresses the cross-cultural teaching set by the different activities of the textbook.

The multimodal layout of the textbook that contains loads of images and texts adds meaning and

conveys culture thus evaluating the textbook using a model that evaluates the textbook in a

comprehensive way taking into consideration both the visual and linguistic component is a

necessity. Furthermore, a questionnaire illuminated the results by providing teachers’ perspective

revealing that the British and American cultures are favoured as the only legitimate target culture

context for teaching English along with the local culture that has been given a considerable space

both linguistically and visually.

86
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Appendices

Appendix 1: Listening Scripts and Reading Texts in New Prospects

Unit 3, script 1: Listen and consider

A School Child's Parent in the Headmaster's Office

Headmaster: Good morning, Mr Harris. Do sit down. I understand you'd like have a word with
me about William.

Harris: Yes, that's right, Headmaster. I felt I should see you as soon as possible before William
does anything he'll regret.

Regret, Mr Harris?

Harris: Well, you see, he's set his heart on becoming an artist, and my wife and I think he ought
to take up something more secure. I mean even if he went to an Art School, there'd be no
guarantee he could get a good job afterwards.

Headmaster: He could probably teach, Mr Harris.

Mr Harris: He wouldn't like that. He says he wouldn't be a teacher even if it were the last job on
earth - Oh, I beg your pardon, Headmaster, I didn't mean

Headmaster: Not at all, Mr Harris. I wouldn't have been a teacher myself if I'd had my way. I'd
have been an actor if my parents had let me. So I have some sympathy with William's problems.
Now, let's see... If he wants to be an artist, he'll have to decide what sort of artist he wants to be.

Mr Harris: I don't quite follow you, Headmaster.

Headmaster: Well, what I mean is, if he wanted to be a commercial artist, graphics, cartoons, that
sort of thing, he might do very well if he took an art course at a Technical College.

Mr Harris: But art, Headmaster. It's so chancy. I wish he weren't so set on it.

Headmaster: I don't think you should stand in his way, Mr Harris. If I were you, I'd let him decide
for himself. You'd better accept the fact that nowadays people don't worry about security the way
we did when we were young. And as I said, unless you let him make his own choice now, he will
reproach you for any of his study failures later.

Mr Harris : Well, I must admit my wife and I would have felt much happier if he'd chosen to do
something else. Anyway thank you for your advice, headmaster.

Headmaster: You're welcome.

(Adapted from Cambridge First Certificate English, p.69)

Unit 3, script 2: Listening and speaking First part of the life story

A shy, frightened child stood before a government school inspector in a Polish school room.

"Name the Czars of Russia," he barked.

The girl did so in a voice which she tried to keep steady.

"Who governs us?"

The child hesitated. Her teacher and her schoolmates looked anxious. "Answer me !" came the
sharp command.

"His Majesty, Alexander the Second, Czar of all the Russians," came the clear, low voice of the
student.

The inspector glanced quickly around the room to check up on the others All

the girls were bending low over their tables, and he could not see their faces "Very well, then;
remember!" he said to all in general, and walked out of the

room. Later, when the inspector left, the teacher called, "Come here, my little soul." And the
child sank down beside her and burst into tears.

Warsaw, the birthplace of Manya Sklodovsky, was then ruled by Russia. Russian inspectors
made sudden visits to the unhappy country roundabout, seeking to spy out possible trouble. Even
the schools were watched. Manya had been chosen for examination that day, as often because she
was bright and dependable.

At home, as well as at school, she was called Manya Her father was a professor of physics. She
grew up helping him at his work, busily washing bottles and test tubes and learning to love
science. Her mother died when Manya was very young and Dr Sklodovsky tried to be both father
and mother to his four girls and one boy. All of them were good students. They spent many of
their evenings before the fire, as their father told them stories or helped them with their lessons.
Dr Sklodovsky was skilled in arts and languages as well as in science.

"He knew everything or nearly everything," his children said of him later.

However, before his children were grown, Dr Sklodovsky had difficulties with the Russian rulers.
He lost his position and had to take a humbler teaching job From the time she was ten until she
reached middle age, Manya faced struggle and hardship.

When she was eighteen, she went to work as a teacher in a private home She saved as much as
she could of her small salary and went to Pans for further study. There she was known as Marie
One reason for her choice of Paris was that an older sister, Bronya, had married and moved to
that city. Another reason was the excellence of the universities. She attended a chemistry course.
Second part of the life story

At first she lived in her sister's home, but it was so far from the university that she took a single
room and lived alone. Her small savings were soon gone, and her father was able to send her only
very little money.-For some reason, she did not want her sister to know that she was living from
hand to mouth She never missed her beloved classes until the day when she fainted m the street

Her sister's husband was a doctor. He came on the run Marie was taken to her room His keen
eyes took in the bare furnishings He could not find even the makings of a cup of tea

"What did you eat today ?" he asked.

"Today? Why, I can't seem to remember"

"Yesterday, then?"

"Oh, yesterday why, I had some cherries - and all sorts of things"

He bundled her up and took her home in a cab to her sister Bronya "Take care of the little one,"
he called from the bottom of the steps "I'm off to get a prescription filled" The "prescription" was
a large steak and some French fried potatoes

The next day, rested and fed, she returned to her cold attic room, promising to take better care of
herself. She longed to be back to the laboratory. She liked even the smells of the chemicals She
wanted to take not one but two degrees - both a master's and a doctorate of science Then armed
with these she could return to her beloved Poland and work side by side with her father.

But in the meantime, she became acquainted with a young French professor. His life was also
devoted to science He was French, and of a good family, and his name was Pierre Curie He was
so underpaid and so deep in his work that he had decided never to marry. But in spite of himself
he became deeply interested in this Polish girl with the intense grey eyes and delicate features,
who was as keen on test tubes as he himself was

Weeks and months passed At last Mane wrote to her father that she was not coming back to
Warsaw, she was going to marry Professor Pierre Curie. They were poor, but they had the same
tastes, and could continue their work together. For a wedding trip they rode out into the country
on bicycles

When they got back to their little apartment, Mane made a humiliating discovery. She couldn't
For years she had done her most delicate work in the laboratory, but now she had no idea of how
to prepare string beans She bought a cookbook and followed it as carefully as if she were doing
an experiment in physics Pierre never complained His thoughts were so taken up with his work
that he didn't pay much attention to what he ate

(Adapted from Eva Meushaw, ed. Adventures Ahead, Harcourt)

Text 1:

Education in Britain

No subject has as much importance for the British people that of education. Most citizens believe
that the state should provide education free of charge and to a high standard as well. At election
time, politicians who promise to spend a great deal money on education are more popular than
those who promise only a little. Recently there has been a lot of talk as to whether dents must pay
their own fees at university or not. A lot of people are afraid that Higher Education might be
reserved for privileged few because poorer students would not receive enough financial help
from the government. This is the reason why private education is less accepted in Britain than it
is in the States.

Children are required to be in full-time education between C ages of 5 and 16. Some receive their
primary education at an infant school and then a junior school whereas others receive at a
primary school that combines the two. At about 11, they begin their secondary education at a
comprehensive school or grammar school Secondary schools are much larger than primary
schools and students may have to travel longer distances r school bus or public transport. The
students take the Standard assessment Tests (SATs) at 14, then study towards the General
certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) in as many subjects they can manage, usually eight to
ten Afterwards, some students will start work while a few others will go to a sixth-form college
to study for Advanced (A) Levels in two, three, or four subjects in order to enter university. This
requirement is more or less similar to what is required by American universities.

A National Curriculum was introduced in 1988. It has made the current British educational
system different from the previous ones in at least two major aspects. First, unlike the old system,
the present system sets the same subjects for all state schools. Children have to study the core
subjects of English, mathematics and science, and also the foundation subjects of technology,
geography, history, art and physical education. Second, in contrast to the old practice, standards
at individual schools are watched closely by parents and the government. Schools are visited
regularly by inspectors, and school performance tables are published annually to show how well
individual schools have done in tests and exams. These 'league' tables enable parents to compare
one school with another. Schools which do not make adequate progress run a high risk of being
closed.

(From Guide to British and American Culture, p. 66)

Text 2:

Although in general Americans prefer to limit the influence of government, this is not the case
where education is concerned. All levels of government are involved in education, and it is
considered to be one of their most important responsibilities. The Federal Government provides
some money for education through the Department of Education. But state and local governments
have direct control and are responsible for the education of students between the ages of 5 and
18. Formal education is usually considered to begin at the age of 5 when children go to
kindergarten. Kindergarten and the next five or six years of education (first grade, second grade,
etc) are together usually called elementary school (the term primary school is less common in the
US than in Britain). Grades seven to twelve are part of secondary education, and may be divided
between junior high school and senior high school. Other school systems have middle school,
where children spend two years. High school usually covers four years, from the ninth to the
twelfth grade. Post-secondary education (also called University or Higher or Tertiary Education)
after twelfth grade, is not free though state governments, which run most of the educational
institutions, subsidize the cost for people who live in the state. By some standards, American
education seems very successful. Although young people must attend school until they are 16,
over 80% continue until they are 18 About 45 % of Americans have some post-secondary
education and over 20% graduate from college or university However, 20% of adults, i.e. about
40 million people, have very limited skills in reading and writing, and 4%, i.e., about 8 million
people, are illiterate Most educational institutions in the US are public (run by the government),
but there are some private schools for which students have to pay a lot of money to attend. Many
private schools have a high reputation, and parents send their children there so that they will have
advantages later in life. Americans agree on the importance of education being available to all,
but there is disagreement about what should be taught. The greatest area of-disagreement is the
place of religious and moral education. Commonly debated topics include whether teachers
should ask students to say prayers and whether it is right to beat students for punishment.
Sometimes the debate ends up in court of justice, and courts usually say that students shouldn't be
forced to do something that is against their beliefs.

(From D.K. Stevenson, American life and Institutions, USIA)

Appendix 2: Questionnaire to Teachers

Teachers’ Questionnaire

Dear Teacher:

Through this questionnaire we aim at gathering information with about the cultural

content of the 3rd year secondary school English textbook “New Prospect” in order to evaluate it.

Please answer the following questions by ticking the appropriate answer(s) or write full

statements when needed. Thank you so much for your time and cooperation.

Mr. LAROUK Abdeldjalil

Department of English
University of O.E.B
Part One: Background Information

1) How long have you been teaching English at the secondary school?
………………………………………………………………………………………
2) What are your credentials?
License degree
Master’s degree
Magister degree
3) How long have you been teaching using ‘New Prospects’?
………………………………………………………………………………………
Part Two: Nature of the Cultural Content of “New Prospects”

4) Do you think that ‘New Prospects’ focuses more on:

a) Local culture (Algerian)
b) Foreign culture(s)
c) Other:
Please specify……………………...……………………………………………
5) Which foreign culture do you think the textbook emphasizes the most?
a) British
b) American
c) Other:
Please specify………………...…………………………………………………
6) Do you think the textbook through both the linguistic and visual components
aims at
a) Raising awareness about the target-language culture
b) Raising awareness about the local culture
c) Raising awareness about the differences between the foreign and local culture
d) Raising awareness about the importance of culture learning in learning the
language
7) Do you think that the cultural elements introduced in the textbook are
introduced with refinement?
a) Yes
b) No
8) Which of the following cultural elements are not represented in the textbook
a) Beliefs
b) Values
c) Assumptions
d) Behaviours
e) Rituals
f) Superstitions
g) Symbols and Myths
h) Taboos
 i) Stereotypes and Prejudices
9) Do you think the textbook creates a positive view about the speakers of
English?
a) Yes
b) No
10) Please justify your answer
………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………
11) Do you think the textbook achieves its purpose of teaching English
communicatively?
a) Yes
b) No
12) Please justify your answer
………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………
13) Do you think the textbook achieves its purpose of teaching the structural
components of English?
a) Yes
b) No
14) Please justify your answer
………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………
15) Do you think your pupils like using the textbook?
a) Yes
b) No
c) Not sure
Part three: The Visual Component of “New Prospects”

16) Do you think the textbook is appealing and motivating to pupils based on its
design and layout?
a) Yes
b) No
c) Not sure
17) Do you think the visual component of the textbook helps teach about culture?
a) Yes
b) No
18) Please justify your answer
………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………
 19) To what extent do you think that the linguistic component of the text book
goes in harmony with the visual one with relation to culture?
a) To a very large extent
b) To a moderate extent
c) To a very small extent
20) What is the reaction of your pupils towards the visual components of the
textbook?
a) They make use of the illustrations to understand the texts
b) They ask about the people, places and things represented in the illustrations
c) They ask about the cultural value of the people, places and things represented
in the illustrations
d) They make a correlation between the represented illustrations about the
foreign culture and the local one
e) They do not show much interest in the illustrations

Part Four: Further Suggestions

21) Do you have any comment that may help us in our study?
………………………………………………………………………………………
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Thank you