An Analysis of Cultural Content in Reading, Listening and Speaking Texts in EFL Textbooks used by the First Graders of Senior High School

Abstract

The study was conducted to examine the representation of culture in EFL (English as Foreign Language) textbooks used by the first graders of senior high school. There were two textbooks being analyzed, Look Ahead 1 (Sudarwati& Grace, 2007) and Linked to THE WORLD (Soeprapto&Darwis, 2005). It focused on analyzing the cultural contents in reading, listening and speaking texts. The data was analyzed quantitatively and elaborated qualitatively. The findings showed that the two textbooks tended to represent International culture. Moreover, there were two other cultures being represented through the texts such as Indonesian and Western culture. Further, several cultural contents were also found in texts which symbolized special characteristics of each culture. One pedagogical implication from the findings is that if the textbooks provide a dominant role for International culture, teachers can try to supplement the textbooks with a variety of materials about the uses and the users of English in students' local contexts (McKay, 2012, p.87).