(Inter)cultural content in Spanish as a non-native language textbooks

  1. López-Jiménez, María Dolores 1
  1. 1 Universidad Pablo de Olavide
    info

    Universidad Pablo de Olavide

    Sevilla, España

    ROR https://ror.org/02z749649

Journal:
Porta Linguarum: revista internacional de didáctica de las lenguas extranjeras

ISSN: 1697-7467

Year of publication: 2024

Issue Title: PREVIEW-January

Issue: 41

Type: Article

More publications in: Porta Linguarum: revista internacional de didáctica de las lenguas extranjeras

Abstract

Research on the role of culture in textbooks for teaching Spanish as an non-native language (L2) is almost non-existent. Cultural studies note that the treatment of culture in the L2 classroom lacks systematicity apart from not being principled at all. This article analyzes 9 Spanish as an L2 textbooks from three proficiency levels, that is, beginning, intermediate, and advanced, published between 2008-2018 by Spanish publishing houses, and aimed at young adults and adults. The results indicate that the (inter)cultural approach in these textbooks is hardly principled, informed, organized, and structured. The proficiency levels and the publication years do not exert a clear influence on the (inter)cultural approach. Instead, the publishing market partly determines the (inter)cultural content in the textbooks under study. FUNDING INFORMATION This research was supported by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF, 80 %) and by the Department of Economy, Knowledge, Business and University of the Andalusian Regional Government (20 %) within the framework of the research project UPO-1380541. 

Bibliographic References

  • Abello-Contesse, C., & López-Jiménez, M.D. (2010). The treatment of lexical collocations in EFL textbooks. In M. Moreno Jaén, F. Serrano Valverde, & M. Calzada Pérez (Eds.), Exploring new paths in language pedagogy (pp. 95–109). Equinox.
  • Alptekin, C. (2002). Towards intercultural communicative competence in ELT. ELT Journal, 56(1), 57–64. https://doi.org/10.1093/elt/56.1.57
  • Arizpe, V., & Aguirre, B.E. (1987). Mexican, Puerto Rican, and Cuban ethnic groups in first-year college-level Spanish textbooks. Modern Language Journal, 71(2), 125–137. https://doi.org/10.2307/327196
  • Atkinson, D. (1999). TESOL and culture. TESOL Quarterly, 33(4), 625–654. https://doi.org/10.2307/3587880
  • Baker, W. (2012). From cultural awareness to intercultural awareness: Culture in ELT. ELT Journal, 66(1), 62–70. https://doi.org/10.1093/elt/ccr017
  • Baleghizadeh, S., & Shayesteh, L.A. (2020). A content analysis of the cultural representations of three ESL grammar textbooks, Cogent Education, 7(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/2331186X.2020.1844849
  • Bennett, J.M., Bennett, M.J., & Allen, W. (2003). Developing intercultural competence in the language classroom. In D.L. Lange & R.M. Paige (Eds.), Culture as the core: Perspectives on culture in second language learning (pp. 13–46). Information Age Publishing.
  • Brody, J. (2003). A linguistic anthropological perspective on language and culture in the second language curriculum In D. Lange & R.M. Page (Eds.), Culture as the core: Perspectives on culture in second language education (pp. 37–52). Greenwich Information Age Publishing INC.
  • Brown, H.D. (2000). Principles of language learning and teaching. Pearson Education.
  • Byram, M. (1997). Teaching and assessing intercultural communicative competence. Multilingual Matters.
  • Byram, M. (Ed.). (2000). Routledge encyclopedia of language teaching and learning. Routledge.
  • Byram, M. (2008). From foreign language education to education for intercultural citizenship. Multilingual Matters.
  • Byram, M. (2011). Intercultural citizenship from an international perspective. Journal of the NUS Teaching Academy, 1(1), 10–20.
  • Byram, M. (2014). Twenty-five years on: From cultural studies to intercultural citizenship. Language, Culture and Curriculum, 27(3), 209–225. https://doi.org/10.1080/07908318.2014.974329
  • Byram, M., & Feng, A. (2004). Culture and language learning: Teaching, research and scholarship. Language teaching, 37(3), 149–168. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0261444804002289
  • Byram. M., & Fleming, M. (1998). Language learning in intercultural perspective: Approaches through drama and ethnography. Cambridge University Press.
  • Byram, M., & Morgan, C. (1994). Teaching-and-learning language and culture. Multilingual Matters.
  • Chastain, K. (1988). Developing second language skills: Theory and practice. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
  • Clavel-Arroitia, B., & Fuster-Márquez, M. (2014). The authenticity of real texts in advanced English language textbooks. ELT Journal, 68(2), 124–134. https://doi.org/10.1093/elt/cct060
  • Cortazzi, M., & Jin, L.X. (1999). Cultural mirrors: Materials and methods in the EFL classroom. In E. Hinkel (Ed.), Culture in second language teaching and learning (pp. 196–219). Cambridge University Press.
  • Cunningsworth, A. (1995). Choosing your coursebook. Heineman.
  • Elissondo, G. (2001). Representing Latino/a culture in introductory Spanish textbooks. National Association of African American Studies. Culture Monograph Series, 1, 71–99.
  • Gil Bürmann, M., & León Abío, P. (1998). El componente cultural en los manuales de E/LE: Análisis de materiales. REALE, 9-10, 87–105.
  • Heusinkveld, P.R. (1985). The foreign language classroom: A forum for understanding cultural stereotypes. Foreign Language Annals, 18(4), 321–325. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1944-9720.1985.tb01809.x
  • Hinkel, E. (2001). Building awareness and practical skills to facilitate crosscultural communication. In M. Celce-Murcia (Ed.), Teaching English as a second or foreign language (pp. 443–458). Heinle & Heinle.
  • Holliday, A. (1996). Developing a sociological imagination: Expanding ethnography in international English language education. Applied Linguistics 17, 234–255. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/17.2.234
  • Holliday, A. (1999). Small cultures. Applied Linguistics, 20, 237–264. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/20.2.237
  • House, J. (2007). What is an ‘Intercultural speaker’? In E. Alcón Soler & M.P. Safont Jordá (Eds.), Intercultural language use and language learning (pp. 7–21). Springer.
  • Illescas García, A. (2016). La competencia intercultural y su inclusión en los manuales de ELE. Porta Linguarum, 26, 67–79. https://doi.org/10.30827/Digibug.53924
  • Kramsch, C. (1993). Context and culture in language teaching. Oxford University Press.
  • Kramsch, C.J. (1998). Language and culture. Oxford University Press.
  • Lam, Phoenix W.Y. (2009). Discourse particles in corpus data and textbooks: The case of well. Applied Linguistics, 31(2), 260–281. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/amp026
  • Larrea Espinar, A., & Raigón Rodríguez, A. (2020). La presencia de la cultura en los libros de texto: Una herramienta para la evaluación de aspectos culturales. Círculo de Lingüística Aplicada a la Comunicación, 84, 113–122. https://doi.org/10.5209/clac.71999
  • Liu, S. (2013). Students’ attitudes toward culture learning in the English classroom: A case study of non-English major students in a Chinese university. International Journal of English Language Education, 1(3), 28–42. https://doi.org/10.5296/ijele.v1i3.3508
  • Masuhara, H., Hann, N., Yi, Y., & Tomlinson, B. (2008). Adult EFL Courses. ELT Journal, 62(3), 294–312. https://doi.org/10.1093/elt/ccn028
  • McKay, S.L. (2003). Toward an appropriate EIL pedagogy: Re-examining common ELT assumptions. International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 13(1), 1–22. https://doi.org/10.1111/1473-4192.00035
  • Morgan, C. (1993). Attitude change and foreign language culture learning. Language Teaching, 26(2), 63–75.
  • Níkleva, D.G. (2012). La competencia intercultural y el tratamiento de contenidos culturales en manuales de español como lengua extranjera. RESLA, 25, 165–187.
  • Omaggio Hadley, A.C. (1993). Teaching language in context. Proficiency-oriented instruction. Heinle & Heinle Publishers.
  • Paige, R.M., Jorstad, H., Siaya, L., Klein, F., & Colby, J. (2003). Culture learning in language education: A review of the literature. In D. Lange & M. Paige (Eds.) Culture as the Core: Perspectives on culture in second language education (pp. 173–236). Information Age Publishing.
  • Pinnix, E.S. (1990). An analysis of culture content in selected first-year high school Spanish textbooks. Doctoral dissertation, University of Georgia.
  • Rajabi, S., & Ketabi, S. (2012). Aspects of cultural elements in prominent English textbooks for EFL setting. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 2(4), 705–712. https://doi.org/10.4304/tpls.2.4.705-712
  • Ramírez, K., & Hall, J.K. (1990). Language and culture in secondary level Spanish textbooks. Modern Language Journal, 74(1), 48–65. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4781.1990.tb02553.x
  • Risager, K. (2011). The cultural dimensions of language teaching and learning. Language Teaching, 44(4), 485–499. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0261444811000280
  • Robles Ávila, S., & Palmer, I. (2020). Competencia pluricultural en ELE: de los documentos de referencia a los manuales de español actuales. Porta Linguarum, 34, 125–143. http://hdl.handle.net/10481/63862
  • Sadeghi, K., & Sepahi, Z. (2017). Cultural content of three EFL textbooks: Teachers’ and learners’ cultural preferences and cultural themes of textbooks. Pedagogies: An International Journal, 13(3), 222–245. https://doi.org/10.1080/1554480X.2017.1417128
  • Sercu, L. (2000). Acquiring intercultural communicative competence from textbooks. The case of Flemish adolescent pupils learning German. Leuven University Press.
  • Shin, J., Zohreh, R.E., & Chen, W-C. (2011). Presentation of local and international culture in current international English-language teaching textbooks. Language, Culture, and Curriculum 24(3), 253–268. https://doi.org/10.1080/07908318.2011.614694
  • Tomlinson, B., Dat, B., Masuhara, H., Rubdy, R. (2001). EFL courses for adults. ELT Journal, 55(1), 80–101. https://doi.org/10.1093/elt/55.1.80
  • Webber, M. J. (1987). The role of culture in a competence‐based syllabus. Theory into Practice, 26(4), 251–257. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220272.2015.1056233
  • Williams, S.A. (1978). Spanish cultural materials with a local focus: The Chicano, Cuban, and Puerto Rican Connection. Foreign Language Annals, 11, 375–380. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1944-9720.1978.tb00052.x
  • Young, T.J., Sachdev, I., & Seedhouse, P. (2009). Teaching and learning culture on English language programmes: A critical review of the recent empirical literature. Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching, 3(2), 149–169. https://doi.org/10.1080/17501220802283178
  • Yuen, K-M. (2011). The representation of foreign cultures in English texbooks. ELT Journal 65(4), 458–466. https://doi.org/10.1093/elt/ccq089
  • Zu, L., & Kong, Z. (2009). A study on the approaches to culture introduction in English textbooks. CCSE English Language Teaching, 2(1), 112–118. https://doi.org/10.5539/elt.v2n1p112
  • FUNDING INFORMATION
  • This research was supported by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF, 80 %) and by the Department of Economy, Knowledge, Business and University of the Andalusian Regional Government (20 %) within the framework of the research project UPO-1380541.