Tiwaporn Kongsom. Teachers' and undergraduate students attitudes toward learning about the target-language culture and cultural content included in an EFL textbook. (). King Mongkut's University of Technology North Bangkok. Central Library. : , 2018.
Teachers' and undergraduate students attitudes toward learning about the target-language culture and cultural content included in an EFL textbook
Abstract:
This study investigates Thai EFL teachersand undergraduate students attitudes toward learning
about the target-language cultural content included in an EFL textbook used in a foundation English course.
Thirteen Thai EFL teachers and 238 undergraduate students participated in the study. Data were collected
using an EFL textbook, questionnaires, and semi-structured interviews. The findings from the EFL textbook
analysis showed that the tasks on the target-language cultural content were most frequently presented
in the analyzed EFL textbook. With respect to the cultural themes included in the textbook, the findings
revealed that 12 cultural themes under big C or visible culture and little c or invisible culture were
discovered in most tasks of the textbook. The top-five themes found in the textbook were lifestyles,
followed by certain knowledge, values, customs, education, and hobbies. In addition, the analysis
of the questionnaires revealed that there was no significant difference between the teachers and
students attitudes toward learning about the target-language cultural content in the EFL textbook used
in the foundation English course. Regarding the analysis of the semi-structured interviews, it was found
that both teachers and students indicated that learning about the target-language culture was important
and necessary for their English learning and usage.