Kulthida Saemee. Cultural representations in English language textbooks used in multicultural classrooms : a case study of a primary school in Samut Sakhon province. Master's Degree(Language and Intercultural Communication). Mahidol University. Mahidol University Library and Knowledge Center. : Mahidol University, 2020.
Cultural representations in English language textbooks used in multicultural classrooms : a case study of a primary school in Samut Sakhon province
Abstract:
The aim of this study is twofold: 1) to analyze the cultural diversity contents represented in the ELT textbooks used in the multicultural classrooms in a primary school located in Samut Sakhon and 2) to investigate the teachers' perceptions toward the cultural representations in the ELT textbooks used in the multicultural classrooms. The target textbooks include six student books and six activity books (grade 1-6) written by the foreign writers. The participants are three English language teachers. Content analysis was adopted to categorize the cultural aspects and cultural sources represented in both textual and visual forms. Moreover, the classroom observations and the in-depth interviews were conducted after analyzing the textbooks. The findings reveal the imbalance of the cultural aspects and cultural sources. Based on the cultural aspects, the perspectives referring to small "c" cultures are underrepresented. Based on the cultural sources, the source cultures referring to the students' cultural backgrounds and the ASEAN regional cultures are rarely integrated. Moreover, the teachers indicate that the target cultures are widely represented. They advocate to integrate the cultural diversity in the ELT textbooks; however, the migrant students' cultures and the ASEAN regional cultures are hardly mentioned.