A PLACE FOR LOCAL CULTURE IN ENGLISH TEXTBOOKS: AN ANALYSIS OF CULTURAL CONTENT IN PRIMARY ENGLISH TEXTBOOKS

• Main Author: Lia Noerkhasanah, - (Author)
• Format: Book
• Published: 2011-10-28.
• Subjects: Thesis; NonPeerReviewed
• Online Access: Link Metadata
• Notes: http://repository.upi.edu/95757/1/s_ing_0606299_table_of_contents.pdf; http://repository.upi.edu/95757/2/s_ing_0606299_chapter_i.pdf; http://repository.upi.edu/95757/3/s_ing_0606299_chapter_ii.pdf; http://repository.upi.edu/95757/4/s_ing_0606299_chapter_iii.pdf; http://repository.upi.edu/95757/5/s_ing_0606299_chapter_iv.pdf; http://repository.upi.edu/95757/6/s_ing_0606299_chapter_v.pdf
• Keywords: L Education (General); PE English

According to McGrath (2002), language learning materials can carry cultural content. The culture the materials can attach could represent source culture, target culture, or international target culture. The study is aimed at finding out (1) whose culture the textbooks disseminate, and (2) how culture is disseminated in the textbooks. Employing the concept of Culture in Four Dimensions proposed by Adaskou, Britten, and Fahsi (1990), the study analyzes the reading passages available in the three English textbooks for 4 to 6 grade students which serve as the data. The study found that the items of local cultural content outnumber the non-local cultural content. This signifies that seemingly local culture holds the main cultural focus of the textbooks. In terms of culture dissemination, sociological sense is found to be predominant in representing both local and non-local culture. In this sense, culture is disseminated through among others people names, places, foods and drinks, leisure activities, etc. Despite the numbers, this study indicates that the quality of local-cultural content found is still shallow in terms of the coverage of cultural discussion and it needs to be well explored. Keywords: textbook evaluation, culture in four senses