The purpose of teaching English as a foreign language is learners are able use it both in spoken and written language, as well as understand the culture of the target language. Cultural material is seen as important as a learning medium to improve language skills, cultural understanding, and appreciation for diversity. English textbooks carried two important missions, namely language and cultural learning media. This study explores cultural materials in two English textbooks in Kota Metro - Indonesia as a city of education. The research used qualitative approach with content analysis technique. The research object was seven English textbooks used in high schools. Data analysis is done descriptively used Miles and Huberman model. The findings as follow: (1) The cultural materials were divided into three types of source information. (2) The culture materials were mostly presented into text rather than audio-visual. (3) There were four elements of culture in English textbooks: products, persons practices, and perspectives. The cultural materials can create students who have character, moral values who then live and interact in multicultural society.

Coronavirus spread around the world affects many things. Education is one of many affected sectors. Indonesia is a country which mostly effected by Coronavirus. Thousand students throughout the nations left the schools and start adapting a distance learning. It forces all teachers and students to learn and adapt to online learning. English teaching materials play a role in providing students with contextual knowledge. By far, English learning materials have only been inserted about moral values and other values. Though, English teaching materials are considered possible to be a means of learning students on issues related to disaster education. This research investigates the media platforms and materials used by English teachers during the pandemic in vocational high schools in East Lampung. The study used Cross-sectional Designs Survey with questionnaires as data collection techniques. Participants of 27 vocational schools of English teachers. The survey was done in the beginning of first semester. The aims are to know the materials and platforms which are used also to see the teachers’ understanding regarding the disaster education during a global pandemic. The findings gained are (1) Most teachers use WhatsApp in providing teaching materials. (2) The majority of respondents were aware of disaster education but only limited to COVID issues. (3) English teachers have not understood the overall disaster education. There are three main suggestions of this current work : Incorporating of teaching materials integrated with disaster education, environmental, and natural issues. Maximizing the fore on the application of online learning. Enhancing of disaster education at all levels of education.

Politeness is an essential element of communication and is used to assure the quality of a relationship through language. Politeness in English classes is paramount to study because the sense of decency is indispensable. In another condition, virtual communication to some extent is challenging since it requires some rules to run proper interactions between lecturers and students. The use of polite expressions is one of the rules to obey, especially in thesis guidance. This study is strived to see the use of politeness strategies in the interaction between lecturers and post-graduates at one state university in Lampung through virtual communication. This study employed qualitative method where the documentation was used to collect the data. The data of this study were conversation between the lecturer and the students through virtual communications: WhatsApp and E-mail. The findings reveal that (1) the positive politeness strategy was strategy mostly used by the students; (2) the lecturer mostly utilized bald-on record strategy, and (3) several factors were believed to influence the use of politeness strategies such as power, institutional position, social distance, age as well as social culture.

Assessment and the learning process become two intertwined concepts that are impossible to separate. When compared to the other three abilities, reading skills are the most important in English learning. In order to meet the demands of modern teaching development, information and communication technology is required for English language instruction and assessment. The purpose of this study is to examine the requirements of both learners and pursuers in terms of the use of information and communication technology in reading instruction assessment (Reading Assessment). This current study used two data collection technique, namely questionnaires and interviews analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively. Respondents in this study were selected by purposive sampling involving 70 students and 5 teachers in vocational schools. The results of this study found that (1) The students’ goal and necessities differ, (2) The students are at beginner level at reading skill and have reading word and sentences fluently and correctly, (3) They want familiar contents based on their life, environment and major,(4) The need of information and communication technology both for learning and assessing and (5) Through the product, the English learners would be learning, collaborative and independent. The researcher advised for further researcher to conduct the development the information and communication technology for teaching and assessing English learners in vocational schools.