General and Specific Culture Learning in EFL Textbooks Aimed at Adult Learners in Spain

Abstract

Since language teaching in modern-day society is closely linked to cultural instruction, this study employs the model of a cultural learning analysis based on the earlier work of Paige and Lee. Using this model, the authors analysed the cultural content of six B1 and B2-level textbooks for teaching English to adults in Spain, and carried out a comparative study of the results, contrasting the two levels. Findings show that the subjective aspects of culture receive less coverage in textbooks, despite being fundamental to an understanding of the values of a society. Regarding the comparison between B1 and B2 levels, the data indicate that the number of big “C” Culture occurrences is similar for both levels, although there are differences in other cultural aspects. So, for example, culture in general is dealt with more at the B1 level, whereas small “c” culture is dealt with more at the B2 level.

Investigating cultural contents in English language teaching materials through textbook evaluation

“…The findings revealed that cultural, social, religious and pedagogical needs of the learners did not match with the cultural and pedagogical values and objectives set for Pakistani ESL learners and target culture was higher than learners' source culture. Rodríguez & Espinar (2015) carried out a research in Spain to investigate the cultural content in six B1 and B2 textbooks used to teach English to the adults. By conducting a comparative study, it was reported that the frequency counts of Big 'C' i.e., literature and art, is equally present in B1 and B2 levels.…”

“…Kumaravadivelu, 2008;Pennycook, 2007) has highlighted the importance of culture in applied linguistics. The crucial role of culture in language education is to empower L2 cultural meaning in an appropriate way (Rodríguez & Espinar, 2015;Tajeddin & Teimournezhad, 2015).…”

Identity-oriented English Language Teachers’ Education Programs as the Arena of Becoming a Glocal English Language Teacher

“…The research questionwhy is it important to have an identity-oriented English language teacher's education program to educate glocal English language teachers? The first reason is that, since the final objective of English language teaching has been declared to empower the learners to communicate cultural meanings appropriately (Rashidi and Meihami, 2016;Rodríguez and Espinar, 2015), and since the cultural meanings are not fixed and making decisions on as an appropriate one is not easy, the English language teachers become confused regarding how to address the cultural issues in their classrooms. Such a situation is also true when the political and social phenomena happen to be discussed in the English language classrooms.…”

Developing Multiple Identities in the EFL Class: A Study on Romanian Highschool Students

“…Chastain 1988, Lee 2009, Kramsch 2013, Raigon Rodriguez and Larrea Espinar 2015. The "big C" culture is the one that has been traditionally taught with standard national language, covering topics such as arts, history, geography, religion, education, festivals and customs of a foreign language society.…”