Cover not available
Article published In:
Revista Española de Lingüística Aplicada/Spanish Journal of Applied Linguistics
Vol. 28:1 (2015) ► pp.145–168

El aprendizaje cultural en la enseñanza del inglés y su alcance en los libros de texto

| Universidad de Córdoba

This paper analyses three B1-level textbooks used in EFL in Spain to gather information about how culture is taught, given that language learning and culture learning are closely related. A model of culture learning based on previous work by Paige, Jorstad, Paulson, Klein, and Colby (1999) and Lee (2009) has been designed in order to examine the textbooks’ cultural content. This functional framework gathers every theme and aspect of culture needed to develop each of the competencies that are required to accomplish an integrated language and culture learning, i.e., to achieve intercultural communicative competence as the ultimate goal of language learning. Findings show that the invisible aspect of culture (small “c” target-culture learning), which is crucial to understanding the values and ways of thinking of a society, was neglected in all three textbooks. Thus, despite some promising changes in the way of addressing culture learning in EFL textbooks, we are still far from developing intercultural speakers.

Keywords: EFL teaching/learning, culture teaching/learning, Big ‘C’ – little ‘c’ culture, intercultural learning, EFL textbooks

Article language: Spanish

Published online: 10 September 2015
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/resla.28.1.07lar
References (48)
Areizaga, E
(2002) El componente cultural en la enseñanza de lenguas: elementos para el análisis y la evaluación del material didáctico. Cultura y Educación, 14(2), 161–175. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2011) Prácticas interculturales en la clase de lengua española para estudiantes extranjeros del programa Erasmus. Textos, 561, 95–105.Google Scholar
Battista, G
(1984) Language and culture: Strategies for teaching language in the classroom. Ann Arbor, Mich: U.M.I.Google Scholar
Bennett, M.J
(Ed.) (1998) Basic concepts in intercultural communication: Selected readings. Yarmouth, ME: Intercultural Press.Google Scholar
Brown, H.D
(2000) Principles and language learning and teaching (4ª ed.). Nueva York: Addison Wesley LongmanGoogle Scholar
Byram, M
(1989) Cultural studies in foreign language education. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
(1997) Teaching and assessing intercultural communicative competence. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
Byram, M., & Zarate, G
(1994) Definitions, objectives and assessment of socio-cultural competence. Estrasburgo: Council of Europe.Google Scholar
Canagarajah, S.A
(1999) Resisting linguistic imperialism in English teaching. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Cheng, C.M
(2012) The influence of college EFL teachers’ understandings of intercultural competence on their self-reported pedagogical practices in Taiwan. English Teaching: Practice and Critique, 11(1), 164–182.Google Scholar
Göbel, K., & Helmke, A
(2010) Intercultural learning in English as foreign language instruction: The importance of teachers’ intercultural experience and the usefulness of precise instructional directives. Teaching and Teacher Education, 261, 1571–1582. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Guilherme, M
(2002) Critical citizens for an intercultural world: Foreign language education as cultural politics. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hall, E.T
(1976) Beyond culture. Nueva York, NY: Anchor Press/Doubleday.Google Scholar
Hinkel, E
(2001) Building awareness and practical skills to facilitate cross-culturalcommunication. En M. Celce-Murcia (Ed.), Teaching English as a second or foreign language, 3ª ed (pp. 443–458). Boston, MA: Heinle & Heinle.Google Scholar
(2014) Culture and pragmatics in language teaching and learning. En M. Celce-Murcia, D. Brinton, & M. Snow (Eds.), Teaching English as a second or foreign language, 4ª ed (pp. 394–408). Boston, MA: Heinle & Heinle.Google Scholar
Hymes, D
(1996) Ethnography, linguistics, narrative inequality. Bristol, PA: Taylor and Francis.Google Scholar
Kramsch, C
(1988).The cultural discourse of foreign language textbooks. En A.J. Singerman (Ed.), Toward a new integration of language and culture (pp. 63–88). Middlebury, VT: Northeast Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages Inc.Google Scholar
(1993) Context and culture in language teaching. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
(1998) Language and culture. Nueva York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Lai, H.Y.T
(2014) Learning English as an international language: EFL learners’ perceptions of cultural knowledge acquisition in the English classroom. Asian Social Science, 10(1). DOI logo (último acceso 29 abril 2014)Google Scholar
Larrea, A., & Raigón, A
(2012) Los medios de comunicación y la enseñanza de valores interculturales. Una aproximación didáctica a los valores reflejados en los sitcoms . LFE: Revista de Lenguas para Fines Específicos, 181, 157–182.Google Scholar
Larzen-Östermark, E
(2008) The intercultural dimension in EFL-teaching: A study of conceptions among Finland-Swedish comprehensive school teachers. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research, 52(5), 527–547. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lee, K.Y
(2009) Treating culture: What 11 high school EFL conversation textbooks in South Korea. English Teaching: Practice and Critique, 81, 76–96.Google Scholar
Liddicoat, A.J., Papademetre, L., Scarino, A., & Kohler, M
(2003) Report on intercultural language learning. Camberra: Commonwealth of Australia.Google Scholar
McConachy, T., & Hata, K
(2013) Addressing textbook representations of pragmatics and culture. ELT Journal, 67(3), 294–301. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Meyer, M
(1991) Developing transcultural competence: Case studies of advanced foreign language learners. En D. Buttjes & M. Byram (Eds.), Mediating languages and cultures: Towards an intercultural theory of foreign language education (pp. 136–158). Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte
(2002) Marco común europeo de referencia para las lenguas: aprendizaje, enseñanza, evaluación. Madrid: MECD y Grupo ANAYA.Google Scholar
Mitchell, R., & Myles, F
(2004) Second language learning theories (2ª ed.). Londres: Arnold.Google Scholar
Nieto, S
(2010) Language, culture and teaching: Critical perspectives. Nueva York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Paige, R., Jorstad, J., Paulson, L., Klein, F., & Colby, J
(1999) Culture learning in language education: A review of the literature. En R. Paige, D. Lange, & Y. Yershova (Eds.), Culture as the core: Integrating culture into the language curriculum (pp. 47–114). Minneapolis, MN: The Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition, University of Minnesota.Google Scholar
Paricio, S
(2005) La dimensión cultural en los libros de texto de lenguas extranjeras: Pautas para su análisis. Glosas Didácticas, 151. [URL] (último acceso 30 abril 2014)Google Scholar
Peterson, B
(2004) Cultural intelligence: A guide to working with people from other cultures. Yarmouth, ME: Intercultural Press.Google Scholar
Phillipson, R
(1992) Linguistic imperialism. Oxford: University Press.Google Scholar
Puig, G
(1996) Analyse du contenu ethnoculturel des manuels de langues étrangères. Diálogos Hispánicos, 181, 327–346.Google Scholar
Pusch, M., & La Brack, B
(2003) Professional practice workshop: Fundamentals of Intercultural Communication. Portland: Association of International Educators, Professional Development Program.Google Scholar
Risager, K
(1991).Cultural references in European textbooks: An evaluation of recent tendencies. En D. Buttjes & M. Byram (Eds.), Mediating languages and cultures (pp. 181–192). Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
(2007) Language and culture pedagogy: From a national to a transnational paradigm. Clevedon: MPG Books. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Saville-Troike, M
(1975) Teaching English as a second culture. En R. Crymes & W. Norris (Eds.), On TESOL’74 (pp. 83–94). Washington: TESOL.Google Scholar
Sercu, L
(Ed.) (1995) Intercultural competence. Aalborg: Aalborg University.Google Scholar
(2000) Textbooks. En M. Byram (Ed.), Routledge encyclopedia of language teaching and learning (pp. 626–628). Londres/Nueva York, Routledge.Google Scholar
Tomalin, B., & Stempleski, S
(1993) Cultural awareness: Resource books for teachers. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Varón, M.E
(2009) Componente cultural, libros de texto y enseñanza del inglés como lengua extranjera. Forma y Función, 22(1), 95–124.Google Scholar
Ware, P., & Kramsch, C
(2005) Toward an intercultural stance: Teaching German and English through telecollaboration. The Modern Language Journal, 89(2), 190–205. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Watson, J., Siska, P., & Wolfel. R.L
(2013) Assessing gains in language proficiency, cross-cultural compentence, and regional awareness during study abroad: A preliminary study. Foreign Language Annals, 46(1), 62–79. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Weaver, G
(1986) Understanding and coping with cross-cultural adjustment stress. En R.M. Paige (Ed.), Cross-cultural orientation: New conceptualizations and applications (pp. 111–145). Lanham, MD: University Press of America.Google Scholar
Weninger, C., & Kiss, T
(2013) Culture in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) textbooks: A semiotic approach. TESOL Quarterly, 47(4), 694–716. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Whorf, B
(1956) Science and linguistics. En J. Carroll (Ed.), Language, thought, and reality: Selected writings of Benjamin Lee Whorf (pp. 207–219). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Google Scholar
Zarei, G.R., & Khalessi, M
(2011) Cultural load in English language textbooks: An analysis of Interchange series. Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences, 151, 294–301. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cited by (4)

Cited by 4 other publications

Canale, Germán
2021. The language textbook: representation, interaction and learning. Language, Culture and Curriculum 34:2 ► pp. 113 ff. DOI logo
Larrea Espinar, Ángela Mª & Antonio Raigón Rodríguez
2020. La presencia de la cultura en los libros de texto: Una herramienta para la evaluación de aspectos culturales. Círculo de Lingüística Aplicada a la Comunicación 84 ► pp. 113 ff. DOI logo
Li, Xiangdong
2019. Book review. System 80 ► pp. 318 ff. DOI logo
Song, Yerim
2019. Valoración de profesores y alumnos coreanos sobre el componente cultural en aulas de ELE. Revista Española de Lingüística Aplicada/Spanish Journal of Applied Linguistics 32:2 ► pp. 590 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 16 july 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.