A Cultural Content Evaluation on Senior High School English Textbooks

• Main Authors: Hsiang, Yu-chen, 向玉珍
• Other Authors: Yeh, Chieh-yue
• Format: Others
• Language: en_US
• Published: 2007
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/89861682946837912163

碩士 === 國立政治大學 === 英語教學碩士在職專班 === 95 === Abstract This study first analyzes the cultural load of New Far East and Lungteng sets of English textbooks (from volume 1 to volume 3) based on Moran’s (2001) cultural knowings framework—content, activities, and learning outcomes. In addition, each lesson in both sets is examined with the cultural objectives in English Curriculum Guidelines for Senior High Schools issued in 2004 to see if each lesson in both sets achieves all of the cultural objectives. The results of the study are summarized as follows. (1) The foreign cultures mentioned in both New Far East and Lungteng sets of textbooks focus on American and British cultures. This kind of culture-specific information does not follow the current trend of culture-general understanding or the transcultural approach in the world. (2) Most of the cultural content in both sets is just “facts-only” information, hardly touching the concepts of cultural practices, cultural perspectives, and self-awareness. (3) Less than 12% of the activities in both sets are related to cultural instruction. Additionally, the cultural activities center on gathering information and developing skills, rarely on discovering explanations and self-reflection. (4) According to the previous results, it seems that students solely using the two sets of English textbooks are not likely to have a successful cultural learning experience. (5) New Far East and Lungteng sets of English textbooks (from volume 1 to volume 3) achieve most of the cultural objectives in English Curriculum Guidelines for Senior High Schools. Finally, some suggestions are provided on the basis of the findings in this study.