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An Analysis of Cultural Content in Reading, Listening and Speaking Texts

in EFL Textbooks used by the First Graders of Senior High School

Abstract

The study was conducted to examine the representation of culture in EFL (English as Foreign

Language) textbooks used by the first graders of senior high school. There were two

textbooks being analyzed, Look Ahead 1 (Sudarwati& Grace, 2007) and Linked to THE

WORLD (Soeprapto&Darwis, 2005). It focused on analyzing the cultural contents in reading,

listening and speaking texts. The data was analyzed quantitatively and elaborated

qualitatively. The findings showed that the two textbooks tended to represent International

culture. Moreover, there were two other cultures being represented through the texts such as

Indonesian and Western culture. Further, several cultural contents were also found in texts

which symbolized special characteristics of each culture. One pedagogical implication from

the findings is that if the textbooks provide a dominant role for International culture, teachers

can try to supplement the textbooks with a variety of materials about the uses and the users of

English in students’ local contexts (McKay, 2012, p.87).

Keywords: Indonesian culture, Western culture, International culture

Introduction

Background of the study

As a student of English Department, pre-service teacher education programs in

SatyaWacanaChristianUniversity, Salatiga, I had to take a Teaching Practicum course which

required me to practice my teaching skill in a real school context. The condition where I had

to place myself as a teacher in the school also required me to get engaged with an English

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textbook material for junior high school used by the English teachers in the school. When I

took a look at some materials in the textbook, I found that there were several materials related

to the culture or situation of English speaking countries. I thought that one of interesting

materials was that the material of narrative text which used Snow White story as the example

of the text. It was interesting for me because as I knew Snow White is a tale from English

speaking countries and could be a representation of Western culture. Western culture means

the culture of Inner Circle countries where English is used as the primary language such as in

United Kingdom, the United States, Australia and Canada (Kachru, 1992).

Knowing that culture existed in textbook materials encouraged me to have a research

study about the representation of culture in the EFL (English as Foreign Language) textbooks

used by high school students. Therefore, this study was guided by the following research

question: Which is culture represented in the EFL textbooks used by high school students?

The reason why I chose this topic was because I wondered whether the textbook in the high

school still included the culture from English speaking countries or not. Knowing the fact

that, nowadays, in the era of EIL (English as International Language), the tendency for

textbooks need to be EIL-oriented. As McKay (2012) notes that “EIL material should be

relevant to the domains in which English is used in the particular learning contexts” and “EIL

materials should include examples of the diversity of English varieties used today” (p.81). So

that it was important topic to be studied in order to find out whether the textbooks analyzed

have already included variety of English uses or not.

The reason for my curiosity about the existence of culture in the textbook used by

high school students was based on my past experience when I was a first year of senior high

school student. I remembered that there were several parts of Western culture included in the

textbook materials explained by my teacher. One of them that still in my mind is about the

valentine day history. It was about a romantic history, about the reason why February 14th is

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celebrated as a valentine day. Moreover, I think the interesting point from this past

experience is that I, personally, also celebrate the valentine day on February 14th until now.

Other reason why the topic was important to be studied is because I think that there

is still lack of studies about the analysis of cultural content in reading, listening and speaking

texts in textbooks used by high school students in Indonesia. Although there were some

studies about culture in EFL textbooks conducted in Indonesia, I could not find one which

analyzed the cultural context in reading, listening and speaking texts of the EFL textbooks.

One previous study was conducted by Ariani (2010) for her thesis in

UniversitasNegeri Malang. The aim of her study was to analyze the target and source culture

presentation on descriptive text of the EFL textbook used at International Standard School

Project SMPN 5 Malang. There were two findings that she got,

The first was that most cultural information from the texts titled My Grandma and My

Bombi were bland" Therefore, these two descriptive texts could not be mentioned to

present either target or source culture information based on the culture content

criteria" The second new findings were the presentations of international target

culture in the descriptive texts titled Vanessa-Mae Vanakorn and Dea.

(Ariani, 2010)

Another current study was done by Ahmed and Nancy (2011, p.22-23) “… to

investigate the cultural representation in the textbooks used in Pakistan” (p.21) which

actually focused on “…. the cultural gap [italics added] which exists between the ESL

learners in Pakistan and the foreign textbook authors” (p.22). The findings showed that “…

most of the learners in Pakistan have no direct contact with the target language community….

textbooks designed for L2 learners must reflect a wide range of the learners’ first culture and

target language culture” (p.32).

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The fact that the previous studies only provided some sort of unsatisfying result of the

representation of culture, I thought this was important to conduct this study. It is hoped that

the representation of different kinds of cultures in textbooks used by high school students

gives benefits for them. It is to raise students’ cultural awareness about the diversity of

English use (Cortazzi& Jin, 1999, p.217). Also for improving their intercultural competence

in understanding and respecting other cultures exist in their surroundings (Byram, Gribkova&

Starkey, 2002, p.9-10).

By conducting the study, it is hoped that the findings of my study would provide

insights for English teachers into which culture is represented in EFL textbooks used by high

school students (McKay, 2012, p.80). So they could decide the time when the teachers should

teach English with Indonesian culture, Western culture, or International culture (a culture

which includes a variety of issues that concerned in the world) based on the textbooks used.

Since nowadays English is an international language; the importance of the representation of

different cultures in the textbook is to enrich teachers’ and learners’ cultural awareness about

the importance of their own culture (Cortazzi& Jin, 1999, p.203) and to have a better cultural

understanding towards the existence of other cultures (p.217).

Saluveer (2004) believed that,

“…. The main aim of … cultural teaching is to develop students’ intercultural

understanding and help them with intercultural communication …. For the latter,

learners need cultural knowledge [italics added], cultural awareness [italics added],

and a set of skills [italics added], which constitute the learner’s intercultural

competence [italics added]”. (p. 101)

So with cultural knowledge students gained from textbooks and their teacher’s explanation,

could enrich students’ cultural understanding about other cultures. Moreover, having better

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understanding of other cultural members helps them to have a good communication skill with

those who have different cultural background.

As Byram et al (2002) stated that,

‘‘Intercultural communication is communication on the basis of respect for

individuals and equality of human rights as the democratic basis for social interaction

…. language teaching with an intercultural dimension … help learners to acquire the

linguistic competence [italics added]… to communicate [italics added] in speaking or

writing, to formulate what they want to say/write [italics added] in correct and

appropriate ways. …develops their intercultural competence [italics added] i.e. their

ability to ensure a shared understanding by people of different social identities, and …

to interact with people as complex human beings with multiple identities and their

own individuality. (p. 9-10)

It means that having textbooks which represent different kind of cultures could facilitate the

students to enhance their language use while speaking to people from overseas. So that the

topic being discussed is understandable both by the students and people they are talking to.

Since learning language means learning its culture (Genc&Barda, 2005, p.78),

knowing and understanding different cultures through textbooks is beneficial for students.

Furthermore, how the students gain knowledge of different cultures is through the existence

of texts in the textbooks. That’s why textbooks used by students should be EIL-oriented in

order to provide enough materials/ texts representing variety of language (English) uses today

in international contexts, so that students’ cultural awareness and intercultural competence

could be enhanced. Therefore, the representation of culture in EFL textbooks was important

to be studied.

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Literature Review

The aim of the study was to analyze cultural content that was represented in the EFL

textbooks used by high school students. The focus of the analysis would be the cultural

contents in reading, listening and speaking texts from the textbooks. Cortazzi and Jin (1999)

gave three classifications of cultural contents that could emerge in textbooks used by high

school students. The three kinds of cultural content could be seen from the diagram below:

Figure 1 Cultural content representation in textbooks

(Cortazzi and Jin, 1999, p.204)

1. Indonesian culture

The first classification of culture in Figure 1 above is Indonesian culture which refers

to the art, beliefs, behavior, ideas and other belongings of Indonesian people. When learners

only learned about their own culture from the materials, as stated by Cortazzi and Jin (1999,

p.203), it is to help the students become aware of their own cultural identity, especially when

they, the learners, had to talk about their culture with visitors who came from other countries.

Culture

Indonesian culture

International culture

Western culture

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2. Western culture

As I mentioned before in the introduction, Western culture means the culture of Inner

Circle countries where English is used as the primary language such as in United Kingdom,

the United States, Australia and Canada (Kachru, 1992). In addition to tale, the culture also

consists of “everyday living, living conditions, interpersonal relations, values, beliefs and

attitudes, body language, social conventions, and ritual behaviors” (Common European

Framework, 2001, p.102-103).

3. International culture

International culture refers to culture that includes a variety of issues that concerned

in the world where English is not used as the primary language.

English as International Language

As I know that nowadays English has become an international language, I think that it

is important to include variety of cultures in the textbooks used by senior high students. The

widely English use by people from different countries and cultural background make us, the

English users; have to be aware of others’ cultures. According to Mckay (2012), “one central

goal of EIL materials [italics added] needs to provide students with an awareness of the

diversity of English use today [italics added] so that they are better prepared in international

contexts [italics added]” (p.73).

The study

Research Question

The study was guided by the following research question:

Which is culture represented in the EFL textbooks used by high school students?

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Context of the study

The context of the study was two textbooks used by high school students. The first

book was Look a Head 1, An English Course by Th. M. Sudarwati and Eudia Grace (2007)

published by Erlangga. And the second book that I analyzed was Linked to the World by F.

A. Soeprapto& Mariana Darwis published by Yudhistira (2005). The analysis of these two

books focused on the cultural content in the reading, listening and speaking texts. The study

only analyzed two textbooks due to the limited time I had. The analysis was done to find out

what culture was represented in the textbooks from its reading, listening and speaking texts

whether it was Indonesian culture, Western culture, or International culture.

Instrument of data collection

The data of the representation of culture in the EFL textbooks used by high school students

were collected from the two English textbooks (reading, listening and speaking texts) of the

first-year students. These two textbooks analyzed in my study are used by different schools in

Salatiga and its surroundings. The reason why I used the books from different schools was

because in my opinion the more various textbooks I analyzed the richer data I got. The data

was analyzed quantitatively but elaborated qualitatively.

Procedures of data collection

The study used qualitative data analysis. The data was analyzed quantitatively and

elaborated qualitatively. The textbooks (Look a Head 1, An English Course and Linked to the

World) that were analyzed were two textbooks used by two different high schools in Salatiga,

such as SMA Negeri 2 Salatiga and SMA Negeri 3 Salatiga. The textbooks analyzed were for

the first graders of senior high school due to my curiosity of the representation of cultures in

textbooks used nowadays.

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Having the textbooks in my hands, I started to analyze them. First of all, I tried to find

and read all the reading, listening and speaking texts. When I finished reading and selecting

the texts that I thought they represented certain culture, I wrote them down in a table. Look at

the Table 1 below:

Table 1

List of selected texts from the textbooks

No Topic/ title of texts C1 C2 C3 C4 Comments.

Note: C1=Indonesian culture, C2= Western culture, C3= International culture, C4= Global culture

After that, I counted the total number of texts based on the emerging theme, such as

Indonesian culture, Western culture, International culture and Global culture. Then, I counted

the total number of texts which represented each theme and wrote it down in table. Look at

the Table 2 below:

Table 2

The percentage of represented culture in textbooks

Textbook’s title Percentage (%)

C1 (Indonesian culture)

C2 (Western culture)

C3 (International culture)

C4 (Global culture)

Moreover, having the percentage helped me to draw a chart as the data display in my finding

and discussion part. Take a look at Figure 2:

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Figure 2 The representation of cultures in the textbooks

Then, reading the selected texts in depth I thought that both International and Global culture

seemed that they were related to one another. So that I combined the two themes into one,

that was International culture. Therefore, there were three cultures that were represented in

the EFL textbooks as shown in Figure 3 in the findings and discussions sections.

Findings and Discussions

This section illustrates the number of cultural contents that were represented in the

EFL textbooks used by the first graders of senor high school. From the data gathered, there

were several cultural contents that the texts under study had. Figure 3 below represents the

data display of cultural contents represented in the EFL textbooks:

Figure 3 The representation of cultures in the textbooks

27%

71%

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Figure 2 The representation of cultures in the textbooks

Then, reading the selected texts in depth I thought that both International and Global culture

seemed that they were related to one another. So that I combined the two themes into one,

that was International culture. Therefore, there were three cultures that were represented in

the EFL textbooks as shown in Figure 3 in the findings and discussions sections.

Findings and Discussions

This section illustrates the number of cultural contents that were represented in the

EFL textbooks used by the first graders of senor high school. From the data gathered, there

were several cultural contents that the texts under study had. Figure 3 below represents the

data display of cultural contents represented in the EFL textbooks:

Figure 3 The representation of cultures in the textbooks

31%

2%40%

27%

0% C1 (Indonesianculture)

C2 (Western culture)

C3 (internationalculture/ pop culture)

C4 (global culture)

28%

1%

Indonesian culture

Western culture

International culture

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Figure 2 The representation of cultures in the textbooks

Then, reading the selected texts in depth I thought that both International and Global culture

seemed that they were related to one another. So that I combined the two themes into one,

that was International culture. Therefore, there were three cultures that were represented in

the EFL textbooks as shown in Figure 3 in the findings and discussions sections.

Findings and Discussions

This section illustrates the number of cultural contents that were represented in the

EFL textbooks used by the first graders of senor high school. From the data gathered, there

were several cultural contents that the texts under study had. Figure 3 below represents the

data display of cultural contents represented in the EFL textbooks:

Figure 3 The representation of cultures in the textbooks

C2 (Western culture)

C3 (internationalculture/ pop culture)

C4 (global culture)

Indonesian culture

Western culture

International culture

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As seen from the chart above, it is clearly shown that there were three kinds of cultures that

were represented by the texts in the EFL textbooks used in this research. From 163, 28% of

the texts represented Indonesian culture, 1% represented Western culture and 71% of the

texts used represented International culture. From the data above, it can be seen that the

textbooks used in this study tended to represent International culture. I also found that there

were also several cultural contents that each culture had from the texts which would be

discussed further. In paragraphs that follow, I would discuss the culture represented in the

textbook from the lowest till the highest percentage.

Western culture

The first theme was western culture. One example of cultural content that represented

western culture was showing gratitude. Gratitude could be defined as ‘‘a sense of

thankfulness and joy in response to receiving a gift, whether the gift be a tangible benefit

from a specific other or a moment of peaceful bliss evoked by natural beauty’’ (Emmons,

2004, p. 554). The following text, Text 1, is one example of showing gratitude:

Text 1

Showing gratitude is a common thing to do in English speaking countries. People often show gratitude when

they accept/ refuse an offer/ invitation, and when they receive compliments/ congratulations. However,

showing gratitude has a different form for each case. In British English, for example, it is just not

appropriate to say ‘You’re welcome’ as the response of thanks for the following situations:

Bus conductor : One pound fifteen.

Passenger : (gives £1.15)

Bus conductor : Thank you.

Passenger : Thank you.

It is also important to use polite expressions in polite situations. When refusing an invitation, for

instance, you don’t simply say ‘No, thank you’. Pay attention to the example of polite refusal on the next

page.

A: I was wondering, uh, if there’s a good movie in the theater. Would you like to see it with me tomorrow?

B: Thanks a lot, but I’m afraid I’m not free tomorrow night. (What about ….)

Source: Look Ahead (Sudarwati& Grace, 2006)chapter 4 page 92

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As stated in the text above, it tells about how English speaking countries, especially British

English people show gratitude while accepting/ refusing offer and receiving compliments/

congratulations. Being told the different response of thanks while talking to British English

people, the purpose of including this text in the textbooks is, perhaps, to inform the students

that there is kind of gap while showing gratitude whether with people who speak English and

who speak British English. Another purpose why this text is included in the textbook is

maybe as it is said by Lambert et al (2010) that,

Expression of gratitude signals to the target that his or her communal actions were

both useful to and desired by the expresser. Thus, it validates the target’s actions and

encourages the target to repeat or even enhance efforts to be responsive to the partner;

such efforts, in turn, should please the partner (increasing relationship satisfaction)

and enhance the communal strength of the relationships. (p.578)

In other words, besides to inform students the different way in showing gratitude, another

purpose is, perhaps, to make them aware the importance of being active people. By doing so,

it would be easier for the students to create and strengthen their relationship with those who

come from English speaking countries.

Based on the analysis above, one of cultural contents that represented Western culture

was showing gratitude. The existence of this text helps the students to have a better cultural

understanding towards the existence of other cultures. As it is stated by Cortazzi and Jin

(1999) that “developing cultural awareness means being aware of members of another

cultural group” (p.217). How the students can have better cultural understanding is through

their teacher who would teach them part of the textbook about showing gratitude and give a

detail explanation about it. Even for other cultural contents that represent Western culture.

Moreover, one interesting thing that I found from the data gathered was that the number of

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percentage for western culture in the textbooks used in this research was only 1% of 163 texts

used in this research study.

Indonesian culture

The next theme or culture that I wanted to discuss now was Indonesian culture. It is

culture that the students are familiar with, such as myth, belief, norm and value in their daily

living, languages in Indonesia.

In fact, Indonesia has indigenous culture (Czermak, Delanghe&Weng, 2003, p.2). The

meaning is that the national cultures are formed by the cultures of ethnic groups, who live in

Indonesia, such as Javanese, Sundanese, Bataknese, Ambonese, Papuanese, Madurese, etc.

Based on SIL International (2001), Indonesia consists of many islands and each island has

several kinds of ethnic groups. When each ethnic group has different cultures, many ethnic

groups that Indonesia has will provide many more kinds of cultures, such as in the aspects of

languages, customs, values, beliefs, etc. Therefore, cultures of ethnic groups become the

culture of Indonesia. In paragraphs below, I will discuss some examples of cultural contents

from the textbooks that really show and represent the culture of Indonesia.

One example of cultural contents that symbolized the culture of Indonesia was

cultural landmark. Cultural landmark is a building or place of outstanding historical or

cultural importance. An example of cultural landmark is Text 2 below:

Text 2

The Borobudur Temple

Borobudur is a Hindhu-Buddhist temple built in the 9th century under the Syailendra dynasty of Java. It

is located near Magelang, on the island of Java, Indonesia.

Abandoned in the 11th century and partially excavated by archaeologists in the early 20th century,

Borobudur temple is well-known all over the world.

Influenced by the Gupta architecture of India, the temple is constructed on a hill 46 m (150 ft) high and

consisted of eight-step like stone terraces, one on top of the other.

The first five terraces are square and surrounded by walls adorned with Buddhist sculpture in bas-

relief; the upper three are circular, each with a circle of bell-shaped stupas (Buddhist shrines).

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The entire edifice is crowned by a large stupa at the center of the top circle. The way to the summit

extends through some 4.8 km of passages and stairways.

The design of Borobudur, a temple-mountain symbolizing the structure of the universe, is similar to the

temples built at Angkor, Cambodia.

The Borobudur Temple, rededicated as an Indonesian national monument in 1983, is a valuable

treasure for Indonesian people.

Source: Look Ahead 1 (Sudarwati& Grace, 2006), chapter 6, page 167

The Borobudur Temple is one of cultural landmarks in Indonesia. Also, it is one expression

of human’s creativity and an expressive technical achievement that Indonesia has (Czemak et

al, 2003, p.2). Cortazzi and Jin (1999, p.203) note that knowing Indonesian culture as

students’ own culture helps them to be aware of their own culture. It is hoped that through the

existence of this text in textbook, it could make students aware of Indonesian national

landmark. Moreover, another purpose including this text in textbook is perhaps to make

students to think of ways to preserve The Borobudur Temple as Indonesian cultural

landmark. As a result, this temple can still exist and be known not only by people all around

the world but also by the next generation later on.

The second cultural content was one Javanese value, “rikuh”. Rikuh is a feeling when

people are reluctant to take action which may be because of someone’s higher status; the

close relationship people have in order not to hurt others’ feeling. Take a look at Text 3 below

as the example:

Text 3

I did not Mean to Hurt You

“Hello … Yustita!” Lucy’s voice surprised me. Why?

She never comes so early like this morning. She

usually comes a few minutes before the bell rings.

“Hi! What’s wrong? You don’t look yourself today.

Why did you come so early today?” “My father gave

me a lift. By the way, have you heard anything about

Elsa?” “What is the matter with her?” I asked.

“Haven’t you heard? Everyone at school has,” she

replied. “What is it? Would you tell me, please?” I

begged her. “OK. She is falling in love with Iwan.

Don’t you know? She is your classmate, isn’t she?”

“You are kidding! I can’t believe it is true. As far as I

know, she is a calm girl. But … how about Iwan’s

response?” I asked her . “Wow …. I don’t know.

Please ask him yourself. Iwan and you belong to the

same volleyball club, don’t you? But I think he pays

no special attention to her. Since … he loves

somebody else,” she replied. “Who is she?” I asked.

“Well … you’d better ask him yourself. The bell will

be ringing soon,” she answered hurriedly and ran to

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her classroom. Lucy is not my classmate. She is in the

IPA (science) department while I am in the language

department. The break finally ended. One by one, my

friends entered the classroom. The teacher was absent

and there was no special assignment. “Tita …. Are

you going to play volleyball this afternoon?” Elsa

asked. “Yes, what can I do for you?” “I want you to

give this letter to Iwan. Will you help me give it to

him?” Elsa begged me. “Yes, I will. Believe me. I am

as good as Mr. Postman,” I said with a smile. “Thanks

a lot for your help.” “No problem.” In the afternoon, I

met Iwan in the volleyball court. He was smiling when

I approached him. “Iwan …” I called. “Yes, what is

wrong?” he came to me with a smile. “Here is a letter

for you,” I said while handing it to him. “Who is it

from?” Iwan requested. “Please read it yourself,” I

said. “Well, is it from your close friend?” “Right,” I

replied shortly. Iwan was smiling when he looked at

me. I was a bit annoyed by his smile. A week had

passed when Elsa came to me and asked about her

letter. “How about the letter?” I wonder why he hasn’t

answered it yet.” “I’m afraid I don’t know. I haven’t

met him for a week. But I promise that I will ask about

it as soon as I meet him.” “Don’t forget it, Tita.” One

evening Iwan dropped by my house to return a book

which he borrowed a few days before. “Iwan, have

you answered Elsa’s letter I gave you a few days

ago?” “Sorry … I have had no time to write it. I’d

rather say …. I don’t love her. But I do love someone

else,” he replied. “May I know who?” “Well, you will

know everything soon. Sorry, …. I must be off now.

Give my best regards to your parents. See you

tomorrow.” “Yes, I will. See you”. When I was

studying that evening, I found a letter in the book

which Iwan returned. I was surprised when I read it

…………

Oh my God! What should I do? Do I like him? Maybe,

but how about Elsa? She is my classmate and my good

friend. It hurts to know this. Oh, no…. I will not do it.

And tomorrow I will tell him. I must find time to say

it. Iwan …. I don’t mean to hurt you. I can’t love you.

Please don’t hate me. Let’s be friend till the end of

time, but don’t love me. I can’t do that, you know. Oh,

God, help me explain it to him. I really don’t know

what I will do if I meet Elsa tomorrow.

Source: Look Ahead (Sudarwati& Grace, 2006) chapter 4 page 95-96

It is actually one of typical characteristics that Javanese people have that is “rikuh” or be

reluctant to take action such as telling the truth about other’s feeling. The condition where

Elsa is waiting for Iwan’s replied letter and the fact that the person whom Iwan loves is Tita,

not Elsa, makes Tita got confused about what she has to do. In one hand, she feels “rikuh” to

tell the truth to Elsa that the person Iwan loves is Tita. In other hand, Tita gets confused about

what she has to say to Iwan whether she wants to accept him as her boyfriend or not. So in

Dear YustitaIndriani,

Thanks a lot of your kindness. But I

am very sorry to let you know that I do not

love your friend. If you really want to know

the girl who I like best, her name is YUSTITA

INDRIANI, the one who is reading this letter

now. Yes, Tita, I do love ou. I have wanted to

say it to you directly, but you never gave me a

chance to do so. Well, I’m waiting for your

answer, dear.

With love

IwanPradita

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the case of the text above, people feel “rikuh” telling the truth because they do not want to

hurt others’ feeling. Besides as one of Javanese values, “rikuh” is also one intangible cultural

heritage/ expression which is fragile and easily lost (Czemak et al, 2003, p.2). Therefore, the

reason why this text included in the textbook is, perhaps, to maintain the intangible cultural

heritage (UNESCO, 2003). How it could be maintained is by including this text in the

textbook. So with their teacher’s help, students can understand the content of it which is

about one Javanese value, “rikuh”. Moreover, the students can know the importance of

preserving “rikuh” in their life.

Another example of cultural content that represented Indonesian culture was

being humble (one Javanese value). Being humble is a feeling of not considering yourself or

your idea to be as important as other people’s. The following text, Text 4, is one example of

being humble:

Text 4

Giving Compliments

In every culture, giving compliments is a common thing to do. However, they differ in some ways from culture

to culture.

In Indonesia if we see one of our friends wearing a beautiful new dress, most of us tend to keep silent

and say nothing about the dress rather than expressing our admiration. English people, however, tend to express

it by giving compliments.

e.g.: - You look pretty in your new dress.

- I like the color of your new dress.

It also differs in how we respond to compliments. For Indonesians, in many cases, it is common to see

people refusing a compliment by saying, “Tidak! Bajuinisudah lama.” As a consequence when we speak in

English we tend to respond the same way and say, “No! It’s an old dress. I bought it last year.”

Nevertheless, such a response is not appropriate in English culture. Native speakers tend to accept a

compliment, particularly if it is a sincere one, by saying thank you plus add one or two statements supporting it.

e.g.: “Thank you. I like it very much. I particularly like its color and style.”

In responding to a compliment, most Indonesian speakers, tend to be quiet, do not give any comments, and tend

to refuse the compliments with a few disagreeing statements.

Source: Look Ahead (Sudarwati& Grace, 200), chapter 5 page 131

The text above is about the comparison between what Indonesian people and native speakers

of English do in giving compliments. The purpose of including this text in textbook is,

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perhaps, to tell the students about the different way to give and respond to compliments in

Indonesian or in English. It is in purpose to make students aware of giving and responding to

compliments in English is not only by literally translating Indonesian compliments into

English. The contrast between Indonesian and English people when receiving compliments is

the way they respond to compliment. Indonesian people tend to refuse a compliment while

English people tend to say “thank you” to the person giving the compliment. As stated by

Nelson (1996, p.11), what Indonesian people do is “downgrading the compliment” whereas

when English people tend to receive compliment by saying “thank you” (Nelson, 1996, p.9).

Moreover, by knowing what culture from text available in their textbook, it is hoped

that the students are encouraged to have more practice in giving and responding compliments.

By doing so, they can improve their awareness of giving and responding to compliments in

English. This analysis corresponds to what Billmyer (1990) believed that “learning to

compliment and reply to compliments appropriately and effectively may assist learners in

creating their own opportunities to engage in meaningful social interaction with native

speakers” (p.33). The fact that not all students are from Javanese ethnic group shows that not

all cultures that Indonesian ethnic groups have are being represented in the texts.

Based on the analysis above, there were three cultural contents which represented

Indonesian culture from the texts in the EFL textbooks, such as Indonesian cultural landmark,

and Javanese values, “rikuh” and being humble. From the representation of these three

cultural contents in the textbooks, as Cortazzi and Jin (1999, p.203) said that knowing

Indonesian culture as students’ own culture help them to be aware of their own culture. It is

hoped that by the representation of these cultural contents in the textbooks, students can be

aware the importance of national landmark and life values. In my opinion, one interesting

thing that I got from the data analysis is that those three cultural contents that I mentioned

18

above came from Javanese culture, as seen from the location of the cultural landmark and the

values of Javanese people.

International culture

International culture was the third theme in this research. The cultural contents of

international culture addressed in two textbooks were, for example, an artist’s biography,

moral value and cleanliness habit.

One example of cultural contents that represent international culture was artist’s

biography. Take a look at Text 5 below:

Text 5

Similar to Lappalainen’s findings (2011, p.46), one of cultural contents in the textbooks

which represented international culture was about artist’s biography. From the Text 5 above,

the students are introduced to Picasso, one of Spanish artists. One purpose of including this

text in the textbook is perhaps to inform the students about Picasso’s life and achievements.

More than that, the function of this text is perhaps to make students attracted to art itself as it

is stated by McDougall et al (2011) that,

In science education, art is often positioned as an entry point to engagement. For

example, artworks in informal science-learning environments are often designed to

attract, puzzle, or surprise, with the aim of triggering the learner’s attention, curiosity,

Picasso was one of the most outstanding and important artists of the 1990’s. He is best known for

his paintings. Almost every style in modern art is represented in Picasso’s works.

Picasso was born in 1881 in Malaga, Spain as the son of an art teacher. He studied painting with

his father and also in Madrid.

From about 1895 to 1901 he painted realistic works in a traditional style. Then he entered what was

called the Blue Period. During this time he only used shades of blues in his paintings to show poverty he

saw in Barcelona.

After 1907, he entered into the style of cubism. Among his well-known cubist paintings are “The

Three Musicians” and “The Man with a guitar” which depict the destruction of a Spanish town.

Picasso died in France in 1973.

Source: Look Ahead (Sudarwati& Grace, 2006), chapter 1 page 26

19

and desire to make sense of the phenomenon addressed by the artwork. As such, art

serves as an invitation to engage with science. (p.26)

By doing so, the students do not only get interested with art but also with science education.

In other words, art can be used as a tool to make the students pay attention to the lesson in the

classroom.

Another example of cultural contents that represented international culture was moral

value. Moral value is a belief about what is right and wrong or about what is important in life.

The following text, Text 6, is one example of moral values:

Text 6

The reason why this kind of text is included in the textbooks is, perhaps, to make students

aware of moral values; not to be greedy. Moreover, how the students can practice and have

this moral value in their daily life may become their teachers’ and parents’ job. According to

Lumpkin (2008),

…, teachers with integrity are viewed as morally sound model for young people

[students] to follow. For example, it is important for physical educators to

demonstrate integrity by teaching fair play and sportsmanship and to serve as role

models by respecting all students and treating everyone with kindness. (p.46)

A greedy Dog

A dog was feeling very proud of himself. He had found a big, juicy bone at the market. He

quickly carried it in his mouth and ran off to find a place to eat it.

He came to a stream which had very clear water. He started to walk across it, taking his own

sweet time. He was thinking what a wonderful time he would have when he could eat the whole juicy

bone, all by himself.

Suddenly he stopped and looked down into the water. He saw a dog there looking back at him,

also with a bone in his mouth. He did not know he was looking at himself.

He said to himself, “That dog’s bone looks bigger than mine. I’ll grab his bone and run away as

fast as I can!”

…

Source: Look Ahead (Sudarwati& Grace, 2006) chapter 2 page 55

20

It means that teachers function as models who give example to students of how to treat others

with kindness. By doing so, it is hoped that the students can imitate what their teachers do. It

is also believed by Saravanakumar (p.7) who mentions that “Value education is important to

help everyone in improving the value system that he/she holds and put them to use”.

Moreover, when the students understand the moral value given they will be able to control

what choices should be made in their life.

The third cultural content that symbolized the international culture was cleanliness

habit (Gram-Hansse, 2007, p.17). Habit is activity that you do regularly and usually without

thinking. Look at the Text 7 below as the example:

Text 7

The purpose of including this text in the textbook is maybe to make the students aware of

their environment and the importance of cleanliness habit. It is also important to have

cleanliness habit in students’ daily life. One thing that can be done to make students have

cleanliness habit is perhaps through their parents, as stated by Gram-Hanssen (2007) that,

Cleanliness Habit

Cleanliness is not only related to bathing, brushing teeth, wearing clean clothes, and washing

hands before dining but also participating in preventing pollution. Pollution is harmful to public health. But

not all people, especially those who live in cities, care about it. We can see rubbish or wreckage the broken

parts of a destroyed thing, in many places. As a consequence, it damages the beauty of the city, creates

water and air pollution and causes diseases. The polluted dust in air makes it hard for people to breathe and

can irritate the eyes. Polluted water and air are smelly. Besides giving bad smell, polluted water, rivers, and

drains are not nice to see.

The government urges the residents to cooperate in preventing pollution. But it is not enough. A

good resident must be aware of this problem by starting cleanliness habits at home and in environment

surroundings. He should arrange his house neatly and tidily. At home he should have a rubbish container.

Cleanliness operation in the neighborhood is important. It can be held periodically, once or twice a month.

The cleanliness of environment actually depends on the people. As the number of people increases

rapidly, the pollution problem will be more and more serious. Let’s love and enjoy our home and

environment by preventing any pollution. We must make them clean and healthy. No spitting and no

littering. Cleanliness must be our habit, our motto in our days.

Source: Linked to the World (Soeprapto&Darwis, 2005) chapter 4 page 48-49

21

Habitus provides a way of ascertaining how children throughout their childhood are

influenced by their parents’ way of acting and thinking. This process of generational

transmission occurs not necessarily because children are told how to act or think, but

often transpires much more indirectly as they learn what is appropriate to do in all the

various fields in which humans act. (p.18)

In other words, parents take an active role to make their children have cleanliness habit. By

seeing what their parents do in daily activities, somehow, the students would unconsciously

imitate what their parents’ do. As a result, raising students’ awareness is not only beneficial

for students themselves but also both for their environment and people surroundings.

Based on the analysis above, there were three cultural contents that represented

international culture such as artist’s biography, moral value and cleanliness habit. These three

cultural contents can be met in every culture around the world. By the involvement of their

teachers and parents, it would be easier for the students to understand the important of art,

moral value and cleanliness habit for their better future. Also, knowing and understanding

those cultural contents in international culture will help the students to build up their

intercultural communication with those who come from other countries. As it is believed by

Saluveer (2004, p.101) that “… the main aim of … cultural teaching is to develop students’

intercultural understanding and help them with intercultural communication.

Conclusion

The purpose of this study was to analyze which culture is represented in the EFL

textbooks used by high school students. The findings of this research study revealed

important points related to the cultures represented in the EFL textbooks used by the first

graders of senior high school. Based on the data gathered and analyzed, the two textbooks

tended to represent International culture. Other cultures represented were Indonesian culture

22

and Western culture. Moreover, there were several cultural contents represented through the

texts for each culture such as Indonesian culture had cultural landmark (The Borobudur

Temple), one Javanese value “rikuh” and being humble, Western culture in the company of

sport event and International culture with artist’s biography, cleanliness habit and moral

value as cultural contents.

In addition, there were two things that become the limitation of this study. The first

thing was that the textbooks used in this study were only textbooks for the first graders of

senior high school students. It is due to the reason why I conducted this study related to

whether or not the textbooks used in this study contains Indonesian or other countries culture.

The second thing was with regard to the total number of textbooks used in this study. The

reason why my research study only used and analyzed two kinds of textbooks was due to the

limited time that I had. Therefore, having an adequate amount of time available it is hoped

that further study would be able to analyze more than two textbooks used by senior high

school students.

Based on the results gained in this study, the following points are recommended:

1. Besides Javanese culture, the teachers can add additional materials/ texts about other

ethnic groups exist in Indonesia. It is because based on the result of this study; it

seemed that the cultural content of Indonesian culture represented through the texts in

textbooks was from Javanese ethnic group. Therefore, a variety of materials about

other Indonesian ethnic groups are truly needed.

2. It was clear from the research result that texts which represented Western culture were

very limited. So, it is necessary to put several texts that have Western cultural

contents that can enhance students’ better understanding of Western culture.

One pedagogical implication from the findings is that if the textbooks provide a

dominant role for International culture, teachers can try to supplement the textbooks with a

23

variety of materials about the uses and the users of English in students’ local contexts

(McKay, 2012, p.87). Moreover, it is hoped that there are other research studies about the

analysis of cultural contents in textbooks used by different grades of students so that there are

some improvements in the materials given to the students through textbooks with regard to

English as International language. As believed by McKay (2012) that “one central goal of

EIL materials needs to provide students with an awareness of the diversity of English use

today so that they are better prepared in international context (p.73).

24

Acknowledgement

First of all, I would like to thank to Jesus Christ for all His kindness, guidance and

strength. Also, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my thesis supervisor,

Nugrahenny T. Zacharias, Ph. D. in giving me her valuable time, support and suggestions

also guiding me patiently during consultation so that I could finish my thesis. I would also

show my appreciation to my examiner, Prof. Dr. GustiAstika, M. A., for his willingness in

reading and examining my thesis.

I also thank to my family for the enormous support, prayers and care. Also to all ED

lecturers and friends, 2008’ers, and my beloved friends: Ester, Ririn, Devi, Tiur, Rina, and

Seruni’ friends, I would never forget experiences we have shared together. I would like to say

thank you to my boyfriend, Herwan, for his never end prayers and support also for the

strength he always gives.

Ristina

25

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