MASARYK UNIVERSITY BRNO Bachelor Thesis - IS MUNI

MASARYK UNIVERSITY BRNO

FACULTY OF EDUCATION

Bachelor Thesis

Brno 2015

Supervisor: Ailsa Marion Randall, M.A. Author: Šárka Jelínková

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MASARYK UNIVERSITY BRNO

FACULTY OF EDUCATION

Department of English Language and Literature

Importance of Teaching Culture in Lower

Secondary Czech Schools

Bachelor Thesis

Brno 2015

Supervisor: Ailsa Marion Randall, M.A. Author: Šárka Jelínková

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Bibliography

JELÍNKOVÁ, Šárka. Importance of Teaching Culture in Lower Secondary Czech

Schools; bachelor thesis. Brno: Masaryk University, Faculty of Education, Department of

English Language and Literature, 2015. 81 pages, 2 pages of attachment. The supervisor of

the Bachelor thesis: Ailsa Marion Randall, M.A.

Bibliografický záznam

JELÍNKOVÁ, Šárka. Importance of Teaching Culture in Lower Secondary Czech

Schools; bakalářská práce. Brno: Masarykova univerzita, Pedagogická fakulta, Katedra

anglického jazyka a literatury, 2015. 81 s., 2 s. příl. Vedoucí bakalářské práce: Ailsa Marion

Randall, M.A.

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Abstract

The bachelor thesis deals with importance of teaching culture at lower secondary

Czech schools. The thesis provides an overview of the topic and shows teachers’ opinions

about this topic. The theoretical part presents an overview about culture, and benefits that its

teaching can have for pupils. The theoretical part also deals with textbooks for language

teaching, criteria for their evaluation and cultural contents that textbooks contain. The

practical part presents the results of quantitative and qualitative research intended for English

and German teachers at lower secondary Czech schools and for textbooks that teachers use in

their classes.

Anotace

Bakalářka práce se zabývá důležitostí výuky kultury na druhém stupni základních škol

v České republice. Práce poskytuje obecný přehled o tomto tématu a přináší názory učitelů na

tuto tématiku. Teoretická část překládá obecný přehled o kultuře, a jaký přínos její vyučování

může pro žáky mít. Teoretická část se dále zabývá učebnicemi pro výuku jazyků, kritérii pro

jejich hodnocení a druhy kulturního obsahu, který jsou v nich obsaženy. Praktická část

předkládá výsledky kvantitativního a kvalitativního výzkumu zaměřeného na učitele

anglického a německého jazyka na druhém stupni základních škol v České republice a na

učebnice, které při své výuce používají.

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Keywords

culture, lower secondary Czech schools, English teachers, German teachers, culture teaching,

English speaking countries, German speaking countries, pupils, textbooks

Klíčová slova

kultůra, druhý stupeň základních škol, učitelé anglického jazyka, učitelé německého jazyka,

výuka kultury, anglicky mluvící země, německy mluvící země, žáci, učebnice

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Declaration

I hereby declare that I have written this bachelor thesis on my own and that I have

used only the sources listed in the bibliography.

Prohlášení

Prohlašuji, že jsem bakalářskou práci vypracovala samostatně, s využitím pouze

citovaných literárních pramenů.

In Brno, 2015 Jelínková Šárka

..………………………….

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Acknowledgement

I would like thank my supervisor Ailsa Marion Randall, M.A. for her kind help,

patience, advice, comments and great support throughout writing the thesis.

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Content

Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 12

1 THEORETICAL PART ................................................................................................ 14

1.1 Culture ...................................................................................................................... 14

1.1.1 Definition of culture ........................................................................................... 14

1.1.1.1 Other views of culture ................................................................................. 15

1.1.2 Culture as iceberg ............................................................................................... 16

1.1.3 Cultural awareness .............................................................................................. 17

1.1.4 Kinesics and cross-cultural understanding ......................................................... 18

1.1.4.1 The non-verbal channel of expression ........................................................ 18

1.1.5 Cultural stereotypes ............................................................................................ 19

1.1.6 Language and culture.......................................................................................... 19

1.2 Teaching culture ...................................................................................................... 20

1.2.1 Benefits of teaching culture ................................................................................ 21

1.2.2 The aim of teaching culture ................................................................................ 22

1.2.3 Study concerning teaching culture in a class ...................................................... 22

1.2.4 Cultural topics .................................................................................................... 24

1.2.5 Techniques for teaching cultural awareness ....................................................... 24

1.2.6 The experiential learning cycle........................................................................... 25

1.2.6.1 Cultural knowings and teacher roles ........................................................... 26

1.2.7 Problems involved in teaching culture ............................................................... 29

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1.2.8 Culture learning outcomes .................................................................................. 30

1.2.8.1 Culture-specific understanding ................................................................... 30

1.2.8.2 Culture-general understanding .................................................................... 31

1.2.8.3 Competence ................................................................................................. 31

1.2.8.4 Adaptation ................................................................................................... 31

1.2.8.5 Social change............................................................................................... 32

1.2.8.6 Identity ........................................................................................................ 32

1.3 Textbooks .................................................................................................................. 33

1.3.1 Definition of a textbook ...................................................................................... 33

1.3.2 Assessment and evaluation of a textbook ........................................................... 34

1.3.3 Positive and negative effect of textbooks ........................................................... 35

1.3.4 Visual materials in textbooks ............................................................................. 36

1.3.5 Representation of characters in textbooks .......................................................... 36

1.3.6 Types of cultural contents in textbooks .............................................................. 37

1.3.6.1 Local contents ............................................................................................. 37

1.3.6.2 Target culture .............................................................................................. 37

1.3.6.3 A blend of local and international culture ................................................... 38

1.3.7 Culture in textbooks ........................................................................................... 38

1.3.8 Criteria for analysing and evaluating the cultural content in textbooks ............. 38

2 PRACTICAL PART ...................................................................................................... 40

2.1 Methodology of the research I ................................................................................ 40

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2.1.1 Respondents ........................................................................................................ 40

2.1.2 The goal of the research...................................................................................... 40

2.1.3 Data collecting .................................................................................................... 41

2.2 Data analysing and conclusion ................................................................................ 41

2.3 Research II ................................................................................................................ 52

2.3.1 Methodology of the research II .......................................................................... 52

2.3.2 Introduction of textbooks ................................................................................... 53

2.3.3 Visual material .................................................................................................... 55

2.3.3.1 Project.......................................................................................................... 55

2.3.3.2 Spaß mit Max .............................................................................................. 56

2.3.3.3 Planet ........................................................................................................... 57

2.3.4 Representation of characters ............................................................................... 57

2.3.4.1 Project.......................................................................................................... 58

2.3.4.2 Spaß mit Max .............................................................................................. 59

2.3.4.3 Planet ........................................................................................................... 60

2.3.5 Research criteria ................................................................................................. 61

2.3.5.1 Social identity and social groups ................................................................. 62

2.3.5.2 Social interaction ......................................................................................... 63

2.3.5.3 Belief and behaviour ................................................................................... 65

2.3.5.4 Socio-political institutions........................................................................... 67

2.3.5.5 Socialization and the life-cycle ................................................................... 67

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2.3.5.6 National history ........................................................................................... 69

2.3.5.7 National geography ..................................................................................... 70

2.3.5.8 National cultural heritage ............................................................................ 71

2.3.5.9 Stereotypes and national identity ................................................................ 72

2.3.6 Comparison of textbooks .................................................................................... 73

Conclusion ............................................................................................................................... 76

Works cited ............................................................................................................................. 78

Appendix: Questionnaire ....................................................................................................... 80

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Introduction

Nowadays, on the market there are available many different textbooks for teaching

foreign languages. Apart from using textbooks there are naturally other tools for teaching

foreign languages but the tendency of schools is usually to follow a textbook. Therefore, the

choice of a textbook is extremely important because through textbooks learners develop not

only their language skills but also often omitted importance of cultural knowledge and

understanding of the target culture. The aim of this thesis is to clarify the importance of

teaching culture and benefits that teaching culture can bring its learners. For this reason

textbooks used at lower secondary Czech schools will be analysed and their cultural content

will be evaluated. Even though English language is the most taught second language in the

world, in the Czech Republic German language also plays an important role. For the purpose

of the thesis English and German textbooks will be discussed.

The impulse for the topic of the importance of teaching culture stems from my

personal experience of living in Germany and in the UK for a longer period of time. During

my stays I realized the necessity of knowing about and understanding the culture of the

language I learn. Also for this reason the most used textbooks at lower secondary Czech

schools will be dealt with since they are the main language teaching tool.

This thesis will be divided into two parts, a theoretical and a practical one. The

theoretical part will consist of three main chapters. The first one will be focused on the culture

as a general term, its definition and components. The second chapter will deal with teaching

culture its benefits, aim, outcomes and also with suggested topics and techniques for teaching

culture as well as teachers roles and the possible problems involved in teaching culture. The

last chapter is dedicated to textbooks where the definition, positive and negative effects of

textbooks will be presented. Also visual materials, representation of characters, types of

cultural content and criteria for analysing and evaluating the cultural content in textbooks are

going to be introduced.

The practical part will be based on two researches, a quantitative and a qualitative one.

The data for the quantitative research will be collected via questionnaire and from results,

statistics will be made. English and German will be asked about their view on the importance

of teaching culture. Besides other questions they will be asked which textbooks they use in

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their classes and if they think that the particular textbook contain enough cultural information.

The second qualitative research will use respondents’ answers. Textbook which will be said to

be used the most, will be analysed and evaluated. The evaluation will be based on the nine

criteria for analysing and evaluating the cultural content in textbooks presented in the

theoretical part. In the end there will be a comparison of those textbooks and the outcomes of

the research will be compared with respondents’ opinion about the cultural content of the

particular textbook.

The whole thesis will provide a clear overview of the topic along with evaluation of

the most used textbooks in foreign language classes.

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1 THEORETICAL PART

1.1 Culture

1.1.1 Definition of culture

This definition describes culture as a general term. Halverson in Moran (2001) claims

the following : “Culture is viewed as civilization, the great achievements of a people as

reflected in their history, social institutions, works of art, architecture, music, and literature –

commonly referred to as ‘‘ Big C’’ culture’’.

Tomalin & Stempleski (1993) highlight the importance of ‘‘little c’’ culture claiming

that ‘‘Big C’’ (‘achievement culture’) remains as it was, but ‘‘little c’’ (‘behaviour culture’)

has been broadened to include culturally – influenced beliefs and perceptions, especially as

expressed through language, but also through cultural behaviours that effect acceptability in

the host community’’. (p. 6-7) Tomalin & Stempleski (1993) draw the attention to the

questions ‘‘what does culture mean to you?’’. According to them the most teachers’ answers

to this question fall into three categories: products, ideas and behaviours. Tomalin &

Stempleski (1993) show broadening of ‘‘little c’’ culture through “Elements of Culture”.

Figure 1: Elements of culture (Tomalin & Stempleski, 1993, p. 7).

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Tomalin & Stempleski (1993) claim that the introduction of ‘‘Big C’’ culture in

textbooks and lessons is clear and depicted enough but the culturally – influenced behaviours

represented by the ‘‘little c’’ culture are treated ‘‘in an anecdotal, peripheral, or

supplementary way, depending on the interest and awareness of teachers and students’’. (p. 7)

1.1.1.1 Other views of culture

Kohls (in Moran, 2001) sees culture as a “general concept, without reference to any

specific culture”. (p. 4) This concept consists of culture-general components such as

“intercultural awareness, value orientations, attitudes, and behaviours”. (Moran, 2001, p. 5)

Lustig and Koester (in Moran, 2001) define “culture in terms of intercultural

communication, the capacity and ability to enter other cultures and communicate effectively

and appropriately, establish and maintain relationships, and carry out tasks with people of

these cultures”. (p. 4) Moran (2001) comments that this concept, which describes what people

do and fell in order to succeed in communication, is applicable for all cultures.

Geertz (in Moran, 2001) views culture “as a dynamic between and among people,

consisting of the values, meanings, or beliefs that they create in their unique social

circumstances”. (p. 5)

A dynamic view of culture introduced by Kiss & Weninger (2013) highlights that the

current opinion on teaching culture has changed and nowadays the classroom intention is to

catch learners’ attention instead of requiring learners to remember cultural information; the

purpose is to help learners to understand the culture of the target language they learn through

involvement of material used in classes.

There are many definitions and views of culture and in other fields of study, culture

can be defined differently. Moran (2001) remarks that culture is a static, fixed body of

knowledge and is permanently developing and being shaped by interpersonal relationships

and always in the process of formation.

Moran (2001) brings a complex explanation of culture with help of “The Five

Dimensions of Culture”.

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Figure 2: The five dimensions of culture.

Moran (2001) understands culture as a mix of these five dimensions where products

represent e.g. clothing, written documents, buildings, music, politics or religion. Practices

include actions and interactions, individually or among members of the culture. Perspectives

comprise perceptions, beliefs, values, and attitudes of people within the culture.

Communities “include the specific social context, circumstances, and groups in which

members carry out cultural practices”. (p. 25) Communities are e.g. co-workers, political

parties, or families. Persons embody individual members who form culture in the unique

way.

1.1.2 Culture as iceberg

Moran (2001) claims that perspectives can be pronounced based on our knowledge of

history or traditions, but on the other hand many perspectives stay unpronounced, outside our

awareness. To demonstrate this phenomenon of two dimensions of cultural perspectives

Moran (2001) brings “the iceberg, where explicit culture represents the tip of the iceberg and

tacit culture is all that lies beneath the surface of the sea, out of sight”. (p. 27)

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Figure 3: The iceberg of culture (Moran, 2001, p. 28).

Moran (2001) summarizes that “thus, cultural products, practices, persons,

communities, and some perspectives are explicit – visible or tangible – whereas many

perspectives are tacit – invisible or intangible”. (p. 28)

1.1.3 Cultural awareness

“Cultural awareness is the term used to describe sensitivity to the impact of

culturally – induced behaviour on language use and communication” (Tomalin & Stempleski,

1993, p. 5). Cross – cultural awareness covers life and institutions of the target country,

peoples’ beliefs, values, their everyday attitudes and feelings expressed through language and

also by their appearance or paralinguistic features. Cross – cultural interaction is a next term

defined by Tomalin & Stempleski (1993) who put emphasis on knowing about it because it is

important and often omitted. They list four reasons why it should be taken into consideration.

First one is “the rise in economic of the Pacific Rim countries”. In these days those countries

play a significant role in trade and it is a need to know about their culture because their

traditions and cultural behaviours differ very much from Europeans ones (Tomalin &

Stempleski, 1993, p. 5). Next reason is “the influence of increased immigration on curricula”

as in the Czech Republic more immigrants are integrated to Czech schools it is essential to

explain them also our way of life (Tomalin & Stempleski, 1993, p. 6). Finally “the study of

pragmatics” and “the study of non-verbal aspects of communication” are mentioned (Tomalin

& Stempleski, 1993, p. 6). Because non-verbal aspects of communication are an

indispensable component of culture and essential for understanding other cultures it will be

dealt with it in the next chapter.

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1.1.4 Kinesics and cross-cultural understanding

Morain (in Valdes, 1986) explains that knowledge of grammar, sounds and vocabulary

is essential for communication in a foreign language but these aspects do not guarantee

absolute understanding. “The critical factor in understanding has to do with cultural aspects

that exist beyond the lexical – aspects that include the many dimensions of nonverbal

communication” (Morain in Valdes, 1986, p. 64).

1.1.4.1 The non-verbal channel of expression

According to Morain (in Valdes, 1986) nonverbal aspects of communication are

divided into three categories namely “Body language which covers comprising movements,

gestures, posture, facial expression, gaze, touch and distancing, Object language consisting

of use of signs, design, realia, artifacts, clothing and personal adornment to communicate

with others, and finally Environmental language made up of those aspects of colour,

lighting, architecture, space, direction, and natural surroundings which speak to man about his

nature”. (p. 66)

In this section the perception of some non-verbal expressions within various cultures

will be introduced. Kirch (1979) remarks that clapping in North America and Spain means

something different. In North America and many other countries it means applause but in

Spain you call a waiter in this way. Kirch (1979) also mentions that nodding and shaking the

head could be understand in different ways; for Northern Europeans means ‘‘yes’’ when they

nod their head up and down and ‘‘no’’ when shaking head from side to side. On the other

hand in Greece has nodding and shaking head inverse meaning and many cultures such as

Americans, Italians, Germans, French and other there could be also differences in the way of

waving goodbye (Kirch, 1979).

Students should be taught nonverbal communication since their beginnings of learning

a foreign language because later when they will have to or need to interact with people of

other cultures their ignorance of non-verbal communication may lead to miscommunication.

Teachers should cover non-verbal communication exercises in their classes. They can

mention interesting differences within other cultures similar to the above mentioned and they

can practise them with the help of games, videos, pictures or also student’s presentations.

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Another cultural topic that could interest students is cultural stereotypes that will be dealt with

in the next chapter.

1.1.5 Cultural stereotypes

Lehtonen (n.d) explains that the word stereotype refer to a group of members about

whom we make a judgment, sometimes even without knowing them, and at the same time he

highlights that stereotypes are usually understood negatively but could also be positive.

Lehtonen (n.d) points out that the less a person knows about the certain group e.g. Germans,

Americans the more is a stereotypical generalization used. Cultural stereotypes are permanent

and also changing; in general stereotypes are not useful in intercultural interaction because

they can influence interactions in different ways, usually in negative one, and moreover

stereotypes may even influence a person to see people differently than they are (Lehtonen,

n.d). ‘‘Stereotypes are shared beliefs about the characteristics of the target group and at the

same time they also function as social expectations’’ (Lehtonen, n.d, n.p.). Tomalin and

Stempleski (1993) maintain that some stereotypes could cause damage because “they don’t

allow for individuality, they encourage negative judgment, and lead to misunderstanding” (p.

127).

Teachers should explain their students what stereotypes mean and try to persuade

them not to judge cultures according to stereotypes because it can lead to their disgust towards

the target culture. Kiet Ho (2009) suggests that for example, learners can introduce their

thoughts about British food with the help of posters or pictures they bring along to class. Kiet

Ho (2009) stresses that learners will this way mirror their ideas about cultural stereotypes and

that it “can help them to reflect on the bad reputation of British food as a stereotype”. (p. 70)

1.1.6 Language and culture

Kiet Ho (2009) maintains that language and culture have an inseparable and

interconnected relationship. Mitchell and Myles (in Kiet Ho, 2009) claim that “language and

culture are not separate, but are acquired together, with each providing support for the

development of the other”. (p. 64) Liddicoat et al. (in Kiet Ho, 2009) underline that besides an

interaction between language and culture; culture is reflected in every stage of language

learning and teaching and in language structures which is why there is no level of language

which is separate from cultures as it is visually depicted in Figure 4. Kramsch (in Kiet Ho,

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2009) considers culture and language linked together because language “expresses, embodies

and symbolizes cultural reality clearly”. (p. 64) In learning any language it is essential to

connect culture and language because otherwise “the person who learns language without

learning culture risks becoming a fluent fool” (Bennett, Bennett & Allen in Kiet Ho, 2009, p.

64).

Figure 4: Points of articulation between culture and language (Liddicoat in Kiet Ho, 2009, p.

64).

1.2 Teaching culture

In today’s world it is essential to gain knowledge of at least one foreign language.

People need to have a good command of a foreign language because of their professional life

or for other situations such as travelling. The first step to learn a foreign language is

development of skills in reading, listening, speaking, writing and in grammar and then a

learner can be evaluated according to CEFR1. However, becoming aware of the culture of the

target language is important as well. Culture helps to understand people of the target language

and knowledge of the target culture can avoid misunderstanding among people. Politzer in

Valdes (1986) notes that “If we teach language without teaching at the same time the culture

in which it operates, we are teaching meaningless symbols or symbols to which the student

attaches the wrong meaning”. (p. 123)

1 Common European Framework of Reference. It is a document “designed to provide a transparent, coherent and

comprehensive basis for elaboration of language syllabuses and curriculum guidelines, the design of teaching

and learning materials, and the assessment of foreign language proficiency” (Council of Europe).

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This chapter discusses teaching culture and its benefits which its teaching and

learning brings learners of the target language. After that the aim of teaching culture, which is

connected with its benefits, is defined and supported by a study of the importance of teaching

culture led by Genc and Bada. Next many cultural topics which can be taken into

consideration by teachers of languages for teaching cultural awareness are suggested. Further

an experiential learning cycle that explains all cultural knowings is introduced as well as their

descriptions and teachers’ roles that are essential for learners’ cultural development. Next

there are described problems which may occur while teaching and also learning culture and

some solutions how to solve them are presented. Finally, learning outcomes that should be

gained during the process of learning foreign language are introduced.

1.2.1 Benefits of teaching culture

Teaching culture brings a lot of benefits. According to Genc and Bada (2005) it helps

learners to see similarities and dissimilarity among various cultural groups. The next

beneficial thought is mentioned by Chastain in Genc and Bada (1986) who emphasises the

importance of the connection of abstract sounds and forms of a language to real people and

places. Genc and Bada (2005) put emphasis on studying culture because it increases learners’

curiosity about and interest in the target countries but it also motivates them. Hassan (2008)

emphasises that knowledge and understanding of the culture of a language helps language

learners view the world from another perspective. Gebrahd (2006) points out that the learner

understands deeper his or her own culture and gains deeper understanding of himself or

herself.

Apart from these benefits teaching culture is useful in enriching general education;

learners of the L22 can learn about history, geography, etc. of the target culture (Cooke in

Genc and Bada 2005)

Teaching culture from an early age among other benefits helps a person not to be

culture-bound (Genc and Bada, 2005). If we teach culture already at primary schools at the

same time with the target L2 it will be easier for learners to understand and learn the

language. Later with older learners who are culture-bound it can cause more difficulties.

2 Second language

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1.2.2 The aim of teaching culture

The aim of teaching any subject is to improve learners’ knowledge and with culture

the aim is “to increase students awareness and to develop their curiosity towards the target

culture and their own, helping them to make comparisons among cultures” (Tavares &

Cavalcanti in Thanasoulas, 2001, n.p.). Bassnett (2003) claims that educational aims “may be

part of a liberal tradition of increasing understanding of the world, of creating positive

attitudes towards speakers of other languages, of furthering the personal and social

development of the individuals”. (p. 58)

The teaching of culture is considered to be an important part of modern foreign

language learning and teaching since one major aim of language teaching is to increase the

understanding and tolerance between cultures (Corbett 2003: 3). Furthermore, the cultural

knowledge is needed for international communication and contacts (Buttjes 1991: 8). This

aim of language learning and teaching will become even more important in the future since

the world is constantly becoming more globalized.

1.2.3 Study concerning teaching culture in a class

In this section a study will be introduced which shows positive outcomes of teaching

culture. Even though respondents of this study were not lower-secondary school pupils but

students studying at the University of Çukurova the study still proves the importance of teaching

culture and its benefits. This survey was held by Genc and Bada (2005); the data were collected

for three months from third year Turkish student-teachers of English studying at the English

Language Teaching Department of Çukurova University who took a culture course during fall

2003-2004 academic year. Participants were 38 students aged between 21-25 years. Firstly

students were asked whether the culture provided any kind of contribution to any of their

language skill(s), secondly if so, which particular skill(s) was/were improved compared to others.

Next students were asked if they became more aware of their own and the target culture’s

characteristics and finally if their attitude towards target culture has changed.

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Table 1: Language skills (Genc and Bada, 2005).

Table 2: Type of language skills developed (Genc and Bada, 2005).

Table 3: Cultural awareness (Genc and Bada, 2005).

Table 4: Attitude toward the target culture (Genc and Bada, 2005).

From the tables we can see that this cultural course had a positive influence on

participants’ language skills, it raised their cultural awareness about their own and the target

culture. The last table shows that participants’ attitude towards British and American societies

has changed positively.

This research proves that teaching culture has a great impact on learners’ language

skills and also for learner’s development. Even though this research was focused on English

culture it is expected that teaching any other culture e.g. German would have the same impact

on learners’ language development. The method and materials used in language classes

should be focused on culture in order to help learners to develop their language skills faster

and effectively. The main materials used in classes are usually textbooks.

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Teachers argue that there is not enough time in classes to speak a lot about culture but

they can cover cultural content easily with help of exercises for reading, listening, speaking,

grammar and also writing in order to save time and deliver learners cultural information about

the target culture. They will manage to teach two things simultaneously: teaching culture

while teaching language. Following two chapters bring ideas about cultural topics and

methods how to teach culture.

1.2.4 Cultural topics

Brooks (in Valdes, 1986) mentions that many successful language teachers start their

lessons with a five-minute presentation on a topic which brings out “identity, similarity, or

sharp difference in comparable patterns of culture”. (p. 123) The aim should be that learners

are directly addressed and think about those similarities, dissimilarities or identities. They

should be interested because it relates to their daily actions or behaviour. Brooks (in Valdes,

1986) suggests many topics which could be considered for the five-minute presentations such

as verbal taboos, greetings, holidays, folklore, music, discipline, errands, festivals, family

meals, appointments, careers, getting from place to place, vacation, resort areas and many

others. Suggested topics may be used for English and also for German classes.

Those topics may be helpful for many teachers to cover a cultural pattern into their

classes. However, they should be aware that a topic has to correspond to the age of learners.

The teacher could ask for instance teenage learners about their errands at school, what they

are asked to do, what their duties are and then their answers could be compared with teenagers

of the target culture they learn about.

1.2.5 Techniques for teaching cultural awareness

Hughes in Valdes (1986) provides us with a list of techniques for teaching cultural

awareness. Topics suggested by Brooks could be applied in classes with different techniques.

First technique is a comparison method where the teacher brings in discussion about one or

more items that are totally different from the learner’s culture. Then the teacher explains why

those differences could cause a problem. The next method is culture assimilators, the teacher

brings ‘‘a critical incident of cross-cultural interaction’’ (p. 167) which would be maybe

misunderstood by the learners. After the teacher describes the incident, the students are given

four explanations and should choose the correct one. If they answer incorrectly they are asked

to answer further. The next technique is called a culture capsule ‘‘this technique is somewhat

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similar to culture assimilator, but cannot be assigned as a silent reading exercise’’. (p. 167)

The teacher gives a presentation to show a difference between the target culture and any

foreign custom with help of visual materials and set of questions to make the class discussion

circulate. Drama ‘‘this technique is especially useful for directly involving students in cross-

cultural misunderstanding by having selected members act out in a series of short scenes a

misinterpretation of something that happens in the target culture’’. (p. 167) The audio motor

unit is a method based on listening where learners are supposed to answer oral commands.

‘‘The commands are arranged in an order that will cause students to act out a cultural

experience’’. (p. 167) Teachers can discuss culture with the help of a newspaper. Learners

are asked to compare a certain thing in the foreign newspaper with newspapers of their

language. Teachers may also use a technique called projected media that is a way of

delivering cultural context through films and filmstrips and further exercises connected to

them. The last technique that is introduced is the cultural island where the teacher could

increase learner’s interest in the target culture through decoration of the class with posters or

pictures. In my opinion to teach effectively and interestingly teachers should mix techniques

how they teach and the list of previously mentioned techniques might help them.

1.2.6 The experiential learning cycle

Kolb (in Moran, 2001) presented a model of learning through experience that consists

of a cycle comprising four phases – ‘‘concrete experience, reflective observation, abstract

conceptualization and active experimentation’’ out of which each has a diverse learning

purpose. (p. 18) Those four stages are interpreted by Moran (2001) differently who presents

cultural experience and cultural knowings. The cultural experience is delivered by direct

involvement in the target culture itself or indirectly through cultural content in textbooks and

many other materials or teacher’s experience where this experience is taking place in each of

the four stages (Moran, 2001). In the cycle ‘‘concrete experience becomes participation where

the task is direct or indirect engagement in the culture, with an emphasis on knowing how’’.

(p. 19) ‘‘Reflective observation becomes description, with the focus on knowing about’’. (p.

19) ‘‘Abstract conceptualization becomes interpretation, where learners focus on knowing

why’’. (p. 19) The final stage active experimentation turns into response that is focused on

self-awareness and knowing oneself. The experimental cycle is portrait in the following figure

26

where the learner is depicted in the middle; all stages apart from response are focused on

culture but response on learners’ themselves (Moran, 2001).

Figure 5: The experiential learning cycle (Moran, 2001, p. 19)

These stages are a good pedagogical guide where content, activities and outcomes are

bound together and create a process which can be used within classes on working on cultural

experience (Moran, 2001). In the following subchapter a description of each part of

experiential learning cycle is dealt with separately.

1.2.6.1 Cultural knowings and teacher roles

In this subchapter attention is devoted to each cultural knowing with suggested

learning activities, learning outcomes, teachers’ roles and also to their content compiled by

Moran (2001) who presents the following table with cultural knowings.

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Table 5: Cultural knowings and teacher roles (Moran, 2001, p. 139)

Knowing How for this particular knowing teachers should ask learners questions such

as ‘‘what do you say/do?’’, ‘‘how do you say/do it?’’ or ‘‘what is appropriate’’ (Moran, 2001,

p. 141). According to Moran (2001) the learners’ goal in language-culture is to use

appropriately linguistic forms and nonverbal behaviour that is appropriate for certain

situations; to this goal should help learners to practise activities such as operations, rituals,

dialogues, role-plays, performances, drama or simulations. Learning outcomes are that

learners are able to demonstrate cultural behaviours, to perform those behaviours and select

the appropriate forms of them (Moran, 2001). Teachers should be models for their learners to

perform behaviours themselves or to show them through other sources such as videos; at the

same time teachers should be coaches who say how learners should perform cultural

behaviours, teachers should also offer their learners a support and guidance (Moran, 2001).

According to Moran (2001) teaching and learning knowing how must be accompanied by

actions such as talking, doing, dancing, singing or eating as it is done in the target culture

that’s why the role-plays becomes here the most important teachers’ tool.

Moran (2001) points out that knowing about covers many areas; mentioned are ‘‘the

target culture, the learner’s culture, concept of culture, culture learning and personal

experience’’. They need to be connected and could be learned through several ways such as

use of authentic materials (products of the target culture e.g. videos, books, photographs),

pedagogical material (prepared for language and culture learning e.g. books, videos),

experiences (either real in the target culture e.g. travelling or within the classes e.g. role-

plays) or personal accounts (teachers’ stories about their experience) (Moran, 2001). He also

highlights that learning outcomes in this section are learners’ abilities to demonstrate

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comprehension of the information that is acquired with the help of teachers’ roles as a source,

resource, arbiter and elicitor. A source role is based on selecting the appropriate information

and building a system of knowledge. As a resource role, teachers give advice to learners

where they should search for information, and allow them to convey their findinga to other

students. After it an elicitor is needed; an elicitor asks learners to share what they got to know.

The last role mentioned by Moran (2001) is an arbiter who has to distinguish between

information as facts or data. ‘‘The risk in presenting opinions and interpretations as facts is

presenting cultural stereotypes or faulty generalizations as truths’’. (Moran, 2001, p. 146)

Knowing why is according to Moran (2001) a struggling task to fulfil because

learners need to get to know perceptions, values, beliefs and attitudes of their culture and also

of the target culture in order to see similarities and dissimilarities between them. The outcome

of this knowing is to have the ability to make cultural explanation- ‘‘understanding of the

culture on its own terms, understanding of the culture using outside framework and

comparison of the target culture to other cultures’’. (Moran, 2001, p. 148) Learning activities

suggested by Moran to fulfil learning outcomes (2001) are cultural analyses (students are

asked to explain any cultural phenomenon), research projects (learners collect information

and create projects) and field experiences (thought observation or interviews learners collect

information). These are again teachers roles mentioned, this time a guide and co-researcher.

The task of a guide is to questions learners but not responding them that should help learners

to ‘‘go from the concrete to the abstract, from the cultural information they have acquired to

the underlying cultural perspectives’’ (Moran, 2001, p. 149) After the role of guide, role of

co-researcher is needed because he listens to the learners made explanations and shade his

own which could be helpful for forming and developing learners understanding (Moran,

2001).

Knowing oneself is no longer understanding of culture but learners themselves; it is

about their reactions (feelings, beliefs and attitudes which occur in reaction of the target

culture), responses (reflections on learners’ reactions) and also explorations (Moran, 2001).

Moran (2001) explains that the main outcome of knowing oneself is self-awareness – of own

culture, of oneself as a cultural being, of own feelings and attitudes, of impact of his or her

doings and also of learning process and its strategies (Moran, 2001). Moran (2001) highlights

that not only for leaners is knowing oneself a hard task but also for teachers who have to

create a friendly environment in a class to feel learners secure and confident to share opinions,

29

feelings and at the same time they have to fulfil their roles as a listener, witness and co-

learner. The task of a listener lies according to Moran (2001) in active listening and patience

because saying what learners feel and think is not easy to express through words but on the

other hand it is very important because learners need to hear themselves in order to gain self-

awareness. A witness role is basically interpretation of learners’ sayings; teacher is making

statements from pronounced words (Moran, 2001). The last role described by Moran (2001) is

a co-learner; a teacher who should share his or her strategies and process of going through

culture learning e.g. by telling stories.

1.2.7 Problems involved in teaching culture

Armani (2013) emphasises that there are four main problems which teachers face:

overcrowded curriculum, psychological problems, negative attitudes, and lack of adequate

training.

Overcrowded curriculum – Teachers think that the curriculum is already overcrowded and

that there is no space to devote time to teaching culture. Armani (2013) stresses that teachers

focus on grammar, lexis, reading or writing. However, despite the fact that the curriculum is

overcrowded learners need to be aware of the target culture. The solution may be to cover

cultural content into grammatical, writing and any other exercises that would save the needed

time.

Psychological problems – According to Armani (2013) teachers usually face to a feeling that

they do not know enough about the target culture and that’s why they give up trying to teach

it. There are many pieces of information about culture that could be found on the Internet or

in books and teachers should look for them if they are not sure about anything.

Negative attitudes – Negative attitudes towards different culture may appear if learners’ are

not able to identify their culture with the target culture (Armani, 2013). In this case it is

essential to explain why the concrete behaviour or custom is different and confront learners

with those differences in order to help them to understand the target culture.

Lacks of adequate training – Teachers often do not have adequate training in teaching

culture and, therefore, they do not have didactic strategies how to teach culture (Armani,

2013). Teachers could attend courses where they gain the required information and advice

how to cover and teach culture in their classes.

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1.2.8 Culture learning outcomes

In this subchapter everything a learner of a language should gain during his or her

language learning will be summarized. At the beginning all essential elements for it will be

shown though a table and then explained.

Table 5: Cultural learning outcomes (Moran, 2001, p. 108)

1.2.8.1 Culture-specific understanding

Moran (2001) describes that culture-specific understanding ‘‘involves both intellect

and affect, thoughts and feelings’’. (p. 109) He highlights that the outcome is that learners are

capable to identify and clarify cultural phenomena and that they are able to show their attitude

toward the culture. At the same time learners not only gain information about target culture

but they are also able to adapt this information and explain it (Moran, 2001). However, to be

capable to do this they first need to acquire ‘‘awareness and understanding of their own

cultural perspectives, etic or outsider views, which they consciously contrast with those of the

target culture, emic or insides views’’ (Moran, 2001, p. 109). Moran (2001) considers this

helpful because it develops learners’ positive attitudes toward people of the target culture and

their way of life. He points out that if learners know more information about the target culture

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and its people then their sympathy is higher and they see world from another perspective and

accept easier values, beliefs and attitudes of people another culture.

1.2.8.2 Culture-general understanding

Moran (2001) explains that ‘‘outcomes of culture-general understanding emphasize

learners’ insight into the nature of culture in general, the processes of entering other cultures,

cultural relativity, and themselves as cultural beings. (p. 110) Here learners’ concentration is

focused not on one certain culture but on general features of culture such as products or

perspectives (Moran, 2001). The intention of this process is to bring learners to an

understanding of perspectives of their own culture which they are able to compare with other

cultures.

1.2.8.3 Competence

Moran (2001) writes that ‘‘outcomes in this category focus on behaviours of the

culture – acting, doing, saying, and interacting as people of the culture do’’. (p. 110) He

emphasizes progress in learners’ capability to interpret cultural behaviours – the nonverbal

channel of expressions, communication and interaction with people of the target culture. To

fulfil a task of competence learners have to be capable to interact and communicate with

people others cultures and manage to use proficiently all the components of competence,

which are language proficiency, communicative competence, cultural competence,

intercultural competence and intercultural communicative competence (Moran, 2001).

1.2.8.4 Adaptation

Moran (2001) claims that ‘‘outcomes on this category are all based on learners’ actual

entry into a different culture with the goal of living and /or working there for an extended

period of time. (p. 112) This category is impossible for teachers to teach learners’ in classes

but many Czech teachers mentioned in my questionnaires that their schools organize trips to

English or also German speaking countries which is an opportunity for learners’ to try to live,

fit and adjust in different culture. Arranged accommodation for students’ in host families is

the best option to do because this may lead easier and faster to learners’ change of his or her

habituated way of thinking and feeling about the target culture (Moran 2011). When learners

live for a longer time of period in the target country, they adapt to the culture but each

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individual can adapt to it differently (Moran, 2001). According to Martin and Nakayama (in

Moran, 2001) the first one is separation where the certain person is not willing to come in

contact with other people of the target culture. Second mode mentioned by them is called

assimilation which is the opposite of the first one, here the learner try to get in touch as

possible with other groups of people of the target culture when can happen that the learners

even loses his own original culture. Third way of adapting is titled integration when the

learner’s intention is to keep his own culture and at the same time interact with other groups

in the target culture (Martin and Nakayama in Moran, 2001). The last form of adaption

mentioned by Martin and Nakayama (in Moran, 2001) is named marginalization, which

means that a learner do not want to neither became aware of his/her own culture nor of the

culture of the target country where he or she lives; those people life within new culture not

able to participate in new culture way of life because of cultural variances.

1.2.8.5 Social change

According to Moran (2001) this outcome ‘‘involves learners taking action to modify

aspects of the target culture, based on a critical examination of that culture and guided by their

own beliefs and principles’’. (p. 113) Moran (2001) further mentions that ‘‘learners

consciously evaluate perspectives and practices in the target culture and take them into

account as they seek to achieve their own ends or, if they disagree with these perspectives and

practices, set out to change them’’. (p. 133) Basically social change does not require social

justice but rather it is an endeavour to change the culture by learners (Moran, 2001).

1.2.8.6 Identity

Moran (2001) highlights that ‘‘these culture learning outcomes emphasize the

psychological transformation that learners can undergo in culture learning’’. (p. 115) There

are different views of outcomes of identity, one is of changing to another person when using

second language that means that a learner should become native speaker, dress, act and sound

like them. However, Byram (in Moran, 2001) argues that it is impossible to became a native

speaker of another language; the main outcome should be that learners become ‘‘social actors

engaging with other social actors in a particular kind of communication and interaction’’ (p.

115) Bennett (in Moran, 2001) conceptualises identity outcome as ability of learners to be

able to move among different cultures. Kang (in Moran) highlights the necessity of giving

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learners an opportunity within classes to share their individual identities in order to let them

realize that they all are irreplaceable and valuable beings because ‘‘self-identity and

appreciation are the starting points that inspire students to embrace differences and the

uniqueness of other people and that prepare them to transcend labels of people’’. (p. 116)

1.3 Textbooks

In Czech schools and in many other countries languages are taught mainly with the

help of textbooks, therefore, the choice of them is really important. Textbooks influence

pupils’ thinking and through them cultural content can be easily delivered. There are several

criteria that a textbook should meet and it is necessary to choose a suitable textbook for our

learners. This chapter brings definition of textbooks and discusses evaluation of them which is

essential to do before a textbook is being used in a class and also presents textbooks’ negative

and positive effects which they may have. There is also subchapter focused on visual

materials used in textbooks and representation of characters within textbooks is discussed.

Various textbooks may vary in different cultural content which are dealt with in the following

subchapters. Next some opinions by different people about sufficient cultural information

within textbooks are presented. Finally, there are criteria for analysing and evaluating the

cultural content in textbooks.

1.3.1 Definition of a textbook

According to Lappalainen (2011) textbooks are books made and published for

educational purpose or even any book which is worked with within classes comes in

consideration. Textbooks are connected to the teaching media including different teaching

materials such as CDs or videos (Johnsen in Lappalainen 2011). Lappalainen (2011) mentions

that a textbook is usually a part of larger series that usually consists of different levels of

textbooks. Further series may contain additional materials such as workbooks; teachers’

books, which usually include advice how to work with the textbook, or some additional

materials such as games, test, and songs, are presented in teachers’ books. The purpose of

textbooks is to function for various users e.g. teachers, learners and also pupils’ parents

(Lappalainen, 2011). According to Karvonen (in Lappalainen 2011) school textbooks’ crucial

role is to convey information. Elomaa (in Lappalainen 2011) argues that textbooks have to

accomplish much expectancy such as trail national curriculum, convey the possibility of

34

language learning, and meet teachers’ needs and expectation. Lappalainen (2011) points out

that textbooks concentrate at the same time on all CEFR components and there is a danger

that any textbook is not focused on all components equally. Hence, teachers should evaluate

textbooks before they start to use them and the lack of any part should be added through any

extra exercise to complete the learning process. In the next subchapter there are presented

advice and tips how to appropriately evaluate and re-evaluate a textbook.

1.3.2 Assessment and evaluation of a textbook

According to Harmer (2001) it is essential to evaluate a textbook before we start to use

it. He suggests that we can use a checklist which analyses various components of the

textbook, we can use a checklist done by someone else or create our own in order to find out

how the textbook will perform in a class. On the other hand he confesses that such an

assessment may fail in prediction compared to what actually happens when the textbook is

used. Harmer (2001) also mentions that teachers usually fail in rechecking if their first

assessment of a textbook was correct once they finish using the textbook in a class. However,

he emphasizes that this post evaluation is important also together with opinions and

comments of students. Also a teacher may create a short questionnaire and ask about their

classes and opinion on textbooks used.

Harmer (2001) offers criteria for assessment of a textbook which consists of three-

stage procedure. In the first stage, the areas for assessment should be determined. He points

out that ‘‘price, availability, layout and design, instructions, methodology, syllabus type,

language study activities, language skill activities, topics, cultural acceptability and

teacher’s guide” (p. 302) should be taken into consideration. Next stage is called stating

beliefs where teachers should set statements about any of all areas they decided to concentrate

on. For example: the textbook should contain enough cultural information. In the last stage

teachers compare textbooks with help of those statements.

According to Harmer (2001) evaluation of textbooks has also three stages: teacher’s

record, teacher’s discussion and student’s response. At first teachers should keep e.g. a diary

in order to keep a record of how successful different lessons and activities were. Next,

teachers should speak about textbooks with their colleagues who are using the same

textbooks, share their opinions, comments and together come to a conclusion. Harmer (2001)

35

warns that students’ responses should be a written feedback on teacher’s questions because

oral feedback may be unreliable.

1.3.3 Positive and negative effect of textbooks

There have been numerous debates on the role of textbooks. Charalambous (2011)

summarizes the negative and positive sides of using textbooks. According to McGrath in

Charalambous (2011) a textbook provides teachers and learners with a structure of teaching

and learning, it gives teachers methodological support and on the other hand learners

opportunities for revision and preparation. Charalambous (2011) claims that a textbook

supports teachers because it makes their preparation easier; it saves them time and makes

teaching and learning easier. My own view is that textbooks also make the process of learning

and teaching faster and easier because textbooks are usually well-organized and all materials

are bound together, therefore, they are easy to follow and learners cannot forget any page at

home as usually happens when learners get material on a separate sheet.

Charalambous (2011) points out that the use of textbooks may have a wrong impact on

learning and teaching process. First effect mentioned is that textbooks de-skill teachers.

Richards in Charalambous (2011) claims that if a textbook is used as the only source of

material teachers become ‘‘technician ’’ – their only responsibility is teaching materials

created by others. Allwright in Charalambous (2011, Using) argues that textbooks ‘‘hold a

limited and prescriptive role, confining students to “captive learners”, with no initiative and

involvement in the process’’. He claims that learners should be taught to participate actively.

According to Cunningsworth in Charalamnous (2011) teachers’ flexibility and spontaneity

decreases and their techniques and creativity are missing. The lack of creativity may cause

boredom which is the next negative effect mentioned by Charalamnous (2011). According to

her, materials are usually designed in one format which occurs in all units, therefore, teachers

teach the same types of activities, repeat themselves and classes become routine. This may

result that learners are unwilling to cooperate with the teacher and that they are bored. “The

element of unpredictability, that generates interest in the EFL classroom, fades away’’ (McGrath

in Charalamnous, 2011, n.p.). My own view is that learners’ boredom may also cause

discipline problems.

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1.3.4 Visual materials in textbooks

African (2005) mentions that textbooks and materials used at schools have an effect on

students’ cognitive and affective development. A good textbook according to Canning Wilson in

African (2005) should be with illustrations that are coloured, contain a story, related to

previous experiences and that can be associated with places, object, persons, events or

animals with which learners are familiar. Canning Wilson in African (2005) underlines that

visual materials in textbooks are the main reason for their popularity. Such textbooks attract

teachers and learners throughout their learning and teaching experience. Illustrated materials

should be used in textbooks because it is known that learners do not learn only through words

but also through visual materials. The importance of the use of visual materials in foreign

language textbooks is important because it makes learning the L2 easier and the socio-cultural

background of the target culture more understandable.

1.3.5 Representation of characters in textbooks

African (2005) claims that there is usually an imbalance in representation of characters

in L2 textbooks in reading passages, activities or in visual materials. Women and girls are

portrayed less and both genders are presented in stereotypical terms (Singh in African, 2005).

Women usually embody roles as mothers who take care of their children and households and

on the other hand men are portrayed more as characters that lack showing emotions, fear or

sadness (African, 2005). Social class and age of characters were examined with the outcome

that young teenagers are portrait the most and the most presented social class is the middle

class (African, 2005). These aspects of textbooks can surely influence learners thinking about

the target culture (African, 2005). I would like to among other phenomenon have a look at

this in the practical part of my thesis.

African (2005) concludes that “Students are exposed to values both societal as well as

ideological through many aspects of textbooks including the topics, pictures, example

sentences, reading passages, discussion questions, and many other skill based activities”. (p.

31)

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1.3.6 Types of cultural contents in textbooks

Cultural information is required to be present in teaching materials and if there is not

enough information in textbooks teachers should add extra materials to cover this gap in order

to teach students about the target culture. Those extra materials could be e.g. some magazines,

newspapers, songs, movies, books or materials taken from the Internet from pages aimed at

L2 teaching. If cultural information is present in textbooks still textbooks differ in content and

approach to cultural information; they could be focused on local culture, target culture, or a

blend of local and international culture (Siddiqie, 2011).

1.3.6.1 Local contents

Textbooks in this category are produced at a national level for particular countries;

they focus on local contents or source culture rather than target cultures (Siddiqie, 2011).

According to Cortazzi and Jin in Siddiqie (2011) the purpose of using the source culture is to

help learners identify with their own culture. In textbooks appear topics, the images of

speakers which are usually familiar to the learners but they are set in the target culture

(Siddiqie, 2011).

1.3.6.2 Target culture

This category represents textbooks based on the culture of the target language people

speak as the first language (Siddiqie, 2011). The use of such textbooks in the Czech Republic

predominates. In English classes this type of textbooks is represented e.g. Headway Series or

very popular Projects both published by the Oxford University Press. In German classes those

textbooks are represented e.g. Pinpong Neu published by the Max Hueber Verlang and Planet

published by the Hueber. These types of textbooks use English and German names and focus

on teaching culture and values. Students of English language would learn the most time about

English speaking countries - America, the UK and Australia. Students of German language

would learn the most time about German speaking countries – Germany, Austria, and

Switzerland.

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1.3.6.3 A blend of local and international culture

Siddiqie (2011) mentions that the third category of textbooks includes a wide variety

of cultures set in the target language speaking countries and in other countries where the

target language is used as a second or foreign language. Characters in those textbooks are

from all around the world who use the target language for global communication and the aim

of these textbooks is to develop the intercultural skills of the learners (Cortazzi in Siddiqie,

2011). In those textbooks Czech learners’ would learn for instance in English or German class

about corrida in Spain.

Cultural information in textbooks among others is usually based on life and

institutions, traditions, festivals, food or sports about countries where the target language is

spoken. In teaching English language such countries represents mainly the United States of

America and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. In teaching German

language those countries are mainly Germany, Austria and Switzerland. In the practical part it

will be dealt with how much is cultural content present in textbooks and in the next section

there are mentioned some opinions if textbooks contain sufficient information for cultural

development of learners or not.

1.3.7 Culture in textbooks

Tseng (in Kiss & Weninger, 2013) evaluates cultural content of textbooks negatively;

she thinks that they are not sufficient source of information which can support development of

learners’ meaning-making process. There are also other authors, who support her idea, saying

that textbooks ‘‘offer an imbalanced representation of foreign cultures’’ (Yuen in Kiss &

Weninger, 2013, p. 21) or ‘‘that they fail to develop the language learners’ intercultural

pragmatic competence’’ (Nguyen in Kiss & Weninger, 2013, p. 21)

1.3.8 Criteria for analysing and evaluating the cultural content in

textbooks

Byram & Morgan (1994) introduce nine criteria which according to them each

textbooks should contain in order to embody the cultural basic information necessary for

learners’ cultural development.

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1. Social identity and social groups: group of people within the nation-state which include

‘‘social class, regional identity, ethnic minority and professional identity’’. (p. 51)

2. Social interaction: ‘‘conventions of verbal and non-verbal behaviour in social interaction at

differing levels of familiarity, as outsides and insider within social groups’’. (p. 51)

3. Belief and behaviour: ‘‘routine and taken-for-granted actions within a social group –

national or sub – national and the moral and religious beliefs’’. (p. 51) Secondly, routines

from daily life are also part of belief and behaviour section.

4. Socio-political institutions: include institutions of the state such as health-care, law and

order, social security or local government and their meanings and values.

5. Socialization and the life-cycle: cover institutions such as ‘‘families, schools, employment

offices, religion and military service’’ (p. 51) as well as ceremonies connected with stages of

social life.

6. National history: events from past and present which are important in the composition of

the target country and its identity.

7. National geography: stands for geographic aspects regarding to the target country

8. National cultural heritage: are items of national culture from past and present which are

known by the majority of the members of target country. In Germany it can be Wagner, in

Britain Shakespeare or Agatha Christi, and in America Franklin.

9. Stereotypes and national identity: ‘‘for example, German and English notions of what is

‘typically’ German and English national identity; the origins of these notions – historical and

contemporary – and comparison among them; symbols of national identities and stereotypes

and their meanings, e.g. famous monuments and people’’. (p. 52)

Those nine criteria will be used in the practical part of my thesis as a help of analysing

and evaluating two textbooks (German and English) that are according to Czech teachers’

answers to my questionnaires used the most at Czech schools.

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2 PRACTICAL PART

In the practical part the quantitative and qualitative research will be presented.

2.1 Methodology of the research I

In this part the research is based on quantitative survey. Creswell (2009) describes

quantitative research as research that is based on the collection of quantitative data that can be

converted into statistics. He emphasises that the advantage of qualitative research is that it is

much more structured than qualitative research. To methods of quantitative research belong

e.g. online surveys and paper surveys. Both were used in my data collection. Therefore,

qualitative research is suitable for my purpose of data analysing.

2.1.1 Respondents

The researched group were German and English teachers at lower secondary Czech

schools. They were asked to show their attitude towards teaching culture, experiences and

opinions by filling in the questionnaire.

2.1.2 The goal of the research

The aim of this research is to discover if the particular sample of German and English

teachers at Czech lower secondary schools find teaching culture important. The result of the

research will show teachers’ advice and tips regarding which activities help learners to learn

and understand the target culture. The most used English and German textbooks will be

introduced as well as teachers’ opinions about the cultural information contained. Apart from

textbooks teachers use different resources for teaching culture which will be also introduced.

The next goal is to find out if schools offer their pupils tours to English/German speaking

counties. The next intention of this research is to ascertain how much time teachers devote to

teaching culture and which activities and tools they use to teach it. Also their attention to

cultural information in textbooks is examined. The goal is also to discover if teachers feel

they know enough information about the target culture and if they alternatively would like to

find out more e.g. in cultural seminars.

41

2.1.3 Data collecting

For data collection a questionnaire was used (see Appendix) which enabled me to gain

enough data for my research. The questionnaire consists of twelve questions out of which

only three are open-ended questions. The rest of the questions are multiple choice questions.

In some multiple choice questions respondents had an opportunity to express their opinions in

an open-ended answer.

In order to gain enough questionnaires for my research I contacted over 100 lower

secondary Czech schools in different Czech cities and towns. My questionnaires were sent via

e-mail, Facebook or I visited some schools personally and asked head teachers spread my

questionnaires to the German and English teachers.

The main problem of gaining a sufficient amount of questionnaires was mainly with

German language teachers because German is not taught at all lower secondary Czech

schools. Therefore, the number of questionnaires from German teachers is only 23 and from

English teachers 40.

In the following chapter questions from the questionnaire are examined separately.

Almost each question will be accompanied by a graph in order to bring a better overview of

the findings.

2.2 Data analysing and conclusion

Question 1 – I am a teacher of

In this question teachers were asked to classify themselves as English or German

teachers in order to know the exact number of them to allow me the further work with the

questionnaires.

The outcomes show that of all the 63 respondents, 40 are English teachers and 23 are

German teachers.

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Graph 1: English and German teachers

Question 2 – Do you consider teaching culture in language classes important?

Question number two investigates if teachers find it important to teach culture while

teaching the language.

The outcomes were surprising because all 63 respondents answered that teaching

culture is essential. Therefore, the graph is not needed for this particular question.

Question 3 – If you do, what activities do you do to help students to learn?

This question investigates which particular activities according to respondents help

learners to learn about the target culture. This question is an open-ended question. However, it

was possible to classify respondents’ answers into fifteen categories that were transformed

into a graph.

63%

37%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

English teachers German teachers

43

Graph 2: Activities

The majority of teachers hold the view that the most effective teaching tools are short

videos, films and documentaries about the culture of the target countries. As the second most

helpful activity is mentioned reading e.g. different articles, books about the target culture or

newspapers and leaflets from the target country may help learners to get to know the culture.

Teachers mentioned many times that for learners it is beneficial to look for information about

e.g. traditions, festivals or food of the target country on their own. Therefore, they suggest

doing presentations and projects on different topics. It was highlighted many times that visits,

excursions and trips to the target countries help learners to gain cultural awareness that is

essential for accepting and understanding of other cultures. The importance of learners’ own

experience from travelling to the target countries was mentioned by almost four percent of

respondents. Listening exercises seem to be also very suitable exercises for teaching culture

because almost ten percent of respondents gave them as an example. Almost five percent of

respondents think that contact with native speakers of the target language has a really

significant influence on learners’ thinking and understanding of the target culture. Therefore,

teachers organize meetings with native speakers for their learners. As important teachers find

telling stories, playing games, using authentic materials, leading discussion about culture,

presenting similarities and dissimilarities with Czech culture, having pen friends from the

target culture and also experience learning e.g. cooking typical food.

9.9%

17.3%

21.6%

3.1%4.9%

3.7% 3.1%

10.5%

4.9% 4.3%

9.9%

1.2% 1.2%2.5% 1.9%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

English and German teachers

44

Question 4 – If you do not consider it important, why not?

This question was intended for respondents who would answer in question 2 that they

find teaching culture unimportant. However, there was no one who thinks it. Therefore, this

question lost its meaning.

Question 5 – Which textbook do you use in your English/German classes?

In this question teachers were supposed to say which particular textbook they use in

classes. The titles of the textbooks and their percentage of the use are shown in separate

graphs for English and German language.

Graph 3: English textbooks

Teaching English at Czech schools is in major cases supported by Project textbooks.

New English File was mentioned as the second most used textbooks at lower secondary

Czech schools. The rest of the textbooks are also used but only by few schools.

68.9%

8.9%4.4% 2.2% 2.2% 2.2% 2.2% 2.2% 4.4% 2.2%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

English textbooks

45

Graph 4: German textbooks

For teaching German at Czech schools there is not a predominant use of one textbook

as there is with Project textbooks. More textbooks were mentioned out of which Spaß mit

Max is the most used textbook. Textbooks Planet and Sprechen Sie Deutsch are used by ten

percent of respondents. The rest of the textbooks are also used but only by fewer schools.

Question 6 – Do you think that textbooks you use contain enough cultural information?

This question should be investigated to see if according to respondents the textbooks

they use in their classes contain enough cultural information.

Two graphs are portrayed. The first one demonstrates if German and English teachers

find cultural content of textbooks they use sufficient or not. The second graph is focused on

the five textbooks (Project, New English File, Spaß mit Max, Planet and Sprechen Sie

Deutsch) that were said to be used the most by English/German teachers. Respondents’

opinions about the sufficiency of cultural content in those five textbooks are visible through

the second graph.

10%

6.7% 6.7% 6.7%

20%

3.3%

6.7% 6.7%

3.3% 3.3% 3.3%

10%

3.3% 3.3%

6.7%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

German textbooks

46

Graph 5: Cultural content of all textbooks

From the graph we can see that English teachers evaluate the cultural content of the

textbooks they use slightly more positively than German teachers.

Graph 6: Cultural content of selected textbooks

65%

35%

52%48%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

yes no


67.7%

50%

83.3%

66.7%

33.3%32.3%

50%

16.7%

33.3%

66.7%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

Project New EnglishFile

Spaß mit Max Planet Sprechen SieDeutsch

yes no

47

This graph deals with the five textbooks separately. It is said by almost sixty-eight

percent of English teachers that Project textbooks contain enough cultural information. The

cultural content of New English File textbooks is evaluated by half of the respondents

positively and of the second half negatively. German textbooks Spaß mit Max contain

according to almost eighty-four percent of respondents enough cultural information. The

cultural content of Sprechen Sie Deutsch textbooks is according to almost sixty-seven percent

of German teachers not sufficient. On the other hand Planet textbooks are evaluated positively

as sixty-seven percent of respondents claim that its cultural content is adequate.

Question 7 – Do you use extra resources? If so which ones?

This question investigates if teachers while teaching culture use other resources than

only their textbooks. The outcomes are again visible through a graph.

Graph 7: Extra resources

The most mentioned resources for teaching culture used by English and German

teachers are videos, films, song and different magazines e.g. English magazine Drive and

3.5%

7.8%

16%

22%23.4%

14% 13.5%

16,3%

26.5%

22.5%

12.2%

22.5%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

Gatemagazines

Bridgemagazines

othermagazines

video, films songs books othersources


48

German magazine Hurra!. English magazines Bridge and Gate are used by around ten percent

of English teachers. Books are a teaching tool of fourteen percent of English teachers and

twelve percent of German teachers. Among other sources mentioned both by English and

German teachers are authentic materials such as postcards, maps of towns, photographs,

interactive blackboards, cards, worksheets, storytelling exercises, or visits of native

English/German speakers. The main tool mentioned by the majority of respondents was the

Internet.

Question 8 – Does your school organize tours to English/German speaking countries?

Question number 8 surveys if schools, where respondents teach, organize for their

learners tours to English/German speaking countries.

Graph 8: Tours to English/German speaking countries

As you can see in the graph, the majority of schools organize tours to English/German

speaking countries. However, it is visible that tours to English speaking countries are more

frequent. It could be caused by the fact that German language is not taught as the first foreign

language. Therefore, the tours to German speaking countries could not be offered to the same

number of learners as of English language. It is maybe harder to find sufficient number of

applicants for German tours and then the schools might give up trying to organize them.

80%

20%

61%

39%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

yes no


49

Question 9 – If there is a cultural part in your textbook do you skip it or focus on it?

The intention of this question is to find out if teachers focus on culture parts within

their textbook or if they rather skip them.

Graph 9: Teachers concentration on cultural content in textbooks

The majority of respondents focus on exercises that are in connection with culture in

textbooks. However, there are three teachers who skip this cultural information. Two teachers

are English teachers. One English teacher probably skips cultural information because he/she

does not consider it to be adequate and uses his/her own materials. This teacher answers that

he/she teaches culture very often and finds it important. One English and German teacher

write that they do not teach culture at all even though they find it important. Therefore, they

do not focus on cultural information and skip it.

Question 10 – How often do you have a culture class?

Question number ten deals with how much time respondents devote to teaching

culture. They responses are portrayed in the graph.

7%

93%

4%

96%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

120%

skip it focus on itEnglish teachers German teachers

50

Graph 10: Frequency of teaching culture

The majority of both English and German teachers have a culture class once a month.

Quite a high number, namely fifteen percent of English teachers and more than seventeen

percent of German teachers have a cultural class very often that means more than twice a

week. Almost thirteen percent of English teachers have a cultural class once a week. The

number of teachers who teach culture more than once a week is quite low. Teachers who do

not teach culture at all were mentioned above.

Question 11 – Do you know enough information about English/German speaking countries?

In question eleven teachers were asked to fill in in the questionnaire if they think that

they possessed enough cultural information about the target countries.

12.5%

2.5%

62.5%

15%

5%8.7%

4.4%

65.2%

17.4%

4.3%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

once a week more than oncea week

once a month very often not at all


51

Graph 11: Teachers’ cultural awareness

The majority of English and German teachers namely sixty-five percent think that they

know enough information but are not hundred percent sure about it. Only thirty-five percent

of German and almost twenty-eight percent of English teachers are sure that they know

enough information about the culture of the target countries. German teachers seem to be

more convinced about their knowledge of German speaking countries than English teachers

because five percent of English teachers claim that they do not know enough or are not sure

about it.

Question 12 – Would you like to take the opportunity (e.g. seminars) to find out more?

Here respondents were asked if they took the opportunity to learn more about culture

of the target countries if it would be offered them.

27.5%

2.5%

65%

2.5% 2.5%

35%

65%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

yes no more yes more no I do not know


52

Graph 12: Further cultural education

Even though German teachers are surer about their knowledge about culture of

German speaking countries still the majority, eighty-seven percent of them would like to take

part in further education. No one would directly deny an offer of further education and

thirteen percent would think about it before accepting or denying it. Almost seventy-three

percent of English teachers would also like to take part in further education but two and half

percent would deny any offer of further education. More English teachers namely almost

twenty-six percent would think about this offer before accepting or denying it.

2.3 Research II

The aim of my second research is to find out whether the English textbook series

Project and the German textbook series Spaß mit Max and Planet contain enough cultural

information. They are going to be examined according to nine criteria introduced by Byram

(1994). Apart from these criteria visual materials used in textbooks are dealt with.

Representation of characters within illustrations is studied as well as the age of characters,

their gender roles and the most portrayed social class. The three textbooks are briefly

introduced as well as type of cultural content that each textbook possesses.

2.3.1 Methodology of the research II

The research is based on data processing gained from qualitative research namely the

content analysis. Krippendorff (in Mayring, 2000) defines ‘‘content analysis as the use of

replicable and valid method for making specific inferences from text to other states or

72.5%

2.5%

25.5%

87%

13%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

yes no I do not knowEnglish teachers German teachers

53

properties of its source’’. Therefore, the content analysis of data processing seems to be the

most appropriate way for the purpose of my research.

2.3.2 Introduction of textbooks

The series of Project were mentioned to be the most used textbooks at Czech lower

secondary schools, which is why they are going to be discussed. Project third edition is a

collection of five-level primary and secondary English course; the author is Tom Hutchinson.

This English course is designed for learners aged from 10 to 15 years. The level of each

Project student’s book follows CEFR. Project 1 is designed for absolute beginners of English

with level of English at A1 level of language proficiency. Project 2 is for learners with level

ranging between A1-A2. Project 3 as well as Project 4 is designed for learners at A2 level of

language proficiency. The last level Project 5 is for learners with level ranging between A2-

B1. The Project course apart from a student’s book with a CD contains a workbook with a

CD, a culture DVD that shows aspects of life in Britain and other English-speaking countries

and a teacher’s book with extra exercises, tests and a DVD with worksheets. Project online

support is accessible though the web page Oxford University Press, where learners can find

additional exercises.

All five Project student’s books are divided into 6 lessons. Each lesson is aimed at

grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, communication and skills, and newly this third edition

contains a separate culture part.

Project textbooks are designed as target culture textbooks. They mostly focus on

British culture (e.g. schools in Britain and Wales, British houses, the history of England,

greetings) and on other English speaking countries (sports in the USA, politics in the USA,

Australia). However, there is a reference to different cultures as well. Many times names used

in different cultures are mentioned e.g. Spanish (Miguel, Pilar), German (Max), Francesca

(Italy), Chinese (Han, Chen), Arabic (Mustafa), or even Czech names (Ivan and Eva). Flags of

different countries are introduced as well as maps of the world are depicted.

Spaß mit Max was the textbook mentioned most times used by Czech teachers at

lower secondary Czech schools. That’s why this series of textbooks will be discussed. Spaß

mit Max is a three-level secondary German course. This three-level course is a continuing

series of a preceding series called Start mit Max, which is designed for learners at primary

54

schools. However, teachers may start using this book even if they used to use other textbooks

at primary school. It is advised to use Spaß mit Max 1 and 2 for approximately one and a half

or two school years. The third part is meant to be used just for one school year. The level of

all three parts of Spaß mit Max is ranging between A2-B1 of level proficiency. There is a

difference between the start of using Project and Spaß mit Max. Spaß mit Max cannot be used

for teaching absolute beginners. However, the outcome of learners’ language proficiency

should be the same. The course Spaß mit Max apart from a student’s book with a CD contains

a workbook with a CD and a teacher’s book.

According to the outcomes of the questionnaires, Czech teachers marked Spaß mit

Max as a textbook that contain enough cultural information about German speaking countries.

The course seems to be designed more as a local culture textbook. Many Czech names (Lucie,

Katka, David) in dialogues and exercises are repeatedly used as well as the series referring to

many Czech places (Liberec, Prague). Also many famous Czech people (Věra Čáslavská,

Emil Zátopek, Aleš Valenta, Bedřich Smetana) are mentioned and illustrations refer more to

Czech Republic e.g. the picture of chocolate is not German chocolate but the Czech chocolate

Studentská pečeť. The biggest difference between the textbooks Project and Spaß mit Max, is

that in the Project textbooks there is no Czech language used, apart from the cover page where

Třetí vydání and učebnice angličtiny are written. In Spaß mit Max many features, especially

grammar, are explained in Czech. All three textbooks Spaß mit Max are created altogether by

six authors Petr Tlustý, Vítězlava Cihlářová, Mariele U. Wicke, Irena Lenčová, Lenka

Švecová and Petra Plesingerová. To sum up more cultural content about Germany and

German speaking countries is delivered through familiar Czech culture.

It seems that Spaß mit Max would not be appropriate to compare with the Project

series. That’s why apart from Spaß mit Max, the German textbook Planet will be introduced.

Planet like Project is based on the target culture content. It will be analysed to see if it is

comparable with the Project series. In total there will be a comparison of three textbooks used

at Czech lower secondary schools.

Planet is a three-level textbook used at Czech lower secondary schools. The authors

are Gabriele Kopp, Siegfried Büttner and Josef Alberti. Planet textbooks are designed for

learners aged approximately 12-15. All three Planet textbooks follow CEFR. Planet 1 is for

absolute beginners of German language. Therefore, the first part corresponds to A1 level of

55

language proficiency. Planet 2 is designed for learners at A2 level. With the last part Planet 3

learners should gain B1 level. The final level of language proficiency is the same for all three

textbooks Project, Spaß mit Max and Planet. The Planet series contain a student’s book, a

workbook, a CD with all listening exercises used in the student’s book, pronunciation

exercises and songs, a teacher’s book, an Internet service with online exercises and

worksheets, a vocabulary book, a DVD that shows aspects of life in German, materials for an

interactive whiteboard and also a CD with extra exercises for practising vocabulary used in all

three parts of Planet

The Planet textbooks are designed as target culture textbooks. They mostly focus on

German culture (ways of transport in Germany, famous German people e.g. Michael

Schumacher, Quiz about Germany, Berlin, Cologne Carnival, Houses in Germany) and

German speaking countries (famous Austrian and Swiss people). However, there is a

reference to different culture as well. Many times names used in different cultures are

mentioned e.g. Greek (Dafni, Christos), Afghan (Walid), Polish (Iwona), Turkish (Mehmet).

Traffic signs (be careful kangaroo, elephant, camel) different countries are depicted.

2.3.3 Visual material

In this part visual materials used in all three textbooks are examined. A good textbook

according to Canning Wilson (in African, 2005) should be with illustrations that are coloured,

contain a story, related to previous experiences and that can be associated with places, object,

people, events or animals with which learners are familiar. The importance of the use of

visual materials in foreign language textbooks is high because it makes learning the L2 easier

and the socio-cultural background of the target culture more understandable.

2.3.3.1 Project

Project series contain a lot of coloured illustrations. On each double page of all five

parts there is at least one illustration. Illustrations in Project textbooks contain a story e.g.

many times dialogues are used with illustrations on different topics such as buying a train

ticket, getting information through a questionnaire, interview with an archaeologist, buying

clothes in a shop and many others. Dialogues are usually among teenagers, among teenagers

and their parents or among teenagers and people different occupations. Illustrations contain a

story in inserted comic strips with characters that appear in all comics used in a textbook e.g.

56

Project 1. At the beginning of a textbook, learners meet characters who accompany them

through the whole textbook and they get to know their stories and troubles they have to face.

Not only characters from comic strips are learners’ company in the first and second part of

Project. There is also an animated dog who advises, asks questions, remarks and give orders

in connection with grammar and vocabulary e.g. ‘‘How do we make questions in the present

simple?’’, ‘‘These are yes / no questions’’ or ‘‘Translate the words into your language.’’.

Learners are familiar with this dog.

There are many illustrations that should be familiar for learners but some of them

might be totally new such as a picture of Alfred Hitchcock or of the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Project with its illustrations definitely attracts learners and their teachers. Through visual

illustrations in Project textbooks cultural content is delivered e.g. pictures of celebration of

birthday in Britain, maps of the USA, UK, national flags, monuments in Australia, UK and

America, British currency or gestures used are depicted.

2.3.3.2 Spaß mit Max

Spaß mit Max series contain a lot of illustrations. Like Project textbooks on each

double page of all three parts there is at least one illustration; predominately they are cartoon

illustrations. In Spaß mit Max fewer dialogues than in Project textbooks are inserted. In a

form of dialogues are often depicted people who are holding a cell phone and are calling

someone. Illustrations contain a story in comic strips such as giving a present, girl who is

coming repeatedly late to school, story about harmful TV effects, two girls talking about diet

or two boys talking about nature that reminds them of technical devices. Not all of the parts of

Spaß mit Max textbooks contain comics; the third one has none, the second one only two and

the first one contain three comic strips. Among comics illustrations other illustrations contain

a story e.g. moving a house, celebrating birthdays, doing sports activities, a teacher who is

teaching in a class or a man who is repairing a car.

There are many illustrations that should be familiar for learner e.g. a cell phone called

Max who accompanies them through the whole series. However, some illustrations might be

totally new e.g. pictures of famous composers or of different town. Spaß mit Max might

attracts its learners but I would say that its illustrations are not that interesting, storytelling

and do not contain that much cultural information like Project textbooks. Many illustrations

57

are rather based on local culture content. However, some visual illustrations in Spaß mit Max

textbooks contain cultural content of German speaking countries e.g. trains in Germany,

carnival or German currency. Once there is a map of Germany and its surrounding countries

as well as a German flag depicted.

2.3.3.3 Planet

Planet textbooks contain also enough illustrations; there is usually at least one on each

double page. A story contain many pictures e.g. celebration of an international day at school,

a teacher who is teaching in a class, people visiting parks, beaches or different German towns.

There are also many dialogues which are accompanied by illustrations such as mother asking

her children why they did not clean their room, welcoming of an exchange student in German

family or laying the table. Planet textbooks do not contain comic strips.

Majority of illustrations should be learners familiar with but with few they might not

be e.g. pictures of German towns or famous people such as Thomas Mann. Planet illustrations

are definitely more attractive than Spaß mit Max textbooks but not than Project textbooks.

Illustrations contain cultural content of German speaking countries e.g. German houses,

towns, food or flea markets.

2.3.4 Representation of characters

African (2005) claims that there is usually an imbalance in representation of characters

in L2 textbooks in reading passages, activities or in visual materials. Women and girls are

depicted less and both genders are presented in stereotypical terms (Singh in African, 2005).

Women usually embody roles as mothers who take care of their children and households and

on the other hand men are portrayed more as characters that lack showing emotions, fear or

sadness (African, 2005). According to him young teenagers and the middle class is presented

the most in textbooks. These aspects of textbooks can surely influence learners thinking about

the target culture (African, 2005).

According to those outcomes I would like to study if visual materials used in the three

textbooks are designed in this way. I will study if women and girls are depicted less than men

and boys, the gender role in society, the age of characters and their social class.

58

2.3.4.1 Project

In this section a depiction of characters in illustrations is presented. Male and female

that appear in illustrations in all five Project textbooks were separately counted. Results of

counting are going to be shown through a graph.

Graph 13: Visual depiction of characters in Project textbooks

According to my counting of characters within all five parts of Project textbooks the

outcome is that men and boys are depicted slightly more than women and girls. The

difference is around 15%. I would say that this difference is not that high and learners may

not even notice it. That’s why I think that it cannot have any influence on learner’s thinking

about the target culture.

The age of characters varies in Project textbooks a little bit with each part of the series.

The intention might be that characters should to a certain extent correspond to the age of

learners who use this series. African (2005) mentions that young teenagers are portrayed the

most in textbooks. This is absolutely true. However, not only teenagers are depicted. Many

times a family as a whole is portrayed, where also parents and grandparents play their roles. I

want to point out that I could notice that almost every family depicted, consisted of four

members, father, mother and two children, one girl and one boy. That could evoke in children

that families in the target culture have predominately this structure and that other families just

with one child or more are not usual.

African (2005) claims that women are portrayed usually as mothers and men as people

that lack showing emotions, fear or sadness. My own view is that to a certain extent women

are portrayed more in the roles of mothers e.g. a picture of a family in a living room where

42%

58%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

women and girls men and boys

59

mother is ironing, her husband is sitting in an armchair reading newspapers and their children

are playing around them, or a mother in a household with one teenager waiting for the

postman to bring them their post, or another picture of a mother who is waking up her son. On

the other hand men are not very much presented in roles of parents. Their typical depiction is

in men’s occupations such as a fireman, policeman, soldier or taxi driver. However, they are

not presented just in typical men occupations but also as teachers, waiters, professors or

cashiers. Illustrations do not show men lacking emotions, fear or sadness. I agree with African

(2005) that women represent predominately roles of mothers but there was no evidence that

men lack emotions, fear or sadness.

The most presented social class within illustrations is the middle class. It could be

seen through occupations that characters embody e.g. policemen, post officers, waiters,

taxi/bus drivers, teachers, head teachers, professors, bank assistants, cooks or also thought

casual clothes that characters wear. However, on a small scale there is a depiction of

celebrities that are deviating from the middle class.

Characters are predominately white people but also black and Asian people are

presented. This could lead learners to think about the target culture that it is more diverse in

its compositions of inhabitants than the Czech Republic is.

2.3.4.2 Spaß mit Max

In this section a depiction of characters in illustrations is presented. Male and female

that appear in illustrations in all three parts of Spaß mit Max textbooks were separately

counted. Results of counting are going to be shown through a graph.

Graph 14: Visual depiction of characters in Spaß mit Max textbooks

46.1%

53.9%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%


60

In Spaß mit Max textbooks men and boys are depicted slightly more than women and

girls. The difference is only around 8% which is almost unnoticeable.

The age of characters in Spaß mit Max textbooks is harder to determine because many

characters that are depicted are cartoon characters. However, as African (2005) mentioned

that the most characters usually depicted are young teenagers it also holds true in Spaß mit

Max textbooks.


that lack showing emotions, fear or sadness. No evidence about this was found in Spaß mit

Max textbooks.

The most presented social class within illustrations is the middle class. It could be

seen through occupations that characters embody e.g. shop assistants, presenters, joiners,

teachers, cooks, hairdresser, secretaries, farmers, doctors or mechanics. However, on a small

scale there is a depiction of sportsmen and actors that are deviating from the middle class.

In Spaß mit Max textbooks no black people or Asian people are presented.

2.3.4.3 Planet

In this section a depiction of male and female that appear in illustrations in all three

parts of Planet textbooks were separately counted. Results are shown through a graph.

Graph 15: Visual depiction of characters in Planet textbooks

50.9% 49.1%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%


61

In Planet textbooks the difference between the depiction of female and male characters

is the lowest just fewer than 2%. Therefore, it cannot have any influence on learner’s thinking

about the target culture.

The age of the majority of characters in the first and second part is around 13-14 years.

In the last part characters seem to be a bit older around 16 years. Therefore, the most depicted

characters are again young teenagers.


that lack showing emotions, fear or sadness. In the majority of cases women are portrayed in

Planet textbooks as mothers e.g. a mother who is knocking on the door because her daughter

is too long in the bathroom, mothers who are shocked that their children did not clean their

room or a mother waking her son. However, it was not possible to find any evidence about

men who lack showing emotions, fear or sadness.

Again the most presented class is the middle class that is seen through occupations

that characters embody e.g. a policeman, farmer, shop assistant, pilot, mechanic or a model.

2.3.5 Research criteria

In this part the nine criteria for analysing and evaluating the cultural content in

textbooks suggested by Byram (1994) will be used to find cultural information in the three

textbooks. Each criterion will be discussed for each of the three textbooks and then the

outcomes will be shown through a table.

1. Social identity and social groups: group of people within the nation-state which include

‘‘social class, regional identity, ethnic minority and professional identity’’. (p. 51)

2. Social interaction: ‘‘conventions of verbal and non-verbal behaviour in social interaction at

differing levels of familiarity, as outsides and insider within social groups’’. (p. 51)

3. Belief and behaviour: ‘‘routine and taken-for-granted actions within a social group –

national or sub – national and the moral and religious beliefs’’. (p. 51) Secondly, routines

from daily life are also part of belief and behaviour section.

62

4. Socio-political institutions: include institutions of the state such as health-care, law and

order, social security or local government and their meanings and values.

5. Socialization and the life-cycle: cover ‘‘institutions of socialization such as families,

schools, employment offices, religion and military service’’ (p. 51) as well as ceremonies

connected with stages of social life.

6. National history: periods and events, historical and contemporary, which are significant in

the constitution of the nation and its identity. (p. 51)

7. National geography: ‘‘geographic factors and characters within the national boundaries’’.

(p. 52)

8. National cultural heritage: are ‘‘cultural artefacts perceived to be emblems and

embodiments of national culture from past and present’’ (p. 52) which are known by the

majority of the members of target country. In Germany it can be Wagner, in Britain

Shakespeare or Agatha Christi, and in America Franklin.

9. Stereotypes and national identity: for example, German and English notions of what is

‘typically’ German and English national identity; the origins of these notions – historical and

contemporary – and comparison among them; symbols of national identities and stereotypes

and their meanings, e.g. famous monuments and people’’. (p. 52)

2.3.5.1 Social identity and social groups

This section discusses social class, regional identity, ethnic minority and professional

identity found in Project, Spaß mit Max and Planet textbooks.

In Project textbooks no article was found that would deal with social classes. It was

only possible to see a social class through professions that were depicted in illustrations or

mentioned in texts and dialogues. The most depicted social class was the middle class.

Regional identity is not discussed in detail but it is said that people in the north-west of

England are friendlier. Ethnic minorities that live in the UK were mentioned such as Chinese,

Italian, Polish or Indian people. More attention was given to black people that were

discriminated at times in the USA e.g. a story about a black woman Rosa Parks, who refused

to give up a free seat in the white part of a bus and move to the black part, is introduced.

63

Learners learn that the first people in Australia were Aborigines and that today there are just

about 1.5 % in the Australian population. Professional identity is described just by giving

examples of different professions such as a policeman, post officer, waiter, taxi/bus driver,

teacher, head teachers, professor, shop assistant, cook, doctor, ticket clerk, nurse director or a

flight attendant.

Spaß mit Max textbooks also do not deal with social classes it was only possible to

see a social class through professions that were depicted in illustrations or mentioned in a text.

There was also no reference to ethnic minorities. Regional identity is discussed through pros

and cons of living in a city and in a village. Professional identity is described just by giving

examples of different professions such as a shop assistant, teacher, cooks, hairdresser, farmer,

secretary or a presenter.

In Planet textbooks ethnic minorities such as Greek, Italian, Turk, Vietnamese or Pole

people are mentioned several times. Learners learn that half of pupils at German schools are

foreigners. Pros and cons of living in a city and village are introduced. The life in a city is

highlighted; it is said that people do not know each other, are unfriendly and the life is more

stressful there. Social classes were not discussed; it was possible to see a social class through

mentioned professions. No reference to religious identity was found. Professional identity is

again described just by giving examples of different professions such as a policeman, shop

assistant, farmer, doctor, teacher, vet, pilot, cook, singer, mechanic or an accountant.

Social classes were not discussed in any of three textbooks nor professional identity. It

was only possible to see social class and professional identity by giving examples of

occupations. Regional identity is discussed a bit in all three textbooks. The only component of

social identity and social group presented in more detail were different ethnic minorities.

Project textbooks bring the most examples of ethnic minorities living in the UK, USA and

Australia. In Planet textbooks learners learn that the composition of inhabitants in Germany is

diverse and many ethnic minorities are presented. In Spaß mit Max textbooks no reference to

any ethnic minorities was made.

2.3.5.2 Social interaction

In this section conventions of verbal and non-verbal behaviour in social interaction,

their formality within the three textbooks will be introduced.

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The use of non-verbal behaviour was not directly described in Project textbooks.

However, there were pictures that showed some gestures such as waving hands, pointing at

someone/ something, two boys giving a high five, clapping someone’s hands, or nodding

someone’s head. Those non-verbal ways of interaction should be explained by teachers,

otherwise learners would not know when they are used in the target communication. There are

several verbal interactions introduced through dialogues. Those dialogues are set in different

situations and have either informal or formal mood. Formal interactions are several dialogues

among some friends, between a student and his teacher, a customer and a shop assistant, a

postman and two teenagers, a receptionist and a customer and many others. Those dialogues

were in the majority without hesitations and fluent. Only two cases of a hesitation were

shown. First one when a student was lying to a teacher. The next one was when a girl was

asking for a direction and was not sure if she understood well. Formal dialogues appeared too

e.g. dialogues between a doctor and his patient, or between an interviewer and a professor.

In Spaß mit Max textbooks an article about the importance of body language

expressions when meeting a person for the first time is presented. It is said that the first

impression is made up of 7% of verbal language and 55% fall to non-verbal language, clothes,

symbols and to smell. The remaining 38% belongs to the tone of the voice. However, no

examples or pictures how learners should use non-verbal language in German speaking

countries is inserted. Several verbal interactions are introduced through dialogues. Those

dialogues are set in different situations and have either informal or formal mood. Formal

interactions present dialogues among friends or between a customer and a shop assistant.

Formal dialogues were more frequent than in Project textbooks e.g. ordering food in a

restaurant, buying a ticket at the train station or a dialogue between a traveller and a

conductor.

Non-verbal behaviour is described through pictures in Planet textbook. Basic gestures

that are used when meeting a German speaking person are introduced. The rule is to shake a

hand with the unknown person and between friends it is usual to wave hands and say hallo.

Verbal interactions are introduced again through dialogues but they are used not that frequent.

Non-verbal communication is the most described in Project textbooks and then in

Planet textbooks. However, gestures and their use have to be in both cases accompanied by

teachers’ explanations. In Spaß mit Max learners do not get to know how to use non-verbal

65

language but it is highlighted that non-verbal language is for communication important.

Verbal behaviour is present in all three textbooks. It should be pointed out that Project

textbooks are based on the use of dialogues and comics strips. Therefore, learners meet cases

of verbal behaviour more frequent than in textbooks Spaß mit Max and Planet.

2.3.5.3 Belief and behaviour

In this section routine and taken-for-granted action within a social group as well as

routines from daily life that appear within the three textbooks are presented.

Routine and taken-for-granted actions are in the Project textbooks introduced mainly

through festivals, eating habits, sports and hobbies. Festivals in Britain that are mentioned are

Christmas, Boxing Day, Easter, New Year and celebrating Birthday. Christmas belongs to the

most favourite festival within a year. Families usually come together, put up decorations and

decorate Christmas tree. On Christmas Day, they open their presents and eat traditional meat

of turkey with vegetables, followed by Christmas pudding. On Boxing Day people often visit

their friends or go to sport matches. New Year means for people making parties to ‘see in’ the

New Year. At midnight, they usually join hands and sing Auld Lang Syne. In Edinburgh,

there is a big street party with famous bands and fireworks. During the week leading up to

Easter, people eat bread buns called hot-cross buns on Good Friday and on Easter Sunday

people usually give chocolate Easter eggs. In some towns, there are Easter egg hunts in the

parks. Celebration of Birthdays is connected with giving birthday cards and presents. People

usually organize parties at homes, get birthday presents and everyone sings ‘‘Happy

Birthday’’ for them. It was mentioned in Project textbooks that British do not celebrate

‘‘name days’’. In Project children learn how British people spend their summer and winter

holidays. They usually fly abroad or go camping. An example of a daily routine of a school

year child is also shown. The day of a British child starts at half past seven. Several activities

of the child are presented e.g. having breakfast, hygiene, going to the school by bus, day at

school, doing homework, having dinner, watching TV. The day for the school child ends at

half past nine. It is pointed out that many British children go by bus to school and that among

their hobbies usually is playing an instrument, doing sports, collecting different items,

watching DVDs, playing computer games or reading. Reading habits are discussed more in

depth. According to a government survey, 83% of British teenagers read in their free time. On

average girls read for 4.5 hours a week. Boys only read for 2.3 hours a week. Bullying at

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schools was discussed. In connection with that was mentioned religion as a possible cause of

being bullied. This was the only reference to religion within Project textbooks. Over 70%

young people in Britain are said to volunteer in their free time. Popular sports in Britain are

football, rugby, cricket, snooker, tennis, golf. Also sports of Americans and Canadians are

listed e.g. American football, baseball, basketball or ice hockey. The last typical behaviour of

British presented in Project textbooks were eating habits. Pupils learn that the traditional

breakfast consist of bacon, eggs, sausages, tomatoes, mushrooms, baked beans and fried bread

but it is eaten usually just on Sundays. British have a light lunch and the main meal of the day

is a dinner between six and seven o’clock, usually followed by a dessert.

In Spaß mit Max textbooks routine and taken-for-granted actions are introduced very

briefly and not in detail. For example about festivals it is only mentioned that German

celebrate Carnival which means that people wear costumes and present them in streets

parades that are accompanied by carriages or that German children write cards to Father

Christmas with their wishes. Once a celebration of birthdays is mentioned but the text does

not say how Germans celebrate it or what is typical for this celebration. Eating habits are

compared with Czech ones. German people are said to eat less sweet bakery products; they

often do not eat soup before the main dish; for dinner they usually eat a cold meal and they

are said to eat a lot of sausages. Germen are described as people who like to gather in

different clubs e.g. sports, gardener’s or hunter’s. No daily routine of a German is presented.

In Planet textbooks only two festivals are mentioned namely celebrating birthdays

and the Carnival in Cologne that is described and learners learn how it is celebrated. Hamburg

is said to be a city where many people go to see musicals. In many German cities people

attend flea markets that are very popular. Eating habits are also not explained in detail. Some

foodstuff eaten in Germany is enumerated and pointed out that many teenagers in Germany

eat in fast-foods. Learners learn about hobbies of German teenagers that are e.g. reading

books, listening to music, meeting friends, watching TV or doing sports activities. The most

popular sport of boy is football and of girls gymnastics.

In Project textbooks learners get a great picture of peoples’ behaviour in English

speaking countries. Festivals, eating habits and hobbies of children are well described.

However, through Spaß mit Max and Planet textbooks pupils do not learn enough about

German festivals. Spaß mit Max textbooks present enough information about eating habits but

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Planet textbooks fail in it. On the other hand Planet textbooks deal with hobbies of German

pupils but Spaß mit Max not.

2.3.5.4 Socio-political institutions

In this section examples of socio-political institutions that appear in the three

textbooks are presented.

In Projects there were four references to socio-political institutions: political system

of the USA, European Union, Emergency services and United Nations. First, the USA is said

to be a federal republic where each state has its government that control e.g. education, the

police. The role of the president and congress is briefly introduced. Congress is said to consist

of two houses: The House of Representatives and the Senate. Political parties – the

Republicans and the Democrats and their symbols are given. The White House is said to be

the home of the American president. Secondly, the purpose for establishment of the European

Union is mentioned as well as the origin name, founding countries, the date of establishment,

the currency, the flag and the anthem. Thirdly, learners learn about the British emergency

services represented by the police, the fire service, the ambulance service and the coastguard.

It might be surprising for Czech learners that British police officers do not carry guns. There

is also mentioned the mountain rescue service as a part of emergency services in the UK. The

organisation United Nations is only mentioned in an article.

In Spaß mit Max textbooks the only mentioned socio-political institution is

establishment and history of Red Cross and Red Crescent.

In Planet textbooks no reference to any of socio-political institutions is made.

The comparison of the three textbook is easy in this section because Spaß mit Max

and Planet textbooks do not contain any information about socio-political institution.

2.3.5.5 Socialization and the life-cycle

This section according to Byram (1994) should introduce examples of families,

schools, employment offices, religion and military service. According to his criterion the three

textbooks are again examined.

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In Project textbooks British families, education in the USA, schools in England and

Wales are introduced but no reference to military service, religion or employment offices is

found. A typical British family is said to consist of two parents and one, two or three children.

Divorces are said to be quite common and that’s why single parents families or a family with

step-parents and step-siblings are usual. Most British live in a house with a garden but in big

cities people usually live in flats. Young people leave their homes around 18 and 25 when

they go to a university, get a job or get married. Many people are said to live far away from

their home towns because of their distant job placement. In Britain it is not normal that

grandparent live with their parents. They usually live in their own house or flat, or in an old

people’s home. Around 50 % of British families have a pet at home. In Project 1 learners

learn about education in the UK. They learn about stages of British education and the age of

children who attend each stage. In comparison with Czech schools the school day starts later,

about 8.45 to about 3.30. At the majority of schools students wear school uniforms. Two

timetables of children in 8 year are depicted. In comparison with the UK education, is the

American education described more in detail. However, it is surely because American

education system comes first in Project 5. The whole process of American education is

described as well as ceremonies that belong to it.

In Spaß mit Max no description or explanation about employment offices, religion

and military services about any of German speaking countries was found. School system in

Germany and Austria is compared with Czech system of education. It is also mentioned that

older people may attend ‘‘Volkshochschule’’ that means that people want to further educate

and take different evening courses. Families of German speaking countries do not get a great

deal of attention and learners might not be able to get the idea how German families look like

and what is typical for them.

In Planet textbooks leaners are taught about the school system in Germany from

kindergarten to University. It is pointed out that German pupils do not wear uniforms and that

the grade system is from one to six. It is said that schools organize different trips within

Germany, sports competitions and exchange programmes with different countries. Learners

get to know that composition of Germany has to be diverse because half of students at

German schools are said to be foreigners. Many internships that learners can undergo are

presented as well as the possibility to gain a driving licence in 17 but under the condition that

the driver is accompanied by a person older than 30. Learners get to know that German

69

families are opened for exchange students and learners meet two families which consist of

parents different origins. It is said that parents usually give their children pocket money. No

reference to employment offices, religion and military services was found.

Education is explained from different angels in all three textbooks. None of the three

textbooks deal with employment offices, religion and military service. Families are better

described in Project textbooks than in Planet textbooks and in Spaß mit Max information

about families is not sufficient for a good cultural understanding of the target culture.

2.3.5.6 National history

This section shows examples of historical events and places that occur within the three

textbooks.

In Project 1 there is explained a formation of five names, namely Oxford, Lancaster,

Portsmouth, Cambridge and Sandwich. For instance Cam means the name of the river, bridge

is a bridge over the river and the whole name Cambridge is the town where there is a bridge

over the river Cam. Cambridge is further described together with Oxford as two oldest and

most famous universities in the English-speaking world. It is said that Cambridge and Oxford

are rivals in sport and that they compete in two sport events Boat Race and Varsity Match.

Further in Project 4 there is a story about a hero, who was helping ordinary people, called

Robin Hood. In Project textbooks pupils learn about the terrible plague that hit not only

London and the village Eyam but the whole Europe. Pupils also get to know different means

of transport (buses, boats, planes, motorcycles, trains, cars, bicycles) that were invented long

time ago and that seem to be absolutely natural in these days. A great amount of time is

devoted to the English language and the history of England. In Project 2 there is a reference to

other culture, to a history of Greek theatre.

Spaß mit Max textbooks present the Olympic Summer Games held 1936 in Berlin

and 1972 in Munich as well as the Olympic Winter Games in Chamonix, Sankt Moritz,

Garnisch-Partenkirche and Inssbruck. Next mentioned important historical event was an

establishment of compulsory education by Maria Theresa.

In Planet textbooks learners learn that Germany used to be divided into two parts.

They also learn that this division was not only imaginary but that in 1961 a wall in Berlin was

70

built and later in 1989 demolished. Next pupils learn about different means of transport that

were first used in Germany e.g. first airplane, trams, railway, airship or first cars.

In Project textbook pupils get to know a great deal about historical periods and events

in the UK. Information about historical events in Spaß mit Max and Planet textbooks are

satisfactory.

2.3.5.7 National geography

This section presents geographical features that appear within the three textbooks.

Firstly, in Project 1 learners meet all continents and a map of the whole world where

counties are indicated. Further Project textbooks deal with geography focused on the UK and

English speaking countries. Learners firstly get to know basic information about the UK,

secondly information about each state and later also about the UK regions. It is said that

Western Europe is wetter than Eastern Europe. The reason and its consequences are explained

as well as time zones. Geographical information about the USA such as the USA is the fourth

largest country in the world, the third largest river in the world is Mississippi-Missouri River

or that there are 5 time zones in the USA are delivered learners through an extensive reading.

Pupils gain geographical information about Australia also through extensive reading covered

in Project 4. Several towns and cities are mentioned within Project textbooks such as New,

York, Oxford, Liverpool, London, Bristol, Maidstone, Glasgow, Sydney, Melbourne,

Birmingham, Dublin, Detroit, Montgomery, Manchester or Edinburgh. London is introduced

more in detail through a story of a girl who is sightseeing there. From a touristic perspective is

introduced also New York.

Spaß mit Max textbooks do not give learners enough information about national

geography of German speaking countries. In textbooks learners learn just about the smallest

island Nordfriesland. They also learn that many German names of cities are Slavic origin.

Once a map of Europe is portrayed which do not even show all names of German

neighbouring countries or federal states. Learners are asked to answer eight geographical

questions that are more based on Czech geography e.g. what is the name of the mountains

situated in east of German boundaries with Czech Republic.

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All three Planet textbooks contain a lot of maps; each textbook possesses a big map of

Germany, Austria and Switzerland where capitals and important cities are indicated. Through

a quiz about Germany learners learn which is the highest mountain in Germany, how many

federal states does Germany have or which federal state is the biggest one. In Planet textbooks

learners meet many German famous places and cities with its famous monuments to visit e.g.

Berlin, Hamburg, Cologne, Dresden, the Switzerland National Park, Schwarzwald, Bodensee,

Alps, Nordsee or Island Rügen. Many German, Swiss and Austrian cities such as Hannover,

Stuttgart, München, Karlsruhe, Heidelberg, Köln, Leipzig, Düsseldorf, Dortmund, Wien,

Salzburg, Basel, Zürich or Bern are only mentioned in Planet textbook.

Project textbooks bring a complex summary of geography of English speaking

countries and there is nothing to reproach. On the other hand Spaß mit Max textbooks do not

provide enough geographical information, almost none maps are used and even a division of

federal states is not mentioned. Planet textbooks deliver learners enough geographical

information.

2.3.5.8 National cultural heritage

This section presents cultural artefacts of national culture from past and present that

are present in the three textbooks.

Project textbooks present many important people of British and American history.

Learners meet for example King Arthur, Alfred the Great, King William I, James Cook or in

later history Henry Ford. They also get to know two British authors: Beatrix Potter and

William Shakespeare. The play Romeo and Juliet is covered in the extensive reading and

pupils get to know the whole story. Scientists such as Isaac Newton and Charles Darwin and

prime ministers Margaret Thatcher and Tony Blair are mentioned in textbooks. In connection

with British cinema pupils learn about Charlie Chaplin, Alfred Hitchcock, Nick Park and

James Bond. Learners also meet famous actors such as Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightley or

Johnny Depp. Pupils read about wishes of other children who want to be as the actress

Angelina Jolie or the formula driver Lewis Hamilton. Many musicians such as Elvis Presley,

Buddy Holly, Eddie Cochran, Jerry Lee Lewis and bands The Beatles and Swedish group

Abba are introduced. Pupils get to know famous American personalities such as Bill Clinton,

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Martin Luther King or Barack Obama. Reference to personality culture of New Zealand is Sir

Edmund Hillary who was the first person to climb Mount Everest.

In Spaß mit Max national cultural heritage gets a great deal of attention. Learners

meet reformer Martin Luther and also Marie Theresa who reformed education. Many famous

writers and their achievements are presented such as Christian Morgenstern, Bertolt Brecht,

Erich Kästner, Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, Friedrich von Schiller or Johann Wolfgang von

Goethe. Also composers such as Richard Wagner or Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and painters

such as Albrecht Dürer, Max Liebermann or Eugen Eckert are mentioned. Learners learn

about famous German architect Friedrich Hundertwasser and his Hundertwasser Schule in

Wittenberg. In Spaß mit Max textbooks pupils get to know famous German, Swiss and

Austrian newspapers.

National cultural heritage presented in Planet textbooks is embodied by famous

German, Austrian or Swiss people from past such as Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Thomas

Mann, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Johanna Spyri and Queen Elisabeth of Austria, Albert

Einstein or Carl Friedrich Benz as well as by celebrities such as Michael Schumacher, Benny

Lauth or Katharina Witt. Cultural artefacts representing German speaking countries are

football clubs such as FC Basel, FC Bayern Munich or FK Austria Wien.

All three textbooks fulfilled requirements of national cultural heritage and their

information covered in textbooks are evaluated positively.

2.3.5.9 Stereotypes and national identity

In Project textbooks no reference to any stereotypes is present. Many famous

monuments from the UK, the USA and from Australia are introduced but usually just through

a picture or in a text without no explanation or more details about them. Famous British

monuments and places found in textbooks are Lancaster, London Bridge, Buckingham Palace,

London Eye, Madame Tussauds, Victoria Palace Theatre, Nelson’s Column, Trafalgar

Square, Natural History Museum, Hyde Park, Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament and Oxford

and Cambridge universities. Famous American monuments and places presented are the

Statue of Liberty, Central Park and Time Square. Australian monuments that appeared in

textbooks are the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House. Pupils meet the flag of the UK – the

Union Jack; of the USA Stars and Stripes and also the flag of the EU. However, learners do

73

not learn about the British or American anthem, they just learn that the anthem of the EU is

called Ode to Joy. The last mentioned symbol cricket is a national game of Australia.

In Spaß mit Max textbooks no reference to any stereotypes is made. As a national

symbol the flag of Germany and Austria it depicted. The oldest German university is said to

be in Heidelberg. No famous monuments of German speaking countries are introduced.

In Planet textbooks learners get to know a lot of stereotypes about Germany and its

inhabitants. First Friday the 13th is said to be a bad luck day and many examples what

unpleasant can happen during this day are presented. On the other hand learners meet German

lucky charms; they are a pig, chimney sweep, horseshoe, four-leaf clover and a toadstool. One

chapter in Planet textbooks deals with stereotypes about German people and pupils are asked

to guess which are true and lead a class discussion. For example it is said that in Germany

many people ride a bike, Germans are punctual and neatness, all Germans drink beer, in

German gardens there is always a garden gnome or that Germans eat only potatoes and

sauerkraut. As national symbols of German speaking countries flags of Germany, Austria and

Switzerland are presented. Several monuments and famous places within Germany are

introduced such as Cologne Cathedral, Brandenburg Gate, Berlin TV tower, Reichstag or

Dresden Frauenkirche.

Project textbooks and Spaß mit Max textbooks do not provide any information about

stereotypes. On the other hand in Planet textbooks stereotypes get a great deal of attention.

They are described from many different angels. In all three textbooks is at least flag as a

symbol of the target country introduced. Examples of important monuments of the target

countries in Project textbooks and Planet textbooks are presented. However, Spaß mit Max do

not present important monument of German speaking countries.

2.3.6 Comparison of textbooks

For better overview the cultural content of the three textbooks is presented through a

table. The symbol of X means that the particular series textbook possesses the specific

cultural information.

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Cultural content Project Spaß mit Max Planet

Social classes X X X

Regional identity X X X

Ethnic minorities X X

Professional identity

Non-verbal behaviour X X

Verbal behaviour X X X

Holiday and festivals X

Eating habits X X

Hobbies X X

Socio-political

institutions

X

Families X X

Schools X X X

Employment offices

Religion

Military service

National history X X X

National geography X X

National cultural

heritage

X X X

Stereotypes X

Symbols of nations X X X

Monuments X X

Table 6: Cultural content of Project, Spaß mit Max and Planet textbooks

Project textbooks deal with cultural information on a high level. Learners get to know

a lot about the culture of English speaking countries. I would recommend this textbook for

teaching language and culture. Almost 70% of respondents would maybe recommend it too

because according to them Project textbooks contain enough cultural information. This was

proved through my research.

Spaß mit Max textbooks are rather focused on culture of the Czech Republic which is

also the intention of local culture textbooks. Therefore, the outcomes about this textbook

series are not that positive. However, almost 84% of respondents hold the view that Spaß mit

Max contain enough cultural information about German speaking countries. I have to disagree

with it. I would not recommend Spaß mit Max textbooks as a guide of German culture.

Planet textbooks in comparison with Spaß mit Max deal with culture more in detail.

However, both German textbooks focus mainly on culture of Germany. Through Planet series

learners get to know a lot about German culture. In major cases the missed cultural

75

information in Planet textbooks is the same as in Project textbooks. Project textbooks came

out to be the best textbooks for teaching culture. I would also together with almost 67%

respondents recommend Planet textbooks.

76

Conclusion

The theoretical part presented an overview of the topic of the importance of teaching

culture. The first part in the theoretical part introduced ‘‘big C’’ and little ‘‘little c’’ culture as

two important parts of its term. Different views of culture were incorporated and culture was

discussed in more detail. The second part called teaching culture presented a study which

proved the importance of teaching culture and familiarized readers with the good impacts on

learners’ language development and also understanding of his/her own culture as well as the

target culture. Problems involved in teaching and learning culture were clarified and a

solution for them suggested. Cultural learning outcomes essential for understanding of the

target culture were concluded. The third part concerning the use of textbooks brought advice

for evaluation of a textbook and presented possible positive and negative effects of textbooks.

Three types of cultural content that textbook possess were presented. The division of them

was further used in the practical part of the thesis.

Practical part dealt with two pieces of research, a quantitative and qualitative one.

Quantitative research was based on a questionnaire survey aimed at English and German

teachers at lower secondary Czech schools. The aim was, besides other things, to discover

which textbook teachers use and what they think about its cultural content. Teachers

enumerated several textbooks and some were evaluated positively and some not. The

textbooks said to be used the most were examined in the second research. Finally there were

three textbooks namely English Project textbooks, German Spaß mit Max and Planet

textbooks and their type of cultural content was determined. Visual materials and

representation of characters in illustrations as well as their gender roles, the age of character

and the social class were examined. In the theoretical part nine criteria for analysing and

evaluating the cultural content in textbooks were presented and in the practical part each

criterion was taken into consideration and used for evaluating and analysing of each of the

three previously mentioned textbooks. It was found out that the most appropriate textbook for

teaching culture is the Project series. Two German textbooks were evaluated with the

outcome that Planet textbooks contain enough cultural information about German speaking

countries but Spaß mit Max textbooks failed in it.

The purpose of the whole thesis was to provide a clear overview of the topic of the

importance of teaching culture in lower secondary Czech school. Some useful information

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and findings about the textbooks were acquired. I would like to use the findings and

knowledge gained from this thesis in my future teaching. The findings may be also useful for

teachers who want to use a new textbook for teaching either English of German language.

78

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Appendix: Questionnaire

Dear Sir or Madam,

my name is Šárka Jelínková and I am a student of Faculty of Education at Masaryk University

in Brno. I would like to request you to fill in a short questionnaire for my bachelor thesis,

which topic is Importance of Teaching Culture at Lower Secondary Czech Schools. The

questionnaire is aimed at English and German teachers at lower secondary schools. Your

answers are anonymous and will be used only for my purposes. Thank you for filling in my

questionnaire.

1. I am a teacher of

a) English language

b) German language

2. Do you consider teaching culture in language classes important?

a) yes

b) no

3. If you do, what activities do you do to help students to learn?

4. If you do not consider it important, why not?

5. Which textbook do you use in your English/German classes?

6. Do you think that textbooks you use contain enough cultural information?

a) yes

b) no

7. Do you use extra resources? If so which ones?

a) Gate magazine

b) Bridge magazine

c) other magazines

d) video, films

81

e) songs

f) books

g) other sources, write down which ones

8. Does your school organize tours to English/German speaking countries?

a) yes

b) no

9. If there is a cultural part in your textbook do you skip it or focus on it?

a) I skip it

b) I focus on it

10. How often do you have a culture class?

a) once a week

b) more than once a week

c) once a month

d) very often

e) not at all

11. Do you know enough information about English/German speaking countries?

a) yes

b) no

c) more yes

d) more no

e) I do not know

12. Would you like to take the opportunity (e.g. seminars) to find out more?

a) yes

b) no

Date post:	31-Jan-2023
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MASARYK UNIVERSITY BRNO Bachelor Thesis - IS MUNI

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