VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES VŨ THỊ VÂN AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE CULTURAL ELEMENTS IN THE READING PASSAGES OF VIETNAMESE CURRENT SECONDARY SCHOOL EFL TEXTBOOKS (Nghiên cứu các yếu tố văn hóa trong các bài đọc của sách giáo khoa tiếng Anh dành cho bậc THCS hiện nay ở Việt Nam) M. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 8140231.01 HA NOI – 2022 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES VŨ THỊ VÂN AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE CULTURAL ELEMENTS IN THE READING PASSAGES OF VIETNAMESE CURRENT SECONDARY SCHOOL EFL TEXTBOOKS (Nghiên cứu các yếu tố văn hóa trong các bài đọc của sách giáo khoa tiếng Anh dành cho bậc THCS hiện nay ở Việt Nam) M. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 8140231. Hoàng Văn Vân HA NOI – 2022 DECLARATION I hereby certify that the minor thesis entitled “An investigation into the cultural elements in the reading passages of Vietnamese current secondary school EFL textbooks” is the result of my own research for the degree of Master of Arts in English Language Teaching Methodology at the Faculty of Post-Graduate Studies, University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi, and this thesis is the total fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts.
The material in this thesis has not been submitted to any other university or institution. Ha Noi, December 2021 Vũ Thị Vân i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS In the process of conducting this MA thesis, my efforts could not have achieved such great success without the help and support from many people. First of all, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Professor Hoang Van Van, for his genuine guidance, everlasting support, and strong encouragement throughout the stages of my studies, and whose stimulating ideas, expertise, and suggestions have greatly inspired me in my growth as a teacher. My deepest respect and gratitude are extended to the lecturers and many others from the Faculty of Post-graduate Studies at ULIS, VNU, for their enthusiastic help and support during all my courses as well as the writing of the present thesis.
My sincere thanks also go to my classmates and friends for their whole- hearted concern and encouragement. Finally, I would like to thank my beloved family, especially my parents and husband, for helping me during the hardest times throughout my studies. Once again, my sincere thanks to all. ii ABSTRACT In lower secondary schools, a lack of cultural awareness and inadequate cultural background knowledge directly impair students' learning capacity.
Therefore, it is critical to build students' cultural awareness and background knowledge of different cultures. The current study attempted to examine how different cultural elements were included in English textbooks for lower secondary schools in Vietnam, contributing to the improvement of English teaching and learning quality in Vietnam. A mixed method with a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods was employed by the researcher for data collection and analysis. Four Vietnamese lower secondary English textbooks, including Tiếng Anh 6, Tiếng Anh 7, Tiếng Anh 8, and Tiếng Anh 9 were used for the analysis.
Research findings revealed that there were five cultural groups incorporated into reading passages of English textbooks. Universal culture was the cultural group with the highest frequency, followed by Vietnamese culture, international culture, and English-speaking culture. Cross-national comparison was used with the lowest frequency. In terms of cultural elements, it was shown that the most widely used cultural aspects in reading passages included Lifestyle, History, and Values.
Other aspects of culture that experienced a lower level of frequency consisted of Social norms, Food, Nature, Geography, Literature/Art, Education, Music, Holiday, Sports, Customs, and Hobbies. Notably, cultural knowledge of politics, economy, architecture, and gestures/body language was not integrated into English textbooks‟ reading passages. Based on research findings, the implications were generated for the textbook authors, teachers, and students to improve students‟ cultural awareness and background, contributing to their English competence. iii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ASEAN : Association of Southeast Asian Nations ICC : Intercultural Communicative Competence EFL : English as a Foreign Language FLT : Foreign Language Teaching MOET : Ministry of Training and Education VC : Vietnamese Culture TC : Target Culture IC : International Culture iv LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES Table 3.1: The structure of the target textbooks .2: The theme of each unit in the textbooks .1: The scheme of interactive model analysis (Source: Huberman & Saldana, 2004, pp.1: The distribution of frequency and percentages of the cultural groups in the reading passages of the English textbook series .1: The distribution of frequency and percentages of the cultural groups in the reading passages of the English textbook series .2: Elements of Culture in the reading passages of the English.
35 v TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION. iii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS. iv LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES. Rationale for choosing the topic.
Aims and objectives of the study. Scope of the study. Significance of the study. Method of the study.
The structure of the study. 3 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW. Theoretical background of the textbook. Definitions of textbooks.
The role of textbook in teaching and learning. Theoretical background of language and culture. Definition of language. Definition of culture.
The interrelationship between language and culture. Cultural awareness development strategies in language teaching. Theoretical background of reading. The definitions of reading.
Definition of reading comprehension. Classification of cultural elements in ELT textbooks. Some related studies. 16 vi CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY.
The Vietnamese English teaching context. Material used for analysis. Checklists for the cross-cultural analysis in the study. Using the first checklist to investigate the cultural groups.
Data analysis procedures. 27 CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS. Results of research question 1. Results of research question 2.
Summary of main findings. Implications and suggestions. Implications and suggestions for English textbook authors and English teachers. Suggestions of helpful activities for students' cultural awareness.
Limitations of the study and recommendations for further research. Coding guidelines for nineteen cultural elements. Groups of culture are represented in the reading passages of the English textbook series. Elements of culture in the reading passages of the English textbook series.
VII vii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1. Rationale for choosing the topic Today, English has become a global language, with so many implications for the teaching and learning of the language.1) states that "the teaching and learning of an international language must be based on an entirely different set of assumptions than the teaching and learning of any other second or foreign language". Language may reflect many factors of culture, and culture affects the way language is used in turn. An understanding of the relationship between language and culture is essential for language users, learners, and all those involved in language education.
For language teachers and learners in general, an appreciation of the differences in opinion regarding the relationship between language and culture can help to illuminate the diversity of views held toward the use of language. Thus, learning culture is clearly an important factor for Vietnamese students to succeed in communicating, because second language learning is second culture learning. Language and culture are inseparable factors in the field of language teaching.8) asserts that "language learning should be more than the manipulation of syntax and lexicon". It is suggested that just learning about structure, vocabulary, grammar, and the four skills of listening, speaking, reading, and writing can't fully understand the meaning of a language.
In the current FLT materials, the role of textbooks is properly emphasized in the close relationship between learning a language and learning its culture. In Vietnam, English has been a compulsory subject in most schools for many years. However, the focus on teaching grammar, vocabulary, and language skills often prevails in English teaching and learning methods, leading to a lack of knowledge of the cultural background shown in the materials. One of the objects of teaching and learning English is to raise students' cultural awareness.
However, there is little attention to the cultural issues of the ELT textbooks, and there is no investigation into the cultural content of reading textbooks. Thus, the attitudes and 1 perceptions of students about the cultural aspects presented in English textbooks are still limited. For the reasons mentioned, the author has decided to conduct this study. It is hoped that this study will help students and teachers recognize the cultural elements presented in the textbook and contribute some immediate activities to enhance the cultural awareness of students.
Aims and objectives of the study The overall aim of the current study was to identify how different cultural elements are included in English textbooks of lower secondary schools in Vietnam, contributing to the improvement of English teaching and learning quality in Vietnam. Specifically, the current study attempted to obtain the following objectives: 1. To analyze for different cultural groups presented in the reading passages of English textbooks Tiếng Anh 6, Tiếng Anh 7, Tiếng Anh 8, and Tiếng Anh 9 used at lower secondary schools in Vietnam. To examine how cultural elements are presented in the reading passages of English textbooks Tiếng Anh 6, Tiếng Anh 7, Tiếng Anh 8, and Tiếng Anh 9 used at lower secondary schools in Vietnam.
Research questions This study was carried out to answer the following questions: 1. What cultural groups are represented in the reading passages of Vietnamese current lower secondary school EFL textbooks: Tiếng Anh 6, Tiếng Anh 7, Tiếng Anh 8, and Tiếng Anh 9? 2. How are the cultural elements represented in the reading passages of Vietnamese current lower secondary school EFL textbooks: Tiếng Anh 6, Tiếng Anh 7, Tiếng Anh 8, and Tiếng Anh 9? 1. Scope of the study This study focuses on the reading passages used in the English textbook series for Vietnamese secondary school students (developed by Hoang Van Van et al.
The content 2 and tasks in the reading sections are used for specific analysis and evaluation. This thesis is limited to the analysis of the cultural elements in the English textbooks Tiếng Anh 6, Tiếng Anh 7, Tiếng Anh 8, and Tiếng Anh 9. Significance of the study This research is intended to improve cultural awareness among teachers, students, and textbook writers. It also hopes to offer some solutions to solve cultural problems in the context of teaching English today.
These suggestions will increase awareness of the diverse culture of Vietnamese students. Besides, this study provides a detailed description of the cultural issues expressed in reading texts in English textbooks and cultural studies with the aim of promoting students‟ cultural awareness and improving skills such as reading, writing, and their ability to communicate multiculturally. Method of the study In this study, quantitative and qualitative methods are used to collect and analyze data according to the modified checklists designed by Cortazzi and Jin, Hirsch et al. The research steps are presented in the following order: The first step, groups of cultural content presented in reading passages of Vietnamese secondary school EFL textbooks are counted, calculated in the percentage, and analyzed.
The second one is using two modified checklists proposed by Cortazzi and Jin (1999, p. 204), Hircsh et al. 304) in order to research the categories of cultural elements in reading passages of the set of textbooks. After that, the data was collected and analyzed both quantitatively and qualitatively.
The final step is the findings and discussions about cultural elements and cultural categories in the English textbook series and proposing some helpful activities to develop students‟ cross-cultural awareness based on the results found.
