VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES TRỊNH MAI ANH 10TH-GRADE STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS OF THE TEACHING OF CULTURAL CONTENTS IN THEIR ENGLISH TEXTBOOK: AN EXPLORATORY STUDY AT A HIGH SCHOOL IN HANOI (Cảm nhận của học sinh lớp 10 về việc giảng dạy nội dung văn hóa trong sách giáo khoa Tiếng Anh: Nghiên cứu khám phá ở một trường cấp 3 tại Hà Nội) M. MAJOR PROGRAMME THESIS Major: English Teaching Methodology Code: 8140231.01 HÀ NỘI - 2024 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES TRỊNH MAI ANH 10TH-GRADE STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS OF THE TEACHING OF CULTURAL CONTENTS IN THEIR ENGLISH TEXTBOOK: AN EXPLORATORY STUDY AT A HIGH SCHOOL IN HANOI (Cảm nhận của học sinh lớp 10 về việc giảng. dạy nội dung văn hóa trong sách giáo khoa Tiếng Anh: Nghiên cứu khám phá ở một trường cấp 3 tại Hà Nội) M. MAJOR PROGRAMME THESIS Major: English Teaching Methodology Code: 8140231.
Phạm Lan Anh Date: 09/07/2024 Dr. Phạm Lan Anh HÀ NỘI - 2024 DECLARATION I - Trịnh Mai Anh hereby certify that this thesis is the result of my own work and effort. It was conducted and submitted in partial fulfillment for the Degree of Master of Arts at the Faculty of Post-graduate Studies, University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University of Hanoi. I also certify that my thesis has not been submitted anywhere for any award.
Documented preferences have been fully provided. Hanoi, 2024 Student’s signature Trịnh Mai Anh Approved by SUPERVISOR (Signature and full name) Dr. Phạm Lan Anh Date: 09/07/2024 i ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the following individuals and entities who have contributed to the completion of this thesis. First and foremost, I extend my deepest appreciation to my supervisor, Dr.
Pham Lan Anh, for her valuable guidance, encouragement and insightful feedback throughout the research process. Without her support, I could not have this study accomplished. I am also immensely thankful to the students who participated in my study, as their involvement has been instrumental in the success of this research. My heartfelt thanks go to my family for their endless love, support, and understanding, which have been a source of strength and motivation for me.
I am also thankful to my friends for their support throughout this academic journey. Their readiness to offer valuable answers to my queries has been greatly appreciated. Additionally, as some of them are also carrying out their theses, their companionship and shared experiences have been a source of great assistance. Lastly, I would like to acknowledge and thank myself for the dedication, perseverance, and hard work that I have put into the completion of this thesis.
ii ABSTRACT Today, English language learning encompasses a broader goal of fostering cultural understanding and global competence instead of just the mere acquisition of grammar rules and vocabulary. This puts an emphasis on investigating the students’ perceptions to facilitate the teaching and learning of cultural elements in English lessons. Hence, this study aims to identify the distribution of cultural sources in the in-use English Textbook 10 - Global Success in Viet Nam, the 10th-grade students’ perceptions towards the cultural content in this textbook, and the suitable techniques for cultural education. This study employed explanatory sequential mixed method design, using content analysis and a questionnaire to collect quantitative data, followed by a semi-structured interview for qualitative data.
The analysis of the target textbook reveals that all sources of culture are represented in the target textbook and big “C” and little “c” cultures are covered in this textbook. Students also perceived that the target textbook covered all cultural sources, and had positive perceptions towards cultural education and all sources of culture-related content. Additionally, students were interested in learning about big “C” and little “c” cultures, and supported using different teaching techniques to teach cultural content in English lessons to effectively learn cultural content in English lessons. Keywords: EFL textbook, cultural content, cultural awareness iii TABLE OF CONTENT DECLARATION.
iii TABLE OF CONTENT. iv LIST OF TABLES. viii LIST OF FIGURES .x LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS. Rationale of the study.
Aim, objectives, and research questions. Scope of the study. Design of the study. Significance of the study.
Outline of the study.5 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW. Definition of Perception. Types of Perception. Definitions of textbook.
Language and Culture. The relationship between Language and Culture. Cultural and intercultural components in textbooks. Techniques to teach cultural content.
Justifications for the teaching of cultural contents. Related studies and research gaps. Studies about the representation of cultural content in English textbooks. Studies about students’ perceptions of cultural instruction.
Subjects of the study. English 10 textbook - Global Success. Sampling and Participants. Textbook analytical framework.
Semi-structured interview. Semi-structured interview .49 CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION. Justifications for including varied categories and types of culture. Justifications regarding the effective ways of presenting and teaching cultural content in classes.
Integration of quantitative and qualitative data. Students’ perceptions regarding the representation of cultural content in the textbook. Students’ perceptions regarding the appropriate pedagogical techniques for introducing cultural content. Representation of cultural categories in the textbook.
Representation of cultural types in the textbook. Suitable techniques for culture instruction. Summary of the findings. Question 1: To what extent are categories and types of culture integrated into English 10 - Global Success textbook?.
Question 2: What are the 10th-grade students’ perceptions of cultural content in the textbook?. Question 3: What are the 10th-grade students’ perceptions of suitable techniques for culture instruction in the textbook?. Implications of the study. Limitations and suggestions for future studies.
XVI vii LIST OF TABLES Table 1: The categories and the criteria to classify culture (adapted from Chao (2011)) 14 Table 2: Topics included in English 10 - Global Success textbook .31 Table 3: The structure of one unit in English 10 - Global Success textbook .32 Table 4: Number of pictures, texts, and activities in English 10 Textbook - Global Success .38 Table 5: Coding table for cultural content .38 Table 6: Coding table for Big “C” and little “c” .39 Table 7: List of questionnaire items regarding students’ perceptions about the importance of teaching and learning cultural content .41 Table 8: List of questionnaire items regarding students’ perceptions about cultural content in English 10 Textbook .41 Table 9: List of questionnaire items regarding students’ perceptions of suitable teaching techniques for cultural instruction .42 Table 10: List of themes .49 Table 11: Cultural and cultural-free sections in English 10 Textbook Global Success .51 Table 12: Percentage of Source Culture, Target Culture, International Culture, Intercultural Interaction and Universality across Culture in English 10 - Global Success textbook .52 Table 13: The themes of the units in the target textbook under big “C” and little “c” culture .55 Table 14: Distribution of the big “C” and little “c” culture under cultural categories .55 Table 15: Distribution of the 17 sub-cultural themes in English 10 Textbook - Global Success .56 Table 16: Students’ perceptions regarding the importance of teaching and learning cultural contents .59 Table 17: Students’ expectations about which cultural categories should be represented in their textbook.60 viii Table 18: Students' expectations about which cultural themes should be represented in their textbook .61 Table 19: Students’ perceptions regarding the representation of cultural content in their in-use textbook .63 Table 20: Students’ perceptions regarding suitable techniques for cultural instruction .64 Table 21: Comparison between students’ expectations and analysis results .82 ix LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Mixed methods sequential explanatory design procedures .35 Figure 2: Initial codes regarding students’ perceptions of the teaching and learning of cultural content .48 x LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS EFL English as a foreign language EIL English as an international language ELT English language teaching ESL English as a second language MoET Ministry of Education and Training xi CHAPTER 1. Rationale of the study Researchers in language education have considerably acknowledged and emphasized the close connection between culture and language. The justification is that since a language is intrinsically linked to a specific culture, language learners unavoidably also get knowledge of that culture. Since humans discover, share, and contribute to culture through language, language also serves as the “carrier” of culture (Duranti, 1997).
In the Vietnamese context, according to the 2018 General Education English Language Curriculum of the Ministry of Education and Training (MoET), students can learn about the countries, people, and cultures of different English-speaking countries and other countries worldwide, thereby becoming global citizens when studying English. It also aims to help students develop positive attitudes and feelings toward those nations, their people, and cultures, which in turn helps students love and respect their native tongue and culture. The development of students' cross-cultural understanding, focusing on different sources of cultures, is now expressly emphasized in the English curriculum for the first time. As an English learner and teacher, I have noticed that many students, while having a good grasp of English grammar, struggle to understand English native speakers due to their limited knowledge of British or English-speaking cultures.
They also found it hard to talk about their own culture in detail. It is clear that teaching grammar and language usage alone is insufficient for students to fully comprehend English in various contexts, resulting in frequent misunderstandings in conversation. In this backdrop, textbook materials appear to have a considerable impact on the students. Educational materials like textbooks have the potential to partially or overtly transfer cultural norms.
This is known as the “hidden curriculum” (Cunningsworth, 1995). Concerning the locally developed English textbook for Vietnamese grade 10, this textbook has ten units focusing on ten topics. Each unit contains materials to build the four macro-skills of reading, listening, speaking, and 1 writing, plus a language-focus section on grammar and pronunciation. There are also three sections in this textbook, namely Getting Started, Communication, and Culture, as well as Projects.
Throughout the English 10 Textbook, it is noticeable that cultural contents are woven into all units and different parts of these units, which aims to provide students with knowledge about different cultures in the world. Generally, a balanced representation of all cultural materials is warranted since a variety of other cultural representations of English helps learners to compare their own cultural/life experiences with different cultural groups and also to become aware of their behaviours, expectations, perspectives, and values to develop intercultural awareness (Cortazzi & Jin, 1999). However, whether the amount of cultural content related to different cultural sources in English Textbook 10, locally used in Vietnam, is fairly distributed is an issue that needs further study. According to previous literature, it is crucial to examine students’ perceptions as these perceptions greatly influence students’ new language acquisition and how hard they work (Paige et al.
Additionally, studying the perceptions of students assists teachers in adjusting and improving their teaching practices. In international contexts, there are many studies by several scholars, including Prodromou (1992), Canagarjah (1993), Paige et al. (1999), Zhang and Ma (2004), Kahraman (2016), and Xiao (2010), conducted to investigate students’ perceptions regarding different culture-related issues like the importance of learning cultural contents, which types of cultural contents and how these contents should be taught. However, given the importance of cultural teaching and learning in Vietnam, there were few attempts to examine students' perceptions of these topics.
To bridge the gap, it is necessary to investigate the students’ perceptions of the cultural contents in the in-use textbook and the techniques to teach these contents. Aim, objectives, and research questions The overarching aim of this study is to explore how different cultural categories and types are depicted in the English 10 - Global Success textbook and to understand students' perceptions of how the cultural content in this textbook is presented, taught, and learned.