چکیده:
Language and culture are now deemed to be co-constitutive; hence English language teaching (ELT) textbooks should incorporate cultural aspects and promote intercultural competence. However, careful decisions should be made as regards to the cultural content of materials and the ways in which culture is represented. This study was an attempt to deconstruct the patterns of cultural representation and intercultural interactions in Interchange textbooks, an ELT textbook series taught to English as a foreign language (EFL) learners in Iran. Using content analysis of texts and images and with the focus on nationality, gender and race, it examined how different cultures were reflected in Interchange 1, Interchange 2, Interchange 3, and whether cultural bias or inequality was present. The quantitative and qualitative data analysis revealed that the white male group was dominant in all three textbooks. And, to use Kachru’s (1985) terms, inner, outer and expanding circle nationalities were represented in the textbooks, with the expanding circle constituting the major nationality, but American culture of inner circle was predominant. Additionally, the interactions were mainly limited to superficial aspects of the target culture although these textbooks sought to show various intercultural interactions. Dominance of male and white characters and the US culture indicated inequality in race and gender, and the superficial treatment of culture in the textbooks. Less attention to the hybrid culture and deeper level of intercultural aspects, i.e. critical reflections, in the textbooks suggests that the materials be supplemented by EFL teachers’ constructive discussion of the cultures that interact.
خلاصه ماشینی:
"A. Student of TEFL, Shahrekord University, Iran Received: June 14, 2013; Accepted: November 20, 2013 Abstract Language and culture are now deemed to be co-constitutive; hence English language teaching (ELT) textbooks should incorporate cultural aspects and promote intercultural competence.
This study was an attempt to deconstruct the patterns of cultural representation and intercultural interactions in Interchange textbooks, an ELT textbook series taught to English as a foreign language (EFL) learners in Iran.
Intercultural or cross-cultural competence, which provides us with information about social attributes, thought patterns, and the cultures of different groups of people and involves understanding the different cultures, languages and customs of people from other countries (Byram, Gribkova, & Starkey, 2002), is not demonstrated; As Tajeddin and Teimournezhad (2014) point out, some of current ELT textbooks have limitations in fostering intercultural understanding.
A considerable attention to countries other than countries where English is spoken as an official language, particularly expanding circle countries may reflect the writers‟ awareness of the growing recognition of the spread of English through expanding circle countries (Graddol, 1997) and sends us the positive message that English users from the outer and expanding circles are taking a role in the use of English and shaping its culture worldwide; the presentation of English use among different nationalities in the Interchange textbooks may also represent the use of English as a medium of international communication, not mere access to the inner circle culture."