Abstract
Currently, it is recognized that language and culture go hand in hand, which means that when we teach a language, we also teach the culture of that language or other languages that appear in the textbooks being used. This wide recognition of the vital role of culture in the second language teaching has presented challenges for EFL teachers in various contexts. This article reports a qualitative study on three Cambodian teachers of English at one school in Phnom Penh. The study aims to investigate EFL teachers’ views and practices of textbook adaptation, as well as how they adapt textbooks to help students develop intercultural awareness in the ELT. To achieve these objectives, the qualitative data obtained from individual interviews, classroom observations, and teaching materials were engaged to shed light on the backdrop of the textbook adaptation and cultural integration in the ELT classroom. The findings in this study reveal an inconsistency between teachers’ views and practices about the textbook adaptation and the teachers’ limited capacity of interculturality-stimulated scholarship that is inherently tied to the development of cultural activities in the ELT classroom. This study suggests teacher training on the textbook adaptation and teaching culture should be provided to the teachers in the context and beyond.
Highlights
The second language teaching has moved beyond the act of teaching the language itself to accentuate the cultural aspects, to which students get exposure in the classroom (Lessard-Clouston, 1996). Hilliard (2014) asserts that teaching a language without teaching some cultural aspects of that language is virtually inevitable
Textbook Adaptation: Perceptions and Practices To better understand the integration of culture in the ELT, the study, first, sought to explore teachers’ views and practices of the textbook adaptation or development in their teaching profession
The findings in the current study revealed a caveat about teaching culture, on the intercultural awareness development in the context investigated
Summary
The second language teaching has moved beyond the act of teaching the language itself to accentuate the cultural aspects, to which students get exposure in the classroom (Lessard-Clouston, 1996). Hilliard (2014) asserts that teaching a language without teaching some cultural aspects of that language is virtually inevitable. The second language teaching has moved beyond the act of teaching the language itself to accentuate the cultural aspects, to which students get exposure in the classroom (Lessard-Clouston, 1996). While negotiating the meanings of tasks (e.g. cultural activities), students can develop communicative competence (Nhem, 2019). Baker (2011) elucidates that the role of culture in the ELT has vitally contributed to the understanding of Hymes’ (1972) notion of communicative competence, placing the significance of sociolinguistic scholarship. This notion has provided scholars with the comprehensive insight regarding the role of culture, developing intercultural competence. Developing students’ intercultural competence for communicative purposes in various settings (e.g. studies, seminars, traveling, or workplace) is beyond necessity (Sobkowiak, 2019; & Wintergerst, & McVeigh, 2011)
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