Strangers in Paradise: The Role of Target Language Culture in Foreign Language Teaching Materials

Abstract

Coursebooks and other teaching materials which are used nowadays in the foreign language classroom are primarily designed to facilitate foreign language learning, but they cannot simply do that since language learning is inseparable from its cultural context. For that reason, it is usually expected that foreign language (FL) teaching materials (TM) that language teachers select should include elements of the target language culture. The extent and ways of incorporating cultural aspects in foreign language instruction vary in different teaching materials, and therefore it is important for the FL teacher to know what to look for in a particular language textbook in order to decide if it is suitable for attaining the aforementioned goals. It seems that language teachers are often unaware of the cultural “richness” of the target language culture and the possible benefits it brings to students. This chapter investigates the role of culture in FL instruction in terms of the cultural content of the TM used in secondary education as well as the teachers’ awareness of the cultural content of the coursebooks they select and later use with their learners.