Language and culture are interdependent. The teaching and learning of culture are inseparable from language education. Textbooks have become a crucial medium for representing cultural values, beliefs, and even stereotypes or misunderstandings. Questions related to the culture representations in second language textbooks are under heated discussions (e.g. Weninger & Kiss 2013), but there lacks adequate attention to textbooks for non-English languages. Moreover, most studies concern textbooks published in a single country or region, while comparative studies are few, especially those researching textbooks developed for cultures with less similarities to the target culture. In addition, in relation to the types of culture examined in current studies, the main focus is on the target culture, the source culture and the international or the neutral culture separately, but rarely on the interaction between different cultures. In terms of research methods, the content analysis method is used extensively, whereas the critical social semiotic approach featuring orientation towards different modalities is gaining recognition in more recent studies, which, however, mostly examine texts, images and the relationship between them only.
This study will investigate locally developed German language textbooks in China, Japan and Korea - as examples of non-English language textbooks - to explore the similarities and differences in cultural representation. Cultural dimensions, regional/national cultures and cultural modalities will be analyzed.
This study constructs the following analytical model of cultural representation in foreign language textbooks, which applies to non-English textbooks.
a. Cultural dimensions
Based on Yuen's (2011) classification, and with reference to Moran's (2008) five cultural dimensions and Hofstede's (2005) cultural onion model, culture is divided into the five dimensions: cultural products, cultural practices, cultural persons, cultural rituals and cultural perspectives.
b. Regional/National cultures
The regional/national cultures can be classified into source culture, target culture, other culture, and interactive culture.
c. Cultural modalities
Cultural contents in foreign language textbooks can be verbal or non-verbal. We examine all possible forms for presenting cultural content, such as texts (including dialogues), images (e.g. diagrams, pictures etc.), audio, proverbs, background information and related tasks (e.g. cultural comparisons).
In view of the lack of adequate attention to cultural representation in non-English textbooks, three series of German textbooks that are widely used in Chinese, Japanese and Korean universities, namely Studienweg Deutsch, Spitzen! and Lebendiges Deutsch für Studenten, will be selected for empirical analysis.
This study will be a combination of quantitative and qualitative research. More importantly, the study aims to examine the applicability of a conceptional framework based on the empirical analysis.
Bibliography
Hofstede, G., & Hofstede, G. J. (2005): Lokales Denken, globales Handeln. Interkulturelle Zusammenarbeit und globales Management. München: Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag.
Moran, P. R. (2008). Teaching Culture: Perspectives in Practice. Boston: Heinle ELT.
Weninger, C., & Kiss, T. (2013). Culture in English as a Foreign language (EFL) textbooks: A semiotic approach. Tesol Quarterly, 47(4), 694-716.
Yuen, K. M. (2011). The representation of foreign cultures in English textbooks. ELT Journal, 65(4), 458–466.
