Textbooks are essential tools in many English/foreign language classrooms. Teachers are often required to use a specific textbook which is then placed at the center of the program and used as the main source of teaching and learning material. Textbooks used in classrooms where English is taught as a foreign language have often been criticized for their emphasis on Anglo-Saxon cultural context and there have been calls for decentralization and diversification of content so that it could include a consideration of learners' cultural background. This paper looks at English language textbooks that are used in primary schools in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the way they present culture-related material in their reading lessons and culture corners. Content in some textbooks is still heavily oriented towards the US and the UK and many reading texts function primarily as language samples, which means that there are not many opportunities for learners to discuss cultural aspects of the texts. Moreover, textbooks present culture in a simplistic way, either by focusing only on cultural practices and products and disregarding different cultural perspectives or by catering only to middle class learners. This paper shows some ways in which textbook tasks can be modified so that texts can be used as resources and so that learners can be encouraged to engage more deeply with the content.
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