Evaluating the Cultural Contents in an Indonesian EFL Textbook: Teachers’ Views
Abstract
The study aimed to reveal the views of Indonesian EFL teachers about the cultural contents of an Indonesian EFL textbook. Buku Bahasa Inggris (BBI) for Grade 12, an EFL textbook endorsed by the Indonesia Ministry of Education and Culture (MONEC), was chosen as the research object. Utilizing an online questionnaire and semi-structured interviews, 68 Indonesian EFL teachers from sixty-eight different public senior high schools in the country were conveniently selected to evaluate the cultural contents of the textbook. Even though it is Indonesia-centric, the findings reveal that BBI was not entirely designed for culture-based language learning. It contains a low load of cultural information, less supportive tasks and exercises, and no cultural aspect delivery guidelines. Additionally, few culture-free materials were spotted. The study gives constructive feedback to improve the textbook, which could better suit teachers’ and learners’ expectations. The study enriches the literature in evaluating pedagogical values of cultural contents in EFL textbooks, which are rare, particularly in the Indonesian EFL context.
Keywords: cultural contents, Indonesian English as a foreign language textbook, teachers.
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