LIEN Bao Tran MEd., Tra Vinh Highschool Lab, Tra Vinh University, Vietnam
KIM Hoai Tan Master student, majoring in TEFL (teaching English as a Foreign Language), School of Southern Khmer Language, Culture, Arts and Humanities, Tra Vinh University, Vietnam
ABSTRACT
Introduction: Many locally developed English as a Foreign Language (EFL) textbooks with cultural content integration have been introduced in preparation for the multicultural objectives of the new EFL curriculum in Vietnam’s general education. Objectives: This study aims to investigate the (inter) cultural representations in a recently implemented tenth-grade EFL textbook, Global Success, focusing on the cultural content and intercultural interactions within the textbook. Methodology: This study follows a qualitative descriptive approach, with its focus on a structured yet in-depth analysis of cultural content and intercultural interactions. Findings: The findings of the content analysis reveal that (1) the textbook includes a variety of international, local, and target cultural content to ensure diversity and interculturality in the objectives of EFL education, and (2) the presence of intercultural interactions falls below expectations in terms of both quantity and quality. Recommendations: It is recommended that textbook authors contextualise cultural content and design tasks to enable students to personalise their knowledge, experiences, and cultural perspectives. If simplicity and accessibility are the pursued values in textbooks, EFL teachers should be the ones to modify the lessons in order to enrich the cultural content and deepen the intercultural debate, aiming at fostering the students’ intercultural communicative competence as the objective of EFL education.
