Assessing Perspectives on Culture in Saudi EFL Textbook Discourse

What is it about?

Because of the increased mobility and high interconnectivity characterising the modern world, the incorporation of intercultural communicative competence in foreign language education has gained more pedagogical credence. However, the challenge is how to create a reflexive and critical space for intercultural diversities within English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classrooms in a way that empowers learners to successfully navigate intercultural encounters. The purpose of the present chapter is to examine how ‘interculturality’ is integrated into the Saudi EFL textbooks for K-12 public education. Drawing on critical discourse analysis methodology, we examine how visual and verbal discourses operate together to inspire students to navigate intercultural encounters. The findings suggest that the cultural content in ‘Say It In English’ Series (SIIE) and ‘English for Saudi Arabia’ Series (EFS) is mainly motivated by the need to acquire skills for ‘global communication’ and ‘intercultural awareness’ in the context of the conservation and appreciation of Arab/Islamic culture.

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Why is it important?

The present study investigates how cultural diversity is integrated in Saudi K-12 foreign language education textbooks. The analysis is done in light of Bennett’s (1986) developmental model of intercultural sensitivity (DMIS), Byram’s (1997) intercultural communicative competence (ICC) model, and Liddicoat’s (2005) approach to intercultural language teaching (ILT).

Perspectives