Integration of Target, Local, and International Cultures in Action Pack Textbooks in Jordan: An Analytical Study

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the inclusion of target, local and international cultural terms and pictures in the 11^th grade EFL Action Pack textbook in Jordan. A content analysis of the 11^th grade English textbook in Jordan was conducted. The terms and the pictures were units of analysis. The target culture was the culture English speakers, while the local culture was considered the Jordanian culture, and the international culture referred to other cultures of the world. The entire body of terms was (27546) cultural terms. The number of pictures was calculated and it was (192). The body of terms and pictures was analyzed using Cortazzi and Jin’s (1999) dimensions in addition to Byram’s (1993) checklist. These dimensions were target, local, and international culture. Results revealed 46% reflected international terms, 42.2% local, and 11.8% target terms. The results also revealed that the cultural pictures depicting international culture was 33.3%, while the local culture was depicted by 50%, and the target culture was depicted by 16.7%. Based on these results, the study recommended that textbook designers in Jordan need to add additional target culture terms and pictures in Action Pack textbooks due to its importance to foreign language