DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH AND AMERICAN STUDIES DEVELOPING CULTURAL AWARENESS IN ELT THESIS AUTHOR: Lucie Vrbová SUPERVISOR: Mgr. Pavel Brebera 2006… [620129]

UNIVERSITY OF PARDUBICE
FACULTY OF ARTS AND PHILOSOPHY
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH AND AMERICAN STUDIES

DEVELOPING CULTURAL
AWARENESS IN ELT

THESIS

AUTHOR: Lucie Vrbová
SUPERVISOR: Mgr. Pavel Brebera

2006

UNITERZITA PARDUBICE
FAKULTA FILOZOFICKÁ
KATEDRA ANGLISTIKY A AMERIKANISTIKY

ROZVÍJENÍ KULTURNÍHO
POV ĚDOMÍ P ŘI VÝUCE
ANGLICKÉHO JAZYKA

DIPLOMOVÁ PRÁCE

AUTOR PRÁCE: Lucie Vrbová
VEDOUCÍ PRÁCE: Mgr. Pavel Brebera

2006

Abstract
The thesis deals with developing cultural awarenes s in primary level learners in
foreign language learning in classroom setting. For this purpose, relevant terms, such as
culture and intercultural awareness, are defined an d benefits, as reasons for including
culture learning into the learning process are list ed. The aims of culture learning are
discussed in relation to the revised Bloom’s taxono my of teaching aims. The theoretical
part further deals with culture learning process. I t gives guidelines for culture teaching;
discusses recommended techniques and teaching mater ials, especially textbooks.
Practical part consists of two studies conducted i n order to find out how cultural
awareness is being developed at Czech primary schoo l at the level of the 9 th grade. The
first study concentrates on cultural content of tex tbooks. The research method is content
analyses and it examines what cultural aspects are included in textbooks and to what
extent. The second study concentrates on materials and techniques used in teaching
process. It is conducted as case study in a form of questionnaire for pupils in order to
find out whether textbook is used in the class. It is further interested in supplementary
materials and learners’ attitudes towards the targe t culture countries.

Abstrakt
Práce se zabývá rozvíjením kulturního pov ědomí na úrovni žák ů základní školy
v hodinách anglického jazyka. Za tímto ú čelem jsou nejprve vydefinovány relevantní
termíny, jako kulturní pov ědomí a interkulturní komunikativní kompetence. Dále jsou
uvedeny d ůvody pro implementaci prvk ů kulturních studií do procesu vyu čování
anglického jazyka a cíle výuky kultury cizojazy čného vzd ělávání jsou prodiskutovány
na základ ě revidované Bloomovy taxonomie. Další teoretická část práce se zabývá
doporu čovanými pokyny, metodami a materiály, zvlášt ě u čebnicemi, pro rozvíjení
kulturního pov ědomí žák ů.
Praktická část práce obsahuje dv ě výzkumná šet ření, která se zabývají
prost ředky používanými k rozvíjení kulturního pov ědomí u žák ů devátých ro čník ů
základní školy. První studie se zam ěřuje na u čebnice s cílem zjistit, které aspekty
kulturních studií obsahují a do jaké míry. Druhá st udie se zabývá materiály a metodami
používanými v u čebním procesu. Za tímto ú čelem je provedena p řípadová studie ve
form ě dotazník ů pro žáky. Cílem studie je zjistit zda se zkoumaná u čebnice skute čně
uplat ňuje ve vyu čovacím procesu a jaké další materiály a metody jsou v konkrétní t říd ě
žák ů využívány k rozvíjení kulturního pov ědomí. Dále se studie zabývá postojem žák ů
k zemím cílové kultury.

Content:

1. Introduction …………………………………………………………………….. 1
2. Defining Culture………………………………………………………………… 2

3. Foreign Language Teaching and Culture…………………………………… ….. 7
3.1. Language and Culture………………………………………………………. 7
3.2. Why to Teach Culture? ……………………….. …………………………………………… .. 11
4. Aims of Culture Teaching in ELT………………………………………………. 14
4.1.The Affective Domain……………………………………………………….. 15
4.1.1. Attitudes……………………………………………………………… 15

4.1.2. General Education……………………………………………………. 16

4.2.The Cognitive Domain……………………………………………………….. 17

4.2.1. Factual Knowledge……………………………………………………17
4.2.2. Procedural Knowledge……………………………………………….. 18
5. Implementation of Culture into ELT ………………………………………… …. 21
5.1. Guidelines for Teaching Culture……………………………………………. 2 5
5.2. Techniques for Developing Cultural Awareness………………… ………… 26
5.3. Teaching Materials………………………………………………………….. 28
5.3.1. Foreign Language Textbooks and Intercultural Learni ng…………… 29
5.3.2. Other Resources……………………………………………………… 31
6. Research …………………………………………………………………………. 35
6.1. Introduction…………………………………………………………………. 35
6.2. Evaluation of Cultural Content of English Textbooks ……………………… 36
6.2.1. Analysis of the Data…………………………………………………… 38
6.2.1.1. Cultural Content…………………………………………………. 38
6.2.1.2. Presentation of Content: Knowledge…… ………………………. 39
6.2.1.3. Presentation of Content: Attitudes………………………………. 44
6.2.1.4. Presentation of Content: Intercultural Awareness………………. 46
6.2.1.5. Presentation of Content: Culture and Language………………… 47
6.2.2. Conclusion………………………………………………………… ….. 49
6.3. Case Study: Resources and Techniques Used for Devel oping Cultural
Awareness………………………………………. …………………………………………… ….. 51
6.3.1. Analysis of the Data…………………………………………………. 52
6.3.1.1. Resources……………………………………………………….. 52
6.3.1.2. Techniques………………………………………………………. 54
6.3.1.3. Attitudes…………………………………………………………. 55
6.3.2. Conclusion………………………………………………………… ….. 56
6.4. Conclusion…………………………………………………………………… 5 7
7. Conclusion……………………………………………………………… ………… 59

1. Introduction

For many generations of language learners, culture learning meant to be
background information in foreign language learning . This attitude was presented not
only in lessons but also in textbooks. This view co ntrasts with the current situation that
attributes great importance to culture learning in curricula and academic publications,
for example Common European Framework for Languages (2002), and RVP ZV
(2004).
This change in understanding of culture learning i s associated with changes in
social and political environment as culture learnin g is part of that complex. O’Dowd
claims that goals and methodologies of foreign lang uage education “will inevitably
reflect certain beliefs in how the world should dev elop and what role our learners should
play in this world.” (O’Dowd 2004:11)
This thesis answers the question why has been give n to culture learning such an
important role in foreign language education, what culture learning actually means and
what activities it involves. It also deals with tec hniques and teaching materials which
are available to teachers who want to integrate cul ture into their lessons. It is important
to point out that this thesis deals only with cultu re learning that takes place in classes of
English as foreign language where “aspects of the d ay-to-day behaviour of the culture’s
members have been presented in authentic materials and textbooks.” (ibid.)
The practical part of the thesis therefore concent rates on textbooks used at Czech
primary schools at selected level. The aim of the r esearch is to identify what educational
value is there in cultural content of the textbooks for developing learners’ cultural
awareness. The research concentrates on cultural co ntent in order to examine what
aspects are included in the textbooks and to what e xtent. The second part of the research
focuses on materials-in-process. It is conceived as a case study in order to find out
whether textbook is actually used in the lessons an d what other materials as well as
techniques are used at the particular class in orde r to develop cultural awareness.

2. Defining Culture

This chapter sets out to examine variou s aspects of culture and establish what
culture is considered appropriate in foreign langua ge teaching. Furthermore, it will
review terms relevant to culture learning such as c ultural awareness, cultural
knowledge, cultural competence, intercultural compe tence and cultural sensitivity.
Culture has many definitions, “it is very complex and broad topic to be learnt”,
(Valdes 1986:5) “it is multifaceted”, (Moram 2000:1 3) it “lies at the crossroads of a
number of fields of study and academic disciplines. ” (Stern in Valdes 1986:5) There are
many different approaches to this term. The key dis ciplines dealing with this topic are
sociology, sociolinguistics, and anthropology. (Val des 1986:5) In sociolinguistic terms,
culture is understood as communication. It deals wi th ways of communication; it means
verbal and nonverbal communication as well as the s ocial situations under which
communication takes place. In anthropological terms culture is defined by its
characteristics which are shared by a community and make it distinguishable from other
communities. This division is supported by Kramsch who recognizes two kinds of
definitions which influence the manner in which cul ture learning is dealt with. The first
definition comes from humanities and it “focuses on the way a social group represents
itself and others through its material productions, be they works of art, literature, social
institutions, or artefacts of everyday life.” (Kram sch 1996:2) The second definition
derives from social sciences and refers to “the att itudes and beliefs, ways of thinking,
behaving and remembering shared by members of that community.” (ibid.)
These definitions gave rise to two diff erent approaches to the studies of culture;
the historical and the ethnographical. Culture lear ning has been for a long time
associated with historical approach as language tea chers come from humanistic
background. Students were made to learn facts and f igures about country’s culture
although connections between culture and language, as present in ethnographic
approach, were missing. The culture traditionally t aught was called ‘big C’ culture, it
referred to “the great achievements of people as re flected in their history, social
institutions, works of art, architecture, music and literature.” (Halverson 1985:327)
Customs, traditions and practices carried out in ev eryday lives were called ‘small c’
culture.

Definition of culture as products, pr actices, perspectives, communities and
persons by Tomalin and Stempleski is best suited fo r the purpose of language teaching.
They define culture as following:
Culture is the evolving way of life of a group of p ersons, consisting of a shared
set of practices associated with a sh ared set of products, based upon a
shared set of perspectives on the world, and set within specific social
contexts. (Tomalin, Stempleski in Mora n 2001:17)
They further claim that “evolving way of life refle cts the dynamic nature of culture.”
(ibid.) All artifacts produced or adopted by member s of the culture as well as
environmental issues are considered to be products of the culture. The products range
from tangible objects such as written documents, cl othing, and buildings to spoken
language, music and institutions as family, educati on, politics, religion. “Products, both
tangible and intangible, are located and organized on physical places.” (ibid.) Practices
are actions carried out by members of the culture i ndividually or with other members.
Language and other forms of communication and self- expression are forms of these
practices as well as actions associated with social groups and use of products. Practices
are both verbal and nonverbal, including interpreta tions of time, space, and the context
of communications in social situations relating als o to appropriateness and taboos.
Perspectives provide meaning and constitute worldvi ew, they are often implicit. They
cover “perceptions, beliefs, values, and attitudes that underlie the product and that guide
persons and communities in the practices of the cul ture.” (ibid.)
Not until the 20 th century was it possible to separate culture and th e way people
live as those two were interrelated. People were bo rn into the culture and stayed in it. In
the 20 th century, people could create their own identity fo r the first time and it was
mostly young people who used this opportunity formi ng various kinds of subcultures.
Culture is a common identity for the members of the society or group members. Culture
influences world view of its members and the member s influence the culture. It is a
dialectic process in the dynamic force of culture w hich takes place in an encounter with
foreign cultures. (Fenner 2000:144) Kramsch adds th at culture forms itself around three
axes; the diachronic axis of time, the synchronic a xis of space, and the metaphoric axis
of the imagination. (Kramsch 1996)
Cultural awareness, another term relevant to this t hesis, is according to Tomalin
and Stempleski “sensitivity to the impact of cultur ally-induced behaviour on language

use and communication.” (Tomalin and Stempleski 199 3:5) Cross-cultural, sometimes
also intercultural awareness “covers beliefs, value s, attitudes and feelings conveyed not
only by language but by paralinguistic features suc h as dress, gestures, facial
expressions, stance and movement.” (ibid.) Developi ng sensitivity and understanding
another ethnic group involves internal changes in a ttitudes and values. Qualities such as
openness and flexibility towards other people also play important role in developing
cultural awareness. Cultural awareness must be supp lemented by cultural knowledge.
To explain difficult concept of intercultural aware ness Kramsch claims:
If…language is seen as social practice, culture b ecomes the very core of
language teaching. Cultural awareness must then be viewed as enabling
language proficiency … Culture in language teachi ng is not an expendable fifth
skill, tacked on, so to speak, to the teaching of s peaking, listening, reading and
writing. (Kramsch 1993:27)
Kramsch further suggests that we cannot be competen t in the language “if we do
not have an awareness of that culture, and how that culture relates to our own first
language/first culture.” (ibid.) She therefore clai ms that it is essential to have cultural
awareness together with intercultural awareness in order to be efficient in the language.
In Common European Framework for Languages (2002), intercultural awareness is
explained as a product of the relation between know ledge, awareness and understanding
of ‘the world of origin’ and ‘the world of the targ et culture’. Intercultural awareness
also includes awareness of regional and social dive rsity of both cultures and how the
culture appears from the perspective of the other c ulture; often in the form of national
stereotypes.
Skills and attitudes together with knowledge make c ompetence. This
competence is called by Common European Framework s ociocultural. It enables a
language learner “to develop an enriched, more comp lex personality and an enhanced
capacity for further language learning and greater openness to new cultural
experiences.”(Common European Framework 2002:43) Ot hers call this competence
intercultural competence and their definition is di fferent. According to Byram
intercultural competence includes five elements:
• Attitudes: curiosity and openness, readiness to sus pend disbelief about other
cultures and belief about one's own.
• Knowledge: of social groups and their products and practices in one's own and in
one's interlocutor's country, and of the general pr ocesses of social and individual
interaction.

• Skills of interpreting and relating: ability to int erpret a document or event from
another culture, to explain it and relate it to doc uments from one's own.
• Skills of discovery and interaction: ability to acq uire new knowledge of a culture
and cultural practices and the ability to operate k nowledge, attitudes and skills
under the constraints of real-time communication an d interaction.
• Critical cultural awareness/political education: an ability to evaluate critically
and on the basis of explicit criteria perspectives, practices and products in one's
own and other cultures and countries. (Byram 2000)
Byram uses two terms: intercultural competence and intercultural communicative
competence. Intercultural competence refers to the ability to communicate with
members of other cultures in one’s own language and intercultural communicative
competence refers to the same ability but using a f oreign language.
Kramsch (1996) raised a question whethe r being culturally competent means to
behave in accordance with social conventions of the culture of target community. Long
time experience gives answer not to separate cultur al competence and performance.
Kramsch concludes that taking over someone else’s b ehaviour is not guarantee that one
will be accepted by the group who speaks the langua ge neither it would lead to mutual
understanding.
Cultural knowledge is a part of intercultural compe tence and can be understood
as familiarization with the characteristics of soci ety and culture of the community in
which the language is spoken. Sociocultural knowled ge covers features relating to
everyday living, living conditions, interpersonal r elation, values, beliefs and attitudes,
body language, social conventions, ritual behaviour etc. Cultural knowledge is one
aspect of the knowledge of the world. Common Europe an Framework warns to pay
special attention to this part of the cultural comp etence as it can be “distorted by
stereotypes.” (Common European Framework 2002:102)
Stereotypes and prejudices are common problems associated with culture
learning. They are not products of direct experien ce but are handed down and kept by
tradition. Byram claims that stereotyping:
…involves labeling or categorizing particular grou ps of people, usually in a
negative way, according to preconceived ideas or br oad generalizations about
them – and then assuming that all members of that g roup will think and behave
identically. …Prejudice occurs when someone pre-jud ices a particular group or
individual based on their own stereotypical assumpt ions or ignorance. (Byram,
Gribkova, Starkey 2002:21)

Kramsch points out, the cultural imagination of pub lic consciousness has been formed
through centuries by cultural products, such as lit erary texts, and media, such as press
and broadcasting, and it is a big challenge for lan guage teacher to deal with this
problem.
Breaking down stereotypes is not just realising that people are not the way one
thought they were, or that deep down "we are all th e same". It is understanding
that we are irreducibly unique and different, and t hat I could have been you, you
could have been me, given different circumstances — in other words, that the
stranger… is in us. (Kramsch 1996:3)
Developing cultural sensitivity, knowing cultural d ifferences without assigning values
to them is a way how to deal with this problem. Kra msch suggests developing a third
perspective which “would enable learners to take bo th an insider’s and outsider’s view”
(Kramsch 93:210) on the target and their own cultur e. This perspective requires a more
complete and less partial understanding of both cul tures.
Concluding from the above mentioned, cu lture has in its broad sense two major
components. The first, sociological or anthropologi cal culture refers to daily activities
of people, their values, and attitudes. Language al so belongs to this group. It is
necessary to study language in order to be able to understand the target culture since
society cannot be wholly understood without the kno wledge of its language. The second
component is the history of civilization. It tradit ionally represents elements of culture in
language teaching including geography, history, ach ievements in the sciences, the social
sciences, the arts and forms framework for the soci ological culture; “it represents the
heritage of people and as such must be appreciated by the students who wish to
understand the new target culture.” (Valdes 1986:54 )

3. Foreign Language Teaching and Culture

As language teachers we must be intereste d in the study of culture (in the social
scientist’s sense of the word) not because we neces sarily want to teach the
culture of the other country but because we have to teach it. If we teach language
without teaching at the same time the culture in wh ich it operates, we are

teaching meaningless symbols or symbols to which th e student attaches the
wrong meaning; for unless he is warned, unless he r eceives cultural instruction,
he will associate American concepts or objects with foreign symbols.
(Jovanovich in Valdes 1986:123)

3.1 Language and Culture
In this chapter the overview of the iss ue surrounding the intersection of language
and culture will be provided and practical reasons which can be derived from it for
language teaching will be mentioned.
The term ‘culture’ is ambiguous. At large it is understood as a whole system of
learned behaviour handed over from generation to ge neration. Language is a form of
learned behaviour and therefore a part of culture. Salzman claims that it is “a key to the
cultural past of a society” (Salzman 1997:41) and h e explains the relation of language to
culture to be that “of part to a whole.” (ibid.) Th e intrinsic relationship of language and
culture is widely recognized and although there is some controversy over the extent to
which language shapes and controls its speakers’ th inking or reflects their world view
the correlation between vocabulary of the language and culture is obvious. (Saville-
Troike in Salzman 1997) Duranti, who is interested in the affinity between language and
culture, describes their relationship as following:
…to be part of a culture means to share the proposi tional knowledge and the
rules of inference necessary to understand whether certain propositions are true
(given certain premises). To the propositional know ledge, one might add the
procedural knowledge to carry out tasks such as coo king. (1997, in Thanasoulas
2001:5)

Relationship between language and culture has been at the center of interest of many
scientists and has undergone a profound development . The intersection of language and
culture is studied by methods of cognitive anthropo logy. It is believed that even the
slightest differences in the culture are encoded in its vocabulary.
Sapir assessed that language and cultur e are not correlated only to admit later
that language and our way of thinking are inseparab ly linked and can be considered the
same. The ideas by which he supported his presumpti ons could be summarized as
following: structure of cultural patterns is encode d in language of its culture; language
is a guide to “social reality” (in Salzman, 1997:41 ) and strongly conditions human
thinking about social problems and processes. He be lieved that understanding the world

is determined by language habits of society. Worlds , in which the societies are living,
are different worlds, not the same world understood differently. (Sapir in Salzman
1997:209) Whorf developed Sapir’s presumptions into what is nowadays known as
Sapir-Whorf hypothesis of linguistic relativity. Th is hypothesis posited that language
determines thought and the way of seeing the world:
…the background linguistic system of ea ch language is not merely a
reproducing instrument for voicing ideas but rather is itself the shaper of ideas
…We dissect nature along lines laid down by our nat ive language. …We cut
nature up and organize it into concepts, an ascribe significances as we do, largely
because we are parties to an agreement to organize it in this way – an agreement
which holds throughout our speech community and is codified in the patterns of
our language. …all observers are not led by the s ame physical evidence to the
same picture of the universe, unless their linguist ic backgrounds are similar, or
can in some way be calibrated. (Whorf in Hudson 199 9:101)

Whorf further suggests that users of ob viously different grammars are aimed at
different observations; therefore, they are not the same as observers but have to end up
with a different world view. Principle of language determinism, way of thinking is
determined by the language of its speaker, and lan guage relativity, differences between
languages have to mirror in the differences of its speakers’ worldview, is considered too
extreme nowadays and it is clear that Wharf in his hypothesis exaggerated.
Current ideas on this topic are represe nted by Hudson who argues that language
affects thought beyond the effects of specific lexi cal items:
… there is a good evidence that some semantic contr asts which are expressed by
grammar are also applied outside the strictly lingu istic realm of language use.
Whether or not a person applies these contrasts in general life seems to depend
on how their language expresses the contrasts conce rned (obligatory, often,
rarely or not at all), so it seems reasonable to as sume that language is the cause
and the ‘thought-patterns’ are the effects. (Hudson 1999:101)
Even though it has been proved that language affect s thought, language is not the only
kind of experience which has such influence. Langua ge is and important instrument of
socialization relating to the fact that some cultur al concepts, including abstract concepts,
are learned through language. The same applies to m ore general thought patterns as
Hudson suggests, these patterns might be influenced by grammatical patterns of the
language. Both these concepts and thought patterns “seem to affect our behaviour not
only when talking but also in other activities.” (H udson 1999:105)
Another theory dealing with influence o f lexical and grammatical categories of a
language on its speakers’ perception of the world a round them is advocated by Duranti

who gives example of metaphors 1 which provide, according to him, “conceptual
schemata through which we understand the world.” (D uranti 1997, in Thanasoulas
2001:6) As Hudson suggests, semantic system of a la nguage is loosely linked to the
culture of its speakers. But the semantic systems o f various languages vary enormously
as well as do the cultures, so he confirms the corr ectness of semantic relativity. (Hudson
1999:91)
The issue of the relationship between l anguage and thought has a practical
relevance for language teachers as it brings into c onsideration two opposite learning
theories. The first theory claims that in order to learn words, phrases and routines in a
foreign language and culture, learners also need to learn the ‘mindset’ behind them. On
the other hand, the second theory suggests that lea rner acquire the ‘mindsets’ by
learning language form in foreign language without necessarily knowing about it.
As it can be seen, the development of t he theories relating to the relationship of
language and culture went long way from radical the ories to the evidence that language
and culture definitely interact but the effects on each other are not so extreme. Recently,
language educators came to conclusion that even tho ugh language does not determine
how its users will think, some concepts can be more easily expressed in one language
than in another. (Cohen 2002) Brown claims that “w hile some aspects of language do
provide us with potential cognitive mindsets, there are still numerous universal
properties of language.” (Brown 2000, in Cohen 2002 :77) A learner of the foreign
language needs to master the language to some degre e and find mindsets from his native
language and culture which he can apply to the othe r language in order to be able to
communicate and interact in the foreign language.
Both teacher and learner need to be aware of the c ulture-specific meanings
encoded in the language and “attuned to the culture of a specific social group in a
particular time and space.” (Byram and Fleming 1998 , in Cohen 2002:78) Cohen
suggests viewing the link between language and cult ure as a “connection going both
ways.” (ibid.) Morgan and Cain suggest three possib le theories of understanding the
link between language and culture for practical use : “language denotes culture;
language creates cultural categories and culture sh apes language.” (2000, in ibid.)

1 On metaphor Understanding is seeing is based expression I see what you mean ; the metaphor Ideas are
food can be used to explain expression It gives me food for thought ; etc.

Supporters of ‘language denotes cul ture’ theory believe that to master a
language learners need to be able to understand val ues of that culture. These values
should cover both, collectively shared values and v alues of individual persons, as
members of the culture differ in their interpretati ons deriving from their personal
characteristics. Language does not only refer to co ncrete objects and actions, but also to
abstract concepts. That might, as Cohen suggests, c ause difficulties for language
learners who in order to learn these abstract conce pts need to draw from their “cultural
data bank.” (Fisher 1983, in Cohen 2002:78) Teacher s have to pay attention to the
plurality of culture, making their learners aware o f this fact.
‘Language creates cultural categories’ theor y is based on presumption that
language is “acting as a primary classification sys tem” (Cohen 2002:78) which may
sometimes obstruct students’ understanding of some concepts that “lie outside of their
cultural frame of reference.” (ibid.) This theory s uggests that language teachers should
teach apart from lexical items also “alternative le xical categories” (ibid.) so that learners
would be able to encode new cultural constructs.
‘Culture shapes language’ theory derives from belie f that language use is
determined by culture norms. Language learner, in o rder to use language accurately in
particular situation, needs to be familiar with par ticular “language routines and cultural
patterns” (Cohen 2002:79) associated with the socia l situation.
Concluding from the above mentioned, cu lture is an integral part of the
interaction between language and thought. Valdes cl aims that “cultural patterns,
customs, and ways of life are expressed in language ; culture-specific world views are
reflected in language.” (Valdes 1986:45) Culture is “inextricably and implicitly related
to language.” (Thanasoulas 2001:6)
3.2 Why to Teach Culture?
Even though the relationship between language and culture has been in the
interest of linguists and educators for ages, teach ing culture has been considered
important only for about a century, (Kitao 2000) re aching its climax in the 1990s. It was
not until the development of structural linguistics2 that language teachers started

2 Linguists and cultural anthropologists made the re lationships between language
and culture clearer with the development of structu ral linguistics. (Sapir in Kitao
2000)

emphasising the importance of culture in foreign la nguage teaching. The rise of
communicative competence in the 1980s brought ackno wledgement of sociocultural
dimension of language learning but the learners’ so ciocultural background was ignored.
Culture was one of the aspects to be learnt in orde r to achieve communicative
competence. Although various advantages of teaching culture in language classes were
accepted, there were still problems about what to t each and how. The reasons for
including culture in foreign language teaching nowa days are dealt with in this chapter.
McKay claims that culture influences la nguage teaching in two important ways:
linguistic and pedagogical. Linguistically, culture is significant in the linguistic
dimension of the language itself, affecting the sem antic, pragmatic, and discourse levels
of the language. Pedagogically, it influences the c hoice of language materials because
cultural content of the language materials and the cultural basis of the teaching
methodology are to be taken into consideration whil e deciding upon the language
materials. (McKay 2003)
In many cases, culture is learned impli citly through linguistic forms in which it
is embedded. To make students aware of the cultural features reflected in the language
Peterson and Coltrane urge teachers to make those t opics explicit by discussion in
relation to the linguistic forms studied. (Peterson , Coltrane 2003) Students should also
learn to
understand socially appropriate communication in th e target culture. McKay says that in
order to master a language students have to learn b oth, its linguistic and cultural norms.
(McKay 2003)
Common European Framework claims cultur al awareness and intercultural
learning part of its policies in order to promote i nternational understanding and world
peace. Kitao also considers international understan ding a benefit of culture learning and
gives some other reasons why is it important to inc lude culture in foreign language
curriculum. Kitao with reference to Stainer claims that studying culture gives students a
reason to study the target language because underst anding culture makes studying
foreign language and literature more meaningful. (K itao 2000) One of the problems, in
language learning from the perspectives of learners is to conceive the native speakers as
real persons. Although textbooks give examples of r eal life situations, they might sound
‘strange’ to language learners without reference to cultural aspects. Chastain suggests

that if students were provided access into cultural aspect of language, they would relate
abstract sounds and forms to a language. (Chastain in Kitao 2000) Another reason for
studying target culture is, according to Kitao, inc reased interest in the target countries.
Wallach claims that activities based on culture, su ch as role plays, singing, dancing,
etc., have influence on students’ choice of countri es they want to visit or live in.
(Wallach 1973, in Kitao 2000)
One of the main reasons proved by exper ts like Gardner and Lambert why to
study culture is the affect of motivation in langua ge learning. The study of culture
increases not only learners’ curiosity about and in terest in target countries but also their
motivation to study foreign languages. Keller and F erguson (1976), Klayman (1976)
give examples of students who showed an increased i nterest in studying foreign
languages after attending courses based on culture. (in Kitao 2000) Steiner urges to use
culture even for a purpose of short-term motivation . (Steiner 1971, in ibid.)
Studying culture is also useful for teac hing students to understand their own
culture. According to Rivers, students are ‘culture bound’, it means that their world
view is determined by the values of their own cultu re. This can lead to problems when
they are confronted with different cultures. Kitao claims that studying culture, besides
already mentioned benefits, “gives students liking for the people of that culture”, (Kitao
2000) “helps avoid the stereotypes” (Nemni in Thana soulas 2001:5) and is part of
general education.
Tomalin and Stempleski see the role of culture teaching in developing student’s
understanding of the fact that all people exhibit c ulturally-conditioned behaviour and
that social factors, such as age, sex, influence th e ways in which people speak and
behave. Studying culture helps students become awar e of conventions of behaviour in
common situations in target culture, increases awar eness of cultural connotations of
words and phrases in the target language and develo ps the ability to evaluate and refine
generalization about target culture. (Tomalin and S templeski 1993)
According to Peterson and Coltrane, ant hropologists have long recognised that
“the forms and uses of a given language reflect the cultural values of the society in
which the language is spoken.” (Peterson and Coltra ne 2003:38) But as Krasner claims,
linguistic competence is not enough for language le arners to be competent in the
language. Learners need to be aware of socially app ropriate behaviour in which the

language is used to be competent in the language. K itao suggests that “studying culture
is a useful part of foreign language instruction be cause of its influence on language and
communication.” (Kitao 2000) It has benefits on lan guage learner as it increases
motivation and student’s interest in target culture and its people, improves
understanding of student’s own culture. There has n ot been found any argument,
according to Kitao, relating to disadvantages of st udying cultures in foreign language
classes. (ibid.)

4. Aims of Culture Teaching in ELT
This chapter is going to deal with vari ous characteristics of intercultural
competence, especially with its learning objectives and practical consequences it may
have for foreign language teaching and learning. By ram’s model of intercultural
communicative competence (Byram 1997:73) will be ta ken as a main point of reference.
This model, commonly referred to in the literature, has been already used in foreign
language classroom. Intercultural competence will be discussed in relation to a revised
edition of Bloom’s taxonomy by Anderson and Kratwoh l’s Taxonomy for Learning
Teaching and Assessing (2001). Although I am aware of the fact that Bloom defined in
his taxonomy of aims three domains (affective, cogn itive and psychomotor) only
affective and cognitive domain will be relevant for the needs of this paper. The
knowledge dimension of the cognitive domain, define d by Anderson and Kratwohl
(2001) as factual, conceptual, procedural and meta- cognitive, will be discussed in terms
of factual and procedural knowledge which are relev ant to this paper.
Byram suggests that “the acquisition of intercultural competence is never
complete and perfect” (Byram, Gribkova, Starkey 200 2:7) as to be able to interact

successfully with target culture one does not need complete and perfect competence. It
is impossible to acquire all the knowledge which mi ght be needed for that interaction as
all cultures are constantly changing and one never knows with whom he will interact.
Everyone’s values, beliefs and identities develop t hrough meeting new experience. It is
a never complete process. It is important to point out that there is not such a thing as a
perfect model of native speaker whom learners shoul d try to imitate. Learners are not
expected even “to acquire the social identity of a native speaker, such as a new national
identity.”(ibid.)
Valette defines four cultural goals: developing a greater awareness of and a
broader knowledge about the target culture; acquiri ng a command of the etiquette of the
target culture, understanding differences between t he target culture and the student’s
culture; and understanding the values of the target culture. (in Valdes 1986:36) Moran
defines teaching goals from learner’s perspective a nd calls them ‘culture learning
outcomes’. They are: culture-specific understanding , culture general understanding,
competence, social change and identity. (Moran 2001 :108).
4.1 The Affective Domain
4.1.1. Attitudes
The foundation of intercultural competence is, acco rding to Byram, in the
attitudes of intercultural speaker and mediator. For many years teachers have tried to
develop positive attitudes in learners towards the target culture assuming that learners
needed to see the target culture positively in orde r to want to learn the foreign language.
This belief was modified in the mid 90s by Byram who claimed to change attitudes of
students from positive to the ones of openness and curiosity in order to avoid positive
prejudice which can prevent mutual understanding. ( Byram 1997) Intercultural attitudes
according to Byram should be those of “curiosity an d openness, readiness to suspend
disbelief about other cultures and belief about one ’s own.”(Byram, Gribkova, Starkey
2002:7) Byram uses term ability to ‘decentre’ to e xplain this concept:
This means a willingness to relativise one’s own values, beliefs and behaviours,
not to assume that they are the only possible and n aturally correct ones, and to
be able to see how they might look from an outsider ’s perspective who has a
different set of values, beliefs and behaviours. (i bid.)

The list of attitudes given by Byram covers basic items which are nowadays
considered to form intercultural learning such as t olerance and openness to difference.

There is also a special mention given to the willin gness to question and reflect critically
on the values which underlie one’s own culture and willingness to discover alternative
perspectives or the desire to interpret behaviour t hrough the eyes of someone from the
other culture. It is necessary to point out that th e concept of openness and curiosity is
not generally shared and that there are educators w ho believe in the role of positive
attitudes in foreign language learning, for example Gardner (1985), Risager (1998). (in
O’Dowd 2004)
Avoiding to stereotypes and prejudices is another particularly relevant affective
aim of foreign language learning. Learners are supp osed to be “willing to question their
own cultural assumptions and beliefs and willing to accept other ways of acting and
thinking without prejudice or discrimination.” (Par menter 2003:20) Parmenter believes
that foreign language teaching can perpetuate stude nts’ prejudices about foreign culture
and she warns that language teachers have the respo nsibility to promote positive rather
than negative attitudes towards all other cultures and its people.
4.1.2. General Education
Many writers agree on intercultural und erstanding as the aim of intercultural
learning. The approaches towards this aim differ fr om cultural determinism, represented
by Said (1985, in O’Dowd 2004) who claims inability of learners to understand a
culture, the theory that assimilation can be the on ly outcome of understanding another
culture, to the concept of the ‘third place’ advoca ted by Kramsch. Kramsch claims
culture learning to be interactive and dialogic pro cess. The outcome of this process is
learner’s world view which is constantly being reco nstructed, changed and adopted by
contact with other cultures. Kramsch encourages le arners to criticise and reflect the
values and beliefs of the target culture rather tha t to blindly accept them. (Kramsch
1993) This opinion is also shared by Byram in his c ritical cultural awareness explained
by Parmenter as:
…an ability to identify and interpret values in ano ther culture, the ability to
critically analyse and evaluate cultural practices or products from another culture
and the ability to interact and mediate in intercul tural exchanges, drawing on
one’s knowledge, skills and attitudes. (Parmenter 2 003:20)

In this self reflective aspect of intercultural lea rning Byram requires learners to be
aware of their own values and how they may influenc e their behaviour rather than to
adapt values of target culture. Valette suggests th at students should be taught about

differences in values and attitudes between their o wn culture and target culture.
According to her, students are at first made aware of the existing differences in values
and attitudes and then an effort to develop an unde rstanding of these new values is
made. (in Valdes 1986:78)
Byram further explains that intercultural understa nding is an ability to see other
cultural perspective and coming into contact with i t adjusting one’s own perspective.
Learners have to use the understanding which they a chieved to explain
misunderstandings and find compromise by using the skills of interpreting and relating
and the skills of discovery and interaction. Not al l authors agree with this approach.
Savignon and Sysoyev (2002) approached the intercul tural dialogue with intention to
avoid potential conflict by discussing neutral topi cs. This approach could be argued as it
does not teach learners to negotiate about arbitrar y topics. (in O’Dowd 2004)

4.2 The Cognitive Domain
4.2.1. Factual Knowledge
In the early approaches to culture teaching educato rs focused primarily on
factual knowledge about the target culture. In rece nt times, on the other hand, there has
been great turn and importance given to affective d omain and procedural knowledge
leaving factual knowledge behind. But this does not mean that factual knowledge
should be left out completely as it makes part of i ntercultural communicative
competence.
Knowledge is an umbrella term for knowl edge of cultural and social conditions
of the target culture but also of student’s own cul ture. Byram suggests that it should
cover “knowledge of how social groups and identitie s function and what is involved in
intercultural interaction.”(Byram, Gribkova, Starke y 2002:8)
Objectives relating to the knowledge are according to Byram following:
/square4 Historical and contemporary relationships between o ne’s own and one’s
interlocutor’s countries.
/square4 The means of achieving contact with interlocutors f rom another country (at a
distance or in proximity), of travel to and from an d the institutions which
facilitate contact or help resolve problems.
/square4 The types of cause and process of misunderstanding between interlocutors of
different cultural origins.

/square4 The national memory of one’s own country and how it s events are related to and
seen from the perspective of one’s interlocutor’s c ountry.
/square4 The national memory of one’s interlocutor’s country and the perspectives on it
from one’s own country.
/square4 National definitions of geographical space in one’s own country and how these
are perceived from the perspective of other countri es.
/square4 National definitions of geographical space in one’s interlocutor’s country and
the perspectives on them from one’s own.
/square4 The processes and institutions of socialization in one’s own and one’s
interlocutor’s country.
/square4 Social distinctions and their principal markers, in one’s own country and one’s
interlocutor’s.
/square4 Institutions and perceptions of them which impinge on daily life in one’s own
and one’s interlocutor’s country and which conduct and influence relationship
between them.
/square4 The processes of social interaction in one’s interl ocutor’s country. (Byram
1997:51)

The knowledge described by Byram concentrates on th e relationship between learners’
own and target culture in which learners are suppos ed to be aware of historical
relationship. Learners are required to have a good knowledge of their own culture in
order to be able to interact successfully with the target culture as well as to view their
own culture from the perspective of the other. The last objective refers to the cultural
differences in communication and its aspects, such as non-verbal communication, taboo
words, and how it can influence intercultural commu nication.
More theoretically, foreign language cl asses should involve issues and themes
which are representative of modern society but also information about historical context
which lead to the present practices and cultural pr oducts. Another aspect of knowledge
to which language learners need to be exposed is co mmunication and its various modes.
Of course, it is impossible to anticipate all the k nowledge the learner might once need
(Byram, Gribkova, Starkey 2002:7), so learners need to develop procedural knowledge
and attitudes along the factual knowledge to be abl e to further develop intercultural
competence.

4.2.2. Procedural Knowledge
Skills are part of intercultural compet ence necessary for developing an
understanding of alternative cultural perspective a s well as for gaining knowledge.
Skills needed by intercultural speaker differ from those of speakers from the same

culture. However, it is quite difficult to find in the literature what these skills are as they
are referred to in vague manner.
Two sets of skills are considered impor tant by Byram; the first set relates to the
skills of interpreting and relating and second set to the skills of discovery and
interaction. Byram explains the first set of skills as an “ability to interpret a document or
event from another culture, to explain it and relat e it to documents or events from one’s
own”. (Byram, Gribkova, Starkey 2002:8) He claims t hat intercultural speakers need to
acquire the attitudes of decentring, discussed in t he affective domain, and skills of
comparing in order to be able to understand how mis understandings arise. By using the
ability to “put ideas, events, documents from two o r more cultures side by side and
seeing how each might look from the other perspecti ve” (ibid.) intercultural speaker can
see how misunderstandings happen. The skills of int erpreting and relating should cover
ability to:

/square4 Identify ethnocentric perspectives in a document of event and explain their
origins;
/square4 Identify areas of misunderstanding and dysfunction in an interaction and explain
them in terms of the cultural systems present;
/square4 Mediate between conflicting interpretations of phen omena. (Byram 1997:52)

As intercultural speakers can not possibly anticipa te all the needed knowledge, it is
important for them to acquire skills of finding new information and integrating it with
those already known. Skills of discovery and intera ction are explained by Byram as:
Ability to acquire new knowledge of a c ulture and cultural practices and the
ability to operate knowledge, attitudes and skills under the constraints of real-
time communication and interaction. (Byram, Gribkov a, Starkey 2002:8)

These skills cover ability to:

/square4 Elicit from and interlocutor the concepts and value s of a document or events and
to develop and explanatory system susceptible of ap plication to other
phenomena;
/square4 Identify significant reference within and across cu ltures and elicit their
significance and connotations;
/square4 Identify similar and dissimilar processes of intera ction, verbal and non-verbal,
and negotiate an appropriate use of them in specifi c circumstances;
/square4 Use in real-time an appropriate combination of know ledge, skills and attitudes to
interact with interlocutors form a different countr y and culture, taking into
consideration the degree of one’s existing familiar ity with the country and
culture and the extent of difference between one’s own and the other;

/square4 Identify contemporary and past relationship between one’s own and the other
culture and country;
/square4 Identify and make use of public and private institu tions which facilitate contact
with other countries and cultures;
/square4 Use in real-time knowledge, skills and attitudes fo r meditation between
interlocutors of one’s own and a foreign culture. ( Byram 1997:52-53)

Intercultural competence consists, acco rding to Byram, of attitudes, factual
knowledge, procedural knowledge and critical cultur al awareness. Each of them plays
an important part in the competence. But as already mentioned, intercultural
competence can never reach a point when one is able to understand the other culture
completely as one does not even understand complete ly one’s own culture. Fenner
believes that foreign language classroom should be open to encounters with foreign
culture and through these encounters reflect on one ’s own culture. Learners should
employ knowledge of the foreign culture and skills in interaction with others to
experience their own identity. (Fenner 2000:149) Ri coeur adds to the above an aspect of
cultural awareness. He claims that “the foreign cul ture provides the mirror in which we
can see ourselves reflected; it provides an outside to our inside.” (ibid.)

5. Implementation of Culture into ELT

This chapter will answer the question ho w to incorporate culture into the foreign
language curriculum relating to the specifics of Cz ech primary schools. Teaching
guidelines, some common techniques and materials us ed in teaching culture in order to
develop cultural awareness will be presented taking into account the communicative
nature of language teaching; communicative language teaching being the most popular
teaching method nowadays. (McKay 2003) The learning environment dealt with in this
thesis is solely classroom although I am aware of t he beneficial aspects of visiting and
preferably staying in target country, great influen ce of mass media on learners, and
specialised approaches, such as cultural studies an d ethnography for language learners,
but these are going to be of no concern here.
Culture learning should be, according to Moran, a conscious, purposeful process
in which the tacit is made explicit. Teaching cultu re is currently being understood as
“aspect of values education” (Tomalin, Stempleski 9 3:4) based on critical thinking and
developing tolerance towards differences. According to Byram, (1997) culture learning
is seen as a comparative process in which learners are encouraged to get aware of their
own culture and contrast it with the target culture . Emphasis is put on developing skills
of analysis and interpretation of cultural data fro m the target culture as well as
developing self-awareness. This “can have affective and motivational outcomes and link
to the psychological and cognitive objectives of la nguage learning.” (Ellis 2003:16)
Learners are encouraged to collect authentic data b y exploring resources available in

their society and by using technology to get into c ontact with the target culture. Culture
teaching is described by Bateson as following:
a set of situations or circumstances involving inte rcultural communication in
which the individual, as a result of the experience s, becomes aware of his own
growth, learning and change. As a result of the cul ture shock process, the
individual has gained new perspective on himself, a nd has come to understand
his own identity in terms significant to himself. T he cross-cultural learning
experience, additionally takes place when the indiv idual encounters a different
culture and as a result examines the degree to whic h he is influenced by his own
culture, and understands the culturally derived val ues, attitudes and outlooks of
other people. (in Valdes 1986:38)
Cultural learning process consists of “ ongoing series of encounters with cultural
differences presented through structured participat ion in the language-and-culture
curriculum.” (Moran 2001:124) Fenner calls these en counters interactions and prompts
to make these simulated situations as close to the real interactions with the foreign
culture as possible. He suggests choosing “approach es which enhance the interactional
aspect” (Fenner 2000:146) of the encounter. The int eraction can take place with spoken
or written authentic text through which learners ha ve opportunity to “reinterpret their
understanding of the world, also the world outside the classroom in which the authentic
text has been produced.” (ibid.) Literature mostly agrees on the authentic text as the
most effective way how to bring target culture into artificial, standardized environment
of the classroom. Fenner claims that developing cul tural awareness is dependant on the
communication with written and oral texts because i t is where learner encounters
language as culture. In order to promote communicat e approach in foreign language
learning, learners need to be able to use both inte rpretation and negotiation and be
aware of misunderstanding and conflict as possible part of intercultural communication.
(in Newby 2000)
Moran gives a list of factors affecting culture learning; among others, there are
learner’s characteristics, the relationship between the learner’s culture and the target
culture, the teacher-student relationship, the inst ruction context. Byram considers
important factors connected with the individual per sonalities characterised by attitudes,
motivation, values, beliefs, cognitive styles and p ersonality types which contribute to
learner’s identity. According to him, attitudes and personality factors can greatly affect
not only learner’s role in communication but also t heir ability to learn. The development
of an ‘intercultural personality’ involves both, at titudes and awareness which raise

important ethical and pedagogical issues. Firstly, to which extent personality
development can be an explicit educational objectiv e. Secondly, which personality
factors facilitate and which prevent foreign langua ge learning and acquisition. Finally,
how different personalities can be reconciled in th e process of language learning.
(Byram, Gribkova, Starkey 2002)
In typical foreign language classes, which meet fo r three hours per week, there
might not be enough time to dedicate to culture tea ching. For this case, Brown suggests
a combination of culture with other language aspect s as a solution:
Since one must read, speak, or write about somethin g, and listen to something,
why should not that something have a cultural facet of the society which speaks
the target language, then read a selection on the s ame facet, it is virtually
impossible to teach a language without teaching cul tural content, although it is
not, unfortunately, impossible to attempt to superi mpose the native culture onto
the target language, particularly when the teacher is of the same cultural and
linguistic background as the students. Such a hand- me-down fitting of one
culture over another language must result in a gros s misfit. (in Valdes 1986:121)

Kramsch proposes to make the foreign lan guage classes a ‘culture island’. She
urges teachers to organize classroom that is essent ially a culture island through the use
of posters, pictures and frequently changing bullet in board, all of which are designed
with the purpose of attracting students’ attention, eliciting questions and comments.
(Kramsch 1993) The teacher’s task is, therefore, to :
… stimulate students’ interest in the target cultur e, and to help establish the
foreign language classroom not so much as a place w here the language is taught,
but as one where opportunities for learning of vari ous kinds are provided
through the interactions that take place between th e participants’. (Ellis in
Kramsch 1993:245)

Setting goals is one of the stages in p lanning culture teaching. Kramsch has
defined four categories of the teaching goals. For the purpose of rising cultural
awareness at primary level education, her following definition of teaching goal is the
most appropriate:
… developing a greater awareness of and a broader k nowledge about the target
culture; acquiring a command of the etiquette of th e target culture;
understanding differences between the target cultur e and the students’ culture;
and understanding the values of the target culture. (Kramsch 1993:4)

Byram urges teachers to be very specific about what they want to achieve in their
module, unit, or lesson because intercultural compe tence is such a complex concept that

it cannot be achieved in a few lessons and teachers should not be too ambitious. He
suggests clearly defining feasible aims. There are different approaches to formulation of
objectives; they can be stated as a focus of a less on (analysis of a text, learn to respect
otherness) or formulated in terms what learners sho uld be able to know and perform at
the end of the lesson or a unit (for example knowle dge of the cultural icons of Irish
identity or ability to design and develop a questio nnaire). (Planet, Byram 1999)
Important part of every learning proces s is assessment. The assessment of
intercultural competence is very difficult concept. I do not intend to deal with this topic
profoundly as there are many various approaches ava ilable in the literature. Instead,
portfolio evaluation proposed by Council of Europe will be mentioned. The portfolio is
used as a “record of learner’s competences” (Byram 2000) rather than in traditional
terms of assessment such as testing and examining. It consists of three parts:
o the Passport section provides an overview of the in dividual's proficiency
in different languages at a given point in time; th e overview is defined in terms
of skills and the common reference levels in the Co mmon European Framework;
it records formal qualifications and describes lang uage competencies and
significant language and intercultural learning exp eriences; it includes
information on partial and specific competence; it allows for self-assessment,
teacher assessment and assessment by educational in stitutions and examinations
boards; it requires that information entered in the Passport states on what basis,
when and by whom the assessment was carried out.
o The Language Biography facilitates the learner's in volvement in
planning, reflecting upon and assessing his or her learning process and progress;
it encourages the learner to state what he/she can do in each language and to
include information on linguistic and cultural expe riences gained in and outside
formal educational contexts; it is organised to pro mote plurilingualism i.e. the
development of competencies in a number of language s.
o The Dossier offers the learner the opportunity to s elect materials to
document and illustrate achievements or experiences recorded in the Language
Biography or Passport. (Byram 2000)
The portfolio has two functions: pedagogical and re porting. The first, pedagogical
function is a productive and practical tool that gi ves leaner responsibility for structuring
self-assessment and planning his learning. It shoul d lead to increased motivation and
improved quality of language learning. The second f unction, reporting, should give
information about knowledge and intercultural exper ience of a learner.

5.1. Guidelines for Teaching Culture
This chapter is mostly based on guide lines formulated by Lessard-Clouston
(1997) taking into consideration the dynamic nature of culture. Lessard-Clouston
considers important to develop knowledge about targ et culture together with skills
necessary for mastering communication and behaviour in the target culture. He claims
cultural awareness necessary for developing learner ’s understanding of the dynamic
nature of the target and learner’s own culture. Fro m methodological point of view,
teachers must adopt systematic and structured appro ach as learners benefit most when
culture lessons and the cultural aspects of languag e teaching are well planned and
developed. (Lessard-Clouston 1997) Culture learning assessment is part of learning
process and provides important feedback to learners as well as to teacher. Lessard-
Clouston points out that even though it has been re cently neglected it is a necessary part
of the learning process.
Teacher helps learners to express and r espond to their cultural learning
experiences. Learners move through the stages of l earning cycle building skills,
developing cultural behaviour, discovering cultural explanation. The teacher’s role in
the learning cycle is crucial as it can to a great deal influence learner’s attitude towards
culture learning. Teacher needs to establish a good working relationship with learners,
“creating an atmosphere of mutuality and respect.” (Ellis 2003:17) Teacher needs to be
versatile. There are numerous roles he has to be ab le to perform: “to present and elicit
cultural information, coach and model cultural beha viors, guide and conduct cultural
research and analysis.” (Moran 2001:138) He also ha s to listen to learners and
empathize with them. Teacher should share their own cultural experience with learners
to help them enter another culture.
It is obvious that teacher has a centr al role in developing cultural awareness of
his learners. He supplements learners with core mat erials to integrate cultural objectives
into the learning process. He needs to be aware of the fact that every child is individual
and has his own cultural identity. Teacher encourag es active reflection and cultural

comparison; develops metacognitive awareness which includes cultural awareness.
(Ellis 2003:17)

5.2. Techniques for Developing Cultural Awareness
There are many various opinions about w hat techniques should be used in the
classroom in order to develop cultural awareness in learners. Literature and drama have
been found to be very effective for making learners sensitive to alternative cultural
perspectives. (O’Dowd 2004)
Planet and Byram consider important learner-centred ness in intercultural
teaching. (Planet, Byram 1999) This principle shoul d ensure that learner’s own culture
is not dealt with as an abstract concept but the fo cus is put on learner’s involvement in
it. Learners are encouraged to reflect on their cul ture on the basis of their own
experience. The fact that these analyses take place in English lessons and learners use
techniques which they would use to explain their ow n culture to people from other
cultures, make this different from culture teaching in other subjects. Planet and Byram
warn not to provide learners with ready-made inform ation which they might need in
their analysis but instead, with information and so urces where they might use
themselves. Even though learners were born into the culture and are familiar with it,
they need to require a more distant and general loo k on their culture together with some
information in these analyses. Byram urges teachers to start with reflecting on learner’s
own culture and only later introduce the target cul ture. The principle in which learners
are supposed to discover their own knowledge applie s even to dealing with the target
culture.
Technique for developing intercultural competence s upported by Byram is
comparative approach which, as he suggests, should “provide a double perspective but
not to evaluate to see which is better.” (Planet, B yram 1999:189) This double
perspective can be reached by fronting phenomena fr om target culture and putting focus
on interpreting own ways of doing as not ‘natural’ but ‘cultural’ (learned and acquired
in home culture). The comparative approach contains evaluation in the terms of
improving the familiar, “comparison makes the stran ge, the other, familiar and makes

the familiar, the self, strange – and therefore eas ier to re-consider.” (ibid.) Teacher
begins each discussion period with a presentation o f one or more items in the target
culture that are distinctly different from the stud ents’ culture. The discussion then
centers on why these differences might cause proble ms.
Culture assimilators, developed by so cial psychologists for facilitating
adjustment to a foreign culture, are used as a brie f description of a critical incident of
cross-cultural interaction that would probably be m isunderstood by the students. After
the description of the incident, the students are p resented with four possible
explanations from which they are asked to select th e correct one. If they make the
wrong choice, they are asked to seek further inform ation that would lead them to the
correct conclusion. Culture assimilators are suppos ed to be a good method to promote
understanding of cultural information and emotional empathy. (Hughes in Valdes 1986)
Among other techniques are culture caps ule which draw learner’s attention to
comparisons between the home and target culture by presenting isolated items about the
target culture. This technique uses visual aids whi ch illustrate the difference, and a set
of questions to stimulate class discussion. (ibid.) Cultural problem solving covers
presentation of a problem for learners to solve and to evoke discussion about culture
differences. Participants read or hear briefly abou t a real-life problem. The problem
should illustrate the topic or theme of the discuss ion and can be set out quite elaborately
with a number of points to discuss. Instead of the discussion about solving the problem,
learners can be offered alternate endings to the st ory, the following discussion then
centers on deciding which solution to adopt. (Thana soulas 2001)
Both previously mentioned techniques are using discussion which should allow
students to express their own ideas. It can be also used to form a way into a topic which
can stimulate students’ imagination and give a teac her an indication of how much the
students already know. The emphasis should be alway s on the ideas which are being
expressed rather than on the accuracy of how the th ought is being expressed. Discussion
can be approached through brainstorming. Pupils can work in small groups as long as
there is a clear and concrete focus of the activity and it is kept short. (ibid.)
Very effective techniques are role play and drama. (O’Dowd 2004) In a role play
students take on the role of another person. The si tuation and sometimes some ideas are
given in instructions. Role play is a popular metho d for communicative use of language

where students are encouraged to use language imagi natively and creatively. Being
based on real-life situations it is always welcome in a role play to use authentic aids
from English speaking countries (for example train tickets, menus). Sometimes it is
useful to record the role play on a video or audio cassette for future reference.
(McKinnon, Rigby 2005) Drama is similarly useful f or directly involving students in
cross-cultural misunderstanding. In this technique selected members act out in a series
of short scenes a misinterpretation of something th at happens in the target culture and is
clarified in the final scene.
Among other techniques which can be use d to teach culture can be mention
Audiomotor Unit or Total Physical Response, primari ly designed as a listening exercise,
employs a carefully constructed list of oral comman ds to which students respond. These
commands are arranged in such a way to make student s act out a cultural experience.
(Bowen 2005) There is a vast literature on this top ic; I provided only limited insight into
used techniques.
5.3 Teaching Materials
Various materials have been used in teaching cultur e in foreign language classes.
Durant lists nine sources of materials which he con siders to be of great efficiency. The
sources vary from interaction with members of the t arget culture, recorded testimony of
members of the target culture, visits to the countr y, the country’s media, data from
ethnographic fieldwork, historical and political da ta, surveys and statistics, heuristic
contrasts and oppositions to fashions and styles fr om the target country. (Durant 1997)
Literature, a very effective source of culture mate rials, is missing although this list is
considered to be quite comprehensive.
It is common issue that materials used in language teaching convey cultural
biases. It means that they implicitly express attit udes towards the target and learner’s
own culture. In order to encourage intercultural po int of view, materials must treat
culture themes from at least two contrastive perspe ctives, so called two-dimensions.
Unfortunately, one-dimensional point of view is sti ll more common as it is very hard for
textbooks writers to avoid using culture-bound idea s. Dunnett, Dubin and Lezberg urge
teachers to separate cultural habits and customs fr om language teaching materials in
order to realize the implicit cultural message. The y claim cultural habits and customs to

be “elements that are broadly recognized as not bei ng universally the same – from the
less transparent themes.” (in Valdes 1986:153)
5.3.1 Foreign Language Textbooks and Intercultural Learning
Textbooks usually play a dominant role among mater ials used in the lessons.
They serve as a rich source of topics, texts, visua ls and language as well as help to form
syllabus of the course. (Pulverness 2004:28) Textbo oks used in English lessons at
Czech primary schools are primarily designed to fac ilitate foreign language learning but
because of interrelation of language and culture, t extbooks are expected to include some
aspects of target language culture as well. Further more, to become fluent in the second
language, communicative competence is needed. It co vers a cultural understanding of
social behaviour, routines and discourse nuances as well as society’s norms and values.
(Kramsch 1994) It establishes requirement for forei gn language (further FL) textbooks
to include accurate representation of the target la nguage culture.
Skopinskaja suggests that there are two types of textbooks currently used at
schools: international or global and locally produc ed textbooks. International or global
textbooks are produced with international market in mind; it means that these textbooks
are written to be as universally appealing as possi ble. They usually focus only on the
target culture and international level of encounter s. These textbooks can represent either
culture-specific or culture-general orientation. Lo cally produced textbooks, on the other
hand, are written by non-native author or in cooper ation with non-native speaking
authors. These textbooks are usually written in acc ordance with national curriculum and
have approval of Ministry of Education of particula r country. Being written by local
authors, they tend to introduce target culture from local perspective and usually also
include some aspects of local culture. (Skopinskaja 1992:42)
Both types of textbooks are used at Cze ch primary schools side by side. The
decision is left on the schools which of these text books they find more convenient for
their teaching. The choice of appropriate teaching materials is one of the most difficult
problems language teachers are facing. The structur e of culture teaching in textbooks
should integrate knowledge, sociocultural competenc e and attitude. These three
categories must be interrelated so as to reflect re al life situation where “gaining
knowledge usually happens simultaneously with the a bility to use this knowledge and
develop attitudes related to it.” (Camillery, Fenne r in Newby 2000:154)

Cultural information can be conveyed through writt en or oral texts, photographs,
maps, graphs, etc. Gaining knowledge serves as a ba sis for developing sociocultural
competence. There are various approaches to it but as sociocultural competence is a
process it must be developed through process approa ch. Pulverness claims importance
of the comparative method in the learning process. This method, recommended by
many scholars, employs analysis, comparison and con trast to be included in the
treatment of culture content in textbooks. (Pulvern ess 2004) Newby suggests a variety
of interactive tasks to develop sociocultural compe tence and learner’s understanding
foreign culture. (Newby 2000)
Learning a foreign language is considered a univer sal tool for developing better
understanding and tolerance to otherness. Contrary to it, foreign learners often develop
simplified and stereotyped views of the target cult ure. Textbooks can challenge
simplification by presenting stereotyped attitudes of target and learner’s own culture
and making them topics of discussions. Similarly, t hey can ask learners to perform tasks
where they have to interact with the members of the target culture. Fenner suggests that
learners “aware of equivalent stereotyped attitudes held by members of target culture
can assist a process of getting beyond a simplifica tion and developing cultural
awareness.” (in Newby 2000:142)
There are many theorists who point out the extensi ve benefits of FL textbooks
while many other researchers and practitioners poss ess critical views on this subject.
Pulverness considers textbook’s topics and articles to be possible danger for learners as
they might restrain teachers from expressing other point of view than that adopted by
textbook writers. He urges teachers to go beyond th e textbook and provide learners with
supplementary resources that would introduce cultur al polyphony and will ‘add value’
to the textbook. It is up to teacher to diversify t he range of perceptions to be available in
the classroom. Pulverness claims that these supplem entary materials should either
compensate for cultural dimensions that are totally missing in the coursebook or take
“students well beyond the usual end-of-unit gesture of Now compare this with
houses/festivals/occupations etc in your country .” (Pulverness 2004:28)
Textbooks are also being criticised for being too artificial in their presentation of
the target language. Their lack of authentic materi al leads to an oversimplification of
language and unrealistic views on real-life situati ons. Other possible problems are

presented by Alptekin (1993) who suggests that incl usion of foreign subject matter and
social construct in FL textbook can lead to misunde rstandings due to learner’s lack of
cultural schemata and should be remedied by explana tion given by native-speaker
instructor. O’Dowd in his overview of textbooks’ cr iticism names researchers such as
Porreca (1984), Clarke and Clarke (1990), Carrell a nd Korwitz (1994) and Renner
(1997) who have demonstrated that many FL textbooks contain examples of gender
biases, sexism, and stereotyping. Gray concentrated in his criticism on attempt of FL
textbooks to pass off certain western values and co mmunicative styles as being
universal. (2002, in O’Dowd 2004:64-65)
While there can be found a wide area of criticism on how culture is dealt with in
textbooks, there are also many suggestions and guid elines how to improve the situation.
Cortazzi and Jin claim, in their series of proposal s, the need of constant interaction
between the cultural perspectives brought by a teac her, learners and a textbook. They
demand a broader cultural content in textbooks as w ell as explicit intercultural elements
discussing different cultural interpretations of li nguistic and non-linguistic behaviour.
(1999, in O’Dowd 2004:66) Sercu provides a comprehe nsive list for evaluating cultural
content of foreign language textbooks but has its l imitation as it does not cover skills.
(1998, in ibid.) Textbook in order to be effective has to include role-plays, project work
and other activities which teach how to analyse a c ultural document, carry out an
ethnographic research and identify cultural values and perspectives encoded in target
culture. (ibid.)

5.3.2. Other Resources
Use of authentic materials is rewarding and stimul ating for both learners and
teachers and should be used as far as possible. It is commonly used with higher level
students but can be equally used with lower levels. Traditional songs, rhymes, riddles,
and other children’s lore are ideal for younger chi ldren. (Ellis 2003) Authentic materials
do not include only newspapers and literature but a lso materials such as web pages, TV
broadcasts, films, leaflets, posters, basically any thing written in the target language and
used unedited in the classroom. The same material c an be used in classes of various
levels provided that the task is graded to learner’ s abilities and interests. (Newby 2000)

Using authentic materials is relatively easy and co nvenient way of improving learner’s
general skills as well as confidence in real situat ions.
Many aspects of culture, that are not u sually found in a textbook, are present in
the newspaper but as Blatchford claims it “is mammo th and to tackle one in a foreign
language is a great task.” (in Valdes 1986:135) The re is so much cultural interference
and language difficulty in newspapers that students get easily discouraged and teacher’s
firm guidance in working with this media is essenti al. Good cultural insights can readily
be found in headlines, advertisements, editorials, sports pages, comics, even the weather
report. The humor found on the comic pages is espec ially revealing. Through newspaper
teaching, learners are given “lots of practice in t he language as well as some instruction
in how the newspaper fulfills its social role of in forming, advising, helping, and
entertaining.” (ibid.135-136)
Literature, in a foreign classroom wher e direct contact with the target culture is
missing, can serve as rich resource of authentic la nguage showing interaction between
culture and language. According to Valdes, literatu re “can offer a broad, state of the
nation view but can also give students myriad insig hts into the sensibilities of the
British and the texture of life in contemporary Bri tain.” (Valdes 1986:138) She
considers literature in foreign language classrooms to be “viable component” (ibid.) at
appropriate level. She sees literature as “an unab ridged fiction, drama, poetry, or essay
written for an educated audience of native speakers of the language in which it is
written, purporting to represent life as it really is.” (ibid.) From this can be derived the
level for which teaching literature is appropriate: from an upper-intermediate to
advanced learners. Readers are suggested for lower- level students but in this case
teachers should be aware of the fact that these sim plified versions of great literary works
don’t have any elements of literature in them and s hould be used only for linguistic
purposes. Readers are not going to be of concern he re, though.
The main role of literature teaching, a part from all the other aspects covered in
it, is, according to Valdes, presenting “values tha t underlie the behaviour of characters
and points of view of the authors.” (ibid.) Student s are not supposed to judge these
values but to understand them as well as to underst and the literary works that contain
them. The values of any cultural group are not univ ersal but, as Valdes suggests, there
are “certain concepts” (ibid.) in each cultural gro up that can be considered as a “general

consensus.” (ibid.) Teacher’s role in teaching lite rature depends on understanding these
values and presenting them to pupils by selecting a literary work of interest and
proficiency appropriate to students, extracting the m and including in teaching process.
Authentic children’s literature provide s a rich resource for culture learning as it
contains cultural information divided by Ellis and Brewster into eight categories:
– Linguistic: for example, conventions of politeness;
– Geographical: for example, information on different countries, flags,
capitals;
– Historical: for example, information on dinosaurs;
– Festivals: for example, information on Easter;
– Illustrations: for example, information conveyed th rough illustrations;
– Everyday life: information on shops and shopping, m eal times;
– Citizenship-related issues: for example, tolerance;
– Song, music and rhymes: many traditional songs and rhymes link well to
stories and provide authentic examples of children’s lore. (Ellis
2003:16)

Poems and plays can also be included in foreign classroom. Both cultural
content and meaning can be approached in them. Poem s should be read aloud and
explained holistically while teacher’s task is to “ attempt to overcome students prejudice
and lead students to consider all sides of an issue .” (Valdes 1986:145) Even though
plays might seem easier literature genre to approac h as they contain real speech and
characters interacting in the plot, it is still dem anding task for teacher to guide his
students to reveal cultural patterns hidden in the work.
Films, filmstrips and slides provide cu ltural insights as well as welcome variety
of classroom activities. Excellent filmstrips on cu lturally related subjects are available
commercially, and slides that teachers have collect ed in their travels can be worked into
short, first-hand cultural presentations. In genera l, students find the use of videos
motivating and stimulating. Videos are a useful veh icle for learning more about the
topic, for making cross-cultural comparisons and fo r making the language more
memorable. To talk about cross-cultural aspects stu dent write down after viewing four
things they noticed which are different from their culture (objects, buildings, clothes,
food, etc) and four things that are the same. Put t hem on board and discuss why the
things are the same or different. (McKinnon 2005)

6. Research
6.1. Introduction
In the theoretical part of this thesis were advoca ted reasons for including culture
teaching into foreign language curriculum, aspects of intercultural communicative
competence were presented as well as common techniq ues and resources used in
teaching culture. The research part of the thesis w ill reassume to the conveyed
information. It consists of two studies proceeded i n order to find out how cultural
awareness is being developed at Czech primary schoo ls at selected level. The first
study concentrates on textbooks used in English lan guage lessons in order to found out

to what extent cultural aspects are present in them . The research method is content
analysis of the textbooks and it refers to theoreti cal value especially to construct validity
of the textbook’s materials. (Breen 1989, in Skopin skaja 1992) The second part of the
research is interested whether textbook is actually used in the lessons in order to
develop cultural awareness and what other resources as well as techniques are used in
the lessons. Data for this study were collected by a questionnaire for pupils.

6.2. Evaluation of the Cultural Content of English Textbooks
The aim of this study is to find out how culture is presented in English textbooks
currently used at Czech primary schools at selected level. The study is interested in
cultural content and how this content is presented in terms of cultural knowledge,
attitudes, intercultural awareness and relationship between culture and language.
Textbooks chosen for this study were selected from currently used textbooks at Czech
primary schools at random order. The textbooks are aimed at learners of the 9 th grades
of Czech primary schools. Cambridge English for Sch ools and Project represent
textbooks that are used internationally while Angli čtina pro 9.ro čníky ZŠ is locally
produced textbook that meets requirements of the na tional curriculum Zakladní škola
and have official approval from Ministry of Educati on.

Breen identifies three phases of classroom material evaluation: materials-as-
workplan, materials-in-process, and outcome from ma terials. (1989, in Skopinskaja
1992:43) In case of this study, the phase of materi als-as-workplan is relevant as it refers
to its theoretical value, “namely construct validit y of materials which provides
information about the materials as they stand, that is without reference to their actual
utilisation in the classroom.” (ibid.)
Although I am aware of the multiplicity of sources dealing with evaluation of
teaching materials, evaluation criteria selected by Skopinskaja is going to be used for
the need of this study. This list of criteria is in agreement with the information conveyed
in the theoretical part of this thesis and is modif ied to the needs of this study. The
modified list of evaluation criteria according to S kopinskaja is following:
A. Cultural content of the TM that is culturally sensi tive versus tourism-oriented
portrayal of the cultural character of the foreign country; integration of the
cultural content into the FL course; and the nature of the TM character
representation with regard to learners’ age, social class, interests, mentality and
family situation.
B. Presentation of content through cultural knowledge, that is inclusion of the
historical, geographical, political, ideological, r eligious and creativity arts
perspectives to explain the national identity of th e target language community;
portrayal of different ethnic origins and sub-cultu ral groups; presentation of
socio-political problems, socially acceptable or ta boo topics as well as
cultural/racial/gender stereotypes; and reference t o the learners’ own culture
C. Presentation of content through attitudinal perspec tive, that is development of
tolerance and empathy towards otherness as well as a feeling of the national
identity; challenging the learner’s existing stereo types; arousing curiosity about
otherness; and preparing students for an adequate b ehaviour in the target
language;
D. Presentation of content through intercultural persp ective, that is encouraging
learners to compare the foreign culture with their own; and offering mutual
representation, images and stereotypes of the stude nts’ own and the foreign
culture;
E. Presentation of content through culture-and-languag e perspective, that is
development of students’ linguistic as well as para linguistic awareness; teaching
appropriate register; and authenticity of the mater ial used in the texts, exercises,
tapes, etc. (Skopinskaja 1992:46)

This list is further developed into twenty-four ite m questionnaire; out of which A part
consist of three questions, B part ten questions, C part five questions, D part two, and E
part of four questions.

Sheldon observes “it is clear that coursebook asses sment is fundamentally a
subjective, rule-of-thumb activity, and that no nea t formula, grid or system will ever
provide a definite yardstick.” (in Skopinskaja 1992 :43) Being so, the scale for
evaluation of the selected criteria was defined by the author of the thesis to maintain
objectivity of the evaluation. For the need of quan titative analysis every question of the
questionnaire is marked from zero to four points wh ere zero is the lowest and four is the
highest possible score. The highest score of the wh ole table is 96 points; out of which
twelve points in A part, forty points in B part, tw enty points in C part, eight points in D
part, and sixteen points in E part. Textbooks are a nalysed also qualitatively apart from
the quantitative analysis.
The questionnaire was piloted by experienced teache r whose data of the
evaluated textbook were compared with the data from author’s evaluation of the same
textbook. The divergence was found only minor and t he questionnaire was considered
convenient for ensuring objectivity of the evaluati on. The evaluation was conducted in
January 2006.

6.2.1. Analysis of the Data
The order of the textbooks is following:
1. Littlejohn, D., Hicks, A. Cambridge English for Schools Three , CUP, 1997.
2. Hutchinson, T. Project 4 , OUP, 2001.
3. Lacinová, E. Angli čtina pro 9.ro čník ZŠ , Praha: SPN, 2001.
The quantitative analysis is followed by the qualit ative analysis and the defined
criteria for quantitative analysis after each quest ion. The whole questionnaire is
included in the thesis in appendix 1, the criteria for evaluation in appendix 2.
6.2.1.1. Cultural Content
1. To what extent does the textbook reflect the cul tural character of
foreign society? 4 1 3
2. To what extent is the cultural content integrated in the course? 3 2 4

3. To what extent are the characters in the textboo k representative of
the foreign society? 3 3 2

1. The presentation of cultural character in Proje ct seems as to be taken from
travel brochure. It deals with topics such as Briti sh summer, Australia, the United
Kingdom, giving very brief description of only posi tive aspects of the national
character; the only exception is made in the case o f religious trouble in Northern
Ireland. Sercu points out that “tourism oriented te xtbooks only discuss situations which
are marginal to the ordinary everyday situations me mbers of the foreign culture find
themselves in.” (1998, in O’Dowd 2004:67) On the ot her hand, Cambridge English and
Angli čtina include also negative aspects of the foreign s ociety. Angli čtina deals with
stowaway in Bristol Channel, Munich Agreement sayin g that it was “the darkest chapter
in British – Czech relation” (Lacinova 2001:23) whi le the Cambridge English employs
a larger scale of negative topics. It talks about p ollution in Britain, slavery, declining
number of Aborigines and Indians, etc.
0 From information conveyed the cultural character of foreign society is not obvious.
1 Only tourism-oriented situations are incorporated.
2 Negative or problematic social and cultural aspects are conveyed to some extent.
3 Negative or problematic social and cultural aspects are conveyed to a large extent.
4 Negative or problematic social and cultural aspects are conveyed in profound
manner to give realistic picture of the foreign soc iety.
2. In the Project, culture is presented only in se parated units which are included
in every third lesson and link between them and the rest of the lesson is not evident.
Cambridge English apart from the culture units cons ists of some other cultural content
which is incorporated into the context; for example history of rock music (The Beatles),
Franklin Expedition. Angli čtina succeeded in integrating cultural content into the
context of the lessons. It deals with culture throu ghout its context.
0 Cultural content is presented only in isolated fact s which are not integrated into the
context of the textbook.
1 Cultural content presented by songs, poems, stories , etc. which are not integrated
into the context of the textbook.
2 Cultural content presented in context of special un its dedicated to culture teaching
(usually called culture page, culture matters, etc. ) which are not further integrated
into the textbook.
3 Cultural content presented in context of special un its dedicated to culture teaching
which are further integrated into the textbook; som e cultural content is integrated
in the textbook.

4 Cultural content presented in context throughout th e textbook.

3. I found the depiction of textbooks’ characters at about the same level referring
to features of their age, social class, interests, and family situation. The characters
portrayed in Angli čtina seem to possess opinions slightly above their mental age.
0 Characters’ age, social class, their interests, men tality and family situation pictured
are not representative of the foreign society.
1 Only limited amount of the characters’ features ar e representative of the foreign
society.
2 Only some features are representative of the foreig n society.
3 Almost realistic characters of the foreign society are presented throughout the
textbook.
4 Realistic characters of the foreign society are pre sented throughout the textbook.

6.2.1.2. Presentation of Content: Knowledge

1. To what extent is the historical perspective pre sent to explain the
national identity of the target culture? 3 2 1
2. To what extent is the geographical perspective p resent to explain
certain features of the national character of the t arget language
cultures? 2 2 0
3. To what extent are the political (also ideologic al and religious)
perspectives of the target culture taken into consi deration? 0 1 1
4. To what extent does the textbook offer insight i nto the creative arts
of the target language culture? 1 0 3
5. To what extent does the textbook offer insight i nto a variety of
cultures (for example, British, American, Indian, e tc.)? 3 2 1
6. To what extent does the textbook offer insight i nto a variety of
sub-cultural groups? 3 1 0
7. To what extent does the textbook offer insight i nto the socially
acceptable or taboo topics of the target culture(s) ? 0 0 0
8. To what extent does the textbook offer insight i nto the
cultural/racial/gender stereotypes? 2 0 0
9. To what extent does the textbook offer insight i nto the students’
own culture? 0 0 4
10. To what extent does the textbook offer insight into socio-political
problems of the target language culture(s)? 3 1 0

1. All three textbooks cover historical perspectiv e but only Cambridge English is
more extensively dealing with it. The topics such a s European colonisation, history of
Australia, Native Americans in the past and slavery are included. Angli čtina covers only
topic of ‘Poppy day’ and Project gives very brief h istorical perspective of the countries
of the UK and Australia.

0 Historical perspective is not present at all.
1 Only some isolated facts presented about historical perspective of certain features
of the national character of the target language cu ltures.
2 Limited historical perspective given in context to some national identities.
3 Most national identities presented in textbook are explained from historical point
of view.
4 All national identities presented are explained fro m historical point of view.

2. Cambridge English includes geography of Austral ia, USA and Canada. It is
mostly presented through maps and pictures. Project does basically the same but also
includes the UK and Australia. Angli čtina does not contain any geographical features to
explain the national character.
0 Geographical perspective is not present at all.
1 Only some isolated facts presented about geographic al perspective of certain
features of the national character of the target la nguage cultures.
2 Limited geographical perspective given in context t o some national identities.
3 Most national identities presented in textbook are explained from geographical
point of view.
4 All national identities presented are explained fro m geographical point of view.

3. Complete lack of political issues was found in the textbooks. Cambridge
English does not deal with this topic at all; Proje ct only mentions religious situation in
Northern Ireland and Angli čtina only talks about election in the Czech Republi c in
relation to which one character points out that he prefers “honest people to political
parties.” (Lacinova 2004:78)
0 Political, ideological and religious perspectives o f the target culture are not taken
into consideration at all.
1 Only few facts about political, ideological and rel igious perspectives of the target
cultures are presented.
2 Some aspects of political, ideological and religiou s perspectives of the target
cultures are presented in the textbook
3 Political information reduced to factual informatio n about political system of a
country; ideological and religious perspectives are dealt with.
4 Most target cultures are realistically presented fr om political, ideological and
religious perspective.

4. Angli čtina includes in every unit poem or short story wri tten by famous
author from the target language culture, for exampl e O. Wilde, W. Wordsworth, and
introduces students to architecture of the UK. Camb ridge English talks about famous
music groups, singers and composers. Project does n ot contain this feature.

0 Creative arts of the target culture are not include d in the textbook at all.
1 Some facts about creative arts of the target cultur e are included in the textbook
2 Limited amount of information about creative arts p resented; eventually one-sided
interpretation of the perspective.
3 Large scale of information about creative arts pres ented.
4 Profound and realistic picture of the creative arts is included (history, famous
works and authors, popular artistic movements, etc) .

5. The broadest variety of cultures is depicted in Cambridge English. It deals
with Australian population – the Aborigines, Europe an immigrants, USA – Native
Americans, Afro Americans, etc. Project informs abo ut population of Australia and
about people from the four countries of the UK whil e Angli čtina talks about
globalisation and population generally pointing out the mix of races in the USA.
0 Textbook shows the target cultures as uniform cultu res; does not show its varieties.
1 Some facts about varieties of cultures presented in the textbook.
2 Information conveyed about varieties of cultures is not sufficient; eventually does
not give realistic picture.
3 Varieties of cultures are pictured to a large exten t but not sufficient for realistic
depiction.
4 Profound picture of varieties of cultures is given.

6. While Angli čtina does not cover this feature at all, Project on ly mentions few
facts such as people living on farms in Australia o r people in Northern Ireland who
differ in religious confession. Cambridge English d eals for example with the
Aborigines, Afro-Americans but also with the change of the role of women in the
society.
0 Sub-cultural groups are not deal with at all in the textbook.
1 Very limited amount of information about sub-cultur al groups is presented in the
textbook.
2 Information conveyed about sub-cultural groups is n ot sufficient; eventually does
not give realistic picture.
3 Sub-cultural groups are pictured to a large extent; but eventually not sufficient for
realistic depiction.
4 Profound picture of sub-cultures is given.

7. This feature is totally missing in the textbook s.
0 Socially acceptable or taboo topics of the target c ultures are not dealt with at all.
1 Only limited amount of facts about socially accepta ble or taboo topics included in
the textbook; not sufficient at all.
2 Socially acceptable or taboo topics are dealt with in an insufficient manner.

3 Socially acceptable or taboo topics are dealt with to a large extent but the outcome
is not sufficient.
4 Socially acceptable or taboo topics dealt with in p rofound manner; giving learners’
realistic picture about the topic.

8. Only Cambridge English deals with this topic sh owing lives of ethnic
minorities living in Australia and the USA. Even he re, the treatment of the stereotypes
is not sufficient.
0 The topic of cultural/racial/gender stereotypes is not dealt with at all.
1 Some facts about cultural/racial/gender stereotypes presented in the textbook.
2 The topic of cultural/racial/gender stereotypes is dealt with but not in sufficient
manner.
3 The topic of cultural/racial/gender stereotypes is dealt to a large extent; eventually
the final outcome is not sufficient
4 The topic of cultural/racial/gender stereotypes is dealt with in profound manner
giving learner realistic picture of the current sit uation

9. Only Angli čtina is dealing with student’s own culture as it is locally produced
textbook. It contains features of student’s culture , an article from Czech newspaper,
quotation by Czech writer. There are Czech characte rs depicted throughout the textbook
who comment on various features of culture (archite cture, election, globalisation,
travelling, adoption, etc).
0 Student’s culture is not dealt with.
1 Some facts about student’s culture are presented.
2 Student’s culture is dealt with but in insufficient manner.
3 Student’s culture is dealt with in most of the topi cs presented about target culture
in the textbook giving student opportunity to contr ast and compare the two
cultures.
4 Student’s culture is dealt with in profound manner so that students are able to
contrast and compare the two cultures.

10. While Angli čtina does not deal with this topic at all, Project only mentions
religious troubles in Northern Ireland. Cambridge E nglish deals with slavery, declining
number of Aborigines and Indians, pollution caused by traffic.
0 Textbook does not show socio-political problems of the target cultures at all.
1 Some facts about socio-political problems of the ta rget cultures are presented in
the textbook but do not have any influence on the f inal learner’s picture about
target culture.
2 Textbook deals with socio-political problems of the target cultures but only in
limited manner.

3 Textbook deals with socio-political problems of the target cultures to a large
extent.
4 Textbook deals with socio-political problems of the target cultures in profound and
realistic manner.

6.2.1.3. Presentation of Content: Attitudes

1. To what extent does the textbook develop toleran ce towards
otherness? 2 1 1
2. To what extent does the textbook challenge the s tudents’ existing
stereotypes? 3 1 0
3. To what extent does the textbook develop a feeli ng of the national
identity? 2 1 4
4. To what extent does the textbook encourage curio sity about other
cultures? 3 2 3
5. To what extent does the textbook prepare student s to behave
adequately when in contact with the members of othe r culture(s)? 4 1 0

1. The textbooks were found not to deal with this feature adequately only
Cambridge English includes topics such as driving i n Britain or USA – a melting pot
that might provoke students to comparing the differ ences.
0 Textbook does not deal with attitudes at all.
1 Textbook’s presentation of otherness does not chall enge students to further action
and so does not have any influence on their attitud es.
2 A few encounters with the target culture included i n the textbook leading to
students’ realization of otherness but not necessar ily to tolerance; provoke students
to examine their attitudes to otherness.
3 Several encounters with the target culture included in the textbook which help
students to explain and understand otherness.
4 Through series of encounters with the target cultur e, textbook presents students
with possible sources of conflict which should serv e as a starting point for
discussion and so developing tolerance to otherness .

2. Presentation of Australia in Project as a warm country full of sport lovers or
British enjoying Wimbledon in the summer are just a few examples of stereotypes
which are not further worked with and leaving the i nitiative to teacher to explain the
simplified view to students. Cambridge English incl udes more information about
stereotypes helping students to realize the simplif ied view.
0 Textbook does not deal with stereotypes at all.

1 Some examples of stereotyped attitudes are included in the textbook; they do not
challenge presumptions held by students.
2 Textbook includes some examples of stereotyped atti tudes without encouraging
students to work further with the information.
3 Textbook helps students to become aware of their st ereotyped views through series
of interactions with the foreign culture.
4 Textbook presents examples of stereotyped attitudes held by people of both target
and native culture; simplifications become consciou s and can be made a topic for
discussion.

3. Project shows some features of the British iden tity – British way of spending
summer or free time activities of British teenagers . Unfortunately, they are not
particularly challenging for students. The similar applies to Cambridge English, with the
difference of bigger variety of the pictured featur es – the USA and Canada, giving
students more materials for comparing. Angli čtina contains features of student’s own
culture along the target one, referring to a wide v ariety of topics.
0 Textbook does not deal with attitudes at all.
1 Some examples of national identity included in the textbook; they do not challenge
students to further exploration and comparison.
2 A few encounters with the target culture included i n the textbook which not
necessarily lead to students’ realization of nation al identity.
3 Textbook apart from identity of target culture also deals with student’s own
national identity, helping students to realize the differences and similarities;
textbook may provide ‘ready made’ answers.
4 Through serious of encounters with the target cultu re students gain also
understanding of self, their national identity.

4. Angli čtina and Cambridge English were found about the sam e level of
provoking student’s curiosity about other cultures. They provide a wide variety of
interesting topics about target cultures. Cambridge English makes attractive
presentation of target culture through photographs and pictures while Anglictina relies
on authentic material in a form of literally works and articles taken from newspapers
and magazines.
0 Cultural content of the textbook is completely unin teresting for students.
1 Cultural content not appropriate for students becau se of their level of English, age,
interests, social class, etc.
2 Textbook provides only ‘ready made’ answers about t arget culture; difficult to
awake interest in students.
3 Cultural content appropriate to students’ interest; leaving enough space for
interpretation and discussion.
4 Cultural content is so motivating and stimulating f or students that it encourages

their further interest in target culture; work with other materials; look out for
further information.

5. Only Cambridge English contains adequate exampl es of behaviour in target
culture. It is in a serious of dialogues between ch aracters that appear throughout the
textbook and deal with various topics, for example friendship and loyalty, borrowing
things from people, equality at school, etc.
0 Textbook does not deal with appropriate behaviour o f the target country at all.
1 Textbook only transmits knowledge or set of behavio ur patterns; students are not
actually taking part in interaction with the target culture.
2 Textbook shows examples of behaviour of the target country which might cause
misunderstandings; they might seem strange and fore ign to students.
3 Textbook presents adequate behaviour of the target culture, leaving enough space
for students to discover, compare, and solve proble ms.
4 Textbook includes apart from knowledge about behav iour of the target culture and
behaviour patterns also interactive tasks which dev elop students’ sociocultural
competence; textbook also contains tasks which make individual interpretations
topics for classroom discussion.

6.2.1.4. Presentation of Content: Intercultural Aw areness

1. To what extent does the textbook encourage stude nts to compare
the foreign culture with their own? 3 3 4
2. To what extent does the textbook offer mutual re presentations,
images and stereotypes of the students’ own and the foreign culture? 0 0 3

1. This feature is dealt with well in the textbook s. The international textbooks
urge students to find information about their own c ulture and compare them to the
information presented while the local textbook prov ides enough comparisons for
learners to realize the differences and similaritie s among cultures.
0 Students are not encouraged to compare target and o wn culture at all.
1 Very limited access to cultural comparisons is prov ided by textbook.
2 Some cases of cultural comparisons are provided in the textbook but result in
‘ready made’ information.
3 Textbook encourages students to compare selected fe atures of target culture to
student’s own culture; systematic approach to this problem might be missing.
4 Textbook encourages students to compare presented a spects of target culture to
student’s own culture at most cases providing enoug h information for student’s
realistic realization of intercultural differences and similarities and so developing
student’s intercultural awareness.

2. Only Angli čtina includes “materials written by members of the different
nationalities living in the foreign country” (Sercu (1989) in O’Dowd 2004:67) in this
case presented by the British living in the Czech R epublic.
0 Textbook does not include mutual representation of cultures at all.
1 Mutual representations, images and stereotypes of s tudent’s own and target culture
are not given special emphasis and are dealt with a s marginal features.
2 Textbook includes some examples of mutual represent ations of both cultures but
the final picture of both cultures is not sufficien t for breaking national stereotypes
about the cultures.
3 Textbook deals with mutual representations, images and stereotypes of student’s
own and target culture to a large extent but the fi nal picture of both cultures is not
realistic or well-balanced.
4 Textbook provides realistic picture of student’s ow n and target culture as seen by
members of other nationalities living in the foreig n country; deals with mutual
stereotypes and images.

6.2.1.5. Presentation of Content: Culture and Lang uage

1. To what extent does the cultural content of the textbook develop
students’ awareness of different linguistic means t o express their
attitudes? 1 1 0
2. To what extent does the textbook develop student s’ awareness of
the paralinguistic means to express their attitudes ? 0 0 0
3. To what extent does the textbook teach register appropriate to the
students’ needs (formal-informal, slang, regional i dioms, etc.)? 0 0 0
4. To what extent is the material used in the texts , exercises,
dialogues, etc., authentic? 1 1 2

1. The textbooks were found to be totally inapprop riate for developing students’
awareness of different linguistic means.
0 Linguistic means for expressing attitudes are compl etely missing in the textbook.
1 Only one way of expressing attitudes is included in the textbook.
2 Only limited scope of linguistic means for expressi ng attitudes is presented in the
textbook.
3 Several varieties of linguistic means for expressin g attitudes are presented in the
cultural content.
4 A large variety of linguistic means for expressing attitudes are presented in the
cultural content making students aware of its compl exity.

2. Total lack of paralinguistic means for expressi ng students’ attitudes was
found in the textbooks.
0 Textbook does not deal with paralinguistic features of the target culture at all.
1 Paralinguistic features are not paid special attent ion to.

2 Paralinguistic features are presented in the textbo ok without being properly
explained or presented in context.
3 Textbook introduces students to a broad scope of ap propriate non-verbal
communication of the target culture; explaining its use and function.
4 Tasks and exercises urge students to use paralingui stic features of the target culture
presented in textbook; comparisons are encouraged.

3. Only formal expressions were found to be used i n all textbooks.
0 Textbook uses only formal expressions.
1 Textbook introduces students apart from register of formal also to some informal
expressions of the target country’s language.
2 Some elements of other than formal register are inc luded in the textbook without
being further explained or specified.
3 Students are introduced to very limited register of informal, slang, regional idioms,
etc. with brief explanation.
4 Textbook introduces students to formal and informal register of the target
language, gives a brief overview of its regional va rieties, slang used by their peers
in target countries, giving clear explanation about its proper meaning and use.

4. While Project and Cambridge English contain mat erials that only seem to be
authentic – face genuineness. (Newby 2000:17) Angli čtina makes use of great amount
of literature, articles from newspaper and magazine s, songs, etc.
0 Textbook does not contain any authentic materials.
1 Only ‘face genuineness’ appears in the textbooks; i t means that text seems genuine
as text types are simulated in the textbook; for ex ample letters, advertisements,
announcements, dialogues, etc.
2 Some cultural content is authentic; textbook makes use of authentic materials such
as traditional songs, rhymes, pieces of literature, etc.
3 Majority of cultural content is authentic; it means that students are exposed to real
contexts, are using language spontaneously covering their genuine needs.
4 Textbook employs all three types of authenticity: t ext authenticity – spoken,
written, graphic used in textbook; behaviour authen ticity – the tasks, language
activities, exercises which students perform; perso nal authenticity – the student’s
own attitudes towards, acceptance or rejection of t ext and behaviour
authenticity.(ibid.)

6.2.2. Conclusion

The first section of the questionnaire was concerne d with cultural content. It
showed positive trend in textbooks to include also negative aspects of the target cultures
not only information that is marginal to everyday l ives of people from the target culture.
(Sercu 1998, in O’Dowd 2004:67) The local textbook showed bigger amount of

integrated cultural content than the international textbooks but the textbook characters
representative of the foreign culture are better po rtrayed in international textbooks.
Cambridge English meet 83%, Project 50% and Angli čtina 75% of the defined
requirements.
The second section was interested in knowledge, na mely the historical,
geographical, political, ideological, and so on, in order to convey the national identity of
the target language community. Socially acceptable or taboo topics and political
perspectives were found to be totally neglected in the textbooks. Project and Angli čtina
were found inconvenient in most aspects of the pres entation of knowledge apart from
presentation of student’s own culture and presentat ion of creative arts in Angli čtina.
Cambridge English that showed the best results in t he evaluation does not present even
half (42.5 %) of the required knowledge, Project pr esents only about 23% and
Angli čtina 25% of the required knowledge.
The section C was designed to find out about attit udes which are being
developed by the textbook writers. Even here, the r esults are not satisfactorily in Project
(meeting only 30% of requirements) and Angli čtina 40%. Cambridge English meets
70% of the defined requirements. Angli čtina showed good results in the next section
dealing with raising intercultural awareness. It me ets about 88% of the requirements for
developing intercultural awareness while Cambridge English and Project meet only
about 38%. The international textbooks lack mutual representation of student’s own and
target culture. The textbooks were proved completel y inconvenient relating to the
linguistic features presented in the last part of t he questionnaire dealing with culture and
language. All textbooks meet only 13% of requireme nts defined for this section of the
questionnaire.

The textbooks showed good results in portrayal of the cultural character of the
foreign society. They contain only some elements of the cultural knowledge and
inadequately deal with developing certain attitudes . Intercultural awareness is best
developed by the local textbook and the treatment o f linguistic features for being
competent in intercultural communication is totally insufficient. On the whole
Cambridge English for Schools meets 48% of the requ irements formulated in the

modified list by Skopinskaja; Project meets 27% and Angli čtina pro 9.ro čníky ZŠ meets
38% of the requirements.

6.3. Case Study: Resources and Techniques Used for Developing Cultural
Awareness
The aim of this study is to find out whether the te xtbook evaluated in the
previous chapter is actually used in teaching cult ure and what other supplementary
materials are used in the lessons at selected level in Czech primary school. The textbook
relevant to this study is Cambridge English for Sch ools 3. The study is further interested
in techniques used in lessons and attitudes held by students towards the target culture.

The research is conducted as a case study and the m ethod of data collection is in the
form of questionnaire for pupils.
The class of participants in this study was selected randomly. The criteria for the
choice were the textbook which the class uses and t heir level. They were 12 pupils
attending the 9 th grade at primary school in Brno (10 boys, 2 girls) . The school is
situated in the centre of the city and is of medium size referring to Czech standard. The
school specializes in teaching mathematics and scie nce subjects and is following
curriculum Zakladni škola s rozší řenou výukou matematiky a p řírodopisných p ředm ětů.
Pupils have to pass entrance exam from math for bei ng accepted to the 6 th grade of this
school. The teacher of this group has been teachin g English for five years. This group
has the same English teacher from the 6 th grade. English is taught three lessons per
week and the group is using textbook Cambridge Engl ish for Schools 3.
The questionnaire was piloted at the sa me school with a group of four pupils at
the appropriate grade. The teacher of this group wa s different from the group where the
following research took place. The piloting was con ducted two weeks before the actual
research and did not show any inconveniences in the questionnaire. The questionnaire
proved to be understandable and easy to use for pup ils of the 9 th grade of the primary
school.
The questionnaire was written in Czech (pupils’ mo ther tongue) in order to
ensure pupils’ understanding and avoid complication s which might be caused by
language unfamiliarity. The participants were infor med that all the questions are
concerned with culture teaching in English lessons only. The questionnaire is included
in the thesis in appendix 3. It was designed by the author of this thesis consists of seven
items aimed at: (1) resources (items 1, 2), (2) tec hniques (items 3, 4, 5, 6) and (3)
attitudes (item 7). The form of questions is ‘yes/n o question’, apart from the second
item which is solely multiple choice type of questi on. The first, fourth and fifth
questions if answered positively are followed by mu ltiple choice questions. In the
multiple choice questions, pupils can choose more t han one item on the list. In the case
of the last item, which is open ended, participants are supposed to give their own
answers. The last item if answered positively is fo llowed by two open ended questions.
The choice of questions is based on information pre sented in theoretical part of this
thesis. In the first two items, pupils were asked w here they get information about culture

of English speaking countries (further only ESC) fr om. The second theme of the
questionnaire aimed at investigating whether recomm ended techniques are used in the
classroom. The last theme assessed the contribution of culture teaching to pupils’
attitudes towards the target culture referring to W allach who claims that “studying
English increases student’s choice of countries the y want to visit.” (1973, in Kitao
2000)
Data collection was conducted at the be ginning of January 2006. Pupils filled in
the questionnaires during their regular English les son where author of the questionnaires
was present. The return rate of the questionnaires was due to this fact hundred percent.

6.3.1. Analysis of the Data
6.3.1.1. Resources
I began the questionnaire with the item asking whe ther articles about culture of
English Speaking Countries (further only ESC) are r ead in the English lessons. All 12
(100%) participants gave affirmative answer to this item which suggests that cognitive
knowledge about culture of ESC is being developed i n this group of pupils. Textbook
was chosen by 11 participants as the most common re source of articles read in the
lesson, followed by English/American newspapers cho sen by 9 participants and
English/American magazines and other resources, not named, were mentioned by two
participants.
0246810 12
textbook
magazines
newspapers
other resources

The second item asked whether suggested supplement ary materials are used in
the culture teaching in the English lessons. Listen ing to cassettes and CDs was stated by
9 respondents, watching video tapes by 3, watching films by 8, getting information from
photographs by 8, other resources were mentioned by 2 participants: textbooks and
getting information from teachers.

0123456789
listening to cassettes
and CD
watching videotapes
watching films
from photographs
other resources

6.3.1.2. Techniques
In this theme of the questionnaire, I t ried to investigate whether techniques
recommended by scholars are actually used in the En glish classes. In the third item, I
asked whether pupils discuss information received f rom the resources. Majority of
participants gave affirmative answer 9 participants (75%) against 3 participants (25%)
who do not discuss the information received.
The fourth question tried to find out whether comp arative approach, suggested
by Byram (1999) as very effective technique, is bei ng used in the class. I asked pupils
whether they compare received information about cul ture of ESC with information
about their own culture: 10 (83.3%) participants an swered positively, 1 participant
negatively and 1 participant did not answer this qu estion. Out of those who answered
positively 8 participants compare information in di scussion, 1 participant individually in
written form, and 5 in a form of project work.

Project work, another recommended technique was in the focus of the fifth item
where to the question whether pupils work on the pr ojects about ESC: 11 (91.6%)
participants gave affirmative and 1 participant neg ative answer. The participants who
answered positively further claimed that: 2 partici pants look up information needed for
their projects in textbooks, 3 in encyclopedias and 11 participants use internet as source
of information.
The sixth item dealt with role play, technique rec ommended for developing
communicative competence, in culture teaching. The participants answered the question
whether they take part in role plays during their E nglish lessons: 3 of them gave
affirmative and 9 (75%) participants gave negative answer.

6.3.1.3. Attitudes
The purpose of the final item of the questionnaire was to find out what attitudes
to ESC pupils possess, referring to Byram’s suggest ed attitudes of openness and
curiosity. I asked pupils whether they would like to visit any ESC: 11 (91.6%)
participants expressed their agreement and 1 partic ipant disagreed to do so. The
participants who expressed their wish to visit ESC named Ireland twice, England four
times, Canada once, New Zealand once, USA twice and Great Britain three times as
their ideal destinations.

00,5 11,5 22,5 33,5 4
Ireland
England
Canada
New Zealand
USA
Great Britain

The reasons for visiting these countries differed a s following: 2 participants expressed
their wish to visit ESC to improve their English; 2 participants wanted to broaden their
worldview; 4 participants wanted to visit ESC becau se of their natural beauty; 5
participants because of its culture („USA- je to m ůj sen“, „Kanada, Nový Zéland – kv ůli
přírod ě“, „Irsko – p říroda, prost ředí, ochota lidí,…“, „Velká Británie – zajímá m ě“,
„Velká Británie, Amerika – cht ěl bych poznat jiné zem ě“, „Irsko – p říroda, Anglie –
Londýn“, „Velká Británie – blízko, hodn ě k vid ění“, „Anglie – abych se obohatil o
kulturn ě-hudební hodnoty mého života“, „Anglie – kultura“, „Anglie – nau čit se mluvit,
jiné prost ředí“, „Anglie – zdokonalení angli čtiny“).

6.3.2. Conclusion
Majority of the corresponding answers were taken a s data valid for concluding
this research referring to the identical teaching e nvironment from which the participant
come from. The results showed that culture of ESC i s taught in the class of the
participants. The textbook, Cambridge English for S chools 3, is the most commonly
used resource of information about target culture f ollowed by English/American
newspapers. Cassettes and CDs, films and photograph s are other supplementary
materials used in this particular class in order to develop pupils’ awareness about the
target culture. The study showed that comparative a pproach is being practiced relating
to the fact that received information are further d iscussed in the class and compared to

the information about pupils’ own culture. The comp ared information is further
discussed. The participants also work on projects a bout culture of ESC where internet is
used as the most common sources of information foll owed by encyclopedias and
textbooks. Role play, recommended by Sercu (1998) t o be useful for developing
students’ skill of analyzing cultural document, is not used in this class. The participants’
skills of discovery and interaction, interpreting a nd relating (Byram 2002) has been
developed in discussion, comparative approach and p roject work. The attitudes of
openness and curiosity of the affective domain of i ntercultural communicative
competence (Byram 1997) towards ESC were proved in the last item of the
questionnaire where majority of pupils showed willi ngness to visit ESC and gave a wide
variety of reasons for doing so. Unfortunately, thi s study does not show whether it was
solely due to the culture teaching realized in the lesson at school or due to other
influences such as mass media.

6.4. Conclusion
The first part of the research section of this thes is proved selected textbooks to
be inconvenient for developing cultural awareness i n learners of English as foreign
language due to various aspects; evaluated cultural aspects were cultural content, and
presentation of the content through cultural knowle dge, attitudinal perspective,
intercultural perspective and culture-and-language perspective. This finding is
corresponding with opinions by Clarke and Clarke (1 990), Risager (1990) and others as
presented by O’Dowd. (O’Dowd 2004:64-65)
The textbooks mostly showed best results in reflec ting the cultural character of
the foreign society, integrating cultural content i nto the course and the nature of
textbooks character representation with regard to i ts age, social class, interests,

mentality and family situation. Presentation of cul tural content in relation to
encouraging curiosity about other cultures was also quite sufficient. Unfortunately,
linguistic aspects needed for intercultural communi cative competence showed to be
totally missing in the textbooks as well as dealing with stereotypes and socially
acceptable and taboo topics of the target culture.
The locally produced textbook contains, as present ed by Newby (1997) and
Freebairn (2000) (in Skopinskaja 1992:42), insights into the students’ own culture and
offeres mutual representation of both culture. It i s better at developing feeling of
national identity and comparing the foreign culture to student’s own than the
international textbooks.
The second study conveyed that even though the tex tbook, Cambridge English
for Schools 3, was not found to meet all requiremen ts needed for developing cultural
awareness, it is the most common source of informat ion used in the class of participants
of the case study together with supplementary mater ials. The supplementary materials
are newspapers from target culture, audio recording s, films and photographs.
Techniques used in this particular class are compar ative approach, discussion and
project work, these being the most recommended tech niques by Byram (1997) and
Pulverness (2004). The respondents showed a great d eal of curiosity and openness, the
attitudes advocated by Byram (2002), in willingness to visit some of the target culture
countries giving culture as their reason for doing so in 42% of responds.
What transpires from the research is the fact that even though the evaluated
textbooks do not meet requirements for developing c ulture awareness, there are other
supplementary materials being used in the lessons a s Pulverness claims compensate or
diversify the cultural content of the textbook. (Pu lverness 2004) Skopinskaja suggests
that it is up to teacher to decide how to use a par ticular textbook. She considers textbook
to be:
…a tool in the hands of a teacher who must know not only how to use it, but
also how useful interculturally it can be. By havin g a clear idea of cultural goals
of FL [foreign language] instruction as well as bea ring in mind the students’
interests and needs, the teacher should try to use their TM [teaching materials]
critically as well as creatively. (Skopinskaja 1992 :52-53)

7. Conclusion
This thesis set out to look at how cultural awarene ss is developed in primary
level foreign language learners. For this purpose, culture defined by Tomalin and
Stempleski (in Moran 2001:17) as products, practice s, perspectives, communities and
persons and intercultural communicative competence consisting of attitudes,
knowledge, skills and critical cultural awareness ( Byram 2000) were taken as
authoritative sources. The second chapter reviewed the development of theories of the
relationship between language and culture and estab lished culture to be “inextricably
and implicitly related to language.” (Thanasoulas 2 001:6) International understanding,
increased interest in the target countries, increas ed motivation, and understanding own
culture were given as reasons for implementing cult ure learning into the foreign
language education. The potential of culture learni ng was discussed in relation to
Bloom’s taxonomy of teaching aims; attitudes and ge neral education in the affective
domain, factual and procedural knowledge in the cog nitive domain. The last chapter of

the theoretical part examined culture learning proc ess and gave guidelines for culture
teaching. In relation to modern approaches, focus w as put on development of attitudes,
skills and cultural knowledge. The principle of lea rner-centredness and techniques such
as comparative approach (Byram 1999) and culture as similators (Kramsch 1993) were
discussed as well as some tangible teaching aids. S pecial attention was paid to
textbooks, commenting on their function, their stre ngths and weaknesses.
The practical part of the thesis consists of two studies performed in order to find out
how cultural awareness is being developed at Czech primary schools at the level of the
9th grade. The first study concentrated on cultural co ntent of textbooks used in English
language classes. The evaluated textbooks were foun d not to meet adequately the
criteria necessary for developing cultural awarenes s. Nevertheless, the textbook proofed
to be used in the lessons together with newspapers from target culture, audio recordings,
films and photographs. Comparative approach, discus sion and project work are
techniques used. That emerged from the case study p roceeded at one of the Czech
schools. Finally, it is necessary to point out that “it is the responsibility of language
teacher to deal more explicitly and more comprehens ibly with the cultural component in
the classes.” (O’Dowd 2004:94)

Resumé

Práce se zabývá možnými zp ůsoby implementace prvk ů kulturních studií do
výuky anglického jazyka na úrovni základní školy. V teoretické části práce jsou za tímto
účelem vydefinovány termíny související s touto probl ematikou. Je objasn ěn pojem
kultura, v širokém pojetí se skládající ze dvou částí: sociologické a d ějin civilizace.
První část zahrnuje denní aktivity lidí, jejich hodnoty, p ostoje, pat ří sem také jazyk.
Dějiny civilizace, které zahrnují geografii, historii , v ědecké objevy, spole čenské v ědy a
um ění, tvo ří rámec pro sociologické chápání kultury. (Valdes 1 986) Pro pot řeby této
práce se nejlépe hodí termín vydefinovaný Tomalinem a Stepleskim (1993) jako
produkty, praktiky, stanoviska, komunity a lidé. In terkulturní komunikativní
kompetence (intercultural communicative commpetence ) definovaná Byramem (2000)
se skládá z: postoj ů, v ědomostí, dovedností interpreta čních, uvád ění v souvislosti a
dovedností objevovat a uvád ět ve vzájemné vztahy, další část tvo ří kritické kulturní
pov ědomí (critical cultural awareness). Byram rozlišuje mezi interkulturní
komunikativní kompetencí a interkulturní kompetencí , kde první termín vyjad řuje
schopnost komunikovat mezi kulturami v cizím jazyce , zatímco druhý termín v jazyce
mate řském. Kramsch (1993) uvádí, že k dosažení schopnost i komunikovat v cizím
jazyce je zapot řebí kulturního v ědomí a mezinárodní komunikativní kompetence.
Druhá kapitola pojednávající o d ůležitosti za řazení prvk ů kulturního studia do
cizojazy čné výuky nejprve nabízí p řehled teorií o vztahu jazyka a kultury. Je zde
uvedena Whorfova hypotéza, která rozvíjí Sapirovy myšlenky (princip jazykového
determinismu – zp ůsob jak myslíme je determinován jazykem, kterým mlu víme), která
se dnes jeví, podle Salzmana (1997), nadsazená. Sou časné názory na toto téma jsou
prezentovány Hudsonem (1999), který tvrdí, že i kdy ž jazyk neovliv ňuje myšlení jeho
mluv čích, n ěkteré pojmy mohou být snadn ěji vyjád řeny v jednom jazyce než v druhém.
Vzájemný vztah jazyka a kultury p římo vyzívá k implementaci kultury do
cizojazy čného vzd ělávání. Mezinárodní porozum ění, propagované Evropským
rámcovým programem, zvýšená motivace, zvýšený zájem o cílové zem ě, stejn ě jako
porozum ění vlastní kultu ře jsou nej čast ěji uvád ěné p řínosy tohoto vyu čování.
Cíle výuky kultury v cizojazy čném vzd ělávání jsou prodiskutovány na základ ě
revidované Bloomovy taxonomie v další části práce. Je zde citována Byramova
myšlenka nedostižnosti docílení kompletní a dokonal é interkulturní komunikativní

kompetence. Ke schopnosti úsp ěšn ě komunikovat s cílovou zemí proto musí být u žák ů
rozvíjena afektivní a kognitivní oblast této kompet ence. V oblasti afektivní se ustupuje
od rozvíjení pozitivních vztah ů k cílové kultu ře a je doporu čována otev řenost a
zvídavost jako klí čové postoje, spole čně s tolerancí. D ůležitým cílem afektivní oblasti
kompetence je také p ředcházení stereotyp ům a p ředsudk ům v ůč i cílovým kulturám a
mezinárodní porozum ění, rozvíjené uv ědomováním si rozdílných hodnot. Znalost fakt ů
(factual knowledge) a proces ů (procedural knowledge) je sou částí kognitivní oblasti
kompetence. V ědomosti zahrnují znalost kulturních a sociálních po dmínek, kdežto
procesy zahrnují rozvíjení dovedností pracovat s in formacemi – získávat, vyhledávat a
interpretovat, uvád ět v souvislosti.
Poslední kapitola teoretické části se zabývá p římo vyu čovacím procesem, tedy
rolí u čitele v tomto procesu, metodami a materiály, které jsou pro rozvíjení kulturního
pov ědomí vhodné. Výuka kultury v cizojazy čném vyu čování je v sou časné dob ě
chápána jako výuka hodnot (Tomalin, Stempleski 1993 ) založená na kritickém myšlení
a rozvíjení tolerance k rozdíl ům. Podle Byrama (1997) jde o komparativní proces ve
kterém jsou studenti vedeni k uv ědom ění si vlastní kultury a jejímu porovnání
s kulturou cílové zem ě. Autentické materiály jsou doporu čovány jako velice efektivní
zp ůsob p řiblížení cílové kultury žák ům. Jelikož se jedná o dlouhodobý proces je
důležité jasn ě formulovat dosažitelné cíle hodin, p řípadn ě jiných u čebních celk ů.
Hodnocení, d ůležitý aspekt zp ětné vazby, je v tomto p řípad ě pojato formou portfolia,
které má dokumenta ční spíše než klasifika ční funkci. Hodnocení pomocí portfolia je
propagované Radou Evropy. Dále je pojednáno o pokyn ech doporu čovaných pro u čení
kultury, a to p řevážn ě Lessard-Cloustonem (1997) a Moranem (2001).
Důraz je kladen na autonomii žáka, tedy jeho aktivní zapojení do procesu u čení.
Komparativní p řístup k výuce kultury je doporu čovaný Byramem (1999), dále jsou zde
uvedeny používané metody kulturní asimilace (cultur e assimilators) a kulturních kapslí
(culture capsule). Jako velmi ú činné jsou uvád ěné literatura, hraní rolí (role play) a
dramatizace. U čebnice, které obvykle mají dominantní postavení mez i materiály
používanými v hodinách, jsou Skopinskou rozd ěleny na mezinárodn ě používané
učebnice a u čebnice vydávané místn ě v ětšinou se souhlasem Ministerstva školství
ur čené pro jednotlivé státy. Kulturní aspekty jsou v u čebnicích prezentovány nejen
v textech, ale také s pomocí fotografií, map, graf ů a pod. U čebnice musí zahrnovat

rozvíjení v ědomostí, postoj ů a sociokulturní kompetence. U čebnice jsou kritizovány pro
neautentické vyzn ění obsahu, zjednodušení jazyku a nerealistickému v yobrazení
skute čných situací z cílové kultury. Mezi navrhovanými zp ůsoby nápravy je uvád ěno
zahrnutí autentických materiál ů. Dále doporu čované jsou tisk a literatura, stejn ě jako
filmy, které jsou velice p řínosné pro výuku kultury.
Praktická část práce obsahuje dv ě studie zabývající se výukou kultury na
základních školách v České republice. První studie se zam ěřila na u čebnice používané
v devátých ro čnících základních škol s cílem zjistit, které aspek ty kulturních studií
obsahují a do jaké míry. Za tímto ú čelem byla použita metoda obsahové analýzy
učebnic. Kritéria pro hodnocení byla p řejata od Skopinské (1992) a modifikována pro
tuto pot řebu do p ěti bod ů: kulturní obsah, presentace obsahu z hlediska v ědomostí,
presentace obsahu z hlediska postoj ů, presentace obsahu z interkulturního hlediska, a
prezentace obsahu z lingvistického hlediska. Pro po t řeby hodnocení byl sestaven
dotazník skládající se z 24 otázek. Byla provedena evaluace t ří u čebnic, dvou
používaných mezinárodn ě a jedné vydané speciáln ě pro pot řeby českého školství:
Littlejohn, D., Hicks, A. Cambridge English for Schools Three , CUP, 1997;
Hutchinson, T. Project 4 , OUP, 2001; Lacinová, E. Angli čtina pro 9.ro čník ZŠ , Praha:
SPN, 2001.
První část, zabývající se kulturním obsahem obecn ě zjistila, že u čebnice zahrnují
také negativní stránky cílové kultury ve snaze zobr azit realistický pohled na cílovou
kulturu. Místn ě používaná u čebnice zahrnuje podstatn ě více za člen ěný kulturní obsah
než u čebnice mezinárodní, ty však jsou v ěrohodn ější ve vyobrazení postav, které
reprezentují cílové zem ě v učebnicích. Druhá část dotazníku se zam ěřila na prezentaci
vědomostí a zjistila, že u čebnice opomíjejí sd ělovat, která témata jsou spole čensky
přijatelná a která naopak naprosto nep řijatelná pro cílovou kulturu. Také politická
témata jsou opomíjena. Co se tý če prezentace v ědomostí z geografie, historie,
náboženské otázky a podobn ě, ukázaly se u čebnice Project a Angli čtina naprosto
nevhodné. Cambridge English, která se umístila jako nejlepší v této části dotazníku,
neobsahuje ani polovinu požadovaného obsahu kulturn ích v ědomostí.
Ani výsledky další části nejsou uspokojivé, výjimku tvo ří Cambridge English se
70% definovaného obsahu, který se zabýval afektivní oblastí vzd ělávání. Tato část
dotazníku pojednává o rozvíjení tolerance k zemím c ílové kultury, odbourávání

stereotyp ů, uv ědom ění si národní identity, rozvíjení zvídavosti v ůč i cílové kultu ře a do
jaké míry seznamuje u čebnice žáky s vhodným chováním cílové zem ě. V rozvíjení
mezinárodního chápaní se lépe osv ědčila místn ě vydaná u čebnice, jelikož zahrnuje
porovnání kulturních aspekt ů žákovy zem ě se zemí cílovou. Poslední část zabývající se
lingvistickými disciplínami se ukázala být nedostat e čně zahrnuta ve všech zkoumaných
učebnicích. Celkov ě se u čebnice ukázaly být nevhodnými pro výuku kultury ang licky
mluvících zemí. Cambridge English for Schools spl ňuje pouze 48% požadovaných
kritérií, Project 27% a Angli čtina pro 9. ro čníky ZŠ 38%.
Druhá část výzkumu se zam ěřila na u čební proces, konkrétn ě zda je u čebnice
používaná p ří rozvíjení kulturního v ědomí žák ů devátých ro čník ů základních škol. Dále
se výzkum zam ěřil na používané dopl ňkové materiály, techniky a postoje, které žáci
vůč i kultu ře anglicky mluvících zemí chovají. Výzkum byl pojat jako p řípadová studie
jehož data byla získána pomocí formulá ře pro žáky. Jelikož respondenti pocházeli ze
stejné t řídy byla za validní považována data shodné v ětšiny respondent ů.
Výsledky prokázaly, že výuka kultu ře anglicky mluvících zemí se v této t říd ě
nej čast ěji uskute čň uje za pomocí u čebnice, Cambridge English for Schools. Dále je
k rozvíjení kulturního pov ědomí p řistupováno pomocí tisku z anglicky mluvících zemí.
Audio nahrávky, filmy a fotografie jsou v této t říd ě používány k rozvíjení kognitivní
oblasti interkulturní komunikativní kompetence. Zís kané informace o kultu ře anglicky
mluvících zemí jsou ve t říd ě prodiskutovány a porovnány s informacemi o vlastní
kultu ře. Výsledné informace jsou dále p ředm ětem diskuze, je tedy uplat ňován Byramem
doporu čovaný komparativní p řístup. Žáci pracují na projektech o kultu ře anglicky
mluvících zemí. Jako nej čast ější zdroj informací je p ři této činnosti využíván internet,
následován encyklopediemi a u čebnicemi. Hraní rolí se v této t říd ě neuplat ňuje.
Převážná v ětšina žák ů projevila zájem navštívit n ěkterou z anglicky mluvících zemí,
čímž se dokazuje doporu čovaný postoj otev řenosti a zvídavosti afektové oblasti
příslušné kompetence. Jako d ůvod návšt ěvy anglicky mluvící zem ě uvedlo její kulturu
42% dotázaných.
Záv ěrem je t řeba uvést, že a čkoliv se ukázali být zkoumané u čebnice
nevyhovující požadavk ům na rozvíjení kulturního v ědomí žák ů, jsou v hodinách
používaný materiály, které u čebnice dopl ňují, p řípadn ě nahrazují. Skopinskaja (1992)
poznamenává, že rozhodnutí, jak se bude s u čebnicí pracovat je ponecháno na u čiteli.

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Appendix 1: The evaluation questionnaire for foreig n language textbooks

A. Cultural Content
Cambridge
English
Project Angli
čtina
aaa
1. To what extent does the textbook reflect the cul tural character of
foreign society? 4 1 3
2. To what extent is the cultural content integrate d in the course? 3 2 4
3. To what extent are the characters in the textboo k representative of
the foreign society? 3 3 2
Score 10 6 9
B.Presentation of Content: Knowledge
1. To what extent is the historical perspective pre sent to explain the
national identity of the target culture? 3 2 1
2. To what extent is the geographical perspective p resent to explain
certain features of the national character of the t arget language
cultures? 2 2 0
3. To what extent are the political (also ideologic al and religious)
perspectives of the target culture taken into consi deration? 0 1 1
4. To what extent does the textbook offer insight i nto the creative arts
of the target language culture? 1 0 3
5. To what extent does the textbook offer insight i nto a variety of
cultures (for example, British, American, Indian, e tc.)? 3 2 1
6. To what extent does the textbook offer insight i nto a variety of
sub-cultural groups? 3 1 0
7. To what extent does the textbook offer insight i nto the socially
acceptable or taboo topics of the target culture(s) ? 0 0 0
8. To what extent does the textbook offer insight i nto the
cultural/racial/gender stereotypes? 2 0 0
9. To what extent does the textbook offer insight i nto the students’
own culture? 0 0 4
10. To what extent does the textbook offer insight into socio-political
problems of the target language culture(s)? 3 1 0
Score 17 9 10
C. Presentation of Content: Attitudes
1. To what extent does the textbook develop toleran ce towards
otherness? 2 1 1
2. To what extent does the textbook challenge stude nts’ existing
stereotypes? 3 1 0
3. To what extent does the textbook develop a feeli ng of the national
identity? 2 1 4
4. To what extent does the textbook encourage curio sity about other
cultures? 3 2 3

5. To what extent does the textbook prepare student s to behave
adequately when in contact with the members of othe r culture(s)? 4 1 0
Score 14 6 8
D. Presentation of Content: Intercultural Awareness
1. To what extent does the textbook encourage stude nts to compare
the foreign culture with their own? 3 3 4
2. To what extent does the textbook offer mutual re presentations,
images and stereotypes of the students’ own and the foreign culture? 0 0 3
Score 3 3 7
E. Presentation of Content: Culture and Language
1. To what extent does the cultural content of the textbook develop
students’ awareness of different linguistic means t o express their
attitudes? 1 1 0
2. To what extent does the textbook develop student s’ awareness of
the paralinguistic means to express their attitudes ? 0 0 0
3. To what extent does the textbook teach register appropriate to the
students’ needs (formal-informal, slang, regional i dioms, etc.)? 0 0 0
4. To what extent is the material used in the texts , exercises,
dialogues, etc., authentic? 1 1 2
Score 2 2 2
Total Score 46 26 36

Appendix 2: Point scale for evaluating cultural con tent of textbooks

1.A
0 From information conveyed the cultural character of foreign society is not obvious.
1 Only tourism-oriented situations are incorporated.
2 Negative or problematic social and cultural aspects are conveyed to some extent.
3 Negative or problematic social and cultural aspects are conveyed to a large extent.
4 Negative or problematic social and cultural aspects are conveyed in profound
manner to give realistic picture of the foreign soc iety.
2.A
0 Cultural content is presented only in isolated fact s which are not integrated into the
context of the textbook.
1 Cultural content presented by songs, poems, stories , etc. which are not integrated
into the context of the textbook.
2 Cultural content presented in context of special un its dedicated to culture teaching
(usually called culture page, culture matters, etc. ) which are not further integrated
into the textbook
3 Cultural content presented in context of special un its dedicated to culture teaching
which are further integrated into the textbook; som e cultural content is integrated
in the textbook.
4 Cultural content presented in context throughout th e textbook.
3.A
0 Characters’ age, social class, their interests, men tality and family situation pictured
are not representative of the foreign society.
1 Only limited amount of the characters’ features ar e representative of the foreign
society.
2 Only some features are representative of the foreig n society.
3 Almost realistic characters of the foreign society are presented throughout the
textbook.
4 Realistic characters of the foreign society are pre sented throughout the textbook.
1.B
0 Historical perspective is not present at all.
1 Only some isolated facts presented about historical perspective of certain features
of the national character of the target language cu ltures.
2 Limited historical perspective given in context to some national identities.
3 Most national identities presented in textbook are explained from historical point
of view.
4 All national identities presented are explained fro m historical point of view.
2.B
0 Geographical perspective is not present at all.
1 Only some isolated facts presented about geographic al perspective of certain
features of the national character of the target la nguage cultures.
2 Limited geographical perspective given in context t o some national identities.

3 Most national identities presented in textbook are explained from geographical
point of view.
4 All national identities presented are explained fro m geographical point of view.
3.B
0 Political, ideological and religious perspectives o f the target culture are not taken
into consideration at all.
1 Only few facts about political, ideological and rel igious perspectives of the target
cultures are presented.
2 Some aspects of political, ideological and religiou s perspectives of the target
cultures are presented in the textbook.
3 Political information reduced to factual informatio n about political system of a
country; ideological and religious perspectives are dealt with.
4 Most target cultures are realistically presented fr om political, ideological and
religious perspective.
4.B
0 Creative arts of the target culture are not include d in the textbook at all.
1 Some facts about creative arts of the target cultur e are included in the textbook.
2 Limited amount of information about creative arts p resented; one-sided
interpretation of the perspective.
3 Large scale of information about creative arts pres ented.
4 Profound and realistic picture of the creative arts is included (history, famous
works and authors, popular artistic movements, etc. ).
5.B
0 The textbook shows the target cultures as uniform c ultures; does not show its
varieties.
1 Some facts about varieties of cultures presented in the textbook.
2 Information conveyed about varieties of cultures is not sufficient; eventually does
not give realistic picture.
3 Varieties of cultures are pictured to a large exten t but not sufficient for realistic
depiction.
4 Profound picture of varieties of cultures is given.
6.B
0 Sub-cultural groups are not deal with at all in the textbook.
1 Some facts about sub-cultural groups are presented in the textbook.
2 Information conveyed about sub-cultural groups is n ot sufficient; eventually does
not give realistic picture.
3 Sub-cultural groups are pictured to a large extent; but eventually not sufficient for
realistic depiction.
4 Profound picture of sub-cultures is given.
7.B
0 Socially acceptable or taboo topics of the target c ultures are not dealt with at all.
1 Only limited amount of facts about socially accepta ble or taboo topics included in
the textbook; not sufficient at all.
2 Socially acceptable or taboo topics are dealt with in an insufficient manner.

3 Socially acceptable or taboo topics are dealt with to a large extent but the outcome
is not sufficient.
4 Socially acceptable or taboo topics dealt with in p rofound manner; giving learners’
realistic picture about the topic.
8.B
0 The topic of cultural/racial/gender stereotypes is not dealt with at all.
1 Some facts about cultural/racial/gender stereotypes presented in the textbook.
2 The topic of cultural/racial/gender stereotypes is dealt with but not in sufficient
manner.
3 The topic of cultural/racial/gender stereotypes is dealt to a large extent; eventually
the final outcome is not sufficient.
4 The topic of cultural/racial/gender stereotypes is dealt with in profound manner
giving learner realistic picture of the current sit uation.
9.B
0 Student’s culture is not dealt with.
1 Some facts about student’s culture are presented.
2 Student’s culture is dealt with but in insufficient manner.
3 Student’s culture is dealt with in most of the topi cs presented about target culture
in the textbook giving student opportunity to contr ast and compare the two
cultures.
4 Student’s culture is dealt with in profound manner so that students are able to
contrast and compare the two cultures.
10.B
0 Textbook does not show socio-political problems of the target cultures at all.
1 Some facts about socio-political problems of the ta rget cultures are presented in
the textbook but do not have any influence on the f inal learner’s picture about
target culture.
2 Textbook deals with socio-political problems of the target cultures but only in
limited manner.
3 Textbook deals with socio-political problems of the target cultures to a large
extent.
4 Textbook deals with socio-political problems of the target cultures in profound and
realistic manner.
1.C
0 Textbook does not deal with attitudes at all.
1 Textbook’s presentation of otherness does not chall enge students to further action
and so does not have any influence on their attitud es.
2 A few encounters with the target culture included i n the textbook leading to
students’ realization of otherness but not necessar ily to tolerance; provoke students
to examine their attitudes to otherness.
3 Several encounters with the target culture included in the textbook which help
students to explain and understand otherness.
4 Through series of encounters with the target cultur e, textbook presents students
with possible sources of conflict which should serv e as a starting point for
discussion and so developing tolerance to otherness .
2.C

0 Textbook does not deal with stereotypes at all.
1 Some examples of stereotyped attitudes are included in the textbook; they do not
challenge presumptions held by students.
2 Textbook includes some examples of stereotyped atti tudes without encouraging
students to work further with the information.
3 Textbook helps students to become aware of their st ereotyped views through series
of interactions with the foreign culture.
4 Textbook presents examples of stereotyped attitudes held by people of both target
and native culture; simplifications become consciou s and can be made a topic for
discussion.
3.C
0 Textbook does not deal with attitudes at all.
1 Some examples of national identity included in the textbook; they do not challenge
students to further exploration, comparison, etc.
2 A few encounters with the target culture included i n the textbook which not
necessarily lead to students’ realization of nation al identity.
3 Textbook apart from the identity of target culture also deals with student’s own
national identity helping students to realize the d ifferences and similarities;
textbook may provide ‘ready made’ answers.
4 Through serious of encounters with the target cultu re students gain also
understanding of self, their national identity.
4.C
0 Cultural content of the textbook is completely unin teresting for students.
1 Cultural content not appropriate for students becau se of their level of English, age,
interests, social class, etc.
2 Textbook provides only ‘ready made’ answers about t arget culture; difficult to
awake interest in students.
3 Cultural content appropriate to students’ interest; leaving enough space for
interpretation and discussion.
4 Cultural content is so motivating and stimulating f or students that it encourages
their further interest in target culture; work with other materials; look out for
further information.
5.C
0 The textbook does not deal with appropriate behavio ur of the target country at all.
1 The textbook only transmits knowledge or set of beh aviour patterns; students are
not actually taking part in interaction with the ta rget culture.
2 The textbook shows examples of behaviour of the tar get country which might
cause misunderstandings; they might seem strange an d foreign to students.
3 The textbook presents adequate behaviour of the tar get culture leaving enough
space for students to discover, compare, solve prob lems, etc. relating to the topic.
4 The textbook includes apart from knowledge about be haviour of the target culture
and behaviour patterns also interactive tasks which develop students’ sociocultural
competence; textbook also contains tasks which make individual interpretations
topics for classroom discussion.
1.D
0 Students are not encouraged to compare target and o wn culture at all.
1 Very limited access to cultural comparisons is prov ided by textbook.

2 Some cases of cultural comparisons are provided in the textbook but result in
‘ready made’ information.
3 Textbook encourages students to compare selected fe atures of target culture to
student’s own culture; systematic approach to this problem might be missing.
4 Textbook encourages students to compare presented a spects of target culture to
student’s own culture at most cases providing enoug h information for student’s
realistic realization of intercultural differences and similarities and so developing
student’s intercultural awareness.
2.D
0 Textbook does not include mutual representation of cultures at all.
1 Mutual representations, images and stereotypes of s tudent’s own and target culture
are not given special emphasis and are dealt with a s marginal features.
2 Textbook includes some examples of mutual represent ations of both cultures but
the final picture of both cultures is not sufficien t for breaking national stereotypes
about the cultures.
3 Textbook deals with mutual representations, images and stereotypes of student’s
own and target culture to a large extent but the fi nal picture of both cultures is not
realistic or well-balanced.
4 Textbook provides realistic picture of student’s ow n and target culture as seen by
members of other nationalities living in the foreig n country; deals with mutual
stereotypes and images.
1.E
0 Linguistic means for expressing attitudes are compl etely missing in the textbook.
1 Only one way of expressing attitudes is included in the textbook.
2 Only limited scope of linguistic means for expressi ng attitudes is presented in the
textbook.
3 Several varieties of linguistic means for expressin g attitudes are presented in the
cultural content.
4 A large variety of linguistic means for expressing attitudes are presented in the
cultural content making students aware of its compl exity.
2.E
0 Textbook does not deal with paralinguistic features of the target culture at all.
1 Paralinguistic features are not paid special attent ion to.
2 Paralinguistic features are presented in the textbo ok without being properly
explained or presented in context.
3 Textbook introduces students to broad scope of appr opriate non-verbal
communication of the target culture; explaining its use and function.
4 Tasks and exercises urge students to use paralingui stic features of the target culture
presented in the textbook; comparisons are encourag ed.
3.E
0 Textbook uses only formal expressions.
1 Textbook introduces students apart from register of formal also to some informal
expressions of the target country’s language.
2 Some elements of other than formal register are inc luded in the textbook without
being further explained or specified.
3 Students are introduced to very limited register of informal, slang, regional idioms,
etc. with brief explanation.

4 Textbook introduces students to formal and informal register of the target
language, gives a brief overview of its regional va rieties, slang used by their peers
in target countries, giving clear explanation about its proper meaning and use.
4.E
0 Textbook does not contain any authentic materials.
1 Only “face genuineness” appears in the textbooks; i t means that text seems
genuine as text types are simulated in the textbook ; for example letters,
advertisements, announcements, dialogues, etc.
2 Some cultural content is authentic; the textbook ma kes use of authentic materials
such as traditional songs, rhymes, pieces of litera ture, etc.
3 Majority of cultural content is authentic; it means that students are exposed to real
contexts are using language spontaneously covering their genuine needs.
4 Textbook employs all three types of authenticity: t ext authenticity – spoken,
written, graphic used in the textbook; behaviour au thenticity – the tasks, language
activities, exercises which students perform; perso nal authenticity – the student’s
own attitudes towards, acceptance or rejection of t ext and behaviour authenticity.

Appendix 3: Questionnaire for Pupils

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účelemžtohotoždotazníkužježzjistitžjakžježkulturaža nglickyžmluvícíchžzemížvyučovánažnaž
základníchžškolách.žDotazníkžježanonymnížažbudežslo užitžvýhradněžprožpotřebyžmojíž
diplomovéžpráce.žžDěkujížVámžzažochotužažzažčas,žkt erýžvěnujetežvyplněnížtohotoždotazníku !žžžžžžžžžžžžžžžžžžžžžžžžžžžžžžžžžžžžžžžžžžžžžžžžžž žžžžžžžžžžžžžžžžžžžžžžžžžžžžžžžžžžžžžžžžžžžžžžžž
ž
Všechnyžotázkyžsežtýkajížpouzežhodinžanglickéhožjaz yka!ž
ž
1. Čtete články o kultu ře anglicky mluvících zemí? ANO NE
Pokud ano, je to z □ u čebnic
□ anglických/ amerických časopis ů
□ anglických/ amerických novin
□ jiného zdroje
jakého?

2. Dozvídáte se o kultu ře anglicky mluvících zemí z?
□ poslechu kazet, CD
□ sledováním video kazet
□ sledováním film ů
□ prohlížením fotek
□ jiného zdroje
jakého?
3. Diskutujete o získaných informacích? ANO NE

4. Porovnáváte získané informace s informacemi o naší kultu ře?
ANO NE
Pokud ano, jak je porovnáváte? □ diskuzí
□ samostatn ě, písemn ě
□ formou projektu
□ jiným zp ůsobem
jakým?

5. Pracujete na projektech o anglicky mluví cích zemí? ANO NE
Pokud ano, kde vyhledáváte informace?
□ v učebnicích
□ v encyklopediích
□ na internetu
□ jinde
kde?

6. Inscenujete v hodinách skute čné situace? (nap ř. hrajete scénky, v obchod ě, na
pošt ě,…) ANO NE

7. Cht ěl/a by jsi navštívit n ěkterou z anglicky mluvících zemí?
ANO NE
Pokud ano, kterou? __________________
pro č? __________________