luận văn thạc sĩ tìm hiểu các yếu tố liên văn hóa trong sách giáo khoa tiếng anh thí điểm ở cấp trung học phổ thông​

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF
LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST –
GRADUATE STUDIES *********************

KIỀU THỊ HÀ

AN INVESTIGATION INTO INTERCULTURAL COMPONENTS IN
THREE PILOTED ENGLISH TEXTBOOKS FOR VIETNAMESE HIGH
SCHOOLS UNDER NATIONAL FOREIGN LANGUAGE 2020 PROJECT.

(Tìm hiểu các yếu tố liên văn hóa trong sách giáo khoa Tiếng Anh thí điểm ở cấp
trung học phổ thông)

M.A MINOR THESIS (Type I)

Field: English Teaching Methodology
Code: 8140231.01

Hanoi - 2019


VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF
LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST –
GRADUATE STUDIES *********************

KIỀU THỊ HÀ

AN INVESTIGATION INTO INTERCULTURAL COMPONENTS IN
THREE PILOTED ENGLISH TEXTBOOKS FOR VIETNAMESE HIGH
SCHOOLS UNDER NATIONAL FOREIGN LANGUAGE 2020 PROJECT.

(Tìm hiểu các yếu tố liên văn hóa trong sách giáo khoa Tiếng Anh thí điểm ở cấp
trung học phổ thông)

M.A MINOR THESIS (Type I)
Field

: English Teaching Methodology

Code

: 8140231.01

Supervisor

: Professor. Nguyễn Hòa

Hanoi - 2019


DECLARATION
I hereby certify that I am the sole author of this thesis and that no part of
this thesis has been published or submitted for publication.
I certify that, to the best of my knowledge, my thesis does not infringe upon
anyone‟s copyright nor violate any proprietary rights and that any ideas, techniques,
quotations, or any other material from the work of other people included in my
thesis, published or otherwise, are fully acknowledged in accordance with the
standard referencing practices.

i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I have taken efforts in this study. However, it would not have been possible
without the tremendous support and help of individuals. I would like to extend our
sincere thanks to all of them.
I am highly indebted to my honor supervisor, Professor Nguyễn Hòa, for his
guide, advice and suggestions as well as correction during the course of my writing.
Secondly, I would like to express my gratitude to my close friend for helping me get
access to necessary information regarding the topic and their support in completing
the study. Thirdly, my thanks go to Ms. Nguyễn Huyền Ly for her comment and
corrective feedback on my work. Last but not least, I also would like to thank my
family for their indispensable support and encouragement. Therefore, it is possible
to state that without the help from the aforementioned people, this paper would
never have been finished

ii


ABSTRACT

As the rise in demand for intercultural communication, using language
appropriately in social and cultural contexts is becoming a concern of the teaching
and the learning process. Textbooks, as the main source of teaching material,
provide learners with not only language input and practice but also intercultural
knowledge and skills to build up learners‟ intercultural communication competence.
For those reasons, I conducted this study to find out whether textbooks under
the NFLP 2020 implemented in high schools include intercultural elements and help
students in improving students‟ intercultural communication competence through
learning tasks. To achieve the aims of the study, I employed both qualitative method

to analyze the content of the textbooks and quantitative method to report the results
of the textbook analysis procedure and to discuss further the findings of the
research.
The results of the study indicate that textbook compilers integrated cultural
information from various sources including intercultural interactions in the textbook
series. On examining learning tasks presented in three textbooks, I found that
textbook writers included tasks to develop students‟ intercultural competence in
different dimensions according to Byram‟s model of IC. The textbook series was
developed in a rather efficient way to help students improve their international
communication skills through diverse activities.

iii


LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

IC

: Intercultural competence

ICC

: Intercultural communication competence

SC

: Source culture

TC

: Target culture

InC

: International culture

ICI

: Intercultural interaction

UC

: Universality across Culture

CEFR

: Common European Framework of Reference for Languages

NFLP

: National Foreign Language 2020 Project

iv


LIST OF TABLES
Table 2.3: The categories and the criteria to classify culture (adapted Chao (2011))
………………………............................................................................................. 17
Table 3.1.1: Topics presented in the textbooks for high school students................20
Table 4.1.a: Numbers of aspects of analysis on cultural-related content.................41

Table 4.1.b: Percentage of Source Culture, Target Culture, International Culture,
Intercultural Interaction and Universality across culture in three textbooks............42
Table 4.1.c: Frequency of Source Culture, Target Culture, International Culture,
Intercultural Interaction and Universality across culture......................................... 43
Table 4.2.1: Dimensions of IC addressed in the learning tasks of three textbooks. 48

v


LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 2.2.2.: Factors in intercultural communication (Byram, 1997, p. 34)..........12
Figure 2.2.2.d: Byram‟s Model of intercultural communication competence (1997)
................................................................................................................................. 14
Figure 3.2.1.a. Tieng Anh 10 representing source culture (Unit 3, p. 32)...............23
Figure 3.2.1.b: Tieng Anh 11 representing target culture (Unit 7, p.22).................24
Figure 3.2.1.c: Tieng Anh 11 representing international culture (Unit 5, p. 62)......25
Figure 3.2.1.d: Tieng Anh 10 representing intercultural interaction (Unit 4, p. 42) 26
Figure 3.2.1.e Tieng Anh 12 representing universality across culture. (Unit 7, p.22) . 27

Figure 3.3.3.a: An example of the learning task developing knowledge. (Tieng Anh 11,

p. 64)....................................................................................................................... 36
Figure 3.3.3.b: An example of the learning task developing attitudes ( Tieng Anh 10,

p.16)........................................................................................................................ 37
Figure 3.3.3.c: An example of the learning task developing attitudes (Tieng Anh 11,
p.11)......................................................................................................................... 37
Figure 3.3.3.d: An example of the learning task developing attitudes 37(Tieng Anh 12,

p.24)........................................................................................................................ 37

Figure 3.3.3.e: An example of the learning task developing skills of interpreting and

relating (Tieng Anh 10, p.24)................................................................................... 38
Figure 3.3.3.f: An example of the learning task developing skills of discovery (Tieng

Anh 11, p.41)........................................................................................................... 39
Figure 3.3.3.g: An example of the learning task developing skills of discovery (Tieng

Anh 10, p.11)........................................................................................................... 40
Figure 4.2.1: Ratio of learning tasks aiming at increasing learners‟ IC..................47

vi


APPENDICES
Appendix 1: Coding scheme- Sources of cultural information ................................ I
Appendix 2: Coding scheme- Learning task analysis .............................................. II

Appendix 3: An example of a learning task aiming at developing students‟ attitude
in Tieng Anh 10 (p.10) ............................................................................................. III
Appendix 4: An example of a learning task aiming at developing students‟ attitudes
in Tieng Anh 10 (p.45) ............................................................................................ IV

Appendix 5: An example of a learning task aiming at developing students‟ skills of
discovery in Tieng Anh 11 (p.54) ............................................................................. V

Appendix 6: An example of a learning task aiming at developing students‟ skills of
discovery in Tieng Anh 10 (p.11) ........................................................................... VI

vii

TABLE OF CONTENTS

DECLARATION.................................................................................................... i
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS................................................................................. ii
ABSTRACT......................................................................................................... iii
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS.............................................................................. iv
LIST OF TABLES................................................................................................. v
LIST OF FIGURES............................................................................................. vi
APPENDICES..................................................................................................... vii
TABLE OF CONTENTS................................................................................... viii
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION........................................................................ 1
1.1. Rationale for the study.................................................................................. 1
1.2. Aims of the study and research questions.................................................... 3
1.3. Methods of the study..................................................................................... 4
1.4. Significance of the study............................................................................... 4
1.5. Scope of the study.......................................................................................... 4
1.6. Structure of the thesis................................................................................... 5
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW............................................................ 6
2.1 Role of textbooks as a source of cultural inputs........................................... 6
2.2 Intercultural communication competence.................................................. 10
2.2.1 Intercultural communication competence in English language teaching .10

2.2.2 Model of intercultural communication competence.................................12
2.2.3 Intercultural dimensions.......................................................................... 14
2.3 Sources of cultural information.................................................................. 15
CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY..................................................................... 18
3.1. Textbook description................................................................................... 18
3.1.1. Textbook structure................................................................................... 19

3.1.2. Structure of ONE unit............................................................................. 20

viii


3.2. Addressing research question 1 ...................................................................
3.2.1. Research instruments ...............................................................................

3.2.2Data collecting procedure ................

3.2.3Data analysis ...................................
3.3. Addressing research question 2 ...................................................................

3.3.1Research instruments .......................

3.3.2Data collecting procedure ................

3.3.3Data analysis ...................................
CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS ...............................................

4.1.The findings for the first research question. .....................
4.1.1 Findings .....................................................................................................
4.1.2. Discussion ................................................................................................

4.2.The findings for the second research question. ................
4.2.1 Findings .....................................................................................................
4.2.2 Discussion .................................................................................................
4.2.2.1 Knowledge of cultures ............................................................................
4.2.2.2 Attitudes toward cultures........................................................................
4.2.2.3 Skills of interpreting and relating ..........................................................

4.2.2.4 Skills of discovery ...................................................................................

4.3.Concluding remarks ...........................................................
CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION ............................................................................

5.1.Recap and conclusion of the study ....................................

5.2.Implications and recommendation ....................................
5.3 Limitations ......................................................................................................
5.4 Suggestions for further studies ......................................................................
REFERENCES ......................................................................................................
APPENDICES .........................................................................................................

ix


CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

1.1. Rationale for the study
In today‟s world, globalization has brought nations, cultures, and people
closer. English becomes the language for international trade, commerce, and
communication and its teaching and learning become growing needs. (Farzaneh,
Konhandami, & Nejadannsari, 2014). Language does not exist in a vacuum but it is
a part of society and culture. Therefore, teaching and learning a language also
means learning about the culture of that language. The relationship between
language and culture in English language classrooms has been the focus of many
studies (Kramsch,1993; Byram,1989).
Communication among people from different cultural backgrounds may cause
misunderstanding in intercultural situations as people may base on their cultures for
interpretations (Kramsch, 1993). Therefore, there is a hidden risk of false

impression and conflict if one uses a language without the understanding of culture
background (Woflson, 1989). To avoid misinterpretation in international situations,
learners of foreign languages should draw attention to cultural differences when
communicating. Apart from that, they should be equipped with knowledge and
skills to deal with conveying their messages in an intercultural environment while
learning foreign languages.
Teaching materials have a powerful influence on the process of teaching and
learning a language. According to Tomlinson (1998), materials can be instructional,
experiential, elicititative and exploratory for learners to discover the language.
Textbooks are one of the main sources of inputs for learners and the language
practice that takes place in classrooms. Since the contents of textbooks have a
significant association with the learning of the students, it is supposed that
textbooks should include intercultural knowledge which can help learners
communicative successfully in intercultural contexts. In other words, apart from
language skills, textbooks also provide intercultural knowledge and provide chances
1


for learners to improve intercultural communication skills so that they can build up
their intercultural communication competence.
Recently, there is an increasing trend of high school students applying for
other high schools, colleges or universities in English speaking countries after
finishing at least a semester. Therefore, teaching and learning English are given
significant attention to help students with sufficient skills to be independent and
confident especially when studying abroad. It is necessary to raise awareness and
equip students with knowledge of cultural differences, skills to communicate with
people from different cultures to avoid misunderstanding. That would help them
survive in international environments.
There are numerous studies on intercultural communication in many aspects.
Walinski (2012) focused on the way to enhance ICC in an online assessment

environment using the CEFcult project. Reid (2015), on the other hand, exploited
techniques that develop ICC in English lessons. It is a brief guidance to teachers on
how to integrate ICC in English language lessons. Moeller and Nugent (2014) were
also interested in developing ICC in classrooms. They reviewed and summarized
models of intercultural competence and examples of tasks that promote ICC and can
be practiced in classrooms.
In Vietnam, a new English textbook series has been implemented in some
Vietnamese high schools under the National Foreign Language 2020 Project for 5
years. The new English textbook series shows their improvements in many aspects
as compared with the previous ones such as book structure, unit structure,
component heading, and time allocated. Since the English textbook series was
piloted in high schools, there exists a question about whether the textbooks can
server the objectives of teaching and learning English at the school context. There
are some studies to investigate some aspects when implementing the series in some
schools. Hoang (2017) looked into teachers‟ and students‟ attitudes toward the
piloted textbook in a high school in Nam Dinh. In 2018, Nguyen dug into how
source culture, target culture, and international culture were represented in the

2


textbook series for high schools in visual forms, texts or listening, and speaking
tasks. There has also been much research related to analyzing cultural and
intercultural elements and components in textbooks. For example, Farzaneh et.al
(2014) sought social-cultural contexts in Top Notch series. However, there has not
been any study on intercultural components and learning tasks in the piloted English
textbooks under the 2020 project. The above-mentioned reasons motivated me to
investigate intercultural components presented in the new pilot textbooks
implemented at high schools to find out whether those textbooks could foster
intercultural communication in students through learning tasks and the dimension of

IC that can be found in learning tasks.
1.2. Aims of the study and research questions
In order to seek the answer to whether English textbooks under the national
project 2020 launched by the Ministry of Education and Training foster ICC, the
study sets out to investigate intercultural components and the learning tasks
presented in the textbooks. With a view to enhancing students‟ ICC, it is important
that textbooks should provide inputs as well as practice for students to develop all
dimensions of ICC knowledge, attitudes and skills. Therefore, the research also
aims at investigating intercultural elements and the dimensions of intercultural
communication competence that the learning tasks in the textbooks address. The
results of the study can be a reference for teachers for appropriate adaptation and
adjustment of the material to suit their teaching contexts as well as to meet their
students‟ needs.
The research will try to find the answer for the following questions to serve
above-mentioned objectives:
 What proportions of intercultural components can be found in the analyzed

textbooks?

 What dimensions of intercultural communication do the learning tasks in

those textbooks address?

3


1.3. Methods of the study
This study is conducted mainly as a qualitative method that is descriptive in
design, accompanied by quantitative analysis of the intercultural elements and the
learning tasks in the textbooks. The data were coded in explicit categories and then

described using statistics. In content analysis, I used existing theories and prior
research to aid in the identification of the variables in order to develop the coding
scheme or the initial coding categories for data analysis.
After building a coding scheme, I identified culture-related content in Tieng
Anh 10, Tieng Anh 11, and Tieng Anh 12. Cultural-related content can be in visual
forms such as pictures, maps, charts, photographs, and illustration; in written form
like name of characters, places, themes of written text or in a list of cultural
references. Apart from that, learning tasks in textbooks such as follow-up exercises,
questions following listening recordings or reading texts were also analyzed.
Exercises or learning tasks which provide students with knowledge about
vocabulary or pronunciation were not counted to analyze because those tasks aim at
improving their language skills only.
1.4. Significance of the study
The result of the study would be expected to draw English teachers in high
schools to the issue. It is a reference for them to consult when adopting the
textbooks to involve cultural knowledge as well as intercultural communication
skills and integrate them into teaching language skills. It is anticipated that this
would ultimately improve the teaching and learning environment so that it can meet
the students‟ needs. These answers to the research questions also are expected to be
a theoretical background for any changes or plans implemented at school in English
subject.
1.5. Scope of the study
In point of fact, the Ten-year English Textbook Series for Vietnamese
Secondary Schools under the National Foreign Language 2020 Project consists of
primary textbooks, lower secondary textbooks, upper secondary ones. As a series,

4


there is complete integration and articulation among the textbooks for three levels.

Therefore, it is far better to investigate the entire textbook series from grade 3 to
grade 12 so that a general overview of intercultural content and learning tasks can
be evaluated. Nevertheless, this research study only Student‟s books for high school
level for reasons of space and time.
Particularly, the study only focused on exploiting intercultural elements in
correlation with other sources of cultural information presented in students‟ books
for grades 10, 11, 12 in all forms of information such as reading texts, listening
recordings, conversations, learning tasks, pictures. After investigating the
knowledge of cultures, the learning tasks presented in three books are also analyzed
to find out whether they address the dimensions of intercultural competence such as
attitudes or skills.
1.6. Structure of the thesis
Chapter 1 Introduction: presents the rationale, aims, methodology, significance and
scope of the study.
Chapter 2: Literature review – covers the overview of the literature which includes
relevant theoretical background, and framework for the study.
Chapter 3: Methodology - in this chapter, the introduction of the research method
including, data collection instruments, data collection procedure, and data analysis
procedure are presented.
Chapter 4: Findings and discussion – demonstrates the findings accompanied by
data analysis and discussion.
Chapter 5: Conclusion: which is the last chapter, followed by references is the
summary of the whole study. The limitation of the study and suggestions for further
study are also recommended.

5


CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

In this chapter, a review of the literature on theory and models of analyzing
tasks is provided. First, the role of the textbooks as a source of cultural inputs was
introduced. Second, intercultural communication competence in language teaching,
models to understand ICC, as well as intercultural dimensions, was presented.
Following this, the study reviewed sources of cultural information.
2.1 Role of textbooks as a source of cultural inputs
Textbooks are among the essential components in language classrooms. They
serve as basic input of the language learners receive and the language practice that
occurs in classrooms. They may provide the basis for the content of the lessons and
for students, textbooks are major sources of contact that they have with the target
language apart from teachers. For language teachers, textbooks serve as a guide
which supplies systematic and comprehensive cultural perspectives. With the shift
in linguistic theories, people have tended to focus on teaching language in contexts.
Social contexts, everyday life and the natural environment of the target culture have
been gradually paid attention to in the textbooks as linguistic inputs. Therefore,
foreign language classes should include cultural components incorporated within
classroom materials or real-life experiences.
Textbooks are important inputs to create cultural contact for learners, in
consideration of the impact of authentic material (Ihm, 1996). Nowadays, the spread
of English has resulted in its becoming a lingua franca (Canagarajah, 2006) and, as
an international language, is said to have more non-native speakers than native
speakers (Maley, 2009). This has made the relationship between language and
culture more complex, changeable and emergent (Baker, 2008), with interactions by
people from different cultures. To communicate successfully with people from
different countries and cultures, students‟ linguistic competence is not enough. As
language does not exist in isolation but is part of a society and culture, it is vital for
language learners to be aware of cultural differences to avoid misunderstanding in
6

an intercultural setting, since interpretations are based on assumptions and
perceptions from their own culture (Kramsch, 1993). For many students who take
English as a foreign language, classrooms may be the main place for them to
experience some connection with the culture and practice using the target language
in contexts provided in textbooks. However, because other goals of foreign
language teaching such as four language skills - listening, reading, speaking,
writing, grammar, vocabulary takes so much time. Hence, it is possible that there is
not enough time for intercultural teaching. Although Kaikkonen (1994) indicated
that the aims of teaching foreign languages seem to be internationality and a better
understanding of target culture, Byram & Morgan (1994) stated that the full
potential of language and culture is not fulfilled. Kaikkonen (1994) continued that
people might feel suspicious and afraid of foreign cultures. One aim of intercultural
teaching is to practice the understanding of diversity: while learning foreign
languages. One also has to change one‟s view of the world and develop a new level
of consciousness, as he is expose to authentic contexts as well as information about
the world described in the textbooks. This new way of thinking enables language
learners to understand other cultures better, survive in the international environment,
and develop their sense of justice further.
To be effective in promoting intercultural communication competence, it is
suggested that textbooks be designed accordingly and that both linguistic and
cultural objectives should overlap. Students should be equipped with the knowledge
of not only their own culture but also the target culture as well as other countries‟
cultures. Apart from that, the intercultural approach in foreign language teaching
promotes linguistic competence as well as intercultural communicative competence,
and aims at developing the awareness of the cultural differences, which may
interfere with communication and understanding between the learners‟ own culture
and the target culture (Byram, 1997). Nowadays, it is assumed that the knowledge
of one‟s own and foreign cultures broadens one‟s worldview and in general and

7

enriches one‟s life by providing access to new cultures.
Language expresses the thoughts, belief, and assumptions of a community
hence language reflects the way of looking at the world and understanding reality.
Byram (1989) believed that language is a tool to express the speaker‟s knowledge
and perception of the real world, thus it reflects their cultural concepts and values.
He continued that one cannot learn a language and neglect its culture because
speaking a language means expressing its culture, exchanging a language embodies
a particular way of thinking and living. Moreover, according to Byram (1989)
cultural awareness is very important in language teaching because it contributes to
language proficiency. He insisted that any language curriculum should include
either implicitly or explicitly elements of its culture because language reflects the
speaker‟s values and perception of the world. Therefore, textbooks, as considered a
curriculum guideline, are effective instruments for educational practice, language
resources and sets of cultural values.
According to Kramsch (1993), the problem in the previous approaches to
culture has been the promotion of facts over meanings instead of enabling the
learners to understand foreign attitudes and values. Corbett (2003) stated that the
aim of the intercultural approach is to gain intercultural communicative competence
which means the ability to understand the language and behavior of the target
culture and the ability to act as a diplomat between one‟s own culture and the target
culture. In this approach, it is more important for learners to achieve ICC rather than
native-like speaker proficiency. Corbett also pointed out that intercultural
understanding should be considered an equally important aspect of language
learning.
In 1997, Byram pointed out three dimensions of intercultural competenceknowledge, skills, and attitudes. Having an intercultural attitudes means being
curious and open towards foreign cultures and being able to understand that one‟s
own attitudes are not the only possible way to perceive the world and reality.
Secondly, having intercultural knowledge includes not only knowing about how

8


social groups and identities of foreign culture function and one‟s own culture
function but also understanding the norms and values in every culture. Thirdly, there
are intercultural skills that should be taught to learners that are comparing,
interpreting and relating their own culture as well as the foreign cultures. Therefore,
it is necessary to include these aspects in textbooks to provide students with models
and inputs to practice the language in social contexts. Apart from that, textbooks are
also a guideline to teach language learners to search for information on their own
since teachers cannot anticipate all the knowledge that they might need in the future.
In language classrooms under the intercultural perspective, students are
encouraged to learn languages for cultural understanding to be able to cognitively
analyze foreign cultures, people and the cultural artifacts. Integrating linguistic and
cultural learning enables the critical assessment of the mainstream culture into
which the pupils are socialized. According to Elomaa (2009), textbooks have a
critical role in promoting the principles of intercultural learning and teaching as they
have a significant influence on pupils‟ attitudes towards foreign cultures. Ideally,
the textbooks would get students interested in the target culture by presenting the
culture, language, and mentality of the target countries in an interesting and
motivating way. Additionally, the textbook contents should also be meaningful in
order to support the intercultural approach. For example, learners should be able to
use the learned information in real life. The aim of the intercultural approach is that
students would realize that there are no better or worse cultures but just culturespecific features, which direct the use of language and behaviors. Therefore, the
teaching of one‟s own culture and comparing it with other foreign cultures are also
a very important aspect of intercultural learning. Textbooks, in order to be effective,
have to include activities such as role-plays, project work, discussion and so on
which should result in understanding, discussing and writing in the target language
rather than memorizing information. Moreover, textbook activities should support
critical thinking via comparing and contrasting, which leads students to analyze the

information including local and international

9


characteristics, and their relevance to language learners‟ experiences.
2.2 Intercultural communication competence
2.2.1 Intercultural communication competence in English language teaching
Language teaching and learning about target culture are so deeply embedded
that one cannot be fully accomplished without considering the other. When teaching
a foreign language such as English, teachers must take different aspects into account
including the role of culture in language and the role language plays in the cultural
expressions we make. One of the major goals of teaching English as an international
language is to make it easier for learners to communicate their ideas and cultural
understandings in the medium of English. Intercultural competence, the ultimate
aim of acquiring language, cannot be attained if the textbooks focus solely on the
learners‟ native culture or the target culture.
According to Fantini (2009), intercultural competence is defined as the
complex abilities that are required to perform effectively and appropriately when
interacting with others who are linguistically and culturally different from
themselves. He emphasized the ability to use language to convey interlocutor‟s
messages and make them understood by people speaking different languages.
However, the choice of language forms should be appropriate in certain social
contexts. In Fantini‟s definition, he claimed on the effectiveness and
appropriateness of conversation when communicating with people from different
cultures. According to Huang, Rayner and Zhuang (2003), a person who has
intercultural competence can develop relationships with people from different
cultures, manage to solve complicated conflicts by crossing the barriers that arise as
a result of cultural differences and improve the ability to do business with
counterparts from different cultures. Hence, learning to deal with different cultures

effectively requires cultural awareness, communicative competence, personal
attitudes like empathy and flexibility, self - awareness and understanding others‟
values, norms and beliefs.
One of the major goals of teaching English as an international language is to
make it easier for learners to communicate their ideas and cultural understandings in
10


the medium of English. Therefore, communicative competence is highlighted under
the communicative language teaching theory. To develop students‟ communicative
competence, learners have to improve their foreign language in four dimensions.
Firstly, linguistic competence refers to the ability to produce and interpret
meaningful utterances with the rules of the languages. Secondly, with
sociolinguistic competence, students should also be taught to be aware of the ways
in which the choice of language form is determined by the condition of setting,
religions, gender, social status, and the relationship between communication
partners or communicative intention. The third competence refers to the ability to
use appropriate strategies in the construction and interpretation of spoken or written
texts - discourse competence. Students with strategic competence may find suitable
strategies to overcome difficulties when communicating due to a lack of linguistic
ability.
Intercultural communication competence has been endorsed by many
educational organizations around the world and it is essential that ICC be integrated
into language teaching as well as English language teaching. Intercultural
communicative competence refers to an individual‟s ability to navigate within a
given society appropriately in a foreign language. In other words, individuals are
able to use appropriate language, understand the unspoken meaning in words,
appreciate the cultural underpinnings in any communication, and make appropriate
cultural references to aid in understanding the messages hidden in conversation.
To improve ICC, students are expected to acquire competences in knowledge,

attitudes, and skills related to IC while using a foreign language (Byram, 1997). He
also stated that teachers may lead students through activities in classrooms to use
target language that structure new discoveries about others from different cultures
and about themselves rather than fostering them to use foreign language like native
speakers. Therefore, textbooks would be a significant resource for both teachers and
language learners. The learning tasks presented in those textbooks should exemplify
the best practice in ICC and cover multicultural information to meet the growing

11


need for the development of ICC.
2.2.2 Model of intercultural communication competence
There are several models of ICC has been conceptualized to suit diverse
contexts. In a foreign language teaching context, some models of ICC can be taken
into consideration.
The best-known model of ICC in foreign language teaching is the one
developed by Byram (1997). It is considered the most comprehensive framework to
develop and assess learners‟ ICC in various contexts. Byram‟s model is based on
Hymes and van Ek‟s model of communication competence. Similar to the two
models above, his model also started off with the analysis of core factors which are
knowledge, skills, and attitude. In his model, he also highlights the IC is related to
other competences like linguistic competence, sociolinguistic competence, and
discourse competence.

of s

intera

Discover and/or interact

(savoir apprendre/faire)
Figure 2.2.2.: Factors in intercultural communication (Byram, 1997, p. 34)
Based on this model, he built up a specific educational objective designed for
language and culture learning and they are also guiding criteria to develop and
assess learners‟ IC in language classes. According to Byram, curious and open

12


attitude are essential and pre-condition for successful IC as if there is no desire to
communicate with people from different languages and cultural backgrounds, there
will never be any development in skills and knowledge. He also stated that attitude
does not necessarily have to be positive. Another precondition individuals bring into
IC is their knowledge. Byram divided knowledge into two categories. The first
knowledge about social groups in one‟s own country and their culture and the
second one is the knowledge of concepts and processes in interaction. This
knowledge takes into account the linguistic and cultural behaviors of the
participants. Finally, he mentioned two skills which were dependent on the
participants‟ knowledge and attitudes. Skills of interpreting and relating refer to the
ability to interpret a document or an event from other countries to explain and relate
its to documents and events on one‟s own culture. Those skills require existing
knowledge to understand and relate specific examples in the target language. The
second set of skills, discovering and relating are described as the ability to use
existing knowledge to detect and respond to new knowledge of cultural practices as
well as to manage these different interpretations and discoveries in a real-time
conversation influenced by time and perception (Byram, 1997). Both skills require
the active engagement of participants in intercultural communication.
In Byram‟s model, there is a combination of intercultural competence and
communicative competence, thus it is considered the most comprehensive model of
intercultural communicative competence in language teaching.

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Figure 2.2.2.d: Byram’s Model of intercultural communication competence (1997)
In this study, Byram‟s model is used as a framework to analyze intercultural
elements and learning tasks in the textbook.
2.2.3 Intercultural dimensions
As mentioned in the previous part, learners have to acquire necessary
competences in terms of knowledge, skills, attitudes, and awareness to develop ICC
(Byram, 1997). The foundation of IC is the attitude of intercultural speakers and
mediators. It refers to the ability to see other cultures and one‟s own culture from
different prisms with curiosity, openness, readiness to suspend disbelief about other
cultures and belief about own culture. It also involves cultural awareness, the
understanding and the acceptance of other cultures. It is also necessary for one to be
capable of seeing their own culture from an outsider‟s perspective who has different
sets of beliefs, values, and behaviors.
Another significant factor is knowledge. Although it is not possible to acquire
or to anticipate all the knowledge one might need in interacting with people of other
cultures, it is essential to gain knowledge about a specific culture as well as
knowledge of how social groups and identities function and what involves in

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