Post-Practicum Pre-Service Teachers' Perspectives on Cultural Content in CEFR-Aligned Primary English Language (ELT) Textbooks

Abstract

This quantitative study investigates the perspective of postpracticum pre-service teachers on the cultural content in CEFRaligned English Language (ELT) textbooks following their practicum experiences. To address the ongoing discourse on the need for balanced cultural representation in CEFR-aligned ELT materials and to guide future material selection and development, this research delved into two key areas: (a) the variety and
representation of cultural content in these textbooks, and (b) the preferred ranking of cultural categories to be prioritised in CEFRAligned ELT textbooks. Findings reveal that while respondents found the textbooks culturally appropriate (M=2.74), there was a pronounced deficiency in the representation of the source culture (M=2.16), as opposed to the significant emphasis on target culture (M=3.49). Respondents expressed a preference towards source culture (N=212), followed by target culture (N=205) and
international foreign culture (N=165). This research recommends increasing the sample size, and conducting a comparative analysis between locally developed and currently-used CEFRaligned ELT textbooks to gain further insights into cultural representation in English language teaching.