Culture and English Language Pedagogy: An Analysis of State-governed ELT textbook in AJK

Abstract

The rise of globalization and cultural interconnectivity has made it essential to address cultural aspects in language learning. This paper offers a content analysis contributing to the debate of culture representation in language textbooks. It attempts to explore the types and themes of cultures represented in two English textbooks at secondary level in AJK, adapting Xiao’s (2010) framework. The result shows that the textbooks give an unbalanced representation of cultures by mainly focusing on the Pakistani and Islamic cultures while disregarding international and target cultures. Attempts must be made to integrate a balanced variety of cultures in textbooks as biased exposure will not help language learners develop their intercultural competence necessary for the globalized world.