Dina Ampera, Yusuf Iskandar, Ahmad A.S. Tabieh, Zubair Ahmed Soomro
Language, as we understand it, is not only the product of culture, but also the emblem of culture (Gleason, 1961). Therefore, as far as the teaching of language is concerned, culture must be incorporated outrightly as an indispensable component of second language learning and teaching. In the environment of the EFL classroom learning, the inclusion of cultural visuals in textbooks has been found to enhance the learning efficiency in the language. The supplementary visuals of cultural background play a positive and essential role in developing a deep-rooted understanding of the language. The aim of this research is to analyze the students’ interpretation of the cultural visuals used in the EFL textbooks. We know that each student’s interpretation is different with respect to the cultural visuals in textbooks. The cause may lie in their different ethnic backgrounds and/ or knowledge about cultures other than their own. The outcome obtained is then divided into three major categories i.e. universal, cultural and subcultural individuals. The researcher has been able to affirm the notion that the prior knowledge of students about the culture of the target language helps them to create a strong foundation in the learning process. Further, the visuals of culture in EFL textbooks can draw a basic understating of students to help them in negotiating cultural understanding. © 2021 Asian EFL Journal Press. All rights reserved.
Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Negeri Medan, Indonesia; Management Study Program, Faculty of Business and Humanities, Universitas Nusa Putra, Indonesia; Middle East University, Jordan; School of Languages and Applied Linguistics, University of Portsmouth, United Kingdom
