Cultural bias in the 3rd edition of "The Interchange" (Students' book 2)

Table of Contents

1 Background of the Study
1.1 Introduction
1.2 Statement of the Problem of the Study
1.3 Purpose of the Study
1.4 Significance of the Study
1.5 Questions of the study
1.6 Limitations of the Study.

2 Literature Review

3 Methodology
3.1 Models to be Applied
3.2 Materials to be Applied
3.3 Criteria for identifying bias

4 Data Analysis and Findings

5 Discussion

6 Summary and Recommendations
6.1 Summary
6.2 Recommendations

7 References

1. Background of the Study

1.1 Introduction

The interchange third edition book has been chosen in this study because it’s a fully revised edition of new interchange, the world’s most successful English series for adult and young adult learners. As per my long experience in teaching this book in the Middle East, I am one of admirers of this book because it is simple, modernized and it also has valuable information to the learners. The author mentioned in the book that English is not limited to a culture, religion or nationality and it’s a global or international language. Consequently, It’s very important to know whether the aims of the book have been achieved or not. And because the textbook has a strong effect on the learners’ behaviors, It is very crucial to be evaluated culturally in order to know whether it is really suitable for our learners or not.

1.2 Statement of the Problem of the Study

As the adapted textbook is considered a linking joint between the English plan and teaching Assessment (Williams1983), While Mariani (1987) mentioned that the textbook stands as a connector between the English materials and the teaching situation, it is worthwhile to carry out an overall evaluation of New interchange third edition and explore whether the previous mentioned English textbook meets the cultural aims and goals stated or not.

Depending on the current controversies that studying a foreign language is considered a part of gaining cultural acknowledgment which it forms, this paper investigates the cultural bias in the interchange textbook 2 through Washington models for the evaluation of bias content in instructional materials and highlights the cultural awareness in it in order to avoid cultural bias in this book and other materials. This paper highlights the uninteresting parts of the instructional materials that are not suitable to the learners’ cultural differences. It also presents some recommendations to help the syllabus designers, teachers, institutes to avoid cultural bias in the textbooks.

1.3 Purpose of the Study.

In order to take advantage of the developmental value of the summative evaluation, this study intends to conduct an overall evaluation of the interchange textbook in terms of assessing its main strength and weakness of its relevance and bias to the culture at achieving the following goals:

- Conducting an overall culturally evaluation of New interchange book, third edition, across an American model, ethnic, biased language, gender, omission, perspective and other types,.
- Proposing alternatives to the cultural bias in the book to contain all cultures, western and eastern presented equally in the textbook.
- Eliciting the implications of the strengths and weaknesses of the textbook and proposing recommendations to its writer to adjust it.
- Providing a set of recommendations to the Syllabus designers to avoid cultural bias in the textbooks.

1.4 Significance of the Study.

This study is considerably significant because it provides the textbook authors, teachers, and students and institutes with valuable information culturally about Interchange third edition which is currently considered the most successful series in the Middle East. It also provides the institutes’ administrators with an overall evaluation with strong and weak culture’s relevance and bias of the EFL materials they are currently using or developing and pedagogical implications for the design of ESL textbook will be suggested. This study used an American model for evaluation of bias content in instructional materials which is set for teachers, students, institutes administrators, and the textbook authors with a significant qualitative method.

1.5 Questions of the Study.

This study tries to find out responses to the following questions:

- Are different and relevant cultures in regards of the books’ content presented on an equal footing between western and eastern culture?
- Does the course book contain stereotypes of images or unsatisfied pictures of gender, language, social class, Perspective, omission, or nationality to the origin culture of the book or to the eastern culture?

1.6 Limitations of the Study.

This study was limited for the following reasons First, interchange third edition student’s book (2) has been chosen out of four series of Interchange third edition which are intro, Book1, book2, book3. These are considered one of the most important and valuable series in this century because the sales of these series have achieved unbelievable numbers, as you cannot easily find any of these series in the book shops in the Middle East.

Second, Only the Washington Model for the evaluation of bias content in the instructional materials has been chosen and applied to the above mentioned book. Among many models, this Model has been chosen for its accuracy, comprehension and adaptability to this study.

2. Literature Review

Four decades ago, the learner centered instructional form has been come up and gradually most textbooks have been adapted in parallel to it (Brown 1995). Thus, selecting a course book is very crucial because first, a huge amount of money will be spent for years, second, its influence on students, teachers and learning experience is very important, and third, once you choose one of the textbooks, you cannot retreat (Cunningsworth 1995).

The literature suggests that teacher might depend on their intuition when making course planning decisions more frequently than on the data collected which reflects the learners’ needs (Barkhuizen 1998); however the course book has to be evaluated and its evaluation has to reflect the needs of the learners and the aims, methods, and values of the teaching program.

Evaluation may be defined as “a systematic process of determining the extent to which instructional objectives are achieved by pupils” (Gronlund 1981, p.5). There are two important aspects of this definition. First, note that evaluation implies a systematic process, which omits casual, uncontrolled observation of pupils. Second, evaluation assumes that instructional objectives have been previously identified. Without previously determined objectives, it is difficult to judge clearly the nature and extent of pupil learning. While Hutchinson and waters (1987) focus on the evaluation’s features by mentioning it is basically a straightforward and analytical. Straightforward means it should be clear including the judgment and the reasons combined with the treatment suggestions. Analytical means matching the process.

White (1988) stated the types of evaluation are distributed into two categories. The first category is formative, While the second category is summative. The formative evaluation is internal and run during the course. On the contrary, the summative evaluation is external and run after the course is finished.

Cunningsworth (1995) stated that there are four steps in evaluation, First, Analysis-which is collecting data-, second, Interpretation of the data collected- issues and priorities are examined-, third, evaluation which is value judgments of learner and teacher expectations, methodology, needs and so on, Fourth, selection which means matching the demands and needs of the learning situation with the result of the previous steps, However McDonough and shaw (2003) suggested that ELT materials evaluation could be implemented in two integrated steps which are the external and internal steps. The external steps include the print, the visual material, vocabulary list, the presentation, and cultural bias and relevance of the material, while the internal steps include the presentation of the skills, materials’ grading and sequencing and integration of the materials. Nunan (1988) suggested some points in the evaluation which answers many questions for us. First, the areas which should be evaluated in the textbook are initial planning process & needs analysis, selection & grading of content, program goals & objectives, learning activities, implementation & methodology, resources & materials, teacher performance, students’ achievement, assessment and evaluation. Second, the evaluation makers could be at the macro level such as governmental bodies and funding agencies, or at the Local level such as the institutes’ decision makers and teachers, or the Learner-centered context such as teachers & learners, and others such as external expert, curriculum employees, and teacher’s partners. Third, the convenient time of the evaluation could be at any time from the planning stage onward. Fourth, the evaluation could be conducted by various instruments and strategies such as standardized tests, questionnaires, interview, schedules, and observation schedules for classroom interactions.

Peacock (1997) presented a course book evaluation checklist which is distributed into eight sections. One of the most important sections is the Cultural differences. He set some important points about cultural differences in the course book. First, the availability of cultural bias depends on the learners’ points of view. Second, whether a non-western culture depicted as well as the American cultures in the textbook. Third, whether cultural tone eventually convenient in your culture or not.

Skierso (1991) pointed out that the cultural presentation is one of the items has to be considered in evaluating the textbook by asking about whether the textbook differentiates between the American and British English in consideration to the lexis, grammar and structures and if any, how big it is.

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