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Without doubt, practising ELT teachers need to aware that ELT materials, here
essentially meaning coursebooks, can never be neutral in terms of their cultural
content. This is especially true for native-speaker English language teachers
working outside of their own countries of origin. “If they have any subject
content, coursebooks will directly or indirectly communicate sets of social and
cultural values which are inherent in their make-up. This is the so-called 'hidden
curriculum' which forms part of any educational programme, but is unstated
and undisclosed. It may well be an expression of attitudes and values that are not
consciously held but which nevertheless influence the content and image of the
teaching material, and indeed the whole curriculum. A curriculum (and teaching
materials form part of this) cannot be neutral because it has to reflect a view of
social order and express a value system, implicitly or explicitly.”
(Cunningsworth, A. 1995: 90)
Some of these attitudes, ideas, beliefs or values, which Cunningsworth was
perhaps referring to above, could include, at a macro-level: Individualism: each
person is a distinct being and should assert his/her independence from others;
Egalitarianism: Everyone believes that all humans have equal intrinsic worth;
and Universalism: the value which everyone attributes to the obligation to be
guided by their society’s standards, laws, procedures etc. Furthermore, a more
detailed description might include:
1) People (self included) can be largely defined according to their
work and achievements.
2) People can be positively motivated by a sense of competition.
3) People become irritated if the pace of activities is slower than
their own.
4) People put more faith in the collective wisdom of their group
than in any individual.
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NICOLAS ROBERT HURST
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THE HIDDEN CURRICULUM: ISSUES AND ANGST ABOUT CULTURAL CONTENT IN ELT MATERIALS
One way of illustrating this point is to play a short session of word association:
after relaxing and clearing your mind, be ready to think of three words that
immediately spring to mind after hearing the cue word. The cue word is
“breakfast”. What are the three words? Almost certainly they do not include
“tea” or “toast” or even “eggs” if you come from a cultural background
associated with a Portuguese community. Sometimes it gets taken for granted
that there is cultural correspondence when there is an apparently obvious lexical
correspondence between two languages. Furthermore, consideration needs to be
given to the referred to undisclosed or unstated meaning which in this case may
include indications of economic power or class membership or even religion
when talking about what is possible to include in the meaning of “breakfast”:
how much can you afford to buy for breakfast? Does your social group have
more time for an extended/elaborate breakfast? What does your religion limit
you from eating for breakfast? Reference should be made here to the Sapir-
Whorf hypothesis dating from the 1950s which identified two crucial features in
the nature of language, in that it “influences the way we construct our model of
the world (determinism). And if this I so, other languages convey differing
visions of the same world (relativity)” (Fantini, A.E. 1997: 11)
In terms of the general background to cultural content in coursebooks, it is worth
taking into account two further aspects: how teachers of English as an
identifiable professional group create a dynamic associated with their interests
and work practices: “Methodologies are […] ethnocentric, not in terms of
national cultures, but in terms of groups of teachers or political interest groups.
These methodologies are constructions on reality created largely to satisfy the
needs of the professional-academic cultures of teacher groups. They represent
paradigms which provide these cultures with recipes for action, rather as
scientific paradigms provide recipes for action for scientific groups. Hence, the
maintenance of these methodologies is essential for the cohesion of the teacher
group, and provides the standard for the group's identity.” (Holliday, A. 1994:
90). And secondly, questions concerning the adoption of an appropriate local
methodology. A. Suresh Canagarajah rejects any notion of the existence of a one
size fits all best methodology and urges a non-globalised solution: “How does
classroom practice proceed in a context where there are no formalised, formulaic
methods to deal with? This is perhaps the right moment to empower the local
knowledge of teachers, deriving from their years of accumulated experience,
wisdom, and intuitions about what works best for their students.” (2002: 140)
Perhaps this insight also has equal application in the area of inclusion/selection
of cultural content.
In this light it is important to establish a series of criteria which could help
clarify cultural nuances without resorting to binary distinctions of cultures based
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NICOLAS ROBERT HURST
around associations with nation states. One approach would be to use the list
given below:
Social identity and social groups
(social class, regional identity, ethnic minorities)
Social interaction
(different levels of formality; as an outsider and an insider)
Belief and behaviour
(moral, religious beliefs; daily routines)
Social and political institutions
(state insitutions, health care, law and order, social security, local
government)
National history
(historical and contemporary events seen as markers of national identity)
National geography
(geographical factors seen as being significant by members)
Stereotypes and national identity
(what is “typical”, symbols of national stereotypes)
In addition, Byram makes a strong case for including not only “cultural
awareness” but also “cultural experience” in his model of foreign language
education: “Learners need to be prepared for experience of the daily rhythm of
the foreign culture, of the behavious which are different and those which are the
same but have a different significance. Such phenonema are verbal and non-
verbal, and learners need both the skills of accuracy and fluency in the language
and the awareness of the cultural significance of their utterances.” (Byram, M.
1989: 145)
A more generalist perspective would be to attempt to heighten awareness of
cultural questions among a group of colleagues who were, perhaps, attempting to
choose a new coursebook. An activity based around the worksheet given below
could serve this purpose:
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THE HIDDEN CURRICULUM: ISSUES AND ANGST ABOUT CULTURAL CONTENT IN ELT MATERIALS
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NICOLAS ROBERT HURST
Example(s):_______________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
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drugs, religion and death (still THE taboo subjects in EFL coursebooks) but
found ourselves doing so and being expected to do so. (At the higher level we
got away with more) There was also the great influence of political correctness
at that time, particularly the men vs. women debate, which was US/UK-
teacher/publisher driven rather than student driven. Certain texts were avoided,
others were encouraged – women in important jobs, for example – and others
toned down.” (Bell, J and Gower, R. 1998: 128)
The importance of being sensitive to potential interpretations of cultural content
is also raised by Penny Ur (1991: 197/200) in her discussion of “different kinds
of content” where she identifies four areas which merit special attention with
reference to the notion of an “underlying message in a coursebook”. She also
suggests analtyical strategies; for example: for sexism: “If your book is
illustrated, look at the first 30 pictures. Count the number of men and the
number of women featured in them. If there are no pictures, look at the grammar
and vocabulary exercises, and do the same count on pronouns or nouns of clear
gender. In either case, was there a significant difference? If so, what is the
implication?” Ur goes on to suggest further strategies under the headings of
ageism, social orientation and values.
The Visuals:
what choice of pictures/images; culturally
weighted? intended impact etc
The Linguistics:
use of inclusive/appropriate language;
evidence of bias etc
The Text:
what is the source? what style is it? what
world view does it presuppose? etc
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NICOLAS ROBERT HURST
The Topic:
what is the relationship with the target
culture? are there any institutional
implications or assumptions?
Local Specificity:
how does this relate to the local context: as a
socio-cultural context? to local learners’
needs?
However, the net result of such approaches has tended to produce an increasing
element of “likeness” across all course books, to the extent that there is a lack of
cultural distinctiveness. Restricted exposure of students to “safe” content and
topics only may, in fact, be demotivating as it reduces levels of “engagement”
which has linguistic repercussions. Settings in general English coursebooks tend
to represent a clean, affluent social environment and focus on leisure activities,
entertainment, holidays and shopping. An even more reductive approach to
content as being more a reflection of writers’ interests than the readers’ interests,
has been described in terms of “the 3 Ds of consumerist EFL culture: dinner
parties, dieting and dating”.(Wallace, C. 2002: 109)
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THE HIDDEN CURRICULUM: ISSUES AND ANGST ABOUT CULTURAL CONTENT IN ELT MATERIALS
Bibliography:
BELL, J. and GOWER, R. “Writing Course Materials for the World: A
Great Compromise.” Materials Development in Language Teaching. Ed.
B. TOMLINSON. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1989, p.128.
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