Multicultural Values Represented in English Textbooks for Indonesian Learners: A Social Semiotic Analysis
Keywords:
English textbook, multicultural values, social semiotic analysis, multicultural education, multiculturalism
Abstract
The social semiotic analysis in this study aims to (1) reveal what multicultural values are found in ELT textbooks for ninth-grade learners, (2) explain how the texts and the images in the analyzed textbooks present multicultural values, and (3) uncover how social semiotics dimensions can decode multicultural values. This study finds that among four multicultural values discovered in the textbooks, responsibility to the world community has the most frequent appearance while respect for human dignity and universal human rights has the least frequent appearance. Those values are presented denotatively and connotatively through texts, images, and texts-images. Based on the findings, textbook authors are recommended to include more content and add learning activities that facilitate discussions and reflections on multiculturalism. In addition, this research suggests that English teachers who use these textbooks add learning activities that enable students to discuss multicultural values since, in this study, multicultural values are mainly presented connotatively.
References
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Tabatadze, S., Gorgadze, N., Gabunia, K., & Tinikashvili, D. (2020). Intercultural content and perspectives in school textbooks in Georgia. Intercultural Education, 31(4), 462–481. https://doi.org/10.1080/14675986.2020.1747290
Tajeddin, Z., & Teimournezhad, S. (2015). Exploring the hidden agenda in the representation of culture in international and localised ELT textbooks. Language Learning Journal, 43(2), 180–193. https://doi.org/10.1080/09571736.2013.869942
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Van Leeuwen, T. (2005). Introducing Social Semiotics. Routledge.
Wang, J. (2014). Criticising images: Critical discourse analysis of visual semiosis in picture news. Critical Arts, 28(2), 264–286. https://doi.org/10.1080/02560046.2014.906344
Weninger, C. (2020). Multimodality in critical language textbook analysis. Language, Culture and Curriculum, 0(0), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1080/07908318.2020.1797083
Xiang, R., & Yenika-Agbaw, V. (2021). EFL textbooks, culture and power: a critical content analysis of EFL textbooks for ethnic Mongols in China. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 42(4), 327–341. https://doi.org/10.1080/01434632.2019.1692024
Xiong, T., & Peng, Y. (2020). Representing culture in Chinese as a second language textbooks: a critical social semiotic approach. Language, Culture and Curriculum, 0(0), 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/07908318.2020.1797079
Zúñiga, X., Lopez, G. E., & Ford, K. A. (2012). Intergroup Dialogue: Critical Conversations About Difference, Social Identities, and Social Justice: Guest Editors’ Introduction. Equity and Excellence in Education, 45(1), 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1080/10665684.2012.646903
Amerian, M., & Tajabadi, A. (2020). The role of culture in foreign language teaching textbooks: an evaluation of New Headway series from an intercultural perspective. Intercultural Education, 31(6), 623–644. https://doi.org/10.1080/14675986.2020.1747291
Barthes, R. (1977). Hans, Barthes, Heath - 1978 - Image-Music-Text.
Bennett, C. (2010). Comprehensive Multicultural Education: Theory and Practice (7th ed.). Allyn and Bacon.
Bezemer, J., & Jewitt, C. (2009). Social semiotics. Handbook of Pragmatics, December 2015, 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1075/hop.13.soc5
Bouzida, F. (2014). The Semiology Analysis in Media Studies. International Conference on Social Sciences and Humanities, September, 1001–1007.
Cartwright, R. (2010). Book Reviews: Book Reviews. Perspectives in Public Health, 130(5), 239–239. https://doi.org/10.1177/1757913910379198
Cross, T. L., Bazron, B. J., Dennis, K. W., & Isaacs, M. R. (1989). The cultural competence continuum. Towards a Culturally Competent System of Care: A Monograph on Effective Services for Minority Children Who Are Severely Emotionally Disturbed, 20007(202), 13–21.
Cunningsworth, A. (1995). Choosing your coursebook. Heinemann.
Dawoud, H., & Daher, W. (2022). Social semiotics comparison between old and new Palestinian mathematics curriculum for the ninth grade. … Research and Advances in Mathematics, 7(1), 17–26.
Elmiana, D. S. (2019). Pedagogical representation of visual images in EFL textbooks: a multimodal perspective. Pedagogy, Culture and Society, 27(4), 613–628. https://doi.org/10.1080/14681366.2019.1569550
Ersoy, F., & Şahin, T. (2012). Examination of social studies textbooks in terms of approaches of values education. Kuram ve Uygulamada Egitim Bilimleri, 12(2), 1547–1558.
Fairclough, Norman. Wodak, R. (1997). Critical Discourse Analysis. In Discourse as Social Interaction. Sage.
Fisk, J. (1990). Introduction to Communication Studies (2nd ed.). New York: Routledge.
Franco, V., & Dresler-Hawke, E. (2011). How You Doing, Mate? The Perceptions of Benefits and Barriers in Forming Friendships with International Students: A New Zealand Perspective. Intercultural Communication Studies, 20(2), 177–189.
Gebregeorgis, M. Y. (2017). Peace values in language textbooks: the case of English for Ethiopia Student Textbook. Journal of Peace Education, 14(1), 54–68. https://doi.org/10.1080/17400201.2016.1228526
Gerot, L., & Wignell, P. (1994). Making Sense of Functional Grammar. Antipodean Educational Enterprises.
Goo, Y. (2018). Multicultural Literature Education: A Story of Failure? Society, 55(4), 323–328. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12115-018-0262-x
Hooks, B. (1994). Teaching to Transgress. Routledge.
Isnaini, F., Setyono, B., & Ariyanto, S. (2019). A visual semiotic analysis of multicultural values in an Indonesian English textbook. Indonesian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 8(3), 545–553. https://doi.org/10.17509/ijal.v8i3.15253
Keskin, S. C. (2018). Problems and Their Solutions in a Multicultural Environment According to Pre-service Social Studies Teachers. Journal of Education and Training Studies, 6(7), 138. https://doi.org/10.11114/jets.v6i7.3292
Kim, S. Y., & Paek, J. (2015). An analysis of culture-related content in English textbooks. Linguistic Research, 32(special-edition), 83–104. https://doi.org/10.17250/khisli.32..201507.005
Knapp, P., & Watkins, M. (2005). Genre, Text, Grammar. University of New South Wales Press Ltd.
Onwuegbuzie, A. and Teddlie, C. (2003). A framework for analyzing data in mixed methods research. In C. Tashakkori, A. and Teddlie (Ed.), Handbook of mixed methods in social and behavioral research (pp. 351–383). Sage.
Pratama, S. Y., Nurkamto, J., & Wijayanto, A. (2021). The Representation of Multicultural Values in National Mandatory English Textbooks Used in Indonesian Secondary Schools. International Journal of Multicultural and Multireligious Understanding, 8(1), 472. https://doi.org/10.18415/ijmmu.v8i1.2337
Setyono, B., & Widodo, H. P. (2019). The representation of multicultural values in the Indonesian Ministry of Education and Culture-Endorsed EFL textbook: a critical discourse analysis. Intercultural Education, 30(4), 383–397. https://doi.org/10.1080/14675986.2019.1548102
Sholehhudin, M., Waluyo, H. J., Suyitno, & Wardhani, N. E. (2020). Evaluating the use of multicultural-based short story appreciation textbook to teach prose-fiction appreciation course. International Journal of Instruction, 13(1), 831–844. https://doi.org/10.29333/iji.2020.13153a
Sontag, S. (1973). On Photography by Susan Sontag (z-lib.org).pdf (p. 165).
Suyahman. (2016). Implementation of Multicultural Education in Indonesia Between Expectations and Reality. The 2nd International Conference on Science, Technology, and Humanity, 202–215.
Tabatadze, S., Gorgadze, N., Gabunia, K., & Tinikashvili, D. (2020). Intercultural content and perspectives in school textbooks in Georgia. Intercultural Education, 31(4), 462–481. https://doi.org/10.1080/14675986.2020.1747290
Tajeddin, Z., & Teimournezhad, S. (2015). Exploring the hidden agenda in the representation of culture in international and localised ELT textbooks. Language Learning Journal, 43(2), 180–193. https://doi.org/10.1080/09571736.2013.869942
Ten Have, H. A. M. J., & Gordijn, B. (2014). Handbook of global bioethics. Handbook of Global Bioethics, January 2014, 1–1685. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-2512-6
Tobin, G. A., & Begley, C. M. (2004). Methodological rigour within a qualitative framework. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 48(4), 388–396. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2648.2004.03207.x
Van Leeuwen, T. (2005). Introducing Social Semiotics. Routledge.
Wang, J. (2014). Criticising images: Critical discourse analysis of visual semiosis in picture news. Critical Arts, 28(2), 264–286. https://doi.org/10.1080/02560046.2014.906344
Weninger, C. (2020). Multimodality in critical language textbook analysis. Language, Culture and Curriculum, 0(0), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1080/07908318.2020.1797083
Xiang, R., & Yenika-Agbaw, V. (2021). EFL textbooks, culture and power: a critical content analysis of EFL textbooks for ethnic Mongols in China. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 42(4), 327–341. https://doi.org/10.1080/01434632.2019.1692024
Xiong, T., & Peng, Y. (2020). Representing culture in Chinese as a second language textbooks: a critical social semiotic approach. Language, Culture and Curriculum, 0(0), 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/07908318.2020.1797079
Zúñiga, X., Lopez, G. E., & Ford, K. A. (2012). Intergroup Dialogue: Critical Conversations About Difference, Social Identities, and Social Justice: Guest Editors’ Introduction. Equity and Excellence in Education, 45(1), 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1080/10665684.2012.646903
Published
2023-06-01
How to Cite
Azizah, A., & Andriyanti, E. (2023). Multicultural Values Represented in English Textbooks for Indonesian Learners: A Social Semiotic Analysis. Dinamika Ilmu, 23(1), 53-73. https://doi.org/10.21093/di.v23i1.6023
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