An Analysis of Textbooks from a Cultural Point of View
This very interesting research study focuses on the cultural unfamiliarity between ESL learners and foreign textbook authors in Pakistan. The authors refer to a study that explains how a textbook is most "useful if learners, teachers, and textbook authors share the same cultural values." If not, they all should at least be familiar with each other's cultures. There is a cultural gap between the learners first culture (C1) and the Anglophone/target language cultures (C2). One of their research methods was a textbook cover analysis to see what cultural misunderstandings and gaps were represented. They asked Pakistani students a series of questions to see how they interpreted the textbook cover illustrations.
