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Intercultural Education
ISSN: 1467-5986 (Print) 1469-8439 (Online) Journal homepage: https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/ceji20
The representation of multicultural values in the
Indonesian Ministry of Education and Culture-
Endorsed EFL textbook: a critical discourse
analysis
Budi Setyono & Handoyo Puji Widodo
To cite this article: Budi Setyono & Handoyo Puji Widodo (2019): The representation of
multicultural values in the Indonesian Ministry of Education and Culture-Endorsed EFL textbook: a
critical discourse analysis, Intercultural Education, DOI: 10.1080/14675986.2019.1548102
To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/14675986.2019.1548102
Published online: 01 Mar 2019.
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The representation of multicultural values in the
Indonesian Ministry of Education and Culture-Endorsed
EFL textbook: a critical discourse analysis
Budi Setyono
a
and Handoyo Puji Widodo
b,c
a
Department of English Education, University of Jember, East Java, Indonesia;
b
English Language
Center, Shantou University, Guangdong, P. R. China;
c
Komunitas Menulis Banyuwangi, East Java,
Indonesia
ABSTRACT
In transcultural and transnational communication settings,
English learners have to be able to communicate with people
from different linguistic and cultural backgrounds. For this
reason, English as a foreign language (EFL) textbooks, for
instance, not only promote Anglo-American and British cul-
tures but also include both EFL learners’home and interna-
tional cultures. The present discourse study looks at the
cultural content of a nationally adopted EFL textbook in
Indonesia. It particularly investigates multicultural values
represented in the EFL textbook geared for senior
high school students. Findings of the study reveal that four
themes of multicultural values emerge from the textbook,
such as: (1) respect for cultures of different ethnic and reli-
gious groups; (2) respect for cultures of indigenous people;
(3) conflict avoidance and peace with all forms of life and
nature; and (4) appreciation of creative cultural products. The
implications of this textual study suggest that as English plays
an increasingly important role as a global lingua franca, multi-
cultural materials from outer and expanding circle countries
need to be added to English language teaching (ELT) text-
books. Therefore, English teachers should creatively teach
multicultural aspects and use multimodal materials to
engage students in culturally laden language-learning tasks.
ARTICLE HISTORY
Received 6 August 2017
Accepted 7 May 2018
KEYWORDS
Critical discourse analysis;
English textbooks;
intercultural communication;
multicultural values
Introduction
During the last 14 years, studies on English as a foreign language (EFL) textbooks
have examined how multicultural content is represented in English language
teaching (ELT) textbooks (Ahmed and Narcy-Combes 2011; Awayed-Bishara
2015; Dinh and Sharifian 2017; McConachy 2018;Su2016; Tajeddin and
Teimournezhad 2015;WeningerandKiss2013). This body of research has been
mostly situated in Asia (e.g. Israel, Iran, Pakistan, Taiwan) and in Europe (e.g.
Hungary). Even though EFL curricula in a number of Asian countries (e.g.
CONTACT Handoyo Puji Widodo handoyopw@yahoo.com
INTERCULTURAL EDUCATION
https://doi.org/10.1080/14675986.2019.1548102
© 2019 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group
Pakistan, Israel, Iran, China, Korea) place emphasis on intercultural communica-
tion, the findings of previous studies show that there is a gap between curricular
goals and multicultural content represented in ELT textbooks (Kusumaningputri
and Widodo 2018).
To extend empirical research on the evaluation of English textbooks situ-
ated in multicultural EFL settings, a critical study of cultural depiction in EFL
textbooks in Asian contexts, such as in Indonesia needs to be undertaken. The
contribution of this study is that findings in such contexts can be a catalyst for
language textbook writers to design and develop multiculturally sensitive
language materials to promote multicultural understandings of differences
(Ruiz-Cecilia 2012). Another contribution of this study is to provide a better
understanding of multicultural value representation in a nationally adopted
EFL textbook situated in a country where different languages and cultures co-
exist. Thus, this study aims to examine multicultural values portrayed in a
nationally used EFL textbook, approved by the Indonesian Ministry of
Education and Culture (henceforth, MONEC), and to analyse how these values
help students become aware of multicultural diversity (Kusumaningputri and
Widodo 2018). Two research questions guiding this study were:
(1) What multicultural values are represented in the English textbook
endorsed by the MONEC?
(2) How does the English textbook provide EFL learners with opportunities
to enhance their intercultural knowledge and awareness?
Value education in Indonesia
In 2013, the MONEC introduced the 2013 Curriculum emphasising the affective
domain of education (Widodo 2016). Therefore, the attitudes and character
dimensions expected of English learners to learn and instil are explicitly spelled
out across the curriculum (see Widodo 2018). Widodo (2016) notes that the
2013 ELT Curriculum aims to prepare Indonesians for becoming citizens who
are religious, productive, innovative and passionate, as well as who can con-
tribute to societal, national and global ‘civilisations.’School graduates are
expected to be global citizens who respect religious, social and cultural values;
enjoy working hard; and think creatively to make contributions at both
national and international levels. The 2013 Curriculum emphasises national
education qualities in order to equip individuals with both hard and soft skills
(e.g. English skills and values).
Textbooks have always placed an important role in the implementation of a
new curriculum. Guided by textbooks, teachers can manage teaching materials
and utilise them in in-class and out-of-class activities. From a value perspective,
appropriate textbooks are required to meet Indonesian standard norms/values
2B. SETYONO AND H. P. WIDODO
and avoid including pornographic content, radicalism, violence, ethnic-reli-
gious-racial sentiments and gender stereotypes. In short, textbooks have to
ideologically support values depicted in the Five Pillars of Indonesian Ideology:
(1) religiosity, (2) humanism, (3) pluralism, (4) democracy and (5) social justice.
Particularly in the implementation of the 2013 ELT curriculum, all schools have
been instructed to use the mandated English textbook, Bahasa Inggris (the
English Language) published by the MONEC. This textbook series aims to
strengthen character education as the main feature of the 2013 ELT
Curriculum. Inasmuch as Indonesia is known as a multilingual and multicultural
country (Widodo and Fardhani 2011), respecting and appreciating cultural
diversity have been placed at the core of character education.
Operationalising multicultural values in ELT materials
Multicultural values stem from the concept of pluralistic ideology, which
appreciates the existence of cultural differences of peoples from different ethnic,
religious, socio-economic and geographic backgrounds. Multiculturality concurs
with the goal of teaching English as a lingua franca (e.g. to prepare EFL learners
to become global and intercultural citizens) (Baker 2012; Hajisoteriou and
Angelides 2016). Multicultural values are defined as ones that recognise the
cultures of people from different sociocultural and geographic backgrounds.
To categorise the aspects of culture in the English textbook, this study uses
‘products’(Big C), ‘practices’(little c), ‘perspectives’(subjective culture) and
‘persons’(National Standards in the Foreign Language Education Project, cited
in Yuen 2011). Big C refers to formal culture that consists of formal institutions
(social, political, economic institutions), the great figures of history, and the
products of literature, fine arts and sciences. Culture with a symbol (little c)
deals with the way of life of a particular group of people (daily living studied
by sociologists and anthropologists), such as housing, clothing, food and
patterns of behaviour that members of a culture regard as necessary and
appropriate. Perspectives as a subjective culture (more conceptual) refer to
the worldview held by the members of a group or society, such as values and
beliefs. Persons as well-known icons or individuals we know can represent
other cultural aspects (i.e. Pele and Neymar who represent the different inter-
generational cultures of Brazil).
Textbooks contain collections of different texts selected purposefully to
meet policymakers’and writers’intentions and agendas as well as curriculum
goals. In selecting texts and developing tasks, textbook authors are heavily
influenced by a curriculum ideology to some extent. For this reason, textbooks
canalise ideologies embedded in an official curriculum (van Dijk 2001), trans-
mit ideas and values to shape learners’identities (Awayed-Bishara 2015;
Widodo 2018), and instil universal and community-specific values in learners
INTERCULTURAL EDUCATION 3
(Gebregeorgis 2017). In short, ELT materials (e.g. textbooks) teach both lan-
guage and different hidden cultural agendas and values.
Previous studies on cultures in ELT textbooks
Most previous studies have shown that the cultures of inner circle countries
(e.g. USA and British cultures) are predominantly represented in ELT textbooks.
Contrastingly, the cultures of outer circle countries (international cultures) are
scantily exposed and insufficiently portrayed in ELT textbooks. To begin with,
Shin, Eslami, and Chen (2011), who examined the cultural perspectives of EIL in
internationally distributed ELT textbooks, found that even though cultural aspects
were proportionally diverse in each textbook series, inner circle cultural content still
dominated most of the textbooks. In a similar vein, a study by Ahmed and Narcy-
Combes (2011) reported that the representation of target language people’sculture
in Pakistani EFL textbooks was more dominant than the exposure to the home
culture. The dominant representation of foreign cultures in secondary school English
textbooks in Hong Kong and Korea, respectively, was also reported in Yuen’s(2011)
and Su’s(2016) case studies. A textbook study by Song (2013) explored the portrayal
of different cultures and the depiction of cultural biases in Korean EFL textbooks.
Song found unequal cultural representations in the textbooks as well as cultural
biases with the dominance of Anglo male representations.
Another relevant study by Weninger and Kiss (2013) analysed texts, images and
tasks in EFL textbooks, written by and for Hungarians, to delve into cultural
meanings created in them. Informed by social semiotic analysis, learners’under-
standing of cultural meanings was guided and facilitated through the presence of
texts, images and tasks. The findings indicated that the two textbooks, ‘Bloggers
and Steps,’depicted passages about famous people of various nationalities,
festivalsfrom aroundthe world, and particularly in Bloggers,characters and voices
from around the world. Although such overt or factual culture lessons are impor-
tant, they are not enough, especially because such segments are rarely paired
with tasks that prompt students to reflect on cultural values.
Awayed-Bishara’s(2015) textual study in Israel also revealed that the culture
and traditions of Palestinian Arab minority in the English textbooks were margin-
alised. Different from other previous studies, Tajeddin and Teimournezhad (2015),
investigating cultural content in local English textbooks, reported that most of the
cultural elements in the local textbooks were neutral (not clearly depicting any
particular culture); only a few of them were based on the target language and
other cultures. A recent textbook analysis by Dinh andSharifian (2017)lookedinto
a textual and visual reading section in English 11, locally designed for Vietnamese
high-school students. The findings showed that the unit portrays the notion of
Vietnamese Lunar New Year culture/Tet as an event for gathering, happiness,
expectation and reawakening of plants, animals and relationships, appropriate
with what has been described in Vietnamese cultural studies. Using the localised
4B. SETYONO AND H. P. WIDODO
EFL textbooks from the outer circle countries (Singapore and the Philippines) and
the expanding circle countries (Vietnam and Indonesia); Alcoberes (2016)inves-
tigated the author-initiated discourses of the selected English textbooks. This
study looked at discourse features and the characteristics of WE pedagogy in
the selected English textbooks. The findings indicated that the local and foreign
lexes (e.g. fiesta, Spanish word; Serangoon Road, a local road in Singapore) and
discourse features promoting local heritage (e.g. Filipino culture and values, a
story about Singapore) are integrated into the author-initiated discourses. This
indicates a strong influence of the local cultures of non-native English-speaking
countries.
The previous studies presented above show how Anglo and home or
local cultures of respective and other countries are depicted in
ELT textbooks. To extend this scholarship, the present study attempts to
contribute to a critical evaluation of multicultural content depicted in ELT
textbooks in the context of Indonesia as a multicultural site. It also aims to
enhance a critical awareness of how EFL textbook writers and English
teachers include multicultural texts in textbooks to equip students with
intercultural competence (Widodo, Wood, and Gupta 2017).
The study
The present study adopted critical discourse analysis (CDA) to examine multi-
cultural values depicted in the nationally adopted English textbook in
Indonesia. CDA is an interdisciplinary study of discourse that views language
as social practice (Fairclough 2001) and takes into account the context of
language use (Wodak 2001). Halliday (1978) argues that a discourse as text is
both a process and a product, created, embedded and interpreted in a specific
social context. Therefore, CDA scholars maintain that the choice of language
users make reflects their intentions, ideologies and thoughts (Widodo 2018).
CDA best elucidates how a text represents and constructs social realities
contextually tied to a specific ideological (values) system through the mani-
festation of covert and overt messages (Widodo 2018). Additionally, CDA
uncovers how this ideological system is (re)shaped by texts and social prac-
tices that marginalise or privilege particular values in society (de Los Heros
2009). To examine such ideologies, Halliday’s(1978) systemic functional lin-
guistics (SFL) can provide an appliable and serviceable tool through a lexico-
grammatical analysis or a micro-language analysis. This analysis looks into
linguistic and visual choices in texts as a discourse conveying multi-layered
meanings (Kress and van Leeuwen 2006; Widodo 2018).
For this study, the text for analysis was an ELT textbook entitled Bahasa
Inggris untuk SMA Kelas XII [English for Senior High School Grade XII], published
by the MONEC in 2015. The textbook was authored by a team of ELT textbooks
writers who are familiar with ELT practices in Indonesia. Because the textbook
INTERCULTURAL EDUCATION 5
is nationally used, it is easily accessible and can freely be downloaded from the
MONEC website. To guarantee the quality of the textbook, it was also peer-
reviewed by a panel of Indonesian experts in ELT. These readers are also
university faculty members who are familiar with ELT contexts in Indonesia.
The textbook was claimed to adopt a genre-based approach to ELT. It was
organised into 16 chapters or lesson units addressing contemporary issues in
the twenty-first century and representing sociocultural phenomena in a variety
of geographical locations.
The focus of the analysis was placed on multicultural values gleaned from
the MONEC-approved EFL textbook (Bahasa Inggris for Senior High School
Grade XII). This textbook was chosen as a unit of textual analysis based on
the following justifications:
(1) The textbook is widely used throughout the country. This choice could
enhance readership validity because textbook users, teachers and stu-
dents, come from different geographical locations in Indonesia.
(2) This textbook is a curricular artefact of the 2013 ELT curriculum. This
could increase content validity because we analysed one of the current
curriculum materials that both English teachers and students are cur-
rently using;
(3) It contains multicultural values represented in visual and non-visual
texts. It attempts to include different representations of ethnic and
cultural groups in Indonesia and outside the country;
(4) The incorporation of multicultural values into this textbook needs to be
critically assessed because the textbook is a curricular product that is
ideologically laden from a cultural perspective; and
(5) The textbook writers place emphasis on multicultural values (e.g.
respecting others, care, and peace) as stipulated in learning objectives
in the beginning of each chapter. This indicates attitudes or values as
one of the pedagogical foci in ELT in the Indonesian context.
Analysis and discussion
In this analysis, we focus on multicultural values represented in the English
textbook and in what ways the English textbook provides EFL learners with
opportunities to enhance their intercultural knowledge and awareness. In the
textbook, the writers present multicultural values through a series of visual
depictions. Visually, pictures, photographs and other visual artefacts portray
multicultural values that both teachers and students need to realise, but these
often go unnoticed, or they take those visual artefacts for granted. Uncovering
these values is intended to build and enhance teacher and student awareness
6B. SETYONO AND H. P. WIDODO
of multicultural values represented in the textbook because the textbook is a
value-laden curriculum document (Widodo 2018).
Visual representation of multicultural values
For this study, the selected textbook portrays visual representations of multi-
cultural values as listed below (see Table 1). Due to space limitations, only
relevant visual presentations to lesson themes were selected for a corpus of
multicultural values discourses and for in-depth analysis.
To begin with, four examples of visual artefacts #1 (p. 7), #2 (p. 13), #3 (p.
29), and #5 (p. 180) are textbook characters portraying female and male
English teachers and students with different physical characteristics
Table 1. The representation of multicultural values in the textbook, Bahasa Inggris for Senior
High School Grade XII.
Unit Theme
Sample Visual
Artefact Description
Location/
page
Multicultural
values
Chapter 1 Let’s Visit
Seattle!
#1
A female teacher character
wears a semi-formal dress
with straight hair without a
hijab.
p. 7 Respect for
diversity
of ethnic
groups
Chapter 1 Let’s Visit
Seattle!
#2
A male teacher character
wears semi-formal attire
and spectacles with
moustache, curly hair, and
darker skin.
p. 13 Respect for
diversity
of ethnic
groups
Chapter 3 Have a Look at
Life
Underwater
#3
A male teacher character
wears semi-formal attire
with glasses, straight hair,
and lighter skin.
p. 29 Respect for
diversity
of ethnic
groups
Chapter 4 I Can’t Believe
it!
#4
A female teacher wears a long
dress with a hijab.
p. 46 Respect for
diversity
of
religious
groups
Chapter 13 It’s Garbage In
Art Works
Out
#5
One male student with
straight hair and bright skin
stands between his peers,
one with curly hair and dark
skin (male), and the other
one (female) has bright skin
and long and straight hair.
p. 180 Respect for
diversity
of ethnic
groups
INTERCULTURAL EDUCATION 7
(appearance). Picture #1 in Chapter 1 is a female teacher wearing a brown
semi-formal dress with glasses, and she has short straight hair. Picture # 2, also
depicted in Chapter 1, is a male teacher putting on semi-formal attire with
spectacles, moustache, curly hair, and darker skin, while Picture #3 presented
in Chapter 3 refers to a male teacher dressing up semi-formally and with
glasses, straight hair, and brighter skin. Finally, Picture #5 in Chapter 13 is a
picture of three students; one male student attributed to have straight hair
with bright skin standing between two students, a female student with long
hair and white skin and a male student with curly hair and dark skin.
As a social semiotic resource, characters’illustrations, such as dressing up
semi-formally for teachers and wearing a school uniform for students, as well
as the attributes of having straight and curly hair, bright and dark skin, must be
interpreted contextually in reference to real-life conditions of school commu-
nities in Indonesia, which are built upon the heterogeneity of Indonesian
population. In Indonesian school contexts, the recruitment of staffand stu-
dents is open to all Indonesian citizens capable of meeting standard require-
ments regardless of their ethnic origin, religious adherence and gender.
Legally, all Indonesian citizens have equal rights and opportunities.
Therefore, generally, in public and private school contexts, teachers, adminis-
trative staffand students stem from diverse ethnic backgrounds, as illustrated
in the textbook characters. Thus, the hidden message conveyed through the
depiction of characters in the textbook is accepting pluralism in Indonesia in
terms of acceptance of ethnic and cultural diversity.
The next analysis focuses on Picture #4 (p. 40) depicting a female
Muslim teacher who wears a long dress with the hijab. In contemporary
Indonesia, wearing a hijab semiotically as an institutional dress code or as
Halal fashion is prevalent among Muslim girls and adult women. Institutionally
in public and private primary and secondary schools as well as universities in
Indonesia, female Muslim students may wear a hijab as a personal choice of a
dress code. However, in Indonesian Islamic schools and universities, female
Muslim students have to wear a hijab as an institutional dress code. This
religious dressing practice is protected by law. As Halal fashion, these days,
there is a phenomenon called the Hijabers. The discourse of the Hijabers
(those who wear a hijab) in the context of Indonesia is popular among career
Muslim women working in the public and private sectors of education, bank-
ing and tourism, to name a few. This also becomes the locus of female
Muslims’religious identity (Benham and Mozaheb 2013).
To summarise, the characters’portrayal in the textbook depicts sociocultural
phenomena associated with Indonesian people’s lives. A female Muslim teacher
character with a hijab and without a hijab in the textbook, the images of male
teachers portraying attributes of particular ethnic groups, as well as diverse
attributes of male and female student characters, are reconstructed from the
sociocultural life of Indonesian society (ideology), transformed by the ELT
8B. SETYONO AND H. P. WIDODO
textbook writers in the textbook. Appreciating pluralism and cultural diversity
and accepting religious and ethnic tolerance among different religious affilia-
tions and ethnic groups are the issues implicitly manifested through characters’
images that the textbook writers, teachers and students go unnoticed or take for
granted. Thus, the discourse of male and female characters in the textbook
encourages textbook readers and senior high school students to embrace
pluralistic ideology by appreciating cultural diversity and accepting racial and
religious tolerance. This is a crucial vision laying a strong foundation for the
existence of Indonesia as a multi-ethnic and multicultural country.
The verbal and visual materials in the textbook
In addition to the visual portraits that reflect multicultural values in the text-
book, the writers present verbal texts (sometimes accompanied with visual
texts). Semiotically, verbal texts are both spoken text and written text (Widodo
2015). In this textbook analysis, the verbal texts relate to written text. For an
analysis of how multicultural values are promoted, two factual reports, a song
and a news report are briefly examined.
The firsttextisapassagetextinChapter#10abouttheBaduyPeople
(BP). The text tells us about the traditional life of indigenous people living
in West Java, who reject modern technology in their lives. It is part of a
factual report, which aims to provide information about a social phenom-
enon (e.g. the Baduy people). The following are text segments taken from
the textbook (due to space limitations, paragraphs # 2, 3, 4 and 5 have
been intentionally removed):
Text 1: Baduy People (Three pictures accompany this text)
Little more than three hours away from Jakarta there is a traditional community
that has turned their back away from modern technology.Theydon’town
phones, use the Internet, wear shoes or listen to the radio. Living in voluntary
isolation, they are a secretive group who turn away outsiders. This group lives
close to the city of Banten and they are known as the Baduy people.
...
If we’re thinking about what to do when we come here, then we need not
worry because there is lots on offer, like enjoying the true relaxing times and
the feeling of being isolated from modern technology and man-made
things. One favorite thing to do might be observing communal life in the
settlement. It is a very relaxing experience and sometimes visitors find
themselves missing the simplicity and beauty of the place. (Compiled and
INTERCULTURAL EDUCATION 9
adapted from: http://discoveryourindonesia.com/baduy/ and http://www. glo
balindonesianvoices.com/11598/baduy-travel/)
Reading about the life of the BP, a traditional community in Indonesia, reminds
readers of the distant past when people still relied heavily on natural resources
to survive. Conceptually, the lexico-grammar (e.g. sensing verbs: enjoy,feel,
think) of a description text (Knapp and Watkins 2005) can arouse readers’
emotionality. For example, readers can experience or feel the atmosphere of
the distant past through information presented in the text. By reading the text
about BP, senior high school students and teachers can feel proud of and
appreciate the cultures of indigenous people in terms of their perspectives
(beliefs), behaviours (customs, habits) and products (home-made products)
(National Standards in the Foreign Language Education Project, as cited in
Yuen 2011). English teachers can use such texts to promote multicultural
values. In the context of ELT, exposing senior high school students to the
cultures of indigenous peoples is expected to broaden students’knowledge
about cultural diversity and their acceptance of cultural diversity in Indonesia.
By discussing BP, students can learn about local ‘wisdom,’relating to a strong
work ethic, personality and integrity, for instance. Knowledge about various
cultures in one’s own country is crucial when EFL learners try to communicate
interculturally with native speakers and non-native speakers of English from
expanding circle and outer circle countries (Liu and Fang 2017). Valuing the
different perspectives and daily living practices of the BP, a minority ethnic
group in Indonesia, is the parcel of a democratic society. Regarding the
importance of recognising the rights of indigenous peoples, textbook writers
need to prepare learning materials that encourage students to value the rights
of minorities and indigenous citizens. This can promote humanistic values, so
that people can appreciate each other in multicultural encounters.
The second text to be analysed is entitled ‘Teenage Bullying,’in Chapter #8
(p. 111). It tells us about bullying and its effects. This text belongs to a factual
report aiming to provide information about teenage bullying. The first para-
graph of the text contains some general information about this phenomenon.
The next paragraphs contain detailed descriptions about bullying (What is it?
What does it look like? What special features/characteristics does it have?). The
following are some text segments taken from the textbook (Paragraphs # 2, 3,
4, 5 and 6 have been intentionally removed due to space limitations).
Text 2: Teenage Bullying
Bullying includes behaviors that focus on making someone else feel inade-
quate, or focus on belittling someone else. Bullying includes harassment, physi-
cal harm, repeatedly demeaning speech and efforts to ostracize another
person. Bullying is done with the intention of bringing another person down.
It is important to realize that there are different kinds of bullying.
10 B. SETYONO AND H. P. WIDODO
...
Another problem is retaliation. In some cases, bullied teens have violent fantasies of
attacking their bullies. There are instances in which these teens become violent.
They turn to their classmates in order to get revenge. This can be a cause of
heartbreak and difficulty (Adapted from http://www.bullyingstatistics.org/content/
teenage-bullying.html)
The text about Teenage Bullying informs readers about the meaning of
bullying, its various types and its effects. As stated in the text, bullying can
range from recurrent demeaning speech, harassment, to physical harm. To
arouse readers’emotionality, the text writers use action verbs (such as make
someone else feel inadequate, kick, punch, tear down somebody’s self-image, hurt
a person’s feelings, get someone else to feel isolated, use social networks to
humiliate and embarrass others). The text mentions that all four types of
bullying (e.g. physical, verbal, emotional, and cyber bullying) can have adverse
effects (e.g. physical problems and injuries, depression, drug use, inhibited social
development, and revenge). The text about bullying and its negative impact on
the psychological well-being of senior high school students can help students
gain a better understanding of the negative effects and consequences of
bullying. English teachers can use this text and similar texts to teach such
issues to senior high school students to develop their awareness of this
sensitive issue and to find ways to address and overcome such social
problems.
Another text refers to a song entitled ‘Heal the World’(pp. 232–233) by
Michael Jackson. This song talks about the destruction of our world and asks
all world citizens to rebuild our world to make it a better place for all. It
contains the following lyrics: Heal the world, make it a better place, for you and
for me, and the entire human race. There are people dying, if you care enough for
the living, make it a better place, for you and for me. This song also encourages
readers to get rid of sorrow from our world: And if you really try, you’ll find
there’s no need to cry. In this place, you’ll feel there’s no hurt or sorrow. The next
stanza ensures us that there are many ways we can restore our world: There are
ways to get there, if you care enough for the living. The song can promote
students’awareness of the fact that irresponsible human beings are threaten-
ing the world in various ways (e.g. illegal logging and natural resource exploi-
tation). It can trigger discussions among senior high school students about the
importance of values such as world peace, love and tolerance.
Let’s visit Seattle in Chapter 1 (pp. 2–4) (accompanied by photographs of tourist
attractions) shows how attractive Seattle is, as a city with both modern and natural
elements. The text attempts to foster appreciation for the creative energies of a
society in another country. The implicit message in the text is that students should
INTERCULTURAL EDUCATION 11
appreciate cultural artefacts. The selection of Seattle can serve as a catalyst for
discussing a world-class multicultural city, situated in an English-speaking country.
By including multicultural representations, language textbooks can serve as a
starting point for multicultural dialogue. To serve this purpose, language text-
book writers and teachers need to develop learning tasks that promote a discus-
sion of creative cultural products designed by people and communities with
different cultural backgrounds. This can be a catalyst for enhancing the inter-
cultural communicative competence (ICC) of students.
Conclusion
The present study examined multicultural values, as portrayed in the officially
endorsed English textbook written for Indonesian EFL students and how those
values might contribute to senior high school students’intercultural competence
(e.g. intercultural awareness/sensitivity). The findings revealed that four values could
be identified, such as respect for pluralism, respect for the rights of indigenous
people, finding peace with nature and with all forms of life, and appreciation of
cultural products. Even though there are more multicultural topics in the textbook,
cultural materials from certain parts of the world, such as Asian and African coun-
tries, are underrepresented. In line with the globalisation of the English language
(EL), there has been a paradigm shift in how culture is taught in EFL/ESL contexts.
This paradigm shift, which conceptually considers the inclusion of local English
varieties and multicultural aspects, supporting intercultural communicative compe-
tence, has been accepted by ELT practitioners and English educators worldwide. The
present study shows how multicultural values are depicted in the ELT textbook
published by the government in a country where English is positioned as a foreign
language. The textbook analysed articulates a multicultural ideology by appreciat-
ing and respecting various traditions of different ethnic groups in Indonesia.
Although the textbook writers seem to be aware of the multicultural diversity
present in Indonesia and elsewhere, English teachers, textbook users, may be
unaware of this. Therefore, it is necessary to examine how English teachers them-
selves use the cultural references contained in textbooks in their teaching. To extend
the present study, more critical textbook studies are needed to analyse moral and
religious values and gender-related values whether implicitly or explicitly repre-
sented in other ELT textbooks, published by different publishers in other countries
where English is learned as an international language. Methodologically, other
approaches to CDA (e.g. multimodality, critical morality, post-feminism) should be
the next research agenda for extending studies on textbook analysis probing into
ideological, socio-political, sociocultural and historical agendas. Finally, because
textbooks portray and promote cultural, moral and religious values, the instructional
prompts and tasks/activities in ELT textbooks need to be more closely examined in
future studies.
12 B. SETYONO AND H. P. WIDODO
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Notes on contributors
Budi Setyono is a senior lecturer in the Department of English, the Faculty of Teacher
Training and Education, Universitas Jember. In 1987, he earned his Bachelor degree in
English Literature from Universitas Jember. In 1996, he received his master’s degree in
Language Arts Education from the Ohio State University. Finally, he holds a doctoral degree
in English Education from Universitas Negeri Malang in 2005. His current research interests
lie in the areas of writing instruction, curriculum development and language teacher
education.
Handoyo Puji Widodo has published extensively in refereed journals and edited volumes.
He has been actively involved in a wide range of (teacher) professional development
activities (e.g. joint research projects & peer mentoring programs) in Indonesia and over-
seas. His areas of specialisation include TESOL methodology, language curriculum and
materials development, SFL in language education, and teacher professional development.
His work has been grounded in socio-semiotic, socio-cognitive, sociocultural and critical
theories of language pedagogies.
ORCID
Budi Setyono http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5810-0600
Handoyo Puji Widodo http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2583-6635
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