A critical discourse analysis of the value of multicultural awareness represented in an EFL textbook

Abstract

Learners of English as a foreign language (EFL) in contexts with limited multinational and transcultural backgrounds, such as Saudi Arabia, should be able to communicate with people from different cultural and linguistic backgrounds. Students’ awareness should be enriched with an understanding of the diversity among people around the world. EFL textbooks are one of the platforms for raising students’ awareness of cultural and linguistic differences. This study aimed to explore the cultural content of an EFL textbook taught at an international primary school in Saudi Arabia via the adoption of critical discourse analysis as a methodological approach. It focused on the multicultural values represented in the EFL textbook geared toward teaching senior primary school students. The study identified a number of values, including fostering positive perspectives concerning old tribes and people, appreciating the lives of other people, respecting the hard efforts made by some nations and understanding different cultural values in different parts of the world. There is found a lack of consideration of the cultural values of some countries in Africa, the Middle East and the Far East. Therefore, this study implicates stakeholders in Saudi Arabia to demand their cultural values be depicted in teaching and educational material.