Representation of French culture as a foreign language through textbooks

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to gain an in-depth understanding of the representation of French culture as a foreign language through textbooks. The existence of French as an international language gives stimulus to French instructors and learners to learn not only the language but also the culture of this language. This study applies a qualitative approach and adopts the critical discourse analysis method of data interpretation. Checking the validity of the data included credibility, dependability, transferability, confirmability, and triangulation of data. The object studied was the Intermediate Level Alter Ego (B1). The findings of cultural elements indicate the existence of verbal and nonverbal texts which include CulturalKnowledge (67%), which are Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité, LeFéminisme, LesArts, Cultural Practice/Behavior (19%), and CulturalArtefacts (14%). Tracing for cultural aspects through textbooks is complex and a challenging academic activity because culture is intertwined with people's norms, values, attitudes and a given society's way of life. This research has an impact on countries that use French as a foreign language because the cultural representation contained in it can change the viewpoints of French language learners.