EXAMINING INTERNATIONAL AND INTERCULTURAL ISSUES IN PALESTINIAN ENGLISH TEACHING TEXTBOOKS

Abstract

This study examines international and intercultural issues in the English for Palestine textbook series, specifically evaluating intercultural comparisons, mutual representations, and relations in terms of their effectiveness in enhancing students’ cross-cultural communication skills. The examination of the textbooks employed a qualitative methodology, enriched by the inclusion of quantitative components. The findings show that the textbooks under investigation comprise an insufficient and inadequate amount of international and intercultural issues, consisting of celebratory topics of surface culture with very little attention paid to conflictive aspects of deep culture. This study is a reminder of the importance of appropriate intercultural components in developing students’ critical thinking skills and minimizing intercultural misunderstandings. Hence, it aims to sensitize stakeholders and teachers to the potential losses associated with poor representations of international and intercultural issues in English teaching textbooks. Consequently, it urges them to take action by either amending the textbooks or using supplementary material to compensate for the identified lapses.