Representation of Cultural Load in English Textbooks Taught at Intermediate Level in the Province Punjab, Pakistan

Abstract

The study aims to investigate the representation of native, target, and international cultures in the English textbooks taught at the intermediate level in the province of Punjab, Pakistan. Textbooks are an important source of disseminating knowledge and for language learning, it is deemed vital to get familiarity with the culture of that country. The current study uses Byram's (1993) checklist as the theoretical model to analyze the cultural load in the textbooks. The study is qualitative descriptive and uses theory-based content analysis as the main method of analysis. The two English textbooks of the first year and second year of intermediate, English – Book 1 (Short Stories) and English – Book 2 (Modern Pros and Heroes), have been chosen as the sample of the study using a purposive sampling technique. The results revealed that in the textbook of the first year, there are 15 reading texts, of which 07 texts represent target culture, 03 represent native culture, and 05 represent international culture. The results reveal that the number of texts regarding different cultures is not balanced. There are 17 reading texts in the second year's textbook, of which 04 texts represent target culture, 02 represent native culture, and 10 represent international culture. Besides, 01 text does not belong to any category. Likewise, in the second-year textbook, there is a lack of balance regarding different cultures. It is, therefore, suggested to improve the textbooks and add an appropriate number of reading texts representing all cultures to achieve the target of intercultural competence.