English as a Cultural Capital: Dominance of Target Culture in English Textbooks in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Abstract
Textbooks are an integral part of teaching and learning pedagogical practices in classrooms. These not only provide academic knowledge rather these also shape the perceptions and personalities of the learners. English textbooks include a lot of cultural items that influence the perception and beliefs of learners about cultures. This study has the objectives to identifying the presence of cultural elements in English textbooks, quantifying the proportion of source and target cultures, and analysing the dominance of target culture and its portrayal of English as a cultural capital. By adopting mixed-methods research, data for the study was collected from English textbooks studied at secondary and higher secondary level in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and was analysed through content analysis by adopting the analytical frameworks of Moran’s (2001) ‘coding scheme of Cultural Dimensions’ and Chao’s (2011) ‘Cultural Categories’. The analysis of the data has exemplified an imbalance in the representation of source and target cultures, with target culture dominating the textbooks. This suggests that English is being promoted as a cultural capital in KP through the English textbooks, and highlights the need for more balanced representation of source and target culture in English textbooks to promote intercultural understanding and appreciation of local culture. The findings of the research have illustrated that English cultural items are prominently present in English textbooks in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa at secondary and higher secondary level that influence students in view of considering English as a cultural capital; whereas, their own culture is considered inferior. The dominance of the target culture asserts the need to conducting further investigation and policy interventions to ensure inclusive and culturally sensitive educational practices in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
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