REPRESENTATIONS OF LINGUISTIC AND CULTURAL VARIATIONS IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING: AN ANALYSIS OF HIGH SCHOOL COURSEBOOKS

Abstract

Multiculturalism is a direct consequence of globalization which is one of the essential characteristics of contemporary society. Several individuals with diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds communicate with each other more often in English as a Language Franca (ELF) settings, where both native and non-native English speakers use English as their common language. One of the fundamental purposes of educational environments, particularly classroom materials, is to prepare students for today's multilingual and multicultural world. This study intends to examine how various cultural and linguistic variations are portrayed in high school English language coursebooks that are provided by the Ministry of National Education of Turkiye. To determine the percentage of linguistic and cultural incidents, descriptive content analysis based on Kachru's (1985) World Englishes model is carried out to the textual material of the coursebooks. On this account, the content analysis results showed that the coursebooks include a broad range of cultural references in both native and nonnative contexts as well as linguistic variations in the use of British and American English.