A Semiotic Exploration of Cultural Potential in EFL Textbooks

Abstract

This paper introduces a Peircean semiotic approach to analysing the cultural content of EFL textbook materials. It argues that while traditional content analyses may provide valuable insights, they fail to provide a comprehensive picture of the cultural meaning potential of textbooks since they ignore a key element: how language learners interact with texts and visuals imbedded in the framework of a pedagogic task. We demonstrate how cultural meanings can emerge through processes of unguided semiosis, supported by sharing and reflection in a complex, non-linear and essentially dynamic learning environment. For this to happen, however, teachers may need to reconsider their current approaches to teaching culture, embrace complexity, and allow order to emerge from chaos in their classrooms. The paper suggests that collaboratively negotiated and shared (re)presentations of cultural meaning contribute to the development of the learners’ global cultural awareness and prepares them for intercultural citizenship in our globalized world.