Teaching culture in the foreign classroom

Abstract

This thesis has investigated the research question ̈To what extent and how are culture and intercultural competence treated in two English textbooks at the lower secondary level in Norway? ̈ using theory in the field of intercultural learning from Byram (1997), Deardorff (2006) and Dypedahl (2018). The way in which the concept of “intercultural competence” is used in the Curriculum in English was also considered. Two English textbooks at the lower secondary school level were used in the analysis: English 5 and Explore 5.

The study found that both textbooks treat cultural and intercultural aspects on the surface level. Both textbooks presents mostly factual knowledge. I did not find much relevant to developing intercultural competence whereas both textbooks leave much of the responsibility for this development to the teachers and the students using the textbooks.