English Level: G2E

Supervisor: Anna Greek 2EN50E

Examiner: Niklas Salmose 15 credits
2016-02-04

A Teacher’s Guide to Culture

- Exploring Teacher’s Guides.

Anneli Nilsson
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ABSTRACT

This paper is the result of a critical review of two Teacher’s Guides aimed at English 5 (the

first year) in Swedish upper secondary schools. The aim was to investigate, with a pragmatic

approach, how cultural representations are epitomised in the guidance materials: Progress

Gold and Professional as well as how those representations correlate to the fundamental

values of the curriculum for the upper secondary school. In short: how do these Teacher’s

Guides uphold the fundamental values of the Swedish curriculum via their cultural

representations?

The theoretical framework consists of Stuart Hall’s description of what culture and

representation are and Claire Kramsch’s ideas on language and culture. The main analytical

tool, and underlying theory, for identifying cultural representations are the three

understandings of culture identified by Ulrika Tornberg. These cultural understandings are

used to categorize and discuss the cultural findings and consists of culture as a fact fulfilled,

culture as a future competence and culture as an encounter in an open landscape.

The Teacher’s Guides representations of cultures show signs of being static to a great

extent as cultures in many instances are defined by nationality, unaffected by time and

individuals. Progress Gold A has a strong and clearly expressed connection between language

learning and cultural knowledge, both in their selected grading criteria and chapter

descriptions, whereas Professional does not explicitly focus on culture in English speaking

countries. The guides are in many instances at risk of being stereotyping and in the long run

discriminating if left unreflected, which is not in correlation with the fundamental values of

the curriculum. The paper is concluded with a discussion on cultural teaching’s role in the

English as a foreign language classroom in relation to the fundamental values, and

suggestions for further research.

Keywords: Teacher’s Guide, English, Culture, Representation, Fundamental Values

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Table of Contents
1. Introduction ................................................................. Fel! Bokmärket är inte definierat.

1.1 Problem Statements .......................................................................................................... 6

1.2 Limitations and Useful Information ................................................................................. 6

1.3 Previous Research ............................................................................................................ 6

1.4 Fundamental Values ......................................................................................................... 8

2. Culture and Representation .............................................................................................. 10

2.1 Culture and Language Teaching .................................................................................... 12

2.2 Culture and Language Learning .................................................................................... 14

2.3 Concepts of Culture........................................................................................................ 15

2.5 Subcultures ..................................................................................................................... 19

2.4 Possibilities and Limitations .......................................................................................... 20

3. Method.............................................................................................................................. 22

3.1 Material .......................................................................................................................... 23

4. Analysis ............................................................................................................................ 25

4.1 Aims and Goals of Progress Gold A and Professional .................................................. 25

4.2 Target Groups ................................................................................................................ 27

4.3 Subcultures in the Guides ............................................................................................... 29

4.4 Professional Teacher’s Guide ........................................................................................ 30

4.5 Progress Gold Teacher’s Guide ..................................................................................... 33

5. Discussion......................................................................................................................... 36

6. Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 41

6.1 Further Research ............................................................................................................ 42

7. Works Cited ...................................................................................................................... 43

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1.Introduction

“Culture is one of the two or three most complicated words in the English language”

Raymond Williams, Keywords, 87

The Oxford online dictionary defines culture in 2015 as:

The arts and other manifestations of human intellectual achievement regarded

collectively [...] [a]refined understanding or appreciation of culture [...][t]he

ideas, customs, and social behaviour of a particular people or society [...][t]he

attitudes and behaviour characteristic of a particular social group. (Oxford

Dictionaries)

Culture is the core of this thesis and the Oxford online dictionary’s definition of culture may

seem straightforward and easy to comprehend; I assure you — it is not.

In a previous paper, I examined visual representations of humans in a few English

textbooks used in Swedish secondary schools. I found that there is a vast room for

interpretation in the gap between what is explicitly and implicitly expressed through images.

How we choose to represent people of different cultural belongings and nationality surely

affects the way we categorize and interpret them. I wish to continue my study of

representations and values in teaching materials and here, I will explore two Teacher’s Guides

connected to upper secondary English textbooks by investigating the verbal representations of

cultures and subcultures1 . I believe that this is where the authors’ fundamental pedagogical

ideas about teaching a foreign language are found and what culture in the English-speaking

world is and how it is to be taught, according to the author. How different cultures are

represented will undoubtedly influence the students’ view of the inhabitants of that culture,

and may give rise to prejudice if the cultural representations are stereotypical. The

fundamental values in the Swedish curriculum express that all people involved in the Swedish

1A cultural group within a larger culture, often having beliefs or interests at variance with those of the larger
culture (Definition of “subcultures ” by Oxford Dictionaries)
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educational system should work towards equal rights and equal values for all (LGy 5). If the

Teacher’s Guides are stereotypical or discriminating – they are not in accordance with the

fundamental value and therefore worth examining.

The primary materials for this paper are two upper secondary EFL textbooks and their

associated guides: Progress Gold A – Teacher’s Guide (2010) by Watcyn-Jones Peter, Eva

Hedencrona, and Karin Smed-Gerdin, and Professional – The Teacher’s file (2007) by

Christer Amnéus.

Initially, the fundamental values section of the curriculum will be discussed and the

connection to culture highlighted. After, a theoretical framework consisting of Stuart Hall’s

description of culture and representation followed by Claire Kramsch’s ideas on culture and

language learning will be presented. Finally, Ulrika Tornberg’s different conceptions of

culture will be described and how culture and language learning interact in an English as a

foreign language (EFL) class. Tornberg’s dimensions of culture are key to this thesis as I will

use them as the basis for my analysis of the cultural content of the guides.

The theoretical framework will be followed by an explanation of the methodological

approach and a presentation of the primary material used. Thereafter, I will examine the

Teacher’s Guides through a critical review with the aim to find whether the cultural

representations are in any way excluding or potentially discriminating. The thesis is

concluded with a discussion on culture in the EFL classroom, and the Teacher’s Guides in

particular, in connection to the fundamental values with suggestions for further research.
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1.1 Problem Statements

The aim of this thesis is to research how cultural representations are presented in the guidance

materials: Progress Gold and Professional as well as how those representations correlate to

the fundamental values of the curriculum for the upper secondary school. I have formulated

these problem statements to answer my aim:

 How and when do the guides refer to culture/cultures?

 Which of Ulrika Thornberg’s cultural dimensions is most common in the guides?

 How well do the Teacher’s Guides relate to the fundamental values of the curriculum?

1.2 Limitations and Useful Information

Stuart Hall’s theories and ideas about culture and representation are included to give an

understanding of what culture could be considered to be and how cultural content could be

discriminating. In the analysis section, Hall is not the main theoretical source but a

complement to Ulrika Tornberg’s understandings of cultural expressions in curricular texts.

On many occasions nowadays, course books and manuals are complemented with

interactive, digital material or platforms online. In this thesis, the emphasis lies completely on

the written manuals connected to the course books, limiting the field of research for practical

reasons.

1.3 Previous Research

The concepts of culture/cultures and their correlation with language are well researched, and

culture nowadays is a key component in the core content of English and the curriculum.

Claire Kramsch is one of many researchers that has studied how culture and language

intertwine and some of her work is used in this thesis.

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One example of a contemporary study regarding the impact teaching materials have on

language teaching is Teaching Materials in EIL from 2012 by Aya Matsuda. Matsuda

explains that:

One obvious way the teaching materials contribute to foreign language teaching is as a

source of input. Because the contact with the target language is limited outside the

classroom, the quality and quantity of the language input in class is critical in acquiring

the language. […] Besides providing valuable language input, teaching materials also

express, reinforce and construct a certain view of the world.” (169).

Further she claims that teaching materials heavily influences the pupils’ perception on the target

language and highlights that culture in the English-speaking world is a diverse area (ibid).

However, examining and researching teaching materials is common, yet I found that

little research has been done towards the manuals provided for teachers explaining the text-

and workbook. In essence, there is a lack of research on the subject regarding manuals for

teaching materials, with a further intention on researching cultural representations. This thesis

might be able to demonstrate that there is indeed a need for research on the matter. Although

Teacher’s Guides by themselves are teaching materials, they are not directly intended for

students. Yet, they will affect students if teachers base their lessons on them. Why then, is this

thesis necessary if teaching materials are regularly researched? Because Teacher’s guides are

a complement to other teaching materials and could/should offer a deepened understanding of

the content of the text- and workbook.

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1.4 Fundamental Values

The Swedish curriculum states that Swedish education is based on a democratic foundation,

stipulating that there is an aim towards developing students’ morals, values and knowledge

(LGy 4). Furthermore, it is specified that education should establish and promote a respect for

human rights and the inviolability of human life, equality of all people by nurturing the

students’ sense of tolerance and responsibility (4). The fundamental values permeate all levels

of education, from compulsory school to upper secondary school, and clearly states that no

one should be subjected to discrimination on the grounds of religion, gender, sexual

orientation, functional impairment, transgender identity or its expression or ethnic affiliation

(4). All teachers are therefore obligated to work against discrimination, not only in classroom

situations but through their selected course materials as well. Consequently, it is important to

examine all educational materials and auxiliary manuals correspondingly, as they could be a

breeding ground for future discriminations by reinforcing stereotypes about, but not

exclusively, other cultures. The fundamental values address cultures and cultural differences

as a key component to work with:

The internationalisation of Swedish society and increasing cross-border mobility

place high demands on the ability of people to live with and appreciate the values

inherent in cultural diversity. The school is a social and cultural meeting place

with both the opportunity and the responsibility to strengthen this ability among

all who work there [...][a] secure identity and awareness of one’s own cultural

origins and sharing a common cultural heritage strengthens the ability to

understand and empathise with the values and conditions of others. Schools must

help students to develop an identity that can be related to and encompass not only

what is specifically Swedish, but also that which is Nordic, European, and

ultimately global. (4)

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Thereby, the curriculum states that there is a need for cultural awareness. Yet little

information is given to how it is to be achieved. Some subjects do focus especially on culture,

such as social studies, but foreign language studies all have clearly expressed demands for

cultural awareness in connection to the language taught. This thesis focuses on the subject

English but a similar analysis could be applied to any other foreign language materials as

well.

Although it is important to examine and evaluate teaching materials, whose

responsibility is it to review teaching materials? As of 1991, no course material is reviewed in

advance by the Swedish national agency for education, Skolverket, and the process is

completely decentralised with the consequence of quality assurance being in the hands of

teachers (Calderon). Not only are teachers required to interpret and incorporate the

fundamental values in their teachings, they are also required to do so in relation to selected

educational materials. Evaluating cultural content in teaching materials, as one of many

possible approaches, is therefore of great importance yet troublesome as culture is an

extremely complex matter to study.

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2. Culture and Representation

As mentioned previously – culture is a difficult word. The area of culture is widely

researched with many possible approaches to it and, in connection with language and

teaching, culture becomes an even wider concept with further approaches possible.

Stuart Hall and Claire Kramsch are arguably two of the most acclaimed researchers in

cultural studies and their work has heavily influenced that of Ulrika Tornberg.

Stuart Hall, a cultural theorist and sociologist, explains his ideas on representation

and cultures in Representation /(1997). Hall roughly divides culture into three

concepts:

 High culture – the sum of great ideas in classic works of literature, art, music

and philosophy.

 Popular culture – the mass culture of ordinary people consisting of

contemporary music, art, design and activities of leisure-time.

 The anthropological definition which consists of culture as a way of life and

shared values of groups or societies (“Introduction, Stuart Hall” xvii-xviii).

Hall accentuates that culture is about meaning, and shared meanings in particular, where

language is one important (if not the most important) medium in which we make sense

of the world and in which meaning is produced and exchanged (xvii). Hall further

describes language as a representational system, using signs and symbols to represent

concepts, feelings and ideas (xvii). Shared meanings, created by a representational

system like language, helps us interpret the world in roughly the same way and thereby

aiding people towards making themselves understood by others. These shared meanings

may according to Hall sound unitary and standardized, yet this is not the case (xix).

Feelings, attachments and emotions are also part of how we understand our world, our

ideas, concepts and how we communicate, according to Hall (xix). Feelings,

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attachments and emotions show people’s identity, what group they belong to and how

they are feeling – they organize and regulate social practices and thereby have real

practical effects on cultural meanings. People give objects, gestures and language

meaning via how they choose to represent them. Hall continues to describe how

meaning arises:

In part, we give things meaning by how we represent them – the words we use

about them, the stories we tell about them, the images of them we produce, the

emotions we associate with them, the way we classify and conceptualize them, the

values we place on them. (xix)

Hall exemplifies this by describing a stone: A stone could be a stone, but it could also

be a piece of something else – a house or a sculpture as things rarely have one, fixed

unchanging meaning. This is also true for people (xix).

Members of the same culture must share sets of concepts, images and ideas which

enables them to interpret the world in a similar way, otherwise it would be difficult to

communicate and understand each other. In essence, people of a culture share the same

cultural codes (xix). Language is thereby a way to understand and make meaning of

other cultures and how to function in one’s own, or another, society. However, Hall

underlines that meanings and codes are changing and always evolving and not

interchangeable from one culture to another:

So one important idea about representation is the acceptance of a degree of

cultural relativism between one culture and another, ascertain lack of equivalence,

and hence the need for translation as we move from the mind-set or conceptual

universe of one culture or another. (“The Spectacle of The ‘Other’” 45)

This could implicate that Swedish culture and its intrinsic cultural codes cannot be

applied to the cultures of the English-speaking world without transitional issues.

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Cultural codes and values of the target language need to be explained to an EFL class

along with Swedish cultural codes. Arguably, it is more difficult to identify and

understand other cultural codes if one is not aware of one’s own.

Moreover, Hall claims that the representational practices known as stereotyping

are processes of reducing people to a few essential characteristics (247). However,

stereotyping has a purpose as it maintains social order, dividing what is normal and

what is deviant, “what belongs and what is Other” (247). Stereotyping in that sense is

part of our shared meanings, yet the problem with it is that it expels people that do not

fit in, as it exaggerates and simplifies traits, reducing people or groups to a few essential

features of normal or deviant (247-48).

How the target cultures are represented in foreign language classes, and in this

thesis the Teacher’s Guides, mirrors both the target language cultures and the

denominated cultures of the classroom, serving as a bridge between them and aiding

pupils towards achieving a shared meaning in relation to the targeted cultures and the

resident cultures.

2.1 Culture and Language Teaching

Stuart Hall shows the drawbacks of stereotyping and the complexness of representation. Yet,

language teachers cannot exclude cultural contents from their classroom as one could argue

that language and culture are inseparable from one another.

One often reads in teachers’ guide-lines that language teaching consist of teaching the

four skills ‘plus culture’ [...]culture is often seen as mere information conveyed by the

language, not as a feature of language itself [...][i]f, however, language is seen as social

practise, culture becomes the very core of language teaching. (Kramsch 1993, 9)
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Claire Kramsch, a professor of German and Education, describes the relationship between

culture and language in Language and Culture (1998) as complex in terms of communication.

Kramsch states that “language express cultural reality” (3) but does not only express the

experiences of a community but also creates experiences. Language is a system of signs that

by themselves have cultural value (3). Kramsch’s ideas on language as a bearer of cultural

value confirms that Teacher’s Guides, and any other teaching material, have within their

language—cultural content and is worth examining.

Furthermore, Kramsch argues that culture both liberates and constrains people as it on

one hand provides people within a group or society with a common way of thinking and

communicating, but on the other hand it also limits them as they are enforced with structures

and main beliefs of a system (6). As a consequence, language and cultures create insiders and

outsiders as “[c]ulture, as a process that both includes and excludes, always entails the

exercise of power and control” (8). A difficult issue with representation, raised by Kramsch, is

who is entitled to speak for whom and select what should be representative of a given culture

(9)?

Kramsch’s theories are similar to Stuart Hall’s in the way that language gives a sense

of belonging and unifies people, yet, it also decides what is normal and what is deviant and

creates those who are on the outside of a culture or a language (Kramsch 8, Hall 247). In this

thesis, two guides are selected consisting of texts selected, and created by, the authors with

the purpose of being representative of the English-speaking world, or parts of it at least. How

then, do the authors of the guides choose to represent the English-speaking world? What kind

of texts have they selected and included? What kind of assistance do the authors offer in the

guide and to what purpose?

Moreover, Kramsch states in Foreign Language Research In Cross-Cultural

Perspective (1991) that American EFL textbooks distinguish between the culture of classical
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works art and literary classics (the big C) and the culture of foods, fairs, folklore and

statistical facts, also known as the four Fs (the small c) (218). The big and small c are

generally not considered a part of language teaching by themselves but a separate subject

(218). This sectioning or indexing of culture is also comparable to the ones Stuart Hall makes

including high culture, popular culture and ultimately the anthropological definition of

culture (xvii-xviii). Is this the case in the Swedish Teacher’s guides as well? Do they offer

cultural content in the form of the four Fs? And most importantly, what does the language and

culture in the Teacher’s Guide include and perhaps more importantly – exclude? These

questions are in relation to the third problem statement: how well do the Teacher’s Guides

relate to the fundamental values of the curriculum.

2.2 Culture and Language Learning

Why is it important to discuss culture in an EFL class? Joyce Merrill Valdes argues in

Cultural Bound: Bridging the Cultural Gap in Language Teaching (1986) that those most

successful at learning a language are those that embrace the mindset of the native speakers,

intertwining the language and culture (2). Yet, most people are not aware of themselves as

cultural beings. An awareness of one’s own culture is vital to their further understanding of

another culture as this makes language learners see other cultures in a more favourable

manner, according to Valdes (2). Students who are not identifying themselves as cultural

beings are a problematic issue as the fundamental values addresses that as an area to work

towards ”secure identity and awareness of one’s own cultural origins [...] strengthens the

ability to understand and empathise with the values and conditions of others” (LGy 4). In

other words, learning culture when learning a new language is crucial to acceptance and

tolerance between people of different cultures. How then, is a culture to be taught and
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interpreted? Ulrika Tornberg has developed three dimensions of cultural understandings,

which will be explained in the following section.

2.3 Concepts of Culture

Ulrika Tornberg’s dimensions of culture are partly based on Stuart Hall’s understanding of

culture, applied to Swedish curricular texts. The advantage of using Tornberg’s dissertation as

a foundation for my analysis is that Tornberg situates her dimensions of culture in an

international arena but focuses on Swedish documents which, in this case, are the

underpinnings for the Teacher’s Guides. Tornberg also explains that her thesis has a different

incidence that many other international researchers’ as she aims to clarify the potential for

identity formation and democracy in EFL teaching (15, 279). Critique regarding Tornberg’s

research will be discussed in the section “2.4 Possibilities and Limitations” on page 18.

Ulrika Tornberg researches Swedish curricular texts in order to find how concepts of

“culture” and “communication” are represented. In her dissertation Om språkundervisning i

mellanrummet (2000), she states that culture can be divided into three different dimensions:

culture as a fact fulfilled, culture as a future competence and culture as an encounter in an

open landscape. These dimensions will be explained further on. Tornberg defines culture as

“an ongoing shaping and re-shaping process through communication” (281) and describes her

perception of culture as being a “process of conflict and continuous change” (283). Tornberg

uses Stuart Hall’s philosophy about culture, among others, to shape her own dimensions of

culture which will be used in this thesis to describe and interpret how the authors of the

Teacher’s Guides express what culture is to them, both openly and indirectly.

The first concept is Culture as fact fulfilled, a perspective where culture is understood to

be defined by nations where differences in culture are limited by nationality. Tornberg claims

that this view dominated in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, but is no longer valid in
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contemporary society, as nationality today is only one of many cultural categories (282-83).

Examples of other current cultural categories are gender, ethnicity, social and economic

status. Also, Tornberg argues that when one considers culture as a fact fulfilled, culture is

merged into an unchangeable unit, unaffected by time, individuality and values (64). In

addition to this, she claims that syllabuses often call for finding similarities and differences

between the students’ culture and the cultures taught, that would suggest that there are unified

cultures, defined by nationality to compare (65). Those conclusions were drawn by Tornberg,

based on the 1994 Curriculum for the non-compulsory school system (Lpf 94), but there are

similar phrasings in the current Curriculum for the upper secondary school (LGy 11). For

example, in the English 5 knowledge requirements, it is stated: “[Grade E] Students discuss in

basic terms some features in different contexts and parts of the world where English is used,

and can also make simple comparisons with their own experiences and knowledge.” (LGy 11,

5) This raises the questions of what features are and how they are to compare them, and

further it shows signs of a notion that you can compare two mainstream cultures to one

another. In other words, that there are only two cultures to compare: “theirs” and “ours”. This

is not necessarily the intention of the syllabus, but it is nonetheless a possible interpretation.

However, the syllabus does express that the students should explore the living conditions of

other English-speaking cultures, but this suggests that culture is something that is available to

outsiders to find and explore via text. Assuming the students explore other cultures through

textbooks, examples of living conditions and parts of the English-speaking world are

preselected by the author which limits the field of exploration significantly. The far most

distinctive feature of culture as a fact fulfilled is according to Tornberg, that it fortifies the

concept of self and other as it distinguishes between the ethnocentric “we” and “the Other”

(71). In relation to the fundamental values, the culture as a fact fulfilled notion is not a

desirable way to teach culture as it is at risk of stereotyping groups of people and create
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prejudices due to the fact that it is a narrow view on what culture is. Tornberg’s ideas on self

and other are in no doubt in close relation with both Stuart Hall’s descriptions of how

stereotyping and representation could include and exclude people (247), and Kramsch’s

insiders and outsider of a culture (8)

Tornberg’s second dimension, Culture as a future competence, deals with intercultural

competence and focuses on the ability to reflect, compare and a general cultural know-how

that aids people in their future encounters with the target language and culture. Nevertheless,

this perspective tends to assume that there is a national mainstream culture that can be

compared with another mainstream culture, as with the culture as a fact fulfilled dimension,

with a unidirectional understanding of other people without letting the other people have their

say, according to Tornberg (72, 283-84). Besides, with culture as a future competence, the

competencies sought-after is determined in advance (for example by authors) and leaves little

room for new meanings to be created and therefore makes it difficult to see culture as a re-

shaping process (284). In language studies, this dimension could appear as an example with

good intentions with the purpose of aiding language learners, meeting people from the target

language and culture. In this paper, the question of rightful representation is raised once

again: Who is entitled to speak for an entire culture?

According to the view of Culture as an encounter in an open landscape, which is the

final dimension of culture, humans are viewed as unique individuals, and the world consists

of many cultures all made by humans, and by their individual contribution – cultures change

endlessly. Tornberg describes it as:

The open landscape may be described as a discursive space between Self and Other,

owned by nobody and shared by all, where identity is constituted by a process of

becoming, which is at the same time described as a balance between the quest for

recognition and solidarity towards the Other. (284)

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In addition to this, the concept of culture as an encounter in an open landscape enables

the creation of a third culture by the language learners in real time, an idea she claims

was first drafted by Claire Kramsch (80). Tornberg calls the space where the third

culture, the discursive space, can be possible as “an open landscape” (79, 284). The

function of the open landscape is to have students gain a realisation of what self and

other mean, their differences and similarities. This realisation will then lead to students

understanding how people relate to others (79). Moreover, the open landscape is a

foundation, or an arena, for one’s identity and the understanding that the Other also sees

me as an Other as cultural variances are found by both parties and that differences are

not a threat but a complement to the self. Tornberg also states that tolerance towards the

other begins where the understanding of the other ends (81).

The main difference between the three concepts is that culture as a fact fulfilled

and future competence sees culture as a product, but culture as an encounter in an open

landscape sees culture as a process. Likewise, the future competence relies on an

interpretation of what is to be learnt about a culture and how one is to behave in that

culture at the prerogative of someone other than the student, which is an exercise of

power (86). Culture as an encounter in an open landscape entails face to face

encounters with people from other cultures which permits the students to take

responsibility for themselves as well as the other (86, 284).

How then, does this final concept of culture allow comparisons of cultures in a

positive manner? Probably because it relies on communication rather than fact-based

learning or reading. One cannot read about, and thereby understand the third culture, but

must engage in it. Culture as an encounter in an open landscape correlates well with the

fundamental values as it consists of the building of tolerance, acceptance and in my

understanding, a means to limit the use of stereotypes and in extension lessen

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discriminating behaviour. The open landscape also enables individuals coming to terms

with their own culture, which is an essential part of the fundamental values.

Ulrika Tornberg’s dimensions of culture are not by any means the only way to

teach culture, nor is it claimed to be the best way to do so. However, Hall and Tornberg

indicate that there are different ways of understanding culture and that some aspects of

it omit other aspects, whilst some include others.

2.5 Subcultures

As mentioned in the introduction, The Oxford English Dictionary defines subculture as: “A

cultural group within a larger culture, often having beliefs or interests at variance with those

of the larger culture” (Oxford Dictionaries). This, in essence, means that there are cultural

groups that differ from the mainstream culture. However, Kris Jenkins argues that:

“subculture is not a part within a part within a whole.” in Subculture: The fragmentation of

the Social (2005,7). Jenks wants to explore the historical background to the term subculture

and its development in contemporary theories. He comes to the following conclusion:

The concept can be employed to valorise the underdog, radicalize the dispossessed,

give voice to the inarticulate but equally to marginalize and contain the deviant or

non-mainstream. It can and it does all of these things to different degrees according to

the theorist’s intent but also, and ironically, all of these things as well, despite the

theorist’s intent. (129)

Although Jenks findings are important this thesis will not, for practical reasons, analyse and

interpret the presence of subcultures in the Teacher’s Guides in depth. However, subcultures

will be discussed briefly as the authors of the guides have chosen texts that deal with interests

that could be considered belonging to a subculture.

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2.4 Possibilities and Limitations

Angela Marx Åberg has studied Tornergs different concepts of culture. Åberg’s main issue

with Tornberg’s theoretical research is its lack of practical implications (19). How is the

discursive space supposed to take place in an actual classroom, is Åbergs focal question.

Åberg continues by stating that it is in the nature of theorising to assume an ideal situation

where students and teachers alike are supposedly willing to contribute to creating the

discursive space by engaging in creating shared meaning and concertedness (19). She decides

to test the discursive space in a pilot study, published as an article in the report

”Mångkulturella Aspekter på Språkundervisningens Kommunikativa Praktiker" from 2006

titled “Språkundervisning i Mellanrummet – Möjligheter och Begränsningar”.

Åberg has interpreted the key to culture as an encounter in an open landscape

and the creation of the discursive space as being in authentic communication situations

where the students are not communicating for training purposes but “appear as

themselves” in genuine conversations (20). In the pilot study for her dissertation, she

observed a group of seven students in upper secondary school, who were to discuss a

German novel for a project in their German studies. Åberg found that the project

constructed by the teacher had opportunities for authentic communication but the

teacher, by interrupting the student, limited the possibilities for authentic conversations

that could be made by the students themselves. The interruptions were made with good

intentions as the teacher saw the students struggling to find the right words. Åberg

comments on these interruptions by saying that the teacher probably feels it is his/her

responsibility to take command over the discussion, yet to truly engage in the discursive

space this responsibility belongs to and is shared by all participants (26). Her

conclusions show that teachers need to let go of their control to create the discursive

space and further, it is in the disorder of things, the student truly can show their
 Nilsson 21

linguistic skills and have an authentic conversation (31). Further, she addresses several

times in the article, the need for what she calls symmetrical relations between students

and teachers where everyone has the same rights to express themselves no matter their

age, position of power or knowledge in language (30-31).

Åberg highlights one of the biggest and most problematic issues with Tornberg’s

dissertation – the lack of practical implications regarding her theories. As for this thesis,

there is no way of knowing how the Teacher’s Guides would correlate with Torberg’s

cultural dimensions in a classroom situation, but it is assumed that the written content is

the content taught in class. In addition to this, it is expected that the written content is in

no way challenged or further explained.

 Nilsson 22

3. Method

This thesis utilises a documental analysis together with a critical review of literature as its

method and thereby entails a thorough reading and interpretation of the primary material. The

approach is source oriented as the guides are the sources of information and the subjects of

exploration. I will attempt to focus on the texts’ practical implications in terms of fulfilling

the fundamental values.

Judith Bell explains in Doing Your Research Project: a Guide for First-Time

Researchers in Education, Health and SocialSscience (2005) that when analysing documents

and literature, it is of great importance to identify common keywords and categories when

establishing a framework for analysis (103). In this case, the most useful keyword is

culture/cultures – how and when do the guides refer to culture/cultures? The framework is

divided into three categories: selected curricular texts and grading material with explicit

cultural content, suggested tips from authors and selected texts in the textbook with explicit

cultural content. However, the main focus lies on the guide rather than the textbook. Finally, I

have made an effort towards finding implicit cultural content in the guides, that is to say, I

tried to find material in the guides that have ulterior cultural content.

In addition, Bell also states that a critical review of literature in a small study does not

entail a full summary of a text, but a selection of such that could be considered a

representation of it (110).

There are problematic issues with the selected approach, for instance : language

is a bearer of meaning and a representation of cultures with an abundance of possible

interpretations, as Stuart Hall depicts (xix). Therefore, it is important to point out that I

myself am affected by my own experiences, Swedish norms and values and

individuality when analysing the Teacher’s Guides. It is difficult to remove oneself

completely from one’s cultural influence and becoming objective towards verbal and
 Nilsson 23

visual representations. Yet, teachers and students alike are affected by their surrounding

societal norms and values and it may not be of utmost importance that I am objective

when analysing the Teacher’s guides as the target audiences are not. The main

perspective used for the analysis is mainly that of the teacher’s as the purpose of the

guides are to be of assistance to teachers.

3.1 Material

Selecting guides to explore is not an easy undertaking as they are rarely sold to private

customers. This forced me to rely on the selection of guides found in the university library.

Publication date was my only concern as I wanted the most recent published document

possible – resulting in Progress Gold A (2007) and Professional (2007). The guides are

treated as inadvertent sources which Bell explains is one of two categories which documental

analysis can be divided into: deliberate and inadvertent sources. Deliberate sources are

produced with the intention of being researched whereas inadvertent sources are not.

Inadvertent sources are: “used by researchers for some purpose other than that for which they

were originally intended” (126). The Teacher’s Guides were firstly intended to be helpful to

teachers and not research.

Both Teacher’s Guides selected for this thesis target the first year of English in upper

secondary school but the main difference between the two guides is that Professional is

addressed to students attending one of the vocational programs and is formatted according to

the old (1994) curriculum for the non-compulsory school system (Lpf 94) and is therefore and

English A course book. Since the introduction of the new curriculum, LGy 11, English A has

become English 5. Progress Gold A, however, is an English A and step 5 course book,

according to the Teacher’s Guide (Watcyn-Jones et al. 9). The structure is similar in the books
 Nilsson 24

as both of them offer a review of each chapter with explanations and suggestions. Also, they

both offer pedagogical tips to each chapter.

In addition, Bell explains that documents can have witting or unwitting evidence. The

witting evidence is the information the author intends the reader to get, the unwitting evidence

is the information one can find in addition to the intended information — that is the implicit

information of the document (127). This thesis focuses both on the witting and unwitting

information conveyed by the guides.

Even though these books are initially aimed at a former English course, they are

relevant due to the fact that they are still available for purchase and are currently in use. The

Professional - Teachers file edition used in this paper is still the only version available and

hence is their only offered Teacher’s Guide to date (March 2015). Likewise the textbook,

although it states it is for English A, is marketed as a course book for English 5 in Swedish

online bookstores such as bokus.com (“Professional the Teacher’s File”). The Progress Gold

Teacher’s Guide is also the latest available edition at the publisher’s website. However, there

are new editions of the textbook (Studentlitteratur).

Further, Bell states that a document “is a general term for an impression left on a

physical object by a human being. Research can involve the analysis of photographs, films,

videos, slides and other non-written sources [...]but the most common kinds of documents in

educational research are written” (125). As previously stated, course books and manuals are

complemented with interactive, digital material or platforms online. In this thesis, the

emphasis lies completely on the written manuals connected to the course books.
 Nilsson 25

4. Analysis

Previously in this paper, it has been concluded that the fundamental values section of

the curriculum is attached to cultural knowledge, as is successful language learning.

How then, do the Teacher’s Guides express and encourage teachers to use the target

language culture? To begin with, the included curricular text, grading criteria will be

examined and given examples of in relation to the theoretical framework. Subsequent

sections are divided and devoted to each of the guides with drafts and connections to the

initially explained theories. The analysis is followed by a discussion section, on page

34, and is concluded with a discussion of the overall results in relation to the

fundamental values and further research.

4.1 Aims and Goals of Progress Gold A and Professional

Progress Gold A’s Teacher’s Guide uses the term “culture” throughout. As an initial example,

the authors have constructed a form for evaluation called underlag i engelska för IUP (basis

in English for the individual development plan). The form is to be filled in by the teacher to

identify whether students are on their way of fulfilling a goal or need further repetition in that

area, then it is forwarded to the student. The form gives reference to culture on two occasions:

first, the students should be able to “read and understand easily accessible literature and

through reading learn about cultural traditions in English-speaking countries” and second

“have knowledge about everyday life, society and cultural traditions in some English-

speaking countries and apply these skills to compare cultures” (30 my translation). The same

phrasing is used on page 24 in the guide where they write what goals the students are to work

towards. These goals, together with the IUP, are the explicit cultural goals of Progress Gold.

The goals expressed in the guide seem to strive for a cultural comparison of one’s own

culture and that of the target language. Is the guide referring to a mainstream national culture?
 Nilsson 26

Suggestions like those found in the guide could give hold to a notion that countries only have

one culture worth knowing. Tornberg points out that these sorts of phrasings concerning

culture, with an indistinct connection to the anthropological or aesthetic perception of culture

found in the curriculum and syllabi, may cause an ambiguity to what is to be taught and

learned (64). Nevertheless, if the goal is to compare cultures, the forms’ goals would then fall

into the culture as a fact fulfilled and culture as a future competence category as little or no

attention is paid to the variations within different cultures. Yet, the phrasings do not omit the

possibility that there are variations within a mainstream culture or a presence of subcultures

(the presence of subcultures in the guides will be discussed further on). Furthermore, the

separation of everyday life, society and cultural traditions may imply that the guide does not

see culture through an anthropological perspective as Stuart Hall describes (xviii), but rather

as something separate from society and everyday life. This separation could also function as a

clarification of what is to be learnt, and does not necessarily mean that these areas are isolated

from one another. However, one possible problem with this type of separation is that neither

teacher nor student realise that these areas could all be considered cultural phenomena. As a

result, the objective of teaching the complexity of culture could be neglected.

Professional Teacher’s File2 does not include any grading criteria or drafts from

curricular texts; instead, they offer key answers to questions raised or exercises in their

textbook. Still, the author does mention on several occasions that his exercises are designed to

aid the students in their upcoming national exams, provide useful and interesting information

on their future vocations and are designed to fit a variety of professions (Amnéus

“Professional. Teacher’s File” 1.1-2.1). Target language culture is thereby not a focal point in

this teaching material – profession is.

2 Note that Professional Teacher’s File does not utilise standard pagination style but use a formatting style of 1.1,
1.2 and so on.
 Nilsson 27

4.2 Target Groups

There are underlying values concerning the targeted pupils in both guides and differences can

be seen in aspects of the intended usage of the English language in the classroom. On several

occasions in the Professional guide, the author declares that it is not important if the students

speak English, even if it is preferable, because it is more important to have the students

talking with interest than speaking in English. Other similar examples from the guide include:

“If the students would to be too spontaneous and start talking in Swedish, it may not matter,

because at least it is an interesting topic to discuss” (2.2), “in some cases it would suffice if

the students answer in Swedish” (2.4) and “The teacher can alternatively get factual books

[…] and ask students to do a report in Swedish” (2.10). This correlates with the core content

of English 5 which states that English should be used as far as possible (2), but if one

considers the perspective that culture inhabits language and vice versa, the students are

missing important opportunities of learning linguistic skills and gaining communicative and

cultural knowledge. The Progress Gold guide, on the other hand, claims that:

To exclusively speak the target language during class is for many a matter that goes

without saying and the goal of most teachers and students is that they together create

the monolingual classroom. The use of language during school will then come closer

to the reality in which the language will be used. (Watcyn-Jones et al 18, my

translation)

This is quite different from the Professional’s guide point of view in regards to the usage of

English during class. It would seem that the authors of Progress Gold believe that the use of

the target language will eventually create a culture on its own in the classroom, a middle

ground between the students’ Swedish society and future encounters with native speakers.

Further examples (all following quotations in this section are translated by me) of the

underlying values regarding the expected target groups from Professional include: “Ideal
 Nilsson 28

exercise for vocational students who think there are too many writing exercises” (1.1), “

shower them with praise” (2.2), “In some classes, it may not be possible to do writing

exercises of this model” (2.3), “do not be afraid to give written homework tests every now

and then” (2.3) and “expect that many people will forget the assignment, the project will

therefore with all certainty not be time-consuming” (2.8). The author of Professional

Teacher’s File reflects his own perception of vocational program students in the guide, anent

how they are expected to behave, what they are capable of and on what level expectations

concerning the students’ educational achievements should be at. This, apropos of the

expressed use of English in the classroom, possibly reflects a view coloured by stereotypes

regarding vocationally oriented students. In that regard, both guides are normative as

Professional describes their students as somewhat unmotivated and in need of support and

Progress Gold expects students to be comfortable with taking responsibility for their own

studies, self-assessment and in a dialogue with the teacher shape a foundation for flexible

learning.

Examples from Progress Gold Teacher’s Guide with student-related contents are:

“after the initial work [...]the group should decide what to do at home and how they intend to

work in school” (18), “The teacher's role is primary to get each student to cover the following:

I want to, I dare to, I can.” (21) and “The teacher should encourage students to plan,

implement, and evaluate their own work. This can be done within the framework of the so-

called learner autonomy or by having the student periodically doing independent work and

present different projects” (26). How these underlying values affect students and their

learning environment is a subject for further research, but it shows cultural conditions and

differences within the classroom when exploring new cultures. Hall’s theory that we give

things meaning by how we choose to represent them (xix) is highly relevant here. What

meaning is given to the targeted pupils and the selected cultures? How will the pupils perceive
 Nilsson 29

themselves when they read the texts in the textbook and will the texts aid them in becoming

aware of themselves as cultural beings?

4.3 Subcultures in the Guides

The selected subcultures in the guides also reflect upon the authors’ idea of what their

targeted pupils would want to and need to know. In Professional, subcultures are represented

in the textbook with examples containing motorcycles, graffiti, surfing etc. These selected

subcultures could be considered gender normative as they seem to be aimed towards a group

of homogenous male readers and could be the result of cultural assumptions about the target

pupils. Progress Gold on the other hand, uses texts in their textbook from around the world,

not exclusively from English-speaking areas, which promotes the guide’s cultural focus.

Having in mind what Kramsch stated about the difficulties of representation,

pertaining to who is the rightful advocate for a given culture and what should be selected as

representative of it, and Tornberg’s culture as a future competence where the aspects of

desirable competence are predetermined, both guides are written on assumptions regarding

the target audience where the students intended to read Progress Gold are perceived as more

open to different cultural features whereas the students intended to read Professional, are not.

On the other hand, selected subcultures and cultural assumptions may be the result of efforts

made by the authors to have texts that motivate, inspire and, in the end, are interesting to the

students. In the core content of English, it is declared that: “In teaching students should meet

written and spoken English of different kinds, and relate the content to their own experiences

and knowledge” (Skolverket 1). It is not an issue when authors select texts with the intention

of them appealing to students, it becomes an issue when the selected material is deficient in its

variety.
 Nilsson 30

4.4 Professional Teacher’s Guide

The word culture is never mentioned in the Professional Teacher’s File and all of its

cultural content is implicit. The lack of a conscious cultural focus together with the

absence of grading material is worrying. The development of cultural knowledge is part

of teaching and learning English in Sweden, yet this guide fails to acknowledge this.

The absence of grading material (with cultural focus) could make it difficult to estimate

students obtained knowledge on the matter. An unclear cultural focus also contributes to

a difficult situation when evaluating the course. If the author had included his thoughts

on which cultural focus and perspective he has constructed the manual upon, the

interpretation of it might have been quite different.

As the guide does not offer any culturally related descriptions, the exploration of

it started with the suggested tips for each chapter. A clear example found in the chapter

descriptions of culture as a fact fulfilled is: “Make sure that the students can handle a

normal weather situation and let them know how important it is to talk about the

weather, especially with Brits” (Amnéus 2.5). This is an example of both culture as a

fact fulfilled and culture as a future competence. Firstly, it is taken for granted that all

Brits are interested in the weather, the statement homogenizes an entire nation of people

into a unanimous unit. Secondly, it states that it is important to handle “weather

situations” especially with Brits. The ability to handle weather situations is thereby a

future cultural competence the author believes the students must have.

Generally, Professional seems to be the Teacher’s Guide that utilises the concept

of culture as a fact fulfilled and as a future competence. Culture is on many occasions

limited to facts, and examples of this can be found in the section called Fact file (6. 1-6.

12) where the guide provides information and statistical facts such as: population,

climate and weather, brief historical facts and trademark items from different countries.
 Nilsson 31

The Fact file is a clear example of the four Fs, expressed by Kramsch (218), with the

intention of informing students about other cultures. A few examples of this are: ”

Scottish whisky, kilts, clans and golf are typical features of this country in the north”

(6.9) and “The climate is mild and it rains a lot” (6.4), when describing Scotland and

England. Facts such as population and climate are not to be disregarded as they could be

considered useful information, yet it becomes an issue when information is limited to

these sorts of cultural representations. These descriptions mentioned above relate well to

Tornberg’s culture as a fact fulfilled and as a future competence as they seem to be

designed to give a condensed view of selected English-speaking countries and prepare

students for future encounters with the native speakers.

The Professional guide does, however, encourage the teacher to use the images

included in the textbook as a starting point for discussion and reflection. The guide also

gives examples regarding how to use the images as topics for discussion: “What kind of

ceremony is this? Where does it take place? What about the lady on the left? What

about her hair? [...]Why is there a cross?” (2.1). This promotes students to discuss living

conditions and cultural phenomena and further encourages the encounter aspects of

culture. That is to say that the students have to reflect upon the images, their meaning

and draw conclusions made from their own frame of references. That said, this didactic

tool seems like another example of culture as a future competence, as the suggested

topics predominantly seem to be designed to be relatable to the students’ own life rather

than discuss and connect them to other people from around the world. In other words,

the questions do not invite students to identify with the examples, but rather encourages

them to return to their own frame of reference. Examples of other topics connected to

images are: “What’s your favourite pizza?” (2. 7), “How many robbers are there? What

age are they?” (2. 5) “what were you dressed like when you went to children’s parties?”
 Nilsson 32

(2. 9). In the discussion topics advised for each text and/or image, the students are asked

to relate towards themselves instead of others, and this by itself is not an issue, but the

main focal point seems to be Swedish culture and the students’ own experience rather

than connecting it to other cultures. In the end, that further suggests that the real future

competence provided is that of how to function in Swedish society rather than other

cultures. One of the clearest examples of the guide providing information towards the

students functioning as Swedes in Sweden is in chapter six where the discussion topics

are based on insurance, why that is important and what could happen if you don’t have

it (2.9). The communicative aspect of the discussions however, does entail learning a set

of skills for making one’s way abroad by simply being able to have a conversation in

English.

The textbook does have interesting examples of cultural content, yet the guide

fails to acknowledge this in the chapter descriptions. The text “Who is he” (Amnéus

“Professional. The Book” 46-48) is about prejudice and preconceptions relating to skin

colour. The text is an excellent starting point for discussion about stereotypes and

preconceptions about people, yet the suggested discussion topics in the guide connected

to the textbook text are centred on the students and have nothing to do with skin colour,

leaving the matter of prejudice and stereotypes not reflected on.

To summarize the cultural content of Professional, the Teacher’s Guide provides

cultural phenomena in the manner of the four Fs, culture as a fact fulfilled and culture as

a future competence. The main problem is that Professional lacks explicit examples of

culture and could very well be a teaching material that could give rise to, and perpetuate

a sort of discrepancy in cultural knowledge and the understanding of what culture can

be. As different cultural traditions, values and attitudes are implied rather than clearly

expressed, the students are at risk of losing important areas concerning culture and
 Nilsson 33

cultural encounters. Furthermore, the material refers back to Swedish culture more often

than other cultures, leaving the challenging cultural content of texts untouched.

Nevertheless, the fact that Professional almost exclusively relate back to the

reader as an individual rather than a group, speaks in favour for the “encounter in an

open landscape”. Albeit it never actually develops further from the “future competence”

aspect of culture, it does centre around thoughts and ideas of the individual pupils and

discussion topics could thereby be developed by teachers quite easily to include

individuals of other cultures.

4.5 Progress Gold Teacher’s Guide

Unlike Professional, Progress Gold has the teaching of culture integrated explicitly in the

entire course. Not only is it a priority in the chosen curricular texts but also in the chapter

descriptions. The authors begin by describing the different components:

The texts consist of fiction, newspaper articles and non-fiction with the aim to

inform about the social conditions in the English-speaking world and give an

understanding of what cross-cultural communication can amount to. (Watcyn-

Jones et al. 9, my translation).

This suggests that not only is the course about knowing about other cultures but to

understand them and have knowledge of what cross-cultural communication means, as

well. The idea of cross-cultural communication is important in terms of the concept of

culture as an encounter in an open landscape, as it demands interaction with new

information and people rather than only receiving it. For example, in the first chapter

“When words are not enough”, the Teacher’s Guide explains that “[t]he aim of this

chapter is to lay the foundation for a cultural and communicative view on

communication” (11). The introductory text in the chapter called “Butterflies”, has a
 Nilsson 34

theme consisting of cultural clashes but does not mention which cultures are involved.

That is to say, the reader is not aware of the main character’s nationality or current

location, only that his/her behaviour is “unusual” according to western culture. This

could be an attempt to focus on the individuals rather than nationality and give the

reader a chance to meet another individual on a more personal level. The aim of the text

is to teach students that different living conditions around the world will, in some cases,

give rise to cultural clashes, yet there might be a reasonable explanation for them. A text

like “Butterflies” shifts focus from nationality and facts, to the individual and thus

makes it more associated with the culture as an encounter in an open landscape than

culture as a future competence.

Progress Gold often uses cultural clashes as discussion topics as the subjects in the

texts and listening comprehensions are often from two foreign cultures, such as an Italian in

Australia or an American in Somalia. Yet, there are examples of culture as a fact fulfilled or a

future competence in Progress Gold as well. One of those examples is the listening

comprehension ”Desert dawn”, which is about a Somali boy or girl, now living in America,

visiting his/her uncle in Somalia. The story revolves around forgotten cultural traditions and

the students are then asked to discuss their own cultural food tradition and make comparisons

to what they just heard. In the guide, it is written that they should compare their own

traditions (Watcyn-Jones et al 13), yet in the textbook it says Swedish traditions (Hedencrona

155). Therein lies a noteworthy difference since the former is about personal experience and

includes all students of all origin whereas the latter relates to Swedish culture alone. There is

also the element of comparison between Somali culture and Swedish culture, implying that

the listening comprehension example is representative for all of Somalia. The repercussions

of assuming Swedish culture as normative are possible othering and discrimination of

foreign-born pupils and immigrants. The guide does highlight the potentials of having
 Nilsson 35

foreign-born pupils describing their culture: “The chapter provides a great opportunity for

Swedish and immigrated students to share experiences” (13). It is vital that the guide and

textbook both have the same information. The textbook is the students’ source of information

and if Progress Gold finds cultural differences important and a learning opportunity, it is

crucial that the textbook expresses that.

As I understand it, Progress Gold A has an anthropological view on what culture is,

yet it is never clearly mentioned. Further, is seems like Progress Gold wishes to raise

awareness about culture amongst the students by making them question cultural behaviour.

This is perhaps a way of having the students realising they themselves are cultural beings.
 Nilsson 36

5. Discussion

In this section, answers will be given to the thesis problem statements, the results and answers

will further be discussed regarding how they may cause problems in connection to the

fundamental values. The two Teacher’s Guides in this paper differ vastly from one another in

many aspects, cultural content and aim being two of them. So, how and when do the guides

refer to culture/cultures? Progress Gold has an explicit cultural focus with some explanation

to what cultural approach and perspective the authors have, whereas Professional does not

have a cultural focus nor an outspoken cultural perspective. This does not mean that

Professional lacks cultural content but rather that it is implicit in the teaching material and

guide. The absence of cultural focus in Professional is alarming and not in agreement with the

fundamental values nor the core content of English 5. Nonetheless, as Hall depicts, language

is a representational system and has cultural codes within it (xvii); this means that

Professional indeed does have plenty of cultural content (to the same extent as Progress

Gold) and is conveying cultural codes and values. Nevertheless, the implicit cultural content

may cause problems for teachers and readers of Professional as there is a risk of not giving

culture any attention when teaching (since it is not mentioned) or that it is treated as an

isolated object unrelated to everyday life.

As both Tornberg and Kramsch reason, culture is an integral part of language teaching

and learning, and is a vital part of understanding the connotations and denotations of the

target language. Therefore, it is desirable that culture is made visib le in the foreign language

classroom and by extension the Teacher’s Guide and the students’ textbooks. Since culture

has a significant role in the curriculum and syllabus it would be appropriate if the Teacher’s

Guides had distinct cultural teaching plans to aid teachers in guiding students towards cultural

knowledge, not only including cultural content. Otherwise, there is a risk that students could

be left without important tools to function in Swedish society and the English-speaking world
 Nilsson 37

as well. The grasp of the fundamental values stretches beyond EFL teaching but is arguably

important to it as culture is a significant component of both English 5 and the fundamental

values.

As Tornberg states, the absence of explicit cultural perspectives (anthropological or

other) in curriculums is problematic as it leaves the concept of culture unexplained and in the

hands of teachers and students to construe (281). Even though Progress Gold has a cultural

focus, it is not entirely clear how the authors define culture themselves. Cultural ignorance

could very well lead to continued stereotyping, and stereotyping in its turn can lead to

discrimination and intolerance amongst students, which would in all probability fortify the

concept self and other. The clarification of cultural focus and perspectives in the guides, and

perhaps in the fundamental values as well, would illuminate what aspects of culture are being

represented and worked with, further aiding teachers in teaching culture in a univocal manner.

The results also show noticeable differences in how the Teacher’s Guides represent

students at a vocational programme versus a general English 5 course. As expected, the

Professional lay emphasis on the students’ future professions with vocabulary aimed at

different trades, texts and discussions are designed to engage the students and encourage them

in their future occupations. However, this is done at the cost of explicit cultural content with

very few exceptions. Progress Gold, however, teaches students to engage in the English-

speaking world beyond the four Fs as it tries to prepare them for actually meeting people from

English-speaking countries, instead of just learning about them to a greater extent than

Professional.

Which of Thornberg’s cultural dimensions are most common in the guides?

Culture as a future competence is probably the most common dimension of culture expressed

in the guides together with culture as a fact fulfilled. Teaching culture as a fact fulfilled or as a

future competence could very well be part of language teaching as facts about population,
 Nilsson 38

climate, foods and fairs could be considered a general know about and know how about

countries. However, it should not be exclusively taught, and perhaps given a less important

role. Furthermore, it is important to acknowledge that these facts change over time, as do the

people living there. Tornberg’s culture as an encounter in an open landscape and these

concepts of culture take into consideration both the individuality of the members of a specific

culture and the individual students learning about it. Professional does not offer a dialogue

between cultures but gives clear cut information.

Nevertheless, using an educational material with limited cultural content is not the

same as language teaching without the perspective of culture as an encounter in an open

landscape. Teachers can do this anyway, regardless of what material they use and what that

material instructs them to do. However, it makes the teaching of culture more difficult. One

way of dealing with the lack of cultural dialogue in the material could be to question the

content by problematizing it. Ultimately, this requires teachers who are comfortable and

educated in the field of cultural studies.

Likewise, it is important to teach the mainstream culture of the target language as this

is the culture of the majority of the population, and probably the culture the students most

likely come into contact with. On the other hand, it is important to tell them that this is one of

many aspects of culture in a country and not an absolute truth. To avoid othering,

discrimination and stereotyping, education need to disclose what it means to be human,

regardless of cultural belonging or nationality. Tolerance towards other cultures needs to start

in the classroom by accepting the differences that occur within it, which is key to fulfilling the

fundamental values.

How then, does the Progress Gold and Professional Teacher’s Guide uphold the

fundamental values of the Swedish curriculum via their cultural representations? The

Teacher’s Guides explored in this thesis have, as mentioned earlier, quite different approaches
 Nilsson 39

to teaching culture. The Professional Teacher’s File has little explicit cultural content and

seems to rely on culture as a fact fulfilled and culture as a future competence. There is no

evidence of a direct risk of discrimination or othering, but the lack of explicit cultural content

and the non-existing problematizing of it could indirectly lead to discrimination. Further, little

or no attention is paid to the fact that the students themselves are cultural beings, something

Valdes states as crucial for their future understanding of other cultures (2). Stating that the

Professional does not meet the standards of the fundamental values is a stretch, yet it is at risk

of not doing so in the long run. To educate democratic, tolerant and responsible students in

agreement with the fundamental values, cultural knowledge is vital. Progress Gold seems to

have cultural knowledge at heart as it has a view of English as a global language and is a tool

highly useful for the students in their future life and vocations. The ability to make oneself

understood is a basic component of both guides, but Progress Gold seems to aim for a wider

ability to communicate and interact with different cultures. As I understand it, this comes

closer to the ideas in the fundamental values.

A Teacher’s Guide does not by itself stand for the complete cultural content of a

course as the textbook and workbook together make the complete course material. It is,

however, the source of the fundamental pedagogical and didactical views of the authors. One

must assume that the authors have the fundamental values and core content of the syllabus in

mind when creating the guides and accompanying textbook, yet this thesis shows a lack of

correlation between the fundamental values and material in the guides.

This thesis suggests that teachers may have to be able to conduct cultural teaching

opportunities independently of the course books if they want to strive to fulfill the

fundamental values. This by itself demands teachers who dare to question the cultural content

and representations of teaching materials by being educated in what culture is/could be, how it
 Nilsson 40

could be taught and how to analyse teaching materials. Cultural knowledge amongst teachers

is also vital to understand the fundamental values document itself.

In conclusion, it is of greater importance how teachers use their selected material than

what kind of material they use. A material filled with culture as a fact fulfilled and the four Fs

does not by any means limit teachers to its content but rather challenges them to question it

and discuss it together with their students in relation to the fundamental values.
 Nilsson 41

6. Conclusion

During research to find the theoretical framework for this thesis, finding Tornberg’s

dissertation and her dimensions of culture it became apparent that cultural studies are more

difficult than I previously thought. Tornberg’s final, and in her opinion most desirable way of

teaching culture, is vague and in itself very difficult to understand. Angela Marx Åberg

described one of the problems with the discursive space, namely that about the lack of

practical implications in Tornberg’s studies (9). How is culture to be taught if one wishes to

form the open landscape and creating a third culture with the students? Yes, culture is of great

importance when learning a new language but which cultures should be taught? Authors, and

teachers alike, do not have the luxury of unlimited time and must sort, value and compare

material they want to teach. It is probably fair to say that the mainstream culture is included

for practical reasons. The aim is to introduce the target language culture and by all

probabilities, authors and teacher choose to present those cultural features that are most

common. This will exclude many people of a nation since cultures come in abundances within

a nation, yet – how does one solve this dilemma? Yet, Tornberg’s culture as a fact fulfilled

and culture as a future competence are quite clear cut and easy to apply to teaching materials.

These cultural dimensions could be very valuable for teachers as they would aid them in

identifying cultural assumptions and cultural representations that could be stereotyping or

even discriminating. The identification of stereotypes and cultural assumption alone could

lead to a more nuanced teaching and learning opportunity.

Hopefully, this thesis shows the need for teachers who are interested in teaching and

exploring cultures and moreover, have the ability to be critical towards cultural content when

selecting material for their students and interpreting the fundamental values as culture is

indeed one of the two or three most complicated words in the English language.
 Nilsson 42

6.1 Further Research

The fundamental values of the Swedish curriculum are a vital part of Swedish education. Still,

it does not provide information on how to work against discrimination in a practical and

concrete manner, which I believe is more difficult than it might seem. As Calderon states, the

reviewing and quality assurance of educational material is in the hands of teachers and

indirectly the Universities that educates future teachers (Calderon). To what extent are teacher

trainees educated in reviewing course books with a connection to topics, such as culture, not

directly related to their subjects? How and when is the concept of culture treated/included in

the teacher trainee program and to what extent?

This thesis did not focus on how the selected teaching materials were used in a

classroom, an issue rasied by Angela Marx Åberg. A study consisting of observations and/or

interviews with teachers who use the text books and Teacher’s Guides would be very

interesting. Complementing this paper would answer questions raised when writing it, such

as: to what extent do teachers who use these books feel the need to complement with other

materials and why?

In conclusion, further research is needed concerning textbooks and guides seemingly

being predisposed to different students, based on clichéd ideas on the target groups. At what

expense do authors customize their books?

 Nilsson 43

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