*Corresponding Author P-ISSN: 1978-8118 E-ISSN: 2460-710X 121 Lingua Cultura, 15(1), July 2021, 121-133 DOI: 10.21512/lc.v15i1.7319 CULTURAL REPRESENTATION IN EFL TEXTBOOKS FOR THE SEVENTH GRADERS: A MULTIMODAL ANALYSIS Fransiska Prihatiningsih1; Ismail Petrus2*; Sary Silvhiany3 1,2,3Master of Language Education Study Program, Faculty of Teacher Training and Education, Sriwijaya University Jl. Raya Palembang-Prabumulih, Indralaya Ogan Ilir 30662, Sumatera Selatan, Indonesia 1fikacempaka80@gmail.com; 2ismailpetrus@yahoo.com; 3ssilvhiany@unsri.ac.id Received: 05th May 2021/Revised: 28th June 2021/Accepted: 01st July 2021 How to Cite: Prihatiningsih, F., Petrus, I., & Silvhiany, S. (2021). Cultural representation in EFL textbooks for the seventh graders: A multimodal analysis. Lingua Cultura, 15(1), 121-133. https://doi.org/10.21512/lc.v15i1.7319 ABSTRACT The research aimed to investigate a types of cultures represented in the EFL textbooks for the seventh graders. Two EFL textbooks were analyzed: ‘When English Rings a Bell’ and ‘English on Sky 1’. The research applied a qualitative content analysis as method and Kress and van Leeuwen’s multimodal social semiotic approach as the technique of analyzing data. The result reveals that imbalances in the representation of cultural types exist. Source culture is represented more dominantly compared to target and international culture. It implies that both the authors and the publishers of the textbooks prioritize the learners’ identities construction and characters education rather than focus on the use of language as the lingua franca. Consequently, it could constrain the opportunities for learners to acquire international cultural knowledge and become successful intercultural communicators. Therefore, English teachers need to take an active role in selecting appropriate textbooks and adding supplementary materials or activities to patch up the shortcomings of the textbooks. Keywords: culture representation, EFL textbook, multimodal analysis INTRODUCTION It is an absolute fact that language and culture are inseparable parts. Their relationship is so close so that they are defined as synonyms. On the one hand, language is used to convey ones’ cultural feelings, values and interact with others; on the other hand, culture is rooted in the language. Brown (2000) has summarized the interconnected interaction between language and culture by saying that a language is a component of culture, and culture is a component of language. These two are so intimately associated that they cannot be separated without losing either language or cultural meaning. The language-cultural relationship implicitly affects language learning that means learning of both language and culture, and a language cannot be learned without its culture since it is the essential context for language usage (Ayu, 2020; Husain, Zuhri, & Musfirah, 2021; Rahmah, Kasim, & Fitriani, 2018; Wahyuni et al., 2019). Therefore, the acquisition of cultural awareness is necessary for success in language learning (Lee & Li, 2020). An individual who learns a language before learning culture can breach cultural norms, leading to misunderstanding (Sulistiyo et al., 2021). Inserting cultural aspects of language teaching and learning offers resources for students to experience the world from another’s viewpoint. It can prepare students for better and well-informed national and international life. It can thus enhance their acceptance and understanding between cultures, minimize their prejudice, enhance their awareness of other cultures, and allow them to interact properly and efficiently in different communicative situations (Ghafor, 2020; Sulistiyo et al., 2021). However, to understand and respect other cultures and reflect learners’ own cultures with other cultures, learners need first to understand and respect their own cultures. Understanding own culture is important to build learners’ identity. According to Woodward (as cited in Amalia, 2014), identity gives someone a place in the world and functions as a bond between someone and the community in which he/she resides, as well as providing insight into who they are and how they contribute to others and the world in which they live. In other words, learners can know who they are and act as whom they are when communicating with other 122 LINGUA CULTURA, Vol. 15 No. 1, July 2021, 121-133 people, especially with other cultures. Thereby, it allows people to interact appropriately and effectively in a variety of communicative ways. The ability to communicate in various contexts will lead them to acquire the global competence required to live in the 21st century. Meanwhile, the relationship between language and culture becomes more important in EFL (English as First Language) teaching, and learning as the phenomenon in English Language Teaching (ELT) is transitioning from communicative competence to intercultural communicative competence. Because of the effects of globalization, ELT can transcend national and ethnic borders and be seen in a globalized and broader context (Risanger, 2018). The position of English as an international language (EIL) necessitates reforms in the ELT culture dimension. It is supposed to teach students how to use English as a lingua franca while also developing their intercultural sensitivity and understanding (Stevanović, 2018). The intercultural communicative approach enables English users to make sense of culture. English educators must also reconsider the cultural dimension of ELT, whose culture and what culture should be included in the EFL curriculum, what priorities should be set for culture instruction, and how should culture-related resources be designed and selected. It is proposed that more cultural diversity and non-mainstream communities be included in ELT teaching as part of the phenomenon of English as a global language. Responding to this trend development of ELT, in the Indonesian context, the design of the 2013 curriculum is a result of the fact that Indonesia faces the respective years of the global society and their contentious challenges. For this reason, as the curriculum’s main objective is to empower Indonesian learners to be able to behave as individuals and citizens who are committed, productive, imaginative, innovative, responsive, and able to contribute to the life of the community, country, state, and global civilization (Setyono & Widodo, 2019; Widodo, 2016), the English part must support the major goal of the curriculum. After learning English, the learners are expected to be able to interact with others in various contexts of communication (Putra, Rochsantiningsih, & Supriyadi, 2020). It can be inferred that to reach this goal; the learners must be empowered with intercultural communicative competence. The ability to share insights effectively with different communities in an accessible, relevant, and productive cross-cultural interaction will finally lead to the acquisition of global competence (OECD, 2018). Due to that, students should be exposed to various cultures (McKay, 2002; Prihatiningsih, 2020; Uzum et al., 2021), which according to (Cortazzi & Jin, 1999), can be classified into source culture, target culture, and international culture. Source culture is a culture drawn from the learners’ own culture, which intends to allow learners to preserve their own identity even while communicating with other people in the same language as they do in their mother tongue. The target culture is the culture of English- speaking countries where English is spoken as the first language. McKay (2002) has specifically described the implications of target culture materials for ESL/ EFL learners by demonstrating how content relevant to the target culture can be understood differently by learners who are not used to the culture. Nonetheless, target culture provides contexts for all of the socio- cultural settings in which a learner would be required to use the target language. It facilitates the processes of communicating in a foreign language, learning new vocabulary in a foreign language, and producing it. While, international culture is a culture that reflects a wide range of cultures from both English-speaking and non-English-speaking countries. The presumption of the modern status of English as International Language (EIL), a means of communication used by many people around the world with various mother tongues that has an effect on international culture materials. Consequently, international culture materials that reflect a variety of contexts through the usage of EIL can assist learners in identifying the various ways in which English can be used globally, as well as examples of cross-cultural pragmatism in which billing consumers of English rely on their own rules of acceptability (Ariawan, 2020). In light of the necessity to equip EFL learners with communicative competence to cope with the variety and complex social contexts, teaching materials must be designed to include cultural and intercultural elements as well as relevant pedagogical strategies. Among several teaching resources, a textbook is the most favorite use, especially in Indonesia, regarding their practicality and effectiveness in serving as the basis for language input in the classroom. The textbook can function as a resource. It provides a classroom with texts, explanations, activities, or tasks (Ayu, 2020; Sulistiyo et al., 2021; Teo & Kaewsakul, 2016), which can be adopted and adjusted based on the needs. A textbook can also perform as a map. This offers an outline of a standardized curriculum of linguistic and cultural elements, showing the field to be undertaken by teachers and learners, and synthesizing previous lessons’ behavior so that it assists teachers and learners in understanding the objectives of the course and all classroom activities (Cortazzi & Jin, 1999; Nordlund, 2016). More specifically, in the context of the current research, textbooks depict cultural information through the use of visual, text, and task styles that tend to be possible to transmit cultural awareness to students either consciously or unconsciously so that students might possibly grow into international or global citizen (Huang, 2019; Qodriani & Kardiansyah, 2018). Studies on English as a Foreign Language (EFL) textbooks have concentrated on how cultural content is portrayed in the textbooks over the last five years (Arslan, 2016; Hodkinson, Ghajarieh, & Salami, 2018; Kiss, 2017; Li, Dong, & Duan, 2019; Sahraee, 2018; Su, 2016; Teo & Kaewsakul, 2016). The research body is primarily situated in Asia (e.g., China, Iran, Taiwan, Cambodia, Thailand) and Europe (e.g., Turkey). In 123Cultural Representation in EFL .... (Fransiska Prihatiningsih, et al.) these previous studies, cultural representations in terms of types of cultures, identity representation, cultural elements, cultural representation of disability, gender, and intercultural communicative competence are analyzed. What can be drawn from these previous studies is that English textbooks have a strong tendency to favor certain cultures, ethnicities, cultural elements, or religions. From these previous studies, it is also known that textbooks can be media to promote certain agendas such as transmitting ideologies, facilitating disability students into the mainstream school, or attaching intercultural communicative competence into the ELT. Meanwhile, in the Indonesian context, studies focusing on cultural representations in English textbooks are also growing in numbers (Gunantar, 2017; Mayangsari, Nurkamto, & Supriyadi, 2018; Putra, Rochsantiningsih, & Supriyadi, 2020; Setyono & Widodo, 2019). Most of these previous studies have shown a tendency to represent the learners’ culture in the textbooks published by local publishers. Gunantar (2017) has revealed that the material contained in the English textbooks included the subject of Indonesian culture when investigating the cultural aspects and depicting the cultural value in English language textbooks for junior high school in Indonesia. The majority of the topic focuses on Indonesian history, and it is regarded as an important method of teaching English to Indonesian learners. Correspondingly, Mayangsari, Nurkamto, and Supriyadi (2018) have analyzed how culture is used in English textbooks for eighth-grade students in Indonesia by examining the cultural aspects in the textbook. Using the content analysis method, the research reveals that this textbook has already discussed the cultural dimensions and analyzed them in different facets of culture well, even though it has paid little attention to exploring the target culture. The dominant representation of Indonesia and English-speaking countries in senior high school English textbooks is also reported in Putra, Rochsantiningsih, and Supriyadi (2020), who scrutinized the manifestation of cultures and intercultural interactions in textbooks for twelfth- grade by employing cultural content and intercultural interaction analysis. It is reported that the textbooks mostly demonstrate intercultural interactions in fragmented, limited, and superficial ways. In the same vein, Setyono and Widodo (2019) have analyzed multiculturalism in an English textbook for Indonesian secondary school students and how these concepts could affect the students’ intercultural competence. The findings reveal four values contained in the investigated textbook, namely respecting diversity (pluralism), respecting the indigenous people’s rights, experiencing peace with nature, and increasing the value of cultural products. Despite having sufficient multicultural topics, the textbook still underrepresented cultural materials from Asian and African countries. According to these studies, analyzing culture in EFL textbooks is a highly contentious topic. However, only a few focused on how culture is portrayed in Indonesian English textbooks, especially for seventh graders. Selecting textbooks for grade seven, which is the first level for Indonesian students to learn EFL at school officially, is also worth considering compared to other levels. It is a critical age when students start to build their identity. At the same time, it is necessary to start preparing them for cross-cultural communication in the future. Furthermore, these previous studies define culture by adopting a simplistic approach of documenting by categorizing the nation-specific cultural referents without describing how to uncover the cultural manifestation. They take cultural content as fixed in textbooks. On the other hand, cultural meaning is socially produced in different social contexts and interactions, and a sign, as the fundamental unit of semiotics, appears in all modes as a combination of form and meaning. Furthermore, while most textbooks use multimodal texts, none of the previous studies use multimodal analysis to yield data by emphasizing various channels of modes such as visual, verbal, and activities. Considering the benefits of cultural manifestation in EFL textbook and the gaps in the technique of analyzing data and expanding empirical study focusing on the cultural representation on English textbooks, multimodal analysis of cultural representation in EFL textbooks, which are in the national scope and published by the trusted publishers especially for the seventh graders need to be undertaken. Hence, two research questions guiding the research are (1) What types of cultures are represented in the EFL textbooks for the seventh graders? and (2) How are the cultural meanings represented in visual and verbal modes of textbooks? It is expected that the result of the research will give a contribution to the pedagogical aspect as it can give input for the EFL teachers in selecting textbooks based on cultural content consideration. METHODS A qualitative content analysis is applied as a research design as it requires a subjective analysis of text data content through a sequential classification system of coding and defining regularities. The types of culture presented in the textbooks are classified based on Cortazzi and Jin’s framework; source culture, target culture, and international target culture. In the research, two EFL textbooks are the source of the data. The first is When English Rings a Bell Revised Edition 2017 for Grade Seven. This book is written by Siti Wachidah, Asep Gunawan, Diyantara, and Yuli Khatimah that is published by Kementrian Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan. The second one is English on Sky 1 for SMP/Mts VII, written by Mukarto, Widya Kiswara, Sujatmiko, and Josephine, and published by Erlangga publisher. Both books are identified because they are in the national scope and published by reputable publishers and employ the 2013 Curriculum that emerged due to globalization and accelerated technological transition. 124 LINGUA CULTURA, Vol. 15 No. 1, July 2021, 121-133 Furthermore, as textbooks can be classified into multimodal texts, the authors present the meanings through verbal and visual modes. Due to that, uncovering the meaning of multimodal analysis is the most effective to get a more profound understanding. Regarding the research, the multimodal social semiotic approach is applied as the technique for analyzing data. In social-semiotic theory, meaning is generated in various contexts and interactions, while a symbol, as the significant resource of semiotics, appears in all modes as a combination of form and meaning (Bezemer & Kress, 2008). Kress and van Leeuwen’s (2006) five presentation theoretical perspectives are used to analyze what verbal and visual texts reflect. Focalization, affect, pathos, ambiance, and graduation are the elements. Focalization refers to the viewpoint through which the story is presented. When examining the model through the lenses of Affect and Pathos, they focus on the emotional effects that the visual or verbal attempt to elicit in the reader. The use of colors in the visual text, as well as the ambiance, are examined. According to Kress and van Leeuwen (2002), color is a semiotic model that can represent three meta- functions: ideational (appearance of things), textual (showing contrasts), and interpersonal (indicating an emotional effect on viewers). When it comes to textual analysis from the graduation standpoint, the purpose is to assess the analytic value (adverb-based evaluation) of the texts and images, as well as their explanations. In addition to multimodal analysis, frequency analysis is also used to see the percentages of types of cultures presented in textbooks. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS Figure 1 shows the results of types of cultural analysis in both the textbook When English Rings a Bell (WERB) and English on Sky 1 (EOS 1). Figure 1 Types of Cultural Distribution Figure 1 clearly shows that source culture (Indonesian culture) is usually presented throughout the textbook When English Rings a Bell Revised Edition 2017 for Grade Seven. It takes 88% of the whole proportion. Despite the fact that source culture predominates in terms of cultural forms, target culture is given a fair share of attention in this textbook. As many as 12% of target cultures are represented in this textbook. Unfortunately, international culture is not represented in this textbook. There is not any evidence on how international culture is portrayed in this textbook. Unlike When English Rings a Bell Revised Edition 2017 for Grade Seven, the textbook English on Sky 1 for SMP/Mts VII demonstrates a distinct pattern of cultural representation. Figure 1 clearly shows that source, target, and international target cultures are all portrayed in EOS 1. Source culture is represented as many as 73% of the whole. While target and international target cultures take respectively 20% and 7% of the whole types of culture. Meanwhile, cultural meaning represents in both visual and verbal modes of the textbooks. In textbook WERB, source culture is presented by textbook characters portraying female and male students with different physical characteristics. Six characters (Figure 2) in the textbook are wearing white shirts, blue shorts for male students, blue skirts for female students, and blue ties. In the Indonesian school context, a student wearing a white and blue uniform semiotically refers to the junior high school level. The characters in the textbook represent native Indonesians as characterized by their skin tone, hairstyles, names, religion, and geographical location. Edo, for instance, is a representative of Papuan boys, where the vast majority of people have a darker complexion, curly hair, and are Christian. Udin, having fair skin and straight hair, depicts Muslim boys from the western part of Indonesia, where the majority of the population is Muslim. While Beni, who has straight hair and light skin, represents Christian boys from eastern parts of Indonesia or Tionghoa descendants. Female characters also represent in this textbook. Siti, Dayu, and Lina are three female student characters. Siti is a Muslim girl from Indonesia who dresses in an Islamic style. Dayu is a Balinese Hindu girl who wears a headband. Lina illustrated as having brighter skin represents the Tionghoa descendant with a ribbon in her hair. Besides those six main characters, the other characters also appear to represent some geographical areas and ethnic groups in the source culture. Figure 2 Textbook Characters in WERB English Rings a Bell The names in Figure 3 have nuances indicating particular areas and ethnic groups in Indonesia. A 125Cultural Representation in EFL .... (Fransiska Prihatiningsih, et al.) female character with long straight black hair named Hasnida contains Malay nuance. A Malay ethnic group is one of the tribes that inhabit Sumatera Island. Due to that, the name Hasnida represents Padang, one of the cities in Sumatera. A male character with a family name Pesolima is created to represent Seram island. Pesolima is one of the Moluccan family names, which is used after the first name of the Ambon or Maluku people and is identical with the eastern part of Indonesia. A female character with Sundanese named Dedeh Fatima represents Bandung, a city in West Java. Sundanese is a tribe that inhabits West Java. Then, a male character named Max Bae is created to represent East Nusa Tenggara, and a male character named Azwar represents Makassar, a city in South Sulawesi. The way the address of these characters is written also reflected the Indonesian culture. The use of RT and RW or neighborhood in the Indonesian address writing system might not be recognized in the target or international culture. Figure 3 Characters Representing Indonesian Geographical Areas in WERB Source culture is represented almost in every chapter of this book and in line with every chapter’s topic or basic competence. In Chapter 3, examples of source culture are found to convey content material about telling the time, date, day, and month. As seen in Figure 4, national holidays and remembrance days commonly commemorated in Indonesian society signify the source culture. As seen in Figure 5, the Indonesian class schedule is also included concerning content material about telling the time, date, day, and month. The English and religious subjects appearing twice a week or Indonesian subjects that emerge three times a week in the schedule might talk more about the time allocation in the Indonesian class schedule arrangement. It also indicates the 2013 curriculum. Figure 4 Indonesian National Holidays in WERB In chapter 4, to present content material about describing things, animals, and public places, three illustrations give a clue about Indonesian culture. The first is Figure 6, which illustrates the Indonesian classroom condition. It is noticeable in an Indonesian classroom from the wooden tables and chairs, seating arrangement, two pictures hung above the board, which are usually the pictures of the Indonesian president and vice president. The second is Figure 7. It is about Figure 5 Indonesian Class Schedule in WERB Figure 6 Things in the Classroom in WERB 126 LINGUA CULTURA, Vol. 15 No. 1, July 2021, 121-133 things found in a dining room, eating utensils and the food. Plates of rice, spoons, and forks in Figure 7 reveal the staple foods of Indonesians and their eating habits. The third is Figure 8, illustrating the things that can be found in a bathroom. Though a shower and a sink are seen as parts of western-style bathing practice, the presence of a tub, a bucket, and a scoop in this illustration talk more about the Indonesian bathing custom, which is different from the western one. Indonesian cultural product is represented in speech bubbles on page 158. In these speech bubbles, Dayu is having a talk with Lina about Mrs. Herlina. Dayu notices Mrs. Herlina dressed in batik and black pants, but Lina comments that all the women in that place are dressed in batik and black pants. Dayu provides Lina with additional details of Mrs. Herlina, enabling Lina to determine which one is Mrs. Herlina (p. 158). This discussion is about describing people by considering batik as traditional clothes worn by Indonesians. Although no cultural meanings are summed up in Dayu and Lina’s conversation, it indicates that the potential customers are supposed to identify batik as an Indonesian cultural artifact. The source culture is also represented in the following images, which reflect Indonesian society’s customs and viewpoint. The source culture is also represented in the following images reflecting Indonesian society’s customs and viewpoint. The value of Indonesian cultures permeates the text and pictures in textbooks, reflecting cultural behaviors such as politeness and discipline. First, when communicating with older people, students are required to demonstrate good behavior and gratitude. When shaking hands, students are required to lower their heads or kiss their parents’ or teachers’ hands (see pictures 3 and 4 in Figure 9). This handshake routine is commonly done when a child leaves the house, comes home, or welcomes the teacher. This cultural practice is depicted in the discourse of the scenes of leaving for and returning from school. Handshakes are used to show gratitude to parents or teachers. Handshaking is interpersonal relationships between students and teachers and between children and their parents while lowering the head. It is normal and necessary in Indonesia, regardless of geographic area, religion, or socioeconomic class. Figure 9 Source Culture Practices and Perspectives in WERB From a conventional perspective, attitudes toward gender roles in the light of cultural traditions are also seen. This point of view portrays women as caregivers who are concerned for the well-being and cleanliness of the house. Picture 1 (Figure 9) portrays Siti and her mother in the kitchen cooking. In terms of gender stereotypes, it might be that positioning female characters in the kitchen is a common practice. Indonesian males, on the other hand, have commonly been seen as breadwinners and family leaders. The primary responsibility of adult males in the family is to provide for the family’s needs. Boys, in particular, Figure 7 Things in the Dining Room in WERB Figure 8 Things in the Bathroom in WERB 127Cultural Representation in EFL .... (Fransiska Prihatiningsih, et al.) are sometimes regarded as the heirs to their fathers. Boys are typically assigned more physical house duties, such as repairing the family car, as illustrated in Picture 2 (Figure 9). Despite the fact that source culture predominates in terms of cultural forms, target culture is given a fair share of attention in this textbook. The verbal analysis found that the two songs attached in this textbook represent the target culture. Song lyrics may express history, judgments, and even conflicts about lifestyles, values, and appearances. The song is sometimes considered a more or less straightforward reflection of the society and culture in which it is produced. What A Wonderful World is the first song attached in the last part of Chapter 4 (p.96). Louis Armstrong sang this song, which was composed by Bob Thiele and George David Weiss. As a singer can be categorized as a famous person, the figure can describe a particular culture where he belongs. Armstrong was one of the first well-known African-American musicians to ‘cross over’ to widespread fame with white and global audiences. The songwriters expected that Armstrong’s image would effectively express the song’s political message. This song was created as an antidote to restore hope for a better, harmonious, peaceful, and beautiful life in a multicultural country like America. Listening to the lyrics carefully, verse by verse, the singer is delusional about a perfect fantasy world where there is only love among people in the world. “The colors of the rainbow, so pretty in the sky. Are also on the faces, of people going by, I see friends shaking hands. Saying, `How do you do?’ They’re really saying, I love you,” This stanza shows harmony regardless of skin color or political background. The second song is attached to Chapter 8 (p.179), whose objective is to guide the learners to get the song’s message. The title is Count on Me, sung by Bruno Mars, an American singer, and songwriter. Friendship is the topic of this song. It aims, more precisely, to relate to what true friends can do with their friends. Furthermore, since this song includes pro- social lyrics, it may increase empathy and selflessness while decreasing hostile feelings. Although this song has a universal theme, Bruno Mars, as the singer, may represent the target culture due to his identity. Target culture is also represented in Figure 10. It is about a dialogue between two married couples: a couple with black hair and a couple with blonde hair. A couple with black hair greets a couple with blonde hair. From the visual and verbal analysis, it is found out that a couple with black hair named Mr. and Mrs. Adnan refers to an Indonesian couple. Meanwhile, one with blonde hair named Smith indicates a target culture. Smith is a surname that emerges from England. It is the most familiar last name in the United States, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada. The name refers to a Smith, an old English word for anyone who works with metal. Although the surname is derived from a particular profession, many later Smiths have no relation to that occupation but are given or adopted the surname simply because of its pervasiveness. Unfortunately, international culture is not represented in this textbook. There is not any evidence on how international culture is represented in this textbook. Figure 10 Target Culture Representation in WERB The source culture in the textbook EOS 1 is distinguished by the appearance of distinctive Indonesian characters, as in the textbook WERB. Figure 11 shows that four characters are presented throughout the textbook. The first one is a girl wearing a long uniform with a hijab named Atiqah. Then, there is a slightly thin male character with black hair and wearing glasses named Johan. Binsar is illustrated as a fat boy with curly hair. The last one is a female character with black and long hair named Thinneke. These names are common in an Indonesian context. As a platform for social semiotics, character depictions, such as wearing a school uniform, as well as the characteristics of possessing straight or curly hair, wearing hijab or not, must be perceived socio- culturally regarding real-life conditions of school populations in Indonesia, which are constructed on the diversity in the community. School admission in Indonesia is eligible to every Indonesian resident who is able to fulfill the minimum qualifications, regardless of cultural background, religion, or gender. Every Indonesian citizen has equal legal rights and privileges. As a result, as demonstrated by the textbook characters, students in public and private schools come from a variety of ethnic backgrounds. Figure 11 Textbook Characters in EOS 1 Some names characterizing certain regions in 128 LINGUA CULTURA, Vol. 15 No. 1, July 2021, 121-133 Indonesia are also presented in this textbook (pp.44- 45). For example, the name ‘Ni Luh’ is associated with Bali. ‘Ni’ is an article for the female gender and best suited for first names. It also means a female from a common family and casteless. While, the name ‘Binsar’ is associated with Medan, a city in North Sumatera. Batak is an ethnic group that inhabits North Sumatera. Another name is ‘Cut Yanti’, which refers to Aceh, a province in Sumatera island. ‘Cut’ is an aristocratic title pinned to women of ‘ulebalang’ descent in Aceh. It can only be pinned to girls whose father is a ‘Teuku’ (aristocratic title for men) even though the mother is not of royal descent. The title ‘Cut’ may not be used by women born to mothers whose title is Cut but whose father does not have the title ‘Teuku’. This naming system implies that Acehnese society holds patriarchal culture. In short, the naming system like ‘Ni Luh’ and ‘Cut’ is a semiotic source that represents the cultural system in certain regions in Indonesia. Indonesian figures are also portrayed by famous Indonesian people in this textbook. They appear both in visual form and verbal descriptions presenting the source culture. Names like Raisa, Evan Dimas, and Lesti Andriyani are presented in Chapter 7 to give examples to the learners on how to describe people. It can be seen from the bubble speech in Figure 12 that the textbook characters are describing their idols. The physical appearance characteristics are described in verbal form and strengthened by the visual image shows that these public figures are Indonesian natives and are well-known among Indonesian society. Ways of dressing up and religious perceptions also emerge as markers of the source culture. Dressing formally for teachers and putting on the school uniform for students, as can be seen in Figure 13, show a custom in the Indonesian educational context. Furthermore, in current Indonesia, wearing a hijab contextually as an institutional dress code or as halal style is popular among Muslim females. Female Muslim students in Indonesian public and private schools can wear a hijab as an individual choice of attire and religious identity. This religious styling custom is legally protected. In Indonesia, having a diverse faith view is also covered by the law. As shown in Figure 14, Atiqah, depicted as a Muslim girl in this textbook, does not touch her male friend’s hands while greeting and shaking hands. In contrast, she does it while greeting and shaking hands with her female friend. Touching while shaking hands with the same gender or not touching with the opposite one semiotically is a law in Islam, a religion with the largest number of adherents in Indonesia. The discussion on the law of shaking hands with the opposite gender results in different perspectives and practices among the adherents. Having a diverse view and religious practices enriches Indonesia’s plurality and are protected by statute. Figure 12 Indonesian Famous People in EOS 129Cultural Representation in EFL .... (Fransiska Prihatiningsih, et al.) Figure 13 Ways of Dressing Up in EOS 1 Figure 14 Religious Perspective in EOS 1 Meanwhile, target culture is also represented in this textbook. The first representation is in the form of famous figures. From a bubble speech in Figure 15, it is known that Johan, a textbook character, is describing J.K. Rowling, his idol. J.K. Rowling is a famous British author. The visual image strengthens the verbal description of Rowling’s physical appearance. The other famous figure is Katy Perry, an American singer. Although there is a verbal description of her in the textbook, the learning task guides the learners to find out more about her. Both Rowling and Perry signify the representation of the target culture due to their nationality. Figure 15 Famous Figures in Target Culture in EOS 1 The second representation is in the form of animal sound. A learning task in Chapter 7 (p.179) assigns the learners to match the animal pictures with the sound. Six animals: cow, dog, bird, cock, cat, and duck must be matched with six animal sounds: meow.. meow, woof..woof, quack..quack, tweet...tweet, cock- a-doodle-do or moo..moo. The words for the sounds that animals make are onomatopoeias. The diversity of words used for animal sounds reflects a country or culture. If an animal is not typical or relevant in a certain country, the terminology used to define it reflects this. These sounds represent the target culture. The second representation is in the form of animal sound. A learning task in Chapter 7 (p.179) assigns the learners to match the animal pictures with the sound. Six animals: cow, dog, bird, cock, cat, and duck must be matched with six animal sounds: meow.. meow, woof..woof, quack..quack, tweet...tweet, cock- a-doodle-do or moo..moo. The words for the sounds that animals make are onomatopoeias. The diversity of words used for animal sounds reflects a country or culture. If an animal is not typical or relevant in a certain country, the terminology used to define it reflects this. These sounds represent the target culture. The third representation is related to the attitude of the people in the target country towards their pets. From the verbal analysis of two descriptive texts on page 170, it is found out that people in the target countries treat their pets as their family members. They name their pets like they name people. Because of that, the pronoun for a pet is not ‘‘it’’ but ‘‘she’’ or ‘‘he’’. This fact is also stated in an informative text on page 173. Target culture is also reflected in the proverb “Honesty is the best policy” (p.88). This proverb ensures that truthfulness is preferable to telling a lie, regardless of the consequences. Honesty is valued in many ethnic and religious cultures, but its emergence will talk more about the history and represent the culture of its origin. Sir Edwin Sandys, an English legislator who served in the House of Commons between 1589 and 1626 and established the first American colony in Jamestown, Virginia, coined the term “honesty is the best policy.” International cultures appear only in Chapter 1 of the textbook English on Sky 1. The representations of international cultures are in the form of expressions, building, clothes and animals. From the verbal analysis of the three expressions: ohayo gozaimasu, Guten morgen, and Buenos dias representing respectively Japan, Germany, and Spain (p.5), it is found out that these three expressions are used to greet in the morning. From the verbal analysis of three expressions (kamsahamnida, merci, syukron) in Figure 16, it is found that the three expressions have the same meaning used to show gratitude. From the visual analysis, it is known that landmarks in the three images aim to provide clues about the languages the expressions are in. Moreover, the appearance of these landmarks in this textbook gives knowledge for the learners about the countries where the landmarks are located and their culture as well. A landmark in image A is Gyeongbokgung Palace, located in South Korea. A landmark in image B is the Eiffel Tower 130 LINGUA CULTURA, Vol. 15 No. 1, July 2021, 121-133 which becomes a global cultural icon of France. While camels and desert as what can be seen in image C, are associated with Arab countries. The existence of camels in Arab countries represents the identity and retains essential to the country’s customs and cultural traditions. In the same vein, as shown in Figure 17, instead of giving a hint of the languages used in the expressions, the four images represent cultures of the international target countries. Four traditional clothes from four different countries are depicted in these images: kimono, from Japan (image A), sari or saree from India (image B), flamenco dress from Spain (image C), and cheongsam, traditional Chinese clothes (image D). Figure 16 Landmarks Represent International Cultures in EOS 1 Figure 17 Clothes from International Culture in EOS 1 The described findings indicate that the cultures of Indonesia (source culture) and cultures of English- speaking countries (target culture) are portrayed in the textbook WERB. Meanwhile, in the textbook of EOS 1, source culture, target culture, and international target culture are represented. However, the proportion between the three types of cultures is not presented in balance. In both WERB and EOS 1, the source culture predominantly covers the types of culture in textbooks. These findings confirm the results of the previous studies conducted by Gunantar (2017), Mayangsari, Nurkamto, and Supriyadi (2018), Setyono and Widodo (2019), and Putra, Rochsantiningsih, and Supriyadi (2020) revealed that textbooks released by local publishers are unbalanced in terms of supporting source, target, and international cultural materials. The source culture is overrepresented in cultural representation, while the target and international cultures are underrepresented. The tendency to load certain cultural contents, particularly in EFL textbooks, is determined by several factors, including the authors, the policymaker (in this case, the government), who sets the curriculum, and the objective of language learning. Writers are then responsible for interpreting what is aimed in the curriculum by the depictions of material in the textbooks they publish. Due to that, representing source culture more dominantly than other cultures might be caused by possible reasons. The first reason is regarding the national character building. These textbooks are published in the spirit of the 2013 curriculum in which strengthening character education is the main feature. To some point, the government’s intention to integrate character development into the 2013 curriculum parallels the goal of studying root culture materials suggested by Cortazzi and Jin (1999) and McKay (2002). Character education in ELT can be greatly enhanced by using source culture materials. According to McKay (2002), as advocated by the government, this form of culture contains character education representations such as morals, discipline, nationalism, and tolerance. It is crucial for learners to learn their own culture. These character values embedded in the textbooks can help the learners to learn more about themselves as Indonesians. On the other hand, integrating foreign cultures is assumed to inhibit the instilling of character values. The values that the Indonesian government promoted may not be represented, such as religious and social care, in foreign cultures. Furthermore, because language and culture are intertwined, it is assumed that alien concepts that do not match Indonesian characteristics would be reflected in the language and may have a detrimental impact on the learners (Sulistiyo et al., 2020). The second possible reason is related to the goal of learning a foreign language. As stated in the preface page of both textbooks, the final goal of learning a language is communication. Therefore, the authors commit to facilitate the learners by providing various materials to help the learners develop their language skills. To do so, it is necessary to make an appropriation of material presented in the book to meet the learners’ contexts. The integration of learners’ cultural identities focuses on making English acquisition more accessible and inclusive for junior high school students in the early stages of foreign language acquisition. This is in line with what had been revealed by Ariawan (2020) and Mahmud (2019) in their studies. They have stated that presenting source culture will make the learners learn easier because they are familiar with it. It means that engaging learners with source culture knowledge are critical as a motivator for them to understand both the language and the culture. It intends to keep away from an excessive amount of international cultural 131Cultural Representation in EFL .... (Fransiska Prihatiningsih, et al.) elements. As learners are familiar with the contents, they have a great chance to get more comprehensible input, which will enrich them with useful topics and vocabularies when introducing their own cultures to people from different cultures (Mahmud, 2019; McKay, 2002). The results indicate that the textbooks have successfully implemented and developed the fundamental theory of curriculum 2013. According to the conceptual foundation, every curriculum development should take into account national culture, the current, and the future of the country. It means that this is the process of developing student potency. As a consequence, the learners can be culturally heredity. On the other side, as the target culture is underrepresented, it will lead to a cultural gap. Focusing only on source culture and underrepresenting target or international culture can impede the learners in a situation where understanding others’ cultures are also demanded. Target and international culture are expected to improve learners’ knowledge of the world and of foreign cultures, to introduce them to the most prevalent behavior patterns of the target populations, to encourage respect, acceptance, consciousness on one’s own culture, and to establish intercultural communication in a globalized world. Since the learners learn English, it is a must for them to understand the target language’s culture. Unfortunately, both of the textbooks published by the government and non-government publishers lack target cultural information. International target culture is only represented in a small portion of the textbook English on Sky 1. It must be explained for the students to know that the objective of English learning is not only to communicate with English speakers but also to speak English with non- lingual speakers. By having all those various kinds of cultures, it is expected that the learners will be aware of the cultural knowledge of the language they use. Sulistiyo et al. (2021) have mentioned that a person can become a successful intercultural communicator if they can build their ability to compare their home culture with other cultures around the world, analyze critically, and decode the result in verbal or non-verbal communication. In short, both the authors and the publishers of the two textbooks prioritize the learners’ identities construction and characters education rather than focus on the use of language as the lingua franca. CONCLUSIONS As evidenced by the findings, imbalances in the representation of the types of cultures exist in the two textbooks. Source culture is represented more dominantly compared to target and international culture. The fact that the textbooks are written, produced locally, and execute certain curriculum and hidden agendas might be the probable reasons behind this finding. The discussion in which source culture is more dominant implies that both the authors and the publishers of the two textbooks prioritize the learners’ identities construction and characters education rather than focus on the use of language as the lingua franca. In this respect, the dominance of source culture in the textbooks could constrain the opportunities for learners to acquire international cultural knowledge and become successful intercultural communicators. Therefore, English teachers need to take an active role in selecting appropriate textbooks and addressing the imbalances in the representation of cultural materials. Teachers should be creative in adding supplementary materials or activities to patch up the shortcomings of the textbooks. 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