Representation of Multicultural Values in Islamic-English Textbooks in Iran: EFL Teachers’ and Learners’ Perceptions[Latin Thesis]

Shirin Sadat Navabi Sohi

The current study aimed at investigating the most frequently represented multicultural values in Islamic-English textbooks in Iran. It also examined the teachers’ and learners’ perceptions of multicultural values represented in the Islamic English TBs used in Iran. To this end, Kawthar Islamic English Language Center (KIELC) TB Series, containing three basic and three elementary was selected. Then, 7 teachers who had experience of teaching three basic and three elementary levels were interviewed and two groups of 12 learners in both basic and elementary levels were chosen to be interviewed in the focus groups. In this study two coding schemes, “The Multicultural Content Analysis Frame (MCAF) developed by Kondracki et al. (2002) and the “Five Dimensions of Culture” developed by Moran (2001) were used to scrutinize multicultural content elements in KIELC TBs. Next, semi-structured interview with teachers who were teaching at the KIELC and focus group interview with learners in KIELC were conducted. This research adopted the MMR exploratory sequential design which began with content analysis in which the category systems were applied to the lesson content of the textbook. In the second phase interviews were conducted with teachers and learners. The result of the first phase showed based on the data analysis, the most frequent multicultural content elements were Social Justice, Diversity Pluralism, and Identity, respectively. The findings in this study also revealed that these ELT textbooks convey a variety of cultural aspects, including; Products, Practices, Places, Persons, Perspectives. Moreover, the data analyzed in the second phase of the study revealed that both teachers and students had a positive perception of multicultural values represented in the Islamic English TBs used in Iran. The result also highlights the important role of printed pre-planned textbooks based on learners’ needs. The scarcity of these kinds of books are felt enormously nowadays throughout the world especially in Iran. The results of the present study have significant implications for various parts as pedagogy, language testing, syllabus design and materials development.