CULTURAL CONTENT ANALYSIS OF AN ENGLISH TEXTBOOK FOR SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL GRADE X ENTITLED “PATHWAY TO ENGLISH” PUBLISHED BY ERLANGGA

Abstract: This research aimed to reveal the cultures represented in the reading
passages of an English textbook “PATHWAY TO ENGLISH” published by
Erlangga and describe the way the cultures represented in this textbook. The
design of this research was descriptive quantitative. The main source of the data
was from reading passages in the chosen textbook. Instruments of this research
were worksheets developed from the cultural type proposed by Cortazzi and Jin
(1999) and cultural element proposed by Byram (1993). Results of the worksheets
were tabulated and transformed into the statistical number. The result showed that
cultural contents in “PATHWAY TO ENGLISH” was dominantly represented by
the source culture or Indonesian culture (53%). In contrast, the cultural contents of
target culture were rarely represented (29%). Last, the cultural contents of the
international cultures were hardly represented in this textbook (18%). Meanwhile,
cultural contents in this textbook were dominantly portrayed through elements of
Belief and Behavior and Social Interaction which were closely related to daily life
context. The result indicates that there was an imbalance portion of cultural
representation in “PATHWAY TO ENGLISH” textbook which means it had not
fulfilled students’ needs to sharpen their intercultural communication competence.
Key words: target culture, source culture, international culture, cultural element,
intercultural communication competence.