Culture in English language teaching in Chinese tertiary education: textbook contents and teachers' practices

Abstract

The aim of the study is to investigate culture teaching in English language teaching (ELT) in Chinese higher education through textbook and teachers’ practices, two primary focuses in language curriculum. Chinese ELT is generally textbook-based; thus, the categories and dimensions of culture presented in textbooks, as the authoritative language and culture resources in curriculum, determine teachers’ practices in designing and implementing curriculum and provide teachers with diverse perspectives to conduct culture teaching, by extension, affect the outcome of culture teaching in Chinese ELT. Given the significance of culture teaching in China, this thesis focuses on the two research questions:
Q1. What types of culture and cultural elements are represented in the textbooks of Comprehensive English of Chinese CE and EM programmes?
Q2. What are teachers’ beliefs and practices regarding culture teaching based on the cultural content of the textbooks?

This study took a Chinese college as a context with mixed research methods of quantitative content analysis of two sets of ELT textbooks used in this college and qualitative semi-structured interviews with five teachers working in this college who have used the target textbooks.

The findings of the study showed that three types of culture (target culture, international culture, and Chinese culture) and five cultural dimensions (products, practices, perspectives, community and persons) were included but with the disproportionate distribution, that is, the four textbooks presented Anglophone-dominated content, but the smallest percentage of Chinese culture, and the most salient cultural products, practices and perspectives, while the insufficient provision of cultural community and persons. Teachers primarily held positive attitudes towards the textbooks. They believed culture teaching in Chinese ELT is an essential and crucial part of moral education. Due to the lack of Chinese culture, the teachers integrated Chinese cultural components in their classes based on the topics or themes arisen from textbooks. However, the teachers put less concern and focus on international cultures given the feasibility and their familiarity. The pedagogical methods adopted by them were contingent on different cultural content provided by the textbooks and teaching context. But the teachers’ one-sided perceptions regarding culture teaching and development of students’ intercultural competence constrained teachers’ practices.

The study therefore proposes a multidimensional and dynamic mechanism for facilitating Chinese ELT textbook development and suggests English as a lingua franca paradigm for teachers’ culture teaching in Chinese ELT to achieve the ultimate goal of students’ language and culture acquisition and intercultural competence.

Date of Award	15 Jan 2026
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	University of Nottingham
Supervisor	Robert Adamson (Supervisor), Alex McTaggart (Supervisor) & Christine Lee Seow Ching (Supervisor)