Cultural Content in English Textboo

Visual Grammar Analyis

Astria

Muzdalifah and Nicke Moecharam

Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia, Jl. Setiabudhi number 229, Bandung, Indonesia

{astriamuzdalifa, nicke}@upi.edu

Keywords: Cultural content, English as international language, visual grammar.

Abstract: This study was a qualitative descriptive study, which investigated how target culture and source culture were

visually communicated through pictures taken from English textbook for second grade of secondary school.

The data of this study were collected from an English textbook for second grade that implemented the 2013

curriculum entitled “Passport to the World A Fun and Easy English Book (for Grade VIII of Junior High

Schools”, published by Tiga Serangkai). The data were collected in the form of pictures taken from each unit

of the textbook and were analyzed using The Grammar of Visual Design by Kress and van Leeuwen (2006)

and the analytical framework for the cultural content was proposed by Xiao (2010). The study found that

source culture contents dominate other cultural representation. The book was classified into Source Culture

materials based and the criteria of source culture covered Geographic, Architecture, Education, Lifestyle, Art,

Costumes, Values, Gesture and Body language and Foods. The book was prepared the learners to talk about

their own culture to foreigners rather than be prepared to encounter their cultures.

1 INTRODUCTION

Culture carries cultural perspective and values of the

language users, and rarely be learner without

addressing the cultural background and context in

which it is used (Rafieyan, Majid, and Siew Eng,

2013; Xiao, 2010). In this case, English textbooks that

highlight the uses of source culture and target culture

need to carefully deliberate the appropriateness of

their representations.

Xiao (2010) had put new grounds on the same

research that Cortazzi and Jin (1999) initiated; Xiao

(2010) believed that the English textbook based on its

origin is divided into three different categories. They

are source culture materials, target culture materials,

and international culture materials textbook. Source

and Target culture materials is the most possible fit

textbook for EFL students whose goals are to write,

read, listen and speak in English. Lastly, the

International target culture materials involve a wide

variety of cultures set in English-speaking countries

or in countries where English is not a first or a second

language but is used as an international language.

This book belongs to the learners whose needs and

goals are EIL as it is suggested by McKay (2002) and

Xiao (2010), which the primary aim is to enable

people to share their thoughts and ideas with other

people from other cultures successfully.

Pictures as visual aids in textbook are able to give

realistic portrayals of all cultures, including facts, up

to date information and nonverbal language (Xiao,

2010). Therefore, this study focuses on the analysis

of how the cultures in the Target Language (TL) and

Source Language (SL) are visually communicated

through pictures taken from an English textbook for

secondary school. The analysis was undertaken

within the framework of visual grammar as outlined

by Kress and van Leeuwen (2006), as well as the

concept of cultural content proposed by Xiao (2010)

and other supporting theories which are relevant.

2 VISUAL GRAMMAR AS

ANALYTICAL TOOL

The Grammar of Visual Design is believed to

describe the way in which depicted element, such as

people, places and things to combine in visual

statements (Kress & Van Leeuwen, 2006). There are

three metafunctions of linguistics that can be

extended to visual communication.

Muzdalifah, A. and Moecharam, N.

Cultural Content in English Textbook - Visual Grammar Analyis.

DOI: 10.5220/0007161700410045

In Proceedings of the Tenth Conference on Applied Linguistics and the Second English Language Teaching and Technology Conference in collaboration with the First International Conference

on Language, Literature, Culture, and Education (CONAPLIN and ICOLLITE 2017) - Literacy, Culture, and Technology in Language Pedagogy and Use, pages 41-45

ISBN: 978-989-758-332-2

2.1 Representational meaning

Representational meaning demonstrates between the

represented participants in the image and involved

interactive participants and represented participants

(Kress and van Leeuwen, 2006).

The Actor is the participant from which the vector

comes, while the Goal is where the participant at

which the vector points meanwhile Transaction is

something done by the Actor to a Goal (Kress and van

Leeuwen, 2006).

The Representational meaning then is divided into

two major processes, Conceptual and Narrative

processes.

Figure 1: Main type of visual representation structure.

(Adopted from Kress & van Leeuwen, 2006, p.59).

The Narrative process is a process of doing

something which is connected by the vector (Kress

and van Leeuwen, 2006). The first process is the

Action process. The Action process occurs when

there are vectors and action formed by the represented

participant (Kress and van Leeuwen, 2006).

Secondly, there is a process where the vector is

formed by the eyeline or by the direction of the glance

without creating the transaction and this process is

called Reactional process.

The Conceptual representation represents the

visual structures which the participants are illustrated

to be more generalized, more or less stable and

timeless. Similar to Narrative process, the Conceptual

process is divided into different kinds as well.

First process is the Classificational process and

the analytical process. This process relates

participants in terms of a part-whole structure, the

whole is called the Carrier and the parts are called

Possessive Attribute (Kress and van Leeuwen, 2006).

The in-depth analysis and elaboration of

representational meanings in the textbook (Djatmika

et al,. 2014) presented in the followings.

Figure 2: At canteen. (Djatmika et al., 2014).

Figure 2 illustrates the canteen, defined by the

simple dining tables and a variety of foods displayed.

Forshee (2006) mentions this place in this place as

warung, a place to buy meals, sweets, and any other

treats while having a sit to enjoy the snacks. The

realistic impression which is made by color the

differentiation eases the viewers to recognize each of

the tiny elements such as the bakso or Indonesian

meatball and mie or noodle.

This picture has five represented participants;

four are students claimed by the possessive attributes

in uniforms of white and blue they wear and the other

participant is the shopkeeper who stands inside the

warung whose job is to serve the customers. The hair

of the female participants in this picture is depicted in

short hair or long hair with ponytail which giving the

viewers a representation of how Indonesian students

in their uniform. It is typical Indonesian secondary

school uniform and its regulation.

The vector made by the represented participant

as the Actor lend to the food he eats as the Goal with

the smile depicted on his face indicated that he is

enjoying his meal a bowl of mie bakso. The other

smile is also depicted by the shopkeeper as the

Reaction of the vector formed by the eyeline to the

customer as the Phenomenon who serving her

offering the act of friendliness.

In terms of information value, the students eating

on the table are referred as the New. Therefore, the

topic being discussed in this picture is the activity at

the canteen.

This picture may not the visual aids for initiating

conversation since Transaction or Bidirectional

process is not made, instead it gives information and

ambiance about canteen from Source culture that is

useful for English descriptive text. The picture is

emphasizing its meaning in the Representational

process as it is aiming on offering information and

CONAPLIN and ICOLLITE 2017 - Tenth Conference on Applied Linguistics and the Second English Language Teaching and Technology

Conference in collaboration with the First International Conference on Language, Literature, Culture, and Education

representing the participants from SL culture as the

item of descriptive text.

Figure 3: Boy Scout. (Djatmika et al., 2014).

Figure 3 represents several salient elements,

which are the two Boys Scout, a tent and two different

sizes of hammers.

In visual grammar, the terms ‘represented

participants’ are meant for the objects or elements

represented in the image. Therefore, the two Boys

Scouts in the image are the represented participant;

however, their roles will be decided by the type of

vector they formed. The vector is formed by the

represented participant on the left, since he is the only

participant who has visible eyes and facial

expression. However, if this process was translated

into; He is building a tent together, then it would be

inaccurate.

Each of the participants is holding a hammer as

their Symbolic attributes, but in different sizes. In this

case, the attributes do not define their identity, but it

is explaining the activity that they are doing. Then,

the attributes are translated into; they are building a

tent.

The participant on the right form a gesture

towards the Actor creating Bidirectional Transaction,

it means that the participant who is earlier acted as the

Actor then changed to Goal. They are not explaining

or describing their activities but creating the format

of interaction. The representational meaning itself is

interpreted into; He offers/asks the (bigger) hammer

to him.

To offer such information, the eye contact with

the viewers is unnecessary. Medium long shot

enables viewers to recognize the setting and also the

relief of each object, this kind of frame also creates

distance for the viewers to see the participants as

common people in general. Eye-level camera’s high

shoot also demand viewers to see them equally.

In conclusion, this picture gives the idea to the

viewers about representational meaning in how the

interaction process in English is demonstrated.

2.2 Interactive meaning

Interactive meaning is the “visual communication

resources for constituting and maintaining

interaction” (Kress and van Leeuwen, 2006, p. 114).

The first communicative function is the image act

and gaze. This process occurs when represented

participants look directly to the viewers. When the

participant’s gaze goes toward to the viewers, it

labelled as a ‘Demand’. On the other hand, all images

which do not contain human or quasi-human

participants looking directly at the viewer are

identified as ‘Offer’.

The second function is the size of frame and social

distance. The matter of the depiction of the object and

the choice of distance suggests different relations

between the represented participants and the viewers.

Figure 4: Tari Baris Bali. (Djatmika et al., 2014).

In figure 4, the represented participant wears a

traditional costume full of colors. The image

producers put color differentiation in large scale to

the use of a varied palette in order to give a realistic

impression to the viewers. This dance is known as

Tari Baris which originally comes from Bali,

Indonesia. The placement of the participant is

symmetrically placed at the center, formed no vector,

and directly addressed his eyes to the viewers, then

the participant is no longer Actor but Carrier.

The Carrier is depicted to represent what he wears

to a certain community which is traditional costumes

of Bali. The participant’s look addressed directly to

the viewers’ eyes indicates that the vector is formed

by the eyeline. This process creates a connection

between the participants and the viewer. The smile

curved in his face defines happiness, the picture is

trying to give the impression that participants like to

dance.

Cultural Content in English Textbook - Visual Grammar Analyis

The muted setting implies the represented

participant in the picture is the item of descriptive

information. It is emphasized on the description about

what he likes and represents it to the viewers about

what he wears, what he does, and other description

regarding to the dance or probably its origin.

Figure 5: Salsa has a black backpack. (Djatmika et al.,

2014).

The image above is depicting a girl named Salsa

who carries a red and black backpack. The image

producers seem consistent to create the characters of

students in the textbook; the participant in this picture

also wears uniform of white and blue to tell the

viewers that she is also a secondary school student.

She is the only participant in this picture, so there is

no vector formed. Moreover, the participant is placed

symmetrically at the center and addressed directly to

the viewers. In Analytical process, the participant is

called Carrier which conveys for interaction and

emotion with the viewers.

The eye contact made by the participant with the

viewers creates Demand. Additionally, the backpack

she carried is the most salient element in this picture

since the backpack is placed on the foreground, has

more details, sharp focus, large size and dominance

by the color. Accordingly, the demand that the

represented participant wants from the viewers is to

pay more attention to the backpack she carried, since

the information will be about the backpack.

Medium close shot visualizes the participant from

the head to the waist. It means, the focus is led not

only to the object but also the relationship that the

participant conducted. In this close personal distance,

the represented participant is inferred to be close to

the represented participant as if she is the one who

gives the descriptive information about the bag. Thus,

this picture is created to fulfill the Interactive

meanings, where the represented participant creates

an imagery relation with the Interactive participant to

present or transfer descriptive text in English.

3 CULTURE IN ENGLISH

LANGUAGE TEACHING

Learning a language together with the culture helps to

develop students’ awareness and improve their

cultural learning and intercultural communicative

competence. English language learning should focus

on improving the learners’ ability to understand

cultures, including their own and to communicate

with people even from a variety of linguistic and

cultural backgrounds.

According to the distribution of cultural content

by Xiao (2010), the textbook (Djatmika et al,. 2014)

contains the cultural content which includes the

source and target culture. The elaboration of the

distribution for each category of cultures is presented

in order. First, the distribution for the category of SL

cultural content of little “c” is mostly emphasized on

geography, education, architecture and art, while little

‘c’ is lifestyle, hobbies, values, gesture and body

language and foods. Moreover, English teaching

materials usually adopt English names to present

Target culture (Xiao, 2010); instead, this textbook

upholds common local names like Budi, Utami, Rini,

and Yanti, the names which are very common and

familiar among Indonesians.

The educational cultural content of Source culture

is represented through the use of school uniform in

the most representative participants and the

regulation system of the school. This book also inserts

architectural contents which features travel

destinations and city landmarks in SL culture. In

order to preserve culture and encourage learners to

appreciate their own, the big ‘C’ culture of Art is also

distributed; this textbook provides learners with

traditional art and dance.

SL cultural content is also communicated in the

little “c” cultures through lifestyle, values, body

language and foods. First, lifestyle in the way of a

person or group of people lives and works, including

daily routine schedules, etiquette in eating, and

activities in leisure time. Textbook by Djatmika et al,.

(2014) contains both categories of Target culture in

big “C” culture and little “c” culture. However,

appearance of native speakers of TL in the textbook

(Djatmika et al,. 2014) is rarely presented.

By seeing the fact that source culture gets more

attention than the others and dominates the other

cultural content presentation, the textbook by

Djatmika et al,. (2014) is designed intentionally to

introduce EFL to the language learners in beginner

CONAPLIN and ICOLLITE 2017 - Tenth Conference on Applied Linguistics and the Second English Language Teaching and Technology

Conference in collaboration with the First International Conference on Language, Literature, Culture, and Education

level in familiar topics, so as to ease the SL learners

to connect with the language use in appropriate

context. In conclusion, the images in this textbook are

categorized to Source Culture materials which

prepare the learners to talk about their own cultures

to foreigners rather than prepare them to encounter

other cultures.

4 CONCLUSION

The aim of the study is sought to investigate how SL

and TL cultures are visually communicated through

selected pictures in an English textbook, ‘Passport to

the World’ (Djatmika, Priyanto and Dewi, 2014) for

secondary schools. This study employed two

frameworks; the visual grammar theory by Kress and

van Leeuwen (2006) and the concept of cultural

contents by Xiao (2010).

The pictures in ‘Passport to the World’ (Djatmika,

Priyanto and Dewi, 2014) as visual aids provide the

learners realistic portrayals of TL, SL and

international cultures. The pictures also provide

examples of communicative action for learners to

take on roles and to understand the feelings, values,

attitudes and interaction of the represented

participants from each culture. The SL culture

presented in the textbook helps the learners in

understanding their own culture. While the TL

culture, international and free culture helps the

learners to increase learners’ cultural awareness.

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Djatmika, Priyanto, A. D., Dewi, I. K. 2014. Passport to the

world: A fun and easy english book. Solo: Tiga

Serangkai Pustaka Mandiri.

Forshee, J. 2006. Culture and customs of Indonesia.

Conecticut: Greenwood Press.

Kress, G & van Leeuwen, T. 2006. Reading images the

grammar of visual design. New York: Rouledge.

McKay, S.L 2002. Teaching English as an International

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Cultural Content in English Textbook - Visual Grammar Analyis