AN INVESTIGATION INTO INTERCULTURAL COMPONENTS IN THREE PILOTED ENGLISH TEXTBOOKS FOR VIETNAMESE HIGH SCHOOLS UNDER THE NATIONAL FOREIGN LANGUAGES PROJECT

Abstract

Textbooks, as the main source of teaching material, provide learners with not only language input and practice but also intercultural knowledge and skills to build up learners’ intercultural communication competence (ICC). This study aimed at finding out whether the English textbooks under the National Foreign Languages Project (commonly known as Project 2020, or NFL) implemented in high schools include intercultural elements and help students in improving students’ ICC. The framework by Chao (2011) was used to analyze and categorize the content of the textbooks into different cultural categories. The results of the study indicate that textbook compilers integrated cultural information from various sources including intercultural interactions in the textbook series.