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Cultural Representation in Primary ELT Textbooks: An Approach of Multimodal Discourse Analysis

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Title: Cultural Representation in Primary ELT Textbooks: An Approach of Multimodal Discourse Analysis
Language: English
Authors: Yaping Tang (ORCID 0009-0002-7624-1495), Li Liu (ORCID 0000-0003-4508-3770)
Source: Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education. 2026 47(1):54-67.
Availability: Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 530 Walnut Street Suite 850, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Tel: 215-625-8900; Fax: 215-207-0050; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Peer Reviewed: Y
Page Count: 14
Publication Date: 2026
Document Type: Journal Articles
Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Education
Early Childhood Education
Grade 3
Primary Education
Grade 4
Intermediate Grades
Descriptors: English (Second Language), Second Language Instruction, Textbooks, Textbook Content, Cultural Awareness, Diversity, Foreign Countries, Elementary Education, Grade 3, Grade 4
Geographic Terms: China
DOI: 10.1080/01596306.2025.2484349
ISSN: 0159-6306
1469-3739
Abstract: This study examines the content and form of cultural representation across a set of primary-school English textbooks widely used in China. Adopting a multimodal discourse analysis, it investigates the depth and diversity of cultural content based on Moran's and Cortazzi and Jin's classification of culture, as well as the image-viewer relationship drawing on Kress and van Leeuwen's visual grammar. The findings reveal that culture was represented as simplified, conflict-free and implicit facts with dominant homogenized persons and products. In addition, there was also an imbalanced distribution regarding cultural diversity. Target culture predominated in the textbooks and source culture was highlighted while international culture was marginalized. As for representation patterns, the connection between viewers and the portrayed culture was equal but impersonal. The findings suggest that the textbooks prioritize reducing cognitive load and presenting role models over showcasing the authentic, complex aspects of culture or stimulating learners' reflection on cultural phenomena.
Abstractor: As Provided
Entry Date: 2026
Accession Number: EJ1500910
Database: ERIC
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  Value: <anid>AN0191348735;54j01feb.26;2026Feb06.04:22;v2.2.500</anid> <title id="AN0191348735-1">Cultural representation in primary ELT textbooks: an approach of multimodal discourse analysis </title> <p>This study examines the content and form of cultural representation across a set of primary-school English textbooks widely used in China. Adopting a multimodal discourse analysis, it investigates the depth and diversity of cultural content based on Moran's and Cortazzi and Jin's classification of culture, as well as the image-viewer relationship drawing on Kress and van Leeuwen's visual grammar. The findings reveal that culture was represented as simplified, conflict-free and implicit facts with dominant homogenized persons and products. In addition, there was also an imbalanced distribution regarding cultural diversity. Target culture predominated in the textbooks and source culture was highlighted while international culture was marginalized. As for representation patterns, the connection between viewers and the portrayed culture was equal but impersonal. The findings suggest that the textbooks prioritize reducing cognitive load and presenting role models over showcasing the authentic, complex aspects of culture or stimulating learners' reflection on cultural phenomena.</p> <p>Keywords: English Language Teaching; cultural representation; textbook; multimodality; primary education; cultural awareness</p> <hd id="AN0191348735-2">Introduction</hd> <p>Great importance is attached to English language teaching (ELT) worldwide for the purpose of international communication. As teaching practices furthered, there has been an increasing awareness of the significance of teaching culture among language educators and researchers (Byram, [<reflink idref="bib3" id="ref1">3</reflink>]; Lavrenteva & Orland-Barak, [<reflink idref="bib21" id="ref2">21</reflink>]; Nault, [<reflink idref="bib33" id="ref3">33</reflink>]; Pesola,[<reflink idref="bib34" id="ref4">34</reflink>]). They argued that culture served as an essential prerequisite for successful intercultural communication and called for the cultivation of cultural awareness in the English curriculum. In China, ELT started from primary education, aiming for the development of learners' core competencies, namely, language competence, cultural awareness, thinking quality and learning ability (Ministry of Education [MOE] of PRC, [<reflink idref="bib31" id="ref5">31</reflink>], [<reflink idref="bib32" id="ref6">32</reflink>]).</p> <p>For most K-12 English language learners in China, direct exposure to English-speaking cultures is limited. Their understanding of these cultures mainly comes from textbooks and their teachers' explanations (Keles & Yazan, [<reflink idref="bib18" id="ref7">18</reflink>]). Since teachers primarily rely on textbooks for instruction, textbooks become 'a unique authority' in shaping and interpreting cultural worlds (Shardakova & Pavlenko, [<reflink idref="bib40" id="ref8">40</reflink>], p. 28). An investigation into cultural representation in textbooks is necessary since it reveals a variety of hidden content that influences learners' cultural awareness, such as ideologies (Gheisari & Akbari, [<reflink idref="bib12" id="ref9">12</reflink>]), gender bias (Ebnou, [<reflink idref="bib10" id="ref10">10</reflink>]), cultural positioning (Risager, [<reflink idref="bib37" id="ref11">37</reflink>]). Despite extensive research in China (Liu, Zhang, & May, [<reflink idref="bib27" id="ref12">27</reflink>]; Xiong, [<reflink idref="bib52" id="ref13">52</reflink>]; Xiong & Qian, [<reflink idref="bib54" id="ref14">54</reflink>]), elementary education—the early stage of language learning—has received relatively less attention. This study, which focuses on a series of officially approved language textbooks for grades 3–4, seeks to explore what kind of cultural content is selected for ELT practices and how it is presented to readers. To achieve the first objective, the categorizations of culture proposed by Cortazzi and Jin ([<reflink idref="bib6" id="ref15">6</reflink>]) and Moran ([<reflink idref="bib32" id="ref16">32</reflink>]) will be applied to pinpoint cultural content in multimodal contexts. As for the second objective, this article will adopt Kress and van Leeuwen's ([<reflink idref="bib20" id="ref17">20</reflink>]) framework of visual grammar to examine image-viewer interactions, given that the textbooks feature abundant illustrations.</p> <hd id="AN0191348735-3">Literature review</hd> <p>As 'windows to the world' (Risager, [<reflink idref="bib37" id="ref18">37</reflink>], p. 130), textbooks impact greatly on learners' attitudes towards certain cultural phenomena and 'the formation of their worldviews' (Lu, Liu, An, & Zhang, [<reflink idref="bib29" id="ref19">29</reflink>], p. 5). Based on such a view, research has been conducted all over the world on cultural representation in ELT textbooks.</p> <p>In terms of cultural content, some research focused on specific aspects such as gender equality (Lee, [<reflink idref="bib22" id="ref20">22</reflink>]), religious beliefs (Liu, Zhang, & Yang, [<reflink idref="bib28" id="ref21">28</reflink>]) and ideological tensions (Vinall & Shin, [<reflink idref="bib46" id="ref22">46</reflink>]), while others studied culture as a whole and examined its diversity or depth (Bose & Gao, [<reflink idref="bib2" id="ref23">2</reflink>]; Derakhshan, [<reflink idref="bib9" id="ref24">9</reflink>]). By dint of Moran's categorization of culture—namely products, practices, persons, perspectives and communities—a number of studies have revealed a lack of cultural depth in ELT textbooks with an overwhelming focus on persons and products but scant attention to perspectives (Davidson & Liu, [<reflink idref="bib8" id="ref25">8</reflink>]; Yuen, [<reflink idref="bib56" id="ref26">56</reflink>]; Zhang, Li, & Chang, [<reflink idref="bib57" id="ref27">57</reflink>]). Similarly, findings from a meta-analysis of nine studies indicated that culture in language textbooks related to something static, such as facts and artifacts. (Canale, [<reflink idref="bib4" id="ref28">4</reflink>]).</p> <p>Regarding cultural diversity, the imbalanced distribution of different cultures in ELT textbooks has been shown in many previous studies. Bose and Gao ([<reflink idref="bib2" id="ref29">2</reflink>]) examined 10 Indian ELT textbooks used in secondary education and found the dominance of target cultures in these textbooks. Likewise, Liu et al. ([<reflink idref="bib27" id="ref30">27</reflink>]) analysed university English textbooks in China through a self-built corpus and found that American and British cultures were overwhelmingly presented. On the other hand, ELT textbooks in Iran and Japan were found to be devoted to the source culture (Davidson & Liu, [<reflink idref="bib8" id="ref31">8</reflink>]; Tafazoli & Egan, [<reflink idref="bib43" id="ref32">43</reflink>]).</p> <p>Apart from cultural content, some studies also paid attention to the form of cultural representation (Babaii & Sheikhi, [<reflink idref="bib1" id="ref33">1</reflink>]; Xiong & Qian, [<reflink idref="bib54" id="ref34">54</reflink>]). Xiong and Qian ([<reflink idref="bib54" id="ref35">54</reflink>]) revealed the Anglo-centric language ideologies in a Chinese high school ELT textbook through an examination of both text content and linguistic and rhetorical devices. In Babaii and Sheikhi's ([<reflink idref="bib1" id="ref36">1</reflink>]) study of Iran ELT textbooks, linguistic features were analysed to uncover traces of neoliberalism. However, language textbooks do not construct meaning only through text (Li, Zeng, & Nam, [<reflink idref="bib25" id="ref37">25</reflink>]). They communicate through multiple modes, such as texts, images, sounds and pedagogic activities (Xiong & Peng, [<reflink idref="bib53" id="ref38">53</reflink>]). Kress, Jewitt, and Tsatsarelis ([<reflink idref="bib19" id="ref39">19</reflink>]) pointed out that representation occurs with equal significance across various modes. Therefore, a multimodal analysis that concerns texts involving 'interaction and combination of two or more semiotic resources' is necessary (Gheisari & Akbari, [<reflink idref="bib12" id="ref40">12</reflink>], p. 6).</p> <p>According to Weninger ([<reflink idref="bib48" id="ref41">48</reflink>]), multimodal analyses of language textbooks can be divided into two types: representational and interactive. The former, which constitutes a substantial portion of previous studies, views meaning as representation and examines what is represented as legitimate knowledge in textbooks (Robles & Laborda, [<reflink idref="bib38" id="ref42">38</reflink>]; Tafazoli & Egan, [<reflink idref="bib43" id="ref43">43</reflink>]). The latter, on the other hand, treats meaning as the interaction between text producers and readers and explores how readers are guided to interact with textbooks (Chen, [<reflink idref="bib5" id="ref44">5</reflink>]). A single approach inevitably leads to the omission of information, hence the combination of the two types in some research (Uzum, Yazan, Zahrawi, Bouamer, & Malakaj, [<reflink idref="bib44" id="ref45">44</reflink>]).</p> <p>Existing literature has investigated cultural representation in worldwide ELT textbooks through various methods and perspectives. However, most studies focused on secondary and higher education while primary education, generally the formal beginning of ELT, has received relatively less attention. In China, research on primary school ELT textbooks focused more on specific aspects of culture such as gender (Lee, [<reflink idref="bib23" id="ref46">23</reflink>]), language ideologies (Wang, Weng, & Li, [<reflink idref="bib47" id="ref47">47</reflink>]) and national image (Liu, [<reflink idref="bib26" id="ref48">26</reflink>]). Lee and Li ([<reflink idref="bib24" id="ref49">24</reflink>]) compared the overall distribution of cultures between primary school ELT textbooks used in mainland China and those in Hong Kong. Despite the coverage of textual and visual data, their analysis only discussed the static representational meaning and failed to explore the interactive meanings conveyed by texts and images (Weninger, [<reflink idref="bib48" id="ref50">48</reflink>]). Following a comprehensive approach, this study identifies both cultural content through the categorization of culture and the image-viewer relationship by adopting Kress and van Leeuwen's framework of visual grammar.</p> <hd id="AN0191348735-4">Methodology</hd> <p>The current study adopted a multimodal discourse analytical approach. According to Van Leeuwen ([<reflink idref="bib45" id="ref51">45</reflink>]), discourse refers to 'socially constructed ways of knowing some aspect of reality' (p. 138). Traditionally, discourse analysis is understood as the analysis of written or spoken verbal text since language is the main tool for constructing meaning. Multimodal discourse analysis acknowledges the role of other modes (e.g., image, gestures and music) in representing power, truth and interest and focuses on the functions of each mode as well as their interrelationships (Janscary, Höllerer, & Meyer, [<reflink idref="bib15" id="ref52">15</reflink>]). In this study, visual analysis is highlighted because textbooks for the early years of schooling are heavily illustrated, to the point where visual elements dominate over texts (Kress & van Leeuwen, [<reflink idref="bib20" id="ref53">20</reflink>]).</p> <hd id="AN0191348735-5">Selected materials</hd> <p>Four books for grades 3–4 from the series <emph>English (Starting from Grade 3)</emph> published by People's Education Press (Wu et al., [<reflink idref="bib50" id="ref54">50</reflink>]) were selected. The textbooks were chosen chiefly for two reasons. First, the series is authorized for publication by the MOE and is widely used in Chinese primary schools. In China, K-12 ELT textbooks are compiled by qualified publishers, groups or individuals in line with curriculum standards, reviewed and approved by the government and selected by schools. Directly affiliated with the MOE, PEP plays a leading role in textbook production and the textbooks it publishes, including <emph>English (Starting from Grade 3)</emph>, are adopted in most areas. Second, Grades 3–4 is the phase where cultural awareness is primarily established for most Chinese students. According to the Curriculum Standards (MOE, [<reflink idref="bib31" id="ref55">31</reflink>]), Grade 3 is set as the formal beginning of ELT and Grades 3-4 are defined as the foundation stages with the same objectives. For most students, this stage signifies their initial exposure to English language and English-speaking cultures and impacts greatly on the formation of cultural awareness. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate textbooks at this stage.</p> <hd id="AN0191348735-6">Categorization of culture</hd> <p>When it comes to the concept of 'culture', it is challenging to offer a universally accepted definition due to its inherent complexity. In the context of ELT, Moran's ([<reflink idref="bib32" id="ref56">32</reflink>]) definition may construct a straightforward understanding due to its clear division of cultural dimensions:</p> <p>Culture is the evolving way of life of a group of persons, consisting of a shared set of practices associated with a shared set of products, based upon a shared set of perspectives on the world, and set within specific social contexts. (p. 24)</p> <p>Thus, culture is divided into five dimensions: persons (individual members), products (artifacts produced or adopted by cultural members), practices (actions and interactions carried out by cultural members), perspectives (perceptions, beliefs, values and attitudes underlying the products) and communities (specific social contexts, circumstances and groups). Apart from the five dimensions, the study also adopted Cortazzi and Jin's ([<reflink idref="bib6" id="ref57">6</reflink>]) classification to investigate cultural diversity, namely target culture (TC), source culture (SC) and international culture (IC). In this study, TC referred to the culture where English is used as a first language, SC to Chinese culture and IC to other cultures.</p> <hd id="AN0191348735-7">Framework of multimodal analysis</hd> <p>As for the form of cultural representation, this study focused on image-viewer relations and image-text relations. Visuals are often believed to be 'objective' since they present the world more directly. However, whether photographs or drawings, they inherently carry certain social meanings, the articulation and understanding of which stem from those conveyed in face-to-face interactions (Kress & van Leeuwen, [<reflink idref="bib20" id="ref58">20</reflink>]). An investigation into how textbook images engage and position learners actually helps reveal the particular social and cultural positioning, as well as the interests of the image producer (Janscary et al., [<reflink idref="bib15" id="ref59">15</reflink>]).</p> <p>Just as words make up sentences under the rules of grammar, visual elements are organized in certain ways to construct specific meanings. Kress and van Leeuwen ([<reflink idref="bib20" id="ref60">20</reflink>]) described these ways as 'visual grammar' and designed a framework to analyse it. It includes three meaning-making modes: representational, interpersonal and compositional. This study paid particular attention to the framework of interpersonal mode because it examined the relationship between readers and the represented content. The analysis framework is shown in Table 1. Meanwhile, this study also explored whether cultural elements in the images were simultaneously referenced in the accompanying text to assess the salience of cultural content. Cultural elements with textual references were coded as 'Explicit', while those without references were coded as 'Implicit'.</p> <p>Table 1. Framework of Interactive Analysis</p> <p> <ephtml> <table><thead valign="bottom"><tr><td>Dimensions</td><td>Explanations</td></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Contact</td><td>Offer</td><td>Represented figures' gaze at viewers</td></tr><tr><td>Demand</td><td>Absence of eye contact</td></tr><tr><td>Social distance</td><td>Intimate</td><td>Close shot that shows part of the object</td></tr><tr><td>Social</td><td>Medium shot that shows the full figure</td></tr><tr><td>Impersonal</td><td>Long shot that shows the whole object with surroundings</td></tr><tr><td>Attitude</td><td>Objective</td><td>Images without perspective</td></tr><tr><td>Subjective</td><td>Involvement</td><td>Frontal angle</td></tr><tr><td>Detachment</td><td>Oblique angle</td></tr><tr><td>Viewer power</td><td>High angle</td></tr><tr><td>Equality</td><td>Eye-level angle</td></tr><tr><td>Representation power</td><td>Low angle</td></tr></tbody></table> </ephtml> </p> <hd id="AN0191348735-8">Findings and discussion</hd> <p>This study aims to explore what kind of cultural content entered primary ELT textbooks and how they engaged or positioned their viewers. 872 images with cultural content were identified. The findings are presented and discussed in three sections as follows.</p> <hd id="AN0191348735-9">Culture as simplified, conflict-free and implicit facts</hd> <p>In line with the previous studies (Lee & Li, [<reflink idref="bib24" id="ref61">24</reflink>]; Yuen, [<reflink idref="bib56" id="ref62">56</reflink>]; Zhang et al., [<reflink idref="bib57" id="ref63">57</reflink>]), the overall distribution revealed a simplified approach to describing culture (see Table 2). Persons (51.06%) and products (26.86%), which were simple, established facts waiting for students to discover and to incorporate into their existing cognitive structure, appeared frequently. By contrast, perspectives (3.19%) and practices (7.45%), the dynamic and heterogeneous aspects of culture, were less represented. In addition, there was a tendency toward homogenization of culture. The images were basically cartoonish drawings and the persons were all fictional. Most of them showed up only once, without any introduction to their names or nationalities. Products, practices and perspectives were mostly general elements shared by Western society such as cakes, the celebration of Christmas and viewing teachers as friends. Features of different countries were found only when it came to national emblems and communities. According to Canale ([<reflink idref="bib4" id="ref64">4</reflink>]), simplification is certainly present in textbook discourse, especially when the (imagined) abilities and levels of proficiency of the audience are basic. It reduces cognitive load and makes the content more acceptable to young learners. The knowledge-based, homogenized conceptualization of culture, however, underrepresents certain cultural aspects and fails to display the complexities underlying the cultural group, limiting deeper cultural awareness (Canale, [<reflink idref="bib4" id="ref65">4</reflink>]; Davidson & Liu, [<reflink idref="bib8" id="ref66">8</reflink>]). The imaginary, flat characters, which lack of richness and complexity of real-world people, are particularly problematic since they cannot provide cultural information for readers (Lee & Li, [<reflink idref="bib24" id="ref67">24</reflink>]).</p> <p>Table 2. Cultural categorization.</p> <p> <ephtml> <table><thead valign="bottom"><tr><td>Dimensions</td><td>Sources</td><td>Examples</td></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Persons (51.06%, n = 192)</td><td>TC (50.00%)</td><td>Amy, Mike, Sarah, and John</td></tr><tr><td>SC (23.44%)</td><td>Wu Binbin, Chen Jie, and Zhang Peng</td></tr><tr><td>IC (2.08%)</td><td>Egyptian boys, Brazilian boys</td></tr><tr><td>Unidentified (24.48%)</td><td>N/A</td></tr><tr><td>Products (26.86%, <italic>n</italic> = 101)</td><td>TC (67.33%)</td><td>Beaver, London, Big Ben, trumpet, hot-dog, and wedding dress</td></tr><tr><td>SC (28.71%)</td><td>Beijing, panda bag, rice cakes, and Denglong (Chinese Lantern)</td></tr><tr><td>IC (3.96%)</td><td>Cairo, Brasilia, the Metropolitan Cathedral, and flamingo</td></tr><tr><td>Practices (7.45%, <italic>n</italic> = 28)</td><td>TC (71.43%)</td><td>Eating with a knife and fork, waving with hats off as greeting, decorating a Christmas tree</td></tr><tr><td>SC (28.57%)</td><td>Eating with chopsticks, rubber band skipping (a Chinese game), collective clean-up</td></tr><tr><td>IC (0.00%)</td><td>N/A</td></tr><tr><td>Perspectives (3.19%, <italic>n</italic> = 12)</td><td>TC (25.00%)</td><td>Teachers as friends, pets as family members, connection between sheep and sleep</td></tr><tr><td>SC (25.00%)</td><td>Collectivism, common prosperity for all, reverence for teachers</td></tr><tr><td>IC (0.00%)</td><td>N/A</td></tr><tr><td>Common values (50.00%)</td><td>Environmental protection, harmonious coexistence with animals, racial equality, and world awareness</td></tr><tr><td>Communities (11.44%, <italic>n</italic> = 43)</td><td>TC (16.28%)</td><td>Canadian, British, American, black race, white race, a circus, and a soccer team</td></tr><tr><td>SC (6.98%)</td><td>Chinese, yellow race, and a teaching class</td></tr><tr><td>IC (4.65%)</td><td>Egyptian, Brazilian</td></tr><tr><td>Others (72.09%)</td><td>Parents, children, teachers, cashiers, and farmers</td></tr><tr><td>Total (100%, <italic>n</italic> = 376)</td><td /><td /></tr></tbody></table> </ephtml> </p> <p>No controversial topics concerning race, religion, sex and ideology were mentioned. Products and practices were associated with everyday topics such as food, recreation, landmarks and animals. As for perspectives, they were uncontroversial opinions or values going beyond any specific culture (Davidson & Liu, [<reflink idref="bib8" id="ref68">8</reflink>]; Gheisari & Akbari, [<reflink idref="bib12" id="ref69">12</reflink>]), for example, 'I like sports!' or harmonious coexistence with animals. Apart from controversial topics, interpersonal conflicts were also excluded. Communities embodied by persons ranged from broad, amorphous types like gender, race, and generation to 'more narrowly defined groupings' such as a family, a class, and a soccer team (Moran, [<reflink idref="bib32" id="ref70">32</reflink>], p. 25). They always engaged in relationships of cooperation and collaboration without any conflict. The conflict-free representation of culture may aim at setting role models for primary school students in interpersonal and intercultural communication since textbooks also serve as moral value carriers that help cultivate students' moral sensitivity and behavior (Puspitasari, Widodo, Widyaningrum, Allamnakhrah, & Lestariyana, [<reflink idref="bib35" id="ref71">35</reflink>]).</p> <p>Culture in the surveyed textbooks was also implicit. In most cases, cultural items appeared without any textual reference. They merely served as the background of a conversation or as ornaments on a page. For instance, several Chinese lanterns with animal illustrations were depicted in an image from Book 2. Occupying nearly half of the page, they were given high visual salience (Kress & van Leeuwen, [<reflink idref="bib20" id="ref72">20</reflink>]). However, there was no depiction of their real-life use or cultural significance. The texts were centered on animal illustrations: Girl:'It's big. It has a short tail. It's black and white.'Boy:'It's a panda.'This part, entitled 'Choose, say and guess', aims to foster students' language skills in describing the features of various animals rather than introducing the lanterns. Such representation, 'leaving cultural connotations unexamined and underutilized' (Weninger & Kiss, [<reflink idref="bib49" id="ref73">49</reflink>], p. 710), neither facilitated the accumulation of cultural knowledge nor promoted the process of reflection. In addition to material items, the psychological processes of the characters, such as surprise, confusion or discomfort about exotic culture, are not overtly displayed. It seems that the characters are presumed to be equipped with strong intercultural communicative awareness and abilities. This may set good examples of intercultural practices for learners. Nevertheless, the omission of the process of cultural adaptation and negotiation does not enable learners to associate the textbook content with their own experience, thus limiting their spontaneous exploration of cultural meanings (Xiong & Peng, [<reflink idref="bib53" id="ref74">53</reflink>]).</p> <p>In general, culture was represented as simplified, conflict-free and implicit facts. It is understandable, considering a series of psychological traits of the target audience, including cognitive abilities, interests, emotions, etc. For young learners, popular products such as entertainment, travel, and food are more acceptable and more likely to arouse their interest than abstract perspectives such as equality (Yuen, [<reflink idref="bib56" id="ref75">56</reflink>]). Such representation allows for naïve comparison between 'our' culture and 'their' culture without much investment from learners (Canale, [<reflink idref="bib4" id="ref76">4</reflink>]). However, it may lead to a superficial, fragmented understanding of culture and fail to provide readers with opportunities to address the underlying sociocultural interactions within different contexts (Gómez Rodríguez, [<reflink idref="bib13" id="ref77">13</reflink>]).</p> <hd id="AN0191348735-10">Dominant target culture, highlighted source culture, and marginalized international culture</hd> <p>According to Table 2, TC dominated the surveyed textbooks with five specific countries depicted: the USA, the UK, Canada, Australia, and Singapore. Singapore, an Outer Circle country where English is institutionalized as an additional language (Kachru, [<reflink idref="bib17" id="ref78">17</reflink>]), showed up only once with the Merlion Park portrayed. The rest are Inner Circle countries where English is used as a mother tongue (Kachru, [<reflink idref="bib17" id="ref79">17</reflink>]). They appeared more frequently because four of the seven main characters came from them: Amy (from the UK), Mike (Canada), Sarah (the USA) and John (the USA). It is worth noting that despite the same nationality, Sarah was a white girl while John was a black boy. The existence of John is aimed at displaying the cultural pluralism of American society and the design per se indicates an emphasis on US culture. The inclusion of both the Inner Circle and Outer Circle implies that English-speaking countries are not confined to the USA or the UK. Nevertheless, it seems that the Inner Circle has more rights to speech than the Outer Circle (Xiang & Yenika-Agbaw, [<reflink idref="bib51" id="ref80">51</reflink>]).</p> <p>SC also constituted a considerable part (see Table 2), which can be found in the previous literature (Rashidi & Meihami, [<reflink idref="bib36" id="ref81">36</reflink>]; Tafazoli & Egan, [<reflink idref="bib43" id="ref82">43</reflink>]; Zhang et al., [<reflink idref="bib57" id="ref83">57</reflink>]). Apart from the high frequency of SC cultural items, this study also revealed an emphasis on local contexts. Namely, the intercultural communication mainly took place within the context of China. This can be inferred from two images in Book 3. The first one depicted a collective cleaning among the seven protagonists within a classroom where a Chinese flag was hung above the blackboard and tables were placed in rows with individual chairs. Both the activity and the layout were the embodiment of Chinese schooling. The second one presented the scene where the US boy John practised using chopsticks at home when he found other students from English-speaking countries were all able to eat with chopsticks. Such an arrangement relates the textbook content to students' own experiences (Xu, [<reflink idref="bib55" id="ref84">55</reflink>]), encouraging them to use English to express and appreciate their own lives. It tries to convey the idea that English language teaching and learning does not mean accepting everything in target cultures passively, nor abandoning the subjectivity of our home culture. English is not owned or controlled by English-speaking countries and Chinese culture can also be given a prominent position in the context of English (Siqueira, [<reflink idref="bib41" id="ref85">41</reflink>]).</p> <p>IC was under-represented with only four persons and four products (see Table 2). The low occurrence of IC was not uncommon in ELT textbooks (Bose & Gao, [<reflink idref="bib2" id="ref86">2</reflink>]; Joo, Chik, & Djonov, [<reflink idref="bib16" id="ref87">16</reflink>]; Xiang & Yenika-Agbaw, [<reflink idref="bib51" id="ref88">51</reflink>]). Bose and Gao ([<reflink idref="bib2" id="ref89">2</reflink>]) investigated 10 Indian ELT textbooks and found that IC was the least represented category with a proportion of 16%. In this study, IC was rather marginalized, with all the elements placed in the background as visual reinforcement or space-fillers (Weninger & Kiss, [<reflink idref="bib49" id="ref90">49</reflink>]). For example, Cairo and Brasilia were marked on a world map with four other cities, each accompanied by an illustration of two children engaging in their daily routines – playing football in Cairo at 2 p.m. and preparing for school in Brasilia at 9 a.m. The four persons had no intercultural communication with people from other cultures, nor did they engage in cultural practices or introduce their own culture (Joo et al., [<reflink idref="bib16" id="ref91">16</reflink>]). Their existence is a mere showcase of time differences across the globe.</p> <p>The highlight of SC helps to facilitate students' appreciation of their own culture and traditions, strengthening their cultural identity and their own roots (Lu et al., [<reflink idref="bib29" id="ref92">29</reflink>]). This echoes the ELT objective stipulated in the Curriculum Standard to deepen the understanding and appreciation of Chinese culture (MOE, [<reflink idref="bib31" id="ref93">31</reflink>]). However, an overemphasis on TC, especially the Inner Circle, and the neglect of IC may be problematic since it presumes that the purpose of English learning is to interact with people from TC (Wang et al., [<reflink idref="bib47" id="ref94">47</reflink>]; Xiang & Yenika-Agbaw, [<reflink idref="bib51" id="ref95">51</reflink>]). In recent years, English has gradually established itself as a lingua franca with a large proportion of English communication occurring among non-native speakers (Seidlhofer, [<reflink idref="bib39" id="ref96">39</reflink>]). It is necessary to make students realize the diverse contexts of English language use and develop their intercultural communication skills – not only for interacting with English native speakers, but also with other non-native speakers. Therefore, more international culture should be incorporated into the textbooks to deepen learners' cultural awareness and avoid misunderstandings.</p> <hd id="AN0191348735-11">Equal but impersonal relationship between readers and images</hd> <p>According to Cunningsworth ([<reflink idref="bib7" id="ref97">7</reflink>]), textbooks inherently contain sets of cultural and social values that can influence learners' perceptions and attitudes towards English learning. This 'hidden curriculum' is reflected in the selection of content and the making of images. Some of the previous work involved visual analysis such as the types of images when discussing cultural representation in textbooks (Gheisari & Akbari, [<reflink idref="bib12" id="ref98">12</reflink>]; Li et al., [<reflink idref="bib25" id="ref99">25</reflink>]). However, they still viewed textbooks as static textual products and failed to consider how images engage viewers. Through an examination of 872 images with cultural content, this study revealed an equal but impersonal interactive pattern between cultural representation and viewers.</p> <p>Eye contact plays a significant role in visual communication. As humans or quasi-humans in an image look directly at the viewer, they demand that the viewer engage in some kind of imaginary relation with them (Kress & van Leeuwen, [<reflink idref="bib20" id="ref100">20</reflink>]). The phenomenon is defined as 'demand' by Kress and van Leeuwen ([<reflink idref="bib20" id="ref101">20</reflink>]). 'Demand' occurred 120 times in the surveyed textbooks, roughly accounting for 6.48% (see Table 3). More frequent was the phenomenon called 'offer' (93.52%), in which the characters do not look directly at the viewer (Kress & van Leeuwen, [<reflink idref="bib20" id="ref102">20</reflink>]). Their eyelines fell on each other or objects in the image, as though they were immersed in their own world without noticing the viewer. For the viewer, the characters are presented as 'items of information, objects of contemplation' (Kress & van Leeuwen, [<reflink idref="bib20" id="ref103">20</reflink>], p. 119). In that case, learners are expected to act as bystanders who observe what has happened in the images impersonally.</p> <p>Table 3. Contact.</p> <p> <ephtml> <table><thead valign="bottom"><tr><td /><td><italic>N</italic></td><td>%</td></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Demand</td><td char=".">120</td><td char=".">6.48</td></tr><tr><td>Offer</td><td char=".">1732</td><td char=".">93.52</td></tr><tr><td>Total</td><td char=".">1852</td><td char=".">100</td></tr></tbody></table> </ephtml> </p> <p>The second dimension is social distance. According to Edward Hall ([<reflink idref="bib14" id="ref104">14</reflink>]), humans tend to choose distance based on various factors including 'the relationship of the interacting individuals' and may feel uncomfortable once their intimate sphere is invaded by strangers (p. 128). Therefore, different social distances can reflect various interpersonal relationships in daily communication. In the context of visual design, social distance is achieved by the size of the frame. Medium shot and long shot appeared frequently in the surveyed textbooks, accounting for 32.80% and 34.63%, respectively (see Table 4). In the medium shot, the subject or object is shown in full without much surrounding space (Kress & van Leeuwen, [<reflink idref="bib20" id="ref105">20</reflink>]). The medium shot corresponds to social distance at which more formal, impersonal interactions, e.g., business, occur (Hall, [<reflink idref="bib14" id="ref106">14</reflink>]). In the long shot, the character occupies half the height of frame or less while the cultural product, as part of the surroundings, seems to be out of reach for the viewer. The long shot implies impersonal distance at which people remain to be strangers. Overall, the dominance of social distance and impersonal distance indicates that persons in textbook images are acquaintances and even strangers to learners and those products seem to be not actually used by viewers (Kress & van Leeuwen, [<reflink idref="bib20" id="ref107">20</reflink>]).</p> <p>Table 4. Social distance.</p> <p> <ephtml> <table><thead valign="bottom"><tr><td /><td><italic>N</italic></td><td>%</td></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Intimate</td><td char=".">284</td><td char=".">32.57</td></tr><tr><td>Social</td><td char=".">286</td><td char=".">32.80</td></tr><tr><td>Impersonal</td><td char=".">302</td><td char=".">34.63</td></tr><tr><td>Total</td><td char=".">872</td><td char=".">100</td></tr></tbody></table> </ephtml> </p> <p>Apart from eye contact and social distance, perspective also reveals image-viewer relations. Images without perspective, such as charts and maps, were not common in the surveyed textbooks (see Table 5). The overwhelming majority were subjective images containing two perspectival dimensions, the horizontal angle and the vertical angle. At the horizontal level, 'detachment' images (oblique-angle images) outnumbered 'involvement' images (frontal-angle images), which signifies that the image producer, in most cases, does not view the represented content as part of their world. English learners, who cannot choose what to see in the image, are placed in the same position as the producer (Kress & van Leeuwen, [<reflink idref="bib20" id="ref108">20</reflink>]). They are not involved with the represented content and see the characters in images as strangers. The vertical angle encodes power relations between the represented content and the viewer. Both a high angle (defined as 'viewer power') and a low angle (defined as 'representation power') endow one side with power over another. They took up a small part of the textbook images, far less than 'equality', where the image is depicted at eye level. This signifies that learners are expected to treat different cultures with an equal attitude, neither worshiping them as authority nor looking down upon them.</p> <p>Table 5. Attitude.</p> <p> <ephtml> <table><tbody><tr><td /><td /><td /><td><italic>N</italic></td><td>%</td></tr><tr><td>Objective</td><td /><td /><td char=".">12</td><td char=".">1.38</td></tr><tr><td>Subjective</td><td>Vertical</td><td>Viewer power</td><td char=".">73</td><td char=".">8.37</td></tr><tr><td>Equality</td><td char=".">784</td><td char=".">89.91</td></tr><tr><td>Representation power</td><td char=".">3</td><td char=".">0.34</td></tr><tr><td>Horizontal</td><td>Involvement</td><td char=".">252</td><td char=".">28.90</td></tr><tr><td>Detachment</td><td char=".">608</td><td char=".">69.72</td></tr></tbody></table> </ephtml> </p> <p>In general, learners maintain an equal relationship with cultural elements represented in textbook images, but they seldom enter the world of images or engage with them. As Smith ([<reflink idref="bib42" id="ref109">42</reflink>]) pointed out, learners are 'isolated, definable others' (p. 94). They act as bystanders observing what has happened in the image dispassionately. One possible reason is that textbooks for the initial ELT stage emphasize the accumulation of objective linguistic knowledge and images are mainly designed for linguistic practices. Nevertheless, when the image demands less emotional involvement from the learners, their own thoughts and reflections may be substituted (Elmiana, [<reflink idref="bib11" id="ref110">11</reflink>]), which hinders a deeper exploration of cultural meanings.</p> <hd id="AN0191348735-12">Conclusion</hd> <p>This study has investigated cultural contents and representation patterns in Chinese primary-school ELT textbooks through a multimodal discourse analysis. The results show that culture is represented in a simplified, conflict-free and implicit way with target culture predominating, source culture highlighted and international culture marginalized. In terms of the interactive pattern, learners are more like bystanders observing the depicted cultures with an equal view than participants engaged in their conversation. Such cultural representation, to some extent, reduces cognitive load and sets good examples for young learners, but may lead to stereotypes, hindering the development of cultural awareness. The creation of a classroom environment that involves students in cultural exploration and reflection may mitigate the textbook deficiencies. We suggest that English teachers not only provide supplemental materials on cultural facts, but also encourage young learners to relate their own experiences with textbook content and to 'consider their own culture in relation to other cultures' (Lee & Li, [<reflink idref="bib24" id="ref111">24</reflink>], p. 617).</p> <p>Viewing textbook meaning as interaction, this study not only focused on what content was included in textbooks, but also revealed an interactive pattern between images and viewers. It may contribute to raising awareness of cultural representation, particularly the interactive meaning of visual elements, in elementary ELT textbooks. However, it mainly focuses on the static textual analysis and discusses the theoretical possibilities regarding cultural content and interactive patterns. The results may be problematic and inaccurate if the actual classroom teaching is not considered. Future research might explore what kind of attitude students and teachers have toward the cultural representation and how they interact and deal with it.</p> <hd id="AN0191348735-13">Acknowledgements</hd> <p>We would like to express our gratitude to Professor Pi Zhongling and Dr Wang Ruiyuan, for their valuable advice on this paper. We would also like to thank the editor and the reviewers, for their patience and insightful comments.</p> <hd id="AN0191348735-14">Disclosure statement</hd> <p>No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).</p> <p>Correction Statement</p> <p>This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.</p> <ref id="AN0191348735-15"> <title> References </title> <blist> <bibl id="bib1" idref="ref33" type="bt">1</bibl> <bibtext> Babaii, E., & Sheikhi, M. (2018). Traces of neoliberalism in English teaching materials: A critical discourse analysis. 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Items – Name: Title
  Label: Title
  Group: Ti
  Data: Cultural Representation in Primary ELT Textbooks: An Approach of Multimodal Discourse Analysis
– Name: Language
  Label: Language
  Group: Lang
  Data: English
– Name: Author
  Label: Authors
  Group: Au
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Yaping+Tang%22">Yaping Tang</searchLink> (ORCID <externalLink term="https://orcid.org/0009-0002-7624-1495">0009-0002-7624-1495</externalLink>)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Li+Liu%22">Li Liu</searchLink> (ORCID <externalLink term="https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4508-3770">0000-0003-4508-3770</externalLink>)
– Name: TitleSource
  Label: Source
  Group: Src
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="SO" term="%22Discourse%3A+Studies+in+the+Cultural+Politics+of+Education%22"><i>Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education</i></searchLink>. 2026 47(1):54-67.
– Name: Avail
  Label: Availability
  Group: Avail
  Data: Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 530 Walnut Street Suite 850, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Tel: 215-625-8900; Fax: 215-207-0050; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
– Name: PeerReviewed
  Label: Peer Reviewed
  Group: SrcInfo
  Data: Y
– Name: Pages
  Label: Page Count
  Group: Src
  Data: 14
– Name: DatePubCY
  Label: Publication Date
  Group: Date
  Data: 2026
– Name: TypeDocument
  Label: Document Type
  Group: TypDoc
  Data: Journal Articles<br />Reports - Research
– Name: Audience
  Label: Education Level
  Group: Audnce
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="EL" term="%22Elementary+Education%22">Elementary Education</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="EL" term="%22Early+Childhood+Education%22">Early Childhood Education</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="EL" term="%22Grade+3%22">Grade 3</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="EL" term="%22Primary+Education%22">Primary Education</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="EL" term="%22Grade+4%22">Grade 4</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="EL" term="%22Intermediate+Grades%22">Intermediate Grades</searchLink>
– Name: Subject
  Label: Descriptors
  Group: Su
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22English+%28Second+Language%29%22">English (Second Language)</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Second+Language+Instruction%22">Second Language Instruction</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Textbooks%22">Textbooks</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Textbook+Content%22">Textbook Content</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Cultural+Awareness%22">Cultural Awareness</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Diversity%22">Diversity</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Foreign+Countries%22">Foreign Countries</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Elementary+Education%22">Elementary Education</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Grade+3%22">Grade 3</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Grade+4%22">Grade 4</searchLink>
– Name: Subject
  Label: Geographic Terms
  Group: Su
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22China%22">China</searchLink>
– Name: DOI
  Label: DOI
  Group: ID
  Data: 10.1080/01596306.2025.2484349
– Name: ISSN
  Label: ISSN
  Group: ISSN
  Data: 0159-6306<br />1469-3739
– Name: Abstract
  Label: Abstract
  Group: Ab
  Data: This study examines the content and form of cultural representation across a set of primary-school English textbooks widely used in China. Adopting a multimodal discourse analysis, it investigates the depth and diversity of cultural content based on Moran's and Cortazzi and Jin's classification of culture, as well as the image-viewer relationship drawing on Kress and van Leeuwen's visual grammar. The findings reveal that culture was represented as simplified, conflict-free and implicit facts with dominant homogenized persons and products. In addition, there was also an imbalanced distribution regarding cultural diversity. Target culture predominated in the textbooks and source culture was highlighted while international culture was marginalized. As for representation patterns, the connection between viewers and the portrayed culture was equal but impersonal. The findings suggest that the textbooks prioritize reducing cognitive load and presenting role models over showcasing the authentic, complex aspects of culture or stimulating learners' reflection on cultural phenomena.
– Name: AbstractInfo
  Label: Abstractor
  Group: Ab
  Data: As Provided
– Name: DateEntry
  Label: Entry Date
  Group: Date
  Data: 2026
– Name: AN
  Label: Accession Number
  Group: ID
  Data: EJ1500910
PLink https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=eric&AN=EJ1500910
RecordInfo BibRecord:
  BibEntity:
    Identifiers:
      – Type: doi
        Value: 10.1080/01596306.2025.2484349
    Languages:
      – Text: English
    PhysicalDescription:
      Pagination:
        PageCount: 14
        StartPage: 54
    Subjects:
      – SubjectFull: English (Second Language)
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Second Language Instruction
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Textbooks
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Textbook Content
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Cultural Awareness
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Diversity
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Foreign Countries
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Elementary Education
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Grade 3
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Grade 4
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: China
        Type: general
    Titles:
      – TitleFull: Cultural Representation in Primary ELT Textbooks: An Approach of Multimodal Discourse Analysis
        Type: main
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      – PersonEntity:
          Name:
            NameFull: Yaping Tang
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          Name:
            NameFull: Li Liu
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          Dates:
            – D: 01
              M: 01
              Type: published
              Y: 2026
          Identifiers:
            – Type: issn-print
              Value: 0159-6306
            – Type: issn-electronic
              Value: 1469-3739
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              Value: 47
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            – TitleFull: Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education
              Type: main
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