Critical Review of Culture Related Content in Iranian Junior High School Textbooks (Prospects ۱,۲,۳): Teachers’ Perspectives

Textbooks as the main teaching materials in foreign language learning (EFL) have a direct influence on the process of learning and teaching, so their evaluation is an educational necessity. As culture is an inseparable part of foreign language learning the aim of the present study is to evaluate culture-related content in newly developed junior high school textbooks (prospects ۱,۲,۳) from teachers’ perspective. To this aim the researchers interviewed ۱۸ teachers (۷ females and ۱۱ males) who have been teaching prospects series for ۲ to ۸ years, using a semi–cultural interview. The study revealed that the prospect textbooks (prospects ۱,۲,۳) contain some aspects of Iranian and some Islamic culture and the textbook developers concentrate mainly on their home culture and ignored the target culture totally which is inadequate in fostering intercultural communication. The findings of the present study can help textbook developers to consider this issue in their future reviews or rewriting of the textbooks.