Chapter 5 Conclusions, Limitations, and Suggestions
5.1 Discussion and Conclusion…
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Chapter 5 Conclusions, Limitation, and Suggestions
This chapter will include three parts: the result of the textual analysis on the two basic-level English learning magazines, the limitation of the research, and some suggestions for further study. In the first part, the integration of the research question and the findings will be addresses. The next part will focus on the contribution to communication, the limitation, and the suggestion based on the present study.
5.1 Discussion and Conclusion
The research tries to find out the representation of cultural themes in basic-level English learning magazines. The two selected magazines are “Let’s Talk in English” and “ABC Interactive Learning English Magazine” because of its selling numbers and
representativeness in magazine publishing industry. Through textual analysis on a year-round basis, the research aims to find out how and what culture-related contents are introduced in both magazines. The research questions are:
1. In which form is “culture” presented and portrayed (pictures, articles, stories, songs, dialogues, vocabulary) in English materials?
2. What culture themes are introduced in magazines? Do they include both culture with big C and culture with small c?
3. In the text, besides American and English cultures, are there any other cultures being represented? Is the language used to introduce different cultures appropriate and neutral?
Through integrating classification on culture-related themes from different researchers and scholars (Addaskou, Britten, an Fashi, 1990; Brooks, 1968; Zheng, 2006; Sarkar, 1978; Chuang, 2002; Li, 1994; Kappus, 1996; Chen, 2003), the research shows that contextualized practices, informative text, vocabulary, and pictures are forms
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commonly used in both Let’s Talk in English (LTE) and ABC Interactive English Magazine (ABC).
Culture themes are topics relevant to different countries, for example, vocabulary of country names, pictures about famous nation monuments, and article about traditions and customs. Culture themes can be classified into two categories: culture with big C and culture with small c. Culture with big C “requires some knowledge of the formal institutions such as political, economic, history, fine arts, literature, and elite culture which has much to do with past” (Chuang, 2002), while culture with small c is about “a nation’s contemporary life” (Morain, 1988) such as food, home life, interpersonal relations, celebration of holidays, and leisure activities. Some researchers claimed that English learning materials include only small c in the text and is limited to some
specific topics like holidays and festivals (Chuang, 2002; Tseng, 1999). However, in the present study, it shows that both magazines include big C themes such as literature, politics, and economy in the text. Culture with small c can be found in every volume of both magazines. Many culture themes concerning culture with small c appear in both magazines: nation names, national monuments, nation flag, nation heroes, celebrity, food and drinks, leisure activities/sports, traveling, celebrations of holidays, ways to greet, and customs. Popular themes such as festivals and holidays, traveling, sports, and food are introduced in both magazines almost every volume. Besides, the introduction and discussion of celebrity and historic heroes from different cultures are shown in the text. However, both magazines use more pictures and text to introduce contemporary celebrity than historic heroes. The finding infers that there are no limitations for introducing cultural themes; the topic can be either general or specific.
The countries introduced and described in the text are not limited to native English-speaking cultures. In other words, many countries and cities are introduced in both magazines; nevertheless, most of them are located in North America, Europe, Asia,
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or Australia. Except Egypt, no countries from Africa are mentioned and discussed.
Therefore, the unbalanced distribution of countries and cities in both English learning is found in the study. The language used to introduce different cultures is appropriate and neutral. Most descriptions focus on introducing some landmarks and history of the countries, so not many personal comments and evaluations are found in the text. Also, both magazines provide sufficient footnotes and background information when
introducing a new culture-related topic, which is an important element for a successful English learning materials based on Chang’s (2000) study. Though both magazines use Chinese rather than English to give background information and footnotes, it still helps learners to build up more concrete ideas toward the culture-related contents.
In addition to find out the forms and culture themes shown in both English magazines, the research aims to compare and contrast the two magazines in order to discover the similarities and differences. The result shows that LTE tends to use diversified forms within the same topic. For example, when it talks about Christmas, it uses dialogues, informative text, and comparison and contrast form to help learners reinforce their memory toward this cultural theme; whereas, ABC chooses to use the same form in introducing a culture theme. Also, the use of vocabulary is different between both magazines. LTE puts country names and relevant words such as its citizen or language in the category of “More Information”; while ABC uses Chinese translation next to the vocabulary in the text.
While examining how these two magazines represent and arrange the same topic, for example, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and 2010 World Expo in Shanghai, there are different strategies and ways of description in the text. In LTE, it introduces
American-related topics such as American political parties and American customs in details. In contrast, ABC does not go into details when talking about different countries, but it mentions many cities in Taiwan in the text and combines locals with foreign
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countries. For example, when it talks about an international event like World Expo in Shanghai, it relates to Taiwan and the role Taiwan plays in the event. It is combination of local and foreign cultures, which is the contrast to Gray’s (2002) criticism on English materials because of “the absence of local”. This shows that magazines can vary in showing the same topic; besides, when the topic and content is similar, the way magazines show them may vary.
Last but not least, through the study, many special characteristics of both
magazines are shown. Both magazines show the pursuit of American dream in different fields: dancing and study. They both include new online technology and social network in the text by introducing Twitter and Facebook. Moreover, both magazines emphasize on language learning and using the right terms. In LTE, it teaches and explains some Chinese words and phrases; in ABC, it explains the same words in Chinese but may have different usage in different cultures. This phenomenon shows the variety in language and culture learning in both magazines. However, there is some confusion of the words used in the text and lack of clarification on some phrases. For example, the phrase “at home” is confusing in different context. Also, in informative text, the lack of examples while talking about the traditions in “some countries” can be found. Therefore, both magazines should pay attention to avoid using vague and confusing words and provide sufficient examples instead of using words like “in some countries” or “in some cultures”.
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