Cultural Content in English for Tourism Textbook for English Major Students : a Case Study of Suratthani Rajabhat University, Southern Thailand

Abstract

 The study explores the cultural content of the English tourism textbook used by English major students at Suratthani Rajabhat University. The aim of this study is to investigate what cultures are represented and how cultures are represented in the textbook. The information was gathered from reading passages and images in each lesson in English for a tourism course, written by Thai authors. To reveal what cultures are presented in the textbook, cultural contents are categorized into categories and the themes of culture under Big “C” and little “c”. Findings indicate that the Big "C" culture is the highest source of culture in the target textbook, whereas the little "c" culture is portrayed at a much lower level. The culture categories are presented in the form of Thai culture (Tourism information in Thailand, Thai handicrafts, Tourist attractions in Thailand, Thai food, Thai way of life, Religious ceremony, Thai martial arts, and history of Thailand). International culture is presented in the form of Chinese and German cultures. The finding of cultural content in terms of cultural themes found the seven cultural themes, The most common themes were four themes under Big “C” such as“Economy”, “Geography”, “Architecture” and “History” and three themesunder little “c” cultures such as “Life Style”, “Food”, and “Holidays”. This research may offer some suggestions for the development ofEnglish-language textbooks that are culturally appropriate for languageeducators and learners at universities in Thailand.