PERSPECTIVES ON THE INSERTION OF STUDENTS‘ LOCAL CULTURE IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEXTBOOKS IN THE ARAB WORLD

This paper discusses the perspectives of English language staff on the insertion of students‘ local culture in English language textbooks in the Arab World. The main challenge focused on was students‘ identity, so two main questions arose: 1) What are the teachers‘ perspectives on the relationship between culture and English Language Teaching (ELT) in the Arabic World? 2) What are the challenges of teaching English Language (EL) in the Arab world? In order to find an adequate answer to these bewildering questions, there was a need to review literature in the same field so that a firm theoretical background could be built. In addition, two main tools were used: 1) a questionnaire, and 2) unstructured interviews. The data collected highlighted the different perspectives with regard to this point; some results affirmed the importance of teaching English with its culture, while others confirmed the necessity of teaching English away from its culture. On the other hand, other results highlighted the importance of making a comparison and contrast between the target and the source culture. As for the challenges regarding involving culture in the process of ELT in the Arab world, the interviews conducted revealed that the need for preserving Islamic as well as Arab identity came as the main challenge in addition to other serious challenges such as the absence of any significant reference to the criteria, features or elements of Islamic and Arabic culture which might develop a serious fear of losing identity. The study recommended that a more balanced blend of cultures of all English-speaking countries, as well as the learner's Islamic and Arabic cultures, should be introduced in EFL textbooks. In doing so, care should be taken to avoid the implication that either of the two cultures is superior to the other.