An Evaluation of Visuals in Iranian Domestically Developed English Textbooks: A Cultural Linguistics Perspective

Culture portrayal in ELT materials has developed as one of the popular realms of research in TEFL. To substantiate this, In the first phase, the present research employed Cultural Linguistics investigative framework to analyze Persian Cultural Conceptualisations (CCs) of visuals in EFL textbooks that are locally designed for Iranian high school students of grade 12. In the second stage, through semi-structured interviews with a group of 12 graders aged between 14 to 19, this study attempts to investigate whether CCs of visual artifacts enable students to engage critically with the materials to enhance their communication ability in a multicultural environment. As to the textbook analysis of the study, the results revealed that three themes of Persian cultural schemas of family gathering, hijab, and blood donation emerged from the EFL textbook for grade 12 in Iran. Also, the interview results showed that EFL textbooks in Iran fail to improve students' communication skills and does not fulfill Iranian students' communicative needs. The study concludes by offering practical pedagogical implications for material developers and textbook designers.