Global–Local Dialectic in ELT

The increasing emphasis on the intercultural approach to learning English which calls for learners’ development of their own identity as well as their awareness and understanding of other cultures has raised interest among researchers in the cultural content of English language teaching (ELT) teaching tools, particularly textbooks. This chapter discusses the cultural content of textbooks prescribed for use in public schools in Malaysia, Singapore, and Vietnam, where English language educational goals and prescribed textbooks differ according to national aspirations. Informed by the Intercultural Communicative Competence (ICC) framework, the analysis of textbooks used in the three Southeast Asian contexts focuses on the intercultural dimensions and the richness of intercultural communicative content to unravel their interculturality in relation to each country's English language educational role.