1

Analysis of Arabic Cultural Aspects in Three Main Arabic Textbooks

A THESIS
Submitted to the Faculty of the School of Graduate Studies and Research of California
University of Pennsylvania in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of

Master of Arts in Social Sciences

by
Radhouane Boubaya

Research Advisor, Dr. Razak Abedalla-Surrey

California, Pennsylvania
2020


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Acknowledgments

I want to thank my supervisor Dr. Razak Abedalla-Surrey for his valuable guidance and the
members of my thesis committee, Dr. Arcides Gonzalez and Dr. Abdullah Alsaffar, for their
suggestions and recommendations.
My deepest and sincere gratitude goes to my wife for her invaluable support and patience
especially during the Coronavirus pandemic, to my son Ayoub and my daughter Samar.

4
Abstract
There is no doubt that culture represents a vital component in the foreign language curriculum.
Over the past decades, foreign language textbooks, as a key element in the teaching and learning
process, covered culture differently qualitatively and quantitatively and the Arabic textbooks are
no exception. This study aims to evaluate the presence of Arab culture in three main Arabic
textbooks widely used in western institutions. The researcher applied a content analysis
methodology to extract and examine the cultural aspects incorporated into these textbooks. The
findings show a strong emphasis on the geographical, religious, and literary aspects and less
focus on the societal and economic aspects and those related to the Arabs’ daily lifestyle and
leisure. The results could be used to decide which textbooks are more suitable for a specific
curriculum and to help improve future educational material’s content.
Keywords: Arab culture, Arabic textbooks, cultural content, foreign language

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Table of contents
Statement of the Problem

12

Purpose of the Research

13

Research Questions

13

Significance of the Study

13

Limitations and Delimitations

14

LITERATURE REVIEW

15

Importance of the Culture

15

Integrating Culture in the Foreign Language Curriculum

18

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

21

Research Design

21

Advantages of Content Analysis

22

Disadvantages of Content Analysis

22

Steps of Content Analysis

24

Data Analysis

25

Criteria Applied

26

Alif Baa

27

Al-Kitaab - Part One

29

Al-Kitaab - Part Two

31

Ahlan wa Sahlan – Part One

33

Ahlan wa Sahlan – Part Two

34

Arabiyyat-al-Naas – Part One

37

Arabiyyat-al-Naas – Part two

39

Arabiyyat-al-Naas – Part Three

41

RESEARCH FINDINGS

43

SUGGESTIONS & CONCLUSION

46

Suggestions

46

Conclusion

48

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List of Tables
Table 1: List of the textbooks subjects of this study

23

Table 2: Frequency of cultural elements in Alif Baa

27

Table 3: Frequency of cultural elements in Al-Kitaab - Part One

29

Table 4: Frequency of cultural elements in Al-Kitaab - Part Two

31

Table 5: Frequency of cultural elements in Ahlan wa Sahlan - Part One

33

Table 6: Frequency of cultural elements in Ahlan wa Sahlan - Part Two

35

Table 7: Frequency of cultural elements in Arabiyyat-al-Naas-Part One

37

Table 8: Frequency of cultural elements in Arabiyyat-al-Naas-Part Two

39

Table 9: Frequency of cultural elements in Arabiyyat-al-Naas-Part Three

41

Table 10: Frequency of cultural elements in all textbooks

43

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List of Figures
Figure 1: Part of each cultural element in Alif Baa

28

Figure 2: Part of each cultural element in Al-Kitaab - Part One

30

Figure 3: Part of each cultural element in Al-Kitaab - Part Two

32

Figure 4: Part of each cultural element in Ahlan wa Sahlan - Part One

34

Figure 5: Part of each cultural element in Ahlan wa Sahlan - Part Two

36

Figure 6: Part of each cultural element in Arabiyyat-al-Naas-Part One

38

Figure 7: Part of each cultural element in Arabiyyat-al-Naas-Part Two

40

Figure 8: Part of each cultural element in Arabiyyat-al-Naas-Part Three

42

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Every nation has its own culture that is distinguished from others, and that culture is
reflected in the language of its people. Language and culture are reciprocally connected and
both acquired socially. This undeniable interconnection is evident in the field of foreign
language teaching in general, and Arabic language education in particular. Teaching culture
without language does not benefit learners. Likewise, teaching language without its cultural
content is teaching meaningless symbols and formative templates.
Culture in the broad meaning consists of two main components: on one hand, it is the
anthropological or social culture, which includes customs, attitudes, and traditions, and on the
other hand, it is the history of civilization, which contains arts, scientific achievements, and
social sciences. The second component is based on the first element, as it presents the heritage
of the society, and therefore must be known to learners to understand the target culture.
Also, the combination of language and culture leads to the development of linguistic and
cultural skills among learners, makes them better responsive to native speakers and therefore
understand their ideas and behaviors. We can perceive the importance of this interrelationship
while noticing that foreign language learners not only broaden their horizons for the targeted
culture but also rediscover their own culture to the point that they look at it differently than
before. Consequently, learners become more respectful toward other cultures and more
appreciative of the feelings of others as they can grasp their cultural implications.
Brown (2007), Schultz (2007), and Tang (1999) have demonstrated that teaching a
language along with culture and without an intermediate language is very effective. Otherwise,
the teaching process becomes a waste of time and effort for both the educator and the learner
besides the language becoming useless and difficult to understand. Hence, culture has a great
impact on learners, as it causes to develop a positive attitude towards the language they are

9
learning especially if the teaching process is enjoyable and interesting as learners discover new
cultural patterns different from their own which leads to increasing their interests and
stimulating their motivation to learn about cultural habits and customs.
Acquiring knowledge and learning new skills to succeed professionally and personally
have been always the main goal of receiving an education. That is why the teachers’ role is vital
as they continually “engage the student and find what makes the student interested in the
subject” (Slapik, 2017, para. 9). Their role becomes more challenging while teaching foreign
languages which is one of the social science’s major subjects. Social science is the study of
human society and social relationships where students learn a range of sciences such as
anthropology, archaeology, economics, geography, history, and law. Teaching and learning
foreign languages have constantly been the subject of several studies and researches in the 20th
century and the first two decades of the 21st century.
While there are several reasons behind learning a new language, from being able to
speak to more people (Duffin, 2020), to boosting cross-cultural understanding (Boroditsky,
2010), to improving test scores in core subjects (the American Council on the Teaching of
Foreign Languages, n.d.), the process of learning a foreign language allows learners to discover
other civilizations and gives them a unique opportunity to exchange experiences and knowledge
with others; thus, cultural awareness empowers learners to build relationships with people from
various regions of the world, as well as to respect their values, races, and backgrounds.
Also, by being able to understand foreign cultures, learners can watch foreign movies,
listen to foreign music, discover foreign literature in the native speakers’ language, and uncover
the history of other countries. At a certain point, language learners reconsider their own culture

10
and understand it in a new way as they draw new perspectives while discovering the benefit of
being emancipated from monolingualism.
On the personal level, learning a foreign language will make traveling much easier as
mastering the local language enables learners to read local newspapers and easily order local
food, besides finding more loving and welcoming native speakers as a result of speaking their
language, showing interest and understanding of their history and culture (Gorsky, 2019).
On the professional level, several studies show that acquiring a new language will
benefit businesses (Jolin, 2014) by improving analytical skills, along with work skills, creativity
and problem solving, and promotes opportunities to participate in the business, medicine, law,
trade, technology, industry, and marketing.
Undeniably, learning a new language implies discovering a whole new culture: the true
meaning of a language is within the culture conveyed not its vocabulary, grammar or syntax.
Hence, learners are expected to not only use the language to communicate and interact with
native speakers but employ the language’s cultural trait and excel in various real-life
experiences. To this end, educators should assist language learners in acquiring every skill
needed to achieve language and cultural proficiency.
The World-Readiness Standards for Learning Languages identify culture as the “true
content of the foreign language course” and as one of the standards’ goal areas or also one of
the five Cs in learning a foreign language (Clementi & Terrill, 2017). While teaching a foreign
language, the cultural part is sometimes overlooked and even disregarded especially at the
beginner and intermediate level or when barriers exist such as beliefs and attitudes (Yang &
Chen, 2016). This could happen when teachers only rely on outdated and/or non-authentic

11
material which may omit crucial cultural elements that are part of the language being taught.
Furthermore, language learners often focus on the communicative facet of the language and
ignore the fact that a word or a sentence might have more than one meaning which varies
according to the context.
Textbooks, as the most widely used educational materials, still represent a valuable
resource that supports learners in developing their foreign language proficiency. They are an
essential tool used by educational institutions to ensure a successful teaching and learning
experience. In a typical foreign language classroom, most educators tend to focus on teaching
syntax, phonology and other communication skills to improve their learners’ reading, listening,
writing and speaking skills in the target language.
Occasionally, they are unaware that grasping those skills is insufficient for learners to be
capable of reflecting on several issues and concepts appropriately once they are in a culturally
different context. That is why it is crucial to incorporate cultural content as much as possible in
every single step of the foreign language course curriculum.
This study intends to investigate, assess and compare the cultural content in three main
Arabic textbooks used by English-speaking learners and determine the extent of cultural
elements incorporated into these textbooks to develop a conception of how culture is
represented in each textbook. The results should provide the readers with a clear picture of how
each textbook and series of textbooks integrated Arab culture and the type of cultures that is
most and least represented on each one.

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Statement of the Problem
Given the importance of the culture's role in enhancing language learning, and
notwithstanding the emergence of several technology tools, such as websites and applications,
as part of learning, textbooks are still considered a vital part of the teaching and learning
processes for both educators and learners.
Moreover, as indicated in the StarTalk endorsed principles for effective teaching and
learning, an idealistic learning curriculum incorporates culture, content, and language where
learners benefit from age-appropriate authentic materials and engage in “meaningful, real-world
learning experiences that prepare them to use the target language beyond the classroom"
(STARTALK Principles for Effective Teaching & Learning, 2020, para 1).
Despite classifying Arabic by the U.S. Foreign Service Institute (2019) as a "super-hard
language" along with Chinese Cantonese, Chinese–Mandarin, Japanese and Korean (Foreign
Language Training, n.d.), educators and learners have been encouraged to not focus only on the
communicative part of the language, but also take the Arab culture and civilization in
consideration and incorporate it as much as they can in the course curriculum.
Culture represents the pillar of the language itself. Thus, language educators should
make every effort to include all cultural aspects in every step of their curriculum. Despite the
rise of technology, textbooks are still indispensable for foreign language learners since they
include a wealth of reliable resources and references that help them achieve higher proficiency.
Through these same textbooks, educators try to convey the appropriate cultural content to their
learners hoping to supply them with the necessary tools that enable them to become culturally
aware and ready to interact in cross-cultural situations.

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Purpose of the Research
The purpose of this study is to analyze selected Arabic textbooks, extract their Arabic
cultural content and make comparisons and inferences about the amount and type of cultural
elements that have been incorporated in each one of them.
Research Questions
The following are the questions this study attempted to answer:
•

Does every textbook reflect a variety of Arabic cultural aspects?

•

Does the cultural content differ from a textbook to another? If so, to what extent?

•

Is there enough cultural content on each textbook for Arabic learners to reach a
minimum of cultural competence? In other words, how well these textbooks
prepare Arabic learners to achieve cultural proficiency?

Significance of the Study
This study is an effort to help Arabic language educators, as well as educational
institutions, make an informed decision about the most suitable academic materials for Arabic
learners regarding the Arabic cultural content richness and diversity. The study’s findings are
meant to create some sort of reference for Arabic language teachers along for learners from
different levels and backgrounds who are discovering the Arab culture and intending to become
more familiar with the native speakers’ customs and traditions in their journey of learning
Arabic. Therefore, learners should be able to select the textbooks that match their proficiency
level while, at the same time, they consider their motivation and aspirations behind learning a
foreign language such as Arabic.

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The results of the study could be relevant to potential researchers as these results may
become useful to improve future curriculum and supplement the teaching process with
additional materials. This research was conducted mainly to:
•

Investigate, analyze and compare the cultural content incorporated in various
Arabic textbooks used in western universities.

•

Assess and interpret the cultural information being taught on these textbooks.

Limitations and Delimitations
While the researcher made every effort to include all relevant data into the study, it
worth mentioning the following points:
•

The textbooks included textual and visual contents about various Arabic cultural
aspects in a contextual setting in English and Arabic: the researcher extracted
only unambiguous data related to different cultural categories in both Standard
Modern Arabic and local dialect.

•

Cultural content in the source language: the researcher took into consideration
the cultural data presented in Arabic only. There are instances where the
textbooks explained Arab culture in English; these instances were not included.

•

Cultural elements related to the communicative part of the language such as the
Arabic Alphabet were not counted as a cultural element in this research as it is
presented to be learned mainly as a linguistic tool.

•

Analyzed cultural content: for the simplicity and brevity of the study, the
researcher intentionally omitted the online content as it is more frequently
updated compared to the physical textbooks.

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Literature Review
Importance of the Culture
The relation between language and culture has been always the subject of several
studies. Researches findings demonstrated that mastering a language does not only imply
grasping its vocabulary and grammar, it also entails assimilating all aspects related to that
language most importantly the cultural aspect. “To speak a language is to take on a world, a
culture.” (Fanon, 1967, p.25).
Arabic, as one of the fastest-growing languages in the U.S. with an increase of 42
percent from 2010 to 2017 (Zeigler & Camarota, 2018), is considered a language with a
significant cultural richness. Merriam-Webster (n.d.) defines culture as “the customary beliefs,
social forms, and material traits of a racial, religious, or social group." It also describes it as the
"characteristic features of everyday existence (such as diversions, or a way of life) shared by
people in a place or time.'' Since the language is not seen as a way of communication solely,
culture became a vital component of language learning.
In effect, culture is one of the five goal areas outlined in the world-readiness standards
for learning languages published by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign
Languages (ACTFL). Byram and Esarte-Sarries (1991) emphasized the significance of
incorporating culture as a part of the language learning curriculum. What corroborates the
relation between learning a language and acquiring the secrets of its culture is that learners find

16
themselves facing a new world, different from their own and wonder about their ability to apply
this new language in real life. That is when they decide to either accept it and continue their
journey in acquiring more vocabulary and knowledge or reject it and refuse to dig more into its
culture and literature.
This is so true in the case of the Arabic language since learners assess their ability to
master Arabic while confronting native speakers in the real-life setting and using their speaking,
writing and reading skills, and most importantly, their cultural awareness and discovering the
differences between their own culture and the one being studied. Failure to identify those
differences might put them in an ironic position or become a subject of misinterpretation and
disagreement.
While learners may have diverse reasons behind learning a foreign language, there are
three main goals they are seeking to accomplish which are:
•

Language proficiency: Robinson (2013) define language proficiency as “a measurement
of how well an individual has mastered a language. It is often measured in terms of
receptive and expressive language skills, syntax, vocabulary, semantics and other areas
that demonstrate language abilities”

•

Communicative competence: learners can use the language accurately, appropriately and
flexibly. According to Hymes (1972), it refers to the use of language in situationally and
socially appropriate ways. Canale and Swain (1980) defined communicative competence
as the learner's ability to use the language to engage in an exchange of information or
ideas effectively in four areas: words and rules, appropriacy, cohesion and coherence,
and use of communication strategies.

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•

Intercultural Communication: defined by ACTFL and the National Council of State
Supervisors for Languages (NCSSFL) as “a complex activity that combines crosscultural knowledge and language skills. It involves initiating, understanding and
responding to what is communicated, using culturally appropriate language and behavior
in a given context”.
Without culture, learners cannot assimilate the meanings behind the words being said or

written in the foreign language and without language, they cannot uncover its cultural attributes.
The main question that all educators and scholars involved in teaching culture in the Arabic
language classroom may ask is: which culture should we convey and emphasize to our learners
and which one is considered most useful and pertinent to their background and expectations?
While teaching Arabic to non-Arabic speakers, educators should consider four major
cultural categories to incorporate in their curriculum:
•

Local culture: the one that distinguishes each Arab country or region within a country
from another. It could be related to the specific local customs and rituals such as
greetings and weddings, or a particular place or event such as a monument or a national
holiday.

•

Islamic culture: religious aspects originated from Islam that refers to cultural practices
common to Muslims.

•

Arabic culture: all the cultural characteristics found originally in the Arab world and
shared across all Arab countries.

•

Universal culture: culture shared everywhere all over the world regardless of local
customs and traditions such as respect and kindness.

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Integrating Culture in the Foreign Language Curriculum
The intertwined relationship between culture and language is undeniable. Culture is,
without a doubt, a crucial element in teaching a foreign language. Recent studies and research
findings confirm that learners are incapable to achieve a high level of successful language
communication proficiency without comprehending its cultural context. The latest
methodologies in teaching foreign language suggest that lessons, discussions, stories, and
writings cannot be separated from their diverse cultural backgrounds.
For a language learner, being proficient in speaking, listening, reading and writing used
to be the exclusive goal of teaching a foreign language; not anymore! Today, this can be done
using a wealth of tools, besides the “classic” textbooks, such as mobile applications, specialized
websites, and online instructional videos. The challenge of the 21st century, within a global
economy, is to be culturally aware of the differences, beliefs, views, and prejudices while
pursuing and take part in meaningful interactions with people and organizations of diverse
backgrounds around the globe.
This idea emphasized the integration of culture in the textbooks as a pillar of language
teaching. As Bateman and Mattos (2006) mentioned, a wave of efforts to incorporate cultural
elements into some textbooks started between the 1930s and the 1960s by “incorporating
photographs and narratives about aspects of daily life in the target cultures” in Spanish and
Portuguese. Since then, textbooks targeting language learners became more and more inclusive
of authentic materials portraying pictures of native speakers, real conversations and stories
originated from the target culture.
The interest in the cultural characteristic incorporated in the teaching textbooks targeting
foreign language learners keeps growing in recent years and language proficiency became

19
contingent on cultural proficiency. Brooks (1968) recommended that since teaching culture is
essential in the language curriculum, culture should be interpreted at two different levels:
“scientific and humanistic” suggesting considering a framework for each level.
In 1975, Brooks highlighted the need for centering foreign language teaching on
learners’ desires and making foreign culture more acceptable and reassuring to the language
learner. This era followed the rise of the audiolingual method in teaching foreign languages,
which emphasizes learning to listen and speak before reading and writing. It is when the
memorization of short sentences through repetition was introduced to help learners acquire
some of the cultural aspects of the target language.
At the beginning of the 21st century, we witnessed a significant increase in the studies
and researches attempting to further investigate the importance of incorporating more cultural
elements in the foreign language curriculum and trying to uncover the best practices to achieve
communicative and cultural proficiency. In their analysis of the cultural content in English as a
foreign language (EFL) textbooks in Colombia, Rodriguez and Fernando (2015) discovered that
these textbooks contain mainly information representing the surface culture and almost
completely ignore deep culture.
Cutshall (2012) stressed that the most valuable content taught in the foreign language
classroom is the culture communicated through that language, not its vocabulary nor grammar.
Cutshall described culture as a framework in the form of a triangle comprised of three
components: perspectives, products, and practices, or the “3Ps”. The perspectives represent the
meanings, attitudes, values, and ideas. The products include the tangible and intangible parts of
the culture such as books, food, and dress. The practices are the patterns of social interactions or
behaviors such as rites of passage and use of space.

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In her thesis submitted to the faculty of Brigham Young University, Asay (2016)
investigated the integration of culture in the secondary foreign language classroom by surveying
foreign language teachers. Many of them stated that culture is “very important, the main reason
why kids take a language” course. While studying the cultural aspects of two Turkish EFL
books in Turkey, Arslan (2016) discovered a disequilibrium between local culture and “target
and intercultural” elements. This may show a lack of interconnection between cultures and
discourage learners to compare and investigate the target culture and their own.

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Research Methodology
This chapter details the techniques and steps taken by the researcher to conduct the
actual study. A research methodology represents the steps that the researcher follows
sequentially so that the study is completed systematically with a logical and documented
process. It uses special techniques that organize and facilitate data saving and classification.
Research Design
This study is a descriptive content analysis where quantitative data are collected via
checklists and item frequency analysis. The data consists of words and pictures extracted from
the undermentioned textbooks. Content analysis is a research tool used to discover certain
vocabulary or concepts in some given qualitative data. Walliman (2011) described it as
A quantitative form of analysis that consists of an examination of what can be counted in
text of any form (articles, advertisements, news items, etc.) or other media such as
pictures, television or radio programmes or films, and live situations such as interviews,
plays, concerts. (p.86)
Content analysis can also be identified as “the systematic, objective, quantitative
analysis of message characteristics" (Neuendorf, 2002, p. 1). This research is an examination
investigating the cultural content in Arabic textbooks targeting English speakers and widely
used in western universities. It is a method of making inferences derived from analyzing text
and other forms of qualitative data.

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Advantages of Content Analysis
The benefits of content analysis include:
•

The reliance on textual communication which contributes to understanding the real
meaning behind social interaction.

•

Providing information of historical value that can be consulted anytime.

•

Allows the construction of statistical analyzes in the form of symbols distributed
between relationships and specific groups.

•

The ability to use content analysis to interpret complicated textual elements by
considering unambiguous characteristics of the text.

•

Content analysis is an unobtrusive interactive medium.

Disadvantages of Content Analysis
The following are characteristics that negatively affect content analysis:
•

The need for a very long time to implement the content analysis.

•

Excess errors occur when trying to achieve a better level of interpretation.

•

The absence of a theoretical base that contributes to reaching meaningful conclusions
related to the effects and the special relationships in the study.

•

Ignore the specific context in the text, specifically after it is produced.

•

It might be difficult to add content analysis to a computer system.
The researcher implemented a content analysis approach by applying a combination of

qualitative and quantitative techniques to extract and analyze data incorporated into the
textbooks listed in the table below.

23
Table 1
List of the textbooks subjects of this study
Title
Alif Baa: Introduction to
Arabic Letters and
Sounds
Al-Kitaab: A Textbook
for Beginning Arabic:
Part One

Edition

Author(s)

Publisher

9781589016323

Third

Kristen Brustad,
Mahmoud Al-Batal,
Abbas Al-Tonsi

Georgetown
University
Press

Al-Kitaab: A Textbook
for Intermediate Arabic:
Part Two
Ahlan wa Sahlan:
Functional Modern
Standard Arabic for
Beginners
Ahlan wa Sahlan:
Functional Modern
Standard Arabic for
Intermediate Learners

9781589017368

9781589019621

9780300219890
Second

Mahdi Alosh,
Yale University
revised by Allen Clark
Press
9780300178777

Arabiyyat al-Naas (Part
One) An Introductory
Course in Arabic
Arabiyyat al-Naas (Part
Two) An Intermediate
Course in Arabic
Arabiyyat al-Naas (Part
Three) An Advanced
Course in Arabic

ISBN

Munther Younes,
Makda Weatherspoon,
Maha Saliba Foster
First

Munther Younes,
Hanada Al-Masri
Munther Younes,
Yomna Chami

9780203744574

Routledge

9780203124734

9780203124710

To fulfill the purpose of this study, the researcher chose the beforementioned textbooks
as they are the most used Arabic textbooks in the post-secondary educational institutions in
western universities. It is noteworthy that, although all textbooks have online content associated
with each of them called a "companion website," for this study, the researcher analyzed solely
texts and images included in the hard copy of each textbook.

24
Steps of Content Analysis
In the beginning, the researcher read through the transcript of each of the analyzed
textbooks, made brief notes in the margin when interesting or relevant information was found.
The information could take the form of text or picture. Then, the researcher went through the
notes written in the margins and created lists and categories by sorting different types of
relevant information extracted.
The researcher applied the following steps, outlined by Avineri (2017), to complete the
content analysis’s process:
•

Read through the list and categorized each item in a way that offers a description of
what it is about.

•

Identified whether the categories can be linked any way and listed them as major
categories and/or minor categories.

•

Compared and contrasted the various major and minor categories.

•

Collected all of the categories and examined each in detail and considered whether if it
fits and assess its relevance.

•

Reviewed all information to ensure that it is categorized as it should be based on criteria
previously determined.

•

Reviewed all the categories and determined whether some categories can be merged or if
some need to be sub-categorized.

•

Returned to the original transcripts and ensured that all the information that needs to be
categorized has been so.

25
Data Analysis
The data in selected textbooks were analyzed according to specific criteria and classified
into nine categories as follow:
Economy & Organizations: all economic components and any mention to a local,
regional or national organization in the Arab world. An example could be a name of a currency,
a picture of a bank, storefront selling spices or a Souk located in an Arabic city, or the word
“‫”مطعم باب الحارة‬, or “‫ ”ليرة‬or “‫”دينار‬.
Religion & Rituals: any religious or sacred concept, object, place of worship,
ceremonies, holidays or celebration that is part of the Arab people’s believes and customs such
as “‫”عيد االضحى‬, “‫”رمضان‬, “‫”المسيح‬, “‫”أقباط‬, “‫”صالة الجمعة‬, “‫”الدروز‬, etc., and for instance, a picture of
worshipers at a mosque.
Garments: items related to the traditional men’s, women’s and kids’ dresses specific to
the local culture such as “‫”كوفية‬, “‫”عباية‬, “‫ ”عقال‬and pictures depicting an Arab person wearing a
traditional dress such us “‫ ”دشداشة‬or “‫”قفطان‬.
Locations & Landmarks: places, monuments, lakes, seas and mountains located in the
Arab world such as a picture of the Pyramids of Giza, a name of an Arab country such as
“‫”فلسطين‬, “‫”العراق‬, “‫”سوريا‬, “‫”تونس‬, and “‫”موريتانيا‬, and a name of an Arab city like “‫”بيروت‬,
“‫ ”االسكندرية‬and “‫”حلب‬.
Social Relations: examples are commonly used words or sentences used in social
interaction such as “‫”ان شاء هللا‬, a picture illustrating two Arab people shaking hands and a notion
like “‫ ”بنت الحالل‬and “‫”ابن الحالل‬, and any word or item related to the social behavior in general.

26
Food & Beverages: elements related to food recipes, eating habits and utensils, and
anything portraying the Arab cuisine in general such as “‫”قهوة عربي‬, “‫”شاي عربي‬, “‫”تبولة‬, “‫”كسكسي‬,
“‫”فالفل‬, “‫”كنافة‬, “‫”طاجين‬, “‫”حمص‬, or “‫”هريسة‬.
Literature & Media: Arabic literary works and personages and Arab media such as
books, educational institutions, radio stations, television channels, poets, scientists, etc. Some
examples are: “‫”جامعة دمشق‬, “‫”قناة الجزيرة‬, “‫ ”محمود درويش‬and “‫”كتاب االجنحة المتكسرة‬.
Politics & History: all political and historical personages, major events and places, flags,
and governments such as “‫”صالح الدين االيوبي‬, “‫”الثورة المصريّة‬, “‫”الدولة العثمانيّة‬, “‫”الشَركَس‬.
Art & Sports: cultural elements related to music, film, sculpture, paintings, sporting
events, and famous sports players. Some examples are “‫”فيروز‬, “‫”الدبكة‬, “‫ ”ملعب القاهرة‬and a picture
of “Hicham El Guerrouj” or “Nizar Qabbani”.
Criteria Applied
The data was collected and analyzed over several months in the years 2019 and 2020.
The researcher created eight Excel files with nine column table in each of them. Every column
represents a cultural category. The researcher then read every textbook subject of this study,
extracted the words and pictures that depict a cultural aspect of the Arab culture and recorded it
in the corresponding Excel file. If a word or a picture seems to describe more than one cultural
aspect, the researcher logged it in each cultural category that may represent. For instance, the
word “Hijab” or “‫ ”حجاب‬would be categorized under “religions and rituals” as it is a religious
symbol, and also under the “garments” category as it is a veil used for modesty and privacy.
Also, a historical site or monument, either in textual or visual form, is counted twice: one under
“politics and history”, and the other one under “locations and landmarks” category.

27
Alif Baa
Despite being a textbook intended to help in teaching the Arabic alphabet and basic
vocabulary and grammar concepts, Alif Baa’s authors were keen to include all forms of culture
in all units of the textbook; the culture was mentioned in every single unit beside the vocabulary
and the grammar content.
Table 2 demonstrates that the Alif Baa textbook’s authors allocated almost 69% of the
Arabic cultural content to the following three cultural elements: the social aspect (25%), the
religious aspect (22.9%) and the geographical aspect (20.8%). Arabic culture was represented
largely in textual content and the textbook included about ten authentic pictures presenting a
few cultural elements.
Table 2
Frequency of cultural elements in Alif Baa
Cultural element

Terms

Pictures

Total

Economy & Organizations

2

3

5

Religion & Rituals

21

1

22

Garments

2

0

2

Locations & Landmarks

20

0

20

Social Relations

24

0

24

Food & Drinks

8

2

10

Literature & Media

6

4

10

Politics & History

3

0

3

Art & Sports

0

0

0

Total

86

10

96

28
Alif Baa comprises several pictures throughout its ten units, most of them are not
authentic in form of drawings. Even the authentic ones do not depict Arab culture properly as
they include non-Arabic origin words transliterated from English. For instance, on page 175,
there are two pictures showing signs of two stores that have English names but written in the
Arabic alphabet: “The caravan” (restaurant) and “The One, total home express”. Another
example on page 114 is a picture of a can of iced coffee with “City Café Ice - Vanilla” all
written in Arabic letters on it.
The researcher thinks that the “Alif Baa” authors missed the opportunity to present the
original Arab culture without reference to the western’s. Indeed, most authentic pictures in the
textbook represent western cultures such as Arby’s and Friday’s restaurants on pages 85 and 88
respectively and Toys R Us store on page 106, just to name a few.
Figure 1
Part of each cultural element in Alif Baa

Economy &
Politics & History Art & Sports Organizations
0%
3%
5%
Literature & Media
10%
Food & Beverage
11%

Religion & Rituals
23%

Garments
2%
Social Relations
25%

Locations &
Landmarks
21%

29
While the “Arts and Sports” aspect was completely absent, cultural content related to the
“Garments” category and the “Politics and History” category appeared only in two and three
terms respectively. Most of the pictures incorporated in the “Alif Baa” textbook represented the
economic aspect in three pictures and the literature and media in four.
Al-Kitaab - Part One
Despite being a textbook that focuses primarily on grammar and vocabulary, there is no
doubt that the first part of Al-Kitaab incorporated more variety of cultural elements compared to
Alif Baa. More than 30% of the first part of “Al-Kitaab” represented and described locations
and landmarks in the Arab world. A little more than one-quarter of the cultural content (26.5%)
was depicting the religious and rituals’ aspect.
Table 3
Frequency of cultural elements in Al-Kitaab - Part One
Cultural element

Terms

Pictures

Total

Economy & Organizations

3

0

3

Religion & Rituals

49

7

56

Garments

0

5

5

Locations & Landmarks

65

0

65

Social Relations

12

2

14

Food & Beverage

15

6

21

Literature & Media

23

4

27

Politics & History

11

0

11

Art & Sports

7

2

9

185

26

211

Total

30
Most pictures incorporated in the textbook represented traditional dress, religious traits,
and fictional arts. It should be noted that the researcher did not find any clear textual reference
to the Arab dress. On the other hand, there are a handful of pictures representing Arabic food
such as hummus on page 83 and the Arabic coffee on page 251.
Figure 2
Part of each cultural element in Al-Kitaab - Part One

Art & Sports Economy &
Organizations
Politics & History 4%
1%
5%
Religion & Rituals
27%

Literature & Media
13%

Food & Beverage
10%

Garments
2%

Social Relations
7%
Locations &
Landmarks
31%

Almost one-third of the cultural elements in the first part of Al-Kitaab are textual and
visual content embodying locations, monuments, and landmarks such as countries, cities, areas,
and streets; almost all Arab countries are named besides prominent cities such as Damascus,
Baghdad, Amman, Beirut, and Jerusalem, in addition to popular places as Al-Mansur street and
Souq Al-Hamidiyah.
A considerable portion (27%) of the cultural content was illustrating the religious
element. This can be seen as the authors cited major religious concepts such as Halal, Haram,

31
Islamic prayers and the Quran. In this textbook, the authors did not overlook other cultural
components such as the social, political and historical which are present with much less
frequency than the religious and the geographical elements.
Al-Kitaab - Part Two
This part of “Al-Kitaab” did not significantly differ from the first one; about half of the
cultural content was allocated to the geographical (24%) and religious (23%) aspects.
Table 4
Frequency of cultural elements in Al-Kitaab - Part Two
Cultural element

Terms

Pictures

Total

Economy & Organizations

7

0

7

Religion & Rituals

75

1

75

Garments

8

1

8

Locations & Landmarks

81

0

81

Social Relations

38

0

38

Food & Beverage

46

0

46

Literature & Media

21

0

21

Politics & History

52

0

52

Art & Sports

3

0

3

331

0

331

Total

It is noteworthy that, despite having more than 500 pages, this textbook significantly
lacked authentic pictures as it included few only (not counting the book cover which is not the
subject of this study). Almost all pictures are drawings or sketches most of them are black and
white.

32

Figure 3
Part of each cultural element in Al-Kitaab - Part Two

Politics & History
16%

Art & Sports
1%

Economy &
Organizations
2%

Religion & Rituals
23%

Literature & Media
6%
Garments
3%
Food & Beverage
14%

Social Relations
11%

Locations &
Landmarks
24%

The second part of Al-Kitaab was culturally diversified with more balanced content
between the Locations and Landmarks element and the Religion and Rituals element. The
cultural content related to the food, politics and social life gained a larger part compared to the
first part of the textbook. However, the Arts and Sports aspect represented the least incorporated
cultural content besides the garments’.
With the lion’s share given to the locations and landmarks’ element, the textbook
authors emphasized the mention of popular markets especially in the Levant and particularly in
Syria such as Al-Hamidiyah Souq (already mentioned in part one of Al-Kitaab) and the Souk of
Al Manakhliya to name few.

33
Ahlan wa Sahlan – Part One
As a textbook targeting beginners, this part of Ahlan wa Sahlan incorporated a load of
various cultural contents: except for the cultural aspects depicting the garments and the
economic life, the textbook’s authors included a variety of cultural aspects ranging from
geography and literature to social relations and politics. Arts and sports were well represented
compared to Al-Kitaab and Alif Baa.
Table 5
Frequency of cultural elements in Ahlan wa Sahlan - Part One
Cultural element

Terms

Pictures

Total

Economy & Organizations

3

3

6

Religion & Rituals

37

2

39

Garments

3

3

6

Locations & Landmarks

86

2

88

Social Relations

29

1

30

Food & Beverage

31

5

36

Literature & Media

36

5

41

Politics & History

9

7

16

Art & Sports

22

11

33

Total

256

39

295

Unlike “Al-Kitaab”, the first part of “Ahlan wa Sahlan” emphasized more cultural
elements such as the geography, religion, and literature. It also incorporated far more authentic
pictures than both parts of Al-Kitaab and Alif Baa. The author made sure to include culture in
each of the 24 lessons of the textbook by combining textual and visual elements along with the
grammar and the vocabulary content.

34
Figure 4
Part of each cultural element in Ahlan wa Sahlan - Part One

Art & Sports
11%

Economy &
Organizations
2%

Politics & History
6%

Religion & Rituals
13%
Garments
2%

Literature & Media
14%

Locations &
Landmarks
30%

Food & Beverage
12%
Social Relations
10%

It is clear that in the locations and landmarks cultural aspect, the author enumerated
several places, countries, and cities mainly in Syria and the Levant. Some examples include
Aleppo, Latakia, Tartus , and Beirut. Also, the textbook included several mentions of prominent
scientific and educational references such as the University of Damascus, the Egyptian
Museum, Ibn Khaldun, and Al-Farabi.
Ahlan wa Sahlan – Part Two
The second part of Ahlan wa Sahlan is designed for intermediate level learners. It
included more diversified content in terms of cultural elements. Except for the aspect related to
garments, this textbook included a wealth of balanced cultural content ranging from social and
political aspects to artistic and religious subjects. In this textbook only, the literature and media
element equals the one related to the locations and landmarks with 22% for each.

35
Table 6
Frequency of cultural elements in Ahlan wa Sahlan - Part Two
Cultural element

Terms

Pictures

Total

Economy & Organizations

8

28

36

Religion & Rituals

31

15

46

Garments

0

2

2

Locations & Landmarks

73

7

80

Social Relations

13

7

20

Food & Beverage

9

9

18

Literature & Media

60

20

80

Politics & History

40

5

45

Art & Sports

15

18

33

Total

249

111

360

Also, this textbook incorporated far more authentic pictures illustrating the Arab culture
compared to other textbooks. As part of the religious aspect, the author included pictures of
mosques, such as the Granada mosque, and churches, such as the Jerusalem church. Pictures
depicting the economic local life and Islamic architecture are the most incorporated in this
textbook such as monuments in Amman, Jordan, a scripture and a currency.
As social habits in the Arab people's daily life and the cultural heritage of the Arabs, this
textbook mentioned several elements such as Al-Hakawati and some popular proverbs. In terms
of food and beverage, the textbook cited the local dates, Sudanese pistachio, and Kebabs. In the
artistic aspect, the author listed many musical instruments such as the Oud, the Ney, the Def,
and the goblet drum.

36
Figure 5
Part of each cultural element in Ahlan wa Sahlan - Part Two

Art & Sports
9%

Economy &
Organizations
10%

Politics & History
12%

Religion & Rituals
13%
Garments
1%

Literature & Media
22%

Locations &
Landmarks
22%
Food & Beverage
5%

Social Relations
6%

As Chart 5 shows, the vast majority of the analyzed cultural elements are incorporated
within this textbook which is loaded with various textual and visual references to the Arab
culture. It is worth mentioning that this part of Ahlan wa Sahlan has the most of pictures
representing the different cultural aspects of the Arab culture compared to the rest of the
analyzed textbooks.
Moreover, there is a great number of references to Arabic literature in forms of famous
Arab writers and scholars such as Ibn Rushd (Averroes), Al-Farabi, Ibn Sina (Avicenna) and
Mahmoud Darwish. Also, the author mentioned several popular literary works like Kalila and
Demna and Alf Layla Wa Layla (The Thousand and One Nights). In addition to the Arabic
literature, the textbook included many references to places, landmarks, and monuments with the
focus on Syria and the Levant mainly.

37
Arabiyyat-al-Naas – Part One
Half of the cultural content included in the first part of “Arabiyyat Al-Naas” was about
locations and landmarks where the author cited different names of Arabic countries, cities,
monuments, rivers, mountains, etc. This textbook is, by far, the one that mentioned the most
locations (mainly countries and cities) with the majority located in Syria, Lebanon, Palestine,
Jordan, and Egypt such as Aleppo, Sidon, Nablus, Jerash, and Aswan.
Table 7
Frequency of cultural elements in Arabiyyat-al-Naas-Part One
Cultural element

Terms

Pictures

Total

Economy & Organizations

4

6

10

Religion & Rituals

24

4

28

Garments

2

2

4

Locations & Landmarks

114

5

119

Social Relations

18

1

19

Food & Beverage

23

0

23

Literature & Media

13

1

14

Politics & History

17

0

17

Art & Sports

5

0

5

220

19

239

Total

The rest of the cultural content was shared unequally among other categories with a
dominant part for the religious and social aspects; for instance, the author included pictures of
people praying and veiled women to emphasize the Islamic part of the Arab culture. The author
also incorporated several words representing the proper social etiquette such as expressing
appreciation or praise like “‫ ”ما شاء هلل‬and showing respect like “‫”حضرتك‬.

38
As the table above shows, among all analyzed textbooks, part one of “Arabiyyat Al
Naas” comprised the most number of references to locations and places with more than a
hundred mentions to popular cities, countries (all the Arab countries), and landmarks from all
over the Arab world besides famous rivers and seas such as the Mediterranean Sea and the Nile.
within the textbook’s 21 units, the textbook included several references to some of the popular
monuments and museums in the Arab world like Amman's Roman Theater and the Soap
museum in Sidon (or Sayda) in Lebanon.
Figure 6
Part of each cultural element in Arabiyyat-al-Naas-Part One

Politics & History Art & Sports
2%
7%
Literature & Media
6%
Food & Beverage
9%

Economy &
Organizations
4%
Religion & Rituals
12%
Garments
2%

Social Relations
8%

Locations &
Landmarks
50%

The religious aspect is the second most represented with 12% of the cultural content
where the author referred to numerous concepts, symbols, events, and personages that belong to
the three major religions: Islam, Christianity, and Judaism such as words like Torah, Ramadan,
and Church. Garments were the least mentioned in this textbook with only 2% with only very

39
few pictures depicting the local traditional dress (like the one on unit 10) and the mention of the
Keffiyeh or kufiya and Hattah.
In the literature and the scientific aspect, the textbook mentioned several famous
universities in the Arab world such as the University of Al-Azhar, the American Universities in
Cairo and Beirut, Al-Zaytoonah University, and the University of al-Qarawiyyin. The textbook
also included many references to Arabic cuisine such as Falafel, Kanafeh, Harissa, and
Tabbouleh without including enough pictures representing this cultural element.
Arabiyyat-al-Naas – Part two
This textbook comes in second place after the third part in terms of how much cultural
content included. It has more than a hundred references to places, cities, areas, and countries
(more than 28%) such as the Fertile Crescent and the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt.
Table 8
Frequency of cultural elements in Arabiyyat-al-Naas-Part Two
Cultural element

Terms

Pictures

Total

Economy & Organizations

4

2

6

Religion & Rituals

52

3

55

Garments

4

3

7

Locations & Landmarks

97

4

101

Social Relations

14

1

15

Food & Beverage

6

2

8

Literature & Media

57

2

59

Politics & History

55

1

56

Art & Sports

47

3

50

Total

336

21

357

40
The literature and media content counted 17% of the total cultural content and comes in
second place. It included prominent writers and poets such as Naguib Mahfouz and Abbas
Mahmoud al-Aqqad, educational institutions such as the House of Wisdom and the University
of Marrakech, and popular media such as newspapers and magazines like Al-Ahram, AlKarmel, and Al Ghad.
Figure 7
Part of each cultural element in Arabiyyat-al-Naas-Part Two

Art & Sports
14%

Economy &
Organizations
2%

Religion & Rituals
15%
Garments
2%

Politics & History
16%

Locations &
Landmarks
28%

Literature & Media
17%
Food & Beverage
2%

Social Relations
4%

The religious and rituals element, which represented 15% of the cultural content
included various references to religious names and concepts from different religions and faiths
such as the words Christians, Jews, Sunni, Shia, Druze, Maronites, and Muslims.
As part of the economic aspect, the textbook mentioned a few related elements such as
the Dinar, Cairo International airport, in addition to pictures illustrating a Royal Jordanian
aircraft and the local Egyptian currency. Along with part three, this textbook was loaded with a

41
great number of popular artists and artistic works such as Fairuz, Umm Kulthum, and Nazem alGhazali in addition to some of the most famous Arab athletes like Hicham El Guerrouj,
Noureddine Morceli, and Said Aouita.
In terms of politics and history, the textbook mentioned many political and historical
events such as the Arab Spring, the Battle of Hattin, and the Oslo Accords, and personalities
like Saladin, Al-Mamun, and Saddam Hussein.
Arabiyyat-al-Naas – Part Three
As the table below shows, this textbook is the most loaded in cultural content compared
to all others. The author incorporated different aspects of Arab culture more than 360 times in
its 18 units.
Table 9
Frequency of cultural elements in Arabiyyat-al-Naas-Part Three
Cultural element

Terms

Pictures

Total

Economy & Organizations

8

2

10

Religion & Rituals

29

2

31

Garments

12

2

14

Locations & Landmarks

79

1

80

Social Relations

2

0

2

Food & Beverage

3

0

3

Literature & Media

91

1

92

Politics & History

76

4

80

Art & Sports

61

1

62

Total

361

13

374

42
In part three of Arabiyyat Al-Nas, literature and media content dominated by 25%
followed by politics and history by 21% and locations/landmarks by 21%. It is worth noting that
Art and sports content was significantly represented by 17%.
The researcher counted more than 90 terms related to the literature and media aspect,
more than any other studied textbook. The author mentioned several elements linked to this
aspect such as poets like Al-Farazdaq, Al-Mutanabbi, Al-Ma'arri, Antarah ibn Shaddad, Imru'
al-Qais, Abu-l-'Atahiya, Aboul-Qacem Echebbi, Nazik Al-Malaika, Badr Shakir al-Sayyab, and
Nizar Qabbani.
Figure 8
Part of each cultural element in Arabiyyat-al-Naas-Part Three

Art & Sports
17%

Economy &
Organizations Religion & Rituals
3%
8%
Garments
4%

Locations &
Landmarks
21%

Politics & History
21%

Social Relations
0%
Food & Beverage
1%
Literature & Media
25%

Also, there are more than 60 terms related to arts and sports such as the mention of
national or regional sports clubs in several countries and a few popular sports competitions
besides the reference to Shakira and Salma Hayek’s Arab roots.

43

Research Findings
Was there a dominant cultural aspect in each textbook? To what extent the analyzed
textbooks included a variety of Arabic cultural content? In what form was the Arab culture
incorporated within each textbook’s unit and chapter?
Table 10
Frequency of cultural elements in all textbooks
Cultural aspect

Terms

Pictures

Total

Economy & Organizations

39

44

83

Religion & Rituals

318

34

352

Garments

31

17

48

Locations & Landmarks

615

19

634

Social Relations

150

12

162

Food & Beverage

141

24

165

Literature & Media

307

37

344

Politics & History

263

17

280

Art & Sports

160

35

195

Total

2024

239

2263

Based on the criteria and rules presented in the previous chapter, the findings of this
study revealed that the cultural content in each textbook was not equal in terms of quality and
quantity. The Arab culture was represented differently in each textbook with various levels of
cultural richness. As the following table shows, some cultural elements are much more
represented and included than the others.

44
Garments: analyzing the previous table proves that the “Garment” element, which
illustrates the items used by Arabs as clothing and local traditional dress, is the least
incorporated element in all textbooks with an average of 2.2% of the total cultural content.
Locations & Landmarks: with 28% of the total cultural content, this cultural category is
by far the most incorporated element in all textbooks combined with more than 600 terms and
pictures. Learners are exposed to many names of cities, countries, and places in the Arab world.
Comparing the textbook series against each other reveals that the “Arabiyyat Al-Nass” series
contained a lot more references to cities and places than the others.
Religion and Rituals: concepts, symbols, beliefs, and personalities in the Arab world
were present in all textbooks and represent 15.6 % of the culture. This cultural element is
incorporated way more (almost double) in the “Al-Kitaab” series than the other series.
Literature and Media: consists of all places, cities, countries, monuments, lakes, seas,
and mountains within the Arab world. It was represented, in all textbooks combined, almost
equally as the religious and rituals’ component with 15.2%. Based on the present study, this
cultural element was less represented in the Al-Kitaab series than the two others.
Politics and History: a little more than 12% of the total content, this element comes after
the literature and media component. It took about the same part of the culture in each textbook
series but was represented with very few pictures compared to the other cultural elements.
This research was limited in the number of textbooks analyzed and the content taken
into consideration. Consequently, it is recommended that future researches include additional
material and textbooks besides more diversified cultural content. The researcher realizes that

45
some of the textbooks’ editions are a few years old. Therefore, it will be valuable if future
researchers study recent versions of the Arabic language textbooks and their updated content.
It is worth mentioning that the cultural aspects are suitable to be presented for learners at
the beginner level who are acquiring Arabic as a foreign language. Undoubtedly, we should be
cautious while identifying those aspects and consider the importance of the goal of learning
Arabic in determining the type of culture that should be acquired. The researcher believes that
the Arabic language curriculum for beginners should incorporate the following cultural content:
1. Personal information including name, age, address, and some hobbies.
2. Greetings and farewell: the way Arabs perform salutations and the act of parting or
expressing wishes.
3. School and classroom components including educational materials.
4. Family such as family members, relationships, home, and community.
5. Media like magazines, newspapers, television, and the Internet.
6. Time and weather including reading the clock, the days of the week, months and the
seasons.
7. Shopping including how to buy and sell, numbers, and hotels booking, airports or
restaurants.
8. “Big C” culture represented in fashion, clothing, food, way of life, literature, art, etc.
9. “Small c” culture which consists of customs and traditions, political and social systems,
moral values, religious and intellectual beliefs.

46

Suggestions & Conclusion
An analysis of the overall results of the study demonstrates that the examined Arabic
textbooks targeting English speakers are loaded with a great number of cultural aspects related
to Arabic culture. Those aspects range from literature to geography to history. However, a clear
disparity can be found while comparing each textbook to the rest in terms of the amount of
cultural content and how much from each category is represented in each textbook.
It is noteworthy that geography, represented in this study by the category “locations and
landmarks” is the most frequent and most represented category if all textbooks are taken
combined. However, several categories are relatively under-represented in the majority of the
textbooks such as elements symbolizing food and garments, economics and social relations.
A great number of cultural terms and pictures included in the textbooks seems to be
useless for learners in terms of communicative competency such us historic concepts and names
of political persons besides terms in Modern Standard Arabic used mainly in official textual
communication or the media but rarely in the Arab people’s daily life and interactions.
Suggestions
•

Curriculum developers should balance between cultural categories in foreign language
educational materials.

•

Less focus on geography as it is easily accessible and understandable by learners:
information is abundant, especially online, about countries, cities, and landmarks.

47
•

More subjects should be included that focus on stereotypes and misconceptions to
increase understanding of the Arab culture so learners, who are from different cultural
backgrounds, learn the correct way about the Arab people's life and beliefs.
Likewise, the researcher believes that culture should be presented in the curriculum and

materials targeting Arabic learners in a way that respects the following conditions:
1. The curriculum content must reflect the real content of Arab culture without alteration.
2. The different cultural elements should illustrate an honest picture of daily life in the
Arab countries.
3. The material taught should meet the cultural and intellectual interests of all students.
4. The cultural content should be varied to cover diverse cultural fields and categories
within the framework of Arab culture.
5. The curriculum content should not ignore the common aspects and the connection
between the source culture and the target culture.
6. The description of the Arabs’ daily lives should mirror the actual events and concerns of
the average Arab people.
7. The cultural content needs to be appealing to the learners and motivate them to continue
learning Arabic.
8. Every element in the curriculum should be at the appropriate level, age and experiences
of targeted learners.
9. The content representing the Arab culture should help resolve the issue of stereotypes
and prejudices toward Arabs and the Arab civilization.
10. The content must be respectful to all cultures including the source and target cultures.

48
Conclusion
The elements that make up the Arab culture, as seen in the analyzed textbooks, are more
deep and complicated than being isolated and sorted to the extent that they lose all their
meaning and effectiveness because they are well-established, continuous and expanding in time
and space. The Arab region is the cradle of many human civilizations, as Pharaonic, Babylonian
and Assyrian are among the oldest civilizations, and this region is the birthplace of the
Abrahamic religions, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. These two elements merged with other
elements in the process of creating the social history of the Arab world, and it can only be
understood in their presence.
Arabic, as a Semitic language, came to reinforce the elements of Arabic cultural
uniformity, and this activity established that Arabic is related to the holy book for the majority
of Arab peoples, which is the Quran. Indeed, Arab Christians translated the Gospels into Arabic
and worshiped in this language in their churches. It is not enough for one language and one land
to create a nation; culture is still needed as a "complex whole" that includes knowledge, beliefs,
arts, law, ethics, customs and any other abilities that a person acquires for being a member of a
group, along with the prevailing attitudes and values in a particular society, as expressed by the
linguistic symbols, legends, rituals, lifestyles, educational, religious and political institutions.
Based on this inclusive definition of "culture", we can say that there are several paths
that have contributed to the single Arab cultural tributary, which can be mentioned as follows:
The unity of the jurisprudence: The majority of Arab Muslims draw from almost one
juristic source, distributed among the four famous schools of thought, namely the Hanafi,
Maliki, Shafi’i and Hanbali. This matter made the forms of acts of worship and some rituals
where religion is involved in forming, such as marriage contracts, funerals and religious and

49
social parties, similar within Arabs. For example, we find that the Hanafis in Egypt do what the
followers of this doctrine in Iraq do, and the followers of Shafi’i in Yemen are closely identical
to their counterparts in Egypt. The Sufi orders, with their rituals, came to complement this
process, as they moved from Morocco to Egypt and Iraq, up and down, and built cross-border
social and religious institutions.
When the movement to renew Islamic jurisprudence began at the end of the nineteenth
and early twentieth centuries, this mutual influence persisted in the Arab world. Of course, the
different ideas produced by the Arab left or Arab liberals at a later stage spread into various
Arab countries, but they did not penetrate with the quantity and the same way in which cultures
stemming from jurisprudence and religious thought penetrated. The ideas of left-wing and Arab
liberals are mostly still restricted to political and intellectual elites.
The unity of the literary heritage: When you ask any Arab intellectual from the ocean to
the Gulf about his best ancient poets, the answers will come to a large extent similar: Imru AlQais, Jarir, Al-Farazdaq, Al-Mutanabi, Al-Bahtari, and Abu Nawas are remarkably recurrent.
Also, we will find names mentioned by Abu Al-Faraj Al-Isfahani featured in contemporary
books, critical articles, and cultural programs in various Arab countries. If you ask specialists
about the beginnings of the Arabic story or novel, they will immediately remember the
Maqamat of Badi Al-Zaman Al-Hamdhani and Al-Hariri, and the name Ibn Khaldun will be
proposed in sociology, and Ibn Rushd in philosophy, etc.
If we trace the influence of ancient Arabic literature, which was clarified by German
orientalist Carl Brockelmann (1980) in his encyclopedia in this matter, we will find that this
literature has left fingerprints on the current literary works, in language, structure, aesthetic
formation and drawing human and social worlds.

50
The Arabism of Folklore: There is a great similarity in the vocabulary of folklore carried
by the Arab segments, in all its colors. The myths, proverbs, songs, popular poetry, etc., contain
identical values, similar narratives, and perform the same function, despite the differentiation in
verbal pronunciation within the local dialects in every Arab country. Therefore, the role of
folklore in maintaining the general Arab feeling of closeness and harmony is extremely strong
and influential, and it may be what forms an important part of the broad background that makes
some Arabs feel harmonious while they are in Arab countries other than their own, and they
emphasize the unity of values, the similarities of habits, and their consciences settle in a firm
belief in the unity of the Arab destiny, no matter how the differences between the Arab
countries’ politics are.
The continuous interaction between nomadism and urbanism in Arab social life. Over
the time, the Arab world was formed through mixing between the inhabitants who were settled
around rivers in Egypt, Iraq, the Levant, Morocco, and the bedouins who crawled towards what
is called in history "Islamic Amasar" with the conquests that built a strong empire on its way.
In conclusion, every educator and learner should consider these factors while teaching
and learning Arab culture while keeping in mind the three elements of the goal area of culture:
products, practices, and perspectives. This is crucial as we see learners reaching the advanced
level, though, they lack the understanding of the concepts and patterns of Arab culture, and
some of them still have questions and issues indicating that there is a cultural disparity between
these them and the Arab culture which confirms that the linguistic aspect prevailed over the
cultural aspect. Although some books designed for teaching Arabic to speakers of other
languages include concepts and cultural elements, it is still challenging to find the best way to
transfer these elements from the scope of linguistic structures to the range of cultural concepts.

51
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