(Inter)cultural content in Spanish as a non-native language textbooks

Abstract

Research on the role of culture in textbooks for teaching Spanish as an non-native language (L2) is almost non-existent. Cultural studies note that the treatment of culture in the L2 classroom lacks systematicity apart from not being principled at all. This article analyzes 9 Spanish as an L2 textbooks from three proficiency levels, that is, beginning, intermediate, and advanced, published between 2008-2018 by Spanish publishing houses, and aimed at young adults and adults. The results indicate that the (inter)cultural approach in these textbooks is hardly principled, informed, organized, and structured. The proficiency levels and the publication years do not exert a clear influence on the (inter)cultural approach. Instead, the publishing market partly determines the (inter)cultural content in the textbooks under study. FUNDING INFORMATION This research was supported by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF, 80 %) and by the Department of Economy, Knowledge, Business and University of the Andalusian Regional Government (20 %) within the framework of the research project UPO-1380541.