Culture and Language Are Inextricably Linked: Surveying the Effectiveness of Culture-Based Instructional Materials on Enhancing Reading Comprehension (RC), Inclination to Reading, and Reading Attitude (RA) among EFL Learners

Abstract

Students who learn about different cultures during their education feel more comfortable and safer with these differences later in life. This allows them to interact in a wider range of social groups and feel more confident in themselves and in their interactions with others. Thus, language and culture are not separated. Considering this important point, the present research inspected the impacts of having English CBK on improving the EFLL learners’ RC and motivation. In addition, the EFLL learners’ attitudes towards incorporating English cultural-based materials (CBMs) into their English coursebook were examined. This was accomplished by randomly dividing 50 pre-intermediate students from a private English language institution into two groups: an experimental group (EG) and a control group (CG). Next, the motivation questionnaire developed by Hayami and colleagues (1989) was delivered to the individuals in both groups of participants. Following that, all participants received a pretest of RC, and then, the intervention was performed. The EG was instructed through using the English CBMs, while the CG received the instruction using culture-free materials. The entire treatment took 11 sessions. In the last three sessions, the reading posttest, the motivation, and the attitude questionnaires were administered to assess the influences of the treatment on the RC and motivation of the EFL learners (EFLLs). The results of the statistical analyses indicated that the EG had better performances than the CG on the posttests of RC and reading motivation (RM). Also, the results divulged that the EFL students manifested positive attitudes towards integrating English CBMs into their English coursebook. Considering the findings of this study, some implications are proposed at the end of this study.