The purposes of this study were to (a) develop a two-part Table of Cultural Descriptors as a tool to evaluate the cultural content of ESL reading texts, (b) determine the most widely used ESL reading texts used in adult intensive English language courses in the United States, (c) determine the interjudge reliability of the Table of Cultural Descriptors, and (d) evaluate the cultural content of the 25 most widely used ESL reading textbooks using the validated Table. Of the 329 intensive English programs contacted, 151 or 45.9% responded, giving the titles of reading textbooks they use. From the 300 titles reported, the 25 most widely used were evaluated using the Table. The Table was inspired by Nostrand's Emergent Model. The Table consists of three main sections: the Culture, the Society, and the Individual. The Society section, following Nostrand, is subdivided into 13 units (family, religion, etc.). There are a number of descriptors under each division or subdivision taken from the Outline of Cultural Materials (Murdock, et al, 1971). Part II of the Table consists of brief descriptions of characteristics of American culture, using Hsu's (1969) postulates and characteristics developed by Nostrand (1967). Each text was read and culturally relevant material noted in the Table using values of 1, 2 or 3 to indicate extent of coverage. Interjudge reliability was determined by having three experienced ESL teachers evaluate 15 text samples of 5,000 words each, then ranking the samples. The rankings were tested for agreement using Kendall's coefficient of concordance, W. The evaluators reported significant problems in using Part II of the Table and this was confirmed by applying measurements of W to results using Part I, and Parts I and II combined. W with results from Part I and II combined was .607 at the .05 level of probability. W was .687 at the .025 level of / probability with the results from Part I only. Thus, Part II was not used in the evaluation by Seale of the 25 most widely used texts. High and significant values for W suggest that there is substantial agreement among experienced and trained teachers of ESL as to what is, and is not, culturally instructive material. No relationship was found between the extent to which a text was used and its cultural content. The procedures used in this study do not produce absolute values for textbooks, but relative ones for comparison. The procedure also yields information concerning the number of culturally relevant items in a text and the average extent of coverage of those items. These procedures compell a close, critical examination of the cultural content of a textbook. This study did not evaluate the pedagogical value of the texts as to teaching reading skills. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 42-10, Section: A, page: 4340. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1981.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_74662 |
| Contributors | SEALE, BENAJAH ETHELBERT, JR., Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text |
| Format | 178 p. |
| Rights | On campus use only. |
| Relation | Dissertation Abstracts International |
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