本研究旨在探討台灣常用外語教材的文化選擇，特別聚焦分析臺灣地區所使用的華語文教材《當代中文課程》第一、二冊與國民中學《英語》教科書第一冊的文化內容。本研究採用內容分析法、文獻研究法和比較研究法，依據ACTFL（2006）和Moran（2001）的文化分類，針對兩套外語教材的文化內容的取向原則、比重、呈現方式等進行分析與比較。
研究結果顯示，《當代中文課程》第一、二冊與國民中學《英語》的主要文化內容取材範圍不同，《當代中文課程》第一、二冊課文中以「日常生活（活動）」為主要取向，國民中學《英語》第一冊以「藝術型態」為主要取向。雖然兩套外語教材主要的文化內容取材範圍不同，但「物質產品」、「節慶習俗」和「文化觀念」三類文化項目的課文中都有類似的內容。整體來說，《當代中文課程》第一、二冊的文化內容都以台灣本土的文化取材為主，國民中學《英語》第一冊的文化內容則著重於國外的風土民情。在文化內容表現方面，兩套外語教材文化內容表現形式多元，藉由文字、情境話題的設置、圖片等多種編排方式，將教材中的飲食、地理、思維、價值觀念、生活方式等文化內容呈現出來。
基於研究結果，本研究建議在編寫初級外語教材時，課文的內容需有多樣化的主題，文章能與學習者的生活和世界接軌，以培養學生具有文化全球化的意識的能力。
The present research aimed to explore cultural content in elementary foreign language textbooks used in Taiwan. A Course in Contemporary Chinese 1 and 2 and English 1 published by Kang-Hsuan, HAN-LIN, and NANI were selected as sampled textbooks. Content analysis, document analysis and comparative research were adopted to compare and analyze cultural content presented in the sampled textbooks based on the definitions of culture proposed by ACTFL(2006) and Moran(2001).
The results revealed that the cultural content in A Course in Contemporary Chinese 1 and 2 mainly reflected the topic “Daily Life/Activities, while English 1 mostly featured “Types of Art”. Although major differences in the cultural content were discovered in the two foreign language textbooks, similar content was observed related to “Product”, “Holiday Practice” and “Perspectives”.
In general, the cultural content in A Course in Contemporary Chinese 1 and 2 was oriented towards the Taiwanese culture, whereas English 1 put more weight to the foreign cultures and customs. Both two textbooks presented a wide variety of cultural content. Cultural information such as dieting, geography, values and life style was embedded in descriptive texts, dialogues, and pictures.
Based on the research results, it’s suggested that more intercultural elements should be included in the elementary foreign language textbooks to develop cultural global consciousness for language learners.
