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For what have been stated above, it can be proved that analyzing the cultural content in English textbooks can reflect the current situation of culture teaching in EFL classes to some extent and thus the contribution for further improvement of textbooks can be made. In recent years, a number of scholars have researched about cultural content in English textbooks in China. Some focused on the native culture chosen in English textbooks, some paid more attention to foreign cultures, and some analyzed the choice of multiple cultures. As for the choice of materials used for this kind of study, a big proportion of researches focused on the cultural content of senior high school and college English textbooks. A small number of researches draw attention on junior high school English textbooks. Thus further researches about cultural content in junior school English textbooks are needed.
For the current study, the widely used junior school English textbook Go For It (2013) which hasn’t been analyzed in the multicultural perspective is chosen. This thesis focuses on the choice of multicultural content in this set of books to find out whether the arrangements of the cultural content conform to the new Standard of English Curriculum, the problems lie in it and offer some suggestions.
The thesis begins with a brief introduction about the thesis topic and the outline of the whole thesis. Then the writer gives the exposition of literary review on culture and language research, including the definition and classification of culture, the function of English textbooks and some previous researches about the cultural content in EFL textbooks. In the middle of the paper is the study on the multicultural content in Go For It（2013）. The writer analyzes different cultural content according to their themes, forms and countries as well as the allocation of the four types of culture. In the end, the writer makes a conclusion of the the research and offers some suggestions for English teachers’ on dealing culture teaching according to the results of the analysis.
2. Literature Review
2.1 Definition of Culture
Culture, as a comprehensive concept, was given different definitions from different perspectives. Culture was first given a clear definition by the English anthropologist Edward Bematt Tylor. In the words of E.B. Tylor (1974), culture is "that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society." In his definition, the emphasis is laid on some abstract things, rather than concrete things. In a more narrow sense, in Standard of English Curriculum (China) in 2011, culture is defined in TEFL like this: “In English teaching process, culture refers to history, geography, local conditions and customs, living style, literature and art, behavioral norms and values of our country and English-spoken countries”. Culture is objectified this way. The cultural content occurred in the current study is the culture defined in Standard of English Curriculum 2011 including economy, literature, art, life style, custom, geography, festival, history, etc.
2.2 Classification of Culture in English-speaking Countries
For EFL learners in particular, the culture they are in touch with can be classified. According to Kachru (1982), English, as a world language, consists of three circles: the inner circle, the outer circle and the expanding circle. The inner circle refers to the traditional bases of English, where it is the primary language, including the USA, UK, Ireland, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. The varieties of English used here are, in Kachru's scheme, 'norm providing'. The outer circle involves the earlier phases of the spread of English in non-native settings, where the language has become part of a country's chief institutions, and plays an important 'second language' role in a multilingual setting. Singapore, India, Malawi and over fifty other territories are included in this circle. The varieties used here are what Kachru calls 'norm-developing': in regions using these varieties there has been a conflict between linguistic norm