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Multimodality of Cultural Content in ELT Materials for Young Learners

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 Theory and Practice of Second Language Acquisition 101
vol. 3 (1) 2017, pp. 000–000

Maria Stec
University of Silesia, Katowice–Cieszyn

Multimodality of Cultural Content

in ELT Materials for Young Learners

Abstract

Cultural content is incorporated into EL materials to enrich linguistic content. The paper
focuses on English materials as cultural artefacts analyzed in terms of multimodality. The aim
is to identify the most important multimodal aspects of cultural content offered in English
course books for early language education. Following the multimodal discourse analysis, the
image–language relations presented in the culture sections are examined. The paper seeks to
address two following questions: What is the multimodality of cultural content in English
course books for young learners? What are the image-language relations involved in the con-
struction of cultural content? The project involves an analysis of nine course books currently
used in teaching English to young learners in Polish primary schools. The data will be col-
lected during the evaluation studies, which here are both quantitative and qualitative in nature.
The study is based on a set of universal, content-specific, multimodal and intermodal criteria.
It is hoped that the results from the research project will enrich the process of ELT materi-
als design in terms of multimodality. They will support the need for developing multimodal
(visual) literacy through multicultural education in early language education.
Keywords: multimodality, ELT materials, cultural content, visual literacy, young learners

Introduction

There is an increasing number of multilingual and multicultural children

with various skills and needs in Europe and all over the world. In this article
the term young learners (YL) refers to children whose age ranges between six
and eight. They experience cultural diversity and live in different language
backgrounds as a result of globalization, emigration, mobility, and tourism.
Early language education is widely supported in Europe, among others due to
102 Maria Stec…

its positive effect on children’s holistic development, personal skills, positive

attitudes to other languages and cultures (cf. Brewster, Ellis, & Girard, 2002, pp.
5, 54). Educational policies with the focus on multicultural and multilingual ele-
ments tend to celebrate cultural and linguistic differences in a positive way. All
children use English course books that include cultural content. They participate
in the intercultural process from the very beginning, as any language learning
requires social interaction, comparing, and connecting cultures (Lee-McKay,
2002, p. 85; Rivers, 2010, p. 21–24). It is well known that language is a part
of culture and culture is encoded in the language itself (Kramsch, 1998, p. 3).
Then, an integrated approach to teaching language and culture dominates in
the global course books (Pulverness & Tomlinson, 2013, pp. 444–448) through
which YL are exposed to the multimodal paper texts and thus develop multi-
modal communicative competence. They are expected to comprehend, interpret,
and design visual elements as the active viewers (Royce, 2002, pp. 191–205).
The texts in English course books are semiotic resources composed of images,
language, sounds, and music (Kawka, 2016, p. 294). However, too little attention
has been paid to the multimodality of ELT (English language teaching) materi-
als, not to mention the interplay between verbal and non-verbal semiotics in
English course books for children. which has led to pursue this research project.

Literature Review

ELT materials produced commercially are cultural artefacts with a vari-

ety of roles in education. They can be informative, instructional, experien-
tial, eliciting, and exploratory in nature. Above all they present the meaning
of English and the world of English for learners (Tomlinson, after Gray, 2013,
pp. 2–16). ELT materials are linked to the social and historical developments
influenced by the context in which they occur. They are “rooted in particular
time and culture” (Littlejohn, 2012, p. 283). It is claimed that currently they
reflect McDonaldization and globalization in their design.1 ELT materials are

1
A considerable amount of literature has been published on ELT materials designed for
the local and global markets. Since the 1980s they have included more relevant and familiar
concepts to learners’ life. ELT materials produced in the UK or the USA are the ambassadors
of Anglo-Saxon culture, being criticised for presenting stereotypical representations of others
and outdated content (Gray, 2000, p. 274; Romanowski, 2005, pp. 48–53). Namely, they advo-
cate a western, cosmopolitan and middle-class lifestyle (Lee-McKay, 2002, p. 95; Littlejohn,
2011, pp. 211–214; Byram & Masuhara, 2013, p. 145; Harwood, 2014, pp. 4–5; Gray & Block,
2014, pp. 45–71). Although ELT materials are criticised for not reflecting the latest research
into language acquisition or cultural realities, still they constitute the basic resource centre for
 Multimodality of Cultural Content… 103

standardized sources with guides, proper selection, and sequence of the con-
tent, including the cultural content (Littlejohn, 2012, pp. 290–293; Hadley, 2014,
pp. 205–238).
In recent years, have been three major categories of educational materials.
The first category involves course books (i.e., textbooks available with teacher’s
book, student’s book, tests, video materials, CALL materials) produced by pub-
lishers and educating institutions. The second category includes profit-making
materials such as dictionaries, grammar books, readers, and other practice ma-
terials. The third category includes teacher-prepared materials such as authentic
print materials, authentic recordings (e.g., songs, Internet resources), worksheets,
and teacher-developed materials (e.g., DIY), games, realia and representations
(e.g., photos and drawings) (McGrath, 2013, pp. 2–3). In this paper the term
ELT materials refers to English course books produced commercially for Polish
YL and accepted by Polish Ministry of Education.
ELT resources “mirror” cultural values in more or less considerable degree,
influencing learners’ perceptions and attitudes towards the target language
culture (Cunningsworth, 1995, p. 90; Krawiec, 2012, pp. 105–116). The rela-
tions between culturally familiar and less familiar concepts are developed by
the authors, who use comparisons for cross-cultural comprehension or use
universal concepts for the interpretation of concepts. The cultural content in
the materials for YL influences their holistic development (cognitive, mental,
individual, social, and emotional spheres) and the amount of English they will
remember as well as their behavior and interactions, willingness to communi-
cate, motivation, and perception about themselves (Gerngross & Puchta, 2000,
pp. 12–13; Harwood, 2014, pp. 4–5). Course books are the initial source of
knowledge for the beginners where elements of culture are usually presented
in the form of specific “culture pages,” “culture corners” or “culture reviews”
(Brewster, Ellis, & Girard, 2002, p. 148). The general tendency is to develop
intercultural communicative competence (ICC), which in the context of YL, is
described as discovery-based learning. YL are supported to discover culture
for themselves, following “ethnographic approach” (Brewster, Ellis, & Girard,
2002, pp. 146–148; Vickov, 2007, pp. 105–120; Rivers, 2010, pp. 21–24).
The latest Polish and international ELT materials promote ICC and include
aspects of intercultural teaching rather than British studies only. This type of
teaching is more experiential in nature. The process leads to the progress in
skills of observation, empathy for others, adaptation skills in the intercultural
situations, fostering of learners’ cultural identity (Bolt, 2001, p. 101; Marczak,
2012, pp. 15–16; Byram Masuhara, 2013, pp. 144–147). The idea is to teach
cross-cultural sensitivity as culture is defined as “the fifth language skill” in

both teachers and learners including the multilingual ones (Littlejohn, 2011: 181; Nunan, 2011,
pp. 204–205; Tomlinson, 2013a, pp. 15–18, McGrath, 2013, pp. 5–17).
104 Maria Stec…

addition to the receptive and productive skills (cf. Tomalin, 2008, pp. 1–2). The
aim is to develop critical cultural awareness including meta-cultural awareness,
cultural sensitivity, awareness of their own cultural identity as well as develop
empathy and tolerance towards others, supporting curiosity and critical think-
ing (Lee-McKay, 2002, pp. 83–84; Jaroszewska, 2007, pp. 319–322; Sobkowiak,
2008, pp. 53–54; Pulverness & Tomlinson, 2013, pp. 443–459).
There are always questions associated with culture in ELT materials. Whose
culture should be taught? What is the best amount of culture to be taught?
What level learners should be exposed to cultural content? Traditionally, three
dimensions can be identified in English materials concerning cultural content,2
namely, a focus on the learners’ own culture, the target language culture of
the countries where English is spoken as the first language and, finally, the
international culture where English is used as a lingua franca (Cortazzi & Jim,
1999, p. 204; Lee-McKay, 2002, pp. 81–88; McGrath, 2013, p. 198).
Young learners acquire the target language and culture from ELT materi-
als, which promote both visible and invisible aspects of culture. The visible
aspects (“the top of the iceberg”) are easy to explain and clear to all learners,
for example, traditions and customs such as Christmas and cuisine. The invis-
ible aspects of culture (“the bottom of the iceberg,” including value systems,
beliefs, and socio-cultural norms, are difficult to explain and usually are not
examined intellectually in a classroom3 (Hinkel, 2001, pp. 443–458; Peterson,
2004, pp. 385–400). On the other hand, there are questions related to meaning
and values promoted by the cultural content. As far as design of ELT materials
is concerned, questions may refer to the manner of presenting cultural content

2
Cultural components in ELT materials may be analyzed in various scope and with dif-
ferent focus and approach (McGrath, 2013, pp. 207–208). They are generally evaluated with
checklists or other inventories. Namely, the checklist for social and cultural values was offered
by Cunningsworth (1995, pp. 91–92). The inventory of cultural components based on the Likert
scale was offered by Razi (2012, pp. 168–186). The guidelines needed for the evaluation of
ELT resources of the cultural content may include such factors as learners’ needs, hidden cur-
riculum, stereotypes, and generalizations (Kramsch, 1998, p. 131; Kilickaya, 2004, pp. 4–6).
Evaluation of ELT materials with a focus on the cultural content is linked with such factors
as knowledge of self and others, awareness of self and others, attitudes towards the self and
others, skills needed for exploring, interpreting culture and interacting with others (Byram &
Masuhara, 2013, pp. 150–154). These factors are also important for understanding the cultural
content in illustrations (Davies, 2013, 1–10).
3
The subject literature shows that a limited coverage of art and literature (“C” culture)
is found in the latest ELT materials. In the same way, multicultural aspects are enclosed in-
frequently (Szymańska-Czaplak, 2009, 229–230). Richness and variety within cultures should
be balanced as “that which is true of the whole is not necessarily true of the parts” (Guest,
2002, p. 156). The role of cultural content seems to involve, among others, the presentation of
diversity that exists within any culture (Lee-McKay, 2002, p. 94). The cultural content which
supports the national stereotypes should be avoided as the best is the content with multicultural
aspects and illustrations of authentic cultural traditions (Jaroszewska, 2009, pp. 160–178).
 Multimodality of Cultural Content… 105

in audio-visual texts and procedures offered there for teaching culture (Clouet,
2006, p. 53; Tomalin, 2008, pp. 1–2). What modes are used in the construc-
tion of the cultural content? What mode carries the most cultural information
load? What mode supports the development of intercultural communication and
multimodal (visual) literacy? These are a few questions related to multimodal
aspects of ELT materials.
Multimodality has been advocated by multimodal discourse analysis
(MDA) and described as multimodal semiotics (O’Halloran, 2011, p. 120).
It is a relatively new field of scientific interest which focuses on the com-
bination of speaking, writing, visualization, and music in the construction
of meaning (Perez-Gonzalez, 2014, p. 185). Apart from language MDA ad-
vocates various sign systems that are also the sources of meaning, such as
image, color, sound, music, and gesture. These semantic resources are defined
as modes and constitute the central area in MDA. Core modes are various
sensing channels on which our opinions are formed about the audio-visual
texts. The resources (modes) integrate across modalities (senses) in the mul-
timodal texts such as the paper ELT materials. Multimodality is based on
the information exchange realized by three or more of these sensing channels
involved in communication.
Kress stresses that each mode has a function. A mode of image presents
a picture that can be read faster than words. A mode of writing describes
everything that is difficult to illustrate while a mode of color underlines
and frames the messages. (Kress, 2010, pp. 1–8, 79). The foundations of
multimodality were provided in a functional semiotic theory on reading im-
ages and visuals developed by Gunter Kress and Theo van Leeuwen in the
1980s and 1990s. The theory had originated from Michael Halliday’s social
semiotic approach to language. Modes are socially shaped and culturally
developed semiotic resources for making meaning used in our representa-
tion, recognition, and communication (Kress, 2010, p. 79). They have several
implications for design and use of the cultural content in ELT materials.
The most interesting seems to be the inter-semiotic relation between verbal
and visual content. English course books can be perceived as the visual and
auditory semiotic resources with the complementary relations between verbal
and visual content. Illustration, pictures, and images do not perform only
a decorative function as they construct meaning through the representation
of culture (Hurst, 2014, p. 21).
The core modes (images, language, sounds, and music) and their medial
variants are deeply involved in our perception and communication of mes-
sages (Stöckl, 2004, p. 14; Perez-Gonzalez, 2014, p. 194). The core mode of
language is realized through speech (para- verbal-means), state writing and
animated writing, which is not considered in this paper (Perez-Gonzalez, 2014,
pp. 204–199). The core mode of image can be realized through static (still) and
106 Maria Stec…

dynamic (moving) medial variants. For this paper, only the static variants are
accepted, such as size and composition of the visual content (Perez-Gonzalez,
2014, p. 214). The mode of sound and music, which are vital for the acquisition
of all verbal languages, can be realized through auditory and visual media.
They are designed in the form of the recorded speech, effects, chants, songs
as the soundtracks accompanying the respective texts or images. The printed
or electronic spectrograms are not usually included in ELT materials and are
not considered in this paper. The core mode of music acoustically is realized
through the music recorded as a complement to the semantic input of speech
involving the song lyrics (Perez-Gonzalez, 2014, pp. 204–209). Similarly, the
core mode of image and language can be examined in more than one medial
variant.
Visual elements are presently more and more effective for many purposes. It
is estimated that 87% of information enters our brain by eyes, only 9% by ears
and 4% by other senses. It is even stated that “modern forms of understand-
ing the world depend on a scopic regime that equates seeing with knowledge”
(Rose, 2012, p. 3). Similarly, the role of colors is stressed. Although 12 colors
are commonly used a modern dictionary of colors in Europe includes 5,000 of
them (Gage, 2010, p. 263). The visuals represent and interpret different cultures
and languages in a range of colors.
The visual elements in ELT materials constitute the significant factor. They
transmit cultural meanings, stimulate children’s cognitive development and vis-
ual perception. In the process of teaching YL, illustrations provide a framework
for understanding English (Wright, 1989, p. 2) and “offer a lifebelt in the sea of
language” (Vida, 2010, p. 15). It is stated that “seeing comes before words” as
children first observe and recognize before they start speaking (Rose, 2012, p.
3; Tomlinson, 2013a, p. 13). The visuals arouse YLs’ emotions and support their
understanding of characters’ emotions (Nielsen-Hibbing & Rankin-Erickson,
2003, pp. 764–765). It is proved that YL pay attention initially to the content
of photographs in comparison with older children, who focus more on the style
and composition of illustrations (Sharples, after Banks, 2009, p. 25). The visu-
als gain children’s attention, add variety to the process of English learning and
support (Petty, 2009, pp. 375–407).
The visual elements serve as the supporting items to the linguistic content or
as the stimulating items for discussions (Wright, 1989, pp. 7–8; Krawiec, 2012,
p. 112) although about 50% of the pictures in ELT course books are used for
decorative purposes4 only (Hill, 2013, p. 163). The graphic quality of teaching
materials has improved and currently they are “full of stylish color drawings
4
Wright identifies eight categories of illustrations in ELT materials. These are pictures
of objects (food, clothes, animals), people (stars and celebrities), people in action (everyday
activities, travel), places (views), history (costumes), news, fantasies, maps, and other symbols
(Wright, after Krawiec, 2012, p. 112).
 Multimodality of Cultural Content… 107

and state-of-the-art photographs” (Hill, 2013, p. 157). Both the context visu-
als and content visuals are carefully designed (Guest, 2002, p. 154; Krawiec,
2012, p. 109; Basaran & Cocuk, 2013, pp. 137–139). A careful consideration
should be given to explicit and implicit meanings of cultural information in
the visual content5 which can be interpreted in many ways. Illustrations and
images show but also say something to an individual learner, being able to
speak their own language (Banks, 2009, pp. 185–198; Hurst, 2014, p. 25). The
printed ELT course books are multimodal texts as they combine written lan-
guage, illustrations, and pictures, music, spoken language, and sounds. They
may also include films and online materials with the audio-visual elements and
become both multimodal and multimedia ones (Perez-Gonzales, 2014, p. 187).
The project focuses only on the print ELT materials among others to indicate
the power of still images.

Research Project

The project involves MDA and follows Stöckl’s framework for the inves-
tigation of the semiotic resources. It focuses on the examination of cultural
content including four core modes such as image, language, sounds, and music
(Stöckl, 2004, p. 14, Perez-Gonzalez, 2014, p. 194). It is the initial examina-
tion of multimodality in this context and will be limited to the selected medial
variants. To exemplify the complex character of MDA in the print texts, the
project will also focus on the image-language relations. They will be examined
following Halliday’s framework (2004) improved by Unsworth (2006, p. 1175)
and adopted here to ELT materials for YL. The research project is based on the
principles of pre-use evaluation and illuminative evaluation of ELT resources6
(Tomlinson, 2013b, p. 30).

5
There are at least three sites at which meaning of visual content can be examined.
Namely, the site of production (process), the site of image/object itself (appearance) and the site
of its audience (perception) (Rose, 2012, p. 346).
6
The pre-use evaluation refers here to suitability in terms of teaching cultural content in
English course books for YL (Cunningsworth, 1995, pp. 14–15). The illuminative evaluation is
applied here as it provides the interpretation of different aspects involved in the project (White,
1987, p. 216; Williams & Burden, 1994, p. 23) including the cultural content in terms of visual
and verbal input (Banks, 2009, pp. 19–43).
108 Maria Stec…

Research Purpose and Questions

The purpose is to investigate the multimodality of the cultural content in

English course books implemented in Polish early language education. The
focus is on the image-language relations as the interplay between verbal and
non-verbal semiotics in the construction of the cultural content. The idea is to
find answers to the following questions:
a) What is the multimodality of cultural content in English course books for
YL?
b) What are the image-language relations involved in the construction of cul-
tural content?

Research Procedure

To date, various methods and procedures have been developed to measure

MDA, which belongs to the qualitative research methods. As this project is
the preliminary examination of the printed English course books in terms of
multimodality, it follows both quantitative and qualitative approaches that are
performed in two stages respectively. The first stage involves the analysis of
the cultural content in English course books for YL with the focus on the
core modes. The second stage involves the analysis of the image-language
relations with the focus on visual-verbal cultural content presented in the
same course books. The investigation is initiated by a sample selection. ELT
course books selected had to fulfill four criteria modified for this evaluation
as follows:
1. Universal criteria: related to early English language education (grades 1–3).
2. Content specific criteria: related to the cultural content (home and English
culture limited here to celebrations and festivals) offered in ELT course
books.
3. Multimodal criteria: related to the core modes of image, language, sound,
and music depicting cultural content in ELT course books.
4. Intermodal criteria: related to the visual and verbal semiotics depicting the
cultural content in ELT materials (Williams, 1983, pp. 251–255; Tomlinson,
2013, pp. 30–41; Unsworth (2006, pp. 1174–1204).
For the investigation three series of the course books are selected and coded
respectively: nine course books. They were published by Nowa Era, Macmillan
Education, and Pearson Longman. The project is based on the data obtained
during the review studies for Polish Ministry of Education. The instrument
is designed and entitled: Children’s Course Book Evaluation: A Checklist for
Multimodality of Cultural Content. The first part of the checklist implemented
 Multimodality of Cultural Content… 109

in the project is composed of four major sets of the following groups of ques-
tions:
1. Questions about context and user definition relate to the description of the
target group (their assumed knowledge and language skills).
2. Questions about objectives and scope relate to the description of the gen-
eral learning objectives, the detailed objectives and extra objectives such as
multicultural education.
3. Questions about content and coverage relate to the teaching cultural content
and topics promoted in ELT materials.
4. Questions about multimodality relate to the multimodal aspects of cultural
content only and include the following sub-groups:
a) questions about the core mode of image relate to the visual presentation of
the cultural content in the materials (static pictures, illustrations, drawings)
and their meaning;
b) questions about the core mode of language relate to the verbal presentation
of the cultural content in the materials (speech and state writing);
c) questions about the core mode of sounds relate to the verbal presentation of
the cultural content in the materials (soundtracks, recordings of dialogues,
phrase, and song lyrics);
d) questions about the core mode of music relate to the verbal and musical
presentation of the cultural content in the materials (performed songs and
chants).
The process requires a precise identification of feedback and analysis of
data. The results from the evaluation are recorded and compiled on charts.
The second stage of this project focuses on the qualitative analysis of the
image-language relations in terms of expansion and projection of meaning in
the cultural content. The second part of the checklist includes the following
questions:
1. Questions about concurrence related to the image-language agreement
and correspondence (clarification, exposition, exemplification, and homo-
spatiality).
2. Questions about complementarity related to the image-language supplement,
augmentation or divergence.
3. Questions about projection related to the image-language presentation (verbal
and mental as perception and cognition).
4. The process requires an accurate analysis of data and narrative description.
The final step is to compare the answers collected in the two stages of the
project.
110 Maria Stec…

Presentation and Interpretation of the Results

The results indicate that ELT materials for YL form a multidimensional

and multimodal framework. The opening results serve as the introduction to
the central data and include the following categories:
1. The target language users are young learners in the first stage of schooling
in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grades of primary schools.
2. The teaching objectives are listed as linguistic skills to be learnt by YL
defined in the operational forms. The extra objectives include ICC, develop-
ment of the positive attitude to other languages and cultures.
3. The cultural content and topics are listed under the headings of Me and my
country. Me and other countries. The tendency is to introduce initially the
topics linked with the nearest background of YL. These are topics linked
with family and school, and only later topics related both to “home” – My
country – and the target language culture – Other countries. At this stage
of early language education, the most popular ones are celebrations and fes-
tivals. The detailed coverage of topics related to teaching culture in English
course books for YL are presented in Table 1.

Table 1
Development of ICC in the selected English course books for YL
Course book Home (Polish) Culture English (Anglo-Saxon) Culture

Course books for YL Christmas Halloween

(1–3 grades) Happy New Year Christmas
Easter New Year’s Eve
Valentine’s day
Easter

The list of items in all the selected course books indicate a dominating
presence of Anglo-Saxon culture aspects. The ELT materials share here three
standard cultural items, which can simultaneously be related to both home and
target language culture. Namely, these are Christmas, New Year’s celebrations,
and Easter. However, YL learn also about Halloween, Valentine’s day, Mother’s
Day mainly in English culture context, which may differ from the Polish per-
spective on the matters.
The initial results collected in this project on the multimodality of ELT
materials are grouped per course books, grades, core modes, and presented
in Table 2, Table 3, and Table 4 respectively. Table 2 depicts multimodality
of the selected English course books offered in the first year of primary
education.
 Multimodality of Cultural Content… 111

Table 2
Multimodality of the cultural content ELT course books for the 1st grade
Core modes

Course books Culture content Image Language Sound Music

1st grade Totals
Static State
Speech Soundtracks Songs
pictures writing

CB1 Christmas 6 15 4 3 1

CB1 Easter 5 11 4 3 1

CB1 Totals 11 26 8 6 2

CB2 Christmas 19 13 – 1 –

CB2 Easter 5 18 – 1 –

CB2 Totals: 24 31 – 2 –

CB3 Halloween 3 5 – 1 –

CB3 Christmas 3 27 – 1 1

CB3 Easter 3 22 – 1 1

CB3 Totals 9 54 – 3 2

Note. CB 1 – course books from the 1st series; CB 2 – course books from the 2nd series; CB3 – course books from
the 3rd series.

The core of image varies between nine or 11 pictures even if one more
topic is added, as the CB3 offers “Halloween” at this stage of education. The
most surprising amount is in CB2 with the total number of 24 pictures that
carry most information load of the cultural content. To consider size of the
visual input, the results show that there are eight small pictures and three big
ones in CB1, 16 small pictures and eight big ones in CB2; six small pictures
and three big ones in CB3.
As far as the core mode of language is concerned, the medial variant of
speech includes phrases, stories, and song lyrics, which on average counted as
five phrases (plus numbers 1–10, six colors, and three animals). This channel
is widely used in the cultural sections with the average number of twenty-six
and thirty-one phrases. A considerable number of fifty-four phrases is included
in the third series of CB3. As it was mentioned above, the explanation refers to
the additional topic incorporated in the course book. The medial variant of state
writing, which represents the written words and sentences, is included in the
number of eight phrases only in one series (CB1) out of the three investigated
in this project. Other course books (CB2 and CB3) do not present phrases in
the written forms. From the data in Table 2, it is apparent that the consider-
able amount of the verbal content is represented orally in the cultural sections,
112 Maria Stec…

following the principle of teaching the receptive skills before the productive
ones in early language education. The core mode of sound, which is related to
soundtracks of the verbal language (stories, songs, and drills for the pronuncia-
tion practice), is realized through two or three soundtracks per each cultural
section in C2 and CB3. Interestingly, CB1 offers the extensive number of six
soundtracks. Similarly, the core mode of music, which is related to the songs
and chants performed and recorded, is realized through two songs in CB1 and
CB3. Surprisingly, only CB2 does not include songs in the cultural sections.
Table 3 depicts multimodality of the selected English course books offered
in the second year of primary education.

Table 3
Multimodality of the cultural content ELT course books for the 2nd grade
Core modes

Course books Culture content Image Language Sound Music

2nd grade Totals
Static State writ-
Speech Soundtracks Songs
pictures ing

CB1 New Year 7 13 8 3 1

CB1 Mother’s Day 6 12 6 3 1

CB1 Totals 13 25 14 6 2

CB2 Halloween 9 11 6 1 1

CB2 Christmas 6 28 16 1 -

CB2 Totals 15 39 22 2 1

CB3 Christmas 3 19 6 1 1

CB3 Valentine’s 3 15 6 1 1
Day

CB3 Easter 6 14 4 1 1

CB3 Totals 12 48 16 3 3

It is apparent from this table that the core mode of image is realized through
12 up to 15 pictures on average in each cultural section. There is not a sig-
nificant difference in their totals across the selected series. To consider size of
the visual input, the results show that there are eight small pictures and five
big ones in CB1; eight small pictures and seven big ones in CB2; eight small
pictures and four big ones in CB3. Comparing the core mode of image offered
in the first and second year of early language education, the visual content is
integrated with the verbal content more precisely in the composition of pictures
in grade 2 that include phrases or very short sentences.
 Multimodality of Cultural Content… 113

There is a significant increase in the number of phrases and sentences in

the core mode of language. The medial variant of speech is realized through
phrases introduced orally, short sentences, stories, and song lyrics. This sensing
channel is the most widely recognized in the course books and realized through
25 up to 48 speeches. A clear increase in the medial variant of state writing
is also detected in Table 3. The written forms of phrases and sentences range
between 14 and 22 per each cultural section in the second year of primary
education. It is the striking result that indicates a gradual development from the
auditory channel and semantic resource offered in early language communica-
tion towards the growth in written and visual resources.
The data associated with the core mode of sound in this table shows, simi-
larly to the data in Table 2, the same number of soundtracks per each cultural
content in the respective course books. These results can be compared with
the details linked with the mode of music to reveal an intensification of the
songs in the numbers of two or three ones provided in each section. There is
only one difference in “Christmas” section in CB2, where a story is recorded
in a soundtrack but there is not any song provided in the core mode of music.
Table 4 depicts multimodality of the selected English course books offered
in the third year of primary education.

Table 4
Multimodality of the cultural content ELT course books for the 3rd grade
Core modes

Course books Culture content Image Language Sound Music

3rd grade Totals
Static State writ-
Speech Soundtracks Songs
pictures ing

CB1 Halloween 1 28 28 3 1

CB1 Valentine’s 1 28 28 3 1
Day

CB1 Totals 2 56 56 6 2

CB2 Halloween 4 26 26 2 -

CB2 Christmas 18 35 35 2 -

CB2 Easter 5 16 16 1 -

CB2 Totals 27 77 77 5 -

CB3 Christmas 1 24 24 3 1

CB3 Easter 1 16 16 3 1

CB3 Totals 2 40 40 6 2
114 Maria Stec…

As this table shows there is a decrease in the number of pictures related

to the mode of image in the cultural content. Only CB2 maintains the result
of 27, which is close the one indicated in Table 2. Other course books seem to
move from the visual content towards the verbal one. To consider size of the
pictures, the results show that there are only two big pictures included both in
CB1 and CB3 respectively. On the contrary, only small pictures in the number
of 27 are included in CB2. Comparing the core mode of image offered in the
first and second year of early language education, the visual content is more
and more precisely integrated with the verbal content in the composition of
images that include phrases, sentences, and dialogues.
A rapid increase is observed in the core mode of language through the
verbal input provided in the cultural sections for the third year. The data col-
lected for the median variant of speech recorded and the median variant of state
writing are the same. The results confirm the move from the oral resources
of communication towards the written ones. Finally, the core mode of sound,
which is related to soundtracks of sentences, stories, and songs, is realized
through either five or six soundtracks per each cultural section. The details
indicate its steady role in the cultural content across grade 1, 2, and 3. To
compare the details depicted in Table 2, the core mode of music in Table 4 is
also realized through two songs in CB1 and CB3. Continually, CB2 does not
include any songs in the cultural content.

Figure 1. Example of clarification in CB1 (Our Discovery Island 1, p. 71)

 Multimodality of Cultural Content… 115

The results from the second part of the project related to the image-
language relations provided the thought-provoking data on the inner construc-
tion of the visual and verbal input in the cultural sections. These are model
units which consist of an image (simple or complex) and meaning related to
it by content. The results related to the expansion and projection of meaning
brought the most challenging details. Namely, the category of concurrence as
the visual and verbal agreement was observed in four following subcatego-
ries: clarification, exposition, exemplification, and homo-spatiality. The results
start with the clarification presented in Figure 1 when the image explains
the song lyrics.
The image of Santa Claus coming to the town serves here as the precise
framework for singing the song entitled “We wish You a Merry Christmas.”
The mode of image initiates the meaning provided by the mode of music
and sound.
The subcategory of exposition is defined as the equivalence of meanings
that are represented in the different modes. It is also the re-expression of the
meanings (of the image or the text) in the alternative mode which is shown
in Figure 2.

Figure 2. Example of exposition in CB1 (Our Discovery Island 3, p. 70)

116 Maria Stec…

There are two options here. The first one when a reader or listener con-
centrates on the image of Christmas, new words included in the state writing
or reading the song lyrics. The second option when s/he focuses only on the
mode of music singing the song “Happy Christmas.”
Correspondingly, the subcategory of exemplification offers two possibilities.
The first one is defined here by the image which serves as an example from
the text. The second possibility occurs when the text includes an example of
what is mostly depicted in the image which is shown in Figure 3.

Figure 3 . Example of exemplification in CB3 (Our World 3, p. 117).

The image of Valentine’s Day is more general than the text, which discusses
only some of the depicted symbols. A reader learns about a red rose, some
chocolate, and perfume. There is a ring and a card mentioned in the text but
they are not presented in the picture. On the other hand, a viewer perceives
a candle, a plate, and fork plus extra red decorations.
 Multimodality of Cultural Content… 117

The examples of homo-spatiality when two different modes co-occur in

one spatial and standardized unit or entity have not been found in the cultural
content of the selected course books, and are not described here. A similar
situation has occurred with divergence as discrepancies have not been found
in the visual input of the investigated cultural content.
The category of complementarity related to the image-language supplement
which is described by augmentation (when the image extends the text or the text
extends the image) and divergence. The example of the image which extends
the text is shown in Figure 4 below.

Figure 4. Example of complementarity in CB1 (Our Discovery Island 1, p. 70).

118 Maria Stec…

The image of Halloween extends the meaning to the one realized by the
chant and is provided here only in the music and sound mode. A viewer focuses
initially on the picture that is supplemented by the chant lyrics. The example
of augmentation when the text extends the image is shown in Figure 5.

Figure 5. Example of complementarity in CB2 (Quest 3, p. 69).

The topic of Christmas is described in three texts which are enriched with
three small pictures on the left, depicting the respective text holistically. Still,
seven symbols presented on the right are incorporated in the text in the state
writing, serving as the visual and verbal content. This figure can also be the
example of multiple image-language relations.
The category of projection is related to the image-language presentation
(verbal and mental as perception and cognition). Namely, the relation involves
a balance of verbal and visual content, quoting and reporting words or ideas
in a form of cartoons as it is depicted in Figure 6.
 Multimodality of Cultural Content… 119

Figure 6. Example of projection in CB2 (Quest 3, p. 69).

Young learners become here the viewers, listeners, and readers who are to
follow all multimodal aspects simultaneously. It is another example of multiple
image-language relations depicting multimodality of cultural content in ELT
materials.
120 Maria Stec…

Conclusions

Multimodality of the cultural content in English course books for YL has

been a new area of investigation. As the results show, ELT materials designed
for early education include a selection of the cultural topics mainly limited to
festivals and celebrations. They are presented in English course books with
diverse manifestation and representation. Each section of the cultural content
includes the core modes of image, language, sound, and music in different de-
gree. To start with the core mode of image and sound which form and deliver
the cultural details in the first years, to continue with more balanced use of
all core modes in the third grade. All the resources in their iconographic and
textual form spread meaning and values, stressing the connection between the
target language learning and culture learning (both home and Anglo-Saxon
one). A sensible approach is also advocated in terms of implementing and
developing various semantic resource and modes included in the cultural sec-
tions. The cultural content is experienced by YL as the readers and listeners,
who still develop perception, recognition, and comprehension at this stage of
education. They are very sensitive towards both visual and verbal input, which
leads to the intrinsic role of multimodality in their background.
The findings indicate challenges that can be faced in the evaluation of
image-language relations. It is linked with the expansion and projection of the
verbal and visual messages as well as possibilities applied in the construction
of their meaning. The amount, intensity, and character of the visual content
changes in English course books with regards to the age of learners. Its
role seems to decrease with the years of learning and abdicate in favor of
the verbal and written messages. The role and amount of the verbal content
provided in the cultural sections increase gradually in the subsequent series
of course books. However, the visual impact stimulates visual learning and
teaching to develop multiliteracies among learners. Consequently, it leads to
the increasing number of multimodal materials that can be designed in many
possible ways.
The selected course books were not evaluated in terms of the authors and
their nationality, which may be another factor for further materials evaluation.
It may have implications for the design of teaching materials produced for
the local or international market. It would be interesting for MDA to examine
other core modes (sound and music) and medial variants such as color in ELT
materials for YL. Recommendations for further work are also linked with the
evaluation of the image-language relations in terms of children’s perception
and reception as little or no attention is paid to the use of ELT materials by
YL. It would be interesting to assess the image-language impact on successful
early English acquisition in multicultural background. Another recommenda-
 Multimodality of Cultural Content… 121

tion refers to pre-service and in-service teacher education for the exploitation
of multimodal ELT materials and visual teaching in Polish context.

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Maria Stec

Multimodalität der Kulturinhalte im didaktischen Material

der englischen Sprache für Kinder

Zusammenfassung

Die Kulturinhalte treten im didaktischen Material auf, um dessen Sprachinhalte

zu bereichern. Der vorliegende Beitrag schildert didaktisches Material der englischen
Sprache als Kulturartefakte, indem er multimediale Analyse des Diskurses verwendet. Er
bezweckt, die wichtigsten Aspekte der Multimodalität in den, den integralen Bestandteil
der Englischlehrbücher für Kinder im Frühschulalter bildenden Kulturinhalten festzulegen.
Die Verfasserin versucht folgende Fragen zu beantworten: was für Modalität lassen die in
den Sprachlehrbüchern für Kleinkinder enthaltenen Kulturinhalte erkennen und wie sehen
die visuell-verbalen Beziehungen im Aufbau der Kulturinhalte aus. Das zur Analyse ver-
wendete Material stammte aus neun Lehrbüchern für Englischunterricht, die heutzutage
in polnischen Elementarschulen gebraucht werden. Die Beurteilung umfasste quantitative
und qualitative Analyse. In den Forschungen wurden ausgewählte universale Kriterien für
Inhalte, Multimodalität und Intermodalität angewandt. Die Verfasserin hofft darauf, dass
ihre Ergebnisse den Prozess der multimedialen Struktur der didaktischen Lehrmittel für
Englischunterricht verbessern und den Bedarf an weiterer Entwicklung der Fähigkeit, die
Bilder in multikultureller Bildung und im Frühschulbildungsstadium zu deuten, begründen
werden.

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