The place of culture in Algerian ELT designed textbooks: A historical perspective

The present study examines how and which culture is designed in Algerian ELT textbooks, through a literature review. More specifically, this research is an outline of cultural components used in the ELT textbooks before and after the recent Algerian Educational Reforms. The current study further scrutinizes how the contact of cultures (source and target), which was previously considered a negative aspect in ELT settings since it could lead to cultural hostility, is heavily introduced in the current textbooks as a way to build up the learners' cross-cultural awareness. Throughout this review, it has been revealed that within the recently conducted educational reforms, the representations of the Self (learners’ local culture) and the Other (Foreign language culture) are carefully selected and introduced in the EFL textbooks to develop learners’ intercultural competence.