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The paper aims to evaluate how well senior high school English textbooks support the development of intercultural communicative competence.

April 4, 2026Open Access

An examination of senior high school English textbooks from the perspective of developing learners’ intercultural communicative competence

Key Points

The paper aims to evaluate how well senior high school English textbooks support the development of intercultural communicative competence.
Examined senior high school English textbooks approved by Japan's Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT).
Assessed features aligned with MEXT’s policy on intercultural competence.
Conducted a qualitative analysis of cultural content and communication skills in textbooks.
Identified gaps in the representation of cultural knowledge and intercultural skills in textbooks.
Outlined the necessity for textbooks to foster better communication skills and cultural understanding.
Proposed recommendations for improving textbook content to align more closely with MEXT's objectives.

Abstract

IntroductionIn the international community, people with diverse linguistic/cultural backgrounds communicate with each other in English; in general, possessing not only a high level of English proficiency but also intercultural communicative competence (ICC) makes it possible for them to establish a successful communication.ICC is composed of (1) cultural knowledge of one's own country and other countries, (2) respect for others and the attitude of thinking from another's perspective, and (3) the ability to recognize cultural differences to lessen misunderstandings (Byram, 2020, McKay, 2002).When a country, like Japan, wishes to foster successful intercultural communication in the international community, it is essential to implement language education that emphasizes the development of the above knowledge, attitudes, and ability; Japan has implemented an English language education policy by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT).In this policy, learners are encouraged to develop their ICC with following features: (1) good communication skills in English, (2) essential personal traits including positiveness, cooperativeness, and flexibility, and (3) a solid identity as Japanese and a good understanding of different cultures (MEXT, 2011).While the aforementioned MEXT language education policy has been established, it was not clear to what extent it was reflected in current English language education.In order to determine this, I chose to examine EFL textbooks which function as the main teaching materials for learning languages and cultures (Cortazzi in classrooms, teachers need to use the textbooks for MEXT's ICC policy to be implemented.This paper will examine locally published senior high school English textbooks approved by MEXT; I chose senior rather than junior high school textbooks as the senior high school

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