Representation of Nigerian Arts and Culture in the Reading Comprehension Passages of a Primary Five English Textbook: A Qualitative Content Analysis

Abstract

Every society is culturally rooted, and its culture is transmitted from one generation to the next. Reading comprehension passages are one channel through which this cultural heritage can reach young learners. This study examined how Nigerian arts and culture are represented in the 30 comprehension passages of Nigeria Primary English Pupils’ Book 5, an English textbook for Primary Five. Using directed qualitative content analysis guided by schema theory, each passage was screened against explicit inclusion criteria and the included passages were coded for cultural category, cultural origin, depth of representation and pedagogical potential. Only six of the 30 passages (20%) contained arts or cultural content. These passages represented natural heritage (the tropical rainforest), cultural practices (communal living, leadership and ceremonies), material culture (tools, jewellery and rock painting) and verbal arts (a praise poem, an etiological folktale and a proverb-like poem). However, most of this content was either global rather than Nigerian-specific or presented without reference to its cultural source, and no passage explicitly represented Nigeria’s ethnic diversity. Food, dress, festivals, naming and initiation rites, religion and crafts production were absent. The study recommends that textbook authors include more passages rooted in identifiable Nigerian cultural traditions and that teachers use existing passages deliberately to activate pupils’ cultural schemata.