Vietnamese cultural conceptualisations in the locally developed English textbook: A case study of ‘lunar new year’/‘tet’

Culture representation in English language teaching (ELT) materials has grown as one of the prominent areas of research. This study employed Cultural Linguistics to analyse a reading section – both text and visual – in unit 8 of English 11 that is locally developed for Vietnamese high school students of grade 11 for analysis. The study shows that the unit captures the Vietnamese cultural conceptualizations of Lunar New Year/ Tet as an event for reunion, joy, hopes and rebirth of plants, animals and relationships, correspondent with what has been described in Vietnamese cultural studies. With the evidence of the Lunar New Year depicted in the local textbook connected to the notion of Tet in Vietnam, it lays the first foundation for Vietnamese English with its cultural conceptualizations reflected in the local ELT material. As for implications, the authors would like to propose the effectiveness of Cultural Linguistics in ELT and Vietnamese English.