Multicultural content in English language teaching textbooks: The case of the Vision and Top Notch series.

This article examines and compares the multicultural content of two widely used English Language Teaching (ELT) textbook series in Iran: the locally developed Vision series and the internationally published American ESL series Top Notch. Using interpretive content analysis based on Gómez Rodríguez's framework distinguishing surface culture (observable elements) and deep culture (underlying sociocultural norms and values), the study finds that the Vision series presents limited cultural elements focused mainly on Iranian (local) culture and lacks sufficient representation of international and deep cultural content. In contrast, the Top Notch series offers a broader and more diverse range of international cultural elements at both surface and deep levels, thus providing greater potential for developing learners' intercultural communicative competence (ICC). Both series, however, predominantly emphasize surface culture, indicating a need for enhanced integration of deep cultural content to better support multicultural education and intercultural communication in ELT contexts.