The study investigated ten Korean secondary English teachers’ views on to what extent core competencies were reflected in textbooks using 18 Likert-type statements. This study also examined their views on how well cultural contents and activities met curricular objectives of teaching culture through open-ended questions and interviews. Results showed that the three items on civic competence had lower means except for the one on ethical use of information collected in class. Teachers replied that tasks for each grade were deficient in helping students feel proud of their own culture and developing positive attitudes toward other cultures. They thought that current cultural contents lacked diversity despite positive improvements in including other cultures over the years and possibility of meeting curricular goals. Consequently, they made various efforts to offer appropriate culture teaching using additional materials and/or activities with diverse teaching strategies and techniques. Some implications are drawn from these results for better culture teaching.

1. INTRODUCTION
2. REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE
    2.1. Culture Learning in ELT
    2.2. Competency-Based Education
    2.3. Previous Studies on Core Competency English Textbooks
3. METHODS
    3.1. Selection of Textbooks with Culture Activity Sections
    3.2. Participants for Checklist on Core Competencies
    3.3. Checklist for Core Competencies
    3.4. Open-Ended Questions and In-Depth Interviews
    3.5. Data Analysis
4. RESULTS
    4.1. Extent of Reflecting CC in Cultural Activities
    4.2. Teachers’ Views on and Importance of Culture Teaching
    4.3. Teachers’ Views on Extent of Enhancing Learners’ Civic Competence
5. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION
REFERENCES

• Ji Eun Kong(Graduate Student, Department of British-American Language & Culture, Kyung Hee University)
• Kiwan Sung(Professor, Department of British-American Language & Culture, Kyung Hee University) Corresponding author