DEEP LEARNING: A Handbook For English Language Teachers | 137 Chapter 14: Maximizing Deep Learning with Culturally-Based ELT Materials Rohmatul Fitriyah Dewi (Central China Normal University/ Institut Teknologi dan Bisnis Ahmad Dahlan Lamongan) rohmatulfitriyahdewi@mails.ccnu.edu.cn A. INTRODUCTION Deep learning in teaching English as a foreign language encompasses more than just grammatical rules (Imran et al., 2024) and vocabulary lists (Guo et al., 2021), including critical thinking, language comprehension, and the ability to apply learned knowledge (Zhou & Thomas, 2025). However, great barriers remain in the materials that present dispersed language as a kind that can somehow stand on its own, devoid of the lived experiences and worldviews that the language conveys. Recent research in applied linguistics and critical pedagogy suggests that such a separation is fundamentally flawed. Kramsch (2020) stated that the relationship of language towards culture is inseparable; language is not only a code but also a social practice in which human experience is meaningful. If the materials that teachers use do not recognize intercultural content, they can create mindless basic engagement in teaching practices (Lee, 2023). Moreover, the students can learn about the language without learning how to live in it. Kim (2020) confirms that they can also engage in deep cognitive and affective processing towards eventual mastery. The inclusion of culturally based and culturally responsive materials plays an important role in implementing deep learning (Matiso, 2024). The theory of culturally sustaining pedagogy aims to merge linguistic and cultural pluralism (Alim et al., 2020; Howard, 2021). Teachers may arrange the teaching of language by