Abstarct: Abstract In the realm of the English language, teaching/learning textbooks are one of the language teaching materials which are of paramount importance as resources for teachers in supporting students in their learning process. In recent years many important issues have been indicated throughout the English Language Teaching (ELT) profession on the quality of ELT textbooks in the world, including their practicality and design, validity in terms of methodology, the role of textbooks in enhancing creativity, the authenticity and appropriateness of materials in terms of their representation of subject matter, and cultural components. Given this, this study intends to explore the EFL foreign textbooks in terms of the differences in cultural elements from the perception of Iranian EFL high school students following grounded theory principles. To this end, 15 high school students or graduates were selected through purposeful sampling, and their perceptions were investigated using semi-structured interviews. Theoretical sampling was conducted in two phases while data were coded through the constant comparison method of Corbin and Strauss (2008). Three main categories were elicited through axial coding, including 1) different social relationships, 2) different national values, and 3) different characters' features. In light of the findings, it is realized that there may be an essential need for the prescribed EEL textbooks to be modified by the Iranian syllabus designers and developers. In revising the textbooks, target cultural elements should be retained, and the shortcomings should be eliminated. It is suggested that textbook authors pay close attention to these shortcomings and redesign the textbooks in line with how learners perceive the culture.