ideology and textbooks

University of CaldasMaster’s program in English didactics

Ideologies in the imported English textbooks

Yamith José Fandiñ[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

Selecting a coursebook: theory and practice (Tsiplakides, 2011)

…at a time when “the ELT market is inundated with state-of-the-art coursebooks teaching modern-day English” (Illes, 2009, p. 145), English teachers often have a difficult time selecting an appropriate coursebook that will suit the needs of their students and is in accordance with the curriculum. Researchers have supported the view that “the selection of a coursebook signals an executive educational decision in which there is considerable professional, financial and even political investment” (Sheldon, 1988, p. 237).

Why do we need coursebooks?

What advantages do coursebooks have?

What disadvantages do coursebooks have?

• Presentation material• A source of activities• A reference source• A syllabus• Self-learning or self-

access work• Support for less

experienced Ts

• Psychologically indispensable for Ss

• Credibility for Ss• Sensitive to Ss’ needs• Resource for self-

directed learning• Structure and syllabus

• Not flexible and usually author biased

• Social and cultural biases• Contrived and artificial • Prevent teachers’ creativity• T’s role is undermined.

Ideologies in the Imported English Textbooks (Abdollahzadeh &

Baniasad, 2010)


Baniasad, 2010)• Historical constructs with a political process at their

center (Joseph, 2006).

• Social entity both a site of and a stake in struggles of power (Fairclough, 1989).

Language

• Language learning is a political and ideological process… language is a marker of ideology.

• language ideologies are the cultural system of ideas about social and linguistic relationships, together with their loading of moral and political interests.

• Textbooks are parts of a system enforcing a sense of responsibility, morality, and cultural coherence…Neither a book nor its knowledge is neutral or interest-free.

Ideology


Baniasad, 2010)EFL TEXTBOOKS AND IDEOLOGY

• Consumerism: introducing entertainment, fashion, shopping, and technology.

• Hegemony: conscious efforts on native speakers to teach L2 in order to transmit their ideologies and beliefs to speakers of other languages (superiority of English, superiority of USA)

• Sexism: the dominance or superiority of one gender over another.

• Racism: the superiority of one group over the others.

• Cultural stereotypes: conventionalized ways of talking and thinking about other people and cultures.

• Language/linguistic attitude: a disposition to respond favorably or unfavorably to certain aspects of a particular language.



Knowing that language is ideology-laden and textbook publication is not interest-free, it is useful to analyze what ideological patterns are used by material developers when developing the textbooks for English learners.

It is also useful to investigate the extent to which teachers are aware of the ideological patterns in these textbooks.

Awareness of these ideologies by language instructors and their attitudes towards them can have a significant impact on their instructional decisions and the teaching of culture in the classroom.

Content analysis and pictorial analysis can be used to discover ideologies. Content analysis deals with examining the content of conversations, texts, articles, and readings and searching for ideologies inserted in them. Pictorial analysis consists of examining the ideologies presented through pictures.



By looking at the frequency of ideologies in the textbooks, one can see that the hegemony of English, sexism, consumerism, and cultural stereotypes are strongly promoted in imported textbooks.

Hegemony is depicted through superiority of US/UK, English people, English culture, English artists, and English customs.

One of the aspects of sexism is the omission of strong female roles in textbooks: scientists, academics, executives, etc. Another aspect of sexism is the roles specified for the sexes in the textbooks: well-paid and prestigious jobs are assigned to males, while some dull or superfluous jobs are given to female characters.

The construction of cultural stereotypes and trivialization of content are also significantly present in textbooks. Mostly positive customs and frivolous topics are discussed. To the reader’s eye, American and British societies can be ideal cultures.



Most teachers are aware of the ideologies in the internationally produced textbooks. However, they do not convey their awareness to the learners systematically and explicitly. It is expected that they should make the students aware that learning a language is not only its grammar but a system of communication to share ideas, values, a system that can be used to influence people’s thinking.

Awareness of the influence of the culture of a dominant language is necessary because a long-term ideological influence may lead to a loss of confidence in the values of the less dominant language and culture.

Ideologies in the Imported English Textbooks (Abdollahzadeh & Baniasad,

2010)Questions

1. What kinds of ideologies are promoted through the textbook series imported and used in Colombia?

2. To what extent would you say Colombian teachers are aware of the ideologies within these textbooks? Why is this so?

3. Do you think there are differences between the attitudes of language learners in high schools with those of the learners in institutes towards English language and culture? If so, which ones?

References

Abdollahzadeh, E., & Baniasad, S. (2010). Ideologies in the imported English textbooks: EFL learners and teachers' awareness and attitude. Journal of English Language Teaching and Learning, 53(217), 1-17.

Tsiplakides, I. (2011). Selecting an English Coursebook: Theory and. Practice. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 1(7), 758-764.

ideology and textbooks

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