Deconstructing innercirclism: a critical exploration of multimodal discourse in an English as a foreign language textbook

Smith, Christopher A.

doi:10.1080/01596306.2021.1963212

Cited by 7 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…For example, Hino’s (1988) investigation of English language textbooks in Japan reflected a concept of native-speakerism supremacy ( Liu et al, 2022a ). A similar issue concerns innercirclism , which is thought of as a persistent narrative in the recent exploration of multimodal discourse in ELT textbooks ( Smith, 2021 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The cultural sustainability in English as foreign language textbooks: Investigating the cultural representations in English language textbooks in China for senior middle school students

Liu

Zhang

2022

Front. Psychol.

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In the age of globalization, studies of cultural representations in foreign language textbooks take account of cultural sustainability. This article reports on a case study of cultural representations in two English language textbook series that are widely used in senior high schools in China. The study investigated whether the cultural representations in these textbooks contribute to the development of local cultural sustainability. Content analysis was employed to examine the texts used in these textbooks, with references to the synergy of the theoretical frameworks of cultural sustainability and world Englishes. The study results indicate that there is an imbalanced cultural representation with respect to the categories of international cultures and national culture in these textbooks. The results point to the cultures of the inner circle countries (BANA: Britain, Australasia, and North America) being predominant, while the representation of Chinese culture has a low profile. As these textbooks are an important learning and teaching resource in China, they have the potential to play a significant role in influencing learners’ worldviews as they develop their understanding of different cultures. The imbalanced presentation of culture may in turn lead to a biased worldview where learners, rather appreciating cultural diversity, may instead discriminate against certain cultures. The implications for redressing the imbalance in cultural representation and cultural sustainability are discussed.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The cultural sustainability in English as foreign language textbooks: Investigating the cultural representations in English language textbooks in China for senior middle school students

Liu

Zhang

2022

Front. Psychol.

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“…The imposition of the target culture in EFL texts does not represent their local and national beliefs and stereotypes or allow them to play the role of "social actor," which would promote nationality in a bicultural or multicultural setting (Abdullah & Lulita, 2018). Smith (2023) demonstrates that inner-circle dominant perspective and othering prevail over six units of lessons in a well-known, widely used EFL textbook.…”

Section: Ignorance Of Intercultural Competencementioning

confidence: 99%

Representation of National Identity and Culture in the Saudi EFL Textbook Series Mega Goal: A Critical Discourse Analysis

Alzubi

Al-Mwzaiji

Nazim

2023

IJLTER

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National identity and culture are crucial concerns in the context of second language acquisition. This is because language plays a vital role in the formation of the same. Previous studies have shown that studying English encourages learners to adopt Anglo-American culture, as textbooks have prioritized the target culture at the expense of the local/source culture in language learning in which a balanced approach could have been instrumental in the context of international and multicultural interaction. In the Saudi English as a foreign language (EFL) context, the cultural investigation of textbooks is a necessity as they are designed by educators from the target culture. Hence, the present study investigates the nature and extent of national identity and cultural representation in the Mega Goal textbook series. The investigation follows Fairclough’s model of critical discourse analysis (CDA). Data are analyzed using Byram’s model of the textual evaluation of cultural contents and further categorized using Chao’s model of analysing cultural identity. The results and discussion are divided into three segments: description, interpretation, and explication. The study finds that the Mega Goal series underrepresents the local/source culture by excluding the cultural components necessary for the awareness and representation of national identity in the context of international and multicultural interaction.

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“…While the language textbook research worldwide has built up a body of work problematizing the issues of gender and sexuality (e.g., Gupta and Lee, 1990 ; Stubbs, 1996 ; Ndura, 2004 ; Lee and Collins, 2010 ; Lee, 2014 ), political reinforcement (e.g., Liu, 2005a , b ; Schneer, 2007 ; Gulliver, 2010 ; Xiong and Qian, 2012 ; Smith, 2021 ), and ethnic and racial stereotypes (e.g., Altbach, 1992 ; Koller and Mautner, 2004 ; Curdt-Christiansen, 2008 ; Hong and He, 2015 ; Tajeddin and Teimournezhad, 2015 ), the research on religious semantic domains in EFL/ESL textbooks is rarely found. The present study is designed to investigate whether the textbooks in question contain Western religion content, and if so, the study then delves into the religious semantic domains to see how the religion beliefs are presented.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Corpus Linguistics Approach to the Representation of Western Religious Beliefs in Ten Series of Chinese University English Language Teaching Textbooks

Liu

Zhang

2022

Front. Psychol.

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The early Sino-Western contact was through the way in which religion and language interact to produce language contact. However, research on this contact is relatively limited to date, particularly in the realm of English language materials. In fact, there is a paucity of research on Western religions in English Language Teaching (ELT) textbooks. By applying corpus linguistics as a tool and the Critical Discourse Analysis as the theoretical framework, this manuscript critically investigates the significant semantic domains in ten English language textbook series that are officially approved and are widely used in Chinese universities. The findings suggest that various Western religious beliefs, which are the highly unusual topics in previous Chinese ELT textbooks, are represented in the textbook corpus. The results also show that when presenting the views and attitudes toward Western religious beliefs, these textbooks have adopted an eclectic approach to the material selection. Surprisingly, positive semantic prosody surrounding the concept of religion is evident and no consistent negative authorial stance toward religion is captured. Atheism has been assumed to be in the center of Chinese intellectual traditions and the essence of the Constitution of the Chinese Communist Party. Interestingly, the findings from this study provide a new understanding of Chinese foreign language textbooks in the new era, and its addition to the literature on the study of ELT textbooks, as well as its development worldwide.

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Deconstructing innercirclism: a critical exploration of multimodal discourse in an English as a foreign language textbook

Cited by 7 publications

References 42 publications

The cultural sustainability in English as foreign language textbooks: Investigating the cultural representations in English language textbooks in China for senior middle school students

The cultural sustainability in English as foreign language textbooks: Investigating the cultural representations in English language textbooks in China for senior middle school students

Representation of National Identity and Culture in the Saudi EFL Textbook Series Mega Goal: A Critical Discourse Analysis

A Corpus Linguistics Approach to the Representation of Western Religious Beliefs in Ten Series of Chinese University English Language Teaching Textbooks

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