Subverting the Electronic Language Textbook to Make it Relevant

Abstract

The current article was inspired by two incongruous phenomena: the perception of the lack of gender sensitivity and inclusiveness in a particular language textbook and the coronavirus disease pandemic. As we went completely remote over the past 2.5 semesters, students were encouraged to address those issues via chat and voice modalities. If there is a silver lining to the tragic events of the past 15 months, it was that remote, synchronous discussion was vastly more participatory than in-class discussion with regard to those and other issues. I argue that, in designing our textbook-dependent courses, we can use such deficiencies to our advantage through some of the tools that many of us were introduced to during the pandemic.

Analysis of the Narratives with Characters That Make Ethnic Diversity Visible—Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir

“…In this regard, it is considered that the models of cultural diversity present in the Ladybug series operate as educational instruments that can benefit the assimilation of different groups and realities [48], and, at the same time, maintain an idea of an Anglo-Saxon heteronormative society. On one hand, these media narratives can benefit the promotion of discourses of inclusion and acceptance of the diversity of identities [49][50][51][52][53]. On the other hand, these stories can transmit values, meanings, ideas and roles that can negatively impact the construction of identity [10][11][12] and serve as guidelines or examples of how to interact with other communities and what to expect from them.…”