An abc of the relationship between ideologies and ELT textbooks.

1. University of Caldas
Master’s program in English didactics
Ideologies in the imported English textbooks
Yamith José Fandiño
teacheryamith@gmail.com

2. 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.

3. Ideologies in the Imported English
Textbooks (Abdollahzadeh &
Baniasad, 2010)

4. Ideologies in the Imported English
Textbooks (Abdollahzadeh &
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

5. Ideologies in the Imported English
Textbooks (Abdollahzadeh &
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.

6. Ideologies in the Imported English
Textbooks (Abdollahzadeh &
Baniasad, 2010)
EFL TEXTBOOKS AND IDEOLOGY
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.

7. Ideologies in the Imported English
Textbooks (Abdollahzadeh &
Baniasad, 2010)
EFL TEXTBOOKS AND IDEOLOGY
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.

8. Ideologies in the Imported English
Textbooks (Abdollahzadeh &
Baniasad, 2010)
EFL TEXTBOOKS AND IDEOLOGY
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.

9. 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?

10. 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.