중학교 영어 교과서 사진 및 삽화 인물의 문화적 편향성: 과거와 현재

Abstract

This research examines the cultural representations of race, gender and social status in pictures/illustrations found in Korean Middle School English textbooks. It is commonly believed that the textbook in the language classroom plays an important role as an ambassador to introduce the target culture to EFL students. However, many secondary English teachers and students in Korea complain that the cultural content of Korean Middle School textbooks is severely biased not reflecting the diverse nature of speakers of English today. To investigate the cultural aspects on the characteristics of the people in the textbooks, the researcher conducted an exploratory study on the pictures/illustrations from 13 Middle School English textbooks: eight from the 7th National Curriculum and five from the 2009 Reformed Curriculum, focusing on to what extent they represent the population of the target culture. While English textbooks today tend to have better statistics than those from the past, this research finds that Korean Middle School English textbooks in general have several issues regarding cultural bias; for instance, the majority of the people from the pictures/illustrations are either Korean or White American leaving extremely few places for other races, and more male characters are presented than female ones. In addition, Black people tend to be stereotyped as either athletic or low level workers while Korean and White American male characters possess the majority of the decent white-collar jobs (228 words).