Contextualising teaching EIL in the Expanding Circle-East Asian region: a comparative analysis of junior secondary English textbooks in Taiwan and Japan

Abstract

ABSTRACT This comparative study examines how English as an international language (EIL) is framed in two Expanding Circle-East Asian (ECEA) educational contextsTaiwan and Japan). It employs the paradigmatic lens of EIL and ‘official knowledge’ as conceptual tools to interpret knowledge, culture, and belief represented in English textbooks. Four series of junior secondary English textbooks in Taiwan and Japan were examined through qualitative content analysis. Findings were discussed in terms of, firstly, different EIL planning mentalities of the international and intercultural contents; secondly, (un)institutionalised EIL within the curriculum policy contexts; thirdly, the assertion of national identities in school English textbooks. The discussion contributed to understanding how teaching EIL in schools in the ECEA region was conditioned bythe national curriculum traditions. In addition to expanding the theoreticalaspects of EIL studies in school education in East Asia, the study providessuggestions for developing the EIL curriculum in a local-sensitive way.