The power of language in textbooks: shaping futures, shaping identities

Abstract

This article examines secondary school textbooks used in one province of Pakistan to explore how particular political and religious beliefs are embedded in the texts used to teach the English language. The article shows how the authors of these textbooks change the discursive practices of global English to suit their own purposes. In particular, the article discusses how the authors appropriate the genre structure of biographical texts and adapt lexico-grammatical resources for identity management. An appropriation of the language in the textbooks, the article argues, curtails students’ access to the linguistic or semiotic tools that are needed to read and engage with other globally oriented texts. This may impact students’ views of the world as well as limit their ability to understand and appreciate alternative perspectives.