English As A Foreign Language Textbooks Research Articles

Green English Language Teaching and EFL Textbooks: Fostering Environmental Consciousness in Language Education

Eco-consciousness logically demands that greater focus needs to be placed on fostering such awareness through education. Language education provides great opportunities to integrate and develop environmental consciousness. This research paper investigates the possibility and the necessity for integration of environmental consciousness into English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teaching practices and textbooks, aiming to contribute to the growing field of Green English Language Teaching (GELT). For the purpose of this study, 16 EFL textbooks were analyzed to identify the extent of environmental content and propose strategies for enhancing eco-awareness within language classrooms and then, a mixed method survey was conducted among EFL teachers to understand their perception and aptitude towards the principles of GELT and their implementation in language classrooms. This paper explores the potential impact of incorporating environmental themes and sustainable practices into language education, examining the benefits, challenges, and implications for educators, learners, and textbook developers.

The Historical Development of Writing Instruction in an EFL Context: The Effect of Culture, Religion, Experience, and Globalization

Due to the growing importance of English as a foreign language (EFL) writing and its teaching, this study aims to understand how EFL writing instruction has developed in Saudi Arabia. Aside from its historical development, this study also aims to investigate features and practices associated with teaching EFL writing over time using two qualitative methods: 1) semi-structured interviews with 11 expert educators from Saudi Arabia, and 2) Qualitative Content Analysis of the pre-existing body of content related to teaching EFL writing in Saudi Arabia. Clarke and Braun’s reflexive thematic analysis using MAXQDA software was used to analyse the interviews, while Roller and Lavrakas’ Total Quality Framework using Excel Worksheets was used to analyse the qualitative content. It was found that teaching EFL writing in Saudi Arabia has undergone three periods of historical development, each with their own various features and practices. The study can contribute to existing research on EFL writing instruction in general, and in Saudi Arabia in particular. Moreover, the study provides a focus for evaluating the difference between actual teaching and learning practices, and the outcomes expected from the EFL textbooks. This can help teachers and policy makers in implementing and designing more useful EFL learning approaches.

Critical literacy in an indigenous elementary EFL classroom

The purpose of this study was to examine what happens when indigenous students, in a Grade 6 class in rural Taiwan, critically examine EFL textbooks. Without a critical reading of textbook content, indigenous students are unable to examine unfavorable mainstream position. However, there are few English as a Foreign Language (EFL) studies on a critical literacy approach involving indigenous students. Data collected include observations and transcripts of critical literacy teaching, participants’ artifacts, responses to questionnaires, interviews, and the researcher's reflection journal. The findings show that critical literacy classes can empower indigenous students by providing alternative ways for them to view the world and lead them to discern norms and “silenced voices” in EFL textbooks, and to “cross borders” by noticing and addressing sociopolitical power, thereby repositioning their own identities. The study extends the knowledge in knowing how critical literacy work for indigenous group and gives suggestions to EFL teachers.

Critical Pedagogy: Investigating Critical Thinking Skills and Active Citizenship through Discourse Analysis in a Moroccan EFL Textbook

Critical pedagogy is an educational philosophy that aims to empower individuals and promote significant societal change. Paulo Freire emphasized the importance of using a dialogic approach as a teaching method to increase students' understanding of social issues by exposing them to difficult learning situations. Through this process, students cultivate their creativity, capacity for problem-solving, sociological consciousness, and advanced cognitive abilities. Therefore, curriculum designers should integrate pedagogical practices that conform to the identical standards of teacher-student rapport. This allows students to forge connections with the world and engage in a critical examination of it. Furthermore, it assists individuals in analyzing and assessing the information they acquire, whether it is communicated consciously or unconsciously, in relation to the social interactions and propaganda they encounter. This study aims to examine the extent to which Ticket to English 2, a designated Moroccan English as a Foreign Language (EFL) textbook, enhances students' critical thinking skills and encourages active citizenship in society. The analysis was carried out using progressive and critical discourse analysis, employing Fairclough's dimensions as a potential framework.

Gender Representation in Children’s EFL Textbooks: A Comparison between Private Primary Schools and Language Centers in Fes

It is commonly assumed that the social and cultural values of societies are always ingrained in their educational systems, particularly in teaching and learning materials. Textbooks are one of the materials in which gender stereotypes have been documented worldwide. In the Moroccan context, children's EFL (English as a foreign language) textbooks used in primary schools may transmit typical patterns and discriminatory images about gender, which perpetuate more gender disparities. To this end, this research aims to determine the way gender is depicted in four EFL textbooks for the 4th grade published between 2012 and 2020 in Morocco. It also tends to exhibit the major differences between EFL textbooks used at language centers (Super Minds 4 and Let’s Go 4) and private primary schools (English Pass Pack 4 and Passport to English 4). The research is conducted both qualitatively and quantitatively. The results of this study show that there are equal gender representations in EFL textbooks used at language centers compared to textbooks used at primary schools in terms of nouns and proper names, pronouns, non-human character representations, and roles associated with males and females.

A comparative study of gender representation in junior high school EFL textbooks of Hong Kong and Japan

This study aims to investigate the representation of gender and the presence of male dominance in spoken discourse in two selected English Language textbooks for junior high school year one students: Longman English EDGE (2nd Edition) 1A and 1B in Hong Kong, and New Horizon: English Course Book 1 in Japan, respectively. This research employs both qualitative and quantitative analyses to examine the content of dialogues in each unit. Key areas of analysis include the number of domestic and occupational roles assigned to male, female, and gender-neutral characters, the range of activities undertaken by these characters, the character initiating conversations, the occurrence of males, females and gender-neutral characters in dialogues, and the number of spoken words and turns by them. The findings indicated an improvement in gender equality in both textbooks in various aspects, compared with other earlier textbooks which were examined by other researchers (Lee & Collins, 2008, 2010; Lee, 2018). In terms of role allocation and activities, a relatively balanced representation of male and female characters was observed. Female characters demonstrated a higher frequency of initiating conversations and taking turns. The average number of words spoken per turn by male and female characters was similar in the LE1A and LE1B textbooks, but male characters still spoke more per turn in NH1 textbook despite female characters taking more turns. Moreover, LE1A and LE1B employed gender-neutral names to mitigate gender stereotypes but gender-neutral names were not utilized in the Japanese textbook, despite the author’s effort to achieve gender equality. Considering these findings, this study reveals that male characters were underrepresented in the textbooks in Hong Kong and suggests that it is crucial to enhance gender awareness among English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers, provide explicit gender-sensitive instruction, and establish specific guidelines by educational authorities to assist textbook authors in creating gender-inclusive educational materials.

LINGUISTIC LANDSCAPE PORTRAYED IN INDONESIAN EFL TEXTBOOKS: A DESCRIPTIVE STUDY

This research examines the linguistic landscape within 4 (four) English as a Foreign Language (EFL) textbooks in Indonesia, employing Cenoz and Gorter's theoretical framework. The primary objectives of this study are to categorize the various linguistic landscape elements present in Indonesian EFL textbooks and provide a comprehensive description of the characteristics of these linguistic landscapes. The analysis was conducted through a descriptive qualitative methodology, focusing on linguistic landscape items within EFL textbooks used in Grades I, II, IV, and V, comprising a total of 116 images. These items encompassed monolingual, bilingual, and multilingual components. Specifically, 100 images featured English-only elements, establishing English as the dominant language in these instances, while 3 images were exclusively in Bahasa Indonesia, 1 in Arabic, and 12 incorporated both English and Indonesian. Including these linguistic elements is intended to familiarize students with English sentence structures in the textbooks, as English holds a prominent status as an international language.

Analysing Finnish primary EFL textbooks through a Bangladeshi lens

A closer examination of Finland’s exceptional educational achievement reveals that the country’s education system bears fruit from a concerted effort that places a premium on textbooks. With Bangladesh’s predominance of textbook-based methods, their Finnish counterparts appear critical in determining how textbooks can be bettered in offering young learners a more effective teaching-learning experience. This qualitative study applied deductive content analysis to examine five Finnish primary English as a foreign language (EFL) textbooks through a Bangladeshi lens. The analysis found that the textbooks in Finland used their native language, Finnish, to impart narrative-driven multimodal action-based English content as well as exercises. A highly visually rich textbook design accommodatively allowed different English learning approaches to merge with the Finnish teachers’ autonomous method of instruction. Though the size of the content and exercises are upwardly voluminous, they are presented in a way that comes across as very appealing to the children. The study also advises avenues Bangladeshi EFL textbooks should explore. Teacher’s World: Journal of Education and Research, Vol. 48(2), Dec 2022, p.83-101

Developing Pedagogical Applications for Teaching Politeness Strategies in Advanced English as a Foreign Language Classrooms

The field of English as a foreign language (EFL) strives to promote students' proficiency by equipping them with proper grammatical and lexical skills. However, EFL textbooks often neglect the teaching of pragmatics which can lead to cross-cultural communication failures for EFL learners. EFL learners often struggle with traditional language teaching approaches that prioritize grammatical development over pragmatic skills. This paper aims to address this gap by focusing on promoting the use of politeness strategies among EFL learners in cross-cultural communication, particularly in email correspondences with college professors. The proposed teaching activities are based on the Linguistic Theory of Politeness and the 3Ds framework within the context of the Communicative Repertoire Approach. This paper aims to assist advanced EFL learners in effectively employing politeness strategies when writing email requests to college professors, by offering practical pedagogical applications that enhance EFL learners' ability to express their communicative intentions clearly and avoid any potential misunderstanding or misinterpretation by their college professors.

Meaning in EFL textbooks delivered to Chilean public schools: knowledge construction from a Systemic Functional approach

This study examines the knowledge built through the 1st and 2nd-grade English as a Foreign Language (EFL) textbooks used in Chilean public schools. From a linguistic perspective, knowledge is addressed as meaning, developed through the selection of linguistic resources that a given language offers. Textbooks are fundamental in teaching and learning a foreign language, because they provide a great part of these resources; consequently, it is essential to understand how meaning begins to be built and develops through the curriculum. With that aim, with a mixed-method approach and from a Systemic Functional Linguistics perspective, we examined the lexical resources employed in textbooks that contribute to the construction of meaning. We conducted discourse analysis to identify the relations among lexical items and the kind of knowledge they build. Corpus analysis was used to estimate how lexical complexity increases from one level to the next. We found that the two books build commonsense knowledge, corresponding to what children know about the world in their mother tongue. We also found that lexical complexity increases from one book to the other, thus enlarging learners’ repertoire of words in English.

CULTURE AND GENDER REPRESENTATION IN VISUAL AND VERBAL TEXTS: AN ANALYSIS OF NATIONALLY ENDORSED INDONESIAN EFL TEXTBOOKS FOR UPPER SECONDARY STUDENTS

This study aimed to analyze the representation of culture and gender in visual and verbal texts in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) textbooks used by upper secondary school students. A content analysis was conducted on three EFL textbooks for upper secondary school students, using Xiao's (2010) framework to guide the analysis of culture “small-c”representation, and Brugeilles and Cromer's (2009) study to examine gender character according to their roles portrayed in the textbooks. The findings revealed that the highest number of visual illustrations was predominantly presented in the lifestyle aspect, followed by customs, values, holidays, hobbies, and food. It was also observed that gender representation was equally represented in the verbal text, but not proportionally in the visuals. The findings indicate that culture and gender awareness among students could be improved if textbooks provided a more balanced representation of various cultures encompassing source culture, target culture, and international target culture, and paid more attention to the equal treatment of genders.

Conflicting understandings of multicultural society, global world, and English: Multimodal content analysis of 5 Korean elementary EFL textbooks

ABSTRACT In response to becoming a more multicultural society, the South Korean Ministry of Education has implemented a multicultural education policy since 2006 by promoting English as key for young learners’ communicative competence in a global world. Despite numerous previous studies on government-led curriculum and textbooks for English as a foreign language (EFL) across many countries, little attention has been given to the cultural and linguistic aspects of primary-level EFL textbooks. Within the framework of intercultural communicative competence (ICC), this study investigated multicultural understandings, social values, and beliefs embedded in the reading passages of five Korean Grade 6 EFL textbooks. By employing multimodal content analysis, it also scrutinized what messages and meanings are constructed with semiotic devices and the extent of the textbooks to foster EFL students’ ICC. Findings revealed that the textbooks (re)produce national pride and otherness and promote the idea of English for a White global world. The lack of interactive communication events in diverse settings was also found problematic in developing students’ new identities as global citizens. The study argues for critical approaches to multicultural education and intercultural development in EFL education by reconceptualizing English as a mediator for developing intercultural contact with diverse others.

Gender Stereotypes in Moroccan EFL Textbooks’ Illustrations: Content and Critical Image Analysis

Textbooks have always been influential in transmitting knowledge and values in modern education systems. However, they may transmit various gender-based stereotyped roles that could negatively affect learners in shaping their worldview. Accordingly, this study investigates gender stereotypes in the visual discourse of one English as a Foreign Language (EFL) textbook currently used in Moroccan secondary schools. It does so by looking at male/female appearance in the textbook illustrations. It also considers gender differences in occupations and roles. Moreover, the study employs a qualitative critical image analysis to selected images based on Giaschi’s (2000) model analysis. To this end, the research comprises quantitative content analysis and qualitative critical image analysis. The findings show less visibility of female characters in illustrations, ascribing them to gender-based traditional occupations and subordinate roles. Besides, the qualitative critical image analysis reveals that women still suffer from misrepresentation by depicting them as dependent, submissive, and needing help. The study contains, in the end, recommendations for promoting gender equality through textbooks in Morocco.

Thinking queer with Vietnamese EFL textbooks

ABSTRACT Queer is an inclusive term that embraces Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ+), among other sexual identities. Thinking queer examines how fixed meanings or knowledge, or a particular image or identity, can be challenged, unfixed, unlearned, inquired, and placed into new learnings and understandings. In this paper, we think queer together with terms, images, and dialogs in Vietnamese English as a Foreign Language (EFL) textbooks. We adapted the Critical Visual Discourse Analysis (CVDA) and methods of critique to guide our thinking with the two questions: 1) How are gender roles represented in Vietnamese EFL textbooks? and 2) Are there queer terms, images, dialogs represented in Vietnamese EFL textbooks? If so, how are they depicted? The findings revealed biases in gender roles and invisibility of queer representations. We conclude by offering pedagogical implications for future studies.

The ideological underpinnings in university English textbooks in China: A critical discourse analysis and corpus linguistics approach

ABSTRACT China has had an ambivalent policy for the learning and teaching of English as a foreign language (EFL) over much of its history. The explicit and implicit implementation of language policy has had a significant impact on the content of EFL textbooks and the ideologies underlying them. However, studies exploring such ideologies remain sensitive areas in which little work has been done to date. By applying a combination of critical discourse analysis and a corpus linguistics approach, this paper critically investigates the ideological underpinnings embedded in 10 current English language textbook series that are officially approved and widely used in Chinese universities. Results show that the significantly overused semantic domains are ‘Education in general’, Science and technology, and ‘Language, speech and grammar’, and the most underused concepts are ‘Politics’, ‘Warfare’, and ‘Government’. Unlike the English language textbooks in earlier historical periods, no explicit political philosophy is captured in current textbook series, reflecting China’s more recent focus on some concepts of education and the development of science and technology. This study may contribute to our understanding of the ideological underpinnings in English language textbooks worldwide, with the hope of offering insights into language teaching materials development.

Addressing disability representation in EFL textbooks used in Hungarian public education

Textbooks can play an important role in shaping the image of a particular social group by means of its textual and visual representation. A realistic and unprejudiced image of people with disabilities should be an important part of the curriculum in public education institutions in order to help students understand the needs and reality of those living with a disability.The goal of the present research was to identify and critically analyze disability as curriculum content in English as a foreign language (EFL) textbook used in Hungarian public education. A content analysis of texts and images from sample books was performed by applying coding based on categories used in similar studies, complemented with additional categories to meet the requirements of the present study.In the case of all the examined textbooks, we found that the presentation of people with disabilities in the texts and visual materials was extremely limited. Representation focused on the distinctive aspects of disability. People with disabilities were mostly depicted participating in a minimal variety of segregated and elite activities, while there was a marked lack of images of people with disabilities involved in everyday situations, as individuals, integrated into society, and as part of a given sociocultural environment.

Global issues in a series of EFL textbooks and implications for end-users to promote peace education through teaching english

ABSTRACT English has long been accepted as lingua franca (ELF) to share values, beliefs and opinions. ELF can be interrelated with the paradigms of Global Englishes Language Teaching (GELT), English as an International Language (EIL) and English as Medium of Instruction (EMI). Textbooks should present content covering global issues (GIs), leading to a better understanding of the spread of English and its connection with globalization where peace education (PE) should be built on. English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) teachers usually feel under pressure to follow textbooks in English prep-programs in Turkey. Therefore, the extent that EFL textbooks offer GIs is crucial for developing learners’ understanding of PE beyond national boundaries. Although relevant literature has well documented the place of GIs in language teaching and paucity of research on PE in language education, EFL textbooks have remained under-researched. For this reason, a comprehensive checklist of GIs was used to examine a five-level series of coursebooks (A1-C1). Data analysis showed that three lower-level coursebooks employed less GIs than those with higher-levels. Issues ranged from environment to health, whilst specific content for PE appeared moderately. Several implications are made for a meaningful match of GIs and GELT, EIL, EMI and EFL teaching with Language of Peace Approach.

Vocabulary Coverage in a High School Vietnamese EFL Textbook: A Corpus-based Preliminary Investigation

In the context of English as a foreign language (EFL) teaching, textbooks play a crucial role in the classroom as the primary source of lexical input for learners. Thus, it is essential that textbooks can sufficiently facilitate learners in their overall comprehension and vocabulary learning, especially with the most frequent words in English. The study examined the vocabulary load of a locally-published EFL textbook in Vietnam for high school students focusing on the vocabulary coverage in relation to the 95% and 98% thresholds for text comprehension and the coverage of high-frequency word families in the textbook. To fulfil these objectives, a frequency-based analysis of word families using the Vocabprofilers on the https://www.lextutor.ca/ website was conducted with the 41,137-word textbook corpus. It is revealed that students need to have a vocabulary size of 3,000 and 5,000-word families to reach the coverage of 95% and 98% of the whole textbook, which would be too challenging for Vietnamese high school students. Moreover, the textbook was found not to represent the second 1,000-word list very well with the appearance of just over half of the second most frequent 1,000-word families. These findings highlight the role of teachers in adapting the textbook for more effective vocabulary learning and general comprehension of the materials.

A Cross-National Investigation of Cultural Representations in Iranian and Turkish ELT Coursebooks

Acquiring second/foreign language competence inherits target culture knowledge and awareness. In this regard, English Language Teaching (ELT) coursebooks play a significant role in culture acquisition especially in an English as a foreign language (EFL) context in which learners have little or no opportunity to practice English outside the classroom. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate and compare the cultural content of local EFL textbooks used in two Muslim countries; Iran and Turkey. Kachru’s concentric model was used to explore cultural contents of Iranian and Turkish 9th grade EFL coursebooks and the data was analyzed through content analysis. Results showed that the Iranian coursebook was vastly filled with native culture along with a few subjects from expanding circle countries such as Russia and China. On the other hand, the main cultural focus of the Turkish EFL coursebook was inner-circle countries while little emphasis was made on native culture. The results were discussed in terms of intercultural competence and material design in the EFL context.

Cultural elements and their categories in EFL textbooks

It has long been assumed that language and culture are interrelated: language echoes cultural values, norms of behaviour, attitudes and many other features of a particular sociocultural community. An important aspect of learning/ teaching a language is learning/ teaching its culture. The main goal of current foreign language (FL) education is to develop students into interculturally competent citizens and make them aware of various differences which lie between their native culture and the target one. As textbooks incorporate the cultural information, special attention should be paid to their cultural content. Cultural content can be reflected through textual material, exercises, illustrations which should aim at fostering knowledge of essential elements of FL culture and bring to their comparison with the essential elements of the native culture. This article compares the cultural contents of four English as a foreign language (EFL) textbook in terms of their inclusion of various categories of cultural elements. The purpose of the study is to identify what categories of cultural elements prevail in the EFL textbooks under analysis, which might influence, to a greater extent, language students’ understanding of the culture being studied. Content analysis method has been used to determine data. The obtained results suggest that in all the four EFL textbooks elements describing material (surface) culture prevail, leaving aside elements pertaining to the ‘axiological’ (deep) culture which deals with values, norms, and attitudes.