Mid Sweden University

The aim of this study has been to examine a number of textbooks in terms of how well they succeed in conveying an idea of the vast diversity of the English-speaking world. This has been done through a quantitative approach where the number of references to certain countries have been counted. A text analysis has also been conducted in order to answer the research question about ‘how’ the English-speaking countries are presented.

Even though this is a small-scale study it implies that there is a Western focus in the textbooks included in the study, despite the demand for an open approach to the “areas and contexts where English is used” in the Swedish curriculum. The study has revealed that the countries featured in the textbooks are mainly Britain/England and the USA, followed by other inner circle countries such as Ireland, Wales, Scotland and Australia. The countries beyond the inner circle are given rather less space and not acknowledged to the extent the curriculum demands. By silencing certain countries and giving a voice to those powerful Western countries of the English-speaking world, linguistic imperialism is enforced.

In addition to the rather narrow picture of the English-speaking world presented in the textbooks, the texts themselves also contain some stereotypical depictions of the countries of the English-speaking world. The study has revealed that some texts do reinforce old stereotypical images of cultures different and far away from us. However, there are also examples of stereotypical descriptions of English-speaking countries from the inner circle as well. On the other hand, there are also examples in some texts of how linguistic imperialism is resisted through avoiding the traps of generalizations.

In light of the results of this study, Leonardi’s (see section 3.2.2) and Byram and Feng’s (see section 3.1.2) suggestion to use the slanted textbooks as a foundation for discussions around linguistic imperialism and the dominance of the Western discourse, seem even more relevant. The study also indicates that teachers have a large responsibility to choose and adapt textbooks and teaching materials to their classes, in order to resist linguistic imperialism and not promote Western values over other values or mindsets. It is vital that teachers act as intercultural mediators and “provid[e] some of the cultural coordinates missing from the coursebook” (Pulverness 2003: 434). If teachers succeed in doing so, a multicultural perspective might be promoted in ELT classrooms and perhaps the differences between “we” and “they” will fade. Kipling’s poem ends:

But if you cross over the sea,

Instead of over the way.

You may end by (think of it!) looking on We

As only a sort of They! (Kipling 2016).

If language teachers “cross over the sea” with their students and apply a multicultural perspective on ELT, cultural awareness will be promoted. Students will become aware that we are all “we” and “they”, it only depends on whose perspective, or which context, dominates the teaching.

To investigate how a set of textbooks (for all three years, i.e. 7–9) portray the English-speaking world is a possible interesting approach for further study. As the students get older and progress in knowledge (through other subjects as well) more complicated topics might be introduced. In addition, such a study might reveal whether the whole set of books show a larger awareness of the plurality and diversity of the English-speaking world by referencing a greater number of countries.