1. Introduction
This introduction contains three parts: First, a presentation of the timeline, including the selection of target languages. Second, an overview of trends of development in the international research field from the 1960s up until today. Third, a list of categories used in the subsequent table of annotated works.
2. Part I: The present timeline
2.1 Number of works, time span, delimitation of genres, and research foci
Scholarly interest in research on language learning materials, their production, cultural content, and use in intercultural learning, as well as their political and ideological significance, has been growing since the 1960s. ‘Cultural content’ here refers to the various textual and visual representations of a potentially wide spectrum of aspects such as people, everyday life and communication, ideas and concerns, languages, institutions, geography, and history. Underlying the whole field is an epistemological interest in ideologies concerning the cultural content, such as national stereotypes, middle-class bias, gender stereotypes, lack of ethnic and racial diversity, dominance of an ideology of individualism and consumerism, and so forth. The field has experienced an increased interest since the 1990s, and especially in recent years (see below), with a diverse development of methods and theories, a plethora of critical research questions, the inclusion of a growing number of target languages in the studies, and a growing number of publications (in many languages as well), among them a range of anthologies, monographs, and journal special issues (e.g., Canale, Reference Canale2021; Curdt-Christiansen & Weninger, Reference Curdt-Christiansen and Weninger2015; Gray, Reference Gray2013; Risager 2018Footnote *).
The present timeline contains a small selection from this vast literature: 76 items. The selection consists of important and influential monographs, journal articles, and book chapters – most of them collected as part of my work with a larger project on representations of the world in language textbooks (Risager 2018*). The first work included in the timeline is from 1967. Before that, textbooks were also sometimes mentioned and evaluated – for example, in language teaching journals – but that was typically in the form of shorter reviews of recent publications. The timeline does not contain encyclopedia entries, but some entries may be mentioned here: Koreik and Pietzuch (Reference Koreik, Pietzuch, Krumm, Fandrych, Hufeisen and Riemer2010); Risager (Reference Risager, Krumm, Fandrych, Hufeisen and Riemer2010); Risager and Chapelle (Reference Risager, Chapelle and Chapelle2013); Verdelhan and Sercu (Reference Verdelhan, Sercu, Byram and Hu2013); and Weninger (Reference Weninger and Chapelle2018).
The emphasis in the field at large, and in this timeline, is on textbook analysis (where the ‘textbook’ typically stands for a printed book or book series, perhaps accompanied by audiovisual and digital materials and teacher's and student's guides). At the same time, there is somewhat less emphasis in the field, and in the timeline, on related fields such as textbook reception (by students, teachers, authors) or on actual textbook use in class, although these are also important fields. Some of the publications in the timeline do include studies of reception and/or use; for example, Dechert and Kastner (1989)*; Sercu (2000)*; and Gray (2010)*. Other important publications – which are not in the timeline but address issues of reception and/or use – are, for example, Byram and Esarte-Sarries (Reference Byram and Esarte-Sarries1991); Sercu et al. (Reference Sercu, Bandura, Castro, Davcheva, Laskaridou, Lundgren, Méndez García and Ryan2005); McConachy (Reference McConachy2018); and Derakhshan (Reference Derakhshan2021). Furthermore, it should be noted that there are not many references to textbook development in the timeline; compare this with the large literature on the design of textbooks to facilitate (English) language learning, including the composition of speech acts, grammatical structures, tasks, texts, and genres (Tomlinson, Reference Tomlinson, Eisenmann and Summer2012; Tomlinson and Masuhara, Reference Tomlinson and Masuhara2010). However, many textbook analyses in the timeline do discuss ideas of enhancement or adjustment of existing materials, or present ideas of alternative materials.
The field dealt with here is strongly marked by interdisciplinarity. It reaches out of the field of linguistics and language education to find ways of interpreting the multiple aspects of cultural content accompanying language education. Thus, there are often references to scholars in the wider field of social sciences and humanities. It may be other scholars working in the field of language education, such as Byram (Reference Byram1997) or Kramsch (Reference Kramsch1993) (see also the timeline in Risager, Reference Risager2011), or it may be other influential scholars like Bourdieu (Reference Bourdieu1982); Fairclough (Reference Fairclough2002); Freire (Reference Freire1981); Geertz (Reference Geertz1973); Kress and van Leeuwen (Reference Kress and van Leeuwen2006); and Lakoff (Reference Lakoff1975). There are many references to the general field of critical textbook analysis as well, particularly Apple and Christian-Smith (Reference Apple and Christian-Smith1991); Luke (Reference Luke1989); or Luke (Reference Luke, Curdt-Christiansen and Weninger2015).
2.2 Selection of target languages
Since the 1960s, textbook analysis with a focus on cultural representations has been applied to materials for more and more target languages. At the same time, a major problem is that the field is very fragmented (Weninger & Kiss, 2015*). Analyses are typically scattered in many different journals and other publications, each focusing on one language. There is not much communication or collaboration across languages, and this means that there is very little exchange of ideas across languages.
Since English has a dominant role among the widely taught foreign languages, analyses of textbooks for English constitute the largest field in terms of number of publications, and theoretical and methodological approaches. More and more researchers in other languages than English refer to studies of textbooks for English. This means that discourses and worldviews originating in the field of analysis of cultural representations in English language teaching (ELT) textbooks tend to be transferred to the analysis of textbooks for other languages and other language communities. This is unfortunate and a reflection of Western and especially Anglophone dominance in global academia (Risager, Reference Risager2021).
To counterbalance this dominance, I have included as many target languages as I could (and also authors and publishers from many parts of the world). In most cases, English (43 times), but also French (12), German (12), and Spanish (11). To a lesser extent, Chinese (2), Russian (2), and Swahili (2). Whereas the following languages are dealt with only once: Arabic, Catalan, Danish, Esperanto, Italian, Korean, Latin, and Portuguese. Some publications deal with more than one target language.
Of course, this selection and distribution is related to my personal language repertoire and to my general knowledge about the world, which is marked by a European, Scandinavian perspective. I read Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, English, German, French, Spanish, and Esperanto, and have a more limited experience with Portuguese, Italian, Russian, and Latin. I do not read Arabic, Catalan, Chinese, Korean, or Swahili. As can be seen in the timeline, I have read about some of these target languages in publications written in English. The distribution of languages in the timeline might have been otherwise if I had known other languages, and I expect that there are publications in other languages that I am not aware of. The use of more and more languages as academic languages (which I welcome) makes it increasingly difficult to make international surveys of research by single individuals. It is becoming necessary to draw on multilingual collaboration for this sort of work.
3. Part II: Trends of development in the field of textbook analysis
In the following, the overview of trends of development is divided into three sections (for more thorough treatment, see the historical analyses in Risager (Reference Risager2007) and Risager (Reference Risager, Eisenmann and Summer2012):
1. Representations of countries and the world (Figure 1 and comments)
2. Representations of sociocultural identities (Figure 2 and comments)
3. Methods of analysis (Figure 3 and comments)
Figure 1. Representations of countries and the world: Chronological summary
Figure 2. Representations of sociocultural identities: Chronological summary
Figure 3. Methods of analysis: Chronological summary
3.1 Trends of development: Representations of countries and the world
Since the 1960s and during the whole period until now, we see many textbook analyses that focus on the representation of countries seen as coherent entities, for example, the USA (Heuer, 1967*), Germany (Byram, 1993*), and China (Hong & He, 2015*). The ‘country’ (or state/nation) is often chosen as the general frame of analysis, based on the (simplistic) idea that a language is typically associated with one or more specific countries. This kind of analysis may deal with many different dimensions of culture and society, such as everyday life, famous people, values, national institutions, and geography. It typically aims to exemplify and discuss national stereotypes, prejudices, and clichés, and argues for more realistic representations.
This national approach is often (in European language teaching) associated with the German concept of Landeskunde: knowledge of the country. The concept developed already in the last decades of the 1800s and was the object of a long debate among teachers in Germany (the various German states) until the 1970s. It concerned the aims and content of language and culture teaching: Should Landeskunde (the most unmarked term) focus on geographical and social facts (Realienkunde), or on cultural values and products (Kulturkunde), or on the national character of the people (Wesenskunde), or on the lives of different groups of people (Leutekunde)? Today, the debate is still well-known in German-speaking countries but takes new forms in accordance with the international development of the field.
Since the late 1980s and onwards, we see the cultural turn in large parts of (Western) humanities. There is an increased interest in culture, in (perceived) cultural differences, and in intercultural communication and understanding. There are interculturally oriented analyses of representations of target-language countries from the perspective of the learners, and a growing interest in the study of different voices (Canagarajah, 1993*; Kramsch, 1988*; Sercu, 2000*, Shardakova & Pavlenko, 2004*).
Since the 1990s, the center of research begins to leave the exclusive European/US-American scene and become more international. In the same period, it becomes more and more evident that the changing status of the English language into international and lingua-franca uses requires new approaches to the cultural content of ELT textbooks. Should textbooks still focus on ‘English-speaking’ countries, or should they (also) deal with the country of learning, or have a more transnational (international, global/local, universal) scope? (Adaskou et al., 1990*, Cortazzi and Jin, 1999*). Similar questions are raised in relation to other widely used languages, such as French (Starkey, 1991*) and Spanish (Eide, 2012*). In some parts of the world, for example in the Middle East, we see analyses of representations of the country of learning in EFL materials, for example, Morocco (Adaskou et al., 1990*), Pakistan (Mahboob, 2015*), and Iran (Dahmardeh & Kim, 2021*). Of course, materials for second language teaching, such as ESL for immigrants in Australia, typically focus on the country of learning.
Since around 2000, we see a growing emphasis on the global perspective in textbook analysis, not only with reference to English but other languages as well (Copley, 2018*; Gray & Block, 2014*; Risager, Reference Risager2007; Risager, 2018*). In the same period, we see an increasing awareness of the role of history in cultural representations. It may be national history (Maijala, 2004*) or colonial history. There are postcolonial analyses that point to stereotypical historical accounts and argue for greater awareness of postcolonial situations and for decolonisation of language teaching at large (Risager, Reference Risager2021; Thomas 2017*; Vinall, 2012*).
In the current situation, scholarly work in the field is characterised by, on the one hand, geographical and linguistic diversification and, on the other hand, concentration on one language: English. Textbooks for more and more languages are studied, not least on the background of transnational mobility (labour migration, etc.). Scholarly work is published in more and more languages. At the same time, the changing status of English into an international second language for educated people in many parts of the world, gives rise to a multitude of textbooks for English, often nowadays published locally and perhaps dealing primarily with the country of learning. This may foreground dilemmas of globalism and nationalism, (neo)colonialism and postcolonialism, and values: Western values, Confucian values, Islamic values, and others.
3.2 Trends of development: Representations of sociocultural identities
Before the 1970s, there was a tendency to treat the people of a country as a homogeneous group with a specific national character.
Since the 1970s, social class has been a dimension included in analyses, but not very prominently (Andersen & Risager, 1977*). That changes, however, during the 2010s, where a number of scholars stress the importance of drawing attention to the invisibility of the working class in language learning materials (Copley, 2018*; Gray, 2010*; Gray & Block, 2014*). They conduct critical analyses of neoliberalist ideology in global ELT coursebooks produced in Britain. Bori (2018*) draws attention to similar ideologies in textbooks for Catalan as a second language (for immigrants).
Since the 1970s, gender bias or sexism has been taken up; for example, by Hartman & Judd (1978*), with reference to textbooks for English in the US. Since then, and particularly since the publication of Porreca (1984*), the research focus on gender roles and gender stereotypes has proliferated in many countries, including Middle East countries like Pakistan, Saudi-Arabia, and Iran (Hall, 2014*).
Since the 1990s, issues related to ethnicity and race have been the object of critical analyses (Awayed-Bishara, 2015*; Canagarajah, 1993*; Thomas, 2017*). This development is part of the broader research interest in ethnic diversity and migration, in race and racism, and in postcolonial and decolonial studies.
Since the 2000s, religion and religious diversity has been taken up with studies like Ndura (2004*) on the invisibility of religion in US textbooks for English as a second language, and Mahboob (2015*) on religious education in a textbook for English in Pakistani public schools.
Since the 2010s, sexual orientation and the invisibility of LGBT+ people, as well as the role of heteronormative ideology has begun to be pointed out; for example, by Gray (Reference Gray2013*).
In the current situation, studies of representations of gender are on the rise in many parts of the world. Maybe we will also see intersectional studies across identity parameters like gender, sexuality, race, social class, religion, age, and so forth. Generally, the force of identity struggles and identity politics is strong in these times, and perhaps this will be reflected in textbook analyses that point to examples of discrimination, erasure and silencing of particular identities (e.g. speakers of minority languages in target-language countries). Perhaps we will also see analyses dealing with representations of global citizenship and issues like climate change and sustainable development (and not only in English language materials).
3.3 Trends of development: Methods of analysis
A basic dimension of language textbook analysis is the composition of textbooks for analysis. Textbook studies may concentrate on a particular textbook but very often we see that textbook studies consist of a limited number of textbooks that are compared in some way, whether it is a more systematic comparison or an assemblage of parallel analyses. The study may focus on two or more textbooks for a particular language, used in the same period in a particular country, and produced in that country, perhaps by the same publishers. Or the textbooks may have been produced in different countries; for example, in a target-language country and in the country of learning. The study may investigate textbooks for the same language but that are used in different countries. Or it may be a historical study focusing on textbooks produced over a longer period. There are also investigations of textbooks for a smaller number of different target languages, perhaps used in the same country.
Language textbooks constitute a composite genre typically consisting of many different elements: imagined conversations, drawings, photos, fiction texts and lyrics, non-fiction texts, instructions by the author, exercises, statistics and graphs, videos, and so forth. In the context of this diversity of genres, modes, and voices, many different methods of analysis have been exploited. Weninger and Kiss (2015*) propose to distinguish between three main approaches: content analysis, critical discourse analysis, and semiotic analysis. I follow this tripartition but with some reservations concerning the first approach. I would like to highlight the existence of a family of intercultural methods of analysis that expand content analysis as it is traditionally understood.
Since the 1960s, many textbook analyses have been based on a form of content analysis, which is typically a quantitative approach: counting units like lexemes, country names, language names, cultural themes, and so forth. This has become much easier with the development of computational methods. Content analysis is, of course, accompanied by qualitative reflection and argumentation (Krippendorf, Reference Krippendorf2013 [1980]).
Since the 1980s, and the cultural turn referred to above, textbook analyses have expanded these qualitative elements in intercultural directions, drawing inspiration from the humanities: interpretative anthropology (Byram, 1993*), communication/literature studies (énonciation: Auger, 2007*), and dialogic and poststructuralist studies (Kramsch, 1988*, Kramsch, Reference Kramsch1993).
Since the 1990s, critical discourse analysis has been on the rise. First, it should be emphasised that most textbook analyses, also those that apply content analysis/intercultural analysis, take their point of departure in a critical attitude to some aspects of the textbooks they are analysing; for example, dissatisfaction with national stereotypes. But from the 1990s, with the publication of Dendrinos (1992*), textbook analyses begin to refer to critical discourse analysis as a main inspiration (e.g., Fairclough, Reference Fairclough2002), and thus introduce studies of ideology in language textbooks. This approach has been taken up by many others, especially after the publication of Gray (2010*) on neoliberal ideology in ELT global coursebooks (see also Littlejohn, Reference Littlejohn2012). As critical discourse analysis of textbooks typically refers to the larger social practices of textbook production and reception, this approach would point to the fact that textbooks produced by private publishing companies primarily reflect editors’ perceptions of customer demands and tastes on local or global markets. In a somewhat similar way, textbooks produced by local authorities reflect their ideas of the learners as future citizens.
Since around 2000, semiotic analysis has been included among the methods. Already in the period since the late 1960s, the role of visual design (drawings, photos, decoration, colours) became more and more prominent in language learning materials, and some scholars commented on this. But not until about 2000 (Elissondo, 2001*), and especially after 2010 (Tyrer, 2012*, Weninger & Kiss, 2013*), we see a growing interest in approaches to semiotic analysis directed at the analysis of images and text-image relations, inspired by work in the field of multimodality (Kress & van Leeuwen, Reference Kress and van Leeuwen2006).
In all the approaches mentioned above, there may be a special emphasis on the cultural dimensions of language and discourse. It may be questions related to the role of language and discourse in the construction of cultural representations (Kramsch, 1988*), or questions related to the construction of the relationship between the textbook and the learners (Auger, 2007*).
In the current situation, we see a great diversity of methods existing together, and they may be combined. Semiotic analysis is popular, and perhaps we will see semiotic analyses of other kinds of cultural representations as, for example, in virtual-reality materials. Critical discourse analysis is also popular. The great interest in textbook analysis of many kinds may lead to more studies of textbooks as cultural and ideological products that need to be read with critical eyes by both teachers and learners.
4. Part III: Categories used in the annotated table
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A Target language(s) (their names in English ordered alphabetically)
A1 Arabic A9 Italian
A2 Catalan A10 Korean
A3 Chinese (Mandarin) A11 Latin
A4 Danish A12 Portuguese
A5 English A13 Russian
A6 Esperanto A14 Spanish
A7 French A15 Swahili
A8 German A16 No specific language
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B Composition of textbooks for analysis
B1 One textbook (or textbook series)
B2 Two or more textbooks, same language, same country of use, same place of production
B3 Two or more textbooks, same language, same country of use, different places of production
B4 Two or more textbooks, same language, different countries of use
B5 Two or more textbooks, same language, different times of production
B6 Two or more textbooks, two or more languages
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C Focus on representations of countries and the world
C1 Focus on individual target-language countries (country)
C2 Focus on the country of learning
C3 Transnational (international, global/local, universal)
C4 History and postcolonial relations
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D Focus on representations of sociocultural identities
D1 Social class
D2 Gender
D3 Race, ethnicity
D4 Religion
D5 Sexual orientation
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E Methods of analysis
E1 Content analysis/intercultural analysis
E2 Critical discourse analysis
E3 Semiotic analysis
E4 Focus on the cultural dimensions of language and discourse
Karen Risager is Professor Emerita in Intercultural Studies at Roskilde University, Denmark. Her research interest is the complex relationships between language and culture in a transnational and global perspective, and the consequences for the view of foreign and second language teaching and learning and the analysis of cultural representations in language learning materials. Other selected publications include: Language and culture: Global flows and local complexity (Multilingual Matters, 2006); Language and culture pedagogy: From a national to a transnational paradigm (Multilingual Matters, 2007); Representations of the world in language textbooks (Multilingual Matters, 2018); and Language textbooks: Windows to the world, Language, Culture and Curriculum 34(2), 2021, 119–132.
