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Article published In: Language, Culture and Society
Vol. 5:1 (2023) ► pp.73–93

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Researching ideologies

Politics of content creation in language textbooks produced in Iran

 | Concordia University
 | San Diego State University
Published online: 18 August 2023
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https://doi.org/10.1075/lcs.00037.kar
Abstract
Previous critical studies of language textbook analysis have explored politics of content selection in textbooks, examining the way selection of certain materials instead of others or the interaction between various multimodal contents selected for textbooks reinforces certain ideological meanings at the expense of certain others. The current study views language textbooks through lenses of politics of content creation, analyzing such politics in a series of English as a Foreign Language textbooks produced by Iranian Ministry of Education. Using a theoretical framework that draws on theories of language ideology and social semiotic theories of multimodality, the study explores the way ideological meanings are simultaneously created at different orders of language and the way such created meanings multimodally shape different contents of the textbooks, such as lessons and learning activities. The study contributes to the filed of critical language textbook analysis by uncovering the relation between power and ideologies within the generic structure of language textbooks.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
    • 1.1Ideology, multimodality and politics of content creation in language textbooks
    • 1.2Language textbooks and the politics of content selection
    • 1.3Politics of content creation in language textbooks
    • 1.4Contextualizing the study
  • 2.Findings
    • 2.1Politics of recontextualizing the contents of language textbooks
    • 2.2Politics of learner engagement
  • 3.Discussion and implications
  • Acknowledgment
  • References
References (34)
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