Abstract:
This study intended to investigate the imposition of values and ideological patterns of
particular societies affecting learners' identity as a result of globalization and linguistic
imperialism in the internationally distributed textbooks which are developed to meet the
English language needs of international learners and are broadly used in Islamic countries like
Iran. For that reason, critical discourse analysis (CDA) with its theory and procedures, as
developed by Fairclough (1989), used in conversations, illustrations and reading passages in
Interchange, Four Corners, Top Notch and American English File series and three meaning
dimensions– the textbooks content, the social relations of the characters in the textbooks, and
their subject positions– were classified and analyzed statistically. Overall, the findings of this
study represented that these ELT books are by some means unfair and inclined to signify a
specific discourse type, that is, the Western culture discourse, ideological patterns, and
consumer societies, which can impose the Western view and have different effects on
students' identity in Islamic countries.
Machine summary:
For that reason, critical discourse analysis (CDA) with its theory and procedures, as developed by Fairclough (1989), used in conversations, illustrations and reading passages in Interchange, Four Corners, Top Notch and American English File series and three meaning dimensions– the textbooks content, the social relations of the characters in the textbooks, and their subject positions– were classified and analyzed statistically.
Overall, the findings of this study represented that these ELT books are by some means unfair and inclined to signify a specific discourse type, that is, the Western culture discourse, ideological patterns, and consumer societies, which can impose the Western view and have different effects on students' identity in Islamic countries.
Accordingly, the current study argues the fact that the preparation of English as a Second Language (ESL), instructional materials, and textbooks must show different perspectives related to a pluralistic society to make students more active in recognizing and facing biases existing in different cultures and provide more intercultural learning (Ur, 1996).
The current study is intended to answer a major question about the internationally distributed Interchange, Four Corners, Top Notch, and American English File textbooks: Do the mentioned EFL materials impose standards and values of particular countries on Iranian English learners' identity regarding linguistic imperialism and globalization?