LINGUIST List 30.1012

Mon Mar 04 2019

Diss: English; Sociolinguistics: Author: Ömer Gökhan Ulum: ''Ideological and Hegemonic Practices in Globally abd Locally Written EFL Textbooks''

Editor for this issue: Sarah Robinson <srobinsonlinguistlist.org>



Date: 02-Mar-2019
From: Ömer Ulum <omergokhanulumgmail.com>
Subject: Ideological and Hegemonic Practices in Globally abd Locally Written EFL Textbooks
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Institution: Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University
Program: English Language Teaching
Dissertation Status: Completed
Degree Date: 2018

Author: Ömer Gökhan Ulum

Dissertation Title: Ideological and Hegemonic Practices in Globally abd Locally Written EFL Textbooks

Linguistic Field(s): Sociolinguistics

Subject Language(s): English (eng)

Dissertation Director:
Prof. Dr. Dinçay Köksal

Dissertation Abstract:

Learning English as a foreign or second language may generate a solid impact on learners’ values and ideologies in that, for several decades, social theorists have aimed to clarify why countries that lack economic power accept social hierarchies which prioritize some while ignoring others. Such concepts as ideology and hegemony have been employed to define the relation between the social formation of knowledge and the maintenance of unfair power hierarchies. As a result of the expanding hegemony of English, English Language Teaching has suddenly turned into an international business with huge financial investment, and accordingly produced English as a Foreign Language textbooks evolved into the cornerstone of the business. Additionally, studies on the relation between ideology, hegemony and textbooks have increased in recent decades since the rise of critical theory, critical pedagogy and critical thinking skills has inspired scholars to establish a critical perspective towards EFL textbooks considering the compounds of ideology and hegemony. So, the aim of this dissertation is to investigate the ideological and hegemonic practices included in globally and locally written EFL textbooks. Using a mixed method research design, ideological and hegemonic representations included in EFL textbooks were examined qualitatively by using descriptive content analysis technique used to make valid assumptions by interpreting and coding content of textual materials. Further, qualitatively collected data through interviews and quantitatively gathered data through a questionnaire aimed to reveal the views of teachers/instructors and learners about the ideological and hegemonic practices contained in the EFL textbooks. The findings of the present study show that ideology and hegemony of inner and expanding circle cultures are dominant in EFL textbooks. While the expanding circle culture is dominant in the locally written EFL textbooks, the inner circle culture is extensively included in the globally written ones. However, outer circle countries are excluded and marginalized. Besides, while specific ideologies such as economy and history were highly included in both globally and locally written textbooks, some of them such as law and gender were weakly detected. The results of questionnaire and interview showed that ideology and hegemony are closely related to each other. It is hard to give a clear-cut definition of these two terms because both textbooks and the participants often used these two terms interchangeably. Yet, the participants declared diverse views on the underlying ideology and hegemonic practices in globally and locally written EFL textbooks.




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