First Entry: Critical analysis of a textbook by Ignacio Vásquez

First Entry: Critical analysis of a textbook by Ignacio Vásquez https://padlet.com/ignacio_vasquez_armijo/qqt9ct5iziuv Gustavo Valdivia et Ignacio Vásquez en-us 2018-10-15 17:08:27 UTC 2025-09-24 05:52:32 UTC hello@padlet.com ignacio_vasquez_armijo https://padlet.com/ignacio_vasquez_armijo/qqt9ct5iziuv/wish/292951468 American English File 1 (2nd Ed.)

Authors: Christina Latham-Koenig, Clive Oxenden & Paul Seligson.

Publishing: Oxford University Press]]> 2018-10-15 17:14:51 UTC https://padlet.com/ignacio_vasquez_armijo/qqt9ct5iziuv/wish/292951468 Introduction ignacio_vasquez_armijo https://padlet.com/ignacio_vasquez_armijo/qqt9ct5iziuv/wish/292952679 2018-10-15 17:16:55 UTC https://padlet.com/ignacio_vasquez_armijo/qqt9ct5iziuv/wish/292952679 Why this book? ignacio_vasquez_armijo https://padlet.com/ignacio_vasquez_armijo/qqt9ct5iziuv/wish/293100938 According to some testimonies from friends and relatives, American English File (2nd Ed.) has been used in beginning courses of English in technical insitutions like Duoc UC and INACAP. These English programmes follow an ESP approach and use this book as complentary material, despite its functional focus.

It is clear that ESP does not seek to achieve an integral understanding of the language, its culture and its diverse use. However, the materials used to teach it can have an effect in the learner's perception of their own role within the English-speaking community. How and where language use is presented in the textbook will provide students with the information necessary to understand how they fit into the grand scheme of English, and will set them in two possible scenarios:
a) You are part of an international and multicultural community in which diversity, collaboration and mutual understanding is key.
b) You are an outsider who uses English as a way to get into a foreign culture, implying that you also need to adapt to it.
Depending on where a learner stands in this distinction, their English will be used to either improve their home community or to emigrate to another culture.

We believe that English should not be taught in a bubble and as a mere tool, as it presents a valuable opportunity to expand our vision of the world and embrace other cultures. Even though it could be claimed that the book is not approiate for ESP classes, it would be a wasted opportunity to miss the chance of teaching culture through this material. However, we need to be careful on how culture (or what culture) is being taught.

In order to determine if the book seeks to portray an hegemonic version of the English world, we will analyze the representation of people, ethnicity and different cultures through images. With an initial focus on images because of the immediate interpretation visual input generates in our brains, as well as their easy interpretation which requires no knowledge of English from the learner, we will focus on the further interpretation of images and their context as presented in the book to identify the role and origin of the people being ilustrated. ]]> 2018-10-15 23:27:44 UTC https://padlet.com/ignacio_vasquez_armijo/qqt9ct5iziuv/wish/293100938 What did we analyze? ignacio_vasquez_armijo https://padlet.com/ignacio_vasquez_armijo/qqt9ct5iziuv/wish/293101576 - Invisibility of foreign cultures: Lack of appearance of people from non-Anglo ethnic backgrounds and/or lack of representation of their cultures.
- Presence of stereotypes: The use of oversimplified characteristics to portray a group of people
- Anglo Hegemony: The vision that the Anglo culture has predominance over others.]]> 2018-10-15 23:31:29 UTC https://padlet.com/ignacio_vasquez_armijo/qqt9ct5iziuv/wish/293101576 Analysis and Methodology ignacio_vasquez_armijo https://padlet.com/ignacio_vasquez_armijo/qqt9ct5iziuv/wish/293102070 2018-10-15 23:34:20 UTC https://padlet.com/ignacio_vasquez_armijo/qqt9ct5iziuv/wish/293102070 Quantitative Analysis ignacio_vasquez_armijo https://padlet.com/ignacio_vasquez_armijo/qqt9ct5iziuv/wish/293109446 We identified 202 pictures with people in them. In those pictures, a total number of 345 individuals whose ethnic background can be identified or predicted appear. The percentages of appearance of individuals and their respective ethnic background are as follow:]]> 2018-10-16 00:22:44 UTC https://padlet.com/ignacio_vasquez_armijo/qqt9ct5iziuv/wish/293109446 Results ignacio_vasquez_armijo https://padlet.com/ignacio_vasquez_armijo/qqt9ct5iziuv/wish/293110531 2018-10-16 00:29:43 UTC https://padlet.com/ignacio_vasquez_armijo/qqt9ct5iziuv/wish/293110531 ignacio_vasquez_armijo https://padlet.com/ignacio_vasquez_armijo/qqt9ct5iziuv/wish/293110719 We analyzed this book in search of presence of foreign cultures, people from different ethnic backgrounds, use of stereotypes, and hints of Anglo hegemony.

The quantitative analysis of the textbook encompasses its 12 units, guided by the following questions:

How many images of people are in the book?
How many different people appear in the book?
How many of those people are from an ethnic background other than Caucasian?

*It must be mentioned that we are solely considering physical features often associated to different ethnicities. This is done based on our previous knowledge and opinion, and we do not mean to assert the origins of these people in any way.

By counting the number of instances in which people appear in the book, we expect to find a prevalence of Caucasian ethnicities that overshadows the rest, coinciding with the language hegemony already mentioned.

The qualitative analysis of this textbook is focused on units 2, 6 and 10, and is guided by the following questions:

Does the activity/context offer any information on the background of the people shown?
What is the role of the people portrayed in the pictures?
How is the interaction among these people?
How is the target culture represented?

Through these questions we intend to take into consideration the additonal information found in the exercises related to the images, like who the people are, what they are doing and where they are.
This information will allow us to better undertstand how the book seeks to portray its characters and target cultures.

Though units in the textbook have no names or specific themes, each of them divided into sections with different topics. We chose units 2, 6 and 10 because they all had sections in which, based on their names, cultural diversity can be expected. The sections are:
Unit 2b - Stars and Stripes.
Unit 6c - Music is changin their lives.
Unit 10b - CouchSurf around the world!

]]> 2018-10-16 00:30:36 UTC https://padlet.com/ignacio_vasquez_armijo/qqt9ct5iziuv/wish/293110719 Textbook Analized ignacio_vasquez_armijo https://padlet.com/ignacio_vasquez_armijo/qqt9ct5iziuv/wish/293110986 2018-10-16 00:32:13 UTC https://padlet.com/ignacio_vasquez_armijo/qqt9ct5iziuv/wish/293110986 Theoretical Framework Gstv https://padlet.com/ignacio_vasquez_armijo/qqt9ct5iziuv/wish/293207551 2018-10-16 08:35:08 UTC https://padlet.com/ignacio_vasquez_armijo/qqt9ct5iziuv/wish/293207551 Gstv https://padlet.com/ignacio_vasquez_armijo/qqt9ct5iziuv/wish/293260204 It is pertinent to clarify that there is one image of a Venezuelan orchestra in which 22 people considered of Latin background (from Venezuela) appear. This becomes relevant because it significantly increases their percentage of recurrence. Just to exemplify: if the picture had included only 4 members, the percentage for Latin would be down to 5% and Caucasians would go up to 84%.]]> 2018-10-16 11:49:47 UTC https://padlet.com/ignacio_vasquez_armijo/qqt9ct5iziuv/wish/293260204 Reflection and Conclusions ignacio_vasquez_armijo https://padlet.com/ignacio_vasquez_armijo/qqt9ct5iziuv/wish/293265424 2018-10-16 12:03:43 UTC https://padlet.com/ignacio_vasquez_armijo/qqt9ct5iziuv/wish/293265424 Qualitative Analysis Gstv https://padlet.com/ignacio_vasquez_armijo/qqt9ct5iziuv/wish/293278193 The following analysis focuses on units 2, 6 and 10.

Unit 2
The unit presents three famous people: Roald Dahl, Johnny Depp and Penélope Cruz. All these people belong to the anglo culture as a famous British writer and the other two are hollywood stars, even though Cruz is Spanish. This immiediately shows a tendency towards English-world prominent figures, which could be interpreted as a way of showing the general target culture of the text, English.

Two instances of family relationships are shown in the unit as well. One of these presents us a father and his son, both white, having a friendly conversation in which the father explains some things to his son. In the background, a small picture of the Statue of Liberty can be seen. The other family scenario shows a caucasian family of four (the Carters, a heterosexual middle-aged couple with a daughter and a son), who feel uncomfortable and argue about different situations while travelling. There is a difference in the predominant behaviour shown on both sets of pictures, as the first gives a warming feeling while the second recreates a tense atmosphere. This sets a balance in how white families are portrayed and provides a realistic representation of differences.

Finally, there is an activity named U.S Quiz that involves no people but uses plenty of images to represent different characteristics of American culture. Among these pictures we can find some images of American schools, denim, the Empire State and hamburgers. What really caught our attention is the image of a single baloon with a happy face with the words 'Have a ______!' below it, with the intention of completing with 'Have a happy day!'. The fact that this picture is present among the 'characteristic features' of American culture tells us that the author clearly intended to portray the US as a happy place, giving a positive connotation to the country, but at the same time downplaying the issues the country has (like any other country).]]> 2018-10-16 12:28:06 UTC https://padlet.com/ignacio_vasquez_armijo/qqt9ct5iziuv/wish/293278193 ignacio_vasquez_armijo https://padlet.com/ignacio_vasquez_armijo/qqt9ct5iziuv/wish/293654409 Learner’s identity involves not only the relationship that the learner establishes with the target language, but also the beliefs they have towards the language. It greatly influences the way in which language is seen, the motives and processes involved in learning it, and, without doubt, how the learner envisions themself as a future user of the language. (García-Pastor, 2018)

In this sense, it is important to mention that the role of textbooks is crucial in the development of the learner's identity--especially for students who have little-to-no knowledge of the target language.
The focus of our analysis is on the representativity of foreign (non-Anglo) cultures in the textbook mentioned, because we believe that it is fundamental that a language student sees someone like themself (of their same ethnic background, in this case) performing successfully in the target language, acknowledging, maintaining and respecting their traditions and culture.

Additionally, we relate the lack of representation of different communities in the textbook to the global market of ESL/EFL materials in which it is immersed. This, consequently, reinforces the idea that textbooks are more than mere instructional resources, but rather cultural artifacts that serve a means for ideological reproduction. (Gray, 2010)
The problem is not only that these communities are almost completely absent from these materials; but that only the target culture is seen as prosperous.

References:
García-Pastor, M. (2018). Learner identity in EFL: An analysis of digital texts of identity in higher education. Digital Education Review - Number 33, June 2018- http://greav.ub.edu/der/

Gray, J. (2010). The Branding of English and The Culture of the New Capitalism: Representations of the World of Work in English Language Textbooks. Applied Linguistics: 31/5: 714–733. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/applin/amq034

]]> 2018-10-17 01:19:01 UTC https://padlet.com/ignacio_vasquez_armijo/qqt9ct5iziuv/wish/293654409 Gstv https://padlet.com/ignacio_vasquez_armijo/qqt9ct5iziuv/wish/293661344 Just by analysing the images, we have seen a clear bias towards the representation of anglo-american culture. Based on our cuantitive analysis, it can be said that there is an overrepresentation of white people in the book that does not correspond with the percentages of different ethnies in the USA. According to their 2010 census, the white population accounted only for 71% of the population, in contrast to the 79% presented in the book (and even more when taking into consideration the Venezuelan orchestra issue).

This bias does not only come in the form of how many people is white, but also in the actions and behaviours these people display. For example, families are all white, something that can be interpreted as a display of positive family values. There is a bias in the portrayal of the culture, seen in detail in the example of the baloon with the smiley face and how, we believe, not using a white person in the fortune-telling section means that the american culture is not fit for such things, placing anglo culture above others.

Also, we noticed that throughout the book there is little to no interaction between cultures. At times there are stories or images from people of different ethnical backgrounds, but they do not interact with people from other communities, as in the case of the Venezuelan orchestra. Even in sections that could have been used to easily address cultural diversity and interaction (like the CouchSurfing section or even the US Quiz, which presented a good opportunity for exploring the multicultural nature of the USA). This leads to the underlying concept of cultures being isolated or hermetic.

From the limited amount of images that were related to greographical or tourist locations, most were related to the USA, and other pictures made brief mentions of what they were or what made those places especial.

We can conclude that the book does not seek to create a critical, informed and multicultural view on the use of the English language, complying with the idea of anglo hegemony. It rarely mentions cultural practices from other countries or describes scenarios in which English is being actively used in other countries outside the US. Learners will perceive from the book that they are outsiders to the language, that they are making use of a tool that does not belong to them to adapt into the anglo culture.

From our point of view, this can be problematic, as English has taken a key role in international relations and allows the cultural understanding that the modern world requires, seeing how we are constantly moving towards a single, wider community. It is because of this type of issues that we need to be careful when choosing or creating materials for teaching English, as they teach more than what is explicitly stated.]]> 2018-10-17 01:50:28 UTC https://padlet.com/ignacio_vasquez_armijo/qqt9ct5iziuv/wish/293661344 Gstv https://padlet.com/ignacio_vasquez_armijo/qqt9ct5iziuv/wish/293665039 Unit 6
The unit begins with some images of graded readers, from which some of the characters are visible and they are all white people. Common names found in English-speaking countries can be found in the descriptions of these books, like Anna, Sally, Cal and Will. Also, as supporting elements for a different text, images of Sally, a female white-collar worker protagonist to the story, appear. Here we can see how even the texts used present a majority of white characters.

In another section we see one of the most varied images in the book. A set of smaller images that show different people of different ages and ethnic backgrounds doing everyday activities. Among the many characters shown, we can see the inclusion of some Afrodescendant and Asian people; however, none of the people shown are interacting with people of different ethnic backgrounds.

Lastly, Louis Armstrong (American), Beyoncé (American) and Plácido Domingo (Spanish) make an appearance in a section about music. Like the appearance of famous people in Unit 2, here we are presented with another group of artits, but this time the opera singer breaks the cultural hegemony not only ony because of his nationality, but also due to his genre, opera, which is closely related to Latin and Germanic traditions in Europe. Then, a reading text about a Venezuelan orchestra shows a group a Venezuelan musicians who have espaced a world of violence through music. While it is mentioned that the orchestra is one of the best in the world, there is no mention of them playing in other countries, travelling the world or interacting with other cultures (*This is the picture mentioned earlier in which 22 Latin people appear in one image).

Unit 10
This last unit has a more direct focus on other cultures, or at least other places. For example, as part of an exercise, images showing different places around the world known for something in particular are shown. Images of the Mona Lisa in The Louvre, The Yungas Road in Bolivia or Tiananmen Square are some of the images shown, however, these locations can be quite obscure for some learners, for they are not the most common representation of a culture or geographical place.

The second section of this unit focuses on CouchSurfing. The images used are few, and from those relevant to our analysis we find one of a map of Nex México, USA, and a white person who describes her experience while travelling the US. Attention is once again directed towards the country, and given from the point of view of an outsider who is visiting it.

The last section shows a fortune-teller with a woman of Latin or European features. From this image it can said that traditions like fortune-telling are not associated with Anglo culture, so a person from a different ethnic background is used to participate in this practice. This could be a way to suggest that anglo cultures are above rituals of this kind, easily associated to the esoteric and 'tribal'. ]]> 2018-10-17 02:12:16 UTC https://padlet.com/ignacio_vasquez_armijo/qqt9ct5iziuv/wish/293665039 Table 1: Number of people per picture/unit ignacio_vasquez_armijo https://padlet.com/ignacio_vasquez_armijo/qqt9ct5iziuv/wish/293670445 2018-10-17 02:56:31 UTC https://padlet.com/ignacio_vasquez_armijo/qqt9ct5iziuv/wish/293670445 Table 2: Percentage of representativity of each ethnic background ignacio_vasquez_armijo https://padlet.com/ignacio_vasquez_armijo/qqt9ct5iziuv/wish/293670682 2018-10-17 02:58:02 UTC https://padlet.com/ignacio_vasquez_armijo/qqt9ct5iziuv/wish/293670682 Participation ignacio_vasquez_armijo https://padlet.com/ignacio_vasquez_armijo/qqt9ct5iziuv/wish/315076192 Gustavo Valdivia: 50%
Ignacio Vásquez: 50%]]> 2018-12-17 08:39:55 UTC https://padlet.com/ignacio_vasquez_armijo/qqt9ct5iziuv/wish/315076192