Cultural Depictions in the Writing Sections of High School English Textbooks: The Liberal and Critical Approach

• Published in: Journal of English Teaching through Movies and Media Vol. 15; no. 2; pp. 69 - 92
• Main Authors: 전재민, 마지현
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 영상영어교육학회 01.08.2014
• Subjects: 영어와문학
• ISSN: 1598-1002; 2765-7078
• DOI: 10.16875/stem.2014.15.2.69

This study analyzes how different cultures are depicted in the writing sections of the Korean high school English I and II textbooks. This study uses a critical qualitative research design focusing on a liberal and critical approach to writing sections that include “model” or “example” writings in order to examine whether they are helpful to enhance Korean high school students’ multicultural competency. The results revealed that information about liberal multiculturalism occupied the largest portion of the writing sections while that representing critical multiculturalism was rarely included. That is, “model” or “example” writings in the high school English I and II textbooks still cling to the spirit of liberal multicultural orthodoxy, which has been dominant in English pedagogy policies, teaching, and research. This study also discovered that Western and European countries were mostly positively pictured while a deficit view toward African and other third world country cultures was presented. In general, “model” or “example” writings in the textbooks have the possibility of treating all the cultures in the books equally, although it was found that this is not the case. Based on the findings, this paper suggests a more challenging way to develop critical multiculturalism in writing sections, rather than maintaining a dominant interpretive framework of culture. KCI Citation Count: 2