چکیده:
Considering the crucial role textbook evaluation plays in any educational system, this study evaluated 2 textbook series with respect to the identity options they offer to Iranian learners of English. Data were gathered based on reading passages, dialogues, and pictures of Right Path to English (RPE) and Cambridge English for Schools (CES). Although this study is mainly qualitative in nature, quantitative results were also presented to provide the readers with a valid and replicable analysis of the data. Fairclough’s (1995) critical discourse analysis (CDA) framework constituted the theoretical framework of the study. Using this framework, the researcher examined different aspects of identity, namely, gender, social class, professional occupation, marital status, ethnicity, and religious affiliation. Findings indicated that RPE provides its readers with an ethnically homogenous imaginary world of English use. CES, on the other hand, depicts a more varied and ethnically heterogeneous picture of English use. Implications of these findings for Iranian textbook writers are also discussed.
خلاصه ماشینی:
In this study, I examined identity options offered to the Iranian EFL students by two different textbook series which are taught in Iran, that is, a textbook produced by native English speakers and another one produced by Iranian writers.
g. , Bahrami, 2011; Gordani, 2010; Kazempourfard, 2011; Riazi & Mosallanejad, 2010; Sahragard & Davatgarzadeh, 2010; Souzandehfar, 2011), none of them has provided a comprehensive examination of identity options offered to Iranian EFL learners by native and nonnative produced textbooks.
Therefore, in order to fill this lacuna, the present study intends to examine and compare the identity options offered to Iranian EFL students by the two series: Cambridge English for Schools (hereafter CES) and Right Path to English (hereafter RPE).
1. 1 Social class, professional occupation, and age As mentioned above, on the basis of the texts and the pictures, it was revealed that all of the characters in the RPE series are white middle-class educated young people.
1. 3 Ethnicity and religious affiliation A close examination of RPE revealed that all of English learners depicted in this series are Iranian people (except Akiko who seems to be Japanese) who are talking to each other in the schools, streets and different contexts of Iran.
1. 1 Social class, professional occupation, and age Most of the characters introduced in this series are native English speakers, and there are only a few nonnative speakers whom we assume to be English learners and examine their identity options.