Language ideologies and constructions of subjectivities in English coursebook materials: a case of refugees

Abstract

It is impossible to think about the history of foreign language teaching without reflecting on coursebook materials. They have taken such a significant role in language teaching that their presence in the educational process becomes an imperative – or, at least, a desire. Despite being an instrument of democratization of language learning in theory, the coursebook material may homogenize teaching and learning practices, erasing learners’ subjectivities, and offering a pasteurized view of the social world. Considering this scenario, this article aims at investigating the language ideologies that orient the construction of the social category identified as “refugees” in the collection Raise up!, which is characterized as a collection of coursebooks in favor of diversity. Based on the theoretic-analytical construct of language ideologies (WOOLARD, 1998; KROSKRITY, 2004) and the semiotic processes of iconization, fractal recursivity and erasure (IRVINE; GAL, 2000), it is understood that the coursebook’s theoretical conception indexes discourses of social transformation; however, the activities proposed throughout the lessons still rely on a perspective of English as a system of bounded signs. Consequently, the subjectivity in focus is built on a process of cleanliness of linguistic, political, and social traits, indexing a structuralist  and “purist” language ideology aligned with the modern rationale.