Constructing the Global Diversity or Reproducing the Orientalist Gaze: Evaluating Identity Options and Cultural Elements in an English Intercultural Communication Textbook

Autor/inn/en	Zhang, Yu; Ni, Zhijuan; Dong, Juan; Li, Jia
Titel	Constructing the Global Diversity or Reproducing the Orientalist Gaze: Evaluating Identity Options and Cultural Elements in an English Intercultural Communication Textbook
Quelle	In: English Language Teaching, 15 (2022) 1, S.130-143 (14 Seiten) PDF als Volltext kostenfreie Datei Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1916-4742
Schlagwörter	Second Language Learning; Second Language Instruction; English (Second Language); Language Role; Intercultural Communication; Cultural Pluralism; Cultural Awareness; Language Attitudes; Textbooks; Case Studies; Dialogs (Language); Nationalism; Teaching Methods; Content Analysis; Foreign Countries; Asian Culture; College Students; Cultural Influences; China + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Zweitsprachenerwerb; Fremdsprachenunterricht; English as second language; English; Second Language; Englisch als Zweitsprache; Interkulturelle Kommunikation; Kulturpluralismus; Cultural identity; Kulturelle Identität; Sprachverhalten; Textbook; Text book; Schulbuch; Lehrbuch; Case study; Fallstudie; Case Study; Dialog; Dialogs; Dialogue; Dialogues; Nationalismus; Teaching method; Lehrmethode; Unterrichtsmethode; Inhaltsanalyse; Ausland; Collegestudent; Cultural influence; Kultureinfluss
Abstract	English is often ideologically constructed as a global language to facilitate intercultural communication between people of diverse cultural backgrounds. However, it still remains unknown to what extent English learning can enhance English learners' awareness of global diversity. Given the dominant population of English learners in China, it is of great significance to investigate how English learning might facilitate Chinese learners' global vision and cultivate their intercultural competence. Seeing language textbooks as a key site of cultural and linguistic representation, this study scrutinizes the hidden ideologies discursively constructed in an English Intercultural Communication (EIC) textbook targeting Chinese English learners. Data are collected from dialogues, case studies, reading passages, cultural notes, exercises in the textbook. Informed by concepts of orientalism and banal nationalism, the study reveals that the distribution of characters is nation-based, essentialized, and even stigmatized. There is an inconsistency between the discursive construction of English as a global language and the actual representation of USA/UK-centered ideology. Chinese and other non-English learners are linguistically and culturally subjected to orientalist interpretation. The internal orientalist representation of Chinese speakers is also reproduced within the diverse backgrounds of Chinese population. Based on the findings, we argue that the simplified, unbalanced and unequal representations of cultural elements may hinder English learners' awareness of cultural diversity. The study suggests that a more diversified representation of cultural practices should be adopted in EIC textbooks to cultivate the global citizenship through English language education. (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	Canadian Center of Science and Education. 1595 Sixteenth Ave Suite 301, Richmond Hill, Ontario, L4B 3N9 Canada. Tel: 416-642-2606; Fax: 416-642-2608; e-mail: elt@ccsenet.org; Web site: http://www.ccsenet.org/journal/index.php/elt
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2024/1/01