The Construction of English
Culture, Consumerism and Promotion in the ELT Global Coursebook

This book takes the view that ELT global coursebooks, in addition to being curriculum artefacts, are also highly wrought cultural artefacts which seek to make English mean in highly selective ways and it argues that the textual construction (and imaging) of English parallels the processes of commodity promotion more generally.

The Construction of English examines the representational practices adopted in the mapping of linguistic and cultural terrain in textbooks for the teaching of English as a foreign or international language. It is a research-based study which takes as its object of investigation the financially lucrative and widely disseminated global coursebook which is produced as part of an incremental English language course designed for global consumption. It identifies the 'representational repertoires' constructed in a sample of historically bestselling coursebooks and includes interviews in which ELT publishers and practising teachers discuss the nature of coursebook content. Drawing on insights from cultural studies and theoretical perspectives on visual communication and consumerism, the book argues that, in addition to being curriculum artefacts, coursebooks can also be seen as promotional commodities which seek to make English mean in highly selective ways which are often considered as deeply problematic by the teachers who use them.

Acknowledgements Introduction Culture and English Language Teaching Describing and Analysing ELT Coursebooks Representational Repertoires 1: Streamline Connections and Building Strategies Representational Repertoires 2: The New Cambridge Course 2 and The New Edition Production and Regulation of Content Consumption of Content Future Directions Conclusion Notes Appendices Bibliography Index