Raising awareness to challenge the empire: a critical discourse analysis of postcolonial features in EFL textbooks used in public secondary schools in Laboulaye

Abstract

Textbooks are the principal tool to provide input when teaching and learning English as a foreign language (EFL). Therefore, the perpetuation of a colonial viewpoint through the used language in EFL textbooks is the problem addressed in this study. The main objective is to analyse through a Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) the EFL textbooks: “Champions'', by Oxford University Press (starter); “English Zone”, by Oxford University Press (level 2); and “What’s Up”, by Pearson 2nd edition (starter), from a postcolonial perspective. The hypothesis of this research is that the linguistic components used in those texts implemented in public secondary schools in Laboulaye promote a colonialist point of view. The theoretical framework provides some key concepts which structure the analysis of the texts and exhibit the relationship beween language and the perpetuation of colonial power. The research is based on a mixed approach and it belongs to the Explanatory Sequential Design. A total number of 37 reading passages were analyzed twice. It was revealed that even though there is no sufficient linguistic evidence to prove that a colonialist perspective is used, two textbooks present elements that refer only to British culture. In order to counteract the one-way approach to foreign cultures, this research suggests supplementing these textbooks with reading passages that offer cultural diversity.