Content edulcoration as ideology visualization in an English language coursebook

Abstract

Based on post-structural definitions of discourse(s), the article is aimed at criticizing the reductionist essence of canonical definitions of Teacher Language Awareness (TLA)], perceived as a formula for the regurgitation of western discourse practices in the English Language Teaching classroom. Based on a multimodal perspective and an ideological conceptual square, the research reports a case study illustrating how Euro-American imperial history is visualized in its entextualization in the non-language material of an English language textbook. The results of the case study reveal that in the process of re-entextualization the authors have de-emphasized the negative image of the Self by negating not only the Euro-American colonial atrocities but also their post-colonial repetition such as fascism in Spain. This concealment or content sanitation is part of the untarnished image the West projects through ELT as part of its role in the process of globalization and its connection to the neo-liberal empire, a fact that openly challenges the vali dity of TLA as a construct. The work also introduces the concept 'content edulcoration' (education + dulce (in Spanish) + decoration) understood as the means of syntactic and lexical language manipulation as well as its realization in the voice of transcript readers and images, all of which make non-language material suitable for educational purposes. From a practical viewpoint, each of the instances in the case study offers the counter-discourse necessary for resistance to the neo-colonization of the mind. The article suggests a reconceptualization of teacher formation and development in the era of globalization as well as the feasibility of researching similar issues in other major European language teaching textbooks.