World Englishes in ELT textbooks in Swedish upper-secondary schools

Abstract

In this article, we investigate how different varieties of English are represented in a selection of materials used in upper-secondary schools in Sweden. A 2011 policy reform of the curriculum for the teaching and learning of English at upper-secondary level underscored the global dimension of the language, taking a distance from the traditional focus on British English. Findings from our content analysis of two selected textbooks suggest that despite this policy change, emphasis is still placed on standard varieties of Inner Circle countries. When other varieties are represented, the characters that utilise them are often portrayed in a more negative light than their Inner Circle counterparts. We suggest that this is indicative of a policy–practice disconnect. We discuss the pedagogical implications for the students of the limited exposure to linguistic variation in English that emerges from the textbooks and point at different ways to continue investigating this issue.