How Ethnicty is Represented in Teaching Aids : A Literature Study of two English Teaching Aids

Abstract: The aim of this essay is to analyze how two teaching aids is representing ethnicity and how the teaching aids is maintaining the multicultural view, as the Swedish curriculum recommends (Lgr 2011). The two teaching aids are What's Up (2007) and Wings (2010). Ajagán - Lester (1999) claims in his article that the western norm is represented in teaching aids and how the representation of "The other" is important part of our worldview because of the fact "The Other" is contradiction to "Us". Ajagán - Lester (1999) also believes teaching aids construct an ethnic self - understanding and that this plays an important role in how other cultures and ethnicities are introduced in teaching aids. Lgr (2011) advocate since there is pupils with different cultural backgrounds, nationalities and experiences it is important to work for the same democratic values and principles in all Swedish Schools. In addition, it isimportant to emphasize the ethos that humans are different by introducing the pupils to different nationalities and socialites.In order to make the analysis the study is based on reader - response theory, the theory emphasize an ingoing examination of a text, as a result the analysis indicated that What's Up and Wings are introducing ethnicity with the concept of nation and the teaching aids are only present and explain the nations from an Western world perspective.