An Analysis of Swedish EFL Textbooks - Reflections on Cultural Content and English as an International Language

Abstract: The purpose of this study is to analyse the cultural content and representations in three English as a second language textbooks published for Swedish students in years 1-3. The issue of cultural content is very visible in contemporary research on English education today and as English has grown into a global language over centuries, it has also become a culturally diverse language. The method used in this study is a merge of Critical Discourse Analysis and Multimodality with a norm critical perspective, using a chart developed within the study as an analytical tool. This study reveals that the textbooks on the one hand consist of a dominant Anglo-American, as well as a Swedish cultural setting where representations of white normative children and adults dominate the text and illustrations. On the other hand, the books show signs of trying to involve a developed perspective on English as an international language (EIL) and interculturality. However, these EIL and intercultural features are probably not enough to help the students who will use these books to develop the intercultural awareness needed later in life when they use their acquired English knowledge with other English speakers across the world.