Visual Representation of Whiteness in Beginning Level German Textbooks

2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Silja Weber
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Critical Discourse ◽  
Whiteness Studies ◽  
Institutional Constraints ◽  
Cultural Perceptions ◽  
Pedagogical Strategies ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Textbook Bias ◽  
Target Culture

Textbooks are inherently ideological, and language textbooks in particular are designed to create a particular representation of the target culture for learners. This paper draws on a foundation of Whiteness studies, textbook bias studies, and critical discourse analysis. It investigates in depth the visual and cultural representation of Whiteness in one beginning level textbook for German as a foreign language and draws on three further textbooks for comparison. Differences between North American and German concepts of race and Whiteness are taken into account. Results identify a Whiteness bias in all books, but differing strategies for diversity representation; the most recently published textbook shows patterns similar to college brochures in the USA, which may over-represent diversity overall but underrepresent its more controversial aspects. The results form the basis for a discussion of institutional constraints on beginning-level instructors and practical pedagogical strategies to problematize homogeneous cultural perceptions and the textbook itself.

scholarly journals An Analysis of an EFL Teachers' Guide: A Case Study

2011 ◽  
Vol 2011 ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahmad Nazari
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Policy ◽  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Critical Discourse ◽  
Language Policies ◽  
Policy Documents ◽  
Classroom Activities ◽  
Teaching Objectives ◽  
Efl Teachers

This paper is an attempt to analyse one of the documents which may affect the classroom activities of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers, namely teachers' guides. It also explores the context at which the document is aimed and critiques how EFL teachers are advised to teach as well as how EFL is taught. As such, the paper stands where critical discourse analysis and language policy come together in the study of language policies in education. The teachers' guide chosen and the analysis carried out here are not necessarily concerned with their representativeness and typicality but with the opportunity they provide to the researchers and teachers to learn about such language policy documents and how language and language teaching objectives are represented in them. The issues raised in this paper will have relevance to the EFL teachers' guides and EFL education in other contexts, as these issues are likely to be true of other EFL milieux.

scholarly journals Colombia’s nationwide EFL policy and the construction of equity in policy documents

2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 57-74
Author(s):  
Daniel Villegas
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Tertiary Education ◽  
Critical Discourse ◽  
Ministry Of Education ◽  
Social Efficiency ◽  
Policy Documents ◽  
The Government

The Colombia Bilingüe (Colombia Bilingual)1 program was introduced by the Ministry of Education (MEN) in 2004 with aims of increasing the teaching and learning of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) at primary, secondary and tertiary education level. However, this program has failed to reach its set language goals and has come under strong criticism. Scholars suggest that Colombia Bilingual has not only been unsuccessful in improving English skills but has resulted in unequal practices by favoring language instrumentation, marketization of language services and stratification of people. This paper offers a Critical Discourse Analysis of seven policy papers set forward by the government that have introduced and given continuation to this program. I will argue that the construction of equity in Colombia’s EFL policy is framed within a limited interpretation that has mainly given priority to improving Colombia’s international competitiveness while overlooking other important elements of equity such as autonomy, identity, and equality. I will conclude that the presence of social efficiency messages in the policy documents substantiates previous studies’ criticism and highlights the importance of policy documents towards reaching more equitable language learning practices.

scholarly journals Cultural Hegemony Portrayed in Cutting Edge Pre-Intermediate Textbook

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 42-57
Author(s):  
Héctor Javier Caro ◽  
Diana Andrea Caro
Keyword(s):  
Discourse Analysis ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Language Skills ◽  
Cutting Edge ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Critical Discourse ◽  
Cultural Hegemony ◽  
Publishing Houses ◽  
Foreign Language Skills

The use of textbooks in the EFL classroom is a trend that shapes the way language teachers teach and how students learn. Teachers design and use a great deal of materials for teaching and developing foreign language skills, but in terms of culture, they usually prefer to trust publishing houses for the cultural content included in their textbooks. What we do not know is that most of these textbooks promote hegemony and standardization of cultures under the conscious or unconscious ideology of the colonization of being. Teachers need to learn how to analyze and unveil the hidden mechanisms of colonization that are portrayed in some textbooks, a process which can be carried out through the use of Critical Discourse Analysis.

scholarly journals Penggunaan Bahasa “Syirik Dalam Hukum Seperti Syirik dalam Ibadah” Materi Dakwah Abu Sulaiman Aman Abdurrahman

2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-87
Author(s):  
Darsita Suparno
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Islamic Law ◽  
Language Choice ◽  
Arabic Language ◽  
Critical Discourse ◽  
Analysis Model ◽  
Advanced Technique ◽  
Basic Technique ◽  
The Subject

The aims of this research are to find out the types of language used and language choice in term of Indonesian-Arabic, language style, and to identify some causal factors of language choice in the discourse of Abu Sulaiman Aman Abdurrahman's dakwah. This research uses Norman Fairclough’s critical discourse analysis model The object of this research is the Indonesia-Arabic contained in the text of his da'wah. The research method is the match method followed by basic and advanced techniques. The basic technique is the basic technique of Determining Elements (PUP). This technique is used to classify Arabic vocabulary as a foreign language in the text. The advanced technique refers the equalizing appeal technique. The result of this research shows that the form of foreign language usage in this text is Arabic. There are three sentence’s pattern in the text, such as: imperative, exclamatory and declarative. The purpose of using imperative sentence pattern is likely to show request, attitude and principle; additionally, the aim of using exclamatory is to express strong emotions. On the other hand, declarative sentence is used to convey information or make statements and ask the audience would like to change the way of thinking from common law to Islamic law. The style of language and the use of sentences in the text of da'wah is oriented to the concept of Islamic shari'ah according to Aman viewpoint. There are several factors that cause language choice, namely: (1) the background of the subject, (2) the background of the place, (3) the need for synonyms, (4)   the speaker's bilingualism.---Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mendeskripsikan bentuk-bentuk pemakaian bahasa Indonesa-Arab, pola, dan faktor penyebab pemakaian bahasa itu pada wacana dakwah Abu Sulaiman Aman Abdurrahman. Objek penelitian ini adalah bahasa Indonesia-Arab yang terdapat pada naskah dakwahnya. Metode penelitian yang digunakan adalah metode padan dengan diikuti teknik dasar dan lanjutan. Teknik dasar yang digunakan adalah teknik dasar Pilah Unsur Penentu. Teknik ini digunakan untuk mengklasifikasikan kosakata bahasa Arab sebagai bahasa asing pada naskah dakwah tersebut. Teknik lanjutan yang digunakan adalah teknik hubung banding menyamakan. Hasil penelitian ini menemukan bahwa bentuk pemakaian bahasa asing yang terdapat pada isi dakwah ini adalah bahasa Arab. Bahasa Arab digunakan untuk menyatakan konsep hukum Islam. Pola pemakaian kalimat yaitu kalimat ajakan, seruan dan pernyataan. Pola ajakan digunakan untuk menunjukkan sikap dan pendiriannya, kalimat seruan digunakan agar khalayak mau melakukan apa yang diserukan, selanjutnya, kalimat pernyataan dipakai untuk merubah cara berpikir dari hukum umum ke hukum Islam. Pemakaian pola kalimat dan gaya  bahasa  pada naskah dakwah itu berorientasi pada konsep syari’at Islam menurut cara pandang Aman. Selain itu, ada beberapa faktor yang menyebabkan pemilihan bahasa yang dilakukan oleh Aman antara lain, (1) latar belakang pokok bahasan, (2) latar belakang tempat, (3) kebutuhan sinonim, (4) adanya kedwibahasaan penutur. DOI : 10.15408/bat.v24i1.7070

scholarly journals GIVEN AND NEW INFORMATION IN BARACK OBAMA’S REMARKS: A SYNTACTIC FORM ANALYSIS

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 458
Author(s):  
Herdiana Herdiana ◽  
Didin Nuruddin Hidayat ◽  
Alek Alek ◽  
Nida Husna
Keyword(s):  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Information Structure ◽  
Critical Discourse ◽  
Childhood Memories ◽  
Information Structures ◽  
Form Analysis ◽  
Syntactic Form ◽  
New Information ◽  
Close Textual Analysis ◽  
The Usa

This study seeks to figure out how certain new and given information as information structure of syntactic forms are revealed in Barack Obama’s remarks in Jakarta. The study is focused on the beginning parts of Obama’s remarks, as in that he recalled his childhood memories of staying in Jakarta, Indonesia, for four years. In order to investigate the information structures, we collected the data from digital documents (scripts and videos) of the remark; then, we analyzed the syntactic forms of article “a” (indefinite) and “the” (definite) and also the rheme and theme of the script and the video of the remarks using close textual analysis. The results indicate that the uses of these articles construct certain messages whose tones are either distancing, getting close, or neutralizing the speaker against the audience. Furthermore, the information contained in Obama’s speech reflected the context-awareness of the speaker and also the audience. The speech could also open up further study on (political) critical discourse analysis, as it was delivered in the political contexts between Indonesia and the USA.

Constructing race in white spaces of Dutch education (1968–2017)

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Luce Sijpenhof
Keyword(s):  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Critical Discourse ◽  
Race And Racism ◽  
Critical Perspective ◽  
History Teachers ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Educational Spaces ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Former Teachers ◽  
Selection Of

PurposeThe key purpose of this paper is to explore how teachers' historical constructions of race and racism may reify whiteness in Dutch classrooms. How has whiteness contributed to how teachers understand and teach race and (historical) racism in white educational spaces in the years 1968–2017?Design/methodology/approachInterview data are obtained from a selection of Dutch secondary school (former) teachers, mostly history teachers, who have taught in the period between 1968–2017 (N = 28). Grounded theory and critical discourse analysis are used for analytical purposes.FindingsThe findings reveal that most teachers minimize and distort (historical) racism and its connection to the normalization of whiteness in the Netherlands. These teachers are constantly (re)constructing race based on their own histories, which silences race. This implicates contemporary educational spaces in numerous ways. Among other things, teachers normalize whiteness, while racializing the “other”, they explain racial inequities by reference to factors that exclude racism, and perpetuate whiteness through their teaching.Originality/valueWhile in the USA, critical scholars have long provided evidence for racism in educational contexts, racism in Dutch education remains largely unexamined. This paper offers a critical perspective on teachers' racial contributions.

Analysis of Speeches by the Former President of the US, Barack Hussein Obama, Regarding the Middle East and Northern Africa

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 20-32
Author(s):  
Alelign Aschale Wudie
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
North Africa ◽  
Political Ideology ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Critical Discourse ◽  
Political Ideologies ◽  
World Power ◽  
The Us ◽  
The Usa

The main intention in this article is to critically analyze the ex-president Barack Obama's speeches regarding the Middle East and (North) Africa and see how US-America, Middle East, and Africa are framed in political ideologies. Data is collected from the four speeches delivered by the ex-president of the USA in different places and settings. The data is analyzed using critical discourse analysis (CDA). The findings revealed that political ideology sleeplessly aspires to safeguard the interests of America and her “true” allies to sustain their world power and to suppress the “others” in the counterfeit names of tolerance, engagement, aid and support, democracy and freedom, knowledge-driven economy, peace and security, etc., that targets the younger generation. Contemporary pretexts and extensions have been done with discourse manipulations and real-life interventions.

scholarly journals Strategies of Legitimisation and Delegitimisation in Selected American Presidential Speeches

2019 ◽  
Vol 35 (40) ◽  
pp. 11-29
Author(s):  
Zorica Trajkova ◽  
Silvana Neshkovska
Keyword(s):  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Critical Discourse ◽  
Hillary Clinton ◽  
Donald Trump ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Pragmatic Aspect ◽  
Language Strategies ◽  
The Right ◽  
Pragmatic Strategies ◽  
Insight Into

[full article and abstract in English] Politicians invest a lot of time and effort to win elections and present themselves in the best possible manner. They use language strategies to present and legitimise themselves as the right choice. And if they are the right choice, then their opponent is obviously not, so while they are trying to acclaim themselves and their political party, they use strategies to delegitimise and attack their opponents and the policy they represent. This paper aims to conduct a critical discourse analysis of the speeches of the two main political opponents in the last elections in the USA, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. The research gives an insight into the manipulative function of language and covers two aspects: the lexical-semantic and pragmatic aspect and is based on the supposition that the strategies politicians use while talking about themselves and describing their opponents differ. As expected, they use more positive terminology to talk about themselves and their policies, and negative terminology to criticise the opponent’s policy. They also employ different pragmatic strategies, such as intensifiers and inclusive pronouns, to involve the audience into the discourse and convince them in their arguments. Finally, although carried out on a relatively small corpus, the analysis gives an insight into the language techniques employed by politicians to legitimise themselves and delegitimise their opponent and thus win the elections.

scholarly journals Gendered Make-up

2000 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 209-213 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mindy Blaise Ochsner
Keyword(s):  
Discourse Analysis ◽  
Qualitative Study ◽  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Social Order ◽  
Critical Discourse ◽  
Socially Constructed ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Structuralist Framework ◽  
Kindergarten Classroom ◽  
Gender Discourses

This article summarizes a recently completed study of gender in an urban kindergarten classroom in the USA. Using a feminist post-structuralist framework to analyze gender, this qualitative study examined how 5 and 6 year-old students socially constructed themselves as gendered beings through the heterosexual matrix. By documenting and analyzing students' talk, actions, drawings, and writings, this investigation explored how students regulated the gendered social order of the classroom through their understandings of gender norms and ideals. Using critical discourse analysis, six gender discourses emerged, uncovering the heterosexual matrix. One of those gender discourses, labeled ‘make-up,’ is briefly discussed.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document