Ideologies of English in a Chinese high school EFL textbook: a critical discourse analysis

Abstract In this article we examine ideologies of English in present-day China with a special focus on textbook discourse. The research framework is informed by critical theories on language and education. Critical discourse analysis is applied as a methodological approach characterized by a socially committed attitude in the explanation and interpretation of text. The study finds evidence of: (a) a selective representation of the history of English, (b) shallow sociolinguistic explanations, and (c) grammatical prescriptivism. These issues attest to the Anglo-centric language ideologies assuming the sociolinguistic "neutrality" and grammatical "uniformity" of English. In response, we argue for a multicultural and cosmopolitan perspective on curriculum development marked by an intercultural understanding of both the global and the local. Keywords: ideologies of EnglishChinaEFL textbookscritical discourse analysis Acknowledgements The authors would like to thank Narahiko Inoue and the anonymous reviewers for their insightful comments and suggestions on earlier drafts of this paper. The paper is a part of Tao Xiong's PhD study on the cultural politics in EFL textbooks, supported by the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) and Chinese Ministry of Education (MOE).