This book examines how neoliberalism finds expression in foreign language textbooks. Moving beyond the usual focus on English, Pau Bori explores the impact of neoliberal ideology on Catalan textbooks. By comparing Catalan textbooks to English textbooks, this book interrogates the similarities and differences between a minor and a global language in the age of neoliberalism. Drawing on insights from critical theory and critical pedagogy, this study provides a fresh perspective on foreign language textbooks and second language education more broadly. Language Textbooks in the Era of Neoliberalism paves the way for new critical perspectives in language education that will challenge the current hegemony of neoliberalism.
Contents
Chapter 1, Introduction
Chapter 2, A Short History of Foreign Language Education in Europe
Chapter 3, Critical Research on Language Textbooks
Chapter 4, Analyzing Textbooks from a Political Economy Perspective
Chapter 5, The Catalan Context
Chapter 6, Social Class in Textbooks
Chapter 7, The World of Work: Constructing an Entrepreneurial Identity
Chapter 8, The World of Housing: Creating a Neoliberal Fairytale
Chapter 9, Conclusions
References
Index
Biography
Pau Bori is Lecturer in Catalan Studies at the University of Belgrade. He is interested in language education and language teaching materials, examining both from a political economy perspective. He has published papers in various journals and contributed chapters to books of collected articles.
This is a sobering book to read. One of Bori’s aims is ‘to awaken
awareness among the educational and academic communities about the
necessity to look critically at textbooks from a political and economic
perspective’ (p. 162). The book has a lot to say to materials developers, to
make us question what we are portraying and the possible consequences.
- Kathleen Graves, ELT Journal (Volume 73/3 July 2019)
