In Other Countries... : An Analysis of Cultural Representations in Swedish EFL Textbooks

Sammanfattning

This essay addresses the selection and representation of English-speaking contexts and areas in coursebooks adapted to English Level 1 for Swedish upper secondary school in order to analyse how the textbooks reflect and address cultural stereotypes. The English-speaking contexts and areas are categorised according to the Global North and Global South frameworks, respectively. Three textbooks adapted for the Swedish 2025 syllabus were examined through thematic content analysis. The analysis of the findings applies postcolonial theory. The study found that the Global North is represented to a much higher degree than the Global South. The Global North is also portrayed as more progressive and developed, as the representations of the Global South are generally negative, stereotypical, or superficial. Furthermore, both the texts and the tasks in the textbooks rarely incorporate critical analysis of cultural stereotypes. Consequently, the study highlights the need for teachers to use additional resources for critical analysis of cultural representations in textbooks.