An Intersectional Visual Analysis of Iranian EFL Textbook of "Vision 2" for Analyzing Visual Representations of Gender, Race, and Nation

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Associate Professor, Department of English Language and Literaterature, Hakim Sabzevari University, Iran.

2 Postdoctoral Fellow, Dapertement of English Language and Literature, Hakim Sabzevari University, Iran.

10.22077/ali.2024.8321.1048

Abstract

English textbooks can be the frontiers of Second Language (L2) and world views for English as Foreign Language (EFL) learners. This qualitative study aimed to uncover how pictures of Iranian-published English textbooks represent identities in terms of gender, race, and nation. To this end, an intersectional lens was employed to analyze the English textbook Vision 2, which was taught in Iranian high school, as the subject of the study. The Visual data were collected and analyzed and the findings obtained by using the models of Nelson (2019) and Zarza (2018) uncovered that Vision 2 could not provide a successful and realistic view of the gender, race, and class for the EFL learners. Insufficient representations of female characters, different races, and nations were the most prominent findings of the present research. This study provided some explanations and suggestions for the following revision of EFL textbooks. In addition, the detrimental consequences of the current approach have been discussed.

Keywords


Volume 2, Issue 1
March 2024
Pages 18-27
  • Receive Date: 24 October 2023
  • Revise Date: 26 November 2023
  • Accept Date: 15 February 2024