Market-driven Discourses in Global ELT Textbooks and Their Interpretations in Learners’ Narrations

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

University of Mohaghegh Ardabili

Abstract

Global English language teaching (ELT) textbooks function not only as linguistic resources but also as sites where market-oriented identities and cultural imaginaries are made available to learners. Although critical ELT scholarship has examined neoliberalism in textbook materials, less attention has been paid to how discourses are realized across proficiency levels within a global series and how learners in under-researched EFL settings interpret them. This qualitative study examines neoliberal subject positions in Speakout (3rd ed., A1–B2+) as used in Iranian private institutes, alongside interviews with six male Iranian learners aged 16–19. Textbook data was sampled purposively across the proficiency levels, with attention to unit topics, dialogues, reading and listening texts, task instructions, visuals, and Future Skills sections. The analysis combined codes from neoliberalism and governmentality with coding of representational patterns. Following Fairclough’s (2001) critical discourse analysis, the study moved from description of textual and visual features—lexis, modality, evaluation, agency, scenario design, and image–text relations—to interpretation of discourse practices and explanation in relation to the Iranian ELT context. The findings identify four recurrent discourse clusters: Consumer participation and branding, employability and entrepreneurial selfhood, individualized achievement, and Western-coded lifestyle/mobility as cultural capital. Interview data indicate selective uptake rather than internalization: Learners often framed English as a resource for education, mobility, and income while questioning luxury consumption and some Western-centric norms. The study contributes an empirically grounded account of how global ELT materials normalize market-oriented subject positions and argues for critical textbook literacy in teacher education and materials evaluation.

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References

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