Anglo-American cultures dominate university English textbooks used in China
In short: Researchers analyzing a massive corpus of university English textbooks in China found that Anglo-American cultural representations are dominant. The study observed that while British and American cultures are prevalent, cultures from other 'Inner-circle' countries are less frequent, and cultures from 'Outer-circle' and 'Expanding-circle' countries are almost entirely neglected.
By using corpus linguistics to analyze over one million words across 40 volumes, researchers aimed to reduce the subjectivity and small sample sizes found in previous manual studies. The study also found that these textbooks show very little interest in local Chinese culture, suggesting a monocultural focus in an increasingly multilingual world.
Why it matters: The heavy focus on Western cultures in language learning materials may overlook the multicultural reality of global English use.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: Research: Liu et al. (2021). Dominance of Anglo-American cultural representations in university English textbooks in China: a corpus linguistics analysis. Language Culture and Curriculum.
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