Race and Social Class in Moroccan ELT Textbooks

Abstract

This paper investigates the representation of race and social class in three second year Baccalaureate ELT textbooks currently used in Moroccan public high school. The study hopes to draw the attention of teachers, textbook designers and educational policy makers to the viability of textbook evaluation in improving the quality of Moroccan ELT textbooks. It aims to identify the extent to which Gateway to English 2, Insights into English 2 and Tickets to English 2 provide an authentic representation of race and social class through examining the frequency of appearance of, the visibility of, the space allotted to and the firstness of characters belonging to different races and social classes in texts, dialogues, images and exercises. The study is informed by the theoretical framework of the Standards-Based Approach and adopts content analysis as a mixed research methods that allows for quantitative and qualitative analysis of the data. The findings reveal an undisputable discrepancy marked by the dominance of the Caucasian race and the marginalization of the lower class. Finally, this paper suggests practical ways in which future textbooks could avoid or at least reduce the effect of these discrepancies.