The Representation of Race in English Language Learning Textbooks: Inclusivity and Equality in Images.

Ensuring adequate inclusivity in educational materials is a matter of ethics and fairness, as well as a means to maximize learning processes. Yet, over the last thirty years, research has continually shown that English language teaching/learning textbooks present material that favors the representation of Whites over other races. To investigate if this is still the case, we explore inclusivity of race with regard to 1648 image participants found in five popular textbooks. We investigate frequency of occurrence, physical presence (size on page), and projected social relationship between viewer and image participant, drawing on a social semiotic framework for the latter. Results show that the presence of race is (still) heavily skewed toward Whites, both in terms of overall numbers and spatial affordance. Results also show considerable variation across the textbooks quantitatively and qualitatively with regard to racial representation. Nevertheless, there is some regularity with regard to certain image types, which appear to reflect the books' pedagogical foci. Based on these findings and others, we argue for a change in thinking—from the ideal to the practical—and for textbook producers to finally stand up and make substantive changes to how they represent race in imagery, both quantitatively and qualitatively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]