Graduation Year

2024

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree

Ph.D.

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

Degree Granting Department

World Languages

Major Professor

Brandon Tullock, Ph.D.

Co-Major Professor

Camilla Vásquez, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Mohammed Albakry, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Wei Zhu, Ph.D.

Keywords

Curriculum, Pedagogy, Discourse, Ideology, Culture, Textbook Analysis

Abstract

The present study examines cultural representations in two widely used AFL textbook series, namely Al-Kitaab and Arabiyyat al-Naas. Fundamentally, three main issues motivate this study: (1) the cultural politics of language textbooks underlying the construction and dissemination of cultural knowledge and its prioritization of the latter on grounds of subjectivity, ideology, and power, (2) the politicization of Arabic as a foreign language (AFL) in light of the post 9/11 language advocacy, and (3) the prevailing standard language ideology of al-Arabiya al-fuṣħaa (العربية الفصحى) and the pedagogical challenges posed by Arabic diglossia. The data comprise five textbooks from the aforementioned series, aimed at beginning and intermediate levels of proficiency. These levels represent the highest AFL enrollments at U.S. postsecondary institutions, and are considered crucial for developing the foundations of linguistic and cultural awareness. Drawing upon a poststructuralist framework that interrogates structural analysis against the wider, conflicted discourses of sociopolitical and economic globalization of language and culture (Blommaert, 2010; Kramsch & Vinall, 2015; McNamara, 2012), the present study examines cultural representations in AFL textbooks applying a revised content analysis approach of deductive and inductive coding, which attends to culture based on Moran’s paradigm of cultural dimensions (2001). Such theoretical underpinnings allow for a systematic exploration of cultural meaning, which unpacks culture in both its objective and subjective manifestations. The findings reveal the prevalence of surface, objective culture (e.g., cultural product, places, persons) and the paucity of deep, subjective culture (e.g., cultural perspectives and practices) in both textbook series. Given the deep-seated and interdependent neoliberal discourses in language education, cultural representations appear to cater to the demands of globalization and its capitalist ambitions, which not only commodify language and culture for access and participation in a global economy, but also risks the homogenization of world cultures by prioritizing cultural sameness at the expense of foreignness. Contributing to the scant research on AFL teaching materials, this study offers a critical understanding of the ideological discourses in language textbooks, illuminating cultural meaning as a contested political space.

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