Neoliberalism for young learners in an EFL context: a mixed-methods approach

IF 2.4 1区文学 Q1 EDUCATION & EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH

Language, Culture and Curriculum Pub Date : 2022-08-08 DOI:10.1080/07908318.2022.2110890

M. A. Farsani, Fatemeh Rahimi

引用次数: 0

Abstract

ABSTRACT Studies on the salient role of neoliberalism in education have increased rapidly in recent years. These studies highlighted the presence of neoliberalism in language teaching materials in different contexts. However, research exploring the reality of neoliberal mentality in young learners’ (YL) English language teaching (ELT) materials are sparse. Contributing to this barely-touched line of research, this study, employing a mixed-methods approach, examined the two most frequently used young learners’ ELT textbooks (i.e. ‘Family and Friends’; ‘Super Minds’) taught in Iranian private language institutes. We further explored teachers’ perspectives on neoliberalism. The findings revealed that young learners’ textbooks are notably filled with neoliberal values such as ‘fame & celebrity’ and ‘material wealth’. The qualitative findings also revealed that most teachers are unaware of the presence of neoliberalism in the textbooks. Implications for teachers, young learners, and policymakers are discussed.

查看原文本刊更多论文

新自由主义在英语语境下对年轻学习者的影响:一种混合方法

近年来，关于新自由主义在教育中的突出作用的研究迅速增加。这些研究强调了新自由主义在不同语境下的语言教材中的存在。然而，探索新自由主义心理在青少年英语教学材料中的现实情况的研究却很少。本研究采用混合方法研究了两种最常用的年轻学习者的英语教材(即《家人和朋友》;在伊朗的私人语言学院任教。我们进一步探讨了教师对新自由主义的看法。调查结果显示，年轻学习者的教科书明显充满了新自由主义价值观，如“名声和名人”和“物质财富”。定性调查结果还显示，大多数教师没有意识到教科书中存在新自由主义。讨论了对教师、青年学习者和政策制定者的影响。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

求助全文

约1分钟内获得全文求助全文

来源期刊

Language, Culture and Curriculum Multiple-

CiteScore

7.00

自引率

5.70%

发文量

期刊介绍： Language, Culture and Curriculum is a well-established journal that seeks to enhance the understanding of the relations between the three dimensions of its title. It welcomes work dealing with a wide range of languages (mother tongues, global English, foreign, minority, immigrant, heritage, or endangered languages) in the context of bilingual and multilingual education and first, second or additional language learning. It focuses on research into cultural content, literacy or intercultural and transnational studies, usually related to curriculum development, organisation or implementation. The journal also includes studies of language instruction, teacher training, teaching methods and language-in-education policy. It is open to investigations of language attitudes, beliefs and identities as well as to contributions dealing with language learning processes and language practices inside and outside of the classroom. Language, Culture and Curriculum encourages submissions from a variety of disciplinary approaches. Since its inception in 1988 the journal has tried to cover a wide range of topics and it has disseminated articles from authors from all continents.