Chapter 6 Imagined communities and identity options in Beijing Olympic English textbooks
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Jie Zhang
Abstract
This chapter explores the imagined communities and identity options constructed in two Olympic English training materials by conducting linguistic and semiotic analyses of the multimodal meaning-making resources in the textbooks. It is organised as follows: I first introduce the theoretical rationale underpinning studies of identity construction in language textbooks; this entails reference to feminism, poststructuralism, critical discourse analysis and critical pedagogy. After this, I elaborate on the respective content, form, and pedagogical goals of the two sampled English textbooks and the rationale for selecting them as my data. In the subsequent sections, three imagined communities (targeted learners, imagined interlocutors, and Beijing as an Olympic city) are examined. Overall, I will show that the two textbooks offer biased, stereotyped and oversimplified identity options to targeted Chinese learners. Moreover, the two textbooks attempt to construct a harmonious imagined community without even suggesting that cross-cultural communication might also fail. These discursive constructions have the potential to negatively impact learners’ language learning trajectories.
Abstract
This chapter explores the imagined communities and identity options constructed in two Olympic English training materials by conducting linguistic and semiotic analyses of the multimodal meaning-making resources in the textbooks. It is organised as follows: I first introduce the theoretical rationale underpinning studies of identity construction in language textbooks; this entails reference to feminism, poststructuralism, critical discourse analysis and critical pedagogy. After this, I elaborate on the respective content, form, and pedagogical goals of the two sampled English textbooks and the rationale for selecting them as my data. In the subsequent sections, three imagined communities (targeted learners, imagined interlocutors, and Beijing as an Olympic city) are examined. Overall, I will show that the two textbooks offer biased, stereotyped and oversimplified identity options to targeted Chinese learners. Moreover, the two textbooks attempt to construct a harmonious imagined community without even suggesting that cross-cultural communication might also fail. These discursive constructions have the potential to negatively impact learners’ language learning trajectories.
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Preface: The paradox of the concomitant rise of China and English V
- Acknowledgement IX
- Contents XI
- List of abbreviations and acronyms XVII
- Chapter 1 The Modern Olympic Games as linguistically complex events 1
- Chapter 2 Remaking China in the Olympic spotlight 28
- Chapter 3 Researching the LPP for the 2008 Beijing Olympics 40
- Chapter 4 Beijing’s commitment – international language environment 62
- Chapter 5 Assessing Beijing’s foreign language environment 104
- Chapter 6 Imagined communities and identity options in Beijing Olympic English textbooks 144
- Chapter 7 The linguistic landscape of the Olympic city 167
- Chapter 8 China’s Olympic language services – legacy, transformation and prospect 199
- Chapter 9 Conclusion 226
- Bibliography 229
- Appendix 1: List of interview participants 251
- Appendix 2: Key to transcription conventions 255
- Index 257
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Preface: The paradox of the concomitant rise of China and English V
- Acknowledgement IX
- Contents XI
- List of abbreviations and acronyms XVII
- Chapter 1 The Modern Olympic Games as linguistically complex events 1
- Chapter 2 Remaking China in the Olympic spotlight 28
- Chapter 3 Researching the LPP for the 2008 Beijing Olympics 40
- Chapter 4 Beijing’s commitment – international language environment 62
- Chapter 5 Assessing Beijing’s foreign language environment 104
- Chapter 6 Imagined communities and identity options in Beijing Olympic English textbooks 144
- Chapter 7 The linguistic landscape of the Olympic city 167
- Chapter 8 China’s Olympic language services – legacy, transformation and prospect 199
- Chapter 9 Conclusion 226
- Bibliography 229
- Appendix 1: List of interview participants 251
- Appendix 2: Key to transcription conventions 255
- Index 257
