This study is rooted in a “massive shift in the use and users of English over recent decades” (Jenkins, 2007: 188). The paper examines the presence (or absence) of the diversity of English users and uses in the representations of eight English textbooks published in Japan since the 1950s to understand the reality of current ELT practice in the context of this shift. Matsuda has reported that “English is still being taught as an inner-circle language” using “textbooks with characters and cultural topics from the English-speaking countries” (2003: 719), generally without acknowledging “the increased use of English among non-native speakers of English” (Matsuda, 2012: 171). The paper conducts a historical comparison of two seventh-grade textbook series published in multiple time periods: Everyday English (Iwasaki et al. 1954; Hatori et al. 1987; Ueda et al. 1997) and One World (Matsuda et al. 1950; Hasegawa et al. 1987; Sasaki et al. 1997; Matsumoto et al. 2013; Matsumoto et al. 2016). The textbooks are analysed according to: (1) the nationalities of the characters, and the number of characters from each country, (2) the number of words uttered by each character of each nationality, and (3) the types of communication (international or intranational; between a native speaker (NS) and a non-native speaker (NNS), or between/among NNSs). The representation of English users and uses has been changing in recent years, with the number of NSs decreasing gradually for several decades. Whereas the main characters represented in textbooks of the 1950’s are from the United States, a greater variety of English nationalities (e.g. Australian) are represented in textbooks throughout the 1980’s, 1990’s and 2000’s. Non-English-speaking country characters are still identified as a minority group, however, even in the latest textbooks.
References
Jenkins, J. (2007) English as a lingua franca: attitude and identity. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Matsuda, A. (2003) Incorporating World Englishes in Teaching English as an International Language. TESOL Quarterly 37.4: 719-29.
Matsuda, A. (2012) Teaching materials in EIL. In L. Alsagoff, S. L. McKay, G. Hu, and W.A. Renandya (eds.), Principles and practices for teaching English asan International Language. New York: Routledge. 168-85.
