Article published in:
Language, Culture and Society
Vol. 2:2 (2020) ► pp. 149–173

Coloniality, neoliberalism and the language textbook

Unravelling the symbiosis in Spanish as a foreign language

| University of Waikato
| University of Queensland

In this article, we question the presumed presence of the textbook as sine qua non in languages education. Contextualising our discussion within Spanish as a foreign language (SFL) in higher education, we illuminate the overlapping ideological, historical and economic forces that frame and shape language practice through textbooks. In a field in which decolonial and poststructuralist approaches to language and languages education are gaining traction, the textbook thwarts theoretical and practical complexification of language beyond monolingual depictions of languages as ahistorical and context-free systems which unproblematically transport meaning across time and space. Furthermore, the status of the textbook as a producible and consumable item cannot be overlooked. On the basis of our critique, we conclude that the use of textbooks generates serious tensions in practice for those wishing to pursue emergent, emancipatory linguistic frameworks in languages education.

Keywords: textbook, Spanish as a foreign language, language ideology, decoloniality, neoliberalism
Article outline
  • 1.Decolonial thinking and languages education: Operating on shifting grounds
  • 2.The teaching of Spanish as a foreign language
    • 2.1Textbooks and SFL
  • 3.Gaps and challenges in using (and relinquishing) the language textbook
  • 4.Higher education and language commodities
  • 5.Conclusions, and further questions
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 04 December 2020
https://doi.org/10.1075/lcs.20003.gur
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