The Embedded Ideology in English and History Textbooks at the Public High Schools in Egypt

Abstract

This study is looking at textbooks as an ideological phenomenon. It uses a content analysis combined with a focus on the linguistic features of the English textbooks (ETBs) and History textbooks (TBs) officially approved and published in Egypt for the secondary stage of education. Inferences are drawn about the embedded ideology of the textbooks (TBs) under investigation by focusing on the theme selection by omission or emphasis, the linguistic devices, images, and texts. The effects of the political and socioeconomic change in Egypt on TBs content and design are highlighted and matched against the objectives of teaching both English and History there. The findings of this study show that Neoliberalism dominates the design and content of History textbooks. History textbooks align with the Scholar Academic ideology while English textbooks align with the Social Reconstruction ideology and the Learner Centered ideology. Suggestions and recommendations offered in this study will help textbook (TB) evaluators and teachers develop a method of evaluating the textbook embedded ideology so that their judgments for textbook selection and evaluation can be made on reasonably secure grounds. It guides textbook designers to integrate the Learner-Centered ideologies and the Social Reconstruction ideologies into textbook images, texts, and tasks so that learners will develop both language and identity.