2.1.2. Early 20th century English textbooks
According to Michael (1993), there are no historical studies of
the textbooks of English that it is difficult to trace their detailed
evolution.
Surveying the history of ELT, Howatt (1984) covered English
language teaching materials, even though not systematically. He suggests four
segments of improvement in ELT since 1900:
· Laying the foundations (1900-1922)
· Research and development (1922-1939)
· Consolidation (1945-1960)
· Change and variation since 1960
Howatt (1984) claims that during the «laying the
foundations» phase of ELT, a «series of works which have since served
as indispensable source-books for every English language teacher» (p. 214)
have been written. Examples include The Pronunciation of English
(Jones, 1909) and An English Pronouncing Dictionary, on Strictly Phonetic
Principles (Jones, 1917).
During the second phase named Research and Development,
Howatt (1984) mentions the textbooks written by Palmer (1938) The New
Method Grammar and Palmer & Palmer (1925) English Through
Actions in addition to Eckersley (1933) A Concise English Grammar for
Foreign Students. What Howatt (1984) identified as new in this textbook is
the «more relaxed and livelier atmosphere [that were different from] the
severely pedagogical texts of some of the rival courses» (p. 216). Howatt
(1984) argues that such `livelier atmosphere' is the result of Eckersely (1933)
responding to the needs of his foreign learners who are in need of everyday
English, which was absent in the existing materials at that time.
The historical survey conducted by Howatt (1984) does not
contain a study of the textbooks written during what he identified as the
«consolidation» (1945-1960) and the «change and variation»
(since 1960) phases. In fact, in these phases he concentrates on the publishing
of journals and the evolution of English for Specific Purposes (ESP) as a
branch of ELT.
Starting from the sixties, and for political and economic
reasons (Phillipson, 1992), ELT coursebooks witnessed an important change as
they have become used in many contexts around the world, which resulted in the
appearance of globally used textbooks.
2.1.3. Global coursebooks
Block and Cameron (2002) define the global coursebook as
«a kind of text designed to be used in English language teaching
worldwide» (Block & Cameron, 2002, p. 10). The term global,
collocating with the term coursebook, makes the meaning of `global coursebook',
an ELT material that targets learners all over the world. The appearance of
global coursebooks is most of the time related to business and globalisation
(Graddol, 2000; Gray, 2002). This is so as «the need to cater to
international markets has given rise to (...) `the global coursebook', which
can be used by students at a particular level and age group anywhere in the
world, regardless of culture» (Ranalli, 2003, p. 3-4). There are many
coursebooks that can be said to have global pertinence. One could mention
Headway (Soars & Soars, 1986, 1996, 2003), Market Leader
(Muskull & Heitler, 2007), and Cutting Edge (Canningham &
Moor, 2005) with their various levels designed to meet the needs of various
targeted population of learners. The present study will focus on one
coursebook, which is New Headway Intermediate (Soars and Soars,
2003).
Of rising importance in contemporary studies in linguistics
is the exploration of the cultural content in ELT materials (Gray, 2002;
Mineshima, 2008). In fact, the rise of interest in the importance of the
cultural content was the result of the spread of the ELT market and that such
spread fostered the exportation of British and American textbooks to be used in
teaching English in newly created markets (Phillipson, 1992; Canagarajah,
1999). Various organisations from what Phillipson (1992) calls the Inner Circle
(North America, Britain, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand) promoted the use
of British and American textbooks under the aid projects such as the Ford
Foundation and the British Council (Phillipson, 1992; Pennycook, 1994;
Canagarajah, 1999), thus possibly paving the way for the promotion of global
coursebooks along with the spread of English, whether intentionally or not.
Regardless of the ideological motives behind this promotion,
learners of English all around the world discovered ready-made Inner Circle
textbooks, which made ELT and textbooks publishing a major business especially
in Britain (Phillipson, 1992; Gray, 2002). Among the issues that have become
important is representation in textbooks. Some studies concentrated on the
representation age, gender, and social classes in global coursebooks (Arikan,
2005; Mineshiman, 2008). These are outlined in this study after exploring the
value of textbooks in the educational operation.
Global coursebooks are considered global, essentially because
of their worldwide use and tendency towards «globality» (in the sense
of catering for global audiences) in content. As the global coursebook is meant
to be addressed to an international audience, the issue of content and mainly
the extent to which the textbook could be considered `global' can be of
interest. The following sub-section will focus on the globalised content of
global coursebooks.
| 
