Cultural Portrayal in Middle-school English Textbooks : Insights for Critical Multiculturalism

The purpose of this study is to investigate how different cultures were portrayed in 33 middle school English textbooks in Korea, and to understand the efforts to facilitate students' multicultural competency. Through a critical qualitative research design, the ways cultures are described were analyzed as a way to envision more balanced ways to develop critical multiculturalism, that move beyond mere celebration of cultural events, practices, and artifacts. More dialogic discourse about cultural misunderstanding demonstrated a possibility for critical multiculturalism, an invitation to challenge the dominant power dynamics across cultures. While Eurocentric perspectives were toned down, the cultures of African or other Third World countries were stereotyped in such a way that did not engage students into a discourse of multiculturalism. This study suggests that we should include the discourse of problematizing that helps students accept diverse ways of being, rather than just maintaining a dominant interpretive framework of culture. This paper concludes by suggesting the possibility of envisioning a critical multiculturalism in Korean middle school English textbooks.