Abstract:
The content of instructional materials significantly affects students’ attitudes and
dispositions towards themselves, other people and society. This is particularly so
with students of English as a Second Language (ESL) whose success in a new
environment is conditioned not only by their mastery of the new language, but also,
and especially, by their ability to negotiate the new culture. Building on the argu-
ment that learning a second language cannot be separated from the acquisition of
the culture that it embodies, this paper argues that the design and adaptation of
ESL textbooks and other instructional materials should reflect multiple perspectives
inherent to a pluralistic society in order to engage students in a process of uncover-
ing and confronting cultural biases and facilitate intercultural learning. The paper
presents the findings from an examination of selected ESL textbooks for stereotypes
and other cultural biases and discusses the potential impact of these biases on
students. It posits that instructional materials that do not integrate students’ diverse
life experiences in the teaching and learning process fail to empower them to ident-
ify the missing, misconstrued and misrepresented voices. The paper suggests five
strategies for dealing with stereotypes and other cultural biases in ESL textbooks
and other instructional materials.
