This thesis investigates future English teachers&rsquo / experiences of learning English proverbs in Anatolian Teacher Training High Schools (ATTHS) in Turkey. In order to reveal the situation about proverb teaching in English language classrooms in ATTHS, students&rsquo / opinions are sought and coursebooks are analysed. In doing this, this study aims to find out EFL teacher trainees&rsquo / attitudes towards learning and teaching English proverbs, their conceptualization of proverbs, their thoughts about their knowledge and use of English proverbs, and perceptions about how sufficiently their English teachers and coursebooks at high school taught them English proverbs. This study also aims to uncover how the English coursebooks they used in ATTHS teach proverbs. To achieve these aims, a questionnaire is administered to 187 freshman ELT students / a semi-structured interview is conducted with volunteers and the coursebooks used by the majority are examined using an analysis form and a checklist. As a result, it is found that those teacher trainees have positive attitudes towards learning and teaching English proverbs, think that they do not have enough knowledge of English proverbs and that their English teachers and coursebooks did not teach proverbs sufficiently. Moreover, the participants&rsquo / conceptualization of proverbs reflects traditional definitions. Besides, coursebook analysis reveals that while the examined local coursebooks contain almost no proverbs at all, the analysed international coursebooks include a relatively bigger number of proverbs. However, except for some of the semantic and cultural aspects of proverbs, there is hardly any explicit reference to other aspects of proverbs in all the coursebooks examined.

The aim with this study is to find out the role of literature in language education. More specifically, this essay focuses on discovering how literature can be used to learn and acquire the English language. The study will show how reading literature can benefit students’ proficiency. The paper is based on two parts. The first part is an interview section where four English teachers have been interviewed in order to learn what teachers’ thoughts are on the role of literature in the courses in English. The teachers that have taken part in the study work at the same school in a smaller municipality. The second part of the study examines the availability of literary material in three current ELT coursebooks that the interviewees use in their teaching. This was done by a page-by-page analysis of the coursebooks.  The results of the interviews suggest that through reading literature students can acquire skills such as expanded vocabulary and proficiency. Moreover, the study shows that the coursebooks available to the teachers fail to provide enough reading material, nonfictional or fictional, to develop the proficiency the authors of the coursebooks claim students will acquire by using their coursebooks. / Denna studie ämnar undersöka litteraturens roll i språkundervisningen. Mer specifikt fokuserar studien på att undersöka hur litteratur kan vara ett verktyg för att lära sig engelska. Studien ämnar visa hur läsning kan främja elevers språkliga förmåga. Uppsatsen är uppdelad i två delar. Första delen fokuserar på resultaten av intervjuer med fyra engelsklärare som ger sina åsikter om litteraturens roll i engelskundervisningen. Lärarna som har deltagit i studien jobbar på samma skola i ett mindre samhälle. Den andra delen studerar det litterära materialet i tre läroböcker som lärarna använder i sin undervisning. Detta gjordes genom att analysera läromedlen sida för sida. Resultaten antyder att elever genom att läsa litteratur kan utveckla ett flertal förmågor, bland annat få ett större ordförråd och utveckla sin språkliga förmåga. Studien antyder också att läromedlen som lärarna använder sig av inte lyckas att förse lärarna med tillräckligt många litterära texter för att eleverna ska kunna utveckla sin språkliga förmåga till den grad läromedelsförfattarna påstår att de kan genom att använda deras läromedel.

[pt] A presente tese de doutorado tem como objetivo investigar o discurso dos livros didáticos de ensino de inglês como língua estrangeira e sua relação com a construção de identidades sociais dos alunos. Buscando verificar como estes livros representam sócio-discursivamente o mundo e os contextos culturais relacionados à língua alvo; observar em que medida oferecem oportunidades de voz aos alunos; e como situam-se em relação ao ensino e aprendizagem da língua inglesa, esta pesquisa adota uma teoria de linguagem de base sistêmico- funcional, uma perspectiva sócio-interacionista de ensino e aprendizagem e uma abordagem crítica de discurso e de cultura. A partir de uma visão não-essencialista das identidades e considerando a sociedade inserida na pós- modernidade, este trabalho analisa doze livros de ensino de inglês, de seis séries didáticas, nos níveis iniciante e intermediário. Os livros foram selecionados de acordo com parâmetros de variação quanto aos seus objetivos comunicativos, público alvo, local e data de publicação, bem como mercados consumidores. Os tópicos e os contextos culturais foram investigados para identificar a visão de mundo representada em cada livro (metafunção ideacional); as atividades propostas foram relacionadas aos papéis sociais imaginados pelo autor para os usuários projetados do livro e às oportunidades para o aluno mostrar sua voz (metafunção interpessoal); e a organização estrutural do material (metafunção textual) foi estudada com a finalidade de identificar as crenças do autor em relação ao processo de ensino e aprendizagem de inglês como língua estrangeira. A análise do corpus mostrou que as escolhas dos tópicos e dos contextos culturais propiciam uma visão de mundo que pode induzir os alunos a adotar determinadas identidades que são apresentadas como certas, socialmente aceitas e legitimadas nos livros. Os resultados apontam para uma visão de mundo, em oito dos doze livros, americanizada e europeizada, sendo o status e a visibilidade determinantes de sucesso, tal como na sociedade pós-moderna. A organização dos livros didáticos, muitas vezes tematizando o componente gramatical, mostra que os autores, em sua maioria, vêm o processo de ensino e aprendizagem como um conjunto de regras formais a serem apreendidas e reproduzidas e não como uma forma de agir no mundo. A análise das atividades propostas mostrou que há pouco espaço para a cultura dos aprendizes e poucas oportunidades para que mostrem sua voz e exerçam livremente suas identidades. Os resultados da pesquisa apontam para a importância da discussão das questões relevantes ligadas ao uso do livro didático e necessidade de conscientização dos alunos, professores e pesquisadores quanto à força social e discursiva destes materiais, que podem interferir na construção de identidades, de mundos e de crenças. / [en] The purpose of this research is to investigate the discourse of English as foreign language coursebooks and its relation to students´ construction of social identities. In order to observe socio-discursively how these books represent the world and the cultural contexts related to the English language; to investigate the extent to which they offer voice opportunities to students; and to identify the beliefs they reflect concerning the teaching and learning of English, this thesis adopts a systemic-functional approach to language, a socio- interactionist view of teaching and learning and a critical perspective of discourse and culture. Adopting a non-essentialist view of social identities and considering the insertion of society in post modernity, this research analyzes twelve English coursebooks, from six different series, at beginner and intermediate levels. Books were selected according to variation parameters involving communicative objectives, target audience, both place and date of publication, and consumer market. Topics and cultural contexts were investigated to identify the world view expressed in each book (ideational metafunction); exercises and activities were both related to the social roles imagined for projected book users and to students´ voice opportunities (interpersonal metafunction); finally, the structural organization of the materials (textual metafunction) was studied to identify authors´ beliefs concerning the teaching and learning of English as a foreign language. The analysis showed that the choice of topics and cultural contexts provides a world view that may lead students to adopt certain identities which are presented as the right ones, socially acceptable and legitimated in several books. Results also indicate, in eight out of the twelve books analyzed, the representation of an American and European world view, where status and visibility are crucial to success, in accordance with post modern society. The organization of the materials, which generally thematize grammar, shows that most authors understand the teaching and learning process as a set of formal rules to be apprehended and reproduced, rather than a way of acting in the world. The analysis of the exercises and activities showed that there is little space for learners´ cultures and few opportunities for them to show their voice and perform their identities freely. Results of this research point to the importance of discussing these issues and making students, teachers and researchers who deal with coursebooks aware of the social and discursive force inherent to the materials, which can interfere with the construction of identities, worlds and beliefs.

[pt] O objetivo deste estudo é identificar gêneros discursivos (Johns 1997, 2002) em livros didáticos de ensino de inglês destinados a alunos iniciantes, e analisar as suas representações nestes materiais. A partir do pressuposto teórico de que toda comunicação só se faz possível através de algum gênero discursivo (Bakhtin, [1979] 2000; Kress, 1993; Meurer, 2000), nesta dissertação consideramos que o ensino de uma língua estrangeira deve também se basear no desenvolvimento da competência no uso de gêneros (Parâmetros Curriculares Nacionais, 1996). Com foco nestas questões, este trabalho analisa três livros didáticos de inglês de nível iniciante, os quais foram selecionados de acordo com parâmetros relativos à variedade de inglês representada, ao público alvo, ao uso em instituições do Rio de Janeiro, às editoras e datas de publicação. A identificação e análise da freqüência dos gêneros do discurso escrito foram feitas a partir de atividades de leitura e escrita, por estas configuraremse como locais prováveis para sua apresentação nos livros didáticos para ensino de línguas. Os resultados da pesquisa indicam que há poucos gêneros da escrita representados nos livros didáticos de inglês para iniciantes, havendo predominância de tipos textuais (Marcuschi, 2002); além disso, quando estão representados, seu formato ou convenções lingüísticas são, muitas vezes, diferentes do seu uso. Quanto à inclusão dos gêneros em atividades de escrita e leitura, a análise mostrou que eles são mais freqüentes nas últimas, e que nas atividades de escrita têm como função o reforço de pontos gramaticais. Os textos propostos nestas atividades são geralmente compatíveis com o modelo de processamento de escrita baseado apenas na reprodução do conhecimento (knowledge telling), caracterizando-se como textos curtos e simples, sem exigir a transformação do conhecimento (knowledge transforming) (Bereiter & Scardamalia, 1987). Estes resultados indicam que conhecimentos prévios, ligados ao uso de gêneros discursivos em língua materna, são pouco considerados no ensino da língua estrangeira e que o ensino de inglês para iniciantes ainda não tem como foco principal os gêneros discursivos. As implicações pedagógicas desta pesquisa remetem à necessidade de se refletir sobre o papel do livro didático, uma vez que ele é o canal que possibilita que múltiplos gêneros sejam levados à sala de aula. Discute-se também a necessidade de uma atitude críticoreflexiva do professor face ao uso deste livro didático de inglês no ensino de gêneros. / [en] The purpose of this study is to identify discourse genres (Johns, 1997; 2002) in English course books for elementary students and to analyze their representation in these materials. Based on the assumption that communication is only possible through discourse genres (Bakhtin, 2000; Kress, 1993; Meurer, 2000), in this dissertation we consider that foreign language teaching should also take the development of genre competence as an essential point (National Curriculum Parameters - PCN, 1996). In order to investigate these issues, this research analyzes three English course books for elementary students which were selected according to variety of English, target audience, adoption in Rio de Janeiro language schools, publishers and date of publication. Written discourse genre identification and frequency analysis were performed in reading and writing activities which were considered as probable sites for genre presentation in English teaching course books. Results of this research indicate that there are few written genres represented in the analyzed elementary books, with a higher frequency of text types (Marcuschi, 2002). In these representations, however, genre format and linguistic conventions are many times not in accordance with actual genre use. Concerning the presentation of genres in reading and writing activities, the analysis has shown that they are more frequent in the former, and used as grammar reinforcement in the latter. In addition, texts observed in these activities were characterized as compatible with the knowledge telling model of the writing process (Bereiter & Scardamalia, 1987), being short and simple, not requiring any knowledge transforming. These results point towards the conclusion that students´ previous knowledge of genre use in their native language is scarcely taken into consideration in the teaching of a foreign language and that the teaching of English for beginners is not yet focusing on discourse genres. Pedagogical implications of this research indicate the need to reflect upon the role of the course book in teaching, once it is the channel that enables multiple genres to be taken into classrooms. The need for teachers´ critical and reflective attitude towards the use of English course books in the teaching of genres is also discussed.

This study focuses on social class in Swedish EFL coursebooks. The aim is to investigate what different social classes are represented and how much space they are given, as well as how they are portrayed in three Swedish EFL coursebooks aimed at English 5 for upper secondary school. The selected coursebooks Viewpoints 1, Blueprint A 3.0, and Pioneer 1 have been analyzed using qualitative content analysis, focusing on texts and images presented in the materials. The analysis emanates from Neo-Marxist theory in order to point to different social class conditions. The results show lower-, middle-, and upper-class representation to various degrees. Mostly the lower class and upper class are visible, while the middle class is underrepresented. The lower class, in most cases, is shown together with the upper class in exploitative circumstances. This is made apparent through the lower class, in most cases, lacking the ability to decide for themselves in relation to their upper-class counterparts. Further, this indicates that the upper class rules the world on behalf of the lower class. Meanwhile, when the middle class is shown, they are mainly depicted through overconsumption, and as victims of upper-class dominance. Despite previous research showing the importance of social class on a global, European and Swedish scale, the coursebooks somewhat disregard its importance in different texts and images.

ABSTRACT GENDER REPRESENTATIONS IN ELT COURSEBOOKS: A COMPARATIVE STUDY Yilmaz, Elvan M.A., Department of English Language Teaching Supervisor: Prof. Dr. H&uuml / sn&uuml / Enginarlar September 2012, 135 pages In all educational institutions ELT coursebooks are used as a guide to teach the language. However, the role of a coursebook as an agent of socialization and its effect on the development of gender roles is usually underestimated. Gender biased coursebooks might affect the learners in a negative way in the process of gender socialization. Most coursebook writers revise the first editions of the coursebooks in order to modernize them and to meet the needs of the learners in a changing world. The aim of this thesis is to investigate whether writers and publishers take the gender issue into consideration while they are revising the coursebooks. In order to address this issue, three recently revised English language coursebooks were compared with their first editions. To be able to compare the coursebooks, their contents were analyzed. Six operating areas of gender stereotypes were set as the categories of the content analysis / presence of female and male characters in the coursebooks, the number of characters represented as family members, distribution of occupational activities, division of household activities, variety of leisure activities and the adjectives used to describe each gender. Throughout the whole study it was observed that the representations of female and male characters in the first editions were closer to the stereotypical representations. By contrast, in the last editions the representations of the genders have ideally become more balanced in all investigated categories of gender stereotypes.

[pt] Nesta dissertação, investigo o processo de aprendizagem lexical em segunda língua no contexto de uma sala de aula. Meu objetivo é entender a relação entre a interação em sala de aula e as atividades de vocabulário do material didático e como esses dois mediadores influenciam a construção de conhecimento lexical dos alunos. Para tal investigação, conduzi trabalho de campo em duas turmas de inglês básico constituídas de alunos entre 12 e 13 anos. Gravei e transcrevi em áudio e vídeo aulas de dois módulos do programa para a análise da interação. Analisei também as atividades de vocabulário do material impresso utilizado nas aulas (livro didático e material de apoio). Dentre outros achados, a análise indicou que alunos e professores recorrem com freqüência a práticas conversacionais como a conversa instrucional, o andaimento e a contribuição individual para a construção de significado. Porém, isso normalmente acontece quando há um afastamento da atividade proposta do livro. Também foi observado que o material didático cria o mapa semântico para alunos e professor, provendo o vocabulário e oportunidades para a recuperação deste. De uma forma geral, as atividades de vocabulário do livro didático abrangem todos os aspectos e níveis de conhecimento da palavra. No entanto, as atividades de vocabulário cuja proposta é o uso em contextos múltiplos estão restritas à apresentações orais e encenações, o que restringe o uso espontâneo do vocabulário aprendido. / [en] This dissertation investigates the process of learning vocabulary in a second language in a classroom environment. Its objective is to understand the relationship between the classroom interaction and the vocabulary activities found in the textbook, as well as how these mediators affect the construction of lexical knowledge. To achieve this, two classes of basic English formed by 12 and 13 year-old students have been analysed. The data include the printed exercises of vocabulary used in class (textbook and other supporting material), field observation, video-tapes and transcription of interactions. Among other results, the analyses have indicated that students and teachers often use conversational strategies, like instructional conversation, scaffolding and individual contribution, to construct meaning. However, these strategies usually happen when there is a break in the activity suggested by the book. They have also shown that the textbook creates a semantic map for students and teachers, providing the vocabulary and opportunities to review it. Generally, the vocabulary activities in the textbook cover all the aspects and levels of knowledge of words, but the activities of generative use seem to be restricted to oral presentations and roleplays, which implies non-spontaneous use of the learned vocabulary.

Läromedlet spelar en stor roll i matematikundervisningen i den svenska skolan. På grund av att de har en sådan betydande roll för elevernas möjlighet att träna och befästa deras matematiska kunskaper och förmågor finns det höga krav på att läromedlet ska kunna tillgodose alla elevers behov i klassrummet. Trots detta finns det inte längre någon statlig läromedelsgranskning, något som innebär att det jobbet är upp till lärarna istället. Enligt skollagen ska undervisningen i skolan bidra till kunskapsutveckling för samtliga elever, oavsett tidigare kunskapsnivå. För matematiken innebär det att de uppgifter och problem som eleverna jobbar med måste kunna tillgodose behoven hos elever med svårigheter så väl som med begåvning. Denna studie har undersökt i vilken utsträckning fyra läromedel i matematik för gymnasieskolan kan ge stöd åt matematiskt begåvade elever. Resultatet av studien visar att läromedlen täcker något eller några av de kriterier som forskning visat ger stöd åt matematiskt begåvade elever. På samma gång är det viktigt att understryka att resultatet av studien endast visar potentialen läromedlen har, det är fortfarande upp till lärare att ta tillvara på det material som finns dem tillhanda och använda det på ett sådant sätt att det bidrar till begåvade elevers kunskapsutveckling. / The coursebook plays a key role in the mathematics education in the Swedish school. Because it has such an important role in the students’ abilities to practice and fortify their mathematical knowledge and abilities, there are high standards to be met for the coursebook to accommodate all of the students’ needs in the classroom. Despite this, there is no national review of coursebooks, which means that it is up to the teachers themselves to review them. According to the law, the education in schools should contribute to knowledge development to all students, regardless of their prior level of knowledge. For the subject mathematics, this means that the exercises and tasks being worked on by the students need to meet the needs of students with difficulties as well as giftedness. This study has examined to what extent four coursebooks in mathematics at the upper secondary level can support the knowledge development of gifted students. The results of the study show that the coursebooks meet one or some of the criteria research has shown supports mathematically gifted students. At the same time it is important to stress that the results of this study only show the potential that the coursebooks have, it is still up to the teacher to use the materials available to them and use them in such a way that they can contribute to the gifted students’ knowledge development.

[pt] Os livros didáticos modernos constituem-se num objeto de estudo valioso para o lingüista por serem elaborados a partir de múltiplas modalidades semióticas e porque, em geral, são gêneros disciplina-específicos. Entretanto, no que tange à disciplina de Biologia, ainda há poucos estudos que exploram a interação entre as modalidades verbal e visual nos livros de Ensino Médio e, até o momento, nenhum trabalho de natureza contrastiva foi realizado no Brasil sobre esse aspecto. Na presente análise, investigam-se os tipos de representação visual e o modo de estabelecimento da relação entre figuras e o texto verbal associado em dois livros didáticos de Biologia do Ensino Médio, um brasileiro e outro norteamericano. Este estudo baseia-se principalmente nos pressupostos teóricos de Kress e van Leeuwen (1996, 2001) e inspira-se nos trabalhos de Myers (1997) e Nascimento (2002). Implícita nesses pressupostos está a abordagem sistêmicofuncional de Halliday e Hasan (1976) e de Halliday (1994). Os resultados desta pesquisa revelam que, dentre outros mecanismos, a coesão lexical exerce importante papel na interação entre o componente verbal das figuras, o texto principal e as legendas em ambos os livros analisados. Dentre as diferenças encontradas nos dois livros, destacam-se as representações visuais distintas referentes a um mesmo tópico, o modo de referenciação às figuras no texto, a função das legendas e a proporção de utilização de termos técnicos na coesão intermodal. Esses resultados mostram que existem variações no gênero livro didático de Biologia quanto ao modo de utilização dos mecanismos de interação entre figuras e texto verbal, que podem estar relacionadas com os propósitos dos autores. Isso pode ter importantes implicações para o ensino da Biologia e de Inglês para fins específicos, pois auxilia na conscientização de educadores e alunos sobre a necessidade de se levar em consideração os meios de interação entre as linguagens visual e verbal na interpretação e produção dos textos multimodais próprios de cada comunidade discursiva. / [en] Modern textbooks are valuable as a research object in applied linguistics because they usually present their content through multiple semiotic modalities and because in general they are discipline-specific genres. However, concerning the discipline of Biology, there are still few studies that exploit the interaction between verbal and visual languages in highschool textbooks and, up to the moment, no contrastive works on this topic have been published in Brazil. For this reason, the goal of the present study is to investigate the types of visual representations and the strategies that establish the interaction between pictures and verbal text used in two highschool-level Biology textbooks, a Brazilian and a North-American one. This study is based mainly on Kress and van Leeuwen s (1996, 2001) theory of multimodality and is inspired in Myers (1997) and Nascimento s (2002) previous works. This theoretical basis presupposes Halliday and Hasan s (1976) and Halliday s (1997) systemic- functional approach to text. The results of this investigation reveal that, among other mechanisms, lexical cohesion has an important role in the interaction between the verbal element in images and the verbal language of the corresponding texts and captions in both books. Among the differences found between these two books, there are the different visual representations concerning the same topic, the way pictures are referred to in the text, the role of the captions and the proportion of technical terms used in intermodal cohesion. These results show that there are intrageneric variations in the use of such resources that are probably due to the authors purposes. The findings may have important implications for the teaching of Biology and of English for specific purposes. They may enhance the awareness of educators and students about the need of taking the interaction between visual and verbal languages into consideration for the appropriate interpretation of texts and for the production of multimodal texts specific to each discursive community.

This study focuses on gender representation and stereotypes in Swedish EFL coursebooks. The aim is to investigate how men and women are described and depicted in texts to examine the occurrence of gender stereotypes and to what degree equal gender representation in images occurs in Swedish EFL coursebooks aimed at the English 5 course in upper secondary school. The theoretical frameworks consist of the concepts of performativity and heteronormativity, which derive from gender and queer theory. The method used is content analysis in combination with a qualitative approach with quantitative elements, and the material consists of three coursebooks: Blueprint A (2007), Progress Gold A (2007) and Pick & Mix 1 (2013). The results show that all three coursebooks confirm gender stereotypes to a great extent and contain unequal gender representation in the images. The coursebooks highlight and refute gender stereotypes to a lower and varying degree. The concept of performativity showcases that the coursebooks maintain the social constructions of what it means to be a woman or a man. Furthermore, through the perspective of heteronormativity, it is evident that men should be masculine, and women should be feminine. The coursebooks manifest that those who do not conform to these social roles are subjected to derogatory treatment, and those who follow the norms hold more power. The implications of the study could be that teachers should use coursebooks with consideration and carefulness to highlight and discuss underlying societal issues connected to gender inequality and gender stereotypes rather than uphold them.