A cross-cultural discourse analysis of the way readers are constructed in textbooks

Abstract

Cross-cultural discourse analysis (CCDA) provides a theoretical framework for comparing discourse genres within different discourse communities. In this paper, I adopt this theoretical framework to examine the genre of foreign language textbooks, comparing coursebooks of English and French as foreign languages used in Japanese high schools between 2017 and 2018. The former were created mostly by Japanese authors, while the latter have been produced by Japanese and French authors. I argue that some differences might depend on this factor and thus research can rely on CCDA to address them. More specifically, I propose a study focused on how textbook authors address their readers/learners, exploring the use of deictics on the enunciative level (KERBRAT-ORECCHIONI, [1999]2014) and of noun phrases creating functionalizations on a sociolinguistic level (VAN LEEUWEN, 2008). The results of the contrastive analysis show two different practices: on the one hand, an inclusion that takes place between the (mainly Japanese) authors of the English textbooks and their readers, on the other hand, a certain exclusion which occurs through the frequent reminder of the school context by the authors of the French textbooks (both French and Japanese).