FACULTY OF EDUCATION AND BUSINESS STUDIES

Department of Humanities

Representation of English as an International

Language in Swedish and German Textbooks

A Comparative Study of Textbooks in the Subject English used in

Swedish and German Upper Secondary Schools

Miriam Ratajczak

2021

Student thesis, Professional degree (basic), 30 HE

Education
Upper Secondary Teacher Education Programme
Exam Paper
Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Marko Modiano
Examiner: Henrik Kaatari
 Abstract
This study is investigating how English as an international language is represented in
textbooks of institutionalised second language learning at upper secondary high schools
in Germany and Sweden, as well as if and how these representations differ. The method
to be used in this essay is a textbook analysis, in which the frequency of references to
Inner, Outer and Expanding Circle countries (see Kachru’s (1992) concentric model of
World Englishes) is measured. It is thus a comparative study between German and
Swedish textbooks, with focus on upper secondary schools and on the representation of
English as an international language. The aim of this study is to investigate whether
textbooks in the EFL classroom in Swedish and German upper secondary schools
present English as an international language.
Keywords: English as International Language, EFL, Textbook Analysis, Teaching
English
Table of Contents
1. Introduction 1
1.1 Hypothesis, aim and research question 6
2. Theoretical concerns 8
2.1 World Englishes 8
2.2 English as an International Language 10
2.3 Multicultural education 11
2.4 Teaching English as a foreign language 15
2.4.1 Teaching English today - Sweden vs Germany 16
2.4.1.1 Curricula in Sweden and Germany 18
2.4.1.2 Performance/proficiency in English in both countries 21
2.4.2 Teaching English in a European and Global Perspective 22
2.5 Textbooks as means of education in English language teaching 23
2.6 Conclusion of theoretical concerns 24
3. Method and Material 25
3.1 Method 25
3.2 Material 27
3.3 Reliability and validity 28
4. Results 30
5. Discussion 36
6. Conclusion 39

References
Appendices
1. Introduction
We can no longer perceive the teaching and learning of the English language in
formal educational settings as something which can be solely based on the
idealized speech of native speakers (Modiano, 2020, p. x)

The English language is commonly seen and referred to as the current lingua franca of
the world. That means that English is spoken by more speakers than any other language
(Ethnologue, 2019). English is used world-wide to communicate with others who do not
speak the same mother tongue. According to the Oxford Learner’s Dictionary, lingua
franca is defined as “a shared language of communication used between people whose
main languages are different”. Consequently, English is taught worldwide as the
number one second language at schools (Ethnologue, 2019). English as lingua franca is
used more in Europe than in any other part of the globe (Ehtnologue, 2019).
Apart from British and American English though there are also other varieties that
developed as a consequence of colonisation and globalisation. Canadian and Australian
English are counted as third and fourth when it comes to the number of native speakers
(Svartvik & Leech, 2006, p. 57). Other native speaker varieties to be mentioned here are
South African English and New Zealand English, as well as some Asian varieties (for
example Singapore). There are also researchers who argue that there is a Euro English,
meaning that European learners of the English language have their own distinct varieties
with distinct features (for example Modiano, 2003).
Teaching English is traditionally based on native speaker standards but nowadays
there are other options. Over the course of time and until just recently, teaching English
as a foreign language was dominated by an exonormative1 native speaker model (based
on Kachru’s (1992) Inner Circle varieties)2, favouring native speaker varieties as the L2
learner’s ultimate acquisition goal. Taking all these varieties into account, it is
questionable whether and how to approach the English language in terms of
institutionalised teaching. What variety should be taught as a standard? Or is it better to
approach the language in a non-standardised form? If so, how can teaching English
happen without it being too complicated (for both learners and educators)? What

1
The term exonormative is defined as “based on the way a country’s second language is used in the
country it came from originally, rather than the way it is used by local speakers” (Oxford Learner’s
Dictionary).
2
Kachru’s (1992) concentric model of World Englishes will be explained in 2.1
1
varieties need to be taught? Which approach is the basis for that decision? The question
is also how cultural basis is promoted in textbooks: is there a diversity approach to be
found or is native speaker language preferred in the textbooks?3
Looking at current textbooks for the school subject English (as a second language)
used in European countries such as Germany and Sweden, it can be stated that British
English is still the number one variety to be taught at school. Other varieties occur
scarcely and often it is American English that is mentioned the most. On the other hand,
the curricula of these countries stipulate that different (non-native) varieties must be
taught to make learners of the English language aware of these varieties. As a teacher, it
is thus not easy to find a way to implement the curriculum since the textbooks do not
offer what is needed. Both Swedish and German educational politics claim to support
the idea of diversity but is this also actually implemented in how language norms are
presented in textbooks?4
In 19 out of 25 countries in the European Union, English is the most frequently
spoken foreign language (Eurobarometer, 2006), as can be seen in Figure 1. The
European Union is therefore certain about the fact that English must be taught and
acquired in order to ascertain that every single citizen living in the EU is able to at least
roughly communicate with other citizens in the EU, no matter where they come from
and what mother tongue they speak (European Commission on Education and Language
Learning).

Figure 1. Most frequently spoken languages in the EU (Eurobarometer, 2006)5.

3
These questions will be answered in the Conclusion chapter.
4
See footnote 2.
5
This figure is copied from the Eurobarometer (2006), meaning that the author of this essay did not
create this figure.
2
According to the EU, “with increasing mobility to the EU and between its Member
States, education and training systems need to adapt to the challenges and opportunities
posed by Europe’s linguistic diversity” (European Commission on Education and
Language Learning). The Commission’s goal is that every European should speak at
least three languages, starting at an early age with the acquisition of the second
language.
When it comes to teaching the English language in Sweden and Germany, there
are certain historical as well as pedagogical aspects to consider. Germany’s approach
towards the English language is dichotomous due to the division of the country after
World War II. West Germany, which belonged to the Western civilisation, was logically
more open towards including English as a subject in the curriculum than the Eastern
part of the country has been. In East Germany, Russian was the preferred second
language to be acquired at school and the generations that happened to grow up and
receive a basic school education in East Germany are still today struggling with the
English language. In Sweden on the other hand, German was the first second language
to be taught at schools until the 1960s. In the 1950s, English became a compulsory
school subject in Sweden. Since the 1970s, as good as everyone in Sweden was able to
speak English on a basic level. Nowadays, Sweden has the highest rate of fluent English
speakers worldwide (Johansson, 2004).
Pedagogically seen, both countries followed the general development of foreign
language teaching: in the early 1800s, oriented on the teaching methods of the “old”
languages Latin and Ancient Greek, the modern languages English and French were
taught according to the grammar-translation method (Haß, 2006, p. 16). In the middle of
the 19th century, teaching the modern languages changed to a more direct and inductive
way, perceiving foreign languages as means of communication (Haß, 2006, p. 17).
During the development of behaviourism and structuralism, foreign language teaching
was institutionalised und structuralised, setting the focus on oral skills (Haß, 2006, p.
18). In the 1960s and 1970s, the emphasis of foreign language teaching shifted towards
communication and speech acts (Haß, 2006, p. 18). Finally, the process of globalisation
had its very own and significant effect on foreign language teaching in both Germany
and Sweden: the learner is now seen as an intercultural speaker who is supposed to
mediate between different cultures (Haß, 2006, p. 20).

3
 An enormous difference between Germany and Sweden in terms of curriculum is
that while Sweden has only one curriculum that is valid in the entire country, Germany
has 16 different curricula, one for every federate state.6 That fact also makes it difficult
to summarise Germany’s approach towards teaching. Additionally, Germany has a
divided educational system: after year four, students are already forced to choose to go
to either the most basic school that ends with class 9 (Gesamtschule), or they go to a
more advanced school which ends with class 10 (Regelschule), or they go to the most
advanced of the three different schools, which ends after class 12 or 13 with the A-
levels (Gymnasium), depending on the federal state. It is thus not an easy task to
compare means of education in Sweden and Germany. The Swedish educational system
on the other hand is a lot simpler in its structure. Students attend the compulsory
comprehensive school until year 9 (grundskola) and after that they can choose to
continue three years of specialised education (there are different programs, for example
economy, pedagogy or medical) that ends with the A-levels (gymnasieskola). It has to
be mentioned at this point that even though attending upper secondary school
(gymnasieskola) is not compulsory, almost every student attends it since the prospects at
the labour market for people without any degree from the upper secondary school
(gymnasieskola) is not the best. Another remark at this point is that Sweden as one of
very few countries in the world allows private agents to conduct education. There are
for example the International English Schools and this system of privatisation of
education is often criticised since it automatically creates inequality in society (see for
example Aftonbladet, 30 October 2020).
When it comes to varieties of the English language, both Sweden and Germany
have shown a preference for the British accent and spelling. Varieties such as the
American accent or the Australian accent became part of the curriculum as late as the
early 2000s: the newest Swedish curriculum from 2011 states that students should be
exposed to information about different life conditions as well as cultural and social
factors in different parts of the world where English is spoken (Lgr11). Furthermore, the
same curriculum demands students to encounter different varieties of the English
language (Lgr11). The German curricula on the other hand still proclaim an orientation
on the “standard” of the English language, referring hereby to the British and American

6
In this paper, the focus is only on one of the sixteen states, namely Bavaria. This choice was made due
to the fact that all teachers that were interviewed about the textbook usage were based in Bavaria.
4
varieties (for example: ISB, 20047), whereas these prestigious varieties are perceived
equally nowadays, contrary to the earlier attitude of favouring British over American
English. Other varieties of English should be introduced mostly in terms of listening
comprehension, raising awareness for the differences in pronunciation in spoken
English varieties.
One thing that has not changed over time and development of teaching practices
in both countries though is the importance of textbooks. Textbooks can be considered to
play a vital role in the foreign language classroom as the number one medium of written
language (see for instance Horsley et al., 2011; Sikorova, 2011: Leung & Andrews,
2012). Even though teaching nowadays is hugely influenced by digitalisation, the
importance of physical textbooks ceases to decline. On the contrary, textbooks become
more important since reading skills among children and adolescents have shown to drop
at a drastic level. The latest report of the PISA study shows that “over ten million
students represented by PISA in 2018 were not able to complete even the most basic
reading tasks” (PISA, 2018)8. In conclusion, textbooks are still important in both
Swedish and German classrooms, especially in foreign language classrooms where
input plays a vital role in the learner’s acquisition process (see for example Horsley et
al., 2011). The question is how Swedish and German textbooks in the subject English
approach and present English as an international language.
In this paper, textbooks for the school subject English that are currently used at
Swedish and German upper secondary schools are analysed in terms of the
representation of English as an international language. The reason why Germany and
Sweden have been chosen as the focus of this comparative study is the fact that even
though both countries are comparably industrialised and developed in terms of
economy, education, social welfare as well as civil rights and both countries play a vital
role in the global market, their outcomes when it comes to language proficiency in
English differs significantly. Although both countries scored “very high” performance
when it comes to language proficiency in English (EF EPI, 2020) there are remarkable
differences in the everyday usage of the English language. While English is used
frequently in everyday life in Sweden, it happens to remain a language reserved for
certain specified fields of communication (for example business, science, and IT

7
As mentioned earlier, there are 16 different curricula in Germany to be considered. At this point, the
curriculum of the federal state Bavaria (Bayern) was taken as an example.
8
A summary of the results of the PISA study from 2018 can be found in the appendices.
5
technology) in Germany (see EF EPI, 2020). There are also remarkable age differences
to be found in Germany (the older the person the less advanced is the English
proficiency) as well as regional differences (urban vs rural, but also former West
Germany vs East Germany9) (see EF EPI, 2020). These differences in language
proficiency constitute the cause for this study, since it is interesting to find out why
these differences exist, especially in terms of current teaching practices. It is
nevertheless too big of a question to be answered within the frame of this singular
paper.
There will be three textbooks per country to be looked at in this paper. The
textbooks will be analysed following the textbook analysis framework offered by
Weninger (2020) as well as the textbook study by Naji Meidrani & Pishghadam (2013)
which is based on the concentric model of World Englishes (Kachru, 1992). The
textbooks to be analysed in this paper have been chosen according to their actual usage
in their respective country.10 The hypothesis of this paper is that neither German nor
Swedish textbooks represent the English language as an international language on more
than just a profound level. Instead, they stick to native speaker11 language as the
standard. The aim of this paper is to investigate whether textbooks are promoting
diversity or native speakerism. This paper is based on the following theories: World
Englishes, Euro English, English as an international language, native speakerism,
English as a second language, as well as multicultural education.

1.1 Hypothesis, aim and research question

The hypothesis of this paper is that Swedish and German textbooks for the subject
English do not present English as an international language but instead focus on and
prioritise native speaker varieties. Consequently, cultural diversity in terms of varieties
is not implemented. The aim of this study is to investigate whether textbooks in the EFL
classroom in Swedish and German upper secondary schools present English as an
international language. This paper investigates if and how varieties of the English
language are mentioned and presented in Swedish and German textbooks for the school

9
English was not taught at school in East Germany since it was occupied by the Soviet Union. Thus, the
generations that grew up and fulfilled a general education in East Germany often lack even a basic level
of proficiency in English.
10
More on the selection of the textbooks see 2.2 Material.
11
Namely British and American accents.
6
subject English at upper secondary high schools. This paper seeks to find out whether
British and American English still constitute the preferred language standards in
textbooks of the school subject English as a second language and if World Englishes
appear in more than just a footnote or infrequently as isolated chapters. The purpose of
this study is to question the practice of preferring native speaker varieties12 to other
varieties of the English language. In a globalised world where almost everyone
nowadays at least speaks rudimentarily English and only the minority of the English
mother tongue speakers actually converse within the frames of the standard, it is
questionable enough whether textbooks for second language learners should address
and present only native speaker varieties. It is thus vital to raise awareness on the
practice of standard preferences within textbooks for the subject English as a second
language.
The analysis will be based on different theoretical approaches such as World
Englishes, the idea of multicultural education, English as an international language,
pedagogical aspects of textbooks as means of educational resources, as well as the idea
of teaching English in a European and global perspective. The focus is on the question
whether the textbooks support diversity in terms of native speaker varieties instead of
supporting the idea of assimilation.13 There are six different textbooks to be looked at in
this paper, three textbooks per country. The analysis is based on the textbook analysis
framework offered by Weninger (2020). The textbooks to be analysed here are recently
used14 in the subject English at upper secondary schools in Sweden and Germany. The
central research question to be answered in this paper is the following:
 How do German and Swedish textbooks present native speaker varieties of the
English language and do these presentations differ in terms of a comparison
between the two countries?

12
In this paper, native speaker varieties refer to the British and American accents.
13
By assimilation, the following idea is meant here: “the process whereby individuals or groups of
differing ethnic heritage are absorbed into the dominant culture of a society” (Pauls/Brittanica, 2019).
14
According to a handful of teachers in each country who were asked which textbook they used. More on
the selection of the textbooks see 2.2 Material.
7
2. Theoretical concerns
In this section, the theoretical framework for this paper will be presented. Firstly, the
idea of World Englishes is presented, including Kachru’s (1992) concentric model of
the (historical) spread of English in the world. Afterwards, the idea of multicultural
education will be explained. This point is followed by sections on teaching English as a
foreign language, including a comparison between Sweden and Germany, taking the
countries’ curricula into account. Another theoretical section will offer an overview on
performance data in terms of proficiency in English in both countries as well as
textbooks as means of educational resources.

2.1 World Englishes

There are currently approximately 75 territories where the English language is spoken
as either a first language or institutionalised second language (Crystal, 2007). New
varieties are constantly developed and discovered which makes it difficult to establish a
definite number of varieties. The term “World Englishes” refers to the concept of
localised varieties of the English language. The spread of the English language across
the world is distinguished into three separate groups of language users (Jenkins, 2006,
pp. 14-15):
1. English as native language (ENL): English is used as the primary language (e.g.
in USA, UK, Australia)
2. English as second language (ESL): English is used additionally to the country’s
primary language, as a means of intra- and international communication (e.g. in
India, Singapore)
3. English as foreign language (EFL): English is used exclusively as a means of
international communication (e.g. in Japan)

Kachru developed the concentric model of the Three Circles which represent the
historical spread of the English language (Kachru, 1992). As it can be seen in Figure 2,
the model depicts the historical spread as concentric circles:

8
 Figure 2. Kachru’s (1992) model of the Three Circles of English15.

The main idea behind this model is that the historical spread of the English language
happened in an expanding manner, but it is also a basis which opened up for a
discussion about standardisation and about the legitimisation of second language
varieties. English was first spread from England to North America, Australia, and New
Zealand (Inner Circle) where it is now used as primary language, representing the
historical and sociolinguistic bases of English. In these countries, English is the native
language or mother tongue of the majority of the country’s inhabitants. The Inner Circle
consists of about 380 million speakers. The Inner Circle is ‘norm-providing’ which
means that the language norms are developed in these countries.16 As a consequence of
the imperial expansion of England in Africa and Asia, the Outer Circle emerged, where
English is not the mother tongue but instead it is used as lingua franca between different
language and ethnic groups (for example India, Nigeria and Bangladesh). Outer Circle
countries are ‘norm-developing’. Singapore is drifting towards the Inner Circle since
English is used more frequently as native language there. Countries such as Jamaica and
Papua New Guinea are counted as Outer Circle since most people there speak an
English-based creole instead of the standard in official circumstances. The third circle is
the Expanding Circle which includes countries where English is not historically
relevant, but where English nevertheless is widespread and used as a means of
international communication. This circle includes much of the rest of the world’s

15
This figure has been copied from Kachru (1992), meaning that the author of this essay did not create
this figure.
16
This view has been debated vividly though since English is used by much more non-native speakers
than native speakers and thus it is questionable whether the norms of the language should depend on the
minority.
9
countries. The Expanding Circle is referred to as ‘norm-dependent’, as these countries
are reliant on the standards of the Inner Circle.

2.2 English as an International Language (EIL)

The concept of English as an international language was primarily understood as
English as utilitarian lingua franca but some researchers (for instance Quirk, 1985, or
Odgen, 1930) mistakenly made the assumption that English as an international language
is a reduced or simplified version of the language. Jenkins (2006) offered an abridged
phonological foundation for oral proficiency which was misunderstood in the same
matter as reducing the language into a plain and unsophisticated version. Modiano
(2020) offers a different perspective here: the author promotes the conception of EIL as
being used and utilised within the frame of multicultural forums.17 The concept of EIL
encourages the idea of developing an “identity” that is concatenated with English as the
learner’s L2. Mimicking an idealised native speaker signifies the issue of removing the
chance to develop one’s own individual identity when using the L2. Modiano demands
that “non-native speakers must be provided a space where such dimensions of language
usage can come into being as manifestations of the non-native speaker’s own socio-
cultural and thus linguistic realities” (Modiano, 2020, p. 65). In conclusion, EIL can be
defined as a substitute for the idea of attempting to mimic a native accent which is based
on an Inner-Circle variety.

Figure 3. The Centripetal Circles of EIL (Modiano, 1999)18.

17
in which native and non-native speakers contribute
18
Permission to use the graphic in this paper has been granted.
10
Modiano’s model of the centripetal circles of EIL (Modiano, 1999), as it can be seen in
Figure 3, describes three levels of English “as a common denominator uniting people”
(Modiano, 2020, p. 71). This model includes users of English who use the language
internationally, users who use the language locally, and, last but not least, those who are
still in the process of acquiring the language. Modiano claims that speakers who use
local varieties of English have to be able to use EIL as well in order to be able to
communicate cross-culturally. Near-native proficiency which is highly criticised by
Modiano loses automatically and by default its importance with help of this model since
it postulates that the proficiency in near-native accents is not a necessary requirement
for an effective cross-cultural communication.

2.3 Multicultural education

Discussing the concept of multiculturalism and especially multicultural education in this
paper is of great importance since varieties of the English language designate the very
core of cultural diversity and a multicultural context. Before defining the term
multiculturalism, it is however essential to define cultural diversity first. The phrase
“cultural diversity” refers to differences related to social class, ethnicity, language as
well as culture. Fearon (2003) maintains that cultural distance or proximity can be
measured by means of the structural relationships between languages. In her work on
cultural diversity and teaching, Gay (2013) postulates a culturally responsive teaching,
claiming that “culture and difference are an unconditional part of their human heritage”
(Gay, 2013, p. 61). The importance of this concept for this paper is obvious: teaching
English as an international language, opposed to teaching English based only on native
speaker norms, constitutes the core idea of cultural diversity. By teaching not only
native speaker norms but encouraging students to learn about a myriad of distinct
accents and variations of the English language it is possible to broaden their opinions
and views about the world and about humankind. Gay (2013) exemplifies and modifies
this in the following way:

11
 [...] teachers need to understand how and why culture and difference are essential
ideologies and foundations of culturally responsive teaching. To facilitate this
understanding I argue that culture and difference are neither inherently good nor
bad, neither automatically privileging nor disparaging. They simply are, and
should be understood accordingly. At the onset of life people have no choice in
the matter. (Gay, 2013, p. 61)

The term multiculturalism refers to the concept of distinct ethnic groups

interacting with each other on a basis where none of the groups are forced to sacrifice
their own specific identity. Politically, the term means that a state can deal with cultural
plurality (Harper, 2011, p. 50). According to Collins Cobuild Advanced English
Dictionary, multiculturalism “is a situation in which all the distinct cultural or racial
groups in a society have equal rights and opportunities, and none is ignored or regarded
as unimportant”. These definitions are obviously too idealistic and do not reflect the
reality of multicultural societies. A more realistic attempt to define multiculturalism
would be to replace “situation” by “goal”. In Europe there is currently only one single
country that can be seen as a successful example implementing the idea of
multiculturalism and that is Switzerland.
Before moving further towards multiculturalism in Germany and Sweden, it is
necessary to take a short look at the political dimensions of this concept in order to
contextualise further remarks that are important in this paper. Multiculturalism is often
connected with identity, but also with recognition and difference. The disadvantage of
minorities such as African Americans or LGBT and disabled people play a vital role in
the most recent discussions dedicated to multiculturalism. Debates over
multiculturalism often circulate around the question if multiculturalism is the best way
to address issues of diversity. The term refers most often to Western states with a single
national identity who faced a multicultural and diverse agglomeration in their biggest
cities. In 2011, several heads-of-states such as Sarkozy, Merkel and Cameron, uttered
their disbelief in the success of multiculturalism (Heneghan, 2011). The criticism often
leads back to studies (see for example White & Perrone, 2001; Song, 2007; Barry, 2001;
Putnam, 2007) that found that diversity in a society can be a catalyst for violence and
war. Additionally, critics claim that multiculturalism endangers a country’s distinct
culture (BBC, 2005). Supporters of multiculturalism claim that it enables people to
express themselves more effectively in modern day societies and that it incorporates
tolerance much better since it supports adaptation to social issues better than other

12
systems. According to these supporters, culture is constituted by a myriad of factors that
change constantly (Wessendorf, 2011, p. 35).
Looking into Germany and Sweden at the present time, it can be established that
both countries struggle with multiculturalism in practice. In 2010, the German
Chancellor Angela Merkel told younger members of her party CDU19: "The concept
that we are now living side by side and are happy about it does not work" (BBC, 2010)
and that the idea of a peaceful multicultural society had failed. In 2015, Merkel
repeatedly criticised multiculturalism, claiming that it would lead to parallel societies
(Washington Post, 2015). Sweden faced similar discussions about multiculturalism
since it is the Scandinavian country with the most non-Western immigrants (Bråten,
2006). Being the first European country to establish an official multicultural policy in
1975, Sweden demanded explicitly to abandon the ideal of ethnical homogeneity as well
as the policy of assimilation (Dagens samhälle, 2017). This new policy was based on
the principles of equality, partnership, and freedom of choice, aiming to create
opportunities for minority groups to maintain language and culture. Quite naturally,
anti-multiculturalist protests and critiques came along eventually, following the lead of
the Sweden Democrats, but until this day, Sweden remains officially a multiculturalist
country (Wickström, 2015). On the other hand, a study showed that less than a quarter
of the respondents (5,000 people) was positive towards living in areas which can be
defined as diverse (SvD, 2016). Another study by Gävle University College (2014)
concluded that 38% of Sweden’s population never had any kind of interactions with
persons from Africa and 20% never had any interaction with non-Europeans
(Mångfåldsbarometern, 2014). Figure 4 shows the perceived cultural distance to the
population of Sweden, retrieved from the same study (Mångfåldsbarometern, 2014, p.
57).

19
CDU is the Christian-democratic party in Germany.
13
 Figure 4. Perceived cultural distance to population of Sweden (Mångfaldsbarometern,
2014)20.

When it comes to multicultural education, it is vital to start at the roots: among

civil rights protests in the USA in the 1960s the idea of a diversity-supporting
educational system emerged. Discrimination taking place on a wide scale among
educational institutions, activists demanded a radical change of the system to allow for a
diversity-supportive environment. Not only criticists of segregation filed for a more
diverse educational system. Even the women’s rights movement and other traditionally
suppressed groups joined the fight for a reformation of the educational system in the
US. In combination, the actions of these separate groups formed the early beginnings of
the idea of multicultural education. Discrimination was nevertheless only one of the
issues of the education system: another issue was the inability to provide proper
preparation for highly privileged students to participate in a society that became
increasingly diverse. New models of education were therefore developed that were
structured around the concepts of social and critical thinking, as well as equal
opportunity (Banks, 2008). Nowadays, multicultural education is based on the idea of
equity for all students, aiming to diminish educational barriers. Another idea which
forms a basis of multicultural education is that cultural identity and heritage influence

20
This figure has been copied from the Mångfaldsbarometern (2014), meaning that the author of this
essay did not create this figure.
14
the students’ learning. Thus, it is important to value and remark the students’ cultural
identity (Glossary of Education Reform, 2013).
A final and concluding remark on multiculturalism at this point is that teaching
English as an international language, implementing thus the concept of
multiculturalism, is of great importance in modern teaching concepts since it enables
and facilitates students to gain and develop a broader view on their own usage of
language, on different cultures and their distinct features, as well as in different views
and opinions. In short, it enables students to become mature and responsible,
democratically thinking citizens and that, in my professional view as a teacher, is the
most important purpose of school today.

2.4 Teaching English as a foreign language

When learning a new language, the perception of the individual about themselves and
their surroundings changes significantly (Crystal, 2001). Though this hypothesis (called
linguistic relativism) is commonly known by educators, linguists and other relevant
discourse participants, this knowledge has yet not found its way into language
classrooms all over the world. Instead, foreign language pedagogy still concentrates on
the idea of cultural assimilation of the learner towards the target culture of the native
speakers (see for instance Modiano, 2020). Especially when it comes to a de facto
lingua franca as English, this approach is misguided.
Historically seen, the teaching of English as a foreign language (EFL) can be
divided into four different periods: the classical period, the reform period, the scientific
period and finally, the communicative period. Teaching EFL evolved from the classical
grammar-translation method (1750-1880) towards the natural method (1880-1920), the
oral method (1920-1970) and finally the pedagogical approach of communicative
language teaching (1970-2000+). In order to provide the reader at this point with a
better overview of the historical development of teaching EFL, I offer the following
chart (adapted from Howatt & Smith, 2014, p. 78-79):

15
Synoptic Overview:
HISTORY OF TEACHING ENGLISH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE21
Stage I: Modern Language Teaching in Europe (1750–1920)
1. The Classical Period 1750–1880
Core Concern: Emulating the teaching of classical languages Associated Teaching
Methods: The Grammar-Translation Method, The Classical Method
2. The Reform Period 1880–1920
Core Concern: Teaching the spoken language Associated Teaching
Methods: The Natural Method (Heness, Sauveur), The Berlitz Method, The
Direct Method
Stage II: English Language Teaching beyond and within Europe (1920–2000+)
3. The Scientific Period (1920–70)
Core Concern: Scientific basis for teaching Associated Teaching
Methods: The Oral Method (Palmer), The Multiple Line of Approach (Palmer),
The Situational Approach (Hornby), The Oral Approach (Fries), The
Audiolingual Method
4. The Communicative Period (1970–2000+)
Core Concern: Aiming for ‘real-life communication’ Associated Teaching
Methods: Communicative Language Teaching, Task-based Language Teaching

2.4.1 Teaching English as a second language today - Sweden vs Germany

As this paper focuses on textbooks used in Sweden and Germany, it is necessary to take
a look at both countries’ recent development when it comes to teaching English as a
foreign language. There will first be an overview on English as a school subject in
general, followed by further information about each country’s curriculum.
Sweden’s approach towards English as a foreign language (and for that matter
towards foreign languages in general) is that knowledge in more than one language
enables people to develop new perspectives on their surroundings as well as to establish
new possibilities to communicate with others. English can be found in a myriad of daily

21
From a European point of view.
16
situations and the knowledge of English increases the individuals’ possibilities in
distinct cultural and social settings as well as higher education and work careers. The
majority of Swedes, just like other European citizens, nowadays (and for the last thirty
years) speak a variety of English that is neither exclusively American nor British
inflected but rather “Mid-Atlantic” English (Modiano, 2020, p. 180). By “Mid-Atlantic”
Modiano refers to the following idea:

The Mid-Atlantic English model is based on a belief that knowledge of the

differences between American English and British English assists L2 speakers of
English in their efforts to be proficient cross-cultural communicators. Strategically
adapting one’s use of English is found to be more beneficial when compared to
exclusively using one specific variety. Non-native speakers also benefit from a
greater sense of their own perceived cultural orientation when the very manner in
which they speak English does not signify allegiance to one native-speaker
constituency. Mid-Atlantic English can be defined as a usage in which decidedly
British or excessive American pronunciation is avoided. (Modiano, 2020, p. 81)

With a raising awareness of the global spread of the English language and Swedes, such
as other Europeans, perceiving themselves as world citizens, the preference of native
speaker English varieties has shifted to a global perspective on the language.
Nevertheless, this shift of preferences and acceptance has not found its way into
institutionalised learning settings of ELT (Modiano, 2020, p. 181). This is not only
apparent in curricula and teaching materials but also in teacher training programs. While
learners “prefer to use international forms of the tongue” (Modiano, 2020, p. 181) the
perception of English in a multicultural world has not yet found a basis in the field of
teaching.
As it had been mentioned before, it is quite difficult to formulate generalisations
when it comes to educational aspects in Germany since federalism is still a fact and
each state has its own regulations and implementations. English as a subject at school
was first introduced in the fifth year of school in the late 1990s in the majority of the
states. Since 2004/05 English is taught in primary schools all over Germany (in certain
states, English classes start in the first year of primary school while in other states it
starts later). A core concept that is important in Germany when it comes to teaching
English is the idea of action-orientated education. Action-orientated education builds on
the theory that learners of foreign languages should be considered as performers of
social contexts and thus, foreign languages should be orientated on social contexts. As it

17
can be seen in the overview in Table 1, the amount of participants in foreign language
classes in the federal state of Bavaria has changed in terms of what languages are
preferred by the participants. Whilst the old languages Latin and Greek suffered a
decline of participants since the 1960ies, the so-called “modern languages” French,
Italian and Spanish all receive more and more participants (Klippel, 2007).

Table 1. Historical overview of participants in foreign language classes in the state of

Bavaria (adapted from Klippel, 2007)22.

amount of
students other
year in total Latin Greek English French Italian Spanish Russian languages
1963/64 141.125 59,40% 10,60% 79,70% 31,30% 0,60% 0,50% 0,60% 0,10%
1971/72 283.426 54,80% 3,50% 86,60% 29,80% 0,50% 0,40% 0,50% 0,00%
1979/80 311.785 50,30% 2,30% 87,30% 33,70% 1,00% 0,50% 0,40% 0,40%
1997/98 532.141 41,30% 1,30% 91,60% 34,40% 2,00% 1,70% 0,40% 1,40%
2005/06 641.912 46,40% 1,00% 94,40% 36,70% 1,60% 3,60% 0,10% 0,10%

Both countries follow the Common European Framework of Reference for

Languages (CEFRL), which is an extensive framework for foreign language education
that provides educators with a system for categorisation of language proficiency. In
general, the proficiency is divided into elementary (A), autonomous (B) and competent
(C) whereas each of these levels is again divided into two sub levels (A1/A2, B1/B2,
C1/C2). Core competences that are being measured within this framework are reading
comprehension, listening comprehension, writing skills and oral skills. The framework
functions as common basis for the development of curricula all over Europe which
allows the distinct countries to teach foreign languages in a comparable manner.

2.4.1.1 Curricula in Sweden and Germany

The Swedish curriculum proclaims that “language is the primary tool human beings use
for thinking, communicating and learning” (Curriculum for the Compulsory School,
Preschool Class and School-age Educare in the subject English 2011/Lgr11Eng),
maintaining that knowing more than one language enables the individual to gain
different perspectives on the world. English as a distinct language to know and to

22
This Table is created by using the data presented in Klippel (2007).
18
acquire plays a special role since it surrounds people in everyday live in many distinct
aspects. Therefore, the Swedish curriculum emphasises that acquiring English facilitates
a broader spectrum of opportunities for the individual in terms of social as well as
cultural contexts. The curriculum emphasises the importance of communicative skills
which involves that the individual should be able to understand written and spoken
English, to be able to utter one’s thoughts as well as to be able to interact in different
situations (Lgr11Eng). Another important aspect that is emphasised by the Swedish
curriculum is confidence, referring thereby to the individual’s ability to confidently
make use of distinct communicative strategies to solve problems that can occur when
the current language skills are not yet sufficient enough. Learners should be confronted
with relating and relatable content in order to preserve their motivation to learn the
foreign language. Furthermore, the curriculum states that students should also learn
about distinct living conditions in areas where English is spoken. Taking a quick look at
the content of communication in the curriculum for English as a subject for years 7-9
there is only one that is related to the topic and hypothesis of this paper: “Spoken
English with slight regional and social accents” (Lgr11Eng). It is interesting to note the
word “slight” at this point since it poses questions and discussions such as: What is
meant by slight? Which regional and social accents can be defined as “slight”? Or
rather: How strong can these accents be at this point, having the learner’s zone of
approximate development in mind?23
In Germany on the other hand, it is not as easy to summarise the curriculum of the
whole country since the country is divided into 16 federal states and each state has its
own curriculum. The author of this paper made the decision to only focus on the
curriculum of the federal state of Bavaria since all of the teachers that were consulted
(in terms of textbooks being actively used) are all situated in that federal state. The
Bavarian curriculum (Lehrplan Bayern Gymnasium English) is introduced in the same
manner as the Swedish curriculum: by maintaining and explaining the importance of the
English language. It is stated that English is spoken by more than one billion people as
first and second language and that it has the status of an official language in more than
80 countries in the world. Further on, the Bavarian curriculum (in contrast to the
Swedish one) marks that English plays a vital role as lingua franca in everyday life,
professional as well as scientific contexts. Thus, knowing English enables the students

23
These questions will be answered in the Discussion paragraph.
19
to gain competences that will eventually provide them with the opportunity to
accomplish higher education and to meet the requirements of a globalised world. The
Bavarian curriculum does not only focus on career prospects. English is also present in
the students’ everyday life, mostly when it comes to social media and popular culture.
The following point in the Bavarian curriculum is especially interesting with this paper
in mind (it is quoted first in German and afterwards translated below):

Der Schwerpunkt des Unterrichts liegt auf Großbritannien als einem wichtigen
europäischen Nachbarland und den USA als einer der bedeutendsten und
einflussreichsten Nationen weltweit, doch lernen die Schülerinnen und Schüler
mit Irland, Kanada, Australien, Neuseeland, einem afrikanischen Land und Indien
auch weitere Kulturräume der englischsprachigen Welt exemplarisch kennen.
Dementsprechend stehen Lehrplanauszüge die britische und die amerikanische
Standardsprache zwar im Vordergrund, die Schülerinnen und Schüler begegnen
aber auch weiteren wichtigen regionalen und auch sozialen Varietäten des
Englischen. (Lehrplan Bayern Gymnasium Englisch)

The focus of education is on Great Britain as an important neighbour and the

USA as one of the most important and influential nations in the world, but the
students also learn about other cultural areas of the English-speaking world such
as Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, an African country as well as India.
Accordingly, excerpts from the curriculum in the British and American standard
languages are in the foreground, but the students also encounter other important
regional and social varieties of English.24

This part of the curriculum is exceptionally interesting since it is stated there that the
linguistic focus of teaching English in Bavaria lies on Great Britain and USA. Even
though the curriculum mentions English as being a lingua franca, the focus on varieties
remains on two stereotypical Inner Circle countries (see Kachru, 1992), namely British
and American, which does not reflect modern day circumstances of English as an
international language. Even though it is mentioned that learners should encounter other
varieties as well, the problematic focus on only the British and American accents
remains a status quo.
To summarise this short excursion into Swedish and German curricula, it can be
stated that neither of them implement the idea of English as a lingua franca when it
comes to teaching varieties of the English language. The focus remains on native
speaker varieties as the preferred and prioritised standard, with other varieties being just

24
Translation by the author of this essay.
20
a mere side note. Having in mind the idea of teaching English in a European and global
perspective (for a detailed description of this idea see 3.3.2) such as Modiano (2020)
proposes it is remarkable how far away these curricula are from that idea.

2.4.1.2 Performance/proficiency in English in both countries

Before following up on the above-mentioned idea of teaching English in a European
and global perspective, there will be a short note on performance and proficiency scores
in English in order to compare both countries and offer a different aspect in the
discussion. The following overview is taken from the EF English Proficiency Index
2020 (EF EPI, 2020). This is a report that examines proficiency in English around the
world by analysing the results of 2.2 million adults taking the EF Standard English Test
(EF SET). This test is an online adaptive test which explores reading and listening
skills. The test is standardised and designed to categorise the test takers’ language
abilities according to the levels established by the Common European Framework of
Reference. The test is available online and for free for any user and its scores have
shown a strong correlation (r=0.79) with TOEFL iBT 2018 scores. The following
overview in Table 2 shows the countries that scored highest in language proficiency in
English according to this test (EF EPI, 2020):

Table 2. Countries that scored “very high proficiency” in the EF SET (EF EPI, 2020)25.
Very High Proficiency
01 Netherlands 652
02 Denmark 632
03 Finland 631
04 Sweden 625
05 Norway 624
06 Austria 623
07 Portugal 618
08 Germany 616
09 Belgium 612
10 Singapore 611
11 Luxembourg 610
12 South Africa 607

25
This table is taken from the website of EF EPI (2020) and is thus not created by the author of this
paper.
21
As can be seen in Table 2, Sweden scored higher than Germany, but both countries are
placed in the highest possible proficiency level according to this test. The following
map in Figure 5 shows the ranking of all countries in the world, according to the latest
EF report:

Figure 5. English Proficiency according to EF EPI (2020) - Ranking of Countries and

Regions26.

2.4.2 Teaching English in a European and Global Perspective

An approach to meet modern day’s requirements when it comes to proficiency in the
English language is presented by Modiano in Teaching English in a European and
Global Perspective (2020). Modiano argues for a revision of teaching and learning
strategies, emphasising the importance of diversity and inclusion. The idea that is
presented is that the heritage of every single active user of a language should be
considered when teaching English as lingua franca. This idea is a direct attack on the
Anglo-American mindset that was and still is dominating the field of teaching English,
and thus it is offering the possibility to create a critical language teaching paradigm. The
idealisation of native-speaker language is problematised, pointing out that non-native
speakers constitute the prospect for practitioners to actively include diversity and
support multiculturalism in their teaching practices. Modiano presents the following
principles that implement a critical pedagogy for English language teaching:

26
This figure is copied from the website of the EF EPI, meaning that the author of this essay did not
create this figure.
22
  The goal of the instruction is to acquire intercultural communicative skills in
reception and production
 Learners need not necessarily seek to acquire near-native or native proficiency
 Students are provided with the information they need to make up their own
minds as to what spoken variety of English they will want to utilize as the
foundation for their learning
 Learning is primarily based on acquiring knowledge of how various speech
communities use English in intercultural contexts
 All manifestations of English are worthy of respect and attention Cultural-
studies modules provide learners with an opportunity to sample social and
cultural phenomena from inner, outer, and expanding-circle speech
communities
 Students are given opportunities to learn how to represent their own cultures
in and through the English language

(Modiano, 2020, pp. 193-194)

The principles above are developed on the ground of the following three basic concepts
that support the idea of critical English language teaching:

1. Non-native speakers are primarily concerned with utilizing language to

communicate with people from other cultures.

2. Broad knowledge of the diversity of the language facilitates strategic

approaches to cross-cultural communication.

3. Non-native speakers are capable of legitimizing their own linguistic

mannerisms in an attempt to create their own identity markers when using the
universal lingua franca.

(Modiano, 2020, p. 189)

2.5 Textbooks as means of education in English language teaching

Even though textbooks depict an important part in ELT, there has only been a limited
number of studies conducted on textbooks. Especially when it comes to the
representation of varieties and diversity in textbooks the previous research is restricted
to an insufficient amount and degree of depth. Previous studies focussed mostly on
academic written materials and left the representation of World Englishes unattended.
Learners of the English language should be exposed to different varieties of the
language in order to promote attentiveness towards diversity and multiculturalism in the

23
English-speaking world (Leung & Andrews, 2012). Teaching English, just as teaching
any other foreign language, always incorporates the layer of mediating culture. In the
case of the English language it is important to consider not only the culture of English-
speaking countries but also local culture as well as international culture in order to
generate an awareness to the diversity that English as lingua franca represents. This
should also be implemented in textbooks, especially for children and adolescents since
that age-group is influenced highly by their surroundings. A study (Fluckiger et al.,
2016) found that teachers who find themselves confronted with a myriad of choices in
terms of teaching resources tend to use the classical medium of textbooks as means of a
guide to structure their teaching.

2.6 Conclusion of theoretical concerns

Before moving to the next part of this essay, namely the results section, there will be a
short conclusion of the theoretical concerns that have been brought up and discussed in
terms of a framework for the upcoming analysis. To begin with, the theoretical part of
this essay introduced Kachru’s (1992) concentric model of the expanding circles of
World English as well as other relevant theories in that field (see Jenkins, 2006;
Modiano, 1999). In a second step, English was presented and defined as an international
language. Since this international character of the English language implies
multicultural and cross-cultural communication, the term multicultural education has
been explained, with further concerns on pedagogical aspects as well as country-specific
issues. Further theoretical concerns that have been dealt within this essay were of
pedagogical nature such as teaching English as a foreign language, teaching English in a
European and global perspective as well as textbooks as means of education.
Additionally, there has been a chapter on country-specific language performance. These
theoretical concerns lead to the next step in this essay: the presentation and discussion
the method and material of this paper. This section is then followed by the presentation
of the results and, finally, the discussion of these results. In order to maintain the
structure of this essay, it is at this point helpful to recapitulate the essay’s central
research question:
 How do German and Swedish textbooks present native speaker varieties of the
English language and do these presentations differ in terms of a comparison
between the two countries?

24
3. Method and Material
The following section will offer a detailed overview about the method and material of
this essay. The method will be explained first, followed by the presentation of the
material to be used in this paper. Finally, there will be a section on validity and
reliability.

3.1 Method
Methodologically, the analysis of the textbooks will follow the textbook analysis
framework presented by Weninger (2020), with the aspect of varieties of the English
language in mind, as well as an exemplary textbook analysis conducted by Naji Meidani
& Pishghadam (2013). Weninger offers a critical viewpoint on previous analytical
studies of textbooks which focused on meaning as representation, implying the
exclusion of the learner’s position. The analysis based on Weninger’s work will be
explained more detailed in the following paragraphs, including research questions that
will be used aiding the analysis. After analysing each textbook according to this
framework, the three textbooks of each country will be compared to the other textbooks
of the same country, focusing here again and especially on World Englishes. Lastly, a
comparison between Swedish and German books in terms of World Englishes will take
place, followed by a discussion of the results. Another relevant work for this paper is a
textbook study conducted by Naji Meidani & Pishghadam (2013), which offers a
comparable approach to analysing textbooks from the perspective of English as an
international language. In their analysis, the authors consider references to Inner, Outer
and Expanding Circle countries (see Kachru, 1992), measuring thereby the international
status of the English language represented in textbooks. It must be mentioned at this
point however that Naji Meidani & Pishghadam have counted Outer and Expanding
Circle countries as one and not two distinct entities.27
The analysis of language textbooks can be based on different approaches,
disciplines, and perspectives, such as applied linguistics, pedagogy, or cultural science.
Textbooks can be analysed as pedagogic aids within the frame of classroom-based
language acquisition, as cultural artefacts, or as sources of meaningful content of the
target language. Language textbook analyses often apply a critical perspective when it

27
The author of this paper made the decision to divide Outer and Expanding Circle in terms of a more
detailed distinction and analysis.
25
comes to biases, misconstructions, or omissions. Thus, these analyses construct
textbooks as selections of the relevant curricula. Weninger states that previous textbook
studies indicated the reinforcement of normative assumptions in terms of gender,
sexuality, ethnic and racial stereotypes as well as the fortification of national-political
interests and capitalism (Weninger, 2020, pp. 2-3). Furthermore, Weninger (2020)
mentions that the majority of textbook analyses are based on “an understanding of
meaning as representation” (p. 3), meaning that textbooks mainly constitute curricular
(as in: legitimate knowledge about the world) and cultural (as in: shared knowledge
about the world) artefacts. A crucial point of critique on previous studies of textbooks
offered by Weninger (2020) is that they analysed textbooks without considering the
point of view and interaction of learners with the textbooks (meaning as interaction
instead of representation) (p. 8). Further on, Weninger (2020) also argues for the
position of meaning as action as a logical consequence of the position of meaning as
interaction, arguing that textbooks can be seen and analysed as pedagogical artefacts
which provide instruction for learners. These positions are implemented in the research
questions that she offers and that are implemented in the analysis part of this paper. The
following research questions offered by Weninger28 (2020, p. 10) will be used in this
paper, thus attempting to answer the papers own research question on the representation
of varieties of the English language:
 What/who is represented in the text in the textbook and how?
 Which cultures are represented in the textbook and how? Which cultures are
excluded?
 What kind of language is represented as legitimate?

As mentioned before, the analysis of textbooks conducted in this paper follows

also the example of Naji Meidani & Pishghadam (2013) who offer a dedicated analysis
of textbooks in terms of English varieties and English as an international language. The
procedure they conduct in their analysis follows these ensuing criteria:

 references to Inner, Outer and Expanding Circle countries

 non-native accents (which represent the acceptance of different varieties)

28
including both the point of view of meaning as representation as well as meaning as interaction and
action, implementing therein Weninger’s criticism on the previous textbook studies
26
  dialogues in non-English speaking countries (representing English as lingua
franca)
 famous people (representing symbolic value)
 place of home culture (representing the relationship between local and global)

To calculate references to Inner, Outer and Expanding Circle countries, the authors used
the following general cultural themes: social, personal, religion/ humanities/arts,
environment, and systems/institutions (Naji Meidani & Pishghadam, 2013, p. 87). This
analysis will be taken as a framework, additionally to Weninger’s (2020) work, in order
to make the results measurable (the analysis will however not include famous people
since this detail is not relevant in this paper).

3.2 Material
There will be three textbooks per country to be analysed within the frame of this paper,
six textbooks in total. The textbooks have been chosen according to the frequency they
are used in the classroom. This has been verified by teachers of English as a subject in
their respective country. All the textbooks that are presented and analysed here are
currently and actively used in year 9 in upper secondary high schools in each country.
The Swedish textbooks that were chosen are the following: Happy (Gleerups),
Good Stuff (Liber) and Awesome (Sanoma). Happy can be described as the most basic
of these three textbooks. The content is designed according to the Swedish curriculum
and it is meant to make it easier for the students to understand and control what they
should learn. Good Stuff on the other hand is meant to facilitate the student’s contact
with the English language, which is why this textbook is very playful in its design and
language. The third textbook to be analysed in this paper is Awesome which is also the
newest in terms of publishing. This textbook is especially designed to integrate several
types of students that teachers can come across in their classroom. A special remark in
this textbook is the focus on English in a global world.
The German textbooks to be analysed in this paper are: Green Line (Klett),
Freeway (Klett) and Camden Town (Westermann). The Green Line textbook uses recent
topics and texts to increase the motivation of the students. The textbook also offers a
wide range of individualisation to meet different students’ needs. The Camden Town
textbook combines authentical non-fictional texts, excerpts from fictional texts and
everyday language to motivate the students. This textbook also offers individualisation
27
in terms of different student types. A special focus lies on media education in this
textbook, aimed to educate students to deal with various kinds of media. Lastly,
Freeway is the equivalent to Green Line offered to students who conduct their A-levels
at a work-oriented upper secondary high school (called Fachabitur)29. Besides a general
version of this textbook there are also three different specified versions of this textbook:
economic, social, and technical. The author of this essay chose to look at the general
version of this textbook.
A point of concern when it comes to the material of this study was that the
German textbooks are more advanced and they also include a lot more material, a
detailed grammar section as well as exercises in comparison to the Swedish textbooks
that barely include textual resources and a rather basic vocabulary list in the final pages.
The German textbooks all include German texts with the purpose of translation
exercises and one German textbook also includes German explanations in the grammar
section.

3.3 Reliability and validity

The concept of reliability means that the outcomes of a study are consistent, indicating
that the outcomes should be the same when doing the same test several times. Validity
on the other hand refers to the idea that a study is testing what it is supposed to test. A
test that is valid is also reliable, but a test that is reliable is not necessarily valid. Internal
validity indicates how thoroughly a test is actually measuring what it is supposed to
measure. External validity on the other hand indicates that a test can be generalised
(Drost, 2011).
The purpose of this paper is to analyse the most frequently used textbooks in each
country. Unfortunately, it was impossible to retrieve any sort of information or figures
to support that purpose. Thus, the author of this essay was forced to use first-hand
information instead, asking a handful teachers in each country which textbooks they
were using. It is thus not a question of frequency, but a question of recent usage.
Obviously, this also presents an issue of reliability since this first-hand information of a
limited number of teachers is not reliable or representative. Nevertheless, this study can

29
Fachabitur can be compared to the Swedish system of different programs at upper secondary high
schools (gymnasium) that prepare the students for a career in a specific field of profession.
28
still be considered meaningful since the analysis of these textbooks offers an interesting
angle on the representation of English as an international language in textbooks.
Another point to be considered here is the fact that Germany has, due to its
ongoing federalism, sixteen different curricula, each for every state. For the purpose of
this paper and in order to avoid a sheer overload of curricular information that would
not suit the purpose of this paper, the decision was made to only focus on one
curriculum of one particular state, namely Bavaria. That decision has been made based
on the fact that all the teachers interviewed on their usage of textbooks are based in
Bavaria.
Assessing the method of this study critically in terms of reliability and validity, it
can be stated that confining the analysis mostly on references to Inner, Outer and
Expanding Circle countries has its natural impact on how thorough the analysis of the
textbooks takes shape. The analysis, for example, did not take into account whether
students are encouraged to talk about themselves, thus giving them the possibility to
reflect about themselves and others. This being stated it has to be mentioned though that
the frame of this paper in terms of length simply does not allow for a more thorough
analysis.

29
4. Results
Leaving the theoretical concerns behind, the results of the textbook analysis will be
presented and discussed in the upcoming sections. Following the frameworks of
Weninger (2020) and Naji Meidani & Pishghadam (2013), the textbooks have been
examined according to the frequency of references to Inner, Outer and Expanding Circle
countries (see Kachru’s (1992) concentric model of World Englishes). Another point of
analysis has been the frequency of dialogues in non-English speaking countries as well
as cultural themes that were approached in each textbook.
As can be seen in Table 3, the references to Inner Circle countries in two of three
Swedish textbooks predominate the references to Outer and Expanding Circle countries.
Only in Good Stuff are references to Expanding Circle countries prevalent. The highest
overall frequency to all three circle countries as well as to Expanding Circle countries is
found in Awesome.

Table 3. References to Inner, Outer and Expanding Circle countries in Swedish

textbooks.

Happy Awesome Good Stuff

inner 116 272 66
outer 6 23 2

expanding 50 179 78

Figures 6 to 8 show the distinct results of each textbook in terms of frequency of

references to Inner, Outer and Expanding circle countries as percentage. Each figure is
followed by a short commentary on each textbook as well.

30
 Figure 6. References in the Happy textbook.

As it can be seen in Figure 6, the outweighing frequency of references in Happy are the
ones to Inner Circle countries. One remark on Happy is that it included a dedicated
chapter on Japan (which counts as Expanding Circle country).

Figure 7. References in the Awesome textbook.

In Awesome, just as in Happy, the references to Inner Circle countries prevail the other
references, but not in the same ratio, as it can be seen in Figure 7. This textbook also
includes references to Expanding Circle countries on its cover (in pictorial form). There
is a dedicated chapter on English-speaking countries in Africa. A third remark on
Awesome is that the texts are marked as British English, American English and
Canadian English in order to raise the students’ awareness of these distinct varieties.

31
 Figure 8. References in the Good Stuff textbook.

Good Stuff includes more references to Expanding than Inner Circle countries, as it can
be seen in Figure 8. There is also a world map showing countries where English is the
first and native language, countries where English is a native language amongst several
other official languages as well as countries where English is not native, but where it is
an official language. This map is thus a direct link to Kachru’s (1992) concentric model
of World Englishes and therefore a direct link to the idea of teaching English as an
international language.
Taking a look at the German textbooks, it can be seen in Table 4 that the
references to Inner Circle countries predominate in all three textbooks, whereas the
highest frequency to all three circle countries as well as to Expanding Circle countries is
found in Freeway.

Table 4. References to Inner, Outer and Expanding Circle countries in German

textbooks.

Green Line Camden Town Freeway

inner 161 77 147
outer 15 1 0

expanding 25 44 84

Figures 9 to 11 present the percentages of frequency in each distinct German textbook.

Each description of each figure is accompanied by a short comment on noticeable
features of the respective textbook.

32
 Figure 9. References in the Green Line textbook.

As it can be seen in Figure 9, the Green Line textbook includes the highest percentage
of frequency to Inner Circle countries, in comparison with the other two German
textbooks. This textbook includes an “across cultures” chapter dedicated to
multiculturalism and cross-cultural communication as well as a world map showing
where English is spoken.

Figure 10. References in the Camden Town textbook.

In the second German textbook, Camden Town, the frequency of references to Inner
Circle countries prevails the frequency of the references to Outer and Expanding Circle
countries, as can be seen in Figure 10. Camden Town does not include any map. The
texts are, in comparison to the other two German textbooks, of a more academic quality.

33
 Figure 11. References in the Freeway textbook.

The last textbook to be looked at is Freeway which is used in vocational schools

(training schools which students attend simultaneously to obtaining practical training
within the frame of a practical education). As can be seen in Figure 11 there are no
references to Outer Circle countries in this textbook and again the references to Inner
Circle countries predominate. Since Freeway is dedicated and aimed at vocational
schools the texts included here are directed at distinct work fields (especially tourism,
business, and medical care work). Freeway does not include a map either. Another
distinct feature is that skills and grammar explanations are written in German. The
textbook is divided into basic, advanced and exam course, following the tripartite
schedule of German vocational training. The texts and topics in Freeway are more
scientific in comparison with the other two German textbooks.
Coming to the next point of the analysis, the textbooks have been examined
according to the frequency of dialogues in non-English speaking countries, which aims
at the idea of English being a lingua franca. As can be seen in Table 5, only the Swedish
textbooks include such dialogues whatsoever and the frequency there is not that high
either, with four dialogues being the highest number.

Table 5. Frequency of dialogues in non-English speaking countries.

Happy Awesome Good Stuff Green Line Camden Town Freeway

4 2 1 0 0 0

The last point of analysis to be looked at in this paper is the question which
cultural themes of the five general cultural themes (social, personal, arts, political and
environmental) are dealt with in each textbook. This point is taken into account in order

34
to be able to set the frequency of references to Inner, Outer and Expanding Circle
countries into a more substantial context. As can be seen in Table 6, all three Swedish
textbooks include representations of all five categories of cultural themes, whereas none
of the German textbooks include representations of the category of arts.

Table 6. Cultural themes in all textbooks.

Happy Awesome Good Stuff Green Line Camden Town Freeway

social x x x x x x
personal x x x x x x
arts x x x
political x x x x x x

environmental x x x x x x

35
5. Discussion
In this upcoming section, the results of the textbook analysis are discussed, and the
research question of this essay will be answered. The aim of this paper was to
investigate whether textbooks in the EFL classroom in Swedish and German upper
secondary schools present English as an international language. The central research
question of this essay was the following: How do German and Swedish textbooks
present native speaker varieties of the English language and do these presentations
differ in terms of a comparison between the two countries?
The results show that references to Inner Circle countries prevail in all but one
textbook. In comparison, Swedish textbooks include more references to Inner, Outer
and Expanding Circle countries (792 of 1346 references in total). Weninger (2020)
offered the following research questions that are helpful when analysing textbooks:

1. What/who is represented in the text in the textbook and how?

2. Which cultures are represented in the textbook and how? Which cultures are
excluded?
3. What kind of language is represented as legitimate?

Looking at the results of the analysis, it can be stated that native speaker varieties
(represented by references to Inner Circle countries) are predominating in all but one of
six textbooks meaning that native speaker varieties are still prioritised in textbook
English in both Sweden and Germany. The cultures mostly represented in all six
textbooks (according to the amount of references) belong to Inner Circle countries.
Outer Circle countries have the least references in all six textbooks. As mentioned in the
method section Naji Meidani & Pishghadam (2013) have counted Outer and Expanding
Circle countries as one and not two distinct entities. In this paper, the decision had been
made to count Outer and Expanding Circle countries as two distinct entities and factors
of analysis in order to be able to perform a more detailed analysis. All but one out of six
textbooks include predominantly references to Inner Circle countries, leading thus to the
conclusion that native speaker language is prioritised in these textbooks.
A comparison between Swedish and German textbooks is meaningful at this
point. As it has been mentioned before, references to Inner Circle countries prevail in all
but one out of six textbooks. Whilst Swedish textbooks include at least a few dialogues

36
in non-English speaking countries, there are no such dialogues to be found in the
German textbooks that were analysed in this paper. Another interesting remark of
analysis was that none of the German textbooks include topics on arts (whilst all three
Swedish textbooks do). On the other hand, and as it was mentioned in the method
section, the German textbooks are more advanced and they also include a lot more
material, a detailed grammar section as well as exercises in comparison to the Swedish
textbooks that barely include textual resources and a rather basic vocabulary list in the
final pages. The German textbooks all include German texts with the purpose of
translation exercises and one German textbook also includes German explanations in
the grammar section.
Throughout this paper, a number of additional questions emerged that I am going
to answer at this point. At first, there was a question about what varieties should be
taught in school (in the EFL classroom) and whether English should or could be
approached in a non-standardised form. Following the argumentation of Modiano
(2020) it can be stated at this point that prioritising native speaker varieties is a mistake
since English is spoken and used world-wide as lingua franca and thus, attempting to
acquire a native speaker standard of the language does not take into account the reality
of cross-cultural communication which is a lot more diverse than native speaker
varieties can possibly attempt to represent. It is furthermore not a question what
varieties need to be taught. The question instead is what varieties are over-prioritised.
The analysis in this paper has shown that textbooks in Germany and Sweden are still
prioritising native speaker varieties which means that the idea of teaching English as an
international language has not found its way into the production process of modern
pedagogical resources (i.e. textbooks). Another question that emerged in this paper dealt
with the idea of approaching English as an international language and thus the idea of
promoting diversity in terms of teaching more than just native speaker varieties. As the
results of the analysis have shown it is clear that native speaker language is still
preferred in the textbooks and thus, cultural basis is predominantly promoted in terms of
native speaker (Inner Circle countries)30 culture. Another question that needs to be
answered emerged while discussing the Swedish curriculum for the school subject
English: “Spoken English with slight regional and social accents” (Lgr11Eng). What is
meant by slight? Which regional and social accents can be defined as “slight”? Or

30
And especially British and American accent
37
rather: How strong can these accents be at this point, having the learner’s zone of
approximate development in mind? Modiano argues that “the goal of the instruction is
to acquire intercultural communicative skills in reception and production” (Modiano,
2020, p. 193). The question is how this idea can be implemented pedagogically. Further
on in his book, Modiano offers distinct approaches for distinct age groups31 of learners:
For upper secondary education, Modiano considers that tasks such as producing tourist
information for a potential excursion or researching and presenting their own cultures
and societies have been proven to be of great pedagogical value when it comes to
teaching and raising awareness of the diversity of English as an international language
(Modiano, 2020, pp. 200-201). The final question to be answered was dealing with
concerns on language norms that are presented in textbooks. The analysis of six
textbooks that are currently used in the frame of institutionalised second language
acquisition of English in Sweden and Germany has shown that native speaker varieties
in terms of references to Inner Circle countries are prevailing. This leads to the
conclusion that the idea of diversity in terms of teaching English as an international
language is in fact not promoted and supported in these textbooks. It is however
difficult to draw a generalised conclusion since this study is too small and thus not
representative.
A final remark at this point is that it is unfortunately difficult to compare the
results of this study to previous studies since there are almost no studies on this topic.
With Modiano (2020) as European expert and Naji Meidani & Pishghadam (2013)
offering the framework to conduct this study, it can be stated that there needs to be more
research in that field.

31
The other age groups of learners that Modiano approaches there are not considered at this point.
38
6. Conclusion
This essay aimed to answer the question if and how the idea of English as an
international language is represented in textbooks of institutionalised second language
learning at upper secondary high schools in Germany and Sweden. For this purpose, six
distinct textbooks (three per country) have been object for analysis, investigating the
frequency of references to Inner, Outer and Expanding Circle countries (following
Kachru’s (1992) concentric model of the expanding spread of English as an
international language). While English is commonly seen and accepted as lingua franca
and international language, the practice of teaching English as second language does not
take into account the diversity aspect that is included in the international character of the
language. On the contrary, native speaker varieties still conduct the standard and offer
the norms to be acquired by second language learners in two countries that both happen
to score the highest possible proficiency level in English. This means that the native
speaker idealisation in teaching English as second language is still a fact and thus,
diversity and multiculturalism that should be included when considering English as
international language do not find their place in modern day teaching methods. Even
though both Swedish and German curricula include remarks on English as an
international language and thus require the implementation of diversity in terms of
(non-native) varieties, the analysis of the textbooks has shown that native speaker
varieties still present the norm to be taught and acquired in both countries.
The results of the analysis have shown that only one in six textbooks include more
references to Expanding Circle countries than Inner Circle countries whereas the other
five include more references to Inner Circle countries. This means that native speaker
varieties are still preferred in the most common and most frequently used pedagogical
resources in Sweden and Germany in the school subject English at upper secondary
schools. In comparison, the Swedish textbooks that were analysed in this paper include
more references to countries of all three circles whilst the German textbooks are more
advanced and do not only include texts and a vocabulary list but also an elaborate
grammar section. The German textbooks do not include any dialogues in non-English
speaking countries while the Swedish textbooks include at least a few each.
Thematically, the German textbooks do not cover arts whilst the Swedish textbooks
cover all five cultural themes that were taken as means of measurement.

39
 Finally, further research needs to be conducted, investigating on a larger scale and
in more than these two countries how English as an international language is
represented in terms of non-native varieties in textbooks for the school subject English
(as second language). This study is not representative for that matter, but nevertheless it
can give educators and researchers as well as politicians and textbook authors the
possibility to critically assess the current pedagogical practices and norms when it
comes to teaching English as an international language. A different angle of research
which has been suggested before in this paper concerns the question whether the
textbooks encourage the students to talk about themselves and thus to give them a
chance to reflect about themselves and their living conditions. This specific part of
analysis could not be answered within the frame of this paper but it does offer the
possibility of further research into the topic and matter of textbook analysis as well as
current teaching methods when it comes to teaching English as an international
language.
Recapitulating the entirety of this paper, it needs to be mentioned that even if this
study is not representative it nevertheless gives a sufficient glimpse at current teaching
methods in the school subject English (as a second language), especially in terms of
English as an international language. This study’s aim was to examine whether
textbooks in Germany and Sweden incorporate and promote the idea of English as an
international language (contrary to the idea of teaching/preferring native speaker
varieties only). The hypothesis was that the textbooks do indeed not support the idea of
English as an international language and the analysis has proven that the hypothesis was
correct since the references to Inner Circle countries in all but one textbook
overweighed (even drastically, in terms of numbers). The analysis of textbooks and
current teaching methods need to be canvassed further in order to conduct more
sufficient data.

40
References

“Merkel says German multicultural society has failed”. BBC News. 17 October 2010.
Retrieved 8 April 2021: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-11559451.
“Report attacks multiculturalism”. BBC news. 30 September 2005. Retrieved 7 April
2021: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/4295318.stm.
“Dags att begrava det multikulturella projektet”. Dagens samhälle (in Swedish). 17
February 2017. Retrieved 8 April 2021:
https://www.dagenssamhalle.se/nyhet/dags-att-begrava-det-multikulturella-
projektet-31651.
“Multiculturalism is a sham, says Angela Merkel". The Washington Post. 14 December
2015. Retrieved 8 April 2021:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2015/12/14/angela-
merkel-multiculturalism-is-a-sham/.
“Skolan har kidnappats av friskolekoncernerna”. Aftonbladet (in Swedish). 30 October
2020. Retrieved 4 September 2021:
https://www.aftonbladet.se/debatt/a/Kyy8wE/skolan-har-kidnappats-av-
friskolekoncernerna.
”Svenskar vill ha inhägnat boende”. SvD.se (in Swedish). Archived from the original
on 22 March 2016. Retrieved 8 April 2021:
https://web.archive.org/web/20160322170850/http://www.svd.se/svenskar-vill-ha-
inhagnat-boende.
Banks, J. (2008). An Introduction to Multicultural Education. 4th. edition. Allyn/Bacon:
Pearson.
Barry, B. (2001). Culture and Equality. Polity Press, 148.
Bråten, B. (2006). Multikulturalisme i Skandinavia. kjonnsforskning.no (sub-unit of the
Research Council of Norway) (in Norwegian Bokmål). Retrieved 8 April 2021:
https://kjonnsforskning.no/nb/2006/05/multikulturalisme-i-skandinavia
Council of Europe. (2001). Common European framework of reference for languages:
Learning, teaching, assessment. Strasbourg: Council of Europe, Modern
Languages Division.
Crystal, D. (2001). The Future of Englishes. In: Analysing English in a Global Context,
edited by Anne Burns and Caroline Coffin, 53-64. London: Routledge.
Crystal, D. (2007). English as a Global Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press.
Drost, E. A. (2011). Validity and Reliability in Social Science Research. Education.
Research and Perspectives (38:1), 105-123.
Ethnologue. Online Material. Retrieved 6 April 2021:
https://www.ethnologue.com/guides/ethnologue200
European Commission. (2006). Eurobarometer. In: European Commission. (2006).
Europeans and their languages.
European Commision. (2019). Council Recommendation on a comprehensive approach
to the teaching and learning of languages. Online Material. Retrieved 5 April
2021: https://ec.europa.eu/education/education-in-the-eu/council-
recommendation-improving-teaching-and-learning-languages_en.
Fearon, J.D. (2003). Ethnic and Cultural Diversity by Country*. Journal of Economic
Growth 8, 195–222.
Fluckiger, C., Bachy, S., & Daunay, B. (2017). What role does the textbook play in the
era of the Interactive Whiteboard? A didactic approach to teachers' professional
writings. Journal of Subject Didactics, 1(2), 101–117.
41
Gay, G. (2013). Teaching To and Through Cultural Diversity. Curriculum Inquiry, 43:1,
48-70.
Harper, T.L. (2011). Dialogues in urban and regional planning. Taylor & Francis.
Haß, F. (2006). Fachdidaktik Englisch. Stuttgart: Klett.
Heneghan, T. (11 February 2011). "Sarkozy joins allies burying multiculturalism".
Reuters. Retrieved 7 April 2021: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-france-
sarkozy-multiculturalism-idUSTRE71A4UP20110211.
Horsley, M., Knight, B., & Huntly, H. (2011). The role of textbooks and other teaching
and learning resources in higher education in Australia: change and continuity in
supporting learning. IARTEM E-Journal, 3(2), 43-61.
Howatt, A. P. R. & Smith, R. (2014). The History of Teaching English as a Foreign
Language, from a British and European Perspective. Language & History, 57:1,
75-95.
Jenkins, J. (2006). Current Perspectives on Teaching World Englishes and English as a
Lingua Franca. TESOL Quarterly. 40.
Johansson, H. (2004). När Engelskan tog kommandot i skolan. Tvärsnitt (1/2004).
Online Material. Available at:
https://web.archive.org/web/20070328002123/http://www.vr.se/huvudmeny/arkiv/
2004/tvarsnittnr12004/narengelskantogkommandotiskolan.4.64fbca2110dabf7901
b8000632.html
Kachru, B. (1992). The Other Tongue: English across cultures. University of Illinois
Press.
Klippel, F. (2007). Fremdsprachenunterricht (19./20. Jahrhundert). In: Historisches
Lexikon Bayerns. Online Material. Retrieved 5 September 2021:
http://www.historisches-lexikon-bayerns.de/Lexikon/Fremdsprachenunterricht.
Lehrplan Bayern Gymnasium (2004). Online Material. Retrieved 5 April 2021:
http://www.gym8-
lehrplan.bayern.de/contentserv/3.1.neu/g8.de/index.php?StoryID=26368
Leung, C. Y. & Andrews, S. (2012). The mediating role of textbooks in high-stakes
assessment reform. ELT Journal Volume 66/3 July 2012.
Lingua Franca in Oxford Learner’s Dictionary. Online Material. Available at:
https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/american_english/lingua-
franca.
Mångfaldsbarometern 2014 (PDF). Gävle University College. October 2014. pp. 7–8.
Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 June 2016. Retrieved 8 April 2021:
https://web.archive.org/web/20160621094211/https://www.hig.se/download/18.4d
b66897149b264e1ba4df24/1417115797086/mangfald.pdf.
Modiano, M. (1999). Standard English(es) and educational practices for the world's
lingua franca. English Today. 15. 3 - 13.
Modiano. M. (2020). Teaching English in a European and Global Perspective.
Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
Naji Meidani, E. & Pishghadam, R. (2013). Analysis of English language textbooks in
the light of English as an International Language (EIL): A comparative study.
International Journal of Research Studies in Language Learning. 2.
OECD (2018). PISA 2018 Database.
Pauls, E. P. "Assimilation". Encyclopedia Britannica. 21 Aug. 2019. Retrieved 4
September 2021: https://www.britannica.com/topic/assimilation-society.
Putnam, R. D. (2007). E Pluribus Unum: Diversity and community in the twenty-first
century. Scandinavian Political Studies. 30 (2): 137–74.

42
Skolverket. (2011). Curriculum for the compulsory school, preschool class and the
recreation centre (Lgr11). Stockholm.
Skolverket. (2011). The Swedish national syllabus for the teaching of English at the
upper secondary level, written in English:
https://www.skolverket.se/polopoly_fs/1.209313!/English%20120912.pdf.
Song, S. (2007). Justice, Gender, and the Politics of Multiculturalism. Cambridge
University Press.
Svartvik, J. & Leech, G. (2006). English – One Tongue, Many Voices. Palgrave
Macmillan.
Weninger, C. (2020). Multimodality in critical language textbook analysis, Language,
Culture and Curriculum.
Wessendorf, S. (2011). The multiculturalism backlash: European discourses, policies
and practices.
White, R. & Perrone, S. (2001). Racism, Ethnicity and Hate Crime. Communal/Plural. 9
(2): 161–81.
Wickström, M. (2015). The multicultural moment: the history of the idea and politics of
multiculturalism in Sweden in comparative, transnational and biographical
context, 1964–1975. Åbo Akademi. Retrieved 8 April 2021:
https://www.doria.fi/handle/10024/103098.

43
Appendices

Appendix I: PISA 2018 results

44
Appendix II: Raw data of textbook analysis

Happy Awesome GoodStuff Green Line Camden Town Freeway

inner 116 272 66 161 77 147

outer 6 23 2 15 1 0

expanding 50 179 78 25 44 84

SUM 172 474 146 201 122 231

dialogues 4 2 1 0 0 0

cultural themes

social x x x x x x

personal x x x x x x

arts x x x

political x x x x x x

environmental x x x x x x

45