AWARENESS OF RACIAL AND ETHNIC DIVERSITY IN JAPANESE JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOLS' ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEXTBOOKS

Abstract

This article explores how cultural attitudes about race and ethnicity are taught in the English language textbooks as a part of Japan's school curriculum. A content analysis of Japanese junior high school textbooks on English as a foreign language published from 1987 to 2002 was conducted. Four hypotheses were investigated relating to 1) the diversity of countries, 2) the inclusion of Asia, 3) the diversity of individuals, and 4) the portrayal of the United States and Japan. The results suggest that while Japan's English language textbooks did represent diverse countries, they did not represent the diversity of racial and ethnic groups. Moreover, although ambiguity about race and ethnicity did exist, there also appeared to be attempts to respond to the changing realities impacted by globalization.

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