ABSTRACTTextbooks, in general, and English teaching textbooks, in particular, are acknowledged as common sites for social reproduction and disseminating dominant ideologies. In an attempt to contribute to research on textbook ideology, the current study attempted to uncover neoliberal mentality in the highly popular ELT materials taught in Iranian private language institutes. Scrutinized though CDA methodology proposed by Fairclough [2001. Language and power. London: Routledge; 2003. Analysing discourse: Textual analysis for social research. London: Routledge], the textbooks were found to popularize certain (...) tenets of neoliberalism such as market, consumerism, branding, individual productivity/marketability as well as superficial, non-critical multiculturalism which was employed, simply to present a perfect, utopian image of the West. Such a practice, it is believed here, is a clear instance of ‘inculcation’. London: Routledge) whose effect needs to be counterbalanced by reflective teaching and critical pedagogy. (shrink)

ABSTRACTThis paper is about Marxist political economy and Critical Discourse Studies as a field of inquiry. It begins with a discussion of the traditional role of Marxist political economy in CDS, arguing that for the most part it has been limited and partial. It then considers an example of a serious attempt to carry out a Marxist political economy analysis of discourse in society – Claudia Ortu’s [2008. The denial of class struggle by British Governments in their anti-union discourse. Critical (...) Discourse Studies, 5, 289–301] analysis of the denial of class struggle and anti-union discourse in Britain in the period 1978–2007. This leads to a discussion of the author's recent research on material and discursive class warfare in contemporary Spain, focussing specifically on conflicts arising between a right-wing government defending the interests of the banks and elites and a grass-roots organisation defending the interests of the popular classes, in particular those who either have lost, or are in danger of losing, their homes due to mortgage default. The paper ends with some thoughts on the future of CDS, with or without a clear Marxist political economy base. (shrink)