A Hidden Curriculum in Language Textbooks: Are Beginning Learners of French at U.S. Universities Taught About Canada?

• Published in: The Modern language journal (Boulder, Colo.) Vol. 93; no. 2; pp. 139 - 152
• Main Author: CHAPELLE, CAROL A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Malden, USA Blackwell Publishing Inc 01.06.2009; Blackwell Publishing; Blackwell Publishing Ltd
• Subjects: Canada; Colleges & universities; Computer Peripherals; Content Analysis; Cultural Awareness; Cultural Pluralism; Culture; Curricula; Diachronic Linguistics; Foreign Countries; Foreign language instruction; French; French language; Hidden Curriculum; Instructional Materials; Local Issues; Second Language Instruction; Second Language Learning; Textbooks; Universities; Workbooks; Canada; United States > US
• ISSN: 0026-7902; 1540-4781
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-4781.2009.00852.x

This study investigated a hidden curriculum in published language teaching materials by tabulating the number of instances that Canada was mentioned in 9 French textbooks and their accompanying workbooks and CD–ROMs. The materials were used at large public universities in the northern United States. For the present study, 2 raters, a Québécois student and an American student of French, found that, on average, 15.3% of the analyzed sections of the textbooks, 6.5% of the workbook sections, and 29.9% of the sections in the CD–ROMs contained Canadian content. Based on a transnational view of culture, which suggests that cultural content in language materials should be chosen in view of local issues (Risager, 2007), I argue that Canada should play a larger role in French teaching materials used in the northern United States. In particular, increased Canadian content might help to create needs for and interest in French, foster learning about the nonneutrality of language, and stimulate discovery of local historical linguistic and cultural diversity.