Kiai, Alice Wanjira (2012) Biography of an English language textbook in Kenya : a journey from conceptualization to the classroom. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.

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Abstract

This biography tells the life story of a secondary school English coursebook in Kenya
following market liberalization (1998) and curriculum review (2002).
In ELT, Gray (2007, 2010) first applied the ‘circuit of culture’ model to global English
coursebooks; in contrast, I examine the case of a single local publication. The
textbook has been described as a politico-economic, socio-cultural, and curriculum
product. I focus on it primarily as a curriculum product and delink the circuit of
culture from its original application in textbook studies in the service of a sociocultural
perspective. I posit that the model has the explanatory power to capture
the various research focuses that textbook studies may take.
The circuit of culture has five processes or ‘moments’: representation, identity,
regulation, production and consumption. Following preliminary work, my ‘journey’
begins in the representation moment, using Littlejohn’s (1992, 1998) framework for
materials analysis. In the regulation moment, I interview three participants linked
to the curriculum development body (KIE). In the production moment, I interview
four authors, the editor and the publishing manager of the selected coursebook. In
the consumption moment, I interview sixteen teachers who are or have been users
of the materials. Four of the teachers participate in classroom observation and their
learners respond to a questionnaire. Finally, I build a key identity statement about
the coursebook, pooled from the findings in each moment. I reposition the identity
moment and posit its centrality at the core of the circuit.
Spurred by insights on innovation in English language education, I support the
strengthening of ‘feedback loops’ across moments, and the recognition of the
consumption moment as the zone for promoting dynamism and synergy in
textbook development. This can (ideally) result in curriculum products and practices
capable of overcoming challenges of interpretation and transition, while promoting
good practices across moments.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Subjects:	L Education > LB Theory and practice of education > LB1603 Secondary Education. High schools P Language and Literature > PE English
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	English language -- Textbooks for foreign speakers, Textbooks -- Publishing -- Kenya, English language -- Study and teaching -- Kenya
Official Date:	April 2012
Dates:	Date Event April 2012 Submitted
Institution:	University of Warwick
Theses Department:	Centre for Applied Linguistics
Thesis Type:	PhD
Publication Status:	Unpublished
Supervisor(s)/Advisor:	Rixon, Shelagh ; Smith, Richard C., 1961- ; Macdonald, Malcolm
Sponsors:	Commonwealth Scholarship Commission in the United Kingdom (CSCUK)
Extent:	xvi, 489 leaves : ill.
Language:	eng

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