Traces of colonialismin English textbooks

English is often considered an international language that facilitates meetings and understanding between different cultures. The reason that English is such a language is mainly Great Britain’s history of colonial and imperial expansion.

Everything that is taught in the Swedish school should have a historic perspective and according to the syllabus, the subject of English is supposed to treat “everyday life, the way of living and social relations in English speaking areas”. This essay explores what traces of Colonialism and Postcolonialism can be found in English textbooks for Swedish. schools today.

The questions asked are what areas are mentioned in the books, if it says why these are the chosen areas, and how those areas are described? As theory, the postcolonial concepts of Stereotyping, Othering and Ethnocentrism have been used to build an analysis model that explains the meaning of different occurrences in the textbooks.

The results show that the books mainly include the same English-speaking countries, especially when it comes to the countries were most people speak English. The variation is larger when it comes to countries with smaller English-speaking populations. The majority of the analyzed books contain historical explanations about why English is spoken in these areas, but not all of them have facts or reflection as to what consequences that history has left with the indigenous people in these areas and on culture today.