Week 8. Cultural representations: Culture and teaching materials.

After reading the material for this class I realized that our teachers of English never really examined the politics of unequal relations of power hidden behind taken-for-granted knowledge. Consequently, we, students, and even teachers, were perceiving the Western culture and the English language as the dominant discourse. Thus, unknowingly, teachers still reproduce and legitimize unequal power relationships both in and outside the classroom.Western foreign-language culture in Russia is still regarded as the dominant one. Of course, it does not apply to every citizen of Russia, and I have noticed that people actually take pride in their language and culture, especially indigenous people like Buryat for example (from personal experience). However, knowing Western languages such as English, German, French, and such Eastern language as Chinese is viewed as a strong plus when applying for a job, even if there will be no need in the language as such. As a result, I had always thought that by choosing a profession connected with the English language, I would have a better life in terms of earning good money and would achieve a higher social status. Moreover, the way I viewed my society was strongly influenced by the images and text brought by media and textbooks. In terms of race, I hardly remember African-American people in our textbooks. This picture is still in my mind: some Mr. Smith, white, sitting comfortably in his living room and reading a newspaper with a pipe in his hand. Or some Ms. Lucy, also white, a student or a teacher, wearing business clothes and with some papers in her hands. As for media, Russian television is strongly influenced by Western movies to the extent that some of my freinds would say critisize Russian movies as lacking the same effects that make a movie seem real. So, I remember my university groupmates and I discussing Beverly Hills which was a popular series among the youth back in 1997.  Thus, I can confirm that media and text bring a strong message to societies who rules the world. As a result, I strongly believe that constant text and media should and must be used as instruments for social development, not social prejudice. TESOL must be aware of the implicit messages of the texts and media about the power relations and promote social justice and equality through discussions and appropriate textbook choices.