What is ‘global’ in an ELT global coursebook?

Abstract

The adjective ‘global’ has become a buzzword in recent years, not least in academia. Within the area of English Language Teaching (ELT) in particular, ‘global coursebooks’ have aroused a great deal of interest, but also much suspicion, as their content turns out not to be as universal as the adjective ‘global’ might literally mean. In this paper, I investigate the 2014 New Headway Upper-Intermediate Student’s Book and bring to light some of the ideological constructions underpinning this supposedly global course material. As a result of this analysis, I provide an expanded characterisation of the ELT global textbook, regarding it as a course built upon standard language ideologies rather than, as suggested by previous studies, as an artefact shaped by a predominantly neoliberal agenda.