Material Analysis (Example #4: American Dream)
Eales, F., & Oakes, S. (2012). Speakout starter students’ book (1st ed.) (p. 40). Pearson.
Part I: Describe the material, the context, and learners
Pakistan: The material focuses on vocabulary and choosing the right words, set in the context of the USA, with topics about routine lifestyles. The learning goals are to improve linguistic accuracy, learn appropriate word choices, and cultivate critical thinking skills through visual learning. The target population is Bachelor’s/BS students, aged 20-25, at an intermediate English proficiency level. The material is intended for diverse language learning groups with the goal of enhancing understanding, practicing the four basic skills, and building vocabulary.
Türkiye: The material is designed for pre-intermediate adolescent and adult L2 learners. Its main goal is to teach the basics of the present simple tense in English.
UK: The material is for teenagers and young adults who are learning English at a pre-intermediate level. The main goals are to practice the present simple tense and to learn words about different ways of life.
Part II: Evaluation of the material
2.1. Evaluating the material from the teacher’s perspective
Pakistan: From our view as a teacher, the material provides a good trigger to practice communication skills, the four basic skills, vocabulary choices, and creative thinking through discussion-oriented activities about lifestyles. However, it also practices some stereotype ideologies. To improve it, a teacher could bring in news articles about social justice issues, include personal narratives from students to show diverse perspectives, and use open-ended prompts to encourage critical thinking. It is also important to add more diverse images that reflect different cultures and identities and to avoid language that might marginalize any group.
Türkiye: As teachers, we feel the material imposes a specific version of the American Dream as a hidden curriculum. It would be better to use different images that represent a wider range of people, such as Native Americans and Mexicans, to show a more complete picture of American society and avoid promoting ideas like manifesting destiny.
UK: We think the material pushes a strong and narrow view of the American dream, where everyone is white, rich, has a big car and house, and drinks coke. To fix this, we would bring in our own pictures that show our students’ more diverse lives. Also, the vocabulary used is very British, so we would add more common and personal examples that are easier for our students to understand.
2.2. Evaluating the material from the students’ perspectives
Pakistan: From a student’s perspective, this material offers practice with vocabulary, the four skills, and discussion-based learning through visual triggers and interesting activities. The class is student-centric and open to diverse perspectives and discussions, which makes it engaging for learners.
Türkiye: From the students’ point of view, the material offers a very narrow viewpoint centered on the American Dream, with no real diversity. It is culturally unresponsive and unauthentic, and it lacks diversity within diversity, which leads to stereotyping. The approach feels like forced integration into a single, idealized culture.
UK: For students in China, this material is not relevant to their lives. It does not show their experiences or who they are. The focus on a wealthy Western lifestyle would be hard for them to connect with.
2.3. Evaluating the material in terms of praxis
Pakistan: The material shows clear bias by focusing only on U.S. culture, white people, and male athletes, with images of big cars and Coke. This focus leaves out other perspectives, like cyclists, other drinks, or athletes from different backgrounds. The fact that only white individuals are shown in the foreground, while other nationalities are in the background or missing, strengthens unfair stereotypes. The complete lack of Black representation makes the material feel exclusionary and biased in its portrayal of race, nationality, and gender.
Türkiye: The material is highly biased because it imposes the American Dream and ignores diverse cultures. It is not appropriate even for Native Americans and is culturally inappropriate due to its focus on American imperialism. It foregrounds white supremacy and rich white American culture, which reinforces social stratification. Migrant and refugee families would likely not approve of this content.
UK: The material is biased. It shows only a rich, white American and British way of life as if it is what is normal for everyone, and what everyone should strive for. It makes it seem like only their English is correct. This leaves out other cultures and points of view. Students from richer backgrounds might understand it better, but it is unfair to others.
Part III: Adaptation
Pakistan: To adapt this material, the focus should remain on vocabulary and word choice within the context of Pakistani language classes. However, it should be expanded for a global audience. Discussions on routine lifestyles can be used to talk about bigger themes like privilege vs. marginalisation and bias and stereotypes. For example, the use of Cola and the USA flag is a good opportunity to challenge global power structures. Lessons can include multimodality by using diverse media types to make the material more inclusive and thought-provoking for all learners.
Türkiye: To adapt the material, the class can be divided into groups, and each group can be given different pictures showing the lives of Native Americans, Mexicans, and South Americans. The activity can involve keeping the original picture and adding one representing these groups. Students can use the present simple tense to describe their assigned picture individually, then compare them as a group. This can be followed by a critical discussion about the different faces of America, encouraging deeper thinking and inclusive representation.
UK: We would adapt the material by adding activities that encourage students to think critically about culture. For example, we could discuss whether the images in the book show the real lives of most people in the U.S. We would also add a gallery walk with photos from many different cultures. We could watch short videos of people describing their daily life in the U.S. and in China and then compare them. Finally, we would have students make a poster about their own lifestyle using the grammar and vocabulary, which makes the lesson more personal and authentic for everyone.