The Representation of National Identity in Newly-Developed English Textbooks of the Iranian Formal Education System

Influenced by the massive global developments, the notion of identity as an important issue in social and cultural research as well as macro policies, has been accompanied by various representations. Such significance has made the political systems pay attention to the notion that its reflection has been represented in the field of education. The data reveal that while the issue has been studied in some textbooks, it is less studied in English textbooks. In this paper, through a descriptive and analytic study, the content and pictures of the newly-developed English textbooks were analyzed. It could be concluded that such attention to the issue of national identity, as one of the most significant dimensions of identity, has gained a favorable position which might be related to the purposeful use of critical pedagogy as a recent approach in English language teaching.