An Examination of Language, Agency, and the Portrayal of Slavery in U.S. History Textbooks

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Friday 8:00 am Four Seasons Ballroom 2-3
  In Roundtable Session: Narratives, Censorship, and Mandates: Examining the Impact of Language, Curriculum, and Policy on U.S. Social Studies Education (Table 10)

Abstract

Situated in a time when bans against curriculum, books, and words have been enacted, we analyze the authors’ word choice in the portrayal of slavery over the past three adopted U.S. History textbooks in Florida. Drawing upon Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL), we identify how main participants are either active or passive along with the types of verb processes. The findings reveal that textbook authors overwhelmingly favor white participants with regards to whose actions, thoughts, and utterances are represented. Implications call for a language awareness and correction of textbooks to better reflect the lived experiences and histories of marginalized groups.

Authors

• Edgar Díaz, Utah State University

• Kanushri Wadhwa, Phoenix Charter Academy