| The purpose of this study is to investigate ways of analyzing the potential influences of textbooks for English to speakers of other languages (ESOL) on the social power of ESOL students. The researcher examines three areas of potential social influence in textbooks: (1) the prior knowledge and skills students need in order to access the present information, (2) the tasks students are expected to perform, and (3) the sexist biases which might be present.;Units of analyses evolved from data gathered from one middle chapter of each of the three most widely used textbooks in ESOL academic programs determined by a survey of publishers of ESOL materials. For each area of potential social influence, multiple analyses evolved consisting of three general types: structural, critical, and quantitative. The researcher illustrated each procedure by examining features in the three textbooks.;The results of these examinations are, in part, that expectations of prior student knowledge and skills vary somewhat from one book to another, fairly consistent task demands appear within each textbook, and sexist bias varies across textbooks while some contradictions within one textbook are present. In two of the textbooks examined, strong literacy and academic-type skills are required. All three textbooks focus on right answers and individual seat work, provide little student control of learning conditions, and make low- to mid-level cognitive demands. All contain different degrees of bias against females.;In terms of procedures, the researcher concludes that multiple indices using a range of procedure types may verify findings and reveal contradictions in ESOL text materials. In terms of social equality, the results show evidence of the potential for marginalizing some students in terms of gender in one textbook and in terms of knowledge expectations and tasks in two of the textbooks and, in the three textbooks, for potentially training other students for bureaucratic work roles. However, lack of specific parameters for actual use in two of the textbooks and alternative parameters in the third, as well as the potential influences of particular users, suggest the need for observations of actual use to better understand textbook characteristics and their social effects. |
