The Course of Study for elementary schools, which was announced in 2017, was implemented in 2020. Since then, a foreign language has been taught as a school subject to fifth and sixth graders in Japan. The policy stipulates that students should learn English as a foreign language. Based on the official document, seven publishing companies have published authorized English textbooks for elementary schools. This study aims to examine and analyze the illustrations and photographs of foreigners in authorized English textbooks for elementary schools in terms of the characteristics of their appearance. The study finds that in terms of illustrations, more textbooks contain foreigners who are white while in terms of photographs, more textbooks contain foreigners who are non-white. The research also finds that textbooks deal with whites and non-whites living in different countries. Furthermore, the analysis of textbooks shows that the frequency of illustrations of main foreign characters is higher. The results indicate that there is a tendency toward white supremacy in authorized English textbooks for elementary schools.
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