Thou Shalt Not Think : Editors’ Voice in an English Textbook to Propagate Vested Agendas

Abstract EN

Textbooks, particularly in developing countries, are used as a tool to propagate the agendas of state and other groups in power.

This paper informs the reader on the issue of how a tertiary level English textbook used editors’ voice to form the opinion of its readers by shaping facts and perspectives depicted in the texts.

The editors of the textbook not only censored the information to block autonomous learning, but also attempted to misrepresent the themes of various texts to meet the censorship guidelines set by the textbook-board and/or the state.

The paper aims to raise the question of learner autonomy and learners’ right to access information in its original form to be interpreted independently in the schematic background of each individual.

By pointing out the issue and initiating the discussion, the paper hopes to bring awareness in the less explored area of the use of language power in the Pakistani educational context.