A comparison between World Wide English and In Real Life : A content analysis of two English textbooks for upper secondary school in Sweden

Sammanfattning: This study is about the structure and content of two specific English textbooks used in upper secondary school. The aim of the study is to get a deeper understanding of the structure of textbooks in English teaching, and what topics are used and what skills are emphasised when teaching English as a second language with the guidance of those textbooks. The textbooks studied, World Wide English 5 Samhällsvetenskapsprogrammet and In Real Life, are designed for the course ‘English 5’ in the upper secondary school curriculum. World Wide English 5 Samhällsvetenskapsprogrammet is designed for an academic program, while In Real Life is designed for  vocational programs. The study contains a content analysis of the textbooks with both a qualitative perspective and a quantitative perspective. The quantitative part of the analysis shows the different kinds of skills promoted by the exercises while the qualitative part shows what different texts are used in the textbooks. The study of the textbooks shows that when it comes to texts the textbooks emphasise different types of text (eg. fictional or non fictional) for the different programs. The exercises in both books focus on vocabulary and grammar activities. This study concludes that the textbooks are different but also have some similarities and both encourage the communicative aspects promoted in the new curriculum.