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چکیده
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This study analyzed social representation aspects in the "English for Iraq" textbook as Iraqi pre-university curricula. This study is a descriptive and analytical method design, and it adopts a qualitative research methodology. The researcher opted for content and a critical analysis method to investigate the book's social representation aspects such as values, ideas, metaphors, beliefs, and practices to explore how social representations are included or excluded for ideological reasons or were influenced or encoded through linguistic structure. The social actors and their activities in the textbook are examined using elements from Van Leeuwen's (2008) model. For this purpose, the researcher read the mentioned textbook correctly to find social representations and their elements based on Van Leeuwen's (2008) socio-semiotic inventory. Then she categorized and listed the found elements in the mentioned textbook after that, she analyzed them one by one and interpreted them in descriptive form. The duration time for conducting this study was 45 days. The analysis of the textbook's content finds that it lacked balanced social representations, primarily it focuses on the source culture, promoting unity among Arab learners in their religion, identity, and culture. Furthermore, this textbook lacks a comprehensive representation of foreign cultures, so social acculturation may not occur as much as expected. Considering findings, the textbook's representation of Arab identity is excessively confusing and it does not focus on identifying social representation aspects due to its predominant religious and Arab identity themes. Finally, this textbook has a traditional approach to integrating culture, with occasional social representations leaning toward the source culture, making it seem like a religious teaching book, leaving little room for learners to explore foreign cultures, especially the target culture.
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