The Representation of Pedagogical Values Provided by The Teachers in English Textbook for Junior High School: A Visual Semiotic Analysis

Sari

Textbooks are an important component in teaching and learning activities. At schools, language textbooks have roles to deliver the content materials and to facilitate students in producing and using the language, at the same time, textbooks can be a tool to present values and ideology through texts, dialogues, and images. The special characteristics of semiotic illustrations on the books, specifically a character of teacher in this case, can affect learners’ visual perceptions.  Semiotic factors in the form of illustrations in a textbook can be analyzed or studied. The purpose of this current research is to analyze pedagogic values provided by the teachers on the visual illustration in the textbook When English Rings the Bell, Junior High School, and used the visual illustration as the sample for the research through a visual semiotic analysis. To collect data (markers) and visual materials in the textbook, qualitative research method was employed. Based on Peirce's semiotic theory as data analysis of material (signified), then the representamen (signifier), object (referent), and interpretant are applied. From the gathered data in the form of visual illustrations, three general themes were generated to depict the pedagogical values provided by the teacher, such as mastering learning theory and educational learning principles, educational learning activities, and recognizing students’ characteristics. To be more specific, the visual illustrations depicted the pedagogical competences of the teachers in some pedagogical activities, such as the teacher demands the class to use English in class, the teacher asks about students' readiness, teacher tells the student that she wrote the wrong answer, teacher asks if the student understands the material, teacher plays audio as learning media, teacher assesses the student's personality and abilities, and teacher teaches students to behave according to applicable norms.

Keywords: EFL Textbook; pedagogical value; visual semiotic, Peirce’s theory.