El sesgo cultural en los manuales de Francés como Lengua Extranjera

Abstract

This study aims to examine the treatment of culture in French as a Foreign Language (FFL) textbooks used in Secondary Education in Spain in order to identify cultural biases and assess their alignment with the guidelines set forth by the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) and the Spanish education law LOMLOE. Based on the analysis of a corpus consisting of five widely used FFL teaching methods, 153 cultural occurrences were categorized and evaluated according to the CEFR’s taxonomy, distinguishing between «knowledge of the world», «sociocultural knowledge», and the development of «intercultural awareness». The results reveal a dominant focus on metropolitan French culture, with limited representation of other Francophone realities and a fragmentation of cultural content into specific sections, restricting its integration into linguistic learning. Additionally, a noticeable exoticizing bias is observed in the selection of non-metropolitan manifestations, which not only prioritize the picturesque and folkloric but also perpetuate a static view of culture, neglecting its evolution in the context of globalization. The study further identifies the absence of non-institutionalized cultural expressions, such as countercultural and subcultural phenomena, as well as sociolinguistic variations, reinforcing a normative and patrimonialist representation of the Francophone world. From a pedagogical perspective, the methods analyzed show differences in the integration of cultural components. While some emphasize transversal integration and include activities promoting comparison and intercultural reflection, others isolate cultural content in separate sections, limiting its pedagogical impact. The study concludes with recommendations to overcome the Eurocentric bias in the textbooks and promote a more equitable and dynamic representation of Francophone diversity in FFL teaching.