Language Picture Of The World And Mental Image Of A Person In School Textbooks

Abstract

The modern textbook is the main teaching tool of the educational process, moreover, it is a linguistically encoded message transmitted from today’s generation to the future ones. In professional textbook assessment, one puts under consideration a number of different aspects of this core-teaching instrument. Nevertheless, the sense and meaning of its linguistic constructions are not subject to any analysis yet. This article studies and discusses the notions of worldview and mental image of human or person, which can both be found implicitly conveyed in school textbooks. The aim of our research is to provide theoretical background and empirical evidence for the possibilities of diagnosis tools that are to reveal an implicitly conveyed word view surrounding a person and the image of the person accepted in this world. In order to establish and describe the worldview of the modern textbook, in this article we introduce and comment on a diagnosis matrix Textbook Conceptosphere, consisting of 12 criteria. In order to study and describe human image, in this article we demonstrate an algorithm of human image study. The suggested tools, the diagnosis matrix Textbook Conceptosphere and the algorithm of the study of human image implicitly conveyed in a textbook, form a valid and reliable set for one to discover, interpret, and analyse from the cognitive linguistic view the correspondence between the implicit world view and human image from the textbook, on the one hand, and the modern scientific view upon the world and human, on the other.

Keywords: Educationpedagogical semiologyschool textbook

Introduction

The human is a unique being. Unlike other species, people cannot bear the knowledge that they inhabit the world they are almost unaware of. Only after answering the question, what the world in which they are to exist and realize their potential is, people may live therein consciously, in other words, in compliance with their human nature. It is the sphere of education that plays a key role in providing people with such a world view that allows them to learn how to consciously take decisions and act in a complicated and continuously changing world around them. The textbook included in every learning process represents the main teaching tool as well as a reliable and thoroughly thought out means that enables the student to obtain a picture of the world like this. These days the sphere of education is overwhelmed by a number of textbooks that describe, explain, and feature our world sometimes in different and even opposite ways. Evidently, the use of numerous textbooks should be preceded by their thorough analysis giving response to the question “what world view is conveyed to the student by the learning material”. The present article discusses a number of analysis steps aiming at the precision of peculiarities of the picture of the world that is implicitly conveyed in any textbook.

The core element of any world view is a human cognizing the world, construing a necessary cultural environment, which would be essentially different from the natural one. The building elements of this environment would include symbols, signs, and language. The textbook, regardless its subject, always incorporates an explicit or implicit story about a person as an observer of the world or as a doer contributing through his activity to the alteration of the cultural environment, the place he lives in. Therefore, we include in the present article an explanation how one may study the linguistic image of human or person from the textbook.

The research is conducted following the tendencies in the development of learning and teaching theories (Ivanova, 2018; Ivanov &Ivanova, 2017; Lüders, 2014; Osmolovskaya, 2018). In the course of the research we relied on the study results in semiotics, pedagogical semiology, discourse analysis, cognitive linguistics (Glaz, 2017; Karasik, 2016; Kövecses, 2017; Kubryakova, 2004; Kurovskaya, 2016; Lukatskiy, 2015; Makarov, 2017; Stepanov, 2013).

Problem Statement

The modern textbook is a verbal message addressed by the present generation to the next ones. This basic teaching instrument is assessed from different angles. Yet, unfortunately, issues concerning the meaning of language constructions employed in textbooks still fail to be included in their assessment criteria.

Research Questions

The following article discusses and analyses how the construal of the world and the mental image of person may be implicitly conveyed in the school textbook.

Purpose of the Study

The study is aimed at providing a theoretical background as well as an empirical demonstration of strategies that allow one to spot indirect references to the construal of the world, which builds one’s immediate surroundings, and the concept of the person, which finds himself or herself in these surroundings, in textbooks.

Research Methods

In order to achieve the proposed aim, the research relies on linguo-philosophical and liguo-psychological methods as well as on methods of cognitive linguistics, psycholinguistics, language teaching, general linguistics, applied and computational linguistics.

Findings

In order to study the linguistic picture of the world and concepts as its elements, that are implicitly conveyed in the textbook, we developed a diagnosis matrix Textbook Conceptual Sphere. Conceptosphere is regarded as a total of concepts formed by native speakers and kept in their memory. The suggested matrix consists of an optimal number of valid diagnosis criteria, which, if taken together, allow one to execute continuous control over the way the linguistic world view of a textbook is structured and filled with content as well as to objectively assess the effectiveness and reliability of the textbook as a building element in the student’s language identity formation.

The diagnosis matrix Textbook Conceptosphere serves to conduct cognitive linguistic analysis of particular learning materials, assess them according to the cognitive linguistic approach, and comment on their cognitive linguistic reliability, which, in its turn, provides a possibility to assess and plan educational procedures immediately connected with the student’s linguistic world construal.

Below we illustrate on particular examples how each of the suggested criteria works.

In order to show how the diagnosis matrix Textbook Conceptosphere can be used, we refer to the learning package in German Delfin (level A1-B1) (Aufderstraße et al., 2008).

This textbook is published by HueberVerlag (Germany, Munich), which stays one of the most famous German publishers that specialize in teaching and learning materials in foreign languages. Special attention is paid to textbooks for learning German as a foreign language.

According to HueberVerlag, the learning package Delfin can be characterized by the following features:

“Compact – basic level material in 20 lessons.

Illustrative – various images for teaching purposes.

Clear – one section for one language skill.

Thoroughly planned scheme of grammar and vocabulary commentary.

Workbook with innumerable exercises to practice and revise.

Textbook is published in one, two, or three parts” (Delfin; Hueber, 2018).

The textbook Delfin is a course in German preparing students and adults to pass international examinations (Start Deutsch 1, Start Deutsch 2 and B1 (Zertifikat Deutsch)) and accordingly receive International Goethe Institute Certificates (Goethe-Zertifikat) (See more about international examinations: Goethe-Institut, Russland. Sprache. Kultur. Deutschland, 2018). The certificates are world widely accepted by employers and educational institutions as certificates of proficiency.

The whole course consists of 20 lessons (Lektionen) that are distributed according to three of the six-level scale of the Common European Framework of Reference, CEFR (See about levels of language proficiency A1-C2 according to CERF: (Goethe-Institut, Russland. Sprache. Kultur. Deutschland, 2018; Die Prüfungen des Goethe-Instituts, 2018)): lessons 1-7 (level A1), lessons 8-14 (level A2), and lessons 15-20 (level B1).

We focus on the elementary level of German language proficiency (A1-A2) and analyze the given textbook using the diagnosis matrix Textbook Conceptual Sphere. Further, on we show how certain criteria are realized on the material of section 14 Wishes and Reality (Lektion 14 «Wünsche und Wirklichkeit», A2).

Criterion. Level of linguistic substantiality of concept presented in learning material.

From the viewpoint of language, the concept under consideration seems to be substantiated through different linguistic means that contribute to its salience, vividness, lexical and emotional expressiveness.

• On the morphological level we single out the following linguistic means:

  • Epithets

«Das istfürmicheinschrecklicherGedanke» (This is a dreadful thought for me) (Aufderstraße et al., 2008. S. 140).

«Der Alterungsprozess, genausowie der Tod, gehörtdochzumnatürlichenLebensrhythmus, sonstwürden die Menschen nichtmehrmenschlichfühlen» (Aging as well as death belong to the natural rhythm of life, otherwise people would no longer feel human) (Aufderstraßeet al., 2008. S. 140).

• Metaphors

«Du Glückspilz!» (You are lucky! (literally: You are a mushroom of luck!)) (Aufderstraßeet al., 2008. S. 147).

• Hyperbole

«So eineGelegenheitbekommt man nureinmalimLeben» (One gets such a chance only once in a lifetime) (Aufderstraßeet al., 2008. S. 147).

• Personification

«Eitelkeitwürde die Welt regieren» (Vanity would rule the world) (Aufderstraßeet al., 2008. S. 140).

• Idiomatic expressions

«KönntesieihrHerzverlieren, wennwirdurch den Wald spazieren?» (Could she fall in love when we walk in the forest?) (Aufderstraßeet al., 2008. S. 144).

• Colloquial lexis registered in dialogues

Colloquial expressions and clichés make one’s speech especially emotional and informal. They are often used in the texts of the section under consideration and are given in a list in an exercise. For instance:

«VariierenSie das Gespräch (Enrich your conversation).

Ichweißnicht(I don’t know).IchhabekeineAnhnung(I have no idea).Frag michnicht (Don’t ask me).Mach keineWitze (Stop kidding me).Nun sei mal einbisschenernst (Get serious for once).Mach dich nichtlustig (This is no laughing matter).Du hast verrückteIdeen! (You have crazy ideas!). Du hast wirklichunmöglichEinfälle! (You have really impossible ideas!). Ideen hast du! (What ideas you have!). Das gehtdochnicht(No way).Das kann man dochnichtMachen (You can’t do it).Das istdochunmöglich(It’s impossible).Eskönntedochauch sein, dass… (It could also be so that…). Eswäredochauchmöglich, dass…(It could also be possible that…). Könnteesnichtauch sein, dass…? (Couldn’t it be so that…?). Natürlich, aber… (Of course, but…). Sicher, aber… (Sure, but …). Jaschön, aber…» (Well, OK, but…). (Aufderstraßeet al., 2008. S. 145).

• On the syntactic level we single out the following language means referring to the concept:

  • Ellipsis (elliptic sentences)

«Lieber Hannes, ersteinmalherzlichenGlückwunschzu der tollen Chance, die du bekommen hast!» (Dear Hannes, first, please, [accept] my cordial congratulations on the rare chance you have received) (Aufderstraßeet al., 2008. S. 147).

• Rhetoric questions

«Und was istmit der Übervölkerung auf der Erde?» (And what is it about the overpopulation on Earth?) (Aufderstraßeet al., 2008. S. 140).

«Wiesollten die Jugentlichen den einen Job finden, wennkein Alter mehr in Renteginge?» (How should the young find a job if no elder man got retired?) (Aufderstraße,et al., 2008. S. 140).

• Exclamations

«Das wäredochfantastisch!» (It would be fantastic!) (Aufderstraßeet al., 2008. S. 140).

«Was füreineVorstellung!» (What an idea!) (Aufderstraßeet al., 2008. S. 140).

• Inversion

«Schlimmwäreeswohlnurfür die Ärzte und Schönheitschirurgen, weilsiedannkeinePatientenmehrhätten» (Bad would it be for, say, only doctors and plastic surgeons as they would then have no patients) (Aufderstraßeet al., 2008. S.140).

• Antithesis (both on the language and context levels)

Antithesis in exercises and texts is built on the complete opposition of two notions. By foregrounding contrasting images, opinions, and assessments, the text becomes highly expressive, which, in its turn, contributes to a better apprehension of the implicitly conveyed concept from the section by the student.

«Sie hat eineSchreibmaschine, abersiehätteliebereinen Computer» (She has a typewriter but would rather have a computer) (Aufderstraßeet al., 2008. S.138).

«Erist auf einer Party, aberlieberwäreerzuHauseimBett» (He is at the party but would rather stay home in bed) (Aufderstraßeet al., 2008. S.138).

• Apposition

«Tja und dannist da auchnoch ‚Urmel‘, meinFoxterrier» (Well, and then here is also 'Urmel', my fox-terrier) (Aufderstraßeet al., 2008. S.146).

• Aposiopesis

The title of the text Waswäre, wenn … (What if) is a case of aposiopesis, a stylistic device rooted in the notion of implication, literal breaking off or cutting of a sentence. Here the author deliberately leaves his phrase unfinished, thus, encouraging the student to guess what is unsaid. This stylistic device adds suspense to the title and raises interest towards the text, which in the educational process contributes to a better apprehension of the concept in question.

Thus, in the course of the analysis of the concept «Wünsche und Wirklichkeit» (wishes and reality) throughout Criterion 4, we find numerous and various linguistic expressive means. Nevertheless, in spite of the first impression concerning the high number and variety of linguistic devices that illustrate the concept under consideration, it is notable that all these devices are only loosely connected to it. There are no units that would characterize key words. One can spot only those units that are contextually related to key notions and “go round and about” the sense of the concept making it hard to grasp it.

Conclusion. The level of linguistic substantiality of the concept (language construct) «Wünsche und Wirklichkeit» (wishes and reality) presented in the material of the section under this title is low.

Criterion. Presence of core senses of conceptual units from learning material in learning texts.

From the point of view of the presence of core senses of conceptual units from learning material in the concept «Wünsche und Wirklichkeit» (wishes and reality), we may note that the core of this concept lies in direct nominations of the concept name, such as: a passionate desire one cherishes or expresses rather hoping for its fulfillment than taking any effort to make it come true (Duden, 2018).

In the text, core senses are revealed in the following way:

• In segment one (Eintauchen – Immersion), for example:

«Er hat ein Auto, abererhättegerneinenSportwagen» (He has a car but he would rather have a sport car) (Aufderstraßeet al., 2008. S. 138).

«Eristerwachsen, aberjetztwäreerlieberein Kind» (He is a grown-up but now he would rather be a child) (Aufderstraßeet al., 2008. S. 138).

• In segment two (Lesen - Reading), for example:

«Das wäredochfantastisch!» (It would be fantastic!) (Aufderstraßeet al., 2008. S. 140).

«Ichmöchteauchim Alter geistig und körpelich fit bleiben» (I would like to stay mentally and physically strong when I am old, too) (Aufderstraßeet al., 2008. S. 140).

• In segment three (Hören - Listening), for example:

«Könnteichbitte mal kurzIhrenKulihaben?» (Could I possibly borrow your pen for a while?) (Aufderstraßeet al., 2008. S. 142).

«Würdest du mirbitte mal die Butter geben?» (Could you pass me the butter, please?) (Aufderstraßeet al., 2008. S. 142).

«Wenndochnur das Wetter besserwäre!» (If only the weather was better!) (Aufderstraßeet al., 2008. S. 142).

• In segment four (Sprechen – Speaking), for example:

«Wennichdochnur den Namen (wüsste. – note Yu.K.)

VondemMädchen, das michküsste!

Leider hat sienichtsgesagt.

Warumhab’ ichnichtsgefragt!»

(If only I knew the name

Of the girl who kissed me!

Unfortunately, she said nothing.

Why didn’t I ask anything!).(Aufderstraßeet al., 2008. S. 144).

«Ichmüsstewissen, was man tut.

Dann (würde. – прим. Yu.K.) sicheralles gut.

KönntesieihrHerzverlieren,

Wennwirdurch den Wald spazieren?»

(I had to know what to do.

Then everything would be all right.

Could she fall in love,

When we walked in the forest?). (Aufderstraßeet al., 2008. S. 144).

«Sollteichihr Rosen schenken?

Doch was würdesiedanndenken?

Ichwäregern in ihrerNähe!

Wennichsienur (wiedersähe!» –note. Yu.K.).

(Should I give her roses?

What would she think then?

I would be glad to be by her side!

If only I saw her again!). (Aufderstraßeet al., 2008. S. 144).

«Ich (gäbe. –note. Yu.K.) ihreinBild von mir –

Und dazueinKuscheltier.

Wäresiedavonentzüсkt,

Оderfändesie’sverrückt?»

(I would give her my photo

And a stuffed toy with it.

Would she be delighted

Or find it lunatic?). (Aufderstraßeet al., 2008. S. 144).

«IchschriebeihraucheinGedicht.

Dochläsesiees– odernicht?

Vielleichtwürdesienurlachen.

Oh, was könnteichnurmachen?»

(I would also write her a poem.

But would she read it – or not?

Maybe she would laugh.

Oh, what could I only do?). (Aufderstraßeet al., 2008. S. 144).

«Ichwürdeihn am liebstenbehalten. Erist so süß» (I would rather keep it. It is so sweet) (Aufderstraßeet al., 2008. S. 144).

• In segment five (Schreiben – Writing), for example:

«Zuersthabeichjagedacht, das wäreeineganzschöneIdee, aberdannfielmirein, dasseseineMengeSchwierigkeitengebenwürde…» (At first, I thought, it would be a nice idea, but then it occurred to me that it could bring a lot of difficulties…). (Aufderstraßeet al., 2008. S.146).

The core constituent (a passionate desire one cherishes or expresses rather hoping for its fulfillment than taking any effort to make it come true) is rich in various means of its expression, their distribution throughout the segments is uneven.

Conclusion. In section «Wünsche und Wirklichkeit» (wishes and reality)one may find core senses of conceptual units of learning material that form the concept «Wünsche und Wirklichkeit» (wishes and reality), however, they are presented in these segments unevenly and rather poorly in segments two and five.

Textbook analysis is further conducted within the framework of the other matrix criteria in the analogical way. Once again, we lay special emphasis on the fact that these are only a few stray instances of learning material analysis. The suggested diagnosis matrix Textbook Conceptosphere as a tool of educational discourse analysis may be used both in research aimed at revealing tendencies and peculiarities of the student’s world construal as well as in teaching practice focused on the professional assessment of learning materials that are to construe one’s linguistic image of the world and oneself.

One of the main elements of the world view implicitly conveyed in a school textbook is an image of person or human. Human image is a cognitive representation of a human being that is composed of various descriptions of human features and emerges in the student’s mind in the result of his perception of the language reality depicted in the textbook. The image is language-based.

We will regard a linguistic image as a language construct that is intimately connected with a sensory image, where the latter is built as a result of people’s sensual perception of the objects and phenomena of the world. The notion of linguistic image was introduced by Gasparov (1996). Nowadays the term is actively used in cognitive linguistics, in particular, and in the field of humanities, in general (Gasparov, 1996). The theoretic background of our cognitive linguistic study of human image in school textbooks is based on works on language identity and linguistic world view, on language as an entity created by people (subjects) who express through language their world view and mindsets (Kubryakova, 2004).

The cognitive linguistic study of human image that is implicitly conveyed in a textbook consisted of two stages. On the first stage we selected the material. We opted for basic-level textbooks for forms 5-9 of secondary school. As the number of texts turned out to be excessive (all textbooks in the main subjects), we limited our choice, relying on the frequency of anthropological lexis, to texts that incorporate stories about people. We regard anthropological lexis as lexical units belonging to the topical sphere human and including words naming core characteristics of human existence featuring his kind and species. We aimed at selecting texts with high frequency of anthropological lexis. In conclusion, we chose texts from textbooks in Literature. In order to shrink the existing number of Literature textbooks for secondary school, we introduced an additional criterion of material selection and checked whether they are listed within the academic leaning-and-teaching package. In the end, the research material included a set of textbooks in Literature for a basic-level secondary school (forms 5-9) (Lanin, 2015a, 2015b, 2015c, 2015d, 2015e).

On the second stage, we conducted a cognitive linguistic analysis of texts in the selected textbooks. This stage of analytical work determined the list of most frequent stylistically neutral words: human/ person, people, conscience, honor, dignity, duty, shame, speech, cognition, freedom, willpower, fate, humor, irony, love, faith, hope, and reflection. The list is formed according to the ground human features typical of his kind and species as they are reflected in modern philosophical and anthropological literature. We included only those lexical units that name the characteristics, which are most substantial for education. There are a number of features of humankind and human species that belong to the periphery of the concept from the angle of education (for example, orthograde) and are subsequently not included into the research. The next step was to conduct two interconnected operations in the text material, electronic search of appointed lexemes and their registration. When we registered words form the list we had compiled we took into account their nominal form as it proved to be the most convenient one for this operation. Moreover, the study included set and phraseological expressions used in the function of anthroponyms (for example, young man). Afterwards we marked the words in question and contextually connected words. The marking of both listed and contextually connected ones is necessary for the description of human image on the next step of the research. In order to simplify the operation, we marked minimal sense representations the text consists of, in other words, propositions that include the listed words. The term proposition should be hereby understood in the meaning it is used in works by Katsnelson (2001), and others where it represents the semantic kernel of a sentence. We did not mark propositions with no listed words. Having finished this step, we obtained a marked text corpus out of the analyzed texts.

Only those text components that incorporated the author’s message, which reflected the ideas of the textbook designers, were subject to the marking procedure. Therefore, we singled out the following text components from the general structure of the text:

• Table of contents.

• Titles and subtitles not included in the contents.

• Headings and columns.

• Learning materials.

The listed words were most frequently used in headings, columns, and learning materials. Few listed words were registered in such text components as contents as well as titles and subtitles not included in the contents.

In the course of analysis, the following units were singled out in the text components mentioned above (the listed words are given with the frequency of their use in the texts of Literature textbooks (forms 5-9) edited by Lanin): human/ person 194, people 52, conscience 1, honor 5, dignity 10, duty 6, shame 0, speech 16, cognition 2, freedom 1, willpower 0, fate 31, humor 14, irony 5, love 43, faith 5, hope 7, and reflection 6.

Thus, the following lexemes out of the anthropological lexical list turned out to be frequent: person, people, fate, love. The number of the words conscience, honor, dignity, duty, speech, cognition, freedom, humor, irony, faith, hope, and reflection is relatively small, whereas the lexemes shame and willpower were not registered at all.

The analysis of the frequency of anthropological lexical units allows one to draw conclusions about its importance to the authors of the texts under consideration. Thus, the text material primarily includes the words human/ person and people, which demonstrates language preferences of the textbook designers. However, one may draw no conclusion about the way human image is presented in the texts relying on the frequency levels. It is worth mentioning that the presence of the lexeme people symbolizes a conscious interrelation between one’s individual existence, on the one hand, and collective and social, on the other, rather than its use as the plural form for person.

The reconstruction of human image is possible due to the analysis of the link between the words person, people, conscience, honor, dignity, duty, shame, speech, cognition, freedom, willpower, fate, humor, irony, love, faith, hope, reflection, and others. These connections, as mentioned above, are marked in propositions, thus, can be detected and analyzed:

PERSON (self-sufficient; busy; merciful; spiritual; wonderful; wise; business-like; severe; authoritative; strong-willed; violent; empathetic; educated; religious; secular; cultural; eccentric; charming; hard-working; generous; moral; independent; mysterious; superstitious; impudent; determined; thinking; right-thinking; devoted; mortal; free; creative; decisive; mighty; emotional; talented; vulnerable; unlike others; aggressive; imperfect; exigent towards himself; gifted with imagination; responsible for his actions; able to become happy; creates works of art; follows rites; has knowledge about the world, life experience, intentions, destiny; expresses feelings; shares mood, thoughts; conducts scientific search; beauty conscious; connected with nature; changes; reflects; ill; speaks; sings; loves life; may inspire; depends on life circumstances; able to cognize);

PEOPLE (literate, talented, different, ordinary, unordinary, nice, kind, virtuous, change throughout life, have similar fates, need care, love, quarrel, feel trust, share sadness and troubles, learn on their mistakes);

FATE (tragic, fair, unclear, dreadful, rules the man, changes, forms);

LOVE (towards one’s motherland, homeland, girl, woman, wife, parents, literature, a book, theatre, reading, one’s close and dear person; cordial; first; sacrificial; reciprocal; unhappy; forbidden; renounced; tragic; romantic; makes one younger; pleasant memory);

HONOR (of a warrior, house, the humiliated one);

DIGNITY (human, high, personal);

DUTY (to one’s life, motherland; knight; sacred);

SPEECH (live, rich, public, allegoric, exemplary, colloquial, beautiful);

COGNITION (of science);

HUMOR (kind; warm; funny, unbelievable feeling, speak with it, develops);

FAITH (in future, justice, godly justice, moral improvement; holiness);

HOPE (for return, future);

REFLECTION (over one’s destiny; deep);

CONSCIENCE (–);

IRONY (–);

FREEDOM (–).

Analyzing the marked connections one may draw the following conclusions about the human features reflected in human image. The analysis of the connection of the words person and people and other lexical units shows that numerous human features, namely, intellectual, physical, psychological, moral, cultural, and emotional, compose human image. Human image is completed by features referring to abstract words (love, fate, faith, honor, dignity, duty, speech, cognition, humor, hope, reflection). Nevertheless, in the framework of our analysis, these features show no sufficient presence in human image. Some of the features (conscience, irony, freedom) are not reflected in the image at all.

If one tries to describe the human image deduced in the author’s text according to the parameter “complete/incomplete presentation of particular feature: intellectual, physiological, psychological, and other”, one may call the image as one including a complete picture of a man. According to the criterion “complete/ incomplete presentation of abstract features (on the basis of the connection of the words person, people with other lexical units)” the picture would be incomplete.

The analysis of the results obtained demonstrates that learning texts from Literature textbooks for forms 5-9 of secondary school edited by Lanin et al. (2015a-e) include human image, which is characterized more clearly by concrete features (self-sufficient, busy, mighty, and other) than abstract ones (unclear fate, etc., faith in future, etc., duty to life, and other). This finding may be explained by the author’s transition from unclear features of human beings towards more concrete characteristics. Thus, the textbooks under analysis contain a human image with clearly represented concrete and poorly represented abstract features.

Conclusion

The article gives a short overview of a possible study of world view and human image in a textbook. The authors would like to share with the reader their understanding of the importance of professional assessment and analysis aimed at describing the picture of the world incorporated in the modern textbook and destined to construe the student’s life image. We also intended to make the reader aware of the tools that enable the researcher to comprehend what world view and human image in the modern school textbook represent.

Acknowledgments

The present research is conducted in compliance with the State Assignment of the Institute for Strategy of Education Development of the Russian Academy of Education within the project 27.8520.2017/BCh.

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