Representation of Moral Values in the When English Rings a Bell Textbook for Eighth-Grade Students

Abstrak

English textbooks function not only as tools for developing language competence but also as media for shaping students’ character and moral values. However, studies examining how moral values are systematically represented in junior secondary EFL textbooks, particularly in the eighth-grade When English Rings a Bell textbook, remain limited. This study aims to analyze the types of moral values represented in the textbook, their dominance and distribution across chapters, and the ways in which they are represented. This study employed a qualitative approach with a document content analysis design. The primary data source was the When English Rings a Bell textbook for eighth-grade junior high school students. Data were collected through intensive reading and note-taking and analyzed using the interactive model of Miles, Huberman, and Saldaña, which includes data condensation, data display, and conclusion drawing. The findings reveal that all eighteen moral values were identified in the textbook, although their distribution was uneven. The most dominant values were discipline (20%), hard work (16%), and fondness for reading (9%), followed by social care (6%). In contrast, religious values and tolerance were the least represented, each appearing only 1%. The distribution of values across chapters was thematic, with some chapters emphasizing discipline, while others highlighted hard work or curiosity. Moral values were predominantly represented through concrete actions and everyday situations familiar to students. These findings suggest that the textbook functions as a non-neutral pedagogical text that systematically prioritizes academic-performance-oriented character values, particularly discipline, persistence, and reading habits, over more reflective or pluralistic values. This study concludes that EFL textbook evaluation should address not only the presence of moral values but also the balance of their representation. Therefore, teachers, textbook writers, and curriculum developers may use these findings to enrich learning materials and strengthen character education in a more proportional manner.