ABSTRACT
This critical content analysis of 100 award-winning English-language picturebooks used in a popular English-language program for children in South Korea explores prevailing ideologies semiotically constructed in these picturebooks and the relationship between these ideologies and social success in Korea. Findings highlight the privileging of white, middle class, Anglocentric narratives that support patriarchal values, the linguistic supremacy of US Standard English, and collectivism and homogeneity. Ideological alignment between the semiotic narratives and conventional, mainstream Korean norms for social success also generates tension with the national English curriculum’s cultural diversity objectives and global citizenry.
