A comparative study of the change of the lifestyles: headway intermediate, headway pre-intermediate, language hub intermediate, language hub pre-intermediate

This study is conducted to analyze and compare the lifestyle reflections and changes in four ELT coursebooks which were published between the years of 1987 and 2020. The coursebooks are created by foreign authors and used in different institutions and in the ELT field. The focus of this study is investigating the lifestyles reflected in the ELT coursebooks quantitatively and qualitatively by categorization of lifestyle elements. Furthermore, this study aims to detect what are the reflections of the lifestyles in the coursebooks and how the lifestyles changed over the years compared to each other. To deduce these, this study is carried out under seven categories: a) food related visuals b) products, devices, tools, and equipment c) race, ethnicity, and, nationality, d) leisure time activities, e) clothes, f) female roles, professions, and activities, g) male roles, professions, and activities. The visual data is formed in the tables according to the categories and analyzed both quantitatively and qualitatively. The result of the investigation shows that in comparison of the coursebooks, reflection of the lifestyles is different on a large scale in Headway Intermediate (1987), Headway Pre-Intermediate (1991), Language Hub Intermediate (2019), and Language Hub Pre-Intermediate (2020). Variety of food related visuals, race, ethnicity and nationality, and leisure time activities are visible in Language Hub Intermediate (2019) and Language Hub Pre- Intermediate (2020). In all, clothes and gender roles are almost in line in terms of variety, but the scope of them is different. The coursebooks change both in scope of gender roles and clothes, and in variety of the items because of the technological developments and globalization.