Dr. Saad Boulahnane from The Language Center at Al Akhawayn University published a paper titled, “Moral values in Indonesian primary school thematic textbooks: the marrying of language appraisal and moral foundation theories,” in Education 3-13 journal, Routledge, Francis & Taylor on September 19, 2022. Dr. Boulahanane co-authored the paper with Sri Imelwaty, Fahmi Gunawan, St Kuraedah, WiwikMardiana, and Dian Eka Chandra Wardhana.
The aim of this paper is to analyze how the main characters of stories in primary school textbooks in Indonesia represent moral values. The researchers looked at how characters’ reactions towards various social situations and how their positive or negative language reinforced various individualizing and binding foundations. Individualizing foundations promote values for individuals, such as care and fairness, while binding foundations unite individuals to their greater social groups, such as loyalty and authority. Through the combination of language appraisal and moral foundation theory, the team of researchers examined the present implications of perpetuating certain ideologies in children's textbooks. This article aimed to build on previous studies done on students using English language textbooks by examining the effects of using textbooks in students’ native language.