Moral values in Indonesian primary school thematic textbooks: the marrying of language appraisal and moral foundation theories

ABSTRACT

Although many scholars have examined moral values in Indonesian primary school textbooks, there is a paucity of literature on the theme of adopting a combination of systemic functional linguistics-informed language appraisal and moral foundation theories. To fill this lacuna, the present study aims to analyse the representation of moral values in the thematic textbook through the main characters in the stories. This research adopts language appraisal by Martin and White (2005) and the moral foundation theory by Graham et al. (2013). The findings showcase that moral values of the main characters in thematic textbooks encompass individualising foundations and binding foundations. Individualising foundations consist of care and fairness values, which promote individual protection and cooperation; meanwhile, binding foundations encompass loyalty, authority, and sanctity, which unite individuals to their social groups.

KEYWORDS:

• Indonesia primary school
• language appraisal
• moral foundation
• moral values
• thematic textbook

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).