Abstract

This study examines the representation of moral values in English language teaching (ELT) textbooks from two distinct educational contexts: Iran and France. Building on existing scholarship that positions textbooks as ideological tools, the study examines Vision 1 and New Bridges 2e to investigate how moral content reflects national educational priorities. The research is guided by two key questions: how moral values are distributed across social, individual, cultural, and global categories in each textbook, and how these distributions align with their respective sociocultural frameworks. A mixed-methods approach was used, combining qualitative content analysis with quantitative frequency analysis. A total of 274 moral value instances were identified across 10 units from each textbook. The findings revealed that Vision 1 emphasized social and cultural values consistent with collectivist and religious ideologies. In contrast, New Bridges 2e focused more on global and individual values aligned with secular and democratic ideals. The results demonstrate how textbooks mirror national ideologies and contribute to shaping students’ ethical perspectives. These insights have important implications for curriculum developers, educators, and policymakers interested in promoting culturally responsive and ethically grounded language education. The study also highlights the need for increased awareness of the moral messages embedded in language materials and calls for further research on how such content is interpreted and enacted in classroom practice.