Constructing Child Identity in an Indonesian Elementary Language Textbook: A Critical Discourse Analysis through Systemic Functional Linguistics and Islamic Educational Values
Abstract
Textbooks function not only as instructional materials but also as ideological and cultural resources that shape learners’ identities, values, and social orientations. Despite extensive research on textbook discourse, limited attention has been given to the construction of child identity in Indonesian elementary language textbooks, particularly from the perspective of Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) and Islamic educational values. This study investigates how child identity is constructed in Bahasa Indonesia untuk SD Kelas IV through the integration of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) and SFL. Employing a qualitative document analysis approach, the study examines verbal and visual data contained in the 185-page textbook, including narratives, informational texts, learning activities, dialogues, instructions, and illustrations. The analysis focuses on transitivity patterns, modality, appraisal resources, and visual representations. The findings reveal four dominant identity constructions: children as active learners, socially responsible community members, emotionally aware individuals, and healthy and responsible citizens. Transitivity analysis indicates a predominance of material processes, suggesting that children are primarily represented as active agents engaged in learning, participation, cooperation, and self-development. Modality and appraisal resources further promote desirable behaviours such as discipline, diligence, responsibility, politeness, and self-confidence, while visual representations reinforce these identities through recurring depictions of educational and collaborative activities. The findings also demonstrate that the identities constructed in the textbook align with several Islamic educational values, including ikhtiar (effort), amanah (responsibility), adab (ethical conduct), ta'awun (cooperation), sabr (perseverance), and tabayyun (critical verification of information). This study contributes to textbook discourse research by showing how linguistic and visual resources systematically construct child identity and transmit educational values. The findings highlight the importance of considering identity formation and value transmission in future textbook development and educational practice.
Downloads
References
Al Qaruty, R., Abokhoza, R., Albert, A., Al-Tkhayneh, K. M., &Hadi, S. A. (2025). Islamic Ethical Frameworks for Privacy, Security, and Trust in Digital Social Networks: A Jurisprudential Perspective. 2025 12th International Conference on Social Networks Analysis, Management and Security (SNAMS), 289–297.
Alzayed, Z. A., & Al-Bedaiwi, T. I. (2020). The Implementation of Active Learning by Female Secondary School Sharia Teachers. Scientific Journal of King Faisal University, Humanities & Management Sciences, 21(2).
Baizhuma, S., Duisenbayev, A., Kaupenbayeva, S., Meirbayev, B., Omirbekova, A., Kurmanbek, A., &Kossalbayev, B. D. (2025). Spiritual and Theological Aspects of Personal Development in the Heritage of Al-Farabi. Pharos Journal of Theology, 106(4).
Benham, B., &Mozaheb, M. A. (2013). The depiction of men and women within Iranian high school EFL textbooks, tested against Islamic custom. Journal of Beliefs & Values, 34(1), 100–104.
Caires, S., Alves, R., Martins, Ȃngela, Magalhães, P., &Valentec, S. (2023). Promoting socio-emotional skills in initial teacher training: An emotional educational programme.
Chara-DeLosRios, T., Bejarano-Álvarez, P., Poma-Cornejo, H., Quispe-Munares, M., & Reyes-Contreras, K. (2025). Critical thinking in the information age: A systematic review on the role of MIL and information overload. Seminars in Medical Writing and Education, 4, 445.
Doghonadze, N., Jikia, N., &Gkatsa, T. (2026). Developing Social-Emotional Intelligence in the Process of Teaching. In Promoting Positive Behaviors and Emotional/Social Wellbeing in School (pp. 1–26). IGI Global Scientific Publishing.
Drössler, S., Steputat, A., Schubert, M., Günther, N., Staudte, R., Kofahl, M., Hegewald, J., & Seidler, A. (2018). Information overload by digital media at the workplace: Systematic review of qualitative studies. Zentralblatt Für Arbeitsmedizin, Arbeitsschutz Und Ergonomie, 68, 77–88.
Fairclough, N. (2003). Analysing discourse (Vol. 270). routledge London.
Gillani, U., & Khan, M. J. (2025). Achieving our highest potential through character development (Husn-i-Akhlaaq): an Islamic perspective on holistic personality development, spiritual growth and human flourishing. Frontiers in Psychology, 16, 1569393.
Halliday, M. A. K., & Matthiessen, C. M. I. M. (2013). Halliday’s introduction to functional grammar. Cir.Nii.Ac.Jp, 1–789. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203431269
Halstead, M. (2004). An Islamic concept of education. Comparative Education, 40(4), 517–529.
Husin, S. N. M. S., Azahari, R., & Ab Rahman, A. (2020). The Practice of al-Ta’awun in the Wedding Expenditure of Malay-Muslims in Malaysia. Pertanika Journal of Social Sciences & Humanities, 28(2).
Jahrir, A. S. (2020). Character education of makassar culture as a local wisdom to streng then indonesian diversity in schools. Multicultural Education, 6(1), 160–165.
Jahrir, A. S., & Sam, E. (2025). Education and the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Indonesian Merdeka Curriculum English Textbooks: Penelitian. JurnalPengabdian Masyarakat Dan Riset Pendidikan, 3(4), 3616–3622.
Jahrir, A. S., & Tahir, M. (2025). Multimodal Discourses of Moral Values in the Bahasa Indonesia KawanSeiring Textbook for Grade 3 Primary Schools: A Critical Appraisal Study. DEIKTIS: Jurnal Pendidikan Bahasa Dan Sastra, 5(4), 5307–5320.
Lashari, A., Shah, W. A., & Memon, T. (2025). ‘Are we equal citizens?’: A critical discourse analysis (CDA) of language textbooks and minority faith learners’ insights in Pakistan. Asia Pacific Journal of Education, 45(4), 1212–1229.
Majadly, H., & Haj Yahya, A. (2024). Beyond the language: Arabic language textbooks in Arab–Palestinian society as tools for developing social–emotional skills. Education Sciences, 14(10), 1088.
Meerts-Brandsma, L., Melton, T., &Sibthorp, J. (2023). Experiential education programs: Fertile environments for identity formation. Journal of Experiential Education, 46(4), 412–432.
Negru-Subtirica, O. (2024). Educational identity processes in adolescence: An analysis of longitudinal evidence and the role of educational systems. Child Development Perspectives, 18(2), 97–103.
Qatawneh, M. A. S., & Al-Naimat, A. A. (2022). Islamic sustainable development theories and their intellectual role in developing education during pandemics. Afkar: JurnalAkidah Dan Pemikiran Islam, 221–244.
Sahin, A. (2022). Love of learning as a humanizing pedagogic vocation: Perspectives from traditions of higher education in Islam. In Higher education and love: Institutional, pedagogical and personal trajectories (pp. 137–187). Springer.
Said, K. (2023). The grammar of folklorization: An integrated critical discourse analysis of the linguistic depiction of Amazigh social actors in selected Moroccan EFL textbooks (1980s-present). Cogent Education, 10(2), 2240162.
Tan, C., &Hasman, P. N. B. (2024). Future-readiness and islamic education: Perspectives from singapore. Journal of Education in Muslim Societies, 6(1), 109–129.
Usman, B., Bahraeni, B., &Nurhilaliyah, N. (2025). Exploring Islamic-Oriented Cooperative Learning through Faith-Driven Collaboration in among University Students in Islamic Education Courses. International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research, 24(9), 922–939.
Wahab, R. B. H. A., &Owoyemi, M. Y. (2019). The Impact of Religious Education Subjects on the Formation of Muslim Girlsâ€TM Identity: A Comparative Study of Girlsâ€TM Secondary School in Kedah, Malaysia and Leeds, Britain. The Journal of Social Sciences Research, 5(3), 665–675.
Wang, D. (2016). Learning or becoming: Ideology and national identity in textbooks for international learners of Chinese. Cogent Education, 3(1), 1140361.
Weninger, C., & Kiss, T. (2015). Analyzing culture in foreign/second language textbooks: Methodological and conceptual issues. In Language, ideology and education (pp. 50–66). Routledge.
Weninger, C., Kiss, T., Zhang, H., Li, R., Chen, X., & Yan, F. (2024). Cultural representation in foreign language textbooks: A scoping review from 2012 to 2022. In Linguistics and Education (Vol. 83, pp. 50–66). Routledge.
Zhang, H., Li, R., Chen, X., & Yan, F. (2024). Cultural representation in foreign language textbooks: A scoping review from 2012 to 2022. Linguistics and Education, 83, 101331.
Zuhri, A., Alnashr, M. S., Nihayah, H., Ihsan, I., Ulumuddin, I. K., Darnoto, D., &Munjiat, S. M. (2026). How Madrasahs Build Students’ Character in Indonesia’s Society 5.0 Era: Emerging Challenges. Nazhruna: Jurnal Pendidikan Islam, 9(1), 166–186.
Copyright (c) 2026 Andi Sahtiani Jahrir, Muhammad Tahir
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
By submitting the article/manuscript of the article, the author(s) agree with this policy. No specific document sign-off is required.
License
The use of the article will be governed by the Creative Commons Attribution license as currently displayed on Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Author(s)' Warranties
The author warrants that the article is original, written by the stated author(s), has not been published before, contains no unlawful statements, does not infringe the rights of others, is subject to copyright that is vested exclusively in the author and free of any third party rights, and that any necessary written permissions to quote from other sources have been obtained by the author(s).
User/Public Rights
Under the Creative Commons license, users are allowed to copy, distribute, display, and perform the work. Users will also need to attribute authors on distributing works in the journal and other media of publications. Unless otherwise stated, the authors are public entities as soon as their articles got published.
Rights of Authors
Authors retain all their rights to the published works, such as (but not limited to) the following rights;
- Copyright and other proprietary rights relating to the article, such as patent rights,
- The right to use the substance of the article in own future works, including lectures and books,
- The right to reproduce the article for own purposes,
- The right to self-archive the article,
- The right to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the article's published version (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgment of its initial publication in this journal.
Co-Authorship
If the article was jointly prepared by more than one author, any authors submitting the manuscript warrants that he/she has been authorized by all co-authors to be agreed on this copyright and license notice (agreement) on their behalf, and agrees to inform his/her co-authors of the terms of this policy. The journal will not be held liable for anything that may arise due to the author(s) internal dispute. The journal will only communicate with the corresponding author.
Royalties
Being an open accessed journal and disseminating articles for free under the Creative Commons license term mentioned, author(s) aware that the journal entitles the author(s) to no royalties or other fees.
Miscellaneous
The article will be published in the journal if the article’s editorial process is successfully completed. The editors may modify the article to a style of punctuation, spelling, capitalization, referencing, and usage that deems appropriate. The author acknowledges that the article may be published so that it will be publicly accessible and such access will be free of charge for the readers.
