Gender Representation in Children's EFL Textbooks

Abstract

Abstract-The differences in the speech and behavior of adult males and females may be a consequence of their sexist education in childhood; experimental research suggests that the development of children's gender identity is strongly affected by their reading materials and extensive research on these materials have revealed that gender bias and gender stereotypes are prevalent. The present study examines the representation of gender in conversations, illustrations and graphic design of the cover in nine packages designed to teach English to young children for evidence of bias. From each series, the intermediate level is analyzed. The results revealed that females have equitable visibility in conversations with regard to the number of participants, number of turns and the length of turns. Females however appeared to be the initiator of conversations 30 per cent more times than males. The analysis of illustrations in the second part confirmed the results of previous studies that females were under-represented in children's books. There were no significant differences in the representation of gender in the graphic design of the covers.

Inclusion/Exclusion and Role Allocation in Marketized EFL Syllabus: Gender from CDA Perspective

“…In terms of the Inclusion/Exclusion dichotomy, these series show a more promising picture compared to the older series where females were mostly marginalized. This finding is in line with Parham (2013) The descriptive data from the questionnaire yielded different response patterns across male and female teachers. The interpretation from the descriptive part, as it concerns research question 3, hinges upon contextual factors.…”

“…Parham (2013) investigated gender representation in 'English Time' series. She could show that there were no significant differences between male and female characters in the conversations regarding the frequency of participation in conversations, number of turns, length of turns, and visibility.…”

La Cultura Corporal en Función Del Género: Análisis De Los Libros De Texto De Educación Física De Secundaria Publicados Durante La Ley Orgánica De Educación

“…Investigaciones sobre el sexismo en los libros de texto en diversas materias evidencian la menor frecuencia de aparición de personajes femeninos frente a personajes masculinos, y por lo tanto, la desigualdad entre géneros (Blanco, 2003;Gallardo, 2008;López-Navajas, 2014;Parham, 2013;Terrón & Cobano-Delgado, 2009).…”

Gender representation in Filipino storybooks for children

“…Males were representative of sports and science-related fields while females were consigned to fashion and hospitality. Within children's textbooks used in several Iranian language learning centers, Parham (2013) found that while female figures initiate conversations more frequently than males, they are less represented compared to their male counterparts. This extends up to secondary level in Iran according to an earlier work by Amini and Birjandi (2012).…”