Teaching Inequality: A study of gender identity in EFL Textbooks

Abstract

A command of English is recognised as vital for immigrants to Britain. Textbooks are used widely in learning the language but they cannot be assumed to be value free. As the Prime Minister has highlighted the importance of sexual equality, this paper analyses, from the perspective of a teacher, one book produced in the UK in order to discover how gender is represented. Making reference to key papers, there is a review of which occupations are attributed to women and which to men, which gender is given first when both are mentioned, language features employed by speakers in dialogues within the book and the use of adjectives. It is found that there are some subtle differences and therefore there is likely to be an acceptance of the values represented by its learners. Some practical recommendations are made for how a teacher might deal with such issues in class.

An Analysis of Grade-Viii English Textbook With Gender Disparity Perspectives in the Curriculum of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

“…Seven of the role models, however, reflected the male gender (see Table 5). It is inadvisable to use rather gender-specific words such as 'manly' to perpetuate stereotypes and rebuke inverse relation in nature (Musty, 2015) .Similarly, all the lessons are about boys and men except Someone Who Works Hard To Earn In brief, there was an uneven distribution of curriculum contents in the Grade-VIII English textbook of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, TOLERANCE LEVEL OF PERSONS: MADRASSA AND UNIVERSITY 50…”

“…Several prominent features were explored in an initial study, from which the most important ones were determined (Hartman & Judd, 1978;Musty, 2015). In comparison with males, one was said to be an omission, i.e., the degree to which females are underrepresented in a document giving authors a chance to test stereotypes (e.g., Musty, 2015).…”

“…Since curriculum content plays a crucial role in achieving structured educational objectives, it is worth noting its part in shaping the students' attitudes towards their society's cultural practices. Their effect on students' views on gender and gender-equality/inequality is also significant (e.g., Gachukia & Chung, 2005;Musty, 2015;Suwardi et al, 2017;Ullah & Skelton, 2013;Worku, 2020).…”

“…Therefore, textbooks prepared for educational purposes must have equal material and illustrations for both males and females. This is because the images portrayed in texts would significantly affect gender and gender equality among learners (e.g., Jasmani et al 2006;Musty, 2015;Worku, 2020). It is with this thought in mind; the present study was performed.…”