Issues in English Language Teaching: Gender in Language Education

This paper highlights the impact of gender differences in English Language Teaching. It explores students' learning styles as affected by the notions about men and women differences in communication. The data collected in 2008 from 20 males and 20 females' English students of the State University of Makassar. It is to reveal their attitudes towards speaking to different sex, strategy to express opinion, group work preferences, activeness/passiveness, and their perception to increase Eng-lish skills dealing with sex difference. It is revealed that female than male students were reluctant to speak to different sex; females preferred the direct way to express opinions (writing), work with the same sex, and tended to be passive in class. In addition , females saw the high possibility to increase their English skills by working with the same sex but the reverse is true for males. These different styles of female and male students in learning English were affected by the notions of women's language. Gender differences, which are socially and culturally constructed, are one of the interesting phenomena in contemporary society. Their impacts can not only be seen in political life, where women fight their political rights, or in households, in which women fight to reduce household harassment. Discourse on gender differences, in fact, also exists in the use of language for communication , highlighting that men and women are different in their ways of communication , and therefore they should be treated differently. 172

2018

Learning a second language can be crucial for many. In this stage the textbook becomes one of the most important aspects of the target language. However, in a country like Bangladesh where the necessity of learning English has been eminent for many years now due to various social and economic reasons, it is noticed that the way the textbooks of English are designed follow a certain pattern. Although there are many changes happening over the years in the education sector and new concepts are being introduced by the government to develop the teaching and learning experience, how much it is being effective to bring a change in the mindset and portray an actual picture of the different genders being present in the society, is a question that needs attention. The research looks at ELT textbook English for Today, available and pre-dominantly used in the Bengali medium schooling system of Bangladesh specifically in grade 9 and 10 to identify whether there is an evidence of any discourse wh...

Kaladarpan कलादर्पण

The courses and curricula get changed with the changes occur in the society which cause the change in the objectives and aims of studying the courses. This paper is based on the content analysis of the BBS First Year English course of Tribhuvan University of Nepal from feminist perspective. It intends to raise gender awareness in teachers, students and course designers as well. I have tried to analyse the recommended reading texts in the course from feminist viewpoint. In fact the textbooks provide guidelines for both teachers and students and play a vital role in shaping students’ behaviors and ideology. So, the textbooks should be analyzed to explore the potential impact they make upon students. The study was executed to explore the representation of males and females in terms of status, roles, occupations and activities in BBS first year English textbook of TU which was revised and implemented from this year. For this the texts were studied and analysed from the feminist viewpoin...

The investigator has taken an attempt to assess the impact of gender in language education of secondary school students. Descriptive survey method has been used for assessing the views of the secondary school students. A sample of 100 secondary school students consisting of 50 boys and 50 girls from class IX has been taken through random sampling method from Sheosagar Block of Rohtas district of Bihar. The investigator used self-made questionnaire and have administered over the secondary school students. The collected data have been analyzed and interpreted by utilizing the statistical techniques like mean and percentage. The findings of the study reveal from the views of the secondary school students that gender in language education brings impact not only in understanding the course content but also in expanding their knowledge in various fields of their life and facing the challenges in it.

The high school English textbooks produced during the two decades of Left Front Government in West Bengal present classic example of the discursive formation and perpetuation of the stereotypical image of femininity within the hegemonic structure of a patriarchal society. By means of discourse analysis and application of feminist theories of Simone de Beauvoir and Judith Butler this paper explicates how conventional gender role-play and repetitive performativity assigned by patriarchy mythicize the image of femininity and make women subservient to male domination. The failure to identify this gender inequity in the textbooks, forming the nucleus of the pedagogical system, was behind the failure of the Left Front Government's endeavour to establish social justice and equality.

International Journal of Multicultural and Multireligious Understanding, 2021

This study was conducted to show how two ELT textbooks accommodate gender in their contents and if there is any types of gender bias in the textbooks. The method of this study was descriptive qualitative method which was used to describe a phenomenon and its characteristics. The data was collected by using content analysis that was supported by descriptive quantitative data. The content analysis was conducted to analyze written text and photographs in the two EFL textbooks published by The Ministry of Education And Culture of the Republic of Indonesia and Erlangga publisher. The analysis was based on five categories, namely, visibility, firstness, masculine/feminine generic construction, occupation, and activities related to gender. The findings of study showed that gender biases still exist in both textbooks. The types of bias found were stereotyping, linguistic bias, imbalance and selectivity, cosmetic bias, and fragmentation and isolation. The latest types was only found in Pathw...

Gender discrimination is one of the serious issues in today's world. The predominant literature on the subject of gender has succeeded in portraying women as the target of such types of discrimination. It can be seen everywhere in the society be it public or private sphere. In fact, school is one of the important agents of gender socialization which plays a significant role in shaping the gender roles of school children. Thus, the practice and promotion of gender discrimination in school curriculum and textbooks through projection of gender biased roles and professions both in the public and private spheres have severe consequences in the society at large. It negatively encourages both girls and boys to take up the stereotypical positions constructed for them by these teaching aids. In this context, the study critically examines and analyzes the pictures and the language shown in the posters and charts that have been used in schools as one of the important teaching aids for centuries. The posters, charts and the other teaching materials both in Hindi and English medium were selected and reviewed for the study. Identifying gender biased language, gender stereotyping and construction of gender roles are central to the study. The study observes that still the existing new teaching aids are showing gender inequalities. Thus, the study suggests that a gender inclusive curriculum is the need of present era in order to shape and promote positive gender socialization, which advocates gender equality.

Education Sciences, 2023

Social research into English Language Teaching (ELT) has a long history. Within it, gender studies have gained ground in recent decades, with special focus on materials and resources. However, a proper integration of the category of femininity has not yet been achieved. The article offers an ample, argumentative, narrative literature review of the main realizations of femininity, as theorized in recent years, such as emphasized femininity or entitled femininity, as well as some other concepts like ambivalent sexism and postfeminism. It is written as the second item within a series of papers that aims to theoretically support the assumption of Feminist Critical Discourse Analysis as a suitable method to discover how all these social phenomena interact in ELT contexts, helping to shape its (gender’s) hidden curriculum. The paper concludes the necessity of integrating the issue of femininities in teacher training programs and in social research in ELT, for the sake of making this field more a liberating practice and less a means of (re)production of (gender) inequalities. To do so, it offers areas of interest for critical researchers and ELT practitioners to carry out such empirical investigation, which is the upcoming stage in this sequence of publications.

Language and Gender - Linguistic Analysis of Intermediate English Textbooks in Pakistan

This study aims at analyzing the four English language textbooks of intermediate classes in Pakistan. The textbooks are the approved course of Intermediate classes by Federal Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education Islamabad [FBISE], Pakistan and all the educational boards of the Punjab, Pakistan. The starting point of the study is that gender equality and gender equity are among the major concerns of the world today. This concern about gender equality has also been reiterated in the Pakistan Education Sectors Reforms 2001-2005, and National Plan of Action concerning Education for All [EFA] 2001-2015. But the current practices in education sector in Pakistan do not speak for it. The study has been conducted by employing feminist perspective on the textbooks. The analysis uses the qualitative approach of Kabira & Masinjila (1997) framework of gender analysis. This model looks at the textbooks by raising a series of questions that expose the gender responsiveness of a text. This paper uses only one aspect named “language use” of the model to analyse the gender related language of the textbooks. The results of the study show that in most of the textbook items language regarding gender issues is stereotypical and does not represent the present world realities. The study concludes that female gender has been demeaned and marginalized through the negative stereotyping of the language whereas male gender has been uplifted in the textbooks. Thus, the textbooks offer only the realities of the past which cannot be acceptable to females in the present world. Moreover, such type of biased use of language may impart negative impact on the minds of the students who study these textbooks on daily basis. Therefore, the study recommends that textbooks should be reviewed, and instead of gender biased and gender blind use of language in the textbooks, gendered balanced and gender aware language should be used in the English language textbooks

2013

Gender and language education studies have multiplied in the past one decade. However, it does not appear that any state-of-the-art article has reviewed the various undertakings. This paper attempts to fill this gap by focusing on gender representation in learning materials and classroom interaction studies globally within gender and education literature. Selected studies from the 70s to date are reviewed under three phases and suggestions for further investigation are made with the anticipation that learning materials and classroom interaction studies would help facilitate the achievement of the goal of gender equality in and through education. Index Terms-language education, gender, research, review I. INTRODUCTION Since Holmes's (1991) and Sunderland's (2000) state of the art articles on gender and language studies, it appears that no similar undertaking (nor a follow-up art icle) has been published till date, at least to cover the gap. In this present review, I plan to fill this gap by focusing on a narrower area of gender and language education studies, that is, gender in learning materials and classroom interactions research. Holmes and Sunderland among others provide state of the art art icles on gender and language studies up to the latter part of t wentieth century. While Holmes (1991) provides a b road view of gender and language s tudies, Sunderland's dwells on specific areas and reviews studies within the wider area that Holmes (1991) addresses. Thus while Holmes dwells on language and gender and lists many references, Sunderland (2000), starting fro m the previous works, narro ws her review to language and gender in second and foreign language education highlighting on areas such as-gender and language learning; gender, language learning and ability,; second/foreign language acquisition and the four skills; motivation/investment; language learning styles and strategies; classroom interaction; the 'what' o f teaching: English as a non-sexist language?; teaching materials; language testing; teachers, professional organisations and gender, what can teachers do? teacher action and teacher education; new theorisations of language and gender; language learners' identities; masculin ities: boys, men and language learning; and future research. Interestingly, one of the areas that Sunderland reviews in her article-gender and education has attracted so many studies that any exhaustive review of studies in the area might yield volu mes and might triple what Sunderland (2000) did. Thus, in this present review, I shall focus on gender representation in learning materials and classroom interactions across languages which parallel Sunderland's (2000) "the what of teaching: English as a non-sexist language''. Sunderland's (2000) state of the art article particularly addresses gender and language education covering large areas (though she notes that it is not comprehensive comparing what had been done in the area with the coverage of her article). However, it might be near impossible to attempt another of its kind today after a decade since the review was published in Language Education in 2000. Yet as Sunderland rightly observes, her review is quite selective and restrictive to second and foreign language education although in passing she lists some works on first languages (e.g. German, French, and Spanish). In this present review, I shall extend my co verage to include studies in first languages such as German, French among others. Thus my review covers some first languages but shall be restricted to one area out of the many areas that Sunderland (2000) addresses and shall include studies from the 70s t o the present. Although there are studies in the social sciences that have addressed gender in education, I shall concern myself with those that are domiciled in language studies. This restriction is necessary because of the fast growing number of research being done on the subject matter in response to recurrent calls fro m and funding by government agencies, international organisations (UN, World Ban k, Co mmonwealth o f Nations among others) and other non-governmental organisations. II. BACKGROUND Studies in this area (with in gender difference and identity paradig ms) have mult iplied and are still growing for a number of reasons. One of the reasons is that government bodies in Europe, A merica, and Asia and in some developing countries including some international organisations have picked interest in the area. This interest is in response to United Nations declarations under its hu man rights programmes that are geared towards bringing about gender equality