Gender Bias in EFL Textbooks: Challenging Stereotypes and Fostering Inclusivity
Gender bias is a societal and feminist issue that is deeply entrenched in traditional gender roles, stereotypes, and expectations. It concertizes itself in a plethora of life aspects including education. The term ‘gender bias’ invokes unequal power dynamics and disparities that often favor men over women; this bias can also affect those who do not identify with the traditional binary gender norms. In education, gender bias is an insidious conundrum that prompts us to take notice, as it tends to be implicit even if its victims are receiving the most unfair treatment. Teachers themselves may not be aware of the biased messages encoded in the form of texts (verbal messages) and pictures (visual messages) within textbooks.
Ever since the 1970s, gender bias in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) material has received increasing scholarly attention. For instance, Graham’s (1975) investigations on children’s dictionaries revealed that nouns used to describe male activities were seven times as many as the nouns found for female activities which is a rather concerning disparity ingrained in a male-centric agenda that perpetuates traditional gender roles. Another startling revelation in Coles’ analysis (1977) is the depiction of women as stay-at-home wives and mothers whereas men appeared in a variety of activities and jobs. Unfortunately, sexism persisted in EFL materials until the onset of the 2000s despite the efforts that some textbook designers made to represent women and men equally (e.g. in New Success at First Certificate). A relatively recent study by Vogli (2009) revealed that men are still portrayed in an upfront position that perpetuates a misleading sense of hierarchy.
Furthermore, Parviz Birjandi examined EFL textbooks in the Iranian high school context. Although females comprise over half of the Iranian population and are quite active in a variety of social roles, it was deduced that they suffered from low visibility both in texts and illustrations in EFL textbooks. One might conclude that this underrepresentation of women in educational materials can sometimes stem from cultural and religious ideologies as in this specific context, an ideology that depicts males as “breadwinners”. To elucidate, a linguistic analysis showed that the verb “to buy” always collocates with a male agent in Iranian textbooks, which limpidly demonstrates the asserted stereotype. Birjandi stressed that gender bias reviews and critiques of the Iranian EFL materials have been left unnoticed for almost 20 years, and the very same high school textbooks have been published over and over again without the slightest change.
Strikingly, some Chinese textbooks include a large portion of activities that reinforce the “emotional/rational” stereotype; “mother sends birthday gifts to daughter”, “daughter takes care of sick mother”… If one were to infer any implications from this exclusivity in activities, it could be posited that those textbooks attempt to promote rational thinking among male students while encouraging emotional thinking among female students.
“Until educational sexism is eradicated, more than half our children will be shortchanged and their gifts lost to society” Sadker, 1994
The above quote is a stark reminder that addressing educational sexism is essential to unlock the untapped potential within our societies. It also serves as a call to action that urges teachers to adopt politically correct approaches and critical pedagogies in the sense that they should help students identify gender bias in texts and lead discussions as to why bias exists in the first place. Addressing gender biases, however, should be initiated at an early stage; it is incumbent upon curriculum and textbook designers to consider the guidelines of gender-fair material development and it is particularly pivotal to avoid assigning specific societal roles to either gender in order to prevent inculcating any preconceived notions in young learners.
Nevertheless, gender bias can be challenged despite the constraints of patriarchal societies when well-intentioned and caring teachers are willing to oppose silence and shatter stereotypes. One way of implementing this is through a gender-transformative approach where learners can unlearn the false ideologies, which they may have picked up from outside the classroom’s context. The active use and modeling of bias-free and inclusive language in the teacher’s discourse is highly recommended as well.
To conclude, gender bias is a significant feminist issue that permeates traditional gender roles and stereotypes given that sexist depictions of women are still found in educational materials and EFL textbooks despite the efforts to ensure gender equality. Succinctly put, it is imperative to recognize the existence of this bias and eradicate it accordingly from educational settings in patriarchal societies through the adherence to gender-fair guidelines in material development as well as the adoption of a gender-transformative approach to teaching.
References:
Amini, M., & Birjandi, P. (2012). Gender Bias in the Iranian High School EFL Textbooks. English Language Teaching, 5(2). https://doi.org/10.5539/elt.v5n2p134
Raina, S. (2012). GENDER BIAS IN EDUCATION. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RESEARCH PEDAGOGY AND TECHNOLOGY IN EDUCATION AND MOVEMENT SCIENCES, 1(02). http://ijems.net/issue02Dec.IJEMSp05.pdf
Rong, J., Xue, G., Zhang, M., & Zhou, M. (2021). Gender Bias in the Curriculum: A Reflection from the English Textbook. https://doi.org/10.2991/assehr.k.210806.082
Smashing gender stereotypes and bias in and through education. (2023). UNESCO. https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/smashing-gender-stereotypes-and-bias-and-through-education
About the author:
Chaimae Rachid is a dedicated researcher in Applied Linguistics and an EFL teacher. She acquires a BA in Education specializing in Teaching English as a Foreign Language from Mohamed V University in Rabat. Chaimae is also an ardent advocate for human rights and inclusivity. She is affiliated with the esteemed intersectional feminist organization Politics4Her as a Communications Officer in the global hub.
