GENDER REPRESENTATIONS IN HIGH SCHOOL EFL COURSEBOOKS: AN INVESTIGATION OF JOB AND ADJECTIVE ATTRIBUTIONS

Abstract

Gender-biased representations in coursebooks have the potential to affect learners and teacher in terms of their attitudes, mindsets, and values. Considering the crucial importance of the coursebooks in Turkish educational context, the present study aims to shed light on the distribution of the gender roles in the coursebooks by examining job and adjective attributions. Within the scope of this aim, the data of the study consist of high school EFL coursebooks and workbooks published by the Turkish Ministry of National Education. In the data analysis procedure, a frequency count was done to identify a number of roles attributed to female and male characters. In this respect, the frequencies of jobs and adjective attributions of male and female characters were determined by counting the tokens. In the following step, jobs and adjectives attributed to female and male characters are classified and compared. As a result of the analysis, female and male characters in the coursebooks differ from each other in terms of both the number and variety of jobs attributed to them in spite of some similar jobs (e.g., teacher, doctor, architect) and adjectives (e.g., famous, thoughtful, successful) attributed to both genders. The possible reasons underlying the aforementioned differences are discussed and explained in detail by taking the Turkish educational and social setting into consideration

Keywords

• Gender representation,gender roles,coursebooks,job and adjective attributions

İNGİLİZCE LİSE DERS KİTAPLARINDA CİNSİYET TEMSİLİ: MESLEK VE SIFAT GÖSTERİMLERİ ÜZERİNE BİR İNCELEME

Abstract

Ders kitaplarındaki cinsiyet yanlılığını hem öğrencilerin hem de öğretmenlerin tutumlarını, zihniyetlerini ve değerlerini etkileme potansiyeline sahiptir. Türk eğitim bağlamında ders kitaplarının önemi göz önünde bulundurulduğunda, bu çalışma, lise düzeyinde okutulan İngilizce ders kitaplarında cinsiyet rollerinin meslek ve sıfat gösterimlerini incelemeyi hedeflemektedir. Bu amaç doğrultusunda, çalışmanın verisi lise düzeyinde okutulan İngilizce çalışma ve alıştırma kitaplarından oluşmaktadır. Çalışmanın veri analiz sürecinde ders kitaplarındaki metinlerde kadın ve erkek cinsiyet rollerine atfedilen meslek ve sıfat gösterimlerinin sıklıkları sayılmıştır, bu bağlamda kadınlara ve erkeklere yüklenen meslek ve sıfatlar saptanmıştır. Sonraki aşamada ise kadın ve erkeklere yüklenen meslek ve sıfat gösterimleri sınıflandırılmış ve karşılaştırılmıştır. Çalışmanın sonucunda, mesleklerde (öğretmen, doktor, mimar, vb.) ve sıfatlarda (ünlü, düşünceli, başarılı, vb.) cinsiyet dağılımlarındaki birtakım benzerliklere karşın kadın ve erkek rollerinin çalışma kapsamında incelenen bütün kitaplarda cinsiyetlere yüklenen meslek ve sıfatların hem sayı bakımından hem de çeşit bakımından ayrıştığı saptanmıştır. Bu farklılıkların altındaki olası nedenler Türkiye’deki eğitim ve sosyal bağlam doğrultusunda açıklanmış ve tartışılmıştır.

Keywords

• Cinsiyet temsili,cinsiyet rolleri,ders kitapları,meslek ve sıfat gösterimleri

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