An Analysis of Gender Stereotyping in English Teaching Course Books

Abstract

Learners who are exposed to a new and different culture in the context of foreign language learning are viewed as reflective agents in the continuous process of identity reformation (Pavlenko and Lantolf, 2000). Course books, which are one of the main sources of target language and culture input, have a great impact in the formation of pragmatic competence and the development of relational identity. However, in the process of cultural transfer throughout course books in foreign language learning, the imposition of gender stereotyping may accompany other pragmatic traits of the target culture and interfere with the formation of relational identity. In this respect, the aim of this study is to identify implicit indications of gender role stereotyping in English teaching course books texts used for Turkish learners. The data gathered from four widely used English language course books and was analyzed using detailed textual analysis (Fairclough, 2003) so as to identify and categorize stereotyped roles for females and males. The findings depict the implicit gender roles in course books and outline the relationship between the elements of linguistic features of texts and the way they function in reinforcing gender stereotyping.

Keywords

• Gender stereotyping, Gender identity, Foreign language learning

Meral ŞEKER a*, Ayça DİNÇERa

Abstract

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