Mandani Zarei
Shahrekord University, Iran
Textbooks may have a strong influence on learners’ attitudes, outlooks, and their choice of language in second/foreign language (L2) communication. The different methods which people resort to in communication may affect students’ viewpoints. This study was an attempt to examine potential areas of gender-bias in the representation of men and women in the English for Schools Prospect 3 versus Prospect Plus 3, an English language teaching (ELT) textbook developed by Khate Sefid Curriuculum Development Centre, which both of them are taught in the junior secondary schools of Iran. To evaluate these textbooks, content analysis was done in terms of gender-bias in dialogues, reading texts, instructions, exercises and illustrations. The frequency and percentages of names, nouns, pronouns and pictures attributed to each gender (i.e., males and females) were obtained and chi-square tests were carried out. In general, names, pronouns and pictures attributed to males and females were not significantly different. But there was a significant difference regarding nouns by examining both stated textbooks. However, the number of common gender pronouns was proportionally constant in the preceding textbooks taught in junior high school. Moreover, both textbooks included many gender-neutral pronouns not having any gender orientations. Findings showed that the Iranian prospect 3 and prospect +3 English textbooks did not incorporate into male-oriented and gender-biased features.
The above abstract is a part of the article which was accepted at The Second International Conference on Current Issues of Languages, Dialects and Linguistics (WWW.TLLL.IR), 1-2 February 2018, Ahwaz.
