Abstract
This chapter explores how gender values are visually represented in two sets of secondary school English as a foreign language (EFL) textbook by conducting a comparative analysis between Go for it! (GFI) and Side by Side (SBS), which are widely used in the Chinese mainland as state-sanctioned textbooks and international textbooks, respectively. The analysis includes (1) the male-to-female appearance ratio, (2) the ratio between men and women with occupations, as well as (3) power relations between men and women in the illustrations. It has found some gender inequalities reported in previous studies, including females’ smaller percentage of appearances and lower visibility in the workplace and their less diverse and more subsidiary occupations. However, there is also divergence in the visual representation of gender. SBS presents more equal power relations between the two genders, while in GFI, power is more inclined toward men. This indicates that both GFI and SBS have room for improvement in integrating more equitable gender values. With the sustained promotion of gender equality globally, it is urgent to develop more appropriately designed EFL textbooks with more balanced male and female roles and more equal gender role relationships.
Keywords
- China
- Gender equality
- Secondary school EFL textbooks
- Visual representation
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This study is supported by the Chinese Ministry of Education Research Funding for Humanities and Social Science (No. 20YJA740050).
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Song, Z., Xiong, T. (2022). A Comparative Study of the Visual Representation of Gender in Two Series of Secondary English as a Foreign Language Textbooks in China. In: Xiong, T., Feng, D., Hu, G. (eds) Cultural Knowledge and Values in English Language Teaching Materials. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-1935-0_5
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