Abstract
A command of English is recognised as vital for immigrants to Britain. Textbooks are used widely in learning the language but they cannot be assumed to be value free. As the Prime Minister has highlighted the importance of sexual equality, this paper analyses, from the perspective of a teacher, one book produced in the UK in order to discover how gender is represented. Making reference to key papers, there is a review of which occupations are attributed to women and which to men, which gender is given first when both are mentioned, language features employed by speakers in dialogues within the book and the use of adjectives. It is found that there are some subtle differences and therefore there is likely to be an acceptance of the values represented by its learners. Some practical recommendations are made for how a teacher might deal with such issues in class.
How to Cite
Musty, N., (2015) “Teaching Inequality: A study of gender identity in EFL Textbooks”, Identity Papers: A journal of British and Irish studies 1(2). doi: https://doi.org/10.5920/idp.2015.1237
633
Views
654
Downloads