Mémoires de Fin d’Etudes
Etablissement
Université de Mostaganem - Abdelhamid Ibn Badis
Affiliation
Département d’Anglais
Auteur
BENHADDOUCHE, Wassila
Directeur de thèse
Abdelhay Bakhta (Maitre de conférence)
Co-directeur
Benneghrouzi Fatima Zohra (Docteur)
Filière
Didactique des Langues
Diplôme
Magister
Titre
Gender Stereotyping through Illustrations: A case Study of First Year EFL Textbook In Middle School
Mots clés
Textbook evaluation, Illustrations, Gneder Bias, Content Analysis.
Résumé
A number of studies confirms that combining both texts and illustrations in teaching materials including textbooks, enhances learners’ achievements. However, many other educators, authors and textbooks’ analysts may not share this claim. For them, the idea that textbooks have a positive impact on EFL learners’ outcomes has not been yet thoroughly agreed upon. Therefore, this study hopes to provide more empirical evidence regarding the side-effects of the use of textbooks in teaching foreign languages and their influence on EFL learners’ performances from a hidden curriculum perspective. More specifically, this study seeks to determine if gender is portrayed in Spotlight on English, a textbook of first year Middle School, in a neutral and impartial way. The sample of the study consists of a number of pupils estimated as approximately 32 boys and 24 girls. To collect data, the textbook illustrations where male and female characters are shown, are content analyzed. In order to know how women and men are depicted, a set of well-defined variables are put forward without which the fieldwork would be too vague, ill-defined and thus unable to be systematically analyzed. In our study, these variables include public versus private occupations, sport activities, frequency of appearances, body-posture,point of view, and. It was found that, males’ illustrations outnumber the females’ picture representations. In addition to that, women were portrayed more often, in stereotypical activities that reinforce the traditional image of them in society such as being a teacher, secretary, type-writer, and top-model. On the other hand, men were depicted in more outdoor, adventurous, and skillful activities such as being a doctor, journalist, veterinarian, and actor, among many other occupations. Physical education and sport games were also depicted as a male-domain.The remaining variables are to be investigated. Consequently, it would be vain to deny the fact that the textbook is gender-biased. It is also important to stress the fact that, such a preconceived allocation of roles, attitudes and actions reduces girls’ future prospects in their lives as well as shape boys’ attitudes and knwoledge about people and how do they relate to each other. Key Words: Textbook evaluation, Illustrations, Gender bias, Content Analysis.
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