Implicit Messages in Pakistani ESL Course Books: A Corpus-Based Study of Gender Representation

The present research seeks to determine the gender representation in English course books in different textbook boards in Pakistan. The corpus-based quantitative study is conducted on the corpus of seven intermediate-level English books. It aims to investigate gende...

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Main Authors: Muhammad Tanveer, Urooj Fatima Alvi
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Corpus Research Center 2024-09-01
Series:Corporum
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.au.edu.pk/ojscrc/index.php/crc/article/view/307/177
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author Muhammad Tanveer
Urooj Fatima Alvi
author_facet Muhammad Tanveer
Urooj Fatima Alvi
author_sort Muhammad Tanveer
collection DOAJ
description The present research seeks to determine the gender representation in English course books in different textbook boards in Pakistan. The corpus-based quantitative study is conducted on the corpus of seven intermediate-level English books. It aims to investigate gender discrimination through gender representation as the Cambridge Dictionary defines gender discrimination as the act of treating a person, usually a woman, unfairly because of their sex. The study explores five dimensions of gender representation: gendered-marked general nouns, pronouns, professional terms, adjectives, and address titles. The study found that gender discrimination exists in the ESL course books, depicting 50% of male general nouns and only 29% of female general nouns. Additionally, gendered-neutral nouns are in lower percentages than male and female nouns. Male pronouns constitute 83%, a more significant percentage than female pronouns. The textbooks predominantly contain male professional terminologies without any feminine or gender-neutral professional terms. Additionally, adjective-based gender discrimination is also obvious in the fact that adjectives are used more often to describe masculine nouns than feminine nouns, about the number of times each word occurs, and shows females as inferior. In addition, the percentage of male address titles is three times higher than that of female and neutral words, depicting that ESL textbook content writers show a male-dominated society. If students repeat gender disparities in textbooks, they may accept gender stereotypes via socialization (Tabatadze & Gorgadze, 2022). The current research work enables authors, educators, and policymakers to write in generic language, create an inclusive learning environment, and add generic lessons to course books, respectively.
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spelling doaj-art-169d5147e84e40aa915685ff4d1e8f522025-01-28T15:19:29ZengCorpus Research CenterCorporum2617-29172707-787X2024-09-0171132Implicit Messages in Pakistani ESL Course Books: A Corpus-Based Study of Gender RepresentationMuhammad Tanveer0Urooj Fatima Alvi1M.Phil. Scholar University of Education, Lahore.Assistant Professor, University of Education, Lahore.The present research seeks to determine the gender representation in English course books in different textbook boards in Pakistan. The corpus-based quantitative study is conducted on the corpus of seven intermediate-level English books. It aims to investigate gender discrimination through gender representation as the Cambridge Dictionary defines gender discrimination as the act of treating a person, usually a woman, unfairly because of their sex. The study explores five dimensions of gender representation: gendered-marked general nouns, pronouns, professional terms, adjectives, and address titles. The study found that gender discrimination exists in the ESL course books, depicting 50% of male general nouns and only 29% of female general nouns. Additionally, gendered-neutral nouns are in lower percentages than male and female nouns. Male pronouns constitute 83%, a more significant percentage than female pronouns. The textbooks predominantly contain male professional terminologies without any feminine or gender-neutral professional terms. Additionally, adjective-based gender discrimination is also obvious in the fact that adjectives are used more often to describe masculine nouns than feminine nouns, about the number of times each word occurs, and shows females as inferior. In addition, the percentage of male address titles is three times higher than that of female and neutral words, depicting that ESL textbook content writers show a male-dominated society. If students repeat gender disparities in textbooks, they may accept gender stereotypes via socialization (Tabatadze & Gorgadze, 2022). The current research work enables authors, educators, and policymakers to write in generic language, create an inclusive learning environment, and add generic lessons to course books, respectively.https://journals.au.edu.pk/ojscrc/index.php/crc/article/view/307/177sexist language; gender; corpus; intermediate-level; course-books
spellingShingle Muhammad Tanveer
Urooj Fatima Alvi
Implicit Messages in Pakistani ESL Course Books: A Corpus-Based Study of Gender Representation
Corporum
sexist language; gender; corpus; intermediate-level; course-books
title Implicit Messages in Pakistani ESL Course Books: A Corpus-Based Study of Gender Representation
title_full Implicit Messages in Pakistani ESL Course Books: A Corpus-Based Study of Gender Representation
title_fullStr Implicit Messages in Pakistani ESL Course Books: A Corpus-Based Study of Gender Representation
title_full_unstemmed Implicit Messages in Pakistani ESL Course Books: A Corpus-Based Study of Gender Representation
title_short Implicit Messages in Pakistani ESL Course Books: A Corpus-Based Study of Gender Representation
title_sort implicit messages in pakistani esl course books a corpus based study of gender representation
topic sexist language; gender; corpus; intermediate-level; course-books
url https://journals.au.edu.pk/ojscrc/index.php/crc/article/view/307/177
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