Analyzing Aspects of Gender in English Language Jordanian Basic Stage Curriculum from A Socio-Cultural Perspective
Analyzing Aspects of Gender in English Language Jordanian Basic Stage Curriculum from A Socio-Cultural Perspective
Sameer Mahamed Thaher Hamdan
Amman Arab University For Graduate Studies
This study was carried out to investigate and explore aspects of gender as presented and represented in one of the currently used English language instructional materials Action Pack Series from grade one to nine , in the basic stage schools in Jordan. The study aimed at answering one major question:
How are gender aspects presented and represented in English Language Jordanian Basic School Curriculum (Action Pack Series) from grade 1-9 ?
The study analyzed nine textbooks to investigate nine major aspects of gender ( visibility in photos and illustrations, visibility in the text at the level of word and sentence, topic domination, jobs and occupations, firstness, grammatical function( subject), attributed personal traits (adjectives), leisure- activity types and masculine generic conception.
This descriptive study employed two frameworks of analysis, starting with a systematic quantitative count of the visual images to a qualitative analysis of lexis and sentences. Both content and discourse analysis techniques were adopted to reveal and verify the needed data.
The results of the study revealed that the percentages of males outnumbered females in the nine investigated aspects and in the Series as a unit. Moreover, they showed some gender stereotyping especially in the aspects of occupations, personal traits and activity types. These plain results, assured that, the authors of the Action Pack Series were not guided by any specific gender checklist in the production of these instructional materials. The upper stage textbooks (7,8,9), for example, appeared as if they were designed to address male learners only .
Category: Thesis
