Gender Construction in the Indonesian Government-Distributed English Textbook: Combining Critical Discourse Analysis and Corpus Linguistics

• DOI: 10.1007/s12119-021-09870-5
• Publication Date: 2021-05-26T18:04:37Z
• Authors: Suwarno; Sulis Triyono; Ashadi; Wening Sahayu
• Keywords: 5. Gender equality; 4. Education; 0602 languages and literature; 06 humanities and the arts

Many studies on gender in English language textbooks have been much reported under the umbrella of critical discourse studies. However, a few critical discourse studies have adopted mixed analytical approaches, such as the blending of critical discourse analysis and other linguistic theories, such as corpus linguistics. In response to this gap, the present discourse study adopted corpus linguistics and critical micro-semiotic analysis to investigate the representation of gender in the English as a foreign language (EFL) textbook used in Indonesian junior high schools (Grade 9). Based on the corpus linguistic analysis, findings showed that the textbook writers constructed gender fairness by including gender-neutral vocabularies in both verbal and visual texts in order to avoid gender-marked words. Another finding indicated that the textbook writers presented a balanced proportion of male and female images throughout the textbook. However, gender stereotypes situated in academic and non-academic achievements, domestic chores, and interests or hobbies are semiotically encapsulated in the textbook. The practical implication of the present study is that English teachers and language textbook designers should be fully aware of the interplay between language and gender issues to minimise gender misconceptions when writing language textbooks.