a critical discourse analysis of esp textbooks in gender representation: a comparison of market leader and business result

Gender equality has long been a controversial issue in gender and language studies, dating back to the 1970s and continuing into the 2020s. for many years, critical discourse analysts have been concerned about gender representation in english language teaching (elt) textbooks. despite the efforts to promote gender equality, bias in textbooks still prevails in many countries. furthermore, little attention has been directed to gender representation in english for specific purposes (esp) textbooks. thus, the present research applied a critical discourse analysis approach to find out whether gender bias existed in the two textbooks under investigation (research question 1). additionally, it aimed at finding out how males and females were represented in market leader and business result elementary series (research question 2). brugeilles and cromer’s (2009) framework was adapted to collect the data textually and pictorially on the gender-typical roles as shown by characters’ designations and activities. the collected data were analyzed both quantitatively and qualitatively. in the quantitative analysis, the frequency of male and female representation in pictures as well as masculine and feminine pronouns were calculated and compared. the qualitative analysis was then conducted, and four conclusions were drawn: 1. males outnumbered females in the pictures of both market leader and business result. 2. in terms of designation, both esp textbooks offered a relatively balanced representation of males and females. 3. in terms of activities in business result, females were associated with social and shopping activities whereas males were noticeably depicted as carrying out manual work. 4. in terms of activities in market leader, males were mainly engaged in leisure activities while advertising activities were dedicated to only females. the results of these analyses indicated that some efforts were made at improving gender equality in the sample esp textbooks. the findings of this study can encourage teachers and experts in the field to take the required steps and promote gender equality in esp textbooks.

A Critical Discourse Analysis of ESP Textbooks in Gender Representation: A Comparison of Market Leader and Business Result

Gender equality has long been a controversial issue in gender and language studies, dating back to the 1970s and continuing into the 2020s. For many years, critical discourse analysts have been concerned about gender representation in English Language Teaching (ELT) textbooks. Despite the efforts to promote gender equality, bias in textbooks still prevails in many countries. Furthermore, little attention has been directed to gender representation in English for Specific Purposes (ESP) textbooks. Thus, the present research applied a critical discourse analysis approach to find out whether gender bias existed in the two textbooks under investigation (Research Question 1). Additionally, it aimed at finding out how males and females were represented in Market Leader and Business Result Elementary series (Research question 2). Brugeilles and Cromer’s (2009) framework was adapted to collect the data textually and pictorially on the gender-typical roles as shown by characters’ designations and activities. The collected data were analyzed both quantitatively and qualitatively. In the quantitative analysis, the frequency of male and female representation in pictures as well as masculine and feminine pronouns were calculated and compared. The qualitative analysis was then conducted, and four conclusions were drawn: 1. Males outnumbered females in the pictures of Both Market Leader and Business Result. 2. In terms of designation, both ESP textbooks offered a relatively balanced representation of males and females. 3. In terms of activities in Business Result, females were associated with social and shopping activities whereas males were noticeably depicted as carrying out manual work. 4. In terms of activities in Market Leader, males were mainly engaged in leisure activities while advertising activities were dedicated to only females. The results of these analyses indicated that some efforts were made at improving gender equality in the sample ESP textbooks. The findings of this study can encourage teachers and experts in the field to take the required steps and promote gender equality in ESP textbooks.