Gender Representation in English and Arabic Foreign Language Textbooks in Iran: A Comparative Approach

Journal of International Women's Studies Volume 16 | Issue 3 Article 2 Jul-2015 Gender Representation in English and Arabic Foreign Language Textbooks in Iran: A Comparative Approach Mitra Baghdadi Ali Rezaei Follow this and additional works at: http://vc.bridgew.edu/jiws Part of the Women's Studies Commons Recommended Citation Baghdadi, Mitra and Rezaei, Ali (2015). Gender Representation in English and Arabic Foreign Language Textbooks in Iran: A Comparative Approach. Journal of International Women's Studies, 16(3), 16-32. Available at: http://vc.bridgew.edu/jiws/vol16/iss3/2 This item is available as part of Virtual Commons, the open-access institutional repository of Bridgewater State University, Bridgewater, Massachusetts. This journal and its contents may be used for research, teaching and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, re-distribution, re-selling, loan or sub-licensing, systematic supply or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. ©2015 Journal of International Women’s Studies. Gender Representation in English and Arabic Foreign Language Textbooks in Iran: A Comparative Approach By Mitra Baghdadi1 and Ali Rezaei2 Abstract Female educational attainment in Iran has been increasing since the establishment of the Islamic Republic in Iran. This study investigated whether this female superiority is reflected or supported in Iranian textbooks. The study investigated how gender roles are represented in Iranian EFL (English as a Foreign Language) and AFL (Arabic as a Foreign Language) textbooks. “Criteria for Analysis of the Equality of Gender Representation” by Rifkin, was used for content analysis. These criteria are grouped into two main categories of ‘pictorial’ and ‘verbal’. The results showed that with no exception and in all criteria, males were represented significantly more than females. This indicates that males were the central point of most sentences, either as the subject of actions, or as the main figure in sentences and pictures. Significant differences were observed between AFL and EFL textbooks. Key Words: Gender, Textbooks, Stereotypes, Equality, EFL, Content Analysis Introduction Official statistics from several resources in Iran indicate that female enrollment and achievement in Iranian universities has recently exceeded that of male students (Rezaei, 2012). Is this phenomenon (females’ academic achievement) due to an enhancement in females’ education or a positive discrimination in favor of them? Are there any positive improvements in the way women are depicted in Iranian textbooks after the Islamic revolution in 1995? Textbooks have been used by researchers as a tool to study cultures and, particularly, to investigate gender roles in different cultures (Moore, 2007). In Iran, gender roles are especially important because of the ideological influence of gendered politics and religion in the local Iranian educational system. This study investigates how gender roles are represented in Iranian EFL (English as a Foreign Language) and AFL (Arabic as a Foreign Language) textbooks, and tries to identify micro and macro factors that may contribute to depictions of gender in Iranian textbooks. Gender discrimination is, to a large extent, a social phenomenon with roots in social structures, social attitudes, and ideologies. Psychologists believe that gender identification starts 1 She is a psycholinguist, with M.A. degree in Linguistics from California State University Long Beach. In the past twenty years she has been involved in many research studies and her work has been presented at the Linguistics Colloquium at California State University Long Beach and Linguistic Association of Canada and the United States. Her interests and specialties are language documentation, gender studies, qualitative research and bilingualism. Email: . 2 He is a professor at California State University, Long Beach. During the last 20 years he has been teaching and doing research at City University of New York, and the University of Calgary, Canada. Computer applications in education, research methods, statistics and assessment (evaluation) are among the courses that he teaches. His research interests are assessment, the Internet, and social networks. Email: . 16 Journal of International Women’s Studies Vol. 16, No. 3 July 2015 very early (about age 2) in human life (Yelland, 1998). Social roles are normally learned through socialization which starts at home, and then continues in school and within the larger society (Davis & Wills 2010). Textbooks are an important element in students’ gender role education because students use them both in school and at home (Hartman & Judd, 1978; Powell & Garcia, 1985; Bazler & Simonis, 1990; Ferree & Hal,l 1990; Moore, 2007). According to Riazi (2003), “textbooks are considered the next important factor in the second/foreign language classroom after the teacher” (p. 52). Furthermore, due to students’ trust in their textbooks the influence of textbooks can be much stronger than words they hear from their parents or teachers. According to Porreca (1984), this is particularly true of younger learners who tend not to question what they read and trust the printed word more than adults. The important issue here is that many children may think whatever comes in their textbooks (e.g., gender roles and stereotypes) is a reflection of socially acceptable or socially desirable viewpoints. Textbooks as good representatives of any curriculum are, perhaps, the most tangible and publicly accessible resources that can “easily lend themselves to objective investigations” (Amalsaleh, Sajjadi, & Yarmohammadi 2006, 11). Therefore, investigating the content of textbooks is important and researchers have worked on gender roles in textbooks of different countries (Hartman & Judd, 1978; Porreca, 1984; Gupta &Yin, 1990; Cerezal, 1991; Kanamaru, 1998; Yen, 2000; Harashima, 2005; Chick, 2006; Moore, 2007). In Iran, there have been a few research studies on textbooks. The educational system in Iran is highly influenced by the government with increasing control over textbooks’ content to comply with governmental policies, and the government’s political and religious agendas. Islam is the official religion of the country and according to Moghissi (2008); Islam is not a matter of personal spiritual choice but rather a legal and political system. Therefore, it is important to review the literature on Iranian textbooks to explore how gender roles, are reflected in Iranian textbooks. It is also important to know how these roles have changed since the establishment of the Islamic Republic in 1979 and the implementation of new policies and revised curriculum. Studies on Iranian Textbooks The following literature review shows how textbook content in Iran has changed since the beginning of the 1979 Islamic Republic. The first study in this regard was conducted just one year after the revolution. Touba (1987) analyz (...truncated)