Gender and language in ELT materials - Essay Example

?Essay Plan Introduction Thesis: This paper aims at examining gender and language in ELT materials in the current practice, to highlight, among otherthings, the new understandings of gender inherent in the ELT materials, in addition to the language specifics of ELT materials. Gender biasness in ELT materials and ambivalent sexism theory Ambivalent sexism Dominant paternalism Heterosexual hostility Differences in language communication and gender differences in ELT Different gender communication styles and gender differences in ELT Gender roles and gender differences in ELT Gendered ELT materials Linguistic analyses of the language of textbooks influences in the language of ELT materials multidimensional-approach to teaching language Conclusion Gender and language in ELT materials: A study of current practice Gender, traditionally defined as the perceived social constructs regarding the differences between the two sexes, has been a hotly debated issue in both academic and social discourses around the world for several decades now. Gender issues such as equality have taken centre stage in the world today, and many efforts are being directed at eliminating all forms of discrimination against women; gender equality has now been acknowledged as a universal human right and was articulated as the third millennium goal of the Millennium Summit in 2000 (Deirdre and Maryann 2008, p.303). Education reflects the global efforts by addressing issues such as gender equality and inequality in society; however, there could be worrisome possibilities that education of women, men, girls and boys, has been compromised in the past because of both explicit and implicit gender bias. In this respect, gender bias and language in the English Language Teaching materials have been major areas of focus in the current practice, in an effort to crackdown on any forms of gender bias against the women in society. This paper aims at examining gender and language in ELT materials in the current practice, to highlight, among other things, the new understandings of gender inherent in the ELT materials, in addition to the language specifics of ELT materials. Gender biasness in ELT materials can be explained by the ambivalent sexism theory because they depict both hostile sexism -denoting an active antagonistic view of women that, both explicitly negative and restrictive, and benevolent sexism-beliefs that women should be cherished, adored and protected from harm (Mehta et al 2013, p.38). As far as benevolent sexism is explicitly positive, it restricts women by viewing them stereotypically and in limited low-status roles, thus is just as potentially damaging as hostile sexism. Ambivalent sexism is built on three major aspects namely dominant/protective paternalism, gender differentiation and, heterosexuality; dominant paternalism/competitive or heterosexual hostility and gender differentiation are elements of hostile sexism whereas protective paternalism is an element of benevolent sexism. Dominant paternalism is the mechanism through which attributes thought to be suitable for positions of power and structural control are assigned to men whereas protective paternalism is the idea that women are ‘weaker sex’ that should be protected and cherished. Heterosexual hostility is the belief that women use their sexuality to control men; competitive gender differentiation refers to the belief that men are the only sex with characteristics such as ambition and agency, which are essential for positions of power and high status. It is no doubt that language is a very powerful tool of socialization that often times shapes the social constructions of gender in many societies across the world today; for decades now, studies have been concerned with the social justice issues. One of the predominant themes of these investigations has always been the role of language in the location and maintenance of women in disadvantageous position in society (Corson 1992, p.230). It has been established repeatedly that education plays a major role in creating unjust gender arrangements in society through, especially through the language policies and discursive practices that are legitimized in ELT materials. Discourse practices across cultures reveal certain gendered men and women differences in communication; for instance, women have been noted to use a lot of lexical hedges or filers such as ‘you know’, ‘you see’, question tags such as ‘she’s coming, isn’t she?’, in addition to increasing inflection on declaratives and intensifiers among others. Apart from that, women are also known for super polite forms such as indirect requests and euphemisms, evasion of tough swear words, and emphatic stress; such language usage depicts the engendered perceptions of women as powerless and weak. Other researches on gender and language also reveal further differences in language communication between men and women; for instance, unlike men, women are considered more polite than men and this politeness manifests in their use of many positive politeness strategies such as rules of politeness and interpersonal exploration. Yet another remarkable difference is that women tend to be more passive than men are because in conversations, they often times present with doubts concerning what they are saying. This passiveness and tentativeness of women is further emphasized by their frequent use of question tags, disclaimers, and questions that are passed on as directive statements, all of which reduce the assertiveness of speech. However, these differences do not only exist in verbal communication but also in nonverbal communication such as eye contact, gestures, smiles, personal space, touch, and interpretation of non-verbal cues; for instance, women being more comfortable in using sensitive communicators other than verbal communication; in this regard, women are more likely to make eye contact, and use gestures than men do. These differences in language style between men and women are subtle signs of gender differences that can be found in ELT materials thus further strengthening gendered perspectives that have a strong impact on learner’s views. The different communication styles used by the males and females is attributable to gender influences on both male and females in society; the differences in the levels of language used by male and female in ELT materials can be attributed to various factors. For instance, research has shown that early childhood socialization, cultural and social expectation, different role of language for the two genders, physiological and psychological factors, among other variables can account for the differences (Hailiang, Xue and Zhang, 2010 p.129). The different language styles reflect the different childhood socialization processes and the accompanying societal influences and expectations- for instance, whereas girls socialize by sitting and chatting in small groups politely, while boys play in large groups where they strive for dominance. Cultural expectations dictate that women’s language must be polite, well craft and elucidate lady like expressions while men tend to get away with such language flaws; in this regard, culture determines appropriate language mannerisms for both genders. Social values as expressed in social expectation will confine female speakers to specific topics such as childbearing and personal relationships where as men relate with the most controversial social topics such as politics. Gender roles, which vary considerably in different social contexts, refer to the social definition of women and men; gender-specific roles and responsibilities are often conditioned by family structure, specific impacts of the economy, and other relevant factors. For instance, language for women is a tool for acquiring harmonious interpersonal relationships, while for men it is a means for preserving authority and maintaining status in a competitive society. Concerning the physiological factors, research has established that boys and girls use different parts of their brain to learn some fundamental parts of language, thus the inherent differences between men and women competencies in grammar. Psychological factors explain why women are more status conscious than men thus would use more standard expressions, and in addition to that, men tend to think logically while women think emotionally. A lot of research has endeavoured to establish the numerous subtle depictions of gender roles and gender differences in ELT materials that are because of socially constructed gender perceptions; most of this research has a bias towards the conclusion that there indeed exist some gender specific subtleties and specific language learning strategies in ELT materials. Current practice is thoroughly conscious of gender influences in the ELT material such as English textbooks; for instance, girls and women are widely the victims of gender bias in language textbooks, and male dominance in classroom situations. However, recent studies point to existing subtleties and complexities of gender in language education, thus highlighting the need for both researchers in the area of gender and language education and teachers in their practice to engage with considerations of agency, individuality, and diversity, besides the still important notions of disadvantage and gender. In this regard, current practice understandings of gender goes beyond the overly deterministic and misleading traditional definitions, to more sophisticated understanding, focusing variously on gender identity, a sense of oneself as either ‘masculine’ or ‘feminine’, and as performance. A cross examination of ELT materials reveals how diverse phenomena such as language tests, performance in the said language tests, learners’ self-esteem, learning styles and strategies have all been gendered; in this respect, both the male and the female are perceived differently because they tend to be represented as behaving or feeling differently. These phenomena and the language through which they manifest in the ELT materials are further engendered because they play a significant role in shaping students’ masculinities and femininities. To a large extent, many content analyses of ELT materials of the 1970s through 1980s are indicative of gender bias against women in three major categories namely, exclusion, subordination and distortion, and degradation (Sunderland 2000, p.151). For instance, unlike the males, females were underrepresented thus exclusion, and they tended to be stereotypically emotional, a feature that made them victims of jokes and implied slurs, thus degradation of their individualities. In addition to that, the females were also victims of subordination and distortion because the males tended to occupy both more powerful and greater range of roles than them; the justification for such overt gender influences on ELT materials was the argument that a true depiction of society is desirable, rather than a more progressive perspective of society. Perhaps, the most appalling revelations of gender influences in the language of ELT materials in the said period manifest through linguistic analyses of the language of textbooks; for instance, verbs associated with female agents in the textbooks tended to be a reflection of some of the traditional stereotypic female behavioural patterns as perceived in societies. In addition to that, females spoke less, rarely spoke first, and performed a narrower range of discourse roles in dialogues (Sunderland 2000, p.151); nevertheless, some critics contend that just like content analyses, linguistic analyses have fizzled out in current practice probably because bias has reduced in textbooks, and the new understanding that bias exists in other areas beyond the text. However, this is not to suggest that gender bias does not matter to current practice, but to highlight the subtleties and complexities that render gender bias in textbooks alone irrelevant to learners and the learning situation. Current practice is focusing on a multidimensional-approach to teaching language, and recent trends in ELT are indicative of the need for the study of course books and instructional materials from various perspectives (Arikan 2005, p.30); gender as represented in ELT material is studied because both teachers and learners are exposed to many variables affecting their knowledge and worldviews. The use of visuals or visual material in course books in particular has been a common feature in academic discourses; it has been argued that course books have the capacity to alter student’s opinions and beliefs on many socio-cultural aspects such as gender. However, visual material in ELT material often tends to be imbalanced because in its representation of characters, not only are girls and women underrepresented, both genders are also often portrayed in stereotypical terms. Visual material tends to depict girls as being trapped in passive menial roles while boys and men are depicted as devoid of emotions, in addition to having hobbies and occupations that are stereotypically male and meeting high expectations. A research study by Arikan Arda, the visual material in a to ELT course books are studied using the insight and perspective derived from Cunnings worth reveals an unequal representation of both genders with women being underrepresented in the visual material (Arikan 2005, p.36). Men are rarely associated with certain activities such as child rearing or house work, except for one image of a man, which is actually a caricature. Gender separation is also evident in the sports with which each gender is associated; men are overrepresented in sports such as basketball, cycling, snowboarding, and soccer while women on the other hand are overrepresented in aerobics, running, stretching, skiing, and yoga. In this respect, gender is such a problematic issue in visual materials in ELT course books due to the socio-cultural and psychological attributions; these findings are consistent with other researches that revealed imbalances in the distribution of gender as the property of visual material. Ultimately, gender and language in English Language Teaching material are key aspects in the current practice because they have direct influences on the perspectives of learners and learning outcomes in the classroom situations. A close examination of ELT materials reveals gross imbalances in the distribution of gender roles and gender stereotypes that could be potentially damaging to the student’s perspectives and worldviews. Gender biases in ELT material has its theoretical foundation in the ambivalent sexism theory that supports both the antagonistic and the weak sex views view of women in society. Women are largely underrepresented in ELT material compared to the males and when they do appear, the female characters are depicted in menial, housekeeping, and baby rearing roles. Conversely, the males are depicted in high status positions with great ambitions and competing to achieve great heights of success in chase of power and authority. Overall, underrepresentation of women in ELT material is typical exclusion, and the usual stereotypical representation of women as victims of jokes and implied slurs is total degradation of their individualities. In addition to that, the females are also depicted as victims of subordination and distortion because the males tend to occupy both more powerful and greater range of roles than women. These subtle gender differences inherent in ELT materials are as a result of social constructs that define gender roles for men and women in society; these and gender roles further influence the language of communication used by both men and women. References Sunderland J, 2000, New understandings of gender and language classroom research: texts, teacher talk and student talk. Language Teaching Research 4, 2; pp. 149–173. Mehta, C M et al, 2013, Perceived Advantages and Disadvantages of being a Female Graduate Student in the US and the UK. Gender and Education, 25:1, 37-55. Hailiang, N, Xue Dai, and Zhang F, 2010, On Gender Difference in English Language and its Causes. Asian Social Science Vol 6 No. 2. Arikan, A 2005, Age, Gender and Social Class in ELT Coursebooks: A Critical study. Hacettepe Universitesi Egitim Fakultesi Dergisi 28: 29-38. Deirdre R and Maryann V, 2008, Gender Balance/Gender Bias: issues in education research. Gender and Education Vol. 20, No. 4, 303–307. Corson, D.J. 1992, Language, Gender and Education: A Critical review linking Social Justice and Power. Gender and Education, Vol. 4, No. 3, 1992. Read More