A Gender Analysis Of An English Language Textbook Used In A Senior High School In Japan.

The textbook is one of the most prevalent educational tool used in the classroom. Because of the high exposure to textbooks that students experience,care should be taken with regards to any kind of bias or possible destructive elements that might be found. One such element is sexism.This paper is a gender study of a text book,used in a senior high school in Japan,which uncovers many aspects of sexism. The paper shows that women in the English Language textbook Reward Starter (Greenall,1997)are less visible than men as characters,and are portrayed in stereotypical roles with regards to occupations and the family. A suggestion is made for a student/class evaluation of the textbook using the methodology provided in this investigation."It should not be assumed that people are aware of the ideological dimensions of their own practice. Ideologies built into conventions may be more or less naturalized and automatized, and people may find it difficult to comprehend that their normal practices could have specific ideological investments"(Fairclough :2006,90).departmental bulletin pape