Gender bias through pictures in the new english textbook set for vietnamese primary schools a critical discourse analysis

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES NGUYỄN THỊ NHUNG GENDER BIAS THROUGH PICTURES IN THE NEW ENGLISH TEXTBOOK SET FOR VIETNAMESE PRIMARY SCHOOLS: A CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS Sự kì thị giới qua hình ảnh sách giáo khoa Tiếng Anh dùng cho bậc tiểu học Việt Nam qua góc nhìn phân tích diễn ngơn phê phán M.A MAJOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Linguistics Code: 8220201.01 HÀ NỘI - 2019 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES NGUYỄN THỊ NHUNG GENDER BIAS THROUGH PICTURES IN THE NEW ENGLISH TEXTBOOK SET FOR VIETNAMESE PRIMARY SCHOOLS: A CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS Sự kì thị giới qua hình ảnh sách giáo khoa Tiếng Anh dùng cho bậc tiểu học Việt Nam qua góc nhìn phân tích diễn ngơn phê phán M.A MAJOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Linguistics Code: 8220201.01 Supervisor: Dr Huỳnh Anh Tuấn HÀ NỘI - 2019 DECLARATION I hereby state that the thesis, entitled “Gender bias through pictures in the new English textbook set for Vietnamese primary schools: A critical discourse analysis” was carried out in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Art at the University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi This work is original and all the sources that I used in the paper were documented by means of references Hà Nội, 2019 Nguyễn Thị Nhung ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS To complete this scientific research, I owe profound indebtedness to many people for their tremendous support during the conduct of my study First and foremost, I would like to express my deepest gratitude towards my devoted supervisor, Dr Huỳnh Anh Tuấn for his intellectual consultancy and constant encouragement, which were the decisive factors in the completion of this paper Second, my sincere thanks go to all of the lecturers at the University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi for their invaluable lessons that have established a solid base for my research work Last but not least, I would like to thank all of my beloved family members and friends for their tremendous love, care and support during the time of conducting this research paper ii ABSTRACT The attempt to combat gender inequality in textbooks has recently attracted a lot of researchers’ concern However, it is worth noticing that research to date has tended to focus on gender bias in textbooks represented through linguistic rather than other non-linguistic features such as visual design Educationalists have become gradually aware of the increasing role of visual communication in learning materials of various kinds since they believe that pictures and photographs present meanings of their own Among such attempts, this research investigates gender bias through pictures in the new English textbook set for Vietnamese primary schools, which aims to 1/ examine how different genders are represented via pictures in the new English textbook set for Vietnamese primary schools, 2/ find out whether gendered visual representations illustrate gender bias in this textbook set In so doing, qualitative and quantitative content analyses were adopted, in light of multimodal critical discourse analysis to study images involving men and/or women from three English textbooks By analyzing 1,534 images, the research showed that there was a clear females’ visibility in the workplace and social activities Nonetheless, there appeared hidden manifestations of gender bias, mainly towards women in their family roles as mothers, occupational roles, domestic tasks, contribution to the education of children, leisure activities, color representations, and positions of females in illustrations iii TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii ABSTRACT iii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS vi LIST OF TABLES vii LIST OF FIGURES viii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Statement of research problem and rationale for the study 1.2 Aims and objectives of the study 1.3 Research questions 1.4 Scope of the study 1.5 Method of the study 1.6 Significance of the study 1.7 Structure of the study CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Review of theoretical backgrounds 2.1.1 Critical discourse analysis 2.1.2 Fairclough’s three-dimention model 2.1.3 Multimodal critical discourse analysis 2.1.4 Visual images 10 2.1.5 Social semiotics 11 2.1.6 The grammar of visual images 13 2.1.7 Gender bias in school textbooks 20 2.2 Review of related studies 39 2.2.1 Review of related studies worldwide 39 2.2.2 Review of related studies in Vietnam 43 Summary of the chapter 46 CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 47 3.1 Research questions 47 3.2 Research setting 47 iv 3.3 Sampling 48 3.4 Research approach 49 3.5 Research design 50 3.6 Data collection 50 3.6.1 Data collection instrument 50 3.6.2 Data collection procedure 51 3.7 Data analysis 51 3.7.1 Analytical framework 51 3.7.2 Data analysis procedure 54 3.8 Ethical issues 54 3.9 Summary of the chapter 55 CHAPTER 4: DATA ANALYSIS, FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS 56 4.1 Frequencies of different genders in illustrations 56 4.2 Gender representations in social references 60 4.2.1 Family status 60 4.2.2 Level of employment 63 4.2.3 Occupations 65 4.3 Gender representations in activities 71 4.3.1 Domestic tasks 73 4.3.2 Contribution to children education 76 4.3.3 Leisure activities 78 4.4 Compositional values 82 4.4.1 Colors 82 4.4.2 Positioning 85 4.5 Summary of the chapter 87 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION 88 5.1 Recapitulation 88 5.2 Pedagogical implications 88 5.2.1 For educational authority 89 5.2.2 For textbook writers and publishers 89 5.2.3 For teachers 90 5.3 Limitations of the studies 91 5.4 Further research 92 REFERENCES 93 APPENDICES I v LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS CDA : Critical Discourse Analysis EFL : English as a Foreign Language ESL : English as a Second Language MCDA : Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis MOET : Ministry of Education and Training RQ : Research Question US : The United States VG : Visual Grammar vi LIST OF TABLES Table Table Visual social semiotics (Adapted from Kress & van Leeuwen, 2006) An analytical checklist for the identification of sexism (Adapted from UNESCO, 1986) Page 15 29 Table Detailed information about English 3, 4, textbooks 49 Table Distribution of gender representations in illustrations 58 Table Females and males’ family status 60 Table Females and males in occupational roles 65 Table Females and males in different activities 72 Table Females and males’ outfit 82 vii Figure Figure Figure Figure Figure Figure Figure Figure Figure Figure 10 Figure 11 Figure 12 Figure 13 Figure 14 Figure 15 Figure 16 Figure 17 Figure 18 materials 5.2.1 For educational authority First and foremost, it is recommended that the government and MOET as advocates of gender equality in education should take initiatives to set out more specific guidelines for the use of fair gender treatment in every aspect of textbook design, including visual design Furthermore, their effectiveness can hardly be ensured even with the presence of such specific guidelines Hence, mandatory gender sensitivity training for in-service teachers will act as grassroots exercises in making teachers more aware of the issue More importantly, there needs to be projects to monitor and evaluate the progress along the road to gender equality By this way, through gender equality, sustainable and inclusive progress can be achieved in all aspects of society 5.2.2 For textbook writers and publishers It is widely accepted that a textbook’s content largely depends on its textbook writers, individual publishers and the way they treat genders Only when authors of EFL materials are highly aware of gender issues, hold a strong belief in gender equality and actively fight against gender stereotyping can textbooks be free of any gender-biased agent The development of good textbooks is a never-ending process that requires constant revision, upgrading and improvement Therefore, a change from English 3, 4, to a less sexist textbook set may be the most positive action to be taken It is recommended that revision should be made in the near future, not only to the textual content but also to the visual images that have been proved gender stereotypical As Klein (1985) affirms, the use of gender-equitable materials allows students to have more gender-balanced knowledge, to develop more flexible attitudes towards gender roles, and to imitate role behaviors contained in the materials Curriculum researchers have introduced six important attributes in establish a 89 gender-equitable curriculum Gender-fair materials need to be inclusive, accurate, affirmative, representative, and integrated, weaving together the experiences, needs, and interests of both females and males 5.2.3 For teachers The mere elimination of sexism from textbooks is not enough, so a more positive approach must be taken regarding the role of the teacher In fact, teachers are those who bring the curriculum to their students and filter the knowledge through their own lens of worldviews Experience sees that different teachers implements the same textbook in their own way as they interpret the intentions of the textbook authors through their models of gender relations and identities Teachers thus also have an undeniably pivotal role to play in EFL classrooms However, the fact is that they are generally unaware of their own biased teaching behaviors because not all hidden gender biases can be detected by all teachers Even when they are, these biases are often overlooked since teachers simply work with their students the way they used to experience Sunderland (1994) reminds that in the hands of a teacher with sexist attitudes, even the most non-sexist material can become sexist If teachers are not made aware of the biased messages they are unintentionally conveying to their students, and until teachers are equipped with necessary methods and resources to combat sexism in their classrooms, girls will continue to receive an inequitable education Therefore, if school textbooks are sexist, the teacher is the one who has to control the process of learning and create a gender-bias free environment in the classroom In order to change their teaching practice, teachers have to be able to detect the manifestation of gender biases hidden in their present school textbooks, especially in pictures and need to take steps to fight back this discrimination 90 As far as classroom activities are concerned, an in-class evaluation of the textbook being used, conducted by the students and the teacher, may contribute more to an understanding of the male-as-norm ideological conventions inherent within the textbooks’ pictures Sunderland (1994) suggests that group discussions and class projects are likely to benefit both male and female learners and the whole society From this, it can be seen that critical reading and listening may thus become regular part of the teaching approach This can be closely linked to Fairclough’s argument: “There is a strong case to be made for a mode of language education which emphasizes critical awareness of ideological processes in discourse, so that people can become more aware of their own practice, and be more critical of the ideologically invested discourses to which they are subjected” (p.90) Teachers should also beware not to attribute any specific roles, domestic or societal to either gender so as not to inculcate any preconceptions in the learners (Mineshima, 2008) In these ways, students can develop appropriate attitudes, dispositions, and understanding of norms, culture, and the world around them With these implications to be taken, children will be the change agents toward a world free of gender bias 5.3 Limitations of the studies In spite of my considerable efforts in conducting the research study, some certain limitations are unavoidable in writing this paper First, this present study confined itself to English textbooks at the primary level, so it is difficult to see the general pattern of gender bias in the whole curriculum (i.e lower-secondary, and upper-secondary textbooks) Second, with the modest data corpus from the new set of textbooks only, 91 it is impossible to determine whether or not there is a change in gender roles represented in English textbooks in comparison with the old ones Third, the paper would have yielded far more comprehensive data if other instruments such as survey and interviews had been deployed to identify teachers and students’ perception of gender bias manifestation in the current textbooks they were using Additionally, if possible, voices from the textbook authors would also provide another different perspective on whether or not they took gender discrimination into account when it came to textbooks’ visual designing 5.4 Further research Considerably more work will need to be done with visual images in both of the old and new textbook sets so as to 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