A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF

GENDER REPRESENTATION IN
ENGLISH AND ARABIC
LANGUAGE TEXTBOOKS
TAUGHT IN EGYPTIAN SCHOOLS
Rana K. El Kholy
Teaching Assistant
Faculty of Arts, English Dept.
Ain Shams University, Cairo

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First and foremost, I would like to thank God.
I would also like to express my deepest gratitude
to my supervisors, Dr. Nadia Abdul Galil Shalaby
& Dr. Nahla Helmy Nadeem.
I would also like to record my sincere
appreciation & indebtedness to my former
supervisor, Professor Amal Ibrahim Kary.
Thanks are extended to my professors &
colleagues at the Faculty of English Language &
Literature, Ain Shams University.
Special thanks are due to my family & my
husband.

INTRODUCTION
Educational materials:
- give information
- unconsciously foster positive & negative attitudes in
learners
Therefore, they should be free from gender bias &
stereotypes.

Gender inequality:
- Women have generally been perceived as inferior to men
- However, women have proved themselves compatible
with men
Therefore, in the field of education, textbooks should
3
project men & women as equal

INTRODUCTION

Aim of the study:

- To reveal how females & males are represented in
English & Arabic language textbooks published by
Egyptian Ministry of Education & taught in both private
& public schools in Egypt in 2010/2011
- Why English & Arabic language textbooks?
richness of this kind of data
deep effect on pupils
Significance of the study:
- magnitude of effect of textbooks analyzed on learners
- learners may think that whatever is written in textbooks
is a reflection of socially acceptable points of view
Thus, gender biases should be detected to spread
4
awareness of their effect & in an effort to eliminate them
from these school textbooks

INTRODUCTION
Research Question:
How are males & females represented in English & Arabic language
textbooks taught in Egypt in the primary & preparatory stages in
the academic year 2010/2011?
Research Subquestions :
1.ratio of female compared to male characters & the range of jobs,
domestic relations & adjectives related to each gender in the
selected textbooks
2.frequency of females appearing first when males & females appear
together in binary male & female terms
3.ratio of visual representation of females compared to that of males,
i.e., ratio of illustrations which depict female characters as opposed
to those of males & ratio of illustrations which depict mixed gender
4.frequency of assigning Actor role to females as opposed to males in
material processes & how often Actor materializes with a Goal
5.frequency of assigning Senser role in mental processes, Possessor
role in relational processes, & Sayer, Receiver & Target roles in
verbal processes to females as opposed to males

LITERATURE REVIEW

The status of women in Modern Egypt:

- 19th century: female education was gradually advocated.
- 20th century: women began to write extensively on feminist
issues & to participate in politics.
- After 1952 revolution, remarkable equality rights were granted
to women in the areas of education & work.
The status of women in Islam: Islam recognizes equal status of
women & men in the eyes of God
Therefore, males & females should be represented equally in all
fields of life in Egypt, a predominantly Muslim country.
Language & gender:
- Sexism, i.e., gender-bias, adds to womens oppression
McConnell-Ginet (2011): Feminist linguistics focuses on
language as pointing to gender identity
Sexism in textbooks is one of the main concerns of educators.
6
Therefore, linguistic reform is important to reduce sexist
language & help promote gender equality

LITERATURE REVIEW

Content analysis:
- Definition: Hesse-Biber & Leavy (2007): the systematic study of texts
- Uses:
*describing features of text on its own
*making inferences about author,
*making inferences about effects of text on recipient
- Appeal for feminist researchers: deals with issues related to gender so
that feminist theories could be developed & examined, & social change
could be sought

Critical discourse analysis (CDA):

- Definition: attempts to look into social inequality as it is conveyed,
indicated & legitimized in discourse & recognizes the role language
plays in structuring power relations in society
- Aim: attempts to stipulate which aspects of social context might
influence which aspects of language
- Appeal for feminist researchers: Feminist CDAs task is to
investigate how power & dominance are produced or resisted in
different ways via textual representations of gendered social
practices & communicational strategies of talk.

REVIEW OF RELATED RESEARCH

EARLIER STUDIES CONDUCTED ON GENDER REPRESENTATION IN

ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEXTBOOKS

US/UK/Australia

Asia

1984-2009

2002-2012

(4 studies)

(9 studies)

Turkey/Pakistan/
Iran

2006-2012

(6 studies)

Africa
2009-2012

(2 studies)

general gender bias

in favor of males in
US & Aus textbooks
(3 of 4 studies)

general gender
imbalance &
stereotypes in
favor of males in 7
of 9 studies

general gender bias

& stereotypes in
favor of males in all
studies

general
imbalance in
favor of males
in both studies

gender fairness in
textbooks of UK
study by Jones et al.
(1997)
-generic inclusive
expressions avoided

-gender equality
in Yangs (2011)
study in Hong
Kong
-no explicit
gender biased

discourse analysis
of verbal behaviors
of characters
revealed balanced
gender
representation in

textbooks
attempted to
avoid gender8
biased
language in
Kenyan study

REVIEW OF RELATED RESEARCH

COMPARATIVE STUDIES CONDUCTED ON GENDER

REPRESENTATION IN LANGUAGE TEXTBOOKS

Different

languages

Same country
(3 studies)

English language
textbooks

Different countries
(1 study)

English language
textbooks

Different times
Same country
(3 studies)

Pakistan (1 study) Australia & Hong Kong

Iran (2 studies)

Hong Kong (1 study)

Sweden (2 studies)

general gender
bias & stereotypes
in favor of males
in all studies

Hong Kong study: a fairer

representation of females in
more recent textbooks
-1st Sweden study: females
continued to be
underrepresented
-2nd Sweden study:

heavily biased
representation of males
& females in textbooks
from both countries

REVIEW OF RELATED RESEARCH

STUDIES ON LANGUAGE TEXTBOOKS IN ARAB WORLD

Abu Nasr et al.

Mohamed (1985)

Osman (2006) Hamdan

report

Egypt

Egypt

Jordan

study: traditional
outlook towards
women in the
Arab world
derived from
marriage &
motherhood

-representation of males &

females
-reforms necessary to
eliminate sex stereotyping in
these textbooks

4 criteria of
analysis:
names,
firstness,
occupational
roles, &
illustrations

analysis of
jobs

guide: spreading
awareness
regarding sexism
in textbooks &
providing

females depicted in a way

which did not reflect their
changing roles in society, did
not appear in representative
numbers compared to their

in almost all
categories,
sexism
continued to
flourish

males:
variety of
jobs
10
females:
limited to

(1983)

(2010)

NEED FOR PRESENT STUDY

gender

representation has attracted

increasing attention over the last decade

first

study conducted on a large scale in

Egyptian context

Therefore,

there is need for more research

to be done in this area
11

METHOD
SAMPLE

12 textbooks taught in academic year 2010-2011

6 English language textbooks:
- 3 taught in 4th, 5th & 6th primary
- 3 taught in preparatory stage
6 Arabic language textbooks:
- 3 taught in 4th, 5th & 6th primary
- 3 taught in preparatory stage
All textbooks downloaded from Egyptian Ministry
of Education website http://www.emoe.org/

12

METHOD

PROCEDURE

PHASE 1: CONTENT ANALYSIS

Specific elements were counted (first 3 research subquestions):

1- names - mentions - social roles - domestic relations
2- adjectives firstness in gender binary terms
3- illustrations

PHASE 2: CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS

Occurrence
(CDA)
of the following elements was tallied (last 2
subquestions):
1- Actor role - materializing with a goal
2- Senser role - Possessor role - Sayer/Receiver/Target roles
Why CDA?
- its aim is to expose power misuse, misrepresentation & bias
- researcher attempted to examine whether the Egyptian
education institution presented a fair picture of gender

13

RESULTS OF THE ANALYSIS OF GENDER

REPRESENTATION
PHASE ONE -1ST SUB-QUESTION
NAMES
English Textbooks

Primary Stage
Males
45% 55%

Females

Preparatory Stage
Males
45% 55%

Females

Arabic Textbooks

Primary Stage
Males
31%

69%

Females

Preparatory Stage
9%
91%

Males
Females

14

RESULTS OF THE ANALYSIS OF

GENDER REPRESENTATION
PHASE ONE -1ST SUB-QUESTION
MENTIONS
Arabic Textbooks

English Textbooks

Primary Stage

Primary Stage

Males

36%

64%

Females

Preparatory Stage

Males

37%

63%

Females

Males
38%

62%

Females

Preparatory Stage
9%
91%

Males
Females

15

RESULTS OF THE ANALYSIS OF

GENDER REPRESENTATION
PHASE ONE -1ST SUB-QUESTION
SOCIAL ROLES - TYPES
English Textbooks

Arabic Textbooks

Primary Stage

Primary Stage

13%
17%

70%

Female
s

Preparatory Stage
8%
17%

75%

Males

Males
31%
11%

Female
s

Preparatory Stage

Males
Female
s

58%

15%
2%

83%

Males
Female
s

16

RESULTS OF THE ANALYSIS OF

GENDER REPRESENTATION
PHASE ONE -1ST SUB-QUESTION
SOCIAL ROLES - OCCURRENCES
English Textbooks

Arabic Textbooks

Primary Stage

Primary Stage

Males
30%
70%

Females

86%

Females

79%

Preparatory Stage
14%

21%

Males

Males
Females

Preparatory Stage
5%
95%

Males
Females

17

RESULTS OF THE ANALYSIS OF

GENDER REPRESENTATION
PHASE ONE -1ST SUB-QUESTION
DOMESTIC ROLES - TYPES
English Textbooks

Arabic Textbooks

Primary Stage

Primary Stage

Males

100%

Female
s

Preparatory Stage
13%
74%

Males
29%
71%

Female
s

Preparatory Stage

Males
13%

Female

25%
75%

Males
Female
s

18

RESULTS OF THE ANALYSIS OF

GENDER REPRESENTATION
PHASE ONE -1ST SUB-QUESTION
DOMESTIC ROLES - OCCURRENCES
English Textbooks

Arabic Textbooks

Primary Stage

Primary Stage

Males
41%

59%

Females

Preparatory Stage
Males
49% 51%

Females

Males
34%

66%

Females

Preparatory Stage
23%
77%

Males
Females

19

RESULTS OF THE ANALYSIS OF

GENDER REPRESENTATION
PHASE ONE -2ND SUB-QUESTION
POSITIVE ADJECTIVES - TYPES
English Textbooks

Arabic Textbooks

Primary Stage

Primary Stage
Males

Males
50% 50%

Female
s

Preparatory Stage
Males
28%
26%

46%

Female
s

30%

47%

23%

Female
s

Preparatory Stage
Males

23%
6%

71%

Female
s

20

GENDER REPRESENTATION
PHASE ONE -2ND SUB-QUESTION
POSITIVE ADJECTIVES OCCURRENCES
English Textbooks

Arabic Textbooks

Primary Stage

Primary Stage

Males
50%

50%

Females

Preparatory Stage
Males
47%

53%

Females

Males
40%

60%

Females

Preparatory Stage
17%
83%

Males
Females

21

RESULTS OF THE ANALYSIS OF

GENDER REPRESENTATION
PHASE ONE -2ND SUB-QUESTION
NEGATIVE ADJECTIVES - TYPES
English Textbooks

Arabic Textbooks

Primary Stage

Primary Stage

0%

0%

0%

9%
33%

Preparatory Stage
Males
38%

38%

24%

Female
s

Males
58%

Female
s

Preparatory Stage
15%
85%

Males
Female
s

22

GENDER REPRESENTATION
PHASE ONE -2ND SUB-QUESTION
NEGATIVE ADJECTIVES OCCURRENCES
English Textbooks

Arabic Textbooks

Primary Stage

Primary Stage
Males
33%

Males
0%

Females
0%

Preparatory Stage
Males
40%

60%

Females

67%

Females

Preparatory Stage
8%
92%

Males
Females

23

RESULTS OF THE ANALYSIS OF

GENDER REPRESENTATION
PHASE ONE -2ND SUB-QUESTION
NEUTRAL ADJECTIVES - TYPES
English Textbooks

Arabic Textbooks

Primary Stage

Primary Stage

0%

0%

Males

0%

50%

Preparatory Stage

50%

25%
25%

50%

Female
s

Preparatory Stage

Males
Female
s

Males
100%

24

RESULTS OF THE ANALYSIS OF

GENDER REPRESENTATION
PHASE ONE -2ND SUB-QUESTION
NEUTRAL ADJECTIVES OCCURRENCES
English Textbooks

Arabic Textbooks

Primary Stage

Primary Stage
Males

Males
0%

Females
0%

Preparatory Stage

45%

55%

Preparatory Stage

Males
39%

61%

Females

Males

Females

25

100%

RESULTS OF THE ANALYSIS OF

GENDER REPRESENTATION
PHASE ONE -2ND SUB-QUESTION
BINARY TERMS - TYPES
English Textbooks

Arabic Textbooks

Primary Stage

Primary Stage
Males

Males
0%

Females
0%

Preparatory stage

50%

50%

Preparatory Stage
Males

Male

29%

Females
71%

Females

50%

50%

Females

26

RESULTS OF THE ANALYSIS OF

GENDER REPRESENTATION
PHASE ONE -2ND SUB-QUESTION
BINARY TERMS OCCURRENCES
English Textbooks

Arabic Textbooks

Primary Stage

Primary Stage

Males
0%

Females
0%

Preparatory Stage

Males
56%

44%

Preparatory Stage
Males

Males
55%

45%

Females

Females

40%

60%

Females
27

RESULTS OF THE ANALYSIS OF

GENDER REPRESENTATION
PHASE ONE - 3RD SUB-QUESTION
ILLUSTRATIONS
English Textbooks

Arabic Textbooks

Primary Stage

Primary Stage

Males
37%

44%

19%

Female
s

Preparatory Stage
23%
35%

Males
42%

Female
s

Males

18%
22%

60%

Female
s

Preparatory Stage
Males
27%
17%

56%

Female
s

28

RESULTS OF THE ANALYSIS OF

GENDER REPRESENTATION
PHASE TWO 4TH SUB-QUESTION
ACTOR ROLE
English Textbooks

Arabic Textbooks

Primary Stage

Primary Stage

Males

11%
49%

40%

Female
s

Preparatory Stage
Males

9%
30%

61%

Female
s

30%

2%
68%

Males
Female
s

Preparatory Stage
6% 3%
91%

Males
Female
s

29

RESULTS OF THE ANALYSIS OF

GENDER REPRESENTATION
PHASE TWO 4TH SUB-QUESTION
MATERIALIZING WITH A GOAL
English Textbooks

Arabic Textbooks

Primary Stage

Primary Stage

32%

Males

3%
65%

Female
s

Preparatory Stage

35%

Males

4%
61%

Female
s

1%
26%

73%

Males
Female
s

Preparatory Stage
10%
90%

Males
Female
s

30

RESULTS OF THE ANALYSIS OF

GENDER REPRESENTATION
PHASE TWO 5TH SUB-QUESTION
SENSER ROLE
English Textbooks

Arabic Textbooks

Primary Stage

Primary Stage
Males

Males
28%
72%

Female
s

Preparatory Stage
32%

3%
65%

Males
Female
s

31%

Female
69%

Preparatory Stage
Males

18%

Female
82%

31

RESULTS OF THE ANALYSIS OF

GENDER REPRESENTATION
PHASE TWO 5TH SUB-QUESTION
POSSESSOR ROLE
English Textbooks

Arabic Textbooks

Primary Stage

Primary Stage

Male
50%

50%

0%

0%

0%

Female

Preparatory Stage

Preparatory Stage

Male

18%
37%

Female
45%

Both
Gender
s

0%

0%

0%
32

RESULTS OF THE ANALYSIS OF GENDER

REPRESENTATION IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE
TEXTBOOKS
PHASE TWO - 5TH SUB-QUESTION
SAYER/RECEIVER/TARGET ROLES
Primary Stage
60%
50%

50%
50%

80%

66%

65%

57%

60%

40%
30%

40%

20%

20%

10%
0%

Preparatory Stage

Sayer
0% Receiver
0%0%0% 0%
Target
0%0%

0%

43%

33%

31%
4%

1%
Sayer

Receiver

Male

Male

Female

Female

Both Genders

Both Genders

0%
Target
33

RESULTS OF THE ANALYSIS OF GENDER

REPRESENTATION IN ARABIC LANGUAGE
TEXTBOOKS
PHASE TWO - 5TH SUB-QUESTION
SAYER/RECEIVER/TARGET ROLES
Primary Stage
80% 70%

Preparatory Stage
100% 91%

69%

66%

80%

60%
40%
20%
0%

34%

29%
1%
Sayer

0%
Receiver

86%
60%

60%
29%
2%
Target

40%

40%
20%
0%

8%
1%

14%
0%

0%

Sayer Receiver Target

Male
Female
Both Genders

Male Female Both Genders

34

DISCUSSION
Gender representation imbalance in most criteria
Phase 1
1. Names:
-might be reflection of belief in certain cultures in
Egypt: female names not to be mentioned in public
-overrepresentation of male names more acute in
preparatory Arabic textbooks: as young adults,
learners expected to abide by traditions of their society
2. Mentions:
-men active participants women less visible
-male mentions significantly increased in Arabic
preparatory textbooks: Egyptian young ladies
expected to be less interactive in their society

35

DISCUSSION
Phase 1 cont.
3. Social Roles:
-limited & stereotypical job types for females
-occurrences of social roles assigned to males was
higher than that of females
-Arabic textbooks slightly fairer: types of jobs
shared by both genders more than those limited
only to females
4. Domestic Relations:
-equal representation in types (most common:
parents & siblings): a point in favor of females
-occurrences of male domestic roles higher than of
females except in English preparatory textbooks

36

DISCUSSION
Phase 1 cont.
5. Adjectives:
-females less significant, therefore, fewer types of adjectives used
to qualify them more attention to males
-males more frequently qualified by negative adjectives
-males: rich, /bxi:l/ (miser), lazy, & hungry
-females: kind, tired, /zi:nh/ (sad) & /a:m th/ (quiet)
6. Binary Terms:
-types: females followers of males in English preparatory
textbooks, while both genders equal in Arabic textbooks (most
common: parental relations)
-occurrences: females appeared first in all textbooks (point in
favor of females attempt to compensate them)
7. Illustrations: males only higher than mixed gender higher than
females only: males given more prominence in Egyptian society

37

DISCUSSION
Phase 2
1. Actor: Males are the doers
2. Materializing with Goal: Males have an impact on other
things/persons more effective than females
3. Senser Role: Egyptian females not welcomed to express their
feelings in public
4. Possessor Role: Males possess things, therefore, more
powerful than females
5. Sayer Role: Contrary to common belief: males shown as
talkative
Receiver Role: Males in control of both ends of conversations:
males more active & powerful
Males overrepresented in Sayer/Receiver roles in preparatory
stage more than primary stage
Target Role: Contrary to subhypothesis: males involved in a 38
lot of activities & more dominant

GENERAL CONCLUSIONS

Overall
gender
imbalance
in almost
all categories
Pro
Male
Categories:
Names
Mentions
Social roles
Domestic
Summary
of
Results
of
Gender
Representation
Analysis
of E
of analysis

39

IMPLICATIONS OF THE STUDY

awareness & consciousness-raising are needed of
more neutral use of language
teachers should be supplied with strategies for
handling inadequacies & gender biases found in
teaching materials

DELIMITATIONS OF THE
STUDY
Main logistic problem:
accessibility of textbooks

Gender representation was examined in only two

types of textbook series & a limited number of
criteria were analyzed
40

SOME SUGGESTIONS FOR

FURTHER STUDIES
A comparative study between English & Arabic
language textbooks & textbooks of other languages
or other fields of education
A comparative study between English language
textbooks taught in international schools with
textbooks analyzed in this study
Impact of gender representation imbalance on
learners from psycholinguistic & psychological
perspectives
A comparative study between textbooks which will
be published in Egypt after the 25th of January
Revolution & the ousting of President Morsi on the
30th of June with textbooks analyzed in this study

41

THANK YOU