English Ideas: Journal of English Language Education Vol.
October 2021
Copyright A 2021 English Ideas WOMEN REPRESENTATION IN INDONESIAN ELT TEXTBOOK: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF JUNIOR AND SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL ELT
TEXTBOOK
Isnaeni Martha Fadhila edu@gmail.
Department of English Education.
Faculty of Teacher Training and Education.
University of Singaperbangsa Karawang doi: ________________________________ Abstract The textbook has a crucial role in the classroom, especially in studentsAo behavior and attitudes.
textbook has to reflect balanced images and information about males and females.
It also has to support broad choices and many roles for both sexes to avoid unjust or bias gender issues.
This study aims to examine by analyzing female charactersAo visibility by comparing the two junior high school textbooks .
rade VII and IX) and two senior high school English textbooks .
rade X and XII).
This research used social context parameters such as .
family, .
occupations, .
school participation and achievement, and .
hobbies and .
The contextual parameters in this research are chosen because it shows how female characters were stereotypically portrayed in the textbooks used in this research.
The finding shows some differences between female and male characters in the texts and illustrations in Junior High School and Senior High School ELT textbooks.
It also found that in the context of parameters, there are some significant differences of female representation in the ELT textbooks for Junior High School and Senior High School.
Keywords: Critical discourse analysis.
Female visibility.
Gender representation.
Indonesia Language INTRODUCTION Gender is one of the particular socio-cultural issues that is shaped in textbooks, especially in ELT material (Ahour & Zaferani , 2.
The issues of gender equality or inequality have been of great interest in education in the last few years, especially in multi-cultural and multi-religious countries such as Indonesia.
Hastorahmanto et al.
state in Lestariyana et al.
, it is crucial to remember that gender equality is not about what women should do to overtake men's work but what women could do to be able to complement men's work.
In social practice, gender differences appear in every society's social behaviors.
Therefore, this issue may create gender bias that negatively impacts people's perception of gender equality.
In other words, this issue must be taken into serious concern because it can lead to gender bias for A number of issues regarding gender such stereotyping, and the imbalance of gender representation, especially in the ELT textbook (Asriyama.
Saleh, & Fitriati .
Ariyanto .
Islam & Asadullah .
Yang .
Lee .
Barton & Sakwa .
) have been discussed and reported in the international journal research.
One critical thing that relates to lead students' perceptions of gender is ELT textbooks used in their It may promote or ignore gender equality by its content of the text or visual images served in the textbook.
In language teaching, the textbook has played an important role as guidance for the teacher to manage teaching materials and apply them into class activities (Setyono & Widodo, 2.
ELT in Focus.
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June 2024 Copyright A 2024 ELT in Focus In the teaching and learning process, textbooks are considered to be the basic foundations of a course.
Textbooks can be used as a manipulative instrument to shape students' perspectives and opinions (Ahour & Zaferani, 2.
It may represent social behaviors, norms, and values that reflect society's life through the learning materials.
Since textbooks have become one of the crucial things in the teaching and learning process, visual images are also Visual images have also played a critical role in any language textbook.
It can be a universal language for native and nonnative English speakers to help them understand the meaning of the context intuitively (Olshansky, 2.
The environments, situations, and characters described by visual images in EFL textbooks might help students to realize what the real world might look like and help students in navigating things about what they should learn, and the target vocabulary, community, and worldview.
In the process of creating EFL textbooks, adding visuals is common Some publishers may not intentionally put less attention to the guidelines to avoid gender preference or bias as their concerns because of the space limitations of textbooks or the recognition of content copyrights (Khalid & Ghania.
Considering that photographs, cartoons, and illustrations express more meaning, any visual misrepresentation of gender representation will lead students to misinterpret the specific values taught to students in their learning experiences.
A Number research about visual images and gender representation related to EFL textbooks analysis or evaluation Ariyanto .
Setyono .
in Indonesia shows unequal representation from both male and female characters.
validate these findings, the present study aims to examine female visibility in English language textbooks from a gender role This study adopted a similar method Lestariyana.
Widodo,& Sulistiyo .
However, this study aims to have the same purpose: fill the gap in the representation of female character visibility in language textbooks in social contexts such as families, professions, engagement and success in education, and hobbies and Although there is so many studies that have conducted in analysis the gender representation of female characters in textbook this study aims to be more focused in social contexts and the comparison between the junior high school and senior high school English textbook.
This study adopted Van Leeuwen .
framework that embraces the following elements:
'actions,' 'performance modes,' 'presentation styles,' 'location,' and 'eligibility condition.
Gender and Language Some people might still cannot distinguish the differences between sex and gender.
Gender is a social and cultural framework that differentiates women and men's attributes and thus refers to men's and women 's roles (UNESCO, 2.
Based on the roles above, it reflects on all aspects of society, such as economic, cultural, religious, and political According to Holmes, gender is socially produced differences between being feminine and being masculine in sociology Gender is theoretically constructed through the everyday practices of individuals.
It is different from sex.
Sex is a biological difference between males and females (Holmes, 2.
According to Holmes .
, gender is collectively generated in Sociology, between feminine and masculine.
It's sex different.
Gender is male and female biological As Carole Brugeilles and Sylvie Cromer .
states, "sex refers to malefemale biological differences.
It refers to the observable disparity between their genitals and their procreative physiological functions.
It is a human biological variation that includes anatomy and procreational biology.
Though "Sex is connected to" masculine "and feminine" society and social separation.
Gender thus relates to men's and women 's attributes, preferences, aptitudes, positions, and obligations in a community.
Gender and language are separate items, but they are interrelated.
Ronald Wardhaugh .
points out regarding linguistic variation, the social positions of men and women often relate to gender and language.
ELT in Focus.
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June 2024 Copyright A 2024 ELT in Focus Women and male roles influence how they use a language.
Vocabulary is one of the examples of differences between men and women in Women use color words such as mauve, beige, aquamarine, lavender, and magenta, but most men don't.
Moreover, women typically use adjectives that men never use, such as adorable, beautiful, divine, lovely, and sweet.
To highlight specific results, women have their languages, such as good, fun, exquisite, lovely, divine, precious, adorable, darling, and fantastic (Wardhaugh.
For some English language matters, there is also the difference between men and Women more frequently use such forms of surprise and politeness than men.
Women may answer a question with such a statement using a rising intonation pattern because they are less confident about themselves and their opinions than men.
Based on the theory mentioned, it can be inferred that there is a connection between gender and language.
It is the vocabulary of linguistic variations.
Women typically use specific vocabulary than men.
Besides, men and women talk differently.
Another distinction is that women more focus on the effective functions of interaction than men do.
perceived to be of higher position than women.
MenAos activities are considered more precious than womenAos, even though the activities are similar (Lorber, 2.
Such beliefs about women and men reflect stereotyped beliefs Cusack .
describes a gender stereotype is a generalized view or preconception about attributes or characteristics that are or ought to be possessed by women and men or the roles that are or should be performed by men and It can be both positive and negative, for example.
Auwomen are nurturingAy or Auwomen are weakAy.
Women are also generally described as dependent and passive.
Furthermore, they are believed to be interested in gossip, fashion, and shopping.
On the contrary, men are markedly defined by opposite characteristics to women, such as being independent and active.
These beliefs are then called gender stereotypes.
Gender stereotypes consist of several components: personal traits, social roles, .
(Lips.
Complete explanations about gender stereotypes are provided as follows:
Personal Traits For personality traits, women and men are usually referred to as opposite Women and menAos distinct characteristics are classified into two groups.
Instrumentality is considered menAos active, objective, independent, aggressive, direct, unemotional, dominant, and competent.
the same time, effective traits refer to womenAos characteristics such as expressive, warm, sensitive, concern about others, and concern for people than things.
A few studies describe that males position indicating males have the power to control their subordinates and take important decisions when problems Males are also depicted as active (Sovic & Hus .
and Islam & Asadullah .
, aggressive (Esen, .
, and adventurous (Emilia.
Moecharam & Syifa, .
as they are illustrated to enjoy outdoor activities, love to explore nature, willing to take risks and are not afraid to face the Other stereotypical personality traits of males are argumentative and Gender representation and gender stereotypes in society and ELT textbook The Oxford English Dictionary identifies a stereotype as a Auwide-ranging but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular person or thingAy.
It presents everywhere.
Among other things, they cover racial groups (AuAsians are good at mathA.
, political groups (AuRepublicans are richA.
, genders (AuWomen are bad at mathA.
, demographic groups (AuFlorida residents are elderlyA.
, and activities (Auflying is dangerousA.
In society, men and women are sometimes portrayed differently.
In multicultural and multi-religious Asian societies such as Indonesia, gender stereotype is often found in many activities such as daily basis activity, job, and education.
In terms of achievement and social achievement, women and men are considered to have differences.
The description of women and men can describe their beliefs and attitudes.
Men are generally ELT in Focus.
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They prefer to play games in the team and always have a strong desire to win competitions.
Meanwhile, female personality traits are caring, nurturing (Esen, .
and Sovic & Hus, .
) affectionate (Evans & Davies, .
), feminine, gentle, motherly, mature, warm, loving, friendly, and (Aryani, .
These personality traits are illustrated by female appearances with children in printed media.
They are depicted as the ones who teach children new things, help children do their school work, cook for the whole family, and take care of babies.
Other stereotypical female personality traits are unconfident (Emilia.
Moecharam & Syifa, .
), dependent, incompetent (Kortenhaus & Demares, 1.
, introverts, affluent, less intellectually gifted (Lewandowsky, 2.
, and silent (Barton & Sakwa, 2.
This is affirmed by the fact that all female characters are illustrated with others, never by themselves.
In terms of facing problems, female characters are depicted to need help, usually from males, to solve their problems.
In some stories, they ran away from their Hall, 2014.
Wu & Liu, 2015.
Karima, 2.
In the occupational roles.
Males are depicted as having a wider range of jobs in politics, laws, education, agriculture, sports, entertainment, and many more ( Sari, 2011.
Barton & Sakwa.
Yonata & Mujianto.
Islam & Asadullah, 2.
high social and economic rank jobs like managers, principals, judges, mayors, governors, professors, inspectors, captains, or pilots (Seker & Dincer.
Nofal & Qawar.
Karisma, 2.
and physically demanding jobs such as lifeguards, soldiers, boxers, football players, or athletes (Mustedanajic, 2010.
Leo & Collins, 2.
As for females, their occupations are extensions of their traditional roles (Balfour.
Karima, 2.
, and the range is limited to nurture, service, and support related professions (Esen, 2014.
Seker & Dincer.
Islam and Asadullah, 2.
, not to mention that they have low social and economic rank jobs that are not paid as well as malesAo (Mustedanajic, 2010.
Lee & Collins, 2.
The studies' results reveal that those are the reason why most females are illustrated to work as teachers, nurses, clerks, receptionists, secretaries, maids, singers, and dancers.
Social Roles In social roles, males are described as breadwinners of the families, recipients of services (Esen, 2.
, decision-makers (Shoeman, 2.
, and warriors or fighters (Balfour, 2.
Meanwhile, females have roles as the caregivers of the families (Otlowski, 2002.
Hodaj, 2.
, providers of services (Esen, 2.
, and the ones that are influenced by the decision taken by males (Shoeman, 2.
In domestic spheres, males are illustrated doing chores that need physical strengths and mostly done in the outdoors like gardening, repairing or fixing things, painting, taking out the garbage, or playing with the children outdoors.
Females, different from their counterparts, are portrayed doing chores indoors such as cooking, washing, mending, shopping, sewing, doing dishes, ironing, and taking care of the children (Ansary and Babaii, .
Physical Characteristics The last component of gender stereotypes is physical characteristics.
This category refers to women and menAy s physical Women are classified into four subtypes: housewives, athletic women, businesswomen, and sexy women.
men are classified into the subtypes of athletic man, blue-collar working man, businessman, and macho man.
The physical characteristics most associated with athletic women are muscular, good body, strong, aggressive, masculine.
similarly, athletic men are muscular, healthy, strong, in shape, good body.
Good figure, long hair, good dresser, nail polish, pretty face are mostly associated with sexy women, while macho men are related to muscular, hairy chest, mustache, attractive, and self-centered.
On the other hand, the physical characteristics of businesswomen are related to being smart, nice clothes, hard-working.
ELT in Focus.
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June 2024 Copyright A 2024 ELT in Focus and organized.
businessmen are associated with wearing suits, smart, and good appearance (Crawford & Unger, 2.
seems that women do share similar characteristics with men yet continued to be subjugated as men possess more qualities that are defining of their masculinity.
Athletic women and athletic men, for example, almost have similar physical Further, the businesswomen also share similar traits of masculinity to the Therefore, men have their characteristics, but women likely have a similar appearance to men.
the contextualization model was found to have authentic significance in IndonesiaAos real-life Based on the representational mode, the images portrayed realities and customs that were suitable for 15Ae17-year-old students and represented Indonesian societyAos socio-cultural It helps students imagine real-life situations about certain things and helps them learn the use of the target language that is suitable in a certain society based on the Another study by Moghtadi .
also shows that visual images, in particular.
English language textbooks provide positive input for students with low-level language skills in language learning.
The researcher stated that the functionality of the visuals presented within the texts could be categorized into three categories: .
Illustrative .
StimulusResponse and .
Student-Generated to analyze the function of four EFL textbooks for Iranian high schools.
The use of first functionality of visual illustrative- here is Illustrative visuals have a passive role in a text in the sense that they do not require the learner to intentionally express a response in a written, spoken, or kinetic way, they tend to be used for contextualization, improve their understanding and increase motivation to learn.
Meanwhile.
StimulusResponse visuals are used for specific learning outcomes, which require an active response from the learner in a spoken, written, or kinetic The roles of Visual Images in the textbook In the teaching and learning process, the usage of visual images or illustration needs to been taken in account.
The visual images provide a familiar and meaningful connection to an unknown verbal document.
It may serve the benefits such as studentsAo guidance and use of an authentic source.
Hewing .
states that the definition of the term AoillustrationAo in a teaching material covers any input except for text such as Audrawings, cartoons, photographs, flow charts, pie charts, graphs, and tables.
Ay One of the most common uses of illustration is the portrayal of a person.
The portrayal of people might be portrayed as having a certain profession or a certain As Wright .
noted that the outside world must be simulated in the Students will understand the new interpretations if they understand the outside world reference and interpretation.
Visual images can help students be aware of certain places, situations, and professions or It can also be used to encourage their understanding of the target language, culture, and worldview (Hewings, 1.
In line with this theory.
Elmiana .
has reported that in terms of interactive mode analysis in three Indonesian senior high school EFL textbooks that currently in use in grades ten (X) to twelve (XII), the study showed that the meaning of images conveys an objective and impersonal connection between images and viewers to substitute their thought and reflection.
Besides, the study of visual images focused on Van LeeuwenAos Theory of Discourse as Recontextualisation of Social Practice Van LeeuwenAos principle of Audiscourse and practiceAy generally applies to a circumstance where some aspects of one social practice .
, performing a surve.
are imported or excluded from their original meaning and situated in discursive context .
, a research article reporting that survey, within the conventions of the academic genr.
In other words, whenever social practices are written or spoken about .
eported, discussed, describe.
, they are being Van Leeuwen .
defines social practices as Ausocially regulated ways of doing thingsAy.
The crucial elements of social practices are .
actions, .
performance ELT in Focus.
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pecific ways of how actions are performe.
, .
actors, .
presentation styles .
ow actors present themselves, e.
, dress, grooming, etc.
), .
times, .
spaces, .
pecific tool and material neede.
, and .
pecific qualities of the concrete elements of social practice.
Leeuwen .
n Wodak and Mayer, .
) sees discourse as transformation or recontextualizations of social practice.
divided transformation into three types.
The first is deletion.
It means that some components of a social practice may not be represented in a particular discourse.
The second is substitution.
For example, an actor is represented as a specific individual or as a type of a person.
The third is addition.
Discourses can add reactions and motives to the representation of social practices.
Further, he stated that the main ways in which social actions can be transformed are various.
They are .
actions and reactions, .
material actions .
ctions as doin.
and semiotic actions .
ctions as meaning.
, .
ctions and reactions are represented dynamically, as action.
and de-activation .
ctions and reactions are represented statically, as though they are entities rather than action.
, .
ctions and reactions are represented as brought about by human agenc.
and de-agentialization .
ctions and reactions are represented as brought about in ways that are impermeable to human agency, e.
through natural process, unconscious process, etc.
), .
concretization and abstraction, and .
given social practice stands for more than itsel.
To conclude, recontextualization is always a process of discursive change: the actual social practice .
, leading an organizatio.
is transformed into the Note that this process is neither mechanical nor straightforward: Auwhat exactly gets transformed .
nd ho.
depends on the interests, goals, and values of the context into which the practice is recontextualizedAy (Van Leeuwen & Wodak, 1999, p.
female representation in the comparison of Indonesian EFL textbooks for junior high school students and senior high school A general quantitative analysis of gender representation was carried out by counting the number of females and males portrayed in the textbooks.
It is important to note that only verbal and visual texts representing female characters were analyzed in this study.
The representativeness of women was examined by analyzing female charactersAo visibility by comparing the two junior high school textbooks .
rade VII and IX) and two senior high school English textbooks .
rade X and XII).
This research used social context parameters such as .
family, .
occupations, .
school participation and achievement, and .
hobbies and .
The contextual parameters in this research are chosen because it shows how female characters were stereotypically portrayed in the textbooks that are used in this In order to guide this research, the author adopted the theory of social practice proposed by Van Leeuwen .
that embraces the following elements: Aoactions,Ao Aoperformance modes,Ao Aopresentation styles,Ao Aolocation,Ao and Aoeligibility conditionAo.
In this research, two junior high school textbooks .
rade VII and IX) and two senior high school English textbooks .
rade X and XII) is used for the research.
The textbook for junior high school students entitled: Bahasa Inggris: When English Rings a Bell Kelas VII and Bahasa Inggris: Think Globally Act Locally Kelas IX.
Meanwhile, for the Senior High School entitled: Bahasa Inggris Untuk SMA/MA/SMK/MAK Kelas X and Bahasa Inggris Untuk SMA/MA/SMK/MAK Kelas XII.
These textbooks published by Indonesia Ministry of Education and Culture.
The textbooks were selected because these textbooks are particulary used in the Indonesia junior high school and senior high school.
It is also designed based on 2013 National Curriculum for junior and senior high school in Indonesia.
The Author manually recorded the number of gendered characters in each lesson unit .
in the textbook.
The Author selected both verbal and visual texts depicting female characters' presence in the form of METHOD This study is a qualitative study that uses critical discourse analysis to examine ELT in Focus.
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The Author also selected verbal texts showcasing the social roles that female characters play.
The data was analyzed on the several aspects of gender, which often represent in the textbooks.
The aspects are:
The Author counted the number of female/male pictures or illustrations in both junior and high school English The Author counted female characters who involve family context or domestic roles in both junior and high school English textbooks.
The Author counted female characters professional/occupational roles in both junior and high school English The Author counted female characters that involve School Participation and Achievement roles in junior and high school English textbooks.
The Author counted female characters that involve Relation to hobbies and Interests in both junior and high school English textbooks.
Female or male mentioned includes proper noun, pronoun, a common noun, and title.
The writer counted female/male, which mentioned in both junior and high school English Female/male roles models: the role illustrations, or exercises.
The role models presented in both junior and high school English textbooks were Female/male activities refer to female or male activities in both junior and high school English textbooks, such as shopping, driving, studying, working, and others were counted.
pictorial representation or illustration, emphasized the visibility of female characters in the two textbooks in which we used these social context parameters: .
family, .
occupations, .
school participation and achievement, and .
hobbies and interests.
is crucial to keep in mind that the focus of this research only texts depicting female visibility were of Author analytical focus.
Occurrences of Female and Male Characters in Texts and Illustrations in Junior High School and Senior High School The quantitative investigation of female and male characters in the content of Junior and Senior High School English Textbooks resulted in immense distinctions between numbers of female and male The proportion of male characters in Senior High School English textbook .
%) is higher than that of Junior High School English textbook .
%).
Meanwhile, the proportion of female characters in Junior High School English textbook .
%) is higher than that of Senior High School English textbook .
%).
This quantitative result showed that there is an imbalanced visibility of males and females in both English textbook for Junior High School and Senior High School.
Visual Images / Illustration Representation In terms of visual representation, images or pictures in the textbook examined are In determining whether the picture is female or male, we see the context.
Figure 1.
Table frequency of male and female characters in visual or illustration representation in each Junior and Senior
High School English textbook
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Based on analysis on two junior high school textbook .
rade VII and XI) and two senior high school English textbooks .
rade X and XII) several findings have been found.
The textbooks were analyzed in several aspects of gender namely female or male The table reveals that male representation is higher than female representation in both Junior and Senior High School English ELT in Focus.
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The frequency of male representation in the Senior High School English textbooks is higher than Junior English Textbooks than in the Senior High School English textbooks.
Meanwhile, the frequency of female representation is higher in the Junior English Textbooks than in the Senior High School English textbooks.
other words, in junior high school English books there is more gender bias which is quite significant compared to Senior high school English books.
Junior high school textbook show the portrayal of woman and a girl of doing home-related activities as a sociocultural space.
In the situation of the first picture Siti is greet her mother before she going to school in the morning and her mother prepare a dish for their It seems that Siti is going to help her mother prepare a dish for breakfast.
She is supposed to do this routine cooking chore.
This indicates that a woman or a girl is socioculturally assigned to play a traditionally feminine role, such as doing domestic chores in the kitchen.
The second picture conversation of Siti and Dayu.
In the blurp conversation in the picture, it seems that Siti asked what Dayu is doing.
We can assume that Dayu in their conversation has just finished mopping the floor.
In this socioculturally space, women or girls should be familiar with and capable of using cooking utensils or domestic activities as semiotic artifacts in order to perform a domestic chore.
Unconsciously, this thing is lead to a separation of domestic-related activities between the interest or responsibility of men .
and women .
at home.
Sociocultural values that exist in Indonesia affect the perspective of women that exist in society that a good woman is a woman who likes to do household chores.
The stereotype that exist in the society often make some women doubt about their capability in pursuing their dreams.
In addition, in the ELT Senior High School textbooks, there is not portrayal of female characters in family context found in the The Portrayal of Female Characters in family context In the textbook examined, femaleAos activity in social & family aspects is more varied than that of males.
In Junior High School textbooks the portrayal of female characters is highly stereotypical way such as to do domestic activities and dealing with home-related Female representation at work .
In the context of social role femaleAos activity,role,and occupation in professional aspect is more various in the SHS ELT textbooks than Junior High School ELT In the Junior High School ELT textbooks female is tend to represented to work in job which involving patience, nurturing, service and support such as housewife, teacher, school principal and surgeon.
The following data .
ee Fig.
are from seven grade JHS ELT textbook .
and nine grade JHS ELT textbook .
shows a conversation text between a teacher (Miss Muti.
and her students (Beni.
Dayu.
Lisa.
Udin, and Ed.
Figure 2.
Visual images of female characters of doing domestic activities in JHS ELT The first picture along with a dialogue text .
n the lef.
in the seven grade of ELT Junior high school textbook and the second picture .
n the right sid.
in nine grade of ELT ELT in Focus.
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June 2024 Copyright A 2024 ELT in Focus this conversation, the teacher is asking about what studentsAo parents do.
As seen in the conversation, female character identified as a housewife and as a surgeon.
It is evident that women are seen as taking a traditional feminine role as a housewife.
In this social role, being a housewife or a home keeper, a woman does a range of domestic chores, such as caring for children, cooking, doing dishes/laundry, ironing, cleaning, and buying family needs.
This shows that being a housewife is an identity of women that is formed from the socio-culture in the society.
Meanwhile, the second picture shows another side of women that women can also become leaders in their communities.
The text shows that a girl who described she need to see her school principal.
The word AuherAy in this text indicate that her school principal is a She also mentions that her school principal was having a meeting which we can assume that the school principal was led the Based on this evident, it depict that women can also leads a team or a community and break the stereotype that women should be able to handle all domestic roles.
the first picture .
in the ten grade English textbook shows that there is a representative picture of a famous female singer and a famous male soccer player person who is famous.
They described as one of the best in their respective In this picture the author seems to describe that women can also be a professional singer in the entertainment industry.
Meanwhile in the second picture, there is a picture of a Mayor in Surabaya.
In a report text noted that Tri Rismaharini (TR), a Mayor of Surabaya City which also known as one of charismatic leader in Indonesia.
In the photograph we can see that TR appears together with a regional recycling conference committee .
ostly me.
as can be seen in the following figure .
Based on the text, it described that she hosted the Regional Recycling Conference (RRC).
Together with the RRC attendees.
TR inspected the display of toy motorcycles made from the recycled The smiling faces on both of the conference participants and T indicate a joyful atmosphere in the conference venue.
This picture helps to construct better image for woman portrayed in the ELT textbooks.
It can be helped the traditional perceptions about womenAos Stereotipically, women are viewed as incompetent, emotional and unqualifed.
They deserved to do only domestic jobs.
In contrast to this.
TR shows that she is a competent, rational, professional, and assertive leader capable of changing Surabaya become one of the most modern city in Indonesia.
In order to influence the awareness of Senior High school students on gender equality and equality, the inclusion of reading text about a woman leader in the textbook has been a good decision.
This can help provide an idea to high school students especially women,that there are many types of work that can be done by women, one of which is becoming a mayor.
Without realizing it, this will affect their mindset that women also have the same rights as men in achieving their dreams.
Figure 3.
Student-teacher conversation about parentsAo occupations .
On the other hand, in the ELT Senior High School textbooks represented more various professional occupation in the As in the following data below, on ELT in Focus.
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June 2024 Copyright A 2024 ELT in Focus considered to be able to perform well in the story-telling competition than male students.
In addition, the two examples of visual images and text in the JHS English textbooks above, it can be depicted that academic achievements are dominated by female in school.
Figure 4.
Visual images of womenAos occupations .
The Portrait of Female Characters with Respect to School Participation and Achievement The issue of inequality school participation and achievement has been of great interest among scholars in the area of gender and education.
As presented in the 4 in the first picture in the seven grade for JHS English textbook .
and in the nine grade for SHS English textbook .
shows stereotyped school participation and In the first picture, there is a conversation between Dayu and Udin.
shows stereotyped school participation and Figure 5.
Female representation in school participation and achievement in JHS textbook On the other hand, in the ELT Senior High School textbooks represented more various school participations and achievements of In the textbook, not only described womenAos achievement in the English subject but also in the other subject such as math.
presented in the first figure .
in the tenth grade ELT SHS textbook, there is a conversation between Rani.
Anisa, and Mr.
Sultoni who congratulated Rani who won the math Olympiad.
This shows that Rani is one of the smartest students in the field of mathematics at school.
It can be observed that in the textbook female students is portrayed perform better in school than male students.
Based on the conversation in the picture Udin asked dayu Audo you study everyday?Ay then Dayu answered AuYes.
I do.
always study everydayAy.
The word Aualways studyAy and AueverydayAy emphasized that Dayu was give all her effort in studying and and udin compliment her and her efforts that it is no wonder Dayu always gets the good grades because of her effort in studying.
It also showcasing female characters diligence in their school participation and achievement.
In another figure, there is a teacher and female student named Lina who is standing in front of the class inform to all students in the classroom about Lina's achievement in winning story-telling competition.
Lina also will be representing her class for the next story-telling competition in her school.
This indicates that the female student in this class ELT in Focus.
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June 2024 Copyright A 2024 ELT in Focus students that a woman also has the same competence in the career field as a man.
As we know, high school students need various career descriptions and jobs that they can do in the With the depiction of the figure of Lilis who is able to apply as a manager in a company, this is expected to be able to motivate high school students to have the same motivation that they have the same opportunity as Lilis.
Figure 6.
Female representation in school participation and achievement in SHS In the SHS ELT textbooks women not only described performing very well in school but they also portrayed womenAos achievement in other field.
In order to give an overview to students about womenAos achievement, the author of the textbook also put a reading text comprehension about a national female hero as in the figure above .
n the left sid.
The text is about biography of Cut Nyak Dien which known as a female leader of the Acehnese guerrilla forces during the Aceh War.
Cut Nyak Dhien is described as a powerful woman which she could lead Aceh guerilla during Aceh War.
She also had educational experience, but the writer did not mention her institution.
Women are also depicted as being able to compete in a professional setting as presented on the right picture.
On the English book for grade 12 there is an example of a job application letter belonging to Lilis Handayani.
She was applying for a local branch manager position on Jeans and Co Based on the text she also claimed that she was also work as manager on a local national shoe retailer companyon her previous As we know that managing a national company need more responsibilities in order to lead the team to achieve company target.
Lilis also mentioned that she can work under a high-pressure, team environment, and she also mentioned that she able to use some computer programs as her skill on her job application letter.
This indicate that Lilis described as a competent career woman.
This depiction of the figure of Lilis can be used as a reference for high school .
The Representation of Female Characters in Relation to Hobbies and Interest Gender roles cannot be separated because they are related to society related to behavior, interests, and activities related to one's gender.
For example, several things are closely related to gender stereotypes for no reason.
For example, music and singing may be associated as female hobbies and interests.
through two English books for JHS and SHS English textbooks that were analyzed there is an overrepresentation of female characters in some activities.
Figure 7.
Female representation in relation hobbies and interests in JHS and SHS English As seen in the Fig 7, the stereotypes representation of female characters can be observed from both figures.
In the first figure .
is the discourses of female instructions accompanied with a stimulus for students to sing a song with a title AuWhat A Wonderful WorldAy.
This instruction came from JHS ELT textbook for grade seven.
The students asked to sing the song repeat after the teacher.
Not ELT in Focus.
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June 2024 Copyright A 2024 ELT in Focus only in the the JHS ELT textbooks singing is associated as a women's hobby, this thing is also appeared on the SHS ELT textbook for the twelve grades.
On the pages 149 in the SHS ELT textbook for twelve grade there is a picture of one of the famous female singers singing and holding a microphone.
She seems to really enjoy singing.
This picture indicate that women always loves to sing.
This pictures also support the statement of Berk .
stated that hobbies and interests are never gender-neutral.
Hobbies and interests cannot be separated since these cannot be separated from gender stereotypes that contribute to society's relating to behaviors, interests, and activities pertinent to oneAos sex.
Besides singing, there are some hobbies and interest that can be associated as gender stereotypes related.
As represented in the figure 8, its indicate that not only singing and music that associated as femaledominated hobby.
In the figures 8 from both JSH .
rade 7 and .
ELT textbook, making a handicraft and cooking also still associated as female hobby and interest.
Figure 8.
Female representation in relation hobbies and interests in JHS and SHS English As we can see in the instruction and conversation on the first picture .
n the left sid.
it shows that Siti has just made a beautiful handicraft from pandan leaf for a national The description in the picture showed that making handicrafts was one of Siti's interests so that she even succeeded in participating in national competitions.
Siti seems very passionate on handicraft by the time Beni also looked praises her handicraft that looked so beautiful.
This can show that women tend to be persistent in their interests.
On the right pictures also showed another gender stereotype of female free-time It described cooking as one of female interest and hobby in textbook.
The stereotype can be seen in the female character that gives cooking recipes.
The female character give instruction of how to make Novel Apple Pudding .
udding ape.
and Ice fruit cocktail with condense milk .
s tele.
The middle picture also showed cooking as genderedinterest.
It can be seen in the conversation between Lina and her mom.
In the conversation Lina seems like enjoying mixing flour and the eggs for the pastry while Beni is This thing can be associated as femaledominated hobby by the time the female character as representative role who give the ELT in Focus.
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CONCLUSION
Based on the finding of the study, the results show that there are some similarity and some of the differences between representation of women in Junior High School and Senior High School ELT textbooks.
It is important to note that only verbal and visual texts representing female characters were analyzed.
This study attempts to provide a better understanding of gender stereotypes situated in such social contexts as family, occupations, school participation and achievement, hobbies and interests in the in Junior High School and Senior High School ELT textbooks.
It was found that there is some different between occurrences of female and male characters in the texts and illustration in in Junior High School and Senior High School ELT The proportion of the proportion of male characters in Senior High School English textbook .
%) was higher than Junior High School English textbook .
%).
Meanwhile, the proportion of female characters in Junior High School English textbook .
%) was higher than Senior High School English textbook .
%).
The frequency visual images of male representation in the Senior High School English textbooks is higher than Junior English Textbooks than in the Senior High School English textbooks.
Meanwhile, the frequency of female representation is higher in the Junior English Textbooks than in the Senior High School English textbooks.
In other words, in junior high school English books there is more gender bias which is quite significant compared to Senior high school English books.
It also found that female characters are still traditionally portrayed stereotype in family context in the JHS ELT textbook than in the SHS ELT textbook.
Female characters are also found still portrayed traditionally stereotyped in family context in the JHS ELT textbook than in the SHS ELT textbook.
socioculturally assigned to play a traditionally feminine role, such as doing domestic chores in the kitchen and doing domestic-job related.
In the context of social role femaleAos activity, role, and occupation in professional aspect is more various in the SHS ELT textbooks than Junior High School ELT In the Junior High School ELT Figure 9.
Female representation in relation hobbies and interests in SHS English Meanwhile in the SHS ELT textbook, shows more various types of female representation in relation hobbies and It can be seen in the picture below.
In the picture there is female student who seems smiling while reading a book in the school library.
We can assume that reading a book as that female studentAos interest because she is smiling and enjoying her book.
Women are also stereotypes have an interest in fashion.
As depicted in the pictures below, in both picture there are two women who complement each other's clothes.
Women dressing colorfully and fashionably .
n yellow and black, red and white-waistband, brown and yellow, also white long dres.
with fashionable hair styles .
traight and curly hair falling on their shoulders and straight hair bundled in rubber ban.
depict that they really love in the way they dressed.
Figure 10.
Female representation in hobbies and interests in SHS English textbook ELT in Focus.
Vol.
June 2024 Copyright A 2024 ELT in Focus textbooks female is tend to represented to work in job which involving patience, nurturing, service and support such as housewife, teacher, school principal and On the other hand, in the ELT Senior High School textbooks represented more various professional occupation in the textbooks such as Mayor and professional Females are also stereotyped as performing very well in school both in the JHS ELT textbook and SHS ELT textbook.
They also described as having a lot of accomplishments in the professional field in the SHS ELT textbook than in JHS ELT textbook as expected to be able to motivate high school students to have the same In the JHS ELT textbooks, females are also stereotyped as having talent singing, cooking, making handicraft.
Meanwhile in the SHS ELT textbooks, female described has many hobbies and interests such as reading, fashion and etc.
Thus, although the textbook writers demonstrate their awareness of gender equality, gendered stereotypes in the textbooks still persist.
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Barton.
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The representation of gender in English textbooks in Uganda.
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Promoting Gender Equality through Textbooks: A Methodological Guide.
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Carney.
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Pictorial illustrations still improve studentsAo learning from text.
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Crawford.
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Women and gender: A feminist psychology.
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