A Gender Analysis on English Grammar Textbooks

Abstract

Educational materials play a crucial role in socializing learners into different gender roles. This study was an attempt to examine different areas of sexism in English grammar textbooks(English grammar digest by Trudy Aronson, An advanced learners’ Grammar by Mark Foley and Diane Hall, and Modern English by Marcella Frank) that are taught in Iranian university. Content analysis was performed:  a systematic quantitative analysis was performed concerning 1 ) firstness and 2) masculine generic construction. Regarding the number of male and female order of mentioning, male  came first more frequently than those of females. And using generic constructions, these textbooks contained many male-generics.

Keywords: Content analysis, Discrimination, Gender, Gender roles, Gender socialization, Sex, Sexism.