Social aspects of gender representation in Efl textbooks

ENThe aim of the present research was to determine social gender representation patterns in the Lithuanian, British and Argentinian EFL textbooks. To achieve the aim, EFL textbooks circulated in Lithuania (Super English 4), the UK (Speakout) and Argentina (My Life 2) were analyzed with regard to social aspects of gender representation. The methods chosen for the study were content analysis and the calculation of the relative frequency of occurrence. The results revealed that the Lithuanian EFL textbook depicts females in a stereotyped way with regard to household duties. However, females are visible in the field of IT which is treated as a male specific attribute in the other two analysed textbooks. The content analysis of illustrations in the British EFL textbook revealed that males dominate the labour market whereas females are engaged only in the artistic occupations as dancers, models or singers. Furthermore, in the Argentinian EFL textbook females are excluded from the field of IT; however, they are not associated with the domestic sphere. In contrast to Lithuanian EFL textbook, females are presented lying on the beach, sunbathing, and watching TV. Further studies can examine other aspects of gender representation and cover wider range of EFL textbooks. Keywords: gender representation, gender-awareness, gender-bias, visibility, gender roles and gender attributes.