Male and Female Social Actor Representation in Four Corners 4: A Critical Discourse Perspective

Subject Areas : Research in English Language Pedagogy

Ali Roohani ¹

1 - Shahrekord University

Received: 2014-08-04 Accepted : 2014-12-05 Published : 2014-12-05

Keywords: gender, social actors, Four Corners, Critical Discourse Analysis, Textbook evaluation,

Abstract :

This study aims at investigating the linguistic representation of male and female social actors in the Four Corners 4 textbook, drawing on CDA. More specifically, van Leeuwen’s (1996) framework, which highlights the connection of linguistic and social practices, is used as the analytical framework to examine gendered social actors in this English language teaching (ELT) textbook. To this end, content analysis was done to explore the frequency and proportion of each social actor. Quantitative and qualitative data analysis showed that there were some differences, though not statistically significant, between males and females regarding substitution, individualization, and activation. Males, in contrast with females, were included more as active and famous actors in social circumstances and they were more individualized. In addition, they were more activated through circumstantialization and participation. On the other hand, the case of formalization was mostly observed for males. Moreover, males and females were distributed equally in the textbook in terms of classification, genericization, and collectivization. The results reveal that the gender bias still exists, though to a small degree, in this ELT textbook, which is taught as a substitution for the previous ELT textbooks in many language schools in Iran.

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