GENDER AWARENESS IN ENGLISH TEXTBOOKS FOR

SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL

Lecturer : Nur
Syamsiyah, M.Pd

Group 2 Members:

Dhea Febi Cahyani ([email protected]) (2111040254)

Pipit Intan Purnama ([email protected] )

(2111040254)

Class : 6D

ENGLISH EDUCATION DEPARTMENT

TARBIYAH AND TEACHER TRAINING FACULTY

RADEN INTAN STATE ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY OF LAMPUNG

2024
 INTRODUCTION

Language is a kind of communication that allows community members to

engage and communicate with one another. Through using language, humans are
capable of conveying ideas, commands, and feelings. Besides, we use language as
an important tool to communicate with others. Humans learn the language as a
means of communication from birth; this process is known as language acquisition.
Thus, we are constantly learning and acquiring the language we hear and use when
we communicate using the language. Learning foreign languages has influenced
our lives in significant ways. On other hand, learning a foreign language is one of
the most important things, especially the English language. Particularly, in our
country, English can be taught here or utilized as a foreign language, even though
it is not our mother tongue. Therefore, the process by which speakers of a
language can learn a second language in addition to their native tongue is known as
second language acquisition (SLA) or second language learning. The term "second
language" refers to any additional language that is learned or acquired.
According to Oxford (1990) a learning second language represent
conscious knowledge of the language that they learn this knowledge through
formal instruction. The process of learning a second or foreign language is
difficult. Meanwhile, Ranjan and Philominraj (2020) said that the process of
acquiring the English language is affected by a variety of elements, such as
biological and psychological elements. Hence, the one very important component
that directly affects and influences how people learn languages is their gender.
Gender and language acquisition are closely related concepts that cannot be
separated. In terms of level, males and females acquire English differently.
Consequently, the gender of the learners determines the rate of language
acquisition. It is also commonly acknowledged that gender influences second
language acquisition. There are apparent significant learning differences between
males and females. According to Second Language Acquisition (SLA) theorists,
female language learners may exhibit superiority in their second language
acquisition (Burstall, 1975; Boyle, 1987; Ehrlich, 2001). Therefore, this paper
aims to discuss the role of gender in second language acquisition.

2
 LITERATURE REVIEW

Definition of Gender
Sometimes, certain individuals misunderstand the term "gender" by
assuming it to be synonymous with sex. Shubhra (2006) said that sex is a
designation based on biology, whereas gender is socially and psychologically
constructed by the process of interactions in the family, social and education
settings. In other words, gender is something we do and perform rather than
something we have. According to Sidiqi (2003) with reference to gender in
language, "In linguistics, the term referred to the grammatical categories that
indexed sex in the structure of human languages. In the 1960s and 1970s, feminist
theorists used the term "gender" to describe how society creates the categories
"masculine" and "feminine." Though the female movement didn't really get going
until the late 1960s and early 1970s, the relationship between gender and language
was already well known at that time. Instead of being something that humans
socially and emotionally build according to their beliefs and rules when they make
interaction or speak with one another, gender can be considered as something that
is not brought with a person when they are born. Moreover, according to certain
theories, how males and females use language affects how they see themselves in
society and how other people see them. There are some theories on how language
and gender interact, those are:

1. The deficit Theory

Male language serves as the norm, whereas women's language falls short
since it deviates from the norm. Lakoff (1972) said that language both
reinforces and reflects social convention. Males and females speak
different languages, which reflects the diverse social roles they play. In the
book Language: Its Nature, Evolution, and Origin published in 1922, Otto
Jespersen found that females speak a lot and use simpler words as they
have smaller vocabularies, although males have larger vocabularies and
use more difficult words. Nevertheless,

3
 society has evolved, and there have been significant changes in the social
status and roles of females.

2. The Dominance Theory

Male language is superior and more dominant in society than women's
language, which is viewed as inferior. Males are more likely to interrupt
and control females when engaged in interactions. Thus, they are always
interrupted and limited to a certain topic and time. Even when the females
are interrupted by males, they prefer silence over fighting over who gets to
speak first. The language was controlled by males because they had greater
influence in politics, culture, and social life. However, females use
language in a way that reflects their subordinate position in society, and
males in a way that reflects their power. It indicates that if females have
higher social status than males, they would be able to express themselves
verbally more effectively. Therefore the language we use is more about
power and status than gender.

3. The difference Theory

Males and females belong to different sub-cultures since they are
socialized differently from childhood and have different ways of
communicating with each other. It means that males and females really do
converse differently. Moreover, Tannen (1990) believes the difference
starts in childhood when parents use more words describing feelings to
females and use more verbs for males. It indicates with some researchers
that males prefer to speak in a competitive and hard-edged manner, whereas
women speak in a more implicitly indirect manner. Besides, historically
males are seen as protectors and powerful people, while women are seen as
vulnerable and shielded. As a result, the speaking personalities of males
and females are formed in accordance with societal expectations and
acquisitions. It is evident from the speaker's inclination, subject matter,
and mode of expression.

4
 DISCUSSION

The textbook commonly used at the high school level in West Lampung,
'Active English', was used as the subject of the study. There are 10
chapters in this book. The purpose of this analysis was to find out the
category differences between male and female characters. This research is
a content analysis. As a result, the textbook chosen was a tenth grade
student’s book. Then, interviews withteachers of this subject were
conducted to determine the suitability or credibility of abook. Thus, this
book was chosen, which is a book from Intan Pariwara Publisher.

The writing in this book consists of the colors green, red, white, black,
yellow, orange. There is a picture of a boy in a park, wearing an orange
hoodie and senior high school pants and some trees. there are also three
names of the author of the book in the upper right corner. there is an
independent curriculum writing in the upper left corner, there is an
interactive book writing in the middle of the top, there is an active english
writing in a black box, there is an english for senior high school students
writing below the box, at the bottom right there is a grade X writing and
below it again there is the name of the publisher of the book and at the
bottom left there is a barcode that contains the advantages of the book.
Predetermined Categories

CHAPTER 1

•The number of female and male characters

The male’s name is :Tommi, Daren, Austin, Nolan, Aska, Mr.Jhon, Justin,
Oki, Deden, Carli, Dwiki, Jimi, Andri, Juan.

The female’s name is : Silvia, Mrs.Viona, Dona, Tyas, Nora, Grace,

Violet.

The male’s pronoun is : He, His

The female’s pronoun is : She, Her

•Firstness : Nothing

•Occupation
There is 1 job which is firefigther

•Noun
There is 1 noun which is Angels

•Adjective : Nothing

•Activities
Male’s :Basketball and bicycle
Female’s :Nothing

•Place : Nothing

CONCLUSION
Overall, there is more use of male characters. Male names are mentioned
41 times and female names 20 times. Fristness does not exist. There is one
occupation done by men, namely firefighters. There is one noun which is
angels. There is no adjective. There are 2 activities done by men such as
playing basketball and bicycle. There is no gender-related place.

CHAPTER 2
• The number of female and male characters

The male’s name is :Dave, Carles Darwin, Oswald Avery, Maurice

Wilkins, Colin MacLeode, Gregor Mendel, Thomas Hunts Morgan's,
Francis Crick, James Watson, Alexander Graham Bell, Denis, Davin,
christopherColombus’s.

The female’s name is : Rosalind Franklin, Susan Diane wojcicki,

AleaDevita, Sarah Dean Smith, Adel Anderson, Marrie Van Brittan
Brown.

6
The male’s pronoun is : He, Him, His

The female’s pronoun is : She , Her

•Firstness
In the 1940s , Oswald Avery, Colin MacLeod and Maclyn McCarty
discovered that DNA is the hereditary molecule in most organisms and is
the chemical basis of genetic information.

•Occupation
Male’s : Astronaut and Security
Female’s : Nurse, Secretary

•Activities : Nothing

•Noun : Nothing

•Adjective : Nothing

•Place : Nothing

CONCLUSION
Overall, there was more use of female characters. Male names are
mentioned 31 times and female names 63 times. There are two jobs done
by men, namely Astronaut and security. and there are also jobs done by
women, namely nurse and secretary. There are no nouns. There are no
adjectives. there are no authentic activities. there is no balanced place.
There are 3 pictures of men and 2 pictures of women.

CHAPTER 3
•The number of female and male characters

The male’s name is : Harry, Alfie, Gio, Kevin, Bara, Kenzi, Andi, Garry,
Danny, Tristan Evan, Yoshi, Reno, Malik.

The female’s name is : Amy, Lola, Kimmy, Ella, Olivia, Alisha, Elle,
Alana, Dafhina, Archie, Sheila, Susan, Rita, Diana, Tya Melisa, Susy,
Sovia Amara.

The male’s pronoun is : He, Him, His, Himself

The female’s pronoun is : She , Her

•Firstness
Ladies and Gentleman

•Occupation
Male’s : Architect, Barista, Programmer
Female : Nurse, Fashion Designer.

•Activities

7
Male’s : Nothing
Female’s : Cooked

•Noun: Nothing

•Adjective
Tall, Beautiful, Old, Younger, black long wavy hair, dark brown eyes.

•Place
Male’s : Nothing
Female’s : Boutique

CONCLUSION
Overall, there is more use of female characters. Female names are
mentioned 94 times and female names 72 times. There is 1 firstness which
is "ladiest and gentlest" on page 37. There are 3 jobs done by men,
namely architect, barista, programmer. and there are two jobs done by
women which are nurse and fashion designer. There are no nouns. There
are adjectives such as tall, beautifull, old, younger, black long heavy hair,
and dark brown eyes. There is 1 activity done by women such as cooking.
For balanced places, there is 1 place that is synonymous with women,
namely boutiques. There are 11 images of men and 14 images of women.

CHAPTER 4
•The number of female and male characters

The male’s name is : Bob, Bryan, Brown, Joe, Yoga, Ryan, Barry.

The female’s name is : Reina, Rachel, Ella, Alea, Sheyna, Dona, Evilia.

The male’s pronoun is : He, Him

The female’s pronoun is: Nothing

•Firstness
“ BothMrs.Alea and Mr. Yoga to singapore but also to Cambodia and
Vietnam.”
“ EitherMrs.Alea or Mr Yoga ever traveled to Singapore,Cambodia, and
Vietnam.”
“ NeitherMrs.Alea nor Mr. Yoga ever traveled to
Singapore,Cambodia,Vietnam.”
“ When should Mr. Barry calls Ms Evilia?”

•Occupation : Nothing

•Activities
Male’s: E- sport competition
Female’s : Nothing

•Noun : Nothing

8
•Adjective : Nothing

•Place : Nothing

CONCLUSION
Overall, there is more use of male characters. male names are mentioned
46 times and female names 21 times. Firstness is 4, 3 on page 51 and 1 on
page 56. There is 1 occupation done by men, which is E-sport. There are
no nouns. There are no adjectives. For a balanced place there is also
no. There are 6 pictures of men and 5 pictures of women.

CHAPTER 5
•The number of female and male characters

The male’s name is : Dion, Jim, Tony, Rory, Danny.

The female’s name is :Listya, Jenny, Ava, April, Dahlia.

The male’s pronoun is : Nothing

The female’s pronoun is : Nothing

•Firstness : Nothing

•Occupation : Nothing

•Activities
Male’s : Making vegetable plots
Femal’s : Nothing

•Adjective : Old

•Noun
Male’s : Container, buckets, air pump, rock
Female’s : Nothing

•Place
Male’s : Reservoir
Female’s : Aquarium

CONCLUSION
Overall, there is more use of male characters. Male names were
mentioned 27 times and female names 25 times. Firtsness does not exist.
There is one occupation done by men, photographer. Noun does not exist.
There is no adjective. There are 2 activities done for women such as
baking and washing clothes. For balanced places, there is 1 place that is
synonymous with men, namely a reservoir and 1 place that is synonymous
with women, namely an aquarium. There are 4 pictures of males and 5
pictures of females.

9
CHAPTER 6
•The number of female and male characters

The male’s name is : Ron, Harry, Devan, Mingyu, Vigo, Timm, Fred
Smith.

The female’s name is : Rosita, Julia.

The male’s pronoun is : He, Him, His

The female’s pronoun is : She, Her

•Firstness : Nothing

•Occupation : Nothing

•Activities : Nothing

•Adjective : Beautiful

•Noun : Nothing

•Place : Nothing

CONCLUSION
Overall, there is more use of male characters. Male names were
mentioned 49 times and female names 21 times. Fristness does not exist.
Occupation does not exist. Noun does not exist. There is 1 adjective
which is beautiful. There are no activities performed for men or women.
There are no places that are identical to men or women. There are 22
pictures of males and 11 pictures of females.

CHAPTER 7
•The number of female and male characters

The male’s name is :Saka, Axel, , Aeson, Pelias, Jason, Gitche Manitou,
Owen Parfitt.

The female’s name is : Rena, Vanya, Hera, MisheMakwa.

The male’s pronoun is : He, Him, His

The female’s pronoun is : She, Her

•Firstness : no

•Occupation : Nothing

•Activities : Nothing

10
•Adjective : Beautiful

•Noun : Nothing

•Place : Nothing

CONCLUSION
Overall, there is more use of male characters. Male names were
mentioned 49 times and female names 21 times. Fristness does not exist.
Occupation does not exist. Noun does not exist. There is 1 adjective
which is beautiful. There are no activities performed for men or women.
There are no places that are identical to men or women. There are 12
pictures of males and 11 pictures of females.

CHAPTER 8
•The number of female and male characters

The male’s name is :Dhafi, Arka.

The female’s name is :Jeanny, Amira, Erlita.

The male’s pronoun is : Nothing

The female’s pronoun is : She

•Firstness : Nothing

•Occupation : Nothing

•Activities : Nothing

•Adjective : Nothing

•Noun : Nothing

•Place : Nothing

CONCLUSION
Overall, there is more male Characters. Male names were mentioned 12
Times and female names 18. Firstness does not exist. Occupation does not
exist. Noun does not exist. There are places that are identical to men or
women. there are 4 pictures of male’s and 4 pictures of female’s.

CHAPTER 9
•The number of female and male characters

The male’s name is : Hans, Sean, Evans.

The female’s name is :Erlita, Echa, Adisti, Jane, Ivonne.

11
The male’s pronoun is : Nothing

The female’s pronoun is : She

•Firstness : Nothing

•Occupation : Singer

•Activities : Nothing

•Noun
Male’s : Cars electronics
Female : Fashion, Cosmetics

•Adjective : Nothing

•Place : Nothing

CONCLUSION
Overall, there is more male Characters. Male names were mentioned 17
Times and female names 22 times. Firstness does not exist. Occupation
(singer). Noun (male : cars electronics), (Female : Fashion and
Cosmetics). There are places that are identical to men or women. there
are 14 pictures of male’s and 5 pictures of female’s.

CHAPTER 10
•The number of female and male characters

The male’s name is : Dante, Idam, Dimas, Dion, Faizal.

The female’s name is : Raya, Adelia, Ira, Indah, Sania, Gina, Tika, Raisa.

The male’s pronoun is : Nothing

The female’s pronoun is : She

•Firstness : Nothing

•Occupation : Baristas

•Activities : Nothing

•Noun : Nothing

•Adjective : Beautiful, Children, Adults.

•Place
Male’s :Coffe Shop
Female’s : Nothing

12
CONCLUSION
Overall, there is more male Characters. Male names were mentioned 11
Times and female names 17. Firstness does not exist. Occupation
((baristas).Noun (coffe shop). There are places that are identical to men or
women, adjective ( Beautiful, Children, Adults). there are 6 pictures of
male’s and 5 pictures of female’s.

13
 CONCLUSION

Based on the explanation above, gender and language acquisition are closely related
concepts that cannot be separated. In terms of level, males and females acquire English
differently. There are some different theories about gender difference in language which
are the deficit theory, the dominance theory, and the difference theory. The languages of
males and females are quite different. The main areas of distinction include word usage,
voice and tone, syntactic structure, and language usage style. Thus, gender has an
influence on learning a second language. There are 377 male and 300 female genders in
total. Thus, the use of gender in the tenth grade English textbook for senior high school
from Intan Pariwara Publisher entitled 'Active English' tends to be mostly male.

There are 17 TP in total. In sum, the last subject in semester 1 in chapter 5, which is
about using expressions that show agreement and disagreement in conversation
accurately, is in the eighth TP.

14
 REFERENCES

Boyle, J. P. (1987). Sex differences in listening vocabulary. Language Learning,

37(2), 273-284.

Burstall, C. (1975). Factors affecting foreign-language learning: A consideration

of some relevant research findings, Language Teaching and Linguistic Abstract,
8: 5-125.

Ehrlich, S. (2001) Representing Rape: Language and Sexual Consent. London:

Routledge.

FadhilaYonata& Yan Mujiyanto. 2017. The Representation of Gender in English

Textbooks in Indonesia. Language Circle: Journal of Language and Literature,
12(1), 91—101.

Jespersen, O. (1922). Language: Its Nature, Development and Origin.

Lakoff, R. (1972). Language in context. 48, 907-927. doi:10.2307/411994

Nugraheni, Ratnasari. 2016. Gender Awareness in English Textbooks for

Elementary School Yogyakarta: English Language Studies. Graduate
Program.Sanata Dharma University

Ranjan, R., & Philominraj, A. (2020). Language learning strategies, motivation

and gender in foreign language context. Universal Journal of Educational
Research, 8(2), 591−604 https://doi.org/10.13189/ujer.2020.080231

Sadiqi, F (2003). Women, Gender and Language in Morocco. Brill NV,

Leiden P. 2.

Shubhra P. G. (2006). Achieving Inter-Gender Communication Effectiveness in

Organizations. Vision: The Journal of Business Perspective 10: 11, P. 12.

Oxford, R.L. (1990) Language Learning Strategies: What Every Teacher Should
Know. Boston: Heinle.

Tannen, D. (1990). You just don’t understand: women and men in conversation.
London: Virago Press

15
16