VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES ********************* NGUYỄN THỊ NGỌC HÀ AN INVESTIGATION INTO GENDER BIAS IN VIETNAMESE SECONDARY SCHOOL EFL TEXTBOOK DIALOGUES (Nghiên cứu về sự thiên vị giới tính trong các đoạn hội thoại thuộc sách giáo khoa tiếng Anh dành cho bậc THCS tại Việt Nam) M.A MINOR THESIS (Type I) Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 8140231.01 Hanoi – 2019 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES ********************* NGUYỄN THỊ NGỌC HÀ AN INVESTIGATION INTO GENDER BIAS IN VIETNAMESE SECONDARY SCHOOL EFL TEXTBOOK DIALOGUES (Nghiên cứu về sự thiên vị giới tính trong các đoạn hội thoại thuộc sách giáo khoa tiếng Anh dành cho bậc THCS tại Việt Nam) M.A MINOR THESIS (Type I) Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 8140231. Hoang Van Van Hanoi – 2019 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com DECLARATION I hereby declare that this thesis is my own work and effort and it has not been submitted to any other university or institution wholly or partially. Hanoi, May 2019 Nguyen Thi Ngoc Ha i LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My graduation thesis has been completed with the support of a great number of people. First of all, I would like to express my deep gratitude to my supervisor Prof.
Hoang Van Van who gave me a lot of valuable guidance, encouragement, criticisms and correction throughout my thesis writing. Secondly, I would like to thank Dr. Huynh Anh Tuan, Head of Faculty of Post Graduate Studies, and the rest of the council members for granting me the permission to conduct this thesis. Last but not least, My sincere thanks go to my family, my friends for their encouragement and support that help me to complete my work.
ii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ABSTRACT This investigation is a quantitative study of dialogues in eight EFL textbooks used in lower secondary schools in Vietnam. The chosen textbooks are Tiếng Anh 6 tập 1, Tiếng Anh 6 tập 2, Tiếng Anh 7 tập 1, Tiếng Anh 7 tập 2, Tiếng Anh 8 tập 1, Tiếng Anh 8 tập 2, Tiếng Anh 9 tập 1, and Tiếng Anh tập 2. The aim is to investigate if there is any over- representation of female or male characters in the dialogues in the textbooks currently being used in Vietnam. This study was conducted over the dialogues of each textbook, and the researcher will look at four different typologies: (1) The number of times male/female character initiated dialogue; (2) The number of turns taken; (3) The number of characters; and (4) The number of words used.
The findings show that gender over- representation occurs in all of the investigated textbooks. To be more specific, two of the eight textbooks over-represented female characters while the other six textbooks over- represented male ones. It is also worth mentioning that there is a shift from male- dominated dialogues to more female-dominate dialogues from 2013 to 2016. Some pedagogical implications have been suggested to textbooks writers and learners in terms of gender bias in textbook dialogues.
Keywords: gender over-representation, textbook dialogues, pedagogical implications iii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com TABLE OF CONTENT DECLARATION .1 Rationale for the Study .2 Aim and Objectives of the Study. Scope of the Study .5 Significance of the Study .6 Organization of the Thesis. 4 CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW. Review of Previous Studies Related to the Research Area of the Thesis.
Studies of Gender Bias in EFL Textbooks in the World .2 Studies of Gender Bias in EFL Textbooks in Vietnam. Review of Theoretical Background .2 Influences of Gender Bias in Foreign Language Textbook Dialogues. 11 CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY. Analytical Framework of the Study.
Data Collection Procedure. 19 iv LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. Data Analysis Procedures. 21 CHAPTER IV: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION .1 Tiếng Anh 6 tập 1 .2 Tiếng Anh 6 tập 2 .3 Tiếng Anh 7 tập 1 .4 Tiếng Anh 7 tập 2 .5 Tiếng Anh 8 tập 1 .6 Tiếng Anh 8 tập 2 .7 Tiếng Anh 9 tập 1 .8 Tiếng Anh 9 tập 2.
Analysis and Discussion of the Findings. Limitations of the Study. Suggestions for Future Research. 49 v LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF TABLES Table 1.
Summary of Tiếng Anh 6 tập 1. Summary of Tiếng Anh 6 tập 2. Summary of mixed-gender dialogues in Tiếng Anh 6 tập 2. Summary of Tiếng Anh 7 tập 1.
Summary of mixed-gender dialogues in Tiếng Anh 7 tập 1. Summary of same-gender dialogues in Tiếng Anh 7 tập 1. Summary of Tiếng Anh 7 tập 2. Summary of mixed-gender dialogues in Tiếng Anh 7 tập 2.
Summary of same-gender dialogues in Tiếng Anh 7 tập 2. Summary of Tiếng Anh 8 tập 1. Summary of mixed-gender dialogues in Tiếng Anh 8 tập 1. Summary of Tiếng Anh 8 tập 2.
Summary of mixed-gender dialogues in Tiếng Anh 8 tập 2. Summary of Tiếng Anh 9 tập 1. Summary of Tiếng Anh 9 tập 1. Summary of same-gender dialogues in Tiếng Anh 9 tập 1.
Summary of Tiếng Anh 9 tập 2. Summary of mixed-gender dialogues in Tiếng Anh 9 tập 2. Summary of same-gender dialogues in Tiếng Anh 9 tập 2. 37 vi LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF ABBREVIATION EFL: English as a Foreign Language ESL: English as a Second Language UNESCO: United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organizations vii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION This chapter provides background information and rationale of the study.
It is subdivided into six sections, namely (a) rationale for the study, (b) aim and objectives of the study, (c) research questions, (d) scope of the study, significance of the study and organization of the thesis.1 Rationale for the Study As an English teacher, not only the chance but also the amount of time each student is given to practice English in a lesson is what I pay attention to. However, there were times the textbook dialogues did not support me. For example, one day, I invited two male students and two female students to read a dialogue. While my expectation was to share the chance to practice English among students, it turned out that the girls‟ turns were far fewer than boys‟ and at the very end of the conversation.
Another instance is that on the day I taught the unit whose topic was “At the Science Club” (Tiếng Anh 8 tập 1), seeing that some female students were not interested, I intended to get them to read the dialogue. Unfortunately, in that dialogue, there was only one female character who discussed the roles of science and technology with three men. That was also the day I started to wonder whether the textbooks I was using treat men prior to women. According to the Order of the President of the State on Promulgation of Law (June 2005), schools or other educational institutions are responsible for giving the learners the respect, equal treatment and provide them with the adequate information concerning their own learning and training by schools or other educational institution.
One of the important missions of the school system is to teach students the value of equality and for teachers to teach in a way that encourages equality. As a result, the school should actively and consciously further equal rights and opportunities for men and women. While the national curriculum highlights the importance of providing equal learning opportunities for both boys and girls, this is not always the case in the classroom or in the teaching materials being used in the classroom (Mesthrie et al., 2000; 1 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com Bayyurt & Litosseliti, 2006). It is a fact that research carried out during the past four decades found that texts and dialogues in EFL textbooks presented an imbalance in gender representation and traditional gender roles (Hartman & Judd, 1978; Jones et al.
On a positive note, some research revealed that a balanced representation of female and male characters in texts and textbook dialogues has improved over the years (Jones, Kitetu & Sunderland, 1995; Poulou, 1997). However, an unbalanced representation of gender still exists in textbooks. With regards to gender bias in textbooks, it has been discussed for a long time in the world but in Vietnam up to the present, to the author‟s knowledge, the first and only researcher who has investigated into gender bias in EFL textbooks is Nguyen Doan Canh (2016). However, he focused on the linguistic sexism as well as the hidden message conveyed via the occurrence of linguistic sexism.
That means the phenomenon of gender over-representation in EFL textbooks has never been studied and still a mystery. The above-mentioned reasons have urged me to carry out the present research to find out the status of gender over-representation in the current lower secondary EFL textbooks in Vietnam and hopefully, the result of the study may be useful for English teachers and makes a contribution to the field of textbook analysis and evaluation in Vietnam.2 Aim and Objectives of the Study The main aim of this study is to investigate the issue of gender bias in the current Vietnamese lower secondary English language textbook dialogues: Tiếng Anh 6 tập 1, Tiếng Anh 6 tập 2, Tiếng Anh 7 tập 1, Tiếng Anh 7 tập 2, Tiếng Anh 8 tập 1, Tiếng Anh 8 tập 2, Tiếng Anh 9 tập 1, Tiếng Anh 9 tập 2 written by Hoang Han Van et al. and published by Ministry of Education and Training (MOET). The main aim above is specified into specific objectives of the research as follows: (1) to find out the unbalanced representation exists in the current Vietnamese low-secondary EFL textbook dialogues: Tiếng Anh 6 tập 1, Tiếng Anh 6 tập 2, Tiếng Anh 7 tập 1, Tiếng Anh 7 tập 2, Tiếng Anh 8 tập 1, Tiếng Anh 8 tập 2, Tiếng Anh 9 tập 1, Tiếng Anh 9 tập 2 2 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com in terms of number of characters, number of times female and male characters initiated dialogue, number of turns taken by male and female characters as well as number of words allocated female and male characters in these dialogues and (2) to suggest pedagogical implications concerning gender bias in textbook dialogues to authors and teachers in Vietnam.3 Research Questions The researcher will look at eight EFL textbooks currently being used at lower secondary schools in Vietnam and investigate the following questions: 1.
To what extent EFL Vietnamese lower secondary school EFL textbook dialogues: Tiếng Anh 6 tập 1, Tiếng Anh 6 tập 2, Tiếng Anh 7 tập 1, Tiếng Anh 7 tập 2, Tiếng Anh 8 tập 1, Tiếng Anh 8 tập 2, Tiếng Anh 9 tập 1, Tiếng Anh 9 tập 2 over- represent a particular gender? 2. What pedagogical implications should be suggested to textbook authors and teachers in terms of gender bias in textbook dialogues? 1. Scope of the Study Gender bias can be found in various materials, especially in teaching and learning materials such as textbooks. In Vietnamese EFL textbooks, to the author‟s knowledge, there has never been any study of gender bias in dialogues before.
However, this study does not mention gender bias in all of the Vietnamese EFL textbook dialogues. Besides, the study can hardly cover a comprehensive analysis of gender bias in these EFL textbook dialogues because gender bias in textbook dialogues may be portrayed in other aspects such as sexist stereotypes.