Reinforcement of Gender Stereotyping in Malaysian Primary English Textbooks

Abstract

Many primary school students have been exposed to gender stereotyping since they were young, with educators, parents, and their peers shaping their thoughts, behaviors, and their perceptions of gender. While several previous research studies have been done on the depiction of gender-stereotyped roles in Malaysian textbooks, very little has fully explored how stereotypical gender characteristics are assigned to the male and female gender, and how reinforcement of occupational gender roles is done through images and text in Malaysian primary English textbooks. This study seeks to investigate the reinforcement of gender stereotyping in Malaysian Primary English textbooks through images and text. The study addressed the following research question: What stereotypical gender characteristics are assigned to the male and female gender through the images and text incorporated in Malaysian English Primary textbooks? Using the Thematic Analysis approach by Braun and Clarke(2006) the results show that the themes obtained from the analysis were consistent with results from previous studies, which suggested that there was a biased characterization of the male and female gender, and those female characters were still underrepresented leading to the reinforcement of stereotypical gender roles. This study sheds new light on the reinforcement of gender stereotyping and provides important insights into the creation and development of primary English textbooks in Malaysia.