An Analysis on Gender-based Language and Illustrations in Malaysian Secondary Schools’ English Language and Literature Textbooks
Ng Yu Jin, Yee Chiew Ling @ Vivian, Chong Seng Tong, Lee Yi Ling, Mohd Ariff Ahmad Tarmizi

Abstract
This paper examines the uses of gender biased language and illustrations in Malaysia secondary school English Language Teaching textbooks and Literature readings. A corpus of five English Language Teaching textbooks and two literature readings were studied for the depictions of gender discrimination through pictures, vocabularies and social norms. Male figures appeared more frequently in the corpus than female figures at the percentage of 63% and 37% respectively. More than 50% of the analyzed gender specific common nouns and pronouns were male dominance. Differentiation of social class was strongly denoted by the employment of term of address in depicting a higher class for male characters. Male identities were more prevalent than female identities at 72%. Gender stereotyping occurred in occupations, moral values, activities, conversation, and societal contribution. The study suggested that gender inequality represented in the teaching materials should be revisited to avoid cultivating misconception among the young generation.

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