Ideology in Textbooks: An Analytical Study of Gender Issues in ELT in Pakistan

Abstract

This paper is part of a doctoral research project titled ‘Ideology and Worldview in Textbooks: A Study of Cultural Aspects in ELT in Pakistan’. It highlights the issues related to gender in the English language textbooks (henceforth ELT) being taught at the secondary level in Pakistan. It focuses on how the textbooks observe inequality in representing both the sexes at three levels: professional, social and attributive. At the professional level, it looks at which sex occupies higher professions in the textbooks. At the social level, the societal treatment of both the sexes has been assessed. Finally, at the attributive level, this paper talks about social roles related to both the sexes and the attributes associated with these roles. In fact, the thing in focus here is the ideology of difference or inequality observed in different walks of life towards male and female sexes. We hope that the findings of this research will help the policy makers, textbook authors and ELT practitioners realize the politics of gendered material and exclude such material from the curriculum. They may also help in sharpening the students’ critical thinking abilities in understanding the spin of language as an ideological tool in dissemination of such knowledge that favours only the male world. Gender