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Vol. 11 No. 2 (2022)

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Submitted
Apr 19, 2023
Published
Apr 19, 2023

Sexism in Tanzanian Secondary School English Language Textbooks: Investigation of Adjective Attributions

Fides S. Pangani

Journal of Education, Humanities & Science (JEHS), Vol. 11 No. 2 (2022)

Abstract

This research paper investigates sexism in Tanzania’s secondary school English
language textbooks with a focus on the adjectives used to describe women and men in
textbooks published between 2005 and 2014. The paper aims to reveal how women
and men are described, uncover gender ideologies conveyed by adjective descriptions
and characterise the gender ideologies as hegemonic or deviant. Data were collected
through a critical textual review of eight (8) textbooks. This paper is anchored on the
Feminist CDA theory; and Fairclough’s three-dimensional framework was used as the
analytic tool whereby data were described, interpreted and explained. The findings
indicate that women and men are perceived differently in terms of number and types
of adjectives attributed to them despite some similar attributions. In particular, there
are more adjectives describing men than women. It is also found out that women are
described mostly by physical property adjectives than other personalities. The study
also revealed that some ideologies conveyed by adjectives are hegemonic, while others
are deviant. Generally, the adjectives used to represent women and men in Tanzania’s
secondary English language textbooks portray a sexist attitude about women and men
since many adjectives still indicate gender stereotypes despite some positive changes.

Keywords

adjective attributions, gender ideologies, sexism, textbooks, hegemonic, deviant
S. Pangani, F. . (2023). Sexism in Tanzanian Secondary School English Language Textbooks: Investigation of Adjective Attributions. Journal of Education, Humanities & Science (JEHS), 11(2). Retrieved from https://ojs3.bongotech.info/index.php/jehs/article/view/201
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