Representations of Gender and Sexuality in Polish ELT :: LaGeS :: December 4th, 16.45, room 202A
Last updated by lukaszp on 2013-12-01. Originally submitted by lukaszp on 2013-11-29.
2013-12-04 16:45
Representations of Gender and Sexuality in Polish ELT Textbooks and Classroom ‒ project report
December 4th, 16.45
room: 202A
The ELT classroom constitutes an example of social and discursive space in which (constant) construction of gender and sexuality takes place. In today’s world where many social categories (including gender) are redefined and contested, it is imperative to look at how the educational context contributes (or not) to the students’ understanding and making sense of these constantly changing social arrangements. It is also vital to examine whether, for instance, the social changes pertaining to women taking on more agentive roles and men increasingly often functioning in family ones, or LGBTQ people being recognized by most Anglophone states, are reflected in current ELT textbooks.
gender and sexuality portrayals and constructions in texts and the (accompanying) images in selected ESL textbooks and dictionaries; represented discourses of dominant and/or alternative gender/sexuality relations (e.g. in textbook dialogues)
students’ uptake of and/or resistance to the gender/sexual narratives offered
negotiation of the gender/sexual categories in the classroom
publishers’ agendas and the Polish Ministry of Education policies vis-a-vis (non-) sensitivity to the social salience of gender/sexuality representations.
The above allow an assessment of whether and how ELT classroom contexts are keeping up with current social changes concerning gender and sexual relations, with the possibility of our making proposals to teachers, publishers and policy-makers.
In this talk we will give an overview of the research into gender and sexuality in the EFL context, concentrating in particular on textbooks, classroom interaction, and dictionaries. The bulk of the presentation will be devoted to introducing the Polish context of the EFL research as well as the project methodology.
