Sexism In English And Construction Of EFL Textbooks In China

Human language is a special product of the development of human society and functions as the major means of human communication and the important carrier of human ideology. Language is also a special social phenomenon, whose existence and development is closely related to social structure and social values. Language is influenced by and at the same time reflects and reinforces human mode of thinking and social values. Sexism in human society is naturally mirrored by human language, and thus we see sexism in language, which is mainly embodied in the following forms—. "language that favors on sex over another", "language that belittles one sex", "language that makes one sex invisible" and "language that masks sexual discrimination" (Yang Yonglin 2004: 205).Language is "a filter in our perception of reality" (Olivares 1994:3870, qtd. in Yang Yonglin 2004: 252). It reflects people's recognition of the world and constructs their views on reality. Sexism in language is actually the reflection of various ideological dross, outmoded conventions and bad customs in a particular culture. Sexism in language arises as the result of the influence of certain social and cultural factors on language. It in turn has certain influence on people's mode of thinking, conduct and social culture construction. The prevalence of sexism in language will inevitably have a negative effect on language learners and users, causing misleading barriers in their cognitive development. If we turn a blind eye and take a laissez-faire attitude to it, sexism in language will reinforce people's sexual prejudice and social inequity, which is harmful to social development and progress. Therefore, it is necessary to face up to the problem of sexism in language, conduct related researches and analyses on it, and provide feasible solutions so as to eliminate the negative effect of sexism in language on people's cognitive pattern and mode of thinking, and be of help in creating a better social developing pattern with social equity and harmony.Sexism in language has long existed and has always been a chief concern of linguists and feminists. Almost every human language is sexist to some degree, and English is a language with the outstanding characteristic of sexism in the eyes of many linguists. Sexism in English is presented in many aspects, such as word formation, the generic use of masculine terms, word connotations, appellation, world order and proverbs. This phenomenon has its corresponding social and cultural origins. With social development and progress, people show greater concern for the problem of sexism in language and a series of ways to improve or eliminate sexist language has been put forward. Sexism in language, has undergone encouraging changes and the non-sexist use of language an inevitable tendency of its development. These changes should be reflected in current textbooks. Textbooks are the formal teaching materials that children are exposed to first and most. The culture of teaching materials embodied in textbooks represents the authoritative system of concepts, knowledge and values of society. It directly reflects the concepts and views of the dominant class and the mainstream culture in society, and has a great influence on learners' ideology and cognition of many problems including sex roles. The message of sexism embodied in textbooks will counterwork against the formation of non-discriminating gender schema in learners' mind and have a bad effect on learners' gender socialization. Therefore, it is of great significance to eliminate sexism in textbooks. Many countries including the United States and New Zealand have taken certain measures to promote the removal of sexism in textbookS.For example, in 1972 TitleⅨof the Education Amendment Act was passed in the United States, making gender discrimination illegal in schools. One consequence of this act was a need to eliminate, or at least reduce, gender bias in educational materials (Evans & Davies 2000, qtd. in Yanowitz &Weathers 2004). English in the New Zealand Curriculum promulgated in 1994 also put forward the concept of Gender-inclusive Curriculum, holding gender equity as a fundamental cornerstone of education (Ministry of Education of New Zealand 1994). However, through a gender analysis on some EFL textbooks which are currently widely-used in primary schools, middle schools and colleges in China, I find that there remains serious sexism in these EFL textbooks, which is a problem that should not be ignored. In China, EFL textbooks take an important role in English teaching and have a great influence on English learners. On one hand, EFL textbooks are the major tool for English learners in China to learn English language and acquire language skills; on the other hand, EFL textbooks transmit to learners cultural messages including the message of gender culture. With the imbalanced sex ratio, the stereotyped sex roles and the sexist use of English language, the currently widely-used EFL textbooks in China keep spreading traditional concept of sex roles and fail to reflect timely and faithfully the changes with regard to the problem of sexism in English language and society, which is of no help in removing outmoded conventions for sex and helping establish learners' concept of sex equity.Therefore, by analyzing sexism in English in various aspects, this thesis aims at enhancing people's awareness of sexism in language and being of some help in reducing or eliminating the sexist use of language. At the same time, it is also expected to be able to provide some reference and lessons for the compilation and introduction of new EFL textbooks through the gender analysis of currently widely-used textbooks in China.This thesis consists of six chapters.Chapter One serves as an introduction which explains the concept of sexism, gives a brief reflection on the study of sexism by scholars home and abroad, and explains the purpose of writing this thesis and its main contents.Chapter Two applies the approach of comparison and contrast, and gives a relatively systematic analysis and explanation of sexism in English in various aspects such as word formation, the generic use of masculine terms, word connotations, appellation, world order and proverbs.Chapter Three probes into the social and cultural origins of sexism in language.Chapter Four introduces the developing tendency of sexist language and offers a series of ways to avoid the sexist use of English language.Chapter Five chooses some of the currently widely-used EFL textbooks in China and gives them a gender analysis. When problems like the imbalanced sex ratio, the stereotyped sex roles and the sexist use of English are found and analyzed in these books, the thesis points out in this chapter that serious sexism exists in our EFL textbooks, which needs to be given special attention in the selecting and compiling work of new EFL textbooks.Chapter Six draws a conclusion of the thesis and points out that though the non-sexist use of language hao become an inevitable tendency of language development and many countries have consider sex equity an important principle in compiling and selecting teaching materials, there remains serious sexism in the currently widely-used EFL textbooks in China. Besides, on how to eliminate sexism in EFL textbooks, this chapter also offers some suggestions in the aspects of legislation, textbook compiling and selecting, and teachers.