examined more. This becomes a great issue in community. Therefore, people generate gender awareness.
According to Mlama 2005, “gender awareness implies the ability to identify problems arising from gender inequality and discrimination, even if these
are not apparent on the surface” p.2. It shows that inequality upon gender occurs in community in many aspects. The gender awareness in this study is focused on
an inequality between men and women which appears in the English textbooks.
2.1.1.2 Gender in Teaching and Learning Materials
Bandura 1986, in Brannon, 1996 describes two different things when children are exposed to gender-stereotypic behaviors in their activities. First,
children learn behaviors to act as female and male. Second, children learn that certain behaviors are exposed to one gender only and not to another. Should
children are in this situation, they do not deliberately learn gender role or stereotype. Bandura also adds that gender-stereotypic behaviors appear
“in home, in schools, on playgrounds, in readers and storybooks, and in representations of
society on the television screen of every household” Brannon, 1996: 144. Regarding Bandura‟s notion, Arliss 1991 argues that children should be
raised free from gender role or stereotype. The traditional myths about gender thus should not appear in children as cognitive conception. In this case, teacher or
parent is the most appropriate agent to change the traditional myths and stereotypes about men and women in community. Since children are in the early
age, they should not be confined by those things. Unfortunately, Jones 1989, in Brannon, 1996 gives the evidence that teachers still promote stereotypical gender
roles even in their early school experience, preschool. Both Arliss and Jones provide contention that teacher should not deliberately teach gender towards
children. When teachers do it, they indirectly lead children to accept that as knowledge.
According to those expert‟s explanations, children are intended not to learn gender role. The differences between men and female are aimed to know
their sex or biological differences. When children are not exposed to female and male models in community, they become much more independent to determine
their roles in community later. Related to education, this issue also appears, especially, in teaching and
learning materials. Specifically, it appears in the children‟s textbooks. In the previous paragraph, Bandura mentions that readers or storybooks also appear as
the agents which bring gender-stereotypic behaviors to children. Thus, textbooks as a tool to teach and learn should be free from stereotyping.
According to Stockwell 2003, people in teaching and publishing field have already considered to represent both female and male models in a balance
way. Stockwell 2003 provides a leaflet entitle On Balance: Guidelines for the Representation of Women and Men in English Language Teaching Materials
produced by group „Women in EFL Materials‟ 1991 to endorse the idea of avoiding stereotypes in English textbook. It suggests that “to use inclusive
language and images which reflect a more balanced and accurate view of the world and of the present state of English” 2003: 85. It indicates that English
textbooks can be also an agent of change to create a world which supports PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
equality. Therefore, this study investigates gender representation in the English textbooks which are used for children.
2.1.2 English Textbook Material
