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ELT 206
English for Professional Communication Development

Genre Analysis on Research Article Literature Review

Darchny Z. Pusod Master of Arts in Education major in English

Language Teaching

Research title: Gendered Word (or World): Sexism in Philippine Preschool English Language
Textbooks
Researcher/s: Veronico Nogales Tarrayo (2014)

The study of Tarrayo (2014) utilized four of the six suggested moves in writing literature
review. These are Move 1 (Context), Move 2 (Trends, Conflict, Gap, and Perspective), Move 4
(Summary), and Move 5 (Critique). In the literature review of the study, the researcher started
with the introduction of the section’s content and the purpose of reviewing the previous literature
related to the current study. Below is an extract of this move from the study.

The foregoing statements are some of the studies reviewed by the researcher relevant to gender
biases and gender stereotypes found in different English learning materials. These related literatures
provide and establish understanding of the current research in a particular ground as to why the new
investigation is needed to be carried out.

Another move that can be observed in the study was Move 2. Tarrayo (2014) presented
the gaps in the following in the extract below.

A number of studies have been conducted relevant to biases and stereotypes found in English
learning materials however, most of the studies are focused on the gender representations in
illustrations and pictures. Most of the studies failed to magnify the gender bias in imagery and texts.

Moreover, Tarrayo (2014) have also provided a series of summaries from the previous
studies he reviewed. She presented the following in the extract below.

In 2015, Sovic and Hus studied and did a stereotype visual analysis on three textbooks for
young learners where the results suggested that the textbooks exemplified gender stereotype. As per
suggested, the textbooks have more male characters than females and males have more active roles
than females. Meanwhile, in 2014, Hall examined gender representations in two EFL textbooks in
Iranian Secondary Schools. The result revealed that a degree of imbalance in gender representation is
observable in the two materials being examined. Bahman and Rahimi (2010), have also investigated the
parts of three-volume English Textbooks. The result confide that the materials manifest sexism in
different areas. Masculine terms came first than of the feminine terms. In the reading passages,
apparent supremacy is shown among men over women and an abundant use of male generics is
illustrated. In addition, Parham (2013) explored the different gender representation in collection of
books used to teach English to young children. His study showed that females are under-represented in
the said materials.
 The last move observed in the study was Move 5 or critique. He provided this in the
following extract:

Furthermore, the study conducted by Blumberg (2007) entitled Gender Bias in

Textbooks: A Hidden Obstacle on the Road to Gender Equality in Education, he found that:
The study was aimed with the timely fulfillment of the Education for All and MDGs
which is on gender bias in textbooks (and curricula). Textbooks take up the lion’s share of
class time for both teachers and students and reflect on nation’s curricula. In addition, the
gender bias in textbooks is hidden in plain sight. Their stereotypes of males and females are
camouflaged by the taken-for-granted system of gender stratification and rules. However, the
study failed to magnify the gender bias on the textbook’s imagery and texts which is the focus
of the study. This aims to give results that would show how textbooks in kindergarten puts up
a sexist point of view specifically on its imagery and text.

The literature review of Tarrayo (2014) was comprehensive enough for the current
research to be understood. It is good that he provided a number of results from the different
studies related to the matter under his study however, it can be observed that most of the citations
included have clear-cut outcomes or inferences. Now, literature review should also include
studies that are inconclusive or those that require further research to avoid bias and to define
further scope of the current research.