Journal of Gender Studies

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In the pursuit of a gender-equal society: do

Japanese EFL textbooks play a role?

Jackie F. K. Lee

To cite this article: Jackie F. K. Lee (2018): In the pursuit of a gender-equal society: do Japanese
EFL textbooks play a role?, Journal of Gender Studies, DOI: 10.1080/09589236.2018.1423956

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/09589236.2018.1423956

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Journal of Gender Studies, 2018
https://doi.org/10.1080/09589236.2018.1423956

In the pursuit of a gender-equal society: do Japanese EFL

textbooks play a role?
Jackie F. K. Lee
Department of Linguistics and Modern Language Studies, The Education University of Hong Kong, Tai Po, Hong Kong

ABSTRACT ARTICLE HISTORY

‘Womenomics’, a signature programme promoted by the Japanese Prime Received 9 June 2017
Minister Shinzo Abe, aims to boost the country’s economy by attracting Accepted 2 January 2018
women, an under-utilized resource, to join the workforce. To achieve this aim,
KEYWORDS
the Japanese Government has been promoting a gender-equal society in Japan; gender; sexism;
various areas, including education. This paper seeks to investigate whether textbooks; womenomics
the government’s endeavour to promote a gender-equal society is reflected
in contemporary Japanese EFL textbooks. Three recently published popular
textbooks were examined. The findings revealed evidence of the authors’
gender awareness, including common use of gender-neutral vocabulary
and a neutral term of address, Ms, for women. Two textbooks also displayed
a balanced distribution of male and female speakers and their amount of
talk. However, underrepresentation of women and their achievements is
still prevalent in contemporary Japanese textbooks. Other observations
include the portrayal of men in a wider range of social roles than women,
and the depiction of men using material and cognitive processes and women
using relational processes, suggesting that men are more physically and
cognitively active than women. A gender dichotomy was also noted in
mixed-sex dialogues, with a tendency for men to provide information and
for women to seek information.

Introduction
Textbooks not only teach students how to read and write, they also play a key role in inculcating virtues
valued by society, whether intended or unintended, in the form of a hidden curriculum. A ‘hidden cur-
riculum’ can be defined as those states of a learning setting not openly acknowledged to the learners
(Khan, Sultana, Bughio, & Naz, 2014; Martin, 1976). It may reinforce dominant beliefs and norms among
learners, and shape children’s values, attitudes and social skills essential to achieving a gender-fair soci-
ety (Britton & Lumpkin, 1977; Jones, Kitetu, & Sunderland, 1997; Mustapha, 2012; Sunderland, Cowley,
Abdul Rahim, Leontzakou, & Shattuck, 2000; UNESCO, 2010). Any hidden curriculum that displays biases
against a particular gender group can have pernicious effects on children’s personal development,
including how they perceive their own abilities and those of others, which may subsequently influence
their future academic and career choices and ultimately the economic development of society (Britton
& Lumpkin, 1977; Crawford & English, 1984; Macaulay & Brice, 1997; Witt, 2001). Policy-makers and
educationalists should be aware of how the hidden curriculum in textbooks can impact learners, and
formulate strategies to address potential problems arising therefrom.

CONTACT  Jackie F. K. Lee  jfklee@eduhk.hk

© 2018 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group
2    J. F. K. LEE

Despite heightened global awareness of the need to achieve gender equality and efforts to correct
disparities, imbalances in visibility and gender portrayals in textbooks are still common in many edu-
cational materials (e.g. Jassey, 1998; Lee & Collins, 2008; Matsuno, 2002; Sakita, 1995; Wharton, 2005).
This study aims to uncover the hidden curriculum in relation to gender representation in contem-
porary Japanese EFL textbooks. The investigation is prompted by two developments. The first is the
increased number of Japanese learning English since its introduction as a compulsory foreign language
in Japanese schools from Grade 5 in 2011. The second is the prominent efforts made by the Japanese
Government in recent years to promote a gender-equal society, including enrichment in education.

Gender equality in Japan

Traditionally Japan has been a male-dominated society, treating the two genders unequally in the
social, economic and political domains (Kyodo, 2014; Takemaru, 2010). The emphasis on a hierarchical
structure assumes obedience to superiors and men’s dominance over women (Sugihara & Katsurada,
2002). The traditional gendered division of labour, with men working as the breadwinners and women
staying at home to look after the family, is still apparent in contemporary Japan. Demographic figures
reflect this gender division: in 2015 the labour force participation rate for males aged 15 and over was
70.3%, while for females it was 49.6% (Statistics Bureau, 2016). The female labour force participation
rate, calculated by age, shows an M-shaped curve, indicating that women leave the workforce upon
marriage or childbirth and then rejoin it after several years when the childrearing burden is reduced.
There have been political endeavours since the 1990s to promote gender equality in Japan, partly
because of external pressure from international gender-equality norms, and partly because of a strong
need to activate the female labour force to combat the ageing population and the fertility decline
(Assmann, 2014; Huen, 2007). The Japanese Government’s efforts to promote a gender-equal society
include the formulation of the Child Care Leave Law in 1992 and the enactment of the Basic Law for a
Gender-Equal Society in 1999, which emphasizes respect for human rights and sharing responsibilities.
In determining the framework of twenty-first century Japan, the achievement of a gender-equal society
is a top-priority task. Language reform is included in the Plan for Gender Equality 2000, which calls for
the promotion of non-sexist language in all informational and other publications produced by public
agencies (Takemaru, 2010). ‘Womenomics’, a strategy for empowering women, is being adopted. In his
General Assembly Address to the United Nations in 2013, Prime Minister Abe advocated ‘building a
society in which women can shine’ (josei ga kagayaku shakai o tsukuru) (Assmann, 2014). In his growth
strategy announced in 2014, Abe proposed that one-third of all senior management positions in gov-
ernment agencies should be women, and the private sector should recruit and promote more women
(Kurtenbach, 2014).
As for education, the Basic Act on Education was revised in 2006 to promote equal opportunities,
‘fostering the values of respect for justice, responsibility, equality between men and women, and mutual
respect and cooperation’ (Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology [MEXT], 2006).
One way to ensure that education objectives are met is the Japanese Government’s adoption of a text-
book authorization system, whereby all textbooks intended for elementary and high schools have to
be screened by MEXT to determine their suitability for inclusion in school curriculums. The impact of
textbooks on schoolchildren may be especially strong in Japan because of this institutional authority,
and teachers’ tendency to follow textbooks closely (Matsuda, 2002; Otlowski, 2003). Japanese students
attach great credibility and authority to textbooks, and generally hold the assumption that what is
taught in school is always right (Jassey, 1997). According to social learning theory (Bandura, 1977, 2001),
individuals learn and reproduce behaviours through observation within environmental determinants.
If children are exposed to gender-biased textbooks and are assessed on their mastery of the teaching
and values presented in these materials throughout their schooling, gender biases are likely to become
deeply entrenched in their world view, and will be difficult to unlearn. Fixed notions on gender can
prevent individuals from developing their potential to the fullest. On the other hand, if textbooks are
free from gender biases, and both genders are presented as equal partners, learners will be motivated
 JOURNAL OF GENDER STUDIES   3

to think and act beyond gender according to individual interests and abilities. It is therefore important
to examine how genders are constructed in textbooks and take measures to eliminate any hidden
gender biases, in order to promote a gender-equal society.

Gender studies
Previous textbook studies around the world (e.g. Baghdadi & Rezaei, 2015; Carroll & Kowitz, 1994; Evans
& Davies, 2000; Jassey, 1998; Lee & Collins, 2008, 2010 ; Sakita, 1995; Shachar, 2012) have revealed gender
biases in different forms. In addition to an under-representation of women in textbooks, both textually
and visually, there are different kinds of gender-based stereotypes. For example, women are often pre-
sented as home-oriented and passive, while men are portrayed as work-oriented and more likely to be
engaged in physically demanding activities. Men are addressed by the neutral term ‘Mr’ while women
are addressed as ‘Mrs’ or ‘Miss’, revealing their marital status. Another form of gender inequality is the
male-as-norm ideology. Traditionally, English speakers/writers use the masculine pronouns he, him and
his, the noun man and the morpheme -man (e.g. freshman, chairman) to refer to a person whose gender
is unknown. To make women linguistically visible, many people instead use paired pronouns (e.g. he
or she, s/he) or the singular they, and replace man-compounds with words ending with the morpheme
-person or -people, as in chairperson and spokespeople (Lee, 1999; Mucchi-Faina, 2005; Pauwels, 2001;
Pauwels & Winter, 2006).
Previous studies have also revealed gender differences in conversation. According to Tannen (1991),
women tend to use conversation to make connections and establish solidarity, known as ‘rapport talk’.
Their conversation tends to be more cooperative than competitive. However, men are more likely
to view conversation as a means of establishing status and power. Therefore, females’ rapport talk is
sometimes interpreted as their casting themselves in a subordinate role.
Previous textbook studies have focused on gender stereotyping in textbooks in terms of their con-
tent. Little research has been conducted on textbook dialogues to explore gender talk (Jones et al.,
1997; Poulou, 1997). Textbook dialogues are a feature of language textbooks to enhance learners’ com-
munication skills. If the dialogues are gender imbalanced, language practice opportunities for students
may be affected. Conflicting results were found in previous textbook dialogue studies: while Jones and
her associates (1997) found similarities in the amount of dialogue by women and men in the three
English language textbooks examined, Poulou (1997) found male domination in two Greek textbooks.

The present study

The aim of this study is to compare the representation of males and females in three widely used
Japanese EFL textbooks for high school students. The study was motivated by two major considera-
tions. First, Japan’s Government has been working to bridge the English language gap in recent years
in order to prepare for the 2020 Olympics (Pickles, 2017), and to increase international competitiveness
(Honna & Takeshita, 2005). English has been compulsory in Japanese schools from Grade 5 since 2011.
Second, although the Japanese Government has proposed the strategy of ‘womenomics’ in political
and economic circles, there is still a large gap between the reality and the ideals of law and policies
pertaining to gender equality (Assmann, 2014; Friedman, 2017). Various gender indices indicate that
although Japan has a high degree of gender equality with respect to education, equality in economic
participation and political empowerment is less advanced (Assmann, 2014; Penketh, 2008).
To redress gender impartiality in society, school education plays an important role as a catalyst for
change for younger generations. So far there have been relatively few studies on gender representation
in Japanese textbooks, and existing results are mixed (e.g. Jassey, 1997; Kato, 2002; Lee, 2016 ; Matsuno,
2002; Mineshima, 2008; Sakita, 1995; Sano, Iida, & Hardy, 2001; Thomson & Otsuji, 2003). The present
investigation of three popular Japanese EFL books will provide both educators and the government
with updated information on how gender equality is achieved in the school sector in the context of
the government’s determined attempts to promote a gender-equal society. The findings of the current
4    J. F. K. LEE

analysis will also have implications for education policy-makers and textbook authors in other societies
where English learning has played an increasingly important role in recent years and where there is
heavy reliance on English language textbooks in the classroom.
The present study differs from previous research in its investigation of the common activities
engaged by male and female characters in textbooks, utilizing Halliday’s transitivity processes (Halliday
& Matthiessen, 2014) and quantitative and discourse analysis of mixed-sex dialogues. The study seeks
to answer the following research questions:

(1) What is the ratio of male-to-female appearances in the textbooks studied?

(2) What are the roles performed by males and females?
(3) What are the common activities associated with females and males?
(4) To what extent are gender-neutral constructions used?
(5) To what extent are address titles used for reference to men and women?
(6) Are there gender differences in mixed-sex dialogues?

Method
The study focused on a corpus of texts gathered from three popular EFL textbooks published in 2017
for senior high school students (Grade 10) in the domain of English Communication I: All Aboard I,
Comet I, and Vista I (see Table 1 and Appendix 1). According to MEXT’s new Course of Study guidelines
(2011), the objective of English Communication I is to develop students’ English abilities while foster-
ing a positive attitude towards communicating through the English language. First-year textbooks for
senior school students were selected due to their availability. The three textbooks were chosen because
they were newly released and had the greatest market share among Grade 10 students. According to
2017 school textbook adoption statistics (Tokyo Metropolitan Education Bureau (Supervision Section),
2016), of the 52 different textbooks available for school adoption, these three textbooks shared over
one quarter of the market.
Textbook authors decide what is to be included in the books, and their gender may influence their
decisions (Khan et al., 2014; Wood, 2007). While Vista I is dominated by male authors (five males and
two females), the other two books have a more balanced distribution of male and female authors, with
the ratios being 3:4 for All Aboard I and 4:4 for Comet I.
To conduct a comprehensive and objective study, the present investigation combined both man-
ual analysis and corpus linguistic tools. All the written texts, including tables of contents, dialogues,
reading passages and exercises (excluding wordlists and verb forms in appendices), were converted
into electronic files and counter-checked for accuracy before the manual and computational analyses.
The manual examination included noting all the male and female characters and their roles as they
appear in the written texts. The data were cross-checked to ensure accuracy. Following Carroll and
Kowitz (1994), the study also conducted corpus analyses to give information about all the occurrences
of a node word or phrase, including frequency, location and context. The WordSmith Choose Texts
Tool was used to build up the three textbook corpora. The Concordance Tool was then used to find
the frequency counts of target words and to organize data in a Keyword in Context (KWIC) format, in
order to identify the collocates associated with the node words. The following features were examined
in order to address the six research questions:

Table 1. Japanese EFL textbooks analysed.

Textbook Pages Words

All Aboard I 105 8,328
Comet I 125 10,739
Vista I 118 10,780
 JOURNAL OF GENDER STUDIES   5

(1) To answer research question 1, the study recorded the number of all gendered characters
manually, including human, animal and cartoon characters. The frequency counts of all these
gendered characters, together with the feminine pronouns (she, her, hers, herself) and mas-
culine pronouns (he, him, his, himself), were then computed with the Concordance Tool. To
further investigate factors affecting the visibility of the two genders, the gender orientation
of the reading passage in each lesson was identified manually based on the content and the
number of male and female characters mentioned in the text. These were then classified into
five categories: males only, male-dominated, females only, female-dominated and equal share.
(2) To seek answers to research question 2, the social roles of all the gendered characters were
recorded manually, while the frequency of familial roles (e.g. father, mother) was recorded
using WordSmith tools.
(3) To answer research question 3, the KWIC concordances were examined (five words on either
side of the target word) in order to identify the process types collocating with the subjective
pronouns he and she. In Halliday and Matthiessen’s (2014) grammatical model, there are six
process types: material, relational, mental, behavioural, verbal and existential.
(4) To address research question 4, all the paired pronouns (e.g. he/she, she or he) and gender-neu-
tral vocabulary items (e.g. police officer, firefighter) were identified and cross-checked with the
wordlist at the end of each book.
(5) To examine research question 5, the frequencies of occurrence of Miss, Mrs, Ms and Mr were
detected.
(6) To address research question 6, the amount of speech (number of words and turns) and the
language functions of utterances were noted. Following Leech (1981), language functions were
classified into four categories: (1) informational (asking for and giving information), (2) phatic
(to maintain good social relations), (3) expressive (relating to one’s feelings and attitudes),
and (4) directive (including: (a) ordering/commanding/instructing, (b) advising/suggesting,
(c) offering/inviting, and (d) requesting).

Results and discussion

What is the ratio of male-to-female appearances in the textbooks examined?
Tables 2 and 3 reveal consistent female under-representation in the three textbooks in connection
with all the variables measured, with the ratio ranging from 7:3 (or 2.33:1), for masculine and femi-
nine pronouns in Vista, to 6:4 (or 1.5:1) for the appearance of masculine and feminine characters in
Comet. The findings are similar to earlier Japanese studies (e.g. Matsuno, 2002; Sakita, 1995), indicating
that female under-representation has not been addressed in contemporary Japanese EFL textbooks.
Compared to the 2011 edition of Vista, which displayed a relatively balanced use of masculine and
feminine pronouns (with a ratio of 1.07:1) (see Lee, 2016), unfortunately the 2017 edition is regressing
(with a ratio of 2.33:1).

Table 2. Male and female characters and frequency.

All Aboard Comet Vista

  Male Female Male Female Male Female
No. of characters (including re- 81 (61.4%) 51 (38.6%) 98 (59.8%) 66 (40.2%) 101 (63.5%) 58 (36.5%)
peated characters in different
lessons)
No. of characters (excluding re- 40 (63.5%) 23 (36.5%) 63 (59.4%) 43 (40.6%) 48 (60.8%) 31 (39.2%)
peated characters in different
lessons)
Frequency of all gendered 204 (62.6%) 122 (37.4%) 365 (64.4%) 202 (35.6%) 241 (62.3%) 146 (37.7%)
characters
6    J. F. K. LEE

Table 3. Masculine and feminine pronouns.

Nominative Accusative Genitive Reflexive Total

Book he she him her his her/hers himself herself Masculine Feminine
All 47 19 10 1 18 17 1 0 76 (67.3%) 37 (32.7%)
Aboard
Comet 77 46 13 8 29 19 0 0 119 (62.0%) 73 (38.0%)
Vista 123 60 14 7 63 19 0 0 200 (69.9%) 86 (30.1%)

To examine the factors contributing to gender imbalances, the gender orientation of the reading
passage in each lesson was identified based on the content and number of male and female characters
mentioned in the text. Table 4 shows a summary of the gender orientation of each book.
Table 4 shows that the writers were more likely to present males as protagonists. The problem of
gender imbalance was more acute in Vista, with five reading passages portraying males only and just
one portraying females only. While All Aboard and Comet include texts on the achievements of women
– for example, Malala Yousafzai, a Pakistani activist for female education – Vista contains three texts on
male achievements but none on female. The text that includes females only in Vista is about an injured
female elephant. One reason for the greater gender inequality in Vista may be the experiences and
identities of the male-dominated authors who created the book (Wood, 2007).
The findings suggest that gender imbalance is still prevalent in the textbooks examined despite the
Japanese Government’s attempt to promote a gender-equal society through education. Population
statistics show that the female population has continually exceeded the male population in Japan
since the 1940s, with 51.4% being females in 2015 (Statistics Bureau, 2016). The proportion of upper
secondary school graduates who entered university, junior college etc. in 2015 was 56.4% of male and
56.6% of female graduates, indicating that the two genders show similar academic achievements.
Textbook writers and publishers should therefore pay greater attention to increasing female visibility, to
reflect the actual population composition, and should depict women’s achievements so as to construct
aspirational models and help build a gender-equal society.

What are the roles performed by males and females?

The study included an analysis of the familial and social/occupational roles performed by female and
male characters in the written texts. The findings show that both women and men play domestic roles
as mother and father, sister and brother, and aunt and uncle (see Table 5). Contrary to previous findings
that there was a stronger tendency to depict women in domestic roles (e.g. Gooden & Gooden, 2001;
Law & Chan, 2004; Sakita, 1995), the present study found that more males were portrayed in familial
roles than females.
However, a close examination of the concordances for ‘father(s)/dad/papa’ and ‘mother(s)/mom/
mama’ reveals hidden gender stereotyping in the three textbooks analysed. In addition to the tradi-
tional portrayals of fathers reading newspapers and driving cars, fathers were described as more active
than mothers: they put up the tent or went fishing with sons, whereas a mother’s tasks seemed to be
confined to domestic cooking and childrearing. As for jobs, there was a wider range for fathers – raising

Table 4. Gender orientation.

  Males only M-dominated Females only F-dominated Equal share NA

All Abroad 3 2 1 2 2 2
Comet 3 3 0 2 1 3
Vista 5 3 1 0 2 2
 JOURNAL OF GENDER STUDIES   7

Table 5. Familial roles.

Male All Abroad Comet Vista Female All Abroad Comet Vista
father/papa 4 18 7 mother/mama/mom 4 8 19
husband 1 0 0 wife 1 0 0
son 1 4 7 daughter 0 0 0
brother 6 8 12 sister 5 7 1
grandfather 1 1 6 grandmother 0 1 0
uncle 1 2 3 aunt 0 1 3
Total 14 33 35 Total 10 17 23

horses, working at a university or cooking Japanese dishes – while there was only one description of a
mother’s job as a music teacher in Comet.
Table 6 shows a dichotomy between masculine and feminine social roles. A much more limited range
of social roles were associated with women in all three textbooks, especially in Vista. The proportion of
social roles occupied by women and men was 8:19 (or 0.42:1) for All Aboard, 11:23 (or 0.48:1) for Comet,
and 6:21 (or 0.29:1) for Vista. Men’s achievements were depicted, including inventor, pianist, artist, phi-
losopher, botanist and geographer. Men also tend to be involved in physically demanding activities (e.g.
soccer player, baseball player). Having said that, exceptions to traditional gender roles were occasionally
observed. For example, both All Aboard and Comet included a chapter on Malala Yousafzai, an activist
for female education and a Nobel Peace Prize winner. Another example was the portrayal of a man as
a nurse in Comet, challenging the traditional stereotypical view that nurses are female.
It may be argued that the practices in a society and a person’s beliefs should be interpreted based
on the culture of the society, rather than judged against the criteria of other places. The clear line
drawn between gender roles and division of labour helps construct a social world in order (Khan,
Naz, Anjum, & Khan, 2015). According to social learning theory, however, children acquire behaviours
through observing and modelling. Regular exposure to biased images in school textbooks is a vehicle
that perpetuates gender stereotyping and has adverse impacts on learners’ personal development
(Burr, 1998; Purcell & Stewart, 1990). It is therefore important for textbook writers and publishers to
depict both women and men with a wide range of roles and achievements, so as to provide a balanced
worldview for younger generations.

What are the common activities associated with females and males?
To find out the common activities associated with the two genders, KWIC concordances were examined
and the process types collocating with the nominative pronouns he and she were identified. The findings
revealed latent gender biases in the textbooks studied. As shown in Table 7, the most common process
type associated with men is the material process, suggesting men’s activeness. They are the doers of a
range of actions, such as created (opportunities), work, shook (coins), used (animals), give (advice), playing
(soccer/baseball), recorded (hits), developed, visited (companies), and made (the Miffy series). On the other
hand, although there were mentions of Malala Yousafzai’s good deeds such as won (the Nobel Peace
Prize), women’s actions portrayed by the textbook authors seemed to be more limited and trivial, with
examples such as left (the room), goes (to school), put (her wallet in her bag), walked away, wrote (to me),
walk (in the park), and made (a cake). Compared to men, women were more likely to be presented as
being, possessing or becoming in relational processes, which supports previous findings that women
are portrayed as more quiet and less active than men (e.g. Amare, 2007; Evans & Davies, 2000 ; Lee &
Collins, 2010).
Another gender difference is the authors’ stronger tendency to describe men as thinkers, especially
in Vista: while men thought and got the idea, women don’t know and forgot. These findings may reflect
that the authors use language and textbooks, intentionally or unintentionally, as a means to preserve
social structures that are marked by gender bias and the traditional gendered division of labour in
Japanese society.
 8 
  J. F. K. LEE

Table 6. Social roles.

    Social roles Total
All Abroad M Artist, baseball player, commander, football player, friend, hero, mechanic, movie star, painter, pianist, police officer, restaurant owner, speaker, student, teacher, 19
tennis coach, tennis player, writer, visitor
  F Friend, hero, jazz pianist, Nobel Peace Prize winner, nurse, queen, student, visitor 8
Comet M Academic, baseball player, basketball player, businessperson, doctor, founder of a motor company, friend, gardener, gunman, horse raiser, inventor, nurse, philoso- 23
pher, physicist, pioneer of animation industry, poet, street vendor, teacher, tourist, university staff, student, writer, zookeeper
  F Activist, cabin attendant, cook, customer, friend, nun, runner, singer, student, teacher, tennis player 11
Vista M Artist, athlete, baseball player, botanist, businessman, composer, cook, elephant owner, engineer, geographer, inventor, king, Olympics founder, pianist, prince, 21
salesclerk, singer, soccer player, student, teacher, waiter
  F Customer, doctor, hospital founder, singer, student, teacher 6
 JOURNAL OF GENDER STUDIES   9

Table 7. Process types associated with the pronouns he and she.

Mate- Mental: Mental: Mental:

Rela- Materi- rial: affec- Mental: percep- cogni- Behav- Exis-
    tional al:actor patient tion volition tion tion ioural Verbal tential
All he 19 20 0 0 2 2 1 1 1 1
Aboard
  she 7 3 3 2 0 1 0 0 3 0
Comet he 21 31 1 7 3 0 5 2 7 0
  she 15 12 2 6 0 0 3 2 4 2
Vista he 28 57 1 3 2 0 10 3 12 2
  she 18 18 3 2 2 1 1 3 6 0

To what extent are gender-neutral constructions used?

Similar to the findings of previous studies of Japanese textbooks (e.g. Lee, 2016; Sano et al., 2001),
the present study reveals that gender-neutral terms were widely used by textbook authors. Examples
include: athlete, firefighter, humans, astronauts, homeland and homemaker in All Aboard; firefighter, arti-
ficial and cabin attendant in Comet; and athlete, artificial, and humans in Vista. Another observation is
the use of paired expressions her [his] in All Aboard (p. 76), and Mr/Ms (p. 9) and he/she (7 instances) in
Comet. These findings indicate Japanese EFL textbook authors’ attempts to encompass both genders in
their writing, which is in line with the Japanese Government’s language reform to promote non-sexist
language.

To what extent are address titles used for reference to men and women?
The findings also show the textbook authors’ common use of the neutral address title Ms for women
to avoid gender bias (see Table 8). The only instance of Miss Green in Vista (p. 70) is used in an ele-
phant’s name. There is no use of the title Mrs for married women in any of the books examined. When
compared with the findings of previous studies which found different address titles being used for
women (e.g. Lee, 2016), the present study finds increased use of the neutral address term in Japanese
EFL textbooks. This finding suggests a probable impact of the non-sexist language reform in Japan on
textbook authors’ language awareness.
Nevertheless, the study also reveals that the formal male address title Mr was more frequently used
than the female address titles (Ms and Miss) in the textbooks analysed (20 vs. 0 for All Aboard; 7 vs. 1 for
Comet; 15 vs. 9 for Vista) (see Table 8). This finding was consonant with previous studies that noted a
higher tendency to introduce men by title, and women by first name or in terms of their relationship to
others (e.g. Fasold, Yamada, Robinson, & Barish, 1990; Matsuno, 2002). Textbook authors’ inclination to
address men more formally might be explained by the greater hidden respect accorded to males and
the authors’ inclination to describe the achievements of great men rather than great women.

Are there gender differences in mixed-sex dialogues?

As Table 9 indicates, gender balances were noticed in Comet and Vista in terms of the number of male
and female speakers, the amount of talk and the number of turns taken. In All Aboard, on the other
hand, women produced more words and had more turns than men. The discrepancy was mainly due to

Table 8. Female and male address titles.

  Ms Miss Mrs Mr
All Aboard 0 0 0 20
Comet 1 0 0 7
Vista 8 1 0 15
10    J. F. K. LEE

Table 9. Mixed-sex dialogues.

  All Aboard Comet Vista

No. of mixed-sex dialogues 3 7
  M F
No. of speakers 3 4
No. of turns 9 14
No. of words 66 133
Asking for information 3 5
Giving information 5 4
Expressive utterances 0 6
Phatic utterances 0 0
Directives: ordering, instructing 1 3
Directives: advising, suggesting 0 0
Directives: inviting, offering 0 0
Directives: requesting 0 0
13
M F M F
7 7 13 13
21 22 32 32
127 150 281 256
4 9 7 16
11 6 19 10
2 3 2 8
3 3 3 3
0 1 1 0
2 1 1 0
0 0 1 0
0 1 0 0

one dialogue which includes two female and one male speakers. Since there are only three dialogues
in All Aboard, we need to be cautious in generalizing the finding of female dominance.
Meanwhile, manifestations of hidden biases against women were noticed. Similar to Poulou’s (1997)
study, one manifestation was the larger number of women’s utterances used to seek information, espe-
cially in Vista, in which women made 16 information-seeking utterances and men 7. A similar pattern
was found in All Aboard and Comet, the corresponding ratios being 5:3 and 9:4, respectively. By contrast,
men tended to provide information. The ratios of men and women giving information were 5:4 for All
Aboard, 11:6 for Comet, and 19:10 for Vista. The following is an example, from Vista, of how females are
portrayed as information-seekers and males as information-givers. The female speaker Yui asked six
questions, five of which are information-seeking (e.g. Are these all stone buildings? What’s this big stone?),
and one confirmation-seeking (isn’t it?). The male speaker Mike used declaratives to give information. He
asked only one question for clarification (In these terraced fields?). Despite the fact that the two speakers
are non-experts, the male speaker was presented as more knowledgeable than the female speaker.
These findings can be offensive to female learners, if they are constantly perceived as less intelligent
and less well-informed than their male counterparts. Unbalanced language functions exhibited in
dialogues can also limit the language practice opportunities for the two genders.
Yui: Are these all stone buildings?
Mike: Yes. They’re palaces, temples and houses.
Yui: The Incas were good at building with big stones. The stones fit together so well!
Mike: Right. The Incas built this city high up in the mountains.
Yui: So getting there is hard, isn’t it?
Mike: It was. But now the place has become a very popular tourist spot.
Yui: What’s this big stone? I’ve never seen a shape like this.
Mike: Probably it was a kind of clock. It had something to do with the sun.
Yui: Is it one stone? How did the Incas cut and move it?
Mike: I have no idea. They didn’t use iron tools or wheels.
Yui: What a mystery!
Yui: What did people grow here?
Mike: In these terraced fields? Maybe corn or potatoes.
Yui: So this means … in Peru they’ve grown corn and potatoes for a long time.
Mike: Yes, and they’ve always lived in harmony with nature. So not only the city of Machu Picchu but also the forest
around it has become a World Heritage site.
  (Vista, pp. 59–60)

Conclusion
Alongside the Japanese Government’s efforts to promote a gender-equal society in the new Basic Act on
Education in 2006 and the ‘womenomics’ agenda, the present study found evidence of gender aware-
ness among textbook authors, at least to some extent. This includes: (1) use of gender-neutral terms
 JOURNAL OF GENDER STUDIES   11

and paired expressions to encompass both men and women; (2) use of the neutral address title Ms to
replace Miss and Mrs; and (3) roughly equal distribution of female and male speakers and amount of talk
in mixed-sex dialogues in Comet and Vista. The present investigation also noted occasional challenges
to gender biases; for example, nursing is no longer described as a job for females only.
Nevertheless, hidden gender discrimination against women is still apparent in the books studied.
Although demographic figures show that the female population has exceeded males in Japan since
the 1940s, women are consistently underrepresented in all three textbooks. Coupled with the textbook
writers’ tendency to devote more space to describing men’s achievements than women’s, especially in
Vista (with male-dominated authors), schoolchildren who are exposed to this kind of gender bias reg-
ularly may perceive females as less important and less worthy of mention than males. Textbook writers
and publishers should therefore pay greater heed to the importance of increasing female visibility and
depicting women’s achievements so as to reflect the actual population composition and construct
models for learners’ aspirations, helping to build a gender-equal society.
Latent gender stereotyping is another issue that merits our attention. The corpus tools allow us to
identify the process types commonly associated with men and women. The higher frequency of mate-
rial and cognitive verbs associated with men, and relational verbs with women, implies that men are
portrayed as more active and intellectual than women. This gender-biased concept is further reinforced
by the wider range of social roles associated with men than women in the textbooks studied, especially
in Vista. Additionally, discourse analysis of textbook dialogues reveals that they do not exhibit the same
language functions for men and women in the same contexts: while women tend to seek informa-
tion, men tend to provide information, making them appear more knowledgeable than women. These
gender biases have pedagogical implications. Students who are presented with this biased picture of
language functions may not be able to communicate effectively (Poulou, 1997).
Gender role differences or disparities may be justified on the grounds of cultural relativism, which
argues that a trait is good or bad only by reference to the culture in which it functions (Horton & Hunt,
1996; Khan et al., 2015). Every culture has its own division of labour that governs behavioural patterns,
including gender roles, to maintain social order. It can be argued that the dominance of men in pub-
lic spheres and women in domestic settings should not necessarily be interpreted as women being
secondary to men in their contribution to the family and society (Khan et al., 2015). The tasks assigned
to a gender depend in part on local traditions and in part on local circumstances (Leibowitz, 1989).
Nevertheless, social learning theory posits that children acquire behaviours through observing, imitating
and modelling. Any gender inequalities that exist in textbooks may be modelled and imitated by school
learners, resulting in gender socialization and perpetuation of gender stereotyping (Bandura, 1977;
Foroutan, 2012; Litosseliti, 2006), and obstacles to equal opportunities in the classroom and society
(Poulou, 1997; Sunderland et al., 2000).
To promote a gender-equal society and encourage more women to join the workforce, the Japanese
Government needs to sensitize textbook authors, publishers, educators and students to gender issues.
Apart from organizing gender studies courses and workshops for educators, one way is to develop a
set of guidelines for the production of gender-fair instructional materials. These should include, but
not be limited to: (1) an even distribution of male and female characters; (2) depiction of both males
and females in a wide range of social/occupational roles and activities; (3) balanced portrayals of men’s
and women’s achievements; (3) use of gender-fair language; (4) symmetrical address forms for women
and men; and (5) an equal amount of speech and similar language functions for men and women in
dialogues. If future instructional materials pay more attention to the importance of gender equality
and the empowerment of female students, there may be fewer obstacles to advancing gender equality
in Japan and in other regions when business communities and civil society are led by people who do
not have a stereotyped mindset and are willing to create equal opportunities for realizing the potential
of the two genders.
12    J. F. K. LEE

Acknowledgements
I would like to express my gratitude to Professor Yasumi Murata for her kind assistance and advice throughout the study.

Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Funding
This work was supported by Meijo University under the Invitation Fellowship Programs for Research in Japan.

Notes on contributor
Jackie F. K. Lee is an associate professor of the Department of Linguistics and Modern Language Studies at the Education
University of Hong Kong. She teaches various language system courses to undergraduate and postgraduate students. Her
research interests include language and gender, English grammar teaching, and learning study.

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Appendix 1. Textbooks studied

All aboard! English communication I. 2017. Tokyo: Tokyo Shoseki.
Comet: English communication I. 2017. Tokyo: Suken Shuppan.
Vista: English communication 1. 2017. Tokyo: Sanseido.