The coursebook : Woohoo!

English,Red&White Publishing House, 3rd

Grade,Level A1
Analysis Focus: Stereotyping
Particular area to focus on: Visuals
Definition of the term: Stereotyping is to believe unfairly that all people or things with
a particular characteristic are the same.(Britannica Dictionary)
Examples:
Gender Stereotypes: Assuming that all women are nurturing and emotional, while all
men are aggressive and rational. Believing that certain professions are only suitable
for a particular gender, such as assuming that all nurses are female and all engineers
are male.
Racial and Ethnic Stereotypes: Associating certain races with specific behaviors or
characteristics, such as assuming that all members of a particular race are good at
sports or have a certain level of intelligence. Using racial or ethnic stereotypes in
humor or casual conversation, perpetuating harmful generalizations.
Age Stereotypes: Assuming that all elderly individuals are technologically illiterate or
resistant to change. Stereotyping young people as lazy or entitled.
Religious Stereotypes: Believing that people of a certain religious faith all adhere to
the same set of beliefs or values. Associating negative traits with individuals based
on their religious affiliation.
Nationality Stereotypes: Assuming that everyone from a particular country shares the
same cultural habits or characteristics. Making generalizations about the intelligence
or work ethic of people from specific nations.
Occupational Stereotypes: Assuming that individuals in certain professions possess
specific personality traits or abilities. Stereotyping based on job titles, such as
assuming that all CEOs are assertive and extroverted.
Socioeconomic Stereotypes: Assuming that people from a lower socioeconomic
background are less intelligent or capable. Stereotyping individuals from wealthier
backgrounds as privileged and lacking in empathy.
Why this practice is potentially discriminatory?
Stereotyping can lead to individuals being unfairly treated based on assumptions and
generalizations rather than their individual merits or characteristics. This can affect
employment opportunities, access to education, and other aspects of life. It
reinforces existing inequalities within society. Certain groups may face systemic
barriers and biases, limiting their access to resources, opportunities, and social
privileges.Stereotyping can contribute to social divisions by perpetuating an "us
versus them" mentality. This can lead to the marginalization and exclusion of certain
groups, fostering resentment and tension between different communities.Individuals
who are consistently subjected to stereotyping and discrimination may experience a
decline in self-esteem and self-worth. Unfair treatment based on stereotypes can
lead to feelings of inadequacy and exclusion.Discrimination resulting from
stereotyping can have significant psychological effects, including stress, anxiety, and
depression. Constant exposure to negative stereotypes may contribute to a sense of
alienation and isolation.It can also influence decisions related to hiring, promotions,
and educational opportunities, limiting the potential for individuals to reach their full
potential. This can result in a loss of talent and creativity within society.Stereotyping
hinders efforts to create diverse and inclusive environments. It perpetuates the idea
that certain groups have fixed characteristics, preventing the recognition of individual
differences and unique contributions. It may lead to legal and ethical challenges.
Many countries have anti-discrimination laws in place to protect individuals from
unfair treatment based on factors such as race, gender, or age.Individuals who are
stereotyped and discriminated against may experience social stigma. This stigma
can affect their relationships, opportunities, and overall well-being, contributing to a
cycle of disadvantage.Stereotyping can contribute to inter-group conflicts as negative
assumptions about different groups fuel misunderstanding and prejudice. This can
lead to tension, hostility, and even violence between different communities.

My Frame of Analysis;
1-) How are different social groups visually represented in the coursebook? Do
the visuals reinforce or challenge stereotypical images, and how do they
contribute to the overall narrative on stereotyping?
- Rather than challenging the stereotype, the coursebook further reinforces the
stereotype. For example, women are always in the kitchen (never men), only boys
play football and basketball (there are no girls), characters depicted as fat always
have hamburgers in their hands (as if every fat person is fat because of the
hamburger, sometimes diseases cause this).isJust men are shown when describing
the adjective “strong”. Depicting only men as if only men could drive a motor vehicle.
Blue is the boy's color and pink is the girl's color. When I analyzed it, I came across a
lot of these stereotypes.
2-) To what extent does the coursebook incorporate visual diversity in terms of
race, ethnicity, gender, and other identity factors? Does it avoid perpetuating
visual stereotypes by presenting a varied and inclusive range of images?
- The coursebook does not contain any black, Asian or other ethnic people. They are
all white and healthy people. I would like disabled children to be shown blind or
disabled, etc. Because these people are among us too. Or I haven't seen a woman
wearing a headscarf. Why shouldn't this be in a coursebook when we have such
diversity in our daily lives? The people shown are white, healthy, and have almost the
same face. Therefore, this does not include diversity.
3-) How does the coursebook visually depict individuals with intersecting
identities? Does it acknowledge and represent the complexity of
intersectionality, or does it simplify these identities into stereotypical images?
- When I look at this intersection, I see the role of men and women. There are
conventionalized and stereotypical images that are simplified rather than adding to
complexity. The woman cooks in the kitchen, the man goes to work. The woman
takes care of the children, the man is not even around. Forget about a woman
cooking, there was even a visual depicting a girl cooking. This is beyond
stereotyping, it's a ridiculous image.
4-) Does the coursebook encourage learners to critically analyze visual
representations and question stereotypes portrayed in images? Are there
specific exercises or prompts that guide learners in interpreting and
deconstructing visual stereotypes?
- There are almost no open-ended questions. It includes low cognitive practices such
as true/false, fill-in-the-blank, etc., where children just look at the images. This may
be due to the fact that this book is at A1 level, but there are no special activities that
children can criticize. This may naturally cause children to get used to those images
and lose their own critical powers.

Woohoo! English Coursebook Stereotyping Examples;

#Example 1
As I mentioned while answering the analysis questions, as if only boys could play
football or basketball, when I examined the entire book, I did not see any girl playing
basketball or football. There are images here that support the stereotype that "only
boys play football/basketball".
#Example 2
If it's a power-related issue, it's immediately "men/boys". These images also support
this idea. When I examined the entire coursebook, I did not see any visual that
associated women or girls with power. This supports this stereotype.

#Example 3
“People who eat hamburgers gain weight.” “Overweight people are people who eat
hamburgers.” When depicting overweight people in the images, they always have a
hamburger in their hands. I don't find this very logical. There are many people around
us and in the world who gain weight/obese due to illness. These visuals can give
children material to make fun of. They can make sentences such as "eat less burgers
and lose weight" with an overweight child in their class (due to illness). At the same
time, the images support a stereotype.

#Example 4
"Women's place is in the kitchen." visuals that reinforce the stereotype a lot. When I
went through the whole coursebook, I really didn't see women doing anything
different. Women either go shopping or cook in the kitchen and take care of their
children. As I mentioned in the frame analysis section, the second image even shows
a little girl cooking. But it would make much more sense if there was an image like
sister/brother instead.

#Example 5
When they depicted the motor vehicle as a show of power, they showed only men
driving it. As for the bike, there are a few images of the girls riding it. In other words,
while lighter, easier-to-drive vehicles are seen as suitable for girls, vehicles such as
motorcycles and cars are used by men. This again supports a stereotype.

#Example 6
"Boys wear blue and girls wear pink." Visuals support this traditional thinking. There
were many examples of this in the coursebook. Instead of including all of them, I
included the clearest images. In the first image, there are two colors directly put on
the babies, and in the second image, the girl wears clothes in pink and purple tones
and the boy wears orange and blue, which again shows that the images support
stereotypical ideas.
I would also like to show examples from the book "More and More" 4th grade a1
level, which I use in my private lessons.

Occupational Stereotype.Nurses are always shown as a woman.

Professions that earn higher salaries are generally depicted as men.

Nationality Stereotypes: Iraqis are always depicted wearing that outfit, as if they were always
wearing that outfit. When we look at the girl depicted as Turkish, they depicted her with that
outfit worn only in the Black Sea Region of Turkey, but that outfit belongs to only one region
of Turkey,not the whole Turkey. When we look at the Chinese girl, as they depict every
Chinese person, here too the girl's hair is in a bun and she is wearing that outfit unique to the
Chinese. The German girl is blonde and blue-eyed as always. She is very typical and
stereotypical.Finally the American boy,depicted as cowboy as always.
Gender Stereotypes: When football is mentioned in the book, it is depicted as only boys
playing it, as if girls cannot play football. Another situation related to gender is that the child
goes shopping with his mother, I will give a few more examples of this. When it comes to
housework, shopping, and taking care of children, it is a stereotype to portray only the mother.
When we look at the last picture, we see Mine and Mert's toy box. Mert has a toy car, a
football ball and a blue balloon.It should be always blue right? Because Mert is a boy.Of
course these toys aren’t chosen randomly.Car,ball and blue balloon.

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