Deconstructing gender stereotypes in standardized English language school textbooks in Algeria: Implications for equitable instructional materials

Abstract

The pressing need to promote gender equality in today’s globalized society is underscored in Sustainable Development Goals and juxtaposed with the goal of cultivating global citizenship. Despite these efforts, mainstream post-colonial discourse on Maghrebi women categorizes them as less citizens neglecting ‘the complexity’ of their lives and experiences. The scarcity of research that depicts Algerian women’s experiences along with the treatment of the topic of gender as ‘taboo’ restricted opportunities on researching this important category of society. While there are numerous studies conducted in the Algerian context on female’s stereotypical depiction and invisibility in school textbooks, the discussion of the topic remains ahistorical. It relegates the status of women as ‘the oppressed’ which runs the risk of reproducing colonial epistemologies. Guided by Goffman’s gender stereotype theory and Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis conceptual framework, the paper draws on data collected from four standardized English language school textbooks that are currently used in Algeria. The textbooks content affirms the ‘subaltern’ categorization of Algerian women through emphasizing their deagentialization, dependence, and disempowerment. These findings have implications for gender equity in Algeria, the Maghreb, and the broader North Africa contexts.