Genders Representation in Focus: The Case for A Marketized EFL Syllabus

چکیده مقاله

Gender as a pervasive variable offers great potential for research in ESL/EFL context and gender
treatment and representation in syllabus as an institutional discourse intrigues researchers and
practioners. In the present study, conversations in Interchange Series (third Edition) were examined.
Specifically the areas of focus were: a) the ratio of cross-gender as opposed to same-gender
conversations, b) conversation initiation, c) either of the genders’ turn length, and d) speech
complexity of male and female characters in the conversations. The statistical analyses employed
were Chi-square for a, and b, Mann-Whitney U-test for c, and Independent T-test for d, none of which
turned out to be significant. Findings are discussed in the light of literature and implications are
discussed.