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Gender Voices in Hong Kong English Textbooks—Some Past and Current Practices

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Abstract

This paper seeks to investigate whether recent improvements in the status of women in Hong Kong are reflected in patterns of gender representation in Hong Kong secondary English textbooks. A comparison of ten recently published books which are currently in use with ten published in the late 1980s/early 1990s and no longer in use revealed that women appeared more frequently in the former, and that greater use was made of gender-inclusive pronouns and the neutral address title Ms. Nevertheless some writers, it was found, continue to perpetuate the stereotyped image of women as weaker than men, and as operating primarily within domestic rather than social domains. The “male-first” phenomenon and the visual under-representation of women are still prevalent in recent textbooks.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to express our gratitude to the three reviewers and the editor for their valuable comments on the earlier drafts of this article. This article is one of the outcomes of a project, “Gender Representation in ESL Textbooks—The Cases of Hong Kong and Australia”, which was supported by a research grant from the Hong Kong Institute of Education.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of English, The Hong Kong Institute of Education, 10 Lo Ping Road, Tai Po, Hong Kong

    Jackie F. K. Lee

  2. Head, Linguistics Department, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, 2052, Australia

    Peter Collins

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  1. Jackie F. K. Lee
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Correspondence to Jackie F. K. Lee.

Appendix

Appendix

Earlier Textbooks

E1: Christie, H., Yuen, K. S., & Nancarrow, C. (1994). English: A modern course 1. Hong Kong: Aristo.

E2: Christie, H., & Yuen, K. S. (1994). English: A modern course 5. Hong Kong: Aristo.

E3: Methold, K., & Tadman, J. (1990). New integrated English 1. Hong Kong: Longman.

E4: Methold, K., Tadman, J., & Lam, J. (1990). New integrated English 5. Hong Kong: Longman.

E5: Howe, D. H., Kirkpatrick, T. A., & D. L. (1986). Access today 1. Hong Kong: Oxford University Press.

E6: Howe, D. H., Kirkpatrick, T. A., & D. L. (1986). Access today 5. Hong Kong: Oxford University Press.

E7: Mackay, R., & Byron, S. (1994). Impact 1. Hong Kong: Macmillan.

E8: Smallwood, I. M., & Walsh, S. (1994). Impact 5. Hong Kong: Macmillan.

E9: Etherton, A. R. B. (1986). Creative English for secondary schools 1. Hong Kong: Ling Kee.

E10: Etherton, A. R. B. (1988). Creative English for secondary schools 5. Hong Kong: Ling Kee.

Recent Textbooks

R1: Williams, A., & Dawson, C. (2004). New English treasure 1B. Hong Kong: Oxford University Press.

R2: Dixon, M., Kent, J. C., Norberg, M., & Williams, A. (2006). New progress 4A. Hong Kong: Oxford University Press.

R3: Kent, J. C., & Hodson, R. (2003). Progress 5. Hong Kong: Oxford University Press.

R4: Sampson, N. (2001). New way to English 2A. Hong Kong: Macmillan.

R5: Li, P. L., Leetch, P., & Burns, G. J. (2001). Real English 1B. Hong Kong: Macmillan.

R6: Sampson, N. (1997). English 2000, 5. Hong Kong: Macmillan.

R7: Nancarrow, C., Thomas, G., & Yuen, K. S. (2004). Living English 1A. Hong Kong: Aristo.

R8: Nancarrow, C., Hsing, B. M., & Yuen, K. S. (2004). Living English for the Certificate Exam 4A. Hong Kong: Aristo.

R9: Nelson, J. A., Chan, K., & Swan, A. (2004). Longman express 1B. Hong Kong: Longman.

R10: Vickers, E., Wheeler, J., & Lee, I. (2003). Longman express 5. Hong Kong: Longman.

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Lee, J.F.K., Collins, P. Gender Voices in Hong Kong English Textbooks—Some Past and Current Practices. Sex Roles 59, 127–137 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-008-9414-6

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