PROJECT (Professional Journal of English Education)
Vol. 9 No. 4 (2026): VOLUME 9 NUMBER 4, JULY 2026

Representing Gender in an Indonesian EFL Textbook: Students’ Perspectives and Textbook Analysis

Hanum Salsabila (Universitas Singaperbangsa Karawang)
Fikri Asih Wigati (Universitas Singaperbangsa Karawang)
Dedeh Kartini (Universitas Singaperbangsa Karawang)



Article Info

Publish Date
30 Jun 2026

Abstract

This study aimed to analyze gender representation in the textbook Bahasa Inggris: Work in Progress and to explore students’ perceptions of gender stereotypes portrayed in the textbook. This study employed a qualitative descriptive design. The data were collected through content analysis and an open-ended questionnaire distributed to 44 tenth-grade students at a senior high school in Karawang. The analysis focused on seven indicators of gender representation, namely pictures, activities, traits, role models, characters, gender mentions, and the order of name mention. The results showed that the textbook was not fully gender-balanced and still reflected gender bias in several aspects. Male characters were more dominant in most indicators, while female characters appeared slightly more frequently only in the gender mentions indicator. In addition, most students were aware of the unequal gender representation portrayed in the textbook, although several students demonstrated critical awareness toward gender stereotypes. Overall, the textbook still reflected unequal gender representation despite several positive portrayals of female characters.

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Journal Info

Abbrev

project

Publisher

Subject

Languange, Linguistic, Communication & Media

Description

Focus PROJECT (Professional Journal of English Education) is a media for diseminating the result of research about language and education in English Education. Scope PROJECT (Professional Journal of English Education) publishes the research article in language, and education in English Education. ...