Gender Imbalances in the Visual Discourse of Moroccan EFL Textbooks: A Critical Image Analysis.

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to investigate the portrayal of women and men in the visual discourse of Moroccan English as a Foreign Language (MEFL, henceforth) textbooks employing a bi-modal analysis comprising  qualitative  content analysis alongside Giaschi (2000),  Kress and Van leeuwen (2006), and Newfield’s (2011) newly developed concept of critical image analysis.  This bi-modal approach attempts to address a number of themes recurrent in the visual contents of the selected textbooks. Relying on this combination, pictorial images featuring both women and men indoors (in domestic settings) and outdoors either in the job market or undertaking some outdoor activities are interrogated. The results of this inquiry prove very convincingly that the visual discourse of MEFL textbooks is fraught with an array of cultural misconceptions in discrimination of women. The paper ends up with a conclusion along with some recommendations.