A multimodal critical discourse analysis of Swedish teaching materials for English

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Degree Project with Specialization in English Studies

and Education

15 Credits, Second Cycle

A multimodal critical discourse analysis

of Swedish teaching materials for English

En multimodal kritisk diskursanalys av svenska läromedel för

engelska

Ronja Cato*

Kate Varga**

Master of Arts in Secondary Education, 270 credits* Art Studies in Education

Master of Arts in Secondary Education, 270 credits** English Studies and Education

2020-02-15 Examiner: Shaun Nolan Supervisor: Damon Tutunjian CULTURE-LANGUAGES-MEDIA

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Individual Contributions

We hereby certify that all parts of this essay reflect the equal participation of both authors. The parts we refer to are as follows:

• Planning

• Research questions selections • Method and material selection • Research and analysis

• Decisions pertaining to the outline of the essay • Presentation of findings, discussion, conclusion

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Abstract

Education in the Swedish school system should aim to assist pupils in the development of fundamental values. This study investigates to what extent different groups of people are represented within two textbooks for English language teaching (ELT), produced in Sweden and commonly used in Swedish schools and how these representations correlate with the values indicated in the curriculum. Additionally, this study explores if textbooks designed for ELT can be adapted and used as a resource in the Arts classroom for multimodal representation analysis. The study used a multimodal critical discourse analysis with a social semiotic approach to address these questions, looking at the textbooks' textual and visual elements. The result is addressed both quantitatively and qualitatively and showed that, while women were shown in active roles, white men were overrepresented in both the visual and textual representations and people of colour of both genders were underrepresented. The results imply that ELT textbooks have some ways to go in order to meet the representation demands that the curriculum sets and that more research needs to address how to more accurately and frequently represent different groups of people within ELT teaching materials.

Keywords: Arts, CDA, English language teaching, ELT, ELT textbooks, ethnicity, gender, MCDA, multimodal, representation, social semiotics, visual grammar.

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1. Introduction

Language is a social construction which both shapes and is shaped by society and culture (Caukill, 2011; Machin & Mayr, 2012). In the wake of movements like Black Lives Matter and #MeToo, social activism regarding gender, ethnicity, and power structures is more present than ever. These movements have highlighted the importance of language in connection with reproducing and preventing intolerance. The aforementioned activist movements have had a global impact and have affected the current social climate in Sweden. As a result, the importance of language in connection to culture is more topical than before. Language is always evolving, and as demonstrated by the new field of study raciolinguistics (Rickford, 2016), this is especially true in connection to marginalised groups.

The Education Act (SFS 2010:800) stipulates the basic regulations for education in Sweden. It states that all education in the Swedish school system should aim to assist pupils in the development of both knowledge and fundamental values. These values are further specified in the compulsory school curriculum (Skolverket, 2018) which states that teaching should foster a sense of justice, generosity, tolerance and responsibility in all individuals. The sanctity of human life, the equal value of all people and solidarity between people are highlighted as the values that should be taught. These values and ideals should be represented throughout all teaching that occurs. In order to teach these values, representation of different cultures and marginalised groups of people are crucial.

When it comes to English Language Teaching (ELT) in Sweden, culture and language are intertwined. The syllabus for English in the years 7-9 states explicitly that ELT teaching should aim to provide pupils with the opportunity to develop their knowledge about social and cultural phenomena in English speaking contexts (Skolverket, 2019). English is an international language that caters to a globalised world; the focus has recently begun to shift from a native speaker ideal to a more inclusive communicative approach. In order to achieve these aims, ELT teaching needs to provide an accurate representation of different cultures and groups of people. However, the need for representation is not unique to the English subject, and it also applies to other subjects. The syllabus for the Arts subject states in the core content for the years 7-9 that teaching should include "pictures which deal with questions of identity, sexuality, ethnicity and power relations, and how these perspectives can be designed and communicated" (Skolverket,

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2019, p. 29). Imagery in the Arts subject is obviously highly relevant, images are created by people whom all have specific values, and the producer of the image is the one who dictates the inherent message. Therefore, images can be used to manipulate the reader (Hansson, Karlsson & Nordström, 2006), and thus images are commonly used in the Arts subject to raise visual awareness through analysis.

The Arts subject requires that teachers foster an awareness of the social influence of images and the importance of context when interpreting them in pupils. The transmitter's values often permeate visual communication. The effect imagery can have on a person depends on the receiver of the message and the context in which it is depicted. It is common knowledge that commercials are used to manipulate the viewer and further strengthen existing norms (Eriksson & Göthlund, 2012). However, there are other settings where the manipulation and enforcement of norms are less obvious. Pupils need to develop their ability to understand the power all visuals have to influence the viewer, which is also a central skill in the Art subject syllabus (Skolverket, 2019).

It is easy for teachers to claim to work according to the fundamental values presented in the curriculum in both subjects. However, it should be questioned whether there is follow-through in all areas, especially when it concerns the teaching materials used. Within the field of ELT teaching, the use of textbooks is common. Textbooks are made up of both textual and visual components, combining words and images in a multimodal text (Gee, 2011). Both aspects play an equally significant role in conveying their messages. While textbooks might be designed to meet the curriculum's standards, they inevitably convey and work to enforce the authors or publishers underlying values. Textbooks thus have a unique position of power and play a significant role in influencing the culture that is taught (Apple, 1990; Apple & Christian-Smith, 1991; Hickman & Porfilio, 2012).

It has been argued that as English is an international language that caters to a globalised world (Crystal, 2003), there is extra pressure to ensure inclusivity within textbooks that teach the language (Caukill, 2011; Nault, 2008). Analysing these textbooks for use in the ELT classroom is critical for identifying what these values are, confirming whether or not they align with the fundamental values specified in the curriculum and if they are inclusive to the ideals of an interculturally diverse English-speaking world.

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The unique position of cultural power that English language teaching textbooks carry, and their frequent use of extensive imagery also make them good candidates as a source material for another subject area – arts education. In arts education, it is expected that teachers will work to raise awareness about representation issues and how these align with the fundamental values which the Swedish school system aims to teach and promote. Through the analysis of ELT textbooks, arts teachers could identify suitable textbooks to use as source material for classroom discussion and for individual tasks, such as pupils’ image analysis assignments. Using ELT textbooks could thus help to create a more authentic learning situation (Lombardi, 2007; Herrington, Reeves & Oliver, 2014), as pupils are bound to encounter these images in their education and add an interdisciplinary perspective. While ELT textbooks may have the capacity to provide Arts subject teachers with the material to meet these criteria, the representation of different cultures and groups of people needs to be assessed beforehand. In this way, the evaluation and assessment of ELT course materials can be seen to have a dual purpose, servicing both the immediate target of English education while also providing source material for arts education.

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2. Aim and Research Questions

This study uses critical discourse analysis and multimodal critical discourse analysis to explore the extent to which gender and ethnicity are represented in English teaching materials. Text and images are both frequently present in ELT textbooks; the inclusion of the material will inevitably uphold certain values. This study aims to discover what these values are and whether the implicit values are the same as the explicit ones. This study serves a dual-purpose as it also aims to identify the extent to which a specific set of English teaching materials would be suitable for adoption (in terms of features) into use for classroom presentation and activities concerning questions of gender, ethnicity, and power relations, and how these perspectives can be designed and communicated in the Arts subject for the years 7-9.

Research Questions

• How are gender, ethnicity, and the power relation between them, represented and depicted through text and images in these specific sets of English language teaching materials commonly used in Sweden?

• To what extent does the representation in these specific sets of ELT textbooks correlate to the values the curriculum aims to teach?

In addition to our two primary research questions, we also have a secondary research question which is as follows:

• To what extent are these specific sets of ELT materials suitable for adaptation into the Arts subject when teaching about representation?

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3. Background

In this section, we will begin by describing the theoretical framework for our study. Furthermore, we will then present previous research into the area of textbook analysis, focusing on both the textual and visual elements. The theoretical framework for this study is grounded in critical discourse study (CDA). However, as textbooks consist of many visual elements, we have chosen to further this approach to include a multimodal critical discourse analysis (MCDA). Additionally, considering the complexity of images, we have also chosen to have a social semiotic approach to our multimodal discourse analysis. These different theoretical perspectives will be presented in this section.

3.1 Critical Discourse Analysis

CDA is a method which draws on several other approaches, but that aims to critically study the relationship between discourse and society (Fairclough, 2010; Fairclough, 2003; Wodak, 2013; Jørgensen & Phillips, 2002). The theory views discourse - language in both written and spoken forms - as a social practice, which both shapes and reflects culture and society. CDA aims to critically investigate and challenge the social norms perpetrated by the discourse, focusing on inequality and power relations (Wodak, 2013; van Dijk, 1993).

There are several different approaches to CDA, within which five common features can be identified. The first feature is that in all approaches, the way text is produced and consumed is considered an important social practice which shapes society. The second feature is that discourse is always assumed to both reflect and help construct social structures. The third feature is that discourse is analysed by conducting concrete, linguistic, textual analysis within its social context. The fourth feature is that discursive practices help create and establish inequality between different social groups. The last feature is that CDA is not a politically neutral process; rather, when conducting CDA, the researcher necessarily takes the side of oppressed social groups and advocates for change (Jørgensen & Phillips, 2002).

When performing a critical discourse analysis, Fairclough's three-dimensional model can be applied. In this model, discourse is an essential concept. While Fairclough stresses the complexity

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of the term discourse, he defines it as communication between people but also text which describes the relations between communicative events (for example newspapers) and discursive objects (for example languages) (Fairclough, 2010). The discourse consists of three dimensions, (1) the text, (2) the discourse practice and (3) the sociocultural practice. The analysis following the three-dimensional model focuses on all three dimensions, where the researcher looks into (1) describing the text, and its traits, (2) the process of production and consumption and (3) the social context in which the text exists. Critical discourse analysis aims to show connections between language use and social practice.

Figure 1. Fairclough’s three-dimensional model.

Another important aspect of the theological framework for this study is Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis (MCDA), an extension of CDA which has been extended to include multimodality. One of the theory's focal points is that discourses create meaning through written or spoken text and through visual elements such as images, colour, spatial arrangement, and layout design (Machin, 2013). These visual elements become essential discourse practices that should be analysed as equal to the textual elements. These visual elements play an equal role in linguistic forms when communicating ideas, attitudes, and identities. Multimodality does not

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necessarily focus on the connotations of individual images or other visual elements but focuses on the combined meanings of all the multimodal aspects (Kress & Van Leeuwen, 1996).

3.2 Social Semiotics

The theoretical framework used for this study also relies heavily on Kress and van Leeuwen’s (2006) social semiotic approach to MCDA. Semiotics is at the core the study of signs, symbols and how these are interpreted (Eriksson & Göthlund, 2012). The social semiotic approach further extends these concepts by adding the theory that semiotics is a language which is socially interpreted (Kress & Van Leeuwen, 2006). Social semiotics aims to describe and understand how people's visual language depends on social context. The visual language is complex, but the theory of social semiotics believes that the context in which the visuals are created and perceived by the viewer affects the meaning. Machin (2013) provides the following example,

if we see a news item about a particular issue in a Muslim community and we find an image of a woman in a full Burhka to represent 'Muslimness', it would not be possible to write 'all Muslims look like this', or 'this is representative of all Muslims’ (p.349-350).

In this example, the image of a woman in a Burhka is presented to represent the particular issue Machin mentions. It is not presented as depiction of all Muslims. However, as the context is both ideological and cultural, the viewer previous experience and understanding shape their reception of the message. If the viewer has limited exposure to Muslim culture, they may interpret the image and the issue as representative of all Muslims. Visual language is just like spoken language not universally understood but is quite culturally specific. Kress and Van Leeuwen describe the main difference of social semiotics and semiotics is that they are focusing on the process of the sign-creation and use, and how the signifier and the signified are independent of each other until the moment these two are brought together, like a textbook that combines signs in the form of textual language with visual language. (Kress & Van Leeuwen, 2006).

To analyse semiotics in images, Kress and van Leeuwen (2006) have developed a method called visual grammar. Visual grammar applies to visual design; the method investigates the social

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practice and resources communicated within the images through the visual elements and hidden/underlying sociocultural contexts. This concept developed within a Western context and is more easily applied to images created within the same context. However, within Western culture, it is a generally applicable method that can be applied to all forms of visual media. Visual grammar looks at different elements of an image such as gaze, framing, spatial elements, background, foreground, focus, social distancing and so forth (Kress & Van Leeuwen, 2006). Kress and Van Leeuwen (2006) stress that the theory of social semiotics and the visual "grammar" are hypothetical and conditional since both verbal and visual language, but also, culture and context, are always changing.

3.3 Previous Research

Previous research regarding representation in English language teaching (ELT) materials have shown that ELT teaching materials promote both language learning and different hidden cultural agendas and values. In 2003, Otlowski performed a discourse analysis on an EFL textbook used in Japan. Otlowski's study investigated the textbook for gender bias and how ethnic groups were portrayed in the text. The study examined to what extent women were depicted in stereotypical roles and the extent to which different ethnic groups were visible and how they were portrayed, examining both textual and visual elements. Otlowski found that the textbook depicted women in traditional stereotypical roles and gave a sanitised view in its inclusion of other ethnicities. In 2004, Ndura performed a study which had similar results to Otlowski. Ndura analysed how stereotypical images presented in ESL textbooks impact what students learn about culture. The study analysed six ESL textbooks used in the USA in both elementary and secondary schools. Ndura found that the images depicted men and women in stereotypical roles; this was also the case when depicting other cultures - most noticeably with Africa being presented as a poor and primitive land.

In the same year as Ndura, Shardakova and Pavlenko (2004) conducted a critical discourse analysis to investigate how identity was represented in Russian EL textbooks. The researchers found that the textbooks primarily depicted White, heterosexual, middle-class, educated men. They also found that the books frequently depicted an imaginary learner of Russian, whose

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primary goal was to have adventures and educate the native Russians. Shardakova and Pavlenko found that the only women portrayed were romantic interests or supporting characters. The following year, Garcia (2005) performed a textbook study investigating how English as foreign language (EFL) textbooks marketed in Spain had an international and intercultural approach to culture. Garcia found that a majority of the textbooks focused primarily on native speaker countries and that only a minority of the content had any intercultural aspects or showed Spanish culture.

In 2012, Yasin, Hamid, Zarina, Bakar, Hasim and Mothi performed a study that aimed to investigate the extent to which gender bias was depicted in the imagery in an EFL textbook. The study was performed on a Malaysian EFL textbook using a social semiotics approach and Kress and Van Leeuwen's (2006) theory of visual grammar. Yasin et al. analysed 78 images in the selected textbook and found a clear gender imbalance. The images primarily depicted men in outdoor settings, the women depicted were presented in indoor settings and often in stereotypical female roles.

Similarly to Yasin et al. (2012), Christodoulou, Kyridis and Vamvakidou (2016) investigated how gender was represented in a Greek language textbook. The study focused on gender representation in illustrations using a semiotic analysis approach. The researchers found that the portrayal of gender was unequal, and that representation was stereotypical and perpetrated traditional ideological belief. Men are shown to have more demanding roles and occupations, while women remain in men's shadows and have traditionally female roles and occupations. However, this was not the case when depicting children where boys and girls were represented more equally in behaviour and activities.

Also in 2016, Sadker and Zittleman discussed gender bias in American classrooms and textbooks. They write that while modern textbooks do not usually present openly sexist text, a subtle bias still persists. They further state that, “Men are seen as the movers and shakers of history, scientists of achievement, and political leaders. Studies on curriculum from around the world also find that both males and females are depicted in gender‐stereotyped ways” (p.86). According to the authors, the number of males presented in textbooks tend to outnumber the number of females presented and the portrayal of men is often significantly influenced by traditional standards. Following these standards, little boys are shown as troublemakers and men

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are portrayed as aggressive. Furthermore, Sadker and Zittleman refer to studies of distinguished children’s books, stating that these have revealed that male-centered texts and images were twice as frequent as female-centered texts and images. Additionally, the books more frequently than not portrayed characters in traditional occupation roles based on gender. The authors present seven different types of biases that occur in textbooks and classrooms, invisibility, stereotyping, imbalance and selectivity, unreality, fragmentation, linguistic bias, and cosmetic bias.

Taking a different approach to previous studies, Yoon (2016) applied critical race theory to CDA and MDA to investigate how internet memes associated with racism could be analysed and utilized pedagogically. Yoon found that the majority of the memes analysed denied structural racism and perpetuated a covert version of racism, called colorblindness. Yoon argues that colorblindness can be challenged by implementing the racist memes into the classroom, allowing pupils to analyse them critically and creating “counter-memes”, claiming that this will help enhance pupils’ awareness of racial issues.

Finally in 2019, Setyono and Widodo performed a study using Fairclough's CDA method, where they aimed to investigate which multicultural values were taught in Indonesian EFL textbooks. They found that the teaching materials predominantly feature inner-circle countries' cultures while the outer-circle countries (Kachru, 1985) are rarely portrayed.

Previous research in the area indicates that both text and image show native English-speaking countries more frequently, and that non-native speaking countries are typically depicted stereotypically. Textual and visual analysis of gender representation in textbooks have shown similar results, having an unequal representation of gender, more frequently showing males in more visible and active roles than their female counterparts. The previous research spans from 2003 to 2019 and demonstrates that there is still an ongoing issue with representation within textbooks. English language textbooks continue to perpetuate western culture and male dominance. Furthermore, the research is lacking an analysis with a specific focus on ethnicity and an intersectional analysis which shows to what extent the relation between gender and ethnicity is represented in textbooks.

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3.4 The Swedish Context

The curriculum for the compulsory school, preschool class and school-age educare states that, The school should promote understanding of other people and the ability to empathise. Concern for the well-being and development of the individual should permeate all school activity. No one should be subjected to discrimination on the grounds of gender, ethnic affiliation, religion or other belief system, transgender identity or its expression, sexual orientation, age or functional impairment or other degrading treatment. (Skolverket, 2019. p. 5)

Skolverket continues to state that this should be actively combated, and that intolerance must be opposed, especially in an intellectual manner with active measures. The school is a cultural meeting place and everyone who works in the school system should take the responsibility to address and develop the Swedish schools’ values (Skolverket, 2019). In order to teach these values, representation of different cultures and marginalised groups of people are crucial. As such it is paramount to investigate the contents of the textbooks used within the Swedish school context, such as the EFL textbooks. Culture and language are intertwined, and as English is an international language it needs to be inclusive. The syllabus for English in the years 7-9 states explicitly that EFL teaching should aim to provide pupils with the opportunity to develop their knowledge about social and cultural phenomena in English speaking contexts (Skolverket, 2019). To achieve these goals, EFL teaching materials need to showcase different cultures and groups of people.

EFL textbooks not only contain texts, but images as well. These images can be both purposely and specifically chosen for a segment but can also be non-purposely and non-specifically chosen. Whether or not the image was chosen with a purpose that choice will always have or make implications. The syllabus for the Arts subject states in the core content for the years 7-9 that teaching should include "pictures which deal with questions of identity, sexuality, ethnicity and power relations, and how these perspectives can be designed and communicated" (Skolverket, 2019, p. 29).

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Modern textbooks in the Swedish context are usually designed to meet the curriculum’s standards, however, they are not neutral products and enforce certain values. Analysing the textbooks used in Swedish EFL classrooms is important in order to identify what these values are in order to ascertain if they align with the representation standards set forth by the curriculum.

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4. Method

In this study, we investigate to what extent gender, ethnicity, and the power relation between them are represented and depicted through text and images in commonly used EFL materials in Sweden. Additionally, we seek to determine how these representations correlate to the values stated in the curriculum and how they can be adapted into the Arts subjects to teach about representation. This study uses a social semiotic approach to MCDA in order to investigate the discourse. This section presents the materials used for the discourse analysis, the framework used and the procedure in which the research was carried out.

4.1 Materials

The discourses chosen for this study are two EFL textbooks created for a Swedish context and published by two of the largest publishing houses for teaching materials in Sweden. Both textbooks are the publishers' more recent works within EFL teaching and have been developed based on the current curriculum.

Good Stuff Gold C is an EFL digital textbook aimed at year 8. The book was written primarily by Andy Coombs but includes additional contributions Annika Bayard and Roland Hagvärn and was first released in 2013 by the publisher Liber. The book contains mostly original stories written by Coombs, with complimentary pictures. The texts come in two different levels, one at a basic level and one more challenging. A visual element accompanies each text. As it is a digital textbook, it has been updated since its original release – the contents examined were those included in winter 2020.

Sparks 9 textbook is a physical EFL textbook aimed at year 9. The book was written by Jeremy Taylor, released in 2018 and is published by Gleerups. The book is built around four broad themes and aims to give several viewpoints on the same topic. The themes are Passions, On the Move, News and Footprints. Each theme contains six texts which come in pairs, one text is on a basic level, and one is more challenging. Each text is accompanied by at least one image. Both books contain different types of texts, including (but not limited to) dialogues, magazine articles, short stories, factual texts, biographies, letters, and 1st_{person narratives.}

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4.2 Framework for analysis

The framework used in the study is split into two parts, one for the quantitative analysis and one for the qualitative analysis. Both parts of the framework are based on Fairclough's three-dimensional model.

4.2.1 Quantitative analysis

In our quantitative analysis, we researched the extent to which people of different ethnicities and genders were represented in our chosen discourse. This research was conducted to find patterns in the rest of the discourse and to enable us to connect and generalize the results of the curated texts that we analysed qualitatively (Christoffersen & Johannessen, 2015). This analysis consisted of both a textual and visual analysis.

The analysis of the visual elements included images which showed people or large parts of people. We excluded cartoons, non-clearly visible people in images which showed large groups of people (for example, only the back of the head was visible), images of animals, videos and images showing small parts of people, such as hands.

The textual analysis included specified and identified individual speakers and mentioned individual people. This excluded gendered animals and collective nouns regarding people where neither gender nor ethnicity/culture is specified, such as people and parents.

In our analysis culture is treated as an extension of ethnicity. We have also included a category which we refer to as “ambiguous”. This refers to images and text where the gender or ethnicity is not discernible; for example, the name John appears in many predominantly Christian cultures; names such as Alex and Sasha are unisex. Furthermore, we have examined the intersectionality of the people represented. Intersectionality refers to the overlap of social and political identities (Crenshaw, 1991; Knudsen, 2006). The theory of intersectionality is that people are often disadvantaged based on multiple aspects of their identity, for example “a black man and a white woman make $0.74 and $0.78 to a white man’s dollar, respectively. Black women, faced with multiple forms of oppression, only make $0.64” (Chandler, 2020). This example demonstrates how black women are disadvantaged for being both non-white and women. In our research, we focus on the intersectionality of gender and ethnicity.

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We identified gender and ethnicity by looking at the names used (utilizing etymology to assist with cultural connections), cultures which were named or described and physical appearance such as skin colour in images.

4.2.2 Qualitative analysis

Our qualitative analysis is based on Fairclough's three-dimensional framework for CDA. The first step was to (1) describe the text/images featuring people using a denotative approach. Denotative refers to the objective description of text/images. When observing the visual elements, we will be based in Kress and van Leeuwen's (2006) visual grammar, specifically in the following terms: gaze, social distance, attitude, and framing.

Gaze refers to what the person is looking at or towards; however, it also refers to how the viewer engages with the image. Social distance refers to how close to the camera/viewer the people depicted in the image are. Attitude refers to how the person depicted is presented and how they are perceived by the viewer. Framing refers to the placing and spatial arrangement of the people in the image, and it also refers to how the visual element is placed in relation to the textual elements.

The textual elements are looked at in terms of the number of identified gendered speakers represented, the occupations mentioned, and which adjectives are used to describe the people presented in the texts.

This step will be followed by (2) an interpretation of the text through the discourse practice of MCDA. This will be done observing how the textual and visual elements convey messages both on their own and by interacting with each other. The interpretation will be guided by the following questions:

• Which adjectives are used to describe the persons in the texts and accompanying images?

• Which nouns describing occupation and ethnicity do we see/read in the text and accompanying images?

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• How does the spatial arrangement of the images affect how people are portrayed? • How much space is given to people? (In relation to other images, in relation to the text). • In what manner are people portrayed? (For example: active, inactive)

To clarify, in the qualitative analysis we will not present a quantitatively specified list of which adjectives, nouns or pronouns were present. Our goal is to analyse the overarching differences. This will be followed by (3) a social analysis where sociocultural practices, highlighting themes related to our research questions and social concepts such as sexism and racism, within the textual and visual elements are discussed. Within this, we also performed a connotative analysis. Connotative analysis refers to the subjective description of images.

The qualitative analysis was based on a selection of texts, with accompanying images, which presented and described people from a third-person perspective. These texts were selected as they offered a wide range of subject matter, while still providing a manageable amount of data. Texts which included dialogue or lacked accompanying images were excluded. The curated texts all ended up being about people of some fame, and these were fact-checked to ensure authenticity.

4.2.3 Procedure

As mentioned previously, this study will be both text and image-based, where the focus is on how gender and ethnicity are represented in EFL textbooks.

We began our study by looking quantitatively at the visual representation by counting the number of instances people appeared in visual elements, and then separating the data by counting how many of these people were of different ethnicities and genders (men/women/ambiguous). Whiteness functions as a norm in many Western societies (Morris, 2016; Gulati-Partee & Potapchuck, 2014), Sweden is no exception to this. We have chosen to categorize our data in reference to Caucasian/white and people of colour (POC), to further demonstrate the perpetuation of the white norm. While Caucasian/white are not a uniform group culturally they still benefit from the same privilege and as such we have grouped them together. Additionally, we looked at the intersectionality of the people represented, that is how

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many white men were portrayed and how many POC men were portrayed. We repeated this process for women and ambiguous as well. This numerical data was then processed and presented in tables.

Our quantitative study was then continued via an examination of the textual elements. We quantified the number of identified speakers in terms of gender. This process included a numeration of the instances of proper nouns (names) and pronouns used throughout the textbooks.

We then performed a qualitative analysis; we began by excluding texts and images based on the exclusion criteria. We looked at texts about people in third person that also included an image of the subject. Fourteen texts and images were finally included. We began by reading the texts and analysing them one by one, during the analysis we specifically looked for adjectives, nouns, and pronouns. We then conducted a denotative and connotative visual analysis of each individual image. The selected visual grammar was applied on the images in the visual analysis, and we looked specifically for the implications of social distance, attitude, and gaze. We then applied a multimodal view and compared the text and image to each other. For this, we looked the framing - the placement of both text and image, as well as whether either component helped to further reinforce the context to the other. If the text described an active person (in terms of physical activity), we would look for the same activity in the paired image.

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5. Results

In this section we will present and discuss the results of the analysis. We will begin by presenting the results of the quantitative analysis, first presenting visual representation and then textual representation. We will then present the results of the qualitative analysis, presenting each segment with a brief summary and analysis of the textual elements, a denotative and connotative description of the visual elements, which will then be followed by a multimodal analysis.

5.1 Quantitative results

In this section, we present the result of the quantitative analysis. This includes both the visual and textual representation of gender and ethnicity in Sparks and Good Stuff Gold C.

Table 1 summarizes the visual presentation of gender and ethnicity in our selected textbooks. The data was collected from the textbooks in their entirety and shows the intersectionality between gender and ethnicity in the people represented visually. The data shows Sparks portrays men, both POC and Caucasian, and Caucasian women, equally in quantitative measures. POC women are underrepresented in comparison, they are represented half as much as the other groups. Comparatively, Good Stuff Gold C present both Caucasian men and women in the vast majority of the pictures while POC men and women are only represented in a minority of the visual elements.

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23 Table 1. Visual representation

Sparks Good Stuff Gold C

Caucasian men 23 81

POC men 23 10

Caucasian women 23 51

POC women 11 9

Ambiguous ethnicity 6 18

Table 2 summarizes the textual representation in both textbooks. While Caucasian men, Caucasian women and POC men seemed to be equal in the visual representation they are not in the textual. Sparks have 128 men in text, a substantial majority of which were Caucasian. The same pattern can be seen among the women, while women accounted for 16 textual representations less than men. Good Stuff Gold C followed a similar pattern, it presented 88 men – the majority of which were Caucasian. Similarly, in the female section there were 65 women were represented, the majority were Caucasian and only a small number of POC women were represented.

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24 Table 2. Textual representation

Sparks Good Stuff Gold C

Men 128 88 Caucasian men 75 21 POC men 19 9 Women 59 65 Caucasian women 20 21 POC women 15 6 Ambiguous ethnicity 60 102 Ambiguous gender 2 0

5.2 Qualitative results

In this section, we will be describing and analysing the curated texts and accompanying images found in our source material. The texts will be grouped based by gender.

5.2.1 Men

The two textbooks present six men, two of whom are POC and four of whom are white. The white men presented are Steve Jobs - co-founder of Apple, Ronnie Biggs - train robber, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and John Verdon, both crime writers. The two POC men presented are Nelson Mandela - politician and freedom fighter, and Ade Adepitan - Paralympics athlete.

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Steve Jobs is presented in Sparks, in the segment called 'People with Passions' in the first chapter. Apple co-founder Steve Jobs' presentation spans two pages and includes two images - one of Jobs on the TIME magazine cover and one of a MacBook computer. The text about Steve Jobs begins by explaining how he was adopted and the circumstances thereof. The text presents Jobs as someone who did poorly in school, uninspired but brilliant, and an outsider in society. It tells of how he co-founded Apple, that he was forced to leave due to being difficult to work with, but that later he returned with the ideas that would save the company. The text includes a quote which showcases Jobs desire to be innovative before telling the reader how and when he died. Jobs is described in the text as "a little terror", a friendless loner, and "difficult to work with" (Taylor, 2018, p.14-15). These statements are countered with positive statements, saying that he was a terror because he was highly intelligent and bored; he was a friendless loner because he was bullied. He was difficult to work with, but he was essential to the company's success. The text describes him as unmotivated and unhappy with school but also presents him as highly intelligent. His level of intelligence is stated as a fact, and his supposed behaviour is never questioned because of it. This is similar to how his contribution to Apple is presented, where Steve Wozniak's (co-founder of Apple) involvement in the company's success is downplayed. The accompanying image is the cover of TIME Magazine, and the image is in black and white. Jobs is located in the middle of the photo, sitting, and hunched over a computer that is located in his lap. He is looking into the camera. The background is white, and Jobs is in focus. A small text can be seen in the picture, and it reads: Steve Jobs 1955-2011. The photograph shows a smirking Jobs gazing straight at the viewer; his face is slightly hunched down and seeks contact. Due to the framing, focus, angle and perspective of the picture, the man is viewed as a powerful but approachable person. The eyes' angle is slightly higher than in eye-level, which makes the viewer both in some way relate to the person in the picture and feel that the man has power over the viewer like he is an important figure. The magazine's name is covered by Jobs' head, which further implies the stance of power. Jobs' shows no action in this picture; however, he is presented with a computer which implies his profession is with computers and/or computer science. The white background makes the image/situation lack context like the man does not need context for people to identify him.

The image of Jobs is presented at the beginning of the text and has a bright red frame, because of the border, the eye is drawn to the image. The text and image work together to reinforce Jobs'

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image as a powerful man; the image works to further the narrative Jobs was the sole genius behind Apple's success. As Jobs is depicted as approachable, it contradicts the text's narrative, which paints him to be a difficult person to work with. The presentation of Jobs follows the traditional patterns discussed by Sadker and Zittleman (2016), in which boys are portrayed as troublemakers and men are portrayed as angry or aggressive. The combination of the bright red frame and the inclusion of a magazine cover gives Jobs more power, it is unlike any of the other images in the section and therefore sets him apart.

Similarly to Jobs, another person presented with a lot of power despite a questionable attitude is Ronnie Biggs. Biggs is presented in Good Stuff Gold C, in the chapter called 'Crime'. The segment in the chapter is named Ronnie Biggs and is a continuation of another text in the chapter called 'The Great Train Robbery'. The text talks about Biggs, a train robber, and begins by briefly referring back to the previous chapter and explaining the details of Biggs's crime. The text explains that when Biggs escaped prison, he was seen as a hero and became very famous. It further details how he escaped recapture several times, which only led to him becoming more famous. The text explains that Biggs was ultimately recaptured and spent time in prison in the UK before he was released due to bad health. The text concludes by saying that Biggs never regretted the crime and ends with a quote from Biggs, which says how he was "quite pleased" about it. The text presents Biggs as worthy of admiration, stating that "the daring robbery and the brilliant escape gave him huge fame". There is a large focus on Biggs' fame and how he managed to escape capture several times. It is indicated that he was only caught due to his own volition, stating that he returned to the UK to receive medical attention, knowing this would lead to his arrest. It is described how Biggs never regretted his crime, the morality of which is never questioned. The text states, "he became kind of a hero", "Biggs was never sorry… in fact he said he was rather proud of it.". Both Jobs and Biggs' presentations have a "boy will be boys" feel to them, because they are men, they are allowed to behave badly and still be seen by the public as good people. The accompanying image of Biggs furthers this perception.

Biggs' image is a colour photograph and is shown twice - once at the beginning of the text and once at the end. The image shows Biggs, a white man with grey, back-combed hair. The photo is a close-up. Biggs is located in the centre of the picture and is in full focus while the background is blurry. It is difficult to say what kind of environment he is in. Biggs' hands are in the picture; the left is giving a thumbs up while the right is holding a radio to his ear. His gaze is directed

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into the camera, but his face is slightly tilted downward to his right. He is smiling. The blurry background puts more focus on the man. The close shot with the man's face in focus gives the photo an intimate feeling and implies that the man is someone you can relate to. The gaze and the small smile directed at the viewer demands contact, and the man is not perceived as an object, but a subject the viewer can relate to. The man in the picture is active since he is listening to something and is communicating with the viewer with the thumbs up. The visual and textual elements work together to reinforce Biggs as a carefree man and give the observer the feeling that the crime he committed wasn't a big deal. Following the pattern of traditional male portrayals (Sadker & Zittleman, 2016; Christodoulou et al., 2016), Biggs is shown as a troublemaker. However, he is portrait shows him as more mischievous than aggressive which is still a stereotypical male role. The image of Biggs' needs the text for context.

Sparks presents two male crime writers in the segment called 'Crime Writers' in the fourth chapter. The first author is Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, a Scotsman most famous for writing the Sherlock Holmes's stories. The presentation spans two pages and includes one image of Doyle. The text details some of Doyle's background, his acquaintances with other famous writers of the time, and his inspiration for the Holmes character. It describes how he married, travelled extensively, lived an exciting life, and was a prolific writer. The text includes a quote from Doyle's on his dislike of the Sherlock Holmes character. The text concludes by telling the reader of when he died and his final words. The text both presents Doyle in his role as an author and as whom he was a person, describing him as someone who lived an exciting life and extensive travel. The text mentions several other authors by name, highlighting their friendships with Doyle. Doyle's writing is primarily presented through Sherlock Holmes. The text shows clear signs of linguistic bias (Sadker and Zittleman, 2016), by denying the full participation of women. The text mentions Doyle's marriage to his first wife but does not mention anything more about his family life, not mentioning that he remarried and how his final words were directed to his second wife, rather than his first. Not only are the women reduced down to the roles of wives, but they are also compressed into one person. This also follows the reoccurring theme of women been portrayed in men’s shadows (Christodoulou et al., 2016).

The accompanying black and white photograph of Doyle takes up almost the whole page. In the picture, Doyle is not in the centre; he is leaning towards the left while gazing directly into the camera. The focus is both on Doyle and the background. He is holding a cigarette in his right

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hand, and his left hand is in his pocket. The background is a pair of dark doors with detailed design. The shot is taken as a medium-long wide shot. The image is cropped from his thighs; also, a part of his left arm is cropped out. The photo's social distance implies that this man is personable, and the man's gaze towards the camera demands interaction with the viewer as a subject. The man in the picture might not be approachable but is demanding to be recognised as a person to relate to and not something the viewer just observes. The man's whole body and face are directed toward the camera and implies some involvement with the viewer of the image. The picture's angle is eye-level, which implies that the person in the picture is equal to the viewer. The background and the man's clothes imply wealth. The centre of the image is the empty space next to Doyle, which implies that the image's importance might be his lifestyle and not his person.

The image is placed on the second page of the segment about Doyle, in the middle of the text. The text takes up about one page in its entirety, and the image takes up the same amount of space. The visual and textual elements work together to show Doyle as someone to be respected and taken seriously. The text highlights his writing career and connections to other famous writers and shows him as someone who is laid back and approachable. It is described that he lived an "exciting life full of fast cars, extensive travel and prolific writing" (Taylor, 2018, p.102). The second crime writer presented is John Verdon. Verdon's text is noticeably shorter than Doyle’s, the text is roughly half a page and includes an image of Verdon. The text explains that Verdon became a writer after he retired from a different career, that other crime novelists inspired him and that his wife encouraged him to write his own. The text presents Verdon in his role as an author. The presentation is very brief, describing that he was an advertising executive before retiring and becoming a crime writer. His creation, Dave Gurney, is described as sharing many of Verdon's qualities; however, these are not specified. The text mentions Sir Arthur Conan Doyle as Verdon's inspiration.

The colour photograph is of Verdon. The centre of the photo is the background, and the background is blurry and green. Verdon is located to the left in the image and is looking into the camera. His face is slightly turned to his left side. The photo is taken as a medium-close shot, and the angle is eye-level. The photo's social distance suggests that the viewer is in close relation to the man, his gaze, which demands contact from the viewer, further implies this. The eye-level

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of the image implies that the man and the viewer are equal. The background gives the context of nature and that the man in the picture is an outdoorsy person, which is further suggested by him leaning on the tree trunk. The man in the image is overall inactive; however, he is actively making contact with the viewer.

The image is located alongside the right side of the text and takes up the same amount of space as the text. Overall, the section on Verdon is very brief. However, the visual and textual elements both present a professional view of Verdon.

While both Doyle's and Verdon's presentations mention their respective wives, there are few inclusions about their family lives. This is also true for Jobs and Biggs, who were both married with children. Men are not defined by their families, their roles as husbands or as fathers. Jobs, Doyle, and Biggs all fathered children, but this role is not viewed as important as their professional achievements. Additionally, most of the Caucasian men presented can be viewed as flawed. Jobs is described as a very difficult person; Biggs was a professional criminal and Doyle is depicted as someone who lived an overly extravagant lifestyle. All of these points follow the themes other research has found (Sadker and Zittleman, 2016; Christodoulou et al., 2016). Another interesting fact is that the white men presented in the Sparks textbook are all linked to other known white men. Verdon, the least well-known of the men presented in Sparks, is connected to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The text states that Verdon is a big fan of Doyle's work and was inspired by it. On the other hand, Doyle is connected to three other famous authors whom he is described to have had known in real life. The text about Jobs namedrops five other famous men, among them his co-worker Steve Wozniak is named, but the text also states that Jobs was a fan of Shakespeare and Dylan Thomas. It as if the textbook is attempting to provide further legitimacy to the men presented by connecting them to other famous men. This is something that occurs throughout the Sparks textbook.

The Sparks textbook does not present any POC men; however, Good Stuff Gold C presents two. The first POC man presented is Nelson Mandela. He is presented in the chapter called 'World Fame', the segment is called Nelson Mandela - a portrait. It is noteworthy to mention that the segment also includes a fact-based text about apartheid. This text has been excluded as it does not present a person. The text about the South African politician and revolutionary Mandela begins with a brief explanation about apartheid before detailing Mandela's early life. It explains

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how Mandela became politically involved in an effort to end apartheid and better people's lives. The text explains the circumstances of his imprisonment and how he continued to work against apartheid even when he was incarcerated. It further details how Mandela was released and, how he together with the current president, dismantled the apartheid system which earned them the Nobel Peace Prize. The text explains that Mandela became president of South Africa and worked to help the country move forward through peace and forgiveness. The text concludes by questioning if his method of reconciliation is what led to him becoming a symbol of hope and freedom. The text describes Mandela as a professional, focusing mainly on his fight against apartheid and what he managed to accomplish. The segment is introduced with the following passage, "He has become a symbol of freedom and hope all over the world. He changed from country boy to freedom fighter to prisoner to statesman. He was hated and feared and then loved and respected. His story is remarkable." There are few details about Mandela's background and only brief descriptions of precisely what Mandela is so famous for. There are no mentions of his private life; instead, the text presents him only in his role as a politician and a symbol. Additionally, beyond presenting Mandela's birth name (Rolihlahla), there is no mention of his heritage or his ethnicity.

The image is a colour photograph of Mandela as an old man. The photo is taken as a close shot with Mandela to the right of the centre, his shoulders, are barely visible. He is in the foreground of the picture while there is an unfocused brick wall in the background. The angle is at eye-level but without eye-contact with the viewer of the image. Both his eyes and head are slightly turned to his left, and he is looking slightly downward. The photo's composition puts Nelson in focus, but off-centre, which can be interpreted as downplaying the importance of his person. His gaze, which is directed downward, away from the camera, does not demand contact, and allows the viewer to observe the man as an object rather than a subject. He is detached from the personal aspect even though the social distance in the photo is close and implies that the viewer should, in some way, personally identify with the man. The angle of the shot with the face/eyes in an eye-level angle also further implies this, the viewer and the subject of the photograph are equal. The image is presented before the text, on a separate page. The image is not referred to in the text. Mandela is never presented as a black man. The textual and visual elements work together to show Mandela as a symbol. The text presents Mandela throughout his life, but the image shows him as an old man. The image of Mandela needs the text for context.

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Interestingly, Mandela is the first man presented through only his achievements with little emphasis on him as a person. The portrayal of Mandela shows two types of biases, unreality and imbalance and selectivity (Sadker and Zittleman, 2016). Unreality refers to the text painting an illusionary picture of actual events, this text ignores the continued on-going structural racism in South Africa. Imbalance and selectivity refer to a concept similar to what Otlowski (2003), presented where foreign cultures or ethnicities are presented in a simplified way which distorts complex issues. Additionally, Mandela is the first man whose accompanying image does not show him having eye contact with the viewer. This, in combination with the lack of personability in the text, can make it hard for the viewer to relate and identify with him.

The second POC man presented in Good Stuff Gold C is Ade Adepitan, he is presented in the chapter called 'Me on Wheels' in a segment called Sporting Heroes on Wheels. Adepitan is British wheelchair basketball player. The text describes the circumstances under which Adepitan became a wheelchair user and says, "but he did not let this stop his dreams". It further details his sporting achievements before explaining what he does now. Overall, the text presents Adepitan on a professional level as a sportsman, including hardly any personal facts beyond stating that he is from Nigeria and became wheelchair-bound due to polio. While there are few facts in the text, it presents Adepitan as a brave go-getter, describing that he did not let his disability stop his dreams and that "will try any sport at least once".

The image is located at the beginning of the text about Adepitan, but this picture is also used in the chapter summary. In this colour photograph, Adepitan is seen sitting in a wheelchair in the middle of a bridge. He is in the centre of the photo; his full body and wheelchair can be seen as a full body shot where large parts of the background are visible. Both the background and Adepitan are equally in focus. Adepitan's face is directed away from the viewer, and his gaze is directed to his left. A torch is attached to his wheelchair and Adepitan is pointing upwards with one of his arms. He is dressed in a white outfit with the Olympic rings on it which is well-lit. In contrast to the other images in this book, this image has a white frame with a shadow border. While his hands are not idle, he is not performing any specific activity. His athleticism is identified through his clothes with the help of the Olympic rings and the attached torch. The focus and the picture's internal framing imply that the setting is almost as important as Adepitan himself; the setting is identifiable as the Millennium Bridge in London. The wide long-shot

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shows his full body and wheelchair and the surroundings, which implies that the man is impersonal. The man's face and gaze are turned away from the viewer and make him difficult to identify. The man in the picture is also detached from the viewer because he is framed as an observable phenomenon rather than a person the viewer can identify with.

The framing on Adepitan's image is different from others in the book, and no other image has the same white border with shadowing. This can be interpreted that this image has a certain kind of significance, similar to the red border in the Steve Jobs image. The image is presented before the text but after the title. The text and image work together to portray Adepitan as an aspirational person, which is the same as how Mandela is portrayed. It is noteworthy that only the POC men are portrayed as symbols of ideals, rather than showing them as people to the same extent that their white counterparts are. Their stories are reduced down to depict idealised qualities which can be sensationalised. As was the case with Mandela, Adepitan does not have eye-contact with the viewer in his accompanying image which transforms him into an object for the viewer and makes it more difficult for the viewer to identify with him. The portrait also shows unreality bias (Sadker and Zittleman, 2016), in this case it does so in relation to his disability as it is presented in a romanticised narrative. However, as the other men presented, Mandela's or Adepitan's family life is not mentioned. We found it to be especially interesting in Mandela's case, as his spouse was also famous and intrinsically linked to the fight against apartheid.

5.2.2 Women

The two textbooks present eight women, six of whom are white, and two are POC. The white women presented are Louise Glück - a poet, Evelyn Glennie - a professional percussionist, Emma Watson - actress and UN GoodWill ambassador, Tanni Grey Thompson - Paralympics athlete, Agatha Christie and Gillian Flynn who are both crime writers. The two POC women presented are Wangari Maathai - Nobel Peace Prize winner and Kamala Harris - politician and (at the time of the analysis) Vice-President-elect.

Louise Glück is introduced in Good Stuff Gold C, in the chapter "Theme USA". The text is called Louise Glück 2020. The text introduces Glück, an American poet. It details how she has worked with poetry all of her adult life, and that her poetry has been influenced by the treatment she has

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received for mental health issues. It further details some recurring themes in her work and lists some of her most noticeable achievements. The text about Glück alters between presenting information about the author and discussing her poetry. Apart from stating when she was born and where she lives, the text as a whole is primarily about Glück as a professional poet.

The text is accompanied by a black and white photograph of Glück. She is photographed in an outdoor setting with greenery in the background. She is positioned at the centre of the image, and her face is in focus. The photo is taken as a close-up shot, and the body is cropped right below the shoulders. The woman is looking left and downward away from the viewer; half of her face is covered by her hair. The lack of eye-contact in the image makes it difficult to identify with the woman; because of this, she is presented as an object rather than a subject. The woman's averted vision is directed towards the ground, which can imply a lack of power. The lack of action and contact leads to detachment, further positioning Glück as an object. The hair covering the woman's face makes her seem submissive; this is further amplified by the lack of contact with the viewer. Close-up framing of the image usually leads to a more personal presentation of the subject; in this case, it can imply intimacy.

The image is presented in the middle of the text and takes up about a third of the space. The image is never referred to or presented in the text. The image presents a very personal and intimate view of Glück, while the text mainly presents her in a very professional manner, focusing on her poetry. The image presents Glück as very feminine, and her status as a woman is also centred when the text mentions her mental health issues, stating that "When she was a teenager she suffered from anorexia". Anorexia is often considered a typically female diagnosis. The inclusion of such a personal, and irrelevant, fact in an otherwise impersonal text makes it seem like it's drawing attention to Glück's role as a woman. It also functions as a form of stereotyping (Sadker and Zittleman, 2016), assigning a rigid role to Glück as she is a woman. However, the text about Glück is not alone in this. Many of the other texts which present women also highlight their subjects' femininity and stereotypes them because of it.

The text about Tanni Grey Thompson and Kamala Harris both draw attention to their roles as women. Thompson is presented in Good Stuff Gold C, in the chapter called "Me on Wheels" in the text called Sporting Heroes on Wheels. She is introduced as one of Britain's most accomplished Paralympics athletes. The text describes that she became interested in sports as a

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child and details her sporting achievements. The text concludes by saying that Thompson has stopped competing, is married with a child, and "works with sports and other things". The text about Thompson presents her very briefly, maintaining focus on her sporting achievements. While it mentions that Thompson is a Paralympics athlete, it does not mention her handicap beyond the title: "Tanni Grey Thompson - Wheelchair Athletics".

The photograph of Thompson is a colour photograph taken in an inside environment. The photography itself is located at the beginning of her text. Tanni herself is located in the left part of the picture. Thompson is driving a sport-wheelchair. Her gaze is looking straight ahead, which is towards the right of the image. She and the room are in the same focus, but the background is dark while Thompson is lit up. The light source elongates her shadow. The positioning of her arms and body suggests that she is in mid-stride while going forward on the course. The location of her in the left part of the image with her wheelchair closer to the middle further suggests that she is moving. Her gaze, which goes in the same direction as the wheelchair/movement, also implies this. The viewer's lack of contact turns her into something the viewer can observe instead of a person they can identify with. The is a medium shot where her upper body and some parts of her legs and wheelchair are visible, giving the connotation that she is indeed a person and that the wheelchair is an undeniable part of her.

The textual and visual elements work together to portray Thompson as an active athlete. While the text does not mention much about Thompson's disability, the image clearly shows her in a wheelchair and provides an understanding of what her sport is. Thompson's disability is downplayed, and while she is noted to be an accomplished athlete, she is not made out to be aspirational. Her male counterpart, Adepitan, is introduced in the same segment and is made out to be aspirational in both his text and image. It is stated in the text that Adepitan did not let his disability "stop his dreams" and while Thompson's achievements are noted, they are done so in a matter-of-factly manner, for example: "When she was 23, she won four gold medals in the 100, 200, 400 and 800 metres races at the 1992 Paralympics". The language use creates a form of invisibility (Sadker and Zittleman, 2016) where Thompson’s disability is made invisible within the text. As this is not the case with Adepitan, it appears to be because of her gender identity. Additionally, Thompson's other professional achievements are not given weight at all, and the text states that she "now works with sports and other things. She coaches young wheelchair

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athletes; she gives lectures and has written a couple of books". The phrasing of the statement implies that Thompson's professional achievements are not noteworthy; it also does not mention that she is an active politician (Tanni Grey-Thompson, 2020). However, it is mentioned that "she is married and has one daughter", highlighting her role as a mother and a wife in a manner which is not done to men. This is again, another form of stereotyping (Sadker and Zittleman, 2016) where women are defined based on their family roles and men are not.

Agatha Christie is another woman whose role as a wife and mother is emphasised in her text. Christie is presented in Sparks, in the segment called 'Crime Writers' in the fourth chapter. Her presentation spans one and a half-page and includes one image of Christie. The text details Christie's early life, including her childhood and her two marriages. The text explains how her life and travels influenced her writing. Christie is described as a shy person who "at times received psychiatric support" (Taylor, 2018, p.104). The text also presents Christie as a very popular and extremely successful writer, who slowed down later in life and watched her stories be translated into other media. The presentation concludes by stating when she died. Christie is presented primarily as a person, outlining significant events in her life. The text mentions that, according to The Guinness Book of Records, Christie is the best-selling novelist of all time, despite this her work as an author is downplayed and the mentions of her writing are in relation to her private life, for example: "Quite a few of Christie's books were influenced by her time in the Middle East such as Death on the Nile, from her time in Egypt" (Taylor, 2018, p.104).

The black and white photograph shows Christie. The background is a white wall with a small piece of furniture poking into frame from the right which she is holding on to. The image is a medium-long shot with a slight downward angle. The image is cropped at Christie's knees, and her right elbow is also cropped out. Christie's gaze and face are turned toward the camera, but the body is directed to the right side. The centre of the image is Christie's chest. The image's social distance implies that the contact with the woman in the picture is impersonal even though the gaze is directed towards the viewer. The gaze, though, demands contact and therefore, the woman becomes a subject to relate to (she is looking at us looking at her) instead of just observing her. The centre of the photo and the body in its turned position suggests that the primary focus is her gender. The eye-level portrays Christie as an equal to the viewer. The background gives no context to the woman or the situation.