Drawing on social constructionism theory, this paper explored the portrayal of celebrities (famous individuals) in an English as a foreign language (EFL) textbook series, English for Palestine, in terms of nationality and gender depiction. The data were extracted and classified by performing a quantitative content analysis of the textbooks. Frequency counts were used to highlight the tendencies and recurrences in the gathered data. Findings revealed that the majority of celebrities were either American or British, and female celebrities were underrepresented with respect to their number and occupational roles. The effects of such under-representations are discussed in relation to giving way to intercultural misunderstandings, forming sex-biased attitudes, fostering stereotypical female roles, and affecting young girls’ academic achievement and long-term career choices. The importance of the study stems from the fact that it targets the most widely used EFL textbook series in the schools of Palestine. Hence, the recommended amendments to the textbook series, if taken into consideration by stakeholders, would have an immense impact on a significant number of English language learners.

Title

PASAA

Publisher

Chulalongkorn University Language Institute (CULI)

Publisher Country

Thailand

Indexing

Scopus

Impact Factor

None

Publication Type

Prtinted only

Volume

69

Year

2024

Pages

473–498