Previous studies on gender representation in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) textbooks have mostly focused on the frequency of male and female characters and their occupational roles.
NOT BSTOTAL BS
HARDLY BS — Verdict: Mostly True
Verified by Lenz ·
The Short Version
The claim captures the main pattern in earlier EFL textbook gender research. Reviews and case studies commonly describe the field as dominated by quantitative counts of male and female visibility and role distributions, including occupations. However, that summary is somewhat narrow because many studies also examined domestic roles, visual prominence, ordering, and discourse or agency.
Caveats
The phrase "occupational roles" is narrower than the broader role categories many studies used, which often included domestic and family roles too.
A meaningful secondary strand of research analyzed discourse, agency, turn-taking, lexical choices, and power relations, not just character counts.
The strongest support comes from review-style and peer-reviewed studies; weaker items in the source list do not materially change the overall conclusion.