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

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-25
Author(s):  
Driss Benattabou

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.

Pedagogika ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 125 (1) ◽  
pp. 81-96
Author(s):  
Jolanta Lasauskienė ◽  
Xiangou Wang ◽  
Yiwei Zhang

The aim of the article is to analyse intercultural experience of foreign students enrolled in Master study programmes of Music Education, revealing tendencies in expression of intercultural competence and possibilities of its development in the university. The sample of the research included 27 foreign Master’s degree students (Chinese) of the Department of Music of the Faculty of Education at Lithuanian University of Educational Sciences. The research problem is determined by the question how intercultural competence of foreign Master students – future music educators – is expressed and what possibilities of its development at university are observed. Research methods. The data was collected in accordance with the method of written student reflections. The analysis of qualitative data was done through qualitative content analysis. The following conclusions are drawn in the article: Contemporary music educators have to be ready to conduct research, to critically evaluate and creatively improve current educational environment in terms of cultural, artistic and educational needs. Intercultural competence of music educators is determined as a person’s quality, an aggregate of knowledge, skills and attitudes that are necessary for successful activity of music educators in the context of interaction among different cultures. The results of the qualitative content analysis revealed that the foreign Master’s degree students in Lithuanian University of Educational Sciences relate music educator’s intercultural competence with knowledge and understanding of cultural phenomena, foreign language skills, involvement in musical cultural activities, ability to communicate with representatives of other cultures as well as with attitudes and personal qualities that facilitate music educator’s activities. Foreign students envisage a significant importance of intercultural knowledge, cultural identity and learning from other cultures to intercultural competence of music educators. Studies abroad are considered to be a priority factor in music educator’s intercultural competence, which encourages learning of other cultures, confirms importance of foreign language skills and opens a path towards personal and professional improvement. The results of the qualitative content analysis highlighted that the academic environment (study content and methods, relations between university teachers and students) has the most considerable impact on intercultural competence development.


Author(s):  
Irma Spiriajevienė ◽  
Erika Čepienė ◽  
Eduardas Spiriajevas

research alumni preparedness for the job market. The aim of the study was to analyze alumni competences of the Master`s study program in Human Geography and compare them to job market demands. The analysis of theoretical performance appraisal by competencies indicated the importance of employee competencies. Graduates must be competent in professional erudition, functional flexibility, innovation and knowledge management, human resource mobilization, international orientation etc. The Master study program of Human Geography at KU has been successfully operating since 1998, and the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport included it in the list of the unique study programs in the Republic of Lithuania. In order to ensure that the competencies of the students could correspond to the labor market, the developers and renewers of the study program must regularly listen to the feedback of the graduates, who completed this program. A qualitative focus group study was conducted in order to reveal a reflection of graduates and their appraisal for better matching of the program to labor market needs. Empirical data were collected during the alumni round table discussion. The study involved 10 alumni and qualitative content analysis was performed to analyze the empirical data. After analyzing the data of the interview-discussion research, the following 7 categories were distinguished: Project preparation competence – one of the most important competencies of the master’s study program; GIS program management competence formation and application in work activities; International orientation, foreign language skills open more opportunities; Information, literature search and competences of literature analysis; Tendencies of adaptability of students competencies in practical and work activities; Unawareness of the profession of human geography in society; Suggestions for better compliance of alumni competencies with the labor market. The interview-discussion statements of the research participants were concentrated in the following main subcategories: Academic worldview formation (s); Strong alumni foreign language competence; Application of competencies shows wide multifunctionality of the study program; Importance of application of competencies is unquestionable; Project preparation competence is successfully applied or has a strong potential for application in work activities in the short and long term; Literature analysis; Information, literature search, etc. The content of all categories and subcategories is localized at a positive level of matching labor market to graduates’ competencies. Keywords: alumni, job market, human geography, master’s study program, content analysis.


2000 ◽  
Vol 61 (4) ◽  
pp. 336-347 ◽  
Author(s):  
Penny M. Beile ◽  
Megan M. Adams

Nine hundred job announcements published in four journals in 1996 were examined using content analysis to compare requirements and benefits among various positions in academic libraries. This study updates the article “The Academic Library Job Market: A Content Analysis Comparing Public and Technical Services,” in which authors David W. Reser and Anita P. Schuneman analyzed 1,133 job advertisements published in 1988 to compare public and technical services positions.1 A growing number of electronic-related advertisements in the past decade has led to the addition of a third division to be investigated, namely the systems and automation librarian. For purposes of comparison with Reser and Schuneman’s article, the authors retained the same research design and variables. These variables include levels of computer skills, foreign-language requirements, previous work experience, educational requirements, and minimum salary offered.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 40-61
Author(s):  
Driss Benattabou

This study analyzes the portrayal of women and men in the visual discourse of Moroccan English as a Foreign Language (MEFL, henceforth). Nine of these textbooks have been sampled to serve this purpose. Although past research has been extensively undertaken to examine the textual discourse of school textbooks, there is up to now a dearth of research geared to analyze their visual contents. This research adopts the analytical techniques of quantitative content analysis to examine the numerical distribution of the two sex groups throughout their pictorial representations. Mapping the visual content of the sampled textbooks, it has been shown that, unlike men, women have been misrepresented both in terms of their visibility (frequency of appearance) as well as in terms of the occupational roles assigned to them. The use of frequency counts, percentages, ratios and chi-square tests have helped unveil imbalanced gender disparities favoring men. The paper ends up presenting the conclusion of this study along with some recommendations.


2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 113-131
Author(s):  
Tore Nilsson ◽  
Pirjo Harjanne ◽  
Pernilla Steuer

The present study explores patterns of cognition among 14 foreign language (FL) teacher students in Sweden regarding teaching oral proficiency and grammar in French German, Italian and Spanish. It is based on reflective cumulative log texts written by the students during a theoretical course in FL pedagogy. The log texts were investigated using qualitative content analysis to uncover central themes and patterns of agency. The findings indicate, among other things, that the FL teacher students hold strong experience-based cognitions regarding teaching both oral proficiency and grammar, and that, regardless if their FL learning experiences at school were based on form-focused teaching or communicative teaching, they struggle to negotiate the role of grammar in a communicative language teaching framework.


2017 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 22 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yasmin El-Hariri

Although eTandems, offering the opportunity of real life contact to speakers of one's target language, are suggested as an anxiety-reducing, confidence-increasing approach to language learning, these effects have not been investigated empirically. The aim of this article is to explore the experiences and perceptions of 11 Colombian learners of German as a foreign language who participated in a German-Spanish eTandem project. Data were collected by means of interviews and focus groups, and evaluated using qualitative content analysis. Results support the anxiety-reducing and confidence-raising nature of eTandem Language Learning. These effects, however, are not in every case transferable into the language classroom.


2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melanie E. Brewster ◽  
Esther N. Tebbe ◽  
Brandon L. Velez

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