Abstract:
Transitivity is a linguistic process that conveys stereotypical perspectives about gendered language. This study
examined the presence of transitivity processes in English course books of Kenyan secondary schools that
communicate gendered notions. The study employed a descriptive design to analyse selected texts for gendered
language. Secondary school English course books including Secondary English Students’ Books for form One,
Two, Three and Explore English; A course for Secondary Schools Student’s book for Form Four were selected
for study. The course books are reviewed for suitability and approved by Kenya Institute of Curriculum
Development (KICD). From each coursebook, passages were sampled constituting 7 from the form one book, 4
from form 2, 4 from form 3 and 4 from form 4. Structured observation schedule was used to collect gendersensitive transitivity clauses from passages. Content analysis was used to identify gendered notions expressed
by transitivity processes. The data was then analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively. The results indicate the
existence of four main types of transitivity processes evident in clauses with material process ranking highest
followed by mental, relational and verbal transitivity process at the lowest. These transitivity processes show
existence of unequal representation of males and females since the allocation of participants to various
processes results from gender stereotypes. Male dominance is evident in the public, high energy and intellectual
activities whereas females are portrayed participating in roles around the home, less energy activities and
careers of less physical attributes.
