A Critical Discourse Approach to Transitivity Processes That Convey Gendered Perspectives in English Language Course Books of Kenyan Secondary Schools

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.