Images In Textbooks Research Articles

Indonesian Teachers’ Perspectives on Gender Representation in EFL Textbook Visual Images for Elementary Schools

Background: The use of gendered visual imagery in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) textbooks has raised concerns about perpetuating gender stereotypes and the potential effect on students' conceptions of gender roles. Despite the widespread use of mandated textbooks in primary classrooms in Indonesia, less is known about instructors' perceptions of gendered visual imagery. Methodology: This qualitative research employed a mixed-methods approach, incorporating quantitative and qualitative data collection and analytic methodologies. An investigation was conducted in Samarinda East Kalimantan to collect the perspectives of 41 teachers who teach English in elementary school regarding the gendered visual representations present in the mandatory EFL textbooks. Furthermore, 12 teachers were chosen to partake in exhaustive interviews to present more informed and profound perspectives. Findings: They merely focused on how to teach the materials rather than scrutinizing the gender bias represented through texts and visual images. The study revealed that a significant proportion of teachers (80%) believed that gendered visual imagery in textbooks was not impartial and could influence the gender roles of pupils. Furthermore, a significant majority (75%) said they often adjusted or avoided using these pictures in their teaching methods. The interviews highlighted the teachers' concern about the possible negative impact of these pictures on students' social relationships and self-image. However, they merely focused on how to teach the materials rather than scrutinizing the gender bias represented through texts and visual images Conclusion: The findings suggest that elementary school teachers in Indonesia know the potential negative repercussions of gendered visual images in EFL textbooks and have implemented measures to mitigate these effects. The study underscores the importance of incorporating diverse and inclusive visual materials into educational resources to promote gender equality and positive gender representations. This concept is new to them. They agree that gender equality needs to be addressed and discussed as part of the content in classroom practices to raise students’ awareness of gender bias. Originality: Previous studies have investigated the frequency and occurrence of gender bias in textbooks, found in images and texts. However, there is a lack of investigation into teachers' awareness of gender stereotypes in textbooks. This study enhances the existing corpus of literature by examining the perspectives of teachers on the use of gendered visual images in EFL textbooks in elementary schools in Indonesia. It emphasizes the importance of teachers and policymakers advocating for more inclusive educational resources and considering the impact of visual materials on students' gender perceptions

Values Reflected in Pictorial Content of Textbooks at Elementary Level of Education in West Bengal, India

Textbooks function as catalysts for social change, influencing students’ values, beliefs, and cultural awareness from the primary education level. Textbooks serve as key learning resources for students that significantly influence students’ character development. Values should be incorporated into textbooks. Images in textbooks are powerful tools for shaping the values of students by engaging them visually, providing real-life context, fostering emotional connections, and promoting critical thinking and cultural sensitivity. The creation of textbooks that reflect current values is essential, and achieving this goal requires a comprehensive assessment of textbooks. This study investigates images used in primary education textbooks in West Bengal, India, to examine the representation of values. A total of 39 textbooks were analyzed, with eight key textbooks selected for in-depth analysis: ‘Amar Boi’ for classes I, II, and III, ‘Patabahar’ for classes IV and V, and ‘Atit O Aitihya’ for classes VI, VII, and VIII. These textbooks were chosen based on their widespread use and significance in the curriculum in govt. school in West Bengal. This study adopted qualitative and documentary research approaches through content analysis. The findings demonstrate that social, moral, environmental, spiritual, and historical values are emphasized across textbooks, reflecting the dominant cultural, social, or national values of the region. The findings of this study provide a foundation for policy changes at the state or national level to ensure the development and implementation of guidelines that promote value-balance content in educational materials and are useful for textbook development agencies, textbook writers, and teachers in developing value-alignment curricula and creating more inclusive, culturally sensitive, and ethically grounded visual materials.

Inner Circle Ideology Domination in a National Commercial EFL Textbook: A Case of Indonesian Islamic-affiliated Schools

This study employs an analysis of visual images in English textbooks used in Islamic-affiliated schools through the lens of Kachru’s three-circle model of English, which categorizes English-speaking countries into Inner, Outer, and Expanding circles. This study aims to explore how these images reflect and reinforce linguistic and cultural ideologies associated with each circle. A qualitative content analysis was implemented, focusing on the visual images within English textbooks, which were categorized based on the representation of cultural elements. Data analysis was implemented using a coding scheme and Critical Discourse Analysis framework, examining the power relations and ideological influences represented by the visual content of the textbook. Results show that inner circle culture was dominantly represented (67.9%) in the textbook of its visual use. Western-looking people, outfits, movies, and food represent the images used in the textbook. The finding suggests that textbooks used in English teaching at Islamic affiliated schools, or madrasas, must be carefully designed and selected to adjust students’ needs and school context, as teaching a foreign language can carry others’ ideologies and power.

Peran Gambar dalam Pembelajaran Kemahiran Membaca Bahasa Arab sebagai Bahasa Asing

The use of deep images in foreign language textbooks is one of the strategies to make it easier to understand vocabulary, grammar, and cultural context visually and intuitively. Bayna Yadaik is one of the Arabic as a foreign language textbook that uses pictures in every part of its reading proficiency. This study aims to explain the role of images in supporting the learning of life topics in the reading proficiency of the book Bayna Yadaik Volume 2. This study uses the analysis of visual texts by Kress & Leeuwen (2006) which focuses on the interactional meaning in visual texts to uncover the interactive meaning of the images. The research method used is descriptive analysis with a qualitative approach. The main data source consists of 26 visual images from Chapters 1-4 of the book Bayna Yadaik Volume 2 in the reading proficiency section. Images in dialogue (12 images) and paragraph text (14 images) support the conversation and situation being discussed and help explain more complex contexts. The results of the analysis showed that images played a role in helping students understand the text and context in the book. Images help understand the text through aspects of social distance, power, contact, and involvement.

An Analysis of Environmental Education in Indonesian EFL Elementary School Textbooks

The worsening global environmental crisis highlights the urgency of integrating Environmental Education (EE) throughout the curriculum including in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) curricula. However, challenges exist, such as the development of appropriate curriculum documents and educators’ understanding of approaches to EE. This study looked at Indonesian EFL textbooks for elementary schools, focusing mainly on the images and how they can portray environmental themes. These images and some brief texts that accompany the images were examined using tools from ecolinguistics literature, including Stibbe’s (2021) nine stories and the United Nations’ EE objectives (UNESCO-UNEP, 1975). This study intends to fill a gap in the EE literature by analyzing images in elementary school textbooks in the specific context of Indonesia, generalizing the idea of EE to other contexts. Findings revealed that while some EE efforts were evident, the majority of the material leaned towards an anthropocentric (human centered) perspective, indicating a need for greater incorporation of insights from ecolinguistics to enhance the content. Moreover, in terms of EE objectives, the textbooks provided ecological knowledge but lacked emphasis on developing skills and encouraging student participation in solving environmental problems. Examples demonstrating the ability to evaluate and address environmental issues were also absent. Suggestions are made for future EE content in EFL materials.

Representation of Skin Color, Disease Severity, and Anatomic Location in Hidradenitis Suppurativa Images

Introduction: Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is an inflammatory dermatosis disproportionately affecting patients of color. We evaluated characteristics of HS images in dermatology online image resources and textbooks. Methods: Images of HS were collected in December 2021 from online and textbook sources. Data regarding anatomic region, Hurley stage, and Fitzpatrick skin tone (FST) were collected and analyzed. Results: 318 images remained after exclusion criteria. VisualDx contained the highest number of dark skin (FST V-VI) images (59%, 47/79), followed by Google (4%, 2/52) and DermNetNZ (4%, 4/100). In textbook sources, dark skin represented 25% (4/16) of images. Across sources, 47% (151/318) of images represented Hurley stage 2, followed by 32% (101/318) stage 3, and 21% (66/318) stage 1. The axilla (49%, 156/318) was the most common anatomic location featured, followed by the groin (18%, 58/318) and breast/chest (9%, 28/318). Involvement of non-classic locations was represented in 3% (8/318) of images. There was a positive correlation between higher Hurley stage and darker skin (r=0.26, p<0.05). Discussion/Conclusion: Overall there is underrepresentation of dark skin tones, “non-classic” anatomic locations, and mild HS which may lead to missed opportunities for patient education and dermatology training. Dermatologists should take the lead to improve image diversity across educational resources.

A MULTIMODAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF A MEDICAL TEXTBOOK IN VIETNAM - PRELIMINARY FINDINGS

Visual images in textbooks can stimulate students’ interest and encourage them to learn language in more critical and creative ways (Canning-Wilson, 1999). As a natural requirement of the field, medical textbooks contain a variety of visual images, but they seem to have received little attention from textbook developers in Vietnam possibly due to both a lack of awareness and research. Therefore, the study attempts to explore the visual elements in a medical textbook in use in the country, analyze their functions as well as their appropriateness for pedagogical purposes. This paper presents preliminary findings from the qualitative analysis of the yielded results couched with Kress and Van Leeuwen’s (2006) Visual Grammar framework to primarily identify three metafunctions of visual elements in the medical textbook. The study is believed to give pedagogical benefits to both teachers and students, and suggest practical improvement to critical aspects of the visual images, which is ultimately useful to developers of medical textbooks in particular, and other textbooks in general.

Student's perspectives of inclusive practices in anatomy education.

There is a drive to implement inclusive practices in anatomy by adapting curricula and utilizing inclusive language and resources that negate biases. However, to date there is no data regarding student's perception of inclusivity. Therefore, the study aims to investigate anatomy student's opinions on inclusive practices in anatomy education based on the protected characteristics of age, disability, ethnicity, gender affirmation and sex. One hundred and forty-five students completed a questionnaire with 21 Likert-scale and two open-ended questions. Kruskal-Wallis tests compared responses by groups defined by the protected characteristics of the Equality Act (2010). Most students (71.2%; n = 84) agreed or strongly agreed that "improving inclusivity in anatomy education should be educator's priority". In terms of representation, there was a statistically different response rate from students from different ethnic backgrounds to the statements "there are anatomy educators" (p < 0.001), "images in textbooks" (p < 0.001) and "models in the dissection room" (p < 0.001) "that look like me". Most students agreed or strongly agreed to statements relating to the protected characteristics of age (70.4%; n = 68), disability (78.6%; n = 77), ethnicity (59.8%; n = 64), gender affirmation (46.3%; n = 46) and sex (51.5%; n = 62). Themes identified relating to improving inclusivity included "reflecting reality", "teaching the truth", "the invisibility of women" and the "learning environment". Students have confirmed that anatomists, as gatekeepers of the knowledge of the human body, should foster inclusive teaching practices that will benefit all students and potentially future patient care.

Livros brancos, imagens negras: uma abordagem (in)disciplinar

This paper aims to contribute with elements for the problematisation, expansion, and improvement of the study of African history textbooks in Brazilian education. Textbooks are often limited by new stereotypes, with images that erase the violence present in interracial relationships. On the other hand, the authorship of these images in textbooks still does not belong, for the most part, to black artists and intellectuals. We propose an approach to the art of Rosana Paulino, with the aim of thinking about how her work: a) incorporates elements that allow us to recognise the presence of black women in the contemporary artistic context; b) calls into question the proliferation of a vision of the world that excludes women; and c) profiles any content of African History from an anti-racist horizon.

Analysis of Light-Related Visual Images Presented in Elementary School Science Textbooks in Korea, the United States, and Japan

Abstract Visual images are widely used in science textbooks to facilitate the understanding of abstract concept of light. This study aims to compare and analyze elementary school textbooks from Korea, the United States, and Japan, focusing on how visual images are utilized to effectively convey light-related content. The findings reveal that all three countries’ textbooks predominantly employ photographs as visual representations, primarily serving the purpose of providing data. Through a social semiotic perspective analysis, it was observed that science textbooks commonly utilize realistic images with metaphorical functions, presented at eye level angles, with intermediate distances, and frontal angles. Furthermore, the visual images employed various colors and background expressions to create a sense of familiarity for students. These findings suggest that the composition of visual images in science textbooks was designed to facilitate an easy understanding of light-related concepts.

Analysis of Gender Images in Elementary School Mathematics Textbooks of Jiangsu Education Press

This dissertation analyzes gender role images in elementary school mathematics textbooks of Jiangsu Education Press in China. The study aims to identify whether gender stereotypes and discrimination exist in textbooks and develop strategies to address these issues. The results showed that male characters were more frequently portrayed than female characters in both text and images, and they tended to be depicted as active and confident problem solvers. In contrast, female characters were often shown as passive and dependent learners. Additionally, gender stereotypes were found in portraying male and female characters roles and activities, with males frequently engaging in activities related to science and technology, while females were associated with more traditional roles such as homemakers and caregivers. The results of this study will shed light on the nature and extent of gender bias in mathematics textbooks published by Jiangsu Education Press and contribute to their improvement. This study contributes to the broader field of gender bias in education by providing a more specific and focused analysis of gender role representations in elementary school mathematics textbooks.

Lack of Racial Diversity in Surgery and Pathology Textbooks Depicting Diseases of the Breast

IntroductionThe lack of racial diversity depicted in medical education texts may contribute to an implicit racial bias among clinicians. This bias influences outcomes, as familiarity with the various cutaneous manifestations of disease is essential to making an accurate diagnosis. To better understand the racial disparities in breast surgery, we sought to determine the extent of skin tone representation depicted in images of breast surgery and pathology textbooks. MethodsTextbooks were screened for color images of conditions with sufficient skin tissue present to assign the Fitzpatrick skin phototype (FSP). Figures were independently assigned an FP score (range: 1–6), and subdivided into “light skin” (FP 1–3) and “dark skin” (FP 4–6). Number of figures in each category and percentage of patients with each skin tone were calculated. Results557 figures were included. Among 12 textbooks reviewed, seven textbooks were from the discipline of surgery, while five were pathology-related. Textbook year of publication spanned from 1996 to 2018. Overall, 533 (95.7%) figures depicted patients with light skin color versus 24 (4.3%) with dark skin color. There was no association between FP score and year of textbook publication (P = 0.69). ConclusionsPatient images in breast textbooks are overwhelmingly of light skin tones, excluding patients with darker skin tones. The dearth of images depicting dark skinned individuals did not improve over time. Inclusion of patients of color in future textbooks may help reduce racial disparities within breast cancer care.

Analysis of Chemical Representations in the Physical Sciences Textbooks for Grade 12 Learners in South Africa

Textbooks play a prominent role in the teaching and learning of chemistry. It is the major organiser and the intended curriculum teachers adapt for their instructional practices. Although chemistry is abstract in nature, the use of visuals or images in textbooks to depict chemical phenomena at different levels remains a meaningful approach to help facilitate students’ understanding of chemistry. Therefore, this study analysed chemical representations in the chemistry components of the Physical Sciences textbooks for grade 12 learners in South Africa. Three textbooks were selected and analysed using the five criteria developed by Gkitzia, Salta and Tzougraki (2011). The findings revealed that the chemical representations in the textbooks were largely at the macroscopic and hybrid levels, with surface features that are ambiguous or explicit and representations that are unlinked to text. In addition, there were few sub-microscopic, multiple, and mixed representations in the textbooks. An interesting result is that a majority of the chemical representations had appropriate captions. The implications of these findings for textbook authors or publishers were discussed.

Preliminary Investigation into the Affordances of Evaluative Resources in Multimodal Texts of an Established Textbook Series in Vietnam

The paper aims to initially examine the deployment of Attitude in multimodal reading texts in Solutions (Falla &amp; Davies, 2013), an English textbook series being used as textbooks in most universities in Vietnam. To reach its aim, it first deployed the Appraisal framework proposed by Martin and White (2005) to examine evaluative resources in the fifteen verbal texts of the five genres of Anecdote, Biographical recount, Exposition, Narrative, and Review (Rose &amp; Martin, 2012). A closer examination of how images contribute to articulating evaluation is then conducted on five of these multimodal reading texts in light of the Visual Appraisal frameworks suggested by Economou (2009) and White (2014) and the terms Convergence and Divergence proposed by Painter, Martin and Unsworth (2013). It was found that various aspects of Attitude are exploited with a range of frequency in different genres. It was also indicated that Convergence tends to be more frequently deployed than Divergence. In the same multimodal text, both cases of Convergence and Divergence may occur or only one of the two types. In any way, they all have the function of co-articulating attitude. The paper concludes by highlighting the necessity of selecting appropriate images in textbooks among editors and deploying images in effectively teaching multimodal texts among lecturers and teachers.

Symbolic Nation-building through Images in Post-Yugoslav History Textbooks

Abstract The use of history textbooks in order to instill particular images of the nation and national identity has been widely recognized, with a proliferation of studies focused on the problematic content in textbooks. Yet, history textbooks rely on a range of other media like maps, graphs, illustrated timelines, and photographs, which also play an important role in visually signposting the nation. While some of these images serve primarily as a form of representation aligned with the text itself, other aspects of visual content distinctly and autonomously construct national identity. In this piece, relying on qualitative visual analysis, we point to the function played by images in symbolically constructing the nation in contemporary primary school textbooks in five post-Yugoslav republics, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, Serbia, and Slovenia.

The Efficacy of Visuals in Elementary English Language Textbooks: Teachers’ Perceptions

This study investigated the role of visual images in elementary-level textbooks in Bangladesh and explored primary school teachers’ perspectives on their efficacy. Using qualitative content analysis, the research revealed that visual images serve as a vital tool for effective communication, enhancing students’ skills, and reflecting social practices. However, some images also perpetuated gender inequality and stereotypes. Teachers also emphasized the noteworthy contribution of images in improving students’ communication skills, maintaining their engagement, boosting motivation, and nurturing critical thinking capabilities. Furthermore, they recommended a cautious approach to depicting social class, race, and gender within the textbooks through imagery. Hence, the study underscored the need for conscious image selection to foster appropriate socio-cultural values among young learners.

The Role of Images in the Teaching and Learning of English: Practices, Issues, and Possibilities

Audio-visual aids have been one of the most influential sources, especially, in teaching and learning an unknown language. The use of images found in textbooks has great implications for teaching and learning the English language to non-natives. The current study aimed to explore the use of images in textbooks to teach the English language in primary schools in a Pakistani urban setting. The researchers, following the norms of qualitative research, used class observations and interviews as the tools for data collection. The findings of the study reiterated that the use of pictures in language teaching is quite helpful; however, the teachers under observation, often, did not make use of pictures found in the textbooks to teach the English language. The teachers can make their lectures and classroom activities more lively, interesting, and fruitful by employing the pictures found in the textbooks they use to teach the English language.

The Pedagogical Potential of Visual Images in Indonesian High School English Language Textbooks: A Micro-Multimodal Analysis

Language textbooks mainly guide language learning and teaching activities. Most of the language textbooks used to comprise a range of visual texts, such as pictures, illustrations, and photos. The study adopts the Visual Grammar Theory by Kress and Leeuwen (2006) to elucidate the pedagogical functions of visual images and explore how such images can be exploited for learning tasks from a micro multimodal perspective. The data consist of 142 visual images in Indonesian senior high school EFL textbook grades ten (X) and eleven (XI). The findings pointed out that the textbook uses visual images' full potential to fulfill pedagogical aims. Many visual images or texts in language textbooks serve information and illustrations rather than as a decorative function. Visual images may assist students to engage effectively in learning tasks by emphasizing the meaning of information presented in images and text. This study suggests that learning activities should consider multimodal texts to contribute significantly. This research aims to enhance knowledge about the pedagogical function of visual images in textbooks and can be a reference for further exploration.

35083 Inclusive dermatology: Creating a diverse visual atlas of skin conditions (with consideration of broader impacts on patient care and medical education)

The U.S. Census Bureau predicts that Hispanic, Black, and other minority groups will constitute more than half of the U.S. population by 2044. It is therefore problematic that only about 10% of images in dermatology textbooks illustrate dermatologic conditions in skin of color. This affects physician education and patient outcomes. A study several years ago found 47% of dermatologists and residents reported that their medical training on pathologies in Black skin was insufficient, and that there was a need for more training materials exhibiting Black skin. Black and Hispanic patients are also less likely to be diagnosed with skin cancer, but more likely to die from it than their white counterparts. There has been a call to expand the existing database of dermatology photographs to include more images of skin of color. We are therefore creating a freely accessible resource of different dermatologic conditions in all skin types and colors. Reviewing images in all skin types allows learners to better recognize lesions in diverse patients. We plan to illustrate a variety of skin colors, emphasizing that skin of color, which is often the term used for any non-white skin, encompasses multiple skin types that warrant their own attention and classification. We are retrospectively indexing images collected over the past several years in New Mexico, which has a large Hispanic and Native American population, and North Carolina, which has a large Black population. We hope the continuous expansion of this database will improve dermatology education and ultimately benefit patients.

34369 Could current skin typing systems in Dermatology contribute to data bias for the development of clinical digital technologies in the UK?

Introduction: The UK population is expected to grow to 84.5 million by 2061 with the percentage of ethnic minority groups expanding from 8% to 30% during this time. Our background research uncovered a lack of diversity in the images of skin conditions in educational resources and datasets for research. Dark skin comprises just 4.5% of images in medical textbooks. Methods: A literature review was conducted to determine current skin color typing systems used by clinicians in healthcare. Results: The principal skin color typing systems used in clinical practice is the Fitzpatrick scale, which categorizes skin from I-VI, extending from pale white skin to dark brown and black. The Taylor Hyperpigmentation scale refers to 15 colors but has been specifically developed as a reference point for pathological hyperpigmentation, therefore rarely used in clinical practice or research studies. A systematic review of machine learning systems used in dermatology revealed the images to develop the software are usually from a population of light skinned patients, raising concerns about bias. Multiple other reports demonstrate that research cohorts in dermatology lack full racial and ethnic representation. Additionally, there is no universal standardised language used when making in reference to skin colour or ethnicity. Conclusion: As artificial intelligence systems are essentially ‘trained’ on historical datasets it is important to establish inclusive categorization in dermatology terminology moving forwards. To ensure these remains relevant and beneficial to all, datasets need to be representative of the UK and global population.