A study on elementary Japanese language textbooks from a gender perspective : For nurturing reading literacy as empowerment

Abstract

This paper looks at elementary Japanese language textbooks from a gender perspective for nurturing reading literacy as empowerment as related to key competencies. The results show that as the main characters used in stories for teaching are skewed towards the male perspective, the fixed male/female roles and ideas about femininity and sexual division of labor issues found in the elementary Japanese language textbooks will be an opportunity to use reading literacy as the ground for empowerment. I propose more books with the theme of 'reading literacy as empowerment' are necessary for reading syllabus in Japanese classes. Concrete ideas for classes from the perspective of gender within the 'reading literacy as empowerment' paradigm were also suggested from the findings.