Foley T, Safran S P
Ohio University, College of Education, Athens 45701.
J Learn Disabil. 1994 May;27(5):309-14. doi: 10.1177/002221949402700507.
The purpose of our study was to explore whether gender-biased language exists in two editions of popular learning disabilities (LD) textbooks by a female author and a male author. First, we examined whether gender-biased language (as measured by the frequency of gender-specific pronouns) was present in LD textbooks as a function of the author's gender and discovered that the male author exhibited approximately a 7:1 ratio in his use of masculine to feminine pronouns. In contrast, the female author demonstrated no significant difference in her use of gender-specific pronouns. Second, we investigated whether the degree of gender-biased language has changed in different editions over the past 5 years and found a significant change only in the use of neutral pronouns by the male author. The existence of gender-biased special education textbooks raises the issue of the possible influence that such material may have on professional expectations concerning students with LD. In a field in which males are placed in LD programs in disproportionate numbers, the responsibilities of both authors and publishers are discussed, as their actions may have an impact on female students' rights in accessing appropriate educational services.
我们研究的目的是探究一位女性作者和一位男性作者所著的两版流行的学习障碍（LD）教科书是否存在性别偏见性语言。首先，我们考察了性别偏见性语言（以特定性别的代词使用频率衡量）是否作为作者性别的函数存在于学习障碍教科书中，结果发现男性作者使用男性代词与女性代词的比例约为7:1。相比之下，女性作者在使用特定性别的代词方面没有表现出显著差异。其次，我们调查了在过去5年中不同版本里性别偏见性语言的程度是否发生了变化，结果发现只有男性作者在使用中性代词方面有显著变化。存在性别偏见的特殊教育教科书引发了这样一种材料可能对有关学习障碍学生的专业期望产生何种影响的问题。在一个男性被不成比例地纳入学习障碍项目的领域中，我们讨论了作者和出版商双方的责任，因为他们的行为可能会影响女学生获得适当教育服务的权利。
