Critical multimodal analysis reveals essentialized and monolithic representations of women in an English textbook, highlighting barriers to civic action and peacebuilding education.
This study draws on a critical feminist framework to explore the representation of women’s roles in democracy and peacebuilding within English as a Foreign Language (EFL) material in Colombia. Little research has analyzed the portrayal of women in EFL textbooks, nor has it examined how such representation might hinder democracy and peacebuilding. Following a critical multimodal analysis, we examined 44 texts in the textbook Way to Go 8. Our findings revealed that the texts misrepresent and essentialize women's roles in society, offer a monolithic representation of women, disregarding their diversity and plurality, and neglect the need for civic action to address the inequities women face. In response to this reality, we propose pedagogical strategies to critically use these texts in EFL classrooms. This study offers a critical feminist perspective that enables teachers to assess and reframe language materials that often misrepresent marginalized groups.
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Posada et al. (2026) studied this question.
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