Ageism in English Language Teaching Materials from Japan

What is it about?

The issue of ageism is especially important because it has the potential to affect us all. Preparing young people for their own futures as well as promoting healthy intergenerational relations represent important reasons for paying careful attention to how educational materials portray older people. In this study, I collected and examined a corpus of materials used for English language teaching in Japan. Given the ubiquity of English education, its power, and the trust placed in it, examining such materials is strongly warranted. In light of the power of images, I focused upon visual depictions of people in these materials. The study found scant representation of older people with older women being especially lacking in visibility in a demonstration of gendered ageism. Interactions between older people and the young were also scant. These findings indicate the need to monitor representations of older people in educational materials.

Featured Image

Photo by Paolo Bendandi on Unsplash

Photo by Paolo Bendandi on Unsplash

Why is it important?

This research is important because it provides evidence that formal English education promotes injustice, in this case through the problematic representations of older people in the materials used in Japan. To avoid such a hidden curriculum, it is crucial that creators of such materials as well as those making adoption decisions and teachers themselves become sensitive to how problematic social group representations may be manifest in educational materials.