Exploring Representations of Women in a Foreign Language Class

Abstract

This paper presents the unit named “Representations of Women (From Imposed to Chosen)”. It was taught to a group of seven advanced EFL students in one high school in Serbia. To help them examine the representation of women and how stereotypes are communicated, the teacher introduced three short stories. The stories provided the starting point for discussion that prompted students to examine women’s response to societal demands, stereotypical presentation of women, and how these stereotypes are reflected in language. The learning and language acquisition took place as students examined their views and tried to find roots for some of their beliefs.

Keywords

• stereotypes, representations of women, language learning