Equity in print: Unveiling GEDSI construction in an Indonesian junior high school english textbook

Abstract

This study investigates how Gender Equality, Disability, and Social Inclusion (GEDSI) are represented in English for Nusantara Grade Seven, an Indonesian government-issued English textbook developed under the Merdeka Curriculum. While previous textbook studies have predominantly focused on binary gender representation, limited research has examined disability and social inclusion through a multimodal critical discourse analysis (MCDA) framework. Addressing this gap, the present study analyzes how verbal and visual elements jointly construct meanings related to gender equality, disability, and inclusion. Using Kress and van Leeuwen’s MCDA framework, the study examined the entire 264-page textbook and identified Chapters 1 and 2 as the only sections containing explicit GEDSI-related representations. The analysis focused on ideational, interpersonal, and textual meanings embedded in images, comic strips, and written passages. The findings reveal partial efforts toward inclusive representation. Female and male characters are portrayed in both domestic and public roles, indicating attempts to challenge traditional gender stereotypes. The textbook also includes characters with physical disabilities, particularly wheelchair users, and presents them as socially active participants in school and family life. However, representations remain limited in scope. Physical disabilities dominate the portrayals, while cognitive, sensory, and invisible disabilities are absent. In addition, female characters with disabilities are less visible and less empowered than male characters with disabilities, reflecting intersectional inequality. Although the textbook promotes positive messages of diversity and participation, GEDSI representation appears only in selected chapters and is not consistently integrated throughout the textbook. This study contributes to scholarship on inclusive education, multimodal textbook analysis, and GEDSI representation in English language teaching materials.