Alan Dyer
Research on gender issues in the classroom includes work by Myra and David Sadker who wrote the book, Failing at Fairness: How American Schools Cheat Girls. In the book, Sadker and Sadker describe how girls and women are treated differently in the classroom. Boys are talkative and are encouraged to take and active role in the classroom while girls are expected to be quiet and attentive but not outspoken (Sadker & Sadker, 1994).
The fact that men and women use language differently and are treated differently in the classroom is well documented. Researching conversation styles Ali Shehadeh finds:
There is good evidence from cross-gender conversations between the various possible combinations of native speakers (NS) and non-native speakers (NNS) to suggest that men and women tend to use conversation for different purposes. It would appear that men take advantage of the conversation in a way that allows them to promote their performance/production ability, whereas women utilize the conversation to promote their comprehension ability. (Ali Shehadeh, 1999)
A study by Ali Loori at the Arabian Gulf University finds that there are significant differences between male and female intelligence. In this study Loori finds that “males preferred learning activities involving logical and mathematical intelligences, whereas females preferred learning activities involving intrapersonal intelligence” (Loori, 2005).
Mary Yepez reports:
Many of the cultures typically represented in an average ESL class have histories of sexism and of silencing women. This could render the ESL classroom particularly conducive to unequal treatment of males and females. As many ESL students come from cultural environments that encourage strong verbal and scholarly skills in males, such as certain Asian and Latin American countries, females could be drowned out in American ESL classrooms, and their acquisition of English gravely impeded. (Yepez, 1994).
Linguistic Research
Linguistic research by John Pfeiffer examines differences in gender and language use. His research indicates that there are differences in how our culture treats boys and girls and this is continued into adulthood. This difference of treatment leads to patterns of speech:
That women ask more questions and men do most of the interrupting are two of the traits Pfeiffer discusses. He point out, furthermore, that as our attitudes about men and women change, the way we talk to each other changes, too. (Clark, Escholz & Rosa, 1998).
Pfeiffer finds that girls and boys form social groups but there are differences in the
interaction within these groups. Girls tend to be less direct in arguments and tend to keep them alive for weeks while boys are more direct and tend to end arguments quickly. Another important insight is that when conversation is timed and words counted men and women who talk as much as men are labeled as “talkative” (Clark, Escholz & Rosa, 1998).
Implications for the ESL Classroom
Additional study in the implications of gender differences and the classroom is needed. It is evident that each student needs to be given attention whether male or female. Every student needs to be recognized for whom they are, and who they can, be regardless of race gender or social economic background. Teachers need to have high expectations of performance and learning for all students. I believe that teachers can elicit from help from the louder, more outgoing students to help encourage, support and elicit response from the less outgoing. Working together we can help all students gain confidence in their use of the English language.
While there are differences in the way our society and culture treat boys and girls, men and women, these cultural differences are more pronounced in other societies and cultures. It is important for the ESL teacher to be aware of these cultural differences and how they affect learning and teaching in the classroom. Promoting fairness and equality are important American cultural concepts that need to be extended to the classroom and between the genders.
References
Ali Shehadeh. (1999). Gender differences and equal opportunities in the ESL classroom. ELT Journal, 53(4), Abstract retrieved November 15, 2007, from Oxford Journals database.
Clark, Escholz & Rosa. (1998). Language. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins’s.
Loori. (2005). Multiple intelligences: a comparative study between the preferences of males and females. Social Behavior and Personality, 33(1), from EBSCO database.
Sadker & Sadker. (1994). Failing at fairness: How America’s schools cheat girs. New York: Thouchstone.
Yepez. (1994). An observation of gender-specific teacher behavior in the ESL classroom. Sex Roles: A Journal of Research, Retrieved November 15, 2007, from BNET database.