Susie Hugar - Niagara University



Running head: THE EFFECTS OF GENDER

The Effects of Gender on First and Second

Language Use and Acquisition

Susan Hugar

Niagara University

Many factors, both internal and external, influence the acquisition of a language. These variables can be physical, social, cultural, or a combination of all three. One particularly interesting variable is gender. It is interesting to both sociolinguistics and second language acquisition specialists because this variable affects both first and second language development and use. A number of studies have been completed to analyze the influence of gender on language acquisition, but much work remains to be done. The findings are particularly interesting for ESL teachers because they help teachers to better understand the variation found between their students, therefore making language learning more effective.

When examining the role of gender on the acquisition of language one must consider that there are numerous ways in which it can affect language use and development. Gender is a variable that can affect language use and acquisition as a result of biological differences between the two sexes, psychological effects, or socio-cultural influences. Currently there is a lack of research on the role of gender on language, particularly about the influence gender has on language development from a biological standpoint. In order to fully understand the role the gender plays in the acquisition of a second language one must first understand the role of gender in the use and development of the first language.

It has been proven that men and women speak very differently from each other. This is true in virtually all cultures and languages. However, the way in which their speech differs varies considerably in degree and manner in each culture. There are two main categories, sex exclusive and sex preferential, that can be used to categorize the ways in which men and women differ linguistically. In a sex exclusive language men and women often have separate distinct vocabularies and even grammar. Many words and forms are restricted to a certain gender (Finch, 2003). The differences between the linguistic features are normally small distinctions in pronunciation or morphology (Holmes, 2001). This occurs mostly in traditional conservative cultures where there is little opportunity for changes or crossovers between male and female roles. This type of differentiation is rare in European cultures and languages. A language changes from sex exclusive to sex preferential when social roles become less rigid and more mobile in the society. In a sex preferential language there are preferred models and forms of gender related speech. The language of men and women differ in terms of how frequently they use certain forms. This is very common and occurs in all western languages. It implies an unequal distribution of social power between men and women. This is most likely a result of the long history of patriarchy and male dominance in many western societies (Finch, 2003).

There are many features of speech that are more associated with one sex than the other. In Western Societies especially it is generalized that women tend to use more of the standard or overtly prestigious form, while men are more likely to use more of the vernacular, or nonstandard form. Women tend to choose language that is more linguistically polite, while men more often choose language that is not admired or accepted as proper by society. This pattern is evident starting at a very young age with boys and girls as young as six showing the beginnings of gender influenced speech (Holmes, 2001). It was also found that men interrupt others more than women do and that women give more encouraging feedback to their conversational partners than men do. It has been suggested that women are socialized from a very young age to expect and accept being interrupted. As a result, many women think little of giving up the floor to the man or woman who interrupted them. Connected to this is the fact that women tend to be better cooperative conversationalists than men are. Women give almost four times as much feedback as men do in everyday conversation. Men on the other hand tend to be much more competitive conversationalists, challenging others and offering less support (Holmes, 2001). Men, more often than not, dominate in both public settings and in mixed sex conversations (Doughty, 2003).

There are many socio-cultural reasons why women use more standard language. Women may be more likely to use more prestigious language because she serves as a speech model for her children. Society seems to expect girls to behave better and more properly than boys. Another explanation is that women often belong to subordinate groups in society and subordinate groups must be polite (Holmes, 2001). Women are often less socially secured and want to signal their status through prestigious speech. This is especially true in many societies because women are often judged on their appearance and how they talk and act not by their occupation or values (Finch, 2003). Also, nonstandard speech is often seen as vulgar and masculine. Men tend to use it more because it conveys masculinity and toughness. If a female were to use the same speech she would be seen by society as promiscuous and unladylike (Holmes, 2001).

Adding to the differences between the speech of males and females are the many characteristics that are associated much more with women than with men. There are a number of linguistic features that are associated with female speech. It was found that women’s speech was characterized by lexical hedges or fillers, tag questions, rising intonation on declaratives, “empty” adjectives, precise color terms, intensifiers such as just and so, hypercorrect grammar, super polite forms, avoidance of strong swear words, and emphatic stress (Holmes, 2001). While these characteristics are most likely not caused by any biological difference in females, they are most likely the result of psychological and socio-cultural influences. These influences would be present in women in any language environment, whether it is a woman’s first or second language. This is why it is important for linguists and well as second language acquisition specialists to analyze the role that gender plays in language use and development.

There are many reasons why women use different linguistic features more commonly than men. Women tend to use language that expresses their own uncertainty and a lack of confidence. The language women use also tends to express an excess of politeness and submissiveness. For example, women tend to use a lot of tag questions. Tag questions are questions that are added on at the end of an utterance, which weakens the force of the statement. These questions are often used test listeners approval or confirmation (Finch, 2003). This trait and many of the others can be attributed to a lack of confidence in women. This results in a reinforcement of an insubordinate status.

This is in issue that all teachers should take into consideration when considering the question of how to best help their students. A teacher wants all of their students, male and female both, to have the best opportunities for learning. Being conscious of the complexity of women’s language will help teachers to give their female students the most beneficial assistance. While helpful for all teachers, this information is extremely relevant for ESL teachers. Many of the students in ESL classrooms will be coming from cultures very different then that of the United States. Because of this, they may be less comfortable participating and conversing in class. The status of women may be drastically different in these cultures. It is important to make all students feel comfortable, confident, and to make sure they realize that their opinions are valued. In both mainstream and ESL classrooms in the United States males receive more class time and talk and participate more than their female classmates. This occurs in all grade levels from kindergarten to college. Research has shown that as a result of this gender-bias girl’s achievement and self-esteem is lowered. Conversation and interaction is essential to all learning, especially in ESL instruction where input is necessary for acquisition (Doughty, 2003). Teachers must be aware of this tendency and monitor their classrooms appropriately. Many of the features that make up the style of women are due to a lack of confidence. Teachers must due their best to improve the confidence of all of their students and to make sure that everyone has their opportunity to speak uninterrupted.

Recently the topic of the role of gender in second language acquisition has been researched greatly by ESL and language specialists. However, this topic was not explored to a great extent in the past, and as a result there is still an overall lack of research on how gender influences acquisition. There do appear to be some differences in the processing and acquisition of language between the two sexes, however there is not enough research to be certain (Saville-Troike, 2006). There has not been much significant research produced by studying gender as a biological factor influencing second language acquisition. However, studying gender as a social and cultural variable has produced a lot of helpful information on the subject (Doughty, 2003).

In his journal article “Gender differences and equal opportunities in the ESL classroom,” Ali Shenadeh discusses his findings regarding the role of gender on the acquisition of a second language. He found that many of the effects that gender has on the use of a first language are similar to the many of the effects that gender has on learning a second language. In his study he wanted to test the 1986 findings of Gass and Varonis. Shenadeh (1999) describes their basic findings to be that, “Men took greater advantage of the opportunities to use conversation in a way that allowed them to produce a greater amount of comprehensible output, whereas women utilized the conversation to obtain a greater amount of comprehensible input” (p. 258). The men participated more in the conversation and had more control over where the conversation was going.

In order to test these findings, Shehadeh conducted a study to compare the interaction between ESL students in same-gender and mixed-gender groups. Twenty-seven adult ESL subjects from a variety of backgrounds and countries were asked to work in pairs or groups to perform a variety of communication tasks. His findings supported the findings of Gass and Varonis, as they showed that the males appeared “to use the conversation in a way that allowed them to retain the turn, enjoy a greater amount of talk, and thus produce a greater amount of comprehensible output than women” (p. 258). Men dominate the conversation and often have more control than the females involved in ESL classrooms. This gives male students the advantage over females in mixed-gender tasks. This is similar to what occurs regularly in communication conducted in the first language. However, women did receive greater opportunities to participate and produce comprehensible output when working in pairs or groups of other females. As a result of working with other females, their opportunity for learning greatly increased. They had much better contexts to self correct themselves and participate more freely in the conversation.

Shehadeh (1999) concludes that these gender differences in second language acquisition very well may be the result of socio-cultural influences. He relates this to the fact that “it is more acceptable in some cultures and subcultures than in others for men and women to communicate freely and casually with each other at work and in social situation” (p. 259). Because of these variations, men and women play very different roles in conversation. Males take more of an opportunity to talk therefore producing a lot of comprehensible output. On the other hand, females utilize the conversation to develop their skills and knowledge through obtaining comprehensible input. This is important because conversation is very important in the acquisition and development of a second language. Both the input and output of the target language are important. Input allows the development of the learners listening and reading skills, while output assists their speaking and writing skills. Since both output and input are necessary for the acquisition of a second language, teachers must make sure that their students have the opportunity to participate in both same-gender and mixed-gender interaction and group work. Equal opportunity for learning must be given to both the male and female students.

Another interesting difference between men and women in the process of second language acquisition is their choice of use and preference for different learning strategies. In their study, “A Closer Look at Learning Strategies, L2 Proficiency, and Gender,” Green and Oxford (1995) analyzed the role of gender on learning strategy use and choice. The results were significant, showing extensive differences between the learning strategies frequently used by male and female students learning a second language. Since good language learners often refer to a variety of learning strategies to help them improve their language skills, this study provides much insight to linguists and teachers who are studying the role gender has on language use and acquisition. Big variation in learning strategy choice between males and females is one way that gender affects second language learning.

Past studies have shown that gender is a strong determinate of learning strategy choice. Females consistently use more learning strategies than males, especially cognitive, compensation, metacognitive, and social strategies. These findings are very important as they suggest that there are consistent differences in the way females learn compared to males. Significant differences between the two groups have been found in studies occurring all over the world in many different cultures. This suggests, “that biological and/or socialization-related causes for these differences might exist and that these causes might have a real, if subtle, effect in the language classroom” (Green & Oxford, 1995, p. 266).

The current study by Green and Oxford (1995) was intended to build on previous studies by examining the use of individual strategies as well as strategy categories and overall strategy use in second language learners. It also attempts to analyze patterns of variation by gender while at the same time looking for patterns of variation by proficiency level. The researchers used the SILL test scores of 374 students from all levels studying English at the University of Puerto Rico. The students were asked to take the Strategy Inventory for Language Learning (SILL), a self-scoring survey that asks about their learning process and the learning strategies they frequently use in second language learning. The test classifies learning strategies into six groups: affective, social, metacognitive, memory-related, cognitive, and compensatory strategies.

The study showed greater use of learning strategies by females than by males. The students’ use of fifty individual learning strategies was evaluated on the test. Men and women used almost a third of the total fifteen strategies differently.

Females used fourteen strategies more often than males and males used only one strategy more often than females. Females used significantly more memory, metacognitive, affective, and social learning strategies than their male classmates. Males and females used cognitive and compensation learning skills about equally in this study.

The one strategy that males used more significantly than females was the use of English movies and TV programs to help develop language skills. This difference can be explained by the fact that in Puerto Rico where the study took place, Spanish programming is dominated by soap operas that appeal more strongly to females while English language television often includes sporting events, movies, and music videos. Females on the other hand, showed a much higher use of global strategies, incorporating the big picture into learning, as women are more often than males classified as global learners. Females also used more introspective and affective strategies, aspects where females are known to pay more attention to in learning. Several other strategies can also be linked to the way that women converse and use language such as sociability, a tendency to elicit comment, and a wish to build a relationship with those involved in the conversation. Women also tended to review material more often than men, which may be contributed to their desire to follow rules and be compliant as well as women’s desire to be in control of their learning in a metacognitive sense.

However, just because men and women use different learning strategies does not mean that one gender is better at learning a language than the other. Variation in gender and variation by proficiency seem to be working in very different ways. In the study, the strategies more often used by women had little overlap with the strategies used by the more proficient students. Similarly, although women used more strategies than men in this study, the researchers did not find a higher number of women at more advanced course levels. Regardless, men and women are using different approaches to language learning. This is true within and across many different cultures and can be related to many variables including learning styles, motivations, and attitudes (Green &Oxford, 1995).

These differences in learning strategies have many implications on the teaching of ESL. It is very important for the teacher to recognize the large variability of learning styles used in their class. Some learning styles are better suited to some learners than to others. Strategy use might be very different between males and females in the class. The better teachers understand the factors that influence a students learning style, the easier it is for the teacher to effectively reach all of her classroom despite individual differences among the students. This information gives teachers the power to “plan lessons so that students with many different characteristics, including varied strategies, can receive what they need” (Green & Oxford, 1995, p. 292). Understanding how gender affects learning strategy choice will make teachers more effective in their classrooms.

Another interesting area where significant differences occur between males and females is in the knowledge of academic words and vocabulary. In their study, “Academic Words and Gender: ESL Student Performance on a Test of Academic Lexicon,” Scarcella and Zimmerman (1998) attempt to discover if there is a relationship between gender and second language vocabulary knowledge, specifically academic vocabulary. Understanding academic words is especially difficult for English as a second language (ESL) students. Knowledge of that vocabulary does however appear critical to academic success. Many of the academic vocabulary items have several meaning that a student would not be able to understand by the context that the word is used in. ESL students found their lack of vocabulary knowledge to be their greatest weakness when reading English. Academic vocabulary knowledge is necessary for both reading and writing fluently and efficiently.

This study’s main question was to answer whether ESL student’s academic vocabulary knowledge varied as a function of gender and if so what effect does gender have. The subjects of the study were 192 University of California at Irving freshmen ESL students. They were from a variety of backgrounds and ranged in level from high intermediate to advanced. The students were given the Test of Academic Lexicon (TAL) to test their productive knowledge of commonly used academic words. The test consisted of fifty vocabulary terms, forty of those were real words and ten were made up words. The made up words were included in the study as a control to prevent the students from guessing and to keep them from assuming they knew all of the words. The students were asked to rank their knowledge of the academic words. If they claimed to have a good understanding of the word and how to use it they were asked to write a sentence using the word.

The study produced interesting results. It is often assumed that females are better ESL learners than males. However, in this study males significantly outscored their female classmates. Males had an average score of seventy-three percent while the females averaged a score of sixty-eight percent. After examining the response to the made-up words, it can be concluded that guessing did not affect the results as females and males guessed about the same amount of times. The results showed that verbal SAT scores, length of residency, and age of arrival do not affect the relationship between gender and the results of the TAL test.

While the authors of this study do not feel as though gender itself, biologically, caused the differences in the scores, they do offer some possible reasons for the differences. There could be differences in the amount of exposure males and females have to academic reading or in their participation in leisure-time reading. A student’s reading patterns could definitely affect their vocabulary knowledge. Differences in the previous schooling of males and females could also play a key role in their understanding of academic vocabulary. As we know, males and females use very different learning strategies. These learning strategies are used to help them acquire academic language. It is possible that males have better strategies to learn academic language. Culture is also another variable that could affect knowledge of academic vocabulary in a second language. Some of the women in this study may have come from cultures where they were not expected or encouraged to participate in academic discussions unlike their male counterparts. Similarly, women often have less power in conversations with males and this might diminish their opportunities to discuss academic issues. Further research is needed to identify what difficulties women face in learning academic vocabulary. It could be the result of any of the problems listed above or a combination of them. Until these studies are completed it is hard to understand the complex relationship between gender and the knowledge of academic vocabulary (Scarcella & Zimmerman, 1998).

The role of gender in the acquisition of a second language is something that all teachers need to be aware of. In the study conducted by Kay M. Losey (1995), “Gender and Ethnicity as Factors in the Development of Verbal Skills in Bilingual Mexican Women,” it is easy to see the struggles that female students face everyday in the ESL classroom. The study was set up to analyze the differences in “student output across ethnicity and gender in a mixed monolingual English and bilingual Spanish/English class in order to understand how L2 oral language skills are developed in a mixed classroom” (p. 635). Interaction between native speakers and second language or bilingual learners is important for the acquisition of a second language. Students need opportunities to take in input and produce output while conversing with native speakers. This study’s goal was to study the interaction in multicultural classrooms to analyze the affect that gender and ethnicity has on classroom interaction.

The study involved thirty basic adult writing students, half were bilingual Mexican Americans and half were monolingual Americans. The students were observed during their normal class time for two years. Informal interviews were conducted with the students and further data was provided through audiotaped classroom and tutorial interaction. The data was analyzed by examining classroom interaction and the amount of participation and number of speech acts each student was involved in. The researcher was looking for patterns in student output.

The results of this study are very interesting. It was expected that the Mexican American students would speak less in the classroom then the native speakers of English, however major differences between male and female in that group was not. The Mexican American females participated half as much as expected while Mexican American males participated four times as much as expected. The females who were native speakers of English also spoke less than their male native speaker of English classmates, but the difference was much less significant than the difference between male and female Mexican Americans. These findings suggest “that the structure and content of classroom interaction during traditional whole class interactions differently limited that output of bilingual Mexican American women” (Losey, 1998, p. 653). Bilingual Female Mexican American students face a double minority, being both female and Hispanic. Many lacked the confidence needed to communicate in a multi-cultural setting (Losey, 1998).

ESL Classrooms need to be structured in a way where all students are comfortable and have the opportunity to receive comprehensible input and produce comprehensible output. If students do not receive this opportunity then their language acquisition will suffer. In her paper “Gender and the ESL Classroom,” Effie Papatzikou Cochran (1996) agrees with the previous study, saying that female ESL students are doubly marginalized because of their cultural and linguistic situation. She warns, “it is time for ESL and EFL teachers to direct their own and others’ attention to the predicament of the gifted but forgotten women in their classrooms” (p. 159). So how do ESL teachers make sure that all of his/her students, both male and female, are given equal opportunities to grow and learn? Advice is offered on ways in which teachers can make their classroom equally productive for both males and females.

Papatzikou Cochran (1995) that teachers provide clear opportunities for students to discuss their feelings and vocalize problems of discrimination. This can be done through carefully planned exercises that give students control of the assignment such as open-ended dialogue. Second, it is suggested that teachers need to be on the look out for their students’ non-verbal communication. A teacher can often learn more about what a student is thinking from their nonverbal communication than their verbal communication. Teachers should do their best to avoid the use of sexist and racist language, especially ethnic and sexual generalizations, the use of generics, and stereotypical expression that are sex or culture specific. Finally, teachers should familiarize themselves with literature dealing with sexism and language. ESL teachers need to become gender attentive in their classrooms to ensure that every student has an equal opportunity to succeed.

Males and Females use and learn language in very different ways. Many of the ways in which gender affects the use of an L1 carry over to the use and acquisition of an L2. There is no concrete evidence to show whether these differences are the result of biological, socio-cultural, or psychological differences between males and females. More research needs to be done to determine the cause of these variations. Regardless of the reason why, it is important to understand how language use and acquisition differ between the two sexes. This is especially important for ESL teachers to understand because the better a teacher understands the differences among their students the better they can provide a successful learning experience for all students involved.

References

Doughty, J.C., Long, M. H. (Eds.). (2003). The handbook of second language acquisition. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing.

Finch, G. (2003). Word of mouth: A new introduction to language and communication. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

Green, J. M., Oxford, R. (1995). A closer look at learning strategies, L2 proficiency, and gender. TESOL Quarterly, 29(2), 261-297).

Holmes, J. (2001). An Introduction to sociolinguistics (2nd ed.). Harlow, England: Pearson Education.

Losey, K. M. (1995). Gender and ethnicity as factors in the development of verbal skills in bilingual Mexican American women. TESOL Quarterly, 29(4), 635-661.

Papatzikou Cochran, E. (1996). Gender and the ESL classroom. TESOL Quarterly, 30(1), 159-162.

Saville-Troike, M. (2006). Introducing second language acquisition. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Scarcella, R., Zimmerman, C. (1998). Academic words and gender: ESL student performance on a test of academic lexicon. SSLA, 20, 27-49.

Shehadeh, A. (1999). Gender differences and equal opportunities in the ESL classroom. ELT Journal, 53(4), 256- 261.

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