Language and Gender Differences In English Language Teaching

Abstract: This paper discuss about the impact of gender differences in English Language Teaching. It explores students’ learning styles as affected by the notions about men and women differences in communication. It is to reveal their attitudes towards speaking to different sex, strategy to express opinion, group work preferences, activeness/passiveness, and their perception to increase English skills dealing with sex difference. It is revealed that female than male students were reluctant to speak to different sex; females preferred the direct way to express opinions (writing), work with the same sex, and tended to be passive in class. In addition, females saw the high possibility to increase their English skills by working with the same sex but the reverse is true for males.

Key words: gender differences, English language teaching. 

INTRODUCTION

            That there are differences between the sexes is hardly a matter of dispute. On the average, females have more fat and less muscle than males, are not strong, and weigh less. They also mature more rapidly and live longer. The female voice usually has different characteristics from the male voice and often females and males exhibit different ranges of verbal skills.

            But we must also be aware that social factors may account for some of the difference. For example, women may live longer than men bacause of the different roles they play in society and the different jobs they tend to fill. Differences in voice quality may be accentuated bt beliefs about what men and women should sound like they talk, and any differences in verbal skills are undoubtedly explained in great part through differences in upbringing.

Gender differences, which are socially and culturally constructed, are one of the interesting phenomena in contemporary society. Their impacts can not only be seen in political life, where women fight their political rights, or in households, in which women fight to reduce household harassment. Discourse on gender differences, in fact, also exists in the use of language for communication, highlighting that men and women are different in their ways of communication, and therefore they should be treated differently. 

Language and gender also reveals the differences between men and women in using language

for communication. One of them is that women are more polite than men. On the other hand, men in similar circumstances do not show this tendency. Women tend to speak with reference to the rules of politeness, conversational implicative and interpersonal exploration whereas men tend to speak with reference to the rules of conversation and straight factual communication’. Another difference is that women are more passive than men. If they are talking, they tend to show that they are not sure about what they are saying.

In fact, women are different from men not only in verbal communication but also in nonverbal communication. One study looked at the use of nonverbal communication: eye contact, gestures, smiles, personal space, touch, and interpretation of nonverbal cues, and found that females establish more eye contact than men do; use more gestures than males and smile more often than a male does. This result shows that women are more comfortable using sensitive communicators than verbal communication.

In the area of English Language Teaching, in which female and male students interact to each other by using English for their communication, problems caused by men and women’s differences in using language may be affecting. The close relationship between gender differences and learning styles is men were more likely than women to prefer the abstract conceptualization mode of learning. Another study found that ‘girls had better reading comprehension, read more frequently and had a more positive attitude to reading and school’ This shows that male and female have different learning styles which can be affected by differences in language usage as discussed in the discourse of language and gender. This article will also look at how gender differences in language and communication affect students’ strategies in learning English.

DISCUSSION

There are many way how to know language and gender in English language teaching. One of them is research with giving questionnaires. In this article, the writer takes the data research from Murni Mahmud who does research in English Department students of the State University of Makassar. The data collected in 2008. The population of the research was the fourth semester students of English Education study program which consists of three classes. Each class consisted of 35 students. For the sampling, the researcher just took 40 students among them randomly: 20 male students and 20 female students.

The respondents were given open-ended questionnaires to reveal their perceptions regarding their strategies in learning English as affected by gender differences. The questionnaires were directed to find out whether or not the students feel reluctant to speak English with different sex, what ways they prefer to express their opinions either indirect (writing) or direct way (speaking), what kinds of groups they prefer to work with either single-sex group or mixed sex group, whether the students prefer to be active or not (silent), and how the students’ perception on the strategies to improve English skills dealing with sex difference. The questionnaires are as follows.

1.      Do you sometimes fell reluctant to speak English with another sex? Explain!

2.      In an English class, what way do you prefer to express your opinions, written or oral form? Explain!

3.      In a group discussion, which one do you prefer, working with the same sex or different sex? Explain!

4.      In an English class, do you sometimes choose to keep silent or active? Why? Is that because you are men or women?

5.      Do you think working with the same sex or different sex can make your English better?

FINDINGS

This part provides the discussions of the questionnaires answered by the respondents regarding their strategies in learning English as affected by gender differences.

1.      Students’ Reluctance to Speak English with Different Sex

The first observed aspect was whether the students feel reluctant to speak English with different sex. From the whole population, there were more female students than male students who felt reluctant to speak English to different sex. There were 85% of female students who felt reluctant to speak English to male students whereas only 50% male students who felt reluctant to speak English to female students. Male students also had higher tendency to neutralize their reluctance by saying that no difference at all (30% students), in which they could communicate using English well to both sexes. In fact, the rest of the male respondents (20%) felt more enjoyable to speak English with their female counterparts. It is different from female students in which only 15% of them who were not reluctant to speak English with their male counterparts. Their reasons can be seen in the following table:

Table 2: Students’ Reasons to Feel Reluctant to Speak English with Different Sex

Females’ reasons	Males’ reasons
Males are arrogant, like to show up	Females get offended easily
Not good in English	Only if females are smarter
Ashamed to make mistakes	Feeling shy to females
Afraid to communicate to male at all	Nervous
Males sometimes speak rough	Not convenient
Males are difficult to understand	Not free to express
Not being free to express

2.      Students’ Preferences in Expressing Opinions

Of the two important productive skills in English, writing and speaking, as the way to express their opinions in English, each female and male respondent had different preferences. There were more male students (60%) than female students (10%) who preferred expressing  opinions in English. On the other hand, there were more female students (90%) than male students (25%) who preferred expressing opinions by writing than by speaking. The rest of them could choose either speaking or writing. Their reasons for expressing their opinions either with written or oral form can be seen in Table 3.

Table 3. Female Students’ Reasons for Expressing Opinions

Females’ reasons to choose writing	Females’ reasons to choose speaking
Indirect way as less English capability	Willing to share ideas
No confidence to speak	More skilled in speaking
Shame, hesitation	Easy, direct, and faster to transfer ideas
Not very sure by speaking	Need to more creative

Table 4. Male Students’ Reasons for Expressing Opinions

Males’ reasons to choose speaking	Males’ reasons to choose writing
Clear, direct to the point	Easy to control and edit ideas
Effective and fast	Writing can minimize the speaking skill
Natural	Difficult to express ideas in speaking
Need to be recognized	Talk less do more
	Feel reluctant to speak

3.      Students’ Preferences in Working with Groups

Female and male students also had different preferences in terms of working with a group, either single-sex group or mixed-sex group. More males (65% students) than females (15%) preferred working with mixed-sex group. Most of the female respondents preferred working with single sex group (85% students) whereas there were only 15% of female students preferred working with the single sex group. The reasons for their decisions to choose either single sex group or mixed sex group can be seen in Table 5.

Table 5: Students’ Reasons for Working in Groups

Working With	Males	Females
Males	Easy to control emotion; To get more freedom; Easier to understand;More cooperative; No limit	More responsible; More diligent; More talkative; More excited discussion; If women are smarter; Women are likely to agree and share; To show ability as men; To get new experiences; To be more active; Women are more careful; More enjoyable
Females	To need improve knowledge; More creative; Good cooperation; Difficult to interact; The need to overcome problems	Similar way of thinking; More concerns on feelings; More freedom; Easy to share ideas; More serious; More open; More enjoyable; Less emotion; More comfortable; More understanding; Easy to manage things

4.      Students’ Preferences to be Active or Silent in English Classes

In English classes, female and male students also had different preferences, whether to be active or passive. It is revealed that more women liked to keep silent, which encountered 80% of the respondents, compared to only 15% of male students. The majority of male students preferred to be active (60% students), and the rest could choose either of them. The reasons for being active or silent in English classes can be seen Table 6.

Table 6: Students’ Reasons for being Active or Silent

	Males	Females
Active	Influenced by status; to know more; talk less do more as men; to show ambition and aspiration as men; to show off; a nature to be active; to increase knowledge	No reason; depending on situation
Silent	Less vocabulary; not interested in the topic; not moody	More comfortable; ashamed; not confident; nervous; the topic is not interesting; not free to express as women; not sure; felt; not understand and not moody

5.      Students’ Perceptions on Strategies to Improve English Dealing with Sex

To improve their English, male and female students also had different perceptions. There were 85% of female students who felt likely to improve their English if they were working or speaking with the same sex whereas for males, different sex was the best way to choose to increase English (75%). Some of their reasons can be seen in Table 6.

Table 7: Students’ Perception on Strategies to Improve English Dealing with sex

Same sex	Different sex
More discipline; more diligent; more accommodating; more reliable; get more knowledge for the same background; feel free to learn; no limit	Ashamed; not confident (if the opposite sex is smarter); for men, women are good inspiration to learn

From the five points above, it can be seen that female and male students have different strategies in learning English. As indicated in Table 2, both female and male students were constrained by their perceptions about their counterparts. Female students, for example, felt reluctant to speak to male students because they thought that males were arrogant. Conversely, male students felt reluctant to speak English to female students due to the reason that females get offended easily. Other reasons for both females and males were mostly caused by their self confidence in speaking. They were not confident with their English skills, and therefore they were ashamed of making mistakes especially in front of different sex. This caused less freedom to express their English ability. 

However, the data indicated that more females felt reluctant to speak English to different sex because females enjoy to speak with the same sex, it is more effective than different sex. Whereas, the male enjoy speaking with females. It is indicated that gender influences the tendency female and male to speak to different sex.

In terms of the productive skills to choose to express opinions. Female students preferred to choose writing as the way to express their opinion because they are not confident to speak. On the other hand, the male students choose speaking as the way to express their opinion. The study also indicated about the different tendency female and male students in working with groups. Female students preffered working with the single sex group whereas male students preffered working with the mixed sex group.

Another fact in the study about students’ preferences to be active or silent in the class. Female and male students to be active and passive in the class depend on their reason. Like males to be active because they want to know more whereas females to be active depend on the situation. Another important finding was their perception on the strategies to improve English. Female and male students would increase their skill in English with the same sex.

CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS

In this article, I have discussed the possible impact of gender differences in language and communication on the ways female and male students learn English. It is revealed that differences on the ways men and women communicate as discussed on the literature of gender, can also affect the successful strategies of English students in learning English. The great potency of female students to be ashamed, nervous, not certain, as characterized as women’s language, can affect their achievement in English. For example, because they are ashamed, they cannot express their ideas in English although they are able to. This can be seen in the majority of the female students to choose writing as the way to express their ideas. Conversely, male students as influenced by their need to challenge and maintain strength as men can use speaking English ability as the way to show their status as men. 

It is suggested, therefore, to get more intensive observation on their learning style in English by recording their conversations, to find out whether there are different patterns in their English expressions as well as their English achievement. In addition, more intensive observation is needed to see other contributing factors influencing these differences.

Based on what we know to date about gender differences in language learning styles, what we are some possible responses that teachers might make/ how should learning style researches react in the future? Here are five possible responses.

1. Ignore them. We can totally ignore observed gender differences.
2. Downplay them. We can downplay gender differences while reporting them, because many of these differences-though statistically significant-are small.
3. Go deeper. A third response, to look at gender differences from multiple angles and in greater depth.
4. Balance. We can create a feminist epistemology combining the best two major research traditions.
5. Be honest. The final response calls for greater truth in reporting research findings.

Five classroom implications of the research discussed in this chapter concern assessing styles, accepting gender-related differences, applying style results in learner training, using style results for tailoring instruction, and employing the findings to prepare the learning environment.

1. Assess language learning styles. It is important to assess the learning styles of language students and teachers.
2. Accept gender-related differences. Language teachers and students should not be surprised if gender-related differences appear in the style assessments. All participants should feel free to discuss these differences openly, bringing up any sociocultural (and perhaps biological) influences that might have helped create any contrasts between females and males.
3. Apply style results in learner training. Helping students understand their language learning styles can become a part of general “learning training”.
4. Use style data for tailoring instruction. By using the data on language learning styles, teachers are better able to spot any style conflicts in the language classroom.
5. Employ style results in preparing the learning environment. Style data can also help the teacher prepare a language learning environment that accommodates females and males alike.

REFERENCES

Murni, Mahmud. “Languange and Gender in English Language Teaching”. TEFLIN Journal, (August, 2010), 21 (2): 1-10.

M. Reid, Joy. Learning Styles in The ESL/EFL Classroom. Boston: Heinle and Heinle Publisher. 1995.

Wardhaugh, Ronald. An Introduction to Sociolinguistics. 1986.