Language learning and the gendered self
the case of French and masculinity in a US context
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/genl.v10i2.19810Keywords:
French, gender, Gendered Language Attitudes, Post-secondary, Second Language Learning, Masculinity, Motivation, United StatesAbstract
In a time of ever-increasing globalisation, the development of diverse linguistic skills has been growing in importance despite a trend of reduced language learning, which is particularly marked in Anglophone countries. Although the need for international interaction is not gender-specific, a growing body of literature has identified gender-related differences in language education. Existing research has demonstrated that different target languages have been gendered by students in different ways. Extending the existing literature, focused primarily on adolescents, a survey was administered to 294 students at four universities in the southeastern US to explore the degree to which young adults perceive languages as gendered and to which taking French is perceived as gender-norm violating. Findings suggest that although there are some similarities in terms of the gendering of languages and language study among adolescent and young adult learners, differences exists in the nature of this gendering.
References
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Snyder, T. D. and Dillow, S. A. (2011) Digest of Education Statistics 2010. NCES 2011-015. National Washington, DC: Center for Educational Statistics, Institute of Education Science, US Department of Education.
Sunderland, J. (1998) Girls being quiet: a problem for foreign language classrooms? Language Teaching Research 2: 48–82. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/136216889800200104
Tamasi, S. and Antieau, L. (2014) Language and Linguistic Diversity in the United States. New York: Routledge.
Taylor, A. (2000) Boy-free zone? Language Learning Journal 21: 13–7. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09571730085200031
Ushioda, E. (2011) Language learning motivation, self and identity: current theoretical perspectives. Computer Assisted Language Learning 24(3): 199–210. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09588221.2010.538701
Van Houtte, M. (2004) Gender context of the school and study culture, or how the presence of girls affects the achievement of boys. Educational Studies 30(4): 409–23. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0305569042000310336
Williams, M., Burden, R. and Lanvers, U. (2002) ‘French is the language of love and stuff’: perceptions of issues related to motivation in learning a foreign language. British Educational Research Journal 28(4): 503–28. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0141192022000005805
Carr, M. J. and Pauwels, A. (2006) Boys and Foreign Language Learning: Real Boys Don’t Do Languages. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. http://dx.doi.org/10.1057/9780230501652
Dempster, S. and Jackson, C. (2009) ‘I sat back on my computer … with a bottle of whisky next to me’: constructing ‘cool’ masculinity through ‘effortless’ achievement in secondary and higher education. Journal of Gender Studies 18(4): 341–56. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09589230903260019
Dörnyei, Z. (2009) The L2 motivational self system. Motivation, Language Identity and the L2 Self 36(3): 9–11.
Draper, J. and Hicks, J. (2000) Foreign language enrolment in public secondary schools, Fall 2000. Retrieved on 19 August 2014 from www.actfl.org/files/public/Enroll2000.pdf.
Fónagy, I. (1979) La Métaphore en phonétique. Ottawa: Didier.
Gardner, R. (1985) Social Psychology and Second Language Learning: The Role of Attitudes and Motivation. London: Edward Arnold.
Hargrove, T. and Stempel, G. (2007) Americans wistful for foreign language in high school. Scripps Howard News Service, June. Retrieved on 8 August 2014 from www.newspolls.org/articles/19614.
Heining-Boynton, A. L. and Haitema, T. (2007) A ten-year chronicle of student attitudes toward foreign language in the elementary school. The Modern Language Journal 91(2): 149–68. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4781.2007.00538.x
Jones, B. and Jones, G. (2001) Boys’ Performance in Modern Foreign Languages: Listening to Learners. London: Centre for Information on Language and Teaching and Research.
Kissau, S. (2006) Gender differences in motivation to learn French. The Canadian Modern Language Review 62(3): 401–22. http://dx.doi.org/10.3138/cmlr.62.3.401
Kissau, S. (2007) Is what’s good for the goose good for the gander? The case of male and female encouragement to study French. Foreign Language Annals 40(3): 419–32. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1944-9720.2007.tb02867.x
Kissau, S. and Quach, L. (2006) Student control in the second language classroom: an analysis of gender differences. Journal of Applied Linguistics 3(1): 49–67.
Kissau, S. and Salas, S. (2013) Motivating male language learners: the need for ‘more than just good teaching’. Canadian Journal of Applied Linguistics 16(1): 88–111.
Kissau, S. and Turnbull, M. (2008) Boys and French as a second language: a research agenda for greater understanding. Canadian Journal of Applied Linguistics 11(3): 151–70.
Kissau, S. P., Kolano, L. Q. and Wang, C. (2010) Perceptions of gender differences in high school students’ motivation to learn Spanish. Foreign Language Annals 43(4): 703–21. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1944-9720.2010.01110.x
Kissau, S., Quach, L. and Wang, C. (2009) Impact of single-sex instruction on student motivation to learn Spanish. Canadian Journal of Applied Linguistics/Revue canadienne de linguistique appliquée 12(2): 54–78.
Knisely, K. and Wind, S. (2014) Exploring gendered language attitudes using Rasch measurement theory. Journal of Applied Measurement 16(2): 95–112.
Lambert, W. E. (1967) A social psychology of bilingualism. Journal of Social Issues 23(2): 91–109. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4560.1967.tb00578.x
Lepettit, D. (1995) La représentation (très) féminine du FLE: une réponse à F. Lévy. The French Review 68(6): 976–89.
Macaulay, R. (1978) The myth of female superiority in language. Journal of Child Language 5(2): 353–63. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0305000900007534
Netten, J., Riggs, C. and Hewlett, S. (1999) Choosing French in the Senior High School: Grade 9 Student Attitudes to the Study of French in the Western Avalon School District. St. John’s, Newfoundland: Memorial University, Faculty of Education.
Pavlenko, A., Blackledge, A., Piller, I. and Teutsch-Dwyer, M. (eds) (2001) Multilingualism, Second Language Learning, and Gender. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/9783110889406
Pavy, S. (2006) Boys learning languages – the myth busted. Babel 41(1): 2–9.
Platt, P. (1995) French or Foe? London: Culture Crossings.
Rhodes, N. and Pufahl, I. (2009) Foreign language teaching in U.S. schools: results of a national survey. Retrieved on 19 August 2014 from www.cal.org/projects/Exac%20Summary_111009.pdf.
Rosenthal, A. (1999) The gender coded stereotype: an American perception of France and the French. The French Review 72(5): 897–908.
Shryock, R. (2009) Why Study French? Blacksburg, VA: Foreign Languages and Literatures Department, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.
Siebens, J. and Ryan, C. (2012) 2009 American Community Survey. Washington, DC: US Census Bureau.
Snyder, T. D. and Dillow, S. A. (2011) Digest of Education Statistics 2010. NCES 2011-015. National Washington, DC: Center for Educational Statistics, Institute of Education Science, US Department of Education.
Sunderland, J. (1998) Girls being quiet: a problem for foreign language classrooms? Language Teaching Research 2: 48–82. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/136216889800200104
Tamasi, S. and Antieau, L. (2014) Language and Linguistic Diversity in the United States. New York: Routledge.
Taylor, A. (2000) Boy-free zone? Language Learning Journal 21: 13–7. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09571730085200031
Ushioda, E. (2011) Language learning motivation, self and identity: current theoretical perspectives. Computer Assisted Language Learning 24(3): 199–210. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09588221.2010.538701
Van Houtte, M. (2004) Gender context of the school and study culture, or how the presence of girls affects the achievement of boys. Educational Studies 30(4): 409–23. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0305569042000310336
Williams, M., Burden, R. and Lanvers, U. (2002) ‘French is the language of love and stuff’: perceptions of issues related to motivation in learning a foreign language. British Educational Research Journal 28(4): 503–28. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0141192022000005805
Published
2016-07-15
Issue
Section
Articles
How to Cite
Knisely, K. A. (2016). Language learning and the gendered self: the case of French and masculinity in a US context. Gender and Language, 10(2), 216-239. https://doi.org/10.1558/genl.v10i2.19810
