Human Factors in a Computer Assisted Foreign Language Environment
The Effects of Gender, Personality and Keyboard Control
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/cj.v13i2-3.47-72Keywords:
Computer assisted language instruction, gender differences, personality differences, keyboard control, verbal interaction, MBTI, linear and nonlinear learners, hidden agenda, socialization processAbstract
This multi-method research examines the effects of gender, personality and keyboard control on foreign language learning and interaction patterns of 60 intermediate French students in a computer assisted language learning environment at the university level. This study includes ten female dyads (pairs), ten male dyads, and ten mixed-gender dyads. Results of the Analyses of Variance reveal that learning achievement and interaction patterns at the computer are more strongly related to personality differences and keyboard control than to gender differences, although males and females still perform differently, yet not quite as expected. The most detrimental factor in this computer based French activity was shown to be the inability for linear learners, whether males or females, to adjust to the nonlinear format of foreign language hypertexts.
References
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Steinem, Gloria (1991). “Men and Women Talking.” The Gender Reader, edited by Evelyn Ashton-Jones and Gary A. Olson. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.
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Sunderland, Jane (1992). “Gender in the EFL Classroom.” ELT Journal 46, 81-91.
Tannen, Deborah (1994). Gender and Discourse. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Underwood, Geoffrey, and Michelle McCaffrey (1990). “Gender Differences in a Cooperative Computer Based Language Task.” Educational Research 32, 44-49.
Watson, James (1990-91). “Cooperative Learning and Computers: One Way to Address Student Differences.” The Computing Teacher 9-15.
Webb, Nan M. (1985). “The Role of Gender in Computer Programming Learning Processes.” Journal of Educational Computing Research 1, 441-458.
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Wyatt, David H. (1987). “Applying Pedagogical Principles to CALL Courseware Development.” Modern Media in Foreign Language Education: Theory and Implementation, edited by Wm. Flint Smith. Lincolnwood, IL: National Textbook.
Yelloushan, Kathleen (1989). “Social Barriers Hindering Successful Entry of Females into Technology Oriented Fields.” Educational Technology 29, 44-46.
Adam, Alison, and Margaret Bruce (1993). “The Expert Systems Debate: A Gender Perspective.” Genderd by Design? Information Technology and Office Systems, edited by Eileen Green, Jenny Owen, and Den Pain. Washington, DC: Taylor and Francis.
Anderson, Margaret L. (1993). Thinking about Women: Sociological Perspectives on Sex and Gender. New York, NY: Macmillan.
Azmitia, Margarita (1987). “Expertise as a Moderator of Social Influence on Children’s Cognition.” Paper presented at the Biannual Meeting on the Society for Research in Child Development, Baltimore, MA.
Barrett, Leverne A., Richard Sorensen, and Thomas Hartung (1987). “Personality Types of Agricultural College Students. Implications for Teaching, Retention and Recruitment.” NACTA Journal December, 14-19.
Briggs Myers, Isabel, and Mary H. McCaulley (1992). A Guide to the Development and Use of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press.
Cameron, Deborah (1992). Feminism and Linguistic Theory. New York: St. Martin’s Press.
Carrell, Patricia L., and Laura B. Monroe (1993). “Learning Styles and Composition.” The Modern Language Journal 77, 148-162.
Chisholm, Thomas A. and Parameswar Krishnakumar (1981). “Are Computer Simulations Sexist?” Simulations and Games 12, 379-392.
Collis, Betty (1985a). “Sex Differences in Secondary School Students’ Attitude Toward Computers.” The Computing Teacher 12, 33-36.
_____. (1985b). “Sex-related Differences in Attitudes Toward Comuters: Implications for Counselors.” The School Counselor 33, 121-130.
Crawford, Mary, and Roger Chaffin (1986). “The Reader’s Construction of Meaning: Cognitive Research on Gender and Comprehension.” Gender and Reading: Essays on Readers, Texts and Contexts, edited by Elizabeth A. Flynn and Patrocinio P. Schweickart. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
Culley, Lorraine (1988). “Girls, Boys, and Computers.” Educational Studies 14, 3-8.
Cummings, R. (1985). “Small-Group Discussions and the Microcomputer.” Journal of Computer Assisted Learning 1, 149-158.
Dalton, David W. (1990). “The Effects of Cooperative Learning Strategies on Achievement and Attitudes During Interactive Video.” Journal of Computer based Instruction 17, 8-16.
DiMona, Lisa, and Constance Herndon (1994). Women’s Sourcebook. New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin.
Ehrman, Madeline (1995). “Cognition Plus: Correlates of Language Learning Success.” The Modern Language Journal, 79, 67-89.
_____. (1994). “Weakest and Strongest Learners in Intensive Language Training: A Study of Extremes.” Faces in a Crowd: The Individual Learner in Multisection Courses, edited by Carol A. Klee. Boston, MA: Heinle & Heinle.
_____., and Rebecca Oxford (1988). “Effects of Sex Differences, Career Choice, and Psychological Type on Adult Language Learning Strategies.” The Modern Language Journal 72, 253-265.
Feldmann, Shirley C., Marian C. Fish, Ronald Friend, and Linda Bastone (1991). “An Observational Study of Social Behavior in Microcomputer Classrooms.” Computers in Human Behavior 7, 45-55.
Fetler, Mark. (1985). “Sex Differences on the California Statewide Assessment of Computer Literacy.” Sex Roles 13, 181-191.
Fennema, Elizabeth (1987). “Sex-related Differences in Education: Myths, Reality, and Interventions.” Educator’s Handbook: A Research Perspective, edited by Virginia Richardson-Koehler. New York: Longman.
Fisher, Glenn (1984). “The Social Effects of Computers in Education.” Electronic Learning 26-28.
Forsyth, Alfred S., and David F. Lancy (1989). “Girls and Microcomputers: A Hopeful Finding Regarding Software.” Computers in the Schools 6, 51-59.
Green, Eileen, Jenny Owen, and Den Pain (1993). Gendered by Design? Information Technology and Office Systems. Washington, DC: Taylor and Francis.
Henwood, Flis (1993). “Establishing Gender Perspectives on Information Technology: Problems, Issues and Opportunities.” Gendered by Design? Information Technology and Office Systems, edited by Eileen Green, Jenny Owen, and Den Pain. Washington, DC: Taylor and Francis.
Jones, Preston K. (1987). “The Relative Effectiveness of Computer Assisted Remediation with Male and Female Students.” Technical Horizons in Education 14, 61-6.
Kirk, David (1992). “Gender Issues in Information Technology as Found in Schools.” Educational Technology 32, 28-31.
Levin, Tamar, and Claire Gordon (1989). “Effect of Gender and Computer Experience on Attitudes Toward Computers.” Journal of Educational Computing Research 5, 69-88.
Meunier, Lydie E. (1994). “Native Genderlects and Their Relation to Gender Issues in Second Language Classrooms: The Sex of our Students as a Sociolinguistic Variable.” Faces in a Crowd: The Individual Learner in Multisection Courses, edited by Carol A. Klee. Boston, MA: Heinle & Heinle.
_____. (1993). “Cooperative CALL and Gender Differences.” Proceedings of the CALICO 1993 Annual Symposium on “Assessment”, editd by Frank L. Borchardt and Eleanor Johnson. Durham, NC: Duke University.
_____. (1992). “Carmen San Diego: Software Review.” Northeast Conference Newsletter on the Teaching of Foreign Languages 32, 46-47.
Murray, Fergus (1993). “A Separate Reality: Science Technology andMasculinity.” Gendered by Design? Information Technology and Office Systems, edited by Eileen Green, Jenny Owen, and Den Pain. Washington, DC: Taylor and Francis.
Oxford, Rebecca L. (1990). Language Learning Strategies: What Every Teacher Should Know. Boston, MA: Heinle & Heinle.
Sanders, Jo Shuchat. (1985). “Making the Computer Neuter.” The Computing Teacher 12, 23-27.
Scarcella, Robin C., and Rebecca L. Oxford (1992). The Tapestry of Language Learning. The Individual in the Communicative Classroom. Boston, MA: Heinle & Heinle.
Schweickart, Patrocinio P. (1990). “Reading, Teaching, and the Ethic of Care.” Gender in the Classroom: Power and Pedagogy, edited by Susan Gabriel and Isaiah Smithson. Urbana and Chicago, IL: University of Illinois Press.
_____. (1986). “Reading Ourselves: Towards a Feminist Theory.” Gender and Reading: Essays on Readers, Texts and Contexts, edited by Elizabeth A. Flynn, and Patrocinio P. Schweickart. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.
Siann, Gerda, and Hamish Macleod (1986). “Computers and Children of Primary School Age: Issues and Questions.” British Journal of Educational Technology 17, 133-144.
Smithson, Isaiah (1990). “Investigating Gender, Power, and Pedagogy.” Gender in the Classroom: Power and Pedagogy, edited by Susan Gabriel and Isaiah Smithson. Urbana and Chicago, IL: University of Illinois Press.
Stable, Andrew (1990). “Differences Between Pupils from Mixed- and Single-Sex Schools in their Enjoyment of School Subjects and in their Attitudes to Science and to School.” Educational Review 42, 221-230.
Steinem, Gloria (1991). “Men and Women Talking.” The Gender Reader, edited by Evelyn Ashton-Jones and Gary A. Olson. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.
_____. (1994). Moving Beyond Words. New York: Simon and Schuster.
Sunderland, Jane (1992). “Gender in the EFL Classroom.” ELT Journal 46, 81-91.
Tannen, Deborah (1994). Gender and Discourse. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Underwood, Geoffrey, and Michelle McCaffrey (1990). “Gender Differences in a Cooperative Computer Based Language Task.” Educational Research 32, 44-49.
Watson, James (1990-91). “Cooperative Learning and Computers: One Way to Address Student Differences.” The Computing Teacher 9-15.
Webb, Nan M. (1985). “The Role of Gender in Computer Programming Learning Processes.” Journal of Educational Computing Research 1, 441-458.
West, Candace, and Sarah Fenstermaker (1993). “Power, Inequality and the Accomplishment of Gender: An Ethnomethodological View.” Theory on Gender. Feminism on Theory, edited by Paula England. Hawthorne, NY: Aldine de Gruyer.
Wyatt, David H. (1987). “Applying Pedagogical Principles to CALL Courseware Development.” Modern Media in Foreign Language Education: Theory and Implementation, edited by Wm. Flint Smith. Lincolnwood, IL: National Textbook.
Yelloushan, Kathleen (1989). “Social Barriers Hindering Successful Entry of Females into Technology Oriented Fields.” Educational Technology 29, 44-46.
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Published
2013-01-14
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Articles
How to Cite
Meunier, L. E. (2013). Human Factors in a Computer Assisted Foreign Language Environment: The Effects of Gender, Personality and Keyboard Control. CALICO Journal, 13(2-3), 47-72. https://doi.org/10.1558/cj.v13i2-3.47-72
