How do boys from the major English-dominant communities of the world explain their apparent lack of interest in the foreign languages option? Is this a 'curriculum misalignment' issue? A reaction to language teaching approaches? Tension between performed masculinities and language practice?
This book explores the boys-languages relationship as explained by boys themselves. Based on data collected from more than 200 boys in different secondary schools, it identifies key dimensions of this unsuccessful relationship: dominant discourses of masculinity, with an emphasis on 'doing' and nervousness around the girl-associated activity of 'talk'; issues of pedagogy, curriculum and communicative practice; the perceived relevance, interest and effectiveness of language programs in terms of boys' social worlds. Supporting data collected from teachers and from girls who share classrooms with boys confirm the power of normative narratives about what boys/girls are 'good' at; and help to explain the continuingly skewed gender profile of language classrooms.
'....the discussion is thorough, lucid and thought provoking...one of the virtues of this book is its insistence that, even in a single society, the effects of culture and gender are neither uniform nor monolithic...For both researchers and practitioners, their book has much to offer...'
- Deborah Cameron, Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development
Preface
Acknowledgements
PART I: INTRODUCTION
Contextual Frame
The Structure of the Book
PART II: SETTING THE SCENE
Foreign Language Learning: The Learning of Another Language
Foreign Language Learning in English Language Countries: A Historically Gendered Area of Study?
Boys and Girls Participating in School-based Foreign Language Learning: A Statistical Overview
PART III: THE GENDERING OF LANGUAGES EDUCATION
Gender and Schooling Debates: Focus on the Boys
Theoretical Framing
PART IV: BOYS TALKING
Background to the Project and Methodology
The Study
PART V: OTHER BOYS TALKING
School A: Beaconsfield College
School B: Pensborough College
School C: St Barnaby's College
Summary
PART VI: TEACHERS TALKING
Nature or Nuture
PART VII: GIRLS TALKING ABOUT BOYS
Girls' Talk
PART VIII: READING BETWEEN THE LINES
Reconnecting the Theory
Our Research Questions
PART IX: CHANGING THINKING, TRANSFORMING ACTION
Navigating New Times in Old Style: The Outer Frame
The School Cirriculum and Administration Frame
The Teaching and Learning Frame
The Inner Boys-languages Frame: Boy-friendly Pedagogy?
References
Index
JO CARR is Senior Lecturer in the School of Cultural and Language Studies in Education at the Queensland University of Technology, Australia. Her research work focuses on the interconnection between language, culture and identity, with a particular interest in critical analysis of second/foreign language teaching and learning.
ANNE PAUWELS is Head of College of Arts and Law, University of Birmingham, UK and Professor of Linguistics at the University of Western Australia. Her research focuses on the intersection between language, gender and ethnicity as well as on feminist language planning in a global context. She is author of Women Changing Language.
Description
How do boys from the major English-dominant communities of the world explain their apparent lack of interest in the foreign languages option? Is this a 'curriculum misalignment' issue? A reaction to language teaching approaches? Tension between performed masculinities and language practice?
This book explores the boys-languages relationship as explained by boys themselves. Based on data collected from more than 200 boys in different secondary schools, it identifies key dimensions of this unsuccessful relationship: dominant discourses of masculinity, with an emphasis on 'doing' and nervousness around the girl-associated activity of 'talk'; issues of pedagogy, curriculum and communicative practice; the perceived relevance, interest and effectiveness of language programs in terms of boys' social worlds. Supporting data collected from teachers and from girls who share classrooms with boys confirm the power of normative narratives about what boys/girls are 'good' at; and help to explain the continuingly skewed gender profile of language classrooms.
Reviews
'....the discussion is thorough, lucid and thought provoking...one of the virtues of this book is its insistence that, even in a single society, the effects of culture and gender are neither uniform nor monolithic...For both researchers and practitioners, their book has much to offer...'
- Deborah Cameron, Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development
Contents
Preface
Acknowledgements
PART I: INTRODUCTION
Contextual Frame
The Structure of the Book
PART II: SETTING THE SCENE
Foreign Language Learning: The Learning of Another Language
Foreign Language Learning in English Language Countries: A Historically Gendered Area of Study?
Boys and Girls Participating in School-based Foreign Language Learning: A Statistical Overview
PART III: THE GENDERING OF LANGUAGES EDUCATION
Gender and Schooling Debates: Focus on the Boys
Theoretical Framing
PART IV: BOYS TALKING
Background to the Project and Methodology
The Study
PART V: OTHER BOYS TALKING
School A: Beaconsfield College
School B: Pensborough College
School C: St Barnaby's College
Summary
PART VI: TEACHERS TALKING
Nature or Nuture
PART VII: GIRLS TALKING ABOUT BOYS
Girls' Talk
PART VIII: READING BETWEEN THE LINES
Reconnecting the Theory
Our Research Questions
PART IX: CHANGING THINKING, TRANSFORMING ACTION
Navigating New Times in Old Style: The Outer Frame
The School Cirriculum and Administration Frame
The Teaching and Learning Frame
The Inner Boys-languages Frame: Boy-friendly Pedagogy?
References
Index
Authors
JO CARR is Senior Lecturer in the School of Cultural and Language Studies in Education at the Queensland University of Technology, Australia. Her research work focuses on the interconnection between language, culture and identity, with a particular interest in critical analysis of second/foreign language teaching and learning.
ANNE PAUWELS is Head of College of Arts and Law, University of Birmingham, UK and Professor of Linguistics at the University of Western Australia. Her research focuses on the intersection between language, gender and ethnicity as well as on feminist language planning in a global context. She is author of Women Changing Language.
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