Gender Interaction in Classroom Discourse.

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate the role of gender in Algerian EFL classroom interaction. It is motivated by three research questions. First, is there a significant difference between male’s and female’s discourse in the classroom? Second, how does a female and male student interact with their teachers? And third, is gender regarded differently by the teachers in the classroom? The study seeks to answer the research questions by investigating gender patterns in both teachers' and students' discourse in order to investigate the potential impact of gender differences in classroom language interaction. The dissertation is divided into two sections: the first is a theoretical section that addresses the concept of classroom discourse, and the second is about the role of gender in the classroom. The data was gathered using a mixed method, including classroom observation, a questionnaire sent to both students and teachers, and an interview with students. The purpose of the classroom observation is to investigate the process of classroom interaction in action. Furthermore, the student questionnaire was designed to elicit information about the student's attitude toward classroom interaction, whereas the teacher questionnaire was designed to elicit information about the teacher's attitude toward gender. The study's main finding is that female students interact more with female teachers than male teachers, whereas male students interact with both. The findings revealed that when it comes to the gender of the teacher, both teachers and students interact differently