Individual Differences in SLA: Gender 1.Interlanguage Not a rich area for examination of gender differences. Selinker, L. (1969). Language transfer. General Linguistics, 9, 67–92, found no gender differences in IL word order. 1

Individual Differences in SLA: Gender 2.Conversational interactions Studies of conversational interactions among native speakers, as in Deborah Tannen’s many quasi-popular linguistic studies. 2

Individual Differences in SLA: Gender 2.Conversational interactions Gender differences in SLA. Gass, S.M., & Varonis, E.M. (1986). Sex differences in non-native speaker / non-native speaker interaction. In R.R. Day (Ed.), Talking to learn: Conversation in SLA (pp. 327 – 351). Rowley, MA: Newbury House. Found predictable gender differences relative to negotiation, turn-taking, and interruptions among Japanese learners of English. 3

Individual Differences in SLA: Gender 3.Classroom / Educational Differences In educational research (outside language acquisition), there is a significant literature on classroom / educational gender differences between boys and girls. 4 Boys talk more and receive more teacher attention than girls. This may result in lower levels of achievement and self-esteem among girls. Wrigley, J. (Ed.). (1992). Education and gender equality. London: Routledge.

Individual Differences in SLA: Gender 3.Classroom / Educational Differences Similar gender differences in SLA classrooms. In one French SLA classroom, girls only received about 25 – 30 percent of class talk time. Even so, boys were very disruptive, “calling out, banging their feet and desks, and even verbally abusing” the teacher. cited in Doughty & Long. (Eds). (2003). Handbook of second language acquisition. Blackwell, p

Individual Differences in SLA: Gender 4.Background knowledge Schema theory A schema is a “data structure for representing the generic concepts stored in memory. There are schemata representing our knowledge about all concepts: objects, situations, sequences of events, actions and sequences of actions” (p. 5). Rumelhart, D. (1981). Schemata: The building blocks of cognition. In Guthrie, J. (Ed.), Comprehension and teaching : Research reviews. Newark, DE: International Reading Association. 6

Individual Differences in SLA: Gender 4.Background knowledge Schema theory Schema are generic “plays.” We hold plays— about characters, situations, progressions of action—in memory; collectively, they represent our background knowledge. When we encounter something new, we check it against our repertoire of existing schema. If we find a “match,” we are able to understand the character, situation, or progression through its connection to our extant schema (“connecting the new to the known”). If we do not find a match, comprehension problems may result. 7

Individual Differences in SLA: Gender 4.Background knowledge a.Content schema background knowledge about the content area of the text / discourse. Egyptian students demonstrated better recall of articles with an Egyptian background than with an American background. Nelson, G. (1987). Culture’s role in reading comprehension: A schema theoretical approach. Journal of Reading, 30,

Individual Differences in SLA: Gender 4.Background knowledge b.formal schema background knowledge of the formal, rhetorical organizational structures of different types of texts / discourses. 9

Individual Differences in SLA: Gender 4.Background knowledge b.formal schema background knowledge of the formal, rhetorical organizational structures of different types of texts / discourses. Carrell taught four rhetorical structures to ESL students; the student in the experimental group demonstrated a much higher rate of comprehension on test articles utilizing the structures than that demonstrated by the control group. Carrell, P. (1985). Facilitating ESL reading by teaching text structure. TESOL Quarterly, 19, 727–

Individual Differences in SLA: Gender 4.Background knowledge What are the implications for gender and SLA? Brantmeier, C. (2003). Does gender make a difference? Passage content and comprehension in second language reading. Reading in a Foreign Language, 15(1), 1–27. 11