Gender, Participation and Silence in the Language Classroo m

Gender, Participation and Silence in the Language Classroo m

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Gender, Participation and Silence in the Language Classroom Sh-sh ushing the Girls Allyson [ule palgrave ~,., -rn -if'

0 Allyson Jule 2004 Soft cover reprint of the hard cover lst edition 2004 978-1-349-51252-2 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Totten ham Court Road, London W1T 4LP. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The author has asserted her right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. First published 2004 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN Houndmills. Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS and 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010 Companies and representatives throughout the world PALGRAVE MACMILLAN is the global academic imprint of the Palgrave Macmillan division of St. Martin's Press, LLC and of Palgrave Macmillan Ltd. Macmillan is a registered trademark in the United States, United Kingdom and other countries. Palgrave is a registered trademark in the European Union and other countries. ISBN 978-1-349-51252-2 ISBN 978-0-230-59662-7 (ebook) DOI 10.1057/9780230596627 This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British library. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Jule, Allyson, 1 965- Gender, participation, and silence in the language classroom : sh-shushing the girls I Allyson jule. p.cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-4039-1 583-0 (cloth) 1. Language and languages-study and teaching. 2. Gender identity in education. 3. Language and languages-sex differences. 4. Minorities -Education. 5. Women-Language. I. Title. PS3.J85 2003 418'.0071-dc22 2003061601 10 9 8 13 12 11 7 6 5 4 3 10 09 08 07 06

To Marvin, for time lost...

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Contents Acknowledgements Introduction: Silence and Second Language Learning 1 Part I Intersubjectivity, Language Classrooms, and Gender 9 Intetsubjectivity in Language Classrooms The mirror stage La ngu age as a dimension of intcrsubjectivity: inclusion and exclusion lntersubjectivity: a philosophy for language classrooms II 12 14 16 2 Gender in Language Education 19 Boys' underachievement 22 Teacher talk 22 Lin guistic space in classrooms 27 An overview offeminist linguistics 28 Gender tendencies in speech 32 Possible explanations for gender ten dencies in language use 37 Why any differences would matter anyway 42 3 What a Language Student Needs 45 Heritage language education 45 Punjab! Sikh educ atio n in America and Canada 47 Punjabi Sikhs in Canada 48 ESL llanguage education-an overview 53 Wh at a language student needs 54 'Good' language teachi ng methods 55

Part II A Case Study o f One Room, One Voice S9 4 One Language Classroom Assimilation or mullicul turalism? Thi s group Being a Punjabi girl The research project Ethnograp hy as research method Building an ethnographic relationship This language classroom Focusing the project 5 Teacher Talk and Linguistic S~ Linguistic space Speech acts Mrs. Smith's classroo m speech 'Goo d' language teaching Teacher talk 6 Girl Talk Co nvers ation with girls Female speech tendencies 61 61 63 67 69 72 77 78 79 83 83 89 IIlO lis 116 119 l20 125 Partm Sh-shushing Girls in Language Classrooms 143 7 Ethniciry and Gender: A Double Whammy Being the illegitimate other Gender and language Gender and ed ucation Limitations ofthe study Data collectio n and selection Implications of the study Recommendations Last thoughts 145 146 149 150 ls I 1S2 152 154 ISS Bibliography Index 1S7 173

Acknowledgements I welcome this op portunity to express my grat irude to the man y people who helped me through the relatively lonely process of writing this book. At the Uni versity of Surrey. Roehampton, London, UK, Professor Pat Ma hon y and Pro fessor Jen Co ates, and at the Institute of Education, Lond on, Professor Graham Welch, three dedicated scholars I was fortun ate to have guiding and supporting my doctoral work. I am gra teful to them for their wisdom and enthusiasm. I am also so very thankful to Dr Kellcen Toohey at Simon Fraser University, Canada, for her early belief in me and this project, and to RUM for its initial funding. I am dee ply indebted 10 two colle agues who became my friends: first, to Cheryl Wall at Trinity Western Un iversity, Cana da, for her skill and tenacious patience with the transcriptions and keyboarding needs; and second, to Dr Judit h Baxter at the University of Reading, UK, for her interes t, her intelligence, and her graciou sness in read ing various dr afts of the boo k. I am grateful. To Jill Lake an d Paula Kennedy at Palgrave Macmillan for their interest in this boo k an d thei r supp ort regarding its com pletion. I also wish to thank my sister, Nikki Niles, for her clever cover design. Tha nk you! I am also very grate ful to the students and staff at the Unive rsity of Glamorgan, Wa les, with whom I discussed man y of the ideas developed in the boo k. grateful for the child ren and staff at the I am also eterna lly Punjabi schoo l in Ca nada, who welcomed me warmly into their classrooms, their temples, their ho mes, and their lives. 'Shu-kri.ya!' And, as ever and fore ver, I am so very grateful for the staggering sup port of Dr Marv in Lemk e (Marv) and of our children, Clark and Jane. Th eir steady patience with me and their divine devot ion to my ventures always make all the differen ce. To Clark an d Jane, this is especially for you and you r generation: Speak what you feel.

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'Speak what we feel, not what we ought to say... (in King Lear, V. iii. 324)