An analysis of four ESL teachers' interaction patterns with adult male and female ESL students

Studies in gender and classroom interaction consistently show that male students receive more attention in the classroom from both male and female teachers (Brophy and Good, 1974; Sadker and Sadker, 1982; Wilkinson and Marret, 1985). These studies have taken place in American classrooms where traditional school subjects are taught, such as math, science, and reading. There has been no observation of gender interaction in the ESL classroom. The pitfalls of sex bias may be an even more pressing issue in ESL because of the social agenda brought into the ESL classroom by foreign male and female students.; The present research project was undertaken in an attempt to discover what kinds of behavior ESL teachers were manifesting with their male and female students. The study involved the observation of four ESL classroom teachers for a period of 6 weeks, using both quantitative and qualitative methods. The teachers' frequency of encounter with their male and female students was coded with an instrument called INTERSECT, designed specifically for this purpose by Myra and David Sadker of American University. In addition, the researcher noted anecdotal and qualitative data as this information came up within the course of observations and as it was deemed pertinent to the study. Finally, the four teachers observed were interviewed to ascertain their levels of awareness of their own behavior with male and female students.; Research results show that the teachers behaved in a more equitable manner than the literature on gender and classroom interaction would have us believe. Only one teacher exhibited behavior which might be viewed as biased against females. Interviews showed that the teachers observed had low awareness of their behavior with the sexes in their classrooms. Although the teachers showed equitable behavior for the most part, their teaching styles varied greatly depending on whether they were male or female. The two male teachers showed a more dominant style than the female teachers, thereby controlling both male and female students. Male teachers engaged more in group interactions than individual interactions and had higher levels of teacher talk in their classrooms than female teachers, who tended toward individual interactions and more student-oriented classroom behavior.