Boys and Foreign Language Learning: Real Boys Don't Do Languages

by J. Carr, A. Pauwels

Overview

The authors examine the continuing poor relationship between boys and the study of foreign languages. Framed by discussion of gender socialization, gendered curriculum practices and cultural narratives about boys and schooling, the core of the book is constructed by boys themselves.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780230580053
Publisher:	Palgrave Macmillan UK
Publication date:	06/17/2009
Edition description:	2006
Pages:	226
Product dimensions:	8.50(w) x 5.40(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

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 Professor of Linguistics and Dean of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences 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.

Table of 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

Editorial 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

From the Publisher