GIRLS’ PERCEPTIONS ON GENDER STEREOTYPING IN LANGUAGE TEACHING AND LEARNING: A CASE STUDY OF THREE SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN CENTRAL EAST EDUCATION DIVISION

Abstract

The study aimed at exploring girls‟ perceptions on gender stereotyping in language teaching and learning. The study was conducted in the Central East Education Division in the districts of Kasungu, Nkhotakota, Salima, and Dowa. Participants included thirty-six girls, randomly selected for focus group discussions, twelve girls per school from three schools. Six language teachers drawn from three schools were purposively selected from government secondary schools. The study employed a qualitative approach using a case study design. The study used Pygmalion effect as its conceptual framework whose idea is about forming differential expectations on learners in the teaching and learning of languages. Data was generated through classroom observations whose instrument was observation check list; focus group discussion (FGD) whose instrument was guiding questions to the discussion and finally used in depth interview (IDI) whose instrument was a question guide. The study found that gender stereotyping existed in language classroom. Despite gender stereotyping, girls participated in all the activities during language lessons, and language tasks. The study concludes that both learners and teachers should deal with gender stereotyping so that teaching and learning of languages is effective. This implies that girls may perform better than boys in the learning of languages if given enough opportunity.