Conflicting Rhetoric between Male and Female English Teachers: The Case of Pedagogically Related Discourse Models

Abstract

The Present study aimed to investigate the relationship between gender and English teaching and learning. For this purpose, from a population of six hundred English students and teachers in different institutes in Isfahan a sample of 87 were selected by using a convenient sampling method. An observation checklist and two questionnaires were used for collecting data. The results showed that the difference between male and female teachers with respect to their pedagogical rhetoric in L2 classrooms was indeed significant, with females gaining a higher mean score than male teachers. Although male and female teachers are not remarkably different in their attitudes, female teachers emulated male teachers when it came to teaching techniques and there were significant differences in classroom management. In addition, the students who had a teacher of the opposite sex tended to have a more positive attitude towards L2 learning. In fact, Male students who had a female teacher had the highest integrative motivation, while female students with male teachers had the lowest degree of integrative motivation.