Investigating Chinese Learners’ Interactions in Relation to Gender and Sexuality in the ESL Classroom in the UK

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article examines a group of Chinese students’ diverse participation in teacher–student interactions involving gender and sexuality topics in ESL classrooms in the UK. The findings indicate that the Chinese students have experienced transformations of the performance of gender. Some students strategically incorporate new gender performances in ESL classrooms that they find useful for social and academic gains. However, when facing new gender performances which are undesirable or stereotyped, some students display a strong sense of agency and resistance, even at a price of sacrificing opportunities of engaging in classroom discussions. The intersection of gender and sexuality in the ESL classroom interaction offers Chinese students the opportunities to explore a variety of progressive and non-progressive gender and sexual roles that men and women occupy in Britain. But some ill-prepared ESL teachers deal with issues of gender and sexuality with prejudicial heterosexist or homophobic attitudes, which may mislead students and have a negative impact on their learning and gender and sexual identity construction.