Teaching Women's Issues in an EFL Classroom : What Do Students Learn?

Abstract

Theme-based language instruction is an effective way of providing a meaningful context for the acquisition of English language skills. ESL/EFL instructors who support theme-based language teaching have often introduced social and global issues. However, women's issues have been conspicuously absent from ESL/EFL classes, even though many would acknowledge that addressing women's issues as a matter of human rights is important. For this study, I introduced domestic violence as a topic for a college-level EFL writing class in Japan. The purpose of this study is to investigate if students change their perception of domestic violence and what students learn in a feminist language classroom. In this study, I attempt to determine students' gender awareness by analyzing pre- and post-questionnaires on domestic violence, students' final written products, and open-ended questionnaires. I found that students reevaluated their understanding of domestic violence and expressed their insights into the topic.