The Effect of Gender Differences on Foreign Language Learning

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigatethe effect of gender differences on foreign languagelearning.Methodology: The study adopted a desktopmethodology. Desk research refers to secondary dataor that which can be collected without fieldwork.Desk research is basically involved in collecting datafrom existing resources hence it is often considered alow cost technique as compared to field research, asthe main cost is involved in executive’s time,telephone charges and directories. Thus, the studyrelied on already published studies, reports andstatistics. This secondary data was easily accessedthrough the online journals and library.Findings: The findings revealed that there exists acontextual and methodological gap relating to theeffect of gender differences on foreign languagelearning. Preliminary empirical review revealed thatmotivation is the overriding factor to consider whileinterpreting study results. The differences inmotivation among males and females of variousability levels and the differential effect of themotivation on individuals belonging to thesegender groups are important to decide the kindsof activities that would most benefit all learners.Ability and gender are students ‘variables that havenot been widely investigated in foreign languagestudying and less taken togetherUnique Contribution to Theory, Practice andPolicy: The Social Constructivist theory,Socialization theory and the Interactionist theory maybe used to anchor future studies relating to the effectof gender differences on foreign language learning.There is need to investigate variables such as abilityand gender into the establishment of policyframeworks that enable both genders in the foreignlanguage learning process.