New directions in the study of multilingualism, second language learning, and gender

Language Use in Six Study Abroad Programs: An Exploratory Analysis of Possible Predictors

“…Indeed, this may also be the reason why gender played a minimal role in predicting language use in our study as well. While previous research has suggested that gender affects amount of time speaking in class (Gass & Varonis, ) and opportunities to use the L2 out of class (Brecht & Robinson, ; Pavlenko & Piller, ), students who were required by their program to talk to native L2 speakers outside of class or use the L2 a certain amount each day, may have overcome any effects that gender or personality may have initially caused.…”

“…However, Trentman (), in her study of women studying in the Middle East notes, “dominant gender roles may make it difficult for female students to interact with locals” (p. 458) and provides specific examples where male SA participants in Cairo had greater access to a variety of speaking partners than females. Similarly, Pichette (, cited in Pavlenko & Piller, ) found that males had ample access to speaking partners via izakaya (Japanese pubs), whereas social constraints prevented women from making use of this resource to build acquaintances with locals. It is clear from the literature that gender plays a role in the opportunities that learners have to use the language in social contexts and that access may vary from one culture to another.…”

Gender and proficiency effects on metaphor use among Greek learners

“…Thus, the idea of developing a better ability at using metaphor is a bit of a distance from improving their career. Pavlenko and Piller () have challenged the traditional view of gender as a static series of personal traits. Rather, they viewed gender as a dynamic social variable, which interacts with and is mediated by various social traits, such as ethnic and educational background, experience, social class and cultural norms.…”

Language Use, Attitude, and Linguistic Identity Among Palestinian Students in East Jerusalem

“…With such a responsibility, mothers may find fewer opportunities to learn additional languages. Other researchers, however, have found that women are sensitive to the demands of the cultural marketplace, leaning toward languages of prestige, and are, therefore, often responsible for language shifts (Pavlenko & Piller, 2001). Regardless of whether women are responsible for language maintenance or language shift, or both, they play an important role in language development and ethnolinguistic identity.…”