Femininities and Masculinities Performed at the University Level: Gender, Language and Learning

Abstract

This Feminist Poststructuralist Discourse Analysis (FPDA) study aims at exploring how emergent femininities and masculinities construct gender identities and power relations inside the EFL classroom setting through interaction. It is argued that identities are multiple and shifting according to the way individuals position and reposition themselves through discourse(s). In doing so, gender identities can be identified and related to learners? identities in EFL contexts. A Feminist Poststructuralist Discourse Analysis (FPDA) methodology (Baxter, 2003) was chosen in order to identify telling cases (Mitchell, 1984) during interactions in which, female and male adult students from a private university in Bogotá, Colombia make explicit the exercising of power during classroom activities, such as debates (Castañeda- Peña, 2009) and disputes (Toohey, 2001) in foreign language learning. Findings suggest the importance of being aware of the multiplicity of gender identities that may intervene when learning a language and how to deal with more egalitarian discourses and activities during classes that guarantee, to some extent, the empowerment of silent voices.