Doing gender in reading English as a second language: a multi-case study across China and Sweden

Abstract

This thesis reports a cross-cultural study that investigated the ways Chinese and

Swedish college students do gender in their experiences of reading English as a

second language. The concept “doing gender in reading” in this study derives from

the view of reading as a social practice that leads to gendered identities construction.

Previous studies, which mostly found that girls outperformed boys in reading

achievement, created a linear relationship between gender and achievement. This

study, informed by social theories of literacy (Gee, 2008; Street, 1984; Kress, 2010)

and poststructuralist theories of gender (Weedon, 1997; Butler, 1990), explored how

socially-constituted gendered ideologies might be instantiated and negotiated in

college students’ experiences of reading English as a second language. It gave

particular attention to diversity within and between genders and to the dynamics of

students’ socio-culturally mediated reading practices. The study was guided by the

following sub-questions:

(a) What gender-specific ideologies can be identified in Chinese and Swedish

college students’ narratives of reading English as a second language?

(b) How do Chinese and Swedish college students act in relation to gender-specific

ideologies in their everyday English reading practices?

The study was conducted with a qualitative approach of narrative inquiry. Focal

informants were four Chinese students and four Swedish students enrolled in English

teacher education programs in their home countries. Data were collected over a sixmonth

period with techniques of student journal writing, interviews, focus groups,

and ethnographic observations. Baxter’s (2003) feminist poststructuralist discourse

analysis framed and guided data analysis.

The study found three recurrent English reading practices across cases that led to

gendered identities construction. These were: making investment in English reading;

adopting the strategy of reading English alone; and choosing English reading

materials in relation to teachers. Overarching ideologies that shaped these practices

included perceptions of reading as a more female-appropriate activity, male readers

as independent readers who could solve problems on their own, and female readers

as emotional readers who are sensitive to their relation with others. Informants’

actions in relation to these gender-specific ideologies fell into two major categories:

conformance and resistance. Findings suggested that female informants seemed to be

more ready to resist these ideologies whereas males tended to comply. Swedish

informants seemed to demonstrate more awareness of and readiness to resist

gendered ideologies compared to Chinese informants.

The findings from this study imply that gendered ideologies can have both

facilitating and debilitating effects on students’ reading experiences. Therefore,

language teachers should develop a critical consciousness of gendered ideologies and

how they relate to their students in specific contexts. In response to prevailing socioculturally

constituted and power-laden ideologies, the study proposes a new

perspective from which to interpret gender and reading English as a second language

across cultures. Such a contribution adds momentum to the paradigm shift from

essentialism to poststructuralism in second language acquisition that purports that

gender is more than an identity label.