The role of gender in teacher-learner interaction through dialogue journal writing

Abstract

The study sets out to investigate if gender plays a role in teacher-learner interaction through dialogue journal writing (DJW) in the Armenian environment. The research was carried out at the European Regional Academy of the Caucasus within an eight-week period. The subjects were twenty-four first-year students (6 females and 18 males). The language level of the subjects was elementary. Students’ dialogue journal entries, teacher responses, the teacher’s observations and questionnaires were used to elicit language data. Term test results were also considered as additional information for the research. The samples were analyzed in a variety of ways to determine similarities and differences between the female and male interaction in the DJW. Results indicate that female and male students display characteristic features typical of their gender. However, results also show that DJWs had a positive effect on both the female and male students. All the subjects demonstrated a substantial increase in writing proficiency as well as improved speaking and thinking skills. The subjects also demonstrated improvements in their entries. The teacher’s observations showed that the learning environment became friendlier over time. The questionnaire results showed that both the female and male students were positive about journal writing and recognized the benefits of the activity. Acknowledging the benefits of DJWs, the majority of both the female and male students wanted to continue writing the journals.