Confidence is Key

Whichever class I am in, there is usually at least one of them. One doing a semi-impressive pen trick between his fingers, slouched so far down his chair that you think he is about to fall off, and radiating a self confidence that is barely evident in the cross-legged, polite body language of the girls. Yet, although body language and appearance is what we first notice, it is not what I am interested in to examine the confidence levels between boys and girls. Linguistics plays a large part in telling who we are, and the diverse use of language can enforce divisions between us in our everyday lives - and as I am researching, in the classroom. Do these divisions, these differentiated language styles between boys and girls, affect their education?

"Is it a metaphor? I think it's a metaphor. I don't want to be wrong. If I'm wrong everyone will think I am stupid…No it is a metaphor. How will I phrase my answer? No, you're right, just put your hand up, it's a – "

"Metaphor!" the boy shouts.

Hmm, seems familiar. Possibly we can apply Trudgill's theory of overt and covert prestige in differing genders here, with the girl seeking overt prestige by being polite and quiet while she formulates the proper answer, not wanting to embarrass herself. Whilst the boy is more vocal, he shouts the answer without even thinking, seeking covert prestige by going against the rules.

But biologically girls are meant to have better communication skills, right? Perhaps they do but according to a study of Dr Nicola Mills in 2006, public speaking is seen as a masculine behaviour and  female academics admitted to feeling more performance anxiety towards such tasks. If women feel anxious to talk in public, then we can relate this to a classroom scenario, where a girl will use features such as tag questions, hedging and question intonation when making a declarative statements in their language as a result these nervous feelings.

What if, however, a girl doesn't use these features that Lakoff highlighted in her 10 basic assumptions of women's language? As we have seen before in Tannen's contrasts, men are thought to give orders rather than politely offering options in a proposal, and you would associate this form of language with an authoritative boss, don't you think? Yet when Clare Walsh (2001) researched women working in male dominated environments, she found they are often viewed very negatively, especially when they used features of speech not commonly associated with women such as direct language. Maybe there is a reason girls seem to be less confident in speaking aloud.

Lastly, and most importantly, is Baxter's (2003) "analysis of girls' and boy' talk in the secondary classroom". Following a schoolroom interaction of 14-15 year olds, recorded as part of their GCSE coursework, the students were interviewed concerning their performance:

Rebecca: "I was probably more self-conscious in the bigger group in case I would sound a fool"

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Rebecca: "I don't think I would have ever shouted out. That would have been rude and I would have got told off"
Interviewer: "Did anyone shout out?"

Rebecca: "Yeah. Joe and Damien…"

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Kate: "The girls are quieter. The boys say something and the girls just support it."
Cathy: "The boys say what they think. It's like the husband and the little wife who has to support them"

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Interesting.

 

Now, I'm not saying every girl is quiet and shy and every boy is overly confident, but these are traits I have noticed in classrooms, and when either go against the norm, especially if a girl is very confident, it is seen as quite strange. It has been argued that, as boys get more the teachers time, they get a better education. Yet girls continue to get the best exam results - perhaps because they underestimate themselves and work harder? But if girls are working harder, if they are doing the best in exams, why are so many men in power? Girls may get success in school but past that, it is the men who are winning.

 

Ella Gregory  X x