Gender and Bilingual Education: An Exploratory Study of the Academic Achievement of Latina and Latino English Learners

Abstract

Although biliteracy plays a vital role in academic achievement, there has been little research on the unique needs of female and male English language learners. Becoming biliterate is a complex process, compounded by other variables such as 1st-language background, class, culture, and gender. Among these variables, gender has been the least examined and reported for English language learners in the United States. This exploratory quantitative study investigates the interplay between gender and biliteracy in a diverse urban school district. The quantitative data demonstrate gender variations across all years and grade levels and on both English and Spanish assessments.

Keywords:

• bilingual education
• biliteracy
• dual language
• English language learners
• quantitative research
• second-language acquisition

Notes

¹ It is important to avoid simplistic interpretations of data demonstrating that girls are outperforming boys. Because public examinations indicate that boys in elementary schools are not performing as well as girls, especially in literacy, some researchers have identified the feminization of education as a potential cause for male miseducation. For the purpose of this study, feminization is narrowly interpreted as a lack of training among female educators on boys and girls learning differently (Gurian, 2002). The alleged feminization of the classroom also suggests that because of their gender, female educators fail to empathize with boys’ boisterous energy (Neall, 2002). These antifeminist assertions fail both students and teachers insofar as they do not accurately reflect the complex and nuanced factors that shape gendered identities in school.