Language & Gender in Classroom
The class i chose to make my observations on was my English class with Professor Matunda. This class meets Mondays,Wednesdays, and Fridays at 1:00-1:50pm. While i was observing, I noticed there were 14 females and 5 males that were in the class.
In class we’re reading a novel called “ Their Eyes Are Watching God” and dicussing about marriage, relationship, and sisterhood. The way the professor approaches the class, he talks in a very low voice with no aggression. However, he has a strong Kenya African accent which makes it harder to understand him when he teaches. Even though he has a strong accent, he tries to communicate with us by writing it on the board, or repeating whatnhe asked more than once. In the class, the females are more responsive to the questions he asked unless he chooses a boy to answer.
The males in class barely speak due to the fact there are majority girls in the class that speaks out openly. On the topic we discussed on Friday, 3-5 females spoke towards the topic of marriage and loyalty. Each female spoke about 50 words in full detail. However, on the male side was totally different. They would rebuttal with short answers that included about 20 words, which only one male spoke out that day out of 5 males that attended class. The way the females spoke, they spoke clearer with assertive tone while the males spoke low voices but still made sure they made their point of view clear on the topic. I also, noticed the position of where the males would seat and the females; females would we seated near the professor up front filling the seats while males would go straight to the back of the class.
I also observed that the professor, when teaching, would only chose the females to answer the questions or to read instead of the males; Possibly because females were right in the front. At first the professor wouldn’t pick anybody to do anything because the females in the room would already be engaged into the lesson and answer themselves, but however , if nobody answers his question or volunteer to read he’ll choose somebody randomly. Most of the time when he speaks to the class he makes great eye contact and vice verses.
Furthermore, in my opinion I dont believe his gender has to do with anything on how he communicates and teaches the class, but I do feel as though his culture is really what impacts on how he tries to teach.