Nov 17, 2000
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THE UNIVERSITY OF VICTORIA Nov 17, 2000 |
| Do girls and boys learn languages differently? UVic master’s student Carolyn Granewall, who graduates on Nov. 25, thinks she has some answers. In the course of nearly 30 years of teaching French as a second language at Reynolds Secondary School, Granewall observed some characteristics of learning style largely related to the sex of the learner. So when it came time to choose a thesis topic in the French department’s master’s program for practising teachers, she decided to research sex differences in second-language learning. “I wanted to get as big a picture as I could about why, in general, males and females perform differently in a language learning situation,” says Granewall, who combed through 10 years of genetics, endocrinology, and neuro- and evolutionary psychology studies related to the topic. “Her work is very original,” says her supervisor, Dr. Danielle Shepherd of the French department, “and she wasn’t afraid to transgress the limits of political correctness to point out findings which support the existence of fundamental sexual differences in brain function.” These differences, Granewall found, express themselves in an individual’s learning style — whether, for example, it is more active or reflective, visual or auditory, practical or theoretical. “Women usually learn in a variety of ways, but men tend to be active learners, extremely visual and less adept at learning through auditory channels,” she says. She has applied some of her new knowledge in her classes, making changes in keeping with learning strategies favoured by boys. She found that, for a variety of reasons, increased use of film in support of linguistic and cultural objectives has led to very positive results with both boys and girls. “Carolyn also found much evidence to indicate that the sexual differentiation of an individual’s brain function is not simply a matter of being male or female,” explains Shepherd, so that “human sexuality, and therefore learning style, is a continuum rather than a question of bipolarity.” Granewall suggests that second-language learning enriches brain function. “It structures a different kind of mind, a better mind, she claims. |