IS GENDER A DETERMINING FACTOR IN LANGUAGE STRATEGY USE: AN INQUIRY INTO MULTIPLE FACTORS AT PLAY

Research on strategy use in language teaching is not a recent topic. Strategy use in second language language education have aroused significant attention since 1970s and a great body of research explored the different dimensions of strategy use in language teaching. Yet, implications of the strategy use for today’s language learning remains to be deciphered by language educators and researchers. Specific differences of strategy use among different genders have been recognized by several researchers.  The controversial topic of superiority of one gender over the other is without conclusive results. The strategy research among genders is a difficult topic to research because of the non-observable cognitive processes utilized by human mind in acquiring a language (Salahshour et al, 2013, pg. 635). The discussion continues on whether one gender is superior to the other in terms of quality or the quantity of the specific strategy use. Despite the prevailed conception of female superiority, researchers reported that there are other factors that need to be inquired in order to better understand the dynamics of strategy use.