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Expanding Individual Difference Research in the Interaction Approach: Investigating learners, instructors, and other interlocutors
Edited by Laura Gurzynski-Weiss
[AILA Applied Linguistics Series 16] 2017
► pp. 99–119

Chapter 5
Gender and recasts

Analysis of males’ and females’ L2 development following verbal and gesture-enhanced recasts

This study investigated the influence of learners’ gender on the effectiveness of verbal recasts and gesture-enhanced recasts. A total of 40 adult English-as-a second-language learners participated. In the first condition, the learners received verbal recasts during two communicative tasks. The results showed no difference across gender. In the second condition, the learners received gesture-enhanced recasts. Females significantly outperformed males with a strong effect size in the immediate to delayed posttests gain score but not in the gain score of pretest to immediate posttests. This indicates that the long-term effectiveness of recasts seems to be influenced by learners’ gender. The results are discussed in relation to learners’ memory and the exposure to visual cues.

Keywords: communicative tasks, gesture, learner gender, recasts
Article outline
  • Introduction
  • Background
    • Recasts
      • Characteristics of recasts
      • Recasts and individual differences
    • Gesture and L2 learning
    • Gender and L2 learning
      • Gender and memory
    • The present study
  • Method
    • Participants
    • Target structure
    • Materials
      • Oral production test
      • Communicative tasks
    • Procedure
      • Verbal recasts
      • Gesture-enhanced recasts
    • Analysis of oral production tests
  • Results
    • Males vs. females in verbal recasts
    • Males vs. females in gesture-enhanced recasts
    • Summary of results
  • Discussion and conclusion
    • Limitations and future directions
    • Pedagogical implications
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 12 December 2017
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/aals.16.05nak
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