Gender differences and cross-cultural variations in student responses to literature.

Abstract

In this study I examined how a group of native speakers and non-native speakers of English confronted the same three short stories, what reactions emerged from their reading and interacting with the texts, what details the students responded to, and what cross-cultural and gender differences were evident in their responses. In particular, I looked for patterns that exist in student responses in terms of gender, native versus non-native speaker analysis (linguistic), and Spanish and Chinese speaker differences (cultural backgrounds). This study is grounded in reader-response theory, schema theory, and gender studies. Part of my analysis draws on Elizabeth Flynn's 1980 study on reading patterns of male and female college students, and her three categories of readers: dominant, submissive, and interactive. In addition to Flynn's categories, I examined student responses to stories in terms of categories noted by Vipond and Hunt: information-driven, story-driven, and point-driven. My students had to fulfill three tasks: first, they had to write their reactions to the stories, second, they had to summarize the stories, and third, they had to choose one story as a focus for an epistolary essay. My findings indicated a strong influence of schemata on student responses. Their responses to the stories showed cultural background influences and gender influences on their reading and responding. Students made comments about their own cultures and they often compared and contrasted a certain issue in their own culture and in the US. In terms of gender differences, I found salient differences between American male student responses and other represented groups. From a pedagogical perspective, all students came to text with different schemata, and responded to text according to their schemata; that is, their culture conditioning, gender, education, and so on. This study prompted students to articulate the connections in their schemata. Dialogue in a literature-based writing class is necessary, to promote awareness, and self awareness.