CHOICE OF LANGUAGE LEARNING STRATEGIES BY BRAZILIAN EFLers: GENDER DIFFERENCES AND CONTEXTUAL VARIABLES

Abstract

Departing from cross-cultural studies on the language behavior of men and women, this study examines how gender relates to choice of language learning strategies (LLS) and to contextual variables. To do so, it collects data from 128 male and 186 female EFLers enrolled in three language institutes in southeast Brazil by means of Oxford’s Strategy Inventory for Language Learning (SILL) and analyze them statistically and in the light of knowledge of the Brazilian context. Results seem to reflect an interaction between contextual variables and gender-related choice of strategies. Males in the study reported using 21 of the SILL strategies with higher frequency than females. Out of these strategies, several are social and affective, a finding that goes against the literature that relates these strategies to behavior typically associated with female learners.