Gender Role in Linguistic Performance and Academic Output: The Case of Francophone Students in Anglo-Saxon Secondary Schools in Cameroon

Abstract

Research in second language acquisition has established that there exists a relationship between gender, acquisition, and use of language (Ngasundram et al (2021), Sabra (2018), Sunderland (2010) and McConnell-Ginet (1988). The question of whether male or female makes a better language learner or user is intriguing (see Saville-Troike (2012, 2006), Williams & Burden (1997). Whether this question includes performance or not, needs to be established. This paper investigates gender differences in relation to Francophone students’ competence in English and performance in other school subjects. It focuses on the linguistic competence and academic output of 220 Francophone male and female students in Form Five at the GCE Ordinary Level. To examine the correlation between male and female learners’ linguistic competence and academic performance, this study uses questionnaire and documentary research on GCE results from 10 selected secondary schools in Douala/Edea which are in French-speaking zones and Buea/Limbe in English-speaking zones. Based on the social constructionist theory of gender which establishes an approach to language and gender (Coats 2004), (Butler 1988), participants’ performances are checked against context and gender. The main principle of the social constructivist theory is that gender is a social construct which is performative in nature.  Results of this study indicate that both males and females show a low level of competence in English and perform poorly in other subjects. It is however noticed that females generally outperform males in both English as a subject, and other subjects that are written in English.