(En)gendering the TESOL classroom1

This paper explores the notion that the TESOL classroom, no less than other social contexts, is an important site for the production and regulation of gender. Previous theoretical and empirical accounts of the relationship between language and gender in applied linguistics have suggested that gender precedes and gives rise to language use. However, post-structuralism radically reframes this relationship by suggesting that our social identities (including gender) are constructed through language use. The notion of performativity (Butler 1990, 1991) is an important dimension of this new perspective. The implications of this view for TESOL are discussed in relation to both classroom practice and research.