The Impact of Gender Difference on Effective Communication Between Learners of English Language and Native Speakers of English

This study investigated the influence of gender on English learners' production of communication strategies while interacting with native speakers of English. Ten Turkish EFL students were paired with 10 native speakers of English, producing a total of 20 (10-minute long) conversations. Data collection procedures consisted of a background questionnaire, observation, a post-session questionnaire and an interview. A modified version of Faerch and Kasper's (1983) framework of communication strategies was used in data analysis to identify communication strategies employed by Turkish EFL students when conversing with native speakers of English. The findings revealed that the gender of the native speaker of English, rather than the gender of the students had an important impact on the Turkish EFL students' communication strategy use. Furthermore, more similarities rather than differences between male and female Turkish EFL students in the communication strategies used was seen when the interlocutor was not taken into consideration.