Foreign Language Teaching in a Sexed Classroom

Abstract

Abstract Recent scientific studies have demonstrated the clear existence of brain sexual dimorphism, with distinct structural, chemical, genetic, hormonal and functional differences between the two sexes. In spite of the complexity of this theme and even though science acknowledges that many questions are still not answered, it is a fact today that the brain is a sexed organ. The differences between girls and boys regarding cognitive and emotional processing naturally have consequences in teaching-learning situations. Nevertheless, most teachers are not aware of these differences and their effects. Each group of students is not a selection of androgynous individuals, therefore differentiated strategies according to sex are an optimisation tool in teaching-learning situations, both in single-sex and co-ed contexts.