The Production of 'Girl' in an Educational Setting

Producing 'girl' in educational discourse is defined with two strategic features: Interruptions and framing. Hypotheses are: (1) the teacher interrupts girls differently and more often than boys; and (2) the teacher offers different discursive spaces for girls and boys by framing and introducing their speech differently. The data are a Finnish native tongue lesson in the fifth grade (16 girls, 14 boys) with a female teacher. Students were asked to continue a drawing in groups (girls' groups and boys' groups) and to give a presentation to the class. The girls were interrupted more often and in a different way than were the boys. The style with the boys was a kind of conversation. With the girls the style could be summarised as 'let the girls have the floor'. The teacher also framed girls' and boys' speech differently. For the boys she offered authority and with the girls she encouraged co-operation. Two different discursive spaces were produced for girls and boys.