Assessing Factors Hindering Females’ Participation and the Practice of Teacher’s Strategies in EFL Classrooms: The Case of Grade 11 Students in Gedieo Zone

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to assess factors hindering Grade 11 female students’ articipation and teachers’ strategies in EFL classrooms. To achieve the objective, the researchers used a descriptive survey design and employed both qualitative and quantitative methods. There are around 46 grade 11 sections in the selected weredas, so the researchers selected 18 sections using a lottery system. Each section has an average of 42 students. Among these, 40% are females, and the researchers selected 176 female students using purposive sampling for this study. The researchers employed three data-gathering tools. These are semi-structured interviews, classroom observations, and questionnaires. The major findings indicated that female students did not freely participate like male students do in the EFL classroom unless they were called by their teacher; most female students were passive listeners. They didn’t even ask questions for the briefing when the lesson wasn’t clear to them. EFL teachers’ teaching strategy did not invite female students to participate in the classroom discussion. According to the findings, EFL teachers should give male and female students equal opportunity in classroom discussions. They also need to create a conducive environment and gender-sensitive group formation since it builds female students’ self-confidence.