Verbal Communication Behaviors: How Male and Female University Students Interact in Gendered Talks

With the existence of language and gender studies emphasizing the male and female dichotomy in interactional strategies, this study aimed to investigate the verbal communication behaviors of language classroom mixed-gender and same-gender group conversations involving the same interlocutors. The transcribed data obtained from the three fifteen-minute recorded group interactions indicated that questions and expressions of agreement were the typical behaviors employed by the interlocutors. The results showed that aside from the gender of the interlocutor and the gender composition of the group, the nature of talk and the group size influence the use of particular behaviors. The findings have implications on providing a locally-acquired data on classroom peer talks in the field of language and gender.