Editor: Viv Edwards (University of Reading, UK)
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Volume: 16 Number: 2 Page: 81–96
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Jokers in the Pack: Why Boys are More Adept than Girls at Speaking in Public Settings
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Judith Baxter
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This article investigates why it is that boys often appear to be more confident and adept than girls at speaking out in classroom public contexts. Drawing upon a British classroom study of what constitutes
'effective' speech in public contexts according to new examination criteria for English at age 16, it argues that boys, when behaving in certain ways, do appear to be more powerfully positioned than girls
within a range of classroom discourses. Their ability to mobilise two discursive practices – the use of a sidekick and a support group; and their use of humour – offer boys more opportunities
than girls to constitute themselves as 'effective' public speakers for assessment purposes.
© Multilingual Matters 2002
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