Relating Gender with Culture and Society: The Silence of Japanese Female Learners of English in Japan

As past research has provided evidence supporting the view that Westerners typically value verbal communication more than Easterners and that men are usually more verbose than women, at first glance, the native EFL instructor in Japan may believe Japanese females to be at a disadvantage in learning English, particularly the communicative aspect sexpected in many EFL classrooms. However, her gender may not be a learning impediment when one considers several cultural and societal factors. The present theoretical articl epresents evidence supporting the proposition that her silence may not be detrimental to her learning, may actually work to her benefit, and should not necessarily be discouraged.